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diff --git a/78937-0.txt b/78937-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7e80c87 --- /dev/null +++ b/78937-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,23833 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78937 *** + + + + + THE HISTORY OF CIVILISATION IN SCOTLAND. + + + + + ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ + │ │ + │ Transcriber’s Notes │ + │ │ + │ │ + │ Punctuation has been standardized. │ + │ │ + │ Most of the abbreviations used to save space in printing have │ + │ been expanded to the non-abbreviated form for easier reading. │ + │ │ + │ Characters in small caps have been replaced by all caps. │ + │ │ + │ Non-printable characteristics have been given the following │ + │ Italic text: --> _text_ │ + │ │ + │ This book was written in a period when many words had │ + │ not become standardized in their spelling. Words may have │ + │ multiple spelling variations or inconsistent hyphenation in │ + │ the text. These have been left unchanged unless indicated │ + │ with a Transcriber’s Note. │ + │ │ + │ Index references have not been checked for accuracy. │ + │ │ + │ Footnotes are identified in the text with a superscript │ + │ number and are shown immediately below the paragraph in which │ + │ they appear. │ + │ │ + │ Transcriber’s Notes are used when making corrections to the │ + │ text or to provide additional information for the modern │ + │ reader. These notes are identified by ♦♠♥♣ symbols in the │ + │ text and are shown immediately below the paragraph in which │ + │ they appear. │ + └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ + + + + + THE HISTORY + OF + CIVILISATION IN SCOTLAND. + + + BY + + + JOHN MACKINTOSH, LL.D. + + _Author of “The Story of Scotland,” + “The Revolution of 1688 and Viscount Dundee,” + “The Highland Land Question Historically Considered,” Etc._ + + + _A NEW EDITION._ + PARTLY REWRITTEN, AND CAREFULLY REVISED THROUGHOUT. + + + Volume First. + + + ALEXANDER GARDNER, + Publisher to her Majesty the Queen, + PAISLEY, AND 26 PATERNOSTER SQUARE, LONDON. + 1892 + + + + + PREFACE. + + +IN recent years the study of the human race has been prosecuted in many +directions, and the range of the historic view has been much extended. +Researches have been made in the departments of anthropology, ethnology, +philology, archæology, and craniology, and thus a great body of +materials, more or less valuable for historical purposes, has been +collected. It is the special function of the historian to discriminate +and estimate the value of such materials. + +Fifteen years have elapsed since the issue of the first volume of +the present work. Since then there has been much investigation into +prehistoric subjects, many ancient structures within the limited area +to which this work is specially devoted, having been carefully examined; +while, by the publication of the series of Exchequer Rolls, Burgh +Records, and other important documents, the materials relating to the +twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, have been +rendered more accessible. In preparing this volume for a new edition, +I have found it necessary to recast and rewrite the whole. Two new +sections have been added to the Introduction, while most of the others +have been much enlarged. About one-fourth of the volume is new. + +This is the first attempt to present a synthetic narrative of the +condition, progress, and development of the civilisation of the people +from the earliest traces of their occupation of the country down to the +present day. The difficulties in the way of successfully accomplishing +such a work are obvious, and I can scarcely hope that I have completely +vanquished them; still, I trust that this effort will prove interesting +and valuable. While the statements of ascertained facts may be +implicitly relied upon, yet the more obscure prehistoric phenomena +may be susceptible of different interpretations; in such cases, I have +endeavoured to make the best use of such evidence as is available. + +Amongst the works which have appeared on the early history of Scotland, +Dr. Anderson’s two volumes of the Rhind Lectures, entitled, _Scotland +in Pagan Times_, are especially valuable. Sir Arthur Mitchell also +has made some very important suggestions. To Mr. Alexander Macbain, an +eminent Celtic scholar, and author of a work on Celtic Mythology, I am +indebted for information touching the religion of the Celts in early +times. + +Regarding the Normans, and the introduction of Norman feudalism into +Scotland, after a full examination of the evidence, I have rejected +many of the conclusions of preceding historians, especially on +questions relating to the land and the people. + +The social state of the nation in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries +has been treated at length, and many interesting points explained; +while the chapters on the disputed Succession, and the War of +Independence, have been much enlarged. The tenth chapter contains an +exhaustive view of the social state and characteristics of the nation +in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the materials for which have +been mainly drawn from the National Records and other original sources. +The chapters on Literature, Education, and Art, have been improved and +rendered more complete. + + J. M. + + ABERDEEN, + February, 1892. + + + + + CONTENTS. + + + CHAPTER I.――INTRODUCTION. + + + SECTION I. + + _The Scope of the Work._ + + ⭘ The Import and Interest of the Subject――Primary Causes of + Civilisation――Influence of Climate, Soil, and Food on the + development of Man――Origin of Myths + + + SECTION II. + + _Geographical and Physical Features of the Country._ + + ⭘ Position of Scotland, the Islands, and the Coasts――General + Aspect of the Country + + ⭘ Mountain Ranges: Watershed, Rivers, Valleys, and + Plains――Characteristics of the Central Region――Lakes――Soil: + Coal and Iron District + + ⭘ Flora and Fauna――Aspects of the Country when Man arrived + + ⭘ The Influence of Climate, Food, and Geographical Features on + the Organisation of Society in Early Times――General Effect of + the Features of External Nature on the Mind + + + SECTION III. + + _Historic Interpretation. Ethnological Problem._ + + ⭘ Natural Order of Development――Thought preceded Language; + relation of Thought and Language + + ⭘ Interpretation of the Phenomena and Relics of the Prehistoric + Ages――Discrimination and Estimation of Historic + Evidence――Human Intelligence in relation to Means + + ⭘ II. Supposed Cradle of the Human Race――The Question of the + Original Home of the Aryans――The Early Races of Europe; Fossil + Races――Result of recent Research touching the Aryans + + ⭘ Ethnology of Scotland――Aboriginal Race, a long-headed and + short-limbed People inhabited the Island alone for a long + period――Migration of the Celtic Race to Britain; they + amalgamated with the Earlier Race――Later Migrations from + Gaul――Irish Ethnology――Scandinavians――Constituent Elements + of the Ethnology of Scotland + + + SECTION IV. + + _The Stone Age._ + + ⭘ Natural Sequence of Development――Stone Weapons and Tools: Axes + hammers, spear-heads, arrow-heads, knives, saws, scrapers――The + Process of their Manufacture + + ⭘ Sepulchral Structures――Chambered Cairns, their External + Characteristics, Retaining Walls and Horns; Internal Structure, + Entrance Passages and Chambers; Human Remains, Bones of + Animals and other Phenomena in the Floors of the Chambers + ――The Long Cairns of England resemble those of Caithness: + Similarity of their Contents――Sepulchral Structures of + Orkney――Maeshowe――Other Groups of Chambered Cairns――Reference + to Unwarranted Inferences――Condition of the Remains: An + Attempt to Explain how the Interments were originally made + + ⭘ Dwellings of the Stone Age People――Did they construct the + “Earth-houses?” examination of the point――Description of the + “Earth-houses;” Resemblance between them and the Chambered + Cairns; probably the “Earth-houses” were originated and + constructed by the Men of the Stone Age――Primitive Boats + + + SECTION V. + + _The Bronze Age._ + + ⭘ Introduction of the use of Bronze: transitional stage + ――Hoards of Bronze Weapons and Tools: Bronze swords, daggers, + spear-heads, shields, battle-axe, and war-trumpet――Bronze + Tools and Implements: Axe-heads, chisels, anvils, needles, and + sickles + + ⭘ Ornaments: Gold diadems, armlets, and rings; bronze rings, + armlets, pins, and jet necklaces + + ⭘ Traces of the Sites and the Dwellings of the Prehistoric + People――Causes and probable Origin of the Scotch Crannogs and + Hill Forts――Description of the Crannogs; Articles and Tools + associated with them――Three Classes of Hill Forts, their + various characteristics, and purpose + + ⭘ Bronze Age Interments: Cairn burial; Urn interments; Cremation + cemeteries――Stone Circles: Interments within stone circle + areas――Result of recent Investigation + + ⭘ Probable length of the Prehistoric Period in Scotland――Social + State of the Prehistoric Peoples, their Religion, Culture, and + Civilisation + + + SECTION VI. + + _Roman Period._ + + ⭘ Roman Invasion――Agricola’s Advance; the Native Tribes offered + a vigorous resistance――Battle of Mons Grampius――Agricola + recalled to Rome + + ⭘ The Roman Legions had an incessant conflict with the + Independent Tribes――Roman Walls――Severus’ Campaign――Departure + of the Romans + + + SECTION VII. + + _Chief Tribes of the Country from the Fifth Century + to the Foundation of the Monarchy._ + + ⭘ New Historic Conditions: the Britons and the Kingdom of + Strathclyde――The Picts, extent of their Territories――Settlement + of the Angles in the south――Battle of Dunnichen――Migration of + the Scots from Ireland to Argyle and the Isles――Aidan, King of + the Scots――The Norsemen + + ⭘ Intermittent Warfare amongst the Chief Tribes; Causes which + led to the Foundation of the Historic Monarchy――Kings of + the Picts: Angus, Constantine, Kenneth M‘Alpin――founded the + Historic Kingdom; its extent――M‘Alpin’s reign + + + SECTION VIII. + + _Introduction of Christianity._ + + ⭘ Christianity an important factor in the Civilisation of + Scotland――Missionary Efforts of St. Ninian; his Miracles and + Churches――St. Kentigern’s; his difficulties with the King of + Strathclyde; leaves Strathclyde, but afterwards returned――His + Death, Tomb, and Relics――St. Cuthbert + + ⭘ St. Columba; his early life――His arrival in Iona, and his + labour amongst the Picts; He founded many Monasteries――His + encounters with the Magi and evil-spirits + + ⭘ The form of Christianity introduced――Columba’s Institution + of Iona: the Buildings, and the Monastic Community and its + Organisation, Divine Service, Priest’s Orders, Interment of + the Dead, Sign of the Cross, Hospitality, Food; Regular Work + of the Columban Community + + ⭘ Death and Character of Columba――Importance of the Institution + of Iona――Attacked by the Norsemen; Dunkeld the chief Religious + Centre――Influence of the early Saints on the subsequent + religious feelings of the People + + + SECTION IX. + + _Gradual Extension of the Kingdom + to the End of the Eleventh Century._ + + ⭘ External and Internal Conflicts――Long Struggle against the + Norsemen――Reign of Constantine II., a Meeting on the Mote Hill + of Scone――Attempts to extend the Kingdom south-westward, and + northward――Malcolm I., Indulf annexed Edinburgh――A Contest + for the Throne――Reign of Kenneth II.――Constantine III. + and Macduff――Reign of Malcolm II.; Battle of Carham, and + annexation of Lothian; Death of Malcolm + + ⭘ King Duncan engaged in a struggle with the Chiefs of the + North; Duncan slain; Reign of Macbeth――King Duncan’s sons; + Siward’s Expedition against Macbeth unsuccessful――Macbeth + slain + + ⭘ Reign of Malcolm III. (Canmore); extent of his Kingdom――His + marriage with a Saxon Princess; her influence――Malcolm + invaded Northumberland――Meeting of William the Conqueror and + Malcolm III.――Death of the Conqueror――Malcolm again invaded + Northumberland; his death――A Contest for the Crown between + Donald Bane and Malcolm’s sons――Edgar placed on the Throne + + + SECTION X. + + _State of Society from the Seventh Century + to the End of the Eleventh._ + + ⭘ Early Forms of Tribal Organisation; Relation of the Tribal + Community to the Land; Causes of Social Changes; Origin of + Private Property in Land――Divisible Rights in Land; Tribal + Organisation in the Eleventh Century + + ⭘ Agriculture, Food, and Dwellings of the People――Trade, Markets + + ⭘ Crime and Punishment――Social Morality――Customs associated with + Marriage――Attempts to place the Institution of Marriage on a + proper footing――State of Religion + + + SECTION XI. + + _Early Architecture. Sculptured Stones._ + + ⭘ Local Area and Number of the Brochs――The form and + characteristics of the Brochs――Origin of the Brochs + ――Indications of the Civilisation of the People who erected + and occupied the Brochs + + ⭘ Early Stone Churches――Round Towers of Brechin and Abernethy + + ⭘ Sculptured Stones: the Earliest Class; other Classes having + a Cross on them; the Earliest Class having only the peculiar + Symbols――probably of Pre-Christian origin――The Representations + on the Stones treated Historically + + ⭘ Characteristics of the Art of these Monuments――Associated with + the Art of the Illuminated Manuscripts; Elaborate Decoration + ――Ethnic Relations of these Monuments + + ⭘ Inscribed Monuments: Ogham, Gaelic, debased Roman, and Runic + + + SECTION XII. + + _Characteristics of Early Celtic Art. + Fragments of Early Literature._ + + ⭘ Celtic Art as developed on Metal Work――Mirrors, Rings, + Brooches, Chains; Crosier of St. Fillan + + ⭘ Cummene’s Life of St. Columba――Adamnan, Abbot of Iona: his + Life of St. Columba; its characteristics――Other fragments of + Latin Writings――Earliest Specimen of Gaelic Writing + + ⭘ The Ferleiginn: the Monasteries as Schools――Legends, Stories, + and Rhymes common among the People――Conclusion of the + Introduction + + + CHAPTER II. + + _Critical Estimate of the Result of Norman Feudalism + on the Civilisation of Scotland._ + + ⭘ Statement of the Historical Question――Commencement of the + Plundering Expeditions of the Normans; infested France + and threatened Paris; Normandy ceded to Rollo, who became + the first Duke――The succeeding Dukes; Rising of the + Peasantry――Robert the Magnificent; Birth of William the + Conqueror――Robert the Magnificent attempted to invade England + + ⭘ William the Conqueror ascended the ducal throne; his struggle + with the Nobles: He ordered the mutilation of thirty-two of + the Citizens of Alençon――Character of the Feudal Government + of Normandy――William prepared for the Invasion of England; + he defeated Harold, and proceeded to subdue the English + People――His Death and Character + + ⭘ Uncivilised and Savage Characteristics of the Normans; Norman + Feudalism almost destitute of the essential elements of + Civilisation + + ⭘ Effects of the Norman Conquest upon the English People; it + created new Historic Conditions――Result of the Introduction of + Norman Feudalism into Scotland + + + CHAPTER III. + + _Narrative. Introduction of Feudalism._ + + ⭘ Reign of Alexander I., and Earl David――Election and + Consecration of Bishops of St. Andrews + + ⭘ Accession of David I.――Commencement of the Introduction of + Feudalism――David misapprehended its Nature and Tendency; + Rising against the King; the Province of Moray forfeited to + the Crown――Invasion of England; Battle of the Standard + + ⭘ Death of Prince Henry; his children; Death of David I.――Reign + of Malcolm IV.; Local Risings――Accession of William the + Lion――Invasion of England; Capture of the King of Scots; + Surrender of the Independence of the Kingdom to Henry II., + but restored by Richard I. + + ⭘ Risings in Galloway and the North; Disaffection of the People + ――Progress of Feudalism + + ⭘ Reign of Alexander II.; Rising in the North――Alexander and + King John――Argyle subjected to the Crown; Diocese of Lismore + erected――Local Risings――Policy of the King; his death――Councils + of the Scottish Church + + ⭘ Coronation of Alexander III.; Policy of the Nobles during his + Minority――Interference of Henry III. + + ⭘ Alexander III. resolved to subject the Western Isles――Haco’s + great Expedition; its failure and cession of the Isles to + Scotland――Death of Alexander’s children――Meeting of the + Estates; Death of the King + + ⭘ Guardians appointed; Robert Bruce aspired to the Throne + ――Marriage Project of Edward I.――Treaty of Brigham――Death + of the Maid of Norway + + + CHAPTER IV. + + _Social Condition of the Nation in the + Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries._ + + ⭘ Feudal Organisation: the King, Revenue, Crown Officials; + King’s Council; Legal Functionaries + + ⭘ Early Specimens of Charters; Charters made a requisite + condition of holding Land, and a test of Freedom and Civil + Rights; Thus many of the People were deprived of their + Rights――Powers and Privileges granted by the Kings to the + Norman Nobles――Connection of the Church with Feudalism and + the Land――Hereditary tendency of Feudalism + + ⭘ Law――Crime――Forms of Trial and Punishment――Compurgators + ――Ordeals――Wager of Battle, Hot Iron, and Water――Origin of + Jury Trial――Indications of Improvement――Sanctuaries + + ⭘ Early Towns: Royal Burghs; their Relations to the Crown + ――Trading Communities to the north of the Grampians――Court of + the Burghs――Laws of the Burghs――Government and Organisation + of the Burghal Communities; Guild Brethren――Markets――Burghs of + Regality and Barony――Church Burghs + + ⭘ Coinage; Weights and Measures; Commerce of the Kingdom; + Commercial Treaty with Flanders――Home Manufactures; Hand + Craftsmen――Seals of the Kings, Nobles, and Bishops + + ⭘ Reorganisation of the Church――Dioceses and Parishes; Monastic + Ideal; Celibacy――Schools + + ⭘ Literature of the Period: Chronicles; Records + + ⭘ Architecture: Castles; Churches + + ⭘ Husbandry; Herds of Cattle; Dairy Produce; Grain Crops; + Mills, Brewhouses――Crown Lands――Church Lands――Condition + of the Occupiers and the Toilers of the Land――Bondmen and + Serfs――Conclusion + + + CHAPTER V. + + _Disputed Succession. War of Independence._ + + ⭘ Edward I. resolved to decide the fate of Scotland; the Nobles + and Clergy admitted his claim of feudal superiority, and the + Claimants of the Crown acknowledge him as their Lord Superior; + they granted Edward seisin of the Kingdom; he took possession + of the Castles, and began the swearing-in process + + ⭘ Claims of the Competitors for the Crown; Edward’s proceedings; + the issue lay between Bruce and Baliol; they argued their + Claims at great length, but the Lord Superior gave judgment in + favour of Baliol + + ⭘ Baliol crowned at Scone; his position in Scotland――The Lord + Superior insulted and humiliated the vassal King――A Parliament + at Scone; perilous state of Scotland――Treaty between France + and Scotland――Position of the Scotch Nobles + + ⭘ Commencement of the War of Independence――Edward I. massacred + the Citizens of Berwick――Baliol renounced his allegiance――The + Scots defeated――Edward’s march through Scotland――Baliol + deposed――Edward’s Measures for the Government of Scotland + + ⭘ The Scotch Nobles and the People――Wallace appeared as the + National Leader, attacked parties of the Invaders; Organised + an Army and captured Castles――Battle of Stirling Bridge + + ⭘ Wallace’s efforts to promote Industry; appointed Guardian of + the Kingdom; the Difficulties he had to contend with――Edward I. + again invaded Scotland――Wallace’s Tactics――Battle of Falkirk + ――Wallace resigned the Guardianship + + ⭘ New Guardians elected――Wallace proceeded to France――Edward + continued his efforts to subdue the Scots――A Papal Bull + against his Claims on Scotland――A Truce + + ⭘ France and the Pope deserted the Cause of Scotland――Battle + of Roslin――Another great Invasion――Edward’s March through the + Kingdom; his Negotiations with Comyn and the Nobles; their + submission――Wallace must surrender unconditionally to Edward + + ⭘ Siege and Surrender of Stirling Castle――Edward’s efforts + to capture Wallace; Menteith seized Wallace――Execution of + Wallace――Influence of Wallace’s career on the Scots――Edward’s + new form of Government for Scotland + + + CHAPTER VI. + + _War of Independence. Robert Bruce._ + + ⭘ Position of Bruce; a Bond between him and Bishop Lamberton + ――Bruce’s tragic meeting with Comyn――Bruce mounted the Throne + of Scotland; his adherents few in number――Edward I. proclaimed + severe measures against him; Bruce’s small army defeated, and + his followers captured and executed + + ⭘ Bruce reduced to great extremities; forced to wander in the + woods and mountains; he retired to the Island of Rathlin; + but the tide turned, and in May 1307, he defeated a body of + English Cavalry――Death of Edward I. + + ⭘ Bruce defeated the Comyns and broke their power――The Scottish + Clergy recognised Bruce as their King――Step by step the + Castles and the Country were recovered from the Invaders + + ⭘ Battle of Bannockburn + + ⭘ Bruce’s Policy after the Battle; Attempts to make + Peace; intervention of the Pope; Bruce and his Adherents + Excommunicated――An Address to the Pope + + ⭘ Attempts to make Peace; invidious Policy of the English + Government――A great Invasion of Scotland resolved on; + Bruce’s tactics led to the failure and defeat of the English + Army――Renewal of the Alliance with France + + ⭘ The English Government sued for Peace――Independence of + Scotland acknowledged; Stipulations of the Treaty + + ⭘ Closing years of Bruce’s Reign――Marriage of his Son――His + Residence and Life at Cardross――Letter to his Son――His Death + + + CHAPTER VII. + + _Narrative to the Return of James I._ + + ⭘ Succession of David II.; Regency of Randolph; his Death + ――Edward Baliol claimed the Crown, and invaded the Kingdom; + his supporters; Efforts of Andrew Moray and the National + Party――Invasions of Edward III. + + ⭘ Baliol and his English supporters driven out of the Kingdom + ――Return of David II.――Invasion of England; Battle of Durham, + defeat of the Scots, and Capture of the King――The English + seized the Southern Counties + + ⭘ The Steward elected Regent――The King’s Ransom; great difficulty + of paying it――Parliamentary Proceedings; Measures adopted + ――Position, Action, and Character of David II.――Arrangements + about the payment of the balance of the Ransom + + ⭘ Death of David II.――Accession of Robert II.――Settlement of the + Succession to the Throne――Renewal of the Alliance with France + + ⭘ Border Warfare――Arrival of French Troops; a Raid into England; + Departure of the French――Battle of Otterburn + + ⭘ A Regent appointed――Death of Robert II.――Accession of Robert + III. The Wolf of Badenoch; Turbulence of the Nobles; Weakness + of the Crown――Duke of Rothesay appointed Lieutenant-General + of the Kingdom――Recommencement of War on the Borders; English + Invasions; Henry IV. + + ⭘ A Plot against the Duke of Rothesay, seized and imprisoned; + his Death――Prince James captured by the English――Battle of + Harlaw――Death of the Regent; his son succeeded him――Return of + James I. + + + CHAPTER VIII. + + _Reign of James I._ + + ⭘ James I. crowned at Scone; his first Parliament; Inquiry + concerning Crown Lands; He resolved to reduce the power of the + Nobles; Arrest of Sir Walter Stewart, Thomas Boyd, the Earl of + Lennox, and Sir Robert Graham――Proceedings of Parliament――The + Duke of Albany and Thirty Nobles and Knights seized and + imprisoned; Trial and Execution of Albany, his Sons, and the + Earl of Lennox + + ⭘ A Parliament at Inverness――Seizure and Imprisonment of the + Lord of the Isles, and a large number of Highland Chiefs; + Risings in the Highlands――Marriage of the King’s Daughter with + the Dauphin of France――The King’s Ransom never paid + + ⭘ Policy and Legislation of James I.――Administration of Justice + ――His relations with the Church; a Heretic Executed――James + encouraged Industry + + ⭘ James’ Encroachments upon the Nobles; Forfeiture of the Earl + of March, the Earldom of Mar annexed to the Crown――A Plot + formed against the King: Sir Robert Graham and the Earl of + Athole; the Plot matured; Murder of James I.――Capture and + Execution of his Murderers + + + CHAPTER IX. + + _Narrative to the Battle of Flodden._ + + ⭘ Succession of James II.――Struggles among the Nobles during the + King’s Minority; Execution of the young Earl of Douglas and + his Brother――William, Earl of Douglas, assumed the title of + Lieutenant-General of the Kingdom, and summoned a Parliament: + A Struggle with the Crown became inevitable + + ⭘ Marriage of the King――The Livingston Faction crushed, and + their Lands forfeited――Proceedings of Parliament――The Earl + of Douglas and his Allies; Murder of the Earl of Douglas; + Civil War; the new Earl of Douglas defied the King; Battle + of Brechin; at last the King defeated the Douglas Tribe, and + forfeited their Lands + + ⭘ Siege and Capture of Roxburgh Castle; Death of the King; + James III., a boy, Crowned; the Government conducted by + Bishop Kennedy and the Earl of Angus; Death of Kennedy; then + the Nobles recommence their plotting; the Faction of the + Boyds assumed the supreme power――Relations of Denmark and + Scotland; Marriage of the King――Fall and Forfeiture of the + Boyds――Parliamentary Proceedings + + ⭘ Character of James III.――Treaty between the Lord of the Isles + and the King of England; Proceedings against the Lord of the + Isles; Earldom of Ross annexed to the Crown; the Lord of the + Isles created a Peer――The King incurred the enmity of the + Nobles; his brothers――Death of the Earl of Mar, and Flight of + the Duke of Albany; he plotted against the Crown of Scotland + ――Menacing attitude of England: the Scottish Parliament and + Edward IV. + + ⭘ Muster of the Scotch Army――The Nobles seized the King’s + Favourites and hanged them, and imprisoned the King; the Duke + of Albany assumed the Government, but soon fled――A Party of + the Nobles continued to Plot against the King; induced his Son + to join them and rose in Rebellion――Battle of Sauchie Burn, + Death of James III. + + ⭘ Proceedings of the Dominant Faction――James IV.――Church Affairs + + ⭘ Forfeiture of the Lord of the Isles――Policy of the Government + towards the Celtic People + + ⭘ Foreign Relations of Scotland――Characteristics of James IV.; + his welcome to Perkin Warbeck; recognising him as Prince + Richard――James mustered an Army and crossed the Tweed in + support of Perkin’s claim to the Throne of England, but the + Expedition failed, and Perkin was sent away + + ⭘ A Truce with England was concluded after Perkin’s Departure + ――James IV. was popular; and he had several Natural Children + ――Marriage Treaty between James and the Princess Margaret of + England; celebration of the Marriage + + ⭘ Foreign Relations: Death of Henry VII.; Henry VIII.――Sea Fight + between the English and Scottish Captains――War between England + and France――James IV. resolved to support his old Ally, + mustered his Army, and invaded England; Battle of Flodden + + + CHAPTER X. + + _Social Condition of the Nation in the + Fourteenth and ♦Fifteenth Centuries._ + + ♦ “Fifthteenth” replaced with “Fifteenth” + + ⭘ Origin of the Scotch Parliament; admission of the + Representatives of the Burghs; import of certain Phrases; + Functions assumed by Parliament; the Judicial Committee of + Parliament; the Lords of the Articles――Attempts to establish + a Court of Supreme Jurisdiction; Proceedings of the Judicial + Committee and of the Lords of Council――Church Courts + + ⭘ Power of the Nobles; rise of new Families during the War of + Independence, but Robert I. increased the feudal power and + privileges of the Nobles; Subsequently they entered into bonds + with each other and marriage alliances, which often led to + lawless proceedings and anarchy; All the efforts of James I. + and the succeeding Kings failed to restrain their oppressive + lawlessness + + ⭘ Deplorable State of the Nation――The small-landed Proprietors + and Tenants greatly oppressed + + ⭘ State of Agriculture――The Crown Lands; the Tenants and + Occupiers of these Lands――Church Lands + + ⭘ Condition of the Tillers of the Soil――Causes which led to the + emancipation of the Bondmen and Serfs + + ⭘ Burghal Communities; the Border Burghs; Characteristics of the + People of the Borders + + ⭘ The Northern Burghal Communities + + ⭘ Burghs of the Central Region of the Kingdom; Burgh Rents + ――Custom of the Burghs――Number of Sheep in the Country――The + Earl of Douglas and others evaded the payment of Custom, and + often seized the Money in the hands of the Collectors――Revenue + of the Crown + + ⭘ Commerce of the Kingdom――Seasons of Dearth――Description of + Imports + + ⭘ The Coinage; depreciation of the Currency; value of Scots + Money at the end of the Fourteenth Century, and at the end + of the Fifteenth + + ⭘ Characteristics of the Daily Life, and the Laws of the Burghal + Communities――The Chamberlain’s Court: Inquisitoral System of + Inspection; Ale Tasters, and Official Fixers of the Price of + Food and Goods; Forestallers and Regraters――The Burgesses of + Guild + + ⭘ Position of the Craftsmen; Acts of Parliament touching them; + mode of incorporating the Craftsmen, illustrated from the + Records of Edinburgh――State of Mechanical Skill + + ⭘ Cities and Burghs of the Church + + ⭘ Defence of the Country; Military Habits of the People; Armour + and Weapons; the Organisation of the Army――Tactics of the + Scots――Introduction of Artillery + + ⭘ Probable Population of the Nation――Roads and Inns――Defective + Sanitary Conditions; Pestilence――Lack of Medical Science + + ⭘ Drinking Habits; Chief Festivals――Rural Sports and Games + + ⭘ Sumptuary Enactments: Dress of the different Ranks of Society; + Household Goods; Ornaments and Plate + + ⭘ Price of the staple Necessaries of Life――Condition of the + Vassals, Tenants, and Labourers on the Crown Lands――Wages of + Workmen + + ⭘ The State of Crime――Beggars, Sorners, Oppressors, and + Vagabonds were numerous; Modes of Punishing them; Defects + in the Administration of Justice――Functions of the Sheriff: + Murder, Robbery, Rape, and Theft; Custom of saving Criminals + from Punishment; Various forms of Punishment; Penance――Crime + in the Burghs――Social Vice + + ⭘ Architecture――Castles, Churches + + ⭘ Wealth of the Church; Monasteries; Nunneries; Friars; + Hospitals + + ⭘ Religious Feeling of the People: Avowed Motives for assigning + Money and Property to the Church――Pilgrimages; Processions; + Relics; Sunday――Conclusion of the Chapter + + + CHAPTER XI. + + _Literature of the Nation in the + Fourteenth and Fifteenth ♦Centuries._ + + ♦ “Centurees” replaced with “Centuries” + + ⭘ The Lowland Scotch Language, influence of the Celtic genius on + it――Early Celtic Ballads and Tales; Celtic Heroes――Specimen of + Gaelic Poetry――Origin of Rhyme + + ⭘ Lowland Scotch Ballad Literature――Thomas the Rhymer――Early + Specimens of the Language――Ballad on the Battle of Otterburn, + Battle of Harlaw; Sir Patrick Spens――Romantic Rhymes; Fairies + and Elves――Holland’s _Howlat_; Cockelbie’s _Sow_ + + ⭘ Barbour: his Life; his _Metrical Story of Robert Bruce_ + ――Literary Merits of his Work; its Historical Value――The + Achievements of Bruce celebrated by other Poets + + ⭘ Andrew Winton’s _Chronicle_; its Characteristics + + ⭘ James I.; his Attainments and Energy; his Writings; _The + King’s Quair_ + + ⭘ Blind Henry, the Minstrel; his mode of Life; his Rhymed + Book on Sir William Wallace; the Materials from which it was + composed; its great popularity + + ⭘ Robert Henryson; his Life; Characteristics of his Writings + + ⭘ Sir John Rowll’s Poem――Fordun’s _Chronicle_――Increasing + Importance of the National Literature + + + CHAPTER XII. + + _Education, Music, and Art of the Period._ + + ⭘ Schools: the First Educational Act――Origin and Institution + of the University of St. Andrews――The Institution of the + University of Glasgow――Establishment of the University of + Aberdeen――Constitution of the Scottish Universities――Early + Scottish Teachers of Philosophy + + ⭘ Scottish Music: Singers, Harpers, Fiddlers, and Pipers――Musical + Instruments――Dramatic Plays + + ⭘ Painting――Seal Engraving――Seals of the Period――Conclusion + + + ♦INDEX + + ⭘ Listing + + ♦ added to Contents listing + + + + + THE HISTORY OF CIVILISATION IN SCOTLAND. + + + + + CHAPTER I.――INTRODUCTION. + + + SECTION I. + + _The Scope of the Work._ + +IN every stage of a nation’s career from barbarism to civilisation, +there are many conditions involved. The underlying causes of progress +in the early stages being so remote and varied that they often elude +investigation; still, if some of the salient points of the process +can be reached, the social phenomena may be partially realised: if the +surrounding circumstances of early tribes can be ascertained, patient +research may elicit valuable results. It is exceedingly interesting to +search for the causes and the influences which have operated upon the +life of our early ancestors in their many struggles. To trace the light +of consciousness dawning, and experience slowly becoming more effective, +gradually dispelling the mists of far-gone ages――the spirits, myths, +and legends, which enveloped the minds and affected the thoughts and +emotions of our early kindred――till the flickering rays of intelligence +ascended the horizon, and the shadows and myths receded, step by +step into the background. Yet the many retarding influences and +circumstances constantly recurring, and the difficulties and obstacles +encountered at every turn, were only slowly overcome by the persistent +energy of man. As time rolled on, original thought was developed, +new influences and agencies arose and came into operation, which +tended to subdue the ruder features of the race and to promote social +organisation and advance culture; and when these became effectual, +the people gradually emerged from the trammels of ignorance and +superstition, and at last enjoyed a more secure and happier life. + +Any attempt to indicate the causes which have induced a number of +scattered tribes, almost living in a primitive state, to pass through +the various stages of progress to a comparatively high civilisation, +must examine many conflicting agencies. The difficulties of truly +assigning the effects of different causes, especially in the early +stages, are very great, where ascertained facts are few and the +phenomena so obscure; while the natural tendency of the human mind to +generalise upon incomplete data is not easily resisted. Scotland offers +a fair and tempting field for the study of this subject. Inasmuch as we +find man living there in a very early stage, and can trace the social +organisation of tribes, their conflicts issuing in the foundation of +a monarchy, and the development of an intense nationality; and the +beginnings of industry, of art, and of culture among the people, and +their continuous progress, through the various stages of civilisation, +onward to the present time. In this period, extending over four +thousand years, we can study the various agencies and influences, +and the different historic conditions which successively arose, and +controlled the stream of events and moulded the historic phenomena. +Thus the aboriginal race which long occupied the country, were subdued +and absorbed by another race, which in turn were invaded by powerful +enemies, but the natives made a vigorous resistance. After this, other +migrations and invasions followed, issuing in new historic conditions, +which contributed to the extension of the kingdom, and the development +of the nation. In the natural course of events the kingdom fell under +the influence of foreign interference, which led to new invasions and +determined attempts to conquer the nation. The people resisted, and a +long struggle for liberty and independence ensued, which, in its heroic +features of resistance to oppression and the importance of its ultimate +result, is unmatched in the annals of any nation. While later, internal +political and religious conflicts were manifested in a variety of forms, +and constitute an exceedingly interesting and important part of the +national history. Thus, although some countries have a greater history +than Scotland, few have a longer, a more eventful, or a more peculiarly +interesting one. + +The work does not profess to present an exhaustive political history. +This branch will be treated according to its comparative importance +in the different periods, and the relative value of its facts and +phenomena, viewed as a factor in the general movement of the nation. +The main aim of the work being to reach the moral and intellectual +factors of progress, and especially to present ample details of the +material and social conditions of each period; and thus embracing all +the causes, agencies, and influences, in a connected scheme, to unfold +the successive stages of the progress, the culture, and the development +of the civilisation of the people. + +As the term civilisation, in its widest import, includes all +the material and intellectual products, the religion and social +organisations and institutions of a civilised nation, a disquisition +on the elements of these complex subjects would be out of character in +this section. From my standpoint, historically, civilisation began with +the first conscious efforts of man, whenever he began to act with an +end in view, such as to make weapons to defend himself or implements +to procure food: and this is sometimes called the primitive state, +from which mankind have gradually advanced in culture, more or less, +according as surrounding nature, circumstances, and historic conditions, +were favourable to their progress, or the reverse. To trace and explain +such a progress and development in the limited area of Scotland is +the conception and end of this work; so the prehistoric ages will +be treated in a concise and connected form onward into the historic +age, and associated with the manifold causes, circumstances, changes, +and influences, which have operated upon the people, and ultimately +resulted in our present stage of civilisation. + +The primary causes of civilisation may be shortly indicated thus:――1, +The human mind itself; 2, Surrounding nature, including climate, +soil, and natural products; 3, Historical conditions; and 4, Social +and material conditions. The mind of man is the prime factor of +civilisation, and unless this is recognised no satisfactory explanation +of development and progress can be given. For the internal power of +the mind is the only natural and conceivable cause of the origin of +civilisation; insomuch, that without it civilisation is inexplicable. +Still, the circumstances in which man finds himself placed may have +an important effect upon him. In the early stages, climate, soil, and +natural products have a potent bearing on the direction which man’s +progress might take; if he can live without much effort, as when his +wants are supplied by nature in abundance, he will feel inclined to +enjoy himself in ease. But the increase of numbers sooner or later +begins to affect him, and exertion in the form of migration or in other +ways at last becomes necessary, and outward movements and conflicts +would then commence. When historical conditions arise, they become +the chief external causes of relative changes in the state of society, +but such changes may not be always favourable to progress, though they +often tend in that direction. The social and material conditions are +exceedingly important factors in civilisation. It is principally the +social feeling which originates society, and binds mankind into groups, +tribes, and nations. Religion also often operates as a social influence, +in association at first with the instinct of self-preservation, and at +later stages in association with the higher emotions. + +The lower and narrower forms of moral tendency spring out of human +nature and the necessities of life――the social and sympathetic feelings. +The higher sentiments and emotions, and the definite ideas of right +and wrong, of justice, honesty, truth, and so on, were only developed +slowly, and with extreme difficulty. The very sentiment and idea upon +which justice itself rests is distinctly progressive; as at first it +appears obscure and often contorted, so it has only been gradually +growing in clearness, in purity, and in comprehensiveness. How far it +is even yet from being perfect needs no exposition. + +Following the lines above indicated, the geographical and physical +features of the country will be described, seeing that they have had an +influence on the development of the inhabitants. The direct action of +climate, soil, and food, on man is difficult to estimate, and varies +in different quarters of the globe; its operation is obscure, as it is +independent of volition, and man is merely passive under it. But the +indirect action of external nature is more potent on the development +of man, for it presupposes a reaction on his part under the stimulus +of his wants and activities, and in this relation the influence of +physical agencies upon man and society, especially in the early stages, +were everywhere felt. + +We may safely assume that man has always sought to gratify the +inherent cravings of his being. His primeval feelings and passions were +strong, and sometimes bounded into activity with endless degrees of +force; hence the varied ethnic affinities of races, the diversity of +historical conditions, tribal and political conflicts, conquests, and +amalgamations, which have contributed to produce such manifold results +throughout the world. + +Myth appears to spring from the same source as science; originally it +was simply man’s early attempt to interpret his surroundings. In the +myth-making stage of culture, man was ignorant of the causes of the +natural forces around him, hence he was eagerly looking for something +to give him an explanation of external phenomena. He found an +explanation in his own will and feelings; and so every moving object, +animate and inanimate, was thought to be impelled by a force akin to +his own mind. All the mental powers that man found in himself were +transferred to external nature. Thus the ancient world became inhabited +by multitudes of spirits, demons, and gods. Long after the original +mythical meanings were lost, new explanations were fastened on names +and words, and thus the process proceeded;¹ until the attainment of +definite knowledge dethroned the swarms of spirits, gods, demons, and +witches. + + ¹ _Celtic Mythology_, by Alexander Macbain, M.A. + + + SECTION II. + + _Geographical and Physical Features of the Country._ + +Scotland is separated from England by the River Tweed, the Cheviot +Hills, the Liddel Water, and the Solway Firth; the Cheviot range +naturally tended to fix the southern limit of the country. The boundary +line runs in a slanting direction from Berwick-on-Tweed to the Solway +Firth, a distance of seventy miles, and except on this line Scotland is +surrounded by the sea. On the east side lies the North Sea, on the west +the Atlantic Ocean; the North Channel, between the south-western part +of the country and Ireland, is only thirteen and a half miles broad at +the Mull of Cantyre, and the most southerly part of the coast is washed +by the Irish Sea. The west coast is nearly in a line with the east of +Ireland, and the greater part of Scotland lies west of England; and +the south-eastern end of the island approaches so near the continent +of Europe that the opposite coasts of England and France are only +twenty-one miles apart from each other at the narrowest point of the +Channel. Between Scotland and Norway there are 300 miles of sea, and +between Denmark and Scotland 400 miles of sea. These natural facts, +as we shall find, had an important bearing on the early history of the +island. + +The coasts of Scotland are very irregular, and broken, and rocky. On +the whole of the west coast there are numerous arms and inlets of the +sea, which penetrate far into the interior of the country, while here +and there the land extends out to the sea in numerous islands and +surf-beaten rocks. Amongst the most noted of these inlets of the sea +are Lochs Linnhe, Torridon, Duich, Hourn, and Nevis; on the south and +north coasts the bays and inlets are not so numerous, though on the +northern there are the Firths of Moray, Inverness, Beauly, Cromarty, +and Dornoch. The east coast is much less indented than the other sides, +but on it are the two important estuaries of the Forth and Tay. Owing +to these numerous firths, inlets, and arms of the sea, the coast-line +of Scotland measures about 2,500 miles, which affords many industrial +and commercial advantages. + +The Orkney Islands lie off the northern mainland, and are separated +from Caithness by the Pentland Firth――a dangerous channel――6 miles +broad, and noted for the strength and rapidity of its tides and +currents. This group of islands amounts to upwards of sixty, but most +of them are small, and others merely bare rocks, and only twenty-nine +are inhabited. The largest of the group is about thirty miles in +length. The surface of these islands mostly consists of heathy wastes, +intersected with rocks, swamps, and lochs; there are scarcely any trees, +and the cultivated portions yield oats and green crops. The only towns +are Kirkwall and Stromness. The climate is rather moist, but not severe. + +The Shetland ♦Islands lie about one hundred miles off the northern +coast of Scotland, and they are separated from the Orkneys by seventy +miles of sea. This group exceeds one hundred islands, but more than +the half of them are small holms or rocky islets, and only about thirty +of them are inhabited. These islands have a less favourable climate +than the Orkneys; they are more rugged, and the agriculture is poor; +but the Shetland sheep yield a fine soft wool, which is much valued. +The inhabitants chiefly live by fishing, and Lerwick, their only town, +has a harbour which is frequented by the vessels of different nations +as a haven of refuge. The Shetlands are only two hundred miles from +Norway, and hence they became important in relation to the ethnology +and colonisation of the northern and western coasts of Scotland. + + ♦ “Island lies” replaced with “Islands lie” + +The Hebrides or Western Isles lie on the western side of Scotland, and +are very numerous. They stretch along the western shores nearly to the +coasts of Ireland, and are regarded as the natural breakwater of the +north-west coasts. They consist of two chief groups: 1, those lying +close to the mainland, as Mull, Islay, Skye, and others, called the +inner group; 2, those lying to the west of the Channel of Minch, and +usually called the outer islands. These outer ones form a continuous +group of 140 miles in length, and so close together that they have +been regarded as one, and named the Long Island. Lewis is sixty miles +long, being the longest of the group, and the longest island belonging +to Scotland. Probably some of these islands were inhabited at an +early period, and they became connected with the ethnology and the +colonisation of the west of Scotland; and also with the introduction +of Christianity, and thus were associated with the early history of the +country. + +The islands in the Firth of Clyde are Bute and Arran, the two Cumbraes, +and the Rock of Ailsa. The climate of Bute is mild, and its central +and southern parts are well suited for tillage and pasture, but its +northern extremity is rugged. Arran is remarkable for its lofty hills +and glens, and only a small portion of it is suitable for cultivation. +Ailsa Craig lies in the broad part of the Firth, and is simply an +insulated rocky hill, about two miles in circumference, and rising in +steep cliffs to 1,098 feet above the sea. It is a great resort of the +solan goose and immense numbers of other sea birds. + +On the east coast there are only a few detached islets. The Bass Rock, +on the south side of the entrance of the Firth of Forth, is a mass +of basalt rising perpendicularly to 400 feet. The islands of May, +Inchkeith, and Inchcolm, are all in the Forth. The Bell Rock lies 14 +miles east of the entrance of the Firth of Tay, and is the site of a +notable lighthouse. + +Turning now to the mainland, the country presents to the eye an +exceedingly varied prospect. The fine diversity of mountains and wooded +heights, rivers and valleys, narrow glens and ravines, and lakes, +present stretches of charming scenery, and in other parts a succession +of picturesque scenes of rugged and wild scenery, striking and imposing +from the grandeur of their outstanding features. Many of the valleys +and glens in every quarter of the country present scenery of exquisite +beauty when seen in a fine summer-day in all their verdant glory. The +existing aspects of external nature are the result of the operation +of forces which have been working for untold æons, stretching far back +into eternity. If we could recall the echoes from that vasty deep, +and figure in imagination the successive phenomena as they appeared, +then we might form some faint idea of the sublimity and the infinite +significance of the great work of creation. The space which Scotland +now occupies, and after the formation of its rocks, was repeatedly +submerged by the ocean, and also at different periods enveloped in +mountains of snow and glacier ice. The action of immense moving masses +of glacier ice have contributed much to deepen and smooth the glens and +the lochs, and to modify the contour of the mountains and hills;¹ while +the wasting powers which rain, frost, wind, and the sea possess, have +all contributed to produce changes on the surface of the earth, and +formed the many contrasts, the varied and picturesque features of the +grand and beautiful scenery of the country. + + ¹ Dr. A. Geikie’s _Scenery of Scotland_, pages 81‒87, 1887. + “While land-ice is thus a most powerful geological agent in + new-modelling the surface of the earth, its operations are + not entirely confined to the dry land. As already stated, + it creeps along the sea bottom for some distance from land + until flotation comes into play, when large masses break off + from the ice-cliff, and rising up and floating, sail away + seaward as icebergs. These ice islands carry with them any + soil or rock-rubbish which may have fallen upon them from + inland cliffs while they formed part of the ice-sheet of the + country. The debris so borne off is, of course, thrown down + upon the sea bottom as each berg melts away, after a voyage + of perhaps hundreds of miles. Year by year whole fleets of + these bergs are sent southwards in the arctic regions, so + that the bed of the northern seas must be strewn with earth + and boulders. As only between an eighth and a ninth part of + a mass of ice appears above the sea water on which it floats, + the bulk of many bergs must be enormous. One rising two + hundred feet above the waves――not an uncommon height――must + have its bottom more than seven hundred feet below them, + and the thickness of the ice cap at its outer edge must be + there about two thousand feet. The Antarctic ice-sheets and + icebergs are of still more colossal dimensions.” + +The mountain ranges and the river system of the country may be briefly +indicated. The Highlands are naturally marked off by mountains from +the eastern Lowlands and the central valleys of the Forth and Clyde. +The Grampian range of mountains stretches from near the coast of +Kincardineshire across the country to Ardnamurchan on the west coast. +These mountains vary greatly in figure and elevation; the average +height of their higher summits runs from 3000 to 4000 feet above sea +level, and their greatest height is reached at the top of Ben Nevis, +which rises 4,406 feet, but it is not quite within the limit of +perpetual snow. To the north of the Grampians ranges of mountains run +off in successive waves to Cape Wrath, the shores of the North Sea, +and the Moray Firth, and southward along the west coasts to the Mull of +Cantyre, gradually diminishing in height as they approach the coasts, +where the river valleys widen out into limited plains. These mountains +are mainly formed of masses of rocks consisting of gneiss, granite, +schist, and other crystalline rocks, and bands of quartzose, which are +associated with some strips of limestone. + +The scenery of the Highlands presents many varied and striking features, +associated with much similarity and wonderful order. The craggy array +of peaks overhanging the narrow passes and glens, often present to the +eye a marked similarity of bend and slope, of figure and contour; still +taking the whole of the Highlands, a rich variety of contrasts can +easily be observed. Many of the Highland valleys present exceedingly +picturesque and beautiful scenery. + +Glenmore, or the Great Glen, is a remarkable feature in the physical +structure of the Highlands. It extends from the Moray Firth at +Inverness to the Sound of Mull, a distance of about one hundred miles, +and separates the Highlands into two regions. In its middle portion +there are three lakes――Loch Ness, the source of the beautiful river +Ness, which flows through the town of Inverness; Loch Oich, and Loch +Lochy. These lochs are very deep. “The deepest soundings in Loch Ness +gives a depth of 129 fathoms opposite the Falls of Foyers; in Loch Oich, +23 fathoms; in Loch Lochy, 76 fathoms.”¹ The lochs are situated in the +midst of varied and beautiful scenery; and the Caledonian Canal now +connects them by navigable channels from shore to shore. + + ¹ “Its very straightness is enough to suggest that the + Great Glen owes its direction to a line of dislocation. I + ascertained in the year 1864 that the line of the fracture, + or of one continued in the same line, can be seen along the + western side of the Moray Firth, where the Jurassic beds + of Eathic and Shandwick are thrown down against the Old Red + Sandstone. Hence the downthrow at this end of the line is to + the east side. It seems to me that this line has been from + a very early geological period up, indeed, to the present + day, a line of weakness in the crust of the earth. The + prolongation of the tongue of the Old Red Sandstone up + the valley of Loch Ness appears to show that the valley is + older than that formation; the dislocation of the Eathic + and Shandwick shales proves disturbance even after the + Lias; and the agitation of the waters of Loch Ness, during + great earthquakes in modern times, shows that, even yet, + underground movements tend to reveal themselves along + the same old line. Hence it may be reasonably conjectured + that the fracture along the line of the Great Glen has + been repeatedly modified during the subterranean changes + of successive geological periods.” Geikie’s _Scenery of + Scotland_, page 234. + +Some parts of the Highlands consist of barren moor, such as the Moor +of Rannoch, extending to 400 square miles, which is little better than +a desert. Its surface is level and a part of it covered by a bog; it +produces no vegetation, except a few fir trees, but granite covers many +miles of it. To the north of it another sterile tract lies between Ben +Nevis and the shores of Loch Ericht. + +The Lowland region is marked off on the one side by the lines of the +Highland mountains, and on the other by the southern uplands. From +St. Abb’s Head to the cliffs of Portpatrick a range of hilly ground +runs across the country from sea to sea; and in East Lothian and +Edinburghshire, the long chain of the Lammermuir Hills rises into steep +heights. The surface of the Lammermuirs, like most of the southern +hills, is pretty smooth and covered with heath or coarse grass, except +where the peat covers the hollows, and where the streams keep open +their channels through the bare drift or hard rock. The tops of these +hills are usually broad, smooth, and grassy; but on the western ridges +they descend abruptly into the plains, and present gulleys and narrow +glens, through which the drainage flows into the low grounds. These +heights of the Lammermuirs fairly represent the general features of +the scenery of the country between the North Sea and the Vale of the +Nith, although in the higher parts of the region the smoothness and +verdure of the hills are exchanged for the rocky scarfs, bare crags and +cliffs, and deep narrow defiles, which remind us of some parts of the +Highlands.¹ + + ¹ Geikie’s _Scenery of Scotland_, page 281, _et seq._ + +The Lammermuirs, the Moorfoots, and the Pentland Hills, form a range +running from east to west; further south, the Cheviots, the Moffat +Hills, and the Lowther Hills, form a continuous range extending in +a zig-zag course from east to west. The general features of these +southern and border hills are remarkably uniform throughout; they are +mostly covered with pasture nearly to the tops, and a great part of +this region is naturally a pasture land. + +The Lowlands of southern Scotland consist of a series of fertile +valleys, some of which are of considerable extent. It may be observed +that a different local topography prevails; as the term dale, instead +of strath or glen, is used to indicate a stretch of low lying ground, +a cultivated valley or a pastoral one. Amongst these notable local +districts are Tweeddale, Teviotdale, and Lauderdale, which belong to +the basin of the Tweed; Liddlesdale, Eskdale, Annandale, and Nithsdale, +each of which belong to the respective rivers of the same name, and +slope toward the shores of the Solway Firth; the vale of Yarrow, the +vale of Gala, and Ettrick, which have been rendered famous in the +national songs and poetry. + +But many parts of the central Lowlands are dotted with hills, and +even long ranges. The Sidlaw Hills commence in the vicinity of Perth, +thence extending in a north-east direction and terminating by a +rapid declivity on the side of Strathmore, but descending in a fine +succession of terraces towards the North Sea. The Ochil Hills, with +their offshoots, occupy much of the peninsula of Fife, and in some +parts rise to a considerable height; Ben Glack is 2359 feet above sea +level. + +Among the influences of external nature few have a more important +bearing upon the people than the water courses of the country. The +Watershed of Scotland runs southward from Cape Wrath to the head of +Loch Quoich, whence it turns eastward between Lochs Lochy and Oich, +then sweeping round the top of Strathspey and over the hills above the +head of Loch Laggan, and thence following a curving southerly course +past the west end of the Moor of Rannoch and the Brae Lyon mountains +to Crianlarich, thence across Ben Lomond and south-eastward over +the Campsie Fells into the broad Lowland valley: whence skirting the +south-western parts of Linlithgow and Mid-Lothian, it sweeps up into +the Pentland Hills, and then south between the valleys of the Clyde and +Tweed to the Hartfell Heights, thence it strikes across to the Cheviot +Hills. To the west of this line the water flows into the Atlantic, and +to the east, into the North Sea or the Firths connected with it. Owing +to the steep and mountainous nature of the west side of the Island, the +Watershed keeps much nearer to the Atlantic than to the North Sea; and +hence the greater part of the country is drained into the latter. In +the northern half of Scotland no large river enters the Atlantic; on +the western side of the Watershed as it runs through the counties of +Sutherland, Ross, and Inverness, nearly all the great valleys which +enter the sea come down from the south-east, and have their seaward +portions filled by the tides of the Atlantic. Thus they form the series +of inland sea lochs, narrow firths, and fords which characterise the +western shores of the country. + +On the north-east side, the Ness, the Spey, the Deveron, the Don, the +Dee, the North Esk, the South Esk, and the Tay, and a number of smaller +rivers, carry the drainage of the mountains into the sea. The principal +rivers of the Central Lowlands are the Tay, the Forth, and the Clyde. +The Tay descends from the heights of the Highlands, and as it were +issues into the Lowlands through the narrow defile of Birnam, winds +by Perth and gradually opens into a fine estuary; and pours a greater +body of water into the sea than any other river in Britain. The Forth +rises on the eastern side of Ben Lomond; and issues from the Highlands +through the narrow defile of Aberfoyle; and winding on it passes by +Stirling and Alloa, and enters its estuary. The Clyde rises from the +Moffat Hills in the Southern uplands, flows northward, winding its +course through the broad meadows, cultivated fields, fine woodlands, +and beautiful stretches of scenery. The basins of the Forth and Clyde +are not separated by ranges of hills, between the two rivers, the +ground undulates across the great coal and iron fields from Campsie +to the Pentland Hills. + +The numerous rivers and streams give rise to a corresponding variety of +defiles, straths, dales, and valleys. Besides those already mentioned, +there are in the north-eastern side of the ♦country, the valleys of +the Dee, the Don, the Deveron, the Spey, and the Ness; and the notable +ravines of the Findhorn, Nairn, and Beauly. Much of the best cultivable +land of the country lies in the valleys, on the banks and haughs of the +rivers. + + ♦ “county” replaced with “country” + +Caithness presents a tract of comparatively flat land; and in the lower +parts of Moray, Banffshire, and Aberdeenshire, there are considerable +stretches of pretty level ground; but the greatest extent of level land +in Scotland is the plain of Strathmore, which runs from the banks of +the river Forth to the vicinity of Stonehaven, where it is terminated +by the eastern Grampians. This plain is nearly ninety miles in length, +and its breadth varies from sixteen miles at its widest part along +the course of the Forth and Teith to less than a mile at its northern +extremity. It is the largest extent of level and cultivable land in +Scotland. The Carse of Gowrie lies along the banks of the beautiful +estuary of the Tay, it is two or three miles broad, and one of the most +fertile spots in Scotland. The Carse of Stirling lies on the south side +of the Forth, and is remarkably fertile. + +The Central Region extending between the Firths of Forth and Clyde +presents a striking feature in the physical configuration of the +country. The two Firths penetrate inwards on opposite sides, and +opening out the mouths of the rivers, nearly cuts the country into two +halves; and at this point reduces its breadth to forty miles. These +natural features have had a controlling influence on the stream of +events for ages: 1, In relation to the origin of historical conditions; +2, In relation to military and political conditions; 3, In relation +to national defence and political independence; 4, In relation to +the development of industry and commerce. The details of these will +successively appear in the sequel of the work. + +Lakes are still pretty numerous in Scotland; although in early times +they were far more numerous. During the last hundred and fifty years +many lochs have been drained and turned into cultivated land; while the +natural processes of growth have transformed others into mosses. They +are most numerous in the Highland and Middle divisions of the country. +Loch Lomond is the largest one in the Kingdom; it is twenty-four miles +long and seven miles broad at its widest part. It contains upwards of +thirty islands, many of which are richly wooded. For some time it has +been held to be scientifically proved, that the greater part of the +lochs of Scotland were formed or at least deepened by the action of +glacier ice; some of them are scooped out of solid rock, the immense +weight of a great moving mass of ice having effected this result. + +Although the country is comparatively poor in soil, it is rich in +the raw materials of industry. Limestone, greenstone, freestone, +flagstone, slatestone, and granite of various colours are abundant. +The carboniferous rocks extend from Fife Ness to the coast of Ayrshire, +and cover the greater part of the Central Region――the coal, iron, +and shale district. It has been estimated that the total depth of +the carboniferous strata cannot be less than 6000 feet.¹ The richest +portions of the coal fields are in Clydesdale, Lanarkshire, and +Renfrewshire; the counties of Ayr, Fife, Stirling, Edinburgh, and +Linlithgow, follow in order; and in most of these counties more or +less valuable beds of ironstone, shale, and limestone, are intermixed +with the coal. Broken strata of coal have been found as far north as +Sutherlandshire. Lead and copper are found in small quantities; gold +also has been discovered in several parts of the country, though not +in sufficient quantities to repay the labour of searching for it. About +twenty years ago, a number of persons employed themselves searching for +gold in Sutherlandshire, and though small quantities were found, the +occupation did not prove remunerative. + + ¹ Geikie’s _Scenery of Scotland_, page 329, 1887. + +Within the limit of the close of the latest geological epoch, the flora +and fauna of the country may be briefly noticed. The character of the +vegetation varied in different localities, and according to altitude +on the mountains. Heaths, and here and there a straggling alpine plant, +graced the higher brows of the mountains; lower down, on their ribs, +waving ferns and other wild growths shot up; around their base, and +some 1500 feet upward on their sides, trees of pine and oak spread out +their trunks and branches. The oak also abounded on the low grounds, +and other indigenous trees, such as the birch, hazel, alder, willow, +and juniper, all lived and grew wonderfully. In the boggy valley and +glen, marsh plants, sea growths, and other wild flowers sprang up. +In the more level and dry grounds, natural grasses, and wood wherever +the conditions were suitable covered the scene. How many of the fruit +bearing trees and bushes were indigenous I am unable to tell; that +there were wild fruit of various kinds need not be doubted. + +Passing to the fauna of the country, vast multitudes of trout swarmed +in the streams, rivers, and lakes; and immense shoals of fish, then as +now, inhabited the firths and bays, and the encircling ocean. Touching +the feathered species, there were several kinds of game, wild ducks, +and fresh water and sea fowls were plentiful. Rapacious birds of the +hawk and owl varieties, and the golden eagle were common. The British +Islands are very rich in birds, nearly three hundred species are known, +some of which are nowhere else found. The small singing birds of the +country are well known, and need not be enumerated, for in spring and +summer they enliven the garden, the wood, the valley and the mountain. +Among the higher indigenous animals there were one or two species of +the ox, from which the native cattle were probably derived. The sheep, +red deer, and the roebuck were common; and the dog and the horse appear +to have been domesticated at a very early period. The hare, the fox, +wild cats, weasels, fumarts, and other wild animals, some of which have +long been extinct in Scotland, such as the wild boar, the wolf, the +beaver, and others, were common. The wolf held out for many centuries +into the present era, and Acts of Parliament were passed in the +fifteenth century, commanding the people to muster at certain seasons +every year to hunt and destroy them. + +Although the main outline of the country was the same then as now; +yet the external surface and face of the country then presented a very +different aspect to that which we see around us in every quarter at the +present time. There was more water over the whole country; the Firths +of Forth and Clyde rose some thirty feet above the present level of +their tides; and the ground on which Leith, Dundee, Arbroath, Ayr, +Greenock, Cromarty, and many other towns on the coast now stand, was +then either wholly or in part covered with water. The rivers too were +then much larger than they are now, and in many places their waters +spread over a wider area. Then there were ♦innumerable lakes and +swamps, black mosses and moors; and vast forests which swept in long +withdrawing glades across the country. Thick clouds of mist often +enveloped the land and water, and a severer climate prevailed. The +reigning silence was only broken by the howl and snort of the wild +beasts which roamed throughout the country. Such was the state of the +country, when man first planted his foot on the soil of Scotland, and +found himself surrounded by the conditions and the natural resources +of the home, which I have briefly described; and how far he has turned +them to account this history should show. + + ♦ “inumerable” replaced with “innumerable” + +The influence of climate, soil, food, and other natural agencies on +man, and the early inhabitants of Scotland, have now to be considered. +According to the brief statement in the first section, it is extremely +difficult to distinguish in the early stages of society, what is due +to external agencies on the one hand, from what is due on the other to +the internal energy of man himself. Still the co-relative potency of +external influences and natural agencies on the destiny of the human +race can hardly be questioned. At once discarding visionary notions, +and endeavouring to grapple with the real and living world; we find +men naked upon the earth amid the forces of nature, and on every side +ferocious and venomous creatures to contend against; while he had +everything to learn, how to protect himself and to fight and struggle +for his life. Thus we must see the importance of the surrounding +conditions and circumstances. Here man had to shield himself from +the biting cold and frost, there from the scorching and burning sun; +everywhere he found himself face to face with numerous forces which +might have hurt or destroyed him. + +Looking then to the climate and soil of Scotland in prehistoric times, +the difficulty of obtaining food and protection from the cold and frost +incident to the country, would have been the first matters to seriously +affect the early inhabitants. The limited quantity of vegetable roots +and wild fruit, which the soil spontaneously produced, must have +rendered a supply of food from this source exceedingly precarious; and, +prior to cultivation in so sterile a country, the early inhabitants +could hardly have subsisted on vegetable food. The only remaining +source of food in sufficient abundance was the wild animals, fowls, and +the fish swarming in the waters. But it demanded much exertion and some +ingenuity on man’s part to procure a supply of this description; owing +to the coldness of the climate, however, and his imperfect means of +sheltering himself, animal food was most suitable for him, as it is +best fitted to keep up the warmth of the body. The results of these +external conditions on the spirit and habits of the early inhabitants +may be easily realised. The exertion and risk incurred in pursuing +and slaying wild animals would naturally ♦develop habits of daring and +determination; and the very efforts necessary for his self-preservation +tended to develop his faculties. In short, we may easily comprehend +how the circumstances in which man found himself placed in this quarter +of the globe, were admirably calculated to develop a fund of energy, +a spirit of independence, and a physical constitution capable of great +and heroic endurance. + + ♦ “develope” replaced with “develop” + +The natural structure of the country was favourable to lawless freedom. +Geographically there are few countries less adapted to the requirements +of a central despotism than Scotland. As the obstacles interposed by +nature rendered regular communication between the different parts of +the country almost impossible for ages, the results of these structural +features of the country have been enormous, and they will again and +again force themselves upon our notice. Here I am mainly concerned +with the effort to understand their early effects. Their outcome +was exhibited in the form of a number of little local rulers planted +throughout the country――sometimes called chiefs, at other times nobles, +and they long possessed the supreme power in Scotland, though not +always its nominal holders; and they offered a prolonged and determined +resistance to the formation of an effective central authority. + +The general features of a country may be considered in relation to the +imagination, and also in relation to the understanding. The appearances +presented by external nature to the eye and the senses mainly operates +through the imagination, and this process has been supposed to have +originated many of the superstitions which have afflicted mankind, +such as those primitive notions of spirits and ghosts, myths, legends, +and so on, which arose in the infancy of the race. Generally, it +may be said, that whatever in the aspects of nature is calculated to +inspire feelings of fear, terror, or bewilderment, and everything that +raises in the mind an idea of the uncontrollable and unfathomable, +has a tendency to inflame the uncultured imagination. In the early +prehistoric ages, when men looked around and contrasted their own +powers with the forces of nature, they were apt to become painfully +conscious of their own helplessness and their dependent condition. +Hence have sprung up the mythologies and polytheisms of the world. +In those regions of the earth, where nature is seen on a grand and +imposing scale, the impressions produced on the mind would be the most +effective and abiding. + +But the mountains and rivers of Scotland, though numerous, cannot be +considered as being on an exceedingly grand scale, when compared with +those of other countries. The aspects of these mountains and rivers +could scarcely have presented an unsurmountableness calculated to +overawe or stagger the minds of the people, although doubtless in the +early stages these outstanding features of the country had some effect +upon the feelings of the inhabitants. The rolling and raging waves +of the sea, the rocks, and torrents streaming down the mountains, +the storms and mists, have all been considered as suggesting and +intensifying the superstitions of the Scots.¹ It seems to me that the +influence of these natural agencies on the peculiar characteristics of +Scotch superstition have been greatly overdrawn. There were many other +ways in which their superstitions might have arisen, even supposing +that the Scots had any superstitions essentially peculiar to themselves. + + ¹ Buckle’s _History of Civilisation_, Volume II., page 181; + Burton’s _Criminal Trials in Scotland_, Volume I., pages + 240‒248. + +In relation to the understanding, on the other hand, the influence of +the mountains and hills, the rivers, the lakes, the firths, and the sea, +on the mind and daily life of the inhabitants, is clearly manifested. +This will appear on all sides as we proceed with their history. The +hills and elevated rocks were selected as the appropriate sites for +strongholds; and the lakes were utilised for a similar purpose. We +find the banks of rivers, the heights near the side of an estuary, and +the elevated positions in the vicinity of the sea shore, all chosen +with remarkable sagacity as the fittest sites for the habitations +of communities. Here we can trace with something like precision the +co-relative action of external nature on the understanding of man; +here we can see him picking out the spots best suited for his purposes, +and exerting that faculty which has enabled the human race to obtain an +undisputed supremacy upon the earth. + + + SECTION III. + + _Historic Interpretation――Ethnological Problem._ + +I. Whether man was originally descended from some species of extinct +or still surviving apes,¹ does not come within the scope of my subject. +But to render my principle of historic interpretation clear, it is +necessary to make a brief statement. Man from the beginning of his +career upon the earth has been in possession of his physical organism, +his external senses, and his psychical faculties. Although in the early +stages his mental powers were undeveloped, still he had the use of +his external senses and the capacity of thinking, however limited his +views might have been. For in the order of human development thought +necessarily preceded language, and always has preceded it. In spite of +the opinion of an eminent writer, who has asserted and reiterated that +thought and language is absolutely identical, a notion well calculated +to introduce confusion into the subject.² In nature and reality, if +thought had not preceded language, the rational origin of language +itself would be inconceivable. Is there not evidence recorded of +individuals, who have thought much without using articulate language? I +have observed an infant of three months old manifest distinct evidence +of memory in relation to inanimate objects. I have also observed +infants of eighteen months, who had a clear idea of the relation +of cause and effect, and showed a wonderful power of reasoning and +a spirit of inquiry. It is the internal psychical capacity of the +mind-thinking power, which renders language itself possible. In the +early stages of the human race it is certain that man did think hard +and long too――thousands of years before he had even a very limited +vocabulary of articulate speech; and we know that alphabets and written +languages were only of comparatively recent origin. Instead of language +being absolutely identical with thought, it is merely an instrument for +the expression and communication of thought, and an instrument to some +extent fortuitously formed, as is shown by the multitude of different +languages; and even the most highly developed ones are inadequate to +express the infinite combinations and relations of thought. + + ¹ “My own theory of the matter, however, is slightly different + from this. For, while accepting all that goes to constitute + the substance of Mr. Darwin’s suggestion, I think it almost + certain that the faculty of articulate sign-making was a + product of a much later evolution, so that the creature + who first presented this faculty must have already been + more human than ape like. This Homo alius stands before the + mind’s eye as an almost brutal object, indeed, yet still + erect in attitude, shaping his flints to serve as tools and + weapons, living in tribes or societies, and able in no small + degree to communicate the logic of his recepts by means of + gesture-signs, facial expressions, and vocal tones. From + such an origin the subsequent evolution of sign-making + faculty in the direction of articulate sounds would be + an even more easy matter to imagine than it was under the + previous hypothesis. Having traced the probable course of + this evolution, as inferred by sundry analogies; and having + dwelt upon the remarkable significance in this connection + of the inarticulate sounds which still survive as so-called + ‘clicks’ in the lowly formed language of Africa; I went + on to detail sundry considerations which seemed to render + probable the prolonged existence of the imaginary being in + question――traced the presumable phases of his subsequent + evolution, and met the objection which might be raised on + the score of Homo alius being Homo postulatus.” _Mental + Evolution of Man_, by G. J. Romanes, M.A., LL.D., page + 429, 1888. This volume is part of an attempt to strengthen + the theory of evolution, by showing how the psychological + barrier between man and the brute may be overcome. The + effort is carried on with vigour and considerable ingenuity. + + ² _Gifford Lectures_, pages 24, 356, 406, by Max Müller, 1888. + +From the historic standpoint, languages may be called the products +of social organisation. Thus different tribes, communities, and +nations originate and develop languages in harmony with their special +circumstances, social state, and stages of civilisation. The evolution +of language everywhere is partly a natural and partly an artificial +process, springing out of the growth of the varied organisations, +states of society, and human culture; and hence the multiplicity and +diversity of languages throughout the world. + +But the laws of thought are not dependent on language, or necessarily +identical with any form of speech. Thought can create mere arbitrary +signs, such as the formula and symbols used in science, which in +themselves have no meaning until the mind and the laws of thought +assign to them ideas, powers, and so on, which represent quantity +and quality and explain the infinite relations of the universe. +But, excepting Max Müller, did any one ever assert that the symbols +themselves were identical with the ideas, thoughts, and reasonings +involved in mathematics, astronomy, and chemistry? + +In the earliest stage of society man’s thinking faculty appears to have +been comparatively narrow, owing to his limited experience. Still it is +an ♦indispensable requisite of a historic principle of interpretation +to take account of the inner psychical faculties of man as a factor in +the origin of the first stage of society, in the subsequent creation +of historical conditions, and throughout the entire development +of civilisation. The psychical characteristics of tribes are more +important than their physical peculiarities, and when both sides +of these characteristics are strongly marked, they tend to make new +historical conditions, to produce relative changes, and thus advance +civilisation. There is little progress in human society until a series +of intersective relations arise and begin to operate and affect the +positions and circumstances of tribes, and then onward and progressive +movements gradually proceed. + + ♦ “indispensible” replaced with “indispensable” + +In the interpretation of the prehistoric ages and early culture the +first requisite is a just conception of human nature, to recognise the +natural rights of all communities, and human rights, wherever there is +evidence of their existence. For it must be remembered that there has +been an almost perpetual tendency among the more powerful peoples to +cruelly oppress the weaker and less fortunate communities. + +Touching the investigation of the remains, relics, and the phenomena +of a people in a given area, the first question is, what are the facts? +The relation of such facts as can be ascertained, and their meaning, +have to be explained. Following the natural course of development in +Scotland, we find a people using stone and taking the materials within +their reach, adapting them to suit the ends and circumstances of their +daily life. Associated with this people and their stage of culture +we find a series of remarkable structural remains which demands the +greatest care and discrimination to interpret, owing to the remoteness +of the period and the very imperfect knowledge of these people now +obtainable. Explanations of unfamiliar phenomena are often apt to be +wrong, unless when carefully made, and only relevant points admitted +as evidence. + +Proceeding down the stream of time we find a people using bronze, +and manufacturing their weapons and implements in this material. They +developed a culture which is specially connected with the products of +this industry, and they occasionally adorned their persons with fine +ornaments of jet and gold. This people erected stone circles in which +they placed the remains of the dead, and they also erected unchambered +cairns over the remains of the dead. But there is an overlapping of +the bronze and iron periods, which causes difficulty in the sequent +arrangement of certain classes of remains, and in such cases I have +endeavoured to make the best use of circumstantial evidence. In +Scotland there is a remarkable overlapping of all the three stages +of stone, bronze, and iron; and, therefore, though bronze and iron +implements may be found associated with the earth houses and the +crannogs, it does not follow that their origin and period of occupation +should be assigned to the iron age. + +The discrimination and estimation of historical evidence, and +prehistoric evidence in particular, is a difficult and arduous task. +In estimating prehistoric evidence great care and caution is requisite, +since owing to the imperfect character of the materials on which to +form a direct conclusion, recourse to inference is tried: and many +of the inferences which have been drawn in this department rests on +no sufficient evidence; the merest shadow of analogy, far fetched +instances from some other quarter of the globe――utterly inapplicable to +the point in hand, some allusion or conjecture found in Greek and Roman +literature, have been often adduced as evidence, which it is heresy to +question. + +Even written materials, and national documents, when viewed as +matter of historical evidence, must be discriminated, and their value +estimated according to circumstances and the characteristics of the +times to which they belong. Thus, surrounding circumstances is always +an element of more or less value in estimating every description of +historical evidence. + +Strange as it seems, the intelligence of mankind has often been in +advance of their means. This appears to have been the case in the +earlier stages of human progress. Even now intellect is in advance of +the means of attainment amongst the highest civilised nations. This is +the case in physical science generally; and when we look at ethical and +social science, it is plain that intellect is far ahead of the means of +attainment. For instance, it is well known that unequal and defective +laws produce disastrous results. So the difficulty in this lies not in +the want of knowledge, but about the most efficient remedies, and the +most effective means of applying them to remove the evils. On these +points men hold different opinions, and so the evils continue. Such +has been more or less the experience of mankind from the dawn of +consciousness to the present hour. Man knew about many things long +before he could command the requisite means to accomplish them; and +therefore the mere wrecks and fragments of the handiwork of prehistoric +peoples are not a complete index of their intelligence and powers. This +has to be taken into account in our interpretation, and in our final +estimate of the culture of such peoples. We can easily realise that +similar difficulties, and much greater ones, beset our early ancestors, +than those which still beset many of our own efforts. + +But the description of prehistoric objects would have little interest, +unless we knew about the people who produced and used these things +in their daily life, something touching the race then inhabiting the +country, and whence they came. To this question I will now turn. + +II. For long it was the fashion to fix the cradle of the human race +somewhere in the centre of Asia. It was said, that all the early +movements of mankind were always from the East to the West: that +all the migrations of the tribes which had peopled Europe, came at +intervals in successive hordes from the East. It was also said, that +the progress of civilisation had followed the sun from the East to the +West. In the first edition of this volume (1877) I ventured to make the +following statement:――“Touching the idea so generally embraced, that +the early invasions of Europe have always been from the East to the +West, I confess that I cannot see the necessity for this assumption. +Its wide prevalence is probably largely due to long fixed habits of +thought. Why should the central region of Asia be deemed the cradle +of the human race? This does not relieve the problem of any of its +difficulties. It is just as easy to conceive man originating in one +place as in another; in the heart of Africa, America, or Europe, as in +Asia, especially as the race had spread over all these quarters of the +earth long before we have any records. What can all our science tell us +about the spot where man first came into existence? Imaginary theories +are swiftly formed on a point of which nothing is known. There is +little or no philosophic ground for this Eastern origin of the race; +and it is vain to cover our ignorance in the garb of knowledge.” +The only semblance of a reason for imagining that the centre of Asia +was the cradle of the race, is the assumption that it was warm in +this region, and therefore primitive man could easily have lived and +multiplied there; but of course we cannot know whether it was warm +or not at the period of man’s first appearance on the earth. + +Recently vigorous attempts have been made to shift the cradle of the +great Aryan race from the centre of Asia to Europe. In the early part +of this century comparative philology gave currency to the relationship +of the far-spread family of Aryan languages. Then shortly after a +theory was formed to the effect that these allied languages had all +originally sprung from a clan somewhere located in Asia, in Bactria, or +the banks of the Oxus. But it is now strongly contended that Europe was +the centre in which the ancestors of the Aryan race first saw the light, +and that there is no Aryan race in the same sense that there is an +Aryan language, and that the question touching the origin of the Aryans +can only refer to the ethnic affinities of those various races which +have acquired Aryan speech. The real problem is among which of these +races did Aryan language arise, and where was the cradle of that race?¹ +This is not likely to be soon solved. + + ¹ _The Origin of the Aryans_, by Isaac Taylor, LL.D., page 7, + 1890. J. G. Rhode first advanced the theory that central + Asia was the cradle of the Indo-European race, and based + his arguments mainly on geographical indications. Pott’s + argument is founded on the notion that “the path of the sun + must be the path of culture.” _Ibid._, pages 9, 10. Hegel + also strongly maintained that the spirit of humanity, in its + historic manifestation, followed the course of the sun from + the east to the west, and at last culminated in the German + nation, which being interpreted meant in himself――in his own + system of philosophy. + + In 1848 Jacob Grimm ennunciated the theory that――“Few will + be found to question that all the nations of Europe migrated + anciently from Asia,” and so on. In 1859 Max Müller adopted + Grimm’s theory, and superimposed on it a fine flowing poetic + strain, which captivated multitudes of people. The same + year Pictet published the first volume of his _Origines + Indo-Européennes_, in which he presented an elaborate theory + of the successive Aryan migrations from Central Asia. He + brought the Celts south of the Caspian and through the + Caucasus to the north of the Black Sea, and then up the + Danube to the extreme west of Europe; and the Greeks and + Italians by a route, south of the Caspian, through Asia + Minor to Greece and Italy; while the Slavs and Teutons + marched north of the Caspian through the Russian steppes. + Taylor’s _Origin of the Aryans_, pages 11‒12. + +Amongst the causes which tended to discredit the Asiatic origin of the +Aryans may be mentioned the evidence of the antiquity of man presented +by geology, prehistoric investigation, anthropological study, and +craniology. From the results obtained in these branches of inquiry, it +became apparent that man in Europe was the contemporary of the mammoth, +the reindeer, the musk-sheep, lion, elephant, bear, and other animals, +which are either locally or wholly extinct. It further appeared that +man had inhabited France and the south of Britain at the close of the +quaternary period.¹ When this was at last recognised, views of man +and traditional notions which had long prevailed began to recede into +the region of delusion. It was then asked whether there was any real +evidence of these great successive migrations from Central Asia? “Is +there any reason for supposing that the present inhabitants of Europe +are not in the main the descendants of the neolithic races whose rude +implements fill our museums? If not, what has become of these primitive +peoples?”² After it had been shown that the skulls of the primitive +inhabitants of central France were of the same type as those of +the present inhabitants, and that the skulls of the Spanish Basques +belonged to another neolithic type, and similar results obtained in +Denmark, Britain, and Eastern Europe, the logical conclusion from such +facts seemed clear.³ + + ¹ _Prehistoric Europe_, by J. Geikie, LL.D., pages 19‒23, + 74, 89, 92, _et seq._, 114, 360, 378, 544‒556; _The Ancient + Stone Implements, Weapons, and Ornaments of Great Britain_, + by J. Evans, pages 430‒462, 578‒621. + + ² Taylor’s _Origin of the Aryans_, page 19. + + ³ _The Human Species_, by A. De ♦Quatrefages, 1879. This + authority says:――“In the quaternary period there is more + precise information about man than of several of the + existing races. The caves which he inhabited, those in which + he buried his dead, and the alluvial deposits formed by + rivers which have borne away his corpse, have preserved + numerous bones for our study. As many as forty different + places in all, especially in the western portion of Europe, + have supplied our museums with as many as forty skulls, more + or less intact, and numbers of fragments of the cranium and + face, as well as a great number of the bones of the trunk + and limbs, and even some entire skeletons,” page 287. + + “In fossil, as well as in modern skulls, we find between + races and individuals oscillations of a more or less + striking character. Although these are often of less extent + in known fossil races than those observed in existing + populations.” _Ibid._, page 293. + + “In all fossil races we find the essentially human character + of the predominance of the cranium over the face. With them, + as with us, the bony framework which contains the brain + becomes longer, narrower, or shorter, at the same time + increasing in size; it rises or is flattened, but always + possesses a capacity comparable to that of the present day.” + _Ibid._, page 295. + + “We admit, then, two dolichocephalic races――those of + ♦Canstadt and of ♦Cro-Magnon. The more or less brachycephalic + races are four in number. Under the name of Furfooz races we + have included two races discovered in that famous locality, + (the valley of the Lesse, in Belgium). The Grenelle race + (name of a place near Paris) and that of La Truchere also + take their names from the localities where they were found.” + _Ibid._, page 301. He gives many interesting details of + these several races, but the evidence on which some of the + details rests does not come up to my standard. + + ♦ “Quaterfages” replaced with “Quatrefages” + “Constadt” replaced with “Canstadt” + “Cro-Magon” replaced with “Cro-Magnon” + +It was seen that the Aryan languages must either all have originated +in Europe, one member, the Indo-Iranian, separating from the rest and +migrating to its present region, or they must all have originated in +Asia, and then migrated severally to Europe, still retaining in their +new homes the precise relative positions which their mutual connections +prove must have originally existed. Which of the two alternatives is +the more probable? That of a single migration, of a people whom we +know to have been nomads at no very remote period, or six distinct +migrations of six separate peoples, of which there is no evidence that +they ever migrated at all, and whose traditions assert that they were +aboriginal?¹ + + ¹ Taylor’s _Origin of the Aryans_, pages 22‒23. + +According to Dr. Schrander two positions are settled――that from the +earliest period of which there is evidence we find Asiatic Aryans on +the Jaxartes, and the European Aryans in Northern Europe. He maintains +that not a shred of evidence has been adduced to show that any +migration of the European Aryans from the East ever occurred. At the +earliest period the European Aryans seem to have been moving toward +the south and the south-east; and he has now finally placed the main +original home of the Aryans on the Middle Volga where it is joined by +the Sanna. + +As yet, however, there is not a concurrence of view among scholars and +inquirers, some holding that Central Europe was the original cradle +of the Aryans, others Eastern Europe, and some Northern Europe. The +problem itself has often been discussed with needless heat. French +and German scholars range themselves on opposite sides, and each +representative of the two nationalities vehemently contends in turn +that his ancestors alone were the pure primitive Aryans.¹ + + ¹ ♦Poesche writes thus:――“The true scientific theory, which + uplifts itself calm and clear, like the summit of Olympus, + over the passing storm-clouds, is that a noble, fair-haired, + blue-eyed people vanquished and subjugated an earlier race + of short stature and dark hair. In opposition to this is the + French theory, without scientific foundation, originating + in political hatred, which asserts that the primitive Aryans + were a short and dark people, who Aryanised the tall, fair + race.” _Die Arier_, page 44. + + M. Chavée maintains that the mental superiority lies with + the other race:――“Look at the beautifully formed head of the + Iranians and Hindus, so intelligent and so well developed. + Look at the perfection of those admirable languages, the + Sanscrit and the Zind. The Germans have merely defaced and + spoilt the beautiful structure of the primitive Aryan speech.” + Again, Ujfalvy remarks: “If superiority consists merely + in physical energy, enterprise, invasion, conquest, then + the fair dolichocephalic race may claim to be the leading + race in the world; but if we consider mental qualities, the + artistic and intellectual faculties, then the superiority + lies with the brachycephalic race.” Another Frenchman, De + Mortillet, in his _Le Préhistorique_, strongly maintains + that the civilisation of Europe is almost entirely due to + the great brachycephalic race. + + The German writers further argue, “That while the peasantry + and middle classes over the greater part of Europe + are brachycephalic, the nobles and landed proprietors + approximate rather to the long Teutonic type. This, they + say, is a proof that a brachycephalic aboriginal people was + conquered and Aryanised by Teutonic invaders.” _Origin of + the Aryans_, pages 227, 229. + + ♦ “Posche” replaced with “Poesche” + +Dr. Taylor has presented the following conclusions:――“The four European +types of race may be traced continuously in occupation of their present +seats to the neolithic period; and in the case of the Italic and Swiss +pile dwellers, and the round barrow people of Britain, we must believe +that their speech in neolithic times was Aryan――either Celtic or Italic. +We are, therefore, forced to adopt the view that one of the four races +must be identified with the primitive Aryans, and that this race, +whichever it was, imposed its Aryan speech on the other three. It is +most reasonable to believe that the Aryan civilisation originated with +the broad-headed race of Central Europe, which possessed the skill to +construct, with rude stone tools, the pile dwellings of Switzerland and +Italy. And on archæological grounds we have come to the conclusion that +the Slavo-Celtic race, as represented in the round barrows of Britain, +and in the pile dwellings of Central Europe, comes nearest to the +primitive Aryans as disclosed by linguistic palæontology. Aryan speech +may have been evolved out of a language of the Ural Altaic class; the +grammatical resemblances pointing to a primitive unity of speech, just +as the physical resemblances point to a primitive unity of race. There +must have been some ruder form of speech from which the elaborate Aryan +inflection was evolved, and there is no other known form of speech, +except the Ural Altaic, which can be regarded as the germ out of +which the Aryan languages may have sprung. We have also arrived at the +conclusion that the Celto-Slavic race best represents the primitive +Aryans, whose speech may have been evolved out of a language of the +Ural Altaic class. We may, therefore, conjecture that at the close of +the reindeer period a Finnic people appeared in Western Europe, whose +speech, remaining stationary, is represented by the agglutinative +Basque, and that much later, at the beginning of the pastoral age, when +the ox had been tamed, a taller and more powerful Finnic-Ugric people +developed in Central Europe the inflective Aryan speech.”¹ + + ¹ _Origin of the Aryans_, pages 217, 242, 295‒296. + +Whether the Aryan language was originated in Europe or not, it seems +pretty evident that its origin must stretch back to a period at least +three or four thousand years before the Christian era. But identity or +relationship of language by no means proves identity of race; at the +utmost it only raises a presumption in favour of a common racial origin. +Language belongs to the organised community, not specially to the +race; so it can only prove social contact, not racial kinship, unless +where other evidence is available, such as physical characteristics, +religious beliefs, similar customs and habits. Tribes and races +sometimes lose their own speech and adopt the tongues of others,――a +social phenomena which occurs from various causes operating in the +ceaseless evolution of human society. + +I have briefly touched on the early inhabitants of Europe, and the +questions of the origin of the Aryan race and languages, merely +preparatory to the treatment of the ethnology of Scotland. No relics +of Palæolithic man have been found anywhere in Scotland.¹ Although +such relics, and even fragments of human bones have been discovered +in the southern parts of the island, yet it is not usually maintained +that these earliest tribes or cavemen survived through the subsequent +geological and climatic changes, and continuously occupied the country +on to the polished stone age.² I now come to the ethnological problem +in the limited sense in which it relates to Scotland; but this question +cannot be treated at all without reference to the southern part of the +island and to the Continent. + + ¹ Geikie’s _Prehistoric Europe_, page 428. + + ² “We have seen that during the last glacial epoch Palæolithic + man retreated with the reindeer and its congeners, and + occupied the valleys of Southern France. What is his + subsequent history? Did he return northwards with the Arctic + and Alpine animals to re-occupy the Belgian and English + caves in Postglacial times? As a matter of fact, he did + not.... It is open, of course, to argue that the Neolithic + race or races were identical with the Palæeolithic tribes, + who had somehow acquired a knowledge of husbandry, spinning, + and pottery; who had learned to domesticate certain animals, + and to finish their implements more perfectly.... All this + is possible, but, on the other hand, it is so extremely + improbable that, until some positive evidence in favour + of such a view be advanced, we may well leave it out of + account.... Other writers are of opinion that the man of the + reindeer period in Southern France probably remained where + he was, to become absorbed in the new wave of population + that swept into Europe at the close of the glacial period.... + There are certain appearances in some Pyrenean caves, as + in that of Gourdan, described by M. ♦Piette, which lead + to the suspicion that the interval between the Palæolithic + and Neolithic ages in Southern France may not have been + prolonged.” _Ibid._, pages 546, 551‒552. + + ♦ “Pette” replaced with “Piette” + +The earliest prehistoric race in Britain of whom we have reliable +evidence, was a long-headed people of comparatively short stature. +Their physical characteristics resembled the Berber race and North +African tribes, and they probably migrated from that quarter into +Europe at a very remote period. They seem to have spread over the +Spanish peninsula, the coasts and islands of the Mediterranean, +Sardinia, Corsica, Southern Italy, and a great part of France; but they +do not appear to have extended to Germany or the north-east of Europe. +They were non-Aryan in race and in speech, and probably spoke Numidian +dialects akin to the inscriptions of that character. This race arrived +in the south of Britain about the beginning of the polished stone +period: and gradually spread over the Island, and even reached the +Orkneys. + +They appear to have inhabited the Island alone for a very long period. +They constructed the long barrows of England: and the chambered cairns +of Caithness, Argyle, and Orkney. In Scotland they also seem to have +constructed the curious underground structures called earth-houses, as +will be shown in the sequel. + +The first migration of a race of people of Aryan descent, who spoke a +Celtic dialect, came from the Continent of Europe, and arrived on the +southern or eastern shores of Britain, long before the close of the +stone period. It is almost certain that there were several unrecorded +migrations of Celtic tribes from the coasts of France and Belgium to +the southern parts of Britain. These tribes spread very slowly over the +country, and subdued, and intermixed with the long headed race which +had preceded them in the occupation of the Island. The new-comers soon +realised the advantage of living on friendly terms with the original +inhabitants, instead of attempting to exterminate them; as all the +available evidence tends to show that the two races peaceably and +slowly amalgamated. The skulls and remains of the two peoples have +often been found lying together in the same barrows.¹ + + ¹ _British Barrows._ By Wm. Greenwell, pages 126‒129, 559‒632. + +The earlier race, sometimes called Iberians, Basques, and other names, +were a short limbed people, only averaging about five feet five inches +in height, the tallest of the men reaching five feet six inches, and +the shortest of the women four feet eight inches. Their heads were long +and narrow, of the type termed dolichocephalic: their physical frame +was not strong, though some individuals of the race possessed well +developed muscular powers. It is said that they were dark and swarthy +in complexion. On the other hand, the newly arrived Celtic tribes were +of the brachycephalic type――a people with broad heads and very powerful +physical frames; their average height was about five feet nine inches; +and the female sex was also tall, very handsome and muscular.¹ + + ¹ _Ibid._, pages 559‒632, 680, 682, _et seq._ Strabo, when + speaking of the inhabitants of the interior of Britain, + says of the Coritavi, a tribe in Lincolnshire:――“The men are + taller than the Celts of Gaul; their hair is not so yellow + and their limbs are more loosely knit. To show how tall they + are, I may say that I saw myself some of their young men at + Rome, and they were taller by six inches than any one else + in the city.” Elton’s _Origins of English History_, page 240, + 1882. + +The Celts imposed their Aryan speech on the aboriginal race, and became +the ruling people.¹ They formed themselves into strong but separate +tribes. Owing to a number of natural causes and circumstances, the +movement of the Celtic people into the interior of the country, +northward and westward, was extremely gradual and slow:――1, They had to +come to an understanding with the original inhabitants as they advanced, +even though there was little fighting; 2, A large part of the country +was then covered with swamps, fens, and dense forests; 3, The natural +barriers of rivers and firths which often overflowed their valleys, +and of mountain ranges; 4, The difficulties connected with procuring +a sufficient supply of food; and 5, The difficulties of protecting +themselves from the severe colds and frosts, as the climate was +much colder than the sunny region which they had left. Taking these +conditions and circumstances into account, which must have greatly +impeded the onward and outward movement of the Celts in overrunning the +Island, we may reasonably assume that from the time the first Celtic +tribes landed in the south of England, to the time when they reached +the quarter now called Scotland, at least a century had elapsed. After +they had crossed the borders, it must have taken more than another +century to overrun Scotland and reach the extremities of the northern +Highlands. If we recall the fact, that it took the Romans with all +their resources, appliances, and disciplined legions, upwards of forty +years to conquer their way from the South of England to the Firth of +Forth, we will easily realise the probable truth of what has just been +indicated. + + ¹ Some recent writers have in a half-hearted way maintained + that one of the prehistoric races of Britain was of a + Finnish type from the Baltic region; but there seems to + be a lack of evidence to support this view. See _Origins + of English History_, by Elton, pages 126, 144, 151, 160, + 167‒179. The evidence adduced by this writer in support of + the Finnic origin of the men of the Bronze age in Britain is + altogether unsatisfactory, and indicates a lack of knowledge + touching the conditions of the prehistoric ages. + +As I have said, there were probably several unrecorded migrations +or invasions of Celtic tribes from Gaul or Belgium into Britain. The +result of this would have been a continuance and an intensification +of the onward and outward movement of the people; and ultimately the +creation of real historical conditions, which in turn and in process +of time, would account for all the varieties of Celtic language in the +British Islands. + +At a much later period, and after the foundation of the Gaulish empire +in the sixth century B.C., invasions of Britain from the Gaulish +territories took place. About the end of the second century B.C., +the King of Soissons had extended his sway over a portion of southern +Britain; and those Gaulish people, who came over during the later +period, settled along the southern and eastern shores of England, and +carried on a commercial traffic with their kindred on the other side of +the Channel. But they did not then penetrate far into the interior of +the country. In 58‒50 B.C. Cæsar conquered Gaul; and in 55‒54 he twice +attempted to conquer Britain but failed; and nearly a century elapsed +ere the Romans made another effort to conquer the Island. + +Thus, at the opening of the Christian era, the whole area of Scotland +was inhabited by people speaking an Aryan language――called Celtic. But +this people themselves, as we have seen, were not a pure Celtic race; +on the contrary, they had intermingled with and absorbed that original +short-stature and long-headed race, whose blood runs in their veins +more or less to this day. The same may be said of the whole of England, +excepting the narrow strips along the southern and eastern shores which +had been colonised by the later migrations and invasions of the Gauls. +I must now turn to Ireland and its early inhabitants. + +Into the maze of Irish ethnology and endless legends I cannot enter at +length, but it is necessary to state a few facts. Ireland was inhabited +in the Stone age, and probably by tribes akin to the short stature +people which we have found occupying Britain. Celtic tribes migrated to +Ireland at a very early prehistoric period, either from the Continent +or from the southern shores of Britain. This Island was not invaded +by the Romans, and consequently its early inhabitants were permitted +to follow their own course of development uninterrupted by external +interference till a much later period than Britain. The population +of Ireland seems to have multiplied rapidly, and became crowded at a +comparatively early period; and they began to molest the western shores +of Britain in the early centuries of the Christian era. Migrations +from Ireland to the western parts of Scotland became frequent; and +an intercourse based on ethnic affinities sprung up between the two +countries. The details of this connection will appear in the sequel. + +About the seventh century the Scandinavians began a movement through +the ocean towards the Shetland and Orkney Islands, and onward to the +northern quarter of Scotland, which they ultimately reached; and hence +became an element of the ethnology of Scotland. This movement will be +detailed in the subsequent narrative. The Angles or Saxons reached the +southern borders of Scotland about the middle of the sixth century, and +settled in Lothian. Their subsequent movement and intermixture with the +earlier inhabitants, and the gradual spread of their language, will be +treated at length in the sequel. The last ethnic influx was the Norman +Invasion; and in so far as it effected Scotland, it will be specially +discussed in its appropriate order. + +The origin and the consecutive relations of the constituent elements +of the ethnology of the people of Scotland as briefly indicated in the +preceding pages, may now be summarised:――1, The aboriginal people were +a race of short stature, with long narrow heads; 2, They were invaded +and subdued by a taller and broad-headed race, of Aryan descent, and +speaking a Celtic dialect, and ultimately these two races amalgamated; +3, At a later period, Gaulish tribes settled on the south and +south-eastern shores of England; 4, Migrations from Ireland, of tribes +speaking Celtic, to the western parts of Scotland, began early in the +Christian era and continued for several centuries; 5, The movement of +the Scandinavians to the Shetland and Orkney Islands, onward to the +Western Isles and the northern mainland of Scotland; 6, The invasion +and settlement of the Saxons in the south of Scotland; 7, Finally, an +influx of Norman nobles. Such simply stated, were the real ethnological +elements out of which the Scottish nation was ultimately developed. +Thus the subject is freed from a mass of legends and the obscuring +accretions of many generations. + + + SECTION IV. + + _The Stone Age._ + +In this section and the following one, an attempt will be made to +indicate the state of the inhabitants in the earliest times. Although +the relics, implements and structures, which they have left, may +not always be available for eliciting clear information, still these +remains when well sifted yield valuable results. In such an expository +narrative, touching prehistoric matters, dates can rarely be assigned; +but the natural sequence of development may be followed, and several +stages of early civilisation explained. + +Beginning with the group of things which may safely be assumed to +have been an indispensable requisite in the circumstances of the daily +life of the people, namely, their weapons, tools, and implements. The +greater number of our stone implements and weapons have been casually +found in the ground, in draining, ploughing, making roads, in peat +mosses, the beds of rivers, on the margins of lochs, and on the sandy +wastes near the sea shore. It must be observed that all these stone +tools and weapons are not strictly assignable to the stone age, for +such stone objects are sometimes found in bronze age graves, and in +association with many other circumstances, which clearly indicate a +survival of some kinds of stone objects and implements into a much +later period. Moreover, various kinds of stone implements seem to +have continued in use long after the introduction of bronze.¹ So far +as investigation has been made, there appears to be almost universal +evidence of a stone age over the globe at one time or another, which +shows that the early culture of the human race has proceeded on +wonderfully similar lines in the most distant regions of the earth. +On the other hand, there is often no satisfactory evidence of the same +wide and distinct character of a passing from the stone age and through +the bronze age. But the causes of this are easily understood, and will +become clear as we proceed. + + ¹ “Sir William Wilde informs us that in Ireland stone hammers, + and not unfrequently stone anvils, have been employed by + country smiths and tinkers in some of the remote country + districts until a comparative recent period. The same use + of stone hammers and anvils for forging prevails among the + Kaffirs of the present day. In Iceland, also, perforated + stone hammers are still in use for pounding dried fish, + driving in stakes, for forging and other purposes.” Evans’ + _Ancient Stone Implements_, page 11, 1872. For other + instances of the use of stone for various purposes in the + Shetland and Orkney Islands, see _Past and Present_, by Dr. + A. Mitchell, pages 121‒129. + +The stone weapons, tools, and objects, which have been found in +Scotland, may be separated into several groups, according to the +purposes for which they were used: such as axes, spear and arrow heads, +knives, saws, borers, and scrapers. + +Axes, including hammers, are of two kinds, those with a hole for a +shaft and those without a hole, and the first class is not so numerous +as the other. The axes with a hole for a shaft present a greater +variety of form, and are often ornamented, while the others are plain. +They are rarely made of flint, but often of granite, schist, basalt, +greenstone, and other kinds of stones. They vary much in size, and are +distinguishable into three varieties, thus: 1, those with an edge at +both ends; 2, with an edge at one end only; 3, with both ends blunt or +rounded. Those with an edge at both ends are the rarest of the three +forms. A fine specimen of this class in greenstone was found in a +bronze age grave, in a stone circle, at Crichie, Aberdeenshire. Other +examples have been found in Orkney, and in the Island of Coll, in an +unfinished condition. It has been supposed that these stones were used +as battle axes.¹ + + ¹ Anderson’s _Bronze and Stone Ages_, pages 306‒307, _et seq._ + +The second class, with the edge at one end only, is more common. A +fine specimen was found associated with a cremated interment in an +urn, which was turned up by the plough near Ardrossan, in Ayrshire. It +is formed of granite, with an ornamental band of three incised lines +round the concave edges pierced by the shaft hole, and the shorter end +finished like a hammer with a rounded face. They have been found in +every quarter of the country, and often in an unfinished state. The +hole for the handle was usually pierced from both sides, so the boring +has not always met exactly. They vary much in size and form, and in +degrees of finish and polish. The third class, hammer-shaped at both +ends, has been called a war hammer. A very fine specimen of it was +found in the parish of Urquhart, Elginshire, formed of a whitish flint, +and finely polished.¹ + + ¹ _Ibid._, pages 309‒319, 320, 321; Wilson’s _Prehistoric + Annals of Scotland_, Volume I., pages 102‒194; _Proceedings + of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, Volume IV., + pages 55, 379; Volume V., pages 214, 240; Volume VI., pages + 42, 86, 310, 332; Volume VII., pages 101, 102, 499; Volume + VIII., pages 264, 232; Volume IX., pages 55, 384; Volume X., + page 460; Volume XXIII., pages 205, 210. + +The class of stone axes without a hole for the shaft are very numerous. +They vary greatly in size and shape, from 3 inches in length to 15; +some of them are of flint, others of different kinds of stone, and many +of them are smoothed and polished over the surface. The smaller ones +seem to have been tools, which were used for various purposes, but +a number of the larger ones, which are more carefully polished and +finished, have been considered weapons. + +Arrow-heads show two distinct forms――the leaf-shaped and the triangular, +and it seems probable that the leaf-shaped class may have been the +earliest form. But both forms, with barbs and a central stem, were +found in a chambered cairn at Unstan, in Orkney. They are all usually +made of flint, and none of them are large; some of them have barbs +but no stem, others have barbs and stems both. Many of them are +beautifully shaped, and some specimens are finely serrated along the +edges. Arrow-heads have occasionally been found still in the shaft; +an example of a leaf-shaped one was found in 1875 in a moss at Fyvie, +Aberdeenshire, with the shaft entire to the length of nine inches. The +arrow-heads and spear-heads differ from each other only in size.¹ A +very large collection of both arrow and spear heads may be seen in the +National Museum at Edinburgh, in provincial museums, and private +collections.² + + ¹ Anderson’s _Bronze and Stone Ages_, pages 354‒365. + + ² There are upwards of thirty provincial museums in Scotland, + which have collections of Scotch antiquities both in stone + and bronze, more or less extensive and valuable. Reports on + these collections may be seen in the twenty-second volume of + the _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_. + +There is a series of tools and implements, mostly of flint, which seem +to have been used for various purposes in connection with the daily +life of the people. These are knives, saws, scrapers, borers, and +flaking tools, and we may endeavour to form some idea of the process +of their manufacture. The ground-work of all these tools is a flake of +flint, struck from a prepared core in such a way that it presents a +more or less cross-section. These flakes may be of any length up to six +inches, but in Scotland, where it is difficult to find large blocks of +flint, the flakes are commonly short. Flakes just as when struck off +the core of flint have sometimes been found along with the core itself. +Such flakes may be used for many purposes, and many of them show +evidence of having been so used without any preparation of the edge. +The natural edge, however, soon becomes blunt and broken, so when a +cutting tool of this kind was intended for constant use, it was worked +along its edges and trimmed to a point resembling a shoemaker’s knife, +or of a somewhat oval form. Many flint knives, trimmed for cutting or +scraping, have been found throughout the country, some of which are +single-edged and others double-edged. But knives, formed of various +kinds of stone, have frequently been found, of slatestone, greenstone, +schist, and other stones, flat, well-made, and highly finished.¹ + + ¹ _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, + Volume III., pages 252, 439; Volume VII., pages 121‒136, + 212‒219; Volume VIII., pages 64, 66; Volume XI., pages + 172‒174; Anderson’s _Bronze and Stone Ages_, pages 365‒371. + + Dr. Evans, perhaps the highest authority on stone tools + and implements in Britain, has the following on flint + flakes:――“The inner or flat face of a flake is that produced + by the blow which dislodged it from the parent block, core, + or nucleus. The outer, ridged, or convex face comprises the + other facets. The base, or butt-end of a flake, is that at + which the blows to form it were administered, the other end + is the point. Flakes may be subdivided into――1. External, or + those which have been struck off by a single blow from the + edge of a nodule of flint. Many of these are as symmetrical + as those resulting from a more complicated process of + manufacture. 2. Ridged flakes, or those presenting a + triangular section. One face of these sometimes presents the + external crust of the flint; in others the ridge has been + formed by transverse chipping, as was the case with the long + flaxes of Pressigny, but this method appears to have been + almost unknown in Britain. 3. Flat, where the external face + is nearly parallel to the internal, and the two edges are + formed by narrow facets. These several varieties may be long + or short, broad or narrow, straight or curved, thick or thin, + pointed or obtuse.” _Ancient Stone Implements_, pages 248‒49. + +A flint saw is simply a flake trimmed to a jagged edge, instead of +being sharpened by chipping or grinding. They are mostly of very +small size, and in some specimens the teeth are formed with remarkable +regularity and fineness. Though not so common as flint-knives, they +are not rare, and there are upwards of sixty specimens in the National +Museum.¹ + + ¹ Anderson’s _Bronze and Stone Ages_, page 372. + +Flint tools, seemingly intended for awls or borers, are not very common +in Scotland. Two kinds have been found――a long-pointed tool, which may +have been used for piercing holes in skins or other soft material, and +a shorter-pointed tool which may have been used for drilling holes in +harder material. Another class have been called flaking tools; they are +long and chisel-shaped, and usually appear blunted, worn, and rounded +at the ends, as if from attrition against a hard substance. They are +supposed to have been used for trimming and chipping other flint and +stone tools. The tool called a flint-scraper is a round-nosed flake, +with a semicircular end chipped to a bevelled edge, and usually flat +on the under side, with the upper side trimmed to a ridged form. There +are several varieties of this tool, and they seem to have been used for +various purposes. Some of them are double-edged, others circular; and +they also vary much in size. There seems to be no doubt that the larger +ones were used for scraping hides and preparing leather. It also seems +highly probable that the smaller class of these tools were used for +a distinctly different purpose――that of producing fire with a nodule +of pyrites of iron――in the same way as the flint and steel in our own +times to strike a light. For the purpose of producing sparks, pyrites +is as effective as iron, and they were so used among the Romans until +a comparative late period. Pyrites of iron abound in the chalk-beds +of England, but when they are exposed upon the surface of the ground +decomposition in no very long time removes all appearance of them.¹ + + ¹ Anderson’s _Bronze and Stone Ages_, pages 373‒376; Evans’ + _Ancient Stone Implements_, etc., pages 269‒287, 367, _et + seq._ + +Flint is nowhere very abundant in Scotland, but there are some +localities which afford transported nodules in greater abundance than +others, and in these there is always evidence of a long-continued +and widespread industry in the manufacture of tools and weapons from +the raw material. A site of such a manufacture was discovered at the +confluence of the Leochel and the Don in Aberdeenshire, though flint +is not native in the neighbourhood.¹ There is evidence of many such +sites of flint manufactures, which, when closely examined, the mass of +splinters “usually reveals the fact that among them are many flakes, +cores, and unfinished implements, and not unfrequently hammer and +anvil-stones, and even perfectly finished knives, saws, arrow-heads, +or axes, may be occasionally found, although the rule is that only the +waste products of the manufacture are met with. From these and from +experimental knowledge of the qualities of the material the processes +of the fabrication may to some extent be inferred. The tools were +apparently, for the most part, naturally formed pebbles of quartz of +a shape and size convenient for the purposes for which they were used. +The larger pebbles, often of the shape and size of a cobbler’s lapstone, +seem to have been used as anvil-stones, while the smaller pebbles, of +such size and shape as could be conveniently grasped in the hand, have +been used as hammer-stones.” + + ¹ _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, + Volume IV., page 385. + +“When the inferences deduced from an examination and comparison of the +chips, flakes, and cores, which compose the refuse of these ancient +flint workshops, are compared with the results of the methods still +employed, whether of savage arrow-makers or civilised manufacturers of +gun-flints and strike-a-lights, the ancient methods of workmanship are +found to coincide with the natural properties of the material and the +modern processes so far as they go. But the ancient flint-workers went +further than modern knowledge and modern skill can follow them. There +are some of their processes which have not been discovered by modern +science, and some of their products which cannot be imitated by modern +skill, with all its ingenuity of contrivance and all its resources of +means and appliances.”¹ + + ¹ Anderson’s _Bronze and Stone Ages_, pages 374‒5; Evans’ + _Ancient Stone Implements_, etc., pages 13‒48. + +In this very brief account of the weapons, implements, and tools, of +our early ancestors of the stone age, we can discern clear evidence of +the knowledge, the ingenuity, and the skill which they possessed and +exercised in the practical uses which they made of the means within +their reach. These products of their industry, associated with their +daily life, shows one side of a striking form of culture, considering +the surrounding conditions and circumstances. There is another side of +this culture, in some respects even more remarkable, and to it I will +now turn. + +Amongst all the prehistoric remains of Scotland there is scarcely +anything that surpasses the Chambered Cairns of the Stone Age in +significance and interest. Their great antiquity, their peculiarity +of type, and their structural characteristics, associated with the +phenomena of their internal deposits, offer a subject for examination +of prime historic value. There is little doubt that the Long Barrows of +England, and the Chambered Cairns of Caithness, Argyle, and Orkney, are +the monuments of one and the same people; and that in the latter, so +far as we can discover, we reach the representative of primeval man in +Scotland. + +Both the long and the short horned cairns of Caithness differ widely +from those of the Bronze Age, and from those of all later periods. +Their structural type is distinguished by two characteristics, namely: +1, by having an internal chamber accessible by a passage; 2, by having +a regular external outline on the ground-plan, structurally defined +by a double or single retaining wall. During the last thirty years a +considerable number of them have been excavated and carefully explored; +and I cannot do better than reproduce briefly a description of a few +typical examples, and then present some details of their internal +contents. + +The external dimensions of some of the horned cairns are very great. On +the crest of a hill overlooking the south end of the loch of Yarhouse, +in Caithness, there are two cairns of great magnitude not far from each +other. They lie across the hill from east to west, and have at both +their ends curved horn-like projections, falling gradually to the level +of the ground. The length of the longest one was two hundred and forty +feet, the breadth at its eastern end was sixty-six feet, and at its +western end thirty-six feet; but the curved horns expanded so that the +line across their tips at the eastern end was ninety-two feet, and at +the western end fifty-three feet. The height of the cairn at the east +end was twelve feet, sloping gradually to below five feet at the west +end. When the loose stones were removed from the upper part of the +highest end, a chamber with a passage leading into it was disclosed. +The outer opening of the passage was in the middle between the +projecting horns; and two flat stones placed on end, 2½ feet high, +formed the door jambs on the outside of the entrance. A well built +passage two feet wide runs inward for ten feet, and where it opens +into the chamber, two stones similar to those at the outside entrance, +but higher, are set on end, and form a doorway of eighteen inches wide. +The chamber itself is small compared with the external magnitude of the +cairn; and it only measured twelve feet in length from front to back, +and six feet from side to side. The side walls were entire to a height +of seven feet, and at this height they began to converge to form a +rudely vaulted roof, like the roofs of other erections of dry-built +stone. The chamber is divided into three parts by two pairs of +divisional stones projecting from the side walls opposite to each +other; these stones are undressed flags sunk on end into the floor, +and leaving about two feet between their edges. When the explorers +had cleared the three compartments of the chamber and ascertained +its construction, seeing that the chamber did not occupy more than +a twentieth part of the length of the cairn, they thought that other +chambers would be found within it. The centre was then tried, and +trials were made all round the cairn, but no other chamber was found +in it. The floor of the chamber itself was formed of a dark clay five +inches thick, intermixed with ashes and calcined bones, in a state of +extreme comminution; this layer was easily detached from the natural +subsoil below, and was raised in large cake like masses, each of which +was carried outside to be crumbled and searched. No single fragment +of bone was discovered exceeding an inch in length; and the few bits +which afforded any clear indications, such as portions of teeth and +jawbones, were unmistakably human. A number of small flint chips, and +two fragments of pottery, were the only manufactured articles found.¹ + + ¹ Anderson’s _Bronze and Stone Ages_, pages 230‒236. + +The other cairn closely resembled the first one, and stood about three +hundred yards from it. But on the floor of the first compartment of +its chamber a cist was placed to the left of the entrance. The cist was +formed of slabs; and it was four feet four inches long, twenty inches +wide, and nine inches deep to the level of the floor; and in the dark +earthy clay inside of it, there was a whitish layer of softened bones +in a condition of extreme decay. In the east end of the cist, fragments +of an urn were found, and a necklace of small beads of lignite. The +floor of the chamber consisted of a layer of clay and ashes over six +inches thick, intermixed with burnt human bones, and animal bones; +and in the corners of the chamber there were numbers of human teeth, +of which the osseous parts had perished, and the enamel of the crowns +only remained. About three miles from this cairn, another of the same +character lies on the ridge of a height in the Moor of Camster. Its +contents presented phenomena similar to the preceding ones. In the +loose layer on the surface of the floor of the chamber, a few fragments +of skulls and other unburnt bones of the human skeleton were found, +mingled with the splintered bones of the horse, ox, deer, and swine. No +fragments of pottery, flint-chips, or tools of any kind were found in +it.¹ + + ¹ Anderson’s _Bronze and Stone Ages_, pages 237‒243. + +In a short cairn of the horned class which lies on a small height at +Ormiegill, near Ulbster, there were found in its chamber a polished +hammer of gray granite, an oval flint knife, and an arrow head, several +flint flakes serrated on one side, and a number of well made scrapers. +Another of the same class, locally called the Cairn of Get, lies in +a hollow among the hills at Garrywhin, near Bruan. Its extreme length +is eighty feet, and its greatest breadth sixty feet; the horns project +about twenty feet in front, and about fifteen feet behind. On the +surface of the floor of the first compartment of the chamber there were +four unburnt human skeletons, and the skulls lying close to the wall +on the right of the entrance. The skulls appeared to Dr. Anderson “to +be fully as well formed as many of the heads to be seen on living men +of the present day.” In the compacted mass of the floor of the chamber, +there were an enormous quantity of human and animal bones, mostly more +or less burnt; and with these were intermixed many chips and flakes of +flint and fragments of pottery.¹ + + ¹ _Ibid._, pages 244‒249. + +There are many chambered cairns in Caithness without the external +peculiarity of horns, oval shaped or roundish ones, some of which have +been excavated, and the internal characteristics of their structure +are similar to that of the preceding ones. On the crests of the hills +of Yarhouse, there were four chambered cairns which the late Mr. A. H. +Rhind explored. On the surface of the floors of the chambers he found +unburnt bones and pottery, and in the layers burnt bones and pottery, +but no flints or tools of any description. Dr. Anderson excavated +another cairn on the hill above Bruan, the characteristics of which he +considered as forming a connecting link between the Caithness and the +Orkney forms of chambered cairns. This cairn was forty feet in diameter +and fourteen feet in height, and the passage was ten feet long and two +feet nine inches wide at the entrance, where it was three feet high, +increasing in width and height inwards to the chamber. The interior +differed from that of the preceding ones, inasmuch as it consisted +of a principal chamber of two compartments, and also presented the +peculiarity of a small side chamber opening off the principal one. The +divisional slabs did not rise to the roof, which formed one vault over +both the compartments of the chamber. The walls sloped outwards from +the base to near the middle of their height, and were then brought +inward above the middle by the overlapping of the stones to form +a dome-shaped roof. The small side chamber off the principal one, +measured four feet by three, and three feet six inches in height. Its +floor was formed of a single flag, and on raising it, another flag +was found underneath, and under both a layer of clay four inches deep, +intermingled with charcoal, ashes, and burnt bones; and under this +layer there was a third flag which lay upon the subsoil of the hill. +The entire floor of the principal chamber and the inner part of the +entrance passage was a mass twelve inches thick of broken and burnt +bones mixed with ashes; the human bones were numerous, but so much +broken that it was impossible to determine how many skeletons they +represented. Amongst the animal bones, those of the horse, ox, red-deer, +sheep or goat, and a large-sized dog, were distinguishable. A number of +flint chips, a great quantity of broken pottery, amounting to several +hundreds of fragments, and an oblong pebble with smoothed ends and +sides, and a flat piece of bone three inches long, with a smoothed +chisel-like edge, were found.¹ + + ¹ Anderson’s _Stone and Bronze Ages_, pages 253‒260. A group + of three cairns at Rhinavie, near Skelpick, in Strathnaver, + Sutherlandshire, were examined by the late Mr. MacKay of + Skelpick at the instance of the late Dr. John Stuart; and + more recently, they have been described by the Rev. Robert + Munro, in the _Proceedings of the Society of the Antiquaries + of Scotland_, Volume XVIII., page 228, _et seq._ + +As mentioned in a preceding page, the long cairns have been found in +many parts of England, in some of the south-western counties, also in +Yorkshire, and they are numerous in Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, and +Dorsetshire. The long cairns of Caithness “agree with those of England +in being, as a rule, placed approximately east and west, also in having +one end, and that the east, broader and higher than the other, as well +as in other particulars. They are also frequently provided with walls, +which enclose and support them, and have sometimes the peculiarity of +having what have been termed ‘horns.’ These are formed by the enclosing +walls inclining outwards at the ends and then returning with a curve +inwards, making at the point in question a figure something like the +conventional representation of the human heart. This curve usually +constitutes the mode of approach into the burial chamber when it is +placed at the end of the mound. The same remarkable feature is found +in some of the long barrows of the south-west of England. The barrow, +then (a long one at Upper Swell, in Gloucestershire,) may be taken as +a fairly illustrative specimen of the horned variety of Long Barrow――a +variety of the tumulus of the non-metallic period which is represented +in Caithness, as described by Dr. Joseph Anderson, as well as in the +south-west of England, and found to contain there interments similarly +arranged, and pottery and implements of similar type and rudeness +to those we have found here.... This Upper Swell barrow, however, +differs from the other horned cairns in Caithness, Wiltshire, and +Gloucestershire, in having its grave sunk below the natural surface +of the ground, instead of being represented by a chamber with upright +slabs for its walls, and placed on the surface and defined by the +piling of stones round it.”¹ On the other hand, the English specimens +of Long Barrows with horns, have the horns at one end only, usually +at the widest end; while the Caithness cairns have horns at both ends, +and externally this is the chief difference between them. But in the +internal arrangements of the chambers there are also, as might be +expected, several varying features. The character of the internal +deposits in those of England and the North are remarkably similar; the +bones of animals of the same species are found in both, and the tools +and pottery, though not usually numerous in either of their contents, +are also similar; but in the south of England the interments in them +are mostly unburnt, while in the north of Scotland cremation seems to +have been more common.² + + ¹ _British Barrows_, by Wm. Greenwell, M.A., pages 480, 481, + 535‒536. + + ² “The similarity of this pottery, whether found in + Caithness, the East Riding of Yorkshire, Gloucestershire, + or Wiltshire, is a fact of less doubtful interpretation + and greater significance; especially when we couple with + it a consideration of the similarity of the weapons and + implements, of the similarity of the ground plans of the + Scottish horned cairns and of so many of the Gloucestershire, + Wiltshire, and Somersetshire long barrows, and finally + of the similarity of the skulls from the neolithic + tumuli of all these localities. These similarities are + the more surprising when we recollect how difficult + intercommunication must have been at the period when they + existed.” _British Barrows_, page 537. “The occurrence of + animal bones is another frequent incident. It is rare indeed + to meet with a barrow (where the material is such as to + favour the preservation of bone) without a considerable + number of them being scattered indiscriminately throughout + the mound.... For instance, in one at Rudstone, they were + literally in hundreds, placed with flint-chippings and + shreds of pottery, in a dark-coloured, unctuous layer, + which extended throughout the whole area of the mound, + on the natural surface of the ground.... They may be the + remains of food offered to the dead, an observance which has + extensively prevailed in many countries and in various ages. + They would in this case form part of the practice of the + worship of our ancestors, which has been a feature almost + universal in the growth of the religions of the human race, + and allied always with fear.” _Ibid._, pages 9, 10. + +Having indicated at some length one characteristic type of sepulchral +constructions, which prevailed in both divisions of the island, which +seems to show that one ♦homogeneous race had spread over Britain at +a very remote period. The other varieties of chambered cairns can +be noticed only in the briefest terms. Farther north than Caithness, +in the Orkney Isles, there is a remarkable group of cairns of an +exceedingly interesting character; the most notable of these is the +chambered mound of Maeshowe. It lies about a mile to the east of +the great stone circle of Stennis, and externally it presents the +appearance of a mound thirty-six feet in height, ninety-two feet in +diameter, and surrounded by a trench forty feet wide, and still in +some parts eight feet deep. When it was opened from the top a central +chamber was discovered, which measured about fifteen feet square on the +level of the floor, and thirteen feet in height to the top of the walls; +but the upper part of the wall had fallen in, and its original height +may have been about twenty feet. In the east, north, and south sides +of the chamber there are three small openings, at a height of three +feet above the floor, which gives access to cells measuring about four +feet six inches wide, from seven feet to five feet six inches long, +and three feet high. In the middle of the west side of the chamber, the +passage leading to the outside of the mound opens; the doorway is four +feet eight inches high, and three feet four inches wide, decreasing in +height and width as it proceeds outward, and at the external entrance +it is only two feet four inches wide. At thirty feet outward from +the chamber there are checks for a door, and behind them a recess in +one side of the passage, in front of which there was a slab, which +might have been used as a door; and from this point inward the passage +is four feet four inches high, and three feet three inches wide, +continuing thus for twenty-six feet, when it becomes narrowed to two +feet five inches by two slabs placed upright to form checks for the +inmost door.² + + ♦ “homogenous” replaced with “homogeneous” + + ² _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, + Volume V., pages 247‒252; Wilson’s _Prehistoric Annals of + Scotland_, Volume I., page 67. I was deeply indebted to the + late Mr. Andrew Gibb, F.S.A. Scotland, of Aberdeen, for + particulars about Maeshowe, and suggestions on many other + points of our prehistoric annals. + +The chamber is built of undressed slabs and blocks of the close-grained +claystone of the locality, and, although the walls are built without +any lime or mortar, the masonry is very neat. “Whoever built it, the +chamber of Maeshowe is the most perfect and elegant known to exist in +any sepulchre of its class, on this side of the Alps.”¹ Dr. Anderson +remarks that the indications of its original purpose, and the evidence +of its earlier history, probably lay hidden in its floor, “and have not +been placed on record either by its earlier or later explorers.” From +the character of the structure itself, however, he rightly classes it +with the Caithness chambered cairns.² + + ¹ _The Brochs and the Rude Stone Monuments of the Orkney + Islands and the North of Scotland_, by J. Fergusson, D.C.L., + page 28, 1877. + + ² Anderson’s _Bronze and Stone Ages_, page 280. It is believed + on pretty good evidence that the chamber of Maeshowe was + broken open by the Norsemen, in the hope of finding treasure, + about the middle of the twelfth century. The walls of + the chamber are covered with Runic inscriptions slightly + scratched on the stones, comprising, it is said, nearly + one thousand letters, and there is no doubt that the + inscriptions were made after the breaking open of the mound. + See _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, + Volume V., pages 247‒252, 262‒278; and Anderson’s _Bronze + and Stone Ages_, pages 277‒279. + +At Quoyness, in Elsness, in the Island of Sanday, Orkney, a large +chambered cairn was explored in 1867. It lies close to the sea, only +a few feet above high water mark; and its size had been reduced by the +removal of stones for various purposes before it was examined. It was +circular in form, with the entrance to the passage on the south-east +side, and the passage was twenty-four feet long, three feet high, and +twenty inches wide, covered by flat stones laid across, and slightly +widening and increasing in height towards the chamber. The chamber was +oblong, and measured twelve feet six inches in length, and five feet +six inches wide; the walls still stood to a height of twelve feet, but +the roof was gone. Opening off the chamber there were six entrances +to six small oval cells, two of which were placed on each of the long +sides of the central chamber, and one at each of its ends. The walls +of the cells rose with an inward curve to a height of from five to six +feet, and then their roofs were closed with flat stones; the largest of +these cells was seven feet two inches long, and four feet eight inches +wide, and the others somewhat smaller. “At the distance of twelve feet +within the external wall there was a retaining wall, within the mass +of the cairn surrounding the chamber, similar to that in the cairn at +Ormiegill, near Ulbster, in Caithness. The structural characteristics +of this cairn thus combine the peculiarities of two local groups: +the double external walling defining its circular outlines, and the +retaining wall surrounding the chamber, are features of the Caithness +group, and the oblong rectangular chamber, with smaller cells opening +from its sides, are features of the Orkney group.” In the central +chamber, and in three of the smaller cells, quantities of unburnt human +bones were found; and Dr. Thurnam said of them:――“There are fragments +of twelve or fifteen skulls, some male and some female, some of them +children or quite young persons; one or two of them have the appearance +of being cleft prior to being interred, and the teeth in the lower jaws +are much corroded.” Two implements of polished stone were found in one +of the side cells, and a bone tool seven inches long.¹ + + ¹ Anderson’s _Bronze and Stone Ages_, pages 283‒287. + +There are other cairns in Orkney of a similar structure. At Quanterness, +near Kirkwall, on the north side of the Wideford Hill, there was +one a hundred and twenty-eight feet in circumference at the base, +and fourteen feet in height. On the western slope of the same hill, +overlooking the Bay of Firth, there is another of a similar class, +which was explored by Mr. George Petrie in 1849. In its chamber +and side cells quantities of the bones of the horse, ox, sheep, +and swine, were found, but no human remains were noticed. There are +other sepulchral cairns in Orkney which show features more closely +resembling the Caithness group. On the Holm of Papa Westray, there +is a cairn which presented the threefold division of the chamber, so +characteristic of the Caithness cairns; and another in the Island of +Burray, which was sixty feet in length. On the floor of the chamber +of the Burray cairn, the remains of a large number of unburnt human +skeletons were found; and ten human skulls were lying in the first +compartment of the chamber, near the opening of the entrance passage. +Large quantities of the bones of the common domestic animals were +identified, amongst which were the skulls of seven dogs. At Ustan, +near the Bridge of Waith, Stennis, a chambered cairn which lies on +a little promontory projecting into the lake, was recently excavated +by Mr. R. S. Clouston. It is round, but it presented the constructive +characteristics of the Caithness cairns, except a slight variation in +the internal arrangement. A passage two feet wide and fourteen feet +in length, led into an oblong chamber of twenty-one feet long, and six +feet six inches at its widest part. The chamber was divided into five +compartments, by slabs placed on edge similar to the Caithness cairns. +The sepulchral deposits in this cairn were almost similar to those +found in the chambered cairns of Caithness and Argyle. In the floor +of the chamber and the inner part of the passage, a large quantity of +unburnt human bones and animal bones were found; and numerous fragments +of pottery, supposed to represent about thirty urns, and also charcoal +and burnt bones were found. The implements and weapons found in the +chamber, consisted of four leaf-shaped arrow-heads of large size, and +well formed, and one with barbs and stem of smaller size, a finely made +flint scraper, and a flint knife with the edge ground smooth, and a +flint flaking tool.¹ + + ¹ Anderson’s _Bronze and Stone Ages_, pages 287‒298. “Taking + the Orkney group of chambered cairns as a whole, we find + it presenting the same essential characteristics as are + exhibited by the groups which have been described on the + mainland of Scotland. There is a considerable variation + in the arrangement of the chambers, and a strongly marked + tendency to a grouping of smaller cells round the main + chamber, which may be regarded as a local characteristic + peculiar to the Orkney Islands. But with this local + peculiarity there are associated instances of the tripartite + chamber so characteristic of the northern mainland area, and + in several cases the still more characteristic features of + the bounding wall and the curved extremities are presented.” + _Ibid._, page 299. + +A group of cairns once existed in the plain of Clava, in ♦Strathnairn, +a few miles from Inverness. There seems to have been seven or eight +cairns, of these, only two now remain in a condition to show the +characteristics of their structure. Complete and accurate ground plans +of these have recently been published.² + + ♦ “Strathnain” replaced with “Strathnairn” + + ² By Mr. J. Fraser, C.E.; see also _Proceedings of the Society + of Antiquaries of Scotland_, Volume XVIII., page 328, _et + seq._ + +Perhaps it may be thought, that I should offer some explanation of the +occurrence of such large quantities of animal bones found intermingled +with the human remains in the series of cairn interments, which have +been briefly described. This, however, can hardly, as yet, be presented +in a satisfactory manner; but some customs and incidents, supposed to +have been associated with the funerals of the departed in prehistoric +times, may be mentioned. It has been repeatedly asserted that our early +ancestors of the stone period were addicted to cannibalism; that at +their tombs many human victims, mothers and infants, were sacrificed; +and that at their great funeral feasts there was always a general +holocaust of human and animal sacrifice. But the evidence adduced +to prove the prevalence of these practices among the prehistoric +inhabitants of this Island is utterly insufficient. Indeed, much +of what has been advanced as evidence of such customs amongst the +people of the Neolithic period in Britain, rests upon an unwarranted +assumption which assumes this form:――Seeing that in such and such +quarters of the globe certain existing savage tribes are addicted +to cannibalism, and certain other savage tribes in some other part +of the earth practice the custom of human sacrifice; these tribes are +in a certain social stage, the stone age people of Britain were in a +similar stage; therefore, the stone age people of Britain must have +been addicted to cannibalism, and human sacrifice. Funeral feasts were, +no doubt common, at which many animals were killed, but that human +beings were sacrificed at these feasts in Britain, there is no reliable +evidence to prove.¹ + + ¹ Sir J. Lubbock, Mr. Bateman, and Dr. Thurnam, have asserted + that human sacrifice prevailed in Britain in prehistoric + times, and the latter especially, implicitly averred that + the stone age people were cannibals, and that even the + bronze age people practised human sacrifice. In a paper + published in the third volume of the _Memoirs of the + Anthropological Society of London_, in 1870, Dr. Thurnam + maintained that the people who constructed the Long Barrows + of England were addicted to many extremely barbarous customs, + and that, “if not addicted to cannibalism, they, without + doubt, sacrificed many human victims, whose cleft skulls + and half-charred bones are found in their tombs,” page 76. + In the first edition of this volume, published in 1877, I + canvassed his evidence for the above assertions, and found + it altogether insufficient to sustain his conclusions. I + also carefully examined the evidence advanced by Sir J. + Lubbock in reference to the prevalence of these inhuman + practices among the prehistoric people of Britain, and found + it not only quite insufficient, but in many points clearly + irrelevant and inapplicable, while some of his far-fetched + analogies and inferences based thereon, were manifestly + delusive. I am, therefore, glad to find that Mr. Wm. + Greenwell, and the late Professor Rolleston, have contested + Dr. Thurnam’s conclusions. They have given more reasonable + and probable explanations of the contents and the phenomena + of the barrows. See especially pages 544‒548, of that great + and invaluable work――_British Barrows_, by Wm. Greenwell, + M.A., F.S.A., 1879. In the very able and exhaustive + remarks which Professor Rolleston made upon the series + of prehistoric Crania, discovered in the barrows which + Mr. Greenwell had so carefully explored, he completely + overthrows Dr. Thurnam’s conclusions on the points in + question. I can only give a short quotation:――“I have to say + that the bones found in the Long Barrows of England do not + seem to me to bear the interpretation which Dr. Thurnam has + put upon them.” He proceeds to show at length the grounds + and the reasons why Dr. Thurnam’s conclusions are untenable, + pages 684‒692. Rolleston then remarks, the question arises, + “how is it that in the very large number of interments + recorded in this book we have never come upon any bony + remains bearing their evidence to the existence of a + practice which is spoken of by such a very large number of + literary authorities? In answer to this, I have to say that + the literary evidence, when duly considered, proves simply + that slaves and captives were slaughtered at the funeral of + their lords, without proving that they were allowed to lie + beside them afterwards.... We have a large mass of literary + evidence in favour of the continuation of this practice into + historical times amongst the Gauls, and other foreign races + with whom the Romans and Greeks came into contact.” _Ibid._, + pages 684, 692. + + In so far as the early inhabitants of Britain are concerned, + I attach very little importance to this mass of literary + evidence; when closely examined, it yields no definite or + conclusive evidence on the points in question. + +As already indicated, the bones of animals found in the chambered +cairns may be the remains of food offered to the dead; and thus would +have formed a part of the worship of their ancestors, so that feasts +might not only have been celebrated at the actual funerals, but also +long afterwards at certain times in commemoration of the departed +ancestors. There also may have been a form of animal worship among our +ancestors of the Stone Age, which may have assumed practical expression +in association with the interment of the dead. Reasoning by analogy, +they may have imagined that seeing animals were exceedingly useful +to the living, therefore they must be useful to the dead. On the same +ground of imagined use to the dead, we may account for the occurrence +of weapons, tools, and ornaments in the closest association with human +remains. + +Regarding the extreme comminution of the human remains in the chambered +cairns of Scotland, several causes may reasonably be assigned. First, +the process of cremation which seems to have been the prevailing mode +of burial in these cairns, though not exclusively so, as unburnt +remains also occur in them. This taken in connection with the great +antiquity of the interments, the thousands of years which have elapsed +since they took place, and the action of the natural agencies around +them during that long period. Second, it seems obvious that in many of +these cairns numerous interments have been made at longer or shorter +intervals; and this might partly account for the bones being so much +broken and mixed as they appear in the compacted layers of the floors +in the internal chambers. But owing to the very limited dimensions +of the entrance passages leading into the internal chambers of these +cairns, it is hardly conceivable that interments could have often taken +place after the cairns were externally and internally finished. It is +possible that there may have been some interments after the completion +of a cairn, as a person might have crept through the low narrow passage +with an urn, and placed it on the floor of the chamber; but it is in +the highest degree improbable that this mode of depositing the remains +took place. Such being the real state of the matter, I offer the +following view as to how the interments were originally made:――1, When +a site for a cairn was fixed on, the first thing done was to mark off +the ground plan of the cairn and to erect the external retaining wall; +2, Then the space where the internal chamber of the cairn was to be +erected, was definitely marked off; 3, Interments might then be made +in the space where the chamber was designed to be. Now it is not only +conceivable, but also highly probable, that the structure may have +remained in this incomplete state for an indefinite period; and thus +a number of successive interments on the same spot could have been +made through one or more generations, or until the head of the family +or tribe resolved that the structure should be completed. The great +funeral feasts would be held in and around the outline of the cairn at +each successive interment; and also the feasts held in commemoration +of their departed ancestors. On which occasions the actions and +proceedings of the people in giving expression to their worship and +rejoicing, were all performed on and around the same spot. We may +imagine the scene: the slaughter and roasting of horses, oxen, sheep, +and dogs; and the people moving to and fro in a state of intense +excitement, when the remains of another ancestor was consigned to its +last resting place. This view of successive interments before the cairn +was closed up and completed, would in some measure at least account for +the layers on the floors of the chambers, and the state of the human +remains as we now find them. + +It has been said that, “there is not a vestige of a dwelling or a +defensive construction in Scotland which can be proved by evidence to +be the work of the men of the Stone Age.”¹ This may be the case; and +yet we may be certain that the people who erected the chambered cairns +of Scotland, would have contrived to construct dwellings to protect +themselves from the cold and frost, incident to a rather severe climate. +Although they have left much clear evidence of their skill and industry +in relation to the dead, still we cannot assume that the dead were more +cared for than the living. If no trace of the dwellings in which they +lived can be found, then they must have been a very peculiar people. We +have seen evidence that they had horses, cattle, swine, and dogs; and +that they were skilful in making tools and weapons in such materials as +were available to them. Let us therefore carefully look over the many +prehistoric structures of Scotland, and try to find if any of them can +be assigned to the men of the Stone Age. + + ¹ Anderson’s _Bronze and Stone Ages_, page 305; 1886. + +There is only one type of structures which could on any reasonable +grounds be assigned to this period, and that is the “earth houses.” +The period of this class has been recently fixed as lying between +“the general establishment of Christianity and the departure of the +Romans from Scotland.” The grounds on which this conclusion rests are +these:――1, That in two of the earth-houses some of the stones in their +walls had distinctively Roman mouldings on them; and consequently +they must have been built after the Roman occupation. One of these was +discovered near the village of Newstead, Roxburghshire, and the other +at Crichton Mains, in Mid Lothian. A Roman type of pottery and traces +of Samian ware have also been found in some of the earth-houses. 2, +“The presence in most of them of querns and implements of the Iron Age, +and the entire absence of such implements as are characteristic of the +ages of stone and bronze.”¹ + + ¹ _Ibid._, pages 300‒304. + +The first point is conclusive evidence so far as it goes; but it +does not follow that these two earth-houses were the first structures +of this type built in Scotland. For anything that we know their +construction might have been the result of special circumstances +of an individual character. So far as known, the earth-houses are +not numerous in that quarter of the country. Let it then be clearly +understood, that merely to show the limit of the age of one or two +in a certain locality, is not conclusive evidence of the origin and +the possible age of a type of so peculiarly characteristic structures, +spread over a wide area, unless where other evidence in harmony with +the natural and known surroundings of the people is adduced. Thus the +strongest point is inconclusive touching the origin and possible age +of this special class of structures. + +The second point is not quite accurate. For it is recorded that some +of the earth houses have been found empty; that in others cinders and +charred wood, the bones of the ox, deer, and other animals, shells and +remains of fish, a few objects of flint, bone, and bronze, as well as +querns and iron implements, have been discovered in them.¹ Although +there had been nothing but querns and iron implements found in +them, that would not afford conclusive evidence as to their origin +and possible age, but only evidence of their latest frequenters or +temporary occupiers. + + ¹ _Chalmers’ Caledonia_, Volume I., page 97; Wilson’s + _Prehistoric Annals of Scotland_, Volume I., pages 108‒110; + _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, + Volume I., pages 260‒263; Volume III., pages 465‒471; Volume + IV., pages 64, 492‒499; Volume VI., pages 249‒250; Volume + VII., pages 276, 532‒534; Volume VIII., page 24; Volume X. + page 287. + +1, Now it can hardly be questioned that the men who erected the +horned and chambered cairns were capable in point of skill, power, +and persistency of will, to construct the earth-houses. This much will +be admitted. 2, Taking into account the climate and the circumstances +under which our ancestors of the Stone Age lived and moved; and also +having regard to their imperfect means of protecting themselves from +the biting cold and frost, if we duly consider these things, it will +at once be perceived that the earth-houses were the most suitable +dwellings for their condition and circumstances. 3, Let us carefully +examine the entrances and passages of the chambered cairns, the +internal structure and characteristics of the chambers; and then +compare these with the entrances and the galleries and chambers of the +earth-houses, not fanciful but striking resemblances will be perceived +between the two classes of structures. Indeed this resemblance is +so marked that it is difficult to imagine that they were not both +constructed by the same people. 4, So far as I know, the people of +the Stone Age were a quiet race; and seeing that they found leisure to +erect such great memorials to the dead, it may be reasonably assumed +that they also found time to erect the earth-houses, which were in +harmony with their genius and conditions of life, excepting of course +the two with the Roman stones, which were no doubt the product of +some eccentric and timid individual, born out of due time. 5, It is +well known that the different races and tribes in Scotland, after the +departure of the Romans, were so much engaged in conflicts with one +another that they could scarcely have found time to construct the +earth-houses, which could not have been built in a day or perhaps in +a year. Besides, is there any direct evidence that the Celtic people +of Scotland constructed underground galleries for any purpose after +the departure of the Romans? There was but one people whose genius, +condition, and circumstances, harmonised with the earth-houses, and +that was the race who erected the chambered cairns. + +The area of the earth-houses extends from Berwickshire to the Orkney +Islands, embracing all the eastern region of Scotland; but not many of +them have been discovered on the south side of the Forth. These curious +structures are sometimes found singly, and sometimes in groups of +from five up to forty. Many of them lie in cultivated lands, and have +often been discovered by the plough striking on the stones of their +roofs. I will first give a general description of their structure, and +then point out the features which bear a resemblance to some of the +characteristics of the chambered cairns. + +Their chief features are:――1, They are under the natural level of +the ground; 2, A narrow and low entrance, apt to escape notice, and a +narrow passage; 3, A more or less curved chamber, gradually widening +inwards and usually terminating with a rounded end; 4, The internal +characteristics of the chamber, which is sometimes single, in others +small chambers run off the main one, to the right and left; 5, +Converging side walls which support a lintelled roof. They vary greatly +in size, but their features are pretty similar. + +At Airlie, in Forfarshire, there is a group of five, one of which +was sixty-seven feet long, and about seven feet wide. The entrance +was under two feet in height, and the floor gradually slopes down for +twenty feet till it reaches a height of six feet. The walls are pretty +regularly built of undressed boulders, and they converge inward to +four feet at the roof, which is formed of large stones, many of them +over seven feet long and four feet wide. Its contents consisted of an +accumulation of ashes, and bones of animals, fragments of querns, a +stone vessel, and a brass pin.¹ + + ¹ Anderson’s _Bronze and Iron Ages_, page 292. + +In 1816, Professor John Stuart of Aberdeen, discovered a group spread +over a space of about a mile in diameter, on what was then a dry +moor,¹ in the parishes of Auchindoir and Kildrummy, Aberdeenshire. +He estimated the number then discovered in this locality at upwards +of forty; and he states that the ground where they lay had originally +been a forest, as the trunks of large trees were still dug up there. +There was no indication of them on the surface of the ground. The only +entrance was a small opening of about eighteen inches wide between two +projecting stones, through which a man might enter, and then descending +a sloping passage of five or six feet, he comes to a vaulted chamber. +The chambers of this group are from six to eight feet in height, from +six to nine feet wide, and thirty feet long and upwards. They are +built of rough blocks of granite, many of which are five to six feet +long and more than a ton in weight; the side walls converge inward by +overlapping to form a rude arch, and are covered with large stones. On +the surface of the ground close to these structures, Professor Stuart +found a number of spaces from ten to fifteen yards square, and about +two feet deep, with the earth thrown outward; and these excavated +spaces he conjectured to have been the sites of the summer huts of the +people, who retired to the underground places in winter, and stored +their provisions in them all the year round. He added that no articles +of furniture or instruments either of stone or metal had been found +in them, so far as could be ascertained, but only wood, ashes, and +charcoal――mostly at the inmost end, where in some of them a small +opening appeared at the top, supposed to be an outlet for the smoke.² +Foundations of huts on the surface of the ground have been observed in +association with a few other earth-houses, one example was found near +Arbroath, in Forfarshire.³ + + ¹ This moor is now under cultivation. + + ² _Archæologia Scotica_, Volume II., pages 56‒58. + + ³ _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, + Volume IV., pages 492‒499. + +In other localities the earth-houses vary much in length, some examples +reaching to sixty feet long; and as already observed, some of them have +smaller chambers branching off the main chamber. But on the whole they +are remarkably similar in structure. + +Some resemblances between those underground houses and the chambered +cairns may now be noticed. 1, The hidden nature of the entrance, and +its lowness and narrowness, are features peculiar to both classes of +structures. From a comparison of a considerable number of recorded +measurements of the height and width of both classes of structures +at their entrances, I have found that the highest entrance in an +earth-house is 3 feet, and the lowest 18 inches, the average being +about 2 feet. Now the highest entrance of a chambered cairn is 3 feet +6 inches, and its width 2 feet, while the lowest is 21 inches in height, +and the same in breadth. The average height and width of the entrances +to the passages of the cairns and those of the earth-houses are almost +identical; and it is difficult to believe that this coincidence could +have been the result of chance. 2, In some of the earth-houses there +are small chambers opening off the main chamber, a feature which occurs +in some of the chambered cairns. 3, The mode of forming the roof or +the device for closing in the walls at the top is similar in both +classes of these structures. 4, These coincidences and similarities are +difficult to explain, except upon the ground that both classes of these +structures were originated by one race of people, and belong to the +same period. Moreover the bones of the same animals have been found +in both classes of structures; while the mere absence of stone weapons +and implements is not of much historic significance, seeing that these +rarely occur even in the chambered cairns themselves. + +The most probable conclusion seems to be that the people of the Stone +Age, who erected the chambered cairns, also originated the underground +structures which we call earth-houses; and that they constructed a +considerable number of those specimens which are still known to exist, +though not necessarily the whole of them. In succeeding centuries such +structures may have been constructed in localities where the exigences +and circumstances of the people suggested their utility, down even to +the time of the departure of the Romans. I take the view suggested by +Professor Stuart, that from the first these underground structures have +never been continuously occupied as common dwellings, but only at the +seasons of extreme cold and frost, when the people resorted to them +in order to protect themselves in some measure from the inclemency +of the weather. Recently distinct traces of overground huts have been +discovered, so closely associated with earth-houses as to leave no +doubt that both belonged to the same family. Still it seems that some +at least of the earth-houses were occasionally frequented by certain +people even late into the Iron Age; but that circumstance affords no +evidence to invalidate the conclusion that they were originated by and +belonged to the Stone Age people.¹ + + ¹ There is a group of underground structures in Ireland, + but they differ considerably from the Scottish class. The + Irish specimens are mostly associated with forts or raths, + excavated in the ground and enclosed by the rampart of a + fort; and they consist of various forms of chambers which + are connected by low narrow passages. There is also a group + of underground structures in Cornwall, which in some of + their features resemble those of Scotland; but they appear + to have been usually associated with overground dwellings. + +From the natural features of the country, and the very varied +intersection of the land and water, it might be expected that boats +would have come into use at an early period, and this appears to have +been the case. The primitive boats of the early inhabitants were made +by simply hollowing out the middle of a single oak tree with such tools +as have been described, or some have supposed that this was effected +by the application of fire. They are sometimes called canoes, and have +been often found in lakes associated with the Crannogs. But they have +been discovered in every quarter of the country, in lochs and mosses, +on the banks and in the beds of rivers; and many of them have been +found imbedded at a depth of from thirteen to thirty feet below the +surface of the ground. In Lochar Moss, Dumfriesshire, a track bordering +on the Solway Firth, a number of canoes have from time to time been +dug up, one of which measured 8 feet 8 inches in length, 2 feet in +breadth, and 11 inches in depth. The Valley of the Clyde has yielded +the greatest number of these single tree boats. Under the streets of +Glasgow, and in its vicinity, when digging the foundation of houses, +cutting drains, and in operations connected with the harbour work, +and the dredging of the channel of the Clyde, nearly thirty have been +discovered.¹ These vary considerably in length and depth, but they all +belong to the first stage of shipbuilding; which here, and from this +primitive starting-point, has at last attained a development as yet +unsurpassed in any quarter of the globe. + + ¹ _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, + Volume I., pages 44, 211‒213; Volume VI., pages 119, 121, + 146, 148, 458; J. Geikie’s _Great Ice Age_, page 212; + Wilson’s _Prehistoric Annals of Scotland_, Volume I., pages + 52‒55. + +From what has been presented in the preceding pages, we may imagine +our early ancestors of the Stone Age as living and moving in a state +of comparative safety and comfort. They possessed the greater number +of the domesticated animals which are still common in this country; +they built such structures for habitations as were suited to their +condition and the surrounding circumstances, and the means within their +reach. They manifested much intelligence, skill, and industry in the +manufacture of their weapons, tools, and implements――using the only +available means and materials at their command with admirable ingenuity +and striking effect. We can discern and trace the evidence of mind +and of thought even in the fragments of their works; and the memorials +which they erected to the memory of the dead, have long survived the +wreck of proud empires, dynasties, and thrones. + + + SECTION V. + + _The Bronze Age._ + +This section will deal with the introduction of metals, and touch on +the transition from the stone to the bronze period. A description of +the various bronze objects, weapons, tools, and gold ornaments will +be presented. The defensive works, habitations, and other matters +associated with the daily life of the people will be treated. The +modes of burial of the bronze period, and the phenomena associated with +interments. Finally, an expository statement and summary touching the +religion, social state, and culture of the prehistoric people will be +offered. + +The question of the introduction of the use of metals or bronze is +easily understood, but the question of the origin of bronze, or the +original centre where it was discovered, is a more difficult matter, +and has caused much inquiry and discussion. It is the first only of +these questions which comes within the scope of my work, and the second +will be very briefly touched. As to the original centre where bronze +was discovered, this is a problem still under discussion; and, like the +origin of the Aryans, it is not likely to be soon solved. Some writers +have pointed to Western Asia, the supposed cradle and original source +of early civilisation; but, in truth, when or where the alloy called +bronze was first discovered and manufactured for use no one really +knows.¹ It is, however, well ascertained that bronze weapons and tools +were used much earlier in some quarters of the globe than in others, +for instance in Egypt, and the regions around the Mediterranean, long +before it was used in Britain or other Northern European countries.² + + ¹ Touching the early sources of copper and tin in Europe, + it may be observed that native copper occurs in Hungary, + Norway, Sweden, Saxony and Cornwall; and copper and its ores + are abundant in Ireland. Copper pyrites is very general in + most countries of the world, in more or less abundance. In + early times tin seems to have been found in large quantities + in some parts of Spain; and we know that the tin mines of + Cornwall, in Britain, were worked at an early period. In + the East, Malacca was a source from which tin may have been + obtained in early times. Evans’ _Ancient Bronze Implements_, + pages 419, 424. + + ² Bronze was extensively used in Egypt for weapons and tools + as early as 3000 B.C.; but the use of iron seems to have + been restricted, owing probably to some religious motive. + _Ibid._, pages 6, 7, 8. Among the Aryans iron seems to have + been used at an early period. + +Concerning the means through which the use of bronze was introduced +to Britain different views have been held. Some authorities have +maintained that the use of bronze was spread from a common centre by an +intruding and conquering race, or the migration of tribes; others hold +that the people of each separate country, where bronze is known to have +been used, discovered the art independently and manufactured their own +implements; some again maintain that the art was discovered and the +articles manufactured on one spot, and thence disseminated by means of +commerce; and finally, others aver that the art of making bronze was +spread from a common centre, but that the implements were usually made +in the countries in which they have been found.¹ A discussion of these +views would require a separate volume, and I can only indicate the +region whence Britain, or rather Scotland, probably received the first +instruction in the use of bronze. + + ¹ _Ibid._, page 475. “The familiarity of the ancient Britons + with tin, though this metal does not occur in a native state, + may be readily accounted for from the one being frequently + found near the surface, and requiring only the use of + charcoal and a very moderate degree of heat to reduce it + to the state of metal.” Wilson’s _Prehistoric Annals of + Scotland_, Volume I., page 304. 1863. + +It has frequently been stated that the use of bronze was introduced +into Britain by invasion and conquest. Professor Dawkins advances the +idea that the Celts arrived on the southern shores of Britain with +bronze swords in their hands, and thus introduced the use of bronze +into this country.¹ But this mode of explanation is seldom satisfactory, +unless well supported by other circumstances and evidence; and, +although it is highly probable that the people of Britain did receive +the knowledge of the use of bronze from France, it was by means of +barter and not by warfare; seeing that the first arrival of Celtic +tribes in the south of Britain was probably long anterior to the +general use of bronze in France itself or the Continent. It appears +to me that the Celts had overrun the whole of England, and penetrated +into Scotland, as far at least as Glenmore, before bronze began to +be introduced in the south of Britain. The view which supposes that +the art of making bronze was discovered at a single centre, where +implements were manufactured and afterwards spread by commerce, is +probably in a limited sense true. For wheresoever the discovery of +bronze may have originated, there is evidence of its use having spread +over the greater part of Europe, and probably at first bronze tools +and implements were widely diffused by barter. The view, however, which +comes nearest to the requisite conditions of the known facts everywhere +associated with the subject, assumes that the art of making bronze +was spread from a common centre, though the weapons and tools were +manufactured in greater or less numbers in each country where the use +of bronze prevailed. This does not imply that in any given district all +the weapons and tools found in it were of home manufacture, and none of +them imported, for there is evidence in most countries that some of the +bronze articles found there are of foreign manufacture, and had been +introduced by commerce or other means of intercourse.² + + ¹ _Early Man in Britain_, pages 321, 322, 343. 1880. This + writer is perhaps wrong in his statement of facts and in + the inferences which he draws. The Silures, whom he supposes + to have been Iberians, were in all probability mixed + Celtic tribes. And this much is certain, that the tribes + called Silures, made a desperate and prolonged resistance + to the advance of the Roman legions――a resistance quite + inconsistent with the feeble characteristics of the Iberians. + + ² Evans’ _Ancient Bronze Implements_, pages 420, 475‒477. + +There is ample evidence that in Britain, in course of time, the +manufacture of bronze weapons and tools was extensively and widely +carried on. The moulds for casting various tools and weapons have been +found both in England and in Scotland, and they are numerous in Ireland; +and founders hoards have been found in many places in Britain. There +were also travelling founders, who practised their art at any place +where their work was required. In these and in other ways, many of +the bronze weapons and tools found in England, Scotland, and Ireland, +were manufactured. Amongst the hoards of bronze articles which have +from time to time been found, some are considered to represent the +stock-in-trade of the ancient bronze founders; and other hoards, from +their characteristics, are considered to have belonged to dealers in +bronze articles.¹ Some of the moulds found in Scotland will be noticed +in connection with the description of the weapons and implements. + + ¹ Evans’ _Ancient Bronze Implements_, pages 422, 428, 438‒453. + “Judging from the unfinished condition of the tools and + weapons in some of the old bronze founders hoards, and from + the large deposits of socketed celts having been found with + the clay cores still in them, it seems not improbable that + the founders often bartered away their castings nearly in + the state in which they came from the moulds, with only + the runners broken off, and that those who acquired them + finished the manufacture themselves.” _Ibid._, page 451. + +From a concurrence of circumstances and ascertained facts, it is +evident that the transitional stage from stone weapons and tools to +the use of metal ones extended over a long period. The one class of +articles and tools did not supersede the other suddenly; for there is +much evidence that stone, bone, and horn weapons and tools continued to +be used long after bronze, and even iron, was introduced. For such work +as stone and bone tools were naturally suitable, they continued to be +used, as they were much easier obtained than bronze ones; and in some +instances stone implements were used down to a comparatively recent +period. In the case of certain ornaments which belong to a somewhat +later period, bronze and brass were used. + +In Scotland bronze weapons, tools, and articles have been found under +various circumstances. A few have been found associated with interments; +a greater number have been discovered in hoards from time to time; +some casually found in the soil; and others when carefully sought in +excavating the early sites of human habitation. I will first touch on +a few of the hoards, and then proceed to describe the different kinds +of weapons, implements, and ornaments of the bronze period, as it is +represented in Scotland. + +In the process of marl dredging in the Loch of Duddingston, near +Edinburgh, in 1775, the workmen dragged up a heap of swords, +spear-heads, and other lumps of bronze. They seem to have been mostly +broken; and the hoard as presented to the National Museum, consisted +of twenty-nine pieces of broken swords; twenty-three portions of spear +heads; and a ring and staple of large size. The fragments of the swords +were mostly under six inches in length, and show that the weapons were +of the leaf-shaped type; the spear-heads were pieces of large weapons +with sockets and leaf-shaped blades.¹ In 1849, a hoard of bronze +weapons was discovered in a moss on the north side of the point +of Sleat, in the Isle of Skye, which consisted of one sword of the +leaf-shaped form, with a flat handle-plate pierced for rivet holes; +two spear-heads; and a long thin pin with a cup-shaped head; and +also a curious socketed tool of a bent leaf-shaped form, four inches +long. A hoard of bronze weapons and objects was found at Tarves, +Aberdeenshire, which mostly consisted of swords; and in 1853, at +Cauldhame, near Brechin, a hoard was found, consisting of four +leaf-shaped swords, and a large spear-head. One of the swords was +twenty-four inches long. In 1868, at Achtertyre, near Elgin, a hoard +of bronze articles was discovered in ploughing a mossy field, which +consisted of one axe-head; two spear-heads; two penannular rings, +some fragments of broken rings; and portions of a ring, which on +analysis yielded only tin and lead, no copper. When a gravel hillock +was being trenched at Monadhmor, Killin, Perthshire, in 1868, the +workmen discovered a hoard of bronze objects, consisting of two +socketed axe-heads; a leaf-shaped spear-head; a socketed gouge of rare +occurrence in Scotland; a portion of a leaf-shaped sword; a hollow +circular ring, a ♦penannular ring, and nine plain annular rings. In +1869, when the foundation of a house in Grosvenor Crescent, Edinburgh, +was being dug, a hoard of bronze weapons was found, said to have +consisted of some fourteen or fifteen swords, but only four of these +are now known; and with them were found a bronze ring and a broken +pin.² + + ¹ _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, + Volume I., pages 132‒133. The proprietor of the estate on + the side of the Loch, Sir Alexander Dick, who commenced + the dredging operations, said――“Some of the lumps of brass + seemed as if half melted; and my conjecture is, that there + had been upon the side of the hill, near the lake, some + manufacture for brass arms of the several kinds for which + there was a demand.” + + ♦ “pennanular” replaced with “penannular” + + ² _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, + Volume I., pages 181, 224; Volume III., page 182; Volume IX., + page 435; Anderson’s _Bronze and Stone Ages_, pages 142‒153. + +All the bronze articles found in Scotland and reasonably assigned to +this period, may be classified as weapons, useful tools, and ornaments. +The first class includes swords, daggers, spear-heads, and shields. The +sword of the bronze period is amongst the finest of the ancient weapons. +The small and short leaf-shaped blade, and its hilt without a guard, is +a form greatly admired. Different specimens in the Scottish collection +vary in size; a fine example was dredged up from the bottom of the +Tay near Perth, it measures 28½ inches in length, and is the largest +one known in Scotland. Another from the Isle of South Uist, measures +27 inches; and one found in the parish of Latheron, Caithness, is 25 +inches long. In rare specimens, such as one of the swords found in the +hoard at Edinburgh, the hilt is formed and cast in the same mould with +the blade. Another form of sword, of rare occurrence in Scotland, is +characterised by a narrow rapier-shaped blade, without a handle-plate, +the hilt being made of bone or wood and attached to the flattened base +of the blade by rivets. The leaf-shaped swords are numerous in Scotland, +and have been found in almost every quarter of the country.¹ + + ¹ “Among ancient weapons of bronze, perhaps the most + remarkable, both for elegance of form and for the skill + displayed in their casting, are the leaf-shaped swords, of + which a considerable number have come down to our time. The + only other forms that can vie with them in these points are + the spear-heads, of which many are gracefully proportioned, + while the coring of their sockets for the reception of the + shafts would do credit to the most skillful modern founder. + Neither the one nor the other belong to the earliest period + when bronze first came into general use for weapons and + tools, the flat celts and the knife-daggers characteristic + of that period being as a rule absent from the hoards in + which fragments of swords and spear-heads are present.” + Evans’ _Ancient Bronze Implements_, page 273. + +Apparently both these classes of sword-blades were cast in stone moulds; +but no sword moulds have as yet been discovered in Scotland. Two stone +moulds were found in the parish of Hennock, in Devonshire, which were +both for the production of rapier-shaped blades.¹ + + ¹ _Ibid._, page 434. + +The dagger blades are usually thick and heavy in proportion to +their length. They differ from the thin flat blades of smaller size +occasionally found in the graves of the period. The thick daggers +vary much in size, from six inches in length to over thirteen, and in +breadth some of the larger ones are from three inches to over four. +Some of them have two and others four rivet-holes for attaching their +handles. A few of them are slightly ornamented, and many of them are +finely shaped.¹ + + ¹ _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, + Volume X., pages 84, 459; Volume XII., pages 439, 440, 449, + 456; Wilson’s _Prehistoric Annals of Scotland_, Volume I., + page 392. + +The spear-head of the bronze period is usually a socketed weapon, +without barbs, and often leaf-shaped; and the variation in their length +and the taper of the blades is extreme. The largest specimen in the +National Museum is nineteen inches long, and exceedingly well formed. +The larger ones are often pierced with segmental openings in the sides, +formed in the casting, which diminish their weight and add to the +beauty of the finished weapons. Another class, with the base of the +blade pierced by loop-like holes, have been found exceeding fifteen +inches long, but other specimens of the same class are only eight +inches long, and some not over six inches. The looped variety of +spear-heads have also been found in Scotland, some specimens of which +have the loops low down on the socket. These are very common in Ireland, +and are more elaborately ornamented than the Scotch examples.¹ + + ¹ _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, + Volume V., page 214; Volume XXIII., pages 9, 150, 224; + Anderson’s _Bronze and Stone Ages_, pages 184, 185. + +The spear-heads, like the sword and dagger blades, were cast in moulds +of stone. Two stone moulds for looped spear-heads were found together +under the surface of the ground near Campbeltown, in Argyleshire. +Similar moulds have been found in England, Ireland, and in other +countries.¹ + + ¹ _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, + Volume VI., page 48; Volume XVI., page 103; Evans’ _Ancient + Bronze Implements_, pages 435‒438. + +Bronze shields are not numerous in Scotland, but a few specimens have +been found. In 1779 a fine example was discovered in a peat moss in +the parish of Beith, Ayrshire, which was afterwards presented to the +Society of Antiquaries of London. This shield is formed of thin beaten +bronze, circular in form, and 26½ inches in diameter. Its surface is +ornamented with concentric circles of ridges, and also hammered up from +the back between the circular rows of studs; the handle is fixed across +the inner side of the boss, and the grip rounded by turning the edges +inwards. In 1837 a shield of a similar character was found in digging a +drain in a marshy piece of ground at Yetholm, in Roxburghshire; and in +1870 another shield was ploughed up in the same piece of ground. They +are beautiful and finely finished. They were not intended for use on +the arm, like the shields of later times, but held in the left hand by +a single handle riveted across the hollow of the central boss.¹ + + ¹ Anderson’s _Bronze and Stone Ages_, pages 155‒159; + _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, + Volume V., page 165; Volume VIII., page 393. + +Only one specimen of a bronze battle-axe is known in Scotland, which +was found in a morass at Bannockburn. It is a very peculiar weapon, +four pounds in weight, and has been figured by Dr. Anderson. + +A fine specimen of a cast bronze war trumpet was found in the parish +of Tarbolton, Ayrshire, about the year 1653, and since preserved in +Coilsfield House. It is the only one of the class known in Scotland. A +portion of a bronze side-blast trumpet was found at Innermessan in the +parish of Inch, Wigtonshire. These bronze war trumpets are more common +in Ireland and in Denmark than in Scotland.¹ + + ¹ _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, + Volume XII., page 565; Volume XXIII., pages 151, 224. + +Having noticed the warlike weapons, I turn to the tools and implements +which appear to have been used for the purposes of every-day life, +beginning with those which seem to have come earliest into use. The +flat, bronze axe-heads are broad at the cutting end, and vary greatly +in size. Some of them are five inches in length and three inches across +the cutting face, which is always their broadest part. The largest +specimen known in Scotland is 13⅜ inches in length and 9 inches across +the cutting face; it was found in digging a drain on the farm of +Loanhead, on the south side of the Pentland Hills. Amongst a number +found on the farm of Colleonard, in Banffshire, there were two with a +series of short lines incised upon their flat sides, and another one +had raised ribs lengthwise. Others have been found over the whole area +of Scotland. It has been supposed that this class of axe-heads were +cast in open moulds of stone.¹ + + ¹ _Ibid._, Volume IV., pages 187, 380; Volume IX., pages 182, + 430, 431; Wilson’s _Prehistoric Annals of Scotland_, Volume + I., page 344; Anderson’s _Bronze and Stone Ages_, pages + 190‒194. + +There are several other varieties of axe-heads which have been termed +fanged and socketed. Some of these are very finely formed, and more or +less ornamented. The two halfs of a stone mould for casting socketed +axe-heads of bronze were found at Rooskeen, in Ross-shire, and have +been figured by Wilson and Dr. Anderson. + +The difference between the axes and the chisels of the bronze period +appears more in the mode of hafting and of use than in the form of the +tool itself. Tools of the chisel form are not very numerous in Scotland, +they are much more common in Ireland. Some good specimens, however, +have been found in the southern and northern counties of Scotland.¹ + + ¹ _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, + Volume XII., pages 6, 13; Volume XVII., page 338; Anderson’s + _Bronze and Stone Ages_, page 201. + +Awls, needles, and fish-hooks of bronze have occasionally been found +in Scotland. Bronze awls have frequently been found in England, and +sometimes in association with interments.¹ Only three specimens of +bronze sickles are known in Scotland. One was found at Edengerach, +in the parish of Premnay, Aberdeenshire, which is a curved, tapering +blade set at right angles to the end of an oval socket; the blade is +imperfect, but seems to have been over four inches in length. Another +sickle was dredged from the bed of the Tay, near Errol, in 1840, and +it is preserved in the Museum of the Literary and Antiquarian Society +of Perth. The blade is a little over six inches in length, and over an +inch in breadth at its junction with the socket. The third sickle is in +the Hunterian Museum, Glasgow, and its blade is five inches in length. +These are the only agricultural implements of the bronze period as yet +discovered in the kingdom, though it was stated in the _Old Statistical +Account of Scotland_ that an implement of this class was found at +Ledberg, in Sutherlandshire.² + + ¹ Evans’ _Ancient Bronze Implements_, pages 188‒191. + + ² _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, + Volume VII., page 376; Volume XXII., pages 339, 350. + +No bronze hammers have been found in Scotland, and only one example +of the Bronze Age anvil has yet been discovered. The anvil was found +near Kyle of Oykel, in Sutherlandshire, and is preserved in the museum +of Dunrobin Castle. Several good specimens of large cauldrons, formed +of thin bronze plates riveted together, have been found associated +with the leaf-shaped swords and the socketed axe-heads, as in the loch +of Duddingston, Kilkerran in Ayrshire, and Poolewe; some of them are +beautifully formed and finely made.¹ + + ¹ _Ibid._, Volume XXII., pages 36‒42; Anderson’s _Bronze and + Stone Ages_, pages 205‒207. + +The people of the Bronze Age seem to have adorned themselves profusely +with fine ornaments, for gold ornaments assigned to this period have +been found in every quarter of the kingdom. They are suggestive of a +magnificence of attire and a life which ill accords with the view that +I have often seen stated, namely, that our prehistoric ancestors were +simply untutored savages! Men, indeed, who assumed the upright attitude, +but savages nevertheless. Two beautiful golden diadems were found on +the farm of Southside, near Coulter, Lanarkshire, in 1860. Their form +is a broad lunette of beaten gold, terminating in disc-shaped ends; and +the central opening is wide enough to admit of the ornament being worn +on the head as a diadem or on the neck as a gorget. Another beautiful +gold diadem of a similar form was found at Auchentaggart, in the parish +of Sanquhar, Dumfriesshire, which, when turned up by the plough, was +folded and rolled up almost into a ball. A magnificent specimen of +a large and massive armlet, formed of intertwisted rods of gold, was +found at Slateford, near Edinburgh, in 1864. It consisted of three gold +rods twisted together round a common centre, and uniting at the ends +in a single rod, which recurves and forms a terminal hook; and it was +so coiled as to encircle the arm in four complete coils, which, when +extended, measured 4½ feet long. This armlet “was by far the finest +specimen of goldsmith’s work from the bronze age that had ever been +seen in this country, and the only one of its kind then or now known +to exist; yet it was clipped to pieces and consigned to the melting-pot +by a jeweller in Edinburgh. A cast of it, however, is preserved in the +National Museum.”¹ + + ¹ Anderson’s _Bronze and Stone Ages_, pages 220‒223. + +Another exceedingly beautiful gold armlet is formed of a flat band, +tapering slightly from the middle to the end, and twisted like +the thread of a screw, passing at the ends into slender hook-like +terminations, with conical knobs which interlock and serve to fasten +the armlet when worn. In 1848 a hoard of four of these armlets was +discovered on the top of a steep bank at the village of Lower Largo, in +Fifeshire. They are most beautifully formed, and all nearly of the same +size. Another hoard of gold armlets of a similar type was turned up by +the plough on the farm of Law, in the parish of Urquhart, Elginshire, +in 1857; the number found amounted to thirty-six, and they were all +nearly of the same style and pattern. A gold armlet of a similar +pattern was found at Belhelvie, in Aberdeenshire; another near the +border of the parish of Coulter, Lanarkshire; one at the head of +Little Lochbroom, in Ross-shire; and a very massive one on the Moor +of Rannoch.¹ + + ¹ _Ibid._, pages 214, 219. + +In 1856 a hoard of gold ornaments was discovered in a moss in the +West Highlands, amongst which were two penannular armlets. These are +formed of solid rods of gold, bent to a slightly elliptical form, and +terminating in slightly expanded ends. The heaviest one weighed 19 dwts. +6 grs. In 1852 a massive gold armlet, formed of solid rods, was found +at Bonnyside, in Stirlingshire, and it weighed 6 ozs. 10 dwts. 6 grs. +Four armlets, formed of solid rods of gold, of a similar pattern, were +found in digging a drain at Ormidale, near Brodick, in the Island of +Arran, in 1864. In 1845 five similar armlets were found in digging a +drain in the vicinity of the Gallow Hill, in the parish of St. Vigeans, +Forfarshire, and these were sold to a pedlar “as old drawer handles.” +In 1834 three penannular gold armlets were found in Stonehill Wood, +in the parish of Carmichael, Lanarkshire, and the largest one weighed +4 ozs. 212 grs. A hoard of thirty-six gold armlets was ploughed up on +the farm of Coul, in the Isle of Islay, in 1780; and about 1784 a gold +armlet, weighing over 5 ozs., was found by a labourer in Galloway. +In 1871 two gold armlets were found in the vicinity of Killmailie, +Inverness-shire; other two found in Argyleshire are preserved in +Inveraray Castle. About 1827 five penannular gold rings were discovered +on the estate of the Duke of Fife, near Duff House, Banffshire, and +these rings were associated with a bronze age interment. From the +associated circumstances in which several of these gold ornaments have +been found, there is no question that they belong to the bronze period. +Besides the gold ornaments mentioned in the preceding paragraphs, and +many others of gold which I have not mentioned, there were bronze rings, +armlets, pins, and jet necklaces, which have been found in many parts +of the country. Some of the jet necklaces and the bronze armlets are +very pretty.¹ + + ¹ Anderson’s _Bronze and Stone Ages_, pages 58, 59, 60, 61‒63, + 144, 208‒214; _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of + Scotland_, Volume VI., page 311; Volume VII., pages 351, 352; + Volume VIII., pages 28‒32, 407, 408; Wilson’s _Prehistoric + Annals of Scotland_, Volume I., pages 434‒475. + +The curious phenomena of the prevalence of the use of gold in the form +of ornaments amongst the Bronze Age people, at a time when silver and +iron were unknown, and bronze the only metal used in their manufactured +products, seems to indicate a taste and culture which could scarcely +have been expected. This will be again touched on after the available +evidence in other directions has been gone over, to which attention +must be directed. + +It may be “that not a trace of a dwelling or site of a settlement +of the Bronze Age has been discovered in Scotland.”¹ Still, when the +historian finds that the people lived, and moved, and died, and were +interred in various forms in the Bronze Age, he must endeavour to find +traces of their dwellings and sites. Seeing that their tombs have been +discovered, it is more than probable that their sites and dwellings +were at no great distance from their tombs. We have already seen +evidence that there must have been considerable organisation and united +action among our ancestors of the Stone and Bronze Ages, and therefore, +in consistency, we should try to find traces of their dwellings; +although possibly we cannot obtain positive information about them. + + ¹ Anderson’s _Bronze and Stone Ages_, page 227. + +Traces of what may reasonably be supposed to have been the foundations +of prehistoric dwellings, have been observed in many quarters of +Scotland, in short from Mid Lothian to Caithness. The rudest of +these hut foundations are simply shallow excavations in the ground, +usually circular in form and from seven to eight feet in diameter, +and generally occur in groups. But the foundations of many groups of +circular huts of larger dimensions have been observed in Scotland. +The structure of those hut circles consists of two concentric rows of +stones separated by a space of six or eight inches, which is filled by +small stones and earth, the whole forming a rude wall of about eighteen +inches in height; and the space within this wall is generally from +twenty to thirty feet in diameter. They have often been discovered on +the summits, the brows, and the sides of hills; and also on the lower +grounds, the sea beaches, and on the banks of lochs and of rivers.¹ Now +it is probable that these were the foundations of prehistoric dwellings, +and that above these foundations a structure formed of wood was erected. +Many indications, circumstances, and final results, tend to show that +the sites and settlements of the prehistoric people of Scotland were +often on elevated positions――on heights and hills. The natural reasons +and circumstances which originally led the prehistoric people to select +the heights for their habitations, probably were that abodes erected +upon the high grounds would be more likely to escape the ravages of +inundation from a high tide, a heavy rainfall, a sudden thaw of snow, +or any unusual rising of the waters upon the lower grounds; while the +heights were also best adapted for defence against the attacks of +enemies. Thus it is in the highest degree probable that the earliest +dwellings of man in Scotland were on pretty elevated positions. Further, +many of the towns of Scotland which stretch back into the prehistoric +period, were originally sites of human habitation upon heights or +hills, such as Edinburgh, Stirling, Paisley, Dundee, Aberdeen, Banff, +Inverness, and many others. As indicated in the second section, man +selected the sites for his dwellings with remarkable sagacity. + + ¹ _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, + Volume VII., pages 291, 297, 300, 541; Volume VIII., page + 410; Volume IX., pages 158, 169; Wilson’s _Prehistoric + Annals of Scotland_, Volume I., pages 103‒106. + +But in the prehistoric ages it frequently happened that the +advantages of the elevated sites, great as they were――mainly owing +to the difficulties of obtaining food――these advantages were partly +counterbalanced, and hence the selection of spots on the banks of +lakes and rivers, and near the sea, as sites of early occupation. +Thus, traces of hut foundations have been observed on the sea beaches, +the banks of lakes and rivers, in close association with shell mounds, +kitchen middens, and grave mounds. On the links between the Meikle and +Little Ferries, Sutherlandshire, the hut foundations, the shell mounds, +and the grave mounds, were found in close proximity with each other; +and similar traces and remains occur in Elginshire, and in other parts +of the country. From these indications it has reasonably been inferred +that these places were sites of early habitation, and that shell fish +or eatable mussel formed a main part of the food of those people. A +few flint and stone implements, and the bones of animals, were found +embedded amongst these shell heaps.¹ + + ¹ _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, + Volume VI., pages 423‒426; Volume VIII., pages 63‒64, + 177‒178; Volume IX., pages 250‒260, 452‒454, 45‒52. + + There are a number of caves in Scotland which appear to have + been used for human habitations, or hiding places; but their + occupation cannot be assigned to definite periods, unless in + rare instances. In quite recent times travelling tinkers and + bands of vagrants occasionally lived in caves. Several of + the early Scottish saints sometimes resorted to caves. + + In the Gaswork Cave, at Wemyss, there was a mass of debris + like a kitchen midden, containing bones of the ox, sheep, + pig, deer, hare, and bones of birds; and also shells of the + limpet and the whelk. Another cave at Seacliff, near North + Berwick, contained similar evidence of human occupation. + ――_Sculptured Stones of Scotland_, Volume II., pages 87‒88. + + The Burness Cave in the Parish of Borgue, Kirkcudbrightshire, + the exploration of which commenced in 1872, presented + evidence of prolonged occupation. Large quantities of the + bones of animals and of birds were found in it, and also + indications that its occupiers had used grain. Nearly two + hundred implements, tools, and objects of human art, were + disinterred from this cave; and the greater part of these + implements were made of bone, comparatively few stone or + bronze tools were found in it. _Proceedings of the Society + of Antiquaries of Scotland_, Volume X., pages 479‒507; also + Volume XI. + +There is always more or less uncertainty in assigning prehistoric +structures to a given period; for from the nature of the subject such +evidence as exists is rarely conclusive. This is the case with the +Scotch Crannogs and the Hill Forts. Both these classes of structures +are prehistoric, and it would be difficult to determine which of them +is the oldest. The period of the Scotch Crannogs has been placed after +the departure of the Romans; a time of darkness and confusion, which +somehow seems to have been exceedingly fertile in originating new +buildings and structures.¹ But looking at the antiquity assigned to a +somewhat similar class of structures in Switzerland and Italy, which +were constructed by a kindred race, and other circumstances of the +people themselves associated with the Crannogs in Scotland, it appears +to me highly probable that they were originated and some of them +constructed in the later stage of the Bronze Age. In fact, only the +origin of the Crannogs within the area of the Kingdom of Strathclyde +are accounted for, on Dr. Munro’s hypothesis, as he explicitly +admits:――“Turning now to the Celtic area beyond the limits of the +Scottish portion of the Kingdom of Strathclyde, I may at once state +that there is no data derived from an examination of its artificial +islands, nor any relics of their occupiers, which can give even an +approximate notion of their chronological range.”² Thus the question +of their origin and possible age is left unsettled for the greater part +of Scotland. An attempt therefore may be made to indicate the natural +causes and the conditions which led to their origin and construction, +without having recourse to a special line of explanation. + + ¹ Dr. P. Munro, who has specially examined and has given a + very interesting account of the Scottish Crannogs, and also + in a larger work presented a masterly account of this class + of structures in Europe; touching those of Scotland, he + says:――“There is, in my opinion, only one hypothesis that + can satisfactorily account for all the facts and phenomena + here adduced, viz., that the lake dwellings in the south-west + of Scotland were constructed by the Celtic inhabitants as a + means of protecting themselves and their movable property, + when, upon the frequent withdrawal of the Roman soldiers + from the district, they were left single-handed, to contend + against the Angles on the east, and the Picts and Scots on + the south. It is not likely that these provincials ... would + become the assailants of such fierce and lawless enemies.... + Hence their military tactics and operations would assume + more the character of defence than of aggression, and + in order to defeat the object of the frequent and sudden + inroads of the northern tribes, which was to plunder the + inhabitants rather than to conquer the country, experience + taught them the necessity of being prepared for emergencies, + by having certain places of more than ordinary security, + where they could deposit their wealth, or to which they + could retire as a last resource when hard pressed. These + retreats might be caves, fortified camps, or inaccessible + islands; but in localities where no such natural strongholds + exists, the military genius of the Celtic inhabitants, + prompted perhaps by inherited notions, led them to construct + these wooden islands. Since the final departure of the + Romans till the conquest of the Kingdom of Strathclyde by + the Northumbrian Angles, a period of several centuries, + this unfortunate people had few intervals of peace, and + with their subjugation, ended the special function of the + lake-dwellings as a national system of protection.”――_Ancient + Scottish Lake-dwellings_, pages 283‒284. + + ² _Ibid._, page 287. + +The area of the Crannogs and artificial islands embrace the whole of +modern Scotland, excepting its two northmost counties, and one or two +on its south-eastern extremity, and even in these such structures may +yet be discovered. The question then is, what were the causes of their +origin? We need not travel beyond the natural and known circumstances +of the country and its inhabitants, and the motives of human action and +effort. All Crannogs have in view one common end,――defence, protection, +and security. They were probably often used as places of refuge, though +no doubt they were often in many instances occupied continuously. +“There is often a fort on the top of some neighbouring hill, to which +the lake-dwellers may have gone when the lochs were frozen and the +Crannogs open to invasion.”¹ + + ¹ _Ibid._, page 187. + +In the later part of the bronze period the people of Scotland were +organised and formed into strong tribes, which were separate and +independent, and each tribe living under the rule of its own head. No +doubt these tribes sometimes waged war with one another. But before +this time, there was a strong and constant pressure from the south +on the tribes to the north of the Tweed and the Cheviot Hills, which +arose from fresh migrations from the Continent to the southern shores +of the Island. So there was a continuous onward and outward movement +of the tribes from the south of the Island toward the north, which +naturally caused the tribes to construct defensive works for their +self-preservation, protection, and security. Such then were the causes +of the origin of the Hill Forts and the Crannogs of Scotland. As to +which of those two classes of structures was the earliest, I will not +undertake to determine; but that both were in use many centuries before +the Roman invasion, I have no doubt whatever. Thus we have a real +historic explanation of the origin of the Crannogs and the Hill Forts; +they were the effects of the state of the inhabitants of the whole +Island, and the historic conditions which had arisen. + +Crannogs would continue to be used so long as the circumstances of +the people rendered them necessary, or till they were superseded by +structures more in harmony with the conditions of society. Thus many +of them may have been occasionally occupied long after the departure +of the Romans, and even after the kingdom of Strathclyde was annexed +to Scotland. + +In many instances natural islands in lochs were selected as suitable +sites on which to erect defensive works and secure dwellings. Advantage +also was often taken of the natural ridges and the shallows in the +bottom of the lochs, on which to construct abodes with stones or wood, +and then connect them with the shore by a causeway.¹ + + ¹ _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, + Volume VI., pages 114‒117; Volume X., pages 31‒34, 741. + +But the class of structures most frequently found in lochs in +Scotland, is usually constructed wholly or principally of wood, and +on that account are called Crannogs. They are pretty numerous, and +a considerable number of them have been systematically explored by +Dr. Munro; and he gives the following account of the method of their +construction:――“This is how they worked: 1, Immediately over the +chosen site a circular raft of trunks of trees laid above branches and +brushwood was formed, and above it additional layers of logs, together +with stones, gravel, etc., were heaped up till the whole was grounded. +2, As this process went on, upright piles, made of oak and of the +requisite length, were inserted into prepared holes in the structure, +and probably also a few were inserted into the bed of the lake. 3, The +rough logs forming horizontal layers were made of various kinds of wood, +generally birch, it being the most abundant. These were occasionally +pinned together by thick oak pegs, and here and there at intervals +oak beams mortised into one another stretched across the substance +of the island, and fixed the surrounding piles. 4, When a sufficient +height above the water-line was attained, a prepared pavement of oak +beams was constructed, and mortised beams were laid over the tops +of the encircling piles, which bound them firmly together as already +described. The margin of the island was also slantingly shaped by +an intricate arrangement of beams and stones, constituting in some +cases a well-formed breakwater. 5, When the skeleton of the island was +thus finished, probably turf would be laid over its margin, where the +pointed piles protruded, and a superficial barrier of hurdles, or some +such fence, erected close to the edge of the water. 6, Frequently a +wooden gangway, probably submerged, stretched to the shore, by means of +which secret access to the Crannog could be obtained without the use of +a canoe. + +“Bearing in mind that all these structures were solidly put together +without nails or bolts, and that the gangways, which have remained +permanently fixed to the present time, had neither joint nor mortise, +we may fearlessly challenge modern science to produce better results +under these, or indeed under any circumstances. Not only do these +wooden islands evince much mechanical and technical skill on the part +of their producers, but what is still more singular, their area of +distribution appears to have been co-extensive with the districts +formerly occupied by Celtic tribes. Hence we have here another proof of +the extraordinary vigour, intense individuality, and plastic character +of early Celtic civilisation, in thus developing, from its own inherent +resources, an unique form of stronghold, simple in its structure, but +admirably adapted to the unsettled conditions of life and military +requirements of the period.”¹ + + ¹ _Ancient Lake Dwellings of Scotland_, pages 262‒264. + +The dimensions of the Crannogs vary considerably, some of them +are twenty-three feet in diameter, while others are much less. The +character of the relics and implements found in association with them +are pretty various, embracing culinary articles, tools, weapons, and +ornaments, such as cauldrons, stone-hammers, spindle-whorls, objects +in bronze, bone pins, needles, and borers, and deer horn implements, +and many ornaments. Altogether the collection of articles discovered +in the Scottish Crannogs, indicates that some of them were frequented +and occasionally occupied after the Christian era.¹ But this in no +way proves that they were not originated and constructed, and many of +them occupied at a much earlier period; indeed the very nature of the +construction of these Crannogs, without nails or bolts of any kind, +points to an early and prehistoric origin, and it was already observed +that the primitive canoes have been often found associated with the +Crannogs. + + ¹ _Ibid._, page 277; _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries + of Scotland_, Volume VI., pages 121, 132, 148; Volume IX., + pages 389, 391; Volume XX., iii. page 148. + +The Hill Forts may be divided into three classes:――1, Those formed of +earth; 2, Those formed partly or wholly of stones; and 3, Those formed +of stones and partly vitrified. Seeing that they are all prehistoric, +there seems no necessity for placing them after the Roman invasion. +Although it may be quite true, that we cannot with certainty assign any +of them to the Bronze Age, still I have sufficiently shown, on probably +historic grounds, that the movements of the population in the island, +and the tribal organisation of society, would have naturally and +politically led to the construction of such defensive works; and that +at least some of these works were constructed several centuries before +the Christian era. The movement of the tribes from the southern parts +of the Island, inwards and outwards, issued in the first creation of +historic conditions in Britain; and the consequent necessity of efforts +for self-preservation and defence. It is therefore of comparatively +little importance whether the defensive works in question be assigned +to the Bronze Age or the Iron Age, provided that the causes of their +origin and their consecutive development can be shown, in association +with the advance of the people. + +The first class of hill-forts, which were probably the earliest, +consists of a number of low mounds of earth drawn round the brow, or +summits of natural heights. They are mostly circular or oval in form, +as this was often modified by the nature of the sites selected, and +the number of the enclosing mounds of earth vary for similar reasons, +sometimes there are two, three, four or more, which enclose a central +space. They differ from most of the other early constructions, inasmuch +as they are adaptations of naturally elevated sites for purposes of +defence. They are numerous and extend over the whole area of Scotland; +and, as noticed in a preceding page, they were probably sometimes +used in connection with the crannogs. A characteristic example occurs +on a height on the estate of Borthwick Hall, in Mid Lothian, which +has recently been examined. It consists of four mounds of earth which +enclose a space of 410 feet in length from east to west, and 284 feet +in breadth from north to south. The mounds are only a few feet in +height; and there are three entrances to the central enclosure. This +class of earthworks in general, simply consist of a series of earthen +walls enclosing the highest part of a hill of moderate elevation.¹ + + ¹ Chalmers’ _Caledonia_, Volume I., pages 87‒98; _Proceedings + of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, Volume XVI., + page 254, _et seq._ + +The second class of hill-forts formed of stones, in some instances have +only a single wall round the brow of a hill, which encloses ♦the area +of its summit; while others have two, three, or more walls drawn round +the ribs of a conical hill, at short distances apart. In Argyleshire +there are a number of prehistoric forts with only one line of walls: +in all, there are fifty-nine forts in this ancient district: of these +thirty-seven are simply enclosed by a single wall, some of which are +circular or oval in form, and others whose figure follow the contour +of the site, and others again on sites partly protected from attack by +nature――steep crags and rocks are only partially defended by walls on +the accessible sides. The greater part of the Argyle forts have had +only one entrance. Out of fifty-four of these forts, sixteen are under +50 feet in length inside the walls, and four of them had outworks; +twenty-four were between 50 and 100 feet inside, and seven had outworks; +eight were between 100 and 200 feet in length inside, and three +had outworks; and four were between 200 and 300 feet in length, but +comparatively narrow. Evidence of wells of water within these Argyle +forts is rare.¹ + + ♦ duplicate word “the” removed + + ¹ _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, + Volume XXIII., pages 368‒431. In the same volume of the + _Proceedings of the Society_, Mr. Alexander Hutcheson, + architect, gives an interesting description of several + hill-forts in Aberfeldy, Perthshire. One of these is on + the eastern spur of Drummond Hill, and occupies the summit + of a projecting rock, a site admirably chosen for defence. + “The walls of the fort have followed the contour of the + hill, twisting out and in to suit the exigencies of the + site. The area within the walls is thus of very irregular + outline, measuring in greatest longitude from north-west + to south-east about 100 yards, and at right angles to this + about 70 yards.... The walls are much broken down ... but + there are many parts where the inside and outside faces of + the walls can still be traced. In one part from 16 to 20 + feet in length by about 6 feet in height of the original + wall may still be seen. This fragment shows that the walls + had been erected of rough and massive unhewed blocks without + any mortar or cementing material. The wall here is some 9 + feet in thickness at the base, and is almost perpendicular + externally, but in the inside it is considerably sloped. + There are at some parts evidences that the ground had been + raised or filled in at the back of the walls, probably + to give those inside the fort an advantage in scaling the + walls for defence. This feature I have observed elsewhere + in similar structures.” Pages 359‒361. + +The largest hill-fort in Scotland crowns the summit of a conical hill, +called the White Caterthun, in the parish of Menmuir, Forfarshire. +It is on a well-chosen and commanding position, overlooking the great +plain of Strathmore. The central area enclosed is a long oval of about +450 by 200 feet, and this inner space represents the citadel. The +inmost inclosing wall, now in ruins, was of enormous size and strength. +At 150 feet from it down the slope of the hill there is a second wall, +and below it the remains of a third wall; and beyond this the outer +wall, enclosing an oblong area, which is supposed to have been used +for a cattle-fold. As similar out-enclosures have been observed in +connection with these forts, it is reasonably assumed that they were +used in cases of emergency, such as war or invasion, for the protection +of the live stock, on which the people mainly depended for their food +and clothing.¹ On another hill in the neighbourhood there is a smaller +fort of the same class. + + ¹ Roy’s _Military Antiquities_, page 47, plates 47‒48. The vast + and massive structure of this fort, and the immense labour + which its construction must have involved, will be best + understood by an examination of the plans and sections in + Roy’s great work. + +Farther northward, on the Barmekyn Hill, in the Echt district, +Aberdeenshire, there is a remarkable hill-fort. It consists of five +concentric ramparts, which enclose the summit of the hill, and about +the beginning of this century it was in a perfect state of preservation, +so far as regarded the lines of fortification, though otherwise partly +crumbled into ruins, and much of it removed to supply materials for +the fences in the neighbourhood. The walls were about five feet in +thickness, of dry masonry, and appear to have been of considerable +height, but the inner rampart was twelve feet thick at the base, and +several feet of its height then remained entire. The outer ditches were +nine feet in breadth, and the inner one over thirty feet. The interior +enclosure was reduced to a level, nearly circular, three hundred feet +in diameter, and included about one acre of ground. Traces of a similar +class of hill-forts may still be observed all over the country.¹ + + ¹ _Archæologia Scotica_, Volume II., pages 322‒326. 1822. + +The third class of hill-forts are those which show vitrification in +their walls. They have attracted much attention, and yet very little +decisive result as to the cause or the extent of the vitrification +of their walls has been obtained. For all that has been written about +these curious forts, very few of them have as yet been thoroughly +excavated and explored. So far as known, there is no specimen in +Scotland of a fort with its walls vitrified throughout. In every +case where careful examination has been made, “vitrified portions of +walling were found overlying portions built in the ordinary manner +and unvitrified.” This was the result which Dr. Angus Smith obtained +from his investigation of a vitrified fort at Loch Etive. And recently +Mr. Macdonald examined the remains on the Hill of Noath, in the +parish of Rhynie, Aberdeenshire, and found a similar result. He made +wide cuts through the wall in two places down to the natural soil, +and found that it consisted of a mass of loose stones in one of the +sections without any vitrification whatever, and in the other section +it was only vitrified at the top. This is a valuable contribution, +as it touches the precise points which must be determined before +satisfactory conclusions can be formed, as to whether the vitrification +is structural or incidental; or, in other words, a result of design or +the effect of a long series of incidental agencies and circumstances.¹ + + ¹ _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, + Volume IX., page 396, _et seq._, Volume X. page 70; Volume + XI., page 298; Volume XII., page 13; Volume XXIII., pages + 371‒373. Mr. Macdonald, of “The Farm,” Huntly, conducted + his investigations on the remains of the fort on the hill of + Noath at the instance of the Huntly Field Club; and it may + be said, with truth, that these local clubs fill a useful + place, and sometimes make important additions to prehistoric + facts and natural science collections. Mr. Macdonald’s + paper, giving an interesting account of his examination of + the walls of the fort on the Hill of Noath, has just been + published in a volume, along with other local historic + matter of great value. + +Examples of partially vitrified forts occur on Craig Phadrig, a +conical hill near Inverness; one at Dunnideer, in the parish of Insch, +Aberdeenshire; another at Finhaven, near Aberlemno, in Forfarshire; +one on the Hill of Barry, Perthshire; several in Galloway, and in other +quarters of the country. But they are not peculiar to Scotland, though +this has sometimes been asserted. A considerable number have been +observed in France, and also in Bohemia.¹ + + ¹ _Ibid._, Volume III., pages 451‒453; Volume VII., page 301; + Volume VIII., pages 145‒155; Volume IX., pages 397, 398; + _Sculptured Stones of Scotland_, Volume I., pages 451, 453; + _Mémoires de la Société nationale des antiquaires de France_, + Volume XXXIII., page 83, _et seq._ + +The Hill Fort of Dunsimane caps a conical hill, 800 feet in height, and +it presents some peculiarities which have not been found in connection +with any other of this class of structures. The hill on which it lies +is detached from the surrounding hills by valleys, and it commands a +wide prospect of the country on the south, the Sidlaw Hills, the Carse +of Gowrie, the estuary of the Tay, St. Andrews, and the hills of Fife; +and to the north the plain of Strathmore is seen stretching out, till +terminated by the range of the Grampians. This fort had several walls +originally, but the remaining rampart is mostly composed of earth, +intermingled with large stones, and some parts of it is twenty feet +wide at the base, and from six to eight feet in height. Some fragments +of the rampart are vitrified. The enclosed space measures 150 yards in +length by 70 in width. In its south-east side, two underground chambers +were discovered, twenty feet in length, and from six to eight feet +in width, and about six feet in height. These chambers communicated +with each other, near their ends, by two narrow passages, and the +floors were paved with undressed slabs. The walls of the chambers were +built of undressed stones, which at the height of three feet began +to converge until the roof was closed by flagstones. The floors were +covered with ashes and refuse, consisting mostly of the bones of horses, +and cattle, and deer horns. A quern was found in one of the passages; +and in another, portions of three human skeletons.¹ So far as known, +this is the only Scottish hill-fort associated with underground +chambers――a peculiarity which seems to indicate that it may belong to +the Stone Age. + + ¹ _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, + Volume II., pages 95‒97; Volume IX., pages 378‒380; + Anderson’s _The Iron Age_, page 281. + +Having noticed the defensive works which the prehistoric people deemed +it necessary to construct for their self-preservation and protection; +and, although we have no direct evidence touching the character of +their common dwellings, we know that they possessed herds of cattle, +and that they made provision for the safety of their flocks in times +of danger and of war. In their every-day life in times of peace, we may +imagine them tending their flocks in the valleys and on the hill sides; +and making in summer what preparation they could to provide a store of +food for their cattle in winter. In all probability life with them was +not nearly such a severe struggle as it is even with most of us at the +present day; and if at times they had to endure privation, they had +also times of real enjoyment and rejoicing. Let us again turn attention +to the disposal of the dead, and the phenomena associated with it in +the Bronze Age. + +Interments in the Bronze Age are found under various external +circumstances, and present many differences in their underground +phenomena. Bronze Age burials have been discovered in cairns, in +circular areas fenced off by standing stones, in natural knolls and +gravelly hillocks; and urns and cists have often been found in places +where no external signs of them appeared to the eye. A few examples of +these several modes of burial, with their overground and underground +appearances and associations, will now be presented. + +At Collessie in Fife, a cairn consisting of a mass of stones and +boulders, covering a space of one hundred and twenty feet in diameter, +and rising in its centre to a height of fourteen feet, was excavated in +♦1876‒77. In its centre a cist formed of slabs was found on the natural +surface of the ground. The inside of the cist was four feet six inches +long, and three feet wide in the centre; and among the gravel in the +bottom of it some portions of the unburnt bones of a human skeleton +were found in a condition of extreme decay. In one of the ends of +the cist, a clay urn was lying on its side. The urn was high and well +formed of a fine paste which had been baked at an open fire; and though +made without the aid of the wheel, it was nearly regular in its outline; +and its ornamentation consisted of groups of parallel lines alternating +with bands of zigzag and short lines. On a further examination of the +subsoil underneath the cairn, two spots were discovered which indicated +previous disturbance. These turned out to be deep pits; and after the +loose gravel was thrown out, in the bottom of the pit fragments of +an urn was found amongst ashes and charcoal. In the other pit at the +depth of four feet there was a layer of burnt bones, about an inch in +thickness, and spread over a space of from three to four square feet; +and portions of a human skull and the vertebral column were recognised +among the bones. A thin dagger blade of bronze, measuring six inches +in length, was found in this pit; and thin dagger blades are a usual +feature of Bronze Age interments.¹ + + ♦ “1076‒77” replaced with “1876‒77” + + ¹ Anderson’s _Bronze and Stone Ages_, pages 3‒8. + +The above may be taken as an example of a Bronze Age cairn burial; +and I will proceed to other modes of interment. Although many casual +discoveries of single urns have occurred, still it would require an +exhaustive examination of each separate site to warrant the conclusion +that the casually found urn interment is not one of a group. Where +such investigations have been made, it has generally been found that +the site of the casually discovered interment was a cemetery; thus +indicating the use of the site as a family or tribal burying-ground +over a long period.¹ + + ¹ _Ibid._ page 28. + +Such cemeteries have been discovered in many places throughout the +kingdom. Recently at Lawpark, near St. Andrews, a cremation cemetery +was discovered, in which twenty urns of a cinerary type were found, +varying in size from ten to sixteen inches in height, and from eight +to eleven inches in diameter; and two small bronze blades were found +amongst the burnt bones. In 1845, when workmen were engaged trenching +a rocky knoll in the parish of Creich, Fifeshire, they discovered +twenty-one urns, of which fourteen were placed singly in a straight +line about three feet apart. About six years ago, a cemetery was +found in a gravelly knoll at Shanwell, in Kinross-shire, and among +the burnt bones a fine specimen of a thin oval bronze blade was found. +At Magdalen Bridge, between Musselburgh and Joppa, a cemetery was +discovered in excavating a sandpit, which contained nine urns, and +one thin bronze blade associated with them. In 1849, at Lesmurdie, +Banffshire, in a sandy height five cists associated with small urns and +chips of flint were found; these were unburnt interments. At Genock, +in the parish of Straiton, Ayrshire, a cremation cemetery was found, +and removed in levelling the ground for the foundation of a dwelling +house; and about a dozen urns were there destroyed. In 1878, in making +a branch railway, a group of interments were discovered at Dalmore, in +Ross-shire, which consisted of ten interments in cists of flat stones +set in gravel; and two of them contained bronze implements. Nine of +these were burnt burials, but only one urn was found, a few beads, a +flint knife, and other objects of stone and bone.¹ + + ¹ _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, + Volume I., pages 205‒211; Volume VI., pages 217, 218, + 276‒278, 388‒391, 394‒418; Volume VII., pages 24, 198, + 401‒407, 475; Volume VIII., pages 166, 466; Volume IX., + pages 158‒160, 268‒270; Volume X., pages 43, 739; Anderson’s + _Bronze and Stone Ages_, pages 28‒51. + +Stone circles were once exceedingly numerous in every quarter of +Scotland, and though cultivation and other agencies have effaced +many of them, still considerable numbers remain. Merely considered +externally, these circles present a fine variety of forms and figures, +and various degrees of constructive elaboration. Some of them have one +ring of stones, others two or three; and while some groups are oval +in form, others aim at the perfect circle. The stones which form these +circles in all their variations are rough and undressed; excepting +that on some of the stones traces of cup and ring cuttings have been +observed. A large number of the smaller stone circles, as already +indicated, have been supposed to be the foundations on which the huts +of the early inhabitants were erected. But many of the areas within +stone circles and standing stones, were the cities of the dead in the +Bronze Age, and perhaps even later: as a series of careful excavations +and recent investigation have shown that many of the stone circles were +places of burial. + +Many stone circles and single standing-stones still exist in the Island +of Arran, though many have been removed to make way for agricultural +improvements, and others have disappeared through various agencies. +The late Dr. James Bryce, having obtained the permission of the Duke +of Hamilton, made a series of careful excavations of a number of areas +within stone circles in the Island of Arran. In 1860 he investigated +six stone circles on Mauchrie Moor, in the townland of Tormore; and +stone cists and interments were discovered in five of them, two urns, +flint chips, twelve flint arrow-heads, a bronze pin, a skull, and +other human remains. The urns were wide-mouthed, one seven-and-a-half +inches high, and the other six-and-a-half inches, and their surface was +ornamented in bands of oblique lines and impressed markings. This group +of Arran interments is of much value as evidence of the purpose of the +standing-stone circles.¹ + + ¹ _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, + Volume IV., pages 499‒524. + +Many years ago a series of very careful investigations were made by Mr. +Charles E. Dalrymple, which have yielded invaluable materials for the +elucidation of the original purpose of the standing-stone circles. A +group of seven interments, within a circle of six upright pillar-stones, +was disclosed by Mr. Dalrymple at Tuack, near Kintore, in Aberdeenshire. +These were cremation burials, and associated with large urns of the +bronze period type. At Crichie, in the same district, another group +of interments was found within a circular area, marked off by a trench +twenty feet wide; and within this trench there had been a circle of +six standing-stones, and a seventh one in the centre, five of which had +been removed for building purposes. In the centre of the circle, under +the apparent surface of the ground, a cairn of stones was disclosed, +fifteen feet in diameter; and a cist was found underneath the cairn +which contained the remains of an unburnt human skeleton. Near one of +the stones of the circle an urn was discovered, containing a cremation +interment; and at the foot of another stone a deposit of incinerated +bones was found, and near it another of a similar character. At the +same spot a finely-made stone hammer-head was found. Several other +interments were found in different parts of the area, one of which was +in a small cist, and another in a well-formed urn. At Fullarton, also +in the Kintore district, seven interments of incinerated human bones, +associated with fragments of urns, and one unburnt interment, were +found in a circle of twenty-eight feet in diameter; only three of the +stones of the circle remained, two of which were fallen and broken. +In other districts of Aberdeenshire deposits of human remains have +been found in the areas of many stone circles, the most of which were +cremation interments.¹ + + ¹ The results of these investigations were briefly but ably + stated in Dr. Stuart’s two volumes of the _Sculptured Stones + of Scotland_, see Volume I., pages 19‒25, _et seq._; Volume + II., Appendix to Prefix, pages 22‒24; Leslie’s _Early Races + of Scotland_, Volume I., page 209. + +In other quarters of the country similar results have been obtained +in the areas of the stone circles, wherever thorough investigation has +been made. And it appears, so far, that the same conclusion may be +deduced with reference to another class of monumental stone-settings, +consisting of groups of upright stones which are not arranged in a +circular form. These are not nearly so common as the circular classes, +and, so far as yet ascertained, their occurrence in Scotland is limited +to the counties of Caithness and Sutherland; but there seems reason to +believe that they also occur in Wales. The evidence, so far as it has +yet gone, is distinct in indicating their sepulchral association.¹ + + ¹ Anderson’s _Bronze and Stone Ages_, pages 125‒126. “From + these facts it appears that, while a certain uniformity in + the phenomena of the burials exists in smaller areas, there + is a wide diversity exhibited in more extended areas. As our + knowledge of the facts increases in its range and speciality, + as the nature of these variations is gradually ascertained, + and their limits defined with precision, the time will come + when their significance, with relation to the areas in which + they are manifested, may be determined. At present we are + unable to define, with any degree of accuracy, the limits + of the area over which stone circles are found, and equally + unable to say within what limits they are found to contain + burials assignable to the Ages of Bronze or Iron. But this + we are in a position to say, from existing evidence, that, + so far as they have yet been investigated in Scotland, + their nature and purpose has been clearly determined to be + sepulchral.” _Ibid._ + +Thus, by the recognition of the result of careful investigation, the +stone circles of Scotland have been divested of much of their mystery, +and the mass of quasi-historical relations which had so long shrouded +them in a haze of misty notions. + +It seems necessary to supplement the two preceding sections by a brief +expository statement, and a summary of the results of our information +about the people to the opening of the Christian Era. As to the length +of the stone period in Scotland there is no very definite data, still +we are not altogether in the dark concerning its probable duration:――1, +Considering the length of time which it must have taken the people of +the Stone Age to spread over Scotland after they had crossed the Tweed +and the Cheviot Hills. 2, Then the evidence of a lengthened occupation +implied in the great structural monuments which they erected in honour +of the dead; and also the earth-houses which they built for their +self-preservation and protection from the storm and frost of a northern +climate. Further, it may be reasonably presumed that for a considerable +length of time after they had spread over the country, they would have +been fully engaged in providing the necessary means to preserve and +sustain their own lives, and consequently could not have had leisure to +construct elaborate monuments to the departed; for it is not when men +are striving and struggling to the utmost to preserve their existence +that they betake themselves to raise monuments to the dead. So it +may be fairly assumed that the chambered cairns of Caithness, Argyle, +Inverness-shire, and Orkney, were not erected until the people had +attained a certain measure of comfort, organisation, and leisure. All +this must have required a long period for its realisation, making due +allowance for the natural conditions and the circumstances under which +the people lived. 3, It has been indicated that probably the floor +of a single chambered cairn served as the burial-ground of a family or +tribe for several generations before the chamber was covered and the +structure completed. Thus, when two or three chambered cairns occur +near to each other, which is frequently the case, they may represent +in that locality the successive interments of several centuries. 4, +The evidence deducible from the traces of other remains――stone weapons +and tools and the sites of their manufacture, and primitive boats +discovered in positions which indicate that they were deposited in +such spots at a far distant period. 5, The analogy of other Northern +countries, such as Jutland and the Danish Islands, in which it has been +shown on reasonable grounds that the Stone Age commenced 3000 years +before the Christian era. + +Taking into account these considerations and indications, it will +appear highly probable that Scotland was inhabited at least 2,800 years +before the Christian era, and that the southern parts of the island +were inhabited several centuries earlier. Indeed, it is doubtful if +this limited period will be sufficient to meet all the conditions and +circumstances of the case, and it must be distinctly understood that +I have advanced this statement as approximate only, and subject to +revision on the attainment of more reliable data. + +Touching the probable date of the introduction of the use of bronze +weapons and implements into Scotland, it is impossible to speak with +any approach to certainty. As already pointed out, there was no rapid +introduction of metal weapons and tools; on the contrary, the change +from the use of stone tools to those of bronze was a slow transitorial +process, and in some districts of the country longer or shorter than in +others. From such available indications as we have, it seems probable +that bronze weapons and implements began to be introduced in the +southern and south-western districts of Scotland between 1200 and +1000 B.C., and that at first they came from the south of the island, +and from Ireland, and at a later stage they were manufactured within +the country. The introduction of bronze in the southern region of the +island has been placed at some 1200 or 1400 years B.C., and in Denmark +about 1000 years B.C.¹ My view would give a duration of the bronze +period in Scotland of eight or nine centuries, which at least is not +too long when the distinctive and characteristic development of many of +the bronze weapons and implements produced within the country is taken +into account. + + ¹ Evans’ _Ancient Bronze Implements, etc., of Britain_, pages + 473, 479; J. J. A. Worsaae’s _Pre-history of the North_, + page 205, _et seq._, 1886. Greenwell calculates that a + period of 700 years may be allowed during which bronze was + the metal used for making cutting tools and implements in + Britain.――_British Barrows._ + +It is probable that iron was known and used in the south of the island +in the third or fourth century B.C., and in Scotland about the second +or third century B.C. But no rapid change took place from the use +of bronze to that of iron in the manufacture of weapons and tools, +the transition was extremely slow and gradual. Indeed, comparatively +little iron was produced in Britain till quite recent times. In all +probability the first manufactured iron articles used in Scotland were +imported, still there are some indications that the process of smelting +iron was known in the country at a pretty early period. + +Having thus briefly indicated the probable length of the period since +Scotland has been continuously inhabited, and the stages which the +people have passed through in prehistoric times, I will next attempt to +indicate concisely the social state of the people and their religion, +but this effort must be incomplete from the lack of available +information and evidence. + +It has already been incidentally mentioned that the Stone Age people, +while alone in possession of the country, had attained a certain degree +of social organisation. As they were of one race it is unlikely that +there was much war amongst them. That they lived in families or tribes +composed of a large number of individuals may be deduced from the +monuments erected over their dead; and that the heads of tribes could +command the service of a number of men to execute work is obvious. +Whether they were polygamists or monogamists seems uncertain, but +some writers have supposed that polyandry was practised amongst them. +Whatever form of family relations prevailed among them, there can be +no doubt that they were organised in pretty large communities. Besides +possessing cattle and horses, it seems probable that they knew the +use of some of the cereals, and had begun to sow small patches on +the elevated grounds. The earliest indications of agriculture in this +country occurs on some of the hilly ridges. + +There seems to have been a strong element of animal worship associated +with their religion. From the constant occurrence of animal remains +in large quantities in the chambered cairns both in England and in +Scotland, this appears to be a reasonable inference; as the slaughter +of the animals at the funeral feasts merely for the purposes of eating +and ceremonial does not sufficiently account for the way in which the +animal remains are mingled with the human remains. It may be that some +notions of a relationship between the spirits of animals and those +of men existed in the minds of these people; if so, they may have +reasoned thus:――Seeing that animals were exceedingly useful to man, and +believing that animals had spirits or souls as well as men, the spirits +of these animals might be assumed to be useful and agreeable companions +for the spirits of the dead. These people simply looked at the death +of an individual as the passing out of his spirit from the body, which +spirit might wander about and return to the body or hover around its +remains. Thus it appears that their religion would practically consist +of a worship of ancestors associated with the spirits of animals. The +occurrence of the remains of dogs in the chambered cairns seems to lend +support to this view. That this religion, when it came into contact +with that of the Celts, would leave some traces of such contact on the +Celtic tribes of Scotland is more than probable. + +Concerning the social state of the Bronze Age people, during which +the Aryan Celts had completed their dominion over the earlier race, we +have rather more reliable evidence. The Celtic tribes were monogamists +in their family relations and domestic arrangements; but the sexual +relations, the family customs, and organisations of the earlier race, +seem to have influenced the social relations of the Celtic tribes in +Scotland, more or less, for a long period. In the Bronze Period the +people were living in a well organised condition, under the tribal +forms of government. Owing to causes already indicated, historic +conditions had arisen which had the effect of consolidating a number +of the smaller units of families into one strong tribe, under a common +head; and in this way the tribes had attained a considerable degree of +social and political organisation. Thus within each large tribe there +was a sort of federation which embraced a considerable number of the +smaller tribal divisions, and such a tribe could act with decision and +effect. But when it became necessary for a number of these large tribes +to unite and act in concert for their mutual defence against a common +enemy, they appear politically not to have been sufficiently advanced +to take the full advantage of this means of united action when the day +of peril and of battle came. Hence the Romans explicitly state that if +the British tribes had been thoroughly united amongst themselves, the +task of conquering them would have been much more difficult, if not +impossible. As it was, it took the Romans, with all their combined +resources and disciplined legions, forty years to fight their way from +the Thames to the Firth of Forth. + +Regarding their material resources, in relation to their social +condition, the evidence is pretty ample. They possessed herds of +domesticated animals, oxen, sheep, horses, and swine, and they +cultivated grain to some extent. They manufactured some kind of woollen +cloth, and made pottery. Their food consisted largely of the flesh +of the domestic animals and of the milk thence derived, and to a less +extent of fish, the products of grain, and wild animals. Their dress +consisted partly of animals skins prepared for the purpose, and partly +of the cloth above mentioned. That some at least of the people of the +Bronze Period were occasionally magnificently attired, is amply proved +from the numbers of massive gold ornaments, and armlets and necklaces, +which have been found in every quarter of Scotland, and numerous +ornaments of other materials, pins of various patterns and styles, +♦beads, and buttons. Thus far, the material and social condition of the +people appears to have been well advanced, and it is quite conceivable +that they may have lived in a state of comparative comfort and +enjoyment. + + ♦ “beds” replaced with “beads” + +As to the religion of the early Celtic tribes of prehistoric Scotland, +no evidence of an organised priesthood has as yet been discovered. +Little importance can be attached to Cæsar’s literary account of the +Druids and the druidical worship, at least in their relation to the +tribes of Scotland, for there is no evidence that such a class of +religious teachers ever existed in any part of it. Our ground is thus +at once cleared of a mass of apocryphal notions and doctrines which too +long obtained currency. Such religion as the Celtic tribes actually had, +differed but little from that of the other branches of the Aryan race, +even from that of Rome herself, excepting that in our cold and cloudy +region it was not so elaborate as at the centre of the civilised world. + +Their religion was polytheistic, with a strong element of ancestor +worship in it. Just as Cæsar himself was worshipped as a god in Rome, +so in Scotland the Celts often worshipped the souls of their departed +heroes. They sometimes worshipped many gods, which represented in more +or less mythological forms the personified powers of nature; and one of +the oldest and favourite epithets of the Deity in Gaelic is, “the King +of the elements” of nature. They had some five or six great gods, and a +number of minor ones. + +The Celts had a vivid belief in the existence of the human soul +after death. Ancestor worship was undoubtedly the mainspring of their +creed. This was the leading characteristic of the religion of the +Northern Aryan people long after it ceased to be entertained in Rome +and Greece.¹ So intense and realistic was the Celts’ belief in the +future existence of the human soul, that it was said money loans were +sometimes granted on the understanding that they were to be repaid +beyond the grave. This may be an exaggeration, still there is no doubt +that the Celt’s realisation of a future life was from a very early +period intensely firm, as it is to this day among the same race. + + ¹ “Cæsar, as supreme pontiff of Rome, declared, in his place + in the Senate, his utter disbelief in another life, and + the stern Cato but mildly replied that their ancestors, men + perhaps as wise as Cæsar, believed that the guilty after + death were sent to the noisome abodes full of horrors and + terrors. But the classical belief, even at its best――in + the poems of Homer――gives but a poor, shadowy, comfortless + existence to the spirits of the dead.... The ghost of + Achilles says to Ulysses: ‘Rather would I live on earth as a + poor man’s hireling than reign among all the dead.’ The gods + lived on the heights of Olympus, aloft in Heaven, and far + apart from the hated abode of the dead, which lay under the + earth and ocean. Mortals were all consigned to the grisly + realm of Pluto.... Among the Romans ancestor worship had + a stronger force than in Greece. Their feast of the dead + was duly celebrated in the later half of February, when + chaplets were laid on their tombs, and fruit, salt, and corn + soaked in wine, were the least costly offerings presented to + them. The deification of the Emperors was merely a farther + development of this ancestor worship.” _Celtic Mythology_, + by Alexander Macbain, M.A. + +There were three Gaelic festivals of a distinctively characteristic +kind:――1, Beltane, held on the first of May; 2, Lammas, on the first +of August; 3, Samhnirm or “summerend,” in modern Scotch, Halloween. +Originally they were all associated with fire and sun worship, sacred +to the gods of fire, of light, and of earth. The great festival of +Beltane on May-day was associated with rites relating to fire-worship, +divination, and incantation.¹ The Lammas-day feast seems to have been +connected with the rites of the sun-god; and the festival of Hallowe’en +was sacred to the gods of fire, of fruits, and of death. Traces of +survivals of this worship in a more or less disguised form may still be +observed in Scotland, though every year they are becoming less frequent. + + ¹ In relation to the Beltane festival I have an experience of + my own to record. Forty-three years ago, when I was a boy in + the service of a large farmer in the Valley of the Deveron, + in Aberdeenshire, our master ordered my elder brother and + I to make a bonfire on the first of May. I asked my brother + what was the meaning of it. He smiled, and said “it was to + burn the witches.” At the same time we were ordered to cut + branches of rowan tree and to place pieces of it above every + door about the farm――“to keep out the witches.” This was + done every year in the first of May at the farm in question. + It is a good example of the survival of a rite, in the form + of an incantation, transmitted from the prehistoric period, + and the very festival of which I have spoken above. + +Having touched on the social condition and the religion of the +prehistoric peoples, in conclusion, I will recapitulate the leading +points of the two preceding sections. + +I. Opening with a detailed description of the indispensable weapons and +tools of the Stone Age race, it was shown that these people manifested +remarkable skill, taste, and industry in the manufacture of their +weapons and implements. In some points of the manufacture of flint +tools and weapons they attained to a degree of skill and perfection in +the art which modern science cannot surpass with all its resources and +appliances. This side of their culture presents a striking illustration +of the great result which persistent human efforts can produce, even +with the most imperfect means. + +1, Coming to the remarkable series of chambered and horned cairns +of the Stone Age, it was remarked that in the phenomena and remains +disclosed in these cairns, we reached the representative of primeval +man in Scotland. After presenting a concise account of the external and +internal structure of the cairns, and of the deposits contained within +their chambers, I then touched on the resemblances of the chambered +cairns of Caithness and the Long Barrows of England, as indicating +that one homogeneous race inhabited the whole island. Other groups of +chambered cairns were described. Reference was then made to certain +inferences drawn from the state of the human remains found in these +cairns, such as that this race were addicted to cannibalism and other +horrible practices; but it was shown that the evidence on which it had +been attempted to prove the prevalence of these practices was totally +inconclusive. Explanation of a novel character was then advanced, to +account for the condition in which the remains were found in the cairns. + +2, The question of whether any trace of the dwellings of the Stone +Age people now existed in Scotland was discussed. It was shown that in +all probability the earth-houses were originated and a number of them +constructed by the Stone Age people. A description of these curious +structures followed; and it was pointed out that they had probably been +associated with overground huts. After noticing the primitive boats, it +was observed that the monuments of the Stone Age had long survived the +wreck of many empires. + +II. The Bronze period was next treated. The question of the +introduction of bronze was touched on, and the transitional stage from +the use of stone weapons and implements to the use of those of bronze, +was briefly handled. + +3, A reference was made to some of the hoards of bronze weapons, +tools, and articles found in Scotland. A description of the various +bronze weapons, tools, and ornaments, including many gold ornaments, +was presented; and in which it was indicated that many of these were +manufactured in Scotland. The variety and numbers of the gold ornaments +was specially noticed, and their significance as a feature of the +period indicated. + +4, A question was then raised touching the traces of the dwellings of +the people in the Bronze period; and the sites of early settlements +were indicated. The structures called crannogs were then treated; their +probable origin and the period of their construction was discussed; a +brief description of the method of their construction, and the articles +discovered in them, was given. The several classes of hill-forts, +designed like the crannogs for protection and security, were next dealt +with; and their characteristics and peculiarities concisely described. + +5, The burials of the Bronze period were handled, and the various modes +of disposing of the dead noticed: such as cairn interments; stone cist +interments; urn interments in collective groups; and the underground +phenomena associated with them. Bronze Age burials within circular +areas of standing stones were also treated; and it was observed that +many of the stone circles were now divested of the mystery which had +been so long ascribed to them. + +6, Finally, a brief explanation of the social state and the religion +of the prehistoric peoples was given. Reviewing the whole series of +objects and subjects noticed in the preceding pages, we cannot fail to +be struck by the manifestation which they present of the intelligence, +the skill, the industry, and the determined and persistent efforts +of these men of the Stone and Bronze periods. They have exhibited a +degree of united action for common ends and mutual protection, a power +of designing and a concentration of the faculties of mind steadily +directed to the accomplishment of definite results, which is truly +surprising. They had attained to a stage of culture and of civilisation +which places them far in advance of what is often loosely termed +the savage and barbarian stages of human society. And, once for all, +let it be said in accordance with truth and reality, that our brave +and heroic ancestors, who have struggled through so many centuries and +difficulties to preserve intact their liberty and independence, were +not mere barbarians at the date of the Roman Invasion.¹ Placed as they +were in the last recess of liberty, they preserved it to succeeding +generations. + + ¹ If the term barbarian means a want of humanity, then the + Romans themselves were as much barbarians as the Celtic + tribes of Britain, for witness what Cicero himself said: “It + is the greatest pleasure in life to see a brave enemy led + off to torture and to death.” + + + SECTION VI. + + _The Roman Period._ + +After the attempt of Julius Cæsar in B.C. 55 to conquer Britain, nearly +a century elapsed before another invasion of the island was essayed. +In the year A.D. 43, the conquest of Britain was begun; but proceeded +at a slow pace. The tribes in the southern division of the island +faced the Roman legions and fought bravely; and for many years little +advance was made. A number of tribes collectively called by the Romans +the Brigantes, occupied the extensive region now known as Yorkshire, +Lancaster, Westmoreland, Cumberland, and Northumberland, and extended +into the border counties of modern Scotland; and the tribes to the +north of this and inwards were called by the Romans the Caledonians. +The Brigantes contested the advance of the Roman legions and fought +bravely. By the year 77 the Roman province had been extended nearly to +the Solway Firth, and the legions were making great efforts to subdue +the inhabitants. + +In the year 78 Agricola was appointed to the chief command in Britain. +He was an able and experienced general, and immediately engaged in +the work before him. In the summer of 79, he probably marched north by +the west coast of Cumberland, and advanced through the border counties +of Scotland. In that region his advance was contested at every step +by warlike tribes, habituated to strife and battle; but they were +unable to stem the progress of the disciplined legions. During the +winter Agricola was engaged in taking hostages from the tribes, whose +territories the Roman troops had overrun, and in making arrangements +to secure the subjection of the natives. The following year Agricola +determined to advance farther northward and attack the Caledonians in +their stronghold; but ♦the tribes made a vigorous resistance. He seems +to have penetrated through Stirlingshire and passed the Forth, but +it is doubtful if he advanced much farther; and he carefully secured +some portions of the territories through which his army had passed, +by erecting forts and forming camps as outposts in the most commanding +positions. After Agricola had discovered the natural features of the +country so far, and the spirit of the inhabitants, he fixed on the +ground lying between the Firths of Forth and Clyde for his main line +of defence; and the summer of 81 was spent in erecting a chain of forts +along this line.¹ + + ♦ duplicate word “the” removed + + ¹ _Mon. Hist. Brit._ pages 44‒45; _Caledonia_, Volume I., pages + 103‒104; _History of Cumberland_, by R. S. Ferguson, M.A., + pages 21‒22. + +Afterwards the Roman General was engaged for several years in subduing +the country between the Firths of Forth and Tay. He seems to have +penetrated into some parts of Fifeshire, while his fleet sailed round +the coasts; but the Romans failed to conquer the district between +Kinross and Muckross. Afterwards he formed his army in three divisions, +not far apart from each other, in order to meet the contingency of a +surprise; and then, with the assistance of the Roman fleet, Agricola +slowly advanced towards the Tay. The Caledonians, having ascertained +the disposition of Agricola’s army, resolved to attack one of his +divisions, the Ninth Legion. At midnight they assailed it, and fought +their way through the gate and into the heart of the Roman camp; but +Agricola himself, with the fleetest of the horse and foot came to the +rescue. When day dawned the Caledonians had to fight the Ninth Legion +on the one hand, and the reinforcement on the other; and the brunt of +the struggle was at the gate of the camp, where the intruders had to +fight their way out. The Legions were victorious, and the Caledonians +retired under cover of the marshes; but they were not disheartened. +Agricola learned, as the season passed, that the tribes were combining +to strike a blow, and were removing their wives and children to places +of safety. Both combatants were preparing for the struggle, which was +to determine whether the Romans were to obtain dominion over the whole +Island.¹ + + ¹ _Mon. Hist. Brit._, page 45. + +In the beginning of summer 86, Agricola sent his fleet round the coasts +to ravage the seaboard, and alarm and intimidate the inhabitants. +He then advanced with his army to Mons Grampius,¹ and there the +Caledonians were posted for battle. The native troops numbered 30,000, +men under the command of a leader called Galgacus; and as it was the +custom for the leaders of armies to address their troops on the eve +of a battle, so Tacitus, the historian, puts a speech into the mouth +of the leader of the Caledonians, which is too important to be passed +over:――“When I reflect on the causes of the war, and the circumstances +of our position, I feel a strong persuasion that our united efforts +this day will prove the beginning of universal liberty to Britain. For +we are all undebased by slavery, and there is no land behind us; nor +does even the sea afford a refuge, whilst the Roman fleet hovers around. +Thus the use of arms, at all times honourable to the brave, now offers +the only safety even to cowards. In all the battles yet fought against +the Romans, our countrymen have reposed their final hopes in us; for we, +the noblest sons in Britain, and therefore placed in its last recesses, +far from the view of servile shores, have preserved even our eyes +unpolluted by the contact of subjection.... The extremity of Britain is +now disclosed, and whatever is unknown becomes an object of magnitude. +But there is no nation behind us, nothing but waves and rocks, and the +still more hostile Romans, whose arrogance we cannot escape by cringing +and submission. Those plunderers of the world, after exhausting the +land by their devastations, are rifling the ocean, stimulated by +avarice if their enemy be rich, by ambition if poor, unsatiated by the +east and by the west, the only people who behold wealth and indigence +with equal avidity. To range, to slaughter, to usurp, they call empire, +and where they make a desert, they call it peace. + + ¹ There has been much conflict of views as to the locality + where this battle was fought. Chalmers placed it at the + camp at Ardoch; Professor John Stuart, of Aberdeen, placed + the locality of the battle above the town of Stonehaven, + Kincardineshire. He maintained that the Roman army was + posted upon the extended plain, exactly above Stonehaven, + and the Caledonians upon the face of the hills above Urie + House, directly opposite to the Romans. _Archæologica + Scotica_, Volume II., page 300. Dr. Burton abandoned the + attempt to fix the site of the battle as hopeless. Dr. Skene + has placed it:――“On the peninsula, formed by the junction + of the Isla with the Tay, are the remains of a strong and + massive vallum, extending from the one river to the other, + with a small Roman fort at one end, and enclosing a large + triangular space, capable of containing Agricola’s whole + troops, guarded by the rampart in front, and by a river on + each side.... On the heights above the plain are the remains + of a large native encampment, capable of containing upwards + of 30,000 men.” _Celtic Scotland_, Volume I., pages 52, + 53. Dr. Skene thinks that this site agrees with Tacitus’ + description better than any other locality in Scotland. + +“Our children and kindred, by the decree of nature, are rendered the +dearest of all things to us, and these are torn away by levies to serve +in foreign lands. Our wives and sisters, though they should escape the +violation of hostile force, are polluted under the names of friendship +and hospitality. Our estates and possessions are consumed in tributes, +our grain in contributions, and even our bodies are worn down, amidst +stripes and insults, in clearing woods and draining marshes.... Since +then all hopes of mercy are vain; let those at last assume courage to +whom safety, as well as to whom glory, is dear. The Trinobantes, even +under a female leader, had force enough to burn a colony and storm +camps, and if success had not damped their vigour, would have been +able to throw off the yoke; and shall not we, untouched, unsubdued, +and struggling not for the acquisition but for the security of liberty, +show at the first onset what men Caledonia has reserved for her +defence? Can you imagine that the Romans are as brave in war as they +are licentious in peace? Acquiring renown from our dissensions, they +convert the faults of their enemies to the glory of their own army――an +army composed of the most different nations, which, as success alone +has kept together, misfortune will certainly dissipate, unless you +suppose that Gauls and Germans and Britons, who, though they expend +their blood to establish a foreign dominion, have been longer its +foes than its subjects, will be retained by loyalty and affection? No! +terror and dread alone are their weak bonds of attachment, which once +broken, they who cease to fear will begin to hate. Every incitement to +victory is on our side. The Romans have no wives to animate them, no +parents to upbraid their flight; most of them have either no home or a +distant one. Few in number, ignorant of the country, looking around in +silent horror at woods, seas, and a haven itself unknown to them, they +are delivered by the gods, as it were, imprisoned and bound into our +hands. Be not terrified by an idle show, and the glitter of silver and +gold, which can neither protect nor wound. The Britons will recognise +their own cause, the Gauls will recollect their former liberty, the +rest of the Germans will desert them, as the Usipii have lately done. +Nor is there anything formidable behind them――ungarrisoned towns, +colonies of old men, municipal towns――distempered and distracted +between unjust masters and ill-obeying subjects. There is a General, +here an army; there tributes, mines, and all the train of punishments +inflicted upon slaves, which, whether to bear eternally or instantly to +revenge, this field must determine. March then to battle, and think of +your ancestors and of your posterity!” + +When Agricola saw the lines of his enemy he was afraid of being +outflanked, and extended his own line to the utmost. His front +consisted of 8000 auxiliaries and 3000 cavalry on the wings; the +Legions or Roman soldiers were held in reserve, and placed behind the +centre. The native army was well posted on the heights, their front +line stretched along the border of the plains, the second line on the +side of the hill, and the reserve behind it and farther up the hill. On +the plain the native charioteers and horsemen were moving and rapidly +manœuvring, as if to provoke attack. The battle began and raged with +great fury. While the fighting was with missiles at a distance the +native troops held their ground, and the charioteers drove back the +Roman cavalry and threw them into confusion; but Agricola sent forward +five cohorts to charge the native footmen with swords. For this weapon +they were not prepared, and their first line fell back; the whole +Roman line then advanced to the charge. Still, Galgacus tried a +flank movement with his reserve, but it failed; the chariots at last +became entangled amongst the broken ground, and a defeat ensued. The +Caledonians retired in order, and repeatedly attempted to check the +pursuit of the Romans, but many of the natives were slain; and 350 +of the Romans fell. The Roman General did not pursue the Caledonians +far; and from various circumstances it seems evident that he had not +achieved a decisive victory. After taking hostages from some of the +tribes between the Tay and the Forth to prevent them from joining the +native army, he returned to his winter quarters, south of the Firths of +Forth and Clyde, with his army. Shortly after he was recalled to Rome.¹ + + ¹ _Mon. Hist. Brit._, pages 46, 47, 48; _Caledonia_, Volume I., + page 113. + +It appears from the brief and vague notices of Roman writers, that the +Imperial troops had to maintain an incessant struggle with the northern +tribes in Britain. In short, the whole of the country which Agricola +had overrun, in a few years resumed its independent state, and the +Roman province on the north was limited to the same boundary as when +he first commenced his campaigns. The northern tribes even between +the Tweed and the Firths of Forth and Clyde seem to have been little +effected by Agricola’s conquests. Between the years 120 and 138, the +Romans built a wall from the river Tyne to Bowness on the Solway Firth, +which is usually called Hadrian’s wall. It is about seventy-three +miles in length, and consisted of a stone wall strengthened by a great +ditch on its northern side, and an earthen rampart to the south of the +stone wall; and military stations, forts, watch-towers, and roads for +the accommodation of the legions, who manned the bulwarks, and the +transmission of military stores. The stone wall and the earthen wall +were generally within sixty or seventy yards of each other, but the +distance between them varied with the nature of the ground. The stone +wall was about eight feet in thickness and about twenty in height; +and it consisted of a facing on each side of dressed stones, the core +was of concrete filled in between the facing stones; the whole forming +a solid mass which depended for its strength on the quality of the +concrete. Connected with this great barrier there were a number of +very large stations, fortified barracks with guard-houses, and upwards +of 300 watch-towers at about a quarter of a mile from each other, with +much stronger forts between every fourth or fifth watch-tower.¹ In +short it appears to have been one of the most complete and massive +lines of defensive works ever constructed by the Romans. + + ¹ Bruce’s _The Roman Wall_; _History of Cumberland_, by R. S. + Ferguson, M.A., pages 78‒97; 1890. + +About twenty years later the Romans constructed another wall, which +commenced at Bridgeness on the Firth of Forth and crossed the country +to near West Kilpatrick on the Clyde, a distance of twenty-seven miles, +and probably on the line of Agricola’s frontier; it ran along the ridge +of the southern rising grounds. This wall consisted of earth and stone +works, forming a rampart of about twenty-four feet in breadth at the +base and some twenty feet in height; and a very wide and deep ditch +ran in front of the wall along its whole course, which faced the region +of the Caledonians. There was a paved way five feet broad close to +the foot of the wall, and a series of watch-towers within call of each +other in which sentinels watched day and night; and eighteen great +forts placed on the most commanding positions at intervals of about +two miles. A paved military road followed the line of the wall on the +southward side.¹ This was the barrier especially intended to keep the +Celtic tribes of Caledonia at bay; and from this time until the Romans +left the island it was the northern boundary of the province. + + ¹ Roy’s _Military Antiquities; Caledonia_, Volume I., pages + 116‒119. + +So it was the strip of territory between these two walls that the +Romans occupied in Scotland, and even there they were never long +permitted to hold undisputed possession. In 182 the tribes of the +north broke through the wall, slew the commander and a number of the +soldiers who guarded it, and wasted a portion of the province. About +the beginning of the third century the tribes of the north had overcome +the legions, and were overrunning the province, laying it waste, and +driving off booty. So in the year 208 the Emperor Severus arrived in +Britain, and at once proceeded to take steps to restore order, and +retaliate on the independent tribes. He concentrated all the available +troops in the island; and advanced into Scotland with a great force, +passed the wall which guarded the frontier, and marched forward and +attempted to penetrate into the heart of Caledonia. Severus tried by +throwing bridges over the rivers, cutting down the woods, and making +roads in every direction, to render the country passable for troops. +But this was more difficult than he had imagined. He may have advanced +some distance northward of the Tay, along the east coast, but it is +extremely doubtful if Severus ever reached the river Dee, far less the +Spey or the shores of the Moray Firth. Let the circumstantial evidence +be fairly considered, and it will appear highly improbable that Severus +penetrated to the Spey. + +Severus only arrived in Britain in the year 208, and his campaign +beyond the frontier of the province in Caledonia could hardly have +commenced before 209. It is stated, that after he concluded a peace +with the native tribes, he returned southward and superintended the +reconstruction, or at least the repair, of the wall between the Forth +and Clyde. Having thus completed his work and settled everything, he +then returned to York. After he had been some time in York, tidings +that the Caledonians were again in revolt reached him, and we are told +that he was only prevented from recommencing a war of extermination +by his death, which occurred at York in 211.¹ Thus it appears that the +duration of Severus’ campaign north of the Forth must have been very +limited indeed, and at the utmost it could not have lasted much longer +than one year. It is said that he lost 50,000 men during the campaign, +although he fought no battle. If his army numbered 100,000 men, it is +extremely difficult to conceive how such a number of men could have +been supplied with food in the heart of a hostile country, especially +without the co-operation of a fleet. If, within the limited period +of one year, Severus and his army erected bridges over the principal +rivers from the Firth of Forth to the Spey, constructed one great +military road to secure his line of communication between the same +points――through marshes, woods, and rocks――and made other roads in +all directions, besides forming great camps here and there between the +supposed points of the commencement and the termination of the campaign. +In reality it seems most probable that the scene of Severus’ campaign +did not pass beyond the limits of Perthshire; for if he had left this +region unconquered behind him, the advance through the eastern Lowlands +to the Spey would have been a military and political blunder which +no Roman General was likely to commit. The only thing certain about +Severus’ campaign is that it produced no permanent result whatever. + + ¹ Skene’s _Celtic Scotland_, Volume I., pages 82‒90. + +After the death of Severus, his son Antoninus became Emperor, who +made peace with the native tribes, and left the frontier, of which +he had been in charge. A long period of silence as to the state of +North Britain followed. Toward the end of the third century Caransius, +a native of Belgium, who had risen to high rank in the Roman army, +assumed the purple himself, and ruled Britain independently for +a period of seven years. In the early part of the fourth century +the Emperor Constantine seems to have been at war with the northern +tribes; and by the middle of the same century the relative positions +and the historic conditions had entirely changed, for Rome herself +was fast verging towards dissolution. Toward the end of this century +the northern tribes were sometimes called Picts, and at the same time +the Scots and Saxons were mentioned among the assailants of the Roman +province in Britain; the attacks of these tribes had become incessant, +while the Romanised Britons were beginning to be left to their own +resources. Disorder was rapidly spreading in all quarters of the empire. +At this time the generals in command in Britain frequently assumed the +title of Emperor, and always fought to obtain the purple and universal +sway; owing to this the Roman province in Britain was completely +drained of troops. The tribes outside the walls were constantly +harassing the Romanised population, and in 407 Constantine advised the +Britons to abandon the districts between the walls and to concentrate +their efforts to protect the remainder of the province by manning the +southern wall to the utmost of their power. He then passed over to Gaul, +withdrawing all the available troops in Britain, and henceforth the +imperial sway ceased in Scotland.¹ + + ¹ _Mon. Hist. Brit._, pages 53, 62, 63, 66, 68, 70, 75, 79, + 80, 82, 83. In the early years of the fifth century the + local army in Britain set up three Roman Emperors――Marcus, + Gratianus, and Constantine――and the latter, as stated in the + text, crossed the Channel to Gaul with his army, and left + Britain utterly undefended. Long before this time, however, + several of the generals in Britain usurped the authority of + Emperors, as recorded in the passages cited above. + + + SECTION VII. + + _Chief Tribes of the Country from the Fifth Century + to the Foundation of the Monarchy._ + +In the preceding section we have seen that the Roman occupation of a +portion of the country must have in some degree affected the Celtic +inhabitants within the walls. In fact, the tribes from the southern +borders of modern Scotland to the wall between the Forth and Clyde were +greatly affected by their subjection to the Romans; but whether they +were improved as men is another matter. A little Roman blood may have +been infused into the veins of the natives during the two centuries and +a half of contact with their masters; but it seems that they retained +their own language, and were not in that relation Latinised. In short, +it is certain that they soon ceased to have any Roman institutions, and +that when the legions departed and left them to their own resources, +they were comparatively helpless. They struggled, however, to preserve +themselves from destruction though not with much success, for the +independent tribes tormented and robbed them, in spite of the great +advantage which the walls should have afforded to them for defence +against their outside enemies. But new historic conditions then came +rapidly into operation, though unfortunately we have no detailed +records of them, and must interpret partly by the light of prior and +subsequent results. + +In the third section the affinities of the tribes inhabiting Britain +prior to the Roman occupation were clearly indicated. It was then +apparent that the tribes in the south of Scotland and those in the +north of England were of one race――Celtic people speaking Aryan +dialects. But long before the Romans left the island, another race, +the Saxons, had appeared upon the coasts of Britain, and repeatedly +attacked the Roman province.¹ After the final departure of the Imperial +troops, the Saxons and Angles invaded the southern parts of Britain +in force, and commenced a fierce and ruthless war with the Britons to +obtain the possession and dominion of the country. But only confused, +incomplete and traditional accounts of this struggle have been +preserved, which were subsequently coloured according to the view +considered necessary to justify existing conditions from time to time. +In the circumstances it was natural that the Britons in the south of +Scotland should assist their kindred in the north of England. As many +of the Britons in the southern and south-eastern parts of the island +were either massacred or driven northward by the invaders; at last the +cruelly oppressed Britons made a stand for life or death in the north. +The result, however, as far as can be seen, was that the Britons in the +north of England were cut off from their kindred in the south-west of +Scotland by the advance and success of the Angles. + + ¹ Dr. W. F. Skene has stated that tribes of Frisians, people + akin to the Saxons, had made settlements on the shores + of the Firth of Forth, and extended along the shore of + Forfarshire, and perhaps as far as Stonehaven in the fourth + century, and also in Dumfriesshire. But such evidence as + he adduces, is indeed far from conclusive. See _Celtic + Scotland_, Volume I., pages 145‒146, 191‒192, 231; and also, + _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, + Volume IV., pages 174‒175, 179, where he discusses the + matter at length. + +The Britons who occupied the portion of the country subdued by the +Romans in Scotland, formed the small kingdom of Strathclyde, which +comprised the counties of Ayr, Lanark, Renfrew, Peebles, Dumbarton, +portions of Stirling and Dumfries. Their chief stronghold was the +fortified rock on the right bank of the Clyde, now known as Dumbarton +Castle. Their kingdom was exposed to the attacks of the Angles or +Saxons from the south, and to those of the Scots from the west and +the Picts from the north. The Angles of Northumbria at times reduced +the Britons to the position of a tributary people, and for centuries +portions of Strathclyde were often plundered and wasted by the other +tribes. Still the Britons of Strathclyde struggled hard and long to +preserve their kingdom, it passed through many vicissitudes, and it +finally became absorbed in the rest of Scotland early in the eleventh +century. The body of the people, however, long retained their Celtic +speech, and as late as the twelfth century were sometimes called +Welsh.¹ + + ¹ _Chronicles_; Robertson’s _Scotland under her Early Kings_, + Volume I., pages 16‒19, 54‒55, 70‒72. + +The Picts were of the same race of tribes as those whom the Romans +called Caledonians, simply Celtic tribes. They were first called Picts +by a Roman orator, Eumenius, in a panegyric on Constantine in the +year 296, and in the succeeding century the term Picts was frequently +applied to the tribes beyond the wall by Roman writers. The name +Picts, as used by the Romans, is thus an external one, and there is no +evidence whatever that these Celtic tribes themselves then knew that +they were called Picts, so entirely is the name an outside one, in +the sense in which it was applied to them by the Romans. The earliest +native record relating to the Picts is the Pictish Chronicle, which +seems to have been composed about the end of the tenth century. Two +separate editions of it are preserved, one of which is supposed to +have been compiled in Abernethy and the other in Brechin, and it is +plain that the opening sentences about the Picts in this chronicle were +drawn from Roman sources. There is no evidence that these tribes called +themselves Picts, and consequently there never was a Pictish language +in Scotland, for these tribes which were first called Picts by the +Romans simply spoke Celtic dialects; and this is all that we are ever +likely to discover about their language. + +For a century after the departure of the Romans there is little +definite information about the northern tribes of Britain. It has been +conjectured that the Pictish monarchy was founded in the fifth century; +but it is extremely doubtful if their political organisation can in +any sense be called a monarchy. So far as can be ascertained, the +Picts seem rather to have been living under a rude and half-developed +confederacy than a settled hereditary monarchy. They had no settled +form of succession to the kingship. In short, it is more than probable +that the king or chief was elective, and dependent on his followers for +his position. The Picts were never united as one organised political +society, they were always divided into tribes, for we read of the +southern Picts, the Picts of Galloway, and the northern Picts. The +truth seems to be that they were merely a number of strong but separate +Celtic tribes. + +In the sixth century these Celtic tribes, called Picts, occupied +the whole of Scotland on the north of the Firths of Forth and Clyde, +excepting the district of Argyle, then called Dalriada, which was held +by the Scots. The Pictish and Scottish tribes were separated from each +other by the Drumalban range of mountains, which separates the modern +counties of Argyle and Perth. To the north of the mountain range, +called in early times the “Monuth,” which extends from Ben Nevis +to near the east coast between Stonehaven and Aberdeen, the country +northward of this, from sea to sea, was occupied by the northern +Picts, while the region thence extending southward to the Forth, was +occupied by the southern Picts; but beyond the Forth, in the district +of Galloway, the inhabitants, Celtic tribes, were called Picts. Thus +it appears that the tribes which were called Picts were not living +under a monarchy or one king. There is no evidence whatever to show +that Galloway had not been continuously occupied by Celtic tribes from +prehistoric times down to the Middle Ages. It is said that St. Ninian, +who began his mission in Galloway and founded a church there, converted +the southern Picts to Christianity.¹ + + ¹ _Historians_, Volume VI., pages 25, 58, 71, 77, 87, 258; + Volume V., pages 14, 274‒281; Dr. Skene’s _Celtic Scotland_, + Volume I., pages 131, 238. Professor John Rhys, in his + course of Rhind Lectures, has recently treated at length + of the ancient peoples of Scotland, with much learning + and discrimination. So far as he touches on the Picts, his + remarks and suggestions are interesting and instructive, + though mainly based on philological grounds. + +The Saxons (or the Angles as they were sometimes named) reached the +southern parts of Scotland in force about the middle of the sixth +century, and before the end of it they had established themselves +in Lothian. They pressed severely on the Britons of Strathclyde, as +already mentioned, and extended their conquests on every side, and at +last ventured into the territories of the Picts. In 685, Egfrid their +King attempted a bold stroke, advanced with his followers and crossed +the Forth at Stirling, and penetrated into the heart of the Pictish +territory; continuing his advance, he crossed the Tay and marched +fearlessly onward. But on the 20th of May, in a narrow pass of the +Sidlaw Hills at Dunnichen, the Picts faced him, and a great battle +ensued, in which Egfrid himself was slain, and few of his army escaped +from the fatal field. The victory was complete; and it had the effect +of severing the district between the Tay and the Forth from the +influence which would have tended to make it a part of England. The +Saxon clergy fled from their chief seat at Abercorn and thence removed +to Yorkshire; from this date the power of the Northumbrian state began +to wane.¹ + + ¹ Bede, B. IV., Chapter 26; _Chronicles_, pages 72, 351. + +But the body of the people south of the Forth in Lothian remained +essentially Saxon throughout all the subsequent conflicts and changes, +perhaps even more Saxon than in any part of England, in speech and +custom. It is certain that they absorbed and superseded the Celtic +Britons in this region at a comparatively early period, and ample +evidence of this will appear as the narration proceeds. + +The Scots whom we know came from Ireland, appear to have come and gone +at different times. They were mentioned among the assailants of the +Roman province in Britain in 360; and it may be presumed that a pretty +close intercourse between them and the Celtic tribes of the west of +Scotland had prevailed for long before this date. There may have been +several migrations from Ireland to Scotland at different periods, +but their final settlement in Argyleshire occurred about the end +of the fifth century. When the three sons of Erc, Lorn, Fergus, and +Angus, with their followers, obtained possession of Argyle, which they +called Dalriada. They sometimes came into conflict with the Britons +of Strathclyde, and with the Picts. It seems highly probable that the +language of the Scots was more developed than the cognate speech of +the Picts, seeing that Ireland had not prior to this time been invaded +and harassed by external enemies as the Pictish tribes had been. If +this was the case, it would partly account for the disappearance of +the dialects spoken by the Celtic tribes called the Picts.¹ These Irish +settlers were already Christians. The kings of the small state were +all descended from the race of Erc, and there is in the Chronicles and +Irish Annals a long list of them; but such details as exist concerning +their reigns yields comparatively little real historic results.² + + ¹ Although I believe there is no satisfactory evidence + of writings in native Irish before the introduction + of Christianity, still the Irish branch of the Celtic + language had no doubt reached a considerably higher stage + of development than the Celtic dialects then current among + the Pictish tribes in northern Britain. On a matter of this + nature, however, it must always be remembered that prior to + the introduction of printing, there were only an extremely + small fraction of people who could read or write, or + appreciate the difference between a literary language and + the dialect of their own local district. To imagine anything + else, is simply to throw back the ideas and appliances of + a latter age into periods when the known conditions and + circumstances of society exclude the possibility of their + existence or application. See Dr. Todd’s _St. Patrick_, + pages 346‒351, 391‒399, 506‒513; _Ancient Laws of Ireland_, + Preface to Volhne I., pages 8‒12, _et seq._, and the general + Preface to Volume III., pages 148‒163. + + ² An elaborate “Genealogical Table of the Dalriadic Kings, + and of the principal Highland families in Scotland descended + from them,” will be found in Dr. Wm. Reeves’ edition of + Adamnan’s _Life of St. Columba_; and in a note to the table, + he says, “The authorities here followed are:――The Tract + on the Men of Alba, in the Book of Ballymote, and the + Genealogical manuscript of MacFirbis; and the Duan Albanach; + all manuscripts in the library of the Royal Irish Academy. + Some supplemental matter is borrowed from the Pedigrees + printed in the Collectanea de Rebus Albanicis; and the + chronology is chiefly based on the Annals of Tighernach and + Ulster.” According to this Table the Marmaers of Moray, the + clans Maclean, Mackenzie, and Mackinnon, were descended from + the Kings of Dalriada. + +Aidan was the first of the Dalriadian rulers who manifested real +ability and character. He was solemnly inaugurated as King of Dalriada +by St. Columba in the Island of Iona. It appeared that the Scots +in Dalriada (Argyle) had as yet been merely considered as a colony +dependent on the King of Ireland; but the newly crowned Aidan and St. +Columba attended a convention held at Drumnceat in 575, and in which +the King of Ireland agreed to recognise the independence of Scotch +Dalriada and its princes; so Aidan was the first independent king of +the Irish-Scottish kingdom in Argyle and the neighbouring Isles. Aidan +became associated with the Britons of Strathclyde, and in 603 the Scots +and Britons united their forces and resolved to try issues with the +advancing Angles, who were led by their king, Aedilfrid. Aidan advanced +and entered the territory of the Angles by the vale of the Liddel; and +at a place called Dawstane the opposing armies encountered each other. +After a severe battle, Aidan was completely defeated, and many of his +followers slain, but he retreated with the remainder of his army. He +died in 606, after a reign of thirty-one years, and was succeeded by +his younger son, Eocha Buide.¹ + + ¹ Reeves’ _Adamnan_, edited 1857, pages 197‒203, 436; + _Chronicles_, page 17. “The house of Lorn furnished a few + provincial kings, produced a powerful race of Thanes (among + whom was the ever-famous Macbeth), and finally became + represented by a group of great Highland chieftains, whose + descendants still abound in those isles, the historical + vestiges of thirteen hundred years’ succession.” _Ibid._, + page 438. + +Another new historic condition came into operation which had an +important influence on the subsequent history of the island. This was +the appearance of the bold and vigorous race variously described as +Danes, Norwegians, Norsemen, Scandinavians, and Vikings. These names +all refer to one kindred race, but in the subsequent pages I will in +general follow the common collective name of Norsemen when referring to +them. They were not only exceedingly brave in attack and in battle, but +also very skilful in constructing small vessels, and in steering them +through the raging seas, running them up the inlets and through the +narrow channels, and into the firths and estuaries, and out again, with +a mastery of seamanship unapproached by any other people of that period. +Thus they attained to a power and influence in Europe for several +centuries which their mere numbers otherwise could never have commanded. +At first their inroads and expeditions were usually undertaken for +plunder, but by-and-bye, when they came upon a locality which seemed a +desirable possession, their instinct prompted them to occupy it if they +thought themselves able to hold it. Thus their views of conquest and +of empire developed with their success, and they established themselves +in several parts of Europe as the ruling power for a time, and in some +places permanently. They began to infest the Northern and Western Isles +and the coasts of Scotland toward the close of the eighth century, +and persistently continued not only to subdue and occupy many of the +islands but also to make attacks upon the mainland at many points along +the coasts. + +While the Norsemen were feeling their way amongst the Isles, and +eagerly casting their eyes on Scotland as they steered round it in +their vessels at no great distance from the shores, and occasionally +landing whenever they found an opportunity, the chief tribes in the +country――the Picts, the Scots, the Britons, and the Saxons――were +intently engaged in an intermittent warfare with one another, which +seemed to be producing little result. In the seventh and eighth +centuries these tribes often met in conflict, on debatable territory, +between the Tay and the Forth, and between the Forth and the water of +Almond, in the counties of Stirling and Linlithgow; in these districts +many of their battles were fought. In short, it had become apparent +in the seventh century that the banks of the Tay would be the original +centre of the historic kingdom. This was mainly owing to a series of +causes, which may be briefly indicated thus:――1. The unsubdued Celtic +tribes still occupied Perthshire and Fife and Kinross, and the natural +advantages which arose from the possession of this extensive region +were very great, from every point of view. 2. To the northward and +the eastward of the Tay the whole country was in the possession of the +Celtic tribes. 3. While the region to the south of the Forth had been +subdued and occupied by the Romans, and since their departure from the +island the advance and success of the Angles on the south of the Forth, +and their firm settlement in the Lothians, even though Pictish tribes +still held Galloway, the existing conditions and circumstances clearly +pointed out the banks of the Tay as the original centre of the historic +kingdom. Accordingly Scone had become the chief seat or the capital of +the Pictish tribes at the beginning of the eighth century. While Perth, +in its immediate vicinity, became an important town, and Dunkeld, +fourteen miles farther up the Tay, the ancient stronghold of the +Caledonians, and the very gate to the central Highlands, became for +a time the chief religious centre of the kingdom. Farther down below +Scone, on the estuary of the Tay, there had long before this been an +important settlement where the city of Dundee now stands. There can be +no reasonable doubt that the famous Coronation Stone was in Scone, at +the beginning of the eighth century, on which the kings were installed +to the throne. + +But the struggle between the different tribes continued till a pretty +complete nationality was evolved. In reality the formation of a nation +is often a much longer process than the creation of an empire, for mere +force can never produce it, or a single great man, as it must have time +to grow and form affinities, assimilate adverse elements and features, +and subdue opposite interests and influences, till at length that +unity on which combined action and organisation for common ends and the +safety of the whole community comes into being, and then national life +begins to operate. It took more than two thousand years to form the +Scottish nation, and we have yet to note the most important stages of +the process. + +Angus, son of Fergus, appears to have fought his way and mounted the +Pictish throne about the year 731. He attacked the territory of the +Scots in Argyle and wasted the whole country in the year 736. It is +said that he founded the monastery of St. Andrews. After a reign of +thirty years he died in 761; and he was succeeded by his brother, +Bruide, who reigned two years, and died in 763. A number of Pictish +kings follow, but the events of their reigns are of little historic +value. Constantine, who fought his way and ascended the throne of +the Picts in 790, founded the church of Dunkeld; and after a reign of +thirty years died in 820. His brother Angus, son of Fergus, succeeded +him, and for five years he ruled over the kingdoms both of the Picts +and Scots, and he died in 834. This was followed by a contest for the +throne of the Picts, in which Alpin the Scot, who attacked the Picts, +was slain.¹ + + ¹ _Chronicles_, 138, 201, 209; Dr. Skene’s _Celtic Scotland_, + Volume I., pages 288, 296, 299; _A Sketch of the History of + Fife and Kinross_, by Sheriff Æ. J. G. Mackay, pages 8‒9. + +But Kenneth, son of Alpin the Scot, succeeded his father in the small +kingdom of Argyle in the year 839. The same year the Norsemen invaded +the territories of the Picts and inflicted a crushing defeat upon them. +This may have afforded the opportunity to Kenneth M‘Alpin to make a +supreme effort to obtain the Pictish throne. Bred appears as the last +of the line of Pictish kings, and Kenneth M‘Alpin placed himself upon +the Coronation Stone at Scone in 844, thus becoming the real founder +of the historic kingdom of Scotland. This great event, however, must +be interpreted as the result of the long struggle of the chief tribes, +as the accumulating force of circumstances and the necessities of +life, and the new influence of a common religion, naturally tended to +a greater concentration of power under some one of the leading tribes. +Thus the foundation of the monarchy marked two distinct stages: 1, it +concentrated more power in the original centre, whence the historic +kingdom was gradually extended outward; 2, it supplied a continuous +influence which operated effectively, though slowly, in developing +the loose elements of separate tribal communities into a nationality. +Henceforth the internal and external causes and agencies which have +contributed to the formation of the kingdom, the development of the +nation, and the progress of civilisation, may be continuously traced. + +The actual kingdom which Kenneth M‘Alpin obtained, only comprised a +limited portion of modern Scotland. It consisted of the district of +Argyle, the counties of Perth, Fife, and parts of Forfar, Dumbarton +and Stirling, with Scone as its chief seat of royalty, and Dunkeld as +its centre of religious influence. The districts beyond this centre on +the north-east, the west, and the south, were only gradually, and with +extreme difficulty subdued, as the nation developed to its ultimate +limits. After the establishment of the monarchy, under M‘Alpin, the +reigning rulers were called Kings of the Picts, then Kings of Alban, +and not till the tenth century was any part of the country called +Scotland, but from the opening of the eleventh century this name +gradually came to be applied to the whole country. + +Kenneth M‘Alpin was a brave and able prince; but the circumstances +in which he was placed needed all his energy, as the newly acquired +territories were surrounded by bold and hostile foes; but he heroically +faced all his enemies, and stifled in the bud any questions of his +right to the kingdom, throttled the claims of all competitors, and +asserted his supremacy. After a brilliant reign, according to the +ideas of his time, having governed the Picts and the Scots jointly +for sixteen years, he died in his dun at Forteviot, on the river Earn, +in 860. It appears he had two sons, Constantine and Aed, and three +daughters.¹ + + ¹ _Chronicles_, pages 9, 21, 64, 65, 84, 135, 154, 361, 362. + + + SECTION VIII. + + _Introduction of Christianity._ + +The advent and spread of Christianity produced a great revolution in +many parts of the globe. The Christian religion was a prime factor in +the development of Scotland, as it became closely associated with the +government, the institutions, the education, the music, the literature, +the amusements, and the life of the people; indeed, its influence +operated from the cradle to the grave. + +It has been said that Christianity was early introduced into +Britain. Although with the utmost effort to reach the truth, the +mass of legends are difficult to digest. It is almost impossible to +extract any definite historic information from such statements as +these:――“Meanwhile the most blessed man, St. Ninian, being pained +that the devil, driven forth from the earth within the ocean, should +find rest for himself in a corner of this island in the heart of the +Picts, girding himself as a strong wrestler to cast out his tyranny; +taking moreover, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the +breast-plate of charity, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the +Word. Fortified by such arms, and surrounded by the society of his holy +brethren as by a heavenly host, he invaded the empire of the strong man +armed with the purpose of securing from his power innumerable victims +of his captivity, whereupon, attacking the Southern Picts, whom still +the Gentile error which clung to them induced to reverence and worship +deaf and dumb idols, he taught them the truth of the Gospel and the +purity of the Christian faith, God working with him, and confirming +the Word with signs following.”¹ + + ¹ _Historians_, Volume V.; _Life of St. Ninian_, pages 14, 15, + 274‒281. + +This worthy man was amongst the first teachers of the new faith in +Scotland. He was the son of a British prince, and was educated in the +Christian faith at Rome, and visited St. Martin at Tours, in France. +His life was written by Ailred, a monk of the twelfth century, but it +contains little reliable information; he rather presented a picture +of the Church of his own time than an account of the life and labours +of St. Ninian. Bede lived nearer to the saint’s time, and records that +Ninian converted the Southern Picts, and built a church of stone, which +was unusual among them. This church was in Galloway, at a spot called +Whithern, and it developed into a monastery.¹ + + ¹ _Mon. Hist. Brit._, pages 175, 176. + +A few incidents will indicate the character of the matter embodied +in the life of St. Ninian. One day, when the saint and his brethren +assembled to dinner, there were no pot herbs or vegetables on the table. +Ninian asked the reason of this, and was told that all that remained of +the leeks had that day been committed to the ground, and the garden had +not yet produced anything fit for eating. Then the saint ordered the +brother to whom the keeping of the garden was entrusted to go and bring +to him whatever he could find. The man, knowing that Ninian would order +nothing in vain, entered the garden, and behold! leeks and other kinds +of herbs not only grown but also bearing seed. He was much astonished, +and thought that he saw a vision, but on returning to himself, and +recollecting the power of the holy man, he thanked God, and then +culled as much herbs as seemed sufficient, and placed them on the table +before the saint. The brethren looked at one another, and magnified God +working in his saints.¹ + + ¹ _Historians_, Volume V. _Life of St. Ninian_, page 16. + +St. Ninian restored the sight of a king of Strathclyde on whom God had +inflicted the punishment of blindness for his pride and opposition to +the saint, and when thus subdued and healed the king became friendly, +and a ready supporter of the servants of Christ. Ninian died in 432, +and was interred in his own church at Whithern. His biographer affirmed +that the relics of the saint worked many miracles. “That at his tomb +the sick were cured, the lepers cleansed, the wicked terrified, and the +blind restored to sight; by all which our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth +and reigneth with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost, world +without end. Amen.”¹ We know, from later sources of evidence, that the +relics of St. Ninian were objects of intense veneration down to the +period of the Reformation. + + ¹ _Historians_, Volume V. _Life of St. Ninian_, pages 11, 12, + 23‒26. + +But the best evidence of the mission of St. Ninian in Scotland, and +his place in the grateful remembrance of the people, is shown in the +number of churches dedicated to his name. Churches were dedicated to +him in twenty-five counties, stretching from Wigton to Sutherland, but +his churches were most numerous in Ayrshire and Forfarshire; in all, +upwards of sixty churches were dedicated to him.¹ + + ¹ _Ibid._ Introduction, pages 13‒19. The late Bishop of Brechin, + in his valuable _Calendar of the Scottish Saints_, gave a + detailed list of St. Ninian’s churches. + +It appears that the southern tribes of the Picts and the Strathclyde +Britons had been only slightly touched by St. Ninian’s mission. This +is not surprising; although it is clear that the early teachers of +Christianity in Britain and in Ireland adopted an easier mode of +proceeding than the modern missionaries in heathen lands. The early +saints allowed many of the old and existing notions of the people +to remain intact, and simply turning, or professing to turn them, to +beneficial ends. This is the natural and reasonable way of accounting +for the many miracles attributed to the saints, which were merely the +counterparts of ideas and notions then floating among the tribes and +in the minds of the inhabitants. To suppose, as has sometimes been +done that these miracles were invented for the purpose of enhancing +the power and importance of the clergy, only evinces an imperfect +perception of the essential characteristics of the condition of the +people and the period, and a defective appreciation of the operations +of the human mind. No doubt the early teachers of Christianity in +Scotland and elsewhere firmly believed in their power of working +miracles, for this belief was in their minds, or something very similar +to it, before they became Christians. Thus it was only a continuation +and a higher development of their former notions and feelings, not +at all a newly invented belief, as something very like it had existed +in the country many centuries before this period. We will meet with +curious and amusing illustrations of it almost to the end of our +history. + +About the middle of the sixth century St. Kentigern, better known as +St. Mungo, began his work amongst the Britons of Strathclyde, where +he encountered many and great difficulties. The people were nearly all +heathens, and all the energy of the saint and his working of miracles +produced little impression upon them. When King Morken ascended the +throne, he scorned and despised the life and doctrine of the saint, +openly resisted him, and attributed his miraculous powers to magical +illusion. Then they came face to face, and the saint asked for some +supplies of food to the brethren of the monastery; but the king +spurned his petition and inflicted new injuries on him. He said to the +saint――“Cast thy care upon the Lord and He will sustain thee, as thou +hast often taught others, that they who fear God shall lack nothing, +and that those who seek the Lord shall have everything which is good. +Thus, though thou fearest God and keepest His commandments, thou art in +want of everything, even thy necessary food; while to me, who neither +seek the kingdom of God nor the righteousness thereof, all prosperous +things are added, and plenty of all sorts smileth upon me. Thy faith, +therefore, is vain, and thy teaching false.” The saint pleaded that it +was part of the inscrutable ways of God to afflict just and holy men +in this life, while the wicked were exalted by wealth; and yet the poor +were the real patrons of the rich, seeing that the labour of the poor +sustained the rich as the vines were supported by the elm. The king +rose in a passion, and said――“What more desirest thou? If trusting in +thy God, without human hands, thou canst transfer to thy mansion all +the corn in my barns, I yield with a glad mind and gift, and for the +future will be devoutly obedient to thy requests.” + +When evening came the saint prayed earnestly to the Lord. Then, behold! +the rain poured down in torrents, the waters of the Clyde rapidly rose +into a flood and overflowed its banks where the king’s barns were, +and carried them down the stream, and landed the whole at the saint’s +dwelling, beside the Molendinar burn, which then flowed near the place +now called the Salt Market in Glasgow. But the miracle only enraged +the king, who uttered many reproaches against the saint, and when he +approached the king rushed on him and struck him with his heel and +smote him to the ground upon his back. The time had come to manifest +the divine power on behalf of the saint. As Cathen, the king’s adviser, +had instigated the whole matter, so after mounting his horse to ride +off, and laughing at the saint’s discomfiture, his prancing steed +stumbled, and the rider falling backward broke his neck and expired +before the king’s gate. The king also was smitten with a swelling in +his feet, which ended in his death, and the same disease afflicted his +family till it became extinct.¹ + + ¹ _Historians_, Volume V. _Life of St. Kentigern_, pages 69‒72, + 348. + +But the saint was forced to leave Strathclyde, and went to Wales, +where he laboured many years. Afterwards, when King Riderch reigned in +Strathclyde, the saint returned and spent the remaining years of his +life amongst the Britons. This king seems to have favoured the saint, +and promoted his labours among the people. After an active and earnest +life spent in the service of humanity, St. Kentigern died about the +beginning of the seventh century. Besides attaining to the rank of +local saint of Glasgow, under the name of St. Mungo, his memory became +widely and greatly revered in Scotland. He also left the impress of +his energy on the people of Wales and of Cumberland, as in the latter +district eight churches were dedicated to his name. His tomb and relics +at Glasgow were objects of extreme veneration down to the period of the +Reformation.¹ + + ¹ _Ibid._, pages 73, 88‒95, 118, 119, 348‒370; _History of + Cumberland_, by ♦R. S. Ferguson, M.A., page 114, 1890. + + ♦ “R. T.” replaced with “R. S.” + +Before passing to the northern part of the country, the important +labours of St. Cuthbert must be noticed. He was born on the southern +side of the Lammermoor Hills, and when a boy followed a shepherd’s +life. But Nature had gifted him with fine sensibilities and a glowing +imagination, united in a vigorous physical frame, and the inner +cravings of his mind led him to Melrose and to adopt a religious life. +He became the apostle of the border counties. From his retreat at +Melrose he carried his teaching of the Gospel to the people in the +glens and the hillsides of the Cheviots and the Lammermoors, Ettrick, +Teviotdale, Yarrow, and Annan Water. In his missionary efforts among +the inhabitants of these localities he often spent several weeks at +a time, and then returned to his monastery, like the bird to the ark. +His energy was very great, and he faced toil and hardship bravely and +cheerfully in the service of God and humanity. Afterwards St. Cuthbert +was elected Bishop of Lindisfarne. Thus he became a conspicuous and +worthy saint in the annals of the English Church.¹ He died in 687. + + ¹ _Mon. Hist. Brit._, pages 242‒243. The materials for the life + and career of St. Cuthbert, and the many interesting incidents + associated with him, are exceedingly voluminous, but the + following are the main sources:――1, An Anonymous Life; 2, + the Prose Life by Bede; 3, the Metrical Life by Bede; 4, + the History of the Translation of his Body; 5, the Libellus + of Reginald; 6, a number of Miscellanies. See T. D. Hardy’s + Catalogue of the Materials relating to the History of Britain, + Volume I., pages 297‒317. + +The most renowned of the early saints who introduced Christianity among +the northern tribes of Scotland was St. Columba, as all have recognised +in him the features of a veritable hero. He was very fortunate in +having two of his successors as biographers, who were near enough to +his own time to give their accounts of him a special value. Though +we may regret that Adamnan’s _Life of St. Columba_ affords so little +information about the state of society in his time, still we should +recollect that it was intended for the instruction of his own age +and contemporaries, not for the enlightenment of a remote posterity. +Thus, in full harmony with the spirit of his time, and the notions and +feelings of his own class, Adamnan makes “the Prophetic Revelations, +the Miraculous Powers, and the Apparitions of Angels,” the main themes +of his life of Columba. Assuredly these were the matters of interest to +the monks, so it is only incidentally that facts relating to the real +world were introduced. Meagre as the work is of facts, it does contain +notices of customs and references to notions then floating in the minds +of the inhabitants which are nowhere else to be found. + +St. Columba was born on the 7th of December, 521, at Gartan, in the +county of Donegal, in Ireland. He was closely related to the royal +families of his native country, which gave him a great advantage from +the outset of his career. He was carefully educated in Ireland, and +when a youth became a pupil of the famous bishop, St. Finnian. About +the year 553 he founded the monastery of Durrow, his chief institution +in Ireland. It appears he was connected with some of the political +disputes of his countrymen, and in 561 the battle of Cooldrevny was +fought, and it was suspected that Columba had instigated it. A synod +was assembled to excommunicate Columba, but the assembly was not +unanimous, and protests were entered. What effect, if any, this may +have had on his future course cannot be ascertained, as he left Ireland +without any stigma on his character, repeatedly revisited it, and was +received with the highest respect.¹ + + ¹ Reeves’ _Adamnan_, Appendix Preface, pages 68‒75. Columba――“a + member of the reigning family in Ireland, and closely allied + to that of Dalriada in Scotland; he was eligible to the + sovereignty of his own country. His half-uncle, Muircertach, + was on the throne when he was born, and he lived during the + successive reigns of his cousins, Domhnall and Fergus, and + Eochaidh; of his first cousins, Ainmire and Baedan; and of + Aedh, son of Ainmire. To this circumstance, as much as to + his piety or abilities, was owing the immense influence + which he possessed, and the consequent celebrity of his + conventual establishments; in fact, he enjoyed a kind of + spiritual monarchy collectively with the secular dominion of + his relatives, being sufficiently distant in Iona to avoid + collision, yet near enough to exercise an authority made up + of the patriarchal and monastic.” _Ibid._, page 8, Note _u_. + +In 563 Columba, with twelve companions, embarked in a wicker-boat, +covered with hides, and after touching at Islay, landed and settled on +the small isle of Iona. It lay on the confines of the territories of +the Scottish and Pictish tribes, and Connal, the ruler of the former, +gifted it to Columba, and shortly after its possession was confirmed +to him by Brude, the King of the Picts. As Iona lay on the outskirts of +the dominions of the two chief tribes, it afforded a convenient centre +for intercourse, and there St. Columba founded his chief monastery, +and thence sent forth missionaries to convert the rude tribes of the +north of Scotland. The Scots of Argyle were then nominally Christians, +but the Picts were not, and it was amongst the latter that Columba +mostly laboured. He often visited the mainland, and gained a remarkable +influence over its chiefs. He at first encountered many difficulties, +but the native energy and spirit of the missionary overcame all +obstacles. In the year 565 Columba sought out the Pictish king’s +seat, which was on the south-side of the river Ness, on or near the +old Castle Hill of Inverness. Brude, in his pride, had shut the gate +against the holy man, but the saint, by the sign of the cross, and +knocking at it, caused it to fly open. Columba and his companions then +entered, the King advanced and met them, and received the saint with +due respect, and ever after honoured him.¹ + + ¹ _Historians_, Volume VI., pages 62, 276; _Mon. Hist. Brit._, + page 176; Reeves’ _Adamnan_, pages 130‒153. + +Columba and his disciples then proceeded with their work, and preached +the Gospel among the Picts, and baptised them; sometimes whole families +were baptised at once and recognised as Christians. It may be observed +that Columba occasionally employed the aid of an interpreter when +engaged in instructing the Picts in the doctrines of Christianity. +This was quite a natural occurrence, for though Columba himself, no +doubt, understood the Pictish dialect, it was, however, a different +and a difficult matter to intelligibly explain the doctrines of +Christianity to the Picts in their own local dialect. Columba founded +many monasteries on the mainland and in the Western Isles in his own +lifetime, and subsequently the monasteries and churches dedicated to +him were very numerous. Every monastery consisted of a body of clergy, +who from these centres went out in circuits amongst the surrounding +tribes to teach and to convert them, and returned to the monastery as +their common home for shelter and support. In this way, as monasteries +were gradually established and spread over the country, the inhabitants +were converted.¹ + + ¹ _Historians_, Volume VI., pages 2, 25, 55, 58, 71, 77; + Reeves’ _Adamnan_, pages 289‒298; _Book of Deer_, Preface, + pages 1, 2. + +A few incidents connected with Columba’s action and labour among +the people may be narrated. When on one of his visits in the land of +the Picts, he heard of a famous well which the heathen people, being +blinded by the devil, worshipped as a god. The well had many evil +qualities, and those who drank of it, or washed in it, were struck by +demoniacal art, smitten with leprosy or some severe infirmity. Thus the +people were seduced, and paid divine honour to the fountain. Columba +having learned the state of the case, went boldly up to the well, and +then the Magi rejoiced, as they thought that he too would suffer from +the touch of the baneful water; but the saint raised his hands and +invoked the name of Christ, then washed his hands and feet, and with +his disciples drank of the water which he had blessed. Henceforth the +demons departed from the well, and it never after injured anyone; but, +on the contrary, it became famous for curing diseases.¹ + + ¹ Reeves’ _Adamnan_, page 119. + +St. Columba by the sign of the cross banished the demons which lurked +in the bottom of the milking pail; and he also confounded the devilish +art of a sorcerer who pretended to take milk from a bull. There is +no evidence in the _Life of St. Columba_ of any organised heathen +priesthood in Scotland, or in the Isles around it. There is, however, +evidence that the kings or great chiefs kept an adviser, one of which +we have already met in the person of Cathen, the adviser of the King +of Strathclyde, who tried issues with St. Mungo; and no doubt these +advisers, who associated with the kings, were a sort of half-magicians +and half-priests. The magi that Columba met with, professed to have +power over winds and waters; but the saint easily outdid them. There +was a certain Broichan who attended King Brude, and this man ventured +to measure his powers with St. Columba; but the saint swiftly and +utterly defeated him.¹ + + ¹ _Ibid._, _Adamnan_, pages 146‒150; _Historians_, Volume VI., + pages 59‒61. + +St. Columba was more engaged in fighting demons than heathen priests. +He went out one day to a sequestered spot in the woods to pray, and +when he began a host of black demons suddenly attacked him with iron +darts:――“But he, single-handed, against innumerable foes of such a +nature, fought with the utmost bravery, having received the armour of +the Apostle Paul. Thus the contest was maintained on both sides for the +greater part of the day, nor could the demons, countless though they +were, vanquish him, nor was he able by himself to drive them from the +island, till the angels of God, as the saint afterwards told certain +persons, and they, few in number, came to his aid, when the demons in +terror gave way.” He was represented as being frequently engaged in +encounters with demons.¹ + + ¹ Reeves’ _Adamnan_, page 205. The greatest of Columba’s + encounters with demons was related thus:――“Brandubh was + killed on the morrow, and the demons carried off his soul + into the air. And Maedhog (abbot of Ferns) heard the wail + of his soul as it was undergoing pain, while he was with + the reapers. And he went into the air, and began to battle + with the demons. And they passed over Iona; and Columba + heard them while he was writing; and he stuck the style into + his cloak, and went to the battle to the aid of Maedhog, + in defence of Brandubh’s soul. And the battle passed over + Rome, and the style fell out of Columba’s cloak, and dropped + in front of Gregory, who took it up in his hand. Columba + followed the soul of Brandubh to heaven. When he reached + it the congregation of heaven were at Celebration, namely, + Te decet hymnus, and Benedic anima mea, and Laudate pueri + Dominum; and this is the beginning of the Celebration + of heaven. Columba did the same as the people of heaven. + And they brought Brandubh’s soul back to his body again. + Columba tarried with Gregory, and brought away Gregory’s + brooch with him; and it is the hereditary brooch, being an + heirloom in Iona, as the testamentary bell was in Armagh, of + the coarb of Columba to this day. And he left his style with + Gregory.” _Ibid._, _note_. + +The form of Christianity introduced was essentially monastic, both +in the north and the south. As Columba’s institution of Iona was the +first in importance, and the chief religious centre in Scotland for a +century and a half, it presents the best example. The island of Iona +lies north-east and south-west, separated from the island of Mull by +a channel about a mile broad; it is about three miles in length, and +about a mile and a half in breadth. Its surface is very uneven, and +mostly consists of small green patches and rocky projections; the +best part of the cultivable land lies along its eastern shore. The +original monastery consisted of a church, with its altar and recesses, +a refectory, the cells and huts of the monks, and Columba’s house or +cell, in which he read and wrote, having several attendants awaiting +his orders; and one or more houses for the reception of strangers and +visitors not belonging to the monastic family. All these erections were +surrounded by a rampart and a ditch called a wall, which was probably +intended as much for the restraint of the monks as for security. So far +as ascertained, it appears that originally the whole of these buildings +were formed of wood and wattles, which perhaps rested upon stone +foundations. Outside the wall there were the cow-house and the stable, +the barn, the kiln and the mill, the smithy and the carpenters’ +workshop. Many of the monks themselves engaged in the labours of the +field, among the corn and grass. + +Those who entered into the conventual community were considered as +specially devoted to the service of God. The Abbot of Iona was the head +of the community, and his authority extended over all the monasteries +and churches founded by St. Columba. The bishops in Iona and in +Scotland in the lifetime of Columba, and for about a century after, +were subject to the Abbots of Iona. St. Columba named his own successor, +and afterwards a preference was given to the founder’s kin in the +election of the Abbots. Thus the notions and feelings of clanship +entered into the very constitution of the Columban monasteries; and the +kin relation of many of the Abbots of Iona have been traced. In Ireland +the feelings of clanship were even more marked in the succession of the +Abbots or Coarbs than in Scotland. Dioceses and parishes were unknown +in the early Scottish Church. The Celtic form of society was unsuited +to such arrangements, as the state of intermittent warfare in which the +people lived, often resulted in the extension of the territory of one +tribe and the curtailment of another, which rendered even the area of +the jurisdiction of clan monasteries exceedingly fluctuating.¹ + + ¹ _Historians of Scotland_, Volume VI., pages 104, 105, + Introduction; Todd’s _St. Patrick_, pages 154‒161, 172, + 504, 505; _Ancient Laws of Ireland_, Volumes I., II., III.; + Reeves’ _Adamnan_, pages 339‒341; _Book of Deer_, pages 102, + 126‒128. + +It seems probable that celibacy was enjoined by Columba on the members +of his community in Iona, but marriage was common in his time among +the secular clergy, and celibacy was not established in Christendom for +long after his day. Women held a high position in the early Church of +Ireland and Scotland, as they have always done in the organisation of +Celtic society. Columba himself was much revered by the female sex, and +there were convents for women even in his time, and female saints of +great renown. In the Irish Church some of the coarbs were females, and +St. Bridget attained a wide fame and influence not only in Ireland but +also in England and in Scotland. This female saint was born about the +middle of the fifth century and died about the beginning of the sixth, +and the histories of her life are numerous and full of narratives about +miracles.¹ + + ¹ Todd’s _St. Patrick_, pages 11‒14, 171; _Historians_, Volume + VI., pages 41, 42, 69, 71, 85. + +Touching divine service, the members of the monastery of Iona were +summoned to the church by the ringing of a bell, and at night they +carried lanterns. The chief service was the solemn mass, when the +offices were chanted, and in which certain saints were commemorated +by name. On special occasions the abbot summoned the monks by the toll +of the bell to the church in the dead of night, addressed them, asked +their prayers, and then kneeled himself at the altar and prayed. Every +Wednesday and Friday during the year, excepting the time between Easter +and Whitsunday, were kept as fast days, and Lent was strictly observed. +The chief festival was the Paschal solemnities, on which occasion the +Eucharist was celebrated. Baptism was administered to adult converts, +after being duly instructed in the faith, sometimes by the abbot in his +travels through the country, and sometimes to an individual a little +before his death. + +Young men were admitted to the diaconate while students, and part +of their duty was to attend the ministers of the altar. Priests’ +orders were conferred by the bishop, but the previous imposition of +the abbot’s right hand was required as the warrant for the bishop’s +interference. Persons retiring from the world to live as associates +or probationers in the monastery were admitted. When any one desired +admission to the order, the application was submitted to the abbot, +who could receive into communion at once or extend the probation over +a period of years. The abbot exercised a discretionary power in the +regulation of penance, and generally over the whole organisation of +the community. + +The interment of the dead was a religious office, which implied +consideration of the future as well as the present. The faith in the +Resurrection rendered it desirable to be buried among the honoured +members of the society. The body of the deceased was laid out in the +church, wrapped in linen clothes, where it remained for three days +and nights, during which the praises of God were sung. Then the body +was borne to the grave in solemn procession, and interred with due +reverence. + +The sign of the cross was much employed. It was customary to cross +the pail before milking the cows, to cross tools and implements before +using them, and so on. The sign of the cross was highly esteemed, and +it was deemed effectual to banish demons, to restrain and prostrate +wild animals, unlock doors, and endow pebbles with healing virtues. +In St. Columba’s time charms were much used, which were produced by +his blessing on a great variety of objects; but it is unnecessary to +particularise further, as such notions and practices were not peculiar +to St. Columba or his country, for they have been found prevailing +among many other peoples widely separated from each other. + +The members of the monastery had all things in common. Personal +property was entirely disclaimed, according to Columba’s injunction. + +Hospitality was a leading characteristic of the early monasteries. When +a stranger arrived, sometimes he was at once introduced to the abbot, +by whom he was kissed; at other times the interview was deferred. When +an expected guest arrived, the abbot and brethren went to meet and +welcome him, and he was then led to the oratory and thanks returned for +his safety. From this he was led to a lodging, and water prepared to +wash his feet. If a visitor happened to arrive on an ordinary fast-day, +the fast was relaxed in his favour. Almsgiving was held in high esteem, +and Columba often befriended the poor, but beggars who went about with +wallets, were not held in such esteem, and grevious transgressors were +excluded. + +The ordinary food of the community of Iona was very simple. It +consisted of bread, sometimes made of barley, milk, eggs, fish, +occasionally mutton and beef, and some vegetables. Their clothing +consisted of a coarse woollen cloth in its natural colour, and they +wore sandals on their feet, which were removed before sitting down to +meat. + +Besides the religious services the regular employment of the Columban +community consisted in reading, writing, and manual labour, according +to the example of the saint himself, who allowed no time to pass +unoccupied. The primary subject of study was the Scriptures, which all +the members of the community had to prosecute, and to commit to memory +the Book of Psalms. The Greek and Latin languages, and ecclesiastical +writings were also included in their studies. Writing formed an +important part of the monastic occupations, and Columba himself was +much devoted to it, and many of his books were preserved, especially +a volume containing hymns for the various services of each day in +the week, which is mentioned by Adamnan. The stated manual labour +was agriculture in its various branches, and there is evidence that +the monks of Iona were the best agriculturists of the period in North +Britain. As the monastery of Iona developed, and the number of its +members increased, the work connected with the institution called into +being new offices, agents, and servants, whose various duties were +defined. In Iona we find the abbot, prior, bishop, scribe, anchorite, +butler, baker, smith, attendant, and messengers, and at a later date +the president of the Culdees; while the position of Iona necessitated +a supply of boats and nautical appliances, and men accustomed with the +sea, and several kinds of small vessels were used in connection with +the monastery. Small portable boats were used for cruising, crossing +rivers, and inland lochs; larger wicker-work boats covered with hides, +which were furnished with masts and sails as well as oars, were used +for carrying on communication with the mainland and with Ireland.¹ + + ¹ Reeves’ _Adamnan_, pages 339‒369; _Sculptured Stones of + Scotland_, Volume II., Preface, pages 14‒16, 17, 19‒21. + +Columba had a severe sickness in the year 593, and he died on the +morning of the 9th of June, 597, while kneeling at the altar; without +a struggle his spirit gently departed. His remains were wrapped in fine +linen clothes and interred in Iona.¹ Columba was a man of great energy +and ability, and left behind him an imperishable name associated with +the introduction of Christianity in Scotland. + + ¹ Reeves’ _Adamnan_, pages 227, 235‒240. + +He was succeeded by his first cousin, Baithene, son of Brendan. He +was nominated by St. Columba as his successor to the abbacy of Iona, +and, having enjoyed it three years, he died in 600. He was succeeded by +another first-cousin of St. Columba, Laisren, son of Feradhach; he held +the abbacy five years, and died in 605.¹ Iona continued to prosper, +and occasionally sent forth men who spread the light and established +monasteries and churches beyond the bounds of Scotland. The institution +of Iona performed good service in its day, and contributed several +important elements to the civilisation of Scotland, which have operated +in various ways along the roll of ages down to the present time. In +spite of its solitary position, evil days came upon it; for in 801, +the monastery was burned to the ground by the Norsemen. Again in 806 +they landed on the island, and slew sixty-eight of the inhabitants; and +they returned in 815 and killed a number of the monks. Such were the +results of the early visits of these heathen Norsemen to our shores. By +this time the influence of Iona had from other causes begun to decline, +and before the end of the ninth century Dunkeld had become the chief +religious centre in Scotland. + + ¹ _Ibid._, page 372. + +It was already stated that Constantine, who ascended the throne +of the Picts at Scone in 790, founded a church at Dunkeld; and it +appears that the remains of St. Columba were enshrined sometime in the +latter half of the eighth century, conveyed to Ireland and preserved +there. Kenneth M‘Alpin in 850 removed the relics of St. Columba to the +Church of Dunkeld, or at least some of them. Thus Kenneth, as it were, +constituted Dunkeld――the mother church over the Columbans in Scotland; +and hence the Abbots of Dunkeld assumed an important position.¹ + + ¹ _Ibid._, pages 312, 318; Skene’s _Celtic Scotland_, Volume + II., pages 291‒319. + +The influence of these early saints, and especially of St. Columba, +and their immediate successors, upon the subsequent religious feelings +and sentiments of the people was great and abiding, and to us indeed, +unrealisable in its natal vigour and glowing energy. For till the +Reformation their deaths and miracles were continually commemorated as +part of the belief and worship of the people. Their tombs, relics, and +shrines, became objects of extreme veneration. Many of their relics +were believed to possess marvellous powers, such as the Crosiers, and +the Brecbennoch of St. Columba, which were often carried into battles +to secure victory to the people who possessed them. These saints also +took a firm and extensive hold upon the local history and nomenclature +of the country, which is still discernible after thirteen centuries. +The wells and springs among the valleys, the deep and winding glens, +and in the cliffs of rugged mountains, often bear the names of these +early saints; and, moreover, many of the wells had been blessed by +them, and thus rendered famous for curing diseases.¹ The caves and +rocks retain traces of the early teachers of the Gospel of peace, and +the old markets all over the country were named after them; indeed, +there were few places of any note that were not associated with the +name of some early saint. Looking fairly at these results and assigning +to them due importance, we may easily perceive the social influence +which the new religion must have had upon the people; and seeing +that the action of these saints had one common origin, the general +effect was a tendency to draw the separate tribes slowly towards +a union amongst themselves. Thus Christianity became an influence +which contributed much indirectly to the development of the Scotch +nationality, as well as to the civilisation of the people. + + ¹ There were few if any parishes in Scotland that had not + one or more holy wells which were famed for their healing + virtues, and many of them were resorted to till quite recent + times. See Anderson’s _Scotland in Early Christian Times_, + page 193, 1881. + + + SECTION IX. + + _Gradual Extension of the Kingdom to the End + of the Eleventh Century._ + +After the historic kingdom was founded, and while its development was +proceeding from the centre outward, it was persistently attacked by +external enemies. The Danes and Norwegians, under the name of Norsemen, +threatened its total overthrow. The racial movement of the Saxons +had been proceeding onward, since their settlement in the Lothians, +slowly but effectively. The powerful tribes occupying the parts of +the country not yet included in the kingdom were still warring against +it. Thus there were external and internal conflicts going on at the +same time; yet the natural vigour and energy of the people enabled +them to struggle for centuries with these difficulties and adverse +circumstances, and finally to attain success. + +Kenneth M‘Alpin was succeeded by his brother Donald, who reigned four +years. Constantine I., a son of Kenneth M‘Alpin, then ascended the +throne, and soon found himself face to face with the Norsemen. In the +middle of the ninth century these ruthless warriors extended their +destructive ravages along the east and west coasts of Scotland; they +entered by the firths and inlets, and penetrated far into the interior +of the country, ransacked it on every side, inflicted much suffering +and privation on the people, and prolonged the reign of confusion. +They slew many of the inhabitants, and carried numbers of them off +as captives, and at length they obtained a footing in Caithness, +Sutherlandshire, and other parts along the coasts, where they +established lasting memorials of their prowess in the memory of +succeeding generations. + +In 877 the Norsemen invaded the country in force, and entered Fife, +attacked and defeated the Scots, and pursued them through the county. +The Scots made a stand at Inverdovet, in the parish of Forgan, but they +were completely defeated, and Constantine and many of his followers +slain.¹ He was succeeded by his brother, Aed, who reigned one year. +Eocha, a Briton, was then placed on the throne, but being too young +to reign alone, another king called Giric was associated with him, +and they both disappeared about 889. Donald, a son of Constantine I. +ascended the throne in 889, and during his reign the Norsemen had +obtained possession of Caithness, Sutherland, and Ross. Afterwards +they invaded the southern districts; and the king, when fighting +against them, was slain at Dunnotter, in Kincardineshire, in 900. He +was succeeded by Constantine II., who soon found himself engaged in +the struggle with the fierce and implacable Norsemen. They plundered +Dunkeld and the surrounding country, but in 904 Constantine invoked the +aid of St. Columba, and with the saint’s crozier carried at the head +of his army, he attacked the Norsemen in Strathern, and completely +defeated them and slew their leader.² + + ¹ _Chronicles of the Picts and Scots_, pages 9, 21. + + ² _Ibid._, pages 9, 21, 362; Robertson’s _Early Kings_, Volume + I., pages 44, 45, _et seq._ + +In 906 Constantine II. directed his attention to the affairs of the +Church, and held an assembly on the Mote Hill of Scone. There the king +and Cellach, the bishop of St. Andrews, and the people, all solemnly +vowed to observe the laws and the discipline of the faith, and preserve +the rights of the Church, and the record adds, “from this day the hill +merited its name, the ‘Mount of Belief.’”¹ The stone on which the kings +were installed to the throne had long been in Scone, many important +meetings had been held there, and henceforth this sacred spot became +inseparably associated with the sovereignty and the freedom of the +kingdom. + + ¹ _Chronicles of the Picts and Scots_, page 9. + +Distinct indications now appear of attempts to extend the dominion of +the kingdom to the south-west, as when Constantine II. contrived to +obtain the election of his own brother Donald as king of Strathclyde +in 908, and thenceforth a branch of the Scottish line gave princes to +Strathclyde, and thus facilitated its complete annexation in the near +future.¹ + + ¹ _Ibid._ + +Constantine II., wearied with the struggle and the difficulties +connected with his position, retired to the monastery of St. Andrews +in 942, and resigned the throne to Malcolm, a son of his predecessor, +Donald. Constantine lived ten years after his retirement, and died +in 952. Malcolm I. was a bold man, and attempted to extend his power +beyond the river Spey, but he failed. He seems to have obtained some +footing in the region to the south of the Forth, sometimes called the +Cumbrian kingdom, which was then in a state approaching disintegration. +Malcolm reigned eleven years, and was slain at Fetteresso, in +Kincardineshire. The struggle between the tribes in the northern and +the southern districts of the county still continued to rage, and on +the death of Malcolm, Indulf, the son of Constantine II., mounted the +throne at Scone in the year 954. He extended the kingdom southward +by taking advantage of the distracted and confused state of Cumbria; +he seized possession of Edinburgh and added it to the kingdom. Indulf +also repelled an attack of the Norsemen in Buchan, Aberdeenshire, and +after a reign of eight years he died in 962. A contest for the throne +then ensued between Duff, the son of Malcolm I., and Colin, the son +of Indulf, and a battle was fought at Drumcrub, in Strathern, in which +Duff defeated Colin; but two years later Colin expelled Duff, who died +shortly after, and Colin was slain by the Britons in 971.¹ + + ¹ _Ibid._, pages 10, 151, 171, 288, 302, ♦363, 364. + + ♦ Numeric misprint in original; + “63” replaced with “363” as probable + +The same year Kenneth II., a son of Malcolm I., ascended the throne +at Scone; and immediately proceeded to throw up entrenchments at the +fordable points of the Forth, and attempted to extend the limits of +the kingdom southward. He attacked the Britons of Strathclyde and +wasted a portion of their territory; and then turned his attention +to Northumbria, which he invaded twice, and seems to have subdued +and taken possession of some portions of it. Kenneth gave Brechin +to the Lord, and thus endeavoured to strengthen his hold on the +district around it by securing the influence of the Church. A gradual +encroachment upon the local kings and chiefs was effectively proceeding +from Scone, the centre of the monarchy; the kingdom was slowly +extending in every direction, and the people under the influence of +the Church and other attracting affinities were silently becoming a +nation. Kenneth II. did much to consolidate the power of the Scots, +and after reigning twenty-four years he was slain at Fettercairn, in +Kincardineshire in 995.¹ + + ¹ _Ibid._, pages 10, 152, 289, 365; _Chartulary of Brechin_, + Preface, page 4. + +Constantine III., a son of Colin, then succeeded to the throne, but +his right was contested by Kenneth M‘Duff. After a severe struggle +Constantine was slain in the second year of his reign. M‘Duff reigned +eight years, and was killed in Strathern. He was succeeded by Malcolm +II., a son of Kenneth II., who ascended the throne in 1005. Malcolm II. +began his reign by an invasion of Northumberland, but was defeated, and +many of his followers slain. He next attempted to extend his influence +over the northern region of the country by the marriage of his daughter +with Sigurd, the ruler of the Orkney Islands, and they had a son, +Thorfinn, who after his father’s death was confirmed by Malcolm in the +possession of Caithness and Sutherland. Having established his grandson +in the northern extremity of the country, Malcolm again turned his +attention towards the south. In the year 1018, twelve years after his +former defeat, he took advantage of the distracted state of Northumbria, +mustered all his followers, and marched southward to the Tweed, where +he found the Northumbrian army. At Carham a great battle was fought, +and Malcolm completely defeated his enemies, many of whom perished +in the rout. The result of this battle was the cession of Lothian and +the whole of the territory north of the Tweed, and thus Malcolm II. +obtained a more important success than any of his predecessors had +ever achieved. During his reign the kingdom of Strathclyde became +incorporated into Scotland without any serious conflict.¹ The country +then began to be called Scotia, and it had reached its permanent +frontier on the south side, as it stood when the great struggle with +England began, toward the end of the thirteenth century. But in the +outlying districts of the north and the west there were still a number +of small local powers not under the authority of the monarchy, and it +was long ere the King of Scots overmastered them. + + ¹ _Mon. Hist. Brit._, page 594; _Chronicles of the Picts and + Scots_, 131; Robertson’s _Early Kings_, Volume I., pages + 92‒96. + +The great Dane, Canute, had subdued England, and was at this time +reigning as king of that country. It is stated in the Saxon Chronicle +that in 1031 Canute marched with an army to the north and met Malcolm +II. upon the borders of their dominions, that Malcolm submitted to +him and became his man, but “retained his allegiance for a very short +time.” Canute and his army returned to the south, and the result of the +meeting disappeared with them. Malcolm reigned twenty-nine years, and +died on the 25th of November, 1034.¹ + + ¹ _Saxon Chronicle_; Skene’s _Celtic Scotland_, Volume I., + page 398. + +Upon the death of Malcolm the lineal descendants in the male line +of Kenneth M‘Alpin, the founder of the Scottish dynasty, became +extinct, and he was succeeded by his grandson Duncan, the son of one +of Malcolm’s daughters. But other aspirants to the throne disputed +Duncan’s right, and he soon became involved in a desperate struggle +with the local chiefs beyond the Spey, and Earl Thorfinn, his own +cousin, who was ruler of the Orkney Isles, of Caithness and of +Sutherland. Duncan seems to have been a very able man; but when he +ventured beyond the Spey, Thorfinn and Macbeth joined their forces and +proved too strong for him, and after a severe struggle Duncan was slain +by Macbeth, near Elgin.¹ + + ¹ _Chronicles of the Picts and Scots_, pages 63, 65, 152, 175, + 206; _Historians_, Fordun, pages 179, 180, 419. + +Macbeth, the Mormaer of Moray, then marched southward and mounted the +throne in 1040, and for five years reigned undisturbed. According to +some authorities he was descended from Ferchar, the fifteenth King of +Dalriada, and his wife, Gruoch, was a daughter of Bode, son of Kenneth, +and thus related to the royal line; and, no doubt, Macbeth advanced +his claim on these grounds to secure the allegiance of the people. In +1045 Crinan, father of the late King Duncan, and lay Abbot of Dunkeld, +mustered all his followers and the opponents of Macbeth, and attempted +to drive him from the throne; a severe battle ensued, in which Crinan +was slain, and Macbeth gained a complete victory. Macbeth seems to +have sent money to Rome, while he was liberal to the Church at home, +as it is recorded that ‘Macbeth and his wife Gruoch, King and Queen of +Scotland, confirmed to the monks of Lochleven the lands of Kirkness, +with freedom from the king, or the king’s son, or the sheriff.’¹ He +proved himself an able and vigorous ruler, and the kingdom seems to +have enjoyed unusual tranquillity and prosperity under his sway. + + ¹ Reeves’ _Adamnan_, page 437; _Register of the Priory of St. + Andrews_, page 114. Dr. Skene thinks that Macbeth visited + Rome, but this is not likely, as he could hardly have + ventured to leave Scotland so long. + +But the late King Duncan left two sons――mere children at the time +of his death, their mother being related to Siward, the Earl of +Northumberland. This Earl was of Danish descent, and became connected +with the Earls of Northumberland through marriage. In 1054 he mustered +a large and well-equipped army, and a naval force to co-operate with +it, and invaded Scotland to drive Macbeth from the throne. This army +marched northward in quest of Macbeth, crossed the Forth at Stirling, +and proceeded towards the Tay; the advance was opposed by the people +at several points. Macbeth took up his position around the Hill-Fort +of Dunsinnane, a great battle ensued, in which many were slain on both +sides. But the result was not decisive, as Siward retired southward, +and returned home to Northumberland; and he died in 1055. It seems, +however, that Siward’s expedition had enabled Malcolm, son of Duncan, +to obtain possession of the country between the Forth and the Tweed; +but Macbeth was still king of the country beyond the Forth, and young +Malcolm had to depend on his own resources to recover the kingdom +from the grasp of his opponent. Malcolm was a prince of much energy, +and after feeling his way, and gaining the support of a portion of +the people; in 1057 he resolved to try issues with Macbeth. The war +was carried beyond the river Dee, and on the 15th of August, 1057, +Malcolm overtook Macbeth, and defeated and slew him at Lumphanan, in +Aberdeenshire. But the struggle for the throne was continued by Lulach, +who, on the death of Macbeth, became Mormaer of Moray; he was defeated +and slain at Essy, in Strathbogie, on the 17th of March, 1058.¹ + + ¹ _Mon. Hist. Brit._, page 453; _Chronicles of Picts and + Scots_, pages 65, 78, 175, 206, 210, 309; _Saxon Chronicle_. + +Having thus subdued his opponents, Malcolm III., son of Duncan, usually +called Canmore, mounted the throne at Scone in March 1058. As a King +of Scotland he had many advantages. He represented the powerful lay +abbots of Dunkeld in the male line, and thus inherited their influence +associated with the religious foundations dependent upon this monastery; +in the female line he represented the royal family who had ruled over +the kingdom for a hundred and fifty years; and he married the widow +of Thorfinn, the late ruler of Orkney and the Northern district of +Scotland, by whom he had a son Duncan. Malcolm’s dominions included the +whole of modern Scotland on the south side; but to the northward his +actual power terminated at the river Spey, his authority beyond this +point was merely nominal. He was too much engaged in attending to the +other portions of the kingdom, to find time to subject the northern +region. + +One effect of the Norman Conquest of England was to drive a number of +the Saxon people northward into Scotland. In the summer of 1068, Edgar, +a representative of the Saxon line of kings, his mother, and his two +sisters, came to Scotland, and were warmly received by Malcolm. One of +these distinguished visitors, Margaret, especially attracted Malcolm’s +attention, and she became his wife; hence he had a strong motive to +interest himself in the Saxon claims. Queen Margaret seems to have +been an excellent wife, and she had a large family by the King. Her +influence over her husband and the people of Scotland was reported to +have been very great; it has been said that she softened and polished +the King’s manners and taught him many important things, and that the +Scots owe to her a deep debt of gratitude. No doubt she was a good wife, +and an accomplished princess, and a very religious woman; still it is +just possible that the compass of Queen Margaret’s influence over the +people of Scotland may have been a little overdrawn. Dunfermline was +her favourite place of residence, and doubtless the inhabitants of that +town, and the people of Fife, were greatly benefitted by the Queen and +her court in their midst.¹ + + ¹ Turgot’s _Life of Queen Margaret_. “Her court was a model of + purity. In it no wicked or scandalous word was spoken, and + more civilised customs were introduced in dress and for the + table, the use of linen more probably than tartan, though + both have claimed her as their earliest patron. Charity + was taught by example. The Queen fed the poor with food + she prepared herself; at her cost were erected the first + Scottish inns, resting-places on the roads and guest-houses + on either side of the Forth for the pilgrims who came to + Dunfermline by the ferry, called after her the Queen’s ferry, + as that near Wemyss was called the Earl’s ferry, after the + Earl of Fife. Her prayers were constant; and the little + cave on the Linn, just below the present Drill Hall of the + Volunteers, enabled her to practise them in secret. Such are + some of the traits in the life by her confessor Turgot. It + is the portrait of a friendly and courtly hand, but it bears + marks of truth. Only one miracle is recorded.” _A Sketch of + the History of Fife and Kinross_, by Sheriff Æ. J. G. Mackay, + page 16, 1890. + +Malcolm III. naturally lent his support to the cause of Edgar, and +the disaffected chiefs of Northumbria, who were opposed to William +the Conqueror. In 1070 Malcolm entered Cumberland with a large army, +marched through it, and turning to the east ravaged Teesdale and the +North Riding of Yorkshire; and drove a number of the inhabitants into +Scotland as captives. These proceedings seem to have aroused the wrath +of the Norman Conqueror, and he prepared to meet the Scottish King. In +1072 he mustered an army and a naval force to co-operate with it, and +marched northward. The army crossed the ford and advanced into Scotland, +while his ships lay in shore: but the record adds that “there they +found nothing for their pains.” Malcolm and King William met and agreed +to make peace on the conditions that the Scotch King was to receive +a grant of certain fiefs in England, with the promise of an annual +payment of twenty marks of gold, performing the usual homage in respect +of these lands, and giving Duncan, his son by his first wife as a +hostage, and promised to become William’s man or friend. Then King +William returned home with all his forces.¹ Such are the facts recorded +concerning what passed between the two Kings at this meeting, although +groundless assumptions and futile inferences have often been founded +upon it. + + ¹ _Saxon Chronicle_, Volume II., page 177; _Simon of Durham, + de Gestis Regum_; _Historians_, Fordun, pages 203‒204. + +In 1078 Malcolm appears to have penetrated into the province of Moray +beyond the Spey. There is only an imperfect notice in the _Saxon +Chronicle_ of his proceedings, but so far he seems to have been +successful in asserting his authority for a time. The following year +Malcolm marched with his army into Northumberland, advanced to the +river Tyne and wasted the country, slew some of those who offered +resistance, and returned with a number of prisoners and much spoil. In +the autumn of the following year, King William sent his brother Robert +with an army to punish Malcolm. This army seems to have advanced some +distance into Scotland; but Robert effected nothing of importance, and +soon returned south to the Tyne, where he built a new castle. William +the Conqueror died in 1087, and after this event a number of State +prisoners and others kept under restraint in England, were then set +at liberty. Malcolm’s son Duncan thus obtained his liberty, received +the honour of knighthood, and was dismissed with marks of honour and +presents. Still Duncan appears to have remained in England. Four years +after the death of the Conqueror, Malcolm III. again advanced into +Northumberland with an army, but on learning that a hostile force was +mustering to oppose him, he returned home. The English king sent a +fleet northward, and prepared to follow it with a land force, but the +greater part of the fleet was destroyed by a storm before the land +army reached Scotland. When the opposing armies approached each other, +Malcolm who knew the condition and strength of the enemy, resolved to +risk a battle. So Count Robert the leader of the English army offered +to parley, and a peace was patched up, which King William shortly after +declined to fulfil. So in the autumn of 1093 Malcolm once more mustered +his army, and advanced into Northumberland. When attacking the castle +of Alnwick he was slain along with his eldest son and the greater +part of his army on the 13th of November;¹ and thus ended his reign of +thirty-five years and seven months. + + ¹ _Saxon Chronicle_, Volume II. page 198; _Hexham Priory: Its + Chronicles, etc._, Volume I. pages 177‒181, 207, 208, 216; + Appendix pages 14‒16; _Simon of Durham, de Gestis Regum_. + +Malcolm Canmore was a man of great natural energy and ability. He +acted his part well in the rude and tumultuous times in which his lot +was cast. The different races and tribes of the country acquiesced +pretty generally in his government, and in his long reign the existing +elements of nationality received a considerable turn in the lines +of development, to which his personal characteristics, bravery and +judgment, contributed their share. Four days after his death, Queen +Margaret, his beloved wife, succumbed to the intense grief caused by +the unexpected blow, and died. Malcolm III. left six sons, Duncan, +the eldest, by his first wife; by Margaret, his second wife, Edmund; +Ethelred, who was Lay Abbot of Dunkeld and Earl of Fife; Edgar, +Alexander, and David. Then there occurred a political phenomena similar +to that which had frequently happened in preceding times, and also in +subsequent times, namely, a contest amongst different claimants of the +throne. + +On the death of Malcolm Canmore, his brother, Donald Bane, at once +mounted the throne, and a conflict ensued between him and Malcolm’s +sons. Donald Bane appears to have been well supported by the people +between the Spey and the Forth, and he held his ground for six months. +But when Duncan returned from England, where he had been retained +as a hostage for his father, he brought with him a band of Norman +adventurers and others, who expelled Donald Bane from the throne. The +struggle, however, was continued. After a reign of six months, Duncan +was slain at Mondynes in Kincardineshire. Then Donald Bane again +ascended the throne at Scone, and reigned three and a half years. In +1097, Queen Margaret’s brother Edgar resolved to make an effort to +place his nephew on the throne. He gathered a force in England, and +with the sanction of the English King, advanced into Scotland. After +a severe struggle, Donald Bane was defeated, and Edgar placed on the +throne, and his uncle then returned to England. In 1099 Donald Bane was +captured, and condemned to imprisonment for life at Rescobie, where he +died, and was interred in Dunfermline. Edgar reigned eight years, died +at Edinburgh in January 1107, and was buried at Dunfermline. The most +important event of his reign was his surrender of the whole of the +Western Isles to Magnus, the King of Norway.¹ + + ¹ _Saxon Chronicle_, Volume II., pages 196, 197, 202; + _Chronicles of the Picts and Scots_, page 175; Chalmers’ + _Caledonia_, Volume I. page 618; Skene’s _Celtic Scotland_, + Volume I., page 442. + +The close of the eleventh century marks the beginning of a most +important period in the history of Scotland, as new historic conditions +then arose which operated upon the people and the organisation of +society externally and internally. Seeing that I have found it +necessary to render an interpretation of these new historic conditions, +which differs somewhat from the current views of Scottish historians, +this seems to be the most appropriate place for presenting an account +of the social state of the people, their organisation, art, and culture, +prior to the end of the eleventh century. At the end of that period +the Celtic race still occupied the greater part of Scotland, and their +language was spoken over a much wider area than that of any of the +other races, although there were many Angles or Saxons in the southern +portion of Scotland, where Celt and Saxon had been in contact for five +centuries and had partly commingled, still the Saxons retained their +own speech and, in some measure, their distinctive customs. In this +region Celtic speech ceased and was superseded by Saxon, and latterly +English. + + + SECTION X. + + _State of Society from the Seventh Century + to the end of the Eleventh._ + +In the preceding parts of the introduction little direct information as +to the condition of the inhabitants could be found, and what was stated +on this point had to be derived from a process of inference. From +about the end of the seventh century onward social facts and incidents +become more or less available, and increase in number and variety as +we proceed towards the period of regular record. In this section I will +present some of the features associated with kinship, early traces of +tribal organisation, and its relation to the land, marriage customs, +and other matters of a social and material character. + +It has often been said that a common feeling of brotherhood, even among +a small community, is a comparative late development; be this as it may, +ample evidence has already been adduced in the fourth section to prove +that the early tribes in Scotland had attained a considerable degree +of organisation long before the arrival of the Aryan Celts in the +island. So if we were to look for the earliest form of society in this +country, we would require to go back to the prehistoric ages, which +have been already treated, and without obtaining a more definite result, +except by making a free use of conjecture and supposed analogies from +primitive society in India and the ends of the earth.¹ + + ¹ Maine’s _Village Community_, pages 21‒41. 1890. + +The early form of Celtic society was the tribal community, which was +based on actual consanguinity. Even in its most primitive form this is +its natural base; although the tribe was the social unit and descent +traced through females, still the natural associative elements led to +the same result. Thus actual blood-relationship, kin, and kindred, was +the original bond of union between the members of the Celtic tribe in +its early form; whether kinship was traced through males or females did +not affect the original associative bond of the tribe. + +It has never been proved that society did not originate from single +families, and indeed the point is not susceptible of proof on either +view. But it is quite conceivable thus:――Following the instincts of +human nature and the thinking faculty of the mind, the simple fact of +blood-relationship or kinship is everywhere the first natural tie of +social union which emerges; so this simple fact of kinship originating +in single families may have become the recognised bond, as it is the +natural associative factor, which in process of time linked the single +families as they successively arose into the greater social unit of +the tribe, and thus issuing in an organised community. In short, it is +not only conceivable but even probable, that single families may have +originally developed into tribal communities, and also into mighty +nations. + +I have already referred to the origin of historic conditions in +Britain which affected the organisation of the early inhabitants of +Scotland. One result of the operation of these conditions appears in +the foundation of the historic monarchy at Scone in 844; external and +internal causes were constantly modifying the tribal organisations +throughout the four centuries under review. It seems evident that the +independent tribes during these centuries were much larger and stronger +than the clans in the north and west as we know them in more modern +times. During the period under consideration the tribal organisations +had arrived at the stage in which a number of tribes, not necessarily +of one kin, were living under the rule of a local chief. In the pages +of the chronicles these local rulers were sometimes called kings, but +to the people over whom they ruled they were known as Mormaers and +Toshachs. The prerogatives of the heads and all the officials of the +tribe were strictly limited by custom. After the eleventh century the +title of Mormaer began to fluctuate, and finally became represented +by the Earl. Before the end of this period the central government had +obtained a certain control over the heads of the local tribes in the +districts between the Forth and the Spey. + +Originally, under the tribal organisation, there was no private +property in land. The land was the common heritage of every tribal +community, and as such it was occupied and used in England, in Scotland, +in Ireland, and in other quarters of the globe. But internal and +external causes both, in process of time begin to operate and to modify +this relation of the tribal community to the land. The long struggle of +the chief tribes among themselves was touched on in the preceding pages, +and this was one of the causes which affected changes in the original +relation of the tribal community to the land. When one tribe conquered +another, the spoil of the war usually was the common land of the +defeated tribe; and then either the conquerors seized and colonised a +part of this land or, as often happened, they restored the whole land +to the conquered tribe to be held in dependence and under certain +burdens to the tribe which had subjected them. On the other hand, +when the victor tribe colonised and appropriated the common land of +the conquered tribe, the land was not equally divided, seeing that a +preference would be claimed and granted to those members of the tribe +who had contributed most to the victory by which the land had been +gained. Further, in cases where the land was restored to a subjected +tribe, the superiority over it remained with the chief who had +conquered it, and thus the chief of a conquering tribe acquired claims +and rights over such lands as well as over the subject tribes which +occupied them. But chiefs and leaders of tribes had other ways of +acquiring rights in land; thus, when a tribe was in possession of an +extensive tract of common land, colonies of families were sent out +and each received a new patch of it, but whatever portion of this land +remained unappropriated it was still the common land of the head of +the tribe――that is to say, the chief or the king claimed a right of +superiority over it. There is unimpeachable evidence that whatever +rights the Kings of Scotland possessed in land were originally acquired +by the means and proceedings indicated in the above sentences.¹ Again, +the chief of a tribe often found means to aggrandise his own family, +and whenever he became able or an opportunity occurred, he severed his +own plot of land from the land of the tribe by enclosing it. In these +ways the chiefs and officials of tribes and the kings acquired personal +claims upon the lands of the tribal communities, and gradually personal +rights connected with land were acquired; then step by step private +property in land became established. + + ¹ “In the dreams of lawyers, as there has been an hereditary + king from all eternity, so there has been an hereditary lord + of the manor from a time only so far short of eternity as to + give the king time to make him a grant. In the realities of + history the king and the lord――that is, the lord on a great + scale and the lord on a small one――are each something which + has crept in unawares, something which has grown up at the + expense of rights more ancient than its own. Each alike, + king and lord, grew to its full dimensions by a series + of gradual and stealthy encroachments on the rights of + the people. As the king swallowed up the powers and the + possessions of the nation, so the lord swallowed up the + rights and the possessions of the mark.” Freeman’s _History + of the Norman Conquest of England_, Volume V., page 460. + +Socially and politically this period was essentially transitional and +progressive. In the first part of it the leading tribes were struggling +hard to create a central authority, and the foundation of the Monarchy +was the result of this struggle. Though the land still belonged to +the tribal community, the chiefs and the kings had acquired rights and +claims in connection with it. In the seventh century the local chief +of Buchan, Aberdeenshire, granted lands to the monks of the monastery +of Deer. In the eighth century Angus, King of the Picts, granted a +territory to the Church of St. Andrews free from all secular burdens. +This grant was transferred by the ceremonial of the ‘altar sod’ as +the mark of its genuineness. Thus St. Regulus, with the relics of St. +Andrew the Apostle on his head, followed by the king and the chiefs of +his country on foot, marched in solemn procession seven times round the +land so bestowed on the Church. Brude, a King of the Picts, founded the +monastery on the island of Lochleven, and several early grants of land +to this monastery have been recorded. There were other early grants of +lands to monasteries by Macbeth and his Queen, Malcolm Canmore, Duncan, +and Edgar, Kings of Scotland. It thus appears that grants of land and +land rights were common, and sanctioned by the usual customs of the +country many centuries before formal charters were introduced.¹ + + ¹ _Chronicles_, pages 186, 187; _Register of the Priory of St. + Andrews_, pages 113, 114; _Register of Dunfermline_, page 3. + +A number of entries of gifts and grants of lands to the monastery of +Deer recorded in Gaelic belong to this period, and may be taken to +stretch from the beginning of the eighth century to the early part of +the twelfth. The names of eighteen granters of lands are recorded in +the Book of Deer, which concludes with a charter in Latin, granted at +Aberdeen by David I., in which the King declares that the clerics of +Deer are free from all service of laymen and undue exaction, as it is +written in their book, on which they had pleaded at Banff and sworn at +Aberdeen. This shows that the Gaelic memoranda of these early grants of +lands had been admitted in the regular courts as evidence of the tenure +of the lands. The first grant was made by Bede, the Pictish Mormaer of +Buchan, who gave to St. Columba and to Drostan “the town of Aberdour +in freedom for ever from mormaer and toshach.” The next grant of land +was by ♦Comgell, son of Aeda, after him Mordach, son of Morcunn, made +a grant to Columba and Drostan. Then Matan gave the mormaer’s share of +the land in Alteri, and Cuil, son of Baten, gave the toshach’s share +of the same piece of land. Malcolm II. gave the King’s share in the +lands of Bidbin, Pett meic Gobroig, and two davachs of Upper Rosabard. +♠Domnall and Cathal gave the land of Etanin to God and to Drostan; and +then Carmech, Domnall, and Cathal immolated all these offerings from +beginning to end to God and to Drostan, “in freedom from mormaer and +toshach to the day of judgment.” Comgell, son of Cainnech, toshach of +Clan Canan, gave certain lands, both mountain and field, to Christ, +Drostan, and Columba, “free from chief for ever.” The names of seven +of the old mormaers of the province of Buchan occur in connection with +grants in the book.¹ + + ♦ “Comgall” replaced with “Comgell” + + ♠ “Domnal” replaced with “Domnall” + + ¹ _Book of Deer_, pages 91‒95, and also the late Dr. Stuart’s + very able and valuable preface to the volume. + +We learn from the record of grants in the Book of Deer that the mormaer, +the local ruler of the province, the toshach, and the King of Scotland, +each had separate or divisible rights in the same piece of land, +which either of them could convey to another party. This indicates an +organisation and gradation of landed rights which is rather surprising, +and seems to show a pretty advanced stage of society. The brief +descriptions, too, which accompany some of these grants, such as “the +field of the clerics,” the number of davochs is stated――a well-known +measure of land in the north-east of Scotland, or “both mountain and +field,” which seems to imply a townland of varying extent, and which +probably included rights of commonage. The clauses of freedom from +mormaer and toshach meant the exemption of the lands of the monastery +from taxes of various kinds, which were exacted by the local officials +from the people over whom they ruled in the form of land rent: as it +was from this source that the polity and organisation of the tribe were +kept up. Further, the development of the Central Government, and the +extension of the kingdom, had then reached the stage when a tax upon +all land was exacted. In spite of all the explicit declarations that +the lands of the monastery were free from mormaer and toshach, these +lands were still liable for their proportion of the national tax. As +this was a tax from which no land in early times was ever relieved, +although it might be paid in various ways, such as a portion of the +produce of the soil, or in military service; still, in some form, it +was everywhere exacted. The rents paid by the people, the occupiers and +toilers of the land, was a customary rent due to the local chiefs and +headmen of the tribe, and consisted of a part of the produce,――cattle, +sheep, pigs, horses, corn, and the like. There is evidence that the +people lived under this form of local organisation in comparative +comfort.¹ + + ¹ _Book of Deer_, Preface, pages 82‒89, 91‒95; _Sculptured + Stones of Scotland_, Volume II., Preface, page 11. Those who + desire to make a special study of the early Celtic tribal + organisations in Britain and in Ireland, will find the + original sources of information in:――1, _Ancient Laws of + Ireland_, 4 Volumes; 2, _Ancient Laws and Institutes of + Wales_; 3, some fragments in the first volume of the _Acts + of Parliament of Scotland_. These have all been published by + the Royal Commission. + +The names of two local clans were mentioned in the Book of Deer, the +Clan Canan, and the Clan Morgan; and in each the toshach appears as the +head and leader of the clan; and he also possessed rights in connection +with the land, which rights, as we have seen, could be transferred +to another party. It further appears that the Toshach at this period +performed fiscal duties in connection with the taxes on land, and the +local organisation of the tribe. We may then reasonably assume that +similar tribal organisations prevailed in other parts of the country, +at least from the Firth of Forth to Inverness; and also in Galloway and +Argyle throughout this period. In the ancient laws of Ireland there was +much care and humanity shown for all the members of the tribe who were +unable to support themselves from old age or any other cause. On this +matter the early law will compare favourably with that of the present +day.¹ + + ¹ _Ancient Laws of Ireland_, Volume II., pages 194, 341. + +The culture of cereals was introduced in prehistoric times. Probably +the earliest attempts at agriculture were made on the heights in +association with the early settlements in similar positions. This seems +probable from the fact that many of the chief towns of Scotland were +originally erected on heights of moderate elevation. Agriculture was +earnestly practised by the monks, who showed a noble example to the +people. In this period the tillage of the soil was gradually advancing +and spreading among the people, though the method of cultivation and +the implements in use were still somewhat primitive. The staple food +of the people consisted of oatmeal and some barley, milk, flesh, fish, +venison, kail, and other vegetables, and small quantities of fruit. +Cattle, sheep, and horses, formed the chief wealth of the people; and +taxes and fines were paid in cows. There was as yet little manufacture, +as most families had their own weavers, tailors, shoemakers, and +carpenters, within themselves. The minute division of labour only +arises after a comparatively advanced stage of civilisation has been +reached, when a more complex and artificial state of society causes +a greater multiplicity of wants and luxuries. The clothing of the +people mostly consisted of woollen stuffs and furs of home manufacture. +Their dwellings were mostly formed of wood, clay, and turf, sometimes +raised on stone foundations. One class of houses were formed by a wall +of upright stakes with twigs interlaced between them, and a second +wall of the same kind placed at a short distance apart, and then the +intervening space was filled with turf or clay, making a pretty solid +wall, which was then roofed.¹ + + ¹ _Historians of Scotland_, Volume V., pages 16, 17, 57, 66, + 67, 68; Volume VI., pages 39, 50, 63, 97; _Proceedings of + the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, Volume X., pages + 616‒618; _Book of Deer_, pages 147‒154. + +Shipbuilding had not made much progress. But they had vessels on which +sails and oars were used, and these were then sufficient to carry on +the intercourse and trade between the different quarters of the country. +The centres of population were nowhere very dense. Scone, Dunkeld, +Perth, Dundee, St. Andrews, Dumbarton, Stirling, Edinburgh, Glasgow, +and Paisley, and northward Brechin, Aberdeen, Burghead and Inverness, +were centres of some trade and commerce, and having regular market-days +at which business of all kinds was transacted. Markets arise at a +comparatively early stage of social organisation and must have been +quite common in every quarter of Scotland during this period.¹ Our +towns and cities do not owe their origin to any king or chief in +particular, as it was the intelligence and sagacity of the inhabitants +which selected their sites in far gone ages, and their ♦descendants +in succeeding ages who have extended and developed them by prolonged +energy and industry. + + ¹ “In order to understand what a market originally was, you + must try to picture to yourself a territory occupied by + village communities, self-acting, and as yet ♠autonomous, + each cultivating its arable land in the middle of its waste, + and each, I fear I must add, at perpetual war with his + neighbour. But at several points, points probably where the + domains of two or three villages converged, there appears to + have been spaces of what we should now call neutral ground. + These were the markets. They were probably the only places + at which the members of the different primitive groups met + for any purpose except warfare, and the persons who came to + them at first were persons specially employed to exchange + the produce and manufactures of one little village for those + of another.” Maine’s _Village Communities_, page 192. + + ♦ “descendents” replaced with “descendants” + + ♠ “automatous” replaced with “autonomous” + +Touching the department of crime and punishment, among the old laws +of Scotland, some fragments appear to embody customs which prevailed +in this period, though perhaps they were only in operation in certain +quarters of the country. One of these fragments is called “Laws of the +Britons and Scots,” it is preserved in Latin, in Norman-French, and +in the vernacular Scotch, and has by some been attributed to David I.; +and, as I said, it can only be assumed to embody the customs of certain +localities, one of which was Strathclyde, the province of the Britons; +but its application to the Scots is not so clear. The code contains +the fines paid in compensation for crimes, and its peculiar feature +is that it was the injured party or his kin who received the fines. +The scale of fines was regulated by the rank of the injured party and +the nature of the crime committed, thus:――The fine for the slaughter +of the King of Scotland is stated to be one thousand cows or three +thousand shillings; for the King’s son, one hundred and fifty cows +or four hundred and fifty shillings; the fine for slaying an Earl of +Scotland is the same as for the King’s son; and for an Earl’s son, +one hundred cows. For slaying a Thane one hundred cows; for a Thane’s +son, sixty-six and two-thirds of a cow; for the nephew of a Thane, +forty-four cows and twenty-one pence and two parts of a penny. All +those of lower rank were called carls, rustics, and villains, or serfs; +the fine for slaying a carl, is said to be sixteen cows; but there +is no other fine specified for any other injury which might happen to +be inflicted upon this class. The lives of the unmarried women were +estimated at the same value as their brothers, but the lives of the +married females at one-third less than that of their husbands.¹ + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume I., page 299; + and also _Laws of David I._, pages 6‒8. On the same subject + there is a vast mass of information in the _Ancient Laws of + Ireland_, and the _Early Laws of the Saxons_, published by + the Royal Commission. + +The mulcts for smaller crimes and assaults were stated with equal +minuteness. If any one drew blood from the head of the King’s son, +or the head of an Earl, the fine was nine cows; in the case of an +Earl’s son, or a Thane, six cows; of a Thane’s son three cows; and of +a carl one cow. The women as before were placed on equality with their +brothers. The fine for a blow without drawing blood was tenpence. As a +matter of course, compensation was taken for theft and all other crimes, +as well as murder and personal assaults. Another old fragment of Scotch +law presents the following exposition of the system: “All laws are +either man’s laws or God’s laws. By the law of God, a head for a head, +a hand for a hand, an eye for an eye, a foot for a foot. By the law of +man, for the life of a man, one hundred and fifty cows; for a foot, a +mark; for a hand, as much; for an eye, half a mark; for an eir, as much; +for a tooth, twelvepence; for each inch of the breadth of the wound, +twelvepence; for a stroke under the eir, sixteenpence; for a stroke +with a staff, eightpence, and if he fall, sixteenpence; for a wound in +the face he shall give an image of gold,” and so on.¹ + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume I., pages 300, + 301, ♦53, 72, 375, 376. + + ♦ probably “353” and “372” + +Regarding social morality, much might be said on the relations of the +different sexes. Marriage, like every social institution, has passed +through many modifications.¹ It was not till after many thousands of +years during which the lower passions sought gratification in various +forms and degrees of intensity; not till long after the introduction +of Christianity that marriage obtained its present position among the +most civilised nations of Europe. The custom of capture seems to have +been followed by that of purchase, and the custom of purchasing wives +long prevailed in Europe, among the Jews, and many other communities. +A sum of money, or something equivalent, was paid by the husband or +his family to the family of the woman whom he desired to make his wife. +Thus in early times a woman was supposed to be always under tutelage, +in the position of a subordinate member of the family; and hence +when married, she was still regarded as being under the protection of +her own kindred. In the earliest of the Saxon Laws in England, which +probably belong to the seventh century, the mode of purchasing a wife +was stated thus:――“If a man buy a maiden with cattle, let the bargain +stand, if it be without guile; but if there be guile, let him bring her +home again, and let his property be restored to him. If she bear a live +child, let her have half the property, if the husband die first. If she +wish to go away with her children, let her have half the property. If +the husband wish to have them, let her portion be as one child.”² From +the same ancient code it appears that the Saxon was in the habit of +carrying off young women by force.³ Even in the statutes of the first +Christian King of Kent, ample provisions were made for the transfer of +money or cattle as the price of the bride.⁴ + + ¹ “The lowest races have no institution of marriage; true + love is almost unknown among them, and marriage, in its + lowest forms, is by no means a matter of affection and + companionship.” Sir J. Lubbock’s _Origin of Civilisation_, + page 50. Sir John thinks “that communal marriages, where + every man and woman in a small community were equally + regarded as married to one another,” was the first form + of it, page 67. Again, he says, “I believe that communal + marriage was gradually superseded by individual marriage + founded on capture,” page 70. He illustrates the capture + theory at great length, and with considerable force. But he + has not proved that communal marriage was the original form; + indeed individual marriage is as conceivable and far more + natural than communal marriage. + + ² _Ancient Laws and Institutes of England_, page 9. + + ³ “If a man carry off a maiden by force, let him pay fifty + shillings to the owner, and afterwards buy the object of his + will of the owner.” _Ibid._ page 10. + + ⁴ _Ibid._, pages 45, 53. “The principle was carried out with + the utmost consistency when the wife proved unfaithful to + her owner, nothing was then considered but the market value + of the woman; and the adulterer was compelled to spend the + equivalent of her original price in the purchase of a new + bride, whom he formally delivered to the injured husband. + The Church was compelled to accept this with many other + discreditable institutions, when it first made converts in + England. In the laws of a king of Wessex, who lived at the + end of the seventh and the beginning of the eighth century, + the purchase of wives is deliberately sanctioned; and it + is stated in the preface that the compilation was drawn up + with the assistance of the Bishop of Winchester, and a large + assembly of God’s servants.” Pike’s _History of Crime in + England_, Volume I., page 91. + +In the tenth century there was some improvement; though the essence +of purchase was still recognised, it was more elaborately worked out, +thus: “If a man desires to betroth a maiden or a woman, and if it so be +agreeable to her and her friends, then it is right that the bridegroom, +according to the law of God, and according to the customs of the world, +first promise and give a pledge to those who are her forspeakers that +he desires her in such ways that he will keep her, according to God’s +law, as a husband should his wife, and let his friends guarantee that. +After that, it is to be known to whom the fortesban belongs; let the +bridegroom again give a pledge for this and let his friends guarantee +it. Then, after that let the bridegroom declare what he will give her, +in case she choose his will, and what he will grant her if she lives +longer than he. If it be so agreed, then it is right that she be +entitled to half the property, and to all if they have children in +common, except she again choose a husband. Let him confirm all that +which he has promised with a pledge, and let his friends guarantee +that. If they then are agreed in everything, then let the kinsmen +take it in hand, and betroth their kinsman to wife, and to a righteous +life, to him who desires her, and let him take possession of the borh +who has control of the pledge. At the nuptials there shall be a mass +priest by law, who shall, with God’s blessing, bind their union to +all prosperity.”¹ These minute arrangements embodied the feature of +purchase, though it makes provisions to secure fair rights in the +interest of the wife and children. The Saxons introduced slavery into +Britain in some of its worst forms, but the custom of purchasing and +endowing a wife involved the conditions that the husband must have had +property and freedom, or the permission of his lord, and consequently +marriage could not be contracted amongst the servile classes, who +were simply regarded as cattle or stock, and joined or separated as +it suited the interest and convenience of their masters. Indeed, for +these unfortunate classes there was no law but their master’s will +and caprice.² This social phenomena was a fatal and degrading weakness +in the constitution and organisation of all the ancient empires and +nations, and yet these empires and nations have often been held up as +endowed with all the characteristics of humanity and all the emblems of +true glory! + + ¹ _Ancient Laws and Institutes of England_, pages 108, + 109. “With slavery in its worst form, the barbarians, who + became masters of Britain after the Roman power was broken, + introduced the custom of wife-buying. An unmarried woman was, + among them, in the position of a chattel, for the sale of + which the owner was entitled to make as good a bargain as + possible. It was only natural that, in a community in which + it was necessary to pay for taking a man’s life, it should + be considered equally necessary to pay for the permanent + possession of a woman’s person. The payment represented in + each case a rude attempt to supersede a primitive condition + of universal violence.” Pike’s _History of Crime in England_, + Volume I., pages 90, 91. + + ² _Ancient Laws and Institutes of England_, pages 282, 337, + 353. These statutes belong to the legislation of the Church, + and probably attempted to make the condition of the serfs as + endurable as possible. + + “In short, as amongst the strictly servile classes marriage + was scarcely a permanent bond until after the lapse of + many generations of Christianity, so amongst the dependent + freemen it could only be contracted with the permission of + their lord.” Robertson’s _Early Kings_, Volume II., pages + 127, 328. + +In Scotland the institution of marriage was far from being on a proper +footing among the people, or even amongst the clergy. The custom of +selling and purchasing wives was not as yet extinct in Scotland, and +marriages were contracted within the forbidden degrees of relationship. +Indeed, long after this period the ties of wedlock were rather lax. +The Church often attempted to regulate and enforce marriage as a public +and solemn institution, but she came into contact with habits connected +with the intercourse of the different sexes which were extremely +difficult to overcome, and her efforts were only partly successful. +The people did not observe the Lord’s Day, but followed their usual +occupations as on other days. Queen Margaret is represented by her +biographer as holding a council for the reform of the Church from its +strange customs, and the people from their evil habits, and with the +Sword of the Spirit she contended with the ecclesiastics for three days. +Touching the observance of the Lord’s Day Margaret said: “Let us keep +the Lord’s Day in reverence on account of the resurrection of our Lord +from the dead on that day, and let us do no servile work on that day +on which, as we know, we were redeemed from the slavery of the devil. +The blessed Pope Gregory lays this down, saying that we must cease +from earthly labour on the Lord’s Day, and continue instant in prayer, +so that, if aught has been done amiss during the six days, it may be +expiated by our prayers on the day of our Lord’s resurrection.” We are +further told that “Many other practices which were contrary to the rule +of faith and the observances of the Church she persuaded the council +to condemn and to drive out of the bounds of her kingdom.” There is, +however, nothing said about the marriage of the clergy themselves, nor +about many of the high offices in the Church which were then filled by +laymen, nor about the appropriation of benefices by certain parties, +which were becoming hereditary in their own families.¹ + + ¹ _Statuta Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ_, Volume I., pages 24, 309, + 310; Volume II., pages 36, 37, 42, 59, 60, 68; Turgot’s + _Life of Queen Margaret_. + +Many of the monasteries in the Western Isles and in other parts of +the country had suffered severely from the ravages of the Norsemen, +but their fierce warfare was moderated after they obtained a right to +these isles: and the monastery of Iona, which they had destroyed, was +restored by Queen Margaret, re-endowed, and filled with monks; and it +seems probable that some fragments of the ruins which still exist on +the island belong to her time. The Abbey Church of Dunfermline was +founded by Malcolm Canmore shortly after his marriage with the Princess +Margaret, in honour of that important event. The discipline of the +monasteries had somewhat declined, and their usefulness had become +impaired; the lands which had been granted for religious uses had +become partly secularised and diverted from their original end. Still +there were many earnest and religious men connected with the Christian +institutions of Scotland; there were communities of anchorites, +sometimes called Culdees. Queen Margaret gives her testimony as to the +purity and devotion of this class of clerics, for her biographer says +that “There were many in Scotland, in different places, who, enclosed +in separate cells, lived even on earth the life of angels.” Through +them the Queen did her utmost to love and venerate Christ, often +visited them, and commended herself to their prayers; as she could not +induce them to accept any earthly gift from her, she implored them to +prescribe for her some work of charity or mercy. Whatever they desired +she devoutly fulfilled, either relieving the wants of the poor or +comforting the sick and afflicted. As the religious devotion of the +people brought many from all quarters to the church of St. Andrews, +she erected dwellings on both sides of the Firth of Forth, so that +the pilgrims and the poor might find everything ready there which +was required for the refreshment and rest of the body. Servants were +appointed there to minister to them, and vessels were provided to ferry +them across without payment.”¹ + + ¹ _Book of Deer_, Preface, pages 105‒106; _Register of + Dunfermline_, page 3; Turgot’s _Life of Queen Margaret_, + Chapter 9. + +In the preceding pages of this section it appeared that in the tribal +organisations personal rights in connection with the land had arisen. +The local ruler of the tribe and other officials associated with the +polity of the tribe had obtained personal rights in the land; in so +far, at least, as they could dispose of such rights to other parties. +It further appeared that the King of Scotland had acquired rights in +tribal lands which he could dispose of, and also that all the lands +within the kingdom were, in the eleventh century, subject to a national +tax. The custom of commuting all forms of crime by a scale of fines, +fixed according to personal rank, was noticed, and various customs and +practices associated with the institution of marriage, were stated. +A brief reference to the state of religion, and to Queen Margaret in +relation to it, concluded the section. Taking a view of the entire +movement since the foundation of the monarchy, its advance was +remarkable; and nothing had, as yet, occurred to arrest the progressive +development of the kingdom and the civilisation of the people. + + + SECTION XI. + + _Early Architecture. Sculptured Stones._ + +In preceding sections various early structures have been noticed, +some of which were of a characteristic type, but the singular and +curious structures now to be briefly described have occasioned much +discussion. This class of erections are called Brochs. The area of +their local distribution has been stated thus: Only three specimens +are known south of Glenmore――1 in Berwickshire, 1 in Stirlingshire, +and 1 in Perthshire:¹ in Inverness-shire, 47; in Ross-shire, 38; +Sutherlandshire, 60; Caithness, 79; Orkney, 70; and in Shetland 75, +making a total for the five northern counties of 369. But the greater +part of those in Ross-shire and Inverness-shire are in the islands +attached to these two counties. + + ¹ In the month of May, 1891, the members of the Galashiels + Ramblers’ Club discovered what appeared to be a Broch on + Crosslee Hill in the vicinity of that town. My friend, Mr. + George Desson, gave an account of it which appeared in the + _North British Daily Mail_ of the 15th May. He says: “All + that remains of the structure is the foundation of the walls, + which measure 17 feet 6 inches thick, and about 2½ feet high. + The walls are of circular form, and enclose a central area + of 39 feet 6 inches in diameter; from the central court + there are openings to three passages, which apparently led + to chambers, two of which have not yet been cleared of the + debris, but in the one that has been dug out there is a + passage 6 feet long and 3 feet 8 inches wide, while the + interior of the chamber is 14 feet long by 4 feet wide.” + +The Brochs are all constructed on one typical form, so unvarying that +they afford no indications for tracing the development of their special +form through a series of stages. “I once heard an eminent Scotch +antiquary, very familiar personally with their appearance, gravely +maintaining that they were all erected at one time, and from one plan +and specification. Though this is, of course, absurd enough, there +is not, so far as I know, any example in any part of the world of so +numerous a class of buildings which show so little difference in design +and dimensions.”¹ The leading features of the Broch may be described +as consisting of a circular tower of dry-built masonry, pretty wide +and high, and enclosing a central area open to the sky, having all +its apartments looking into the enclosed inner court, excepting the +entrance to the central area, and having its chambers, stairs, and +galleries, formed within the thickness of the enclosing wall. None of +the existing specimens are complete, and their original height has not +been precisely ascertained, but from the remains and indications of +structure it has been inferred that they were from thirty to upwards of +fifty feet in height. The only varying point is in their dimensions; as +the external diameter of the Brochs varies from forty to seventy feet, +so the inner court varies from about twenty to forty-five feet, owing +partly to the thickness of the walls, which also vary from about nine +to twenty feet. The wall is built solid for about ten feet, excepting +the ♦entrance, and where it is partially hollowed by the construction +within its thickness of oblong apartments with vaulted roofs. Above +this the wall is built with a vacancy of about three feet wide between +the inner and outer portions. Upwards, at every five or six feet, +this vacancy is crossed by horizontal ranges of slabs inserted as ties +between the outer and inner shells of the walls, and thus their upper +surfaces form a floor to the space above and their under surfaces a +roof to the space below. These spaces form galleries of some six feet +high and three feet wide, separated from each other by the slabs of +their floors and roofs, and they run round the tower, except where they +are crossed in succession by the stair which gives access to them, and +their dimensions contract as they approach the top of the tower. The +galleries were lighted by ranges of windows above each other, which +all looked into the central court enclosed by the wall of the tower. +At various points of the inner court are placed the entrances to the +apartments on the ground floor, within the thickness of the wall, and +to the stair which ascends to the galleries. On the outside of the +Broch there is only one entrance, a doorway opening off the tunnel-like +passage leading into the central court; it is always on the ground +level, from five to seven feet in height, and about three feet wide, +passing direct through the thickness of the wall, and so varies from +nine to twenty feet in length; at about four feet inward there is a +rebute of the masonry faced with slabs, inserted edgeways in the wall, +and forming cheeks for the door, behind which are the bar-holes, and +behind them the opening to a guard-room built in the thickness of the +wall.² + + ¹ _The Brochs_, etc. J. Fergusson; page 8. + + ♦ “extrance” replaced with “entrance” + + ² Anderson’s _Scotland_, pages 168, 200‒202; _Proceedings of + the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, Volume III., page + 189, 191‒193; Volume VII., pages 290‒292, 296‒300. + +On the ground floor there are usually three or four apartments, in +which the people who possessed the Brochs lived. In the central courts +of several of them there were drains for conveying the surface water +outside the building; and in many of them there were walls which +secured a water-supply within the enclosed area of the building. In +short, the Brochs clearly indicate a very definite intention in the +minds of their constructors, for the design of the structure and the +whole arrangements of its separate parts evince a most careful and +elaborate adaptation of means and materials to attain the desired +ends――shelter and defence. “The clever constructive idea of turning +the house outside, as it were, placing its rooms within its walls, and +turning all their windows towards the interior of the edifice, implies +boldness of conception and fertility of resource. The height of the +wall, which secured the inmates against projectiles, also removed its +essentially weak upper part beyond the reach of assault, while the +pressure of its mass knit the masonry of the lower part firmly together, +and its thickness made it difficult to force an entrance by digging +through it――if such a wall could be approached for this purpose when +the whole of its upper materials were deadly missiles ready to the +hands of the defenders.” The door, secured by its great bar, was too +strong to be carried by a rush; and, placed four or five feet within +the passage, it could only be reached by one man at a time, and the +narrowness of the passage prevented the use of long levers. Even if it +had been forced, and the entrance to the inner court gained, the enemy +would have found himself, as it were, in the bottom of a well thirty +to forty feet in diameter, with walls fifty feet high, pierced on all +sides with ranges of loopholes commanding every foot of the space below. +“In short, the concentration of effort towards the two main objects +of space for shelter and complete security was never more strikingly +exhibited, and no more admirable adaptation of materials so simple and +common as undressed and uncemented stone for this double purpose has +ever been discovered or suggested.”¹ + + ¹ Anderson’s _Scotland, Iron Age_, pages 203‒4. + +No doubt the origin of the Brochs is assignable to the circumstances +and the conditions under which the people lived. As we have seen in +the preceding pages the Norsemen commenced their inroads in these +localities where the Brochs were erected, and these structures were the +most suitable and effective defences against the attacks of marauding +enemies, which could then have been devised. The hordes of Norsemen +infested the northern and western districts of the country for several +centuries before they conquered the people and settled down in any part +of the mainland of Scotland. Thus we can easily realise the reasons +and the motives which originated the Brochs, and induced the people to +make the great and laborious efforts evinced in the remains of these +constructions. Further, we know that the inhabitants of the localities +where the Brochs are found, had long before the age of these structures +learned to labour and to wait, as the chambered cairns of the Stone Age +witness. The manifestation of the constructive faculty, a concentration +of thought, of energy, and of labour, directed to the accomplishment of +a common object, was no new thing which had suddenly started up in this +ancient region. But new historic conditions had arisen, new enemies had +appeared upon the scene, which changed the surrounding circumstances, +and the genius and intelligence of the people rose to the occasion, +and they made the best use of the means at their command to protect and +defend themselves. + +It has been stated that the Brochs are peculiar to Scotland. Though +there are many round towers in Ireland and elsewhere, their type is +not similar to the Scotch type. “Out of Scotland the type is totally +unknown. It is a type possessing features so distinct and peculiar, so +numerous and well-marked, so pronounced in their absolute individuality, +that if it exists anywhere it is capable of being instantly recognised. +But no single instance occurs in Ireland or Wales or Cornwall; no trace +of it is found in England, France, or Scandinavia. It is absolutely +confined to Scotland alone.”¹ + + ¹ Anderson’s _Scotland, Iron Age_. + +Attempts have been made, however, to show that the Scotch Brochs were +erected by the Norsemen. The main ground on which it has been sought to +assign these peculiar structures to this people is, because the Brochs +are nearly all found in the localities which were at one time more or +less occupied by them. This circumstance does afford a presumption in +favour of assigning the erection of the Brochs to them, and if it were +supported by other circumstances, and clear traces of Norse products +associated with these structures, the presumption might be rendered +decisive. No trace of this special type of building has been discovered +in the Norsemen’s own lands, and further, it has been shown that the +implements, tools, and objects associated with the occupation of the +Brochs are not Scandinavian in their forms and characteristics, but +on the contrary are characteristic of the groups of implements and +objects of the Celtic area of Scotland in post-Roman times.¹ Thus the +presumption founded on locality completely falls to the ground, and no +other tangible trace of the Norsemen’s connection with the erection of +the Brochs has, as yet, been discovered. + + ¹ _Ibid._, page 259. Dr. James Ferguson contends, with much + determination, that the Brochs were erected by the Norsemen. + Except the geographical presumption, which he uses with + great ingenuity, he adduces no valid evidence whatever to + establish his contention. See _The Brochs, etc., of the + Orkney Islands and the North of Scotland_. + +The traces of the life of the people who occupied the Brochs, disclosed +by excavations and investigations in connection with their contents, +are of considerable historic value, and may be briefly noticed. +The objects found in and around the sites of the Brochs consist of +manufactured implements, tools, and ornaments, of stone, bronze, and +iron. Many stone querns――small hand mills for grinding grain,――stone +pounders of various sizes, stone mortars, drinking-cups, hammer-stones, +stone vessels of large size, stone spindle-whorles, and other tools; +many articles in bone, such as combs of various kinds, long-handed +ones, short round-backed, single-edged ones, and double-edged, some +of which were ornamented; bone-buttons, pins in a variety of forms, +and some of them ornamented, bone needles neatly made, and other bone +objects. Bronze tweezers, pins, armlets, and other objects; several +iron implements――spear-heads, daggers, knives, and chisels. Clay moulds +for casting bronze pins, a large number of spindle-whorles for spinning +with the distaff and spindle, many fragments of home-made pottery, and +other articles of domestic use. + +Amongst the refuse of the food of the Broch occupiers, the following +were found:――Remains of animals, consisting of the ox, sheep of small +size, the goat, the pig, the horse, dogs of various sizes, the reindeer, +red-deer, and the roe; birds and fowls not in great numbers, but +some of large size. Among the marine remains were a species of whale, +the porpoise, the dog-fish, the cod, and haddock, and such edible +shell-fish as the oyster, the mussel, the cockle, the periwinkle, and +the limpet, were abundant.¹ + + ¹ Anderson’s _Scotland, Iron Age_, pages 211‒258; _Proceedings + of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, Volume VII., + pages 43‒46, 56‒79, 426‒436; Volume VIII., pages 188‒204; + Volume X., pages 5‒23; _Orkneyinga Saga_, Introduction, + pages 109, 110. + +From the above statement of facts taken in connection with the +characteristics of the Brochs themselves, it appears that the people +who possessed and inhabited them were cultivators of the ground. They +grew grain, kept flocks and herds, hunted the woods, and fished the +sea for their food. They practised industries and arts which demanded +intelligence and technical skill, and it seems almost certain that they +manufactured all the weapons and implements which they used; and we +know that they made their own ornaments, as the clay moulds, crucibles, +and the cakes of rough metal, have been found in several of the Brochs. +The women practised the arts of spinning and weaving, while the men +made the implements of stone and bone and the ornaments. They had +attained to a stage of considerable culture and civilisation, and it +is clear that they were the people of the soil, and that they had been +long settled on it. Indeed, there is not a shred of evidence, either +circumstantial or recorded, that they were a horde of strangers who had +newly effected a lodgment in a hostile country. + +It was mentioned in a preceding section that the earlier religious +erections in Scotland were usually formed of wood, which possibly +rested upon a stone foundation. Fragments and remains of a number of +examples of rude stone chapels and cells which were erected before +the twelfth century still exist. They mostly occur in the Isles; and, +beginning with those which appear to be the earliest, I will proceed +to notice briefly the others in succession.¹ + + ¹ There were also a number of caves associated with the names + of the early saints and missionaries who were engaged, from + the fifth century to the ninth, in spreading the Gospel + among the tribes of Scotland, and the walls of these caves + are covered with memorials of their devotion in the form + of small crosses sculptured on the rocks. See _Sculptured + Stones of Scotland_, Volume II., Appendix to Preface, pages + 87, 88, _et seq._ + +Loch Columcille, in Skye, was drained about seventy years ago by Lord +Macdonald, and what was once an island in the centre of the loch is +now an elevated spot in marshy ground. This patch of ground extends +to about three acres, and on its northern side are the remains of an +irregular circular enclosure of rude and uncemented masonry, measuring +about sixteen yards in diameter from east to west, and eleven from +north to south; within the enclosure there are traces of three cells +and other erections, which were probably covered with beehive vaulting. +One of the ruins, called St. Columba’s Church, measured internally +twenty-two feet in length and twelve feet in width. On the small island +of Eilean na Naoimh, which lies between Scarba and Mull, there are the +remains of a number of beehive cells with dry-built walls, which were +associated with a small church, also built of undressed stones without +mortar of any kind. This church had only one small window placed +in its east end, and the cells connected with it were very small. A +considerable number of these small churches and cells have been found +in the Western Isles and even in Orkney. Amongst the ruins of the +monastery in the Isle of Inchcolm, there is a very early specimen of +a stone roofed cell. It is irregular in form, and internally sixteen +feet in length, six feet three inches wide at the east end, and four +feet nine inches at the west end. The walls are three feet thick. The +doorway was placed in the south wall near the west end, and it was five +feet high and four feet wide, with inclining jambs and roughly arched +externally by a radiating arch, but internally the arch was formed in +the older overlapping principle. It had only one small window, placed +in the east end. The roof was vaulted with stones in the form of a +radiating arch, and the centring stones roughly wedge-shaped, and the +space between the upper surface of the vaulting and the stone-roof was +filled with small stones and a grouting of lime, in which were bedded +the oblong roofing stones.¹ Such were the primitive forms of the +earliest stone churches in Scotland. + + ¹ Muir’s _Characteristics of Old Church Architecture_, pages + 2, 56, 141, 143, 205, 206; _Proceedings of the Society of + Antiquaries of Scotland_, Volume II., page 489, _et seq._; + Reeves’ _Adamnan_, page 138. + +The next stage showed an approach towards the form of the chancelled +church, passing through various types, which may be briefly indicated +thus:――A church with a chancel added on to the nave but not banded +into it, which showed a transition from the single chambered structure +to the double chambered form. In some specimens of this variety the +opening from the nave to the chancel is flat-headed and formed with +inclined jambs, and in others the end of the barrel-vault of the +chancel roof opened directly into the nave. Then came the developed +chancel arch, associated with other features which passed into the +current architecture of the twelfth century. There are examples of +the Celtic chancelled churches in the Isles, while the church of St. +Regulus at St. Andrews presents a fine specimen of the fully developed +form of this style.¹ + + ¹ Anderson’s _Scotland in Early Christian Times_, pages 32‒37; + _Lectures on Mediæval Architecture_, by Sir Gilbert Scott, + page 24. + +There are two characteristic round towers of ecclesiastical origin in +Scotland, one at Brechin in Forfarshire, and the other at Abernethy +in Perthshire. They are not now connected with the remains of an early +Celtic church; but the Tower of Brechin stands in the churchyard, and +the Abernethy one stands partly within and partly beyond the churchyard. +They resemble the round towers of Ireland, and belong to that class of +structures. + +The round Tower of Brechin stands at the south-west angle of the +Cathedral, which now embraces nearly one-fourth of its circumference. +At the base its external diameter is fifteen feet three inches, and +its internal diameter seven feet eleven inches, and the walls are three +feet eight inches thick; at the top its external diameter is thirteen +feet, and the internal eight feet one inch, and the walls two feet +five inches thick. The height of the Tower from the base to the spring +of the modern spirelet, which now crowns it, is eighty-six feet nine +inches; it is perfectly circular and tapers regularly from base to +summit. Internally it is divided into seven stories by string courses. +It is built of a hard reddish sandstone, and the masonry is massive; +the stones are cut and fitted to each other with remarkable neatness; +the courses are mostly horizontal with some irregularity, and the +joints are not uniformly vertical. There are six windows, one in the +third story, another in the fourth, and four in the upper story, which +show certain peculiarities of structure. The doorway, however, is the +most interesting feature of the Tower. Its dimensions are these:――The +breadth at the spring of the arch is one foot seven and a half inches, +and at the sill one foot eleven inches; the height of the entrance to +the centre of the arch is six feet one and a half inch; and its entire +height from the base of the external ornament to the summit of the +crucifix, which surmounts the centre of the arch, is eight feet eleven +inches. This doorway is formed of four stones, with jambs inclined +towards each other. The jambs have a raised band, and rows of pellets +run all round the doorway between two narrow fillets, while about the +middle of the jambs on each side there are raised panels with figures +of ecclesiastics in relief; and on the lower part of the jambs on each +side there are crouching figures of beasts, bearing a close resemblance +to some of those carved on the early sculptured stones. From various +structural relations and associated circumstances, it seems highly +probable that this Tower was erected in the eleventh century. + +The Abernethy Round Tower is built of stones dressed to the curve, +laid in horizontal courses with the joints vertical, and thus it +differs somewhat in its masonry from the Brechin Tower. But the general +features of form and construction of the two towers are remarkably +similar. The Abernethy Tower is seventy-two feet in height, and it +is divided into six stories by string courses, and it originally had +seven windows. It appears that the original purpose of these towers was +to afford an asylum for the ecclesiastics, and especially a place of +security in times of war for the precious relics of the famous saints, +such as shrines, crosiers, books, and bells, which were regarded +with extreme and almost incredible veneration both in Ireland and in +Scotland. + +Stone monuments of various kinds associated with the memory of the dead, +have already been treated in the prehistoric sections; and once more +attention must be directed to a somewhat analogous, but a later and +more artistic series of monumental stones. This series class is known +as the Sculptured Stones of Scotland. For various reasons it will be +necessary to deal with them at some length. The transition from the +rough and undressed standing-stones and circles which were treated in +connection with interments, to those now to be handled, was not abrupt, +the progress from the earlier classes of monuments to the later classes +proceeded gradually. Points of much historic interest and importance, +both of an ethnic and artistic character, are inseparably associated +with the Sculptured Stones. + +The earliest class of sculptured stones are generally of granite or +whinstone, and undressed, with peculiar symbols and figures incised on +one face of the stone only, and with no Christian symbol of the cross. +Nearly one hundred of this class have been figured or described. The +area in which they have been found stretches from the Firth of Forth +to Caithness, or over the eastern half of the country. But they are +most common in the region between the Tay and the Spey; scarcely a +single example occurs south of the Firths of Forth and Clyde, nor in +the Western Isles nor Argyle. They are mainly distributed thus,――three +between the Forth and Tay, six between the Tay and the Dee, thirty-six +between the Dee and Spey, and twenty-one to the northward of the Spey. +In the same districts there are (or were) forty-three standing slabs +more or less dressed, and with both faces sculptured; and on these +the peculiar symbols of the rough stones appear carved along with +crosses of various design and degrees of ornamentation. As to the local +distribution of this class, twenty-seven were found between the Forth +and the Dee; six between the Dee and the Spey; and ten to the north of +the Spey.¹ A large number of such monuments have doubtless disappeared +through the action of various causes and agencies, long before an +intelligent historic interest was directed to them in this country. + + ¹ _Sculptured Stones of Scotland_, Volume I., Prefix, pages + 6‒8; Volume II., Appendix to Preface, pages 74, 75. The + symbols occur on a fragment of a stone at Edinburgh, and on + a rock in Galloway. + +Within the above area, and in other quarters of the kingdom, there are +other sculptured monuments which differ from both of the types just +indicated, and which are also Celtic in their leading characteristics. +In the West of Scotland two types of monumental stones occur: 1, The +free-standing crosses, ornamented in a fine Celtic style, but differing +from the eastern monuments in the absence of the peculiar symbols. +2, At a much later period the stone cross of the West Coasts and +Islands became characterised by a style of art which differed from the +distinctive forms of the pure Celtic art. The distinguishing features +of this latter style, consisted in the elaboration of graceful forms +of foliage, and a freer development of the knot and scroll work than +appears on the earlier stone cross of the eastern division of Scotland. + +A number of erect undressed stones, with incised crosses simply, and +all of archaic character, have been observed here and there throughout +the country, and this group seems to present the earliest examples of +the unornamented series of crosses. A more complete classification of +the early incised crosses without the figured and peculiar symbols, +and the other series having these peculiar symbols incised on them +but without any cross, may hereafter be attained by carefully tracing +the indications of development, and then showing that both classes +passed into the decorated type, which presents the curious symbols +and the cross, and also combined them with other subjects and scroll +ornamentation. + +Although it cannot be proved by direct evidence that the rough upright +stones with the peculiar symbols incised on them succeeded the rough +unsculptured standing stones, found singly and in circles throughout +Scotland, still there are many facts and associated phenomena which +point to this conclusion. For that circles of rough pillar stones were +placed around the graves of our ancestors ages before the introduction +of Christianity into this country cannot be questioned. When, therefore, +similar undressed stones have been found standing with peculiar figures +incised on one of their faces, which figures cannot be proved to have +any reference to Christianity, why should it be assumed that these +figures were Christian in their origin? Let us try the point in this +way. Is the Cross an essential symbol of Christianity or not? If the +sign of the Cross was believed to be so full of virtue and power as it +is represented to have been in this country in early Christian times, +is it conceivable that Christians would have cut figures and symbols on +stone monuments without a cross on them? We are told that it was then +a custom to cross tools and implements before using them, and if these +rough monuments be of Christian origin, we must suppose that, though +the very tools with which the figures were cut had been crossed and +blessed, yet the men who used these tools so far forgot themselves +that they never thought of cutting a cross――the chief symbol of their +religion――on any of these stones.¹ Instead of advancing a view which +involves such unwarranted assumptions, it seems more in accordance with +ascertained facts and associated circumstances, to infer that these +rude sculptured stones existed in Scotland with the peculiar symbols +cut on them before the great emblem of the Christian Cross had become +known in this quarter of the globe. Upwards of a hundred examples of +these rough pillar stones with the symbols but no cross have been found, +and doubtless a much greater number existed in earlier times. The +curious symbols were continued, like many other things, into Christian +times, as they frequently re-appear in monuments wherein the main +idea and leading feature is the Christian cross. The monuments of the +Christian period were mostly formed of dressed slabs with sculptures on +both sides. On one face a cross in the centre covered with ornamental +work of intricate and varied patterns, and with the peculiar symbols +still retaining their original outline as on the rough stones, although +usually overwarped by ornaments appropriate to the Christian cross +style. On the reverse of the same stone different objects or scenes +were frequently depicted. + + ¹ _Sculptured Stones of Scotland_, Volume I., Preface, 2, 3; + Volume II., Preface, 5‒7. Dr. Anderson deemed it unnecessary + to discuss at any length the question of the pagan origin + of these peculiar symbols which first appear on the + rough unhewed stones; yet he makes a somewhat sweeping + generalisation to the following effect:――“And now I sum up + the whole bearings of the evidence, whether derived from the + general features or from the special art characteristics of + these monuments in one generalisation. They are monuments + of Christian character and Christian time. There is no + evidence to show that there was among our forefathers any + pre-existing or Pagan custom of erecting such sculptured + monuments in honour of the dead.... We may find the cover of + cist, a rude unshapely block, sculptured on its under side + with cups and circles, or with triangles and rudely formed + spirals. But we have never found in Scotland any monuments + erected over a Pagan grave which exhibits the least approach + to a truly artistic decoration. The custom of erecting + such monuments is Christian and Christian alone, so far + as Scotland is concerned, and the art they exhibit and the + letters they bear were brought into this country with the + copies of the Gospels from which Christianity was taught + to the people.” _Scotland in Early Christian Times_, pages + 132‒133, 1881. Dr. Anderson’s one generalisation is far too + dogmatic, and hardly in accordance with ascertained facts, + or even consistent with some of his own conclusions in other + parts of his writings. + +The peculiar symbols may be briefly described. One of those which often +occurs is a crescent combined with a rod, resembling the letter V, and +terminating in ornamented extremities; the body of it is occasionally +plain, but oftener filled with ornaments. Another symbol of frequent +occurrence consists of two circles connected by two slightly curved +lines; sometimes it appears alone, and more frequently associated with +a bent figure terminating in ornamented extremities. The circles are +sometimes plain, but usually filled with concentric circles, forms of +spirals, of interlaced work, or bosses in relief. A symbol of frequent +occurrence somewhat resembles the shape of a horse-shoe; it usually +appears alone, but sometimes in combination with a bent rod. Amongst +the more common figures used as symbols on these stone crosses, are the +head of an animal which appears in a variety of combinations; a figure +formed of three circles, a large one in the centre with a smaller one +attached at each side; a smith’s anvil, a hammer and tongs, and the +shears along with the mirror and comb.¹ + + ¹ _Sculptured Stones of Scotland_, Volume II., pages 22‒23; + Appendix to Preface, 1‒12, 19‒21; _Proceedings of the + Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, Volume X., pages + 333‒347, 637‒640. + +A number of the representations on these stones have been explained as +scenes from the Bible.¹ But I have limited myself to a plain statement +of what appears on the stones, without attempting to load them with far +off interpretations. Although the primary purposes of these monuments +was sepulchral and memorial; there can be no reasonable doubt that many +of the accessories which appear upon them, such as the costume, the +weapons, and many other distinctive objects, were those of the country +and the period. In this relation as illustrative materials of unwritten +history they have a considerable value. They afford illustrations of +human life in Scotland, and show it in its common, as well as in its +ecclesiastical and military characteristics. The scenes on these stones +depict the dress of the warrior, the huntsman, the ecclesiastic, and +the pilgrim. Such important tools and weapons of the period, as the +knife, the axe, the dirk, the spear, the sword, the shield, and the +bow, are all admirably represented. We learn from these representations +that the horsemen of the age rode without spurs or stirrups, sat upon +peaked saddle-cloths, and used snaffle-bridles with check rings and +ornamental rosettes; that they travelled on horseback, and wore peaked +hoods and cloaks; that when hunting, or on horseback armed, they wore +a kilted dress falling a little below the knees, and a plaid across +the shoulders. When travelling on foot they wore tight-fitting under +garments, and a plaid loosely wrapped round the body, and sometimes a +tight jerkin with sleeves and belt round the waist. They ♦wore their +hair long, flowing, and curly, sometimes with peaked beards, at other +times with moustaches on the upper lip, and shaven cheeks and chin.² +They used long bows in war, and cross-bows in hunting. Their swords +were long, broad-bladed, and double-edged, with triangular pommels and +straight guards; their spears had long heads, and their shields were +rounded and furnished with bosses. On horseback they fought with sword, +spear, and shield; and on foot with sword and buckler. They used two +wheeled carriages with poles for draught by two horses, the driver +sitting on a seat over the pole, and the wheels had ornamented spokes. +They used high chairs with side-arms, carved backs, and sometimes +ornamented with heads of animals. Their boats had high prows and +stern-posts. They used trumpets, and played beautifully on the harp. +The ecclesiastics of the period wore long dresses, which were richly +and elaborately embroidered; they walked about in loose short boots, +and carried crosiers, and book sachels in their hands.³ Such are a few +of the many historic and interesting facts which are portrayed with +striking distinctness on these monuments. + + ¹ Dr. Anderson in his _Scotland in Early Christian Times_, has + given Scriptural interpretations of certain scenes of some + of the stones. See pages 144‒173. + + ♦ “were” replaced with “wore” + + ² “Long and flowing hair was at first evidence that the + wearer was a noble, and always that he possessed unforfeited + and unimpeached all the rights of a freeman. It conferred + dignity on the wearer, and the highest and most illustrious + were proud of it. It was the distinction in which the + Carlovingian Kings of France most glorified; and Harold, + Fairhair, and Canute the Great, considered that the length + and beauty of their hair added to their lawful claims to + popular admiration. In the earliest periods, beards and + moustaches were worn of immense size, and were especially + esteemed by such of the population as were of British + descent. The want of them was considered by the laity as + a mark of weakness and vulgarity, and by the clergy as + evidence of effeminacy and dissolute life. The Anglo-Saxon + priesthood persisted in wearing them, in defiance of + canonical prohibition, till Dunstan compelled them to + shave in an orthodox manner. + + “If the right of wearing long hair was important to men, + it was doubly so to women; for with them it was not only a + mark of rank, but of chastity. Every young freewoman, while + unmarried, was said to be in her hair, which she wore long + and loose; and when she married, she was required to dress + it in a different manner. If she misconducted herself, it + was cut off altogether.” _Sculptured Stones of Scotland_, + Volume II., Appendix to Preface, pages 6‒8, and Volume I., + plates 61, 77, Volume II., plate 103. There is some very + curious information touching the subject in the _Ancient + Laws of Ireland_. It is worth mentioning that cropping + the hair and beard is to this day a part of military and + criminal punishment. + + ³ _Sculptured Stones of Scotland_, especially in Volume I. + throughout, plates 26, 16, 29, 46, 52, 69, 76, 25, 43, 47, + 58, 64, 70, 80, 82, 49, 93, 77, 61, 74, 126, Volume II. + plates 16, 2, 4, 12, 129. + +Touching the art of these monuments, the earliest type, the undressed +pillars without the cross, exhibit little art. The peculiar symbols, +already described, are simply formed by incised lines, with little +ornamentation. The floriated ends of the sceptre appears in various +forms, the divergent spiral, and attempts to represent the feathers +of a bird by angular lines and long flowing lines. But the range of +decoration is very limited in this class of monuments, although it is +essentially and characteristically Celtic, and this was its earliest +stage on stone. + +When we come to examine the stones with crosses on them, we find that +the art becomes developed to a high degree of perfection. It is clear +that the leading ideal and aim of the art manifested on these monuments +was decoration; and its prevailing characteristic is a decoration +of panels separated from each other by borders and then treated as +surfaces. These surfaces often result from the divisions of the general +surface by the main design, which may be a cross embracing the entire +length of the stone. At other times the cross is divided into panels, +or the spaces on each side of the shaft. Again, there is sometimes a +border of decoration round the chief subject, which is divided into +panels. The general surface is always decorated in spaces which balance +each other exactly. The greatest elaboration on the surface of the +finest monuments is attained by the use of interlaced work. The designs +are not very numerous; but the divisions and the variations of the +decorative and the symbolic ornaments appear to be almost infinite, +the combinations endless, and yet beautiful, balanced, symmetrical, +and perfect specimens of art.¹ + + ¹ Dr. Anderson has treated the art of these monuments at + great length, and with much care and precision. See his + _Scotland Early Christian Times_, pages 97‒135, 1881. The + late Dr. John Stuart, the editor of the two volumes of the + _Sculptured Stones_, has also, in his two prefaces and notes, + presented much valuable information. + +No other monuments show a greater profusion of ornament, or a style +of decoration more striking and effective in its result. The art +exhibits originality and individuality, always like itself in its +distinctive characteristics. In short, these ancient monuments clearly +indicate that the men who produced them were gifted with imaginative, +reproductive, and elaborative faculties of a high order, associated +with an intensity of feeling and a concentration of attention directed +to the attainment of a definite end, rarely manifested anywhere. + +It is probable that the more ornate and decorative features of this art +were not originated and continuously developed as sculptures on stone. +Although there is no reason whatever to doubt that the art of the rough +incised stones bearing the symbols only, with no cross, did originate +in Scotland, but its special characteristic consisted in incised work, +which showed little decoration of any kind. The decorative and ornate +characteristics of the art, no doubt, were first developed in the +pages of the illuminated manuscripts; and this art of illuminating +manuscripts was developed to a high degree of perfection at an early +period in Ireland. The same art was practised in Scotland, though only +a few specimens of it remain, which do not approach the perfection +of the Irish examples. “It is interesting to compare these Irish +illuminations with those of the Book of Deer, which may be presumed +to be a work of Scotch art of a period not later than the volume of +MacDuran, who died in 927, so the age of his work is the early part +of the tenth century; and it will be remarked in the specimens here +given, that the ornamented patterns composing the surrounding borders +are identical with those on many of the crosses, and the design of the +latter is, in many cases, the same as that of a page of the manuscripts, +showing a rich border round the margin of the stone, with pictorial +representations inside. The peculiar art of the Irish illuminations +and the Scotch crosses is found on many bronze relics of the Christian +period, as well as on those of an earlier age.”¹ + + ¹ _Sculptured Stones of Scotland_, Volume II., Appendix to + Preface, page 81. “The peculiarities of the Irish style + consists,――1, in the entire absence of foliage or other + vegetable ornament, the classical acanthus being entirely + ignored; and 2, in the extreme intricacy and excessive + minuteness and elaboration of the various patterns, + mostly geometrical, consisting of interlaced ribbon work, + diagonal or spiral lines, and strange monstrous animals + and birds, with long top-knots, tongues, and tails + intertwined in almost endless knots. The most sumptuous of + the manuscripts――such, for instance, as the Book of ♦Kells, + the Gospels of Lindisfarne and St. Chad, and some of the + manuscripts of St. Gall――have entire pages covered with + the most elaborate patterns in compartments, the whole + forming beautiful cruciform designs, one of these facing + the commencement of each of the four Gospels. The labour + employed in such a mass of work must have been very great, + the care infinite, since the most scrutinising examination + with a magnifying glass will not detect an error in the + truth of the lines or the regularity of the interlacing; + and yet, with all this minuteness, the harmonious effect + of colouring has been introduced.” O. Jones’s Grammar of + Ornament, page 3, quoted in _Sculptured Stones of Scotland_. + + Mr. Westwood says――“The principles of these most elaborate + ornaments are, however, but few in number, and may be + reduced to the four following:――1st, One or more narrow + ribbons diagonally but symmetrically interlaced, forming an + endless variety of patterns. 2nd, One, two, or three slender + spiral lines, coiling one within another till they meet in + the centre of the circle, their opposite ends going off to + other circles. 3rd, A vast variety of lacerative animals and + birds, hideously attenuated and coiled within one another, + with their tails, tongues, and top-knots forming long narrow + ribbons irregularly interlaced. 4th, A series of diagonal + lines, forming various kinds of Chinese-like patterns. These + ornaments are generally introduced into small compartments, + a number of which are arranged so as to form the large + initial letters and borders or tesselated pages with which + the first manuscripts were decorated.” _Sculptured Stones of + Scotland_, Volume II., Appendix to Preface, page 77. + + ♦ “Keels” replaced with “Kells” + +It thus appears that it was only after the decorative elements of +the art had attained a high degree of elaboration on parchment, that +it began to be generally applied to stone in Scotland. It seems also +probable that, looking to the profusion and quality of the ornament +and decoration on the early stone monuments of Scotland, that there +would have been something like a proportionate quantity on the pages +of books which have perished. Some of the elements of this art are +common, however, to a wider area than that of Celtic Scotland, Ireland, +or Europe, being found, to a greater or less extent, in the art +of many nations. Still the Celtic art of Scotland has distinctive +characteristics of its own; in like manner as the art of other nations +have special peculiarities which distinguishes each from that of others: +for there is nothing in the world which stands absolutely alone and out +of all relation. The essence of art belongs to the human mind and to +humanity. But different nations have embodied their art in a variety +of forms, differing in degrees of perfection and development, or in +the elaboration given to certain elements of art, and special forms and +characteristics. + +The ethnic implications connected with these monuments remain to be +considered, and may be shortly stated thus:――The region in which the +greater number of these ancient monuments have been found, and those +of the most distinctive and characteristic type, embraced the whole of +eastern Scotland, from the Firths of Forth and Clyde to Caithness. This +is the region where both the undressed stones bearing incised symbols +on one side, but no cross, and the dressed stones bearing crosses and +symbols; and here Celtic art attained the highest development which +it ever reached in Scotland. It will be remembered that this was the +country occupied by the people called the Picts. It is, therefore, a +fair inference that these monuments were the work of the Pictish people. +Further, it has been amply proved that the art of these monuments is +essentially and intensely Celtic; and so the ethnic conclusion is, that +the people also were intensely Celtic in spirit and race. + +Touching the probable period of these monuments, taking them as a whole, +it would be vain to fix on precise dates. But, excepting the rough +stones with incised symbols on one side, the entire class of those with +crosses probably range from about the middle of the ninth century to +the end of the eleventh. Some of the incised stones may be a century +or two earlier. + +Having indicated the origin and the art of the sculptured stones, +the early monuments with inscriptions on them comes in succession. +Inscribed monuments of this period are rare in Scotland. Amongst +the Celtic people of Britain and Ireland the earliest form of giving +visible expression to a fact or event in writing was by using Ogham +characters. The Ogham alphabet consisted of numbers of digit-like +characters, which were arranged upon a stem line in groups when +used on stone monuments, but it was sometimes used on metal work, in +manuscripts, and on the wooden staves of the Irish poets. There are +upwards of a hundred Ogham inscriptions in Ireland, and twenty-five +in Wales, but there are only five examples known on the mainland of +Scotland. One on a cross found at Scoonie, in Fifeshire; another on a +fragment of a sculptured stone discovered in the churchyard of Aboyne, +Aberdeenshire; one at Logie, in the Garioch; one on a stone found at +Golspie, in Sutherlandshire, and another on the famous stone at Newton +of Insch, Aberdeenshire. In the Orkney and Shetland Islands seven +examples have been found, which together gives a total of upwards +of one hundred and fifty characters. But the deciphering and reading +of these Ogham inscriptions seems to be still beset with great +difficulties, mainly owing to the uncertain value of the letters and +the extremely archaic forms of the Celtic language in which they were +written, and the remote circumstances associated with them.¹ + + ¹ _Sculptured Stones of Scotland_, Volume II. Notices of the + plates, page 6; _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries + of Scotland_, Volume X., pages 133‒141, 602; Brash’s _Ogham + Inscribed Monuments of the Gaedhil in the British Islands_, + 1879. + +In Iona there are a few monuments with Gaelic inscriptions, but +undated. Another Gaelic inscription occurs on a finely decorated +cross at St. Vigean’s, in Forfarshire. There are a few early monuments +with inscriptions in partially debased Roman letters. One, called the +Catstone, at Kirkliston, stands on the south bank of the Almond, in +an area which, on examination, was found to be the site of an ancient +cemetery. No other monument of this early period is known in Scotland +still standing in the midst of its graves. Another inscription of +the same class occurs on a rough slab at a spot called Yarrow Kirk in +Selkirkshire. In the parish of Stoneykirk, Wigtonshire, there are early +monuments with inscriptions in Latin, one of which has been translated +thus:―― + + “Here lies the holy + and excellent priests, + to wit, Viventius + and Maiorius.”¹ + + ¹ Anderson’s _Scotland in Early Christian Times_, pages + 247‒255; Reeves’ _♦Adamnan_, page 418. + + ♦ “Adamnam” replaced with “Adamnan” + +As the Ogham was the earliest form of writing among the Celtic people +of Ireland and Britain, Runic was the earliest form of writing amongst +the Teutonic race of Northern Britain. Thus monuments with Runic +inscriptions occur in Scotland only in the districts which were +colonised by the Norsemen. A few fragments have been found in the +Northern Isles, and one complete monument only is known in the Hebrides, +which once stood in the church of Kilbar, in the Island of Barra, and +is now in the National Museum. It has a cross of Celtic form, and the +Runic inscription states that――“Ur and Thur erected this stone after +Raskur, Christ rest his soul.” Though the inscription is Norse, it +appears that Celtic art held its ground even when the language failed. +The same phenomena has been observed in a group of monuments in the +Island of Man, which was the chief site of the Norse kingdom of Man and +the Isles from 976 to 1266, and called in the sagas the kingdom of the +Sudreys. On a cross at Ruthwell, in Annandale, there are inscriptions +in two languages and two alphabets, the one set carved in Runes and the +other in Roman capitals.¹ + + ¹ Anderson’s _Scotland in Early Christian Times_, pages + 227‒233; _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of + Scotland_, Volume XII., page 143, _et seq._; _The Chronicle + of Man and the Sudreys_, by Prof. Munch, Christiania, 1860. + +Having in this section touched on the architecture of the Brochs, and +the indications of culture among the people who erected and occupied +them, the remains of early church structures were briefly noticed; and, +after describing the round towers of Brechin and Abernethy, I proceeded +to treat the Sculptured Stone monuments historically. Indicated the +area in which they were found, touched on the origin of the rough +stones with the incised symbols, the relative sources of Celtic +art, and the special characteristics of the art of the Scotch stone +monuments; and indicated the ethnic inference deducible from them, +concluding with a reference to Celtic Ogham inscriptions and Runic +inscriptions. In order to render the characteristics of early Celtic +art in other forms more clear, the opening part of the next section +will be devoted to the illustration of it. + + + SECTION XII. + + _Characteristics of Early Celtic Art. + Fragments of Early Literature._ + +The period of native Celtic art stretches back beyond the Christian era, +as we have already seen in the prehistoric age; and it seems necessary +to indicate the characteristics of this art as exhibited on metal work +and other forms, as the culture and civilisation of ♦a people can only +be traced and disclosed in its continuity by the historic treatment of +the products of the mind and feeling as manifested in the whole circle +of their action. Beginning with such objects as reach back to the +Bronze Age culture, we may observe the continuous development of this +form of decorative art. + + ♦ duplicate word “a” removed + +A bronze mirror, along with other articles, was found in draining a bog +in the parish of Balmaclellan, Kirkcudbrightshire. Its form resembles +the mirrors which appear on the sculptured monuments, and the part +where the handle is joined to the body of the mirror is concealed by +a finely ornamented plate. A massive collar of cast bronze was found +in digging a well at Stitchell, Roxburghshire, in 1747; it is jointed, +and opens on a hinge in the centre, and fastening in front by a pin and +socket. Its ornamentation resembles the double escaping and divergent +spirals of the later Celtic art. Closely similar in ornament to this +collar is an armlet of thin bronze, found in 1826 in the parish of +Borgue, Kirkcudbrightshire. It is ornamented by three raised mouldings, +beaten up from the back, and run round it, but concealed on each side +of the hinges by two thin plates of bronze, which are ornamented in +repoussè trumpet-like ornaments connected by curves. In 1806 a herd +boy unearthed a hoard of gold objects on the side of the Shaw Hill in +the parish of Kirkurd, Peeblesshire, which consisted of two twisted +arm-rings, each weighing eight ounces, a broken ring of a similar form, +forty small studs, and a hollow ornament weighing over four ounces. +The bullion value of the whole amounted to about £110. The armlets +are spirally twisted rods of gold, with flat extremities bent round +to encircle the arm. The studs are spiral in form, and marked on the +surface with a cruciform ornament in relief. These are a few examples +selected out of many others which belong to the early Celtic school of +art.¹ + + ¹ Anderson’s _Scotland, Iron Age_, pages 126, 137, 138. + +As the art developed, its leading characteristic was exhibited in metal +work with striking effect and beauty. In 1826 a shepherd, when passing +along the hillside of Hunterston, six miles from Largs, observed a +flattened-like ring of metal partially protruding from the soil, which +he picked up. It turned out to be a silver brooch, and a specimen +of artistic work in metal which has rarely been surpassed. It is +large, measuring about four and a half inches in diameter, and it +is elaborately decorated in the Celtic style, and in many of its +features resembles the illuminated decorations of the manuscripts of +the Gospels. It thus belongs to the art of the early Christian period, +and the beauty of its design and decoration is almost equal to that of +the best manuscripts. “The skill of its workmanship is such that it is +questionable whether it could be greatly surpassed by the most skilful +workmanship of the present day. It is only when its details are +examined with a magnifying glass that the fitness and beauty of their +minutest rendering becomes fully apparent.”¹ A point of much interest +connected with this brooch is that it bears on the plain portion of +the back the autographs of two of its former owners scratched with a +point in the surface of the silver; both the inscriptions belong to the +later and more local variety of the Runic alphabet. The inscriptions +are simple, mere markings of ownership, and have been read thus: 1, +“Maelbritha owns this brooch; 2, Olfriti owns this brooch.”² The first +name is Celtic, and both names were common among the mixed population +of the Norwegian province of the Western Isles. The forms of the Runes +indicate a date about the tenth century, which would agree with the +period when Celtic art-workmanship was approaching the point of its +highest expression.³ + + ¹ _Ibid._ _Scotland in Early Christian Times_, page 3, 1881. + + ² Various readings of these scratched inscriptions have been + given. Their decipherment has been made the subject of + several papers――Finn Magnusen in the _Annaler for Nordisk + Oldkindyghed og Historie_, 1846, pages 323, 399; P. A. Munch + in the _Memoires de la Sociéte des Antiquaires du Nord_, + page 202, 1845‒49; Dr. Wilson’s _Prehistoric Annals of + Scotland_, Volume II., pages 267‒277; Professor Dr. George + Stephens, in his great work, _The Old Northern Runic + Monuments of Scandinavia and England_, has given details of + the inscriptions along with a critical discussion. Volume + II., pages 589‒599. + + ³ “The art of the brooch, as I have shown, is Celtic, and the + inscriptions are such as would be carved by natives of the + restricted area, whose population was partly of Norwegian + and partly of Celtic origin.” _Scotland in Early Christian + Times_, page 6. + +In 1868, when the Sutherland railway was making through the parish of +Rogart, a large earthfast stone was blasted, and in clearing away the +rubbish one of the workmen found in the soil underneath the stone a +hoard of brooches; and he at once left his work and disappeared. The +number of the brooches found, was never ascertained, but two of them +subsequently came into the possession of Mr. Macleod of Cadboll, and +these two were known as the Cadboll brooches; and in 1888 they were +purchased for the National Museum. A third one passed into the hands of +the Duke of Sutherland, and is preserved in the museum at Dunrobin. The +two now in the National Museum are penannular brooches of silver. The +largest one is plated with gold, and measures four and a half inches in +diameter, and the pin seven and three-fourth inches in length. The body +of the brooch consists of a flattened band of silver, three quarters +of an inch in width, and nearly a quarter of an inch in thickness, bent +into a circular form and terminating at each extremity in an ornamental +expansion of quarterfoil form, and an amber setting fills the centre of +the terminal ornaments. Round this setting there is a circular space, +enclosed by a plain raised border and quartered by similar partitions, +each of which is filled with an interlacing pattern. The four +semi-circular spaces surrounding the central circle, and forming the +quarterfoils, are also enclosed by plain raised borders, and from each +of these spaces there rises, to the height of half an inch, part of the +body and neck of a large billed bird. Its eyes are set with green glass, +the neck bends gracefully, and the long bill dips into the interior of +the enclosed circle. In the middle of the bend of the circular part of +the brooch, there is a circular space divided into four segments with +a central setting of amber, and segments filled in with interlacing +patterns. On each side of the circle there are two birds’ heads +similarly placed, and ornamented as those at the extremities of the +brooch. The surface of that portion of the ring of the brooch between +the central group of the two, and the terminal groups of the four +birds’ heads, is divided on each side into four panels filled with +interlaced patterns. The pin is loosely attached to the brooch by a +large loop open at the back, and the head is an oval expansion covered +with interlaced patterns, continued down the front of the pin. The +whole of these ornamental details are worked out with great delicacy +and the utmost precision. “The brooch presents twenty-one different +panels of interlaced work in gold, ten panels occupied by bird’s heads, +and twenty-four settings of amber and glass.” The other brooch is +smaller and simpler, though of the same class. These brooches present +a striking speciality of form and decoration; they exhibit a class of +ornamental metal-work not necessarily ecclesiastical in origin or use, +but showing designs and patterns similar to the decorative art of the +Celtic manuscripts.¹ + + ¹ _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, + Volume VIII., page 305; Volume XXII., pages 271‒273. + Anderson’s _Scotland in Early Christian Times_, pages 9, 11. + +A considerable number of these early Celtic brooches in silver and +other metal have been found in Scotland; and many of them are fine +specimens of decorative art. There are other articles in silver and +bronze which present this art, such as the massive silver chains of +double circular links, which show upon their penannular terminal links +symbols of a peculiar character, and are sometimes filled with enamel. +Five of these chains, belonging to Scotland, are in the National Museum. +One found in making the Caledonian Canal in Inverness-shire, consists +of sixteen pairs of circular links, and a single link at one end. The +links are solid bars of silver, each hammered round and bent circularly +till the ends meet. It measured eighteen inches in length, and weighed +ninety-two ounces. Another chain of a similar character, formed +of rather smaller links, was found at Parkhill, Aberdeenshire. It +consisted of twenty-three pairs of circular links, with a terminal link +of a peculiar shape; and on the surface of this link there were dots +on each side of a curved symbol, which sometimes appears incised on the +sculptured monuments. On the opposite side there were triangular sunk +spaces and three dots, and the sunk spaces had been filled with red +enamel. A chain found at Whitecleuch in the parish of Crawfordjohn, in +Lanarkshire, was formed of twenty-two pairs of circular links, with a +penannular terminal link, on which there appeared two symbols, often +found associated with the decoration of the sculptured monuments.¹ + + ¹ Anderson’s _Scotland in Early Christian Times_, pages 42‒44. + +The Crosier of St. Fillan is an interesting relic of ornamented +art, and it has also an exceedingly interesting history.¹ There are +many other relics and objects which might be used to illustrate the +characteristics of Celtic art; but its central principle and leading +features, which were essentially decoration and ornamentation, have now +been sufficiently explicated for the purpose and scale of this history. + + ¹ _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, + Volume XII., pages 122, 134. Dr. Anderson has treated the + relics of St. Fillan in several publications. From the + latest of these the following may be quoted:――“Putting + together the several indications gathered from these + documents, we find that before the Reformation there were + in Glendochart five different relics of St. Fillan, and + that in the case of each separate relic the authority of the + Church had been unable to prevail against the Celtic usage + which had up to that time preserved the lay succession of + hereditary Dewars, and which, in the case of the Quigrich, + succeeded in preserving it, not only till the Reformation, + but down to the time when the Society of Antiquaries + succeeded to the keepership of that relic. + + “The five relics of St. Fillan, in the possession of their + hereditary Dewars, each with a croft of land held by the + tenure of the keepership, were as follows:――1, The Quigrich + or Crosier, in the keeping of the Dewar of the Quigrich, + who held the lands of Cryetindewer in Eyich. 2, The Bernane, + in the keeping of the Dewar Bhernane, who held the lands + of Dewar Bhernane’s croft in Suy. 3, The Ferg, in the + keeping of the Dewar-na-Ferg, who had Dewar-na-Ferg’s + croft in Auchlyne. 4, The Man, or Mayne, in the keeping of + Dewar-na-Mayne, who had the Dewar-na-Mayne’s croft at Killin. + 5, The Meser, in the keeping of the Dewar de Meser, who had + lands, including Coreheynan. The next question that arises + is, how far the relics are now capable of being identified. + + “The Quigrich is the ornamented head of the Crosier, now + in the National Museum.... The Bernane, I think, may be + identified as another relic of St. Fillan, also now in the + possession of the Society.... The Ferg is quite unknown to + me, and I am not prepared to hazard even a guess as to its + identity.... The Mayne, according to the analogy of the + word, ought to mean the hand, and we can readily conceive + the application of this name to a very interesting and highly + venerated relic of St. Fillan, viz., the miraculous left + hand which he was wont to hold up when writing in the dark, + as the servant, who looked through the chink in the door, + saw that the left hand afforded a clear and steady light to + the right hand.... In all probability the arm of St. Fillan + was enshrined, at least as early as the Crosier or the bell; + that it was preserved in a case or shrine in the early part + of the fourteenth century, we learn from Boece’s account of + the miracle which took place in the tent of King Robert the + Bruce on the night before the Battle of Bannockburn. There + can be no doubt that the relic of St. Fillan, which was at + Bannockburn, was not the Crosier or the Bell, but the Mayne + or enshrined arm and hand which used to give the miraculous + light.... The Meser is not known, except from the single + notice of its Dewar in 1468.” _Proceedings of the Society + of Antiquaries of Scotland_, Volume XXIII., pages 115‒118. + +Turning to the earliest fragments of literature still preserved, it +appears that they issued from Iona. Owing to the position and fame of +St. Columba in his own lifetime, some of his many disciples would be +ready to record those events of his life calculated to interest his +followers and enhance the veneration of his memory. Cummene, son of +Ernan, was the seventh Abbot of Iona, and succeeded to the abbacy in +657; and according to the standard of his time, he was a learned and +accomplished man. One of his letters in Latin touching the Easter +festival is extant; and he also composed in Latin a life of St. Columba. +His life of Columba consists of twenty-seven short chapters, which +chiefly deal with the miracles performed by Columba or on his account. +Several manuscripts of Cummene’s life of Columba exist, and it has been +repeatedly printed.¹ After presiding over the community of Iona, and +the Columban Church for twelve years, he died in 669. + + ¹ Mabillon’s _Acta Sanctorum ordinis Sancti Benedicti_, i. ♦342, + from the Compiegne MS.; in _Acta Sanctorum_, ii. 180, mainly + from the Belfort MS; and by Pinkerton in _Vitæ Sanctorum + Scotiæ_. + + ♦ “242, from the Compeigne” replaced with + “342, from the Compiegne” + +Adamnan, son of Ronan, was born in Ireland in the year 624; and, +in virtue of his birth, claimed kin to St. Columba. On the death of +Failbhe in 679, he was elected as ninth Abbot of Iona. Adamnan was the +most accomplished of all St. Columba’s successors. He took an active +part in all matters relating to the Church in his time. He went to +Ireland in 697, where he was engaged in efforts to effect social reform +among the people and the clergy; and probably it was at this time, +from ♦697 till his return to Iona in 704, that he wrote his Life of +Columba. His information for this work was derived partly from written +and partly from oral sources. His written materials were Cummene’s +Life of St. Columba which he cites by name; he had also another memoir, +to which he refers thus――“Hanc prædictam visionem, non solum, paginis +inscriptam reperimus, sed et ab aliquibus expertis senioribus, quibus +ipse Virgnous retulerat, sine ullo didicimus cunctamine.” He also +refers to poems on the praises of Columba written in the native +language, “Scoticæ linguæ” (Gaelic); and other metrical compositions by +St. Mura, who died about 645.¹ The narrative of Cummene was transferred +almost verbatim, by Adamnan, into his own Life of Columba. The oral +source of information available to Adamnan would have consisted of the +recollections and reminiscences about Columba then current among his +brethren in Iona and in Ireland. Thus he produced a work in complete +harmony with the feeling, the spirit, and the thought of his age. +He returned from Ireland to Iona in the summer of 704, and died +on the 23rd of September, the same year, at the advanced age of +seventy-eight.² + + ♦ “397” replaced with “697” + + ¹ Reeves’ _Adamnan_, pages 17, 237, 318, and Preface pages + 5‒7. Among the poems in praise of Columba written in the + native tongue, the celebrated Amhra was ascribed to St. + Baithene Mor, a contemporary of Columba. + + ² Reeves’ _Adamnan_, Appendix to Preface pages 53, 56, 57. + +Adamnan’s Life of Columba is somewhat prolix, and its main themes +throughout are associated with supposed miraculous and supernatural +events and circumstances. Still, incidentally it contains a +considerable number of facts of more or less historic value. His +account of the last scenes of St. Columba’s life is natural, beautiful, +and pathetic. Seeing that the work was written in the latter years +of the seventh century or the opening years of the eighth, it has a +special value, as being the earliest writing of any length directly +connected with Scotland. He was the author of a tract entitled _De +Locis Sanctis_, which is written in a more flowing style than his Life +of Columba. Besides these two works, Adamnan is said to have written +a Life of St. Patrick; Poems; and some other works. These have not, +however, been authoritatively recognised as his productions. + +From the number of manuscripts of his life of St. Columba which were +spread over the Continent, it appears that the work was highly esteemed, +and a considerable number of his writings still exist in various +libraries. His Life of Columba has also often been printed.¹ Adamnan +was held in great respect while living, and after his death his memory +was widely venerated both in Ireland and in Scotland. A number of +churches were dedicated to St. Adamnan in Ireland, and in Scotland nine +or ten churches were dedicated to his name, among which were Forglen, +in the beautiful valley of the Deveron, lying in the lower division +of Banffshire; Dalmeny, a parish in Linlithgow, and in Inchkeith; +and several wells were called after him. His shrine and relics became +objects of extreme veneration, and were latterly preserved in his +church of Skreen in Ireland. + + ¹ _Ibid._, Preface, pages 8‒10, 12‒30. Adamnan’s _Life of + Columba_ was first printed by ♦Canisius in his Antiquæ + Lectiones, from a MS. preserved in the monastery of Windberg, + in Bavaria, Volume V., pages 559‒621, 1604. This was + reprinted in 1624, by Thomas Messingham, an Irish priest, + who added titles to the chapters, and a few marginal glosses, + together with testimonies of Adamnan and of St. Columba. + In 1647, Colgan published it in his great work entitled, + _Triadis Thaumaturgæ, seu Divorum Patricii Columbæ et + Brigidæ, trium ♦Veteris et Majoris Scotiæ seu Hiberniæ + sanctorum Insulæ, communium Patronorum Acta, etc._ It + is inserted in the Bollandists’ _Acta Sanctorum_; in + Pinkerton’s _Vitæ Antiquæ Sanctorum, etc._; and Dr. + Reeves’ very valuable edition, so often referred to in + the preceding pages, contains a vast number of facts and + interesting particulars. + + ♦ “Canisiu” replaced with “Canisius” + “Veberis” replaced with “Veteris” + +A few fragments of writings in Latin have been preserved: such as the +Pictish Chronicle, which was compiled about the close of the tenth +century, probably by the scribe or _ferleiginn_ of the monastery of +Brechin. This short chronicle has been preserved in Latin, which, +however, seems to have been translated from a Gaelic original, as +Celtic words here and there were left untranslated. It is known that +a number of ancient writings existed, which have perished amid the +internal and external struggles which subsequently ensued. As already +indicated, references to writings in the native language of the people +occur, which appear to have consisted of legends and lives of the +saints.¹ + + ¹ _Chronicles_, Preface pages 19‒23; _Register of the Priory + of St. Andrews_; _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries + of Scotland_, Volume III., page 264. + +The earliest specimen of Gaelic writing on parchment in Scotland +occurs in the Book of Deer, a MS. which originally belonged to one of +St. Columba’s monasteries in Buchan, Aberdeenshire. This book contains +portions of the Gospels of St. Matthew, St. Mark, and St. Luke, and the +whole of the Gospel of St. John, and the Apostles’ Creed, all in Latin. +It is written in one uniform hand, and in a character which has been +assigned by the most skilful experts to the ninth century. After the +Apostles’ Creed, the scribe who wrote the Gospels adds a colophon in +Gaelic which has been translated thus: “Be it on the conscience of +every one in whom shall be for grace the booklet with splendour; that +he give a blessing on the soul of the wretchock who wrote it.”¹ For two +centuries it appears that nothing was added to the original book. The +fragment of an office for the visitation of the sick is in a different +and a later handwriting. The memoranda written in Gaelic on the blank +pages and the margins of the original manuscript belong to a period +not later than the eleventh century and the early part of the twelfth. +Thus, these memoranda afford a specimen of the written Celtic language +of the period, which has been found in its main features to resemble +the written Irish of the same age. Although this is the only example of +vernacular Celtic now known to exist, still we cannot infer that this +was all that Scotland had produced down to the twelfth century; in fact +there can be little doubt that in many of the other monasteries similar +writings in the vernacular were in use from an early period. + + ¹ _Book of Deer_, page 89. + +The _ferleiginn_ or man of learning was a prominent official in the +monasteries of Ireland, and of those of the west and north-eastern +regions of Scotland. The function of this official at first seems to +have been mainly limited to the practice and teaching of penmanship; +but from about the middle of the tenth century instruction in +literature was added to his functions: so that _ferleiginn_ lecturer, +meant literally man of learning. This official appears as a member +of the monastic community at Turriff, which stands on a fine +commanding site near the river Deveron at the northern extremity of +Aberdeenshire. It was thus one of the schools of the period. In some +other parts of Scotland, the same functionary appears under the name of +Scolofthes――Scolocs; in somewhat later times they appear in connection +with several churches which belonged to St. Andrews. Touching the +range of the learning of these functionaries there is little definite +information.¹ + + ¹ Reeves’ _Adamnan_, pages 365, 62‒63; _Miscellany of the Old + Spalding Club_, Volume V., Preface, pages 56‒67, _et seq._; + _Book of Deer_, Preface, pages 185‒189. + +The monasteries of Scotland, however, considered as schools in relation +to the people, were not very efficient. Although in certain directions +they had an educational influence upon the people which produced +results, such as the introduction of letters and a standard of written +Gaelic amongst themselves; and what education existed was supplied +through the monasteries and the monks; but it does not appear that this +written Gaelic was widely or generally taught to the young and rising +generations during the period in question. The far greater part of +the people were not taught to read at all, and whatever they received +as education was imparted orally and retained through the memory. In +connection with religious worship and the service of the church the +people were fully informed about the lives, the works, and the miracles +of the saints, and in this relation their religion still resembled the +ancient worship of ancestors. But in relation to industry and art, the +teaching and the example of the monastic communities had a marked and +beneficial educational influence upon the people. + +Legends, stories, and rhymes were common among the people. When writing +was little practised and printing unknown, people depended far more +upon their memories, and in these circumstances the retention of a +few thousands of lines would imply no great stretch of memory. Homer +was simply a reciter; he never wrote the immortal work which has been +stamped with his name for more than two thousand years. As thought +must precede articulate speech and written composition and connected +expression in the natural order of development, so oral composition +in rhyme and tale have everywhere preceded the forms of written +composition. As a matter of fact, there have been several instances +in Scotland, in quite recent times, of men who could neither read nor +write, and yet they have composed many songs and poems of recognised +merit, which, of course, were written down from their diction. +Indeed, the greater part of the ballad literature of Scotland has been +collected by a somewhat similar process, and also to a large extent +the tales and ballad literature of other nations. We may then conclude, +that the people of this period had an ample store of oral rhymes, tales, +and traditions――the accumulated accretions of the preceding ages――which +still continue to be orally learned and transmitted from generation +to generation, with such additional variations as imagination and +circumstances suggested to their minds. + +At the close of the eleventh century the Celtic race possessed the +whole of Scotland except the Lothians, in the south-east, which was +occupied by the Angles. Caithness in the north, the Orkney and Shetland +Islands, and the Western Islands, which had been colonised by the +Norsemen. But the original heat of the Norse movement had begun to cool, +and the Celtic race retained their own language in the Western Isles: +a considerable number of Norse words, however, occur in these islands. +Throughout the regions occupied by the Celtic race there were, no +doubt, dialectical variations in the speech of the people in different +districts, but they all essentially belonged to one language. In short, +the people from the Firth of Forth to Caithness were still essentially +of the same race as the tribes who contended with the Roman Legions at +Mons Grampius in the year 86 A.D. + +I. In conclusion the main points of the seven preceding sections of +this Introduction may be recapitulated. New historic conditions arose +through the Roman invasion, and their occupation of a portion of +the country on the south of the Firths of Forth and Clyde. But the +tribes on the north side of the Roman barrier remained unconquered and +independent, and the Roman occupation produced no permanent impression +upon them. After the departure of the Romans from the island, other +migrations and external invasions by different races ensued which +created new historic conditions. This resulted in a series of conflicts +amongst the different races and tribes which was continued for several +centuries. + +1. But during this period a new moral power, Christianity, was +gradually introduced into the territories of the contending races +and tribes, and it affected their subsequent movements in various +directions. The new religion tended to draw the tribes more together, +and in the direction of greater unity of action and organisation. + +2. The natural result of the internal struggle of the different tribes +appeared in the foundation of the historic monarchy in 844. The centre +and chief seat of the monarchy was on the banks of the Tay at Scone. +The gradual extension of the kingdom outward from its centre, and its +development, and the affinities and elements of the future nationality, +were noted and explained. + +II. The social state of the people from the seventh century to the +end of the eleventh was treated in detail. After some remarks on the +more primitive forms of tribal organisation, and the relation of the +tribe to the land, which in very early stages of society was the common +property of the tribe alone, the causes which tended to change and +modify this condition of society, were then explained. It was shown +how individual rights in land had arisen, the tribal organisation in +relation to the land, the rights of the heads of tribes to impose taxes +on land, and the right of the king to impose a national tax upon all +land within his kingdom. The state of agriculture, the herds of cattle, +the food, the clothing, and the dwellings of the people, and the origin +of markets, were noticed. The custom of paying for all classes of +crime, by a scale of fines fixed according to the rank of the injured +party, was noticed and explained. Social morality, the relations of the +different sexes, customs and forms associated with the institution of +marriage, and the efforts of the Church to place marriage on a proper +footing, were noticed; the state of the Church, the observance of the +Lord’s day, and the efforts of Queen Margaret to reform abuses and +minister to the poor. + +3. Early architecture was historically treated in relation to the +civilisation of the people. The local area in which the remains of the +Brochs are found, was pointed out, the structure and characteristics of +these singularly peculiar erections were then described, their origin +and purpose was touched on, and it was observed that they exhibited +a type of structure which was confined to Scotland alone. The traces +of the daily life of the occupiers of the Brochs, their culture and +civilisation as disclosed by the tools, implements, ornaments, articles, +and remains found in and around these structures, were considered; and +it was inferred, on sufficient evidence, that they cultivated the land, +grew grain, and possessed herds of cattle and sheep, practised the arts +of spinning and weaving, and made pottery. From this and other evidence +and associated circumstances, it was concluded that the occupiers of +the Brochs were the people of the soil, who had been long settled on it, +and that they were not a horde who had suddenly effected a lodgment in +a hostile country. + +4. The early types of church architecture were briefly treated. It +was indicated that these types passed through a series of changes and +became merged in the architecture of the twelfth century. The round +towers of Brechin and Abernethy were described, and their original +purpose indicated. + +5. The early sculptured stone monuments were treated at some length. +Beginning with the undressed stones which present the peculiar symbols +incised on them, the local area in which they occur, was pointed +out; and it was observed that there was no Christian cross on any of +them. From many associated circumstances and other considerations it +was inferred that this class of stone monuments existed prior to the +introduction of Christianity. After a brief description of some of +the symbols, many of the scenes and articles depicted on the elaborate +class of the sculptured monuments were treated historically in relation +to the life of the people, the weapons, the dress, and the civilisation +of the period. The art of the monuments was then briefly handled, and +its relation to the art of the illuminated manuscripts, which attained +its highest development in Ireland. The ethnic implication associated +with the monuments was indicated, and a reference to Ogham and Runic +inscriptions on monuments concluded the section. + +6. The characteristics of early Celtic art, as exhibited in decorative +metal work, was touched on, and the aim and principle of this art shown +to consist in elaborate decoration. The literature of the period was +then treated, the educational relation of the monasteries to the people, +and the oral tales and rhymes current among them. Viewing the condition +of the kingdom at the close of the eleventh century, it had reached +a stage of political organisation and development which appeared in +every way quite vigorous and capable of further progress. The diverse +elements of race within the kingdom had long been slowly amalgamating, +and barring foreign interference and encroachment these elements only +required more time to develop into a complete nationality. The social +organisation of the people of this kingdom, their culture, art, and +civilisation, had attained to a stage of progress at least equal to +anything as yet achieved by the people in the southern division of the +island. + + + + + CHAPTER II. + + _Critical Estimate of the Result of Norman Feudalism + on the Civilisation of Scotland._ + + +THIS important question demands a careful examination, inasmuch as it +has usually been treated from one exclusive standpoint. It has been +repeatedly stated in the preceding pages that the Angles or Saxons had +occupied a portion of the country in the south-east since the middle +of the sixth century, and that they had partly mingled with the Celtic +inhabitants in that region. But it has been often averred that from +about the beginning of the twelfth century onward into the thirteenth, +there was a great influx of Normans and Saxons from England into +Scotland. The real historic question is,――how far and in what form was +the subsequent civilisation of Scotland indebted to this latter class +of settlers? Several historians have boldly asserted that Scotland owes +all her civilisation to these Norman and Saxon nobles, adding by way +of evidence, that the Celts never showed any disposition to follow an +industrious occupation or to congregate in towns; but that these Norman +and Saxon nobles were men of exalted virtue and marked ability, and +therefore the veritable originators of Scottish civilisation.¹ Before +accepting this view, let us test its historic truth. + + ¹ _Chalmers’ Caledonia_, Volume I., pages 460, 495‒614, 775; + Burton’s _History of Scotland_, Volume II., pages 85, 86; + C. Innes’ _Sketches of Early Scotch History_, pages 10, 11; + _Origines Parochiales Scotiæ_, Volume I., Preface, page 27; + _Registrum Episcopatus Moraviensis_, Preface, pages 9, 10. + +Seeing that the Saxons had occupied an important and extensive district +of Scotland for upwards of four centuries, whatever customs and +essential characteristics of political and social organisation which +specially belonged to them, must have been in full operation in the +south-east of Scotland centuries before the Norman conquest. Thus, at +the outset, the real question becomes limited to the Normans alone, and +without entering into unnecessary details, I will present the requisite +historic facts and the real issue, in so far as Scotland is concerned. + +The Normans were originally of the same race as the people noticed +in the preceding pages under the name of Norsemen. Commencing their +plundering raids about the end of the eighth century, they first +seized the Shetland islands and then the Orkneys. Afterwards hordes +of them proceeded to the Western Islands, plundered and destroyed the +monastery of Iona, slew the monks and the inhabitants of the island. +They occupied themselves in work of this description for many years, +infesting and desolating the coasts of Scotland. Afterwards they +effected a lodgment in Caithness and in other parts of the north, +and in the Western Isles. Ultimately, however, except in the Shetland +and Orkney Islands, and a portion of Caithness, they have left +comparatively few traces of their civilisation on the mainland of +Scotland, save the traditions associated with their heathen customs +and their extreme cruelty. + +Many other hordes swarmed off from the original hives in Scandinavia, +which proceeded on plundering expeditions in different directions +and to different countries, where they engaged in work similar to +that indicated in the above paragraph. They made many raids into Gaul +(France), plundered the country, and with ruthless cruelty slew all the +people who offered any resistance to them. At first entering the mouths +of the rivers with their vessels, they landed and spread devastation +and suffering on every hand. Then, encouraged by their success and +prompted by their savage propensities, they extended the range of their +operations. They entered the mouth of the Seine with their vessels, +proceeded inland and ravished the country on every side, and constantly +threatened Paris. Under the leadership of their great hero Rollo, +their raids and devastations had become so fierce and unbearable that +King Charles of France granted to Rollo by treaty a tract of territory +to be held as a feudal fief. After some natural demur on the part of +the conquering hero, at last Rollo rendered due homage to his Lord +Superior by kissing King Charles’ great toe. Rollo then gave the name +of Normandy to the territory thus ceded to him, and he became the first +Duke of Normandy. + +Concerning the internal condition of this province after Rollo obtained +possession of it, there is very little reliable information. It is +said that the land was sold by auction amongst Rollo’s followers; and +no doubt the Normans soon became the only land-owners. Rollo added +the district of Bessin to his province, and in 927 he resigned the +government in favour of his son. Five years later, the hero who founded +the Dukedom of Normandy, expired at an advanced age. His son, who +succeeded, was called William Longsword, but he was not a strong ruler. +He was basely assassinated in December 942, on the Flemish side of the +river Somme. Longsword was succeeded by his natural son, Richard the +Fearless, his mother being Esprota, a Breton woman of great attractions, +but of unknown lineage. His enemies made the fact of his illegitimate +birth a ground for disputing his right of inheritance, and Richard was +soon in the midst of trying difficulties. He was sometimes hard pressed +in his struggles with the neighbouring princes, but he ultimately +succeeded in holding his ground. Richard’s wife Emma had no children, +but he had natural children by Gnenora, a woman of unknown lineage; +her children were declared illegitimate by the Church, and Richard then +married her according to the form of the Church, and thus his children +became legitimised. Richard the Fearless died in 996, and was succeeded +by his son, who was called Richard the Good. + +Richard the Good was not long seated on the ducal throne when he had to +face a threatening movement of the peasants under his sway. This class +mainly consisted of the ancient Gaulish or Celtic inhabitants, who had +since the fall of the Roman Empire, and the successive invasions of +the Franks and the Normans, suffered grievous oppression. The Normans +had begun in earnest to assume and to exercise all the functions of a +military and ruling class. They had begun to erect baronial castles, +and the swarms of illegitimate children of the successive Dukes, which +required to be provided with lands, continually increased the number +of petty and despotic lords. At last their oppression of the poor +peasantry passed the limits of human endurance, and the sons of toil +then thought of trying issues with their ruthless oppressors. As might +have been expected, only an imperfect notice of the rising has been +preserved, from which it appears that the grievances of the peasants +were these: “The nobles do us naught but ill, and we gain no profit +from our labours. Our days are spent in toil and fatigue, our cattle +and horses are seized for dues and services, and our goods wasted by +continual suits. We have no safety against our lords, and no oath is +binding on them. Why should we not shake off all this evil? Are we +not men as they? Dare we to do and dare again; a good heart is all +we want. Let us then unite, and if they should make war upon us, have +we not thirty or forty hardy peasants ready to fight with club and +flail to each knight? Let us only learn to resist, and we shall be +free to cut our own firewood, to fish and to hunt, and to do our will, +in river, field, and wood.” They resolved to form a commune to discuss +their common wrongs and the means of resistance.¹ As far as can be +ascertained from imperfect indications and circumstances, it seems that +the peasants obtained some slight relief. + + ¹ _Roman ♦de Rou._ + + ♦ “de ea Rose” replaced with “de Rou” + +Under the government of Richard the Good the Norman power increased, +and he died in 1026. He was succeeded by his son Richard; but he +soon became involved in a dispute with his brother Robert, about the +latter’s share of the Dukedom, and the possession of the castle of +Falaise. At last they came to an agreement and met on friendly terms, +but immediately after Richard died. It was reported that his brother +Robert had poisoned him;¹ be that as it may, Robert then mounted the +ducal throne. He became known as Robert the “Magnificent.” One day +when looking around him from the cliffs of Falaise Robert observed an +exceedingly attractive young woman washing clothes in the neighbouring +brook, and he fixed his eyes and his heart on her. She was Harlotta, +daughter of a tanner of Falaise, and in due time she gave birth to +William the Conqueror. Of course he was an illegitimate child, and was +sometimes called “the bastard;” but no one is accountable for his own +birth, as no one was ever consulted on that point. It may, however, +be observed that two of William’s lineal progenitors were the sons of +women of humble and unknown lineage; and it is more than probable that +these two women, and also the graceful and attractive Harlotta herself, +were all of Celtic descent. It therefore follows according to the law +of natural descent, and the well known law of sexual selection, that +William the Conqueror was three-fourths Celtic and only one fourth +Norman. This phenomena, if carefully examined, might perhaps explain +why the Normans so soon disappeared from the world as a distinct race. + + ¹ Crowe’s _History of France_, Volume I. pages 87, 88. 1858. + +Robert the Magnificent attempted to invade England when the great +Canute was on the throne, but he completely failed. He went on a +pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and died when returning home in 1035. His +natural son, William, then ascended the ducal throne; but the nobles +of Normandy rebelled against him, and for many years he only held +a wavering and perilous sway. At last, with the assistance of his +Lord Superior, Henry I. of France, the conspiracy of his nobles was +overthrown. But then the men of Alençon revolted, and William marched +towards their town to subdue them: as he approached, they spread skins +over the walls and beat upon them, shouting, “Hides for the tanner, +plenty of work for the tanner.” This insult stung William to the core, +and he swore by “the splendour of God, that he would deal with them +as with a tree whose branches were cut off with a pollarding axe.” +The town shortly after fell, and William then ordered that thirty-two +of the citizens should be brought before him; and by his orders their +hands and feet were cut off, and the dismembered limbs were thrown +over the castle walls as emblems of his vengeance. The garrison were +terrified, craved mercy, and at once surrendered.¹ + + ¹ Crowe’s _History of France_, Volume I., page 91. + +The character of the feudal government of Normandy may be indicated +thus:――The Duke assumed all the functions of a King and ruled with +the advice of a few of his nobles selected by himself. The nobles in +possession of land were under feudal obligations to him, which they +took every opportunity to cast off. Their rank was derived partly from +Norse descent, and partly from relations with the ducal family; and +thus they were kept in a sort of subordination by self-interest and by +the strong arm of the Duke. It was mainly the energy and the decision +of the Duke which kept the province from dismemberment; the attempts of +his nobles to obtain independence led to continual quarrels, which were +only checked by ruthless bloodshed. There was also the wild love of +excitement inseparably associated with the life of idle and uncultured +men, which often manifested itself in deeds and scenes of the utmost +ferocity, and continually issuing in outbursts of anarchy at home, or +in expeditions to foreign lands in search of plunder and new excitement. +The people who lived and toiled under this military aristocracy were +kept in absolute dependence on their lords, though possibly some +of them may have still retained a faint remembrance of their former +freedom.¹ + + ¹ Freeman’s _Norman Conquest_, Volume V., page 482; _The + Normans in Europe_, by A. H. Johnson, M.A., pages 103, 104. + 1884. + +War was the fundamental principle of Norman Feudalism and the essential +condition of Norman organisation and life. William the Conqueror +understood this very well, and looked out for a field to give it scope. +He had fixed his eye on England long before he actually invaded it; and +he prepared for the grand effort with a caution and deliberation, and +an astuteness and craft which were truly amazing. He either obtained +a promise from Edward the Confessor, his cousin, that he should succeed +to the English throne on Edward’s death, or he pretended that he +received it; and in 1064, an accident caused by the weather enabled +William to meet Harold under the most favourable circumstances for +himself; and it was reported that Harold became his man, promised to +marry his daughter, to place Dover in his hands, and to support his +claim to the English throne on Edward’s death. Edward died in 1066, and +the Witan elected Harold King of England. William was enjoying himself +hunting in the forest of Rouen when tidings of Harold’s election +reached him. He then affected the utmost astonishment, and at once +vehemently denounced Harold as a perjured man, planned a very plausible +claim for himself, and appealed to Christendom. He was especially +careful to obtain the sanction of the Pope; and he informed his +holiness that he was undertaking a great missionary work, “which should +purify the corrupted Anglo-Saxon State and Church, and bring England +more closely under the sway of Rome.” All the turbulent Normans, needy +and landless nobles, petty knights and adventurers, hastened to join +his army, which consisted of a motley assemblage.¹ + + ¹ Few of the higher nobles of Europe joined William’s invading + army; indeed, it has been stated that a number of his + own Norman nobles did not join his army, but remained in + Normandy. + +He defeated and slew Harold the English king, and if there had been +no more resistance, then in that case, the Conqueror might have been +merciful, but he never hesitated to sacrifice any number of human lives +if they stood between him and his end; possibly he would have slain +every man in England rather than relinquish his hold of the country. +He gave some examples of the length to which he was prepared to go, +as when he reduced the whole of the territory between the Tees and the +Humber to a waste, and it remained for many years untilled. Toward the +close of his career difficulties and failures thickened around him. In +1079 his own son, Robert, fought against him, and wounded and unhorsed +his father. In 1087 William engaged in a war with the King of France, +and after burning the town of Hantes he was riding over the ruins +when his horse stumbled and he fell fatally injured. He was carried +to Rouen, and declared his wishes before he expired. To his eldest son, +Robert, Normandy was given; William Rufus, his second son, he named as +his successor to the throne of England; and to Henry, his third son, +he left 5,000 pounds of silver. Whenever his sons heard what their +respective shares were, they all immediately departed before their +father expired――Robert to Normandy, Rufus to England, and Henry to +grasp his treasure. More inhumane and disgraceful conduct of sons +toward their dying father it would be difficult to conceive. The +remains of the Conqueror were stripped and disgracefully dispoiled, +and hurried without decent burial into the grave, while the owner of +the soil exacted his price for it before he allowed the remains to be +interred.¹ Thus ended the career of William the Conqueror, the greatest +of all the Normans. His intellectual powers were excellent, his natural +sagacity and strength of will were striking features of his character; +he had also the faculty of commanding and of organising; but morally +and humanely he stood on an extremely low level. Indeed, this lack of +humanity was the black and the degrading characteristic of the Normans +from the beginning to the close of their career in Europe. + + ¹ _Saxon Chronicle_, Volume II., pages 183, 184; _The Normans + in Europe_, by A. H. Johnson, pages 155, 180. + +It has often been stated, and is still occasionally repeated, that the +Normans had attained to a higher stage of civilisation than the people +whom they conquered and subjugated in England. There is no difficulty +in understanding how this view originated, or how it continued to +be favourably received and strongly maintained. The first and most +important result of the Conquest was the transference of the ownership +of the greater part of the land of England to the Normans, who were a +military and ruling aristocracy. Thus they almost at once became the +absolute masters of the people, assumed the functions of government, +and constantly endeavoured to maintain their position as the hereditary +owners of the land, the hereditary legislators, and rulers of the +people. The Normans introduced the claim of the divine right of kings, +and exercised it themselves to an enormous extent in every direction. +They covered England with castles, not for the protection of the people +and their property, as in former times, but to enable each individual +noble to oppress the people in his own district with impunity. They +depopulated large tracts of the country to make forests for mere sport +to themselves. + +I have stated in preceding pages that war was the fundamental principle +of Norman feudalism, and that morally and humanely the Conqueror +himself stood on an extremely low level; the circumstantial evidence +of this will now be adduced. What are the chief distinctions between +civilised and uncivilised life? 1, So far as yet ascertained the +pursuit and slaughter of wild animals is one of the most primitive +and characteristic traits of savage life; 2, Extreme cruelty and a +disregard of human life are features usually associated with tribes +living in a savage state; 3, An utter disregard of the rights and of +the lives of other men, whether this be exhibited by the head of a +dukedom or the aristocracy under him, or by both acting together, must +afford unimpeachable evidence that such a community is still in a low +stage of civilisation. + +Let us carefully examine if any of the above characteristics of +life befit William the Conqueror and his Norman aristocracy as they +exhibited themselves in Normandy and in England in the eleventh century. +The Conqueror himself was so destitute of human culture that when he +was not engaged in war or in scheming the overthrow of his enemies, +no other form of amusement was brutal enough to satisfy his rude +propensities but the pursuit and slaughter of wild animals. After he +had subdued the people of England, and had leisure to enjoy himself, +he then discovered that the natural and existing ranges were not +sufficient for his favourite amusement. What was he to do? Did the +Conqueror think that the rights and the homes of the people of England +should be considered in preference to the gratification of his own +extreme passion for sport? No, he never did. On the contrary, he +ordered that in Hampshire thirty-six parishes should be destroyed, +thirty-six churches pulled down, the whole of the inhabitants evicted +from their homes, and the country utterly depopulated for thirty miles +round, and all this was merely to make space for the Conqueror’s New +Forest, in which he might satisfy his appetence for sport in full +measure. The Conqueror’s son, King Rufus, greatly increased the forests, +and in the early part of the twelfth century there were sixty-seven +forests, thirty chases, and seven hundred and eighty-one parks, which +were full of wild animals, specially and carefully preserved, and to be +pursued and slaughtered only by the Normans. + +It is unnecessary to detail the many acts of ruthless cruelty inflicted +under the direction of the Conqueror himself. The cutting off of the +hands and feet of thirty-two men for a ♦trivial offence, a mere joke, +affords a characteristic example of his cold and revengeful nature. +It is recorded that, on his death-bed, he said――“No tongue can tell +the deeds of wickedness I have perpetrated in my weary pilgrimage +of toil and care.” He was unquestionably an irresponsible and cruel +despot, and in the words of a contemporary record I close my remarks +on him:――“Alas! that any man should be so proud, so raise himself up, +and account himself above all men! May the Almighty God show mercy to +his soul, and grant him forgiveness of his sins.”¹ + + ♦ “trival” replaced with “trivial” + + ¹ _Saxon Chronicle_, Volume II., pages 188‒190; Freeman’s + _History of the Norman Conquest_, Volume IV. toward the end; + Volume V., pages 6‒52, Note C., pages 747‒759. + +In the preceding pages the internal government of Normandy under +the Normans was twice referred to, and it appeared that the people +under this military aristocracy were sorely afflicted by the continual +recurrence of internal war and bloodshed among the local nobles. +Indeed, war was the breath of life and the bread of life to the Normans, +insomuch that they could not exist anywhere without it. They understood +the requisite conditions of their own existence very well; and if at +any time there was no war for them, then in that case, they had ample +and carefully prepared substitutes in their great forests and preserves, +and to these they returned, like the primitive savages, to the pursuit +and slaughter of wild animals. + +Thus it inevitably appears on every side that the Norman aristocracy +were morally and socially in a comparatively low stage of culture and +civilisation. That the ruder propensities and the lower passions were +still rampant amongst them to an enormous degree, that they had not +yet learned to respect the very rudiments of the rights of mankind, and +consequently they were utterly callous to the people under them. They +had no adequate conception of justice whatever, apart from the special +interest of their own class, nor of truth, “for no oath was binding +on them.” Hence Norman feudalism instead of being an advanced stage of +society, shows an almost total absence of the fundamental and essential +elements upon which progress and civilisation proceed. + +Still it is quite true that the Norman Conquest produced great +effects upon the English people, and in many directions influenced +the subsequent history and progress of England. This, however, was not +a consequence of any superiority of Norman civilisation at the time +of the Conquest, but the very reverse. Very briefly the historic and +social phenomena may be indicated thus:――The Norman Conquest created +new historic conditions and relations in Britain. But owing to the +uncivilised and ruthless character of the chief agents engaged in +the military and the political processes of the creation of these +new historic conditions, an enormous amount of cruel suffering was +inflicted upon the great body of the English people. After two or +three generations, which were strikingly marked by fierce outbursts +of internal anarchy and bloodshed, and excessive oppression of the +people, the new historic conditions, slightly modified, assumed what +may be called their normal equilibrium. These new conditions were +in some directions favourable to progress and civilisation, and in +other directions an opposite tendency was often manifested. Considered +externally, the Conquest created new historic relations between England +and France, and it would require a long and careful discussion to +determine whether these new relations were favourable or unfavourable +to the internal development and the civilisation of England. This +historic phase of the Conquest is of great interest, and much could be +said on both sides of the subject. Considered internally, I can only +notice one or two points which were permanent in their operation. The +Conqueror introduced arrangements admirably calculated to strengthen +the hands of the King. His aim was to limit the power of the feudal +nobles and render them dependent upon the Crown; and in this he +succeeded. He concentrated the ends of the threads of the local powers +in the supreme power of the King; and the Kings of England soon became +strong enough to hold the feudal nobles well under the control of +the executive. Thus England was saved from many of the worst features +of Norman Feudalism; although in succeeding ages the great power +concentrated in the hands of the Kings of England, was sometimes used +for mischievous purposes. Touching the effect of the Conquest on the +body of the English people, its tendency was no doubt oppressive for +many generations. “That the result of the Norman Conquest was the +social thrusting down of the great mass of Englishmen, there can be +no doubt.”¹ In fact, they were partly thrust down by the transference +of the land to the Norman aristocracy, and the introduction of feudal +forms of land tenure. + + ¹ Freeman’s _History of the Norman Conquest_, Volume V., page + 476. + +But it is a singular historic phenomenon that Norman Feudalism, with +its worst features, was introduced into Scotland long after William +the Conqueror was in his grave. This manifested itself in anarchical +outbursts of internal war among the nobles of Scotland, similar to +those which had occurred among the Norman nobles in Normandy in the +eleventh century. Norman Feudalism was not forced upon Scotland by +invasion or open conquest; it was introduced by the Scottish kings, +partly owing to personal associations and circumstances, and partly +owing to a misapprehension of the real nature and tendency of the +system, which for several generations they fostered. The ultimate +result of their policy was this:――1, The continuity of the progressive +movement of the kingdom was in some districts dislocated by the +introduction of Norman Feudalism. 2, Then the system ran its natural +course, and the nobles reduced the power of the kings almost to a +nonentity, rendered the functions of the executive ineffective, and +sometimes totally inoperative. They frequently rebelled against the +kings, and involved the kingdom in all the miseries of civil war. +They often fought among themselves and created disorder and anarchy in +endless forms, frustrated the development of every branch of peaceful +industry, and inflicted untold suffering upon the people. Thus the +development of the natural resources of the country, and the progress +and the civilisation of the nation were greatly retarded for several +centuries. + + + + + CHAPTER III. + + _Narrative――Introduction of Feudalism._ + + +RESUMING the narrative, on the death of Edgar in 1107, his brother +Alexander succeeded to the throne, while his younger brother, David, +claimed the districts on the south of the Firths of Forth and Clyde. +This arrangement had been suggested by Edgar before his death, but +Alexander at first objected to it; after some time, however, he agreed +that his brother should rule these southern districts under the title +of Earl David. Shortly after his accession the King had to face a +rising of the men of Moray, which he boldly met and suppressed. + +In the first year of his reign, Alexander appointed Turgot to the +See of St. Andrews: he was a monk of Durham, and had been confessor +to Queen Margaret, the King’s mother. A serious difficulty arose, +the Archbishop of York claimed a canonical right to perform the +ceremony of consecration; but the Scotch clergy and the King maintained +that he had no authority over St. Andrews. At last a compromise was +effected, leaving the disputed point unsettled; and in 1109, Turgot +was consecrated by the Archbishop of York. The new bishop did not +find himself happy in the See of St. Andrews. Difficulties soon arose +between him and the King; and at last the bishop threatened to go to +Rome and settle all matters of dispute, but he died in 1115.¹ + + ¹ Dr. Grub’s _Ecclesiastical History of Scotland_, Volume I., + pages 206‒7. + +The bishopric remained five years vacant, but in 1120 the King +nominated Eadmer, a monk of Canterbury, who was elected bishop by +the Scotch clergy and the people. The point of consecration was +revived, but this time the Archbishop of Canterbury claimed the right +to perform the ceremony. There was for long a great rivalry between +the Archbishops of York and Canterbury touching the limits of their +respective canonical authority, and the point associated with the +dignity of presidency. Eadmer himself thought that the rights of his +mother church extended over all the British Islands. The King rejected +this view, and declined to listen to it. The monk was as determined +as the King, and at last he declared, “Not for all Scotland will I +renounce being a monk of Canterbury.” He then handed back the ring +to the King, laid the staff on the altar, and left St. Andrews and +returned to his mother church. Shortly afterwards Eadmer showed much +anxiety to return to the See of St. Andrews, and offered to yield +to the King, but Alexander declined to receive him. About the end of +the year 1123 Alexander appointed Robert, the prior of the monastery +of Scone, to the See of St. Andrews, but the King died before he was +consecrated. In 1128, the ceremony of consecration was performed by the +Archbishop of York, and there was an express condition which reserved +the rights of both Churches. A direct claim of feudal lordship over +Scotland had not yet arisen, but it is obvious that if the dependence +of the Scotch Church on the English Church could have been established, +it would soon have affected the independence of the kingdom.¹ + + ¹ _Chronicles_, pages 90, 91. Eadmer, though a strict monk, + was a scholar, and wrote a history of his own time in clear + Latin, and other works. He is supposed to have died at + Canterbury in 1124. + +Alexander I. founded the monastery of Scone, and restored to the Church +of St. Andrews the lands called the Boars Chase. He died in 1124, and +was succeeded by his brother, David I., who, under the title of Earl, +had been ruling the districts on the south of the Forth. The kingdom +was again placed under one head, and the era of the introduction of +Norman Feudalism then commenced. + +A large part of Scotland as yet hung loosely on the central authority; +the country beyond the Spey was nominally under the Scottish Crown, and +Galloway was more like a tributary province than an incorporated part +of the kingdom. David I. had perhaps come into contact with some of +the associates of the Conqueror. In his youth he frequented the Court +of the Conqueror’s sons in England, and he appears to have associated +much with the Norman nobles. These nobles were always on the outlook +for more land and power, and doubtless with an eye to business some +day, they had made themselves very agreeable companions for the young +Scottish prince. The Norman nobles became his special favourites; and +when only Earl, he seems to have surrounded himself with a company +of them, and began to grant them lands by charter. He had resolved +to introduce Feudalism and a Norman Aristocracy, so far as it was in +his power. But there can be no doubt that David I. misapprehended the +real nature and inevitable tendency of Feudalism; as his chief object +must have been to strengthen the Crown, which shows clearly that he +had misunderstood it. Possibly David I. may have imagined that he +was imitating the Conqueror on a small scale, but then he had not the +practical knowledge and the experience of the system which the great +Norman possessed. The Conqueror executed his work in such a way that +Norman Feudalism was never permitted to run its natural course in +England. So the great achievement of transplanting Norman Feudalism +into Scotland fell to the inexperienced genius of David I., and two +or three of his successors on the throne, where alone it developed and +exhibited itself in all its features and perfections for a period of +upwards of three centuries. + +The local chiefs were naturally and rightly averse to the planting +of Norman nobles among them; although these adventurers and +fortune-hunters were favourites at the court of David I. It seems +that some of these Norman nobles brought their families and their +own retainers with them, and thus, with the support of the king, +they dispossessed the real owners and the occupiers of the land of +Scotland. In 1130 the people of Moray, under their local chiefs, Angus +and Malcolm, rose against the king. They advanced to Stracathro, in +Forfarshire, where the king’s forces met them, and a severe engagement +ensued. Angus was slain and his followers were overthrown; but his +brother Malcolm retreated and prolonged the contest for four years. +David I. became greatly alarmed, and called upon the Norman nobles of +Yorkshire and Northumberland to rally round his standard, and having +thus mustered an army, in 1134 the king marched with his force to the +disaffected North, and succeeded in overawing the local chiefs. The +king then proclaimed the province of Moray forfeited to the Crown. He +next parcelled out large portions of the best land of Moray among the +Normans and adventurers who had followed his banner.¹ + + ¹ _Saxon Chronicle_, Volume II., page 227; Robertson’s + _Scotland under her Early Kings_, Volume I., pages 189‒191. + +In 1135 Henry I. of England died, the last of the Conqueror’s sons, and +having left no male issue, he bequeathed his dominions to his daughter; +but Stephen, a nephew of the late king, contested her right to the +throne, and he proved successful. David I. naturally supported the +claim of his niece, the queen, and led an army across the Border. Many +of the northern castles of England opened their gates to him. When he +had advanced nearly to Durham, Stephen approached with a large army to +bar his progress. David then retired to Newcastle, and Stephen followed +him. The two armies confronted each other for fourteen days, and +finally a peace was concluded.¹ + + ¹ _Saxon Chronicle_, Volume II., page 230. + +But David I., besides his obligation to support the queen’s claim, had +a strong desire to annex the northern counties of England, and some +hope of succeeding to the throne of England himself. So early in 1138 +he again led an army across the Tweed, and spent some time in attacking +castles, and in ravishing the northern counties; but the approach of +Stephen’s army caused David to concentrate his scattered forces and +prepare for battle or retreat. After some fruitless movements and delay, +David with his army advanced towards Durham; while the defenders of +England, concentrated at Northallerton, planted their standard and +prepared for battle. Before the battle began a most significant event +occurred. Robert de Bruce and Bernard de Baliol appeared before David +I., as emissaries from the English army; they had come to persuade +David to retire at once with his army, and not offer battle to the +Norman nobles, who were his greatest benefactors. Robert de Bruce held +wide territories in Yorkshire, and David himself had granted to him the +extensive and fine district of Annandale. De Bruce’s position was thus +a deplorable one; he saw that he could not ride upon two horses at +once when they were running in different directions, and accordingly he +renounced his allegiance to David I. and returned to the English camp. +This was the identical position of most of the great Norman nobles in +Scotland from this date till the battle of Bannockburn. The strange +thing is that David himself or his successors never seem to have +realised its great political significance, and its consequent evil +effect upon Scotland. Another dispute arose before the battle. David +wanted his own small body of Normans and men-at-arms to lead the attack, +but the Galloway men claimed the honour and the right to lead the +van. A long wrangle ensued on the point, and Malise, the Scotch Earl +of Strathern, said to the King: “Why trust you to these Normans? +unprotected as I am, none shall be more forward in the fight.” David +was forced to yield. The Galloway men advanced to the charge, and +♦rushed with such force on the enemy that the front ranks reeled and +were driven back in confusion. But the English, supported by their +bowmen, reformed, and the battle raged with great fury. Rank after rank +of the Scots fell under the storm of arrows from the English bowmen, +and at last the Scots were completely defeated. The battle was fought +on the 22nd of August, 1138, and is known as the Battle of the Standard. +The following year peace was concluded, on the conditions that King +David’s son, Prince Henry, should receive the Earldom of Northumberland +and his other fiefs in England, that the laws and local customs should +remain intact, and the rights of the Archbishop of York and the Bishop +of Durham.¹ + + ♦ “rnshed” replaced with “rushed” + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume I., pages 2‒6; + _Saxon Chronicle_, Volume II., pages 232, 233; _Chronicles + and Annals of the Priory of Hexham_, Volume I., pages 90‒93. + +The remaining years of David’s reign were mainly devoted to the changes +and the reforms which he introduced in connection with the land, the +church, and the burghal communities, but these will be treated in +another chapter. + +David’s only son, Prince Henry, died on the 12th of June, 1152. By his +wife, Ada Warenne, he left three sons and three daughters; two of his +sons lived to ascend the throne of Scotland, and his third son, David, +became Earl of Huntingdon.¹ The death of his only son cast a gloom +over the hopes of David I. and the closing months of his reign; but +to smooth the way for the succession of his grandson, Malcolm, a boy +of eleven years of age, David placed him under the charge of Duncan +Earl of Fife, who then proceeded with the young prince throughout the +kingdom to obtain his recognition among the people as the heir to the +throne. Thus having, as far as the circumstances admitted, secured the +succession, David I. died on the 24th of May, 1153, after a reign of +twenty-nine years. + + ¹ For future reference it may be noticed that this Earl David + married a sister of Randolph, Earl of Chester, and by her + he had three sons and four daughters. His eldest daughter, + Margaret, married Alan of Galloway, and it was through her + issue that John Baliol claimed the crown of Scotland. His + second daughter, Isabella, married Robert de Bruce; Ada, his + youngest daughter, married Henry de Hastings: we will find + the representatives of the issue of these daughters of Earl + David claiming the crown. + +On the death of his grandfather the young prince was crowned at Scone, +under the title of Malcolm IV. But before the end of the year his +supporters had to meet a rising of the Celtic people led by the sons +of Malcolm Mac Heth, and Somerled, the local ruler of Argyle. They +attacked the kingdom at various points, and the war continued three +years. In 1156 Donald, the eldest son of Malcolm Mac Heth, was captured +at Whithern, in Galloway, by the King’s adherents, and was imprisoned +in Roxburgh Castle along with his father, but Somerled continued the +war; and from motives of policy the King came to terms with Malcolm +Mac Heth, and liberated him from prison. In 1159 a peace was concluded +between Somerled and Malcolm IV.,¹ but other dangers surrounded the +King. + + ¹ _Historians_, Volume IV., pages 249, 250; _Chronicles of + Melrose_. + +It appears that the King was unpopular, and a number of the nobles seem +to have conspired to dethrone him, or to secure his person and then +make their own terms. They surrounded the King in Perth in 1160, but +their attempt failed; and Malcolm at once proceeded to act with vigour; +he mustered an army, and the same year he thrice invaded Galloway to +bring the inhabitants under subjection. He subdued the local chief, +Fergus, who then retired into the monastery of Holyrood, where he died +the following year. Thus Galloway was placed in feudal subjection to +the crown; but the inhabitants for long after this stoutly maintained +their own local customs and laws. About the year 1161 Malcolm invaded +Moray, drove out a number of the inhabitants, and attempted to supplant +them by the Norman nobles and their followers.¹ + + ¹ _Historians_, Volume IV., pages 251, 252, 257. + +In 1164 Somerled attempted to invade the heart of the kingdom. He +mustered an army, and a fleet of one hundred and sixty vessels, and +when landing his army on the coast of Renfrew he was attacked by the +people of the district, completely defeated, and Somerled himself and +his son were slain.¹ + + ¹ _Ibid_; _Chronicles of Melrose_. + +Malcolm IV. died on the 9th of December, 1165, in the twenty-fourth +year of his age, and was succeeded by his brother, William the Lion. +The Scotch kings still desired to annex the northern counties of +England, and William was waiting for a favourable opportunity to make +an attempt, and the difficulties of Henry II. seemed to afford what +was wanted. In 1173 William led an army across the Border and wasted +the north of England, without any result except a temporary truce. +The following year the Scots again invaded England, and William the +Lion while amusing himself, was taken a prisoner by a party of English +cavalry. The capture of the King entailed a serious disaster upon +Scotland. Henry II. at once demanded that William the Lion should +acknowledge the King of England as the feudal Lord Superior over +the kingdom of Scotland, and that he should render due homage to his +lord like other vassals. All the Scotch nobles, the clergy, and all +other vassals, were to be under allegiance to the English king, and +acknowledge that they held ♦their lands from him, and many other +feudal promises and oaths to the same effect. The binding articles to +secure the observance of the treaty were that the castles of Berwick, +Roxburgh, Jedburgh, Edinburgh, and Stirling, should be placed in +the hands of Henry II. After the castles were delivered over to King +Henry’s officers, William the Lion was liberated. This treaty continued +in force for fifteen years, so far as it could be enforced. Henry II., +to the day of his death, evinced the utmost determination to cling to +its fulfilment. King William was continually summoned to attend as a +vassal at the court of his English lord, and the Scotch nobles also +were summoned to attend the court of their Lord Superior. Licence was +granted by Henry II. to William for his expeditions into Galloway, and +in every possible form it was attempted to be shown that the king and +the kingdom were under the English crown.¹ In 1189 Richard I. ascended +the throne of England, and one of his first acts was to annul all the +concessions extorted by Henry II. from the captive William. The Scots +paid ten thousand marks of silver to ♠Richard I., all the castles were +given up to them, and the kingdom restored to its former independence.² + + ♦ “thir” replaced with “their” + + ¹ _Fœdera_, Record Ed., Volume I., pages 30, 31; Robertson’s + _Scotland Under Her Early Kings_, Volume I., pages 375, 376. + + ♠ “Rirchard” replaced with “Richard” + + ² _Fœdera_, Volume I., page 50. + +While the King was in captivity the people of Galloway had risen +against the new Norman settlers, and the king’s officers, and they +were all driven out or slain. When William returned in 1175 he entered +Galloway with an army and the local chief, Gilbert, submitted. This +district was soon in revolt again, and outbursts of rebellion recurred +in it at short intervals for several generations. There is no doubt +that the real causes of the rebellions in this district was the +intrusion of the Norman nobles and their followers. + +In 1179 William invaded the remote district of Ross at the head of his +Earls and Norman nobles, subdued some portions of it, and erected two +castles to support his authority; but he was not permitted to retain +possession even of his castles without a contest. From 1181 to 1188 +the districts of Moray, Caithness, and other parts of the north were +in revolt. This rising was led by Mac William, who claimed to be a +lineal descendant of Duncan, the eldest son of Malcolm Canmore, and he +aspired to the throne of Scotland. It appears that there were a number +of people in the centre of the kingdom hostile to the king; and this +explains why Mac William was permitted to hold the districts beyond +the Spey for six years, and to ravage parts of the kingdom which were +under the king. The whole circumstances and position of the kingdom +looked as if the play of Macbeth was to be reacted. King William and +his adherents were greatly alarmed. In 1187 the king mustered all the +feudal force of the kingdom which he could induce to rally round his +banner, and marched to Inverness, with the intention of pursuing his +enemy into the remote parts of the Highlands. Some of the king’s nobles +had grave doubts about the fidelity of the royal army, and they advised +William to remain at Inverness, and to entrust the immediate conduct of +the war to those leaders on whom he could depend: but then some of the +chief nobles positively refused to march against Mac William without +the king; and matters looked dark and dismal. The king at Inverness +was in the heart of a hostile country, with his own army in a state +of insubordination; but one ray of hope remained, the king’s friends +fixed their eyes on Roland of Galloway, when all other means of saving +themselves from destruction had vanished. Roland then placed himself +at the head of three thousand of his own followers, and proceeded in +search of Mac William. After advancing for some time, Roland descried a +body of the enemy encamped on the moor of Mamgarvie in the upper valley +of Strathspey. The opposing armies were nearly equal in numbers on each +side, and a severe engagement ensued. But Mac William was completely +defeated, and slain on the moor. For a time peace was restored in the +north, and King William’s crown preserved.¹ + + ¹ _Chronicles of Melrose_; Robertson’s _Scotland_, Volume I., + pages 385, 391‒393. + +But again in 1196 the king was in the north suppressing a rebellion. +The Earl of Caithness had married a daughter of Malcolm MacHeth; and +although William the Lion had been making desperate efforts to subdue +the northern regions, Earl Harold held the Earldom of Orkney under the +King of Norway, and he possessed the Earldom of Caithness at the same +time. Earl Harold invaded and seized the province of Moray, and it was +against him that King William then waged war. The Earl was in the end +defeated, and the royal power somewhat strengthened, but the region was +not subdued. ♦In 1202, Harold, the Earl of Orkney, attacked the king’s +adherents and drove them out of Caithness. William again sent an army +to Caithness, which was unable to penetrate into the country; but +Harold himself under a safe conduct met the King at Perth. Terms of +peace were agreed to, by which the Earldom of Caithness was restored to +Harold.¹ In 1211 a son of Mac William appeared in Ross and recommenced +the tactics which his father had followed. The king sent an army to +operate against him, and afterwards William himself marched towards +the north. The Earls of Athole, Buchan, and Mar, at the head of four +thousand men proceeded into the remote quarters of the Highlands +in search of Mac William. The rebel’s fastness was upon an island, +where his supplies and treasure were stored, and in it the royal army +attacked him; but he made a desperate resistance, and the engagement +was long and fiercely contested; and at last he retired and escaped +to the mountains with a number of his followers. The main body of the +royal army returned to the south, and the Earl of Fife was left in +charge of Moray. Mac William soon reappeared, attacked one of the royal +castles and burnt it to the ground. Shortly after he fell into the +hands of Comyn, Earl of Buchan, and he was executed at the king’s manor +in Kincardine.² + + ♦ “It” replaced with “In” + + ¹ _Historians_, Volume IV., pages 270, 271; _Chronicles of + Melrose_; _Orkneyinga Saga_. + + ² _Historians_, Volume IV.; _Chronicles of Melrose_. + +During the latter years of the reign of King William, there was much +disaffection among the people in the southern quarter of the kingdom +as well as in the north. William’s transactions and arrangements with +King John of England were detested by many of his own subjects; as +all the advantages of the English fiefs (if they were such) belonged +exclusively to the royal family. It was of no importance to the Scots +that the brother of their King should possess the Earldom of Huntingdon, +or that their King should be received with a show of ceremonies at +the English court whenever he thought fit to absent himself from his +own kingdom. The people looked with well-founded suspicion at the +concessions which William had made to King John, in order to avoid the +forfeiture of his English fiefs and privileges.¹ + + ¹ _Fœdera_, Volume I., pages 103, 120; _Chronicle of Melrose_; + _Historians_ Volume IV. + +Feudalism made considerable progress during William’s reign, and the +difficulties of his position greatly increased toward the end of his +sway. He died at Stirling on the 4th of December 1214, having reached +the seventy-third year of his age, and reigned nearly fifty years. He +was succeeded by his son, Alexander II., a youth of seventeen years, +who was crowned at Scone on the day after his father’s death. It is +recorded that the Bishop of St. Andrews and the Earls of Scotland, +viz., Fife, Strathern, Athole, Angus, Monteith, Buchan, and Lothian +took Alexander to Scone, and there raised him to the throne in honour +and peace, with the approval of God and man, and with more grandeur +and glory than anyone till then, while all wished him joy, and none +gainsaid him. So King Alexander held his feast at Scone on that day +and the two following days.¹ + + ¹ _Historians_, Volume IV. This is the first detailed notice + of a coronation which occurs in our records. + +About a year after Alexander II. ascended the throne, a son of the +MacWilliam who had been slain in 1187, and Kenneth MacHeth, a grandson +of Malcolm MacHeth, along with a son of one of the Irish local kings, +invaded the province of Moray at the head of a large body of followers. +But Ferquhard, Earl of Ross, mustered his adherents, attacked the +insurgents, and soon completely defeated them, and captured and +executed their leaders. He was knighted by the King as a reward for +his prompt and effective action.¹ + + ¹ _Chronicles of Melrose._ + +On the hope of regaining the northern counties of England, Alexander II. +in 1215 joined the disaffected English barons, who were then struggling +against King John. In October the King with an army crossed the border +and invested the castle of Norham, but failed to take it. King John was +extremely wroth, and marched toward the north at the head of a rather +mingled host of mercenaries. Alexander retired in the direction of +Edinburgh, and John vowed, “by God’s teeth that he would smoke him out +of his covert.” In his march he burned Roxburgh, Dunbar, and Haddington. +Alexander posted his army on the river Esk, and awaited the attack of +the enemy; but John was unable to advance farther than Haddington, as +his troops were perishing for want of food. They plundered the Abbey +of Coldingham, then retreated by Berwick; and King John gave the signal +for burning that town by firing with his own hands the house in which +he had slept the preceding night.¹ + + ¹ _Historians_, Volume IV., page 299; _Chronicle of Lanercost_, + pages 17, 18; Notes, page 373. + +In the winter of 1216 the Scots again crossed the Tweed and took +possession of Carlisle, and the castle after a long siege surrendered +to them. King John died on the 19th of October 1216, and the following +year peace was concluded. The line of the marches between England and +Scotland had then become pretty well marked. In 1237 a more definite +arrangement was come to, and from that date the efforts to extend the +Scotch frontier southward ceased. + +Alexander II. had now time to direct his attention to the internal +state of the kingdom. It appears that he assembled an army at Inverness +against Donald MacNeil in ♦1220. He mustered an army in May 1222, and +advanced into Argyle with the intention of subduing and subjecting it +to the authority of the Crown. There was no rising at the time in the +district, and no resistance was offered to the progress of the royal +army. The people were overawed; all those who were implicated in past +rebellions fled for their lives, and their lands were given to the +King’s own followers; some gave hostages for their future behaviour, +and others gave sums of money to purchase the king’s peace. The +expedition lasted from May to Christmas, and its result was that the +south division of Argyle was placed more directly under the Crown and +formed into a sheriffdom; but the lordship of Lorne remained in the +possession of the Celtic chief, while a large part of North Argyle +had been, a few years before, placed under the new Earl of Ross, who +defeated and executed the MacWilliams and MacHeths. About twenty years +before, the extensive districts lying to the west of the Drumalban +mountains, which belonged to the bishopric of Dunkeld, were separated +from it, and formed into a new bishopric called at first Argyle and +afterwards Lismore.¹ The chief object of the erection of this diocese +was to attach the inhabitants within its limits more firmly to the +Crown. The province of a bishopric, with its extensive possessions in +land held under feudal tenure, afforded a great support to the royal +authority: insomuch that it appears improbable that feudalism could +have been introduced into the kingdom without the assistance of the +Church, which in the thirteenth century had obtained possession of +about one-third of the whole land of the kingdom. + + ♦ “1820” replaced with “1220” + + ¹ _Historians_, Volume IV., pages 283, 284; _Acts of the + Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume I.; _Statutes of Alexander + II._; Dr. Grub’s _Ecclesiastical History of Scotland_, + Volume I., page 301. + +There were still occasional risings in the North and in Galloway. About +1229 there was an insurrection in Moray, which was suppressed by Comyn, +the Earl of Buchan; and immediately after the Comyns were in possession +of the district of Badenoch. The lands of those who manifested any +disaffection were usually forfeited to the Crown, and then the kings +granted such lands to their own favourites, or to some bishopric, +monastery, or church.¹ As a matter of fact, much of the land which the +Crown gave to the Church in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries was +obtained by the Crown itself in the way indicated. + + ¹ _Historians_, Volume IV., page 288; Robertson’s _Scotland_, + Volume II., pages 19‒21. + +In 1235 Alan, the son of Roland, Lord of Galloway, died, leaving one +illegitimate son, who had married the daughter of the King of Man, and +three daughters, who were married to Norman nobles. These nobles then +divided Galloway betwixt themselves. But the men of Galloway preferred +one lord rather than three; they had acquired some experience of the +rule of these Norman nobles, therefore they rightly concluded that the +government of one noble would be more bearable than the government or +tyranny of three. Accordingly they requested the King to proclaim the +fief lapsed to the Crown; but he declined to listen to their reasonable +request. Then they invited Thomas, the natural son of their late lord, +to at once assert his claim to the Lordship of Galloway. To prepare +the way for their new lord, they immediately commenced to wage war on +the neighbouring districts of Scotland, and in a short time Thomas +appeared in Galloway. In July 1235, Alexander II. mustered his army and +proceeded towards Galloway, and advanced into it; the insurgents kept +upon the heights and watched the movements of the royal army. When the +king’s forces had become entangled in marshy ground, the Galloway men +attacked them, and would have destroyed the royal army, if it had not +been for the Earl of Ross, with his body of Ross-shire men on foot, +who by a rapid movement, turned the insurgents’ flank, and forced them +to retreat. The following day, the king granted a free pardon to all +the insurgents, who appeared before him with ropes round their necks. +Alexander then retired with his army from Galloway.¹ + + ¹ _Chronicles of Melrose_; _Historians_, Volume IV. + +But Thomas and other leaders of the revolt fled to Ireland, and +prepared for a renewal of the struggle. Thomas and his associates +equipped a fleet, and along with a body of Irishmen, he landed in +Galloway and recommenced the war. But the Earl of Dunbar and his +followers, accompanied by the Bishop of Galloway and the Abbot of +Melrose, faced the insurgents, and their leaders seeing themselves +outnumbered, surrendered. Thomas was imprisoned in the Castle of +Edinburgh.¹ Thus the disaffection in Galloway was stifled for a time. +But in 1247, the oppressive tyranny of the Norman noble, Roger de +Quinci, exasperated the people to such a degree, that they rose and +besieged him in one of his own castles. He defended himself with great +determination, until his provisions began to fail; as he had no reason +to expect any mercy from the besiegers, he at last resolved to make a +desperate effort to escape. So the gates of the castle were flung open +and the noble and his men rushed through the ranks of their assailants, +and rode for their lives to the court of Alexander II. As a matter of +course, the King reinstated the Norman noble in his lordship.² + + ¹ _Chronicles of Melrose_; _Historians_, Volume IV. According + to one account, Thomas was liberated from imprisonment in a + short time, but the _Lanercost Chronicle_ states that he was + delivered into the hands of John Baliol as a hostage, and + confined in the dungeons of Barnard Castle for fifty years. + + ² Robertson’s _Scotland_, Volume II., page 28. + +The policy of Alexander II. was to extend the authority of the Crown +to the utmost limits of the Highlands and the Isles. He attempted to +obtain the Western Isles by treaty with Haco, the King of Norway, but +this failed; and he then proposed to purchase the Isles, which offer +also was declined. Alexander, however, had resolved to have the Isles; +and he equipped a fleet, mustered a force, and proceeded to subdue the +Western Isles. When engaged in this undertaking, Alexander II. died in +the Isle of Kerrera, off the coast of Lorne, on the 8th of July 1249, +in the fifty-first year of his age, and the thirty-fifth year of his +reign. His remains were interred in the church of Melrose. He was a man +of great energy, an able ruler, remarkably humane, and his reign was +marked by progressive efforts. + +In the reign of Alexander II. the Scotch Church began to hold regular +provincial councils; as the national clergy were empowered by a bull +from the pope in 1225, to assemble such, and to enact and promulgate +canons. The conservator of the council was elected by the bishops from +their own number; and he held office simply from one council to another, +with power to punish transgressors of the canons, and to enforce their +observance by the censures of the Church. He summoned the council +by a writ to each bishop, and when absent himself from the meeting, +the senior bishop present assumed his functions and presided. The +Scotch clergy adopted a definite code of rules for the assembling of +annual provincial councils, and diocesan synods. Before the end of +the thirteenth century, they had passed and adopted some sixty canons, +which appear to have been sufficient for the government of the Church +till the sixteenth century. From 1225 till 1478, the Scotch Church +was ruled under the Pope by her own national synods, and temporary +presidents; although the Crown often interfered, and the kings +occasionally asserted their supremacy in ecclesiastical matters.¹ + + ¹ _Statuta Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ_, Volume I., Preface pages + 49‒51. + +Alexander II. was succeeded by his son Alexander, a boy in his +eighth year; and five days after the death of his father, the boy was +crowned at Scone. Walter Comyn, Earl of Menteith, and all his clergy, +accompanied by the Earls of Fife and Strathern, and many other nobles, +led Alexander up to the cross which stood in the cemetery at the east +end of the church. Here they placed him upon the famous Coronation +Stone, which was covered with cloth of gold, and the Bishop of St. +Andrews, assisted by the rest, consecrated him King. Then the King +received the homage of the feudal nobles of the kingdom. A venerable +Highland bard robed in scarlet then advanced, and kneeling before the +Stone of Destiny, hailed the boy King in the Gaelic tongue, as “Ri +Alban,” and repeated his long line of pedigree from king to king till +he reached Iber Scot.¹ + + ¹ _Historians_, Volume IV., pages 289, 290. + +During the minority of Alexander III., the nobles fully entered on +the policy of faction and ambition which figured so darkly in the +subsequent history of the kingdom. The marriage of King Henry’s +daughter with the boy Alexander III., gave the English king the +opportunity of continually interfering in the internal government +of Scotland. The nobles were divided into factions, each of which in +some measure represented opposite interests, feelings, and tendencies. +One party consisted of the nobles of the north and west, which, in a +qualified sense, might be called the national party; the other party +was mostly connected with the southern quarters of Scotland, and with +England. The leader of the national party was Walter Comyn, Earl of +Monteith, and his kin were numerous and powerful. Alexander Comyn +was Earl of Buchan, and many other members of the group possessed +wide territories in different quarters of the kingdom, including the +district of Badenoch; and the Earl of Mar and the majority of the chief +men northward of the Firths of Forth and Clyde followed the Comyns. +This party, so far as appears, desired to uphold the liberty and +independence of Scotland, and consequently they were apt to resent and +to resist the continual attempts of the English king to encroach upon +the rights and liberties of Scotland. The ablest man among the other +party was Alan Durward, who held the office of Justiciary of Scotland +in the reign of Alexander II. He assumed the title of Earl of Athole +from 1233 to 1235, and he married a natural daughter of Alexander +II., by whom he had several daughters; and it was alleged in 1252 that +he was endeavouring to obtain from the Pope the legitimation of his +wife, so that in the case of the death of the boy Alexander III., Alan +Durward’s daughters would be the heiresses of the crown of Scotland. +Thus Alan was a great and aspiring personage; while most of his +supporters were men of position, including the names of the Earls of +Dunbar and Strathern, Robert de Bruce, fourth Lord of Annandale, the +Steward, and other nobles chiefly connected with the south of Scotland, +and with England.¹ This party at every turn showed a desire to forward +the interest of the kings of England, to sacrifice the liberty and +independence of Scotland, in the hope of thereby retaining their feudal +fiefs in England, and at the same time securing their hold upon the +land of Scotland. In short, they were always trying to ride upon two +horses at once, running in opposite directions. + + ¹ _Historians_, Volume IV., pages 292, 293, _et seq._; + _Chronicles of Melrose_; _Fœdera_, Volume I., pages 272, + 275, 278, 327, 329, 347, 352, 357, 358, 362. + +The two parties of the nobles struggled against each other to obtain +the chief positions in the government of the kingdom, and to seize and +retain possession of the boy King and his wife, for Alexander III. was +married before he had reached eleven years of age. The struggle was +continued during the period of the King’s minority; sometimes one of +the parties and sometimes the other obtained the position of rulers +of the kingdom, while both parties tried to secure their hold by every +means in their power. Henry III. rarely failed to render the state of +affairs worse rather than better. Comyn, the Earl of Monteith died in +November 1258, and Henry III. then advanced obnoxious proposals, which +however failed in their aim, as the Scots rejected them. + +The repeated attacks of the Norsemen, and their conquest of the +Islands and part of the mainland in the north, have been noticed in the +preceding pages. The islands of Orkney and Shetland were dependencies +of Norway, ruled by local chiefs called jarls; the Western Isles were +also claimed by her; and on the mainland, to the north-westward of +the Moray Firth and Glenmore, there was a region forming a kind of +debatable territory, which as we have seen, the kings of Scotland had +long been attempting to subdue. When Alexander III. attained the age of +twenty-one, he endeavoured to obtain the Western Islands by negotiation, +and sent an embassy to the King of Norway which failed in its object. +He then announced his intention to subject these Islands, and the war +was commenced by the local chiefs of Ross. But Haco, the King of Norway, +considered this attack on the Western Isles as an encroachment on his +rights and prepared for war. He was a strong-willed man, well obeyed +by his subjects, and he ordered a conscription over his dominions. +Haco made great preparations for the expedition; a ship was specially +built for himself, which mounted twenty-seven banks of oars, glittered +with gilded dragons, and was manned by picked Norwegian seamen. Many +of the ships were large and well equipped, and in all numbered upwards +of one hundred and twenty vessels. On the 10th of July 1263, Haco with +his fleet sailed for the Shetland Islands; whence he steered for the +Orkneys, and anchored in Elwick harbour, opposite Kirkwall. Haco sailed +from Orkney on the 10th of August and anchored in the Sound of Skye, +where the King of Man and other Norwegian chiefs joined the expedition. +He then sailed through the Sound of Mull to Cantyre, where the forces +from the Isles were concentrated. He sent fifty ships under the command +of the King of Man to plunder the coasts of Cantyre, and five ships to +the island of Bute. The castles of Dunaverty in Cantyre, and Rothesay +in Bute, having surrendered, Haco with the whole fleet rounded the Mull +of Cantyre, sailed up the Firth of Clyde, and anchored off the island +of Arran.¹ + + ¹ _Expedition of Haco_, page 55, _et seq._ + +The Scots had made preparations for the defence of the mainland. The +castles of Inverness, Ayr, Stirling, Wigtown, and others, were repaired +and the garrisons strengthened; while the King had concentrated the +main body of his army in Ayr, where the great attack was expected to +be delivered. Negotiations were opened, and Haco claimed a right to +the whole of the Western Isles. As the object of the Scots was to gain +time, they proposed to retain the islands of Bute, Arran, and the two +Cumbraes; thus they protracted the negotiations till towards the end +of September. Then Haco discovered their intention, and proclaimed the +truce at an end. He sent sixty vessels to devastate the coasts, and +prepared to land with the main body of his force at Largs. But on the +morning of the 1st of October a hurricane arose which lasted several +days; many of Haco’s ships were wrecked, and his main fleet much +disabled. The royal flagship dragged her anchors, while the greater +part of the fleet was drifting in distress. Five vessels were driven +ashore upon the coast of Ayrshire, near Largs. The Scots had assembled +in groups along the beach, observing ship after ship drifting past; and +they began to attack the shipwrecked crews, who sheltered themselves +behind their vessels. A reinforcement from the fleet landed and +drove off the Scots. On the morrow a body of the Scots were posted +in the vicinity of the village of Largs, ready to renew the attack. +An engagement ensued, and the Norwegians fought heroically though +outnumbered, and, after a somewhat protracted contest, they gained +their boats and sailed off. By this time Haco’s fleet was greatly +diminished, and all hope of success had vanished; so he steered his +course for the Orkney islands, which he reached in November. The strain +of the expedition, and its utter failure, affected the spirit and frame +of Haco, and he died on the 15th of December, 1263. His remains lay +three months in the Church of Kirkwall, thence they were carried and +interred in the tomb of his ancestors at Bergen.¹ + + ¹ _Expedition of Haco_, pages 77, 85, 87, 107, _et seq._; + _Historians_, Volume IV., pages 296, 297. + +When the tidings of Haco’s death reached Alexander III., he resolved to +reduce the Western Isles to subjection. A force was mustered and placed +under the command of the Earls of Mar and Buchan, and Alan ♦Durward, +and the army proceeded to the isles. On its approach some of the chiefs +fled, some of them were hanged for the support which they had given +to Haco’s expedition, while others were expelled or fined. The Earls +secured much booty, and then returned to the mainland. With the view +of a final settlement, negotiations were opened with the new King of +Norway, Magnus VI. In July 1265, a treaty was concluded with Norway, +by which the Isle of Man, and all the islands off the coasts of +Scotland were ceded to Alexander III., on the condition that the Crown +of Scotland should pay four thousand marks, and an annual rent of one +hundred marks to the Crown of Norway. But the islands of Orkney and +Shetland were to remain attached to the Crown of Norway.¹ Henceforth +Scotland was freed from the ravages of the Norsemen. + + ♦ “Duward” replaced with “Durward” + + ¹ _Historians_, Volume IV., page 296; _Chronicle of Man_, + page 52. + +The remaining years of Alexander’s reign were peaceful and progressive +in every direction. Alexander III. had a son and a daughter, and in +1281 the latter, Margaret, was married to Eric II., King of Norway; +the same year the Prince of Scotland married Margaret of Flanders, a +daughter of Count Guy de Dampierre. The prospects of the nation then +looked exceedingly bright. But on the 9th of April, 1283, Alexander’s +daughter Margaret, died, leaving an only child, called the Maid of +Norway; and the Prince of Scotland died on the 28th of January, 1283‒4, +without issue. The great difficulty was at once seen, and the king +summoned a meeting of the Estates of Scotland, which assembled at +Scone on the 5th of February, 1284. At this meeting there were present +twelve Earls, namely, Mar, Strathern, Athole, Fife, Buchan, Angus, +Monteith, Ross, Dunbar, Lennox, Sutherland, and Carrick; ten bishops; +and twenty-five barons, all of whom bound themselves in the name of the +nation to acknowledge the king’s grand-daughter, Margaret, the Maid of +Norway, as the heir of the Crown of Scotland.¹ + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume I., page 82. + +Alexander III. married a daughter of the Count de Dreux, on the 14th of +October, 1285, and he still hoped to leave lineal heirs to the throne. +But on the 15th of March, 1286, when he was riding in the night along +the coast of Fife, near Kinghorn, he was thrown from his horse and +killed. A sad and mournful end; the lamentation was universal, and +all the people looked forward to the future with dismay. The last +king of the Celtic race slept with his fathers, and the crown of a +far-descended line fell to a weakly infant. + +A meeting of the nobles and clergy was held at Scone on the 2nd of +April, 1286, and six guardians were elected to govern the kingdom. +For the districts on the north of the Forth the bishop of St. Andrews, +and the Earls of Fife and Buchan, were appointed; and for the country +on the south of the Forth, the Bishop of Glasgow, John Comyn, Lord of +Badenoch, and the Steward of Scotland. The elements of the approaching +contest were already stirring, as several of the nobles aspired to +the throne, which they considered vacant. Robert Bruce of Annandale, +entered into a bond with a number of Scotch and English nobles with the +aim of supporting his claim to the throne of Scotland. This document is +dated the 20th September, 1286, and it contained the names of the Earl +of Dunbar and his three sons, the Earl of Monteith and his two sons, +and the Steward of Scotland; Angus, Lord of the Isles, and his two +sons; the Earl of Ulster, and Lord Thomas de Clare, two English barons. +Thus it appears that Bruce’s party was pretty strong. In this document +Bruce and his supporters ignored the infant queen, the Maid of Norway, +but they assumed that the throne would be occupied by some one of +royal blood, who should obtain it according to the ancient and approved +customs of the kingdom.¹ + + ¹ _Historical Documents of Scotland_ from 1286 to 1306, + published by Royal Commission, Volume I., pages 22, 23; + Hailes’ _Annals_, Volume I., page 203. + +It is uncertain whether Edward I. knew of this bond, but he had a +project of his own. He had a son, and if his son could be married to +the Maid of Norway, he imagined that all would go right. Edward I. +therefore applied to the Pope for a dispensation to sanction the +marriage; and a papal bull authorising the marriage of the two children +was issued in November 1289, although they were within the prohibited +degrees of relationship. A formal conference was held at Salisbury, +at which various matters connected with the marriage were arranged, +with the mutual concurrence of England, Norway, and Scotland. In March +1290, the Earls, barons, and clergy of Scotland, met the ambassadors +of England at Brigham, and after deliberation the articles arranged +at Salisbury, and other points, were confirmed and a treaty concluded, +which sanctioned the marriage of the royal children. This treaty +provided that the rights, the laws, and the liberties of Scotland +should continue entire and untouched. No native was to be compelled +to answer for any crime or cause at any court out of the kingdom; no +parliament was to be held beyond the boundaries of Scotland to discuss +Scotch affairs: in short, the complete independence of the nation was +recognised and strictly guarded by this treaty.¹ + + ¹ _Historical Documents of Scotland_, Volume I., pages 90, 91, + 134, 35, 36, 111‒113, 105‒111, 129‒131; Hailes’ _Annals_, + Volume I., pages 208‒212. + +It seems that Edward I. imagined that he had thus secured the kingdom. +He at once appointed the Bishop of Durham Lieutenant of Scotland, in +the name of Queen Margaret and the Prince of England, to act along +with the guardians, the bishops, and the nobles of the realm. Waxing +bolder, Edward demanded that all the royal castles in Scotland should +be immediately surrendered to him; but for once he had miscalculated +the force of his influence and dignity, as the Scots refused to deliver +the castles of the kingdom into his hands.¹ + + ¹ Hailes’ _Annals_, Volume I., pages 212, 213. + +Edward I. quickly equipped a ship to transport the young queen +from Norway. This ship was well stored with provisions and luxuries +――thirty-one hogsheads and one pipe of wine, and ten barrels of beer; +a very large quantity of salted beef, hams, dried fish, stock fish, +lampreys, sturgeon, and fifty pounds of whale, along with twenty-two +gallons of mustard, salt, pepper, vinegar, and onions. A stock of +dainties, specially prepared for the delicate, young Queen, consisted +of five hundred walnuts, two loaves of sugar, grits, oatmeal, mace, +figs, raisins, and thirty-eight pounds of gingerbread. The ship carried +the English flag, and the crew numbered forty hands. She reached her +destination all right; and in due time she sailed from Norway with +the Queen on board. Edward I. sent his agents to Orkney to meet her, +he also sent a number of precious jewels to Scotland to bedeck her; +indeed, he put himself to great trouble to secure the consummation of +this marriage. But the child died just before she reached the Orkney +Islands, in the end of September, 1290.¹ Thus perished the hopes which +Edward I. had associated with his marriage project. He subsequently +adopted a different line of procedure, still with the same end in +view――the complete subjection of Scotland. Before proceeding with the +historic narrative it is requisite to review the state of society and +the progress of the nation up to the date of the outbreak of the War of +Independence. + + ¹ _Historical Documents of Scotland_, Volume I., pages 139, + 140, 182, 183‒192, 178, 179, 149‒153. + + + + + CHAPTER IV. + + _Social Condition of the Nation in the + Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries._ + + +THIS chapter will present an account of the social state of the +kingdom. The government, introduction of charters, the powers granted +to the nobles, and an explication of feudalism; customary law in a +transitional stage, forms of trial and punishment, and the privileges +associated with sanctuaries, will be treated. Royal burghs, church +burghs, and burghs of regality, the coinage and the commerce of the +kingdom, the organisation and the possessions of the Church, schools, +literature, and architecture, will be dealt with. Agriculture and the +state of the occupiers and toilers of the land will be detailed. + +At the end of the eleventh century the people and the government were +Celtic; although the Angles had long been settled in the south-eastern +quarter of the kingdom, the Norsemen still held sway in Caithness and +the islands. The proceedings connected with the introduction of Norman +feudalism for some time seriously interrupted the continuity of the +progressive movement of the kingdom, as the people in some quarters +of the country were bitterly opposed to it; but it was fostered and +supported by the kings, and had spread over the Lowlands before the +close of the thirteenth century. + +The king stood at the head of the feudal organisation, as the leader +of the army, the fountain of honour, the dispenser of titles; and +nominally the prime administrator of justice, and the chief landholder +in the kingdom. His revenue was mainly derived from the rents of +the crown lands, the feudal casualties of ward, marriage, relief, +and non-entry, the rents of the royal burghs, and the customs on +merchandise, and the fines imposed in the king’s courts. Public taxes +were assessed on all lands, and levied according to the exigences of +the nation. From these sources the feudal kings of this period raised +a considerable revenue. The king had his Justiciary, Chamberlain, +Chancellor, Constable, Steward, and other Crown officials; and before +the end of the thirteenth century the offices of Steward and Constable +had become hereditary in the families of Stewart and Morevil. In the +thirteenth century the Chamberlain was the collector and also the +disburser of the Crown revenues, and in virtue of these functions +he was the most important of the great officers of the Crown. Out of +the revenues in his hands he had to provide for all the branches of +public expenditure, including the charges of the royal household, and +all extra military expenses. He also had a complete jurisdiction over +all the burghs. The immediate receivers of the royal revenues were +the sheriffs and bailies, who collected the rents of the crown lands, +the feudal casualties, and the fines imposed by themselves, by the +Justiciaries, and by the Chamberlain himself at his annual circuit +courts in the burghs, and by the magistrates and the custom officials, +who accounted for the burgh rents and the customs. The Chamberlain and +other officers intrusted with public money, had their accounts audited +in exchequer usually once a year; and the more important of these +audited accounts were then engrossed for preservation on parchment +rolls.¹ + + ¹ _The Exchequer Rolls of Scotland_, Volume I., A.D. 1264‒1359. + 1878. + +Meetings of the kings with their chief men and the clergy for the +transaction of important affairs occurred at an early period, as we +have seen in preceding pages. According to the feudal principle all the +Crown vassals should have attended the king’s great council or court; +as a matter of historic fact, only the chief officers of the Crown, +a few of the churchmen and nobles, usually attended the meetings of +the council; and further, it must be observed that the legislative +functions of the king’s council were not clearly distinguished from +the function of counselling the king in judicial proceedings: in other +words, the legislative and the executive departments of Government were +not as yet distinctly discriminated in Scotland. Alexander I. held a +council in 1107, in which Turgot was chosen Bishop of St. Andrews by +the king, the clergy, and the people; and in 1114, when he refounded +the Abbey of Scone, the council consisted of the king and queen, two +bishops, six earls, and some other persons, “witnessing and consenting.” +Sometimes the laws were enacted and issued in the name of the king +and his judges. The laws of David I. run in the form of an order or +a declaration of enacting power, thus: “The King David has statuted,” +“the King David has ordained,” “the King has decreed and delivered.” +Some of David’s charters, granted with the consent of the council, +assumed a rather imperative style, such as his foundation charter of +Holyrood:――“I David, by the grace of God, King of the Scots, of my +royal authority, and with the assent of Henry, my son, and the bishops +of my kingdom, and with the confirmation and testimony of the earls and +barons, the clergy also assenting and the people, of divine prompting, +grant all the things under written to the church of the Holyrood of +Edinburgh.” Malcolm IV., in royal grants of great importance, adopted +the style of his grandfather, David I. In 1184 William the Lion held +a council at Perth, in which the members present were described as +bishops, abbots, priors, earls, barons, and all the good men of the +land, and this meeting passed a number of acts. Alexander II. assembled +a council at Stirling, in 1236, in which the Bishop of St. Andrews, +the prior of Coldingham, the Earls of Fife and Buchan, the Steward +of Scotland, the Justiciary of Lothian, John de Maxwell, and others, +were present, and the record says that they passed the acts, nine in +number, with the assent of the whole community. Alexander III. held +a number of councils similar to the preceding ones, but there was +no regular Parliament in Scotland, as now understood, during this +period.¹ Although it is obvious that the kings did not assume to act +in important matters solely in virtue of their royal authority, they +usually sought and obtained the assent of the chief men of the kingdom. + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume I.; _National + Manuscripts of Scotland_, Part I., Number 16. + +The Justiciary was a high legal functionary, and first appeared in the +reign of Alexander I. In the reign of William the Lion there were two +Justiciaries, one for Lothian, and the other for the country on the +north of the Forth; and in the reign of Alexander III. there were four +of these functionaries――one for Lothian, another for Galloway, and two +for the country to the northward of the Forth. These judges usually +went through their districts on circuits twice a year. Sheriffs were +gradually introduced, and by the middle of the thirteenth century a +considerable part of Scotland had been divided into sheriffdoms. The +sheriff was intrusted with a wide jurisdiction, both in criminal and in +civil cases, and also in fiscal matters. William the Lion enacted that +each sheriff should hold his court at intervals of forty days, and in +the latter part of the thirteenth century there were upwards of thirty +sheriffdoms.¹ It will, however, shortly appear that there was not a +regular code of laws, and that the judicial processes then in operation +presented a curious jumble. + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume I., pages 55, + 57, _et seq._; _Exchequer Rolls of Scotland_, Volume I. + +In connection with the introduction of feudalism, and an extraneous +aristocracy, the kings ♦adopted the expedient of granting lands by +charter to their new nobles. A specimen of one of the earliest of these +charters may be quoted:――“David, King of the Scots, to all good men of +his whole land, greeting. Know that I have given and granted to Robert +of Bruce, in fee and heritage, to him and his heirs, the valley of +Annan, in forest, on both sides of the water of Annan, as the marches +are from the forest of Selkirk as far as his land extends towards +Strandnith and towards the Clyde, freely and quietly as any other +forest of his is best and most freely held. Wherefore I forbid that +any one hunt in the aforesaid forest, unless by his authority, on pain +of forfeiture of ten pounds, or that any one go through the aforesaid +forest unless by a straight road appointed.” How is this charter to be +interpreted? Must I suppose that this fine valley of Annandale was then +uninhabited? The charter tells nothing, save that Bruce is to possess +it as a free forest exclusively for his own use. Fortunately, in this +instance, the grant was confirmed by another charter in the reign of +William the Lion, which will enable us to understand in some degree +the former grant of “free forest”:――“William, King of the Scots, to the +bishops, abbots, earls, barons, justices, sheriffs, and other good men +of his whole land, greeting. Be it known to all present and to come, +that I have given and granted, and by this, my charter, confirmed, +to Robert of Bruce and his heirs, all the land which his father and +himself have held in the valley of Annan, by the same marches by which +his father held it, and he after his father. To be held to himself and +his heirs of me and of my heirs in fee and heritage, in wood and plain, +in meadows and pastures, in moors and marches, in waters, stanks, and +mills, in forests and trysts, in hills and harbours, in ways and paths, +in ♦fishings, and in all other just appurtenances, as freely, quietly, +and fully as ever his father or he himself most freely held that land +of King David, my grandfather, or of King Malcolm, my brother.” Thus +the second charter renders the meaning of the first one intelligible, +as we see that under the first grant of free forest there was also +conveyed a grant of “free barony,” or the grant of “free barony” had +been conferred some time before the free forest grant, which was the +usual mode of procedure.¹ + + ♦ “adapted” replaced with “adopted” + + ♦ “fistings” replaced with “fishings” + + ¹ _National Manuscripts of Scotland_, Part I., Numbers 20, + 39, 19. + +The above may be fairly taken as genuine historic example of a large +number of similar ones. The Norman nobles obtained charters granting +to them lands, and sometimes extensive tracts of territories. But +it occasionally happened that the territory granted by the charter +could not be made available to the holder of the charter, owing to +the opposition of the real owners and occupiers of the territory in +question; and there were instances of royal charters granting lands +which never became operative. In order to overcome this opposition +of the people, and to dispossess them of the land, so that the Norman +nobles might be amply accommodated, various expedients were resorted +to. David I., in reference to the rights and claims of the people in +the possession of the land, had recourse to the following expedient: +――Those who were bold enough to oppose the schemes of the king were +permitted to appear before his court, or a jury selected or controlled +by him: then every one who held land had to prove that he and his +lineal ancestors had continuously held the land in question for four +generations, and every one that failed to prove this was told that +he had no right to the land, and that the king would dispose of it +as he thought fit. In the reign of William the Lion it appears that +charters had become a requisite of the right to hold land; and in 1248, +at a council held in Stirling, it was enacted “that from this time +henceforth no oath should be taken touching the life or limb of any +man holding land, except by those men who were freeholders by charter.” +Thus the charter was made a test of freedom and of civil rights, as +well as the requisite condition of holding land: and further, the +Norman nobles in Scotland enjoyed the invidious privilege of sending +substitutes or champions to fight for them instead of appearing in +person when challenged to single combat by any Scotsman. Yet in 1230 +it was enacted that every petty knight, or any man who held land by +charter, if challenged to single combat at the Bridge of Stirling or +anywhere else, could appoint substitutes to fight for them. By these +processes and the means briefly indicated, from the accession of David +I. to the throne, onward to the death of the Maid of Norway in 1290, +a period of one hundred and sixty-six years, many thousands of the +people of Scotland were deprived of their natural and just rights in +connection with the ownership and the occupancy of the land of the +kingdom. Many of them were then reduced to a state of extreme privation, +and a considerable number of them fell into the condition of serfdom. +When thus rendered landless, David I. enacted “If any man be found in +the king’s land that has not a proper lord, after the king’s writ has +been read in the courts, he shall have the space of fifteen days to +find a lord. And if within that term he does not find a lord, then the +king’s justiciary shall take from him five cows for the king’s use, and +keep his body to the king’s behalf until he get him a lord.”¹ This act +was expressly drawn with the object of compelling the people to yield +and place themselves under the Norman nobles. + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume I., pages 9, + 51, 70, 74, _et seq._ + +With the support and assistance of David I., and some of his successors, +the Normans shortly obtained possession of extensive territories held +under feudal tenure. In some instances the rights and privileges of +regality were granted along with the territory, though the title of +Earl was withheld, and a right of regality meant an almost absolute +jurisdiction over the whole inhabitants of the district included in the +charter. The lower form of feudal tenure, called “free barony,” also +embraced a pretty complete jurisdiction over all the people within its +bounds. As a specimen, a portion of a Crown charter of the Earldom of +Fife may be quoted:――“Alexander, by the grace of God, King of the Scots, +to all good men of his land, greeting: Be it known to all present and +to come that we have granted, and by this our charter have confirmed +to Earl Malcolm of Fife, son of Earl Duncan, the Earldom of Fife, as +Earl Duncan, his father, held it. To hold to him and his heirs of us +and our heirs in fee and heritage, in wood and plain, in lands and +waters, in meadows and pastures, in moors and marshes, in stanks and +mills, in fish ponds and fishings, in ways and paths, with soc and sac, +with gallows and pit, with toll and them, and ♦infangthief, ... with +all things to that Earldom justly pertaining.”¹ Thus an Earl had a +right not only to the land, but also to everything else within the +borders of the Earldom. Even the natural elements, such as water, were +appropriated by the feudal lords. There was a collection of Forest +Laws, but they were not nearly so savage as the forest laws of England; +and the penalties in connection with infringement of these laws were +pecuniary fines. + + ♦ “infangthef” replaced with “infangthief” + + ¹ _National Manuscripts of Scotland_, Part I., Number 50. + +The privileges of an Earldom embraced an authoritative jurisdiction +in civil and criminal cases of every description; in a word, the Earl +had the lives and the property of the people within the limits of his +territories in his hands. He had the power of executing any one of +his vassals; cases of assault, theft, and all the disputes which arose +amongst the people of the territory came under the jurisdiction of +the earl; and the fees, fines, and escheats of goods, which arose from +the numerous feudal relations of the several ranks of his vassals. +Further, an earl, or a baron, holding under free barony, was empowered +to enforce ward, relief, merchant, and many other feudal services. If +there were villages and towns in the earldom, the earl was the superior +of these also, and might treat the inhabitants as he thought fit.¹ + + ¹ _Antiquities of the Shires of Aberdeen and Banff_, Volume + II., page 109; Volumes III. and IV., _in loc._: “All feudal + lords through feudal Europe were equally fond and proud of + the right of executing those whom they had first convicted + and sentenced to death. The Gallowhill is still an object of + interest, and, I fear, of some pride, near our old baronial + mansions; and I know somewhere the surrounding ground is + full of the remains of the poor wretches who died by the + barons’ law. Perhaps the pit was for the female thief, for + women sentenced to death, were, for the most part, drowned.” + Innes’ _Legal Antiquities_, pages 58, 59. + +An earldom or a great barony presented in miniature all the +characteristics of a feudal kingdom. Like the king, the earl was +the supreme ruler within his territories; he had his own courts, and +appointed his own sheriffs and bailies, his chamberlain, constable, and +other officials. Then portions of his lands, with its castles, formed +his special personal domain for the accommodation of his family, his +officials, and his personal retinue. But the far greater portion of the +lands of the earldom were held by the vassals of the earl. These feudal +vassals were of different ranks, consisting in some earldoms of thanes, +knights, free tenants, tenants-at-will, down to bondmen and serfs. +Tenants-at-will merely held land from year to year, and they, with the +bondmen and the serfs, were the toilers of the lands of the earldom. +The ranks above the toilers of the soil, formed the military force of +the earldom, with the earl as their leader. All the ranks above the +servile classes, were under feudal allegiance to the earl and bound +to follow him in all his causes and quarrels against any person or +party in the kingdom, save the king. Then the earl, or a baron with +the rights of an earl, could grant lands to his vassals under various +conditions, and so thanes and knights were frequently the vassals of a +feudal earl. These thanes and knights in turn could re-let to the class +below them; and these also might sub-let. In this way many of the small +gentry ultimately became proprietors of land; but the greater number +of them remained as the feudal vassals of their lords till quite recent +times.¹ + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume I., pages 60, + 68, _et seq._; Innes’ _Legal Antiquities_; _Antiquities of + the Shires of Aberdeen and Banff_. + +An important part of Feudalism as it was introduced and developed +in Scotland, was directly associated with the Church. It appears +that monks and churchmen were amongst the first who obtained regal +jurisdiction over the inhabitants of the lands which the kings granted +to them by charter. Alexander I. refounded the monastery of Scone +and empowered the abbot and monks to hold their own court, this was +confirmed by Malcolm IV. and by William the Lion, and the latter +charter ran thus――“William King of the Scots, ... know that I have +granted, and by this my charter confirm, ... to the church of Scone +and the abbot and canons serving God there, all the liberties as the +charter of King Malcolm my brother witnesses: to wit, their court to +be held with full jurisdiction, in battle, in iron, and in water, with +all the liberties pertaining to a court, with liberty of answering +to no one outside their own court. Let no one therefore of my +subjects attempt to break this liberty of theirs under the pain of my +forfeiture.” The abbots of Dunfermline, Kelso, Holyrood, Jedburgh, and +other great monasteries, had their own courts; and the Bishop of St. +Andrews had his own court. In the reign of Alexander III., at least +one third of the best land in the kingdom was held by the Church. +These lands were held under the most favourable feudal tenures, as +the numerous Crown charters to churches, monasteries, and bishoprics +amply testify. On these extensive church lands there were various +ranks of vassals and tenants, bondmen and serfs. The highest class of +church vassals were almost of equal rank with the lesser barons and +freeholders of the Crown; they usually held their lands by charter, +free of all services, and only paid a nominal rent. From an examination +of many circumstances, it seems almost certain that the greater part +of the lands which David I. and his two grandsons, Malcolm and William, +granted to the Church, were the very lands of which the real owners and +occupiers had been dispossessed. This accounts for the great numbers +of bondmen and serfs which were attached to the church lands in the +thirteenth century.¹ + + ¹ _National Manuscripts of Scotland_, Part I., Numbers 16, + 30, 36, 37, 54; _Register of Dunfermline_, pages 220‒222; + _Register of Kelso_; _Charters of Holyrood_; _Acts of the + Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume I. + +If none of the real owners and occupiers of the land were deprived +of it by the expedients and the processes associated with the +introduction of charters in relation to the rights of holding land, +then how is it possible that David I. and his two grandsons could +have been in possession of all these fine tracts of land which they +gave to the Church within so short a period? Is there any other +historic interpretation which will meet the known conditions and the +circumstances connected with this important social phenomena? There +is no difficulty in understanding how it occurred that David I. was +represented as a saint by certain chroniclers, who also looked upon +the Norman nobles and their Feudalism as the real originators of +civilisation in Scotland. + +One striking characteristic of Norman Feudalism as manifested in +Scotland, was its tendency to assume hereditary forms. The great +officers of State; sheriffs, bailies, stewards, keepers of castles, +forests, and parks, became hereditary; and indeed all titles and +offices from the throne downward to the common occupations associated +with the brewhouse and the smithy, assumed the hereditary form. +Politically and socially, feudal organisation as developed in Scotland, +contained within itself the very elements of anarchy; associated with +extremely few of the agencies and influences which tend to promote +order and advance civilisation. + +The prevailing forms of trial by custom or law, and the modes of +punishing crime, are important in all stages of society. It is +interesting to note that the earliest fragments of the statute law +of Scotland contain references to a still earlier common usage: “The +assize of the country,” “As law will and custom is,” “According to +assize of the land,” these expressions occur in the laws of David I.; +and in one of David’s statutes a direct reference was made to a law of +Malcolm Canmore, “as it was established in his father’s days.” These +phrases meant that the matters in question were to be settled according +to the local customs of the people, and present an illustration of +custom or usage in the process of passing into written law.¹ + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume I., pages 8, + 9, 11‒13, _et seq._ + +The earliest laws of Scotland were full of regulations concerning the +punishment of murder and theft. When the thief was caught with the +stolen goods in his hands, he was at once tried and punished. It was +only when the crime in question was not evident that the peculiarities +of the early laws appeared. In the reign of David I., a man accused of +theft might have attempted to clear himself in two ways, by battle, or +the purgation of twelve leal men; there was nothing adduced on either +side by witnesses who were cognisant ♦of the facts, for evidence of +that kind was not then deemed necessary. When the accused denied the +charge, he had to find twelve compurgators, men of the neighbourhood, +who knew the character of the parties, and these men swore that they +believed the accused to be innocent. But the number of the compurgators +varied from one to thirty, according to the rank of the parties and the +nature of the crime: thus, two men were considered sufficient to prove +that a person had violated the King’s peace, and accordingly punishment +followed; but twenty-four men were requisite to acquit a man for an +offence against the majesty of the King. In the reign of William the +Lion, when a habit-and-repute thief was pursued by the suit of one or +more baronies and could find no one to become bail for him, he was then +seized and hanged without any trial. + + ♦ duplicate word “of” removed + +When there was no evidence admitted by witnesses, if the accused person +failed to bring the requisite number of compurgators, his last resource +was to appeal to the wager of battle. There were definite and minute +rules for its procedure, and during the combat the strictest silence +was observed. The judges of Galloway decreed that any one who spoke +in the place where the battle was being waged, after silence had +been proclaimed, should forfeit ten cows to the king; and if any one +interfered with his hand, or even made a signal in any way, his life +and limb should be in the king’s power.¹ + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume I., pages 5‒8, + 55, 56. + +During this period several restrictions were introduced in the +application of the trial by battle. Churchmen were exempted from +appearing in single combat; men past sixty years of age could decline +it; and widows who could not fight, were to be protected in their just +rights. Burgesses had privileges in connection with it; as the citizens +of the royal burgh might claim combat against those who depended upon +subjects, but in turn they were not obliged to grant it unless they +thought fit; and the burgess might decline the challenge of an upland +man. The thief’s lord might fight an accuser of his own rank if he +thought proper, but the poor man could only challenge his fellow; the +barons, knights, and freeholders, could also fight by proxy, appoint +a champion to fight for them; while the body of the people were bound +to fight in person. After the order for trial by battle, by hot iron, +or by water, had been given, it was no longer open to the parties to +compromise the case for a penalty; and any lord who promoted such a +thing forfeited his court. There is ample evidence of the prevalence +of the ordeals of hot iron and water in Scotland, but no detailed +account of the forms of the process have been preserved in any of the +early records. As mentioned in a preceding page, the right of trial by +battle, iron, and water, was granted to a number of monasteries; but +it appears that this privilege was open to endless abuses. David I. in +one instance provided that his own judge should always be present at +the court of the Abbot of Dunfermline, to see if justice was rightly +administered. In 1180 William the Lion enacted: “That neither bishops, +abbots, nor yet earls, barons, nor any freeholders, should hold their +courts unless the king’s sheriff or his sergeant be there, or summoned +to be there, to see that the court be rightly led.... That no baron +have leave to hold a court of life and limb as of judgment by battle, +or water, or hot iron, unless the king’s sheriff or his sergeant be +there to see if justice be truly kept as it ought to be.” In the same +reign it was enacted, that when any one was accused of theft by the +magistrate and three leal men, he should underlie the law of water; if +in addition to these accusers, three witnesses knowing the facts were +found, he was not to be put through any of the ordeals, but immediately +to be hanged. + +Toward the end of this period ordeals were falling into disrepute, +though there is no direct evidence as to when they were abolished, or +when jury trial was introduced. One form of ordeal, the battle, later +the judicial combat, afterwards called the duel, lingered on amongst +a class of madcaps until recent times. The people of Galloway retained +the modes of ordeals long after the other quarters of the kingdom had +discarded them. In the reign of Robert Bruce they still continued to be +governed by their own local laws, and had not obtained nor apparently +desired trial by jury; and even down to 1385 Douglas, Lord of Galloway, +while undertaking in Parliament to promote the execution of justice in +his territory, protested for the liberty of the law of Galloway in all +points.¹ + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume I., pages + 69‒71, 49, 55, 53, 122, 187; _Register of Dunfermline_, page + 12; _Ancient Laws and Customs of the Burghs of Scotland_, + pages 8, 11, 163. The best account of the process of trial + by the ordeals of iron and water that I have seen is in + Pike’s _History of Crime in England_, Volume I., pages 207, + 208; there is also a mass of matter touching the subject in + Pitcairn’s _Criminal Trials_. + +In Scotland civil cases were tried by jury earlier than criminal ones. +But throughout this period there was no jury trial in the modern sense, +that is, a judge who finds the law, and a number of citizens who find +the fact from the evidence placed before them; it was long ere this +stage was reached. There were both civil and criminal cases reported as +having been tried by jury, during the thirteenth century in Scotland, +but then the jurymen were also witnesses in these cases: in England, +about the same time, this prevailed in jury trials. The later history +of trial by jury mainly consisted of the steps by which the jurors +were changed from witnesses into judges of the facts stated by others +to them. As yet the ideal of law was only dimly conceived and vaguely +comprehended. Public justice was hardly at all discriminated in the +minds of the people from the natural feeling of revenge. It seems +strange that the crime of murder could be commuted by a fine; but in an +age of fierce strife this may have been the most effective punishment. +It appears to have rested with the family of the murdered man to +abstain from prosecuting to the utmost, when their feeling of revenge +could be appeased by a fine. Indeed, there was another penalty due +to the king or the lord for the shedding of blood, if their peace +was violated, in addition to the compensation paid to the kin of the +slaughtered man. + +The country for a limited distance around the king’s court and person, +and the public highways, were in the king’s peace, under his immediate +protection, and a breach of the peace within this area was severely +punished. The king further extended his peace to pilgrims during their +journeys to and from the tombs of the holy saints. + +Amid all the rudeness of the society of the period there were +indications of improvement and feelings of humanity. The poor and the +weak were placed under the king’s protection; and in the ancient laws +the widow and the fatherless children were not forgotten. Women in +Scotland held a high position, a fact which was well understood and +fully appreciated by the Norman nobles. If a criminal, doomed to the +gallows, escaped with his life after the first attempt to hang him, +then he was freed from punishment for his past offence; but the party +who bungled the execution was subjected to a heavy fine. In connection +with the stealing of cattle and sheep, the chief crimes of the period, +it was enacted that no one should be hanged simply for taking as much +as he could carry, unless it amounted to the value of two sheep; thus +a distinction was drawn between the masterful rifler who drove off the +cattle and sheep, and the needy thief who merely seized what he could +carry. A severe punishment was inflicted on any one who intentionally +killed a watch-dog.¹ + + ¹ _Ancient Laws of the Burghs of Scotland_, pages 4, 53; _Acts + of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume I. + +In an age when moral power was comparatively weak, the passions little +restrained, and the inflamed feeling of revenge pursued its victims, +it was a humane measure to make the church a place of refuge. By the +canon law all churches were to afford protection to the criminal for +a limited time, to allow the first burst of passion to assuage, before +the injured party could claim redress. So in the early statutes of +the Scotch Church it was enacted that every consecrated church, with +a right of baptism and burial, should have the privilege of sanctuary, +which extended for thirty paces round the graveyard. In early times the +boundaries of sanctuaries were sometimes marked off by stone crosses, +such as those at the monastery of Dull, in Athole; but the great +sanctity of some places of worship arose from the extreme veneration +for their patron saints, and the significance and virtue attached to +the relics which were preserved in them; and yet the church and even +the holy altar were not always safe from violence. The church of Wedale, +now called Stow, was one of the most famous of Scottish sanctuaries. +About the year 1166 William the Lion issued a precept to the ministers +of the church of Wedale, intimating to them not to detain the men of +the abbot of Kelso, who had taken refuge there, nor their goods, as the +abbot himself was willing to give them full justice. David I. granted +the church of Lesmahagow to the monastery of Kelso, and also confirmed +its privilege of sanctuary in the following terms:――“Whosoever for +escaping peril of life and limb flees to this church, or comes within +the four crosses that stand around it, out of reverence to God and +St. Machutus, I grant him my firm peace.” Tyninghame in Lothian, and +Inverlethan in Tweeddale, were also noted sanctuaries in their day.¹ + + ¹ _Statuta Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ_, Volume II., pages 18, + 19, 37, 46; _Sculptured Stones of Scotland_, Volume II., + Appendix to Preface, page 66, Notices of Plates, page 11; + _Register of Kelso_, Volume I., pages 9, 10, 22, Volume II., + page 317. + +The law of sanctuary in Scotland was defined and regulated in the +reign of Alexander II. Careful rules were stated to guard against the +danger of encouraging crime by offering an easy escape and immunity to +fugitive vagabonds, thieves, and homicides.¹ + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume I., page 71. + +In the introduction many references were made to the localities and +the positions where the people fixed their habitations, and erected +defensive dwellings and structures of various kinds for their security +and protection. Further, it was shown that there were towns and +villages from an early period. The people who lived in these towns were, +no doubt, in a limited sense the vassals of the king or of the local +chiefs, but it does not follow that these townsfolk had no proprietary +rights or customary rights of trade before the era of granting charters. +On the contrary, as there were rights of property in land centuries +before charters came into use, so the townsfolk had their recognised +customary rights in Scotland and elsewhere for ages before the period +of charters. In accordance with this, the earliest charters of the +royal burghs always implied the previous existence of an organised +community; thus the royal charter simply recognised organised +communities already existing. Dundee, Berwick, Inverness, Aberdeen, +and other towns on the coasts, were places of foreign trade before +the charter period; but the king’s charter, which placed the burgh +communities under the special protection of the Crown, and also +conferred on the burgesses privileges of trade, were great advantages, +which tended to promote order and industry, and to advance civilisation. +Although, when the kings granted charters to the burghs, they had +their own interest in view, for originally each burgess was a Crown +vassal, and paid a fixed yearly rent for his separate tenement. The +Crown appointed officers to collect these rents, who accounted for +them; the king also claimed the fines imposed in the courts of the +royal burghs, and certain customs which were collected by the Crown +officers. These arrangements continued in operation till about the end +of the thirteenth century; and subsequently another arrangement came +into practice by which the burgesses obtained short leases from the +chamberlain, on the condition of paying a specific sum to the king, +thus they acquired a right to the rents, the issues of their courts, +and the petty customs. These leases were granted on comparatively easy +terms, but sometimes a grassum was paid on their renewal. From this +practice another arrangement gradually came into operation, by which +the burgesses obtained from the Crown charters of feu-farm, converting +their lease into a perpetual right. Aberdeen and Edinburgh were the +first burghs which obtained these feu charters; the former in 1319, +for a yearly rent of £213 6s. 8d.; and the latter in 1329, for a rent +of 52 marks.¹ + + ¹ _Exchequer Rolls of Scotland_, Volume I.; _Acts of the + Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume I., page 118; _Charters of + Edinburgh, Burgh Records Society_, page 16. + +Berwick, Edinburgh, Stirling, Perth, Aberdeen, and Roxburgh, were +among the first burghs which received royal charters, but the greater +number of the royal burghs in the kingdom were constituted before the +close of the thirteenth century. At the same period the Church had its +burghs; the nobles also had their burghs of regality and barony. The +higher nobles imitated the king, and often granted exclusive rights and +privileges to the inhabitants of the towns within their earldoms and +baronies; sometimes the Crown attempted to assert its prerogative by +extinguishing the privileges of such burghs, but it rarely succeeded. + +There were associated trading communities on the north side of the +Grampians in the reign of David I. As we learn from a charter of +William the Lion, granted to the burgesses of Aberdeen and the north +in the year 1196, in these terms:――“William, by the grace of God, King +of the Scots, to all good men of his whole land, greeting. Know all +men present and to come, that I have granted, and by this my charter +have confirmed to my burgesses of Aberdeen, and to all the burgesses +of Moray, and to all my burgesses dwelling to the north of the Munth +(the Grampian mountains) their free hanse, to be held where they will +and when they will, as freely and peacefully, fully and honourably, +as their ancestors, in the time of King David, my grandfather, had +their hanse freely and honourably. Wherefore I strictly forbid anyone +to trouble or disturb them therein, on pain of my full forfeiture.”¹ +The hanse meant the privilege of trade and association, but to what +importance these burgesses of the north attained cannot be ascertained, +further than that the hanse did not survive the War of Independence. + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume I., Appendix + to Preface, page 77. + +In the south of the kingdom the burgh communities had reached the stage +of united action at the opening of the twelfth century; their union +consisted of the towns of Berwick, Roxburgh, Edinburgh, and Stirling. +Their meetings were held under the presidency of the king’s chamberlain, +and called the “Court of the Four Burghs.” Like other early assemblies, +the proceedings of this body of burgesses presented a commingle of +the legislative and judicial functions, and their court occasionally +extended its operation beyond municipal organisation, and established +rules on matters of private right and obligation. The members of this +burghal court framed the code called “The Laws and Constitutions of +the Four Burghs,” which is the earliest body of Scotch laws extant. +This code was sanctioned by the Government in the reign of David I., +and many of the early charters of the royal burghs contain internal +evidence of having been drawn from it. These burgh laws have sometimes +been attributed to the wisdom of David I., but they embodied the +practical experience of several generations before his time, and some +additions were made to them after his day. A portion of these laws were +drawn from the customary usage of the Saxons in the south of Scotland. +The Burgh Laws are the most complete of the early fragments of Scotch +legislation, and their last editor declared that no such ancient and +well-authenticated code of burgh laws exists in the world.¹ + + ¹ _Ancient Laws and Customs of the Burghs of Scotland._ + Edited by C. Innes. Preface page 21; _Report on Municipal + Corporations of Scotland_, page 15. 1835. + +The union of the Four Burghs gradually developed, and in 1405 delegates +from all the royal burghs on the south of the river Spey were ordered +to assemble once a year to deliberate upon their common affairs; and +in 1454 its place of meeting was fixed at Edinburgh by royal charter. +Under the name of the Convention of Royal Burghs it continued its +annual meetings, and treated on matters relating to the burghs; and, +although the Convention still meets, since 1835 most of its powers and +functions have departed.¹ + + ¹ “The towns of England, neither by themselves nor in + conjunction with the shires, ever attempted before the + seventeenth century to act alone in convention like the + Scotch burghs, nor in confederation like the German League.” + Stubb’s _Constitutional History of England_, Volume II., + page 220. + +The local rulers of the burgh community were elected by the whole +body of the burgesses once a year. The newly elected alderman (chief +magistrate) and the bailies then swore fealty to the king and to the +burgesses――“That they should not punish any man or woman except with +the sanction of the ordinary council and the judgment of the good men +of the burgh. That neither for fear, nor for love, nor for hatred, +nor for kinship, nor for loss of their silver, should they spare to +do right to all men.” It seems that the distinction between skilled +craftsmen and the men of commerce or merchants did not emerge in +an acute form for a considerable time after the institution of the +royal burghs. But the increase of trade and wealth, and a more minute +division of labour among hand-craftsmen, tended in the direction of +such a distinction. A few clauses of charters, and a statute of William +the Lion, gives a general liberty to the merchants of the realm to buy +and to sell, meaning that the merchant guild should have a ♦monopoly +of buying and selling within the limits of the burghs. A short code, +entitled the Statutes of the Guild, originated in Berwick about the +middle of the thirteenth century, and was at first intended for the +government of the guild merchants of that town. This code contains +fifty-one statutes, all of which were framed before the end of the +thirteenth century. + + ♦ “monoply” replaced with “monopoly” + +The preamble of these statutes suppresses all other trading +associations. The first statute enacted that all particular guilds +previously acting in any burgh, should be extinguished, and that their +goods and chattels ought and should be given to this guild, except the +members form a union and come to an understanding to act together in +all good deeds in fellowship, secure and faithful friendship without +deceit. The regulations and binding clauses of these statutes are very +definite and minute; and they were soon generally adopted in all the +royal burghs of Scotland. The payment for entrants into the merchant +guild was fixed at forty shillings, unless they were sons or daughters +of the guild brethren. No one was permitted to deal in hides, wool, +wool skins, nor cut cloth within the burgh, unless he was a guild +brother. It was enacted “that no butcher, so long as he choose to +practise his trade, should buy wool or hides, unless he will abjure his +axe and swear that he will not lay his hand upon beasts.” In the Laws +of the Burghs, an earlier code already noticed, it was enacted “that +no dyer, flesher, shoemaker, or fisherman, can be allowed to entre +the guild till he swear not to exercise his craft with his own hands, +but only by ♦servants under him.”¹ At a later period a severe and long +struggle ensued between the merchant guilds and the craftsmen, touching +the privilege of trading and other municipal rights. + + ♦ “servands” replaced with “servants” + + ¹ _Ancient Laws of the Burghs of Scotland_, pages 34, 35, 60, + 64, 69, _et seq._ + +It has sometimes been stated that there was no trace of thraldom in the +Scotch royal burghs. This, however, is not historically accurate, for +in the burgh laws the following occurs:――“If any wool-comber leaves the +burgh to dwell with upland men, while he had sufficient work to occupy +him within the burgh, then he ought to be taken and imprisoned.” There +is another law in the same code which has often been misinterpreted: +it runs thus:――“If any man’s thrall, baron’s or knight’s, comes to a +burgh and buys a burgage, and dwells in his burgage for a twelvemonth +and a day without challenge of his lord or his bailie, he shall be +for evermore free as a burgess within that royal burgh, and enjoy the +freedom of that burgh.”¹ Thus we see that before a serf could become +free, he had to purchase a house――a burgage tenement in the burgh, and +dwell in it for a year. But in those times wherewithal could a serf +purchase a house? At the present time, how many day-labourers could +purchase a house in a town? + + ¹ _Ibid._, page 9; _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, + Volume I., pages 23, 41. + +Every royal burgh had right to hold markets. The market day was an +occasion of unusual freedom, only the traitor, the outlaw, and the +malefactor, could be arrested in the open market. Runaway serfs, +debtors, and small offenders of every description, were at liberty +unless they broke the peace of the market, and those who were guilty of +this, were tried by a special court, known under the name of Dustyfeet. +In this court the peace-breakers were tried by their peers――the +community of the market. The Dustyfeet were the travelling pedlars, +the real forerunners of the modern haberdashers; and these and other +extraneous traders, who sold their goods from a stall, could claim +cut and lot, that is, share and share of the market ground with the +burgesses. Thus, in the market, all were placed on an equality, a +characteristic which accords well with the origin of markets, indicated +in a preceding page.¹ + + ¹ _Ancient Laws of the Burghs of Scotland._ + +Although the government and organisation of the royal burgh communities +seemed to be democratic, the guild brethren manifested strong +aristocratic leanings. For instance, they enacted――“that every burgess +having ten pounds worth of goods shall have in his stable a seemly +horse, worth at least forty shillings. And if he be deprived of his +horse by any chance, death, sale, gift, or in any other way, he shall +within forty days provide another. If not, he shall be fined eight +shillings to the guild.” Still these burgh communities were the only +classes among the people, who possessed wealth and a measure of freedom, +associated with some culture and intelligence. They were usually loyal +and faithful supporters of the king, and contributed a considerable +part of the gross revenue of the kingdom. Their organisations +encouraged habits of industry, tended to promote order and security, +and to advance civilisation. + +In a preceding page reference was made to burghs under earls and barons, +and church burghs. Thus there were three classes of burghs besides the +royal ones. A burgh of regality held its privileges of some earl or +lord; a burgh of barony was of lower rank, and also held its rights +from its local lord; and from the earliest times the constitutions +of both these classes of towns varied. In some burghs of regality the +inhabitants had the right of electing the magistrates and officers of +the town; in others, the superior or lord of the regality retained all +these appointments in his own hands. Usually the superior of a burgh of +regality took special care to hold the control of its inhabitants well +within his own grasp. The rights and privileges of such burghs were――a +right to hold markets, and the exclusive right of trade and manufacture +within the town; and some burghs of regality had power to form bodies +of craftsmen somewhat analogous to those of the royal burghs. Among +burghs of regality may be mentioned Dunbar, which belonged to the Earl +of Dunbar; Wick, to the Earl of Caithness; Inveraray and Campbeltown to +the Argyle family. Burghs of barony became numerous, but at this period +most of them were villages and small hamlets. The principal church +burghs were St. Andrews, Glasgow, Brechin, Dunkeld, and Dunblane, which +belonged respectively to the bishops of these sees; and Dunfermline, +Paisley, Jedburgh, Kelso, the Canongate, Selkirk, and Arbroath, +belonged to the abbots and canons of the respective monasteries of +these towns. These religious corporations seemed as eager to obtain +trading rights and exclusive privileges as any other organised class +in the kingdom. + +The early records of the Scottish mints were lost, and little +information of the coinage of this period can be obtained, except what +may be drawn from the coins which still remain. The earliest of these +are the silver pennies of Alexander I.; there was no gold coinage in +this period. From the reign of Alexander I. to the War of Independence +there was a regular coinage of silver coins; and throughout this period +the standard of fineness was at least equal to the current money of +England. The money was then coined in many different burghs, in Berwick, +Roxburgh, Edinburgh, Stirling, Perth, Aberdeen, Inverness, Dunbar, and +in other towns. The workmanship of these coins is rather rough, but not +much inferior to the English coins of the same period. + +It was already mentioned, that gold and silver were found in Scotland, +plenty of iron and coal, and some lead. Few or no materials exist +for tracing the rise and development of the use of iron and coal +in Scotland. It was reported that iron was worked in the forests of +Moray in the thirteenth century; and in 1265 sea coal was mentioned in +connection with the castle of Berwick. The monks of Newbottle digged +coal from rude surface pits about the middle of the thirteenth century; +the Abbey of Dunfermline had a special grant from David I. of the gold +produced in Fife; and it was reported that David had a silver mine in +Cumberland.¹ + + ¹ _Exchequer Rolls of Scotland_, Volume I.; _Acts of the + Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume I., pages 45, 48; Innes’ + _Legal Antiquities_, page 168. + +The weights and measures in use were various; the old Scotch pound +consisted of fifteen ounces. David I. enacted that the Caithness pound +should be the standard weight throughout the kingdom. The people of +the Orkney and the Shetland islands used the Norwegian weights and +measures till a recent period. Grain was measured by the chalder, +which contained sixteen bolls, the boll four firlots or six bushels; +this Scotch firlot was equal to a bushel and a half of English standard +measure. A skep of meal was a measure which appeared early in the +records of the monasteries, and it contained twelve bolls. The ♦lagon +was an old measure of wine, ale, and oil, which was well-known among +the religious houses of the period. Wool was sold by the sack of +twenty-six stones; and hides by the last = twelve dozen. + + ♦ “lagen” replaced with “lagon” + +The internal trade and the external commerce of the kingdom had +developed considerably during this period. Fish was a staple article +of commerce from very early times, stretching back beyond the period +of the national records. The herring fishing was extensively engaged in +during the twelfth century and succeeding centuries. There were customs +payable on the export of herrings, keeling, ling, haddocks, whitings, +cod, and oysters. In the reign of William the Lion, the Abbot of +Holyrood sent his own men to fish for him off the Isle of May. The +charters and the laws of the period clearly show that the fishing +formed an important part of the economy and trade of the kingdom.¹ The +rich religious houses entered freely into commerce, and the Abbot of +Scone had a ship of his own; and Alexander I. granted to this monastery +the custom of all the ships which landed their cargoes there. Scone had +some foreign trade from an early period; but it was soon outstripped +by Dundee and Perth, as the latter burgh obtained the exclusive right +of trading over the whole of Perthshire. Stirling, St. Andrews, and +Aberdeen, had commercial relations with the Continent; but Berwick +appears to have been the great mart of traffic in Scotland throughout +this period. + + ¹ _Ibid._ + +The exports mostly consisted of the raw products of the country. The +furs entered for export duty, were fox, cat, marten, beaver, otter, +and hare; and wool skins, deer and hog skins, lamb and goat skins; +oxen, cows, and horse hides; salt, corn, meal, and malt, were among the +articles taxed for export. The imports consisted of iron, lead, pots, +pans, locks, knives, and other hardware articles; wax, pepper, alum, +ginger, almonds, figs, raisins, rice, and very large quantities of +wines. Attention had been directed to shipbuilding at a very early +period, and the herring fishing trade must have employed a large number +of small vessels. Ships were built at Inverness and other ports, and +Alexander III. had a number of ships built at Ayr. Shortly before the +outbreak of the long war, the merchants of Berwick were numerous, rich, +and enterprising. Letters of safe conduct were granted to many of them +by the king of England, to pass and re-pass through his dominions in +pursuit of their commercial business; a burgess of Perth also received +a passport to trade in England, and by its coasts. This friendly +state of relations was by the subsequent current of events suddenly +changed, and then we hear of the arrest of the ships which belonged +to the merchants of Berwick by the English Government, and the keen +remonstrances of the enterprising traders.¹ + + ¹ _Exchequer Rolls of Scotland_, Volume I., pages 6, 34, + _et seq._; _Book of Scone_; _Historical Documents of + Scotland_, Volume I., pages 216‒221, 423‒426. + +In 1293, the Court of Flanders granted letters of protection to the +people of Scotland to trade in that country, upon the condition of +their rendering and paying the usual customs and duties. As documents +of a commercial and peaceful character were rare at this period, the +main points of these letters may be quoted:――“Be it known to all that +we, of our own good will and for our own pleasure, by the advice of the +good men and wise people, grant and promise to all those persons of the +realm of Scotland, who are alive at present, and who shall be hereafter, +that they may visit and come to tarry in, and return from, our country +of Flanders, frankly and freely, upon payment and rendering of the +rights, customs and taxes of our country of Flanders: and that we will +not arrest nor cause to be arrested, by ourselves or others, them or +any of them, nor their goods of any description, nor their households, +for debt, nor in consequence or through the actions of another person, +in which they shall not be indebted, nor security, nor answerable; +unless it so be that the present King of Scotland, or those who shall +be kings hereafter, or who have been previously, was or were bound or +under security to us, or our heirs, or our people therein; then we and +our heirs shall be able to arrest, or cause to be arrested, the people +of Scotland, their goods and households, and to detain them until +justice be done therein to us, our heirs, and our people. + +“And in like manner, as is above said, we promise to observe this +well and faithfully for ourselves and our heirs, Counts of Flanders, +in regard to the most excellent Lord John, by the grace of God, King +of Scotland, and to all his countrymen, in such manner and on such +conditions as that the most high lord the King above named, shall +observe such similar arrangements to my people of Flanders, and to my +country. And this agreement shall continue from the Feast of St. Peter +at the beginning of August next for three years.”¹ There is some scant +indications that a few emigrants from Flanders occasionally settled in +the Scotch royal burghs; and there appears to have been a number of +them in Berwick. + + ¹ _Historical Documents of Scotland_, Volume I., pages 399‒401. + +The chief home manufacture in the textile department was a rough +woollen cloth made of native wool, which afforded apparel for the +people. Other branches of manufactures were not as yet in an advanced +stage, though handcraft arts had made some progress. There were +goldsmiths, armourers, smiths, tanners, shoemakers, weavers, fullers, +dyers, tailors, carpenters, and other craftsmen in every royal burgh. +The monasteries had craftsmen of their own connected with their great +organisations; and a charter of Alexander I. authorised the Abbot of +Scone to have one tanner, a smith, and a shoemaker. In relation to +these matters, and, as illustrative of the armour and dress of the +period, something may be learned from the Seals then used in Scotland. + +The seal of Alexander I. represents the king on horseback, wearing +a hauberk of flat rings fitted close to the body with a skirt, below +which the quilted tunic appears. The hood was attached to the hauberk, +and thrown back from the face; the sleeves were wide and left the hands +uncovered; and the legs and feet were protected by ring mail, and from +the heel the simple prick-spur projected. The breast-leather which +secured the saddle was more ornamented than that on the seal of King +Duncan. On the counter seal the king was sitting on a chair of state, +and vested in royal robes. A richly embroidered cloak was thrown over +his shoulders and fastened on the breast; both arms were extended, his +right hand holding a sword, and the left a globe surmounted by a cross: +he does not appear to have a crown upon his head. Only fragments of the +seal of David I. remain, but the design seems to be similar to that of +Alexander’s, and the seal of Malcolm IV. was also of the same design. + +The seal of William the Lion remains intact, but its design and +execution shows no advance in art. He was represented on horseback +at gallop, with a lance and pennon of three points in his right hand, +and in his left a shield. The shield was heater-shaped and plain; +the sheath of the sword appears hanging from the left side of the +saddle, but the breast-leather and saddle have no ornament. The seal +of Alexander II. showed a marked advance in art. He was represented on +horseback with a drawn sword in his right hand, and a shield suspended +in front of the body, on which was boldly depicted the lion rampant; +and he was armed in mail armour, with surcoat, a helmet square at the +top, and with the aventaile for protecting the face. The breast-leather +of the horse was decorated with tassels, and on the back part of the +saddle the lion rampant was emblazoned. Some of the seals of Alexander +III. were richly designed, and executed with spirit and taste in all +their details. On one of them the King was represented on horseback at +full speed, completely armed in chain mail which encircled the limbs +and feet, and over it a surcoat; on his head a square-topped helmet +with horizontal opening; in his right hand a sword, and in front a +shield suspended by the guige, and ornamented with the arms of Scotland, +which were repeated on the long flowing caparison of the horse. The +girths which secure the saddle first appeared on this seal, and the +horse’s head was decorated with a plume of feathers. The background was +enlivened with trefoils. On the counter seal Alexander was represented +after a design resembling those of the preceding kings, but much +improved in style and enriched with ornament.¹ + + ¹ H. Laing’s _Ancient Scottish Seals_, pages 2‒4. + +The seals of the nobles were circular in form; and those of +ecclesiastics were usually oval shaped. The most common design of the +former class was a man on horseback, associated with the figures of +animals and other objects. The lion rampant, one, two, or three were +frequently depicted on their seals. The boar’s head, and the stag’s +head, the boar’s head coupled, the fox, and the dog, often appeared; +the hunter on horseback with spear, horn, and dog, and the falconer +also on horseback, with his arm extended and holding a falcon by the +jess, were represented. The eagle seems to have been the favourite bird, +and he was displayed in various attitudes, sometimes his breast was +charged with barbs, under his head an ornament, and at the back of his +head a cross; or he was represented as alighting. The cock crowing, +the raven, and other birds occur; and serpents, lizards, and fish, +were figured on these ancient seals. In 1292, on the seal of the Earl +of Caithness, there were two figures sitting in a galley without sails, +the mast terminated in a cross, and the prow and the stern in the +heads of dragons, and the whole within a double tressure, flowered +and counter-flowered; there was a hare above the shield, and on each +side of it a lizard. At the same period Alexander of Argyle had a +representation of a galley on his seal, somewhat resembling the above. +On a seal bearing the date of 1176, there was a full-length figure of +a female dressed in long and flowing drapery, with both arms extended, +and a falcon resting on her left hand. On an oval shaped seal of 1181 +there was a figure of a monkey, clothed and kneeling on one knee upon +the back of an animal resembling a lion, and there seemed to be the +head of an animal in front of the lion; the background of the seal +consisted of a series of crosses. + +On the seals of the bishops and the monasteries the figures and objects +were usually of a religious character. On those of the higher churchmen +the most common figure was a bishop in pontifical vestments. In 1203, +on a seal of the bishop of Glasgow there was the figure of a young man +seated before a lectern, on which there was a book; in his left hand he +held a rod of office, while his right hand was a little raised and the +forefinger extended, as if he were discoursing from the volume before +him.¹ + + ¹ Laing’s _Ancient Scottish Seals_, pages 28, 29, _et seq._ + +Many of the symbols and figures on the seals of the twelfth and +thirteenth centuries were similar to those which appear on the +sculptured stones of Scotland. Thus a relation between the symbols +and the art of the stone crosses and those exhibited on the seals may +be considered as established; and this relation shows the continuity +of the art.¹ + + ¹ _Sculptured Stones of Scotland_, II., page 31, and Appendix + to Preface pages 14‒18. + +In the early part of this period the Church of Scotland was brought +into accord with the prevailing form of Christendom. David I. refounded +or organised most of the bishoprics and the monasteries, and endowed +them very liberally. He was the first king in Scotland who enforced the +payment of tithes. David and his successors introduced various orders +of regular monks to supersede the Culdees; and in a comparatively short +time most of the reorganised monasteries became very rich. The division +of parishes and the parochial system began to assume form; but the +monastic ideal and spirit was still strong, and cramped the development +of the parochial organisation from its birth.¹ Many churches were +conferred upon the great monasteries as property, and in this way it +became the right and the function of the abbots of the monasteries +to appoint many of the vicars of the parish churches; the result was +that parochial duties and work were much neglected, and rarely became +effectual in any quarter of the kingdom as a means of religious and +moral instruction. + + ¹ “The term parish, meaning any district, was at first + appropriated to the diocese of a bishop. In 1179 it is used + as synonymous with diocese, and applied to the bishopric + of Glasgow. In some instances it would seem to mean the + jurisdiction rather than the district. The word shire, so + common in our old records, is often equivalent to parish, + but sometimes applied to other divisions of church territory, + which cannot now be defined.” _Origines Parochiales Scotiæ_, + Volume I., Preface, page 20. + +The diocesan form of church polity, which scarcely existed at the close +of the eleventh century, was almost completed before the end of David’s +reign. He restored nunneries, and founded one at Berwick-on-Tweed; this +nunnery was richly endowed, and had several small dependencies. It has +been stated that “the principle of celibacy was effectively established +among the Scotch clergy by David, along with his other reforms;”¹ +but this seems doubtful. For there is ample evidence that celibacy +never was effectually established among the clergy in Scotland, as +their own records testify. Thus, “one great evil, it will be seen, +the incontinence of the priesthood, stands confessed, deplored, and +condemned through all the three centuries of Scottish ecclesiastical +legislation. Here, as elsewhere throughout Christendom, every code of +provincial, every code of synodical canons, calls, but calls in vain, +upon the clergy to ♦separate themselves from their concubines as they +were styled――their wives, rather, as we may charitably hope that in +most cases they should have been, but for the law which forbade the +churchman to marry.”² Listen to another great writer, well entitled +to speak on the subject.――“The historian must not shrink from the +truth, however repulsive. Celibacy, which was the vital energy of the +clergy, was at the same time their fatal irremediable weakness. The +universal voice, which arraigns the state of morals, as regards sexual +intercourse among the clergy, is not that of their enemies only――it is +their own. Century after century we have heard throughout our history +the eternal protest of the severer churchmen, of popes, of legates, and +of councils.”³ + + ¹ Innes, _Sketches of Early Scotch History_, page 187. + + ♦ “seperate” replaced with “separate” + + ² _Statuta Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ_, Volume I., Preface, page 205; + _Register of Kelso_, Volume I., pages 77, 131, 132, 136, + _et seq._ + + ³ Dean Milman’s _History of Latin Christianity_, Volume VI., + Book XIV., Chapter I. 1855. + +Thus, though the clergy were a support to the Crown, their functions +and duties as the teachers of morality and the national instructors +of the people, were only very imperfectly performed. Still, any +learning and education which existed in the kingdom was in their hands, +for the chancellor of each diocese was entrusted with the general +supervision of all the schools within the bounds of the bishopric. +The rector or master of schools appears in record in the twelfth +century in connection with the schools of Abernethy; and in that and +the succeeding century many notices of the schools and schoolmasters +of St. Andrews, Roxburgh, Berwick, Ayr, Perth, Stirling, Aberdeen, and +of other places, occur in several records. Touching the character of +the education imparted in these schools no details have been preserved; +but probably the greater part of it consisted of the studies associated +with the qualifications then necessary for admission to the offices and +functions of the Church. There were also schools for teaching singing +in the cathedral cities in the thirteenth century. It was enacted in +the constitution of the Cathedral of Aberdeen, in 1279, that the master +of the schools should see to the attendance of four singing boys at +matins and high mass, and at all the great festivals: two to carry +tapers and two to bear incense. Indeed, the services of the Church were +accompanied with all the harmonic sound and ceremonial display which +the resources of the kingdom could command.¹ + + ¹ _Register of the Priory of St. Andrews_; _Register of + Dunfermline_; _Register of Paisley_; _Old Spalding Club + Miscellany_, Volume V. + +Anything in the form of literature composed in Scotland during this +period was usually written in Latin; Norman-French was not used either +for literary purposes or official acts and State documents. Although, +when Edward I. entered on his scheme of conquest, many writs and papers +emanated from him in Norman-French relating to the affairs of Scotland. + +In the Introduction reference was made to the writings in Latin, +fragments of chronicles, and Gaelic memoranda and rhymes; and the +following paragraphs present all the information of the writings of +the period under review, which I could obtain. Robert, Bishop of St. +Andrews, who died about the year 1159, was reported to have written +_Statuta Ecclesiastica_, but it is not known to be extant. Gualterus, +a prior of Kelso, who lived in the twelfth century, composed a tract +entitled _Pro Ecclesiæ Scoticæ Immunitate Contra Rogerum Eboracensem_; +and one under the title of _Appellatio ad Curiam Romanam_; and also +letters _Epistolæ Diversos_. I have seen none of these writings, and +am not aware that any of them have been preserved. Adam, an abbot of +Melrose, afterwards elected Bishop of Caithness in 1213, and slain by +the inhabitants in 1222, wrote a _History of Scotland_, in three books; +also _Epistolæ ad regem contra comitem de Caithness_; _Epistolæ ad +Alexandrum Papam_, in one book; _Insularum Descriptiones_, in one book; +and _Excerpta Bibliæ_: but none of these works are known to be extant. + +William Kilconcath was rector of the Friar preachers of Perth, and +afterwards became Bishop of Brechin; he died at Rome in the year 1274. +He wrote a tract, entitled _Contra Ottobonum Papam_, and another on _De +Scoticæ Ecclesiæ Dignitate_. Robert Kildelith was a monk of Newbottle, +then Abbot of Dunfermline, afterwards Abbot of Melrose, and at last he +attained the position of High Chancellor of Scotland. He produced _De +Successione Abbatum de Melrose_. William Fraser was for seven years +Chancellor of Scotland, and was elected Bishop of St. Andrews in 1279. +After the death of Alexander III. he was elected one of the regents of +the kingdom, and for a time he played an active and rather questionable +part in the affairs of Scotland. Fraser wrote _De Jure Successionis +Regni Scotiæ_; and a work entitled _Concordantia in Evangelia_. He died +in France in 1297. + +Another class of writings of the period have more of the historic +character, such as the _Chronicle of Melrose_, which begins with the +year 735 and comes down to 1270. The early part of this chronicle seems +to have been written about the end of the eleventh century, and it was +afterwards continued by several scribes till it assumed its present +form, probably about the close of the thirteenth century; and for +the later part of the twelfth and the greater part of the thirteenth +centuries it is of considerable historic value. The _Chronicle of St. +Crucis_ is in its early part chiefly drawn from _Bede’s History_; it +then leaps to the year 1065, and follows _Simon of Durham_, with some +slight variations and additions to 1129; from that year it is mainly +filled with notices relating to Scotland, ending abruptly in the year +1153. Throughout the manuscript the handwriting is nearly similar. A +few other short and slight chronicles of the period are still extant, +but they contain little more than the names and succession of the kings, +besides a few fragments of lost chronicles, the whole of which have +been carefully edited and published by the authority of the Record +Commissioners. + +A few of the Chartularies of the monasteries, and parts of the +Registers of the dioceses of Glasgow, Aberdeen, and others, were +written in the thirteenth century; and, although these cannot be called +literature, yet such records contain invaluable historical materials. +Long lists exist of the Records of Scotland which were removed +from Edinburgh by Edward I. pending the settlement of the disputed +succession, and which were restored to John Baliol, King of Scotland, +in December 1292; but of their subsequent fate nothing is known. All +that now remains is the titles and headings of the numerous rolls given +in the Indenture, which testifies that the whole of them were returned +to King John. From the lists in this document we obtain an idea of +the great historical loss which the nation has sustained from the +disappearance of the records. These were of the most varied character, +and many hundreds of rolls contained the very matter which would have +enabled us to explain clearly the difficult problem connected with the +lands of the kingdom in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.¹ + + ¹ _National Manuscripts of Scotland_, Part I., Number 74. The + document containing the lists of these lost Records was also + printed in the first Volume of the _Acts of Parliament of + Scotland_. + +In preceding pages the defensive structures which the people erected +for their self-preservation and security in the earlier periods, such +as the hill-forts, crannogs, and brochs, were described. During the +period under consideration a new form of defensive work was gradually +introduced, usually called the Norman type of castle. The earliest +remains of castles of this style in Scotland belong to the thirteenth +century, and the best examples of them were the castles of Hermitage, +Lochindorb, Bothwell, Kildrummy, Caerlaverock, and Dirleton. These +appear to have been built in the later half of the thirteenth century. +Massive walls of enormous strength were the chief features of these +structures; but they presented little distinctive art characteristics, +as strength and defence was the original idea and end contemplated by +their owners. + +At the time of Haco’s invasion the royal castles on the coasts were +inspected, and their stores and defensive appliances increased. On the +eve of the outbreak of the War of Independence, the castles held by +the Crown numbered about thirty. In the southern quarter of the kingdom +there were the castles of Berwick, Roxburgh, Jedburgh, and Edinburgh; +inward and westward the castles of Kirkcudbright, Wigtown, Dumfries, +Dumbarton, Ayr, Tarbet, and the important fortress of Stirling; +northwards the castles of Dundee, Forfar, Kincardine, Aboyne, Cluny, +Aberdeen, Banff, Elgin, Nairn, Forres, Dingwall, Cromarty, and +Inverness; in the island of Bute the royal castle of Rothesay, which +was erected early in the thirteenth century, and several others. There +were also a number of castles in commanding positions in the hands +of the nobles; and besides these there were a considerable number of +partially fortified dwelling-houses.¹ + + ¹ _Exchequer Rolls of Scotland_, Volume I.; _Historical + Documents of Scotland_, Volume I., pages 241, 263, _et seq._ + +The greater part of the houses in the burghs and the villages were +built of wood, or other materials which could easily be procured. Being +built of such combustible materials, they were very liable to catch +fire, and, as might be expected, great fires frequently occurred; in +the year 1244 several of the burghs were almost entirely consumed by +the flames.¹ + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume I.; _Ancient + Laws of the Burghs of Scotland_, pages 14, 24, 40. + +Reference was made in the Introduction to the early types of churches. +These primitive structures were succeeded by the regular church +architecture of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The chief +characteristic of the churches of the twelfth century was massive +masonry, short round pillars, semi-circular arches in windows and doors, +which sometimes inclined to the horse-shoe form; at first the style was +simple and comparatively plain, but it became excessively ornamented. +A number of specimens and fragments of this style remain, such as the +nave of the Abbey of Dunfermline, which was dedicated in 1150; the +Cathedral of Kirkwall founded in 1138, which was many years in process +of building, and the structure of which exhibits the characteristics of +the earlier and later styles. A part of the abbey church of Jedburgh, +and the church of Leuchars, in Fifeshire, belong to the early style; +the monastery of Kelso, some portions of a few rural churches in +the district of the Merse, and parts of the monasteries of Holyrood, +Arbroath, and the small chapel of St. Margaret in the Castle of +Edinburgh.¹ + + ¹ Muir’s _Characteristics_; Walcott’s _Ancient Church of + Scotland_, 1874. + +In the thirteenth century the prevailing style of church architecture +in Scotland was that which has usually been termed the early English +or the first pointed period. This was the great church building era +in Scotland; it was then that the fine old churches were erected, the +very ruins of which attest the skill and the excellent workmanship of +their builders. To this period the cathedrals of St. Andrews, Glasgow, +Brechin, Dunblane, Whithorn, Dornoch, and a portion of the cathedral +of Elgin, belong; the abbey churches of Paisley, Arbroath, Coldingham, +Kilwinning, Restennot, Dundrennan, Ferne, Cambuskenneth, Inchmahome, +Sweetheart, and Pluscardine, were either erected or begun to be built +in the thirteenth century, for it must be observed that these fine +structures were not rapidly built, as some of them were fifty years, +and even much longer, in building from the date of their foundation +till their completion. + +The distinctive characteristics of the style of these churches were +the pointed arch, tall pillars clustered round a circular pier, often +divided by one or more bands, and with capitals, sometimes plain +or usually worked in profuse variety; long and narrow lancet-headed +windows, bold buttresses――in some examples unbroken, and in others +divided into stages; the roofs were high pitched, and, when of stone, +groined, and the crossings richly ornamented with bosses, but wooden +roofs were common; in the later specimens of the style high steeples +appeared. But a clear and just conception of the architectural features, +the symmetry, and the beauty, of these buildings can only be obtained +by actual observation of the structures themselves. For instance, the +Cathedral of Glasgow externally is not a very striking building, but if +a person enters and looks through its interior he will see one of the +finest sights even yet to be seen in that great city. The massive ruins +of the monastic buildings in Arbroath, and in other places mentioned +above, the parts of the walls of the Cathedral of Elgin, still +standing; and the Abbey Church of Paisley, with its sounding aisle, +amply attest the architectural skill and taste, and the excellence of +the workmanship of the period; and withal, they remain as the visible +emblems of the veneration and devotion of many generations of our +ancestors, and recall the memory of the departed worth and greatness of +the mighty dead. + +As yet the internal means of communication were extremely defective. In +most parts of the country the roads were little better than mere tracks +for cattle, and pack-horses and packmen were employed to carry goods +through the kingdom. The bridges were mostly all built of wood. There +was a bridge over the Forth at Stirling, frequently mentioned in the +laws of the period; one over the Tay at Perth, one over the South Esk +at Brechin, and another over the North Esk. There were three bridges +over the Dee, one near Aberdeen and two farther up the river, and one +over the rapid Spey in 1224. + +A considerable part of the land was under tillage, but the system of +agriculture was primitive and rude. Large herds of cattle, sheep, goats, +and swine, were reared, and some attention seems to have been given +to the breeding of horses. Dairy produce became a staple article of +domestic economy, and upon the Crown lands large quantities of cheese +were annually produced. David I. granted to the monks of Kelso the +tenth of the cheese which the Crown drew from Tweeddale, and to the +monks of Scone he gave the tenth of the can of his cheese from the +Crown lands of Gowrie, Scone, Cupar, and Forgrund, and similar grants +were made to other religious houses. It appears from the records of +the monasteries that poultry formed a branch of the farm economy of +the period. In the reign of Malcolm IV., on the feast of All-Saints +the monks of Scone received ten hens from each ploughland within their +territories, and the abbot of Kelso one hen from every house on the +lands of the monastery, for which he paid a halfpenny.¹ + + ¹ _Exchequer Rolls of Scotland_, Volume I.; Registers of Scone, + Kelso, and the Priory of St. Andrews. + +The principal grain crop was oats, though barley and wheat, pease +and beans, were also grown. Wheat was chiefly raised in the southern +counties and the lowlands of Morayshire. Large quantities of oats +were ground into meal. Mills were numerous, and driven both by water +and wind, although the hand mill was still used. The royal burgh +communities placed restrictions on hand-mill grinding, and they enacted +that no one should presume to grind wheat, mixed grain, or rye, with +hand-mills, unless compelled by a storm or a scarcity of mills; and +if any one dared to contravene this he was deprived of his hand-mills +for ever, “and shall grind his malt at mills paying the 24th measure.” +The mill was one of the oldest rights of a barony, and it was amplified +by the addition of the multure dues and the sucken. Subsequently the +people were thirled to the mill, which meant that all the inhabitants +of the barony must send their corn to be ground at the barony mills. +The people of the barony often fought with each other as to their round +and order of service. One part of the service connected with the sucken +was the bringing home of the mill-stones. “Considering that there were +few or no roads, the simplest arrangement was to thrust a beam through +the hole, and then for the whole multitude to wheel it along upon its +edge――an operation of some difficulty and danger in a rough district.” +The barons’ mills, with their multure and dues, became one of the most +grievous forms of feudal oppression.¹ + + ¹ _Ancient Laws of the Burghs of Scotland_, pages 74, 85; + Innes’ _Legal Antiquities_, pages 47, 48. + +A large quantity of grain was malted to make ale. The brew-houses +were numerous, and have continued to be so. Every barony and every +monastery had their brew-houses attached to them, and malt-ale held a +primary place in the domestic economy of the community. The burghs were +extremely jealous of the rights of brewing, and sometimes attempted to +restrict the number of brew-houses. They enacted “that no one without +the burghs shall have a brew-house unless he have a pit and gallows, +and then one brew-house only.” + +In the reign of Alexander III. the crown lands were extensive and +valuable, especially in the north-eastern district of the kingdom. Of +these lands a portion was forest, another portion was domain directly +in the king’s hands, and cultivated by his bondmen, who seem to have +been yearly tenants. These bondmen, according to my interpretation, +were the descendants of the real owners of these lands, who were +dispossessed in the reigns of David I. and his two grandsons by the +feudal processes and expedients indicated in preceding pages. The free +tenants held the land on lease for a stipulated number of years or as +life renters at a fixed annual rent. A large portion of the Crown lands +was held under thanage; the thane of the thirteenth century in Scotland +was a Crown vassal, and held his land under a tenure called feu-farm.¹ +At a later period thanages were converted into feudal holdings for +knight or military service. The bondmen were the actual tillers of +the soil, and the class above them――the free farmers on the Crown +lands――probably lived in easy and comfortable circumstances. + + ¹ _Exchequer Rolls of Scotland_, Volume I., pages 8, 10, 11, + _et seq._ + +The organisation in feudal earldoms and baronies has been already +explained. So far as ascertained, it appears that there was no class of +free tenants or farmers holding land by a lease for a term of years at +a fixed annual rent on the territories of the real feudal barons. Under +them as on the Crown lands, the actual cultivators of the soil were +bondmen or serfs――the descendants of the real owners and occupiers of +the land, who were dispossessed by the feudal processes and expedients +resorted to in the reigns of David I. and his two grandsons. Some of +the class of bondmen may have held land from year to year under the +feudal barons, but then they were merely tenants at the will of their +masters. There seems to have been at least two grades of bondmen: +one being attached to the land and transferred along with it when the +ownership of the land was changed: the other grade were actual slaves, +inasmuch as they could be bought and sold individually apart from +the land, like any other article of merchandise; and instances of +such sales of slaves frequently appear in the records. If they escaped +and ran away, then there were minute legal processes for retaking and +reclaiming them in any quarter of the kingdom, and replacing them in +the hands of their owners.¹ + + ¹ _National Manuscripts_, Part I., Numbers 30, 37, 54, 58, 59; + _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume I. _Charters + of Holyrood Abbey_; _Register of Dunfermline_. I entirely + dissent from Dr. Skene’s unwarranted inference to the effect + that these feudal bondmen and serfs were merely similar in + position and characteristics to the servile class in Celtic + times in Scotland. One would wish to see some evidence + adduced that such bondmen and serfs existed in Scotland + before the twelfth century. These serfs and bondmen were + created by the processes of feudalism in connection with the + land and in no other way; thus the land of Scotland belonged + to the Celtic people at the close of the eleventh century, + but ere the end of the succeeding century the Celtic people + were dispossessed of the greater and best part of the land, + which was given to Norman nobles, to the Church, and retained + in the hands of the kings. What else could have resulted + but the reduction of the original owners to serfdom? _Celtic + Scotland_, Volume III., pages 220‒223. + +The fullest account of the agriculture of the period occurs in +connection with the church lands, where perhaps the most favourable +side of the rural people appear. According to a rent roll of the lands +belonging to the monastery of Kelso, about the year 1290, the monks +had extensive territories which were mostly held in their own hands +and cultivated from their granges. Their arable land was measured +in ploughgates, husbandlands, and oxgates; and pasture was measured +by the number of sheep which it sustained. An oxgate was thirteen +acres; and the husbandman who kept two oxen for the common plough, had +thus twenty-six acres, which was called a husbandland; four of these +neighbours joined in working their common plough, and their whole land +made a ploughgate, which meant the extent of land tilled by eight oxen, +or one hundred and four acres. A davoch of land in the eastern counties +was four hundred and sixteen acres, or four ploughgates. On the western +coast of the Highlands and in the islands, the lands were designated +as mark lands, half-mark lands, and penny lands; a mark land contained +thirty acres and two-thirds of an acre, and so in descending ratio to +half-mark, and penny lands. + +At the grange or farmstead of the abbey, the chief home on each estate, +the cattle, the implements, the stores, and all the requisites for +the cultivation of the land were housed, the bondmen and the serfs who +tilled it, and their families. The serfs were the lowest class of the +community of the grange, and they were transferable like the land which +they laboured, and could be caught when they attempted to escape like +runaway sheep or oxen. The cottars were the next class above the serfs; +and each cottar had from one to nine acres of land along with his house, +for which he paid a small sum in money, and services in seedtime and +in harvest; some of the cottars had no land, but this seems to have +been an exception to the general system. Beyond the cottar’s huts stood +the establishments of the husbandmen, each of whom lived in his own +separate farmstead. The husbandmen held a definite portion of land for +which they paid a fixed rent, and specified services, which consisted +of work in harvest and sheep-shearing times, and carrying the wool +and the peats of the monastery. Another and higher class of tenant +held his lands by charter, and could not be ejected; his holding was +usually small, for fifty-two acres of land he paid eight shillings +of annual rent, and specified services in ploughing and in harvest +work. As already mentioned, the next and highest class of church feudal +vassals were almost equal in rank and wealth to the lesser barons and +freeholders of the Crown.¹ + + ¹ _Register of Kelso_, pages 460‒463; Innes’ _Legal + Antiquities_, page 243. In Northumberland the farming of the + monastery was similar to that of Tweeddale. The monks of + Hexham had numerous and large estates mostly in Tindale-ward. + Among the benefactors of this monastery we find King David + of Scotland, his son, prince Henry, and his grandson William + the Lion, granting lands to it in Northumberland. At Hexham + as at Kelso, the monks farmed a portion of their lands + themselves; under them there were the husbandmen, who held + a varying extent of land; the cottars who held a portion + of land, usually under five acres, some had only one, others + two or three. The annual rent of these lands belonging + to the priory in Northumberland, ran from a sixpence to + a shilling per acre. The annual rent of a cottage was + from eighteenpence to two shillings; but in addition to + this there were services which the tenants had to perform, + such as a few days’ work at the mill or at hedging, in no + case, however, were the services burdensome. _Black Book of + Hexham_, Preface, pages 15‒20, 86. + +In the thirteenth century the monks of Kelso had very large flocks +of sheep, more than 6,600, and considerable numbers of oxen, cows, +and swine. The monks of Melrose also had pretty large herds of cattle, +sheep, and swine, and it may be reasonably inferred that the other +great monasteries were equally rich and powerful in relation to the +desirable things of this world.¹ + + ¹ _Register of Kelso._ + +In concluding this chapter let us recapitulate. The government, the +introduction of charters, the powers and privileges granted to the +Norman nobles in connection with the land and the people, and the +organisation of feudalism, have been explained. The customary law +of the country appeared to be passing into crude written forms. The +prevailing forms of trial, the modes of punishment, and the privileges +associated with sanctuaries, have been treated; and it was pointed out +that the conception of justice was not as yet distinctly discriminated +from the feeling of revenge. The incorporation of the burghs, their +internal organisation and characteristics, have been explained, and +burghs of regality and church burghs were noticed. The coinage and +the commerce of the kingdom, the progress of industry and of art have +been indicated. The re-organisation of the Church, the introduction +of regular orders of monks into the monasteries, the literature and +schools of the period, and the castles and church architecture have +been briefly treated. Finally, the state of agriculture, and the social +condition of the occupiers and tillers of the soil came under review, +different ranks of holders and occupiers of land were indicated, and +it appeared that in the processes associated with the introduction +of feudalism a great number of the people had been reduced to an abject +state of bondage and serfdom. Although material wealth, commerce, +and internal organisation, had progressed considerably during this +period, still the condition of society was unsatisfactory; the people +were vigorous, and if external oppression had not been so severe, +civilisation would have advanced at a more rapid pace. + + + + + CHAPTER V. + + _Disputed Succession. War of Independence._ + + +ON the death of the Maid of Norway the nation found itself without an +heir to the throne in the direct line of succession, and the signs of +a contest soon appeared. As soon as the tidings of the Queen’s death +became known, the Earls of Mar and Athole began to muster their army, +while Robert Bruce had surrounded himself with a body of his followers +and was moving through the kingdom and intently looking for more +supporters. At this crisis of the nation’s destiny William Fraser, +Bishop of St. Andrews, thought fit to counsel Edward I., and distinctly +suggested that he should interfere in the affairs of Scotland, and +at once advance towards the Border. Fraser may have wished to prevent +the shedding of blood in Scotland, as he said, but it is obvious that +the bishop had utterly misunderstood the character of the man whom +he assumed to advise.¹ Indeed, Edward I. needed no invitation; he had +already resolved to decide the fate of Scotland, formed his scheme, +chosen his own path, and directed his energy to its accomplishment +with great deliberation, while the current of events seemed exceedingly +favourable to him. + + ¹ _National Manuscripts of Scotland_, Part I., Number 70. + +Edward I. issued writs commanding his barons to attend him with horse +and arms at Norham on the 3rd of June, 1291; thus he prepared for +any emergency which might arise; while he invited the Scotch nobles +and clergy to a conference at Norham on the 10th of May, to which +they agreed. As yet Edward was proceeding with well studied policy, +smoothing his way, and the documents then sent into Scotland were +couched in the most courteous terms. The conference assembled at the +appointed time, and the business was opened by an address from the +Chief Justice of England. His Lordship strongly asserted that Edward I. +was the overlord of the kingdom of Scotland, and therefore he earnestly +appealed to the Scots to acknowledge this, that the settlement of the +great matter before them might be facilitated. The Scots replied that +they were not aware if such a right of feudal superiority belonged to +him, and requested time to consult with the absent nobles, the clergy, +and the community of the kingdom, before giving an answer. Three weeks +were allowed to them, and then all were to reassemble at Norham. A +clear answer was to be given on the question of the superiority of +Edward I., and all those demurring to it or in any way opposing it, +were requested to produce the documents or other evidence on which they +founded their objections. The adjournment was favourable to Edward, +as it tended to bring into prominence the real difficulties associated +with the case. + +At the appointed time the meeting assembled on a green plain opposite +the Castle of Norham, and eight claimants for the crown of Scotland +appeared, namely, John Baliol, Lord of Galloway; Robert Bruce, Lord of +Annandale; Lord John Hastings; John Comyn, Lord of Badenoch; Patrick +of Dunbar; Earl of March; Florence Count of Holland; John Vesy for his +father, Nicholas Soulis; and William Ross, and they were accompanied +by many of the nobles and clergy. None of these claimants were very +near in relationship to the royal line of the Scottish kings; the three +first names in the list stood nearest and their claims were almost +equal. Thus David, Earl of Huntingdon, was a grandson of David I., +and a younger brother of Malcolm IV. and William the Lion. This Earl +David, as stated in a preceding note,¹ had three daughters, Margaret, +Isabella, and Ada, and John Baliol claimed as a grandson of Margaret, +the eldest daughter; Robert Bruce claimed as a son of Isabella, the +second daughter; and John Hastings claimed as a grandson of Ada, the +youngest daughter. So it was seen, at an early stage of the proceedings, +that the real contest for the crown would lie between these three +claimants. An interesting and peculiar characteristic of the whole +of these claims for the crown was that they had all originated from +marriages with females, who were related to the royal family of +Scotland, and it must be admitted that in the art of contracting +marriages the Norman nobles were really great men. + + ¹ Under page 204. + +The Bishop of Bath began the business of the meeting by reading the +King’s speech, which, after referring to the unhappy state of Scotland, +proceeded in a fine flowing style to characterise the benignity of +the illustrious prince who had come to her rescue. He then said that +his royal master had allowed three weeks to the nobles and clergy of +Scotland to bring forward whatever they could to impugn King Edward’s +right of superiority over that kingdom, and they had adduced nothing +to invalidate it. But, in connection with this emphatic statement, one +important fact has recently been brought to light, for a contemporary +record proves that the community of Scotland lodged an answer in +writing against Edward’s claim and demand of feudal superiority; +although it was not deemed relevant by Edward, as it was more +convenient for him and the claimants of the Crown to ignore the people. +The claimants, in their feverish heat to reach the throne, seem to +have utterly forgotten that there was a community in the kingdom. When +all disturbing questions were brushed aside, Edward announced that +his title of Lord Superior was indisputed, and therefore he intended +to act in that character. Robert Bruce was then asked whether he was +willing to prosecute his claim to the Crown of Scotland in the Court of +the Lord Superior; and Bruce, in the presence of the meeting, expressly +recognised Edward as Lord Superior, and agreed to abide by his decision. +The same question was put to each of the claimants, and they all +consented without reserve to the demand of Edward, and immediately +sealed their consent by letters patent.¹ + + ¹ _Historical Documents of Scotland_, Volume II., pages 227, + 228; Rishanger’s _Chronicles_, pages 240‒245, 250. + +None of the Scotch nobles or clergy entered any protest, and they +appear to have acquiesced in the proceedings and the result of this +meeting. The claimants then proceeded a step further in the pursuit +of their object, and in order that justice might be done to their +claims, they at once made Edward Lord Superior of Scotland in reality. +Thus:――“Inasmuch as the aforesaid King of England, cannot such manner +of cognisance make and accomplish with judgment, and that judgment +ought not to pass without execution, and that execution he cannot do in +due manner without possession and seisin of the same lands and castles; +we will, concede, and grant that he, as Sovereign Lord to perform the +things aforesaid, have seisin of all the lands and castles of Scotland +till right be done and performed to the claimants.”¹ It appears that +the claimants of the Crown, and the nobles and clergy present at the +meeting, actually transferred, or rather sold, the kingdom to Edward I. + + ¹ _National Manuscripts of Scotland_, Part I., Number 71. + +The new Lord Superior did not let his powers lie dormant. He +immediately commanded that all the castles in the kingdom should be +surrendered into his hands; he reconstituted the government of the +country, and appointed an Englishman to advise it; and the old seal of +Scotland was broken into four pieces, and a new one made, more suited +to the changed circumstances. A herald then proclaimed the peace of +King Edward, as Lord Paramount of the Realm. + +He next commanded the guardians of Scotland to exact from the Scots +the oath of allegiance to him as Lord Superior of the kingdom. Stations +were fixed where attendance should be given, and the swearing-in +process began on the 23rd of July, 1291, and was continued for fifteen +days. Edward himself visited many of the stations, proceeding by +Edinburgh, Linlithgow, Stirling, Perth, ♦Dunfermline, Kinghorn, and +St. Andrews, and called upon all ranks to sign the rolls of homages +as the vassals of their illustrious Lord Superior. All those who were +refractory, were coerced by imprisonment and other punishments;¹ and +Edward was silently rejoicing over the great victory which he had so +easily gained. + + ♦ “Dumfermline” replaced with “Dunfermline” + + ¹ Rishanger’s _Chronicles_, pages 250, 252; Hailes’ _Annals_, + Volume I., pages 226‒229. + +In 1291 eleven meetings were held, the first one in May and the last +in August; and the places of meeting and all the proceedings were +stated in the records with the greatest minuteness, so that everything +connected with the cause, and especially the supreme position and the +functions of the Lord Superior, should be placed beyond question. At +the meeting held on the 3rd of August, Edward intimated that Bruce and +Baliol should each select forty men as commissioners, while he should +choose twenty-four or more if he thought fit; and these commissioners +were directed to meet in a body and consider the claims of the +candidates for the Crown, and report to the king. At this meeting +twelve candidates for the Crown appeared and entered their claims; and +Edward requested the commissioners to consider them all attentively, +and render their report to the next meeting, to be held on the 2nd of +June, 1292.¹ + + ¹ Palgrave’s _Documents_. + +This long adjournment was a fine politic move. As its apparent object +was to give the commissioners ample time to consider the claims of the +candidates in relation to the cause, while it answered the important +purpose of accustoming the Scotch nobles and clergy to look to Edward +as their great Lord Paramount. For similar reasons Edward welcomed all +grades of claimants, and consequently several of those who came forward +and claimed the Crown were illegitimate descendants of the kings of +Scotland. But seeing that every claimant had a body of feudal followers, +and as the first step of each claimant was to recognise Edward as his +Lord Superior, and render homage to him as such, every new claimant +thus strengthened Edward’s position. + +When the commissioners re-assembled on the 2nd of June, 1292, a new +claim was entered by Eric, King of Norway, the father of the deceased +Maid of Norway; but his claim was not pressed, and judgment passed +against him by default. Indeed, it was then well known that the real +struggle was virtually between Bruce and Baliol, with a possible chance +for Hastings. The proceedings of this meeting assumed the form of an +admirable piece of acting planned by Edward I., and well performed by +the Scotch commissioners. The king first asked the Scotch commissioners +to inform the Court by what laws and customs judgment should be +given. They answered that, owing to difference of opinion among +themselves, and the importance of the cause, they were unable to come +to a conclusion without deliberation, and therefore they sought the +opinion of the English commissioners, but they also declined to commit +themselves till enlightened by an English parliament. Edward then +adjourned the meeting to the 15th of October, 1292, and declared that +meanwhile he would consult the learned all over the world.¹ + + ¹ _Fœdera_, Volume I., page 777; Hailes’ _Annals_, Volume I., + page 235. + +The assembly which met at Berwick on the 15th of October settled some +preliminary points, one of which was that the succession to the Crown +of Scotland ought to be decided in the same manner as the succession +to earldoms, baronies, and other indivisible inheritances. Bruce and +Baliol were then heard in turn at great length in support of their +claims. Bruce determinedly insisted that his right to the Crown had +been recognised in the reigns of Alexander II. and Alexander III., and +urged that his claim was supported by the custom of succession to the +Crown of Scotland. Baliol’s claim was well and adroitly argued, and a +touching reference made to the supremacy of the Lord Paramount’s court. +After the two claimants were heard, Edward requested his council and +the commissioners to answer this question:――“By the laws and customs +of both kingdoms, ought the issue of an elder sister, but more remote +by one degree, to exclude the issue of the younger sister, although +one degree nearer.” The council answered in the affirmative, which was +in favour of Baliol’s claim. Other meetings were held before the final +decision was given, and at one held on the 6th of November, Edward +announced that Bruce was out of the contest as a claimant against +Baliol. John Hastings immediately advanced his claim for one-third of +the kingdom, on the reasonable ground that it was divisible like any +other feudal fief. Bruce then presented a second claim for a third of +the kingdom of Scotland. Hastings and Bruce in turn pleaded against +Baliol that the kingdom ought to be divided into three parts, the same +as other feudal fiefs and baronies, and on this ground they argued +their claims to an equal division of the kingdom amongst them at +great length: and according to feudalism they were right. But the most +peculiar feature of the proceedings was the complete elimination of any +reference to the people of Scotland. It seems never to have occurred +to the grasping claimants that there lived amongst the valleys and +mountains of Scotland a strong-willed race, habituated to independence +and freedom, whose spirit must be broken ere even the decision of the +great Lord Superior could be of much avail.¹ + + ¹ Rishanger’s _Chronicles_, pages 309‒356. + +On the 17th of November 1292, in the castle of Berwick, and in the +presence of a large assemblage, Edward delivered judgment in favour of +Baliol. The vassal King then rendered homage to his Lord Superior, and +orders were issued to invest him in his feudal fief. These points and +formalities were performed and recorded with great care and minuteness, +that the process and the rights of the Superior of the fief might be +placed beyond question. Baliol then proceeded to Scone to be crowned, +with a warrant from his Lord Superior authorising the ceremony, which +was accordingly performed on the 30th of November. Shortly after he +passed into England, and there concluded the last act of the drama by +rendering homage to Edward I. as the invested vassal King of Scotland.¹ + + ¹ _Ibid._, pages 357, 358; also _Ragman Rolls_. + +When Baliol returned to his kingdom he found himself among a people +little disposed to submit to him or his Lord Paramount. If at any +moment he had fancied himself fortunate in attaining to the throne +of Scotland, he was speedily and rudely disabused. It does not appear +that he was gifted with much talent, while he was thwarted at every +turn as an unwelcome master. Indeed, it was rumoured that the poor man +was in terror of his life, as he was now far away from his great lord +and benefactor; yet he seems to have begun his reign with proceedings +intended to benefit the kingdom. He passed an Act in February 1293, +which divided the district of Argyle for administrative purposes, +and re-arranged the sheriffdoms thus:――The sheriffdom of Skye was to +include the western portion of Ross (then north Argyle), the lands +of Glenelg, the lands of Garmoran, and the isles of Eig and Rum. The +sheriffship of Lorne was to include the lands of Ardnamurchan and +Morven, the lands of the Lord of Lorne, and other lands; the sheriffdom +of Cantyre was to include the lands of Cantyre and the island of Bute.¹ +But Baliol’s prospects of a successful reign were soon blasted. + + ¹ Rishanger’s _Chronicles_, page 371; _Acts of the Parliaments + of Scotland_, Volume I., page 91. + +The Lord Superior shortly had an opportunity of exhibiting his power, +and he placed the vassal King in a most humiliating position. It had +become known that the king’s courts were no longer supreme, as there +was a higher authority which might reverse their decisions. A citizen +of Berwick appealed to the Court of Edward I. against a judgment of +the late administrators of Scotland; it was simply a dispute about +money, and Baliol remonstrated and maintained that the appeal should +not be entertained. But Edward returned a crushing reply to his vassal, +and, in effect, told Baliol that he had determined to exercise direct +dominion over the kingdom of Scotland whenever and wherever he thought +fit. Edward was prepared to try all appeals from Scotland, and it was +made a condition that Baliol should appear in person before the English +courts. Macduff appealed to Edward against a judgment of the Scotch +Parliament, touching lands of the Earl of Fife, and Baliol was summoned +to appear and answer the statements of Macduff. The appeal came before +the English Parliament on the 15th of October, 1293, and Baliol was +then asked what defence he had to offer; but he declined to answer. +“What means this,” said Edward I. “You are my vassal, you have done +homage to me, you are here in consequence of my summons.” Still Baliol +declined to make any answer to the appeal; so the Parliament declared +that he was a contumacious offender, who had not shown due respect to +this august assembly. Accordingly it was proposed to deprive him of the +means of wrong-doing by taking three of the chief castles of Scotland +into the hands of the Lord Superior, until his vassal, King John, +should render proper satisfaction.¹ The hapless king crouched and +returned to Scotland, where other stirring events soon followed. + + ¹ _Historical Documents of Scotland_, Volume I. pages 377, 389; + _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume I. page 89. + +In 1294 a quarrel arose between the King of France and Edward I., +touching their feudal relations. Philip IV. of France was then +exerting all his energy to extend and consolidate his kingdom, and the +occurrence of an opportunity to insult his feudal vassal, the King of +England, was simply the first step towards the annexation of Edward’s +possessions on the opposite side of the Channel to the Crown of France. +Edward knew this very well, and summoned his army and prepared for +war to the knife.¹ He also summoned his own vassal, King John, and the +Scotch nobles, to assist him in the French war; but instead of obeying +and joining his army, they held a Parliament at Scone. They dismissed +all the Englishmen from the court, and appointed a committee of twelve +members, consisting of four bishops, four earls, and four barons, by +whose counsel the King was to conduct the government. + + ¹ Crowe’s _History of France_, Volume I., pages 306‒308. + +The kingdom was rapidly drifting into a perilous position. Negotiations +were opened with France, and in October 1295, a treaty between France +and Scotland was concluded. A clause of the treaty provided for the +marriage of Baliol’s son to a niece of Philip IV., and the King of +France engaged to assist Scotland in the event of an English invasion +by sending a French force or by making a diversion; while the Scotch +King undertook to send an army across the border whenever England +was at war with France. This was the commencement of a line of policy +which had a considerable influence on Scotland for the three succeeding +centuries. + +The Scotch nobles by their disobedience and overt acts had broken their +allegiance to their Lord Superior; and that clause of the new treaty +touching the invasion of England was quickly put into operation. They +mustered an army, which, under the command of Comyn, Earl of Buchan, +invaded Cumberland in March 1296, and wasted the country; and shortly +after they made another raid into Northumberland.¹ These raids in +the circumstances of the kingdom were extremely unwise, as the Scots +were thus placed in the position of aggressors. To wantonly provoke a +contest with England, which under any circumstances must have been an +unequal one, but specially so as the nation then stood, with a vassal +king and a divided and disorganised nobility, was most deplorable +policy. At the outset many of the feudal leaders of the people deserted, +and thus left the people in a helpless and hopeless position; while +Edward I. had not only a numerical superiority of fighting men, but +also acted with great energy and decision. + + ¹ _The Chronicles of the Priory of Hexham_ contains an account + of these Scotch raids, accompanied with the usual + lamentation about the cruelty of the Scots. + +In the spring of 1296, Edward I. marched northward with a large and +well-equipped army; but he was anxious still further to increase +its ranks, and on the 11th of April he issued a writ inviting all +grades of men to join his army against Scotland. Criminals of every +♦description, homicides, murderers, and robbers, all were requested +to place themselves under his banner. He had determined to pounce upon +Berwick, then the richest town in Scotland. The citizens naturally +resisted his attack, but they were soon overpowered, and without +distinction of age or sex were put to the sword, eight thousand of the +inhabitants being ruthlessly massacred. The town was utterly ruined. +A party of thirty Flemings posted themselves in their factory, a +strong building which the resident merchants of that nation were under +obligation by their charter to defend against the English: and faithful +to their contract these heroic men held out till evening against the +English army, when their assailants, enraged by the determined defence, +set the building on fire, and every one of its brave defenders perished +amid the flames.¹ + + ♦ “descripcription” replaced with “description” + + ¹ Rishanger’s _Chronicles_, pages 373, 374; Hailes’ _Annals_, + Volume I., page 258, _et seq._ + +Edward formed a ditch, and threw up defensive works round Berwick. +On the 5th of April he received from the Abbot of Arbroath Baliol’s +renunciation of his allegiance to his Lord Superior. This document +enumerated the outrages and robberies inflicted on the subjects of +Scotland on sea and land, and concluded with a declaration that Baliol +had resolved to fight against Edward I. in defence of his kingdom. +But John Baliol had little ability or energy, and he was placed in +trying circumstances. Accordingly no effective resistance against the +invader was offered at any point. From Berwick Edward proceeded towards +Dunbar, the key of the eastern marches. A Scotch force had mustered +to defend it, but on the 26th of April they were attacked, dispersed, +and defeated, and many of them slain or taken prisoners. The castle of +Dunbar then fell into the hands of the English, and the Earls of Athole, +Monteith, and Ross, and a number of barons, submitted to Edward, and +all the prisoners of rank were conveyed to England and imprisoned.¹ + + ¹ _Historical Documents of Scotland_, Volume II., pages 26, 27; + Rishanger’s _Chronicles_, page 375. + +Edward I. having destroyed Berwick, scattered the Scottish army, and +taken the castle of Dunbar, now proceeded rapidly with his work. The +castles of Roxburgh, Jedburgh, and others on the line of his march +were surrendered to him. He reached Edinburgh on the 6th of June, and +attacked the castle with all the appliances at his command, pelting +it day and night for a week; after this it capitulated. He continued +his triumphal progress to Linlithgow and onward to Stirling, crossed +the Forth unopposed, and, proceeding by Perth, passed the Tay and +entered Forfarshire. Baliol had fled northward before the advance +of the conquering hero, and at the castle of Brechin, on the 10th of +July, 1296, the vassal king came to his lord, like a criminal suing +for mercy, and submitted to Edward’s pleasure. Then the documents +considered necessary to degrade and dispossess him were drawn up and +signed, and Baliol and his son were sent into England as prisoners. +Edward continued his progress advancing northward by Aberdeen and Banff, +till he reached Elgin on the 26th of July; thence he returned by a +higher route, calling at Rothes, Kildrummy Castle, and on to Brechin. +Throughout this progress Edward and his army were actively employed in +taking the personal oaths of allegiance from all classes of the people, +the barons, knights, and churchmen of all grades, being specially +called upon to record their allegiance and render homage to the Lord +Paramount. There was then no evasion of this exaction, and all those +who wished to escape imprisonment or death had no alternative but to +render their allegiance to Edward I.¹ + + ¹ _Historical Documents of Scotland_, Volume II., pages 27, + 59‒61; _Ragman Rolls_. + +When returning south Edward took away the Coronation Stone――the +venerated Stone of Destiny――from Scone as he was extremely anxious to +efface every vestige of the national and patriotic feeling of the Scots. +He then proceeded through Fife, along the northern banks of the Forth, +and reached Berwick on the 22nd of August. A few days later he held +a council at Berwick, in which a number of Scotch nobles and clergy +submitted to him, and their estates were restored to them. He then +made arrangements for the government of the kingdom, and appointed +John Warrene, Earl of Surrey, guardian of Scotland, Hugh Cressingham, +treasurer, and William Ormesby, justiciary. The chief castles of +the kingdom were committed to the custody of English captains and +garrisoned by English troops. Having thus settled everything, Edward +proceeded home with the Stone of Destiny as a memorial of his conquest +of Scotland, and a suitable offering to Edward the Confessor.¹ + + ¹ _Ibid._, pages 30, 31; _Rotuli Scotiæ_, Volume I., pages + 29‒35. + +The seemingly complete subjection and depression of the Scots under the +heel of the invader was the result of easily understood circumstances, +which have already been indicated. Edward I. obtained a footing in +the kingdom through the disputed succession, and thereby gained a +commanding influence over the chief Scotch nobles. Thus it occurred +that many of those nobles who should have come determinedly to the +front at this national crisis, as the natural leaders of the people, +had joined the enemy, and left the people helpless and forlorn. But the +native race of Scotland keenly felt their position, and the demeanour +of the English soldiers aroused their ire. Hatred sprung up between +them, and bitter strife reigned in the land. Edward I. instructed his +chief officials to make the utmost efforts to extinguish the rising +spirit of rebellion, and not to be sparing in the distribution of the +King’s favours and money. But Edward had misunderstood the character of +those men whose spirit he wished to crush or corrupt; for his treasurer, +Cressingham, replied to the King thus:――“Sir, you have told me not +to be sparing of your favours. Sir, I neither am nor shall be, if God +pleases, for few have asked for them, in consequence of the times, +which have been troublesome.”¹ It appears that Edward’s favours and +money would not answer the conditions which had arisen amongst the +Scots. + + ¹ _Historical Documents of Scotland_, Volume II., pages + 170‒172, 227. + +At this perilous moment a hero arose to fight the battle of freedom +and national independence. Wallace was the son of a small landed +proprietor, one of those who had never sworn allegiance to Edward I. +In his early years he was under the care of his uncle, an ecclesiastic +in Stirlingshire, from whom he received the rudiments of a classical +training, afterwards attending a school in Dundee for two years. He was +gifted with rare mental faculties; tall in stature, with an athletic +frame, and a commanding presence; his personal characteristics and +sterling moral qualities won respect; while he was a military genius +of a high order, and a man of remarkable political sagacity. He soon +kindled in the heart of the nation an unquenchable spirit of resistance +to oppression. + +Wallace began his public career by attacking outlying parties of the +English, and his followers increased with his success. Sir William +Douglas, who had lands in Northumberland as well as in Scotland, was +the first man of note to ally himself with the patriot. At length +Wallace resolved to assail the English Justiciary, Ormesby, in his +court at Scone. The Justiciary escaped with his life, but a rich booty, +and some prisoners fell into Wallace’s hands. Wallace and Douglas +continued their attacks on the invaders; and they were soon joined by +others, amongst whom were Sir Andrew Moray of Bothwell, the Stewart of +Scotland, and Robert Wishart, Bishop of Glasgow: Robert Bruce, Earl of +Carrick, grandson of the claimant of the crown, after some hesitation, +joined the national party. Edward I. soon made Douglas feel his +displeasure, for on the 12th of June, 1297, he ordered that the lands +and goods in Northumberland belonging to Sir William Douglas should be +seized and sold for the use of the king.¹ After Edward’s government in +the centre of Scotland had been thrown into confusion, Wallace and Sir +Andrew Moray of Bothwell crossed the Tay for the purpose of recruiting +and organising an army in the north-eastern and northern counties. + + ¹ “The lands and tenements, the goods and chattels, in the + county of Northumberland, belonging to Sir William Douglas, + should be taken into our hands; if there be any corn or + cattle, or any other stock whatever, besides the growing + crop, to sell it without delay, and to enhance the price + thereof to our use as much as possible.” _Historical + Documents of Scotland_, Volume II., pages 176, 177. + +When Edward I. was told of the rising in Scotland he could not believe +it, because so many of the nobles were with himself or in prison; he +never even imagined that the Scots might attempt to act without nobles, +and this lack of foresight to estimate the spirit of resistance among +the people proved to be the missing link in Edward’s scheme of conquest +from its inception to its termination. He sent Beck, the Bishop of +Durham, into Scotland to extinguish the rising, but Beck soon had to +beat a retreat, and narrowly escaped with his life. When Beck returned +Edward commanded the whole military force north of the Trent to muster +and crush the rebellion. An army of forty thousand foot and three +hundred cavalry entered Scotland under Henry Percy, and marched through +Annandale and on to Irvine, where Robert Bruce and other nobles were +lying in arms. As usual, these nobles were wavering and undecided, +and sought to parley with the enemy, at last they concluded a treaty +with the English authorities, by which they preserved their estates, +promised to give hostages for their future conduct, and then dispersed, +without striking a single blow. The treaty was signed at Irvine on +the 9th of July, 1297, and those who agreed to it were Robert Bruce, +Earl of Carrick; James, the Stewart of Scotland; his brother, John; +Alexander Lindsay, Sir William Douglas, and the Bishop of Glasgow. A +copy of it was sent to Wallace and Andrew Moray but they disregarded +it.¹ + + ¹ _Historical Documents of Scotland_, Volume II., pages + 192‒194; Palgrave’s _Documents_, page 197. + +Wallace was then recruiting and instructing men in the north-eastern +counties beyond the Tay, and Andrew Moray of Bothwell was intently +engaged in similar work farther north and in Strathspey. On the 17th of +July 1297, Moray and his recruits, in a position protected by a bog and +a wood in the valley of the Spey, repulsed the attacks and the utmost +efforts of a body of Edward’s cavalry and soldiers to dislodge them. +Wallace and Moray worked with great energy in conjunction with each +other and soon organised an efficient army. Wallace then attacked the +castles, and many of them shortly fell into his hands. The castles of +Aberdeen, Forfar, Brechin, and Montrose, were successively captured.¹ +He had just begun the siege of the castle of Dundee when tidings came +that the English army was marching on Stirling. Wallace at once saw his +opportunity, ordered the citizens of Dundee to continue the siege, and +hurried off with his army to guard the passage of the Forth. + + ¹ _Historical Documents of Scotland_, Volume II., pages + 211‒213. + +Wallace posted his men on the rising ground which commanded the Bridge +of Stirling. The English army, fifty thousand strong, under the command +of John de ♦Warrene, Earl of Surrey, lay on the opposite side of the +river. When the English general observed the position of his enemy he +tried to temporise, and sent forward messengers of peace; but Wallace +knew well the advantages of his position, and told the English envoys +that he had resolved on battle,――“to set his country free.” On the 11th +of September the enemy began to pass over the narrow bridge. When one +half of the army had crossed it, Wallace, by a preconcerted movement, +attacked the English in the rear, and intercepted between them and the +bridge. When this was executed, the main body of the Scots instantly +rushed down and assailed the forming lines of the English, throwing +them into utter confusion; a panic seized the whole army, and a +headlong rout ensued. Many were drowned in the river, and many slain +in the flight. Surrey with the remnant of his army found shelter in the +castle of Berwick where he remained for some months.¹ + + ♦ “Warrence” replaced with “Warrene” + + ¹ _Scotland in 1298_, by H. Gough, Introduction, page 1, + _et seq._, 1888. + +This battle had the effect of clearing the country of the enemy, +and all the castles were recovered. The Battle of Stirling in other +respects was an exceedingly important event, as it raised the spirit of +the people and gave them confidence in themselves, at the most perilous +and trying crisis which had ever occurred in the history of the kingdom; +and its result continued to have an inspiriting influence upon the mind +and feeling of the nation throughout all the subsequent stages of the +struggle for national independence and liberty. Indeed, at Stirling +Bridge, Wallace clearly read a significant lesson to the English as +well as to the Scots; but unhappily the former were unwilling to learn +it or even to recognise its meaning. + +Wallace was anxious to promote peaceful ♦industry, as the following +circumstance shows: A document dated 11th of October 1297, was +despatched to Lubeck and Hamburg, in the names of Andrew Moray and +William Wallace, generals of the army of the kingdom and community +of Scotland, thanking the friends of the country for their services, +which the state of the kingdom had prevented the due acknowledgment, +and informed them that commerce with the ports of Scotland would now +be restored: “As the kingdom of Scotland, thanks be to God, has been +delivered by battle from the power of the English.”¹ + + ♦ “indnstry” replaced with “industry” + + ¹ _National Manuscripts_, Part I.; _Documents illustrative of + Wallace_. + +Shortly after the battle, Wallace retook the town of Berwick, but +not the castle; and about the middle of October he advanced into +Northumberland and plundered the country. The Scotch army remained +in the north of England from the 18th of October to the 11th +of November; and the English chroniclers described in a piteous +strain the terror and misery which the Scots had caused amongst the +inhabitants. As plunder was the object of the raid, no doubt the people +of Northumberland and Cumberland had suffered severely. Wallace granted +a protection in name of King John to the prior and convent of Hexham, +which was to continue in force for three years; forbidding the Scots +to injure any of the members of the convent under severe penalties. +After the Scots retired, Lord Clifford led a raid into Scotland, +and plundered Annandale, burned a hundred cottages, captured a few +prisoners, and slew three hundred and eight of the Scots.¹ + + ¹ _Chronicles and Annals of Hexham_, Preface, Volume I., + pages 80‒85. “King Edward having gone to Flanders, and + in his absence, the rebellious Scots under the command + of the ribald William Wallace, ravaged Northumberland and + Westmoorland, ♦sparing neither age nor sex.” Hemingford’s + _Chronicles_, Volume II., pages 141‒146. + + ♦ “spearing” replaced with “sparing” + +In the end of the year 1297 Wallace was chosen Guardian of the kingdom +of Scotland and leader of its armies, in the name of King John, and +with consent of the community. He adopted measures calculated to +secure order, to promote peaceful industry, and the commerce of the +kingdom; he also made the utmost efforts to improve the organisation +and discipline of the army. The body of the people acquiesced in his +government, and he received considerable support from the clergy: +still the condition of the kingdom was such that no individual exertion +or sagacity could have placed it in a position to meet the recurrent +exigences of the time. For the feudal organisation then prevailed in +Scotland, and it could not be changed in a day or a year; while, with +the King banished, some of the chief nobles lurking out of the way, +others in prison, and some of them actually opposing the Guardian, +the feudal system of defence itself could not be effectively worked. +Thus considering the state of the nation, and the circumstances above +indicated, it is surprising that Wallace achieved so much under such +conditions. + +Since the battle of Stirling Bridge, Edward I. had been making +preparation for a great invasion of Scotland to crush the rising +under Wallace. On his return from the Continent in March 1298, his +troops, drawn from all parts of England and Wales, were mustered and +concentrated as they advanced towards the borders; and when Edward I. +reached Roxburgh on the 3rd of July, his army numbered 88,000 men, of +which 8000 were cavalry. He advanced towards the Forth and proceeded +by Lauder, but his progress was slow, as provisions were scarce and +the position of his army critical. Some of his ships, however, having +arrived in the Forth, he halted at Kirk-liston, and rested his troops +for a week. Wallace with his small army could not think of facing +Edward’s vast host in the open field: his tactics were to protract +the issue and render the advance of the enemy difficult; so he drove +off everything which could be removed, and left the country behind +him waste, in this way hoping to starve out the enemy. For a time he +seemed likely to succeed; as we have seen above, the English army was +suffering severely. At last, through treachery, Wallace was forced +to give battle near Falkirk. As Edward received intelligence of the +position of the Scots while his army was lying at Kirk-liston, he +immediately marched rapidly ♦forward by Linlithgow, and on the morning +of the 22nd of July he descried the Scots. The enemy was too near for +retreat, as his eight thousand cavalry would have pursued and cut off +the Scots, so that Wallace had no alternative but fight. + + ♦ “foward” replaced with “forward” + +Wallace’s whole force was under thirty thousand men, not a third part +of the number of the enemy; but he drew up his men in a form admirably +fitted to resist cavalry charges. He formed his infantry into four +solid circular bodies with their weapons pointing outward and crossing +each other. His small company of archers, under the command of Sir John +Stewart, were posted in the spaces between the circular divisions, and +his one thousand cavalry were placed behind the circular bodies. After +thus disposing his troops, Wallace was reported to have said to them: +“I have brought you to the ring, do the best you can.” The English +had one hundred and eleven banners at the battle, and their army was +marshalled in four divisions. The first division was commanded by +the Earl of Lincoln, assisted by the Earls of Hereford and Norfolk; +the second division was led by the famous Beck, Bishop of Durham; the +third division was commanded by the King in person; and the fourth by +the Earl of Surrey. The Earl of March, Patrick of Dunbar, fought in +the second division of the English army; and it was March and Angus +who informed Edward of the position of the Scots before the march to +Falkirk. The Earls of Lincoln and Hereford first advanced to the attack, +Bishop Beck following. They furiously charged the Scots; but the +compact circles of the spearmen repulsed the onset of the enemy; and +the cavalry charges were many times repeated but always repelled. Sir +John Stewart, who led the Scottish archers, was thrown from his horse +and slain along with many of his men around him. The Scottish cavalry +did not come into action; still the spearmen held their ground and +presented an unbroken front to the enemy. Edward then suspended the +cavalry charges, and ordered his slingers and bowmen to the front; +and this multitude of men poured showers of stones and arrows upon +the circles of the Scottish spearmen, which at length disorganised +them. Then the cavalry charges of the enemy were recommenced, and +the spearmen, being assailed on every side, were ultimately defeated. +About ten thousand of the Scots fell on the field of Falkirk. Wallace +retreated with the remnant of his army through the wood in the +neighbourhood. Among the slain on the Scottish side, were Sir John +Stewart of Bonkill, a younger son of the seventh High Stewart of +Scotland, Sir John Graham of Dundaff, and Macduff, a grand-uncle of +the Earl of Fife.¹ + + ¹ _Scotland in 1298_, Gough, page 131, _et seq._, and + Introduction, pages 11, 12; Hemingford’s _Chronicles_, + Volume II., pages 176‒181. + +Wallace continued his retreat by Stirling, thence the English slowly +followed; and on the fourth day after the battle, they arrived and +found the town deserted. Edward’s victory was fruitless, as he was +compelled to retire with his starving host for lack of provisions; and +after visiting at Ayr, he proceeded southward to Carlisle. Immediately +after the battle, Edward I. granted presentations to upwards of thirty +benefices in Scotland, which included bishoprics and churches in the +counties of Lanark, Selkirk, Peebles, Haddington, Roxburgh, Fife, +Perth, Kincardine and Aberdeen.¹ He also gave the island of Arran +to Thomas Bisset, and promised his own barons extensive lands out of +the territories of the Scottish nobles. After making these and other +arrangements calculated to secure his hold on Scotland, Edward returned +to London in the beginning of December. + + ¹ _Scotland in 1298_, Gough, pages 239‒246. This volume + contains a vast quantity of interesting information, much of + which is specially valuable to the genealogist. + +Shortly after the battle of Falkirk Wallace resigned the Guardianship +of Scotland. After he had rendered Stirling and Perth useless to the +enemy, he returned with a body of his followers to the Torwood, and +thence followed on Edward’s track. John Comyn of Badenoch and John +de Soulis were elected Guardians, associated with William Lamberton, +the Bishop of St. Andrews, who was a personal friend and supporter of +Wallace, and Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick. Lamberton intimated to the +King of France that Wallace’s protection at his court was requisite +to the continuance of the alliance between the two kingdoms. Wallace +proceeded to France on the service of his country, and endeavoured +in every way to free the kingdom from the yoke of the invader and +oppressor. It appears that he had intended to proceed to Rome to plead +the cause of Scotland, as the following letter shows:――“Philip by +the grace of God King of the French, to my loved and faithful agents, +appointed to the Roman Court, greeting. We command you to request the +Supreme Pontiff to hold our loved William Wallace of Scotland, Knight, +recommended to his favour in those things which he has to transact with +him;” dated on the 1st November 1298.¹ There is no direct evidence that +Wallace actually went to Rome, but circumstantial evidence render it +very probable that he had communications with the Pope touching the +affairs and the position of Scotland. + + ¹ _National Manuscripts_, Part I. + +Although Edward I. had made peace with France, he was somewhat +embarrassed by the demands of his barons touching the great charter +and the rights which they embraced every opportunity to claim; still +he continued his attacks upon Scotland. In 1300 he invaded the country; +but Wallace, who had returned from France, anticipated him, and marched +from the Torwood into the southern counties, seized the castle of +Tibbers, and other castles in Nithsdale. Edward took several castles +in Dumfriesshire, and then besieged Caerlaverock castle, which, after +a heroic defence against the whole English army, at last surrendered. +He advanced into Galloway, but his foraging parties were often attacked +and cut off by the Scots. After a campaign of five months, Edward +returned to England without achieving any important result. + +It was during this campaign that Edward I. was obliged to listen to +one of the most severe and logical attacks which had as yet been made +upon him, touching his claims of feudal superiority over the kingdom +of Scotland. In the castle of Caerlaverock, about the end of August, +the Archbishop of Canterbury acting as the Pope’s legate, placed a Bull +from Boniface VIII. in the hands of Edward I., which was read in the +presence of his assembled barons and knights. This remarkable document +affirmed that Scotland owed allegiance to no one, save the Holy See. +Boniface then charged Edward I. with violating all the liberties and +the rights of Scotland, and proceeded to state――“that neither he nor +any of his predecessors held over the kingdom any superiority; since, +when in the wars between your father Henry and Simon de Montfort, +he requested the assistance of Alexander III., King of Scotland, +acknowledged by letters patent that he received such assistance, not +as due to him, but as a special favour. Moreover, when you yourself +invited King Alexander to attend your coronation, you made the request +as a matter of favour and not of right. When the King of Scotland +rendered homage to you for his lands in Tynedale and Penrith, he +publicly protested it was rendered not for his kingdom but for these +lands only, since, as King of Scotland, he was independent. Yea, +further, when Alexander III. died, leaving an heiress to his Crown, +a grand-daughter in her minority, the wardship of this infant was not +given to you, which it would have been if you had been Lord Superior, +but was given to certain nobles of Scotland elected for the office.” +Touching the negotiations for the proposed marriage between the Prince +of Wales and the Maid of Norway, the Pope reminded Edward I. that he +had then acknowledged the independence of Scotland; and it was singular +that he submitted to negotiate if he had a right to command. Regarding +the changes lately made on the rights and the liberties of Scotland, +with the consent of a divided nobility, or the person whom Edward had +placed in charge of the kingdom, these ought not to continue, as all +had been extorted by force and intimidation. The Pope exhorted Edward, +in the name of God, to at once liberate the bishops and the clergy +whom he had imprisoned, and to remove all the officers and officials +whom he had thrust upon the Scottish nation. Finally, Boniface said, +“if Edward imagined that he had any pretensions to the whole or any +part of Scotland, let him send his proctors to me, and I will determine +according to justice.” On the conclusion of the reading of the Pope’s +letter, Edward started to his feet and exclaimed:――“I will not be +silent or at rest, either for Mount Zion or Jerusalem, but, as long as +there is breath in my nostrils, I will defend what all the world knows +to be my right.”¹ The result, however, was that Edward soon disbanded +his army, and summoned a parliament to meet in February 1301, which, +having met, framed an answer to the Pope’s letter. In October 1300, he +granted a truce to the Scots to continue till the middle of May 1301. + + ¹ _Fœdera_, Volume I.; _Walsingham_; _Book of Wallace_, Rogers, + Volume II., pages 182‒187. + +The truce was not strictly observed by either side. Edward made +arrangements to secure his hold in every place where he had any footing, +strengthened the garrisons of the castles which he held throughout the +kingdom, and instructed the English residents at Perth, Ayr, Dundee, +and Banff, to remain in these places till the termination of the truce. +He released the Bishop of Glasgow from imprisonment only after he had +renewed his allegiance. Edward I. seems to have had great faith in +oaths and homages, but he forgot that there might be circumstances in +which they were not binding. + +In the summer of 1301 Edward advanced into Scotland with a great army, +but the Scots managed to avoid a battle, so that the campaign was +ineffective. He did not cross the Forth, and his army suffered severely +from the scarcity of provisions and forage. In October he concentrated +his troops at Linlithgow and Falkirk, collected stores there, and fixed +his head-quarters for the winter at Linlithgow, where he erected a +castle. He expected that his presence would overcome the Scots. Owing +to the severe winter he lost a large number of his war-horses, and he +discovered that his campaign was attended with enormous expenditure. +On the 26th of January, 1302, on the suggestion of France, Edward +promised to grant a truce to the Scots, which was to continue till +the 30th of the ensuing November; and in the beginning of February he +left Linlithgow and marched southward. Before he departed he bound Sir +Alexander Baliol to hold Selkirk forest against the Scots, and exacted +pledges from the captains of the castles of Linlithgow, Ayr, Edinburgh, +Jedburgh, Roxburgh, and Berwick, that they would continue to defend +these castles till the ensuing summer. Edward vehemently objected to +the Scots being described as the “allies” of France, and on the 30th +of April he protested against the truce.¹ + + ¹ _Fœdera_, Volume I.; _Book of Wallace_, Rogers, Volume II., + pages 194‒199. + +Edward exerted his ingenuity to the utmost to detach the King of France +from giving any encouragement to the Scots, and he completely succeeded. +Further he covertly arranged with the King of France to name those +Scotsmen whose absence from the kingdom Edward considered to be most +convenient for the success of his scheme of conquest, and accordingly +Philip’s ambassadors named Bishop Lamberton of St. Andrews, the Bishop +of Dunkeld, the Steward of Scotland, Sir John Soulis, John Comyn, Earl +of Buchan, Sir Ingram Umfraville, and Sir William Baliol. But ere the +Scotch ambassadors arrived, a truce was arranged between England and +France, in which all reference to the Scots was excluded; and in the +final treaty of peace, ratified at Paris in May 1303, no reference +to the Scots occurred. Pope Boniface VIII. also deserted the cause +of Scotland; and in August 1302, he reprimanded Bishop Wishart for +opposing the English rule, and commanded him to desist from it. At the +same time the Pope commanded the other Scotch bishops to make peace +with Edward.¹ Having thus far succeeded, as he imagined, in debarring +the Scots from all hope of external aid in any quarter, Edward +proceeded to prepare for the complete conquest of the kingdom. + + ¹ _Fœdera_, Volume I., page 972; Volume II., page 929. + +The Scots held Stirling castle and the country north of the Forth, and +Edward I. as yet had only a precarious hold on the southern division of +the kingdom. In February 1303, an English army was mustered at Berwick, +numbering twenty thousand men, which, under the command of Sir John +Segrave, advanced into Scotland. Segrave marched his army northward +in three divisions, not far apart from each other, in order to obtain +quartering for his men and forage for the horses. John Comyn, Wallace, +and Sir Simon Fraser, having learned the position of the enemy, on the +morning of the 24th February, 1303, rapidly advanced from Biggar to +Roslin with eight thousand men on foot, and surprised the English army. +A severe contest ensued, but the three divisions of the English were +defeated in detail, and sixteen knights and thirty esquires were taken +prisoners. + +But Edward I. was then free from embarrassment abroad and at home, and +he made ample preparations for the final conquest of Scotland. Through +craft, in which he was abetted by the King of France, the Scotch +envoys were induced to remain at the French court by the most base and +false professions imaginable. On the 25th of May, 1303, these deluded +Scotsmen at the French court communicated with Sir John Comyn, the +guardian, in the following words:――“Be not alarmed that the Scots are +not mentioned in the treaty. The King of France will immediately send +ambassadors to divert Edward from war, and to procure a truce for us +until the two kings can have a personal conference in France. At that +conference a peace will be concluded beneficial to our nation: of this +the King of France has himself given us the most positive assurance.... +Marvel not that none of us return home at present: we would all have +willingly returned, but the King of France will have us to remain till +we bring home intelligence of the result of this business; wherefore, +for the Lord’s sake, despair not: but if ever you acted with resolution, +do so now.... The French ambassadors will be empowered to treat of +peace, as well as to negotiate a truce.”¹ The men thus detained at +the French court were John Soulis, one of the guardians, the Steward +of Scotland, the Earl of Buchan, and Ingram de Umfraville; thus, with +these men absent, and the defection of the Earl of Carrick, there were +few persons of ability and rank left in Scotland to offer resistance to +the crafty and ruthless invader. + + ¹ _Fœdera_, Volume I., page 955. + +In the middle of May 1303, Edward I. commenced his march, having +arranged his army in two divisions, one under himself and the other +under the Prince of Wales. Edward advanced by Morpeth and reached +Roxburgh on the 21st of May, where he was joined by the followers +of the Earl of Carrick. The Prince of Wales entered Scotland by the +western marches, but his advance was checked at several points by +Wallace; he therefore deviated from his intended route and marched +through Roxburghshire, advancing northward in the rear of his father. +Edward reached Edinburgh on the 4th of June, marched by Linlithgow and +thence to Stirling, crossed the Forth, and on the 10th of June entered +Perth. He stayed in Perth till the middle of July, then proceeded to +Dundee, and thence to Montrose. At this stage he summoned Sir Thomas +Maule to surrender the castle of Brechin, but Sir Thomas declined to +surrender it. Edward marched from Montrose to Brechin with his war +engines, and besieged the castle. Sir Thomas made a heroic defence; +but at last he was fatally wounded and expired, and the garrison then +surrendered, but not till five waggon-loads of lead had been thrown +into the castle. + +At Brechin Edward was joined by the Prince of Wales, and, resuming his +progress northward, he marched by the castle of Kincardine and arrived +at Aberdeen on the 24th of August; thence he marched through Buchan +and reached Banff on the 4th of September, whence marching northward, +he crossed the Spey and advanced through Moray, reaching Kinross on +the 20th of September. Edward advanced into Badenoch and occupied the +castle of Lochindorb, one of the strongholds of the Comyns; and all +the men of note in the locality were compelled to render homage to +him. He returned by Kinross, and thence to the castle of Kildrummy. +He next marched southward by Brechin, and fixed his headquarters at +♦Dunfermline, where he remained through the winter of 1304.¹ + + ♦ “Dumfermline” replaced with “Dunfermline” + + ¹ _Fœdera_; Hemingford’s _Chronicles_; _Book of Wallace_, + Rogers, Volume II., pages 206‒208. + +It then seemed that all was lost, although the spirit of the people +had enabled them to struggle against fearful odds and to endure extreme +privation; still human endurance has its limits, and the stage of hope +appeared to be passed. Craft, force, and cruelty, had done their work; +but it had yet to be seen whether these would ultimately triumph. + +Negotiations with Comyn, the guardian, were begun in the latter part +of December 1303, for his submission to Edward I. These negotiations +were long and tedious, and while they were proceeding Comyn remained +in his camp at Strathord, in Forfarshire. The conditions as first laid +down by Edward as the basis for treating of the submission of Comyn and +his adherents were extremely hard, and virtually implied the complete +surrender of national liberty. The terms of submission were finally +adjusted and agreed to on the 9th of February, 1304. It was stipulated +that their lives should be spared, and that they should retain their +lands, but subject to such fines as Edward might think fit to impose +upon them. The following persons were specially excluded from the +benefit of the above terms――Wishart, Bishop of Glasgow, Sir John +Soulis, the Steward of Scotland, Simon Fraser, William Wallace, David +de Graham, and Alexander de Lindsay. To all these men, except Wallace, +the chance of preserving their lives was offered on certain terms, +mostly stated periods of banishment from Scotland. “As for William +Wallace it is covenanted that he shall render himself up at the will +and mercy of the king, if it shall seem good to him.” It appears that +Edward was earnestly requested to offer reasonable terms to Wallace, +but he declined to listen to such a proposal. Shortly after the +surrender of Comyn and his adherents, Edward summoned a parliament to +meet him at St. Andrews in March; and he arrived at St. Andrews on the +11th of March and occupied the castle. In this meeting he intimated +that he had summoned to the parliament Sir William Wallace, Sir Simon +Fraser, and Sir William Oliphant, governor of Stirling Castle; and he +then announced that seeing they had not attended, therefore they should +be forfeited and outlawed. At his request parliament resolved that the +siege of Stirling should be actively prosecuted.¹ + + ¹ _Fœdera_, Volume II.; _Historical Documents of Scotland_, + Volume II., page 471; Palgrave’s _Documents_, pages 278‒284. + +Preparations were at once begun for the siege of this fortress. Edward +appealed to his English treasurer for money, and to procure from York +the materials for producing Greek fire, namely, a horseload of cotton +thread, a load of quick sulphur, a load of saltpetre, and a load of +arrows feathered and ironed. By Edward’s orders the lead was stripped +from the refectory at St. Andrews and from the churches at Perth and +Dunblane. The Earl of Carrick, Robert Bruce, who had been serving +Edward actively for the past year or two, promised to grant for use in +the siege of Stirling Castle his great battering-ram which was lying at +Inverkip. War engines, missiles, and materials of every description for +the siege were in readiness, and Edward himself arrived at Stirling on +the 21st of April, and summoned Oliphant, the governor of the castle, +to surrender. But Oliphant declined to surrender and made a brave +defence. The siege continued from the 22nd of April to the 20th of July, +the King remaining at Stirling in order to urge on the operations. When +the governor of the castle surrendered, the garrison only numbered one +hundred and forty men, but Edward inflicted shameful indignities upon +these brave and faithful men. The governor, Oliphant, was sent to the +Tower of London, and the rest were despatched to various prisons in +England.¹ + + ¹ _Fœdera_, Volume I., page 966; Rogers’ _Book of Wallace_, + Volume II., pages 218‒223. + +Edward directed special attention to the capture of Wallace, as he +was already proclaimed an outlaw. Immediately after the surrender of +Stirling Castle the King exhorted the men lately admitted to his peace +to exert themselves to the utmost to take Wallace, and promised that +those who secured him should receive some distinctive marks of royal +favour. Edward returned to England in December, 1304, but he continued +to issue proclamations for Wallace’s capture, with offers of a reward. +At the same time he carried on secret communications with those +whom he thought best fitted to execute his purpose. The man actually +instrumental, however, in the capture of Wallace was Sir John Menteith. +He was engaged in the Battle of Dunbar in 1296, where he was taken +prisoner, and confined in the castle of Nottingham; by consenting to +serve under Edward I. abroad he was released in 1297, and after the +Flanders campaign he returned to Scotland. He then joined the national +party, and possibly he might have fought under Wallace at the Battle +of Falkirk. At what time Menteith returned to Edward’s service has not +been ascertained, but in a commission dated at St. Andrews on the 20th +of March, 1304, he was then appointed Keeper of the Castle of Dumbarton +and Sheriff of the County. After the surrender of Stirling Castle it +appears that Wallace, with a single attendant, sought shelter in the +unfrequented spots of the counties of Stirling and Lanark. Whether +his refuge was within the sheriffdom of Dumbarton or not has not +been ascertained; and it seems that Menteith had formed the idea of +promoting his own interest by delivering Wallace into Edward’s hands. +In the district of Cadder, on the north-eastern border of Lanarkshire, +Wallace had taken shelter in a barn known as Robraystoun, and there +on the 5th of August, 1305, he was surprised by a party of English +soldiers, led by Menteith, at whose instance he was seized and +fettered.¹ + + ¹ _Book of Wallace_, Volume II., pages 226‒229. “Among certain + memoranda in the Chapter House are these:――4. Cause to be + remembered the forty marks which should be given to a valet + who had watched William Wallace. 5. Item of the sixty marks + that ought to be given to the others; it is the king’s + will that these be divided among those persons who were + at the capture of the said William. 6. Item of land for J. + de Menteith, valued at £100.” _Ibid._, page 236. “Menteith + received from Edward on the 16th of June, 1306, the revenues + of the Earldom of Lennox, also the temporalities of the + bishopric of Glasgow, in the county of Dumbarton, of which + Bishop Wishart had been deprived. When Robert the Bruce + was, in 1306, prosecuting his patriotic labours, Menteith + undertook jointly with Sir Hugh Bisset to cut off by a + fleet his retreat from the Western Isles; and in July of + the following year he is described as, with some others, + guarding, on Edward’s behalf, the town of Ayr.” _Ibid._, + page 231. + +Securely fettered Wallace was immediately conveyed to London under a +strong guard. Touching his trial and execution in London minute details +exist, which have been often printed, and it is quite unnecessary +to repeat them at length. He was tried for treason, which he never +committed, seeing that he never gave allegiance to Edward I., whom +he rightly regarded as a usurper and invader. Wallace was not allowed +to make any defence, but condemned and sentenced to be hanged and +drawn, with all the shocking and cruel formalities of the Norman law +of treason. The sentence was executed on the 23rd of August, 1305, and +that it might produce the desired effect “his body should be cut and +divided into four quarters, and the head set on the Bridge of London, +in sight of those passing both by land and water; and one quarter +suspended on the gibbet at Newcastle-on-Tyne, another quarter at +Berwick, a third quarter at Stirling, and a fourth quarter at Perth, +for the dread and chastisement of all that pass by and behold them.” +How far the intended end was served by such spectacles of extreme +barbarity subsequent history tells. Indeed, the story of the heroic +action and deeds of Wallace, heightened by his sacrifice in London, +became embalmed in the heart of the Scottish people, and his memory was +more intensely venerated as century after century passed. Recalling the +traditional incidents associated with the Cartland Crags, it has been +truly said:―― + + “Blest Freedom flourish’d in this wild, + When banish’d from each cultur’d spot. + Expiring Albin saw and smil’d + And all her wounds and woes forgot.”¹ + +Many poets have paid homage to Wallace, and the following simple lines +embody the national sentiment:―― + + “A fair renown, as years wear on, + Shall Scotland give her noblest son; + The course of ages shall not dim, + The love that she shall bear to him.”² + + ¹ Dr. Jamieson, editor of Blind Henry’s _Wallace_. + + ² Baillie’s _Metrical Legends_, page 78. + +Edward I. was intently engaged in arranging his new form of government +for Scotland. He summoned a council of the Scotch nobles, clergy, and +the burghal communities, which met at Perth in March, 1305, and this +meeting was instructed to elect ten commissioners to represent Scotland +in the English Parliament; thus, four to be chosen by the nobles, four +by the clergy, and two by the burghal communities. These ten Scotch +commissioners attended a Parliament which met at London on the 15th +of September, 1305, and being joined by twenty-two commissioners from +the English Parliament, this body, acting in concert, framed the royal +ordinance for the government of Scotland. This document is elaborate, +and presents evidence of considerable intelligence and judgment; but +seeing that it never came into practical operation it is historically +unnecessary to expound it.¹ + + ¹ The Ordinance for the government of Scotland was printed in + the first volume of the _Scots Acts of Parliament_. + +After twelve years of incessant craft, bloodshed, and oppression, +closing with the execution of Wallace, Edward I. fancied that his +conquest of Scotland was at last complete. But a worthy successor to +Wallace immediately appeared upon the scene, and the shattered king, +worn with the toil of years, lived to see it all passing from his +grasp. + + + + + CHAPTER VI. + + _War of Independence. Robert Bruce._ + + +AS we have seen, the Earl of Carrick was assisting Edward I. in his +last campaign, and supplied him with a battering-ram for the siege of +Stirling Castle. His father, Robert Bruce of Annandale, died in the +spring of 1304, and he then succeeded to the large family estates in +England and in Scotland. Bruce was a young man, little over thirty +years, and hitherto had shown a rather vacillating character. As he was +the grandson of the Bruce who had fought out the contest in Edward’s +court for the Crown with the deposed Baliol, he had always looked +forward to the throne of Scotland. In June, 1304, he met with Bishop +Lamberton; they had a conversation together touching impending dangers, +and entered into a friendly covenant to resist their enemies. They +engaged to seek each other’s safety in their common affairs against +all persons opposed to them, both individually and by their adherents; +they also agreed that the one should not enter on any great undertaking +without consulting the other, and if the one became cognisant of +dangers impending over the other he should forewarn him, and use his +utmost efforts to avert the same. For the performance of the compact +they bind themselves to each other by oath, and under a penalty of ten +thousand pounds.¹ Considering the condition of Scotland at the time, +and the position of the two men, this compact possibly had in view some +attempt by Bruce to mount the throne and recover the kingdom. It seems +that the existence of this bond became known to Edward I., and Bruce, +when attending the English court, was questioned concerning it; he at +once saw that his life was in danger, and one morning he mounted his +horse and rode swiftly to Scotland. + + ¹ Palgrave’s _Documents_, Volume I., page 323‒325. + +Bruce arrived at his castle of Lochmaben early in February, 1306. On +the 12th of February, as a freeholder of the county, he attended the +English judges who were then holding their courts at Dumfries, and +there he met the Red Comyn, the late guardian. Bruce and Comyn entered +the Grayfriars convent to have a private interview touching public +affairs, and their conversation waxed warm. Bruce referred to the +miserable state of Scotland, once an independent kingdom, and now +nothing but a province of England. He then proposed that Comyn should +take his lands and help him to be king; or, if he preferred it, Bruce +was to take his lands and assist him to be king. Comyn demurred, and +professed loyalty to King Edward I. Bruce charged him with betraying +important secrets of his; their talk became bitter and hot, and at last +Bruce drew his dagger and stabbed Comyn. He turned from the convent +and rushed into the street, shouting for a horse! His friends asked +if anything was amiss. “I doubt,” said Bruce, “I have slain Comyn.” +Instantly Kirkpatrick, one of his followers, ran into the convent and +slew the wounded man outright, and also killed his uncle, Sir Robert +Comyn.¹ + + ¹ Palgrave’s _Documents_, page 322. Barbour’s _Bruce_. It + appears that in a meeting of the guardians and some of the + nobles held at Peebles, July, 1299, a scuffle occurred, + which originated in a proposal touching the property of + Wallace, who was then in France:――“And upon that, each of + these knights gave the lie to the other and they drew their + daggers; and the Earl of Buchan and Sir John Comyn thought, + because Sir David de Graham is with Master John Comyn, + and Malcolm Wallace with the Earl of Carrick, that some + quarrel was begun with intention to deceive them, and Master + John Comyn leaped on the Earl of Carrick and took him by + the throat, and the Earl of Buchan upon the Bishop of St. + Andrews, and they held them fast, until the Stewart and + others went between them and stopped the scuffle.” _National + Manuscripts_, Part II., Number 8. + +Probably the murder of Comyn was unpremeditated, still it removed the +only competitor for the throne of Scotland whom Bruce had reason to +fear. Comyn had a claim to the Crown, as his mother was a sister of the +deposed John Baliol. He also claimed to be a descendant of Donald Bane, +a brother of Malcolm III., which would have given him a great advantage +among the people in any struggle between the two for the throne of +Scotland. But Bruce had rashly committed himself and could not recede; +he had assassinated the highest noble in the kingdom, stained the altar +with blood, brought down on his own head all the terrors of religion, +and the enmity of the kin and numerous followers of the dead earl. + +Immediately after these tragic deeds Bruce drove the English judges and +officials out of Dumfries and beyond the Border. The news soon spread, +the people assumed a threatening attitude in Galloway, and many of +Edward’s officials fled from the kingdom. Bruce resolved on a bold step, +he mounted the throne, and was crowned at Scone on the 27th of March, +1306. But, as yet, his followers were not numerous; they consisted of +the Bishops of St. Andrews, Glasgow, and Moray, and the Abbot of Scone; +his four young and stalwart brothers, his nephew, Thomas Randolph +of Strathdon, and his brother-in-law, Christopher Seton; John de +Strathbogie, Earl of Athole; and the Earls of Lennox and Menteith; +Gilbert Hay of Erroll and his brother Hugh, Nigel Campbell of Argyle, +David of Inchmarten, Robert Boyd of Kilmarnock, Sir John Somerville of +Linton, David Barclay of Cairns, Alexander Fraser, Sir James Douglas, +and Robert Fleming. Against this small party――the forlorn hope of +the Scottish nation――stood arrayed the mighty hosts of England, the +numerous followers of the Comyns, and many of the Scotch nobles. + +When tidings of these events reached the ears of Edward I., he was +extremely wroth, and threatened dire vengeance. Orders with a sharp +and incisive ring were issued. It was proclaimed in all the cities and +towns of Scotland that all those in arms against the King should be +pursued by hue and cry, from city to city, from county to county, from +place to place, and taken dead or alive. All persons taken in arms +against Edward I. were to be hanged and beheaded, and all in any way +connected with the murder of Comyn were to be drawn and quartered. The +implacable rage of Edward runs through all the royal proclamations. +Another great invasion of Scotland was resolved on; the military force +of Yorkshire and Northumberland were ordered to muster immediately to +march against the rebellious Scots. He also invoked the aid of religion, +notwithstanding his former contempt of “Mount Zion and Jerusalem.” +Bruce’s estates were declared forfeited, and his execution was +determined on in the event of his capture. The advance army, under the +Earl of Pembroke, reached the doomed country in the spring of 1306, and +Edward himself, bracing up all his remaining energy, once more moved +northward; but his frailty rendered his progress very slow.¹ + + ¹ _Fœdera_, Volume I., pages 982, 995; Palgrave’s _Documents_, + pages 361‒363, 301‒318, _et seq._ + +Pembroke advanced on Perth, and on his way he captured Bishop Wishart +and sent him to Berwick. On reaching Perth, Pembroke occupied the town +and fortified it. Bruce and his party found that they could not face +the English army; but he encamped in the wood of Methven six miles from +Perth. On the 19th of June, Pembroke attacked Bruce, and after a severe +encounter, completely defeated him; he narrowly escaped capture, while +many of his followers were slain and others taken prisoners. Bruce with +two or three hundred of his followers retired into the forest of Athole. +Among the prisoners captured at Methven were Thomas Randolph, Sir John +Somerville, David of Inchmarten, Hugh Hay, and others; and Edward I. +ordered that the prisoners should be immediately executed, accordingly +they were hanged and quartered.¹ + + ¹ Hemingford’s _Chronicles_, page 249; Barbour’s _Bruce_. + +The desperate nature of the enterprise now appeared. Bruce and his +friends were pursued as outlaws, and they soon began to feel the +extreme miseries of their position. Bruce was forced to leave Athole +to save his followers from starvation; and with great difficulty he +moved by unfrequented tracks from Athole to Aberdeenshire. At Aberdeen +he was joined by his wife and other ladies; but on the approach of a +large body of the enemy, Bruce and his company betook themselves to +the mountains of Breadalbane. Amid these wilds they suffered extreme +privation. As food was scarce, they gathered wild berries, some of +them hunted, and others fished, in order to preserve their existence; +while their clothing was often in tatters, living day and night for +weeks and months exposed to the open air in these high altitudes. Bruce +with a number of his friends had reached the head of the Tay, and were +approaching Argyleshire, the district of the Lord of Lorne. This chief +was related through marriage to the Red Comyn, and naturally he was +eager to vent revenge on Bruce. Lorne at the head of a strong body of +his followers attacked Bruce and his small company in Strathfillan. A +severe encounter ensued; but Bruce’s company was overwhelmed by numbers +and fell back. Gilbert Hay of Erroll and Sir James Douglas were wounded, +and many of their horses were killed. To avert the total destruction of +his little band, Bruce commanded them to retreat through a narrow pass +while he brought up the rear himself, and repeatedly turned his horse +and drove back the assailants, till at last the pursuit of the enemy +ceased.¹ + + ¹ Ibid. + +Winter was approaching, and they could not then subsist in this +mountainous region. The Queen and her attendants were conveyed under +an escort of cavalry to the castle of Kildrummy. Bruce then had only +two hundred men on foot, and with these he resolved to seek refuge +in Cantyre or in some of the islands, Sir Neil Campbell being sent +forward to provide vessels and provisions for the voyage. The King +and his small company proceeded in the direction of Cantyre; but they +were reduced to the utmost extremities for want of provisions. While +wandering amongst the hills and woods in search of food, they met the +Earl of Lennox, who, since the battle of Methven, had heard nothing +of the fate of Bruce, and the King and Lennox feelingly embraced +each other. Lennox supplied his friends with provisions, and by his +assistance they reached Cantyre, where Neil Campbell rejoined them. +Angus, Lord of the Isles, welcomed Bruce and his followers, and treated +them all with great hospitality; he also gave them the castle of +Dunaverty to live in and enjoy themselves after their wanderings and +privations. So numerous were the emissaries of Edward I. and the Comyns, +and so alert in their efforts to capture Bruce, that he, with the +recent fate of Wallace before him, did not deem himself safe, even in +this castle, from the pursuit of his enemies. In the end of the year +1306, Bruce, with a few of his friends, passed over to the small isle +of Rathlin, on the northern coast of Ireland, and remained there during +the winter. + +But ruin and death befell many of Bruce’s friends and supporters, as +the English troops scoured the country and seized all suspected persons. +The Bishop of Glasgow, as already mentioned, was imprisoned at an early +stage. Bishop Lamberton, of St. Andrews, and the Abbot of Scone, were +sent in fetters to England. Bruce’s wife and his daughter were captured +and imprisoned in England; the Countess of Buchan, who had dared to +assist at the coronation of Bruce, was taken to Berwick and placed +in a wooden cage, specially built for her, which hung in one of the +centre turrets of the castle. The English besieged and took the castle +of Kildrummy, and Nigel Bruce, the King’s brother, was sent in fetters +to Berwick, and there executed. The Earl of Athole and Sir Simon Fraser +were conveyed to London and executed as traitors; and their heads +were placed upon London Bridge beside that of Wallace. Sir Christopher +Seton, Sir Walter Logan, Bernard Mouat, Herbert Morham, Ralph Herries, +Thomas Bruce and Alexander Bruce, brothers of the King, these and many +others were executed with all the horrible and shocking cruelties of +the period. Further, many of the people were struck down and slain +without trial, evidence, or question, in any form; and for several +years a scene of bloodshed, enormous cruelty, and oppression, prevailed +throughout the kingdom.¹ + + ¹ _Fœdera_, Volume I., page 996; Hemingford’s _Chronicles_, + Volume I., page 247, _et seq._; Barbour’s _Bruce_. + +In the spring of 1307, Sir James Douglas and Sir Robert Boyd, with +Bruce’s sanction, sailed from the island of Rathlin with a small band +of followers, and made a descent upon the island of Arran. They landed +during the night, and Douglas placed his men in ambush in the vicinity +of the Castle of Brodick. The following morning he attacked the escort +of a convoy which was proceeding with stores for the garrison, defeated +and scattered the escort, and thus secured a store of provisions, arms, +and clothing. The governor of the castle sent out a body of soldiers to +assist the escort, but they were repulsed by the Scots and driven back +to the castle. Douglas then retired to a prehistoric fort on a woody +spot in the neighbourhood; and soon after Bruce arrived with a company +of about two hundred men and joined Douglas. Bruce then despatched +one of his followers into the district of Carrick, to ascertain how +his own vassals were affected; but the report of this messenger was +disheartening. He informed Bruce that Lord Percy had a strong garrison +in Turnberry Castle, and many of his men stationed in the town; +that the people were dispirited, and that there was little hope of +assistance from them. Bruce seemed perplexed, and consulted with his +brother Edward, who said that he would pursue the enterprise. They +then attacked the English troops stationed in the village of Turnberry, +and defeated them. Three days after Bruce retired into the mountainous +range of Carrick; and being deprived of aid which he had expected from +Ireland, his position was perilous. His enemies and the emissaries of +Edward I. were constantly hunting him, and he had several very narrow +escapes. At Cumnock, in Ayrshire, he was joined by his friend Sir James +Douglas, who had collected a body of men in his own barony. With his +followers thus increased, Bruce determined to give a good account of +himself. + +In the beginning of May 1307, Pembroke advanced into Ayrshire at the +head of three thousand cavalry, with the intention of extinguishing +Bruce. But the King in his wanderings had acquired some experience, +and he fixed on a position at Loudon Hill. After inspecting the ground, +he limited the space for the evolutions of the enemy’s cavalry, and +at the same time protected both his flanks, by three deep trenches on +each side of his position; beyond these trenches the ground was marshy. +Having thus prepared the ground, Bruce posted his six hundred spearmen, +and coolly awaited the attack of the English cavalry. On the 10th of +May, the English cavalry under Pembroke advanced in two lines; and the +first line at full gallop charged the Scotch spearmen, but they stood +firm and unhorsed many of their assailants. The cavalry reeled and +then broke, and retired in disorder upon the second line; the Scots +with their spears levelled, followed them at the double, and completely +defeated them. Pembroke fled to the castle of Ayr, and reported his +defeat. Bruce’s followers now began to have confidence in him, and from +this time he gradually gained ground. Three days after the encounter at +Loudon Hill, Bruce completely defeated a body of the English commanded +by the Earl of Gloucester. The result was that many of the Scots joined +Bruce. + +The leading spirit of the conquest, Edward I., by short stages had +advanced within sight of Scotland; but the hand of the grim and +implacable enemy was upon him, and on the 7th of July 1307, he expired. +He had inflicted enormous suffering upon the Scots; and when his +feet were on the brink of the grave, the venom of his heart was not +appeased, for he then implored his son and barons to continue his +scheme of torturing the Scots. Edward II. was weak and vacillating. He +advanced to the outskirts of Ayrshire, and without effecting anything +of importance, he returned home. Shortly after he removed Pembroke from +the Guardianship of Scotland, and appointed the Earl of Richmond to the +office. Edward Bruce assailed the English in Galloway; while Sir James +Douglas expelled them from Douglasdale, and the forests of Jedburgh and +Selkirk. + +Bruce crossed the Tay, and marched northward to Aberdeenshire, with the +object of reducing Comyn, the Earl of Buchan, who upheld the English +authority in this quarter of the kingdom. He was, however, attacked +by a severe illness, caused by the exposure and privation which he had +endured; and the war operations were somewhat delayed. The King’s army +proceeded by Inverurie, and in the march northward several skirmishes +took place between his troops and the followers of the Comyns. Bruce’s +army retired into Strathbogie, to obtain a supply of provisions and +to afford their leader some rest. When he had partly recovered from +his illness, they returned to Inverurie. At the same time, the Earl of +Buchan, with a force numbering upwards of a thousand men, had advanced +to Old Meldrum; and Comyn’s ally, Sir David de Brechin, with a small +party rapidly marched on Inverurie, and surprised some of Bruce’s +outposts. This was the signal for a general attack. The King instantly +rose from his bed, called for his horse, and mounting, led his army +direct to Old Meldrum. There he delivered a decisive attack upon the +Earl of Buchan, and utterly defeated his army, and slew and pursued +them for many miles. Bruce then proceeded with merciless severity to +waste and destroy the territories of the Comyns in Buchan, so that +their power was broken. The castles in the hands of the English were +attacked, and when taken they were levelled to the ground, in order to +prevent the enemy from again occupying them. The citizens of Aberdeen, +assisted by a few of Bruce’s followers, captured the castle and +expelled the English garrison. The castle of Forfar was taken and the +English garrison slain; after which the King marched southward. + +The recovery of the kingdom steadily proceeded, and the Scots readily +submitted to the King; indeed the people soon recognised the abilities +of Bruce. On the 24th of February, 1309, in a general council held +at Dundee, the estates recognised Bruce’s right to the throne; at the +same time the clergy of Scotland formally proclaimed their recognition +of his title and their adherence to him as king. The document then +issued by the clergy is of great historic value, inasmuch as it boldly +asserted the constitutional rights of the people even in the choice of +the king. The main points of the document are the following:――“To all +the faithful, to whose knowledge the present writing shall come, the +bishops, abbots, priors, and the rest of the clergy of the kingdom of +Scotland.... Be it known to you all that when between the Lord John de +Baliol, long ago in fact raised to be King of Scotland by the King of +England, and the deceased Lord Robert de Bruce, grandfather of our Lord +Robert the King who now is, a ground of dispute had arisen which of +them, to wit, was nearest by right of blood to inherit and reign over +the Scotch people; the faithful people without doubt always held, as +from their predecessors and ancestors they had learned and believed to +be true, that the said Lord Robert, the grandfather, after the death +of King Alexander and his grand-daughter, the daughter of the King of +Norway, was the true heir, and ought, in preference to all others, to +be advanced to the government of the kingdom, although the enemy of +the human race sowing tares, by the various machinations and plots of +his rivals, which it would be tedious to narrate in detail, the thing +has turned contrariwise; on account of whose overthrow, and the want +of kingly authority, heavy calamities have thenceforth resulted to +the kingdom of Scotland and its inhabitants.... The people, therefore, +and the commons of the aforesaid kingdom of Scotland, worn out by the +stings of many tribulations, seeing the said Lord John, by the King +of England, on various pretexts, taken, imprisoned, stripped of his +kingdom and people, and the kingdom of Scotland by him also ruined and +reduced to slavery; laid waste by a mighty depopulation and overwhelmed +by the bitterness of frequent grief, desolated from the want of right +government, exposed to every danger, and given up to the spoiler, and +the people stripped of their goods, tortured by wars, led captive, +bound, and imprisoned; by immense massacres of the innocent, and by +continual conflagrations, oppressed, subjected and enslaved, and on +the brink of total ruin ... being no longer able to bear so many and +so great losses of things and persons more bitter than death, often +happening for want of a captain and faithful leader ... the said +Lord Robert, with the concurrence and consent of the said people, was +chosen to be king, that he might reform the deformities of the kingdom, +correct what required correction, and direct what needed direction; +and having been by their authority made King of Scots, with him the +faithful people of the kingdom will live and die ... and if any one on +the contrary claim right to the kingdom in virtue of letters in past +times, sealed and containing the consent of the people and the commons, +know ye that all this took place, in fact, by force and violence, +which could not at the time be resisted, and through multiplied fears, +bodily tortures, and various terrors, enough to confound the senses and +distract the minds of perfect men.... We, therefore, the bishops and +the rest of the clergy, acting under no compulsion, knowing that the +premises are based on truth, and cordially approving the same, have +made due fealty to our Lord Robert, the illustrious King of Scotland, +and we publicly declare that the same ought to be rendered to him and +his heirs by our successors for ever.”¹ Seeing that Bruce was then +under the excommunication of the Pope for the slaughter of Comyn, this +announcement of the Scotch clergy was a great accession of strength to +his cause. + + ¹ _National Manuscripts of Scotland_, Part II., Number 17. + +In the spring of 1309 there was an attempt to make peace, but the Scots +were not inclined for peace till the English were expelled from all +the castles and the territories of Scotland. Edward II., in September +1310, entered Scotland with a great army, but Bruce wisely avoided a +battle. After driving off their cattle and sheep into the narrow glens, +the Scots retired to the woods and mountains; while the invading army +advanced to Renfrew, looking intently for an enemy to conquer, but +in vain. The English soon began to suffer for want of provisions and +forage, and without effecting anything of the slightest moment, the +army retreated to Berwick. Several of Edward’s subsequent expeditions +came to a similar end. In the summer of 1311 Bruce thought that his +turn to invade the territories of the enemy had at last come. He +accordingly marched his army into the northern counties of England and +plundered the country, levying heavy contributions; and having remained +for eight days, he returned home laden with booty.¹ + + ¹ _Chronicles of Hexham_, Appendix, pages 58, 59. + +Bruce then resolved to besiege Perth, which still remained in the bands +of the English. The town was fortified by a strong wall, and surrounded +by a deep moat full of water. The garrison made a brave and determined +resistance, and for six weeks repelled all the efforts of the besiegers. +But Bruce having ascertained and marked the shallowest part of the +moat, marched off to a considerable distance, as if he had abandoned +the siege. Ten days after, the king, at the head of a picked party +of his men, furnished with scaling ladders, returned to Perth during +the night, and they then waded through the moat, scaled the wall, and +surprised the garrison in their beds. The town was soon taken, and +the fortifications were completely demolished in accordance with the +policy of the king. The lives of the English garrison were spared; and +the Earl of Strathern, who then served under the English, was taken +prisoner. On renewing his allegiance to Bruce, the Earl was pardoned. + +Shortly after the castles of Dumfries and Linlithgow were captured; +and on the 7th of March, 1312, the castle of Roxburgh was taken by +Douglas, and by the orders of the king both the castle and the town +were levelled to the ground. The Castle of Edinburgh, which had been +for nineteen years in the possession of the English, on the 14th +of March the same year, after a desperate struggle, was captured by +Randolph. Edward Bruce had expelled the English from Galloway and +Nithsdale, and demolished the castles in these districts; he also +took the castles of Rutherglen, and Dundee, and at last besieged the +Castle of Stirling――the citadel of the kingdom. The English Governor, +Mowbray, defended the castle with great determination, but at length +his provisions were becoming exhausted, and he then made an agreement +with Edward Bruce to surrender it, unless it should be relieved, before +the 24th of June, 1314. This agreement was very favourable to England, +inasmuch as it compelled the Scots to peril the fate of the kingdom on +a pitched battle. + +As we have seen, the siege of Stirling Castle had cost Edward I. +enormous labour, and he deemed its capture one of his greatest +achievements. It was then the most important stronghold in Scotland, +and if England intended to retain a hold of the country she must +relieve it within the appointed time. So another great invasion was +resolved on, and great preparations were made. The whole feudal array +of England was called out, and levies drawn from Wales and Ireland; +vast quantities of all kinds of provisions for the troops were +collected from all quarters of England, and the army was well provided +with cars and waggons for the transport of the baggage, tents, and arms. +Edward II. entered Scotland in June, 1314, at the head of the largest +and best equipped army that had ever marched from England; for in all +it numbered one hundred thousand fighting men, one half of them cavalry, +who were then considered the chief arm of strength in battle. + +To face this mighty host the Scots made a supreme effort. Bruce ordered +his force to muster in the Torwood, between Falkirk and Stirling, where +he found that his fighting men only numbered thirty thousand infantry, +and five hundred cavalry. He resolved to fight on foot, and prepared +to guard and strengthen his position to the utmost. After a careful +examination of the ground he determined to dispose his army in four +divisions――three of them forming a front line, inclining to the +south-east, facing the advance of the enemy, the fourth division being +held in reserve and placed behind the centre. The formation of the +Scottish spearmen was a series of solid circles, so inclined in front +as most effectively to resist the shock of cavalry charges: it was +similar to Wallace’s circles at the Battle of Falkirk. The right flank +of Bruce’s line was well protected by the rugged ground and the broken +banks of the Bannock burn, while his left wing was admirably secured by +a series of trenches and pits, which effectively limited the space for +the movements of the enemy’s cavalry. By this limitation of the space +in front of his line, Bruce hampered the development of the cavalry +charges of the English, which gave him a great advantage. The right +wing of the Scots was commanded by Edward Bruce, the centre by Randolph, +Earl of Moray, and the left wing by Sir James Douglas and the Steward +of Scotland, the reserve or fourth division was under the command of +the King himself, and it consisted of the men of the Isles, Argyle, and +Cantyre, accompanied by Angus, the Lord of the Isles, and Bruce’s own +vassals of Carrick; and there also the five hundred cavalry, under Sir +Robert Keith, was stationed, ready to execute their special duty, when +the proper moment came. + +On the 23rd of June the enemy appeared, and made a bold attempt to +throw a body of cavalry into the castle of Stirling, but they were +repulsed by Randolph, the Earl of Moray. Bruce asked his leaders +whether they thought it best to fight or to retreat, and they +unanimously declared that they were determined to fight and to abide +the issue of the conflict. The Scots then made all the necessary +arrangements for the battle, passing the night under arms on the field. +At night the Mayne of St. Fillan, that is, the enshrined arm of the +saint, was shown to the Scottish army. At daybreak, the 24th of June, +the Abbot of Inchaffary celebrated mass on an eminence in front of +the army. He then passed along the line and in a few words exhorted +the Scots to fight for their rights and liberty. After this they +breakfasted, and then placed themselves under their different banners +in battle array. + +The mighty host of Edward II. was early in motion on that memorable +Monday morning, and the English began the battle by the advance of +a body of lancers under the command of the Earls of Hereford and +Gloucester. The lancers charged at full gallop on the right wing of +the Scots, but the spearmen firmly withstood the impetuous onset of +the enemy, and some of the lancers were pitched from their saddles +and slain. The main body of the enemy’s cavalry rapidly advanced +and charged the Scottish centre, which for a moment appeared to be +engulphed amid the seething mass of the English. The whole Scottish +line was soon assailed and wrestling in a hand-to-hand combat with +the enemy. The battle raged with the utmost fury, while the English +attempted by desperate charges, many times repeated, to break through +the Scottish spearmen, but in vain. At this all-important hour they +thought of the home of their fathers, and their native hearths; +and remembering, too, the many grinding injuries, galling outrages, +stinging insults, cruel and unmitigated suffering inflicted upon +them during long years of dire oppression, they repelled every attack +with steady valour and slew heaps upon heaps of their assailants. The +English bowmen and archers, who supported the cavalry charges, were +beginning to gall the ranks of the Scottish spearmen; but Bruce sent +Sir Robert Keith with five hundred cavalry to charge the left flank of +the archers, and, as they had no weapons to defend themselves at close +quarters, they were instantly broken and scattered in all directions, +and so completely cowed that they declined to return to their posts. +In front the battle continued to rage with unabated fury, but with +obvious disadvantage to the English. Seeing the enemy flagging, Bruce +encouraged his leaders to strive on, assuring them that the victory +would soon be won. He then brought up the reserve, all the four +divisions of his army being now engaged. The English fought bravely and +determinedly, making many but unavailing attempts to pierce through the +front of the spearmen, and at every successive charge losing more men +and horses, and falling into greater confusion. Then was heard afar the +clashing and crashing of armour, the commingled whooping and shouting +of the war-cries, and withal the agonising moans and groans of the +wounded and dying; many masterless horses were madly running hither and +thither, heedless of friend or foe; the ground was streaming with blood +and strewn with shreds of armour, broken spears, arrows, and pennons, +rich scarfs and armorial bearings torn and soiled with blood and clay. + +The Scots continued to gain ground, and pressed with increasing energy +upon the confused and tottering mass of the enemy, rending the air with +shouts of “On them! on them! they fall!” The English gave way slowly +along the whole line. Bruce perceiving this, placed himself at the +head of the reserve, and raising his war-cry, which was repeated by the +Lord of the Isles, they pressed with redoubled and unbearable fury on +the falling ranks of the enemy. This onset, well seconded by the other +divisions of the army, decided the fate of the day. The English broke +into disjointed squadrons and began to quit the field, and in spite of +all the efforts of their leaders to rally them and restore order, they +dispersed and fled headlong in all directions. King Edward stood gazing +intently upon the fatal field till he saw that all was lost, when he +fled in utter bewilderment. The struggle was over, the enemy in flight, +and the victory complete. Glory to the heroes who fought, and bled, and +fell on Bannockburn. Peace to the ashes of Robert Bruce, who skilfully +planned, ably led, and won the field on that memorable day; while +Scotsmen’s blood runs warm and human sympathies endure, the nation’s +heart will throb over the remembrance of Bannockburn. + +Thirty thousand of the English fell upon the field, and the standards +of twenty-seven barons were laid in the dust, their owners being slain. +Two hundred knights and seven hundred esquires were among the fallen. +The prisoners consisted of twenty-two barons, sixty knights, and a +multitude of the lower ranks. Although only two men of note, Sir Walter +Ross and Sir William Vipont, were slain on the Scottish side, nearly +four thousand of the rank and file fell on the field. A large number +of the English must have been trampled to death by their own cavalry, +especially after the confusion in their lines began. For though the +Scottish spearmen stood in their positions like a rock so long as the +issue of the battle was doubtful, whenever Bruce placed himself at the +head of the reserve there was then an instantaneous forward movement +of the whole line, and a series of successive charges were made upon +the confused and entangled mass of the enemy, and it seems to have been +then that the greater part of the English were killed. Edward II. fled +by Linlithgow and thence to Dunbar, escorted by five hundred cavalry, +who were pursued all the way by Douglas at the head of sixty horsemen. +There was no rallying point after the battle, and Edward escaped from +Dunbar to Berwick in a fishing-boat. + +Bruce showed a noble forbearance in the hour of victory, and treated +his fallen enemies and the prisoners with much respect and humanity. In +this he exhibited a striking contrast to the cruel and rancorous policy +of the Edwards. Of course some of the prisoners who were rich, paid +large sums of money for their ransom. The enormous spoil of the English +camp fell into the hands of the Scots, amongst which was the military +chest containing the money for the payment of the troops, and the +privy seal of Edward II. Mowbray, the governor, surrendered Stirling +Castle the day after the battle, according to the agreement, and +he then entered into the service of Bruce. The Earl of Hereford had +taken refuge in the castle of Bothwell, which, after a short siege, +surrendered to Edward Bruce; he was exchanged for Bruce’s queen and +daughter, and his sister Christina, Bishop Wishart of Glasgow, and the +Earl of Mar. + +The Battle of Bannockburn was not only one of the greatest events in +the history of Scotland, but it was also one of the greatest events in +the history of Britain. Its immediate effects were obvious; while its +results have been continuously felt in the internal history of Britain +to the present time, and will continue to be felt throughout all time; +as it contributed an element to human freedom which in its essence can +never be lost. + +After the Battle of Bannockburn, Bruce’s chief aim was to bring the +English government to equitable terms of peace, but they refused to +treat him as a king. The result of this was a succession of invasions +and border raids which, for many years, kept both countries in a state +of turmoil; for the Scots naturally resorted to a convincing mode of +showing the advantages which they had gained, and they crossed the +Border in force and plundered and wasted the northern counties of +England. This was carried to such extremities that England became +anxious for peace, but the Scots would listen to it only on the +condition of the full acknowledgment of the independence of the kingdom. +The English were still extremely loth to recognise this; and Edward +tried the weapons of spiritual warfare and applied to the Pope for a +pacifying Bull, which was issued in the beginning of the year 1317. +This papal document was addressed to the illustrious Edward, King of +England, and the noble Robert de Bruce, conducting himself as King +of Scotland; it ordered the observance of a truce between England and +Scotland for two years. Two cardinals appeared in England as the papal +legates to enforce the observance of the truce, but Bruce declined to +observe it or to treat with the representatives of the Pope unless he +was addressed as King of Scotland. He told them that he would listen +to no Papal Bulls until he had taken Berwick. Bruce pushed on the siege +of Berwick, and it surrendered in the end of March, 1318. The Scots +then invaded Northumberland, and took the castles of Wark, Harbottle, +and Mitford. They advanced into Yorkshire, plundered the country, and +levied contributions, returning home laden with booty, driving their +prisoners before them like a flock of sheep.¹ + + ¹ Walsingham’s _Chronicles_, Volume I., page 142, _et seq._; + _Chronicles of Hexham_, Volume I., page 59, _et seq._; + _Fœdera_, Volume II., pages 317, 340. + +The two papal legates in England excommunicated Bruce and his adherents. +Owing, however, to the keen national sympathies of the Scotch clergy, +this had little effect in Scotland. + +In December 1318, Robert I. assembled a parliament at Scone, in which +a number of wise laws were passed. Acts were passed touching the +administration of justice, the organisation and mustering of the army, +and the freedom of the Church. The King commanded that the old and +common law of the kingdom should be rightly administered to rich and +poor alike. Acts relating to cattle-lifting, and to the salmon-fishing +were passed. It was enacted that every man who had goods of the value +of one cow, should arm himself with a good spear, or with a bow and +a sheaf of twenty-four arrows. An act was passed, which prohibited +all persons holding fiefs in Scotland from sending money or rents out +of the kingdom, under severe penalties. This parliament settled the +succession to the throne. In the event of the King dying without a +lawful male heir, Robert, the son of the Princess Marjory, should +succeed to the crown and kingdom; and in the event of the succession +falling to a minor, Randolph, Earl of Moray, should be appointed tutor +to the heir and guardian of the kingdom, and, failing him, Sir James +Douglas. The rule of succession was then settled thus:――“The male +nearest to the King at his death, in the direct line of descent, should +succeed to the Crown, and, failing such, then the nearest female in +the same line; and, failing the direct line, then the nearest male in +the collateral line, respect always being had to the right of blood by +which the last king reigned.”¹ + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume I., pages + 105‒114. + +Edward II. attempted to retake Berwick, but failed. To divert Edward +from the siege of Berwick, the Scots marched into Yorkshire and wasted +the country. This continual warfare was ruinous to both kingdoms; and +on the 21st of December 1319, a truce was concluded for two years. +About this time the Pope renewed his excommunication of Bruce and his +adherents: many denunciatory edicts had been issued from Rome against +Bruce and Scotland since he mounted the throne, and England had done +all that she could to increase their number and to enforce them. +The immaculate Edward II. pretended that he could not treat with an +excommunicated man like Bruce without a papal dispensation. Thus +obstacles were constantly thrown in the way of peace, and the policy of +King Robert was greatly hampered. At the same time, it was keenly felt +that the attitude of the King and the nation towards the head of the +Church was unsatisfactory. Therefore it was resolved by a parliament, +which met in the Abbey of Arbroath in April 1320, to prepare an address +to the Pope, and present to him the real state of the nation. This +address is of much historic and constitutional importance, and may be +quoted at some length. After referring to the antiquity of the kingdom +and its long line of kings, the conversion of the nation by Saint +Andrew, and the many favours which preceding popes had granted to the +kingdom, it proceeds:―― + +“So that our nation under their protection has hitherto continued +free and peaceful, until that prince, to wit, the King of the English, +Edward, the father of him who now is, under the semblance of a +friend and ally, in a most unfriendly way harassed our kingdom, then +without a head, and our people conscious of no guilt, and at that +time unaccustomed to wars: and the injuries, slaughters and deeds of +violence, plunderings, burnings, imprisonments of bishops, spoliations +and murders of men of religion, and other outrages, which this prince +perpetrated on the people, sparing no age or sex, religion or order, +no one could describe or fully understand but he who has learned it +from experience. From these innumerable evils, by the help of Him who, +after wounding, heals and restores to health, we were freed by our most +gallant prince and king, Lord Robert, who, for the delivering of his +people and heritage from the enemies’ hands, like another Joshua, has +cheerefully endured toil, fatigue, hardship, and danger. The Divine +Providence, the laws and customs of the kingdom which we will maintain +till death, the right of succession, and the due consent and assent +of all the people, have made him our prince and king. To him we are +obliged and resolved to adhere in all things, both on account of his +right and his merits, as the person who has restored the people’s +safety, and will defend their liberty. But, if this prince should leave +those principles which he has so nobly pursued, and consent that we +or our kingdom be subjected to the King or people of England, we will +immediately endeavour to expel him as our enemy and the subverter of +his own and our rights, and make another king who would defend our +liberties; for, so long as one hundred of us remain alive, we will +never consent in any way to subject ourselves to the English. Since it +is not for glory, nor riches, nor honours, but liberty alone that we +fight and contend for, which no good man will lose but with his life. +For these reasons, Reverend Father and Lord, we earnestly beseech and +entreat your Holiness, ... to deign to admonish and exhort the King of +England to rest satisfied with his own dominions, seeing that of old +England was enough for seven kings or more, to let us live in peace +in our small kingdom of Scotland, beyond which we have no habitation, +and desire nothing but our own, ... if your Holiness do not implicitly +believe these things, but trusting too much to the reports of the +English, and thus continue to favour them to our destruction, we must +believe that the Most High will lay to your charge all the loss of life, +the ruin of souls, and other evils which they will inflict on us and we +on them.... We commit the defence of our cause to the Supreme King and +Judge, casting our care on Him and firmly trusting that He will give +courage to us and bring our enemies to nought.”¹ + + ¹ _National Manuscripts_, Part II., Number 24. + +This spirited and constitutional address had an immediate effect at the +papal court; the severe measures against Scotland were suspended for +some time. Sir Adam Gordon and another baron were sent as ambassadors +to the papal court, and the Pope consented to address Bruce by +the title of the King of Scotland. But no final settlement of the +difficulty was obtained. In September 1320, commissioners were +appointed by England, empowered to treat with Scotland for peace; but +it appeared that Edward II. and his government were not sincere, as +they shortly after announced their intention to make peace by force of +arms.¹ + + ¹ _Fœdera_, Volume II., pages 431, 481. + +Another great invasion of Scotland was resolved on, and in August +1322, Edward II. marched into the doomed kingdom at the head of an +army numbering one hundred thousand men. Bruce adopted the tactics +of starving out the enemy, and all the cattle and provisions in the +Merse and the Lothians were removed to places beyond the reach of the +invading host. This was completely effective, as Edward II. and his +vast army, without striking a single blow, were compelled to retreat +in a state of wretchedness; many of the soldiers having died from +starvation and the effects of the fine generalship of their King. +In their retreat the English were harassed by Douglas and Randolph, +who, with a body of the Scots, hung on their rear and slew the +stragglers. When Bruce received tidings of the success of his tactics, +he immediately recrossed the Forth, marched rapidly southward, and +with a strong army advanced into England. On hearing that Edward II. +was encamped with the remnant of his army at Biland Abbey in Yorkshire, +Bruce determined to surprise him, and at once marched forward. He found +his enemies posted in a strong position on the summit of a steep hill, +accessible only on one side. But the sagacity and experience of Bruce +was equal to the occasion; and he ordered a party of the men of the +Isles and Argyle to march to a certain spot at the foot of the hill, +and then climb the rocks and attack the flank and rear of the enemy +posted on the summit. The Islemen shortly reached the ridge of the +hill and drove the English from the heights, and then the main body of +the Scots advanced and attacked the enemy. The English were completely +defeated, and fled in all directions; Edward escaped and rode to York, +hotly pursued by the Steward of Scotland. The baggage of the army, the +privy seal of England, and several prisoners of note, amongst whom were +the Earl of Richmond and Henry de Sully, fell into the hands of the +Scots. They proceeded to waste the country and advanced to the banks +of the Humber, levying contributions. In the middle of October they +returned home with their booty.¹ + + ¹ _Walsingham_, Volume I., page 166; Barbour’s _Bruce_; Hailes’ + _Annals_, Volume II., pages 216‒218. + +Indeed it had become manifest that if peace was not soon concluded +with Scotland, the consequences would be disastrous to England. +The inhabitants of the border counties of England saw and felt that +Edward II. was quite unable to protect them; and if the war was to be +continued, it seemed probable that these counties would soon be annexed +to Scotland. The prospect of this induced the English government to +make proposals of peace. Still the difficulty of Edward II. and his +advisers was their extreme reluctance to recognise Bruce as the King +of an independent kingdom; a truce, however, was agreed to, on the 7th +of June 1323, which was to continue in force for thirteen years.¹ + + ¹ _Fœdera_, Volume II., page 510, _et seq._ + +Although Edward II. and his government were very anxious for a +truce with the Scots, they were loth to relinquish their ideas of +the conquest of Scotland, which they had received from the great +hammer――Edward I. Accordingly Edward II. continued his efforts to stir +up the Pope against Bruce and the Scots; and he intimated to the Pope +that the Scotch clergy encouraged the people in their rebellion to the +utmost; and by their contempt of the solemn censures of the Church, +they had certainly incurred the suspicion of heresy; and therefore he +thought that no Scotsman should be elected to the office of a bishop in +his native land. Bruce sent Randolph, the Earl of Moray, to the papal +court; and he so far succeeded as to induce the Pope to address a Bull +to Bruce with the title of King. On his way home, Randolph was joined +by other Scotch envoys, and they concluded a treaty of alliance with +France, in which it was agreed that in future wars with England, France +and Scotland were to assist each other against her.¹ + + ¹ _Fœdera_, Volume II., page 541. + +Further attempts were made to arrange a final peace; but the English +government was still invidious, and persistently continued to instigate +the papal court to renew its denunciatory edicts against Scotland. On +the 20th of January 1327, Edward II. was dethroned. He was murdered +on the 21st of September, the same year; and his son was crowned on +the 25th of January under the title of Edward III. The new King and +government of England, however, was not inclined to recognise the +independence of Scotland, and the negotiations were broken off. The +truce was terminated, and both kingdoms prepared for a renewal of the +struggle. + +The King ordered the Scots to muster, and in June 1327, an army +of twenty thousand men, under the command of Randolph and Douglas, +marched over the western border and plundered Northumberland. They +out-manœuvred the English army, and after staying three weeks in the +enemy’s country they returned home. Preparations were immediately +made for another expedition. Bruce himself at the head of a large +army invaded England; one division of the army under the King +besieged the castle of Norham; another division attacked the castle of +Alnwick; and the third division proceeded to waste the open country of +Northumberland. Thus Bruce by his energy at last compelled the English +government to sue for peace on equal terms, as commissioners came to +the Scottish camp and offered proposals of a peaceful character. One +of these was, that a marriage should be contracted between David, the +King’s son, and Joanna, the sister of Edward III. + +But Bruce determinedly insisted that the independence of Scotland +should be first recognised as the basis of any treaty between the two +kingdoms. This was conceded. In a Parliament held at York, on the 1st +of March 1328, it was agreed that England should renounce for ever all +claims of superiority over Scotland; the main points of this document +were these:――“Whereas we, and others of our predecessors, Kings of +England, have endeavoured to obtain a right of dominion and superiority +over the kingdom of Scotland, and have thereby been the cause of long +and atrocious wars between the kingdoms, ... we have, by the assent +of the prelates, barons, and commons of our kingdom, in parliament +assembled, granted, and hereby do grant, for us, and our heirs and +successors, that the kingdom of Scotland shall remain for ever to +the magnificent prince and lord, Robert, by the grace of God the +illustrious King of Scots, our ally and dear friend, and to his heirs +and successors, free, entire, and separated from the kingdom of England +by its respective marches, as in the time of Alexander III., King of +Scotland, without any subjection, servitude, claim or demand whatsoever. +And we hereby renounce and convey to the said King of Scotland, his +heirs and successors, whatsoever right we or our ancestors in times +past, have laid claim to in any way over the kingdom of Scotland. +And we renounce and declare void, for ourselves and our heirs and +successors, all obligations, agreements, or treaties, touching the +subjection of the kingdom of Scotland and the inhabitants thereof, +entered into between our predecessors, and any of the Kings thereof, +or any of their subjects.” + +After the adjustment of this preliminary condition, the negotiations +proceeded smoothly and rapidly; the treaty of peace was concluded +at Edinburgh on the 17th of March 1328, and formally ratified by the +English parliament at Northampton, on the 4th of May, the same year. +The stipulations of the treaty of peace may be indicated thus: The King +of England and the King of Scotland promised to be faithful allies of +each other; reserving the obligations of the King of Scots to his ally, +the King of France. If the Irish people rebelled against the King of +England, the King of Scots should not assist them; and, if any one rose +in arms against the King of Scots in the Isle of Man or in the other +islands of Scotland, the King of England should not assist them. It was +provided that a marriage should be solemnised between David, son and +heir of the King of Scots, and Joanna, sister of the King of England. +Scotland agreed to pay a sum of £20,000 sterling to England, within +three years, at three separate terms: further, it was stipulated +that Sir James Douglas should be reinstated in the lands which he had +forfeited in Northumberland; and that Henry Beaumont, Earl of Buchan, +Thomas, Lord Wake of ♦Liddel, and Henry Percy, should be restored to +their lands and lordships in Scotland. The King of England promised to +aid in obtaining the recall of all proceedings instituted by the Pope’s +authority against the King and people of Scotland.¹ + + ♦ “Liddell” replaced with “Liddel” for consistency + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume I., page 126; + _National Manuscripts_, Part II., Number 26; _Fœdera_, + Volume II., pages 762, 806. + +Robert I. had now secured to the people of Scotland the full +acknowledgment of their national independence and liberty. To obtain +this he had struggled hard and long against fearful odds, cheerfully +endured the utmost privation, and bore with a strength of spirit +unrivalled in the annals of the world, the successive blows of +bereavement inflicted upon him by the implacable rage of his enemies. +The justice and the glory of his culminated achievement, was amply +attested by his enemies, when they at last pleaded guilty as above, +admitted, and stated that they had been the cause of the manifold and +extreme suffering inflicted upon the people of Scotland and the people +of England. + +The King’s son, David, who had been made Earl of Carrick, a boy five +years of age, proceeded with a large retinue from Cardross to Berwick +to meet his bride; and there Joanna, a girl of eleven years, was handed +over, in accordance with the treaty, to Sir James Douglas and the Earl +of Moray. On the 18th of July 1328, the marriage was celebrated at +Berwick, amid great rejoicing. Robert I. was unable to be present at +the marriage of his young son, as he had been for years afflicted with +an illness brought on by the privations which he had endured in the +early stage of his career. In the latter years of his life, he spent +much of his time at Cardross on the Clyde, a manor which he acquired +in 1326. He occupied his attention and in some measure assuaged the +tedium and pain of his malady by improving his residence at Cardross. +He repaired the park there, and greatly improved the garden; he had a +house for falcons which was surrounded by a hedge, and it appears that +he kept a pet lion. The Earl of Moray, Randolph, was often with the +King, and both devoted much of their time to shipbuilding. The King had +a ship of his own which plied on the Clyde and the neighbouring waters. +At Cardross the King lived in a quiet but hospitable style, as appears +from the large number of sheep, salted salmon, haddocks, eels, lampreys, +and other provisions which were consumed. He gave gifts and pensions to +a number of persons, and charities to poor men.¹ + + ¹ _Exchequer Rolls of Scotland_, Volume I. + +Robert I. had done his work; and when he found his life drawing to its +close, he dictated a letter to his son, giving him his last paternal +advice, and directing that his heart should be buried at Melrose. A +portion of this letter may be quoted:――“Robert, by the grace of God +King of the Scots, to David his most beloved son and the rest of his +successors, wishes health, and so to keep his precepts that they may +reign with his blessing. Dearest son, he appears worthy to be esteemed +a son, who, imitating his father’s example in good things, endeavours +to follow out his devout wishes, nor does he properly take the name +of heir who does not adhere to the goodly designs of his predecessor. +Desiring therefore that you, and the rest of our successors, should +follow out in devout sincerity that pious love and sincere regard +which we have conceived toward the Monastery of Melrose, where, of our +special devotion, we have appointed our heart to be buried.... And this +exhortation, supplication and command, do you our son, and the rest +of our successors, take care with earnest resolution to fulfil, if ye +would have our blessing together with the blessing of the Son of the +Most High King, who taught sons to do the will of their fathers, in +that which is right.... And in witness of our devotion towards Melrose, +so loved and chosen by us, we give this present letter to the aforesaid +religious, to be shown to our successors in time to come.”¹ This letter +was written twenty-seven days before the King’s death, yet we know that +the instructions which it gave touching the burial of his heart were +superseded by a later expression of his wishes. There appears to be +no doubt that Bruce in his last hours besought Sir James Douglas to +carry his heart to Jerusalem. It is also certain that Douglas actually +made an attempt to fulfil the wishes of the King, although he failed to +reach Jerusalem. It is, however, uncertain what became of Bruce’s heart +in the end. + + ¹ _National Manuscripts_, Part II., Number 29. + +Robert I. died at Cardross on the 7th of June, 1329, in the fifty-fifth +year of his age, and thus ended a remarkable career and a memorable +reign. His remains were interred in the choir of the Abbey Church of +Dunfermline, and a marble monument, made in Paris, was erected over the +grave. Bruce married Isabella, a daughter of the Earl of Mar. By her he +had one daughter, Marjory, who married Walter the Steward of Scotland. +Bruce’s second wife was Elizabeth, a daughter of the Earl of Ulster, +and by her he had two sons, David, mentioned in preceding pages, and +John, who died in infancy, and two daughters. King Robert had two +natural sons, Walter of Odistown, on the Clyde, who predeceased his +father, and Sir Robert Bruce, who fell at the battle of Dupplin in +1332. A papal bull, dated a few days after the death of Robert I., +but addressed to him, finally cleared Scotland from the interdict, +and authorised the Bishop of St. Andrews, or the Bishop of Glasgow, +to solemnly anoint and crown the Kings of Scotland. + + + + + CHAPTER VII. + + _Narrative to the Return of James I._ + + +ON the death of Robert I., in accordance with his expressed request, +Randolph, Earl of Moray, assumed the government of the kingdom. He +was an energetic man, and during his short regency the kingdom was +admirably governed. The regent became aware that Edward III. had begun +to entertain hostile intentions against Scotland, as in 1330, Edward +Baliol, a son of the deposed King John, received permission from Edward +III. to reside in England as long as he pleased. Baliol, in concert +with a number of nobles who had forfeited their Scotch estates, was +then projecting an invasion of Scotland, under the connivance of +Edward III. After the battle of Bannockburn, the nobles who held lands +in Scotland, but preferred to give their allegiance to the King of +England, then forfeited their lands on the north of the Tweed; as +it had at last, from bitter experience, become plain that a divided +allegiance had already caused enormous suffering in Scotland. Still +these forfeited nobles were extremely loth to relinquish their hold +upon the lands of Scotland, and, as we have seen, the claims of three +of them were recognised in the treaty of Northampton. But the regent +was unwilling to restore extensive territories to the sworn enemies of +the kingdom. + +On the 24th of November, 1331, King Robert’s son, a boy of eight years, +was crowned and anointed by the Bishop of St. Andrews, under the title +of David II. But perils were impending. The regent received tidings +of Baliol’s movements, and immediately mustered an army to defend the +kingdom. At this crisis the regent suddenly died at Musselburgh, on +the 20th of July, 1332. The Earl of Mar was elected regent, but he +had no qualification for the office, and led the nation to disaster. +In the beginning of August 1332, eleven days after the death of +Randolph, Edward Baliol appeared in the Firth of Forth with a fleet, +and immediately landed his troops on the coast of Fifeshire. His force +numbered about three thousand men on foot, and four hundred cavalry; +and his most ardent supporters were Henry Beaumont, who claimed the +earldom of Buchan, Lord Wake of Liddel, and Henry Percy. Besides these +there were many others under Baliol’s banner who were hungering for +land in Scotland, and pretended that they had claims to it. Among the +Scotch supporters of Baliol the most notable was the Earl of Athole; +he had estates in the south of England; his territories in Athole +and in Strathbogie were forfeited by Robert I., who gave Strathbogie +to Sir Adam Gordon. Thus Baliol’s supporters were animated by strong +motives, and they marched forward to Strathern with remarkable spirit, +surprised the Scotch army, under Mar, at Dupplin on the 11th of August, +and completely defeated the Scots. Mar himself, Robert Bruce, Earl +of Carrick, the Earl of Monteith, and many of the Scots were slain. +The day after the battle, Baliol and his followers took possession of +Perth, and commenced to fortify it. + +The Earl of March was at the head of another Scotch army superior in +numbers to Baliol’s force, but it appears that he secretly favoured +the invaders. March advanced towards Perth, as if he intended to +attack Baliol; but he soon disbanded his army without striking a single +blow. Baliol for the moment was master, and accordingly on the 24th +of September he was crowned at Scone. He then proceeded southward to +Roxburgh, surrendered the independence of Scotland to Edward III., and +gave up Berwick and territories on the borders to his Lord Superior. +But whilst he was transacting this business, Sir Robert Keith, and +James and Simon Fraser, surprised and captured Perth. A party led by +the young Earl of Moray, Randolph’s son, and Sir Archibald Douglas, +then proceeded southward in search of the new made King, who lay +encamped at Annan. At midnight they entered his camp, and after a +short resistance, his men were utterly routed and many of them slain, +and Baliol himself fled half-naked into England.¹ + + ¹ Hemingford’s _Chronicles_, Volume II., pages 303, 306; + _Register of the Great Seal_, pages 4, 14, 15; Hailes’ + _Annals_, Volume II., pages 158‒161; _Fœdera_, Volume II., + pages 876, 888; Volume III., page 317, _et seq._ + +Edward III. threw off the mask and openly assisted Baliol, who returned +to Scotland in March, 1333. The English army besieged Berwick, and +made the utmost efforts to take it. Sir Archibald Douglas, who was then +regent, attempted to raise the siege, and with an army numbering about +ten thousand men, attacked the English at Halidon Hill on the 20th of +July. But the Scots were completely defeated, Douglas, the regent, was +slain, and the Earls of Lennox, Strathern, Ross, and Sutherland, and +the greater part of the Scotch army. Berwick immediately surrendered, +and the southern part of the kingdom was under the heel of the invader. +Baliol held a Parliament at Edinburgh in February 1334, at which he +parcelled out the southern half of Scotland among his own adherents; +and then formally rendered homage to Edward III., surrendering to him +the remainder of the kingdom. His supporters, however, soon began to +quarrel with him, as he had no real hold of the nation. The Scots still +held the castles of Dumbarton, Lochleven, Lochdun in Carrick, Kildrummy, +and Inverness. In May, 1334, the young King, David II., and his queen +were sent to France for safety, and Philip VI. rendered material aid to +the national party. + +About this time Sir Andrew Moray, who had been taken prisoner, returned +from England after two years imprisonment, and the Steward, who had +taken refuge in the Island of Bute, also appeared on the scene, and +the people began to rally round them. The invaders were driven out +of Renfrew, Kyle, and Carrick, and Beaumont, the Earl of Buchan, was +captured in his Castle of Dundarg, but on the payment of a large ransom +was allowed to return to England. Baliol fled a second time across the +Border to seek the protection of his Lord Superior. Edward III., like +his grandfather, was always willing to oppress the people of Scotland, +and within five years he led, in person, four successive invasions into +the kingdom. During the short intervals between these invasions the +Scots assailed Baliol’s supporters, and allowed them no rest. The Earl +of Athole wavered, and repeatedly changed sides. In the service of +Edward III. he besieged the castle of Kildrummy, but in 1335 he was +attacked by Sir Andrew Moray at ♦Culblean, and defeated and slain. The +fall of Athole was a severe blow to Edward III., and his tool Baliol. +At a meeting held in Dunfermline, Sir Andrew Moray was elected Regent +of the kingdom, and he struggled to the utmost against the enemies +of the nation. Edward III. resolved to crush all resistance, and in +1336 invaded Scotland at the head of a great army. He proceeded by +Perth, and thence marched to Aberdeen, wasting the country and burning +villages and towns along his route. He then advanced through the +counties of Aberdeen and Banff, crossed the Spey, and onward till he +reached Inverness. Moray, the regent, wisely avoided a battle, but he +♠harassed his enemy most effectively, and Edward returned to England +without having subdued Scotland. Shortly after Edward III. concentrated +his attention on France, where he found a more tempting field for his +inordinate ambition. + + ♦ “Culblen” replaced with “Culblean” + + ♠ “harrassed” replaced with “harassed” + +Sir Andrew Moray, the Stewart, Sir William Douglas, and others, +assisted by the body of the people, continued their efforts to expel +the invaders. Several of the castles were retaken from the enemy. The +upstart Baliol, when left to his own resources, soon disclosed his +nakedness. The regent, Moray, died in 1338, and the Steward of Scotland +succeeded him as regent. He besieged Perth, which had been for years +the headquarters of the English, and the citadel of Baliol’s supporters. +After the siege had continued for some time, the governor of the town +capitulated on terms, and he and the garrison were permitted to retire +into England. By this time Baliol had become an object of hatred, +suspicion, and contempt, among all classes of the Scots, and in 1339 +he finally fled from the kingdom, and assumed his natural position as +a pensioned dependant on England.¹ + + ¹ _Exchequer Rolls of Scotland_, Volume I.; Hemingford’s + _Chronicles_, Volume II., pages 336‒340; Buchanan’s _History + of Scotland_, Book IX., Chapter 27. + +The regent proceeded with the work of expelling the invaders and the +re-organisation of the government. He besieged Stirling castle, which +was captured in 1341; and Edinburgh castle was surprised and taken on +the 17th of April the same year. At this time the regent reported to +the King that the country was almost clear of the enemy, and suggested +that he should return to his kingdom. The King and Queen embarked +for Scotland, and landed safely at Inverbervie on the 4th of June +1341; thence they proceeded to Aberdeen, and were warmly received and +hospitably entertained by the magistrates and the citizens. After a +short stay in the city, the royal party paid a visit to the aged sister +of Robert I., the widow of Sir Andrew Moray, who then resided in the +castle of Kildrummy. The King returned to Aberdeen, and was present at +a council held there on the 21st of February 1342; and on the 14th of +April he was again at Kildrummy. This year the King sojourned for some +time at Ayr, and visited Dumbarton, Stirling, Linlithgow, Haddington, +Inverkeithing, Cupar, Scone, and other towns. The King along with +the Queen and his sisters spent a night at Banff; and in August and +November he was again at Kildrummy; on this occasion the royal party +stayed for some time at Aberdeen. It appears that the King took part in +the popular amusements of the period. So far it seemed that the young +King had a bright future before him, and it was evident that the people +had great faith and hope in the son of Robert I.¹ + + ¹ _Exchequer Rolls of Scotland_, Volume I. + +David II. was then a youth of eighteen years, and, on his return from +France, the Steward gave over the government to him. The state of the +kingdom then needed a ruler who possessed the characteristics of energy, +sagacity, and experience, but unhappily it became apparent that David +II. lacked these qualifications. The war with England still continued +on the borders; a truce was concluded in 1344, which was to continue +till November 1346; but so long as the English held any portion of the +kingdom, the Scots could not refrain from attempting to recover it. + +In 1346, at the request of his French ally, David II. mustered +an army at Perth and marched southward. He entered England by the +western marches and plundered the country, advancing as far as the +neighbourhood of Durham. There the English army approached, and the +Scots hastily formed for action in three divisions. Their left wing +was under the Steward, their right under the Earl of Moray, and their +centre led by the King himself. At Neville’s Cross, on the 17th of +October, the English began the battle by an attack on the right wing +of the Scots. The Earl of Moray was slain, and his division was driven +back and thrown into disorder; the English then assailed the centre in +flank and in front; but David II. fought bravely, and for three hours +he maintained the contest against fearful odds; although severely +wounded, he continued to encourage his men, who fell fast around him, +till he was seized and disarmed by the enemy. When the royal banner +fell, the Steward retreated with the remnant of his army. The battle +was extremely disastrous to the Scots. The High Chancellor of Scotland, +the Chamberlain, the Marshall and the Constable, the Earls of Moray +and Strathern, many other nobles, and about fourteen thousand men were +slain upon the field. While the King, the Earls of Fife, Sutherland, +Monteith, and many other nobles and knights were taken prisoners. +The King and the prisoners were conveyed to London. By the orders of +Edward III., the Earls of Monteith and Fife were selected as traitors, +and tried and condemned. Monteith was executed with all the shocking +cruelties of the English law of treason, but Fife’s life was spared.¹ + + ¹ _Walsingham_, Volume I., page 269; _History of Scotland_, + Winton, Volume III., pages 476‒477; _Rotuli Scotiæ_, Volume + I., pages 690‒696, 705; _Fœdera_, Volume III. + +The English followed up their victory, entered Scotland, and overran +anew the greater part of the kingdom south of the Forth. The castles +of Roxburgh and Hermitage were surrendered to the enemy. But the +national spirit of resistance survived the calamitous defeat of Durham. +The Steward was elected guardian of the kingdom, and he assumed the +functions of his office, and exerted himself to the utmost to maintain +the liberty of the nation. In 1347 a truce was concluded between +England and France, which included Scotland, and it was continued by +renewals to 1354. + +The adjustment of the King’s ransom was a most difficult and tedious +matter. It appeared that the main aim of Edward III. was to extort an +enormous ransom for his royal prisoner, accompanied by stipulations +which the Scots, impoverished to the brink of utter ruin by a war of +fifty years, would be unable to implement; by this and secret intrigue, +Edward hoped and endeavoured to obtain possession of the throne of +Scotland. Attempts were made to treat with David II. on conditions +entirely subversive of the independence of Scotland; the poor, captive +King, however, could give no assurance that such conditions would be +fulfilled, so this came to nothing. After many abortive negotiations +and much wrangling, the King’s ransom was fixed at 100,000 marks, to +be paid to England by ten yearly instalments of 10,000 marks; twenty +hostages drawn from the chief families of the kingdom were to be placed +in the hands of the King of England until the ransom was paid; and a +truce was to be observed between the two kingdoms for ten years. The +treaty was concluded at Berwick on the 3rd of October 1357, and the +payment of the first instalment of the ransom was to be due on the +25th of June 1358. After the ratification of this treaty David II. was +released and returned to Scotland.¹ + + ¹ _Fœdera_, Volume III., pages 242, 365, _et seq._; _Acts of + the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume I., page 155 _et seq._ + +The first matter that demanded attention was how to raise the money to +pay the annual instalment of the King’s ransom. On the 6th of November +1357, David II. met his Parliament which assembled at Scone to concert +measures to raise this money. It was proposed that the King should be +empowered to purchase all the wool and fleeces in the kingdom at the +price of four marks for each sack of wool, which was two-thirds of the +actual market price of wool at the time, thus giving two marks as a tax +on every sack. The Estates sanctioned this provision. Directions were +given for a re-valuation of all the lands and rents of the kingdom; the +produce, corn, cattle, sheep, and every kind of goods, and also lists +of the names of all the merchants and tradesmen in the country, as a +tax was to be laid on the rents and profits of land according to their +real value; and an inquiry was to be made as to how much each person +was likely voluntarily to contribute toward the payment of the King’s +ransom. Various arrangements were made for collecting these taxes, and +for punishing those who might attempt to avoid payment. It was then +enacted that all the lands, rents, and other rights of the Crown which +had been alienated should now be resumed; that such alienations by the +King in the future should not be made without mature deliberation with +his council. The great customs of the Crown were raised to three times +their former amount. + +The payment of the King’s ransom pressed extremely hard upon the +impoverished nation. In spite of all the efforts of the parliament and +the people, the payment of the annual instalment fell into arrears. +This caused new arrangements to be proposed and concluded, which always +entailed more expense and increased the national taxes and debt. The +King himself was irregular and extravagant in his habits. It seems that +after his release he found little in Scotland to satisfy him, as he +frequently returned to England, and thus he entailed more annoyance and +expense upon his people; while the internal government of the kingdom +was neglected and the higher nobles became turbulent and lawless.¹ + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume I., pages + 133‒134. + +David II. had no children by his wife, the princess Joanna, and she +died in England on the 14th of August 1362. The following year the King +married Margaret Logie, but he had no family by her, and it seems she +had been superseded by a new favourite, Agnes of Dunbar, a daughter of +the Earl of March, who had attracted David’s attention. Accordingly, in +1369 David II. divorced his queen, Margaret Logie. These facts enable +us in some measure to understand the public conduct of David II., and +his proceedings with Edward III., touching the succession to the throne +of Scotland. + +In the month of October 1363, David II. proceeded to London, and a +project was then matured for transferring the Crown of Scotland to +England. The main points of the project agreed on between Edward III. +and David II., were that an immediate discharge of the ransom would +be given, on the condition of the Crown of Scotland being settled +on Edward III., in the event of David leaving no male issue; and +elaborate provisions were framed for preserving the separate laws +and institutions of Scotland. David II. undertook to ascertain the +inclinations of the Scots on the matter, and report the result to +Edward. In a parliament held at Scone on the 4th of March, 1364, David +suggested that the Estates should choose Edward III., or one of his +sons, to fill the throne of Scotland after his own death; but the +Estates rejected the proposal and threw it out with scorn, although +they were quite willing to make great concessions for peace. The +negotiations were continued; and at a General Council, which met +at Perth on the 13th of January, 1365, in order to obtain peace and +relieve the kingdom from its financial embarrassment, the meeting +agreed to offer to restore the forfeited nobles to the estates which +they claimed in Scotland, to settle the Isle of Man and the lands +of the Baliols on one of Edward’s sons, if the unpaid balance of the +ransom was totally remitted. The result of this was a treaty, which +was ratified by David II. on the 12th of June, 1365, and by Edward III. +on the 20th of the same month. This treaty contained an agreement to +pay £100,000 by annual instalments of £4000; and a truce to continue +for four years. The Scots desired a peace for a much longer period, +and sent envoys to England empowered to make further concessions. But +Edward III. expected greater concessions than the Scots were even yet +prepared to yield, before he would listen to proposals of a permanent +peace. At a council which met at Holyrood on the 8th of May, 1366, it +was declared that the proposals of Edward III., touching the homage, +the succession, and the dismemberment of the kingdom, were intolerable, +and could not be admitted as matter for deliberation. The Estates were +to attempt, if necessary, to pay the whole ransom within the four years +of the truce; and, with this in view, valuation rolls of all the lands +in the kingdom were ordered to be presented to the next parliament.¹ + + ¹ _Fœdera_, Volume III., pages 715, 770; _Acts of the + Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume I., pages 134, 137‒139; + _Exchequer Rolls of Scotland_, Volume II. + +When parliament met at Scone on the 20th of July, 1366, the new +valuation, which had been made under the Act of 1357, was laid before +it. Orders were then issued for a further valuation of the property +of burgesses and husbandmen, to be presented to a council which was +to be held on the 8th of September next. But £8000 had to be raised +immediately to pay the debts of the King and the expenses of the envoys, +who were again to proceed to England and attempt to negotiate for a +peace or a truce to continue for twenty-five years. The efforts to +obtain peace or a long truce with Edward III. failed, and he seemed +to be resolved on driving Scotland to the utmost extremities. The +extravagance of David II. was excessive, considering the financial +condition of his kingdom; he had borrowed large sums from burgesses +both in Scotland and in England. In spite of all the efforts to +extricate the nation, her financial difficulties were increasing.¹ + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume I., pages + 140‒143; _Exchequer Rolls of Scotland_, Volume II. + +Meantime the kingdom was drifting into a deplorable state of internal +disorder. The nobles were becoming lawless; and it appears that the +Earl of Ross, the Lord of Lorne, some other nobles, and John, the +Lord of the Isles, had declined to pay their share of the national +taxes, and defied the royal authority and absented themselves from the +meetings of parliament. But in 1369 the Earls of Ross and Mar promised +to assist the royal officers within their territories, and the Steward +promised to extinguish disorder in the districts of Athole, Strathern, +and Monteith. The Lord of the Isles, however, maintained that his +vassals were under no obligation to pay any portion of the national +taxes. In the end of the year 1369 he tendered his submission at +Inverness, and undertook to assist the royal authority; and he actually +paid a contribution to the national tax.¹ + + ¹ _Exchequer Rolls of Scotland_, Volume II., page 431; _Acts + of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume I., pages 145‒149. + +The four years truce was almost expired; year after year Edward III. +had spurned all the concessions and offers and efforts of the Scots to +make a lasting peace between the two kingdoms. The Scots were burdened +with a load of taxation, and the national debt was still accumulating, +while the prospect of a renewal of the war was impending over the +nation. But the historic relations between England and France took +a sudden turn, and war ensued between them. Edward III. then thought +fit to come to terms with Scotland, and granted a truce for fourteen +years, which was proclaimed on the 18th of June, 1369, and ratified at +Edinburgh on the 20th of July, and at Westminster on the 24th of August. +By this treaty 56,000 marks were recognised as the balance of the +ransom due, which the Scots undertook to pay by annual instalments of +4000 marks. All other claims under the treaty of 1365 were cancelled; +Edward III. also allowed the Scots half the rent of the lands subject +to him in the sheriffdom of Roxburgh.¹ In January 1370, David II. +paid his creditors by a composition of 13s. 4d. in the pound; and a +parliament which met in February 1370, at Perth, cancelled all the +remaining debts which he had contracted before 1368, and then enjoined +his majesty to live within his means for the future. The instalments of +the ransom were pretty regularly paid up till 1377, but it seems that a +balance of 24,000 marks was never paid.² + + ¹ _Fœdera_; _Rotuli Scotiæ_, Volume I., page 924. + + ² _Fœdera_; _Exchequer Rolls of Scotland_, Volume II. The + point of the non-payment of this balance is discussed in the + Preface to the third volume of the _Exchequer Rolls_. See + pages 54‒59. + +David II. had been a costly King to the Scots. The circumstances in +which he was placed in his youth were unfavourable to the development +of his faculties, his character, and his habits. He was not responsible +for his marriage with Joanna, the sister of Edward III.; he was not +responsible for his residence in France, or for his training there: +these were the result of the exigences of the position of the nation. +This partly accounts for the strange career which he ran after his +return from France, and his unfortunate capture at Durham. His race was +approaching its close, and he died on the 22nd of February, 1371, in +Edinburgh Castle, in the forty-seventh year of his age, after a nominal +reign of forty-two years. + +David II. having died without issue, under the settlement of 1318, +was succeeded by his nephew, Robert, the Steward of Scotland. He was +crowned and anointed by the Bishop of St. Andrews at Scone on the +26th of March, 1371, under the title of Robert II., in presence of +the nobles, the clergy, and a great assemblage of the people from all +quarters of the kingdom. Robert II. was then in his fifty-fifth year, +and, as we have seen, he had been twice regent. He was a man of ability +and good judgment, and was inclined to follow the paths of peace, +but unhappily the Scotch nobles were not as yet disposed to tread in +the quiet walks of life. The King had been twice married, and had a +large family of sons and daughters. The day after his coronation, in +the parliament assembled for the occasion, a declaration was read and +passed touching the succession to the Crown, a part of which may be +quoted:――“The most serene Prince Lord Robert, by the grace of God the +illustrious King of Scots, being at Scone at the time of his coronation, +the bishops, earls, barons, and others of the clergy and people of +his kingdom assisting, after the solemn rites of the anointing and +coronation completed, and a declaration made of the law by which the +most serene prince succeeded, and ought to succeed, as well by nearness +of blood as in virtue of a certain declaration made in the time of Lord +Robert, of illustrious memory, King of Scotland, the grandfather and +predecessor of the said Lord our King, there produced and read: also +having received the usual oaths of homage and fealty from the bishops, +earls, barons, and others of the clergy and people there present, which +of old were accustomed and required to be taken at the coronation of +the kings of Scotland; and willingly, after the manner and example +of that good King, of illustrious memory, Robert, his grandfather, +in presence of the clergy and people, to declare there his successor +and true heir, although with regard to him it was, and is evident, yet +for the greater certainty and with the unanimous consent and assent +of the said bishops, earls, nobles, and great men indicated, asserted +and acknowledged, declared and willed, that when it shall happen that +he, by the Divine dispensation, departs this life, the Lord John, +his first born son, Earl of Carrick and Steward of Scotland, shall +and ought to be his true and lawful heir; and, the Lord so ordaining, +shall and ought to sit upon the throne of his kingdom.” In 1373, in +a Parliament held at Scone on the 4th of April, another declaration +was made which limited the succession to the male line. The reasons +given for this limitation were that evils and calamities had happened +from the succession of female heirs. The assembled Estates of the +realm――“declared, ordained, and enacted that the sons of the King of +his first and second wives now born, and their heirs male only, shall +succeed one after another to the said King in the kingdom and in the +right of reigning; and the said Lord John and his heirs――male happening +to fail, but may it not be, the Lord Robert, Earl of Fife and Menteith, +the second born son of our Lord the King by his first wife, and his +heirs――male only, shall in turn and immediately succeed to the kingdom +and the right of reigning; and the said Robert and such heirs of his +happening also to fail, but may it not be, the Lord Alexander, Lord +of Badenoch, the third born son of our Lord the King by the same wife, +and his heirs male only, shall, after their death, in like manner, in +turn and immediately succeed to the kingdom and the right of reigning; +and the said Lord Alexander and his heirs happening in like manner to +fail, but may it not be, the Lord David, Earl of Strathern, son of our +Lord the King, born of his second wife, and his heirs――male only, the +said parties thus failing wholly, shall, in like manner, in turn and +immediately succeed to the kingdom and the right of reigning; and the +said Lord David and his heirs happening in like manner to fail, Walter, +son of our Lord the King, and his heirs male only, shall in like manner +succeed to the kingdom and the right of reigning: and the aforesaid +five brothers and their heirs male from them descending, happening +finally and wholly to fail, but may it not be, the true and lawful +heirs of the royal blood and parentage shall thenceforward succeed +to the kingdom and the right of reigning.” The above was enacted and +ordained by the Estates of the kingdom, and the bishops, earls, nobles, +and others present, each individually touched the “Holy Gospels and +swore their bodily oath that they would inviolably observe these +declarations, ordinances and statutes for themselves and their heirs, +and cause them to be observed for ever by others to the utmost of +their power. And immediately thereafter the whole multitude of the +clergy and the people in the church of Scone, before the great altar, +being specially convened for that purpose, the aforesaid declaration, +ordinance, and statute thus sworn, being explained to them in a +loud and public voice, each raising his hand, after the manner of +faith-giving, in token of the universal consent of the whole clergy +and people, publicly expressed and declared their consent and assent. +In witness of all which our Lord the King ordered his great seal to be +affixed to the present writing. And for the greater evidence and fuller +security all the bishops, earls, barons, and nobles above named caused +their seals to be affixed to this writing for the sake of testimony and +for a perpetual memorial to posterity.”¹ + + ¹ _National Manuscripts_ Part II., Numbers 43 A, 43 B. + +In the spring of 1371 Archibald Douglas and three other envoys were +sent to France, empowered to treat for the renewal and the amendment of +the former treaty of friendship and alliance between the two kingdoms. +On the 30th of June, at Vincennes, the new treaty was concluded, and +ratified by Robert II. at Edinburgh on the 28th of October. The two +nations agreed to mutually assist each other against English aggression, +and that no truce or peace should be concluded by either kingdom in +which the other was not included; this was an important stipulation, +which past experience had no doubt suggested to the Scots. In the event +of a disputed succession for the crown of Scotland the king of France +should support the right of the man whose claims were sanctioned by +the Parliament of the kingdom. The truce with England was continued, +although it was not strictly observed on either side. So long as +England held portions of Scotch territory in the southern countries, +the Scots could not refrain from driving out the invaders, but they +frequently went farther and made destructive and irritating raids into +the north of England. + +Robert II. was anxious for peace, but a number of his nobles and +several of his own sons delighted to make inroads into England. In +1380 the Duke of Lancaster advanced to the Border with a strong army +to check the raids of the Scots and make peace. The Earls of Douglas +and March and the Bishops of Glasgow and Dunkeld were commissioned to +meet the Duke of Lancaster at Berwick, where a truce was concluded to +continue for a year. Lancaster then disbanded his army, and promised +to meet the Scotch commissioners in the summer of 1381 to continue the +negotiations. The Earl of Carrick and other Scotch envoys met the Duke +of Lancaster near Ayton, in Berwickshire, and they agreed to a renewal +of the truce for three years; but a party of the Scots, in spite of the +orders of the King, would not desist from hostilities. + +The French Government had resolved to stimulate the Scots against +England. In May, 1385, a French force of two thousand men arrived at +Leith, under the command of John de Vienne, Admiral of France. The +French Admiral also brought with him a thousand stand of arms, and +fifty thousand franks of gold. The gold pieces were distributed between +the King and the chief nobles; but there was much difficulty in finding +quarters for the French army. As Edinburgh could only afford quarters +to a limited number, parties of them were billeted in Dalkeith, +Dunfermline, Kelso, Dunbar, and other places. They gave the Scots much +annoyance, and their foraging parties were sometimes resisted by them. +Misunderstandings and quarrels arose between the French soldiers and +the people, and on the 1st of July Parliament passed an ordinance, to +which the French Admiral agreed, to regulate the relations between the +French soldiers and the Scotch people. In this ordinance it was stated +that no pillage was permitted in Scotland, under the penalty of death, +and everything which the French troops required from the people was +to be duly paid. If one soldier killed another he should be hanged, +and if any servant defied a gentleman, he should lose his ears. If a +riot arose between the French and the Scots no appeal to arms should +be permitted, but the ringleaders should be immediately arrested, and +tried and punished by a council of officers.¹ + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume I., pages + 190, 191. + +But the French had the pleasures of a raid into England, and of wasting +Northumberland to the gates of Newcastle. The French and Scotch modes +of warfare, however, were so different that disputes arose between the +leaders of the Scots and the Admiral. The French commander insisted +that they should face the English in battle, and at once strike a blow; +the Scots said such an attempt would be disastrous. The dispute waxed +warm; the Frenchmen talked contemptuously of the spirit of their allies, +and they were only silenced when taken to the top of a mountain and +shown the strength of the enemy’s force. Still the French Admiral said, +“if you do not give the English battle they will destroy your country.” +The Earl of Douglas replied, “Let them do their worst, they will find +but little to destroy.” The English army entered Scotland and advanced +to Edinburgh, burning empty villages and homesteads, and plundering the +churches and monasteries. But provisions soon began to fail, and many +of the English troops perished from want of food, and their commander +was forced to order a retreat. Meanwhile the Scots and their French +allies invaded and plundered the district of Cumberland.¹ + + ¹ _Froissart_, Volume II., pages 49‒55, 1842. + +After returning from the raids to Edinburgh, the French prepared to +go home. The Admiral settled various claims for damages and injuries +which the Scots alleged to have been caused by the French troops. +The Scots then provided vessels in which the French troops departed, +much displeased with their Scotch allies. The war with England still +continued; the Scots made many destructive inroads into the northern +counties of England; the result of these intensified the animosity of +the two nations towards each other and produced much evil. Robert II. +was averse to this incessant warfare, but the nobles followed their own +counsel and disregarded the views of their King. + +In the summer of 1388 the Earls of Douglas, Fife, Moray, and other +nobles, held a conference, and resolved to muster an army near Jedburgh +in the beginning of August, in order to make a great invasion of +England. On the appointed day this army was arranged in two divisions. +The first division consisted of three hundred cavalry and two thousand +men on foot, under the command of the Earl of Douglas, with the Earls +of Moray and March, Sir James Lindsay, and others; the second division +consisted of the main body of the army, under the command of the Earl +of Fife, with the Earls of Strathern, Monteith, Mar, and Sutherland, +and Archibald Douglas. The main army marched on Carlisle, while the +Earl of Douglas advanced through the eastern marches. Douglas rapidly +marched through Northumberland till he reached the diocese of Durham, +and then the plundering began. After wasting this district to the +gates of Durham, the Scots retired to Newcastle, where Sir Henry Percy, +“Hotspur,” his brother, Sir Ralph, and other English barons were lying. +Douglas remained two days in the vicinity of the town; but the English +seemed to have imagined that the main body of the Scotch army was not +far off, and therefore they did not then attack the Scots. Douglas +resumed his march towards Scotland, and the Scots pitched their camp +in a strong position on the banks of the Reed water, near Otterburn, +thirty miles from Newcastle. Percy having ascertained that Douglas +was not supported by the main body of the Scots, at once mustered five +hundred cavalry and a strong body of infantry and marched in pursuit +of Douglas. After sunset on the evening of the 10th of August 1388, the +Scots descried Percy approaching, and their leaders were at supper when +the war cry of “Percy!” “Percy!” startled them. The English attacked +the Scottish camp furiously, but the camp followers defended the +waggons and baggage for some time, and Douglas rapidly advanced round +a wooded height and attacked the flank of the English while they were +entangled in the marsh near the Scottish camp. But Percy drew back +his men to firm ground and met the attack of the Scots with surprising +valour. The battle raged furiously for hours. Then the Scots began +to fall back, but Douglas followed by a few fought his way into the +midst of the enemy, where he was borne down and mortally wounded. The +combat continued to rage, and Sir James Lindsay and Sir John Sinclair +found Douglas lying in a dying state, but he was able to tell them to +raise his banner and cry Douglas, which was instantly done. The Scots +imagining that their leader was still on his feet, assailed the enemy +with unbearable fury. At last the English began to waver and then broke, +and many of them were slain. Henry Percy, Hotspur, and his brother +Ralph, and a number of other English barons were taken prisoners. The +body of Douglas was carried to Scotland, and interred at the Abbey of +Melrose.¹ The main body of the Scotch army, under the Earl of Fife, +were plundering the western district of England when tidings of the +victory at Otterburn reached them. + + ¹ _Froissart._ + +While the warfare briefly touched on in the preceding pages was +engrossing the attention and energy of the nobles, the material and +social progress of the nation was much retarded. The power of the +nobles was rapidly increasing, but the power of the Crown was becoming +feeble. The age and infirmity of Robert II. rendered it necessary that +something should be immediately done to maintain order in the kingdom. +Robert’s eldest son was lame and deemed unfit for public life; but his +second son, the Earl of Fife, was a man of energy, and in a Council +held at Edinburgh in December 1388, he was appointed regent. This man, +afterwards known in history under the title of the Duke of Albany, +held the reins of government for many years. A truce was concluded +between France and England in 1389, which was accepted by Scotland, +and continued by renewals to 1399. This cheered the last days of the +aged King, who had long desired peace. He died in April 1390, in the +seventy-fourth year of his age and the twentieth of his reign, and was +interred at Scone. + +Robert II. was succeeded by his eldest son, John, Earl of Carrick. +But “King John” was a name extremely odious to the Scots, owing to its +association with the hapless Baliol, and Carrick assumed the favourite +name of Robert. After the funeral of his father he was immediately +crowned at Scone, under the title of Robert III. He was an amiable +and discreet man, but he lacked the strength of character to restrain +the restless and lawless nobles. His brother, the Earl of Fife, who +acted as regent in the later years of his father’s reign, continued to +wield the chief authority under the name of Governor of the kingdom. +Alexander, another brother of the King, Lord of Badenoch and Earl of +Buchan, who ruled the northern part of the country, earned for himself +the name of “the Wolf of Badenoch.” Amongst other oppressive acts he +took possession of land which belonged to the bishopric of Moray. For +this he was excommunicated; but he retaliated by advancing with a body +of his followers to Elgin, and burning the grand cathedral, the chantry, +and the city.¹ + + ¹ _Registrum Episcopatus Moraviensis_, pages 204, 348‒349, + 376, 381. + +Shortly afterwards the Wolf’s natural son, Duncan Stewart, led a +party of his adherents across the mountains which divide the counties +of Aberdeen and Forfar, and plundered the Lowlands. In 1392 the landed +gentry, headed by Sir Walter Ogilvie, Sheriff of Angus, mustered +and met him at Gasklune, near the water of Isla; but he completely +defeated them. Ogilvie the sheriff, his brother, and others were +slain. The Government, in a General Council held at Perth, ordered +Duncan Stewart and his accomplices to be proclaimed outlaws, for the +slaughter of Walter Ogilvie and others. The weakness of the Crown and +the lawlessness of the nobles were the most striking features of this +period. The state of the kingdom and the suffering of the people were +deplorable. In 1397 parliament passed an act, which opened with a +declaration that continual burnings, harryings, and slaughters, were +common throughout the country. It was then enacted that no one should +ride through the kingdom with a greater retinue than they could pay for, +as it was common for such riders to seize whatever they wanted without +payment, and besides, they burned and destroyed the property of the +people. Those who committed such oppressive acts in future were to +suffer the penalty of death, and the sheriffs were enjoined to proclaim +this statute, bring offenders to trial, and execute them.¹ + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume I., pages + 208, 217. + +In a Parliament which assembled at Perth on the 27th of January, 1399, +it was asserted, in the preamble to the acts, that the misgovernment +of the kingdom and the maladministration of the laws should be imputed +to the King and his officers. “If, therefore, the King chose to make +excuses for his own shortcomings then, if he thinks fit, he can call +his officers to whom he had given commission, and accuse them in the +presence of his council; and their answers heard, the council should be +ready to judge their defaults, since no man ought to be condemned until +he be called and accused.” This seems a fine and important statement, +but it is quite certain that the greatest offenders were amongst those +very men who drew up the statement itself, and they knew well that the +feeble King was not in a position to accuse them in any way. Parliament +then announced that, owing to the infirmities of the King, he could +not govern the kingdom nor repress trespassers and rebels. The Duke +of Rothesay, the King’s eldest son, was appointed Lieutenant-General +of the kingdom for three years, and entrusted with full regal power. +He took the coronation oath to preserve the freedom and rights of the +Church, the laws and the loveable customs of the people, to restrain +and punish all manslayers, robbers, and other masterful misdoers, +and especially all cursed men and heretics who were expelled from the +Church. Parliament appointed a council to assist the Duke of Rothesay +in the Government; amongst those named were his uncle, the Duke of +Albany, the Earls of Douglas, Moray, Ross, and Crawford, the bishops +of St. Andrews, Glasgow, and Aberdeen, and his acts as ruler were to be +recorded, with the date, place, and the names of those present, that it +might be known on whom to fix responsibility. + +The act lately passed at Stirling touching those who rode through +the country without paying their way was repeated. The sheriffs were +ordered to proclaim the laws, to search out and arrest vagabonds and +criminals, and bind them to appear in court and stand their trial at +the next justiciary circuit.¹ + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume I., pages + 210‒212. + +It appears that the King, instead of being in a position to accuse +the chief offenders or the administrative officials of the Crown, was +entering into bonds with the nobles for the protection of himself and +his heir. Indeed, the weak monarch was reduced to the extremity of +purchasing the favour of the nobles. The bonds between the King and his +nobles were numerous, and assumed the form of annual grants of money +under the condition that they were to defend him and his eldest son. +Thus he bound himself to give large sums annually to individual nobles +for the natural period of their lives, and in some instances of the +lives of their children. The Duke of Albany, Lord Stewart of Brechin, +Lord Murdoch Stewart, the Earl of Moray, Sir John Montgomery of +Eglisham, Sir William Stewart of Jedworth, Sir William Lindsay, and +many others, were parties to bonds of this character.¹ + + ¹ _Exchequer Rolls of Scotland_, Volume III., pages 251, 287, + 280, 326, _et seq._ + +The truce terminated in 1399, and war was immediately recommenced on +the Borders. The Scots entered into the northern counties of England +and plundered the country; the English retaliated, and thus the former +mode of cruel warfare proceeded. The Duke of Rothesay had promised to +marry a daughter of the Earl of March, but the young prince changed +his mind, and contracted a marriage with a daughter of the Earl of +Douglas; thus he incurred the bitter enmity of the Earl of March, who +at once fled to England, and gave his allegiance to Henry IV. The King +of England, in return for the Earl’s homage, granted him lands and +possessions; the Earl of Douglas then seized his estates in Scotland. +Thus the personal and family affairs of two Scotch nobles embittered +the political relations of both nations. + +Two English invasions of Scotland soon followed. The first one was led +by Sir Henry Percy and the Earl of March. They marched into Scotland +at the head of two thousand men, advanced through the Earldom of March, +wasted the country, burned villages, and collected booty, and pitched +their camp at Linton. A strong body of the Scots, under Archibald +Douglas, rapidly marched from Edinburgh to attack them, but on the +approach of Douglas they fled, and left their tents and plunder behind +them. In the summer of 1400 Henry IV. mustered his army and marched +northward, and despatched a herald to summon Robert III. and the +nobles of Scotland to meet him at Edinburgh on the 23rd of August, +and there to render homage to him as their Lord Paramount; but no +response was returned to this ghostly demand. Henry, at the head of his +army, advanced to Edinburgh, and his fleet appeared in the Forth and +supplied his troops with provisions; for, unlike all his predecessors, +he did not stain his name by acts of cruelty and pillage. The Castle +of Edinburgh was defended by Rothesay, the Lieutenant-General of the +kingdom, who had a strong and well provisioned garrison under him. The +Duke of Albany mustered an army and advanced towards Edinburgh, and +pitched his tents on a moor near Calder. Henry’s troops began to suffer +from want of provisions, and a rebellion, which was raging in Wales, +caused him to return home with his army without effecting anything of +the slightest importance in Scotland. He was the last English king who +led an army in person against Scotland, and henceforth the scheme of a +complete conquest of the kingdom seems to have been relinquished. + +Rothesay was a somewhat rash young man, impatient of opposition, yet +open and courageous, and not beyond hope of improvement under the +sobering effect of experience. But his uncle Albany, the late governor, +was an ambitious man, fond of power, calculating and crafty, and +cold and pitiless: their position made them rivals, if not enemies of +each other; and it seems that Albany laid a trap to ensnare the young +prince, who was unable to cope with his unscrupulous relative. Sir John +Ramorgny, Sir William Lindsay, and others joined Albany, and means were +soon found for executing their purpose. The Bishop of St. Andrews died +in 1401. It was then customary for the castle of a deceased bishop to +be occupied by the Crown till the election of a new one. With this idea +in his mind Rothesay was proceeding to occupy the castle of St. Andrews, +but when within a mile of it he was arrested on a warrant obtained from +the King on the representations of Albany and Lindsay, and conveyed to +the castle of Falkland and imprisoned. The warrant for arresting him +was granted on the ground that his excesses and irregularities should +be restrained. A few weeks after his imprisonment, his body was removed +and interred in the monastery of Lindores, and a report issued that +he had died of a bowel complaint; but the people asserted that he had +been murdered by the cruel mode of utter starvation, and suspicion +pointed to Albany and the Earl of Douglas as his murderers. There was +a parliamentary inquiry into the cause of his death, in which it was +gravely stated that “he died by the visitation of Divine Providence, +and not otherwise.” Albany and Douglas admitted their share in +his arrest, and they and all their accomplices were indemnified +for whatever breach of the law this act involved, and everyone +was forbidden to spread false rumours against them.¹ The aged and +unhappy King bitterly lamented the fate of his son, but he was utterly +powerless. On the death of Rothesay, Albany resumed his position as +governor of the kingdom. + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume I., page 220. + +The evidence that Rothesay was murdered is mainly circumstantial, but +it is very strong. Although it may be difficult to see what motive the +Earl of Douglas had which could have induced him to become a party to +this crime――the acts of a Scotch noble of the fourteenth century were +often strange――while the murdered prince was the husband of Douglas’ +daughter: yet the extensive territories of the Earl of March were then +hanging in the balance, and may have come into Douglas’ reckoning in +connection with this crime. The circumstantial evidence against Albany +is almost complete. The national records show that Rothesay during his +few years of office was not inattentive to his public duties,¹ though +he had not escaped from the follies of youth. + + ¹ _Exchequer Rolls of Scotland_, Volume III., pages 378, 465, + 472, 402, 412, _et seq._ + +The border warfare continued, and on the 14th of September 1402, the +Scots sustained a severe defeat at Homeldon Hill in Northumberland. In +this battle the Earl of March fought in the English ranks against the +Scots. + +It was resolved that the King’s other son, Prince James, a boy of +fourteen years, should be sent to France for safety and to complete +his education. He sailed early in March, 1406, and when off Flamborough +Head he was captured by the English, conveyed to London, and lodged +in the Tower. When his guardians remonstrated, Henry IV. replied that +he knew the French language very well, and therefore his father could +not have sent him to a better master. The Duke of Albany seems to have +looked at the capture of the prince very calmly, but when the tidings +of his son’s capture reached the unhappy King he sank rapidly, and died +on the 4th of April, 1406, having reigned sixteen years. His remains +were interred in front of the high altar in the Abbey Church of Paisley. +On the death of Robert III. the captive prince was recognised as the +heir to the throne, in a Council which met at Perth in June; and Albany, +as the next in the male line of succession, was elected regent, and +continued to rule the kingdom. In February, 1407, the league between +France and Scotland was renewed.¹ + + ¹ _Extracta ex variis chronicis Scotiæ_, page 216; Winton; + Buchanan. + +The Scots were gradually pressing the English out of the positions +which they had long occupied in the southern counties. In 1409 the +Castle of Jedburgh was recovered, which had been in the enemy’s +hands since 1346, and to prevent the enemy from retaking it the Scots +levelled it to the ground. About the same time the castle of Fast +was taken. A truce with England was concluded, in which it was stated +that from the River Spey to the Mount of St. Michael, in Cornwall, all +hostilities between the two kingdoms should cease after the 17th of +May, 1412, for a period of six years.¹ + + ¹ _Fœdera_, Volume X., page 166, _et seq._ + +In 1411 an event occurred which has been strangely mis-interpreted +and exaggerated, namely, the Battle of Harlaw. This battle has been +represented as a great and decisive contest between the Celtic race +and the Lowland race. Now, as a matter of historic fact it was nothing +of the kind; it was entirely a personal and family quarrel, in its +origin, its cause, and its effect, and it arose in this way:――Robert +II. married, as his second wife, a sister of William, Earl of Ross; +Margaret, a daughter of Robert II., married John, Lord of the Isles, +and their son, Donald, succeeded to the Lordship of the Isles, and he +married Mary, a daughter of Walter Lesley, Earl of Ross; but Mary’s +brother, Alexander Lesley, who in due time became Earl of Ross, married +Isabel, a daughter of the Duke of Albany, Regent of Scotland, and they +had an only daughter, Euphemia, Countess of Ross, who, on the death of +her father in 1406, became a nun, and she then proposed to assign the +earldom of Ross to her maternal uncle, the Earl of Buchan, the second +son of Albany, the regent. But Donald of the Isles, in right of his +wife, had a legal claim to the earldom of Ross, which was preferable +to that of the Earl of Buchan, Albany’s son, and therefore Donald was +legally and morally right in resisting the ambition and the enormous +greed of the Duke of Albany, to aggrandise his own family in defiance +of law and justice. Eventually, after the death of Albany, Donald’s +right to the earldom of Ross was recognised and confirmed by James I. +Such, then, was the origin and the cause of the Battle of Harlaw; a +mere family quarrel from beginning to end, with no more real national +or racial significance than any other family quarrel and battle between +two nobles. + +Owing to the determination of Albany to ignore the claim of Donald of +the Isles to the earldom in question, the island chief mustered his +vassals and followers, and at the head of about six thousand men he +crossed to the mainland, and marched through the earldom of Ross, in +which he received much support, and greatly increased the strength of +his army. Proceeding onward he advanced through Moray, crossed the Spey, +and continued his advance through the higher grounds of Strathbogie +and the Garioch, and pitched his camp on the Hill of Benachie. There +he posted his army, and awaited the attack of his adversary, the Duke +of Albany, but that grasping schemer had not the courage to face the +man whom he had been the cause of bringing so far from home. Albany +found a fit agent in Alexander Stewart, a natural son of “the Wolf +of Badenoch,” and who was then Earl of Mar, and the Regent entered +into a bond with him for mutual support. This Earl of Mar had been a +freebooter and a murderer of the deepest dye, so in the family cause +of the Duke of Albany, Mar led the people of Angus and Mearns and +Aberdeenshire against Donald of the Isles. The battle was fought on +the 24th of July, 1411, on a moor edging up the Hill of Benachie. +The action was long and furiously contested; many fell on both sides, +and night put an end to the desperate struggle. There was no victory +on either side, but Donald and his followers retreated. Many of the +Lowland barons and a considerable number of their followers, and of +the citizens of Aberdeen and Dundee, were slain on the field, and thus, +locally, the Battle of Harlaw was a great event; but it had not the +slightest national or racial significance, being entirely a family +affair from beginning to end. As stated above, Albany failed in his +object, for Donald retained possession of the earldom of Ross, and his +son succeeded him. + +The Regent’s eldest son, Murdoch, was a prisoner in England, and his +father managed to obtain his liberation in 1416. Many of the people +were longing for the return of James I., and efforts were made to +negotiate for his freedom, but these were abruptly broken off. Albany +died on the 3rd of September, 1420, at the advanced age of eighty-one. +He had ruled the kingdom for a period of thirty years, though his +regency only extended to sixteen years, but he had established his +power so firmly that his son quietly succeeded him in the regency. +Murdoch, however, had not the energy and talent of his father, but he +imitated his father’s style, and granted crown charters under his great +seal; and, like his father, he had £1000 a year as Governor of the +kingdom, and 200 marks as Keeper of Stirling Castle, and other sums +from the burghs of Linlithgow, Cupar, and Aberdeen. It seems probable +that Murdoch had also bound himself to uphold the acts of the Earl of +Douglas, for in the year 1421 Douglas received more than two-thirds of +the gross customs of Edinburgh.¹ + + ¹ _Exchequer Rolls of Scotland_, Volume IV., page 310, Preface, + page 79. + +In August, 1423, negotiations were opened for the release of the +King, and the following year a treaty was concluded. It was agreed +that Scotland should pay to England £40,000, within six years, by +half-yearly instalments, and for this sum the burghs of Edinburgh, +Dundee, Perth, and Aberdeen, were to give security, and the Earls of +Crawford, Moray, and a number of other nobles were to become hostages +as additional security. It was stipulated that the King should contract +a marriage with some English lady, and 10,000 marks was to be deducted +from the ransom and given to such lady as a dowry. On these conditions +James I. was to obtain his freedom. James selected Johanna Beaufort, +a daughter of the Earl of Somerset, and their marriage was celebrated +at Southwark in March, 1424, with great regal pomp. A truce for seven +years was concluded. All the arrangements for the King’s return having +been completed, he moved northward, accompanied by many of his own +subjects. He crossed the Border on the 9th of April, and was warmly +welcomed by the people. + + + + + CHAPTER VIII. + + _Reign of James I._ + + +THE return of James I. was an important event in the history of +Scotland. He was crowned at Scone on the 21st of May 1424. He then +with his Queen visited Dundee, and thence returned to Perth. His +first parliament was opened in Perth on the 26th of May 1424, in +which many important acts were passed. An inquiry was ordered to be +made concerning the Crown lands and rents since the death of Robert I. +onward to the regency of Murdoch, Duke of Albany. The object of this +was plain. It was further announced that if the King thought fit, he +could summon all his vassals and freeholders to produce their charters +or other evidence, that it might be seen what lands lawfully belonged +to them. This act was executed with a determination which convinced +the turbulent nobles that the hand of a master was upon them. James I. +had resolved to humble the power of the nobles, and his plans were well +conceived, and carried out with remarkable energy. Acts were passed for +restoring order and a more efficient administration of justice.¹ + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume II., pages 2‒8. + +On the 13th of May 1424, Sir Walter Stewart, eldest son of the Duke of +Albany, Malcolm Fleming, brother-in-law of Albany, and Thomas Boyd, one +of the Kilmarnock family, were arrested and imprisoned; and about the +end of this year, the Earl of Lennox, father-in-law of Albany, and Sir +Robert Graham, were seized and imprisoned. But these acts of the King +were only the prelude of the tragedy, for he was then meditating a bold +and desperate move. + +James summoned a parliament which met at Perth on the 12th of March +1425. For eight days it was engaged in passing laws against the +diffusion of heresy, bonds among the nobles, the reform of hospitals, +and the restoration of the lands of the Church, which had been wrested +from her and illegally possessed, the imposition of new customs, and +an inquiry touching the execution of the acts passed in the last +parliament. On the ninth day, the Duke of Albany and his son, Sir +Alexander Stewart, the Earls of Douglas, March, and Angus; William Hay +of Errol, Sir Alexander Seton of Gordon, Sir Alexander Irvine of Drum, +and others, altogether about thirty nobles and knights were arrested. +At the same time the King seized the castles of Falkland and Doune, and +imprisoned Albany’s wife in the castle of ♦Tantallon. These proceedings +astonished the aristocracy, and were presented as a lesson to the whole +body of the nobles, but the move was specially directed against the +Duke of Albany and his family. So the other nobles were released after +a very short imprisonment. + + ♦ “Tantallion” replaced with “Tantallon” + +Parliament reassembled at Stirling in May, and prepared to settle +the fate of Albany and his family. A court was held in the palace of +Stirling, and on the 26th of May 1425, Walter Stewart, the eldest +son of Albany, was brought to trial before the King and a jury of +twenty-one nobles. Walter was found guilty, condemned, and immediately +beheaded. The next day the King’s own cousin Albany, and his son +Alexander, and the aged Earl of Lennox, were tried, convicted, and +sentenced to death, and they were all executed before the castle of +Stirling. No record has been preserved of these trials, so the nature +of the crimes of which they were accused can only be conjectured; some +of the chronicles report that they were accused of robbery. Albany and +his sons were men of stalwart and commanding presence, and their fate +excited much sympathy among the people.¹ Indeed this action of the King, +which flooded the scaffold with the blood of his own kindred, cannot +be justified. It was not even wise as a political measure. Although +probably James intended to exhibit a striking example of severity, +he may have wished the nobles to understand that a change had taken +place in the government and the administration of justice, and that the +lawlessness which had prevailed must henceforth cease. + + ¹ _Scotichronicon_, Volume II., pages 484, 485; _Extracta ex + variis chronicis Scotiæ_, page 228. It may be mentioned that + Alexander Earl of Ross and Lord of the Isles, son of Donald + who led at Harlaw, was one of the jurymen in the above + trials. + +After the executions, it followed as a consequence that the large +estates of the families of Albany and the Earl of Lennox were forfeited +to the Crown. Unfortunately James I. had failed to forecast the +inherent strength of the class whose feelings and passions he had +aroused, and whose interests he had infringed. In 1425 the King, +however, proclaimed his intention to grant a remission of any injury +committed on persons or property in the Lowlands, on the condition +that the offenders made reparation to the injured parties, in all cases +where the extent of the loss could be ascertained by a jury of the good +men, who were to modify and fix the amount of damages.¹ + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume II., page 8. + +James I., having thus far restored order in the Lowlands, next directed +his attention to the Highlands and the Western Isles, and summoned a +parliament to meet at Inverness. In 1427 he mustered an armed force and +proceeded to Inverness, and summoned the Lord of the Isles and upwards +of fifty of the most notable chiefs to attend his parliament. They +obeyed and attended, and were instantly seized, put in fetters, and +imprisoned. On this occasion, as when Albany and the other nobles were +arrested and imprisoned, James I. exhibited a characteristic craftiness +and duplicity. Amongst those arrested were, the Lord of the Isles and +his mother; Angus Duff with his four sons, leader of four thousand +men; Kenneth More with his son-in-law, leader of two thousand men; +John Ross, Angus of Moray, William Leslie, and many others. A number +of the chiefs were immediately executed, and the rest were conveyed to +various prisons; and after a time some of them were executed and others +liberated. The Lord of the Isles and his mother were among those who +were liberated. But he seems to have been displeased with the whole +proceedings of the parliament at Inverness, and after the departure of +the King and his army he mustered his followers in Ross and the Isles. +He then advanced on Inverness, wasted the Crown lands, and set the town +on fire. The King returned to the north at the head of a strong force, +and the Lord of the Isles retreated to Lochaber; and there the King +attacked and defeated him, and pursued his retreating followers over +the mountains and from glen to glen. At last he surrendered to the +King, and in 1429 he was imprisoned in the castle of ♦Tantallon, and +his mother was arrested and imprisoned in Inchcolm.¹ + + ♦ “Tantallion” replaced with “Tantallon” + + ¹ _Scotichronicon_, Volume II., pages 488, 489; _Exchequer + Rolls_, Volume IV., pages 541, 621, 633. + +But a rising in the Highlands under Donald Balloch, a cousin of the +Lord of the Isles, ensued, and he encountered the royal army under the +command of the Earls of Mar and Caithness, at Inverlochy in 1431. After +a severe engagement, the royal troops were completely defeated, and +the Earl of Mar, and many others were slain on the field. Shortly after +this the Lord of the Isles was liberated, and the King appointed him to +the office of Justiciary of Scotland north of the Forth.¹ + + ¹ _Coronation of James I._, page 11; Dr. Skene’s _Celtic + Scotland_, Volume III., page 298. + +In July 1428, a treaty of marriage was concluded between the Dauphin of +France and the princess Margaret, daughter of James I. The marriage was +celebrated at Tours in 1436, when the princess had attained her twelfth +year and the Dauphin his thirteenth. It appears that the King’s ransom +money promised to England was never paid, except a part of the first +year’s instalment; and in consequence of this, the Scotch hostages +were detained in England. Many of them died in England, some ransomed +themselves, a few escaped; and in June 1453, the Earl of Strathern, who +had gone to England as a hostage, was liberated from Pontefract castle, +when his son Alexander surrendered himself in his stead, the Earl of +Douglas and Lord Hamilton becoming sureties for his return in case of +the escape of his son. Many allusions to the ransom hostages occur in +the _Rotuli Scotiæ_ long after the death of James I.¹ + + ¹ _Exchequer Rolls of Scotland_, Volume IV., Preface pages + 133‒134. + +James I. was an able legislator, administrator, and organiser, and +it may be said that the regular statute law of Scotland commenced in +his reign. The chief aim of his policy was to make the nobles more +dependent upon the Crown, to restrain them from oppressing the people, +and to rule the kingdom through Parliament, acting with the executive +power of the Crown. He attempted to introduce the principle of +representation in the election of members of Parliament. In his short +reign Parliament was assembled fifteen times; and besides transacting +other important business, his Parliaments passed upwards of one hundred +and sixty distinct statutes, which were written and proclaimed in the +language of the people. These Acts were admirably brief, incisive, and +clearly expressed, and dealt with many important matters, especially +the reform of the administration of justice. + +At the outset it was announced that all the subjects of the kingdom +should be governed by the King’s laws and statutes, not under any +special laws or spiritual privileges of any foreign authorities. In +1426 a notable attempt was made to give precision to the common law of +the kingdom, as it was then enacted by the King in Parliament that six +wise and discreet men who knew the laws best should be selected from +each of the three Estates, “and since fraud ought not to help any man, +they should examine the books of the law of this realm, and amend the +laws that needed amendment, and to carefully expunge all fraudulent and +frivolous exceptions, so that no man might obtain an unjust judgment +against another.” In the same year James I. instituted the court known +under the name of “the Session.” + +As it is a primary requisite that the laws should be made intelligible +to the people, and more especially to those who have to administer +the law, therefore the King, with the consent of Parliament, commanded +that all the statutes should be recorded in the King’s register, and +copies of them given to all the sheriffs throughout the kingdom. Every +sheriff was directed to proclaim the statutes in the chief towns of the +sheriffdom and in other places, and also to give copies of them to the +bishops, the barons, and burghs of barony. The sheriffs were ordered +to cause the tenor of the Acts to be obeyed in town and country, and +to declare to the people that it was their duty to obey the laws, so +that no man might have any ground to allege ignorance as an excuse for +his crime. To render the administration of justice free from outside +influence it was enacted that parties coming to the courts with their +causes should not appear with a multitude of their armed followers, but +simply accompanied only by their counsel and the necessary witnesses +for the trial of their causes. The King commanded that justice should +be equally distributed in every quarter of the kingdom, “to the rich as +to the poor, without fraud or favour”; and it was further enacted that +“If there be any poor creature who, for want of means, cannot follow +his case, then the King, for the love of God, shall ordain that the +judge provide and get a wise advocate to follow such a one’s case; and +if such a case be gained, the wrongdoer shall pay the injured party +and the advocate’s expenses: and if any judge refuses to obey this law, +then the party who has been defrauded shall have recourse to the King, +who shall so punish such a judge that he shall be a striking example to +all others.” + +It was enacted that the statutes should be interpreted according to +their real tenor and the intention of the legislature. With a similar +aim it was ordered that no one should be permitted to practice in the +King’s courts unless they were known to have sufficient knowledge and +discretion for the proper performance of such functions; while no judge +or officer of justice in the kingdom, nor any man who had indicted +another for any action, should be allowed at the trial to sit as +a juryman under a penalty of ten pounds. Many acts bearing on the +internal order of the kingdom, and the arrestment and punishment of +criminals were passed. Rebellion against the king was proclaimed to +entail the loss of life and lands. Various attempts were made to attach +more responsibility to all those in positions of authority throughout +the nation. + +Measures were passed relating to commerce, the coinage, and weights +and measures. Careful regulations were framed for preventing and +extinguishing fires in the towns, which were ordered to be strictly +observed. Every burgh was enjoined to provide a number of ladders at +the public cost――six, seven, eight, or more, according to the extent +of the town――and to keep them always in a convenient place ready for +use in case of fire; they were also to keep in readiness three or four +saws, and six or more iron clicks to pull down the timber and roofs +at fires. These and many other minute regulations were to be enforced +under penalties.¹ + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume II., pages + 2‒24. + +James I. was a firm friend of the Church. His Parliaments passed +several acts in favour of the privileges of the Church and the +searching out of heretics, and it was stated that the secular power +would support the Church in her mission of executing heretics. In the +year 1433 the Church found a heretic, Paul Crawar, a native of Bohemia. +He was a skilful physician, but it was reported that he embraced every +opportunity of sowing opinions contrary to the doctrines of the Church, +so he was seized and accused of heresy, and, although he argued and +defended his views with much force and clearness, that only rendered +his conviction more certain. He was convicted and condemned, and as +he declined to renounce his opinions, he was brought to the stake and +burned at St. Andrews on the 23rd of July.¹ It seems that he had made +some converts in Scotland. + + ¹ _Ibid._, pages 3, 7, 9; _Scotichronicon_, page 495. + +But the King was aware of the state of the Church. On the 8th of June, +1425, he sent a mandate to the Bishop of St. Andrews commanding him +to take immediate steps to recover the possessions of his See, which +had been robbed by the greed and the nepotism of his predecessors. The +same year he addressed a letter to the abbots and the priors of the +Benedictine and Augustine monasteries of Scotland, which exhorted them +to shake off their torpor and sloth and set themselves to restore their +fallen discipline and rekindle their decaying fervour, that they might +save their houses from the ruin which menaced them.¹ + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume II., pages + 24, 25. + +James I. encouraged industry and commerce; he had an establishment of +his own at Leith, which was used as a shipbuilding-yard, a workshop, +and a storehouse. He had several ships, and entered into trading on his +own account. The wool and hides of the crown lands, instead of being +sold to the Scotch merchants, were directly exported by the King to +Flanders duty free. The remissions of custom show that in one year the +King had exported wool and hides representing a value of about £900. +The King’s ships were frequently mentioned in the records; and John +Hannay, a burgess of Aberdeen, Andrew Baxter, and Henry of Crawford, +were named as masters of King’s ships. James I. commenced to rebuild +the palace of Linlithgow, and in many other ways left traces of his +energy.¹ + + ¹ _Exchequer Rolls of Scotland_, Volume IV. + +But the great aim of James I. was to reduce the overgrown power of +the nobles. To accomplish this he endeavoured to raise the influence +of the small barons and freeholders as a counterpoise to the higher +nobles. Although it is impossible not to admire the legislative and +administrative abilities of James I., still some of his proceedings +against the nobles were not wise politically, or morally defensible. +After the execution of the Duke of Albany and his family, the Earldoms +of Fife and Monteith became the property of the Crown. In the case of +the Earl of Lennox, though no sentence of forfeiture was pronounced +against him, yet the King took possession of his estates and Earldom, +and retained them in his own hands during his reign. Yet James went +further, and in 1431, in a parliament held at Perth, it was decided +that the late regent Albany had no power to alienate any lands which, +by the death of a bastard, might have fallen to the Crown, and on this +ground, a grant of land to Adam Ker was declared to be invalid. In +this way the King prepared for a great stroke. The Earl of March, who +usually commanded the castle of Dunbar, and held large estates in the +south of the kingdom, had often been a cause of annoyance to the Crown. +As we have seen, the Earl of March fled to England in the reign of +Robert III., renounced his allegiance, and fought in the English ranks +against the Scots in several engagements; but he returned to Scotland, +and in 1409 his estates were restored to him by the regent Albany. He +died in 1420, and his son George succeeded to the lands of the Earldom; +and it was this man that the King resolved to humble. His loyalty was +not questioned, and he had rendered service to James I. in many ways; +but in 1434 his castle of Dunbar was seized, and he was arrested and +imprisoned in the castle of Edinburgh, on the ground that Albany had +exceeded the powers of a regent in restoring his father. A parliament +was assembled at Perth in January ♦1435, and proceeded to discuss +the cause of the Earldom of March. It was debated on both sides at +length:――First, touching the treason and forfeiture of the late Earl, +and the consequent reversion of his estates to the Crown; and second, +the position and claim of his son then in possession. After a long +debate, it was affirmed that Albany had exceeded his powers, and, +therefore, the verdict of the judges was against the Earl, and all the +lands of the Earldom were annexed to the Crown. The dispossessed Earl +and his family retired to England.¹ + + ♦ “1335” replaced with “1435” + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume II., pages + 22, 23. + +In 1435 the Earl of Mar, Alexander Stewart, the hero of Harlaw, died, +and on the ground of his illegitimacy, the Earldom reverted to the +Crown. The King ignored the claim of Robert, Lord Erskine, the rightful +heir to the Earldom of Mar. The Scotch nobles were greatly alarmed +and enraged at the proceedings of the King. One of James’ bitterest +enemies was Sir Robert Graham, uncle of the deprived Earl of Strathern, +mentioned in a preceding page as one of the ransom hostages detained +in England. Graham in the parliament of 1435 had delivered a vehement +speech, in which he touched on the encroachments of the King upon the +nobles, and in his presence denounced him as a cruel tyrant. He was +immediately arrested and banished. Graham retired, brooding on revenge, +and matured the plot against the King. He addressed a letter to the +King renouncing his allegiance, and stating that James had ruined his +family and rendered himself houseless and landless; and, therefore, +he warned the King that he would pursue him to the utmost as his enemy +and slay him. The King issued a proclamation for his apprehension, and +offered a sum of gold for his head.¹ + + ¹ _Contemporary Account of the Death of James I._ + +Yet it appears from circumstantial and direct evidence that Graham was +not the originator of the plot against the King, although he was one of +the chief actors in the tragedy. The real originator of the dismal plot +was Walter Stewart, Earl of Athole, son of Robert II., and uncle of +the King. In the preceding chapter, it was stated that Robert II. had +been twice married, and at the date of his settlement of the succession +to the crown in the male line (which was quoted at length) there were +three sons of the first marriage, and two of the second, named in the +instrument of the succession, these were all dead, except Walter, Earl +of Athole, who was the second son of Robert’s second wife. Then it +had been known that several of Robert’s children by his first wife +were born before he married their mother, and in spite of the solemn +settlement of the succession, a doubt hung over the legitimacy of the +first family of Robert II., and the children of the second marriage +cherished the idea that they had been unjustly excluded from the +throne; and the Earl of Athole was the representative of this branch +in the male line. It was suspected that he had been concerned in the +proceedings which terminated in the death of the young Duke of Rothesay. +He was one of James’ most trusted advisers, and he was one of the jury +who sanctioned the execution of the Duke of Albany and his sons; then +only James I. and his boy stood between him and the throne. It seems +that the King had no suspicion of Athole, and conferred on him honours +and wealth. He was appointed Justiciary of Scotland, and the _Exchequer +Rolls_ from year to year contain remissions of custom and gifts to him, +and his grandson and heir was made private Chamberlain to the King. +Meanwhile Athole had been devising his plot against the King, with his +grandson as his accomplice, and Graham and others as his tools.¹ + + ¹ _Exchequer Rolls of Scotland_, Volume IV. + +The King was gifted with a bold and fearless spirit, and he seems to +have forgot or disregarded the threats of Graham. James had resolved +to hold his Christmas at Perth, in the Black Friars Monastery. Thus he +unwittingly placed himself in the midst of his enemies; although he had +been warned of the impending danger to his life before he had crossed +the Forth, still he disregarded it and proceeded to Perth. The King was +cheerful and bent on enjoying himself; and on the arrival of the royal +party at Perth, day after day was spent in the pleasures and amusements +which were then customary at that happy season. It seems that the +King had not the slightest suspicion of the fate that was hanging over +him. The Earl of Athole, the arch-conspirator, and his grandson the +Chamberlain, were amongst the royal guests, and contributing their +share of mirth to the company, while everything was going on in the +most harmonious style. + +The outside and subordinate agents of the conspiracy, headed by Sir +Robert Graham, had completed the arrangements, and they resolved to +execute the horrid crime on the night of the 20th of February 1437. +They proceeded in their dismal work with great calmness and surprising +cunning; the hour of the attack was fixed, and the conspirators +inside the monastery executed their part in the tragedy. Stewart the +Chamberlain removed the bolts of the doors which made communication +in the interior of the building easy. On this night the amusements of +the court were continued till past midnight, and the Earl of Athole +remained till a late hour, and when the King called for a parting cup, +the company retired, and Stewart, the Chamberlain, was the last to +leave the apartment. The King had undressed, and was standing in his +nightgown before the fire talking with the Queen and the ladies of +the bedchamber, when suddenly he was alarmed by the clang of arms and +the glare of torchlights in the outer court. The Queen and the ladies +rushed to secure the door, but the bolts were gone. The King instantly +saw his peril, and called to the ladies to keep the door as long as +they could; he tried to force the windows, but they were barred with +iron stanchions; he then seized the tongs, wrenched up a flag, and +descended to a vault below. The Queen and the women replaced the flag, +and tried to barricade the door; but the cruel ruffians soon forced it, +and broke Catherine Douglas’ arm, which she had heroically thrust into +the staple to replace the removed bolt. The conspirators on not finding +the King in the room, rushed in fury through the buildings and feared +that their victim had escaped. But Thomas Chambers suspected what had +happened, and returned to the bedchamber, and seeing that the floor +had been newly broken, instantly tore it up, and their victim appeared. +Although the King was unarmed and half naked, he made a desperate +resistance. Sir John Hall leaped down with a dagger in his hand, the +King seized him by the throat and threw him under his feet. A brother +of Hall’s followed and met with the same fate. Sir Robert Graham then +entered the room, and sprang down with his drawn sword, and the King +implored for mercy; but Graham called him a cruel tyrant, who had +never shown mercy to his own kindred, and in an instant thrust his +sword through the King’s body. Thus perished, by the hands of atrocious +villains, the ablest King of all the Stuart line. + +By this time the citizens of Perth were hastening to the monastery +with torches and weapons, and on their approach the conspirators +fled and escaped. The pursuit of the murderers and conspirators was +prosecuted with the utmost energy, and within a month after the murder +the principal culprits and actors were captured and executed. The +record of their trials has not been preserved, but the chronicles +present details of the horrible modes in which they were tortured and +put to death. The Earl of Athole was seized by the Earl of Angus, tried, +condemned, tortured, and executed. Robert Stewart, the Chamberlain, +Graham, Chambers, and others, were captured and executed, and the +public feeling was at last appeased.¹ + + ¹ Contemporary account. + +James I. was cut off in the forty-fourth year of his age and the +thirteenth of his reign. He was popular among the people, who +appreciated the advantages and the effects of his Government. He +struggled hard to redress the oppression and to reform the intolerable +evils which Norman feudalism had generated in Scotland. He clearly +understood and thoroughly realised in his mind that which all his +♦predecessors had failed to see, namely, that Norman feudalism +contained in itself the essence of anarchy and injustice. He had a +true conception of the form of government which the people of Scotland +needed; though, unhappily, his ideas were too far in advance of his +time. No historian who has studied his legislation can fail to admire +his grasp of the fundamental principles of effective government, and +the efficient administration of justice. Still the historian may not +justify all his proceedings, and it seems to me that James I. sometimes +pushed his depression of the nobles beyond the limits of justice and +political wisdom. + + ♦ “precedessors” replaced with “predecessors” + + + + + CHAPTER IX. + + _Narrative to the Battle of Flodden._ + + +JAMES I. was succeeded by his son, a boy of seven years of age, who +was crowned at Edinburgh in the monastery of Holyrood on the 25th of +March, 1437, under the title of James II. The custody and care of the +young prince was entrusted to his mother, while the Earl of Douglas was +appointed Lieutenant of the kingdom. As the Government of the late King +had been extremely hostile to the nobles, they naturally regarded his +death with feelings of satisfaction. The tendency of his policy had +been to render the institutions and the laws of the kingdom effective, +but his presence and energy being gone, the Government soon relapsed. +During the minority the factions of the nobles struggled to kidnap +the King, and in this contest for power Sir William Crichton, the +Chancellor, and Governor of Edinburgh Castle, and Sir Alexander +Livingston of Callender, became prominent actors. The Queen, with +her son, had taken refuge in the Castle of Edinburgh, but Sir William +Crichton isolated the boy from his mother and made him almost a +prisoner. Then the Queen outwitted him and conveyed her son to Stirling +Castle, which Sir Alexander Livingston commanded. This move intensified +the rivalry between Crichton and Livingston; while the contests of +the rival factions increased the disorder of society. Fortunately +England was not then in a position to harass Scotland, and a truce was +concluded to continue for nine years.¹ + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume II., pages 31, + 32, 55. + +In 1439 the Queen married Sir James Stewart, son of Sir James Stewart +of Innermeath and Lorne, called the Black Knight of Lorne, with the +hope of strengthening her position; but Livingston imprisoned them both, +and kept the young prince a captive in Stirling Castle. The Earl of +Douglas, the Lieutenant of the kingdom, died in 1439, and his son, a +youth of seventeen years, succeeded to the earldom. He soon assumed +an arrogant attitude, kept a host of retainers, and scorned to appear +at court or parliament. The factions of Livingston and Crichton saw +that the Earl must be crushed; as they were unable to attack him in the +field, they resolved to allure him into a trap. They invited the Earl +to visit the young King in Edinburgh Castle. The Earl and his brother +proceeded there, and were received with much show of respect; but in a +few days after their arrival, they were both beheaded; and the Earl’s +chief adviser, Malcolm Fleming, was also executed. Although Douglas was +slain, his earldom was not forfeited to the Crown; for the Government +was unable to seize the possessions of the head of the Douglas family; +the adherents of the chief were numerous and strongly attached to +him. This blow, however, stunned the family. A portion of the estates +of the earldom reverted to a sister of the murdered Earl, while his +grand-uncle, James Douglas, succeeded to the title and the greater +part of the lands; but the French possessions of the house, which were +limited to male heirs in the direct line of descent, reverted to the +Crown of France. This Earl was known in history as James the Fat, and +he died in 1443. He was succeeded by his son, William, a man of energy +and ambition. His power soon became enormous and inconsistent with +order, while the kingdom presented a scene of turmoil.¹ + + ¹ Pitscottie; Buchanan’s _History of Scotland_, Book XI., + Chapters xvi., xvii.; _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, + Volume II., page 33. + +Crichton and Livingston were unable to offer effective resistance +to Douglas. To make himself complete master of the kingdom he sought +admittance to the King’s presence at Stirling Castle, and Livingston, +who had the custody of the Prince, granted the request. Livingston and +Douglas then became friends, and Crichton saw with dismay that he was +undone. Douglas pretended to be greatly pleased with the favour which +the young King had graciously shown him, and then he assumed the title +and power of Lieutenant-General of the kingdom, called a parliament, +and summoned Crichton and his adherents to appear and answer to a +charge of high treason. Crichton, instead of obeying the summons, +mustered his followers, plundered the lands of Douglas, then retired +into the Castle of Edinburgh, and defied his enemies; but they +afterwards came to terms with him.¹ + + ¹ ♦_Auchinleck Chronicles_, page 36; Lesley’s _History of + Scotland_, page 17; Pitscottie. + + ♦ “Auclinleck” replaced with “Auchinleck” + +The Earl of Douglas divorced his wife, then married his cousin, the +“Fair Maid of Galloway,” and thus reunited the domains of his house. +His power rapidly increased, and a struggle with the Crown became +inevitable. He strengthened himself by coalitions with other nobles, +and entered into a bond of alliance and mutual defence with the Earls +of Crawford and Ross. When Douglas desired the assistance of the +knights and gentry, and persons in his own neighbourhood, he summoned +them to attend the meetings at which he presided; and if any of them +failed to appear he soon brought them to obedience, and taught them a +lesson which would be remembered. + +In 1449 James II. married a daughter of the Duke of Gueldres, and began +to show some energy and ability; but he mainly relied on the counsel +of Crichton the Chancellor, and Bishop Kennedy. The King had not the +command of a force which could venture to attack Douglas openly in the +field, and so the faction of the Livingstons was first crushed. They +had enriched themselves during the King’s minority, but they and their +active associates were now seized and imprisoned. The head of the house, +an old man, was granted his life, but his property was forfeited to the +Crown, and his son, and several others were executed.¹ + + ¹ Pitscottie; Balfour’s _Annals of Scotland_, Volume I., + page 173. + +The parliament which crushed the Livingstons passed a number of Acts +and re-enacted others of the reign of James I., which were mostly +directed to the re-establishment of order. It was enacted that if any +man “commit treason against the King’s person or majesty, or wage war +against him, or lay violent hands upon him, whether young or old, and +all who reset, sustain, or advise any one convicted of treason, should +be punished as rebels. Those who rebel against the King should be +punished, according to the extent of their rebellion, by the sanction +of the Three Estates. Those who openly revolted and made war upon the +people, the King ought immediately to proceed against them with all +the force of the kingdom, and inflict condign ♦punishment upon them.” +When men of such power committed robbery and theft that the Justiciary +was unsafe to hold his court, or put the law in force against these +masterful evil-doers, then in such cases, he should inform the King, +who, with the advice of his council, will devise a remedy. That these +great criminals may not have the chance of escaping from justice, the +Justice Clerk was enjoined not to reveal his action to any one whatever, +or in any way to alter the form of the process which was given to +him, under the penalty of forfeiting his office and his goods. It was +enacted that the justiciaries, the justices, chamberlains, and other +officers, in their progresses through the kingdom, should travel with +a small train, and not oppress the people by their retinues.¹ + + ♦ “puuishment” replaced with “punishment” + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume II., pages + 33‒37. + +Douglas continued to hold a haughty attitude towards the King, and kept +up communications with the leaders of parties in England and political +personages abroad. In 1450 he proceeded on a pilgrimage to Rome, +attended by a train of his retainers, passed through France, where he +was joined by his brother, and thence to Rome. During his absence some +of his vassals had caused disturbance, and were punished by the command +of the King. He returned to Scotland in 1451. + +The King and his advisers were unwilling to attack Douglas, as they +were doubtful of the issue of the struggle that would ensue. As the +vassals of Douglas’s allies, the Earls of Ross and Crawford, and his +own vassals, and those of his kindred were numerous, and seeing that +the Earl of Ross was also Lord of the Isles, Douglas and his allies +could have mustered an army probably more numerous than any force which +the King could command. In these circumstances it was resolved to try +the effect of a personal interview; and in February 1452, Douglas was +invited to visit the King at Stirling Castle, and he complied. Douglas +proceeded to Stirling with a small retinue, and was received by the +King with respect. He dined and supped with the royal party; and then +the King took him aside to an inner room, where they entered into a +private conversation. One matter after another was touched on, till +the question of Douglas’s bonds with the Earls of Crawford and Ross +was broached. Their talk waxed hot, the King insisted that Douglas +must break these secret bonds, but he declined to desert his allies. +At last the King exclaimed, “This shall,” and instantly drew his +dagger and twice stabbed his guest. The nobles at hand rushed upon the +bleeding man and killed him outright. There can be no justification or +palliation of this murder; perhaps it was unpremeditated, as there was +no preparation made to meet its consequences. + +The rash act of the King hastened the crisis, and civil war raged from +the borders to Inverness. The murdered Earl had four brothers then in +Stirling, and they immediately met with other friends of the family and +recognised James, the eldest brother, as his successor to the earldom. +They agreed to meet at Stirling on the 25th of March. Having mustered +their followers they met accordingly, proclaimed James II. a perjured +man, and then pillaged and burned the town of Stirling. The struggle +was desperate, and for some time the King was hard and sorely pressed +on every side. He appointed the Earl of Huntly Lieutenant-General of +the kingdom, and entrusted to him the task of suppressing the rebellion +of the Earls of Crawford and Ross. Huntly mustered a strong army from +the valley of the Deveron, Strathbogie, and the north, and marched +southward towards Stirling. But the Earl of Crawford was prepared to +oppose his advance, and had taken up a position near Brechin. On the +18th of May, 1452, Huntly, at the head of the loyal army, attacked +Crawford, and after a fierce and severe battle, completely defeated +him, when he fled to his castle of Finhaven. Two of Huntly’s brothers, +Gordon of Methlic, ancestor of the Earl of Aberdeen, and many of his +men were slain. One of Crawford’s brothers, and many of his chief +supporters fell upon the field. + +Huntly returned to chastise the Earl of Moray, who had invaded +and wasted Strathbogie. He crossed the Spey, advanced into Moray, +and destroyed that part of the city of Elgin which belonged to the +adherents of the Earl of Moray. Thus the rebellion was subdued in the +north, but in the south and other parts of the country the war raged +with intense fury. The Earl of Crawford, infuriated by his defeat +at Brechin, wasted the lands, and destroyed the houses of the King’s +adherents in Angus; while the new Earl of Douglas and his brothers, +assisted by their numerous vassals, defied and scorned the King’s +authority, and wasted and burned the country. At last the Earl of Angus, +a member of the Douglas tribe, joined the King’s standard. His kinsmen +looked on this as an unpardonable crime, and attacked his possessions +with extreme ferocity. Sir John Douglas of Dalkeith also adhered +to the King, and his kinsmen besieged his castle of Dalkeith, and +having failed to take it, they burned the town and the villages in +the neighbourhood.¹ + + ¹ Pitscottie; _Auchinleck Chronicles_, pages 46‒48; Buchanan’s + _History of Scotland_, Book XI., Chapters 37, 38. Though + John, Earl of Ross and Lord of the Isles was in league with + Douglas and Crawford, it appears that he did not engage + much in the rebellion. _Historical Records of the Family of + Lesley_, Volume I., page 88. + +After many fruitless efforts, the King mustered an army which numbered +nearly thirty thousand men, on a moor near Edinburgh. At the head +of this force he advanced against the Earl of Douglas, and proceeded +through Peeblesshire, Selkirk Forest, Dumfries, and Galloway. When the +royal army appeared before Douglas Castle the Earl parleyed, and peace +was concluded on the 24th of August, 1452. Douglas agreed to renounce +his claim to the earldom of Wigton and the lands of Stewarton, and +to abandon all quarrels arising out of recent events, and all illegal +bonds. Shortly after the Earl of Crawford submitted to the King, and +was pardoned. + +But it soon became apparent that the struggle was not finally +terminated. Douglas obtained a papal dispensation for his marriage +with the Fair Maid of Galloway, the widow of his late brother, and thus +once more united the extensive territories of the family. He entered +into communication with the Yorkish party in England, and conspired +to overthrow the Government and the Stuart dynasty. An appeal to arms +again became necessary. The King raised an army, and the castle of +Abercorn was besieged; Douglas advanced with a strong force to relieve +his castle, and a battle seemed to be imminent. At this critical +moment many of Douglas’s adherents, including Lord Hamilton, deserted +his standard, and consequently he was unable to offer battle to the +besieging army, and retired, while his castle of Abercorn was captured. +The King, then, at the head of a strong army, marched into the lands +of his enemy, attacked and reduced Douglas Castle, and subdued his +territories. Douglas made his last stand at Arkinholm, in the summer of +1455, but he was defeated by the royal troops under the Earl of Angus; +the Earl of Moray, one of Douglas’s brothers, was slain, and the Earl +of Ormond, his other brother, was taken prisoner. The Earl of Douglas +himself fled to England.¹ + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume II., pages + 75, 77; _Auchinleck Chronicles_, page 53. + +Parliament assembled at Edinburgh on the 9th of June, 1455, and +proceeded to deal with the estates and offices of the Douglas family. +The Earl of Douglas, his mother, Countess of Douglas, the Earl of Moray, +his slain brother, and John Douglas of Balveny, were declared traitors, +and their lands and titles forfeited to the Crown, and other three of +the adherents of the Earl of Douglas were forfeited. Acts were then +passed which aimed at securing these forfeited lands and castles to +the Crown. It was enacted that certain lordships and castles should +for ever remain in possession of the Crown, and be given to no person +whatever. “If it should happen that James II. or any of his successors +alienated any of the castles and lordships belonging to the Crown, +it shall not be valid, as it shall always be lawful for the reigning +King to retake these castles and lands whenever he thinks fit, +without any process of law whatever.” This enactment was not well +observed, but several of the succeeding kings occasionally put it into +practical operation. Acts were passed which aimed at the restriction +of hereditary offices, and the jurisdiction and powers associated +with regalities. All the regalities which had fallen to the Crown were +to be annexed to it, and no new ones were to be granted without the +consent of Parliament. The hereditary Wardenship of the Marches was +to be abolished. In 1457 a Parliament, which assembled at Edinburgh, +passed many Acts and commanded all the sheriffs of the kingdom, and +the commissioners of the burghs to obtain copies of all the statutes +of this Parliament from the Register Clerk, and then to proclaim them +through all the counties and towns of the realm.¹ + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume II., pages + 41‒43, 52, 75. + +The raids on the Borders were continued, and had become habitual. The +Scots, however, had still the object in view of driving the English out +of the castle of Roxburgh, and retaking Berwick. The English had held +this ancient stronghold for upwards of a century. In the summer of 1460 +the King mustered a force, and having provided cannon and war-engines, +marched southward to the attack. This castle, however, was built on +a strong position, and the garrison made a determined and vigorous +defence. The King was actively urging on the siege, and he was +extremely eager to observe the effect of the cannon which were brought +to bear upon the castle. One of the great guns, which were purchased +in Flanders, was placed in position, and when it was discharged some of +the wedges, which were used to tighten the iron hoops, were driven out, +and one of them struck and killed the King. Thus fell James II., on 3rd +of August, 1460, in the thirtieth year of his age and the twenty-fourth +of his reign. But the siege was continued; and the Queen, with her son, +appeared upon the scene. The castle was taken, and having been more +serviceable to the enemy than to Scotland it was levelled with the +ground.¹ + + ¹ _Extracta ex variis chronicis Scotiæ_, page 243; Mair’s + _History of Scotland_, page 325. + +James II. was succeeded by his son, a boy of nine years of age, who was +crowned at Kelso on the 10th of August, 1460, under the title of James +III. The care of the young prince mainly devolved upon his mother, +Mary of Gueldres. The Earl of Angus was appointed Lieutenant-General of +the kingdom, and James Kennedy, Bishop of St. Andrews, was for several +years the leading man in the Government. Kennedy was the friend and +trusted adviser of the late King, and he continued to serve the nation. +The wars of York and Lancaster were then distracting England; and Henry +VI., after his crushing defeat at Towton on the 29th of March, 1461, +fled into Scotland, and was hospitably received. In return for the +kindness shown to him by the Government, he surrendered Berwick to the +Scots, which act for a time threatened to involve the nation in a war +with England. But this was avoided by a truce which left Berwick in the +possession of the Scots, on the condition that they should immediately +cease to assist Henry VI. On the 16th of November, 1463, Mary of +Gueldres, the mother of the Queen, died, and Bishop Kennedy encouraged +a policy of peace. The Earl of Angus had died also, leaving a son, who +was too young to succeed him in his public position. Unhappily, Bishop +Kennedy died in 1465, and his death was lamented by all the peaceful +people of the kingdom as a public calamity.¹ He had rendered great +service to the State and his country, and was a wise, moderate, and +upright man. + + ¹ Mair’s _History of Scotland_, page 326; Buchanan’s _History + of Scotland_, Book XII., Chapters 20‒23; _Accounts of the + Lord High Treasurer of Scotland_, Volume I., Preface, pages + 37‒40. + +After the death of Kennedy, the plotting and the characteristic +practice of the restless nobles recommenced. The King, then in his +fourteenth year, was made the tool of a faction of the nobles, whose +sole object was their own aggrandisement. Lord Boyd and his sons +entered into a bond with a number of other nobles in a conspiracy +to seize the young King, and rule the kingdom in their own interest. +This bond contained the names of Robert, Lord Boyd, Sir Alexander Boyd, +the Earl of Crawford, Lord Hamilton, Lord Livingston, Lord Maxwell, +Lord Montgomery, Lord Fleming, Lord Kennedy, the Bishop of St. Andrews, +and others, and was signed on the 10th day of February, 1466. On the +9th of July, 1466, while Lord Livingston, the Chamberlain, was holding +his court at Linlithgow with the King, Lord Boyd and a number of his +associates entered the court and requested the King to accompany them +to Edinburgh, with which request he at once complied. The party held +a Parliament, and passed an Act in which the King was made to say that +he willingly accompanied Lord Boyd and the knights from Linlithgow to +Edinburgh, and that anything connected with this matter which could +possibly be construed into an offence, His Majesty King James III. +freely pardoned. Lord Boyd was appointed guardian of the King’s person, +governor of the royal castles, and High Justiciary of the kingdom. +Thus he at once became supreme, and his family and relations speedily +acquired large tracts of territory, titles, and honours. In 1467 his +eldest son, Sir Thomas Boyd, was created Earl of Arran, and was married +to the King’s sister.¹ + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume II., page 185; + Crawford’s _Officers of State_, page 473; _Douglas Peerage_, + Volume II., page 32. + +The relations between the Crowns of Denmark and Scotland demanded the +attention of the government. It was stated in a preceding chapter that +the Western Islands were ceded to Scotland in 1266, and the payment of +an annual rent of 100 marks was one of the terms of the treaty. This +had not been regularly paid, and the arrears amounted to a considerable +sum. A marriage was proposed between James III. and the Princess +Margaret of Denmark; and Boyd, the Earl of Arran, the bishops of +Glasgow and Orkney, and other commissioners, proceeded to Denmark to +negotiate with King Christian I. The Scotch commissioners concluded a +treaty with the Danish King, in which he agreed to abandon his claim +for the arrears of rent on the Western Islands, to endow his daughter +with 60,000 florins, of which he proposed to pay 10,000 before she +departed to Scotland, and to secure the remaining 50,000 on the Orkney +Islands. But, on further reflection, he proposed to give the bride 2000 +florins for her immediate use, and secure the balance on the Shetland +Islands. The treaty thus adjusted was accepted; and, as the money +was never paid, the Orkney and Shetland Islands ultimately became +incorporated with Scotland. + +In July 1469, the Princess Margaret of Denmark landed at Leith, and was +heartily welcomed by a great assemblage of the people. Shortly after, +the royal marriage was celebrated amid rejoicing throughout the nation. + +During the Earl of Arran’s absence from the country, his enemies had +undermined his power and influence. When he returned with the King’s +bride, he found himself utterly deserted; and he immediately fled with +his wife to Denmark. But he was soon deprived of his royal wife by a +divorce. She afterwards married Lord Hamilton, and by this alliance his +descendants became in the succeeding century the nearest heirs to the +Crown of Scotland. + +As the Boyds had risen rapidly to power and wealth, so their fall +was equally swift and complete. Parliament assembled at Edinburgh +on the 22nd of November, 1469, and the Boyds were summoned to appear +and answer to a charge of high treason. The charge of treason was +the seizure of the King’s person at Linlithgow. Old Robert Boyd, +the Justiciary and the head of the family, fled to England, where he +shortly afterwards died; but his brother, Sir Alexander, was tried, +condemned, and executed on the Castle Hill of Edinburgh. Thomas, the +Earl of Arran, wandered as an exile in Germany, France, and England, +and died at Antwerp about the year 1473. The extent of the lands which +they had unjustly seized in the short day of their power, is well shown +by the local names in the act of their forfeiture. The lordship and the +castle of Kilmarnock were the hereditary possessions of the family; but +the list in the Act contained the earldom of Carrick, the lordship of +Bute, the castle of Rothesay, the lordship of Arran, the lordship of +Cowal, the lordship of Stewarton, the barony of Renfrew, the land and +castle of Dundonald, and several others.¹ The case of the Boyds is not +an isolated phenomenon in the history of Scotland, as a similar policy +was pursued by the nobles whenever they had an opportunity; and this +was one of the chief sources of their endless feuds, and the social +disorder of the kingdom. + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume II., pages + 90, 186; _Officers of State_, page 316. + +The legislation of the parliament of 1469, touching the social order +of the kingdom, shows that the administration of justice was in a +deplorable state. It was stated that the sheriffs and other judges had +failed to perform their executive duties, or to protect the poor people +from oppression. “Therefore, it was enacted that in every quarter of +the kingdom, any person who had a case, should first make his complaint +to the local sheriff, steward, justice, or the magistrates in burghs, +and ask redress and justice: and if he obtains justice duly ministered +and executed, then he must rest content. But when the judge declines +to act, and will not administer justice, then the complainant should +proceed to the King and his council, take letters and summon the +offender, and also the judge; and if the judge be found guilty, he will +be punished and dismissed from his office for a long or short period +at the discretion of the King and his council; and he shall have to pay +the expenses of the complainant, and the King shall cause justice to +be administered to the complainant.” Murder and crimes of violence had +been extremely numerous during the King’s minority, while it was stated +that many persons committed crimes, and trusted to secure immunity +by taking refuge in the sanctuaries and remaining there, safe from +pursuit. To remedy this state of matters, it was enacted that officers +of justice should have power to seize such criminals, that they might +be tried before a jury, and punished according to their guilt. + +The King had reached his twentieth year; but his education had been +sadly neglected, and he showed little capacity in the government of +the kingdom. In 1470 he made a progress through the northern part of +the country with his Queen; and on the 17th of March, 1473, an heir +to the throne was born. James III. was peacefully inclined, but lacked +the energy of character necessary to control the nobles. A truce with +England was concluded in October 1474, to continue for seventeen years; +but Edward IV. was not really friendly to Scotland. He harboured the +Earl of Douglas, and entered into negotiations with John, Earl of Ross +and Lord of the Isles, with whom he also concluded a treaty. + +When the terms of this treaty became known to the Government, the +Earl of Ross was summoned to appear before a parliament in Edinburgh +to answer several charges of treason; but he failed to appear, and a +sentence of forfeiture was passed against him in 1475. Preparations +were then made to invade his territories and reduce him to subjection; +but he tendered his submission and surrendered himself to the King. The +earldom of Ross was annexed to the Crown; but the rest of his lands, +excepting Cantyre and Knapdale, were restored to him by royal charter; +he was also created a peer of parliament under the title of Lord of the +Isles.¹ + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume II., page 108, + _et seq._ + +James III. was not a vigorous ruler, while he seems to have incurred +the enmity of the nobles. He entertained a man called Doctor Andres, +an astrologer, gave him sums of money, and in 1474 a French gown for +his services. It was said that this astrologer told the King that his +life was in imminent danger from his own kindred. The King employed +and associated with persons of humble position; one Robert Cochrane, +a mason, became a special favourite; Robert Rogers, a musician; and +James Homil, a tailor, were the King’s favourites. Homil received an +annual pension of £20. The King’s brothers, the Duke of Albany, and +the Earl of Mar, were robust and active men, and more in harmony with +the characteristics of the nobles than the King. From whatever cause, +the King imagined that his brothers were his enemies, and the Earl of +Mar was imprisoned in the castle of Craigmillar, where he died; and it +was rumoured that the King had caused him to be murdered. Albany was +imprisoned in the castle of Edinburgh; but in April 1479, he escaped +and fled to France. Returning to England, in 1482 he entered into a +treaty with Edward IV. By this treaty he agreed to recognise the feudal +superiority of the King of England, who was then to give the Crown of +Scotland to him under the title of Alexander IV. Albany promised to +render homage to his feudal lord whenever he was put in possession of +the kingdom, also to support England, to abandon the old alliance with +France, to surrender to the English the town and castle of Berwick, the +castle of Lochmaben, and the districts of Liddesdale, Annandale, and +Eskdale.¹ To enter into a compact of this nature with the enemy of the +kingdom was a crime which the nation could not permit; although Albany +simply presented another illustration of a characteristic weakness +of the Stuart dynasty, namely, enmity amongst the members of the royal +family. + + ¹ _Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland_, Volume + I., pages 7, 13, 15, 18, 23‒6, 55; Pitscottie; _Acts of + the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume II., pages 125‒132; + _Fœdera_, Volume XII., page 156. + +The old Earl of Douglas was still alive, and being a retainer of Edward +IV., he and several other Scotch nobles joined Albany’s conspiracy. +England thus assumed a menacing attitude towards Scotland. Parliament +met in March, 1482, to deliberate on the state of affairs which had +arisen. In the record of the proceedings Edward IV. was termed a +usurper and a robber, “who had broken faith with Scotland, and invaded +it, robbed, burned, and destroyed the property of the King’s subjects. +And it was well known that this usurper, from his enormous avarice +and false love of conquest, neither fearing God nor the effusion of +Christian blood, nor remembering that he was obliged and sworn to +keep the truce, but casting his fidelity and honour to the winds, he +has determinedly resolved to continue this war, which he has caused +and begun, and with all his power to invade, and so far as he can, +conquer this kingdom. Those present in Parliament therefore promised +to support the King to the utmost of their power, and to defend him +and the kingdom as their forefathers had always done.” It was resolved +to muster the whole force of the country to resist the usurper Edward, +“and if he shall come in person, then he shall be resisted by our King +in person, and with the body of the people, who will live or die in his +defence.”¹ + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume II., pages + 138‒139. + +In July, 1482, a strong army assembled on the Boroughmoor, near +Edinburgh; and Cochrane, who had assumed the title of Earl of Mar, was +appointed to command the artillery. The army, with the King in person, +marched toward the Border, but when it reached Lauder a tragic action +happened. The nobles, headed by the Earl of Angus, met in a church, +and after some discussion they resolved to seize the King and to sweep +off his favourites. While they were considering how to execute their +resolution a knock was heard at the door; it was Cochrane with a +message from the King. The Earl of Angus instantly seized and pulled +the gold chain from Cochrane’s neck, saying that “a rope would befit +him better.” “My lords,” said he, “is it jest or earnest?” He was told +that it was earnest, and was quickly bound and placed under guard. A +party of the nobles, who were despatched to the royal tent, instantly +seized the King’s musician, Rogers, and the rest of his favourites. +These were then led, along with Cochrane, to the Bridge of Lauder, +where they were all hanged. After these cruel executions the nobles +disbanded the army, returned to the capital with the King, and +imprisoned him in the castle of Edinburgh; and thus left the southern +quarter of the kingdom a prey to the enemy.¹ + + ¹ Buchanan’s _History of Scotland_, Book XII., Chapter 46; + Lesley’s _History of Scotland_, page 48; Pitscottie. + +The English retook Berwick, which henceforth remained in their +possession. The English army, accompanied by the Duke of Albany, +advanced to Edinburgh with the intention of placing him on the throne +of Scotland. When Albany’s aim was discovered, it was seen that the +people would not submit to his scheme without a severe struggle. The +unhappy and captive King had still some loyal and powerful adherents, +including the Earl of Huntly, the representative of the house which +saved the crown of James II. By the efforts of these and the citizens +of Edinburgh, the King was released from prison,¹ and a partial +reconciliation between him and Albany was effected, on the ground that +Albany should return to his allegiance and be restored to his estates. +For a short time Albany attempted to rule the kingdom. + + ¹ On the 16th of November, 1482, the King granted a charter + to the citizens of Edinburgh, which constituted the + provost-sheriff within the boundaries of the burgh for ever; + and another charter which confirmed to the citizens of the + burgh the customs of the port of Leith, for assisting in + his deliverance from prison. _Burgh Records of Edinburgh_, + Volume I., page 43, 332. + +On the 2nd of December, 1482, a Parliament met at Edinburgh, which was +under the control of Albany. A number of Acts were passed, in one of +which the King was made to express his warm thanks to his brother for +delivering him from imprisonment; and the unhappy King was also forced +to entreat Albany to accept the office of Lieutenant-General of the +Kingdom. Albany further received a grant of the Earldom of Mar as a +reward for his great services to the State. Thus Albany was virtually +placed in supreme power. + +But he continued his intrigues with the English Government, and +entered into new plots and engagements. When his treason became known +his position was untenable, and he was forced to retire to England; but, +before he departed, he placed the castle of Dunbar in the hands of the +English. Edward IV. died on the 9th of April, 1483, and this event, and +those which followed in England, upset Albany’s schemes. A Parliament +met at Edinburgh on the 24th of June, 1483, to which Albany was +summoned to appear and answer to a charge of treason; as he failed to +appear, his estates were forfeited to the Crown, and also the lands of +his chief adherents. Albany afterwards crossed the English Channel, and +finally settled in France.¹ + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume II., pages + 142‒152. + +A party of the nobles, chiefly connected with the southern part of the +kingdom, still continued to plot against the King with the intention +of dethroning him, and for the ensuing five years the Government and +the country were in an unsettled state. Truces for short periods were +concluded with England, and in 1485 the league with France was renewed. +Although Parliaments were assembled and many Acts passed touching the +disorder of the kingdom, the holding of courts, and the repression of +crime, the affairs of the Church, the currency of the kingdom, commerce, +and the herring-fishery, still the conspiracy against the King was +proceeding. Queen Margaret died at Stirling in 1486, and she left three +children――Prince James, the heir to the throne; John, who received the +title of Earl of Mar; and the Duke of Ross, who was born in March, 1476, +and educated under George Schaw, Abbot of Paisley; he was appointed +Archbishop of St. Andrews in 1497, Chancellor of the kingdom in 1502, +and died in 1503. The year following the death of his Queen, James III. +opened communication with Henry VII. with a view to a marriage with the +widow of Edward IV.; but the hapless King of Scots soon had other work +to engage his attention.¹ + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume II., pages + 165‒184; _Fœdera_, Volume VII., pages 236, _et seq._; + _Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland_, Volume I., + Preface, page 64. + +The conspiracy of the nobles against the King was matured. It had +occurred to them that the King’s son, a youth of sixteen years of age, +would serve their purpose, and the southern nobles induced him to join +them, and rise in rebellion against his own father. They mustered their +followers and advanced upon Edinburgh, where the King was then staying. +James crossed the Forth and passed into the northern counties, which +were loyal, and there a strong army rallied round him. He then marched +southward, and came in sight of the rebellious nobles at Blackness, +in West Lothian, where the Earl of Buchan attacked and drove back the +advance wing of the insurgent army. A pacification was arranged in May, +1488, and the King disbanded his army and returned to Edinburgh, as +the nobles had promised to return to their allegiance, to maintain the +rights of the Crown, and the peace of the kingdom. + +But the disaffected nobles remained in arms, with the young Prince +at their head, whom they used as their tool. The hapless King again +mustered an army, and advanced towards Stirling to secure the passage +of the Forth, but the gates of the castle were closed against him, as +the Governor had joined the insurgent nobles. On the 11th of June, 1488, +the two armies approached each other at a small brook called Sauchie +Burn, about a mile from the field of Bannockburn. An engagement ensued, +and though the royal troops were outnumbered, the action was long +and fiercely contested. The King, in retiring from the field, was +thrown from his horse, and some of the rebels came up and killed +him. Thus fell James III., in the thirty-seventh year of his age, and +the twenty-eighth of his reign, another victim to the ambition of a +reckless aristocracy.¹ + + ¹ Pitscottie, pages 133‒143; Buchanan, Book XII., Chapter 61; + _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume II., page 184. + +The victorious nobles passed the night on the field of battle, and on +the following morning proceeded to Linlithgow; and that day, the 12th +of June, the prince issued a proclamation, and granted a commission to +William Hepburn, as Clerk of Council and Register. The dominant party +immediately seized the Government and the royal treasure, divided +the chief offices among themselves, and placed the royal castles in +the hands of their own adherents. On the 25th of June the Prince was +crowned at Scone, with the usual circumstance and ceremony, under the +title of James IV.; and the faction who had raised him to the throne +pampered his youthful passions and propensities. Theatrical farces, +dances, and masked balls, were got up for his special amusement, and +in this way the nobles degraded the character of the young King.¹ + + ¹ _Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland_, Volume I., + pages 79‒87, 276, 277, 280, 288, 293, 304, _et seq._ + +The party of the nobles who had attained the ascendancy exerted +themselves to the utmost to secure their position. They appointed an +embassy to proceed to the English courts, headed by the Archbishop of +St. Andrews, and the Bishops of Glasgow and Aberdeen, but Henry VII. +had not much confidence in the new Government. They obtained, however, +a renewal of the truce between the two kingdoms. At home they acted +with surprising energy; the supporters of the late King, including +the Earl of Buchan, Lord Forbes, Lord Bothwell, Sir Alexander Dunbar, +and others, were summoned to appear before Parliament and answer to a +charge of treason. Parliament met at Edinburgh on the 6th of October, +1488, and proceeded to consider the position of those who had been +summoned for treason. The Earl of Buchan appeared, and tendered his +submission to the King, and he was pardoned and restored to favour. +None of the others cited appeared, and consequently their possessions +were placed at the disposal of Parliament; and Lord Bothwell, John Ross, +the late King’s advocate, and others, were forfeited. Ross’s lands were +given to Patrick Home of Fast Castle; and the lordships of Bothwell +and Crichton were formed into the Earldom of Bothwell and given to +Patrick Hepburn, Lord Hailes, who was then created Earl of Bothwell, +as a reward for his service to his country at Sauchie Burn. The +leading members of this Parliament having succeeded so far, proceeded +to investigate the causes of the recent rebellion. After carefully +examining the whole matter, they unanimously came to the conclusion +“that the slaughter committed in the field near Stirling, where the +King’s father happened to be slain, and others of his barons, was +solely to be ascribed to the offences, falsehood, and deceit practiced +by him and his wicked counsellors before the battle. Therefore our +King that now is, and the true lords and barons who were with him in +the same field, were innocent, quit, and free, of the said slaughters, +battle, and pursuit, and did not cause or occasion them.” To this +statement the leading nobles of the party, some of the bishops and +burgesses, affixed their seals, in order that copies of it might +be sent to the Pope, the Kings of France, Denmark, Spain, and other +foreign powers. + +Some concessions were granted to the supporters of the late King and +their kindred. It was enacted that the heirs of those who had fallen +in arms against the King at the battle near Stirling, should be allowed +to succeed to their estates, notwithstanding the legal difficulty +that their predecessors were slain when in open rebellion. The goods +belonging to the poor and unlanded people, which had been seized during +the recent struggle, were to be restored to them; and that castles and +lands, which had been plundered and occupied by either party, were to +be delivered to their owners.¹ Still, there were murmurs amongst the +people concerning the hard fate of the late King. In 1489 the Earls +of Lennox and Huntly, Lord Forbes, and others, rose in arms against +the party in power; but after a short struggle, they were defeated, and +the rising extinguished. The dominant faction then ran its course; and +James IV. gradually assumed his proper functions, and became an active +prince. Yet a parliament which met at Edinburgh on the 6th of February, +1492, found it necessary to allay “the heavy murmurs of the people +concerning the death and slaughter of our sovereign lord’s father, +whom God absolve, King James III., that those who slew him should be +punished as they deserved to be.” A reward of a hundred marks of land +was then offered to any one who should reveal the perpetrators of the +deed;² but the reward was never claimed. + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume II., pages 199, + 201‒205, 209‒211, 269. + + ² _Ibid._, pages 223, 230. + +Parliament assembled at Edinburgh in May 1493, and proceeded to pass +enactments touching the Church. All those who had pleas depending in +the Court of Rome were commanded to cease their litigation in that +Court, and bring their pleas before the courts of the kingdom, where +justice should be administered to them. Acts were passed which aimed +at withdrawing the appointment to the benefices of the monasteries from +the Court of Rome. The rights and the privileges of the Archbishops of +St. Andrews and Glasgow were confirmed. The doom of treason was to be +pronounced against every one who attempted to take the King’s rights +of patronage to the Court of Rome. Yet it appears that this was not +effective, for in 1496 parliament renewed the former Acts, and passed a +new one, which runs thus:――“For the honour of the kingdom and the good +of the community, and for averting innumerable evils daily incurred +upon the kingdom and the people through the exorbitant cost and expense +of churchmen, by their purchasing at the Court of Rome benefices and +elections contrary to the Acts of Parliament. Also by purchasing and +bringing in of novelties and innovations into the Church without the +advice of the King, distraining the kingdom of money, and putting the +King and patrons out of their possessions. Hereafter, all those who +go out of the realm on such business, without a license from the King, +shall be proclaimed rebels and put to the King’s horn.”¹ + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume II., pages + 232, 237. + +This parliament directed its attention to the state of the Highlands, +and it was alleged that since 1475 repeated attempts had been made in +the name of John, Lord of the Isles, to recover the earldom of Ross, +which was then held by the King’s brother. Therefore the title and +the estates of the aged Lord of the Isles were forfeited to the Crown. +Shortly after he surrendered to the King, and retired to the monastery +of Paisley, where he died in 1498, and was interred in the tomb of his +royal relative, King Robert III. + +After the surrender of the Lord of the Isles, preparations were made +for an expedition into the Highlands and Islands with the aim of +establishing the royal authority. Towards the end of the summer of 1493 +the King proceeded to the Isles, and received the submission of several +of the chiefs. In the spring of the following year the King again +visited the Isles, and repaired and garrisoned the castle of Tarbert +as a base of operations. He reduced the castle of Dunaverty in Cantyre, +garrisoned it, and then returned to Stirling in August. It seems that +James IV. did not adopt an effective mode of governing the Highlands +and Islands, though he was active and moved about rapidly, he followed +no defined and clear line of government. In autumn he proceeded with +the Northern Circuit Courts, and was in Inverness on the 6th of October, +and in Elgin at the end of the month; thence he passed to Banff and +Aberdeen, and then returned south. Starting from Edinburgh early in +February 1495, he followed the Southern Circuit Courts to Lanark, +Peebles, Selkirk, Jedburgh, Dumfries, and Ayr. In May he was at the +castle of Mingarry, in Ardnamurchan, and a number of the local chiefs +rendered submission to him, including the chief of Clanranald, and +Ewen, son of Alan of Lochiel, Captain of the clan Cameron. But James +returned to Glasgow before the end of June; what have been called his +expeditions to the Highlands and Islands were merely flying visits.¹ +Still, it seems that the King and his government had a good opportunity, +after the surrender of the Lord of the Isles, for improving the +government of the Celtic people, and if they had been reasonably +treated and properly ruled, they would have soon settled into a state +of comparative quietness and order under the Crown. Unfortunately the +King and his government, after a time, divested themselves of their +functions and responsibilities to govern the Celtic people of the +Highlands and Islands, and assigned this duty to local and interested +nobles. + + ¹ _Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland_, Volume I.; + Gregory’s _History of the Western Highlands and Isles of + Scotland_. + +The head of the Campbells, who had then attained the rank of Earl of +Argyle, practised a policy of encroachment on the small proprietors and +clans in his ♦neighbourhood. In the year 1502 all the charters which +had been granted by the King to the vassals during the last five years +were summarily recalled. The Earl of Argyle was appointed the King’s +Lieutenant, and empowered to let on lease for a term of three years +the whole lordship of the Isles. Argyle immediately proceeded to evict +the proprietors and their tenants from their lands and houses: and +the lands were appropriated by Argyle himself, and a few of the King’s +favourites. The natural result followed; the evicted people rose +in rebellion. As the Earl of Argyle had obtained the functions of +a King in the Western Highlands and Islands, so in the beginning of +the sixteenth century Alexander, third Earl of Huntly, was appointed +Sheriff of Inverness, Ross, Sutherland, and Caithness; and also keeper +of the Castle of Inverness, to which office there was a large extent +of land attached. Huntly had territories in Badenoch and Lochaber, and +the strong castle of Ruthven, although the centre of his power lay in +Strathbogie, in the counties of Aberdeen and Banff. These two Earls +and their successors, for upwards of a century may be said to have +ruled the Highlands and Islands of Scotland; and each earl within his +region often caused disorder, and committed many acts of aggression and +injustice upon the Celtic people. + + ♦ “neighbourhoood” replaced with “neighbourhood” + +When a Government renders its subjects landless and homeless, rebellion +is likely to be the result. After causing a rising of this nature the +King summoned a parliament, which met at Edinburgh in March, 1503. +This parliament and the King then proclaimed that――“If any one should +apprehend and bring to the King, Maclean of Lochbuy, great Macleod +of Lewis, or MacNeil of Barra, they shall receive the half of these +rebels’ lands; and if they capture and bring to the King any other +head-men, or any Highland man whatever connected with the rebellion, +they shall be rewarded therefor according to the value of the land and +the goods of the persons taken.”¹ Such severe measures only served to +incite the people to rebellion; and it was only after a struggle of +three years that it was extinguished. The Earls of Argyle and Huntly, +with the sanction of the King, assumed and exercised the functions of +local and despotic rulers. + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume II., pages + 240‒250. + +In the reign of James IV. the relations of Scotland became more +interwoven with the other kingdoms of Europe, and she then really +entered the field of European politics. Scotland had diplomatic +communications with the Kings of France, Spain, the Pope, and other +powers. James IV. had a fondness for excitement and adventure, and a +feature of romance in his character, while his feelings and emotions +were excessively strong, as manifested in various forms. He was not an +adept in diplomacy; in that sphere of action he was apt to be duped, +and an instance of this may be narrated. Perkin Warbeck, a son of a +Florentine Jew, was persuaded by the Duchess of Burgundy, a sister of +Richard III. of England, to personate her nephew Richard, a brother of +Edward V. This character, accompanied by six hundred men, attempted to +land at Kent in July, 1495, but he was repulsed, and one hundred and +fifty of his followers were captured and executed. The adventurer next +made an effort to obtain a footing in Ireland, but he failed. Undaunted +by these failures, Perkin pursued his mission, and with his retinue +he arrived at Stirling on the 20th of November, 1495. He was at once +received by James IV. as “Prince Richard of England,” and was conducted +to apartments which had been prepared for him in Stirling. Immediately +letters were despatched to the lords and nobles of Athole and Strathern, +and to Earl Marischal and the barons of Angus, commanding them to meet +the King and the Prince at Perth; that they might have the honour of +being presented to Prince Richard. As it was intended to wage war in +support of the claims of this noble Prince, letters were sent to the +sheriffs ordering wappenschaws to be held throughout the kingdom. +Perkin soon became a great favourite of the King; and he was married +to the King’s cousin, Lady Gordon, a daughter of the Earl of Huntly, +a personal allowance of £1,200 a year being granted to him, while +his followers were quartered and maintained among the burghs. Perkin +moved through the kingdom in the style of a prince, staying at Perth, +Falkland Palace, Stirling, Linlithgow, Edinburgh, and other places, for +short or long periods as suited his pleasure. + +The King having resolved to support the claim of Perkin Warbeck to the +throne of England, ordered the crown vassals to muster at Lauder. The +artillery stored at the King’s work in Leith, the castle of Edinburgh, +and the Abbey of Holyrood, was inspected and put in order. Parties +of workmen were sent to the woods of Melrose and of Irneside to make +carts, wheels, and all the requisite timber appliances, while the +King’s forge was used for preparing the necessary ironwork. New tents +were made for the King, and a banner of red and blue taffeta for Perkin, +who had now assumed the title of Duke of York. The preparations for the +invasion of England were completed on the 12th of September, 1496. John +Sandilands of Hillhouse, who had charge of the artillery, was ready +to advance. The master-gunners were mostly foreigners, the rest were +craftsmen, smiths, carpenters, and quarrymen, who were also trained +to work the guns. Before starting the bellman was thrice sent through +Edinburgh calling for workmen to engage for wages, and one hundred and +forty-three carters, with one hundred and ninety-six horses, were hired +for fourteen days’ service at a shilling a day for each man or horse, +for the conveyance of the guns, carts, tents, and other war materials, +“and seventy-six men with spades and mattocks to clear a way for +the artillery.” On the 14th the King and the Duke of York made their +offerings in Holyrood, and ordered a trental of masses for the success +of the undertaking, and then marched southward. The Scots crossed +the Border and entered Northumberland; the Duke of York then issued a +manifesto to his subjects, declaring that he had come to deliver them +from the usurpation and tyranny of Henry VII.; but the English showed +no signs of enthusiasm for a new King introduced by a Scotch army. The +King and his army plundered Northumberland, and returned to Scotland. +On the 8th of October the King and the Duke had returned to Edinburgh. + +After this inglorious and utter failure, Perkin’s followers soon fell +away. James IV. at last discovering that the cause of Perkin was +unpopular among the Scotch people, resolved to send him away. A ship +called the _Cuckoo_ was equipped at Ayr, and stored with provisions, +which consisted of seventeen carcases of beef and twenty-three of +mutton, four tuns of wine, ten pipes of ale, two pipes of cider and +beer, two thousand biscuits, eight bolls of oatmeal, a hogshead of +herring, twelve ♦keeling, and six stone of cheese, and there was also +a store of peats, coal, and one hundred candles. In the middle of July, +1497, Perkin, his wife, and about thirty attendants, sailed from the +port of Ayr, under the care of Robert Barton, a skilful mariner, and +on the 26th of July he arrived at Cork, where he was coldly received; +thence he sailed with three small ships for Cornwall, and landed at +Whitsand Bay on the 7th of September. He assumed the title of Richard +IV. and raised his standard. About three thousand men joined him, +and he attacked Exeter; but he was captured on the 5th of October and +carried to London. He was first placed in the stocks at Westminster, +and then imprisoned in the Tower. Having plotted with the Earl of +Warwick to escape from the Tower, and killed a lieutenant, he was +hanged at Tyburn on the 28th of November, 1499. Thus ended the career +of Perkin Warbeck.¹ + + ♦ “keling” replaced with “keeling” + + ¹ _Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland_, Volume I., + Preface, pages 126‒128, 139‒142, _et seq._; _Exchequer + Rolls of Scotland_, Volume XI. I have stated above that + this impostor was a son of a Florentine Jew, but according + to Perkin’s own confession he was a native of Tournay in + Flanders. + +After Warbeck’s departure great preparations were made for a raid into +England. A strong force was mustered at Melrose, and the artillery was +put in order at Edinburgh and Leith, and a large number of gunners, men, +oxen and horses, were hired to convey the guns and war materials. But +the only result of these preparations was an unsuccessful siege of the +castle of Norham, and the usual plundering. On the 30th of September, +1497, a truce for seven years was concluded between the two kingdoms, +which was subsequently extended to continue during the lives of the two +Kings. + +James IV. was an exceedingly popular King, as he was constantly moving +through the kingdom on pilgrimages, or with the circuit courts, and +was often seen by all classes of his subjects in every quarter of +the country. He was open-handed with his money, and in his movements +through the kingdom always paid even for the smallest services. In July, +1496, Don Pedro de Ayala, the Spanish Ambassador, arrived in Scotland; +he was an able and accomplished man of the world, and having proceeded +to the Scottish court, as the representative of the greatest power in +Europe, he found the King of Scots to be an attractive character. The +Spanish Ambassador said: “When I arrived he was keeping a lady with +great state in a castle. He visited her from time to time. Afterwards +he sent her to the house of her father, who is a knight, and married +her.” This lady was Margaret Drummond, the youngest daughter of John +Lord of Drummond, and she was then living in Stirling Castle. For the +year 1496 the records contain considerable sums of money which were +paid to defray her expenses while she was residing in Stirling, and in +Linlithgow. She returned home in the spring of 1497, and that year she +bore a daughter to the King. This child in due time became the wife +of John Lord Gordon, and thus she was the mother of the fourth Earl +of Huntly.¹ The sad tragedy which befell Margaret Drummond and her two +sisters occurred in 1502. While residing at Drummond Castle the three +sisters, after partaking of breakfast, died in extreme pain, there +being a strong suspicion that they had been poisoned. + + ¹ _Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland_, Volume I.; + _Exchequer Rolls of Scotland_, Volume XII. + +At an early age James IV. formed an intimacy with Margaret, or Mariot, +Boyd, a daughter of Archibald Boyd of Bonshaw, and by this lady the +King had a son, who was born about the year 1491. This son of James +IV., on the death of his uncle, the Duke of Ross and Archbishop of St. +Andrews, in 1503, was appointed to the primacy, which he held for ten +years. He was slain at the Battle of Flodden. James IV. formed another +illicit intimacy with Janet Kennedy, a daughter of Lord John Kennedy, +and by her he had a son, who was born about the year 1500, and named +James Stewart. In 1501 Janet Kennedy retired with her infant son to the +castle of Darnaway in Moray, and there the child was brought up as Earl +of Moray.¹ + + ¹ _Exchequer Rolls of Scotland_, Volume XII. + +Some of the obstacles to the King’s projected marriage having been +removed, as indicated in the preceding paragraphs, negotiations were +opened in June 1499, to treat for his marriage with the Princess +Margaret, daughter of Henry VII. The negotiations proceeded smoothly, +but, as James and Margaret were within the prohibited degrees of +relationship, Henry VII., in July, 1500, had to obtain a papal +dispensation which removed this impediment to the marriage. In November +1501, Henry VII. empowered the Earl of Surrey, and the Archbishop of +Canterbury, and the Bishop of Winchester, to treat with the Earl of +Bothwell, the Archbishop of Glasgow, and the Bishop of Moray, on all +the matters connected with the proposed marriage. They immediately +entered on their arduous task, and before the end of January 1502, +they framed three treaties:――one sanctioning the marriage between +the Princess and the King of Scotland; another for a perpetual peace +between the two kingdoms; and the other providing for the preservation +of order on the marches of the two countries. In the marriage treaty +it was stipulated that the Princess should be conveyed to Scotland, at +her father’s expense, and delivered to those appointed to receive her +at Lamberton Church in Lammermoor, on or before the 1st of September, +1503; and that the marriage should be solemnised within fifteen days +thereafter. Immediately after the marriage the Queen should obtain +seisin of all the lands, castles, and possessions, which had in past +times formed the jointure of Queen dowagers; and if the rents of +these possessions be below £2000 sterling, additional lands should +be assigned to her. The Queen should be allowed twenty-four English +servants, also Scotch retainers, and her husband should, at his own +cost, maintain her in a style befitting her rank as a Queen’s daughter +and a King’s consort, and provide her with a yearly allowance of 500 +marks sterling. Her dowry, amounting to £10,000 sterling, was to be +paid by her father in three instalments, £3,333 on the marriage day, +and the remainder within three years; and if the Queen died without +issue within this period, then James IV. should have no right to the +unpaid balance. The treaties were duly ratified, and Lord Dacre, Sir +Thomas Darcy, Sir Henry Babington, and other commissioners were sent +from England to see that the contemplated arrangements touching the +jointure lands, and the punishment of offenders on the marches, were +carried into effect.¹ + + ¹ _Fœdera_; _Calender of Documents relating to Scotland_, + Volume IV., pages 332‒336, _et seq._; _Exchequer Rolls_, + Volume XII., page 185. + +On the 12th of July James IV. promised to Henry VII. not to renew his +league with France “till he consults with him, or is further advised.” +James also promised to pay suitable wages to Queen Margaret’s English +attendants. + +Under the care of the Earl of Surrey the young Princess commenced +her journey to Scotland in the beginning of August, accompanied by a +retinue which increased as it advanced northward. The Earl of Morton +and a number of Scotch nobles proceeded to Lamberton Church and +received the Princess, and James joined the party at Newbottle. The +marriage was celebrated on the 8th of August, 1503, in the church of +Holyrood, amid great rejoicing and magnificent display. Exactly one +hundred years later, the issue of this marriage united the Crowns of +England and Scotland. + +It has been already mentioned that the relations of Scotland with +foreign powers had assumed some importance. Henry VII., as we have +seen above, had exacted a promise from his son-in-law that he would not +renew his league with France without consulting him; but Louis XII. of +France despatched Bernard Stuart, Lord of Aubigny, as his ambassador +to the Scottish King. James received him with the utmost respect, and +placed him in the most honourable seat at his own table. Subsequently +Pope Julius II. sent an ambassador to the Court of Scotland, who +presented to James IV. a consecrated hat and sword as a special mark of +the Holy Father’s regard for him. The object of the Pope was to detach +the King from his alliance with France, but he utterly failed. Shortly +after, an embassy from the King of France arrived in Scotland, with +the object of inducing the King to join the ♦Cambray League, which had +been formed in 1508 against the Republic of Venice. It appears that +Henry VII. had some suspicion of his son-in-law, for, on the 12th +of December, 1508, he issued instructions to the Captain of Berwick, +in which it was stated that “if the Scots threatened an invasion or +besieged the town, the garrison of the castle should be increased to +six-hundred-and-thirty men.”¹ + + ♦ “Cambary” replaced with “Cambray” + + ¹ Pinkerton’s _History of Scotland_, Volume II.; _Calender of + Documents relating to Scotland_, Volume IV., page 351. + +Henry VII. died on the 21st of April 1509, and it may be said with +truth that by his death Scotland lost a friend and an unusually quiet +neighbour. His son, Henry VIII., who succeeded to the throne of England, +was a different personage, and not long after his accession the old +strife was renewed. + +James IV. took an interest in shipbuilding, and in his reign Scotland +attained some importance as a naval power. Although there were no +war ships, strictly speaking, as the same ships were used for both +commerce and war, according to the exigence of circumstances. Still, +in a limited sense, it might be said that the King possessed a navy. +The King’s most distinguished captains were Sir Andrew Wood and the +Bartons, while the ships which won distinction, the _Yellow Carvel_, +the _Flower_, and others, were simply armed merchantmen. + +At this period the distinction between honest trading and piracy +was not clearly drawn, and it was alleged that the Scottish captains +sometimes indulged in piratical exploits. Owing to the complaints +of English merchants against the Scotch captain, Andrew Barton, Lord +Thomas Howard and Sir Edward Howard, with two men-of-war, attacked +Barton’s ship, the _Lion_, and a small sloop called the _Pirwen_, in +the Downs. After a long and severe fight Barton was killed, and his +ships detained as prizes. James IV. immediately sent a herald to demand +satisfaction, but Henry VIII. replied that the destruction of pirates +was no infringement of their treaty. Other causes of quarrel soon arose. + +Henry VIII. resolved to engage in a war against France, the ally +of Scotland. Ambassadors from the Pope, Spain, and England, arrived +in Scotland for the purpose of persuading James IV. to join in the +war against France; but all their efforts proved in vain. James IV. +declined to abandon his old ally, and resolved to assist France by +an invasion of England. Attempts were made to dissuade the King from +engaging in a war with England, but he had formed his resolution, and +determined to adhere to it and abide the issue. In the summer of 1513 +he ordered the whole feudal force of the kingdom to muster on the +Borough Moor, near Edinburgh; and on the appointed day a large army +assembled. The King placed himself at the head of his army and marched +southward. On the 22nd of August he crossed the Tweed and encamped +on the banks of the Till. There he passed an Act, which ordered that +the heirs of all who fell in this war should be free from the feudal +burdens of “ward, relief, and marriage,” whatever their age might be. +The army marched along the side of the Tweed, and besieged the castle +of Norham, which was captured on the 29th of August. Valuable time was +lost in taking the border castles of Wark, Etal, and Ford, which gave +the enemy an opportunity of mustering his forces and advancing against +the Scots. The English army, under the Earl of Surrey, was advancing +northward, and messages passed between him and James IV. Although +James was brave and determined, as general of an army he had no +qualifications whatever; his idea of leadership was simply to make a +stand-up fight. + +On receiving intelligence of the approach of the English army, the +Scots quitted their encampment and took up a strong position upon +Flodden Hill. When Surrey observed the position of the Scots, he did +not deem it wise to attack them then. He passed the Till on the 8th +of September, and marched in a north-westerly direction till near +the confluence of the Till and the Tweed, and then recrossed the Till +at Twisel Bridge. By this movement Surrey placed his army between +the Scots and their own country. He then drew up his army in battle +array on the left bank of the Till. When the Scots saw that they were +outgeneraled, they set fire to the tents of their encampment, descended +from the Hill of Flodden and took possession of the neighbouring height +of Brankston, towards which the enemy was advancing from the opposite +direction. + +The opposing armies were nearly equal in numbers, each numbered about +thirty thousand men. The English advanced in four divisions, and the +centre of their line of battle was commanded by the Earl of Surrey. +The left wing of the Scots was commanded by the Earl of Huntly and Lord +Home, and the right wing by the Earls of Argyle and Lennox, and the +King in person and on foot led the centre. At four in the afternoon +of the 9th of September 1513, the battle commenced with cannonading on +both sides; the English artillery was better served than the Scotch, +and did considerable execution in the ranks of the latter. Huntly and +Home with the left wing of the Scots attacked the English vanguard and +drove it back in disorder; but the English reserve then advanced and +kept Huntly in check. After a long and severe struggle, in which the +Earls of Lennox, Argyle, Crawford, Montrose, and many others were slain, +the right and left wings of the Scots were completely routed. Meantime, +the King and the Earl of Surrey were wrestling in a fierce hand-to-hand +combat in the centre. The King placed himself in front of his spearmen +and fought with the utmost fury and bravery, and the English ranks were +repeatedly broken and Surrey’s standard threatened. At last the King +and his division were completely surrounded by the enemy; still the +Scots fought in a circle with their spears extended and repelled their +assailants―― + + “The stubborn spearmen still made good, + Their dark impenetrable wood, + Each stepping where his comrade stood, + The instant that he fell. + No thought was there of dastard flight, + Link’d in the serried phalanx tight; + Groom fought like noble, squire like knight, + As fearlessly and well.”¹ + +At length the King himself fell mortally wounded in the head within a +spear’s length of the Earl of Surrey; yet the Scots continued to fight +till night put an end to the contest. Surrey then withdrew his forces, +for he was uncertain of the issue of the battle as the Scottish centre +remained unbroken; but when day dawned, it was seen that the Scots had +retired from the field, and left their artillery standing on the side +of the hill. + + ¹ Scott’s _Marmion_. + +The loss of the Scots on Flodden field was lamentable. Upwards of eight +thousand men were slain, including the King and his son, the Archbishop +of St. Andrews; twelve Earls, Lennox, Argyle, Athole, Erroll, Crawford, +Morton, Montrose, Bothwell, Caithness, Cassilis, and Rothes; five +eldest sons of peers; fifteen lords and chiefs of clans; the Bishop +of Caithness, the Abbots of Inchaffray and Kilwinning, and the Dean +of Glasgow, and La Motte, the French ambassador. Indeed there were +scarcely a single family of note in the kingdom but had lost some +of its members. The English lost about five thousand men, and Surrey +disbanded the remainder of his army. The body of James IV. was found by +Lord Dacre among the slain; and it was embalmed and subsequently placed +in the monastery of Sheen in Surrey. + + + + + CHAPTER X. + + _The Social Condition of the Nation + in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries._ + + +IN this chapter the social state of the people will be treated at +length. The government and the administration of justice, the power +of the nobles, and the condition of the tenants and labourers of the +land, will be explained; the state of the burghs and towns; the habits, +dress, and amusements of the people will be handled; the state of the +Church, the religious sentiments of the people, and many other matters +associated with the life of the people and the state of society, will +be touched on. + +A notice of the King’s Council and its function was given in a +preceding chapter, and its relation to feudalism indicated. The Scotch +parliament gradually arose from these meetings of the twelfth and +thirteenth centuries which were frequently mentioned in preceding +pages. One of the stipulations of the treaty of Brigham declared that +no parliament should be held beyond the boundaries of the kingdom to +treat on Scotch affairs. John Baliol held a meeting at Scone in 1293, +and another at Stirling the same year, and both were called parliaments +in the record. From this date the term parliament was freely applied +to assemblies of a national and legislative character. A parliament met +at Dunfermline on the 23rd of February 1296, and ratified the treaty +between Baliol and the King of France; and the seals of four bishops, +four monasteries, four earls, eleven barons, and six of the burghs, +namely, Aberdeen, Perth, Stirling, Edinburgh, Roxburgh, and Berwick, +were affixed to the treaty. Still, from the phraseology of the deed +itself, it is uncertain whether the representatives of the burghs were +actually present, and voted in parliament, as their consent might have +been obtained in some other way.¹ + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume I., pages + 89‒97. On the 29th of March 1298, William Wallace, Guardian + of the kingdom of Scotland, in the name of King John, and + the consent of the community, granted a charter to Alexander + Scrymgeour, conferring on him and his heirs the office of + hereditary Constable of Dundee. + +Robert Bruce held a parliament at St. Andrews on the 16th of March +1308, in which a letter to the King of France was dictated. The parties +consenting to the document were styled earls, communities of all the +earldoms of the kingdom, Edward Bruce of Galloway, James, the Steward +of Scotland, Alexander of Argyle, Donald of the Isles, Robert Keith, +Mareschal of Scotland, and other barons, and also the barons of Argyle +and Torchegall, and the whole inhabitants of the kingdom. In November +1314 Bruce assembled a parliament at Cambuskenneth, in which the +bishops, earls, barons, and others of the nobility, but not all the +communities of the kingdom, were present. In the parliament held at +Ayr in 1315, the heads of communities affixed their seals to a deed; +and the parliament which met at Scone in December 1318, settled the +succession to the throne, and also passed a number of other Acts. The +record stated that these were enacted “by the counsel and the express +consent of the bishops, abbots, priors, earls, barons, and the whole +community of the kingdom in our full parliament held at Scone.” Still +it may be doubted if the representatives of the burghs were actually +present as in a parliament, or gave their consent by voting in any +of the meetings noticed above. But in the parliament which met at +Cambuskenneth on the 15th of July 1326, there is clear evidence +that the burgesses sat with the earls, barons, and free tenants. +This parliament voted a supply to meet the expenses of the War of +Independence. It was then resolved that owing to the diminished +value of the Crown lands and revenues, as the result of the war, a +tenth penny should be granted to the King out of all the rents, to be +computed, except in some cases of extreme devastation, according to +the old extent of the reign of Alexander III. From this date onward the +representatives of the burghs usually sat in full parliaments, and were +recognised as a constituent branch of the great legislative and supreme +assembly of the nation.¹ + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume I., pages + 91‒127, _et seq._ + +It is necessary to observe further, in reference to the occurrence in +the national records in times anterior to the period under review, of +such expressions as “with the consent of the people,” “with the consent +of the community,” “with the consent and assent of all the people +of the kingdom,” that such phrases were not always, or even usually, +devoid of historic reality, truth, and value. Although the great body +of the people were not represented in the King’s council, in parliament, +or in any other legally specified form, still the voice and consent +of the people in reference to great undertakings, and the sanction of +important matters, was frequently sought and obtained by the supreme +heads of the kingdom from an early period. In preceding chapters many +indications have been incidentally mentioned as to how the voice and +consent of the people was obtained; as, for instance, when the people +assembled at the coronations of the Kings on the Mote Hill of Scone. On +such occasions the assembled multitude gave their “consent and assent” +to the inauguration of the Kings as their lawful and rightful rulers. +At the election of bishops, and other public officials in early times +“the consent and assent” of the people was sought and given in a +similar way. When Robert II. obtained the solemn sanction of parliament +to his settlement of the succession to the throne of Scotland in the +male line, in 1373, was he then satisfied with this sanction? No; for +it has been already stated, in a preceding chapter, that immediately +after the sanction of parliament was given and completed “the +whole multitude of the clergy and the people in the church of Scone +before the great altar, being specially convened for the purpose, +the aforesaid declaration, ordinance, and statute, thus sworn (in +parliament) being explained to them in a loud and public voice, each +raising his hand, after the manner of faith-giving, in token of the +universal consent of the whole clergy and people, publicly expressed +and declared their consent and assent.”¹ This mode of obtaining the +“consent and assent of the people” to a great and important national +matter was not an innovation of the first Stuart king, it was simply +a revival of a customary manner in which the people had sanctioned, +and given their “consent and assent” to public matters associated +with government for probably thousands of years before the period of +parliaments. + + ¹ See under page 315. + +During the minority of David II. few records of the parliaments which +assembled have been preserved; but, after his return from captivity, +several rolls of the parliamentary proceedings of the later part of his +reign still exist. From its origin onward the Scotch parliament assumed +and exercised the functions of a Supreme Court of appeal and review. +It seems to have extended its power considerably in the reign of +David II. Parliament then treated the details of the administration of +justice, the coinage and the currency of the kingdom; and it assumed +the power and right to dictate terms of peace with foreign kingdoms; +and directly controlled the King himself in his expenditure. This had +become necessary owing to the character of the King, and his intention +to degrade and extinguish the independence of the nation, as was shown +by an enactment passed in a parliament held at Scone in 1367――“that no +officer should put in execution any royal warrant against the statutes +and common form of law.” + +In the fourteenth century small barons and free tenants considered that +it was a great hardship to have to attend parliament. As yet there was +no regular representation. From this reluctance to give attendance, +some of the peculiarities of the Scotch parliament, and the mode of +conducting business in it, originated. In a parliament held at Scone in +September 1367, it was stated that, as it was autumn, and inconvenient +for many of the members to remain in attendance, a certain number +of persons were elected to hold the parliament, and the rest were +permitted to return home. The following year parliament assembled +at Perth in March, and owing to the inconvenience of the season and +the dearness of provisions, certain persons were elected to hold the +parliament, and they were divided into two committees, one to treat on +the general affairs of the nation, and a smaller one to sit on appeals +from the inferior courts. At another parliament, held in 1369 at Perth, +two committees were appointed, one to deal with appeals, questions, +and quarrels, which ought to be decided in parliament, and the other +to treat on special and secret affairs relating to the King and the +kingdom, previous to their being placed before the full parliament, as +it was inexpedient that the whole body should assist at a deliberation +of this character or be kept in attendance. In these arrangements the +origin of two peculiarities of the Scotch parliament clearly appears, +namely, the institution known under the name of “The Lords of the +Articles,” and “The Judicial Committee of Parliament.” + +There was little constitutional development during the reigns of +the first two kings of the Stuart line. The statute passed in the +reign of Robert III., which threw on the King and his officers the +responsibility for the misgovernment of the kingdom, was noticed in +a preceding chapter. In 1427 James I. attempted to introduce a form +of representation of the small freeholders, but the act was totally +ineffectual, as no representatives were actually returned to parliament; +while Acts continued to be passed for upwards of a century to relieve +the small barons from attendance at parliament. In 1457 it was enacted +that no freeholder, who holds of the King under the value of £20, +should be constrained to attend in parliament or a general council. +Again, in 1503, an enactment was passed which declared that no man +should “be compelled to come personally to parliament whose lands +were valued under one hundred marks.” There was no regular form of +representation of the small barons and freeholders in parliament till +1587. + +Originally each of the royal burghs had to send at least two +representatives to parliament, but the number of burgh members who +actually attended was unusually small. The great officers of the Crown +had a seat in parliament in virtue of their offices. The members of the +Scotch parliament all sat and voted in one house. But there was a body +called the ‘Lords of the Articles,’ which originated in the latter +years of the reign of David II., as indicated above. At first they +seem to have been elected to deal with special matters, but they +soon obtained the initiative of all measures and the management of +parliamentary business. The mode of electing the Lords of the Articles +seems to have been thus:――The clergy elected a certain number from +their own body, the nobles in like manner, and also the representatives +of the burghs, and the great officers of the Crown were entitled to act +among the Lords of the Articles in virtue of their offices. This body +usually arranged and prepared all the acts and measures, which were +then brought before the full parliament, and at once voted and passed, +without debate or deliberation. + +As stated in a preceding chapter, James I. made an attempt to establish +a court of supreme civil jurisdiction; and in 1457, parliament enacted +“that the Lords of the Session should sit thrice every year, and +each time for forty days in these three places, Edinburgh, Perth, and +Aberdeen, and that nine persons should sit, three from each estate.” +In 1503 parliament announced that “there had been a great confusion of +summons at each session, as there was no time to bring them to an issue +and ending, therefore it was statuted, that a council should be chosen +by the King which should sit continually in Edinburgh, or where the +King resides, or where he thinks fit, to decide all manner of summons +in civil matters and causes daily as shall happen to occur; and should +have the same power as the Lords of Session.” These attempts entirely +failed, and parliament continued to appoint its own Judicial Committee, +who exercised the functions of a court of appeal, and also decided +causes in the first instance; their jurisdiction was similar to that +of the King’s Council. In 1467 parliament ordered that “all summons +and causes which were left undecided in this parliament, should be +decided before the Lords of the Council;” and causes which commenced in +the one court were sometimes disposed of in the other. The proceedings +of the Judicial Committee for the period from 1466 to 1494 have been +printed, and also the judicial proceedings of the Lords of Council from +1478 to 1495. These books are the earliest body of recorded law cases +which have been preserved in Scotland, and contain valuable historical +materials. Trial by jury was a characteristic of these courts. Although +the mode of taking evidence was crude, and testimony was admitted on a +principle not admissible now, still there was a striking improvement as +compared with the trial by ordeal and the processes of the twelfth and +thirteenth centuries. The functions of both these judicial bodies were +merged in the Court of Session established in the reign of James V. + +In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries the courts of the Church +monopolised a large portion of the civil business of the kingdom. The +Consistorial Courts of St. Andrews, Galloway, Edinburgh, and others, +had a great mass of legal business to execute. Their jurisdiction +embraced all cases of legitimacy and divorce; the large class of cases +connected with wills and executory; the affairs of widows and orphans; +questions of slander, and disputes arising on contracts, if they had +been sanctioned by an oath. The Consistorial Courts professed to take +care of the affairs of the poor, and those who were unable to pay for +the advice and assistance of lawyers, but contemporary literature does +not give them much credit for the performance of this part of their +duty.¹ + + ¹ Henryson’s _Poems_, pages 148‒152. Laing’s Edition, 1865. + +Owing to the introduction of Norman Feudalism and an extraneous +nobility, from the beginning of the reign of David I. to the reign of +Alexander III., the greater part of the land of the kingdom changed +owners. David I. and his two grandsons bestowed lands on these +extraneous nobles profusely, which entailed a legacy of enormous evil +upon the nation, and created a disorderly condition of society. These +Normans, mainly through their craft in forming marriage contracts, +obtained possession of extensive territories and rose to influence +and power; and at last they claimed the Crown and kingdom of Scotland. +They then sold the independence of this Crown and kingdom without “the +consent or assent of the people.” The invasion of the kingdom and the +War of Independence ensued. + +From the commencement of the War of Independence to the middle of the +fourteenth century, the greater part of the land in the country changed +owners three or four times. A number of those Norman nobles who sold +the independence of the kingdom, and aided Edward I., II., and III., +in their invasions of Scotland, at last forfeited their possessions +in Scotland. Robert Bruce was the first Scotch king since the reign of +Malcolm III., who discovered that no Norman noble could ride upon two +horses at once running in opposite directions. The result of this was +that Robert I. disinherited the Baliols, the Comyns, and many others; +and then conferred their forfeited possessions on his own supporters, +who had assisted him to recover the kingdom from the enemy. In this way +a considerable number of the small families of gentry were raised to +wealth, power, and influence; and amongst these were the Douglasses, +Gordons, Lindsays, Campbells, Hays, and many other families. But +unhappily Robert I. made no effort to limit the feudal power and the +privileges of the nobles in relation to the land and the people; on +the contrary, he rather extended their powers in these directions. He +not only gave his nephew, Thomas Randolph, the earldom of Moray with +the usual rights and privileges, but also conferred on him the burghs +of Elgin, Forres, and Nairn, the customs of Inverness, the burgh of +Lochmaben, extensive estates in the sheriffdoms of Dumfries and Berwick, +and the island of Man. Bruce also gave the town of Cromarty to the Earl +of Ross.¹ + + ¹ _Exchequer Rolls of Scotland_, Volume I. + +Although Bruce during his own reign kept his nobles in restraint, owing +to his success, yet in the reign of his son, David II., they greatly +extended their power; while the weak reigns of Robert II., and Robert +III., afforded the nobles many opportunities of extending their power, +which they eagerly embraced; and ere the end of the fourteenth century +they had attained to a position incompatible with any form of settled +government. When two or three of the chief nobles united, they were +more than a match for the King, and they often strengthened themselves +in this way. They entered into bonds and leagues, by which individual +nobles or families bound themselves to take part in the causes and +quarrels of each other; and this reacted in the most disastrous way +upon the social state of the nation. These bonds and leagues became so +universal in the fifteenth century and the first half of the sixteenth, +that there ♦was scarcely a man in Scotland, above the rank of the +smallest landholder, who was not bound in one or more of these private +leagues. Such bonds were always confirmed by the oaths of the parties. +The marriage alliances between families were also usually accompanied +by a bond, obliging the parties to assist each other in “all their +actions, causes, and quarrels, moved and to be moved, with their +persons, goods, fortunes, castles, kin, men, and friends; and all that +will do for them, contra and against all men that live and die may, +their allegiance to our lord, the King, except.” Thus powerful nobles +who held bonds from a host of other nobles and barons sworn to take +part in all their quarrels, were not likely to appeal to the ordinary +courts of law for justice, when they could more effectively secure what +they desired by force. So the King often found it necessary to suspend +and to forbid the holding of courts, in order to prevent hostile +collisions and bloodshed between rival barons and their armed vassals +and sworn adherents. In July 1474 the King sent letters to the Earl +of Buchan and the Lord Oliphant commanding them to stay their muster +for the court of Forfar; it appears that they disobeyed the King, +and the muster issued in bloodshed. Such collisions were a common +enough occurrence. Parliament in 1478 had under consideration the +administration of justice throughout the kingdom; and it was then +resolved that immediate steps should be taken to remedy the great +breaches which existed in various parts of the kingdom; and ♠especially +in Angus, between the Earl of Buchan and the Earl of Erroll and their +parties; and in like manner between the Master of Crawford and the Lord +of ♣Glamis and their parties; and in Nithsdale and Annandale between +Lord ♥Caerlaverock and the Laird of Drumlanrig; and the great struggle +raging in Caithness, Ross, and Sutherland, and in other quarters of the +kingdom.¹ + + ♦ “were” replaced with “was” + + ♠ “especi-” replaced with “especially” + + ♣ “Glammis” replaced with “Glamis” + + ♥ “Caerlaverok” replaced with “Caerlaverock” + + ¹ _Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland_, Volume I.; + _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume II., pages 16, + 122; _Miscellany of the Old Spalding Club_, Volumes II., IV. + +The right which earls possessed of granting charters to their vassals +within the territories of the earldoms, gave them an enormous power +over the people; and as mentioned in a preceding page, Robert I. rather +extended the feudal rights and powers of the nobles than limited them +in any way. But James I. clearly saw and realised that Norman Feudalism +contained in itself the essence of anarchy, and that no effective +government could be established while the nobles had such feudal rights, +and local power over the people. He therefore immediately proceeded to +act, and attempted to reduce the rights and the power of the nobles; +but these were too deeply rooted to be summarily extinguished, and +in spite of his exceptional abilities, his great energy, and his +utmost efforts, he soon fell a victim to their revenge. The attempts of +James II., James III., James IV. and James V., to restrain the lawless +anarchy and the oppression of the feudal nobles all proved equally +unavailing; and their power and turbulence continued to rage unabated +till past the Reformation period. + +In the later part of the fourteenth century and the first quarter of +the fifteenth, the social state of the nation was deplorable, the great +nobles oppressing the poor people, and murders, robberies, and other +heinous crimes were committed with impunity. On the most frivolous +pretences, tenants were evicted from their holdings, and the labourers +from their cottages. Parliament tried to check this, and in 1401 it +was enacted that such resumptions of holdings by the overlord should be +null, unless lawful cause was shown; and it was provided that evicted +tenants should not lose their right to their lands till after the lapse +of a year, if they repledged them within forty days. It appears that +the overlords often expelled their vassals by force, and in this way +the nobles were enabled to accommodate their own sworn adherents, and +to crush all those within their territories who may have declined to +join in their projects, quarrels, and lawless proceedings. Thirty years +later, James I. simply requested the barons and bishops not to remove +the husbandmen and labourers suddenly from their lands if they had +leases. In 1449 parliament passed an act which aimed at giving more +security to the tenants, but it was not carried into effect. Parliament +in 1457 passed a statute which allowed lands to be let on feu-tenure, +free from military service; and the Act enjoined that the King should +show an example to the nobles, the bishops, and freeholders, by feuing +the Crown lands. In 1491 it was enacted that when land changed owners, +the tenants, labourers, and the inhabitants should not be removed +before the ensuing Whitsunday. At the terms of Martinmas and Whitsunday +there were always much poinding of the goods and effects of the tenants +for their rents, and a great commotion of “outcasting and incasting +among the tenantry all over the country.” + +Even the small class of landed proprietors within the earldoms and +great free baronies of the kingdom were bound hand and foot to the +policy and service of their overlords. The baron always had the power +to expel and disinherit a refractory vassal, on the ground that he had +failed to render the proper feudal services to his lord. The overlord +might also raise a plea that his vassal was not the lawful heir, and +on that ground turn him out of his home and land. Much injustice was +inflicted upon the tenants and the inhabitants of the kingdom by the +action of the creditors of the nobles. When these exalted personages +fell into debt then their creditors sued for briefs of distress, +obtained judgments against them, and immediately seized the property +of the lord’s tenants. By such processes the tenants were often totally +ruined. In 1469 parliament passed a measure which attempted to remedy +this injustice, and it was then declared that the poor tenants should +not be held liable for more than the amount of their rent due to +the lord. If the debt exceeded the rents, then the creditor could +have recourse to the other goods of the debtor, and if he had no +other property but his land, the land itself might be sold to pay his +debt. But the debtor retained the right to reclaim his land from the +purchaser at any time within seven years, if he paid the same price as +it had been sold for. This Act had little or no effect in the fifteenth +century, although subsequently when the power of the nobles began to +wane it came into operation. Such were the relations between the feudal +aristocracy and the occupiers and tillers of the land, as presented in +the national records.¹ + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume I., pages + 208‒214, 217; Volume II., pages 17, 35, 225, 49, 96, + 213, 248‒255, 286, 288, 367‒369; _Registrum Episcopatus + Moraviensis_, page 382. + +The occupiers of the land and the people generally were severely +oppressed by the nobles and their retinues travelling through the +country; as the nobles, accompanied by a train of retainers, were in +the habit of living at free quarters on the husbandmen and the inferior +clergy, and thus consumed and often destroyed the crops and grass, and +any store of grain which these people possessed. Acts of Parliament +were repeatedly passed, with the object of checking and limiting this +form of oppression, but they failed to remedy the evil. Indeed, so +inveterate was the custom among the nobles of living on the produce +of the people as they passed through the country with their hosts of +followers, that in 1499 parliament found it necessary to enact and +command, “that all the officials and officers holding courts throughout +the kingdom, should ride with a small company only, in order that the +people might not be so grievously oppressed.” At the same time the +coroners were ordered to cease from taking the twopence of unlawful fee +from those who had immediately paid their bail. The oppression of the +people by the nobles, the Crown officers, and the entire organisation +of Norman feudalism, resulted in the infliction of enormous suffering +upon the people of Scotland. Contemporary literature as well as the +national records presents evidence of the oppressive character of +feudalism and the Scotch nobles. Bower, who wrote in the reign of +James II., presents a frightful picture of the state of the nation, +from which I quote the following:――“Confounded as we are with daily +tyranny, oppressed with rapine, spoil, and tribulation.... The groans +of the humble, and the miseries of the poor, whom I myself who write +this, have seen this very day in my own neighbourhood――stripped of +their garments, and inhumanely despoiled of their domestic utensils, +constrains one to exclaim with him who says, ‘I have seen the injuries +which are done, the tears of the innocent, the helpless and the +destitute, who cannot resist violence, and have none to comfort them.’ +I have praised the dead more than the living, and happier than both +have I esteemed the unborn, the sole strangers to the evils of this +world.”¹ + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume I., II.; + _Scotichronicon_, Volume II., page 473. + +Robert Henryson, the poet, who wrote in the latter part of the +fifteenth century, frequently alludes to the state of society. His +writings indicate very clearly that the husbandmen and tenants were +grievously oppressed by their lords.¹ + + ¹ Henryson’s _Poems_, pages 37, 152, 201, 214, 215. + +Under the conditions indicated in the preceding page, agriculture could +not have been in a satisfactory state. In the fourteenth century a +large part of the best land of the country had been so much exposed to +the ravages of war, that some portions of the cultivated lands returned +to its natural state. After the return of James I., parliament passed +various acts relating to husbandry. In 1425 it was ordered that every +man who reasonably was a labourer, should either become the half owner +of an ox in the plough, or dig a plot of land seven feet square every +day. The following year, it was enjoined that every farmer in the +kingdom who possessed a plough of eight oxen, should every year sow +a firlot of wheat, half a firlot of pease, and forty beans, under a +penalty of ten shillings. And in his reign, Acts were passed for the +protection of growing crops, the destruction of wolves, and rooks. +In 1457 all the freeholders of the kingdom were ordered to make +a provision in their leases that their tenants should plant wood, +make hedges, and sow broom in the most suitable places; and that no +one should make enclosures of dry sticks or dressed wood, but only +of living plants, that wood might grow and become plentiful in the +country.¹ + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume II., pages + 6‒16, 51. + +The Crown lands were extensive in the fifteenth century. In the reign +of James II., the Crown had lands in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, +including Ballincreiff and Gosford. In the vicinity of Linlithgow, the +royal possessions around the palace were called the King’s acres, and +certain lands in the barony of Houston; and the rents of which amounted +in 1457 to £140 17s. 8d., with one chalder of barley, one of oats, two +dozen of hens, and two dozen of young cocks. The rents of the Crown +lands lying around the castle of Stirling, and in Stirlingshire in 1455, +amounted to £184 19s., with two dozen of salmon. The Earldom of Fife +fell to the Crown in 1425 on the forfeiture of the Duke of Albany; and +in 1457 the gross money rent was £560 12s. 7d., thirty-five chalders +and three bolls of wheat, sixty-two chalders and three bolls of barley, +forty-six chalders and three bolls of oats, and two bolls of oatmeal. +In the year 1451, four hundred and seventy-one young cocks, and one +hundred and four geese, formed a part of the rental of this earldom. +The Earldom of Monteith also fell to the Crown on the execution and +forfeiture of the Albany family in the reign of James I., and the King +retained the greater part of the lands of the earldom in his own hands. +For the year 1451 the money rental of the earldom amounted to £351 12s. +8d., and thirty-four chalders of oats, twenty-four chalders and seven +bolls of oatmeal, two chalders and two bolls of barley, thirty-four +sheep, sixty poultry, and one hundred and forty salmon. The Earldom +of Strathern was in the Crown, and in the latter years of the reign of +James II., its gross money rental annually ran from £316 to £461. The +Earldom of Athole was forfeited to the Crown by the treason of Walter +Stuart in 1437, and its money rental for the year 1450 amounted to £139 +13s. 4d. James II. granted this earldom to Sir John Stewart of Balveny +in 1457. A large portion of Perthshire was in the possession of James +II., including the lands of Methven, which extended to the south and +west of the town of Perth; the barony of Strathbraan, which commenced +at Dunkeld, and included Logiealmond, and extended by Crief to +Innerpeffry; and at Loch Fruchy, in the upper reach of the strath, the +King had a hunting lodge. In 1455 the gross money rental of Methven was +£120 8s. 4d., three chalders and eight bolls of meal, and nine dozen of +poultry, while the money rental of Strathbraan was £46. The Crown had +many other lands in Perthshire, the lordship of Strathurd, Glenlyon, +Fothergill and others. In Forfarshire, the lordship of Brechin, +and other lands; and farther north, Aberluthnot, Fettercairn, and +Kincardine, were in the possession of the Crown. It was stated in a +preceding chapter that James I. annexed the Earldom of Mar to the Crown, +which then comprised nearly a half of the county of Aberdeen, and the +family of Erskine claimed it; but it seems to have been a disputed +possession between the Crown and Lord Erskine; and in 1459 James II. +granted the Earldom of Mar to his own youngest son, John, then an +infant. He died in the castle of Craigmillar, and the third son of +James III., John, was created Earl of Mar in 1486. The gross money +rental of the Earldom of Mar for the year 1459 was £396 10s., with +thirty head of cattle, for each of which 5s. was allowed, and two +chalders and four bolls of “custom oats,” for each boll of which 4d. +was allowed. After the Douglas forfeitures, the rents of the thanage +of Kintore fell to the Crown; and amongst the other Crown lands between +the Dee and the Spey were a portion of Badenoch, which fell to the +Crown on the death of Alexander, Earl of Buchan, in 1349, and the money +rental of which for the year 1455 was £20. But the forfeiture of the +Douglas tribe brought to the Crown the lands of Balveny, Boharm, and +Botriphnie, which had belonged to John Douglas, and the annual money +rental of these lands as given in the records vary from £25 to £73, +with seventeen cattle and the same number of sheep. In the same +locality, Kininmont, Buchromb, and the half of Clunymore, had fallen +to the Crown through the illegitimacy of David Garden, proved by a +jury at Aberdeen in the reign of James I. These lands were conferred +in liferent on Sir William Forbes of Kinaldy, and subsequently occupied +by the Earl of Huntly. + +The Crown lands beyond the Spey were chiefly in the Earldom of Moray. +Farther northward, in the region between the Moray and Cromarty Firths, +called the Black Isle, also including Dunscathe on the north side +of the Ferry of Cromarty, is usually referred to in the records as +♦Ardmannoch, and sometimes Avach and Eddirdule. This district belonged +to the historic Sir Andrew Moray of Bothwell; but in 1362, Archibald, +Lord of Galloway, afterwards third Earl of Douglas, married Joan Moray, +widow of Thomas Moray, and through her the lands of Avach and Bothwell +passed to the Douglas family. Hugh Douglas derived his title of Earl +from the castle of Avach, on the moot hill of Ormond near Castletown +Point, on the Bay of Munlochy. The gross rental of the lands of +Ardmannoch for the year 1460 was £172 15s. 8d., with ten chalders +and nine bolls of barley, and ten chalders and nine bolls of oatmeal, +twelve cattle and twelve sheep. + + ♦ “Ardmannock” replaced with “Ardmannoch” + +One third of Duffus was another portion of the lands forfeited by +Douglas Earl of Ormond, and its rental in 1458 was £24, with eight +chalders of barley, one chalder and ten bolls of malt, one chalder and +ten bolls of oatmeal, three cattle and three sheep. Strathdearn or the +valley of the Findhorn, and Petty and Brachly lying along the shores +of the Beauly Firth, were forfeited to the Crown by John Douglas of +Balveny. The money rent of Strathdearn in 1460 was £53 6s. 8d. The +rental of Petty and Brachly was £80 6s. 8d., with ten cattle and ten +sheep. In 1456 these lands were in the occupation of the M‘Intoshes. +The Crown held the lands of Bonach and Bannachare, lying to the +westward of Inverness and beyond the river Ness; and the barony +and castle of Urquhart with Glenmoriston lying on the west side of +Loch Ness; but in 1455, this barony, castle, and Glenmoriston, were +conferred in liferent on John Earl of Ross and Lord of the Isles. + +The Earldom of March was in the possession of the Crown from 1434 +till 1455, when James II. conferred it on his infant son, Alexander, +afterwards Duke of Albany. The gross rents of the lands of the earldom +were sometimes returned as over £570. The lordship of Stewartown, in +Ayrshire, fell to the Crown at the time of the Douglas forfeitures. In +1457 the rental of this lordship was £127 13s. 4d., and two chalders +and eight bolls of meal. The islands of Bute and Arran were in the +hands of the Crown. In the reign of James II. both these islands were +in the occupation of kindly tenants or rentallers. The money rental of +Bute was £141 18s. 6d., which included £40 from the burgh of Rothesay, +and in addition to this one boll of barley was paid for every mark of +money rent. Each tenant had also to give one mart for every five marks +of rent due by him, and these marts were valued at 5s. In the reign of +James IV. these tenants were converted into feuars, and they and their +descendants came subsequently to be popularly known as “the barons of +Bute.” + +The annual money rent of Arran was £56 18s. 8d., with barley and +cattle as in Bute. The slate quarries of Bute were worked, and in 1445 +11s. 10d. was paid for 13,000 slates, which were sent to Dumbarton to +repair the King’s castle. A passenger boat then plied between Bute and +Cowal, and the ferryman for some time received a boll of barley yearly +from the Crown. It appears that Arran was in a more unsettled state +than Bute, and in the former the King’s rents were not regularly paid. +The shores of Arran supplied the King’s household with the fish, called +in the records “mullones,” large quantities of which were bought at two +shillings a dozen.¹ + + ¹ _Exchequer Rolls of Scotland_, Volume V., Volume VI. 1883. + +In the preceding paragraphs the principal, though not the whole, of +the Crown lands have been indicated. It appears that in the fifteenth +century a considerable portion of land rent was still paid in produce. +In the reign of James IV. the Crown lands were fully as extensive as in +the reign of James II. + +The Crown lands were mostly in the hands of farmers, who held varying +portions of land for payment in money and produce, under leases which +were renewed from time to time; and kindly tenants or rentallers, who +enjoyed a certain fixity of tenure, which, however, depended on the +current of national events, emergencies, and circumstance; in other +words, the success of the King’s government or the reverse. But, on the +whole, it may be fairly assumed that the farmers and the kindly tenants +on the Crown lands were in a more favourable position than the same +classes on the lands of the nobles. The kings retained small portions +of Crown lands in their own hands, which were cultivated by their own +agricultural labourers. + +The tenants on the church lands probably held their lands under +somewhat easier terms than tenants on the estates of the nobles. All +the bishoprics and the great monasteries possessed extensive lands; for +instance, the see of Moray had eight baronies, namely, Spynie, Keith, +Rafford, Birnie, Kynneder, Strathspey, Fothirface, and Kilmiles. + +Touching the condition of the actual labourers and tillers of the soil, +it was stated in a preceding chapter that this work was chiefly done +by bondmen and serfs. And farther, it was historically maintained +that these servile classes were mainly created in Scotland by Norman +feudalism in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. It was shown that +serfs were actually bought and sold, and that they could be reclaimed +by their owners like strayed cattle or sheep. The bondmen and serfs +were numerous in the thirteenth century, but they became less numerous +in the fourteenth, and disappeared before the end of the fifteenth +century. What were the causes of their disappearance? No Act of +Parliament nor canon of the Church ever proclaimed their emancipation; +on the contrary, parliament and the civil law supported the institution +of serfdom by written enactments and the decisions of the courts; while +the Church appears to have possessed a large number of serfs, and was +exceedingly careful in tracing and keeping records of their descent. +Indeed, the last case of claiming serfs which occurred in Scotland, so +far as known, was in 1364, when the Bishop of Moray, before the Sheriff +of Banffshire and a jury, obtained a verdict finding that two men were +his natives and property.¹ Thus it is obvious that the extinction of +serfdom was not effected by the Church or Parliament. + + ¹ _Registrum Episcopatus Moraviensis_, page 161. + +The only series of events and social phenomena which contributed to +the emancipation of the serfs were those connected with the War of +Independence. When Edward I. conceived his scheme to conquer Scotland, +he thought that when he obtained the homage and submission of the +Scotch nobles, knights, landowners, clergy, and the magistrates +and heads of the burgh communities, then his object would be easily +accomplished. The mighty Lord Paramount would have disdained to look +at a labourer, a bondman, or serf, or accept homage from them, and yet +they were men perhaps as good, if not better, than himself. Edward, +however, ran his course on his own lines, while the labourers, bondmen, +and serfs ran theirs with more success than he ever achieved in +Scotland. When William Wallace and Sir Andrew Moray crossed the Tay for +the purpose of recruiting and organising an army in the region lying +between the river Ness and the Tay, where the army which fought and +won the battle of Stirling Bridge was solely raised, it may be fairly +assumed that whenever a suitable man presented himself to the patriots, +they never asked him whether he were a serf or not. Then, after the war +had continued for some time, and nobles and churchmen who had renounced +their allegiance to Edward I. were seized and imprisoned, and their +lands often given to Englishmen, the bondmen and serfs would have had +many opportunities of escaping and going wherever they thought fit. +As the struggle proceeded, lands all over the country fell into the +hands of new owners, which again in a short time were seized and the +ownership changed. This process continued, with short intervals, for +half a century, and by that time the institution of serfdom was broken +up, and beyond restitution. Thus the emancipation of the bondmen and +the serfs was an effect of the War of Independence――an effect rendered +more effectual by many of the class in question taking an active part +in the struggle themselves. Subsequently we learn from the Acts of +Parliament in the reign of James I., and succeeding reigns that some +of the serfs became labourers and tilled pieces of land, as indicated +in the Act of 1425, which was referred to in a preceding page, while +others found employment in the towns at various kinds of work, and +ultimately the servile class became merged in the society of the nation +and disappeared as a separate class. + +Although the burgh communities suffered severely from the War of +Independence, they recovered from its desolating effects wonderfully +well. Having regard to locality, external and surrounding circumstances, +the towns of Scotland may be historically treated in three groups, +namely, the Border burghs, those in the northern quarter, and those +in the centre of the kingdom. + +The Border burghs comprised Berwick, Roxburgh, Jedburgh, Dumfries, +Dunbar, Kelso, Peebles, and a few others. These towns were exposed to +the first brunt of war throughout the long struggle between England and +Scotland, and to the harassing and desolating effects of the constantly +recurring raids on the marches. This tended to engender many strongly +marked features of character and habits amongst the people of the +Borders, which were manifested in acts of daring, tragic deeds, and +many touching and romantic incidents. + +Berwick was a place of habitation in far-gone ages, and a centre +of industry long before the period of record. In the twelfth and +thirteenth centuries it was the chief mart of traffic in Scotland; +but the town was desolated and its citizens massacred by Edward I. +The town never recovered its former trading pre-eminence. In 1327 the +customs of Berwick amounted to £673, and in 1331 it was £549. Two years +after Berwick fell into the hands of the English, and although it was +retaken several times by the Scots, it was not permanently retained by +Scotland.¹ + + ¹ _Exchequer Rolls of Scotland_, Volume I. + +Roxburgh was an early site of habitation, and it had some trade +and wealth from an early period; but in the period under review the +importance of the town mainly arose from its strong castle, which was +a good defensive position. Still the burgh had its craftsmen, mills, +markets, and fishings; and in 1327 its rent to the Crown was £20. It +was the scene of many contests between the English and the Scots. In +the fourteenth century the town was much injured by the war. It was +repeatedly taken by the English, and retaken by the Scots, but in the +reign of David II. the castle fell into the hands of the English, and +they occupied it till 1460, when it was captured by the Scots, who +then razed the castle to the ground; and the town itself has long since +disappeared. + +The town of Dunbar lies on the south-east border of Scotland, and +throughout this period its strong castle rendered the town an important +position, and in fact it was the key to that quarter of the kingdom. +In 1338 the castle of Dunbar stood a memorable siege, when Black Agnes, +the Countess of March, a daughter of Randolph Earl of Moray, heroically +defended it for five months against the English army, and ultimately +forced the enemy to raise the siege. In the latter half of the +fourteenth century Dunbar had a considerable trade, chiefly in wool, +the customs on which in 1378 amounted to £139; but in the succeeding +century its trade seems to have fallen off. + +Jedburgh rose into importance from its castle and its monastery. +Subsequently it was occasionally the mustering place of the Scottish +army; and the justiciary’s courts for that quarter of the kingdom +were often held there. In 1320 Robert I. granted to Sir James Douglas +the market, town, castle, forest, and mains, of Jedburgh, and in the +following year this was confirmed, along with other grants, to Douglas. +Jedburgh and its castle fell into the hands of the English early in +the reign of David II., and they held it for upwards of half a century, +being only finally expelled from it in 1409. The following year the +English burned the town. In 1416 and 1466 it was also destroyed by fire. + +The men of Jedburgh and the forest in its vicinity were well inured to +war and brave in battle. They were engaged in most of the raids across +the Border; their special weapon was the Jedburgh staff, manufactured +in the town, which was four feet long, with a steel head. Their war-cry +was “Jeddards here,” and their onset was not easily withstood. The +town has passed through many viscissitudes, and is associated with many +interesting historic events and incidents. + +The burgh of Dumfries has many historic associations which cannot be +detailed in this work. The burgh had a royal castle in the thirteenth +century. In 1288 the Crown rents of the burgh amounted to £20, and in +1330 these crown rents were £30, but at the later date the customs of +the burgh were only £4; being an inland town it had not much trade. At +the end of the fifteenth century the burgh paid to the Crown a sum of +about £20 annually by feu-charter in lieu of rents. In the fifteenth +century the Maxwells became the leading family in the Dumfries district, +and attained a commanding influence in the affairs of the burgh, as +will subsequently appear. + +The town of Kelso attained some note owing to its rich monastery. +William of Dalgarnock, Abbot of Kelso, accompanied the young prince, +David II., to France as his preceptor. + +Peebles was created a royal burgh in the reign of David I.; and it +became a favourite residence of the Kings. Charters of David I., +Malcolm IV., William the Lion, Alexander II., and Edward I., were dated +at Peebles. In the fourteenth century the town and castle became a +kind of border garrison, as an outpost of Edinburgh. The Crown rents +of Peebles for the year 1327 were £23 6s. 8d., and in 1343 these rents +were £12 13s. 4d. In 1460 the burgh of Peebles gave a contribution of +£38 17s. 8d. toward the payment of the King’s ransom. David II. granted +to John Gray, Clerk of the Rolls, all the rents and issues of the burgh +for life, except the issues of the Chamberlain’s court. In 1398 the +Crown rents of Peebles were let by lease of Sir William Stewart of +Jedburgh to the bailies for an annual sum of £2 13s. 4d., and £6 13s. +4d. for the burgh mills, making a total sum of £9 6s. 8d. The burgh +fell into arrears, and in 1457 the Crown rent stood――arrears £8, by +feu-charter £9 6s. 8d., sum due £17 6s. 8d. But Peebles paid up the +arrears, and subsequently continued to pay the annual sum stated above +to the end of the century. In 1501, however, the bailies of the burgh +were fined £18 for failing to appear before the Exchequer.¹ + + ¹ _Exchequer Rolls of Scotland_, Volumes I., II., III., IV., + V., VI., VII., X., XI. + +The town of Peebles was repeatedly burned by the English in the +fourteenth century, and the citizens were often subjected to all +the horrors of war. Peebles had seven yearly markets, some of which +extended over several days, and the records of the burgh contain many +regulations touching the markets.¹ + + ¹ _Burgh Records of Peebles_, pages 67, 85, 209‒211. + +The conditions and circumstances under which the people on the +Borders lived tended to encourage and to prolong the continuance of +the predatory spirit and habits; and the disorder on the Borders gave +the Government much work and trouble; still, these people were not +naturally more lawless than the inhabitants of any other quarter of +the country. The state in which they lived was a result of historic +conditions, for the creation of which they were responsible only in +a very limited measure. The Norman nobles planted upon the borders +of Scotland in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries had nearly all +disappeared long before the end of the fifteenth century, but the +effects of the feudalism, which was introduced along with them, +remained. + +Turning to the northern burghs, including Inverness, Dingwall, Forres, +Elgin, Cullen, Banff, and others. During the period under review +Inverness was a burgh of comparative wealth and trade. The customs of +Inverness in 1366 were £81 5s., and those of Elgin £67 11s. 7d. In 1373 +the customs of Inverness were £145 13s. 11d., and the same year the +Crown rents and the petty customs amounted to £40; in 1380 the customs +of the burgh were £248 19s., and the Crown rents and petty customs, +by lease of the Chamberlain, £53 6s. 8d. The same year the Crown rents +and petty customs of Banff were £33 6s. 8d. The trade of these northern +burghs, by sea at least, does not seem to have increased much during +the fifteenth century, as the customs of Inverness in 1455 were +returned at £62 8s. In 1499 the customs of Inverness, Forres, and Elgin, +were returned together, and consisted of a charge of £131 of custom +on 55 lasts of salted salmon exported, and a quantity of hides charged +£7 19s. 2d. The same year the Crown rents of the burgh of Inverness, +by feu-charter, were £57 6s. 8d. and one pound of pepper. + +Cullen was a royal burgh in the reign of William the Lion. In the reign +of Alexander III. there was a royal residence at Cullen, and in 1266 +the hall and the brewing utensils of the town were repaired. Robert +Bruce’s queen, Elizabeth, died at Cullen in November, 1327, and her +body was embalmed there, and she was buried at Dunfermline. Robert I. +founded a chaplainry at Cullen “to pray for the soul of his spouse, +Queen of Scots, who died in our said burgh of Cullen;” and £4 was paid +yearly out of the burgh rents to the chaplain celebrating mass for her +soul. The regular accounts of Cullen drop out of the burgh rolls after +the year 1343; but they were resumed in 1496. In that and succeeding +years the rents of various lands held by the burgh from the Crown were +accounted for, and the annuity to the chaplain still appears in the +accounts.¹ + + ¹ _Exchequer Rolls of Scotland_ + +Alexander II. in 1227 granted a charter to Dingwall, which conferred +on the citizens the same liberties as the burgesses of Inverness, and +authorised a weekly market to be held on Monday. In 1265 Alexander +Comyn, Earl of Buchan and Justiciary of Scotland, was bailie of +Dingwall. Robert I. granted the burgh of Dingwall to the Earl of Ross, +and the town remained in the hands of the Earls of Ross for upwards +of a century. In 1475 parliament ordered the Sheriff of Inverness to +summon John, Earl of Ross and Lord of the Isles, either at the castle +of Dingwall or the cross of Inverness, to appear at Edinburgh and +answer for his crimes, and accordingly he was summoned at the gate of +the castle of Dingwall. The proceedings which followed on this were +stated in a preceding chapter. In 1498 James IV. renewed and confirmed +the rights and privileges of Dingwall, which had completely fallen into +desuetude.¹ + + ¹ Ibid., Volume I.; _Origines Parochiales Scotiæ_, Volume II., + page 494; _Burgh Charters_. + +In 1266 the town of Cromarty paid to the Crown £7 of rent for lands; +but Robert I. granted the town of Cromarty to the Earl of Ross. In fact +the whole of the northern burghs were much under the control of the +local nobles during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Elgin, Tain, +and other towns associated with the Church, were often under a kind +of vassalage to the local nobles. The city of Elgin, with her grand +cathedral and upwards of a hundred churchmen, was sometimes forced +to place herself under the protection of the Earls of Moray and other +nobles.¹ In 1472 the citizens of the burgh of Nairn entered into a bond +of manrent with Lord Fraser of Lovat, and his heirs and successors. + + ¹ _Old Statistical Account of Scotland_, Volume V. + +Adverting now to the more settled quarters of the kingdom, or the +region extending from the river Deveron to the border counties in +the south, which may be called the heart of the nation. In 1327 +the Crown rents paid by the chief burghs to the Chamberlain were as +follows:――Aberdeen £213 6s. 8d., Perth £160, Stirling £36, Edinburgh +£34, Ayr £30, Rutherglen £30, Haddington £29, Dumbarton £22, Forfar +£18, Inverkeithing £15, Montrose £13, Lanark £12, and Linlithgow £10. +As indicated in a preceding chapter, the burghs eventually obtained +feu-charters, under which they paid a fixed yearly rent to the Crown, +and thus they at length acquired a perpetual right to collect and apply +to their own use the rents, small customs, and dues formerly levied by +the Crown. Aberdeen had obtained such a feu-charter in 1319 for the +yearly rent stated above, but none of the other burghs had obtained +such a charter in 1327, although Edinburgh obtained one in 1329 for +a yearly rent of £34 13s. 2d. In July 1386, Robert II. granted a +feu-charter to Stirling for an annual payment fixed at £16, and Dundee +obtained one in 1365 for a fixed annual payment of £20. + +In the reign of Robert I., what was termed the great custom consisted +of the charges levied on the exports of wools, wool-fells, and hides. A +last of wool consisted of ten sacks, and the sack of twenty-four stones; +the last of hides contained twenty dacres, and the dacre ten hides. +The charges on the exports of these goods were the chief source of the +Crown customs during this period. In 1327 the customs of the following +burghs stood thus:――Edinburgh £439, Aberdeen £349, Dundee £240, Perth +£108, Linlithgow £14, Cupar-Fife £13, Inverkeithing £8, Ayr £3, and +Stirling £2. These are small sums, but it has to be observed that +lords of regality and church burghs had the right to export wool and +hides at their own ports custom free; so the sums collected by the +Crown officials only represent a part of the customs of the kingdom. + +Before the year 1357 the usual rate of customs on exports had been +half a mark on the sack of wool, three shillings and fourpence on the +hundred woolfells, and one mark on the last of hides. In order to raise +money to pay the instalments of David II.’s ransom, the customs on +the above goods were doubled, and in 1359 tripled. The customs of the +chief burghs for the year 1360 stood thus:――Edinburgh £1300, Linlithgow +£356, Aberdeen £669, Dundee £485, Perth £437, Haddington £261, Montrose +£226, St. Andrews £249, Inverkeithing £72, and Stirling £37. Taking +for comparison the customs of the chief burghs for the year 1379, the +following results appear:――Edinburgh £2285, Aberdeen £1449, Dundee +£918, Haddington £617, Linlithgow £825, Perth £517, North-Berwick £269, +Montrose £235, St. Andrews £143, Stirling £49, and Inverkeithing £34. +At this time the produce of the custom of wool was nearly thirteen +times more than that of hides. + +From the customs for the year 1379, it has been calculated that the +number of sheep then in the country exceeded a million and a half; +while the same year, the number of hides of cattle exported amounted to +44,559; but we have no data for estimating what proportion this number +of hides bore to the whole stock of cattle in the country. Comparing +the customs of 1327 and 1379, in the former year the fleeces of +1,450,485 sheep, and 8861 hides were exported; this, however, included +the exports of a considerable district in the south which was under +English rule in 1379; and making allowance for this, it appears that +the numbers of cattle and of sheep had increased considerably during +the period between 1327 and 1379. This increase of the staple wealth +of the nation is very striking, considering the unsettled state of the +country, and speaks volumes for the energy and industry of the people +under the most unfavourable conditions.¹ + + ¹ _Exchequer Rolls of Scotland_, Volumes I. and II. + +The customs from 1379 to the end of the century rather fell off a +little than increased, but in the first twenty years of the fifteenth +century the customs fell very low. This demands some explanation. After +the death of Robert III., under the regency of Albany, it was an every +day occurrence for earls and barons to ship the produce of their lands +custom free, in open defiance of the collectors of customs, and also +to abet the merchants who were under their protection in doing the same +thing. Further, the nobles when they thought fit actually robbed and +plundered the collectors, and even imprisoned them till they delivered +up whatever balance they had in hand. And sometime the Earl of Douglas, +his brother James Douglas, Lord of Balveny, Walter of Haliburton, +Sir William Crawford of Haining, the son and heir of Sir William of +Borthwick, and James Dundas of Dundas, took possession of the tron and +granted a cocket for the shipment of the wool or hides themselves, and +then received the customs from the merchants, and thus prevented it +from coming into the hands of the collectors of customs at all. In the +first audit after the death of Robert III., the collectors of Edinburgh +deponed to £23 5s. 2½d. having been taken by violence from them by +James Douglas, brother of the Earl of Douglas. At the succeeding audit +in March 1408, the sum in question was carried over as arrears; and it +was explained that Douglas claimed the sum for his expenses in setting +fire to Berwick, and at the close of the account it was enumerated with +other sums amounting to about £100, which had been forcibly taken on +various pretexts. In the spring of 1409, Sir William Crawford and other +persons had shipped twenty-three sacks of wool duty free in defiance +of the custom collectors of Edinburgh. The Exchequer audit was held +in May, and the same collectors claimed to be credited with various +sums taken by Crawford and the Earl of Douglas――in all £708 2s. 1d.――as +having been extorted by violence, and by the imprisonment of one +of the collectors in Edinburgh Castle at the instance of Crawford. +The auditors referred this matter to the Regent, and the result of +the reference appeared in the next Edinburgh account, which was the +exoneration of the collectors, and a promise by the Regent to admonish +the Earl of Douglas against similar doings in future. + +During part of the years 1411 and 1412 the Earl of Douglas was in +Flanders. The account of 1412, however, showed a new score amounting to +£43 11s., which had arisen from Borthwick and James Douglas, whose wool +had been arrested for payment of duty, but they had broken the arrest +and shipped their goods in defiance of the collectors of customs. The +Earl of Douglas returned to Scotland before 1413, and no doubt he had +received the Regent’s admonition; still at the audit of 1413 the Earl +of Douglas refused to pay the custom on his wool, estimated at £69, +and also carried off the whole balance in the hands of the collectors +of Edinburgh, amounting to £634 10s. 11d. The following year the Earl’s +“ministry” seized by violence the whole of the balance of £1339 5s. +9d. In 1415 the new depredations amounted to a further sum of £1254, +and Douglas then produced a list of his “ministry” who plundered the +customs under his authority, and these included the Earl of Orkney, +Walter of Haliburton, William of Borthwick, James Douglas, Sir William +Douglas of Drumlanrig, and the Earl’s own steward, John of Livingston. +It further appeared that Douglas had directly taken from the merchants +a sum of £240. The habitual evasion of custom greatly increased, and +in 1417 the auditors pressed the collectors to disclose who the evadors +of custom were, and amongst others they named Sir William Crawford, +Lord Seton, George Lauder, and Richard of Winton. It appeared that wool +had been shipped at North Berwick under a cocket, which the collectors +had granted under threats of violence. The collectors also said that +similar evasions of custom by many other persons occurred every day. Of +the balance in the collectors’ hands a sum of £562 4s. 6d. was carried +off by the Earl of Douglas, Haliburton, and the Master of Douglas. +In 1418 the gross customs of Edinburgh had diminished to £1098, and +of this, £378 was seized by the Earl of Douglas’s steward, John of +Livingston; and the collectors again produced a list to the auditors +of the habitual evadors of custom. The collectors of Linlithgow had +a similar narrative of the evasion of custom. Year after year the +collectors were robbed of the money which they had collected, and the +chief criminals were James Douglas and Walter of Haliburton, two of the +Earl of Douglas’s accomplices. On one occasion James Douglas seized the +collectors of Linlithgow and carried them to the castle of Abercorn, +and imprisoned them there till they disbursed the sum demanded. +Sometimes these robbers of the revenue overawed the merchants, and +compelled them by threats and imprisonment to pay their custom to them +instead of the lawful collectors. Such were the acts committed, and +such were the rewards which the Duke of Albany, Regent of Scotland, +covenanted to allow the Earl of Douglas and his associates in return +for their support of his demoralising government of the kingdom.¹ + + ¹ _Exchequer Rolls of Scotland_, Volume IV., pages 80‒321, + Preface, pages 57‒64, 209‒212. + +The great customs still continued to be levied at the same rates to +which they had been raised to pay the ransom of David II. The highest +yield of the customs on wool and hides in the reign of James I. was in +1428, when they reached the sum of £6912, but the average annual yield +was about £5000. James I. imposed some new taxes. In 1424 he imposed +a duty on the exportation of skins of the marten, polecat, otter, fox, +hart, hind, roe, and doe. The duty, however, brought only a very small +return to the Crown, and the most that it yielded in any year was £3 +16s. 8d., and the average yield was about £1. The skin chiefly exported +was that of the rabbit, though at Inverness the skins of the otter, +♦marten, fox, and polecat appeared in the custom accounts, while deer +skins only occurred in the custom returns of Elgin. At the same time +a duty of 1s. in the pound was imposed on the home-made white woollen +cloth, and it appears from the custom rolls that about £3000 worth of +this cloth was annually exported. A duty on the export of salmon was +imposed, and the ports from which salmon were mostly exported were +Montrose, Aberdeen, and Banff. The average annual yield of the custom +on salmon was about £115, representing £920 worth of fish. All goods +imported from England were subjected to a duty of 2s. 6d. in the pound.¹ + + ♦ “martin” replaced with “marten” + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume II., pages 6, + 8, 13. + +Subsequent to the reign of James I. the customs on wool and hides +rather fell off than increased. In the reign of James III. the average +annual yield of the customs was about £3300; and the average yield +of these customs for the last five years of the fifteenth century was +£3106. No doubt one cause of the falling off of the customs was that +greater quantities of the native wool, and also of the hides, were +being gradually consumed and used at home, as the population of the +kingdom increased, and civilisation advanced. + +The export duty on salmon was 2s. 6d. in the pound, and in 1478 it +was ordered that salmon must be packed in barrels, under a penalty, +each barrel capable of containing fourteen gallons. In 1481 the duty +was raised by royal proclamation to 4s. per barrel. During the latter +years of the reign of James III. the yield of the custom on salmon, at +the chief ports where they were exported, stood thus:――Aberdeen, £135; +Banff, £47; Perth, £29; Dundee, £14; Montrose, £7; Stirling, £6; and +for the whole of the kingdom, about £310. The herring trade in some +of the arms of the sea on the west coast, and in other quarters was +becoming an important industry. The custom for herrings of Lochfyne +was returned by the collectors of Irvine in 1479 at £10, and in 1481 at +£34; from that date the custom was accounted for by the collectors of +Dumbarton. In 1487 it amounted to £379. + +In preceding pages of this chapter it was indicated that the Crown +lands were of considerable extent and value in the later part of the +reign of James II. A large portion of the revenue of the Crown was +derived from the rents of these lands, which were partly paid in money +and partly in produce. It has been approximately calculated that the +revenue of the Crown in the reign of James III. amounted to £16,380, +which is equivalent to about £5,460 sterling money. This revenue was +derived from the following sources:――From the Crown lands, £10,600; +from the sheriffs, £1,720; from customs, £3,300; and from burgh rents, +£760. At the end of the century the Crown lands were still pretty +extensive.¹ + + ¹ _Exchequer Rolls of Scotland_, Volume VIII., IX., and XI. + +It was noticed in a preceding chapter that a commercial treaty +was concluded between Flanders and Scotland towards the end of the +thirteenth century, and the commercial dealings between Scotland and +Flanders and the Low Countries continued for many centuries. Edward I. +endeavoured to persuade the Count of Flanders in 1299 to cease all +trading relations with Scotland, but he failed in his object. In +December, 1321, the Count of Flanders gave letters of safe conduct +to Stephen Fourbour, burgess of Berwick, and James Will, burgess of +St. Andrews, and their companions, to come, stay, and go, as their +business might require, in the countries of Zealand, Holland, and +West Friesland. In 1323 Robert I. granted in return that all merchants +from Holland should have free ingress and egress to every quarter of +the kingdom wherever they pleased to land, and he ordered that these +merchants should be honourably treated, and allowed to dispose of +their merchandise according to the usages and the laws of the country. +A commercial treaty was arranged between Flanders and Scotland in +1427 to continue in force for a hundred years and one day. By this +treaty the Scots were allowed to export in bales the home-made white +woollen cloths (already mentioned) to any part of the provinces of +Flanders “without let or hindrance.” It appears that quantities of +this home-made cloth were sent to the low countries to be dyed and +then carried back to Scotland; but during this period Scotland had +commercial dealings with France, Bruges, Prussia, Lombardy, Spain and +England, though her staple trade was chiefly with the Low Countries or +Netherlands.¹ + + ¹ _Scotichronicon_; W. T. M‘Cullagh’s _Industrial History of + Free Nations_, Volume I., pages 58, 76, 105. + +Seasons of dearth sometimes occurred, and attempts were made to +mitigate them by encouraging foreigners to import food, and by +regulating the modes of selling. In 1454 it was enacted that strangers +who brought grain into the kingdom should be favourably received and +thankfully paid. There was a great scarcity of victuals in the country +in 1478, and it appeared that foreigners from several nations used +to bring victuals into Scotland, but the new duties imposed on their +goods had prevented them from coming with their cargoes, and the people +had been greatly injured. It was therefore enacted that all foreigners +“coming with their victuals and merchandise should be honourably and +favourably entertained, and have free entry with their goods, according +to former use and custom; and the King to have the first and the best +of their cargoes, next the lords of his council, and after that the +remainder to be sold among the people.” This Act was repeated in 1482 +with some additions. “It was declared that any person who bought goods +from strangers and pretended that they were for the King’s use, and +then sold them again, should be banished from the kingdom and all +their property confiscated. Any foreigners in or out of the kingdom +complaining of injuries done to them, should have immediate redress, +according to justice, against any man in the nation. So, through +the fair and honourable treatment of all strangers who come into the +country hereafter, they may be encouraged to return, for the benefit +and utility of the whole community.”¹ + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume II., pages 36, + 41, 119, 144. + +It is scarcely necessary to remark that the trading regulations of +this period were sometimes based on curious notions. In 1467 Parliament +enacted that none but burgesses living in burghs, or their factors and +servants, should be permitted to sell or traffic in merchandise out of +the kingdom, and so no person, save burgesses, could engage in foreign +commerce. Even within the kingdom no craftsman was allowed to deal in +merchandise himself, nor by his factor, unless he first entirely ceased +to work with his own hands; and “no man should pass out of the kingdom +on business, but a famous and worshipful man, having of his own half +a last of goods, under a penalty of ten pounds.” The same Parliament +enacted that no ship should be freighted by any of the King’s subjects +at the ports of Scotland, nor from a foreign port, without a formal +charter party, that the shipmaster should find a steersman and timber +man, and a sufficient crew to manage the ship. If any dispute should +arise between the shipmaster and the merchantmen it must be referred +to the court of the burgh to which the ship was freighted. There were +careful rules for the protection of the cargoes from damage. Every +ship carrying more than five lasts of goods had to give one sack to +the chaplain of the Scottish nation at the port to which she was bound, +and every ship homeward bound was to bring one ton of materials for +the church work of the town to which she was freighted. It was enjoined +that no drink-money should be given to the shipmaster or his agents; +and also that no shipmaster should sail his vessel during the winter. + +The amount and the description of the exports of the kingdom have been +indicated in the preceding pages; but the imports were various and +miscellaneous, including many articles in daily use, luxuries, and +ornaments. Throughout the period under review large quantities of +wines were imported, and wine was very generally and freely used in the +Scottish court, amongst the nobles, the burgesses, the monasteries, and +at festivals of every description. The wines chiefly used were those +of Gascony, Guienne, Burgundy, the Levant, and the Rhine regions; and +claret, which was imported by Scotch and French traders from Bordeaux. +The wines of Spain and Portugal were also imported from Lisbon, Bayonne, +and other ports. The Scotch Parliament encouraged the importation of +wine, and in 1431 it was enacted that those who exported salmon should +sell it only for English money or barter it for Gascon wine. Olives, +oranges, raisins, figs, and other fruit were imported in considerable +quantities. The finer woollen cloths, black, brown, blue, green, +scarlet, and russet; fustians, fine linen, silk stuffs, velvet, many +articles of apparel and ornament, and iron, hardware, armour, and +cannon, were imported. + +The standard value of silver seems to have been about the same in +England and Scotland prior to the fourteenth century. It appears +that Robert I. made a slight diminution in the standard value of +the currency, and the money of Scotland, by successive depreciation, +gradually became of less and less value. Edward III. depreciated the +English currency, and two hundred and seventy pennies was coined from +the pound of silver instead of two hundred ♦and forty. The Steward, as +Regent of Scotland, issued a new coinage even more depreciated than the +money of England, and in 1355 Edward III. proclaimed that the new money +of Scotland was not of the same value as the old, and should only be +received as bullion. In 1366 the Scotch Council ordered that the money +to be coined in future should be similar in weight and fineness to +the English standard money; but a parliament, which met in September, +1367, resolved that the standard should be reduced by ten pennies in +the pound, so that the pound of silver should contain 29s. 4d.; and +from this sevenpence was taken for the King’s use, one penny to the +“custos monete,” and elevenpence to the master coiner and his workmen, +leaving 27s. 9d. for the people. In other words the pound of silver was +coined into 352 pennies instead of 240, which was the standard at the +beginning of the century. The deterioration went on in the reign of +Robert II., and the Act of 1367 was repeated in 1385. + + ♦ “aud” replaced with “and” + +As yet the only coins struck in Scotland were silver pennies, with +their halves and quarters, and groats and half groats. There was no +gold coinage before the reign of Robert II., and the gold money in +circulation in the kingdom prior to this reign were coins of other +nations. According to English proclamations of 1390 and 1398 Scots +money was ordered to be received for only half its nominal value. In +1393 Parliament ordered the coinage of groats, half groats, pennies, +and half-pennies, equal in weight and fineness to the money of David +II., and a gold coin called a lion, worth five shillings; and at the +same time fixed the value of an English noble at nine shillings and +sixpence, and a Flemish noble at nine shillings and fourpence. No mint +records exist for the period of Albany’s regency, and no coins struck +by him have been discovered.¹ + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume I., pages 139, + 144, 190, 207. + +James I. in 1424, ordered that the coinage should be amended, and +money struck of the same weight and fineness as that of England. In +spite of this enactment, he further debased the coinage of the kingdom. +Parliament in 1436, in order to supply gold and silver for the Mint, +enacted that all exporters of merchandise should import a certain +amount of bullion, while the export of gold or silver, coined or +uncoined, was strictly prohibited. It is possible that part of the +silver coined in the reign of James I. may have been native. In his +first parliament it was declared that mines of gold and silver which +produced three half-pennies of silver out of the pound of lead, should +belong to the King: the King seems to have had some miners in his +employment.¹ In 1428 Scots money was reckoned at half the value of +Flemish money; the English noble passed current for fifteen shillings +Scots, and in Flanders the English noble was current for eight +shillings. A large number of Flemish, French, and English coins were +circulated in Scotland, and these foreign pieces often became a subject +of legislation. + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume II., pages 6, + 13; _Exchequer Rolls of Scotland_, Volume IV. + +From the accession of James II., in 1437 to 1450, the amount of gold +coined at the mint of Edinburgh was 48 pounds, which was struck in +demys――a coin of the value of nine shillings at the time of issue. The +amount of silver coined was 563 pounds, which was struck chiefly in +groats, and partly in pennies and half-pennies. During the same period +there was a mint at Stirling, and in 1442 and 1443 forty-eight pounds +of silver were coined there. + +In 1451 Parliament resolved to issue a new coinage, conforming in +weight and fineness to the money of England. Eight groats were coined +out of an ounce of silver, and smaller coins――half-groats, pennies, +half-pennies, and farthings, of proportional weight, and each to +be equal in value to the English coin of the same denomination. The +current value of the new groat was fixed at 8d. A new gold coin was +struck with the figure of a lion on one side and the image of St. +Andrew on the other, clothed in a side-coat reaching to his feet; +the current value of this coin was fixed at 6s. 8d. An attempt was +then made to fix the value of the French and other foreign coins in +circulation in Scotland. The master of the mint was held responsible +for all the gold and silver struck under his authority; and power was +given to him to select the persons working under him, and to punish +them when necessary. In 1452 Parliament fixed the value of the English +penny at three pennies Scots, and in 1456 the groat of 1451 was ordered +to pass current at 12d.¹ + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume II., pages 39, + 41, 46; _Exchequer Rolls of Scotland_, Volume V. + +During the first nine years of the reign of James III. twenty-one +pounds weight of gold were coined, and nine hundred pounds weight +of silver. Among the gold coins of his reign there were two finely +executed pieces, the one called the rider and the other the unicorn; +their types were the King on horseback and the unicorn. + +The copper coinage of Scotland commenced in 1466, according to the Act +of Parliament “for the ease and sustentation of the people, and the +giving of alms to the poor folk.” This copper coinage consisted of +farthing pieces, four in the penny, and they were to pass current in +payment of bread and ale, and merchandise up to twelve pence in the +pound. The debased pennies and placks, subsequently issued, and called +“black money,” consisted of copper mixed with silver. These black +pennies and placks caused much discontent among the people, and in +1485 they were all recalled. At the end of the fifteenth century Scotch +money was computed at somewhat less than one-third of the value of +English money, one pound Scots being worth about 6s. 6d. English. There +was a curious fluctuation in the value attached to Scottish coins; +sometimes seven nobles Scots were said to be equal in value to one +great pound of Flanders, at other times six nobles to one great pound, +and in other instances eight to one, and five to one.¹ + + ¹ _Acts of the Lords of Council_, pages 5, 17, 67, 143; _Acts + of the Lords Auditors_, page 34. + +The coinage was a matter which often engaged the attention and +deliberation of the Scotch legislators. From the commencement of the +reign of James I. to the end of the fifteenth century, Parliament +passed upwards of forty Acts relating to the coinage, the keeping of +the money in the country, and the importing of bullion into the kingdom; +the Acts ordering the keeping of the money within the realm, and the +importing of bullion from other countries, were often re-enacted. The +Scotch legislators of this period were completely possessed with the +idea that gold, silver, and copper, actually constituted wealth. But +the tendency to regard gold and silver, and even a paper currency as +real wealth, is very strong in human nature, although in reality they +only form one of the elements of the complex whole which constitutes +wealth and power; for the essential elements of the wealth and power of +a nation consist in the energy, the intelligence, the industry, and the +rectitude of the people, as these characteristics have always formed +the essence of wealth, and thus created power. + +Having indicated the external relations of the nation in the preceding +pages, attention will now be directed to the internal and every-day +life of the burgh communities. The life of the townsfolk throughout +this period was marked by striking characteristics, and also their +relations with the important Crown official, the Great Chamberlain of +Scotland, present a subject of much historic interest. Some indications +of the functions and the jurisdiction of the Chamberlain have already +been presented in a general way, but it is necessary to offer fuller +details. Among the early collections of laws relating to the royal +burghs there are two which present the form of procedure in the +Chamberlain’s Court, and the matters which he took cognisance of in +his circuit courts throughout the kingdom. One of these belong to the +reign of Robert I. and the other to the end of the fourteenth century. + +The procedure in the Chamberlain’s Court was very formal, minute, and +inquisitorial. The Chamberlain’s precept enumerates those who had to +appear at the court, including persons in and without the burghs; then +the brief to the sheriff, which gave intimation thus――“The Chamberlain +to the sheriff and his deputes, greeting: We command and charge you +that immediately ye attach all strangers whose names the bailies of +the burgh shall present to you in writ, placing them under safe and +sure pledges that they shall appear before us or our deputes one or +more ... to answer to charges against them and obey the law.” The +manner of holding the court was thus――“all the burgesses of the burgh +ought to appear before the Chamberlain――non-residents as well as +residents――which ought to be called by their names, and those that are +found absent should be fined by doom, nevertheless the suits should +be called and the court affirmed. Then the bailies and the officer of +court should be called. Then the bailies should be asked if they have +any commission or not, and by what laws they claim the King’s burgh +to be governed; and after that should be called all the actions and +complaints, and thereupon a good assize of the best and worthiest +citizens should be formed. Then should be asked the rental of the burgh, +by which they gather the King’s rents, as well of built and cultivated +lands as of waste. Then should be asked in writing the names of all the +burgesses of guild, both those resident in the burgh and non-resident, +and the names of the other burgesses by themselves. Then the roll of +the suits of court should be asked. Then ought to be asked the names +of the bailies and the officers of the burgh, every one by himself in +writ.” + +After these formal proceedings the real business of the court was +commenced. The bailies were first challenged touching the discharge +of their public duties, and subjected to a searching scrutiny. It was +inquired if they had always been ready to do right and reason when they +were required, according to the form of their oath. If they had treated +the poor and the rich with equal justice, or if they had forbore to +execute the law rightly through favour, hatred, love of persons, or +taking gifts. Whether they had caused the assize of bread, ale, wine, +and flesh to be held, as it ought to be; and every week caused the +bread and ale, the wine and flesh, and other things, in the burgh to +be examined. Whether they have executed the commands of the King and +the Chamberlain. If they have sold or granted the freedom of the burgh +to strangers’ servants, that they may sell with the burgesses, and use +and enjoy the same profit. Whether they have caused the burgh to be +properly watched throughout the night, or compelled the poor to watch +and not the rich. “Also if there be a just assedation and uptaking of +the common good of the burgh, and if a faithful account of the same be +made to the community of the burgh: and if it be not so, by whom, and +in whose hands the produce has come; and if the common good is bestowed +in the business of the community.” + +The sergeants and officers of the burgh and their duties were then +taken up, and a number of inquiries were dealt with; such as that +they do not present truly all the pledges in their hands; that they +do not cause the rich to take the night watches the same as the poor. +That in collecting the necessary charges for the King’s Justiciary +or Chamberlain they do not always act justly, but spare some of their +friends, and from others of the community charge too much; and whether +with regard to such charges, they have accounted for all the money +which they had collected. Whether they have inspected all kinds of +bread and ale as they ought to have done, or for their own profit +spared some, through which the assize may not have been well kept. + +Queries addressed to the public ale-tasters followed, for there were +then officials of this character in every royal burgh of the kingdom. +It was asked if they had been always ready to taste ale whenever the +signal was put out, or if they remained in the house filling their +bellies drinking instead of standing in the middle of the street in +front of the ale-house, to send one of their fellows with the beadle +into the ale-house to choose which pot should be tasted, and then +present it to his fellows, and according to assize they should discern +upon it. Whether they always presented the defaulters before the +bailies at the next court, or if they held a regular assize on the +ale, or only simply said it is good or it is bad. A somewhat similar +set of questions was put to the public pricers of flesh, as in all +the royal burghs the authorities fixed the price of all kinds of meat. +The pricers of flesh were then asked, “if fleshers bought any other +than sound beasts.” Whether they had been always ready to act when +the signal to price flesh was put out, “as well for the profit of the +flesher as for the profit of the people.” If they had attended the +King’s markets every market day and observed the buying of oxen, sheep, +and swine, to be eaten; and after observing the selling and buying in +the market by their discretion, then the price of flesh should be fixed +by an assize, at which no flesher should be permitted to act. “And that +they keep the prices, that neither for gift, prayer, nor gain, they +do favour in their priceing.” That they should fix the price of these +things as oft as they were required. + +The fleshers themselves were challenged in the Chamberlain’s court on +a long list of points. “That they sold flesh against the assize of the +worthy men of the town, and before it was priced. That they bought and +slaughtered beasts during the night contrary to the law of the burghs, +and that they forstalled the burgh by buying in the country. That they +sold flesh before the signal was put forth, and that they sold the +good flesh to strangers and the bad to their neighbours, and that they +denied the price when it was asked.” The bakers were asked if they +had more men engaged at their oven than the law allowed, which was +four――the master, two servants and a boy. And if they baked each kind +of bread as the law of the burgh commanded, namely, bread of the finest +flour, bread of the second quality, and bread baken of whole flour; +and if they baked according to price, “that is to say, penny bread, +halfpenny bread, and farthing bread.” The millers were asked if they +had more servants in their mills than the law allowed, “to the scath +of the King and the people”; and if they take smolts in the mill stank +against the inhibition of law; and if they used two measures, “one to +take with and another to deliver with.” The salmon fishers were asked +if they kept in the middle of the stream when fishing, according to +law, and if they ceased fishing on Saturday after evening till Monday +at sunrising. White fishers were asked if they sold their fish at the +bank, when they ought to sell them in the King’s market under the full +penalty of confiscation; and also if they sold their fish in the night +and in hidden places, and not in the market, and if they broke their +fish and sold them in pennyworths contrary to the King’s laws. + +The brewers and ale-house keepers were asked, if they had kept the +price imposed by the assize of the worthy men of the town, after the +buying of the malt; if they had neglected to have their ale tasted, +as it should have been according to law; and if they have the proper +measures――“quart, pint, third part, and sixth part, according to the +King’s money, by which measures the people may be well served.” Wine +sellers were asked if they sold their wine without having it tasted by +the public tasters, and whether their own measures were unproved, and +if they mixed good wine with bad and corrupted it. The malt-makers were +asked if they mixed good and bad malt together, when they ought to make +them separate, and then sell them at different prices. That they let +their malt sprout at both ends and shot out all the pith of it, “when +it ought only to chip and come at one end.” + +The shoemakers were asked why they made shoes otherwise than the law +had ordained, “that is, the horn and the ear are alike in length.” +They made shoes, boots, and other things of the leather before it was +barked. “They sewed with rotten thread, owing to which the shoes were +lost before they were half worn.” And when they should have given their +leather good oil and tallow, they gave it only water and salt; and they +worked it before it was curried, to the great scath of the community. + +The skinners were asked if they had kindly worked their leather before +they made gloves and other things out of it; or if they had hungered it, +by not giving it enough of alum, eggs, and other things. They sewed and +worked with bad thread, and assumed the position of masters when they +did not know the craft. The tailors made too much refuse and shreds +of men’s clothes, through haste and for lack of skill. They made men’s +garments otherwise than they were ordered; they sewed with bad thread, +and often failed to keep their appointments. They assumed the place of +masters before they had properly learned the craft; and “they worked on +holydays against the law of God.” + +One of the points into which the Chamberlain had to inquire, referred +to the treatment of foreign merchants――“If there be any burgesses +who hardly treated foreign merchants, coming to the burghs with their +goods by sea or by land, by not keeping the laws nor making payments +to them as ought to be done, or doing any other injuries to them, by +reason of which such merchants wholly cease to come to the burghs and +ports, to the damage of our lord the King, and the manifest ruin of the +communities of burghs, on account of such hard treatment.”¹ + + ¹ _Ancient Laws and Customs of the Burghs of Scotland_, pages + 115‒124, 132‒150. + +It appears that the matters treated in the Chamberlain’s court, and +the laws and customs indicated in the preceding pages, were carried +into practical operation, as the records of the burghs show. In 1434 +the Town Council of Aberdeen enacted that no one should sell ale dearer +than fourpence or sixpence, as it should be fixed, under the penalty +of the confiscation of their brewing utensils, their ale, and exclusion +from the trade for a year and a day. The head court of the burgh of +Peebles in 1450 appointed four men to the office of ale tasters, and +other four men to fix the price of flesh, and such officials were +regularly appointed. In 1458 the head court at Peebles enacted that +any brewers who broke the fixed price of ale should be fined for the +first offence, one gallon of ale, for the second two gallons, and for +the third three gallons, and for the fourth offence eight shillings. In +1471 the local authorities of Peebles ordered that the best ale should +be sold at tenpence the gallon, or cheaper if the ale tasters deemed +it right, and the second quality of ale at eightpence the gallon, and +whosoever broke the price of the ale should be fined ten shillings. +The provost and the magistrates of Edinburgh in 1492 proclaimed that +no person in the burgh should sell ale dearer than twelvepence and +eightpence the gallon, under the penalties authorised by the statutes +of the burgh. In 1499 the local authorities of Edinburgh enacted that +no one should sell ale above sixteenpence the gallon under the penalty +of having the heads of their barrels knocked off and the ale divided.¹ + + ¹ _Burgh Records of Aberdeen_, Volume I., page 392; _Burgh + Records of Peebles_, pages 111, 121, 128, 138, 142, 152, 158, + 166, _et seq._; _Burgh Records of Edinburgh_, Volume I., + pages 62, 75. + +The price of wheat, meal, and bread were all fixed by the local +authorities of the burghs. In 1492 the assize of good citizens of +Edinburgh ordered that the price of wheat should be ten shillings and +sixpence the boll, “of good and sufficient stuff,” and the price of +malt eighteen shillings the load. The good men of the assize in Peebles +in 1462 statuted that whosoever broke the price of bread or ale, from +him should be taken twelvepence “for the buying of a clock.” At the +same time the authorities of this burgh enacted that whosoever bought +skins, wool, or white woollen cloth from unfreemen either in or out +of the burgh, from all citizens found guilty of this offence, there +should be taken sixpence to go to the clock. In 1434 the Town Council +of Aberdeen ordered that no baker should break the price and the weight +of the bread which the bailies had sanctioned; and whoever contravened +this, should for the first offence pay eight shillings, for the second +fifteen shillings, and for the third his bread should be confiscated, +his person put in the pillory, and excluded from his craft for a year +and a day. Every baker was obliged to have his own mark upon his bread +that it might be known, and any one who neglected to put his mark +on his loaves was fined eight shillings. At the same time fleshers, +convicted for breaking the price of beef and mutton, or selling flesh +before it was priced, were to be fined eight shillings for the first +and second offences; but in the case of a third offence, the flesh was +to be confiscated, and the offender excluded from his craft for a year +and a day.¹ + + ¹ _Burgh Records of Edinburgh_, Volume I., page 62; _Peebles_, + page 147; _Aberdeen_, page 147. + +No retail dealer was permitted to buy goods before eleven o’clock, +under the penalty of confiscation, and neither man nor woman was +allowed to pass out of the burgh to buy anything before it was brought +to the market. Salmon fishers were not permitted to sell their fish +till they were shown in the market, nor to store them, but bring them +to the market the morning after they were caught, under a fine of ten +shillings. If the bailies and local authorities of the burghs neglected +to enforce these laws and statutes, then they should be reported +to the King or the Chamberlain, “and each of them fined ten pounds +without remission.” In 1441 the Town Council of Aberdeen, for the good +of the community, enacted that no flesher, nor any other man, should +be permitted to buy any kind of fish till they came to the market; +and that no one should, in the future, dare to purchase any sort of +fish, and raise a dearth on the citizens, till the height of the day +was passed, under the penalty of confiscating such fish, and a further +fine of eight shillings. The profit of a dealer in fish was regulated +in this way: if a fish cost him twelvepence, then he was allowed one +penny on it; if it exceeded twelvepence he was allowed twopence, and so +on, for each shilling a penny. At the same time it was enacted that no +man should buy more victuals than was necessary for his own house and +family; if any one bought victuals to retail, he should sell it openly +on the market-day. In 1442 the guild burgesses of Aberdeen enacted that +no person should give more than six shillings and eightpence for the +stone of wool; and if any one bought wool at a higher price, he was to +be fined forty shillings for the common good of the burgh; the price of +woolfells were fixed in a similar way.¹ + + ¹ _Burgh Records of Aberdeen_, Volume I., pages 391‒397. + +Many of the statutes of the burghs were directed against a class of +persons usually called forestallers and regraters. These were the +persons who bought goods, cattle, and food, before the markets or the +appointed time for selling and buying, or who purchased goods, grain, +fish, and other things, and resold them at higher prices and profits +than were then lawful. In the burgh records of Aberdeen, in the year +1402, there is a list containing the names of ninety-five forestallers; +they were often denounced in the local statutes, and sometimes +severely punished.¹ Within the boundary of every royal burgh there +was a complete monopoly of manufacture and trade. Further, some of the +charters granted to the burgesses a monopoly of trade throughout the +neighbouring or surrounding country. Thus the trading privileges of +Rutherglen included the city of Glasgow; the monopoly of Inverkeithing +embraced the burghs of Kinross, Bruntisland, Kinghorn, and Dysart; +Perth had an exclusive privilege of trade and manufacture over +Perthshire; and Aberdeen, Inverness, and Edinburgh, had similar trade +privileges in their several counties. + + ¹ _Ibid._, pages 383‒385, 445, 402; _Burgh Records of + Edinburgh_, Volume I., pages 36, 97. + +The acts and regulations indicated in the preceding pages were +generally enforced in the royal burghs in the fourteenth and fifteenth +centuries. At Aberdeen, in 1443, Alexander Lammynton was fined for +selling flesh above the fixed price; and in 1492 three men were placed +in the pillory, their pecks were broken, and each of them fined eight +shillings for having pecks of too small measure. At Edinburgh, in +1495, twenty-two bakers in one day were convicted by a jury for buying +and regrating French flour; and on the 8th of January, 1499, fifty +“Browster Wives” were tried at once, and convicted for breaking the +statutes relating to the brewing and selling of ale.¹ + + ¹ _Burgh Records of Aberdeen_, Volume I., pages 398, 419; + _Burgh Records of Edinburgh_, Volume I., pages 69, 75. + +The burgesses of guild possessed a monopoly of commerce in the burghs +and outside of them. Acts of Parliament, the burgh laws of the kingdom, +and many local statutes of the various royal burghs, all proclaimed the +exclusive privilege of the guild brethren with regard to commerce. No +one was permitted to work at his craft and deal in merchandise of any +description. The guild were exclusively the commercial class, and they +assumed the chief offices and mainly exercised the ruling functions in +the royal burghs of Scotland; but the larger body of citizens naturally +began to form themselves gradually into separate associations, with a +distinct view to their own special interests. The craftsmen, however, +were not specially favoured by the Crown or the Parliament as the +burgesses of guild had been. The Crown and the Legislature frequently +interfered to protect the exclusive privileges of the guild burgesses, +but no early charter from the Crown or Act of Parliament has been +discovered legalising the incorporation of the craftsmen. In fact, +they seem to have risen into importance by their own energy. As we have +seen, they were subjected to a severe and exacting system of inspection +under the authority of the Great Chamberlain. At last, when Parliament +interfered with the craftsmen it was with the professed intention +of guarding the nation against their encroachment, a pretext often +groundlessly advanced by governments. + +In 1424 Parliament passed an Act which enjoined that in every burgh +each separate craft should, with the advice of the town’s officers, +elect one of their own number to be deacon of their craft. The duties +of the deacons thus elected were to inspect the materials and the +workmanship of the craftsmen, “so that the people may not be scathed +by untrue craftsmen, as they have been in bygone times.” Whether +the deacons had exceeded the duties assigned to them or not, in 1426 +Parliament declared that deacons of crafts should have no corrective +power over the other members of the craftsmen, except to inspect their +work once every fifteen days. The sworn bailies and council of every +burgh were ordered to fix the price of the materials of each craft +and consider the cost of the labour of the workmen, and then fix the +price of the articles produced, and proclaim it to the people. The +town councils were also commanded to fix the wages of craftsmen who +had to work on other men’s materials, such as wrights and masons. All +craftsmen who undertook more work than they could accomplish were to +be punished. In 1427 Parliament repealed the above Acts, which in some +degree had recognised the standing of the craftsmen, and then denounced +the action of the craftsmen as injurious to the people and the whole +nation, and therefore the craftsmen were prohibited from electing +deacons or holding meetings. This jealousy of the craftsmen continued +to manifest itself for more than another century, and till in some +measure the settlement of the different classes of the burghal +population was effected. + +The Acts prohibiting all craftsmen from engaging in trade or dealing +in merchandise were repeated in the reign of James II., James III., +and James IV. In 1459 the goldsmiths were recognised and treated as +an established fraternity in an Act of Parliament, but the body of +craftsmen were still regarded with suspicion by the Estates of the +realm. Parliament announced, in an Act passed in 1493, “that it was +clearly understood by the King and the three Estates, that the deacons +of the craftsmen in the burghs were extremely dangerous, and might +cause great trouble by the assembling and rising of the King’s subjects, +and by their statute-making against the commonweal for their own profit, +which deserved severe punishment. As those craftsmen assembled and +framed rules that they should have wages for holydays, or if not they +would not work; and when any of them began a job and left it unfinished, +then no one of his craft dare venture to complete it. Therefore, it was +enacted that all the functions of the deacons should cease for one year, +excepting the power to examine the materials and the quality of the +workmanship. Masons and wrights, and other craftsmen, who statuted that +they should have their wages for the holydays as for work days, and all +the makers of such statutes, should be indicted as common oppressors of +the people, and the justice-clerk should proceed thereupon and punish +them as oppressors; and likewise the makers of the rules that when one +man begins a job no one else can complete it, should all be punished as +common oppressors.”¹ + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume II., pages 8, + 13, 14, 48, 234. + +Still, in spite of this and other attempts to crush the fraternities +of craftsmen, the custom of incorporating them gradually came to be +introduced throughout the kingdom. The manner of effecting this was +pretty uniform, and consisted in granting letters under the seal of +the burgh court, called a “Seal of Cause.” There was some variation in +the tenor of these, as some of them expressly prohibited all persons +from working at the special trade but the freemen of the craft; they +all, however, gave the craft the privilege of admitting new members, +inspecting materials, making bye-laws, electing office-bearers, and +having a fund-box or common good. Of course, in all of them, there was +implied a strict monopoly within the limits of the burgh, as it stood +at the date of the grant. + +As illustrative of this matter, and also of the common arts of life, +Edinburgh may be taken as a favourable example of the whole kingdom +in the latter half of the fifteenth century. In 1473 the provost +and council of Edinburgh granted a Seal of Cause to the hatmakers of +the burgh, in which it was stated, among other rules, that no master +hatmaker should take apprentices for a shorter period than seven years; +if, however, any of the craftsmen’s sons became apprenticed, they +should only be bound for three years. Further, the hatmakers considered +that it was very proper and profitable that no one of their craft +should, under any circumstances, sew, renew, or mend any old hats. + +In 1475 the provost and council, and all the deacons of the craftsmen, +of Edinburgh granted a Seal of Cause to the masons and wrights――“For +the honour and the worship of St. John, and the augmentation of +divine service; and for the right ruling of these two crafts, equally +profitable to the workers and to all builders.” Among other rules in +this deed, no master was to be permitted to take apprentices for a +shorter term than seven years; and every apprentice at his entry should +pay half a mark to the altar of St. John in the church of St. Giles. +The same year the provost and council of Edinburgh granted a Seal of +Cause to the weavers――“For the honour and love of Almighty God, and his +mother the Virgin Mary, and St. Servanus, for supporting and upholding +of divine service, and the appareling of their altar of St. Servanus, +which was founded and upheld by them in St. Giles’ church, and for the +management of their work, the good rule and worship of the kingdom, +the common profit of the craftsmen, and divers other things.” In this +Seal of Cause it was stated that the weavers should elect their deacon +once a year, like the other craftsmen, and the deacon should rule the +craft, and all the men should obey him in all honest and lawful things +touching the craft. But the freemen of the craft who were burgesses +should elect the deacon, and no one else should have any voice therein. +No master should take apprentices for a shorter term than five years; +and every apprentice should pay at his entry five shillings to the +altar of St. Servanus. Every man and woman who worked at the craft +should give the priest his meat, and every week give a penny to the +altar, and each hired servant should give fourpence a year to the +altar. All those who disobeyed the deacon, and refused to abide by the +statutes of the craft, for each offence they should have to pay one +pound of wax. No woman should act as a master, or hold a workshop, +unless she be a freeman’s wife. + +In 1483 the provost and council of Edinburgh granted a Seal of Cause to +the hammermen, in which were named the blacksmiths, goldsmiths, coiners, +saddlers, cutlers, bucklemakers, and armourers. There were a number of +very minute rules in this deed for the regulation and the profit of the +various crafts incorporated under it, and these all ran on the lines +of restriction already indicated. In 1488 the magistrates and council +of Edinburgh incorporated the fleshers, and the first rule in this +deed was a declaration to the effect that the deacon and the principal +masters of the craft in the burgh had, after mature consideration, +arrived at the conclusion that it was most expedient for the common +profit that all the unfreemen and boys should be expelled from the +craft, unless they either bound themselves as hired men or apprentices. +The coopers were incorporated in Edinburgh in 1500: and in the other +burghs of the kingdom the various classes of craftsmen began to be +incorporated much about the same time, or in some instances, a little +later than those of Edinburgh.¹ + + ¹ _Burgh Records of Edinburgh_, Volume I., pages 28‒34, + 47‒55, 180‒183. An interesting and valuable _History of + the Incorporated Trades of Aberdeen_, by Mr. E. Bain, was + published in 1887; and in the records of other burghs much + information on the subject will be found. + +One characteristic of the incorporation of the craftsmen which came +strikingly out, was their historic association with the prevailing +religion of the period. This side of the national life will be +subsequently treated. + +Although it seems evident that the mechanical skill and the +manipulating power of the craftsmen of Scotland in the fourteenth and +fifteenth centuries were not highly developed, still the persistent +efforts of industry, under unfavourable circumstances, were well +manifested throughout this period. It appears that the blacksmiths +were unskilful at shoeing horses. In 1478 it was stated in an Act of +Parliament that the smiths, through ignorance and drunkenness, hurted +and crippled men’s horses by shoeing them in the quick. Therefore it +was enacted that when a smith shod a horse into the quick he should +pay the cost of keeping the horse till his feet be healed, and find +the owner another to ride upon or labour, and if the horse be crippled +beyond recovery then the smith should pay the price of the horse to the +owner. In 1496 James IV. paid three shillings and fourpence for shoeing +two horses, and the following year he paid sixteenpence for shoeing +his grey horse in Brechin, and the same for shoeing his brown nag. +It appears that the Scotch kings of this period employed a number of +smiths and other craftsmen from time to time.¹ + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume II., page 119; + _Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer_, Volume I.; _Exchequer + Rolls of Scotland_. + +The principal cities and towns of the Church during this period were +St. Andrews, Glasgow, Paisley, Dunfermline, Arbroath, Brechin, Dunkeld, +Dunblane, Dornoch, and a few others. St. Andrews was the residence of +the metropolitan of Scotland, the chief religious centre, with a fine +cathedral, castle, many churches and religious houses, and the seat +of a university; it had also a considerable trade; and these together +rendered it one of the chief cities of the kingdom in the period under +review. It was then a comparatively populous and wealthy city. + +In the latter part of the fifteenth century Glasgow was still a +small city, although her great cathedral, with its many altars, +the archbishop’s palace, convent, and hospital, and her university, +conferred influence and dignity on the town. Glasgow was under the +authority of the Archbishop, and the appointment of the magistrates +remained in his hand till the Reformation. In the fifteenth century +Glasgow had little trade, and had to maintain a struggle about her +privileges with Rutherglen, Renfrew, and Dumbarton. + +Paisley rose into a thriving town under the shadow of the monastery +and the abbot. In 1488 James IV. erected Paisley into a free burgh of +barony, with the same privileges as the burghs of Arbroath, Dunfermline, +and Newburgh; it had two yearly markets, and the magistrates were to +be nominated by the abbot. Twelve years later the abbot made a grant of +the burgh to the provost, the bailies, and the community. The burgesses +had the right of taking stones from the abbot’s quarries, and if they +should win coal, then the abbot should have fuel from their pits.¹ + + ¹ _Register of Paisley_, pages 263, 73. + +Arbroath, as indicated by its custom, had a considerable foreign +trade in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. About the end of +the fourteenth century the abbot and the burgesses made a worthy +effort to render the harbour more secure for ships, and voluntarily +taxed themselves to accomplish the necessary work connected with this +improvement. The burgh continued to prosper, and the port and town +eventually rose to commercial and manufacturing importance. + +Brechin has been repeatedly mentioned in its historic relation in +preceding pages. In the period under consideration Brechin was a +city with her cathedral and castle, and many historic associations. +Dunfermline was a favourite residence of the Scotch kings from Malcolm +Canmore onward to modern times; still, at the close of the fifteenth +century, except its religious buildings, it was a comparatively small +town, built of wooden houses.¹ + + ¹ _Register of Arbroath_, Volume II., pages 40‒42; Chambers’ + _History of Dunfermline_, page 327. In the fifteenth century + the shirt of St. Margaret, the queen of Malcolm III., + Canmore, was preserved at Dunfermline as a highly cherished + relic. It was carried to Mary of Gueldres at the date + of the birth of James III.; and it was also brought from + Dunfermline at the time of the birth of James V. _Exchequer + Rolls._ + +Greenock, Kilmarnock, and other towns, were as yet hardly in embryo. +In short, the mineral resources of the country, coal and iron, had +scarcely yet been touched. + +The defence of the country constantly engaged the attention of +government and consumed a large part of the nation’s energy. The +habits of the people, engendered by the pressure of external enemies, +and fed by internal commotions, had assumed warlike and military +characteristics. Even the citizens of the burghs were often commanded +to have their weapons ready, and kept beside them in their shops, to +face any sudden emergency or brawl which might arise on the streets. +They had to defend themselves against the attacks of external enemies, +to watch and ward the burgh, maintain order and uphold the honour of +the town.¹ + + ¹ _Burgh Records of Aberdeen_, Volume I., pages 8, 9; _Burgh + Records of Edinburgh_, Volume I., pages 68, 72. + +Many Acts of Parliament were passed touching the defence of the +kingdom, and ordering the sheriffs of the counties and the magistrates +of the burghs to hold “wapinschaws” of the fighting men of the realm +four times in the year; all those from sixteen to sixty years of age +were bound to muster as fighting men. The armour and weapons of the +different ranks of society were enumerated in an Act of Parliament in +1429, and again in the reign of James II. in 1456; and this matter also +engaged the attention of the parliaments of James III. and James IV. +The Act of 1429 enjoined that every man who had twenty pounds of yearly +income, or possessed a hundred pounds worth of moveable goods, should +be well horsed and fully armed. Those of lower rank, who had ten pounds +of yearly rent, or fifty pounds worth of moveable property, should +furnish themselves with a helmet and gorget, vambrace, breastplate, +greaves to cover the front of the thighs, and iron gauntlets. Every +yeoman worth twenty pounds, should arm himself with a doublet of fence, +an iron hat, a bow and a sheaf of arrows, a sword, buckler, and a knife. +Men worth ten pounds, should have a bow and a sheaf of arrows, a sword, +buckler, and a knife. All those who could not handle the bow should +have a good strong hat, a doublet of fence, a sword, a buckler, and +a good axe or else a pointed staff. Every burgess worth fifty pounds +was commanded to be completely armed as a gentleman ought to be; and +citizens worth twenty pounds, should arm themselves with a stout hat, a +doublet and habergeon, a bow and a sheaf of arrows, a sword, a buckler, +and a knife; those not bowmen should have a good axe and fencible +weapons. Severe penalties were to be inflicted on those entrusted with +the carrying out of the acts, if they neglected to comply with their +requirements. + +Some of the armour and weapons mentioned above were imported. In 1425 +parliament enacted that all merchants who passed to foreign countries +with their ships, besides their common cargoes, they should bring +home as much harness and armour, spear shafts and bow-strings, as +they possibly could. The spear was for long the favourite weapon of +the Scottish infantry. The length of the spear was from fifteen to +eighteen feet, and the Scots handled it with great skill and remarkable +effect. They were singularly deficient, however, in the use of the +bow, and owing to the marked superiority of the English in this arm, +the Scottish army often suffered severely. James I. and the succeeding +kings saw and understood this, and earnestly endeavoured to supersede +the spear in some measure by the bow; but all their efforts failed, +though many expedients were tried to induce the people to use the bow. +All the young men were commanded to learn the use of the bow, and butts +were ordered to be erected throughout the kingdom, especially in the +vicinity of the parish churches, and every man was enjoined to shoot +thrice. In 1457 a pair of butts were ordered to be erected at every +parish church, and shooting with the bow to be practised every Sunday. +It was then enjoined that each man should shoot at least six times, +under a fine of twopence on every man who was absent; and the fine +money was to be spent on drink amongst those who had attended the +shooting. Enactments were also passed which prohibited the national +games of football and of golf, with the object of promoting the +exercise of archery; but all these acts and devices were unavailing, +as the Scots never acquired an aptness in using the bow. + +According to feudal usage the longest term of service which the King +could exact at any one time was forty days, and the more usual period +of service in the field was fifteen or twenty days. The feudal army +provided its own equipments and provisions, as indicated in a preceding +paragraph; thus the soldiers were the vassals of their respective lords +and chiefs, not the King’s men. Hence the curious social phenomena that +the royal authority usually waned in the times of war and increased +in the times of peace. The most daring acts of interference with the +powers of the Crown occurred on the array of the feudal army. The +command of the army belonged to the King, and the most experienced +of the nobles led the main divisions, usually four, the right and +left wings, the centre, and the reserve. The arrangement of the +sub-divisions and sections of the army seems to have been by clans, +in which the barons and chiefs acted as subordinate commanders and +officers, often by hereditary right. The pith of the Scottish army +always consisted of infantry, the Scots were never strong in cavalry; +though for quickness of movement the men were often mounted on small +hardy horses, which enabled them to march long distances in a short +time, and this suited the object of the raids into the north of England. +Each man furnished himself with a bag of oatmeal trussed to the saddle +of his horse, but they mainly trusted to the pillage of the enemy’s +country for food. + +In actual battle, the distinctive tactics of the Scots was the +formation in deep battalions, usually circular, though sometimes +inclining to the oval or square forms according to the nature of the +ground and the position on which they were fighting. This compact +phalanx was admirably adapted for resisting cavalry charges, or any +form of attack at close quarters; but the deficiency of the Scottish +army was the want of a force to meet the English bowmen, who often +severely galled the ranks of the Scotch spearmen from a distance. So +the fate of a battle was frequently a mere question of time, as to how +long the circle of spearmen could endure the double attacks of showers +of arrows and cavalry charges. Still the intense national sentiment +and spirit of the Scots sustained them in fighting for centuries under +these unequal conditions. + +About the middle of the fourteenth century cannon began to be used +in the attack and defence of fortified places, instead of the old +battering ram, sow, and other engines of destruction. James I. and +his successors directed their attention to the casting and forging of +cannon. In 1456 parliament enacted that “It was thought expedient that +the King should request certain of the great barons of the kingdom that +are of any might, to make carts of war, and in each cart two guns, and +each of them to have two chambers with the graith pertaining thereto, +and a cunning man to shoot them. If they have not skill to shoot them +now, they may learn or the time come when it will be necessary to +have them.” The great barons, however, did not furnish cannon for the +King’s use. Artillery was a branch which did not belong to the original +constitution of the feudal army; and therefore, all the expense +connected with the production of cannon, and the organisation and +equipment of an artillery force to take the field, fell entirely upon +the Kings themselves. The expense of the Crown for the artillery in the +year 1474 amounted to £753. In the latter part of the fifteenth century +there were two classes of guns used in Scotland: 1, guns of large +calibre for siege operations, mounted on carriages and usually drawn by +oxen; and the missiles discharged by these were mostly balls of stone +called “gun-stones.” 2, Guns of smaller calibre which were intended for +field operations, and were carried in gun-carts, two or more in each +cart; and the missiles discharged by these were usually balls of iron +or lead. But only a few of either of these guns were made in Scotland, +the greater part of them were imported.¹ + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume II., pages 8, + 10, 18, 19, 45, 48, 100, 133, 164, 226; _Accounts of the + Lord High Treasurer_, Volume I., Preface, pages 217‒219. + +The houses of the people still mostly consisted of small wooden +erections. The houses of the farmers, and also the trades-people of +the burghs and towns, were built of wood or other slight materials, +although they were not necessarily devoid of comfort. No remains of +burgh architecture of a domestic character earlier than the sixteenth +century now exist in Scotland. + +Touching the actual number of the population of the nation in the +later part of the fifteenth century, we have no data to draw a certain +conclusion from; but the probable number though not the exact number +may be reasonably conjectured. From the strength of the army which on +the greatest emergencies assembled for the defence of the kingdom, it +may be inferred with some approach to probability that the population +of the country did not exceed 600,000. In the latter part of the +fourteenth century Edinburgh was said to have contained four thousand +small houses, which by a common mode of calculating, would make its +population about 17,000; and at the end of the fifteenth century its +inhabitants probably did not exceed 21,000. The population of Perth +was not above 7,000 or 8,000; Aberdeen perhaps had a population of from +4,000 to 5,000; Dundee somewhat fewer, and St. Andrews about 5,000. + +The roads and highways throughout the country were still very bad. Many +acts relating to ferries were passed by parliament, but it seems they +were little regarded, and many complaints were made that the ferryman +charged double and triple fares from both rich and poor people. The +establishment of inns by the road-sides and in villages and towns +was encouraged by the Crown with the view of saving the monasteries +and the farmers from the extortions of unwelcome guests, namely, +troops of sorners, sturdy beggars, and other idle vagabonds, who +infested the country. In 1424 it was enacted that in all the burghs +and thoroughfares of the kingdom inns should be erected, with stabling +accommodation for horses, and rooms for riders and travellers, so +that men might there find bread and ale and other refreshments at a +reasonable price, according to the standard charges of the country. It +appeared that travellers in Scotland had been too long accustomed to +live at free quarters, and did not patronise the inns. The innkeepers, +therefore, complained to the King that travellers did not lodge at +the inns, but stayed with friends and acquaintances. The King and his +parliament then commanded that no one travelling through the country +either on foot or horseback dare to lodge anywhere else but at the +inns, except those with a large company, that is, the nobles, who +should be free to lodge with their friends, if they sent their servants +and horses to the inns.¹ + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume II., pages 6, + 10, 89, 107, 119, _et seq._ + +With regard to sanitary provision the kingdom was in a wretched +condition. Swine were permitted to run freely upon the streets of +the burghs, and middens were allowed to lie on the thoroughfares +for weeks. In 1479 one man was appointed to mend the causeways and +clean the gutters for the whole burgh of Aberdeen, and he received one +penny from each householder as his wages; and in 1494 there was still +only one man for cleaning all the streets and lanes of the city. The +state of uncleanliness in which the people lived prepared them for the +ravages of disease and pestilence in every form, and so the nation was +frequently visited by the pest, which from time to time carried off +many of the inhabitants of the kingdom. The pestilence visited Scotland +seven times from 1348 to 1499, and in fact the country was hardly ever +free from it during this period. The disease of leprosy also prevailed +in Scotland, and regulations relating to it were passed by Parliament +in the reign of James I. Hospitals were erected on the outskirts of the +principal towns for the reception of those afflicted with this malady. +In the old burgh laws the leper folk were enjoined not to go from door +to door and beg, but to sit at the gates of the burghs and seek alms +from those that passed to and fro. At Stirling the leper hospital was +at the east end of the town.¹ + + ¹ _Burgh Records of Aberdeen_, Volume I.; _Burgh Records of + Edinburgh_, Volume I.; _Burgh Records of Peebles_; _Acts + of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume II. The History of + Leprosy in Scotland has been ably told by the late Professor + Simpson, and printed in the _Medical and Surgical Journal_ + for October, 1841, and April, 1842. + +During this period there was little or no medical knowledge in +Scotland. The only surgeons were the barbers, some of whom practised +“leechcraft.” In the fifteenth century blood-letting in the spring +season of the year was universal, and was believed to be highly +beneficial to the health, and to have a special efficacy against the +contagion of the plague and other epidemic disease. James IV. appears +to have taken much interest in surgical matters, and was himself +reputed to have been possessed of some medical knowledge and some skill +as a surgeon. Sometimes he bribed his servants to permit him to perform +on them such operations as blood-letting and drawing of teeth. There +was, however, some hope of improvement in this department, as we find +from the following reference to the salary of a medical professor in +King’s College, Aberdeen, in the year 1498:――“Uni medico in facultate +medicine, graduato et legenti in Universitate infra civitatem veterem +Aberdonensem noviter fundata, percipienti annuatim xii. libras et +vi. solidos.” In 1506 the barbers or surgeons of Edinburgh were +incorporated, and in their “Seal of Cause” it was provided “that no +person use or practice any of the points connected with the craft +of barbery and surgery within the burgh unless they were freemen and +burgesses, and after being examined and passed on the following points, +namely, that he knew anatomy, and the nature and complexion of every +member of the human body, and likewise all the veins of the same; that +he may make fly-botch well in due time, and also that he know in which +member the sign has domination for the time, for every man ought to +know the nature and substance of that on which he operates, or else he +is negligent. That we may have once a year a condemned man, after he is +dead, to anatomise upon, and whenever we have obtained experience each +will instruct the others, and we shall do suffrage for the soul.” It +was further provided that no apprentice or hired man should be admitted +into the craft unless he could read and write.¹ + + ¹ _Burgh Records of Edinburgh_, Volume I., page 102; _Exchequer + Rolls of Scotland_, Volume XI.; _Accounts of the Lord High + Treasurer_, Volume I. + +Drinking of liquor seems to have been very common. In 1436 Parliament +ordered that no man should sit in a tavern drinking wine, ale, or beer, +in any of the burghs after the bell struck the hour of nine o’clock; +and if any persons were found in taverns or inns after that hour then +the bailies should imprison them in the King’s prison, and if the +local authorities neglected to perform this duty, they themselves +should be fined one shilling for each offence. The citizens of Aberdeen +and of other burghs spent considerable sums of money on wine given to +dignified persons. In 1453 the Countess of Huntly was presented with a +lagon of wine by the people of Aberdeen, and the bishop also received +a lagon; and at the feast of St. Nicholas various sums were spent for +wine to Lord Forbes, Lord Erskine, the Earl of Erroll, and the Abbot of +Arbroath.¹ + + ¹ _Miscellany of the Old Spalding Club_, Volume V., pages + 39, 40, 48; _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of + Scotland_, Volume III., page 424, _et seq._ + +James IV. was unusually liberal in giving drink-money. In July, 1488, +he gave Mr. William Crichton two pounds for drink; and on the 3rd +of August he passed to Leith and saw the Danish ships, and gave the +sailors nine pounds for drink; and the same year he gave the masons +of the palace eighteen shillings “in drink silver,” and the following +year he gave a like sum for drink to the masons of Linlithgow working +at the palace. In 1489 the King gave the gunners who carted the +great cannon “Mons,” eighteen shillings “to drink-silver,” and to the +men who made the way at the Barwood for the great guns, he gave ten +shillings to drink. In October, 1491, he gave the masons of the palace +in drink-silver, two pounds and fourteen shillings, for the arching +of three vaults; and to the workmen who made the trenches eighteen +shillings for drink-silver, and to the shipmen ten shillings. In +1494 he gave the writers of the signet to their drink-silver eighteen +shillings, and to the wrights a similar sum. The man who made the case +to the King’s banner in 1496 got three shillings for drink-silver; +and the goldsmith who made the King’s case of gold to wear about his +neck, received eleven shillings and fourpence of drink-silver. In 1497 +the dikers of the park of Falkland got ten shillings from the King +for drink-money, and to the workmen in the Castle of Edinburgh he gave +thirteen shillings and fourpence, and to the men who drew the ship nine +shillings.¹ + + ¹ _Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer_, Volume I. + +The chief festivals of the year during this period were Yule and Easter. +The festivities associated with Yule were continued over several weeks. +In the Scotch court Yule was held with much ceremonial circumstance +and merry-making. Early in the day the King, attended by his court +and heralds, went to high mass and made his offering; and at noon +in the hall the officers of arms and the trumpeters appeared before +the King and received their rewards, which consisted of small sums of +money. The sergeants of the town received a gratuity from the King, +and alms were given to the friars of Edinburgh and Linlithgow, and +James IV. frequently held his Christmas in the latter burgh. Mummings, +disguisings, and plays, always formed a part of the amusements, in +which professional players and minstrels often acted the leading parts. +An Abbot of Unreason was annually appointed in the King’s house, in the +houses of the nobles, and in the burghs, and these personages exercised +sway till the Yule holidays terminated. Cards and dice were among the +favourite amusements, and altogether the people at this season appear +to have enjoyed themselves. + +Easter was also held with circumstance and ceremonial, and amusements +suitable to the season. On Easter morning the King took the sacrament +early in the chapel, and gave to the officiating priest an offering +which varied from eighteen shillings to twenty-four; thereafter he +attended high mass, and made his usual offering of eighteen shillings; +and at noon in the hall he gave the heralds and trumpeters their “Pasch +reward,” which usually amounted to a sum of from six to ten pounds +distributed amongst them. At the same season the King’s master cook +and the court cook received their “basin silver.” Minstrels, tellers +of tales, harpers, fiddlers, tabourers, and others who made pastime to +the King and the court, usually received gratuities of nine to eighteen +shillings each; the minstrels were always welcomed to the halls of the +nobles on festive occasions, as well as to the King’s court.¹ + + ¹ _Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer_, Volume I., Preface, + pages 237‒246. + +At this period the chief rural sports of the King and the nobles were +hunting and hawking. The Kings had forests, parks, and many hunting +ranges and seats; and the nobles also had hunting ranges and forests. +Throughout this period the Crown had extensive hunting grounds, and +falconry was also much practised in Scotland. The rights of the forest +and the hunting ranges were highly valued, and many acts concerning +them, and wild animals and birds, were passed by the Scotch legislature. +In 1424 James I. ordered the Justice Clerk to bring to justice stalkers +and their abettors who slay deer, and when any stalker was convicted of +slaying deer, roe, or doe, he was to be fined two pounds, and his +abettors ten pounds. An Act was passed in 1427, which prohibited the +killing of “partridges, plovers, blackcocks, greyhens, moorcocks,” and +such fowls, from the end of February to the month of August, under a +penalty of forty shillings; and similar statutes were passed in the +reigns of the three succeeding Kings. One of these Acts enjoined that +no person should destroy the nests or the eggs of the wild birds, which +were useful for the sustenance of man, “nor slay the birds in close +time, when they may not fly.” As already mentioned, Acts of Parliament +were passed in the fifteenth century, commanding the people to assemble +four times in the year to hunt and destroy the wolves; and every +man who at any time slew a wolf, was to receive one penny from every +householder of the parish in which the wolf was killed; and every one +who killed a fox and brought his head to the sheriff, baron, or bailie, +was to receive sixpence.¹ + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume II., pages 7, + 15, 16, 51, 52, 107, 235, 251. + +The outdoor amusements of the people were chiefly of an athletic +character, such as fencing, wrestling, running, and leaping, and the +games of football and golf. James IV. himself frequently played at +football and other field sports; and he entered into more familiar +intercourse with his people than any other King of the Stuart line. + +Enactments for regulating the dress of the different classes of society +were passed in the reigns of James I. and James II. The Act of 1457 +opened with an announcement that each class of the community had +impoverished itself by wearing too sumptuous clothing; both the men +and the women, especially in the burghs, had passed the limits of +discretion and allowance. These Acts therefore strictly prohibited the +wearing of all kinds of silk dresses by the people, except the nobles +and the magistracy. All other men and their wives and families were +commanded to dress themselves in a fashion corresponding with their +rank and condition; and which for the women should be “short kerchiefs +with little hoods to wear on their heads, such as were used in Flanders, +England, and in other countries; and no woman whatever should go to the +kirk or market with her face covered, so that she might not be known, +under the penalty of the confiscation of her kerchief and all her +head gear. As to her kirtle, which covered the body from the neck to +the feet, no woman should wear tails of unbecoming length, or furred +round the foot, except on the holydays. The commons, husbandmen, and +labourers were enjoined not to wear any other stuff on week days but +white or gray clothes, and on holydays light blue, green, or red; +and their wives the same colours, with kerchiefs of their own making; +and the cloth worn by these classes should not exceed the price of +fortypence per yard.” + +An Act was passed in 1455 which regulated the official dress of the +upper classes. When they appeared in parliament they should have been +attired in the following style:――“The Earls to wear mantles of brown +grained cloth, open in front and furred with white stuff, and with the +same lined a handbreadth in front and reaching down to the belt, staid +with similar furring, and with little hoods upon the shoulders. The +Lords of Parliament to wear a mantle of red cloth, opening in front +to the right, and lined with silk or furred with crispy grey, green, +or purple stuff, and furred hoods of the same cloth on the shoulders. +The Commissioners of the Burghs should each have a pair of cloaks made +of blue cloth, open on the right shoulder and furred round the end, +and with furred hoods.” If any of these ranks appeared in parliament +or a general Council without their proper habiliments, they rendered +themselves liable to a penalty of ten pounds. All the advocates were +ordered to wear a tunic of green cloth, with the sleeves open like +a tabard, and if they appeared in parliament without this they were +liable to a fine of five pounds. Among the clergy, no one was permitted +to wear a scarlet gown or furred ♦marten, except the dignitaries in +cathedrals, college churches, a doctor, or a person with an income of +three hundred marks a year.¹ + + ♦ “martin” replaced with “marten” + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume II., pages 18, + 43, 49, 100. + +Touching the common articles of dress in use amongst the higher classes, +the gown in various styles was a common upper garment of the period. +The long gown was loose and reached to the feet, open in front, and +sometimes worn with a girdle. Some of them had sleeves, and some not, +as sleeves were often made as separate articles of dress, and thus +they could be used with different kinds of garments. The long gown took +four or five yards of broad cloth according to the size of those who +wore them. The short gown reached to the knee, and it was lined and +trimmed like the long gown, with various kinds of furs, such as marten, +minever, ermine, and lambskin. The doublet was a close fitting tunic, +and it was made of various kinds of cloth. The waistcoat was worn +under the doublet, and it was usually made of woollen cloth. The riding +or hunting coats were rather longer and fuller than the doublet. The +hose were tight-fitting pantaloons and usually reached to the ankles, +and they were fastened to the doublet or waistcoat by strings. There +were also short hose which reached to the knee, and were worn with +foot socks of cloth. The hose were made of woollen cloth of different +colours, but usually of the darker hues. Over these the tippet and the +cloak were worn. The tippet varied much in length at different times, +and it was made of various kinds of material. The cloaks worn in the +latter part of the fifteenth century were short and reached to the +haunches. James IV. had a cloak made of eighteen yards of velvet, lined +with satin and bordered with crimson satin, and it cost £110. + +Bonnets, caps, and hats of various styles were worn. The bonnets were +usually made of black or scarlet cloth, and the price of them varied +from ten to eighteen shillings. Hats also varied in price from four +shillings to fourteen. Boots and shoes of various kinds were worn. +A pair of shoes cost one shilling, and a pair of pattens――shoes with +wooden soles――cost sixpence. French shoes cost four shillings, and a +pair of half-boots eight shillings.¹ + + ¹ _Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer_, Volume I., Preface, + pages 168‒179. + +Touching the domestic arrangements and the household goods and utensils +of the body of the people, there seems to be evidence of considerable +advancement during this period, notwithstanding the long war and all +the internal commotions and disturbances in the nation. Although it was +already stated that the houses of the rural population were of a small +and slight description, and that the greater part of the houses in the +burghs were built of wood and other light materials which were easily +procured, still their houses were better furnished than the state of +society would naturally have led us to conclude. Glass windows were in +general use in the houses of the nobles and the rich; as yet, however, +they were costly. In 1328 glass was put into the windows of the new +chamber which Robert I. had erected at his manor of Cardross; and in +1389 thirty pounds were paid for glass to the windows of the Abbey +of Paisley. In 1447 a quantity of glass was purchased for the repair +of the King’s chamber in Stirling Castle; and in 1501 nine pounds +were paid for glass to repair the windows of the Gray Friars Church in +Stirling. Still comparatively few of the houses of the people had glass +windows at the end of the fifteenth century. Grates were little used, +and bathrooms were rare even in the houses of the nobles.¹ + + ¹ _Exchequer Rolls of Scotland._ + +It seems curious that the legislature considered it necessary to pass +enactments for repressing extravagance in dress. If the people had been +very poor, then there could have been no need for such enactments; and +thus the historic interpretation appears to be that these sumptuary +acts indicate an advance in the civilisation of the people. In the +national records many notices of workers in gold and silver, of gold +chains, collars, signets, crosses, pins, rings, and other ornaments +and articles occur; and silver was more used in the form of seals, +beads, rings, book-clasps, belts garnished with silver, and many other +ornaments; and also as plate, silver basins, goblets, stoups, cups, and +spoons. Pearls were comparatively common.¹ + + ¹ _Exchequer Rolls of Scotland_; _Acts of the Lords of Council_, + pages 9, 87, 98, 135, 176, 199, 220, 228, 287, 430; _Acts of + the Lords Auditors_, pages 14, 65, 55, 62, 67, 91, 129, 136, + 146, 159. + +The price of the staple necessaries of life in this period may be +briefly indicated. In 1330 the price of an ox was 8s. 7d., of a sheep +1s. 9½d., the chalder of oats £1 1s. 4d., the chalder of oatmeal £1 +12s., and the chalder of wheat £1 16s. In 1372 the price of an ox was +4s. 11d., of a sheep 1s 2¼d., the chalder of oats £1, the chalder of +oatmeal £1 8s., and the chalder of wheat £2 1s. 4d. These prices varied +from time to time, but except in years of dearth they did not rise very +high. From the middle of the fifteenth century to its close the price +of oxen ran from 5s. to 18s. a head, sheep from 1s. 6d. to 3s., and +oatmeal from 4s. to 7s. per boll.¹ + + ¹ _Exchequer Rolls of Scotland._ + +A comparatively large number of the people lived on the land and +cultivated it, under various forms of tenure, and, as labourers, as has +been indicated in preceding pages. The wages of agricultural labourers +during this period has not been accurately ascertained, but it may +fairly be assumed that their wages were, for the most part, paid in +produce. Thus the agricultural labourers would usually have had a +supply of food, whatever else they might have lacked in the form of +money wages; and it seems probable that this class enjoyed a tolerably +comfortable life. No doubt there were exceptions, and the labourers +on some estates might have been much harder treated than those on +other lands; there were the Crown lands, the Church lands, the wide +possessions of the nobles, and the estates of the small barons, +on all which agricultural labourers were employed. It appears from +several distinct indications that after James I. assumed the reins of +government the labourers on the Crown lands obtained a considerable +improvement in their condition, as this able and enlightened prince +understood the source of wealth, and encouraged industry; while at the +same time he curbed the power of the nobles. One immediate result of +his action was that a large extent of lands was forfeited to the Crown, +and thus it was that a considerable number of agricultural labourers, +soon after his accession to power, found themselves under a juster and +wiser master than heretofore. The other grades of vassals, tenants, +and farmers, in the earldoms and lands which James I. annexed to +the Crown, also found themselves relieved from an oppressive form of +tyranny and anarchy, and they were permitted during his reign to follow +the ways of peace, order, and industry. On the Crown lands a practice +very generally prevailed of allowing tenants to occupy their holdings +rent free, either on account of some office, of which the rent was +considered as the fee, or as a reward for some important service +rendered to the nation. It also appears that tenancies thus occupied +were from time to time converted into feu-tenure or blanch holdings, +and the occupiers then received charters, and thus became Crown vassals +instead of tenants.¹ No doubt between the accession of James I. and +the end of the fifteenth century a number of the labourers on the +Crown lands became tenants and farmers under the Crown, and even some +of those whose ancestors were serfs in the thirteenth century might +have obtained feu-tenure and blanch holdings by charter from the Crown +before the close of the fifteenth century. It thus becomes manifest +that the right of the Kings of Scotland to forfeit the lands of +a disobedient and rebellious noble often had a most salutary and +beneficial tendency; although the historian must recognise that this +right of the Crown was sometimes unjustly, and even cruelly, exercised +by some of the Scotch kings, while at other times it was not exercised +when it should have been. + + ¹ _Exchequer Rolls of Scotland._ + +In the latter part of the fifteenth century the wages of common +labourers were about one shilling a day. Masons, carpenters, smiths, +and quarrymen, when employed on special service received from nine +to ten shillings a week, and highly skilled artificers and workmen +sometimes received from three to five shillings per day. Shipwrights +engaged on work which had to be completed at a specified time, received +one shilling and sixpence per day; the weekly wages of a gunner, who +was also usually a smith or carpenter, were thirteen shillings and +fourpence a week. Workmen had two weeks of holidays at Christmas, and +nine or more other holidays during the year.¹ + + ¹ _Ibid._ _Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer_, Volume I. + +Turning to the custom of begging which prevailed, and the state of +crime in the nation, matters connected with the administration of +justice, and the means of prevention, detection, and punishment of +crime, will be considered. Beggars, thiggers, sorners, masterful +robbers, oppressors, and other vagabonds, were numerous in the country. +Begging under certain limits was authorised by Act of Parliament in +1424. This Act prohibited all persons between the age of fourteen years +and sixty years from begging, unless it was found that they could not +live by any other means; such helpless persons were to receive a token +from the sheriff of the district, and in burghs from the bailies, and +those thus provided with tokens were then allowed to beg; all other +idle persons were commanded by proclamation to betake themselves to +honest labour and earn their living by their own efforts, under the +penalty of burning on the cheek and banishment from the kingdom. This +Act was often re-enacted with additions, still the beggars continued +to multiply. In 1425 James I. passed another Act of Parliament, which +ordered the sheriffs and the bailies to make enquiry concerning all +the idle men in the respective bounds of their jurisdiction, and having +ascertained those who had nothing of their own to live upon, then such +men were to be arrested and kept till they found caution not to injure +the country, but they were to be allowed forty days to find masters or +to engage themselves at some lawful work. When the forty days had run, +if they were still idle, then the sheriffs were directed to re-arrest +them, and send them to the King, who should punish them as he thought +fit. It seems highly probable that James I. might have found employment +for some of these men as labourers on the Crown lands. + +In the fifteenth century many Acts of Parliament were passed against +masterful beggars and sorners. The sorners and masterful beggars were +described, in an Act passed in 1449, as persons who travelled through +the country in bands, accompanied by horses and hounds, and lived at +free quarters on the people, and consumed the fruits of their industry +and destroyed the growing crops. The Act directed that the sheriffs +and other Crown officers, the barons, and the bailies in burghs, should +make inquisitions concerning these sorners and masterful beggars at +all their courts, and if any of them were found, then their horses and +hounds and their other goods were to be confiscated to the King, and +their persons imprisoned till the King announced what should be done +to them. The Crown officers were also ordered to make inquiry at every +court if there were any persons who pretended to be fools, or bards, +“and such like runners about;” and if any of these were found, then +they should be imprisoned and detained as long as they had anything of +their own to live upon; when that was consumed, then their ears should +be nailed to the trone and cut off, and themselves banished from the +country; and afterwards if they were found in the kingdom, then they +should be hanged. But this did not extinguish the sorners nor “the +runners about”; for six years later another Act was passed against them, +which ordered that whenever sorners were taken they should be delivered +to the sheriffs, and forthwith the King’s justiciary should execute +the law upon them as robbers and thieves; yet this seems to have been +ineffectual, for in 1457 it was ordered that an inquisition should +be made of the sorners, masterful beggars, feigned fools, and bards, +and that all those found, should be banished from the kingdom or sent +to the King. Still, in 1478, it was enacted that “for stanching the +sorners and masterful beggars who daily oppressed and harried the +King’s poor subjects, the Acts before passed should be put into sharp +execution, which was to say, that wherever sorners were captured +they should be delivered over to the sheriffs, and the law executed +upon them as on common thieves and robbers; and also that indictments +should be framed upon this class of crimes every year in the Justiciary +Circuit Courts, and that due punishment should follow accordingly.”¹ + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume II., pages 8, + 11, 15, 36, 43‒45, 49‒51, 119, 251. + +It was one of the sheriff’s duties to report and indict all persons +charged with crimes which came within the Justiciary’s jurisdiction. +The indictments were delivered to the Justice Clerk, and when he made +up his roll it was the duty of the coroner to arrest all the persons +named in it. Although there was a Justice Clerk and also a King’s +Advocate, there was as yet nothing which could be called a regular +system of public prosecution, as the right to prosecute belonged +to the injured person or his relatives. Besides the compensation to +the injured party, there was a fine due to the Crown, for which the +sheriff was held liable, not only for the cases tried in his own court, +but also for the fines and escheats of the Justiciary Circuit Courts. +Moreover, unhappily, the sheriffs of the period had many fiscal duties +to perform; they had to render accounts of all the casualties of lands +held by feudal tenures from the Crown, and often to render accounts of +the rents of Crown lands. Thus it happened that only a portion of their +time and attention could be devoted to their judicial functions either +in the criminal or civil departments. Then there were the anomalies of +all the separate jurisdictions connected with earldoms, baronies, and +regalities, as explained in preceding pages, which greatly hampered and +retarded all efforts to improve the administration of justice. + +Murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery, and theft, were rather common +throughout the kingdom. Many Acts of Parliament were passed for +stanching and punishing these crimes, but they seem to have produced +little effect. When criminals were convicted, they were often pardoned, +and many remissions of crimes and of fines were given every year. In +1487 Parliament enacted that no remissions for the crimes of treason, +murder, rape, slaughter, violent reft, theft, and false coining, should +be granted for seven years. It appears that among the barons there was +a custom of selling thieves, that is, saving them from punishment under +certain conditions. In 1491 it was enacted that “when any man happens +to be slain in the kingdom then without delay, and as quickly as the +sheriff, steward, or bailie of regality can be informed thereof, either +by the party complainant or in any other way, he should immediately +pursue the slayer and raise the King’s horn on him, and raise the +people in his support, until the criminal be overtaken; and if he be +captured, he should be brought to the King, or else kept in custody +till the King has been informed, and returned an answer as to what +should be done thereon. If the murderer escape from the sheriffdom in +which the crime was committed, then the sheriff should send one of his +officers to the sheriff of the next county and inform him of this man +who is a fugitive from the law. Then that sheriff should immediately +pursue the criminal through his sheriffdom, and so on from sheriffdom +to sheriffdom till he be taken or driven out of the country. But when +the murderer had fled out of the royalty and into the regality, the +sheriff should immediately inform the lord of the regality and his +bailie, and they should pursue the criminal as the sheriffs had done; +and wherever the criminal chanced to be taken, the sheriff or the +bailie of the regality should send him to the next sheriff, and so +on from sheriff to sheriff till he be returned to the shire in which +the crime was committed, and there justice should be executed. When +any of the sheriffs or officers neglect their duties in cases of this +character, if they be hereditary they should forfeit their offices for +three years, but if they held their offices by appointment they should +lose them for ever.”¹ + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume II., pages 23, + 176, 256, 225; _Exchequer Rolls of Scotland_. + +Thus we see that at the end of the fifteenth century the sheriff +and other Crown officers could not follow even a murderer through a +regality. The practical result was that a powerful lord of regality, +whenever it suited him, could screen from the hand of justice the +greatest criminal in the kingdom; and this, in fact, frequently +occurred. Many of the sheriffs held office by hereditary right, and the +feebleness of the Crown appears from the trifling penalties attached +to the malversation of hereditary officials. Criminals who had been +captured were sometimes imprisoned in the castles of the barons of +the district, who were held responsible for their escape. Lord Kennedy +refused, on two different occasions, to imprison four criminals in his +castles when required by the Crown officer to do so; for this he was +fined forty pounds, but his lordship never had to pay the fine as he +received a remission. + +The Earl of Bothwell was Warden of the west and middle marches, +and also Lord of Liddesdale. In 1498, in a Justiciary Court held at +Jedburgh, Bothwell was fined £550 as pledges or bail for a number of +persons dwelling in Liddesdale, and in the Justiciary Court held in +1500 he was again fined a similar sum of £550, which made his total +liability to the Court £1,100. Now, this sum represented the bail +and fines of fifty criminals, whom Bothwell had enabled to escape by +becoming security for them. But did Bothwell actually pay this sum of +money to the Crown? No! the whole of it was remitted by letters under +the Privy Seal. The ground of the remission was stated to be “the good +services done by the Earl of Bothwell in many ways, and especially in +settling the district which the aforesaid persons and other undaunted +people inhabited.”¹ This is simply an example of what occurred more or +less frequently in every quarter of the kingdom. + + ¹ _The Sheriff Courts of Scotland_, by John D. Wilson, LL.D., + Introduction; _Exchequer Rolls_, Volume V. and XI. + +In the burghs criminal cases were mostly decided by a jury, which +varied in number from five to twenty. Their verdict settled the truth +of the assertions and averments of the parties to the action, and then +the judge applied the law to the fact. The adjustment of the issues +seems to have been pretty rapid. This system of burgh law is now +obsolete, though fragments of it, under more or less disguise, survived +till recently. + +There were various modes of punishment, such as fines, banishment +from the town, burning on the cheek, cutting off the ear, and penance +performed in the church, were common forms of punishment. The forms +of torture were connected with the jougs and the branks, very old +instruments. The usual form of the jougs consisted of a flat iron +collar with distended loops, through which a padlock was put to secure +the culprit in his ignominious durance. The branks were somewhat like +a skeleton iron helmet with a gag, which entered the mouth and bridled +that unruly member, the tongue. They were chiefly used as an instrument +of ecclesiastical punishment, for the correction of female scolds, +and those convicted of slander and defamation. The branks seem to have +been used at a very early period, and sometimes might have been cruelly +applied.¹ + + ¹ _Burgh Records of Aberdeen_, Volume I., pages 24, 46, 319, + 390, 402, 412; _Burgh Records of Peebles_, pages 127, 132, + 146‒147, 164‒167; _Burgh Records of Edinburgh_, Volume I., + page 86. + +As penance was frequently applied as a punishment for common offences, +an instance may be stated. In 1492 “Philip Whithede was fined in the +burgh court of Aberdeen for the wrongous disturbance of Thomas Bard, +and Thomas also was fined for the disturbance of Philip. Moreover, the +court ordered that Philip, on the following Sunday, should go to the +church in the time of high mass, with a candle of one pound weight of +wax in one hand, and his knife in the other hand, drawn, and holding +it by the point; and then in the church deliver his knife to Thomas +and ask of him forgiveness, and beseech the worthy men present to pray +that Thomas might remit the offence done to him; and then offer the wax +candle to the Holy Light at the altar.” + +Assaults and fights were common in the burghs, and many bye-laws were +enacted to suppress them. In 1398 the town-sergeants of Aberdeen were +charged with rebellion, and the following year the bailies of the burgh +were charged with rebellion. In the latter year a man was fined for +cursing and beating a woman, and another man was fined for beating his +own wife. Many notices of persons breaking the peace of the burgh were +recorded; and cases were frequently postponed owing to the weakness +of the court, which meant the weakness of the law. A number of persons +were fined for speaking aloud and cursing in the burgh court without +licence; and one woman was banished from the town. About the year +1411 a list of thieves and receivers of stolen goods was drawn up, +and in it there were enumerated twenty-three persons, male and female. +Considering the comparative smallness of the population of Aberdeen at +that period, the number of known thieves in the burgh suggests a state +of crime much greater than prevails at present. + +In 1436 the provost and bailies of Aberdeen assembled to consider how +they could most effectively punish and extinguish robbers. All the +citizens of the town, freemen and unfreemen, were then bound to assist +the magistrates and the officers of the city in the maintenance of +order, and to turn out immediately when the common bell was rung, +or any sudden affray happened on the streets, and when they knew or +apprehended any scath to the town impending, or any duels to be fought +in it, they should instantly warn the authorities. At this period there +were no regular police, but in times of threatening disturbance, or of +war in the neighbourhood, a number of the citizens were appointed as a +night watch for a time.¹ + + ¹ _Burgh Records of Aberdeen_, Volume I., pages 3, 4, 6, 8, 38, + 60‒63, 68, 73, 373, 377‒379, 382, 392, 421, 422. + +Touching social vice, illegitimacy was prevalent amongst the royal +family, the nobles, the clergy, and the people. Robert I., Robert II., +Robert III., and James IV., had many natural children, and many of +the highest nobles had natural children. In the fifteenth century, +clandestine espousals and marriages were common among all classes +in Scotland; but “espousals, however secret, if followed by sexual +intercourse, might annul the subsequent marriage of either party +so long as the other was in life.” This sometimes led to much +heart-burning, serious crime, and strife; and this was especially the +case in the royal family of Stuart in the fourteenth and fifteenth +centuries. The Crown was much weakened owing to the large number +of children which Robert II. had by his two wives, and his natural +sons and daughters. One form of irregular cohabitation was called +“Hand-fasted,” but not married. Early in the sixteenth century a +statute of Archbishop Forman enacted “that clandestine espousals +should be denounced, under the pain of excommunication, four times a +year in every church in his diocese.” This statute ordered the same +denunciation to be fulminated against those who after espousals lived +together as man and wife without celebrating marriage openly and in the +face of the church. Brothels were common in the burghs in the fifteenth +century.¹ + + ¹ _Statuta Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ_, Volume I., pages 86, 87, + 275‒277. + +The castles of the thirteenth century were briefly noticed, and some +of them became associated with the struggle of Independence, and were +embalmed in the history of the nation. The square towers which were +erected in the latter part of the fourteenth century, but mostly in +the fifteenth century, were characteristic of the state of society. The +square towers of this period were stern keeps which rose storey above +storey to a considerable height, and each storey usually consisted of a +single apartment; the walls were very thick, and the entrance door was +placed high for security, and the window-openings narrow. The floors +of the apartments were strewed with bent, grass, or rushes mingled +with sweet herbs. Such were the abodes in which the barons and their +families and servants lived, and assembled together in the hall to take +their food and enjoy their drink. There were no separate apartments for +the women but their sleeping-rooms. The square tower usually contained +a dungeon in which the prisoners were kept, partly underground. + +Although towards the end of the fifteenth century a few good +castellated edifices were erected, nearly another hundred years, +however, elapsed before a radical improvement was effected in the +dwellings of the Scotch nobles. + +David II. in the latter part of his reign restored Edinburgh Castle, +and made extensive additions to it, including the great tower, which +was known as the Wellhouse Tower, and also the passage which formed +the communication between it and the castle. The buildings were kept +in repair and added to by succeeding kings, and thus it became a royal +residence as well as one of the chief strongholds of the kingdom. James +I. made considerable repairs on the castle and some additions. There +was a royal castle at Linlithgow in the twelfth century, and Edward I. +built a tower or peel there. Robert II. and Robert III. frequently +resided at Linlithgow, and small sums were expended on this residence +towards the close of the reign of the latter King. Shortly after the +return of James I., the town, the palace, and the nave of the church +of Linlithgow were destroyed by fire. James I. immediately commenced to +re-build the palace in a new form and style, and the work of building +and finishing the palace, and the park and fish ponds connected with +it, were going on during the greater part of his reign. He expended a +considerable sum of money on the works; and after his death the work +of completing the building of the palace proceeded till 1451, when it +appears the west side, and probably a part of the north side, were then +erected. In 1467 the work was resumed, and during the succeeding four +years a large sum of money was expended on it; and in 1468 the grounds +around the palace were extended. Between the years 1488 and 1496 the +south side of the palace seems to have been erected; and operations at +the palace went on into the succeeding century. There was a garden at +the palace and extensive grounds. + +The erection of the quaint building in the Castle of Stirling known as +the palace, seems to have been commenced in 1496; and about the same +time a large kitchen garden was formed, perhaps in the valley on the +south side of the castle rock. The garden was well stocked with trees. +It appears that the south front of Falkland palace as it now stands, +was built in the early years of the sixteenth century. There were +extensive grounds around Falkland Castle in which deer were kept, and +there was also a garden.¹ + + ¹ _Exchequer Rolls of Scotland_; _Accounts of the Lord High + Treasurer_, Volume I., Preface, pages 263‒267. + +A considerable number of churches were built in the latter part of +the fourteenth century and in the following one. David II. built and +endowed the church of St. Monance in Fife. Most of the churches erected +in Scotland during this period were of the decorated flamboyant style, +and the polygonal apse was introduced from France. This class of +churches generally ran into the three-sided apse, and double doorways +with flattened heads which enclosed a pointed arch; battlements were +rare, and the corby-stepped gable and saddle-backed towers began to +appear before the close of the period. Portions of these decorated +churches still remain in Scotland, and specimens may be seen in +the nave of the Cathedral of Glasgow, the churches of Linlithgow, +Perth, Stirling, and others. In some of these churches the details +were admirably worked out, and the tracery of the windows very +fine. The most striking characteristic of this style was its surface +ornamentation, which was well calculated to arrest the eye of an +onlooker. The walls were covered with a profuse variety of embellished +devices, the stained glass glowed with variegated figures, and the +screens, founts, and altars, were all wonderfully posited for producing +effect. The whole accessories presented much artistic skill, a mastery +of design, details, and execution of a high order. + +Very few specimens of the woodwork of the churches of this period now +exist, but some examples of the woodwork of the sixteenth century have +been preserved. + +The flamboyant style, which was partly initiated in Scotland, was +excessive in its ornamentation. “Its essence seems to be elaborate and +minute ornament, and this continues till the forms and combinations are +sadly debased, and a strange mixture of Italianism jumbles with it. Its +combinations in the earlier part of the style, for richness, elaborate +ornament, and magnificent design, are admirable; and no one can +visit Rouen, where there are many churches still used, and others now +deserted, and contemplate leisurely the beautiful church of St. Maclou, +without feeling the beauty of the style, and also the value of that +fine stone which seems to have encouraged the flamboyant architects to +vie with each other in elaborate decoration. The portals of Abbeville, +Beauvais, Evreux, and St. Maclou at Rouen, parts of Caudebec Church, +and various others, are some of the finest specimens of this style.”¹ + + ¹ _Rickman_; _The Ancient Church of Scotland_, by Walcott. + +Many notices of the workmen engaged in the building of these churches +occur in the records, and some of them were a long time in process +of building. The Cathedral of Aberdeen was more than a hundred years +in building, and the choir of St. Nicholas more than half a century; +while many of the fines imposed by the bailies in the burgh court, were +ordered to be applied to the building of the same cathedral. + +The Church still possessed extensive tracts of land which yielded a +large income, and considering the other sources of her revenue, such +as tithes, offerings, and the sums of money accruing from the Church +courts in the form of fees and fines; and recalling the fact that the +clergy were the best educated party in the kingdom, it seems that they +could not have failed to command power and influence in the nation. The +occasional efforts made by the Crown to limit the power of the Church +only showed its own weakness, and the Scottish Kings usually found +it more in harmony with their own interest to recognise and support +the claims and privileges of the Church. The attempts of the Crown to +recover the patronage of benefices failed, for at the Reformation, out +of nine hundred and forty benefices, six hundred and seventy-eight were +under the control of the Church.¹ + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume II., pages 83, + 85, 99, 133, 141, 166, 173, 183, 209, 232, 237. + +Originally the monasteries tended to advance the progress of the +country, as the monks for a long time took the lead in agricultural +improvement and in dairy produce; but the principles on which the +monasteries were established only harmonised with a comparative rude +stage of civilisation, and in the fifteenth century they showed signs +of decay. The chief religious houses in Scotland were very rich, and +they had for a long period absorbed the greater part of the revenue of +the parish churches. The result was that the religious instruction of +the people was neglected, while the abbots and monks were rolling in +wealth. + +Instead of dealing with a number of religious houses and entering into +needless details, I will present a brief account of a typical monastery. +Such monasteries as Melrose, Kelso, Holyrood, Paisley, Arbroath, +Scone, and others, had each a greater or less number of parish +churches attached to them; and taking the monastery of Arbroath, which +was richly endowed, the working of the system can be realised. This +religious house had lands in various districts, besides upwards of +thirty parish churches. In the Highlands it had the church of Inverness, +the churches of Banff and Aberchirder in Banffshire, the church of +Fyvie in Buchan, Aberdeenshire, and churches in other places widely +apart and far from Arbroath. It was then the duty of the Abbot of +Arbroath to pay the vicars or pastors of these parishes, as they were +impropriated to the monastery; thus the proceeds of such benefices were +paid to the monastery, and the abbot might pay the vicars or not as he +thought fit. The practical operation and the results of such a system +can be easily realised. + +The lands of the monastery of Arbroath and the benefices attached to +it, brought in a large quantity of grain, and great numbers of cattle, +sheep, swine, poultry, and fish, and other provisions of all kinds. In +1489 the annual consumption of this monastery stood thus:――30 chalders +of wheat, 40 chalders or 640 bolls of oatmeal, and 82 chalders of malt; +800 fat sheep, 180 head of fat cattle, a number of lambs, a quantity +of veal, and 24 swine; a large number of chickens and geese, and +immense quantities of butter, cheese, and eggs; 12,000 dried haddocks +and speldings, 1,500 ♦keelings, and about the same number of fresh +fish, besides 9 barrels of salmon; 6 gallons of honey, a quantity of +fruit, almonds, and raisins, and a large supply of wine and ale.¹ This +monastery was a very large establishment, as its massive ruins still +attest; yet it is somewhat difficult to understand how the monks and +inmates of the monastery could have consumed such an enormous amount +of food and drink, even after making an ample allowance for the visits +of the King and the lords of the realm, the archbishops, and others, +who occasionally sojourned at the establishment. It seems probable that +there was a considerable waste of the gifts of nature and of industry +in such establishments towards the close of the fifteenth century. +Several of the other monasteries were as rich as that of Arbroath, +perhaps one or two might have been even richer, so that at the period +under consideration it was a fair specimen of the great monasteries of +the kingdom. + + ♦ “kellings” replaced with “keelings” + + ¹ _Register of the Monastery of Arbroath_, Volume I., pages 3, + 8, 31, 37, 41, 93, 212, 262‒263. + +Nunneries were not numerous in Scotland, and were classed according +to their rule, like the monks. At Coldstream there was a convent of +Cistercian nuns, and a register of their house has been preserved. +There was another convent of the same order at Haddington, which +received forty shillings annually from the rents of the burgh. There +was a nunnery in the vicinity of Perth, one in Aberdeen, and a few in +other places. + +The friars were a distinct class, and differed from the endowed monks +and regular canons. They were a somewhat later offspring of the Church +of Rome, having come to Scotland in the thirteenth century. The friars +professed the rule of poverty, and practised begging; according to +law they could not hold property, except their church and place of +residence, which might include gardens. Unlike the monks, the friars +usually settled in towns amid the busy haunts of men; they had no +vows of seclusion, and some of them were very active men, and attained +distinction as popular preachers. + +The Dominicans were called “black friars” in Scotland from their dress; +and in other countries this order was entrusted with the inquiries +connected with the Inquisition, but it does not appear that they +exercised this function much in Scotland. They had a large house in +Edinburgh, which was frequently used for the assemblies of the National +Church. Their establishment at Glasgow was very extensive; and there +they had fine gardens and a cemetery. They had churches in Perth, +Aberdeen, and in other places. The Franciscans, or the grey friars, +professed to follow the strict rule of their order, which enjoined +chastity, poverty, obedience, and simple food. They had churches in +Glasgow, Lanark, Haddington, Ayr, Dundee, Perth, Elgin, and elsewhere. +Their establishment at Lanark was a large one; and in 1496 a meeting of +all the Franciscan brethren in Scotland was held in it. The Carmelites +were called white friars from their habit. They were very strict in +their rule of life, and had churches in Dundee, Irvine, Linlithgow, +Aberdeen, Banff, and other places. + +Hospitals were pretty numerous, amounting to upwards of eighty, but +they were poorly endowed. They were intended for various purposes, such +as infirmaries for the sick and the aged, as hostels for pilgrims and +travellers, or homes for those afflicted with leprosy. They were placed +at the gates and in the vicinity of towns, at the river-side beside the +ferry-boat, and in the mountain passes. The foundation of an hospital +usually maintained a few brethren, who devoted themselves to the care +of the sick and the poor; and sometimes small grants of money from the +public revenue were given to them. Amid all the rudeness of the times +the poor and the infirm were not altogether neglected; but many abuses +prevailed in the hospitals, and Acts of Parliament were passed for +visiting and reforming them.¹ + + ¹ _Exchequer Rolls of Scotland_; _Origines Parochiales + Scotiæ_, Volume I., pages 6, 463, 464, 120; _Burgh Records + of Peebles_, pages 146, 151, 170; _Acts of the Parliaments + of Scotland_, Volume II., pages 7, 16, 49, 86, 97; + ♦Walcott’s _Ancient Church of Scotland_, pages 339‒342, + 376‒383, 343‒348. + + ♦ “Wallcott’s” replaced with “Walcott’s” + +It is quite evident that the body of the people were firmly attached +to the prevailing religious creed. They manifested their religious +feelings in many ways. As already indicated, the craftsmen were +closely associated with their special chapels, altars, and saints, and +contributed a part of their means to uphold and adorn their favourite +chapels and altars. Thus the special and personal form of their worship +greatly intensified their religious feelings, and it became engrained +into the very tissues of the nation’s life, and though time might +change its form, its spirit and force endured. + +A few examples of the avowed motives which induced men to assign +property to the Church, may be presented. In 1321 Robert I. granted +the church of Kirkmacho to the monastery of Arbroath――“For the health +of his soul, and the souls of his ancestors and successors, Kings +of Scotland, and especially for the souls of those whose bodies rest +within the church and its cemetery.” In 1327 David Lindsay, Lord of +Crawford, granted to the monks of Newbottle a tract of land in the +territory of Crawford――“For the weal of his soul and the soul of Mary +his wife; and with all the escheats which belonged to the land and the +men dwelling on it: and transferred to the monks the right of pit and +gallows, sock and sak, tol and them, infangtheft, and all the rights +and the privileges which belonged to a baron’s court.” About the year +1358 Roger of Auldtion, a gentleman on the Borders, granted property +and lands to found a chantry in the church of St. James at Roxburgh. +His testament runs thus: “This is the form in which Roger of Auldtion +founded the chantry of his chaplain officiating at Roxburgh in the +church of Saint James; and this also is the form in which he ordained +all alms and pious deeds which he has done, or in future may do:――First, +namely, for the love of God, and the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of +the same, and of all the saints; and also for the weal of his own soul +and of the souls of Margaret and Felix, his successive wives, and for +the souls of all to whom he is beholden and indebted, and for the souls +of all against whom he has offended, and whose goods he has unjustly +had or possessed, and for the souls of all the faithful departed, that +the Lord may pardon them and bring them to eternal life. Amen.”¹ + + ¹ _Register of Arbroath_, Volume I., pages 212‒213; _Origines + Parochiales Scotiæ_, Volume I., page 168; _Register of + Kelso_, pages 397, 370‒375. + +The will of Sir James Douglas of Dalkeith, executed about 1390, +contains some very curious items. “He gave the half of all his free +goods for his funeral, and for masses and alms for the weal of his +soul; and also his best horse and his arms as a funeral offering +to the Vicar of Lasswade.... He bequeathed a chalice and missal to +the chapel of St. Nicholas of Dalkeith, a small sum of money for the +support of the fabric of St. Andrew, and a jewel of St. John, worth +forty marks, to the church of Newbottle. He gave for the building of +the church of Newbottle and the wages of the masons twenty-three pounds, +six shillings for the use of the refectory, and other sums to the monks +to pray for his soul. He left twenty pounds to the monks of Kelso ... +and legacies to the friar preachers of Edinburgh and Haddington.... His +robes of cloth of gold and silk and his furred robes were to be given +to the church of St. Duthac at Tain, the chapel of Dalkeith, and to +other churchmen.... He left his third best horse to the Monastery of +Newbottle, and vestments to each of the churches of Lasswade, Newlands, +and St. Fillans’ of Aberdour.” Sir James lived many years after he had +made this testament. + +In 1349 Adam Urquhart of Inchrory, sheriff of Cromarty, granted five +marks annually from the rents of the lands of Inchrory, and a croft +called the Alehouse in the same territory, for a perpetual chaplain +officiating in the chapel of St. Mary at Inchrory――“to pray for the +souls of William Earl of Ross and his parents, and for his own soul and +the souls of his parents, and all the faithful departed.” Adam reserved +to his heirs the right of patronage, and of giving instructions to the +chaplain. In 1456 Alexander Sutherland of Dumbath bequeathed six marks +annually from the rents of the lands of Easter to a priest to celebrate +mass continually for his own soul and the soul of his wife in the +chantry of Ross; and of thirty trentals for his soul, he ordered eight +to be said at Ross, four in Tain, four in Fearn, and four in Dornoch. +He also left six marks to the chanter of Fearn for celebrating mass, +with a note of the requiem, and other sums for religious purposes. +In 1451 Robert Sutherland, the son and heir of John Sutherland of +Fors, granted to the chaplain of St. Andrew’s Chapel of Golspie forty +shillings annually from the rents of the town of Drommoy――“to pray for +me and the souls of my forefathers and successors.”¹ + + ¹ Bannatyne’s _Miscellany_, Volume II.; _Origines Parochiales + Scotiæ_, Volume II., pages 239, 416, 436, 607, 843, 650. + +In 1487 James III.――“for the weal of his own soul and the souls of +his ancestors and successors, Kings of Scotland, and all who had +contributed to the foundation, erected the church of St. Duthac of Tain +into a collegiate church for a provost, five canons, two deacons, a +sacrist, and three singing boys.” James II. had founded a chaplainry +at Tain, and endowed it from the lands of Dunscathe and the ferry of +Cromarty; and in the reign of James IV. a sum of five pounds a year was +paid to Sir Donald Rede, chaplain, appointed to sing for the soul of +James III. in St. Duthac’s Church. James IV. also paid for masses for +his own soul in St. Duthac’s Church.¹ + + ¹ _Exchequer Rolls of Scotland_; _Registrum magni sigilli + regum Scotorum_, Book X., _n._ 109; _Accounts of the Lord + High Treasurer_, Volume I. + +All classes of the people gave liberally to the Church, some for one +purpose and others for different purposes. In 1363 William Soreys, a +burgess of Elgin, granted property to the altar of the Blessed Virgin +Mary in the cathedral of Elgin――“for the safety of his own soul and the +souls of his ancestors and successors, and all the faithful departed.” +The same year William Pope, also a burgess of Elgin, granted the rents +of several crofts and portions of land in the vicinity of the city to +the Church, under the condition of praying for his own soul and the +souls of his kindred, and all the faithful deceased. In 1365 Richard, +son of John, burgess of Elgin, bequeathed one hundred shillings +sterling from the rents of Bortharum to the altar of the Blessed Virgin +Mary in the cathedral of Elgin――“for a perpetual celebration of mass +for his own soul and the soul of Eliza, his wife, and the souls of +John and Emma, his father and mother, and the souls of all the faithful +departed.” In 1495 George Spalding, a burgess of Dundee, “of his own +good mind, and in honour and love of God Almighty, and his mother the +blessed Virgin Mary, and all the saints of Heaven,” bequeathed through +the provost, bailies, council, and the community of the burgh, a +number of articles for adorning the Lady Church of Dundee. Among other +articles there were a great bell, a silver chalice gilted over, a new +mass book, a new ward stall for the vestments of the high altar, and +twenty shillings of annual rent. Very minute and curious conditions +were framed for carrying into effect the intention of the donor. It was +enjoined that the provost, the council, and the community of the burgh, +and their successors, should for ever cause the priest officiating at +the altar of the Lady Church to exhort all the people present to pray +for the soul of George Spalding, and the soul of his wife, and the +souls of their ancestors and successors. Further, there were directions +to go to his grave and his wife’s and then “say psalms and cast +holy water on them.” The documentary deed itself was written in the +vernacular, of which the following is a sample: “For the said George +hys sowll, hys wyf, and yar antecessowris and successowris.”¹ + + ¹ _Register of the Diocese of Moray_, pages 312‒314; _Register + of the Diocese of Brechin_, Volume II., pages 316‒317. + +The preceding examples were drawn from a class of documents which are +very numerous in the religious records of Scotland, and they cover a +period of nearly two centuries. It should be observed that the historic +value of these indications of the religion of the people consists +partly in its relation to the worship of ancestors, which prevailed +in prehistoric times. The most characteristic thought and sentiment in +these writings was “the souls of their ancestors, and the souls of all +the faithful departed.” It thus appears that the worship of ancestors, +though associated with other elements, still survived in Scotland. + +Another important phase of the religious feeling of the people +manifested itself in the pilgrimages. Pilgrims sometimes travelled in +companies to places that were esteemed holy, and during the journey +they were under the special protection of the King’s peace. In the +fifteenth century Whithern, the shrine of St. Ninian, Tain, Dunfermline, +Scone, Paisley, and Melrose, were among the chief places of pilgrimage +in Scotland. In 1473 the Queen, accompanied by her husband James III. +and a suitable retinue, made a pilgrimage to the shrine of St. Ninian +at Whithern; and on this occasion ten pounds and ten shillings were +paid for livery gowns to six ladies of the Queen’s chamber, which +were made of grey cloth bought from David Gill at ten shillings per +yard; and the Queen’s riding gown for the pilgrimage was made of black +cloth, and cost six pounds and six shillings. James IV. had a habit of +going often on pilgrimage to the tombs, the shrines, and altars of the +saints throughout the kingdom. He often went to Whithern and usually +made offerings varying from ten to eighteen shillings. He also paid +considerable sums of money for masses; in 1497 he gave ten pounds to +the church of Whithern for ten trentals of masses. During his reign +he made offerings at the following sacred spots connected with St. +Ninian:――The outer kirk, the rood altar, the high altar, our lady’s +altar, the reliques, and at the feretrum in the outer kirk, so it +appears that the shrine――feretrum――in which the actual remains of +the saint were supposed to be kept, was placed in the outer kirk of +Whithern; and no doubt it was an object of extreme devotion to the +people. James IV. also made offerings at the Lady’s Kirk of Kyle, +and gave five pounds for five trentals of masses for his own soul; +in Glasgow he made offerings, and also paid for masses in our Lady’s +chapel at the end of the burgh of Dumfries, in the Cross Church of +Peebles, in St. James’ Chapel of the Craig of Stirling, in the chapel +of St. Mary at Perth, and in many other churches James made offerings +and paid for masses. + +James IV. was born in Tain on the 17th of March 1473, and St. Duthac’s +Church of Tain was his great favourite place of pilgrimage. He made +many pilgrimages to this place, and always made offerings of ten +to eighteen shillings to St. Duthac’s Church, and he usually gave a +gratuity to the man who bore St. Duthac’s bell.¹ + + ¹ _Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer_, Volume I.; _Origines + Parochiales Scotiæ_, Volume II., page 453. + +On the great saint’s days processions were held and the day spent as a +holiday. The different classes in the burghs, the provost and bailies, +the burgesses, and the craftsmen, turned out and assembled at the +appointed place, and each class and craft, with their distinctive +emblems displayed, then formed into marching order and paraded the +streets, accompanied by music and shouts of joy and mirth. These +commemorative displays were performed with all the circumstance and +spirit which the nation could command; but it appears that these +rejoicings and processions sometimes terminated in a somewhat rough +fashion. + +The shrines and the wells of the saints were regarded with much +devotion, while their relics were objects of extreme veneration, and +it was believed that they possessed marvellous virtues. The continuator +of Fordun, who wrote in the first half of the fifteenth century, gave +an account of a cross which was found when the church of Peebles was +founded in the reign of Alexander III.; and he then tells that, “In the +place where the cross was found frequent miracles were worked by it, +and are still worked, and multitudes of the people flocked thither, and +do still devoutly flock, making their oblations and vows to God.” The +relics of St. Fergus were preserved at Scone, where they performed many +famous miracles; and the bones of one of the arms of this saint were +preserved in the cathedral of Aberdeen. The relics of St. Fillan were +in great repute, especially his crosier, which was believed to possess +many rare virtues, the most singular of which was its power of tracing +stolen cattle and goods. James IV. had a relic of St. Duthac set in +silver, which was preserved for its miraculous power of healing.¹ + + ¹ _Burgh Records of Peebles_, pages 152, 156; _Acts of the + Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume II., page 97; _Origines + Parochiales Scotiæ_, Volume I. page 229; Pitcairn’s + _Criminal Trials_, Volume I. + +The ideas concerning the sacredness of Sunday which subsequently +obtained currency, were totally unknown in Scotland in the fifteenth +century. Sports and amusements were openly and freely practised and +enjoyed, and shooting at the butts on Sunday in every parish of the +kingdom was commanded by Act of Parliament. + +In closing this account of the social condition of the people during a +period of two centuries, the chief subjects touched on may be briefly +recapitulated. The chapter commenced with a statement touching the +origin, the development, and the peculiarities of parliament, and the +functions which it assumed and exercised. After a brief reference to +the law courts of the kingdom, subjects connected with the land were +taken up. It was stated that from the accession of David I. to the +termination of the War of Independence, the greater part of the land +of the country had changed owners many times, and that new families +had risen to power; but it was observed that Robert I. rather increased +than limited the feudal privileges of the nobles, and consequently +their power soon overshadowed the authority of the Crown, and they +became oppressive and anarchial. The state of the occupiers and the +tillers of the land was indicated; and a reference was then made to +the extent of the Crown lands in the fifteenth century, and the tenants +and occupiers of these lands. The condition of the labourers of the +land; and the causes of the emancipation of the bondmen and serfs were +treated. The burghs of the kingdom and the communities inhabiting them +were handled at length, and the custom, the revenue, the commerce, +and the coinage of the kingdom were noticed. The internal and every +day life of the burgh communities were then treated in detail, and +many interesting particulars and points were narrated, including the +incorporation of the different craftsmen of Edinburgh. A brief notice +of the burghs which belonged to the Church was presented. The military +characteristics of the people, their armour, weapons, and tactics, and +the introduction of cannon, were described. The probable number of the +population was indicated; and the state of the roads, the establishment +of inns, the sanitary condition, and the want of medical science, was +pointed out. Drinking customs, festivals, and the amusements of the +people were handled; the dress of the people, and of the different +ranks of society, sumptuary laws, and ornaments, were described. The +price of the staple articles of food during the period was indicated. +After careful consideration, I then made a statement touching the +condition of the tenants and the labourers on the Crown lands, +embracing the period from the return of James I. to the end of the +fifteenth century. Having indicating the wages of tradesmen and +labourers, the custom of begging, the state of crime, the defects in +the administration of justice, and the forms of punishment were handled +and explained. Social vice was touched on. The dwellings of the nobles, +royal palaces, and the church architecture of the period were briefly +treated. Monasteries, nunneries, the different orders of friars, and +the hospitals, were handled concisely; and finally, the religious +feeling and sentiments of the people were dealt with, and various forms +of their practical manifestation were presented. + + + + + CHAPTER XI. + + _Literature of the Nation in the + Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries._ + + +THE language of the people of Scotland at the commencement of the +fourteenth century was still Celtic over the greater part of the +country, although the Saxons or Angles had occupied a portion of the +country in the south from the sixth century onward, and had gradually +spread along the eastern coasts, and partly commingled with the +Celtic inhabitants, retaining, however, under slight variation, their +own speech and customs. North of the Tay the dialect of the Angles +was limited to a comparatively narrow strip along the east coast. +Originally the Lowland Scotch dialect was essentially similar to the +Anglo-Saxon speech of Northumbria, and the process of its introduction +and development on the north of the Tweed extended over a period of +seven centuries. In the fourteenth century this dialect was spoken from +the Humber to the Forth, and onward round the eastern seaboard toward +the Moray Firth. Hence it has sometimes been a matter of debate amongst +literary antiquaries, whether some of the early metrical romances, such +as “Sir Tristrem,” were written on the south or the north side of the +Tweed. For the twelfth and thirteenth centuries no writings have been +preserved in this dialect which could with certainty be claimed as the +compositions of writers living on the north side of the borders; but +a considerable number of words and phrases of the vernacular occur in +the early acts of the Scotch parliament, and in the ancient laws and +customs of the burghs, which indicate some of the characteristics of +the current dialect. As the Lowland people of Scotland were a mixed +race, so the Lowland Scotch language shows traces of contact with the +Celtic dialects of the country, and a number of Celtic words occur in +the common vocabulary of the Lowland Scotch. It was, however, mainly in +its ballad literature and poetry that the Lowland Scotch received real +Celtic characteristics; much of the charm, pathos, penetrating passion, +and chord of melancholy of its poetry, is derived from a Celtic source. + +The earliest native songs, ballads, and tales of Britain were Celtic. +The Celts had their Finn and Ossian, and many other great heroes, +whose imaginary actions, deeds of valour, and feats of bravery, were +originated in prehistoric ages, and orally learned and transmitted +from generation to generation, with such additional variations as the +fine imagination of the Celts might figure in ideal forms to recall the +memory of their mighty leaders and departed ancestors. As century after +century passed, these heroes in some instances became invested with +more than mortal power; and thus the imagination of the poet had ample +scope for the creation of ideal attributes and characteristics. + +In the early part of the sixteenth century the Dean of Lismore made +a collection of Gaelic poetry, and in 1862 a selection from his +collection was published under the title of _The Dean of Lismore’s +Book_. The pieces and fragments thus collected and published, appears +to belong to different periods. The fragments of Ossianic poetry which +were the common productions of the Celtic race, are the oldest in the +collection, while the other pieces mostly belonged to the fourteenth +and fifteenth centuries. This Gaelic poetry has a glow and charm which +cannot be fully shown in an English translation. Celtic poetry usually +presents a fine sense of style, and the characteristics of heightened +expression, intense passion, piercing regret, and melancholy. The +subjects of most of these old fragments are associated with feats +of bravery and strength in battle, or feats and incidents connected +with the chase of the deer and the boar, and other wild animals. The +following presents a description of one of Ossian’s heroes:―― + + “His helmet close about the head + Of this brave and dauntless man; + His right arm bore a round black shield, + The surface of its back engraved; + A heavy, large, broad-bladed sword, + Tightly-bound, hung by his side. + He comes in attitude of fence, + As where we stood he swift approached; + Two javelins, with victory rich, + Rest on the shoulder of his shield; + For strength, for skill, for bravery, + Nowhere could his match be found: + A hero’s look――the eye of a king + Shone in that head of noblest mould, + Ruddy his face, his teeth pearl white; + No stream ran swifter than his steed, + Then did his steed bound on the shore, + And he in whom we saw no fear, + The well-formed warrior, then approached. + In rage, sustained by his great strength, + The maid he rudely bears away, + Though by Finn’s shoulder she had stood. + The son of Morne then hurled his spear, + With wonted force, as he bore off; + No gentle cast was that, in truth, + The hero’s shield was split in twain. + The wrathful Oscar then did shake + The red dyed belt from his right arm, + And killed the hero’s prancing steed, + A deed most worthy of great fame; + Then when the steed fell on the plain, + He on us turned in fiercest wrath, + And battle does, the onset mad, + With all our fifty warriors brave. + On the same side with me and Finn, + The fifty stood in front of him; + Yet though they oft stood firm in fight, + His arm did now them force to yield. + Two blows, and only two he gave, + With vigour to each sep’rate man, + When we were stretched upon the earth, + Each man of us with whom he fought. + + * * * * * + + Then did the manly Gaul advance, + The conquering hero to assail, + Whoe’er he was could see them then, + The struggle and the fight were fierce. + Then did Mac Morne slay with his arm + The King of Sorcha’s son, most strange; + Sad was the coming of the maid + Now that the brave in fight had fallen.”¹ + + ¹ The Dean of Lismore’s Book, pages 22‒24. + +This fragment presents clear description, strong passion, and +characteristic individuality. Both English and Scotch poetry and +literature were indebted to the mind and the genius of the Celtic race +for several of their most charming and attractive features. It has been +repeatedly stated by the most competent authorities that without the +Celtic genius England would never have produced a Shakespeare.¹ Further, +it has been recognised and admitted that English poetry received some +of its distinctive features of style from a Celtic source. “The Celt’s +quick feeling for what is noble and distinguished gave his poetry style; +his indomitable personality gave it pride and passion; his sensibility +and nervous exaltation gave it a better gift still, the gift of +rendering with wonderful felicity the magical charm of nature. The +forest solitude, the bubbling spring, the wild flowers, are everywhere +in romance. They have a mysterious life and grace there; they are +nature’s own children, and utter her secret in a way which makes them +something quite different from the wood, waters, and plants of Greek +and Latin poetry. Now, of this delicate magic, Celtic romance is so +prominent a mistress, that it seems impossible to believe the power +did not come into romance from the Celts.... Rhyme――the most striking +characteristic of our modern poetry as distinguished from that of the +ancients, and a main source, to our poetry, of its magic and charm, +of what we call the romantic element,――rhyme itself, all the weight +of evidence tends to show, comes into our poetry from the Celts.”² +The popular Celtic heroes were known to the early writers of Lowland +Scotch, and allusions to them occur in the writings of the fourteenth +and fifteenth centuries; and thus Lowland Scotch literature is not +an isolated stream springing from one source, as it derived its form +and some of its most characteristic elements from the Celtic mind and +genius. + + ¹ Morley, and Matthew Arnold. + + ² M. Arnold, _The Study of Celtic Literature_, page 132. 1891. + +The earliest compositions in the Scotch dialect or northern English +assumed the form of ballads or songs in rhyme, and they were common +long before it became customary to commit them to writing. The rhymed +form had taken such a hold of the national mind that our first three +historical writers, Barbour, Wyntoun, and blind Henry, all composed +their works in rhyme. The rhymed literature which preceded the long +chronicles of Barbour and Wyntoun consisted: 1, of ballads and songs +associated with historic incidents; and 2, short metrical tales, and +romances. The subjects of the first class were varied, and embraced +battles, personal encounters, feuds, domestic matters, and local +incidents. Some of the second class assumed a tragic character, +and many of them treated of incredible achievements and adventures; +the marvellous in various forms, such as the realms of fairyland, +spirits, ghosts, and other inhabitants of the supernatural regions, +were presented in these tales and romances. They mainly owe their +preservation to tradition, and the greater part of them have been +collected from oral recitation during the last two centuries; but +portions of early Scotch poetry and a number of ballads were collected +in the sixteenth century and preserved in the well-known manuscripts of +George Bannatyne, and Sir Richard Maitland. In 1507 a small collection +of popular poetry was printed at Edinburgh by Walter Chapman; and +the _Complaynt of Scotland_, which was published in 1549, gave a list +of stories and tales then popular, and a collection of ballads was +published about the time of the Reformation. + +A collection by James Watson was issued in three parts――1706, 1707, +1710――which contained some pieces of ancient poetry. In 1724 Allan +Ramsay’s _Evergreen_ was published, which consisted mainly of extracts +from Bannatyne’s manuscript, with a few early ballads, including one +on the battle of Harlaw; and the same year he published the _Tea-Table +Miscellany_, which contained seven old ballads. Dr. Percy, Bishop of +Dromore, in 1755 gave the result of his researches to the public in his +well-known collection, entitled _Reliques of Ancient Poetry_; and seven +of the pieces printed by him have been claimed as Scotch productions. +In 1769 Herd published a collection of _Ancient and Modern Scottish +Songs, Ballads, etc._, in two volumes, and twenty ballads were printed +in it for the first time; a new edition of this collection was recently +issued. Pinkerton in 1781 published a volume entitled _Scottish Tragic +Ballads_; and _Select Scottish Ballads_ in two volumes in 1783; amongst +these he inserted twelve pieces of his own composition, and passed +them off as old ballads, but afterwards he admitted his offence. Joseph +Ritson published several collections of _Old Songs and Ballads_; and +in 1794 he issued a valuable collection of _Scottish Songs with Music_. +James Johnson, a music-seller in Edinburgh, published a work called the +_Scots Musical Museum_, 1787‒1803, which extended to six volumes, and +in these ten ancient ballads were for the first time printed. + +In the year 1802 Sir Walter Scott’s first and second volumes of the +_Minstrelsy of the Scottish Borders_ appeared, and a third volume +followed in 1803. This work contained a great number of historic +and romantic ballads, many of which had not been before printed; and +it also presented in the form of introductions and notes a body of +exceedingly valuable, varied, curious, and interesting information, +touching the characteristics and the superstitions of the people, and +the work formed an invaluable contribution to the ballad literature +of Scotland. Robert Jamieson in 1806 published _Popular Ballads and +Songs_ in two volumes, and this meritorious work added sixteen ballads +to Scottish traditional poetry. In 1808 John Finlay issued a collection +of _Scottish Historical and Romantic Ballads_. Mr. Kinloch published a +collection of _Ancient Scottish Ballads_ in 1827, in which a number +of traditional pieces were, for the first time, printed. The same year +Motherwell’s _Ancient and Modern Minstrelsy_ appeared, accompanied +with a very valuable introduction and explanatory notes, which showed +considerable critical power and historic insight. A new edition of +this work was published in 1873. Peter Buchan, a faithful collector of +traditional ballads, published in 1828 _Ancient Ballads and Songs of +the North of Scotland_, hitherto unprinted, in two volumes; there are a +few historical ballads in this collection, but not of an early period. +Professor Aytoun published a good collection of _Scottish Ballads_ +in two volumes; and a number of other collections have been issued, +which it is unnecessary to particularise. Various versions of many of +these traditionary ballads occur; the same story and incidents may be +presented in a somewhat different form in one district of the country +from that in which it appears in another district, and sometimes +different versions of a ballad may be found in the same locality. Some +ballads have two or three more verses in one version than in another, +though, excepting the additional verses, the versions may be nearly +similar. + +A traditional character under the names of Thomas of Ercildoune, or +Thomas the Rhymer, was supposed to have been a writer of romance among +the people on the Borders, and he was for long recognised as a poet and +a prophet; but his life and writings seem to be involved in a haze of +mist. The date of his birth has not been ascertained, but it appears +that he attained the height of his reputation about 1283, and at this +time it was reported that he foretold the death of Alexander III. He +died before the end of the century. In 1804 Sir Walter Scott published +the _Romance of Sir Tristrem_, from a manuscript of the fourteenth +century, but it seems extremely doubtful if this be a work of Thomas +of Ercildoune. The quaint character of the language of the romance +indicates that it was an early production; but there seems to be no +ground for assigning it to Scotland more than to the north of England. +The style of _Sir Tristrem_ is brief and elliptical, and the rhymes +much complicated. + +The ballad containing Thomas the Rhymer’s prophecies has been preserved +in three early manuscripts, which are all more or less incomplete. +The chief points and incidents of the piece may be presented thus:――On +a fine May morning Thomas was reclining at Huntly Bank, near Eildon +Hills, when he suddenly espied a lady of exquisite beauty, mounted on a +dapple-grey palfrey, and richly apparelled. Thomas thought she was the +Virgin Mary, and on finding that she was not the Queen of Heaven, he +made love to her, but she declared that to listen to his requests would +destroy all her beauty; but the Rhymer’s ardour could not be repressed, +and at last she was induced to alight, then at once all her beauty +vanished, which threw him into great amazement. She then told him +that he must leave the middle earth and go with her for a twelvemonth. +Accordingly they descended by a secret passage at Eildon Hill, and for +three dreary days Thomas heard nothing but the soughing of the flood. +At length they approached a fair herbary, well filled with flowers and +fruit, and enlivened by the chirping of a great variety of birds; and +Thomas, almost exhausted with hunger, then stretched his hand to snatch +some of the tempting fruit, but she warned him to desist under the pain +of being attainted by the fiend and falling into hell. She directed +him to lay his head in her lap, and she pointed out to him the way to +heaven, and to the palace of her own fairyland; and Thomas observed +that she had recovered her beauty and resumed her rich attire. When +they reached the palace it resounded with music and revelry. The scene +was exceedingly merry. “The harp and fiddle, the lute, and rebeck, were +playing, accompanied with every kind of minstrelsy; and knights were +dancing three and three with lovely ladies, fair and free, all bedecked +in rich array.” After Thomas had enjoyed this solace much longer than +he thought, the queen of the fairies intimated to him that she must +conduct him back to the Eildon tree. He was extremely reluctant to +leave this fine lady, but she then expressed her fear lest the fiend +of hell, who to-morrow was coming to claim his dues, should select him. +When they returned to the Eildon tree, he entreated her to grant to +him some token of their pleasant intimacy, and in compliance with his +request she gave him the tongue that would never lie. She then poured +forth a string of rather confused prophecies, in which allusions to +the events and personages of the Scottish wars of Edward III. may be +discerned. + +Barbour and Wyntoun mention Thomas the Rhymer, and Bower noticed his +prediction of the death of Alexander III., and Mair said: “To this +Thomas our countrymen have ascribed many predictions, and the common +people of Britain yield no slight degree of credit to stories of +this kind, which I, for the most part, am accustomed to treat with +ridicule.” Metrical prophecies ascribed to Thomas the Rhymer were +current in the reigns of James V., Queen Mary, and James VI., and +they were collected and published in Latin and in English. At the +time of the Union of the Crowns Thomas reached the height of his fame. +Birrel, touching this point, said――“At this time all the whole commons +of Scotland that had read or understood, were daily speaking of and +expounding the prophecies of Thomas the Rhymer, and other prophecies +which were prophesied in old times.” John Colville, in a Latin oration +which was published at Paris in 1604, expressed his wonder at the +fulfilment of the prophecies of Thomas the Rhymer; the Earl of Stirling +alluded to this subject in one of his compositions, and Drummond +also mentioned it. With reference to the Rhymer’s prophecies Bishop +Spottiswoode said:――“Whence or how he had this knowledge can hardly +be affirmed, but sure it is that he did divine and answer truly many +things to come.”¹ + + ¹ Barbour’s _Bruce_, page 25, Jamieson’s Edition; Wyntoun, + Volume II., page 157; _Scotichronicon_, Volume II., page 131; + Birrel’s _Diary_; Irving’s _History of Scottish Poetry_, + page 46. + +The touching monody on the death of Alexander III., which has been +preserved in Wyntoun’s _Chronicle_, presents an early specimen of the +Scotch dialect. When Edward I., in 1296, approached to attack Berwick, +the citizens were reported to have derided him in these rude lines:―― + + “What wenys Kynge Edwarde, with his lang shankys, + To have wonne Berwyk, all our vnthankys; + Gaas pykes hym.” + +From this time till the Battle of Bannockburn the heroic struggles of +the people afforded ample materials and incidents for historic ballads +and rhymes; and many ballads and stories in rhyme associated with +the name of Wallace and his deeds, were then composed in rude forms. +Wyntoun mentioned one of Wallace’s earliest achievements, which still +lives embodied in a ballad, and he also added that――“Of his good deeds +and manhood, great gests I have heard are made, but not so many I trow +as he in his day worked.” Barbour indicates that songs relating to the +War of Independence were common among the people in his time, but few +of these have been preserved; and it seems that the greater part of +them were gradually incorporated into the three metrical narratives +of Barbour, Wyntoun, and more especially Blind Henry’s _Wallace_, +for Mair explicitly stated that Henry’s _Wallace_ was composed from +the traditional stories and ballads current among the people. An +old English chronicler said that the Scots commemorated the national +triumph of Bannockburn in the following strains:―― + + “Maydins of Englande, sore may ye morne + For your lemmans ye have loste at Bannockysborne, + Wyth heue a low; + What wenyt the King of Englande + So soon to have wonne Scotlande, + Wyth a rumbylow.” + +The narrator said that this song was for long afterwards sung by the +maidens and the minstrels of Scotland, to the reproof and disdain of +the English, with other songs which he considered it unnecessary to +particularise. + +A spirited and graphic ballad on the Battle of Otterburn has been +preserved. The battle was fought in 1388, and the Scots were led by +the Earl of Douglas and the English by Henry Percy, the redoubtable +Hotspur. Douglas fell in the heat of the engagement, but the Scots +gained the battle:―― + + “When Percy with the Douglas met, + I wot he was fu’ fain; + They swakkit swords, and they twa swat, + Till the blude ran down like rain. + But Percy wi’ his gude braid sword, + That could sae sharply wound, + Has wounded Douglas on the brew, + That he fell to the ground. + And then he called his little foot-page, + And said――‘run speedilie + And fetch my ain dear sister’s son, + Sir Hugh Montgomerie.’ + ‘My nephew gude,’ the Douglas said, + ‘What recks the death of ane, + Last night I dreamed a dreary dream, + And I ken the day’s thy ain. + My wound is deep, I fain would sleep; + Take thou the vanguard of the three, + And bury me by the bracken bush, + That grows on yonder lily lea. + O bury me by the bracken bush, + Beneath the blumin’ brier; + Let never living mortal ken, + That a kindly Scot lies here.’”¹ + + ¹ Aytoun’s _Scottish Ballads_, Volume I., page 17. + +The ballad on the Battle of Harlaw was probably written shortly after +the event. It is a dry narrative, without ornament of any kind, and +extends to 248 lines. But a much shorter traditional ballad on this +battle has been preserved, of which several versions were popular in +the North; and in the early part of the seventeenth century there was +a tune known under the name of the Battle of Harlaw. + +The ballad entitled “Sir Patrick Spens” has been supposed to have +originated in connection with the marriage of James III. and the +Princess of Denmark. It presents some striking description, and some +very touching incidents:―― + + “They hadna sailed a league, a league, + A league but barely three, + When the lift grew dark, and the wind blew loud, + And gurly grew the sea. + The ankers brak, and the topmasts lap, + It was sic a deadly storm; + And the waves came o’er the broken ship, + Till a’ her sides were torn. + + * * * * * + + And mony was the feather bed + That floated on the faem, + And mony was the gude lord’s son + That never mair came hame. + The ladyes wrang their fingers white, + The maidens tore their hair, + A’ for the sake o’ their true loves―― + For them they’ll see na mair. + O lang, lang may the ladyes sit, + Wi’ their gowd kaims in their hair, + A’ waiting for their ain dear lords, + For them they’ll see na mair. + Half ower, half ower to Aberdour, + It’s fifty fathom deep, + And there lies gude Sir Patrick Spens, + Wi’ the Scots lords at his feet.” + +A few of the romantic rhymes published in Scott’s _Border Minstrelsy_ +were probably composed in the fifteenth century, such as the fairy +ballad of _Tamlane_. The fairies and elves, and other airy and +subterraneous beings, were the surviving members of a numerous progeny +descended from the far-gone past, and they still continued to hold +a place in the popular imagination. Stories and rhymes relating +to these imaginary beings were quite common among the Scots. The +fairies of Scotland were a diminutive race, with a mixed and rather +dubious character. They were extremely capricious in disposition, and +mischievous in their resentment. They inhabited the interior of green +hills, and danced by moonlight on the tops of them. They usually +dressed themselves in green, but occasionally they wore heath brown. +They were great riders, and sometimes their presence was discovered by +the shrill ringing of the bridles of their invisible horses; while they +occasionally indulged in the pleasures of the chase. One form of their +resentment was to seize and carry off the infants of those who had in +any way offended them. + +There were romantic tales in the vernacular touching King Arthur and +his knights, but these were common throughout Britain, and popular +in France, and not in any way peculiar to Scotland. Still such tales +had some influence on the productions of Barbour, Wyntoun, and Blind +Henry. The ballad tales touching the adventures and the exploits of +the popular heroes――Robin Hood, and his fellow, Little John――were well +known among the Scots, although they had their origin on the English +side of the border. + +A long moral fable called Holland’s _Howlat_, seems to have been +written about the middle of the fifteenth century. It was founded on +the old fable of the jackdaw in borrowed plumage, but it is tedious +and deficient in energy; the construction of the verse was strained +to attain the alliterative form, which was a favourite style of +composition with many of the rhymers of the period. The curious poem +entitled ♦_Cockelbie’s Sow_, belonged to the same period. It is an +unpolished rambling production, though some touches of humour occur +in it, while it contained an enumeration of the names of songs, tunes, +and dances, which were then popular in Scotland. + + ♦ “Cokelbie’s” replaced with “Cockelbie’s” + +In the preceding pages I have briefly indicated the original sources, +some of the elements, and the conditions and circumstances from which +the literature of Scotland was developed; and I will now proceed to +deal with the ascertained and definite literature of the nation. + +John Barbour, the writer of the metrical story of Robert Bruce’s +chequered, interesting, and glorious career, was born in 1316, two +years after the battle of Bannockburn; but the exact date of his birth +has not been discovered, and there is little known touching his early +life. He was holding the position of Archdeacon of Aberdeen in 1357, +and that year Edward III. granted a safe conduct to him to visit the +University of Oxford for the purpose of study, with three scholars +accompanying him. In 1364 Edward III. granted a safe conduct to Barbour +with four horsemen in his company, to proceed through England and +study at Oxford or elsewhere as he thought fit. In the following year +he received permission from Edward to pass through England with six +horsemen accompanying him, and to proceed to St. Denis, near Paris, and +to other sacred places. In 1368 Edward III. gave him a safe conduct to +pass through England accompanied by two servants and two horses, and to +proceed to France for the purpose of study.¹ + + ¹ _Rotuli Scotiæ_, Volume I., pages 808, 886, 897, 926. + +Barbour was often engaged in the public service. In 1373 he was one of +the Auditors of Exchequer, and soon after he was discharging the duties +of Clerk of the Audit. He acted as one of the Auditors of Exchequer +from 1382 to 1384, and for his public service in the year 1382, he +received six pounds, thirteen shillings, and fourpence.¹ + + ¹ _Exchequer Rolls of Scotland_, Volumes II. and III. + +He was then composing the remarkable national work which has handed +down his name and fame to posterity. According to his own statement the +work was more than half written in 1375. In 1377 he received a gratuity +of ten pounds from Robert II. In 1379 he obtained by charter to himself +and his assignees an annuity of twenty shillings from the Crown rents +of Aberdeen; and in 1388 he received a grant of ten pounds yearly from +the customs of Aberdeen under a charter of Robert II., as a reward for +his faithful service. Barbour died at an advanced age about the year +1396. He exercised the power of assignation of his annuity of twenty +shillings in favour of the cathedral of Aberdeen for the celebration +of his anniversary, and the dean and chapter received this sum annually +after his death. In the Exchequer Rolls of 1428 and subsequent years, +it was expressly stated that this annuity had been granted to Barbour +“for the compilation of the book of the deeds of King Robert the Bruce.” + +Barbour resolved to write his story of Bruce in the language of the +people of the Lowlands; his chief aim was to produce a plain and +“soothfast story that every man might understand.” As indicated above, +he had sojourned in England and in France in pursuit of knowledge; +and no doubt he could have written his story of Bruce in Latin, if +he had thought fit to follow the fashion of the educated class of his +time. He was gifted with good natural faculties; his imaginative and +reproductive powers were considerable, and he showed practical insight +and good judgment; his feelings and sentiments were keen and warm, and +his opinions were very liberal for the age. His general fairness and +moderation was characteristic, though in a few instances his love of +freedom and his patriotism caused him to use harsh expressions. His +severe imprecation on the person who betrayed the brave Sir Christopher +Seton, “In hell condemned mot he be;” but then it should be observed +that Sir Christopher was one of those who formed the forlorn hope of +Scotland under Bruce. Barbour detested Edward I. and Edward II., and a +few other historic characters, on the ground of their extreme cruelty. + +The literary merits of Barbour’s work, taking everything into +account, were great. His language and style were, for the period, +remarkably good. His style possessed the qualities of clearness, +brevity, terseness, and point; his descriptions of scenes and positions, +and delineations of historic characters, were generally vivid and +interesting; while, in short, his poem was pervaded by a dignified +simplicity and a directness of aim admirably calculated to attract and +to sustain attention; its historical value has been long recognised by +Scottish historians. + +The work in its original form extended to one hundred and fifty +chapters, which was the arrangement followed in Cosmo Innes’ edition; +but Pinkerton and Jamieson in their editions divided the work into +books. The earliest known edition of Barbour’s _Bruce_ was printed at +Edinburgh in 1571, of which only one copy now exists; the next edition +was printed at Edinburgh in 1616, and it is also very scarce; but since +then many editions have been issued. + +Barbour devoted the first part of the work to the early career of +Bruce; and he so far assumed the licence of the poet, as to make Bruce +the competitor――the hero who endured so much privation and recovered +Scotland――when in fact the competitor was only the grandfather of the +real hero. This was, however, merely an introductory device for effect. +The varied fortunes of Bruce, his reverses, privations, and many +exploits, were all narrated with much spirit and energy; then after the +tide turned in favour of Bruce, the progress of the war, the capture +and the demolition of castles. A clear account of the preparations +for the memorable battle of Bannockburn;――and here Barbour exerted his +powers to the utmost, and produced a masterly description. He presented +graphic pictures of the mustering of the English army and its march +to Stirling; and the magnificent appearance of the great host――divided +into ten divisions, with all the accompanying pomp and circumstance +of war,――mounted knights, and burnished armour, shields, banners and +pennons waving and glowing in the sun’s beams, “as if all the land +was in a glare.” On the other hand, his description of the mustering +of the small army of Scots, and Bruce’s homely manner of cheering his +men, were very effectively contrasted with the glittering splendour of +the opposing hosts. After noting a number of striking incidents as a +prelude, and the speech which Bruce addressed to his army on the eve of +the battle, saying to his men:―― + + “We have three great advantages: + The first is, that we have the right, + And for the right ay God will fight. + + * * * * * + + The third is, that we for our lives, + And for our children, and for our wives, + And for our freedom, and for our land, + Are constrained to stand fast in battle.” + +The great battle then began, the fierce charge of the English cavalry, +the reeling of horses, and the mighty hosts of England broken by the +wall of Scottish spears; the crash of lances and the blows with axes +which cleft both helmets and heads, the thumps of the steel weapons +hewing the mail armour of the enemy; and the intense eagerness of the +Scots in the midst of the fight, the confusion and the slaughter of the +English, the grass red with blood, and the final panic and flight of +the enemy, were all described with graphic power and effect. + +The remaining part of the work continued the narrative to the close +of Bruce’s reign, and presented characteristic sketches of Bruce’s +companions in arms――Douglas, Randolph, Edward Bruce, and others. +Barbour also wrote another poem, which gave a genealogical history of +the Kings of Scotland, and was entitled “The Brute,” but it is now lost. + +The deeds and achievements of Bruce have been celebrated by several +other Scottish poets, one of which preceded Barbour. A monk of Melrose, +named Peter Finton, was said to have produced a work on Bruce, but +not a fragment of it is known to be extant. Patrick Gordon composed in +heroic verse “The Famous History of the Renowned and Valiant Prince, +Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland.” The first book only was printed +at Dort in 1615, and reprinted at Edinburgh in 1718, and at Glasgow in +1753; this poem came no further down than the Battle of Bannockburn. +Dr. Jamieson mentioned a work in manuscript on Robert Bruce, King of +Scotland, written about the end of the reign of James VI., which was +in the archives of the Society of Antiquaries. A poem by John Harvey +entitled “The Life of Robert Bruce, King of Scots,” was published at +Edinburgh in 1727. + +Barbour’s _Bruce_, after a comparatively short interval, was followed +by Wyntoun’s _Metrical Chronicle_. Andrew Wyntoun, the Prior of St. +Serf’s Monastery, wrote his _Original Chronicle of Scotland_ in the +language of the people, but still in the metrical form. Nothing has +been ascertained touching the date of his birth and early life, but +he was Prior of St. Serf’s Monastery in 1395, and lived at least till +1420. Thus it appears that Wyntoun was a contemporary of Barbour, +and he several times mentioned and applauded the Archdeacon. Wyntoun +complained of the scarcity of written materials, though perhaps he +had access to some historic documents now lost. He stated that he had +part of the _Chronicle_ compiled by Peter Comestor, the _Chronicles_ of +Orasius and Friar Martin, and English and Scottish stories; the latter +would include the ballads then current among the Scots. He inserted +about three hundred lines in his own _Chronicle_ from Barbour’s _Bruce_, +and transferred thirty-six chapters from a person not named and adopted +them in his own _Chronicle_. He mentioned the names of a number of +ancient classic writers, and some of the fathers of the Church. + +Although Wyntoun called his work _The Original Chronicle of Scotland_, +he commenced it with a general history of the world. He treated at +length of angels, creation, the death of Abel, the generations of +Cain and Seth, the primeval race of giants, the ark of Noah and the +Flood; the situation of Asia, Africa, Egypt, Europe, Britain, Ireland, +and various other countries; the confusion of tongues, the lives of +the patriarchs, the judges of Israel, the siege of Troy, the origin +of poetry, and the arrival of Brutus in Britain. Five of the nine +books into which his work was divided, were mostly occupied with the +heterogeneous topics indicated above, in the sixth book he treated of +the wars between the Picts and the Scots, and gradually limited his +narrative to Scotland. + +The language of Wyntoun’s _Chronicle_ is nearly similar to that +of Barbour’s _Bruce_, except that the orthography of a number of +words exhibit variations, but they both followed the same form of +versification. In genius and vigour Wyntoun stood much below Barbour, +while he was more under the influence of superstitious feeling, the +original _Chronicle_ presenting many fabulous legends and stories, +which convey a curious impression of his credulity. Wyntoun was a +zealous churchman, and embraced every opportunity to magnify the +power of the clergy. Still the latter portion of his work possesses +considerable historic value, and contains useful information. A number +of manuscripts of his _Chronicle_ have been preserved, and it seems to +have been popular in the Middle Ages. The part of this book relating +to Scotland was edited by David Macpherson and published in 1795; and +recently a new edition containing the entire work has been issued in +the series entitled _The Historians of Scotland_. + +James I. was not only an able ruler and a wise legislator, but, besides +other accomplishments, he also attained distinction as a poet. When a +prisoner in England, he had many opportunities of cultivating his mind, +which he seems to have assiduously embraced. His genius and energy +would have enabled him to attain distinction in any walk of life. It +has been reported that he was an adept in all the manly exercises of +his time; that he was well acquainted with the use of the bow and the +spear; that he handled the sword with all the ease and dexterity of +a master; that he was an excellent horsemen, a great pedestrian, and +a fleet runner. He was a consummate musician, and excelled both in +vocal and in instrumental music; he was especially distinguished as a +performer on the harp, and touched its strings like another Orpheus. +He has been extolled for his proficiency in polite literature, in +philosophy, and in jurisprudence.¹ His habitual energy did not permit +a single hour of his life to be wasted in listlessness, he was always +occupied with his varied business and recreations. It is mainly by such +mental activity, combined with a power of continuous attention, that +eminence in anything of importance has been attained. + + ¹ _Scotichronicon_, Volume II., pages 504, 505; Buchanan’s + _History of Scotland_, Book X. Chapter 57. + +James’s chief work was a poem entitled the _King’s Quair_, which he +composed when a prisoner in England; and its subject was the praise +of the lady who subsequently became his wife. It was divided into six +cantos, and extended to one hundred and ninety-seven stanzas. The poem +showed a keen imagination, much feeling, and some touches of genuine +poetry; and it also manifested a comprehensive and discriminative +appreciation of the beauties of external nature, which indicated that +the author’s capacity for the enjoyment of life was very great. As a +specimen of his style, a few verses slightly modernised may be quoted:―― + + “Then, as it hapt, mine eyes I cast below, + And there I spied, beneath my prison tower, + Telling her beads, in walking to and fro, + The fairest and the freshest youthful flower + That ever I beheld before that hour: + Entranced I gazed, and with the start + Rushed instant all my blood into my heart. + + Awhile I stood, abased and speechless quite, + Nor wonder was; for why?――my senses all + Were o’ercome with pleasure and delight, + Only with letting thus my eyes to fall, + That instantly my heart became her thrall + For ever of free will: for nought was seen + But gentleness in her soft looks serene. + + * * * * * + + In her beauty, youth, and bounty dwell, + A virgin port, and features feminine, + Far better than my feeble pen can tell, + Did meek-eyed wisdom in her gestures shine, + She seemed, persay, a thing almost divine―― + In word, in deed, in shape, in countenance, + That nature could no more her child advance.” + +James concluded his poem, by recommending it to his masters, Gower and +Chaucer. + +The humourous poem entitled _Christ’s Kirk on the Green_, has sometimes +been attributed to James I., but it seems to belong to a later period. +This piece extended to twenty-three stanzas, and is characteristically +comic and humourous, and brimful of rustic pleasantry. The subject of +the poem was a rural gathering, which was common, where the assembled +multitude danced, and engaged in sports and revels. After the dancing +and other comic incidents of the scene, the bow was introduced and +the poet then ridicules the awkwardness of the men in handling it, and +describes their attempts thus:―― + + “With that a friend of his cry’d fy! + And up an arrow drew, + He forgit it so furiously + The bow in flinders flew. + So was the will of God, trew I, + For had the tree been trew, + Men said that kend his archery, + That he had slane anew + That day. + + An eager man that stude him neist + Lous’d aff a schott with ire, + He ettilt the barn in at the breast, + The bolt flew o’er the bire. + Ane cry’d fy! he had slane a priest + A mile beyond a mire; + Then bow and bag fra him he keist + And fled as fers as fire + Of flint. + + Then Lawrie as ane lyon lap + And soon an arrow feathered, + He aimed to pierce him at the pap, + Thereon to win a wager; + He hit him on the wame a wap, + It buft like onie bladder, + But sa his fortune was and hap + His doublet was of leather, + And saved him.” + +Another burlesque poem of unascertained authorship, entitled _Peblis +to the Play_, has been supposed to be a description of the annual +gatherings held at Peebles in the month of May. It opens with a +description of the people flocking from all quarters of the country +to hold their holiday. + +Henry the Minstrel, familiarly called “Blind Harry,” was a remarkable +character, and composed the well known metrical _Life of Sir William +Wallace_. The few particulars of the life of Blind Henry himself may be +shortly told. John Mair, who wrote in the latter part of the fifteenth +century and the early part of the sixteenth, said that Henry was blind +from his birth, and in the time of my infancy, he composed an entire +book on the deeds of Sir William Wallace, from such stories as were +then current touching his deeds of daring. That by the recitation of +his stories before men of the highest rank, he earned his food and +raiment.¹ Some of those who have carefully studied Henry’s long poem, +have on reasonable grounds doubted the statement that the minstrel was +blind from his birth, as it has been observed that his descriptions +of scenery are comparatively vivid, and he makes no allusion to his +blindness himself. He called himself a rustic man, but it appears from +his book that he had in some way obtained a very good education for the +period. It seems that he was able to translate Latin, he used a number +of words of French origin, and he knew a little about the ancient +history of Greece and Rome, and much more of French romances, and +current tales touching King Arthur. + + ¹ Mair’s _Gestio Scotorum_, page 169, 1740. + +It would appear, from what was stated in a preceding chapter, that +beggars and other idle vagabonds who infested the country, had +sometimes feigned the role and assumed the character of minstrels, +merely to enable them to pursue their unlawful modes of living with +greater success and impunity. This explains the meaning of clauses +which occur in several Acts of Parliament, for it is evident that the +real minstrels were in high repute throughout this period. Robert I. +occasionally gave gratuities to the minstrels; and for their services +in connection with the marriage of David II., the minstrels received +a fee of £66 15s. 4d.; and on the occasion of the coronation of David +II. the minstrels present received a sum of £20 from the King, and £10 +from the Queen. Robert II. granted his own minstrel, Thomas Aearsane, +an annuity of five pounds per annum, and he gave payments to Thomas +Fulhope, and other minstrels. In 1392 a payment was made for shields to +the minstrels. The gratuities given by James IV. to the minstrels were +already mentioned. During this period some of the burghs had minstrels, +who were paid from the common fund, for performing public services and +appearing in their official character on great occasions. Blind Henry +was not altogether forgotten by James IV.; in April, 1490, he received +eighteen shillings, in September the same year a similar sum; in April, +1491, eighteen shillings, in September the same year five shillings, +and in January, 1492, nine shillings; and as no more entries of his +name occur in the accounts, it has been supposed that he died shortly +after.¹ + + ¹ _Exchequer Rolls of Scotland_, Volumes I., II., III., IV.; + _Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer_, Volume I. + +Blind Henry’s _Acts and Deeds of Sir William Wallace_ was written +in rhyme, and divided into eleven books, and extends in length to +nearly twelve thousand lines. He professed to draw the materials of +his narrative chiefly from a Latin chronicle by John Blair, who was +Wallace’s chaplain, but not a trace or fragment of Blair’s work is now +known to exist; he also mentioned Con’s chronicle, and in the course +of his narrative he frequently speaks of “the book and my author,” +but no Con’s chronicle has ever been discovered. It appears, however, +that there were materials relating to Wallace’s deeds before Henry’s +work appeared, but these, in all probability, were merely ballads +and stories orally learned and repeated among the people. The only +manuscript preserved of Henry’s work of authority and historic value is +the one in the Advocates’ Library, Edinburgh, which is dated 1488, and +purports to have been written in that year by John Ramsay. At that time +Ramsay was a common surname in Scotland. John Ramsay of Bothwell was +one of James III.’s favourites, who escaped execution on account of his +youth, being subsequently employed in various offices under the Crown. +Thus Henry’s book was put into the form, in which it has been preserved, +before his own death, and from the sentiment which he expressed at the +conclusion of his work it seems that he was pretty well satisfied with +his production. What then were the actual sources from which it was +drawn? + +From a careful consideration of what is known about Blind Henry and +his mode of life, and the actual historic facts, in so far as they have +been ascertained, touching the national career of Wallace, I arrived +at the ♦conclusion many years ago that the work in question was mainly +derived from the traditions, the tales, and the rhymed ballads, which +had accumulated around the name of Wallace since his execution in 1305, +and were current among the people of Scotland in the second half of +the fifteenth century. The blind minstrel probably commenced his work +between the years 1450 and 1460, or one hundred and fifty years after +the death of Wallace. The floating traditions and stories touching +the deeds and the heroic achievements of Wallace, the idol of the +people, were then ample and varied; all that Henry had to execute was +to use these materials, which were naturally and specially suitable +for his calling and mode of life, and finally to form them into a +rhymed composition around the great national hero. This process of +manufacturing would account for all the peculiar characteristics +and inconsistences presented in the blind minstrel’s work, while it +makes no assumption that the minstrel intended to mislead any one or +misrepresent anything. As he simply embodied the ideas, the sentiments, +the national prejudice, and the traditional notions of the acts and +deeds of Wallace, which the people of Scotland entertained and gloried +to hear repeated in his day, it consequently follows that Henry’s +work was in complete harmony with the feeling and the notions of the +Scots touching their greatest national hero, and they were ready to +receive it with exulting delight. As an embodiment of the notions, the +feelings, and the traditions of the people concerning Wallace, the work +is genuine and invaluable, but considered as a historic narrative of +facts and events relating to Wallace or any one else it is worthless. +No doubt a strata of distorted facts were introduced into the work, but +they were so much mingled with romance, prejudice, hate, and ferocity, +as rendered them utterly valueless. For instance, Henry ascribed a +degree of cruelty to Wallace himself which was quite inconsistent with +all that is known of his character and life. + + ♦ “couclusion” replaced with “conclusion” + +Touching the literary qualities of Henry’s long poem, the style was +vivid and full of spirit. His account of adventures and battles was +not constructed with much art, but the vigour of his mind and the glow +of his patriotism were well fitted to fix the reader’s attention, and +the author moves on from one adventure to another, and encounter after +encounter, with unabated ardour. A few references to the face of nature +occur in the work, and some touches which stand in marked contrast +to the general series of blows and fights. He concluded his work +thus:――“Go noble book, full of good sentences, suppose thou art barren +of eloquence; go worthy book, full of true deeds, but in language thou +hast great need of help. When there were many good poets in Scotland, +it was a great pity that none of them cast their attention on thee, +yet there is a part that can many advance; now bide thy time and be a +remembrance. I bespeak your benevolence, for the book is said as well +as I can.” + +The book really did prove to be a great remembrance, as it had for +three centuries an unexampled popularity among the Scots; it had passed +through more editions than any other Scotch book before the period +of Burns and Scott. It appears to have been amongst the first books +printed in Scotland, for fragments of an edition of it printed by +Walter Chapman about the year 1508 were discovered by the late Dr. +David Laing. The earliest complete edition still preserved in the +British Museum was printed at Edinburgh in 1570, and since then +editions have appeared in 1594, 1601, 1611, 1620, 1630, 1648, 1661, +1665, 1673, 1699, 1711, 1713, and a number of more recent ones. An +excellent and valuable edition by Dr. Jamieson, the author of the +_Scottish Dictionary_, was published in 1820. Dr. James Moir edited for +the Scottish Text Society an edition, to which he has contributed an +introduction, a long series of expository notes, and a comprehensive +glossary. + +From the evidence indicated in the above paragraph, it seems manifest +that the influence of Blind Henry’s _Wallace_ on the feeling, +the national prejudice, and the patriotism of the Scots, has been +considerable. Burns, in a letter to Dr. Moore, said――“The story of +Wallace poured a tide of Scottish prejudice into my veins which will +boil along there till the flood-gates of life shut in eternal rest.” +Think then how many Scotsmen may have been similarly affected by the +story of Wallace in the three hundred years during which it was the +most popular book in Scotland! + +Robert Henryson was a contemporary of the blind minstrel, and one of +the most eminent and estimable of the early Scotch poets. It has been +supposed that he was born about 1425, but little has been ascertained +touching his early life. It appears that he received a liberal +education, for in 1462 he was admitted a member of the newly founded +University of Glasgow as a licentiate in arts and bachelor in degrees. +He seems to have acted for some time as schoolmaster of the Grammar +School of Dunfermline, and he also acted as a notary public. His +writings show that he had an accurate knowledge of the state of +society in his time; he was a keen observer, and feelingly alive to +the suffering and the injustice which prevailed in the nation. He died +at an advanced age about the end of the fifteenth century. + +As a poet who wrote in the language of the people, Henryson held a +high place. His style was easy and flowing; and, though he did not +show great inventive genius or passion, he had a fine perception of the +beauties of external nature, and handled the objects around him with +remarkable skill, and often presented vivid and touching descriptions. +The piece entitled _The Testament of Cresseid_, which extended to over +six hundred lines, has been considered his chief work. It was intended +to be a supplement to Chaucer’s _Troilus and Cresseid_; as Henryson +thought the conclusion of that work was unsatisfactory, he composed +this piece to finish it off in proper character. The character, +Cresseid, proved inconstant and false to her devoted lover, and she +was in consequence afflicted at last with leprosy as a punishment, and +though touches of pathos occur, the piece presented a rather sad and +grotesque narrative, mixed with classic mythology. It first appeared in +a printed form in the collected edition of Chaucer’s works, which was +published at London in 1532, and the earliest known Scotch edition of +the piece was printed by Charteris in 1593, of which a copy has been +preserved in the British Museum.¹ + + ¹ Laing’s Edition of Henryson’s Poems, pages 257‒258. + +A number of Henryson’s short poems present very good examples of +didactic poetry, such as his “Abbey Walk,” “The Praise of Age,” “Age +and Youth,” and others. They are pervaded by a solemn, moral, and +religious tone of feeling and thought; and though they lack the highest +characteristics of poetry, yet they will compare favourably with +the productions of his contemporaries. His poem entitled “Robene and +Makyne” is a fine specimen of pastoral poetry, written in a natural +and flowing style. He also produced thirteen Moral Fables, which were +characterised by a quiet humour, simplicity, and clearness of style. +His fables contained many allusions to the state of society, the +rapacity of the aristocracy, and the hard treatment of the people. He +showed considerable skill in narrating a story, and always endeavoured +to produce a moral effect. + +Sir John Rowll, a priest, produced a remarkable poem about the close +of the fifteenth century, which presented a scathing denunciation +of the persons who had stolen his fowls, and committed other serious +depredations. This piece extended to two hundred and sixty-two verses, +and is a curious specimen of style. The denunciation of the offenders +proceeded thus:――“Black be their hour, black be their part, for five +fat geese of Sir John Rowll’s, with capons, hens, and other fowls.... +Now cursed and accursed be their fate while they are living on the +earth; hunger, strife, and tribulation, and never be without vexation; +of vengeance, sorrow, trouble, and care, graceless, thriftless, and +threadbare, and at all times in their legacy fire, sword, water, and +wodie.”¹ There were a number of other writers of rhyme in the fifteenth +century, whose names have been preserved. + + ¹ Laing’s _Select Remains of the Ancient Popular Poetry of + Scotland_. + +John of Fordun produced the first long prose _Chronicle and Annals +of Scotland_, composed in Latin, in the later half of the fourteenth +century. He wrote the first five books, and left some materials +which came down to 1383. Walter Bower, Abbot of St. Colm, wrote a +continuation to the death of James I., and this compilation has long +been known under the title of the _Scotichronicon_; the parts of it +relating to the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries, have +been considered to possess historic value, but the earlier portions of +it are of less value. Latin language and literature in the Middle Ages +had a considerable influence on some of the institutions of Scotland. +Latin was used in the service and public worship of the Church, and +English and Scotch writers enlarged their vernacular vocabulary from +the Latin. “Until the end of the fifteenth century it was only in the +theological and moral departments that Latin had much direct influence +upon English, most of the Latin roots introduced into it up to that +time having been borrowed from the French, but as soon as the profane +literature of Greece and Rome became known to English scholars through +the press a considerable influx of words drawn directly from the +classics took place.”¹ From the later part of the fifteenth century +the Scotch writers drew words very freely from Latin sources. The +close political relations, and the long intercourse between France +and Scotland had the effect of introducing a number of French words +into the Scotch dialect, and in a few instances slightly affected its +grammatical form. + + ¹ Marsh’s _Lectures on the English Language_, page 434. + +The growing importance of the vernacular appeared in various directions. +For a long time the Acts of Parliament were recorded in Latin, but +toward the end of the fourteenth century they were sometimes written +in the Scotch dialect, and after the return of James I. the Acts of +Parliament were henceforth recorded and proclaimed in the language of +the Lowland people. In the latter half of the fifteenth century the +proceedings of the King’s Council and of the Judicial Committee of +Parliament were recorded in the vernacular, and the early laws of David +I., William the Lion, Alexander II., and Robert I., were translated +into Scotch in the same century. The ancient code of burgh laws was +also rendered into Scotch, and the records of the proceedings of the +burghs in the fifteenth century were mostly written in the current +vernacular; even some of the records of the religious houses then +began to be engrossed in the Scotch dialect. Then, as now, there +were two distinct living languages in Scotland――the Gaelic and the +Lowland Scotch――and in each of these two languages, respectively, the +traditions, the legends, the ballads, the poetry, and the tales of the +nation were embodied, and were more or less familiar to the humblest of +the people in the kingdom. + + + + + CHAPTER XII. + + _Education, Music, and Art of the Period._ + + +IT was indicated in preceding pages that there were schools at an early +period attached to the monasteries, and in some of the royal burghs. +In the fourteenth century there were different classes of schools; +the grammar schools in some of the royal burghs were partly under the +patronage of the magistrates, but most of the schools were under the +control of the Church. Robert I. sometimes gave assistance to persons +carrying on their studies at the schools, and in 1364 David II. +gave four pounds for the maintenance and clothing of a poor scholar, +“consanguinei domini regis.” By a mandate of Robert II. four pounds +was given to assist a poor scholar studying at the school of the +burgh of Haddington in 1384; and in 1382 five pounds six shillings +and eightpence were paid from the Exchequer for the expenses of two +scholars of Bute. It appears that the rectors and masters of the +schools of the period were frequently employed to discharge duties +connected with the customs and the revenue. Master William Tranent, +rector of the schools of Haddington, also acted as clerk of the cocket +of Haddington and North Berwick; and the master of the school of Cupar +sometimes acted as a collector of custom. Gilbert of Hay, son of Thomas +of Hay, who was studying at the schools of St. Andrews in 1384, by +mandate of Robert II., received twenty-six shillings to assist him, and +two years after he received thirty-two shillings for dress; the King’s +natural son, James, at the same time was studying at the schools of St. +Andrews.¹ The grammar schools of Glasgow were founded before the middle +of the fifteenth century, and were under the control of the Chancellor +of the diocese. Of course Latin was taught in the grammar schools of +the chief burghs of the kingdom, and in the schools connected with the +monasteries; but whether the scholars were instructed in the current +Scotch language at any of these schools during this period, has not +been clearly ascertained. From the numerous writings and documents of +various kinds produced in the vernacular in the fifteenth century, it +would seem probable that the Scotch language was taught in some of the +schools of the period. + + ¹ _Exchequer Rolls of Scotland_, Volumes I., II., III. + +The first Educational Act was passed by Parliament in 1496. This +statute enjoined that the barons and freeholders of the kingdom should +send their eldest sons and heirs to the schools till they were well +instructed in Latin; and thereafter to attend the universities for +a term of three years to study arts and law; in order that justice +might reign throughout the kingdom, that the sheriffs and other judges +acting under the authority of the King might know how to administer +equal justice to all the people; so that “the poor people might have no +need to apply to the King for every small injury.” Those who failed to +comply with the provisions of the Act were to be fined twenty pounds to +the King.¹ + + ¹ _Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland_, Volume II. page 238. + +The first Scotch university was a very simple institution. It was +originated by a few men, who had some knowledge of literature and +philosophy, and formed an association in St. Andrews under the +patronage of Bishop Wardlaw, with the laudable aim of imparting +instruction to all those who desired to attend their lectures. They +commenced to deliver public lectures in 1410; and the Pope’s Bull, +which sanctioned the establishment of the University, arrived on the +3rd of February, 1413. The following morning the clergy assembled in +the refectory of the monastery, where the Bull was presented to Bishop +Wardlaw, as Chancellor of the Institution, and read aloud; and they +then proceeded to the high altar singing the _Te Deum_. After this +the learned clerks and church dignitaries spent the day in celebrating +the event with a festivity and rejoicing worthy of its significance. +On the 6th of February a grand procession was held, which at once +commemorated the arrival of St. Andrew’s bones and the inauguration of +the privileges of the new University. The teaching staff consisted of +four lecturers on the canon law, and three teachers of philosophy and +logic. + +Chiefly through the efforts of Bishop Turnbull, the University of +Glasgow was founded in 1451 on the model of that of Bologna, under +the authority and sanction of the Pope. In 1453 James II. extended his +protection to all the members of the University――the rector, the deans +of faculties, the procurators of nations, the regents, the masters, and +the students; and also the writers, the stationers, parchment makers, +and the sacrists; and he exempted them from all tribute, service, taxes, +watching or warding, and all dues imposed or hereafter to be imposed +in the kingdom of Scotland.¹ The University was poorly endowed. In 1459 +Lord Hamilton granted to the University a house in the city and four +acres of land on the Dovehill. In November 1475, John Laing, Bishop of +Glasgow, gave to the University two books for the use of the regents, +one of which contained the text of the Physics, and other treatises +of Aristotle. Shortly after, Duncan Bunch, a former regent, gave seven +volumes to the University, which contained treatises of Aristotle and +his commentators, and also “una Biblia in pergamino in parvo volumine +litera optima complete scripta.” In 1483 John Brown, also formerly +a regent, presented to the University thirteen volumes, embracing +treatises of a similar character to the preceding volumes; but +none of these early manuscript donations to the University have +been preserved.² This University had to struggle long with adverse +circumstances and lack of funds. + + ¹ _Origines Parochiales Scotiæ_, Volume I., page 9. + + ² _Glasgow University Library_, by William P. Dickson, LL.D. + +William Elphinston had received all the advantages of education +which home and foreign universities could give him, and he made an +excellent use of it. He was appointed Bishop of Aberdeen in 1483. He +had discharged the duties of Chancellor and Privy Seal of Scotland, and +was entrusted with several important embassies. He erected the central +tower of his cathedral; and he built at his own cost a stone bridge +across the river Dee. In 1494 at Elphinston’s earnest solicitation, +James IV. obtained from the Pope a bull for the institution of the +University of Aberdeen, and the King conferred on all its members the +same privileges as those granted by James II. to the University of +Glasgow, and by James I. to St. Andrews. The branches taught in the +newly instituted University were civil and canon law, theology, and +medicine. + +The Scottish Universities were instituted as a branch of the system +of Catholic education which had its head and centre in Rome, and +they were incorporated members of one great educational scheme which +embraced Europe in its folds. Thus they were closely associated with +the Universities of the Continent. In fact, the constitution of the +Scotch Universities were formed on the models of those of Paris, +Bologna, and Louvain. + +Some knowledge of Latin was a qualification required from all the +entrants to the Universities, but Greek was not taught in Scotland +before the sixteenth century. It appears that Arts was the first +faculty constituted, which seems to have been the fundamental faculty +in the Universities of the Middle Ages. In the latter half of the +fifteenth century Scotsmen had become well known as able and ready +teachers in the Universities of the Continent. Scotland then sent +from her native Universities to those of France and other countries, +as teachers of philosophy, Thomas Otterburne, Henry Leighton, Robert +Fleming, Thomas Mushet, Umfrid Hume, and James Martin. The license to +teach and a ready command of Latin, were the passports of the Scottish +scholars through the Universities of Europe. + +The early Scottish music seems to have been interwoven with the +national songs and dances; but a people might have many songs and yet +have little music. So far as has been ascertained, it appears that the +earliest Scotch melodies were very simple, and consisted of one measure; +and these simple tunes no doubt originated at a remote period. But +in Scotland, as in other Catholic countries, the ancient vocal music +was overlaid by that of the Church. “From the very earliest periods of +descant, ecclesiastical musicians had been in the habit of taking the +popular melodies of the time and working them into the services of the +sanctuary.”¹ The Gregorian chant was taught in the Scotch cathedrals +and in the early schools; and organs began to be introduced into the +churches of Scotland in the reign of James I. + + ¹ Hullah’s _History of Modern Music_, pages 33‒35, 77, + _et seq._ + +As already indicated, singing and dancing were popular in Scotland +during this period. There were professional singers, both male and +female, and harpers, luters, and fiddlers. James IV. often gave small +sums of money to singers, fiddlers, harpers, and dancers; and some +notable characters occasionally performed before the King, such as the +broken-backed fiddler in St. Andrews, who received nine shillings from +the King, and the crooked vicar of Dumfries, who sang to the King at +Lochmaben. In 1487 there were three public pipers in Edinburgh, who +were supported in the following manner:――“For the honour of the city, +the provost and council enacted that the common pipers of the burgh +should be fed, and that they should go and get their food in turn from +all persons of means; or if the pipers took wages, then they should +live thereon for that day; and all those who did not give them food, +should pay to them ninepence on their day, that is, to each piper +threepence at the least.” There were similar officials in the other +burghs of the kingdom, and they were sometimes called minstrels; +but their functions were well understood, and consisted in playing +favourite pieces of music in their progresses through the town +every morning and evening; and on high occasions they attended the +magistrates in their official character.¹ + + ¹ _Burgh Records of Edinburgh_, Volume I., page 52; _Accounts + of the Lord Treasurer_, Volume I. + +Although the human voice is the first and the best of all instruments, +still the development and improvement of musical art greatly depended +on instruments. The performance of a varied piece of music required +many instruments, and skill in making these was an essential condition +of success. To harmonise the sounds of a number of wind and stringed +instruments is an extremely difficult matter; and the tuning of +instruments to play together was long of reaching such a state of +perfection as in any degree satisfied the musical perceptions and +sensibilities of the human mind. The noblest keyed instrument, the +organ, was brought to considerable perfection in the fourteenth century, +and by the end of the succeeding century it might be said to have been +almost perfected. But the Scots at this period were far behind several +other European nations in the art of making musical instruments. Many +musical instruments, however, were then in use amongst the Scots; and +in a rhyme written in the fifteenth century, upwards of twenty musical +instruments were mentioned; while the harp, the lute, the pipes, and +some kind of a fiddle, were quite common. The principle of the stringed +instrument was known from a very early period, but the fiddle or +violin has undergone many modifications. In the Middle Ages there were +instruments somewhat resembling the violin, but the art of making and +perfecting this fine instrument has been the work of comparatively +modern times. + +Religion, dramatic representations or plays, and dancing, were all +associated with music. Dramatic exhibitions founded on mystical +passages of the Scriptures, and hence called mysteries, were sometimes +performed in the churches as acts of devotion in the Middle Ages. These +were succeeded by moral plays, which approached somewhat nearer to the +form of the drama, still presenting, however, a curious and grotesque +jumble of characters. While at this period it is sometimes difficult to +distinguish a dramatic actor from the bands of rope-dancers, buffoons, +jesters, fools, singers, and fiddlers, who amused the kings and the +nobles, as several of these callings were at times exercised by the +same person. James IV. retained two or three fools, and frequent +payments to them occur in the accounts. + +In the department of painting there is little to record. The names of +painters occur in the records during the reigns of David II. and Robert +II., but there is no evidence that they were artists. Andrew, called +the painter, was engaged in connection with the mint; and John, the +painter, of Aberdeen, was employed to paint the armorial banners of +David II. James I. had a painter called Matthew, who was engaged at the +work in connection with the erection of the Palace of Linlithgow; and +a payment for materials to John, the King’s painter, also occurs in the +records. Payments to painters were made in the reigns of James II. and +James III. James IV. gave his painter, David Pratt, an annual fee of +ten pounds, besides payment for the work which he executed. In 1497 +he was engaged in painting the altar in the new chapel at Stirling. He +died in 1503. At the same period John Pratt, the painter, painted and +gilded the vanes of the King’s tents, and emblazoned the King’s coat +armour.¹ As indicated above, however, these men were not artists. + + ¹ _Exchequer Rolls_; _Accounts of the Lord Treasurer_. + +In one of the minor arts, seal engraving on metal, some good work was +executed in Scotland. The seals of the preceding period were briefly +described, and the art of seal-making maintained its excellency in the +fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The Great and the Privy Seals of +the Scottish Kings present good specimens of this branch of art. The +Privy Seal showed the royal arms only. The Great Seal of Robert I. is a +very fine piece of work; and the Privy Seal of David II. is exceedingly +beautiful both in design and execution. The Great Seal of Robert II. +exhibited a change of costume in the equestrian figure of the King +corresponding with the change in the style of armour, and the lettering +is finely executed. The goldsmith was paid twenty marks for making the +matrix of this seal. Some of the seals of the first Earl of Douglas are +very beautiful. On the seal of the Countess of Mar of date 1405, the +figure of a lady holding a shield in each hand was represented. Figures +of the peacock and the swan were depicted on several of the seals of +the period. + +About the beginning of the fifteenth century the design of the +Episcopal seals underwent a change. Instead of the simple figure of +the bishop in pontifical vestments, which had formerly been the usual +form, either a representation of the Trinity, the Virgin, or the patron +saint, within a niche or beneath a canopy, became the prevailing style. +The rich architectural designs of a number of the seals present very +fine illustrations of that art; and a pretty accurate idea of the +characteristics of the church architecture of the period might be +formed from an examination of them.¹ + + ¹ Laing’s _Ancient Scottish Seals_. + +In conclusion, the volume opened with an explanation of the aim and +scope of the work. A description of the geographical and physical +features of the country, and the influence of climate, soil, and +food, on the organisation of early society, were presented. The +method of historic interpretation in connection with the early stages +of the human race was then touched on; the interpretation and the +sequent arrangement of the prehistoric phenomena of Scotland, and the +discrimination of historic evidence followed. The ethnological problem +came next, and after a brief statement touching the cradle and the +language of the Aryans, the ethnology of Scotland was concisely treated. +The Stone and the Bronze periods were treated at length, and a summary +of the conclusions reached, touching the social condition, the religion, +and the culture of the prehistoric people, was presented. The Roman +Invasion, new historic conditions, the conflicts of the different +races and tribes, which issued in the foundation of the Monarchy, were +treated. An account of the introduction of Christianity was given, +and its influence on the people pointed out. The narrative of the +progressive extension of the kingdom was then resumed and continued +to the close of the eleventh century; and it was observed that nothing +had occurred to arrest the onward movement and civilisation of the +people. The state of society from the seventh century to the end of +the eleventh was treated at length, the clan organisation, the relation +of the people to the land, and social customs were explained. Early +architecture and the sculptured stones were handled at some length, +in their historic relation to the people; the chief characteristics of +Celtic art were briefly considered, and the Introduction closed with +a notice of the fragments of early and traditional literature. + +A critical estimate of the Anglo-Norman colonisation, and the result +of the introduction of Norman Feudalism on the Civilisation of +Scotland was presented. The narrative of the conflict of the nation +was resumed and continued to the death of the Maid of Norway. A very +full account of the social state and the progress of the people in the +twelfth and thirteenth centuries was given, and the organisation and +characteristics of Norman Feudalism explicated. The lamentable position +of the nation arising from the disputed succession to the throne, the +claims and proceedings of Edward I., and the candidates for the Crown, +was narrated. Edward’s invasion of Scotland, the submission of the +nobles, the deposition of Baliol, and the nation under the heel of +the invader, were explained. The appearance of Wallace upon the scene, +the rising led by him, his heroic struggles against the invaders, his +capture and cruel execution, and the influence of his example upon the +nation, were narrated at length. At last the nation seemed completely +subdued, and Edward I. prepared a scheme for the government of Scotland; +but a worthy successor of Wallace immediately appeared and mounted the +throne of Scotland, and commenced to retake the kingdom from the enemy. +Bruce’s followers were few in number, and he had to contend against +fearful odds; but after a desperate and long struggle his heroic +efforts culminated in the decisive and glorious Battle of Bannockburn; +and the subsequent acknowledgment of the independence of the kingdom. +The narrative of the external and internal conflicts of the nation was +continued to the Battle of Flodden. An exhaustive account of the social +condition of the nation in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries was +presented, in which many subjects of the highest historic interest +and national importance were treated and explained. After giving an +account of the literature of the period, the volume concluded with +a concise review of education, music, and art. Finally, this volume +gives a continuous view of the people from the earliest traces of their +occupation of the country onward, and of their condition, culture, and +civilisation. + + + + + INDEX. + + + Abercorn, i., 116; + castle of, 343, 390; + Earl of, iii., 19. + + Abercromby, Dr. Patrick, iv., 143. + + Aberdeen, i., 148, 151, 234, 238‒9, 264, 284, 288, 306, 325, 366, + 370, 386‒7, 390; + ii., 116, 123, 192, 202, 212, 241, 247; + iii., 28, 90, 91, 219, 223, 228; + iv., 370, 375; + University of, i., 415, 467; + ii., 412, 413; + iii., 62, 392‒3; + iv., 60, 139, 317‒320. + + Aberdeen, Earl of, iv., 482. + + Aberdeenshire, i., 28, 49, 52, 68, 75, 90, 95, 140, 184, 271, 284, + 287, 325; + ii., 154; + iii., 244; + iv., 370, 371. + + Abernethy, i., 114, 165, 245. + + Aboyne, i., 174; + Viscount of, iii., 93. + + Ada, daughter of Earl David, i., 204, 256. + + Adam, + Dr. Alexander, iv., 153; + William, Robert, James, 402. + + Adamson, Archbishop of St. Andrews, ii., 182‒4, 189, 271, 380. + + Aed, King, i., 136. + + Agricola, General, i., 105, 109. + + Agriculture, i., 100, 133, 150, 250‒254, 376‒381; + ii., 266, 289, 290; + iii., 303‒305; + iv., 332‒339. + + Aidan, King of Dalriada, i., 117‒8. + + Aikman, iv., ♦429. + + ♦ page number provided by transcriber + + Airlie, Earl of, iii., 90; + castle of, 337. + + Alan, Lord of Galloway, i., 211. + + Albany, + Duke of, i., 319, 321‒2, 324‒6; + Murdoch, 326, 327, 328; + Alexander, 348‒351; + John, Regent, ii., 36‒37. + + Ale, i., 251, 399, 400, 401, 402, 404; + ii., 291‒292; + iii., 217‒219; + iv., 395. + + Alexander I., reign of, i., 200, 201. + + Alexander II., reign of, i., 209‒212, 242. + + Alexander, III., + coronation of, i., 213; + reign of, 213‒217. + + Alexander, William, iv., 209‒211. + + Alison, + Rev. Archibald, iv., 86; + Sir Archibald, 155‒6; + Dr. William, 312. + + Allan, + David, iv., 433; + Sir William, 443. + + Alloa, iv., 433. + + Alnwick castle, i., 143, 300. + + Amberley, Viscount, ii., 43, 44. + + Anderson, + Dr. Joseph, i., 52, 55, 57, 61, 65, 66, 168, 180; + William, ii., 68; + James, iv., 143, 144; + Robert, 173. + + Angles, i., 113, 118, 119. + + Angus, + Pictish King, i., 120; + Angus, Chief, 116, 202; + Angus Duff, 329; + Angus, Lord of the Isles, 218, 285, 292, 293; + Angus, Earl of, 342, 343, 350, 351; + ii., 36, 37, 38, 61, 63, 64, 65, 181, 195, 212. + + Annandale, i., 26, 203, 223, 349. + + Annandale, Earl of, iii., 179. + + Anne, Queen, iii., 204, 205, 209, 211, 220, 222. + + Anstruther, ii., 192. + + Arbroath, + monastery of, i., 249, 296, 432, 433, 434; + town of, 238, 409; + iii., 93, 301; + iv., 375. + + Arbuthnot, + Alexander, ii., 372, 373, 413; + Dr. John, iv., 228‒230. + + Architecture, i., 157‒165, 247‒250, 428‒431; + ii., 396, 397; + iii., 396‒7; + iv., 401‒411. + + Ardnamurchan, i., 24, 261, 356; + iii., 90. + + Ardoch, i., 106. + + Argyle, + Earl of, i., 356‒7, 364, 365; + ii., 63, 64, 89, 96, 97, 130, 134, 135, 145, 150, 181, 201, + 202, 224, 226, 229; + iii., 90, 91, 92, 99, 104, 121, 123, 159, 167, 192; + Duke of, 206, 223, 241. + + Argyleshire, i., 53, 116, ♦117, 121, 127, 210, 261, 369; + iii., 91; iv. + + ♦ “177” replaced with “117” + + Arkinholm, battle of, i., 343. + + Armada, ii., 191, 192. + + Armstrong, + John, a marauder, ii., 224, 225; + Dr. John, iv., 169. + + Arran, island of, i., 23, 95, 216, 286, 379, 380. + + Arran, + Earl of, i., 346; + Regent, ii., 63, 65, 67, 70, 74, 78, 86, 87; + Stewart, Earl of Arran, 175, 177, 181, 184, 185, 187. + + Arrowheads, i., 49, 50. + + Art, + early, i., 52, 75‒79, 166‒174, 176‒180, 241‒243, 470, 471; + ii., 423‒425; + iii., 393‒396; + Progress of, in Scotland, iv., 428. + + Aryan race, i., 38‒42; + language of, 43. + + Arth, a friar, ii., 51‒53. + + Asceticism, i., 131, 156, 157, 244; + ii., 43‒46, 261, 262. + + Assembly, General, + ii., 115, 129, 149, 151, 160, 166, 167, 169, 188, 193, 211, + 213; + iii., 28, 34, 36, 39, 69‒72, 77, 83, 84, 98, 104, 186; + iv., 465‒485. + + Athole, + Earl of, i., 208, 209, 214, 217, 255, 263, 283, 285, 305, 306, + 335, 337; + ii., 143, 148; + iii., 110; + Marquis of, 174; + Duke of, 207, 212. + + Attwood, iv., 143, 144. + + Auldearn, battle of, iii., 94. + + Ayr, + Burgh of, i., 240, 356, 359, 386, 387; + ii., 69; + iii., 303; + iv., 369‒372; + Castle of, i., 215, 248, 274, 287. + + Ayrshire, i., 29, 114, 286, 287, 379; + ii., 78; + iii., 134, 153; + iv., 341, 342. + + Aytoun, William E., iv., 194. + + + Bacon, Lord, ii., 395; + iii., 434‒435. + + Badenoch, i., 211, 276, 356; + iii., 181. + + Badenoch, Lord of, i., 217, 256, 271, 274, 275, 277. + + Baillie, + General, iii., 93, 94, 95; + Rev. Robert, 75, 76, 87, 88, 357, 358. + + Bain, Dr. Alexander, ii., 420; + iv., 139, 140, 141, 155. + + Balcanqhall, Walter, ii., 177, 184, 187, 206. + + Balfour, + Sir James, ii., 75, 135, 144, 146; + John, of Burley, iii., 151, 153, 343; + Sir Andrew, 369. + + Baliol, Bernard de, i., 203. + + Baliol, + King John, i., 256, 258, 259, 260‒262, 263, 264, 366; + Edward, 304, 305, 306, 307. + + Ballads, + early, i., 184‒5, 441‒450; + ii., 76, 77, 244, 245, 341‒345; + referring to the Civil War and persecution, iii., 237‒346; + Jacobite ballads, 346‒353. + + Balmerino, Lord, iii., 18, 60. + + Bancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury, iii., 32. + + Bane, Donald, King, i., 144. + + Banff, i., 148, 248, 307, 385, 390, 391; + iii., 301; + iv., 373. + + Bank of Scotland established, iii., 327‒329. + + Bannatyne, George, ii., 371, 372. + + Bannockburn, battle of, i., 291‒295. + + Barbour, John, i., 451‒454. + + Barclay, + Robert, iii., 258; + Dr., iv., 308. + + Barlow, Bishop, ii., 54, 56. + + Barmekyn hill, fort on, i., 90. + + Barony, i., 223, 225. + + Barton, Captain, i., 359, 363. + + Beaton, + James, Archbishop, ii., 38, 58; + David, Cardinal, 58, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70‒72, 79. + + Beaumont, Henry, i., 301, 305, 306. + + Beck, Bishop of Durham, i., 266, 270. + + Bede, i., 116, 122, 126. + + Bellhaven, Lord, iii., 197, 211‒12. + + Bell Rock, i., 23. + + Bell, + Dr. John, iv., 306, 307; + Sir Charles, 307, 308. + + Bellenden, + John, ii., 317, 318; + Sir John, 158; + Sir Lewis, 274. + + Berkeley, Bishop, iii., 470, 471. + + Berwick-North, i., 387, 389. + + Berwick, i., 206, 233, 234, 236, 238, 239, 248, 259, 260, 263, + 264, 268, 279, 285, 295, 305, 350, 382; + Treaty of, ii., 100, 272. + + Bible, translations of, ii., 25‒27, 49, 170. + + Bisset, Thomas, i., 271. + + Black, + David, ii., 204‒206; + Dr. Joseph iv., 260‒263, 273, 276, 278. + + Blackadder, John, iii., 139. + + Blackie, John S., iv., 247‒249. + + Blakey, Robert, iv., 160. + + Blacklock, Dr. Thomas, iv., 171, 172. + + Blair, + Robert, iv., 169, 170; + Dr. Hugh, 215. + + Blair Athole, iii., 90. + + Blair Castle, iii., 181. + + Bœce, Hector, ii., 316. + + Bondmen, i., 252, 380‒382. + + Book of Common Order, ii., 113, 114; + Book of Discipline, the first, 105‒113; + the second, 171‒173. + + Book of Canons, iii., 45, 46. + + Boot and shoe manufactures, iv., 392, 393. + + Borders, + state of, i., 309, 315‒318, 322, 324, 342; + ii., 223‒225; + order established on the Borders, iii., 20‒28. + + Borthwick Castle, ii., 143. + + Bothwell, + Earl of, i., 353, 426; + ii., 69, 131, 133, 134, 135, 136, 138‒145; + Francis Stewart, Earl of, 198, 272, 273, 274‒276. + + Bothwell Bridge, Battle of, iii., 153, 154. + + Botriphnie, i., 378; + iv., 197. + + Bower, Walter, i., 376, 463. + + Boyd, + Robert, of Kilmarnock, i., 283; + Robert, Lord Boyd, 345, 346, 347; + Sir Thomas, created Earl of Arran, 146, 147. + + Boyd, Zachary, iii., 358, 359. + + Braemar, iii., 222. + + Brahmanism, ii., 428, 429, 431, 433. + + Braxfield, Lord, iv., 458. + + Breadalbane, Earl of, iii., 190, 191. + + Brechin, i., 138, 164, 183, 238, 249, 276, 409; + Castle of, 264, 276; + Battle of, 342. + + Bridges, Early, i., 250. + + Briggs, Henry, ii., 389, 390, 391. + + Brigham, treaty of, i., 218. + + Britons of Strathclyde, i., 113, 114, 117, 123‒125, 138. + + Britons and Scots, early laws of, i., 151‒153. + + Brochs, i., 157‒163. + + Brodick Castle, i., 286. + + Brodie, + Alexander, iii., 255; + William, iv., 454. + + Bronze weapons and tools, i., 74‒79. + + Brooches, i., 117‒119. + + Brown, + Janet, ii., 231; + Dr. Thomas, iv., 87‒97; + John, 216; + Dr. John, 217; + Dr. William L., 218, 219. + + Bruce, + Robert, of Annandale, i., 203, 218, 255, 256, 257, 258, 259, + 260; + Robert, Earl of Carrick, 266, 267, 271, 276, 278, 281‒283. + + Bruce, + Nigel, Thomas, Alexander, i., 285; + Edward, 287, 290, 291, 292; + Robert, ii., 201, 208, 216, 381, 382; + Michael, iv., 177. + + Brude, King of the Picts, i., 127. + + Bruno, Giordano, writings of, iii., 399‒401. + + Brunston, Laird of, ii., 69. + + Buchan, Earl of, i., 208, 209, 211, 213, 217, 262, 287, 288, 319, + 325, 352, 353, 373. + + Buchan, Peter, i., 446. + + Buchanan, + George, ii., 58, 145; + writings of, 364‒369, 409; + Thomas, 260; + Dr. Robert, iv., 224. + + Buddha, his life and work, ii., 429‒432. + + Buddhism, ii., 233, 432. + + Burghs, + the origin and organisation of, i., 33, 82, 83, 152, 232‒237; + Custom and trade of, 382‒391; + Social life and characteristics of the burghal communities, + 397‒408, 414, 438, 439; + ii., 230‒243, 291‒294; + iii., 245‒248, 274‒278, 283‒289. + + Burghs of regality, barony, and church, i., 226, 237, 238, 408, + 409. + + Burial dues exacted by the Church, ii., 39, 40. + + Burnet, + Bishop, his works, iii., 364‒366; + John, iv., 441. + + Burns, Robert, iv., 179‒182. + + Burntisland, iii., 301. + + Burton, Dr. John H., iv., 160. + + + Caerlaverock Castle, i., 247, 272. + + Cairns, burial, chambered, i., 53‒64, 91, 92. + + Caithness, + prehistoric structures in, i., 53‒58; + Norseman inroads, 136, 138, 139. + + Caithness, Earls of, i., 207, 208; + ii., 227; + iii., 237, 238, 239. + + Calderwood, David, iii., 38, 356, 357. + + Caledonians, i., 105‒109, 110, 111, 114. + + Caledonian Canal, iv., 354. + + Calvin, ii., 119, 357‒360. + + Cambuskenneth, i., 249, 367. + + Cameron of Lochiel, i., 356; + iii., 181. + + Cameron, Richard, iii., 155, 156. + + Cameronians, iii., 155, 174, 185, 186, 187. + + Campbell of Glenlyon, iii., 192. + + Campbell, + Sir Colin, iii., 395; + Dr. John, iv., 144; + Dr. George, 85, 86; + Thomas, his writings, 185‒187; + Colin, architect, 402; + Thomas, sculptor, 454. + + Candlish, Dr. R. T., iv., 221, 222. + + Canterbury, Archbishop of, i., 200, 201, 272. + + Cantyre, i., 21, 215, 261, 285, 348. + + Canute, i., 139, 192. + + Carberry Hill, ii., 144. + + Cardross, i., 302, 303. + + Cargill, Donald, iii., 155, 156, 157. + + Carham, battle of, i., 138. + + Carlisle, i., 210, 318; + iii., 227. + + Carlyle, + Thomas, iv., 156‒159; + Dr. Alexander, 19, 43, 44. + + Carmichael, Lord, iii., 186, 187. + + Carmichael, + John, of ♦Meadowflat, iii., 27; + William, 151; + Gershom, iv., 18. + + ♦ “Meadowflatt” replaced with “Meadowflat” + + ♦Carmon, Colonel, iii., 183. + + ♦ Printed out of alphabetic order. + + Carrick, Earl of, i., 217, 266, 271, 278, 281, 302, 305, 314, + 316. + + Carswell, John, ii., 108. + + Carstairs, William, iii., 178, 179. + + Carved woodwork, i., 430; + ii., 423. + + Casket Letters, ii., 141, 142; + iv., 145. + + Cassillis, Earl of, i., 365; + ii., 69, 150; + iii., 19, 56, 87, 99, 104. + + Castellio, Sebastia, ii., 359. + + Castles, i., 247, 248, 428, 430; + ii., 422, 423. + + Catechisms, ii., 77, 78, 85, 109, 110; + iii., 89. + + Caterthun, hill fort, i., 89, 90. + + Cathen, the King’s adviser, i., 125. + + Caves, i., 43, 83, 163. + + Celestius, ii., 356. + + Celibacy, i., 131, 156, 244, 245; + ii., 21, 22, 41‒43, 45, 46, 261, 262. + + Celtic tribes, i., 44, 45, 90, 100, 101, 105, 110, 113‒116, 119. + + Censorship of the press, ii., 277, 278. + + Chalmer, James, ii., 90. + + Chalmers, + George, iv., 153; + Dr. Thomas, 219‒221. + + Chambered Cairns, i., 53‒65. + + Chambers, + Thomas, i., 336, 337; + David, ii., 138; + Dr. Robert, iv., 163. + + Charles I., + reign of, iii., 42‒100; + policy of, 43‒50, 51‒54, 57, 58, 59, 63‒65, 66‒68, 71, 73‒75, + 76, 77, 78‒82, 90, 95, 96, 97. + + Charles II., reign of, iii., 103, 107, 110, 119‒163. + + Charles Stewart, prince, iii., 226‒229. + + Charters, i., 148, 201, 223‒225, 227, 232‒234, 373, 387, 422. + + Chartularies, i., 247. + + Chatelherault, Duke of, ii., 86, 130. + + Chemical Science, iv., 260‒266, 273, 286, 296‒298, 397. + + Chepman, Walter, ii., 300‒302. + + Christian I., King of Denmark, i., 346. + + Christianity, + introduced, i., 121‒129; + early form of, 130‒134; + influence of, 134, 135, 168, 181, 186, 232, 245, 248‒250, 288, + 289, 466, 467; + ii., 437‒439, 443. + + Church, + early, i., 130‒134, 155‒157, 200, 201; + re-organisation of, 212, 213, 243‒245; + property of, 227, 252‒254, 380, 431‒433; + state of, 332, 333, 431, 432; + ii., 40‒43, 51, 76‒78, 79, 102. + + Church, the Reformed, + organisation of, ii., 104‒115; + conflict with the Government, 165‒173, 177‒189, 192‒194, + 197‒220; + iii., 20‒42, 46‒82, 83‒87, 95‒101, 110, 120‒163, 164‒169; + internal struggles of, iv., 467, _et seq._ + + Circuit Courts, i., 222, 355, 356, 424; + Lords of Council, Judicial Committee, i., 370, 371; + Court of Session, ii., 216, 223; + iii., 112, 113, 124, 232‒235; iv.; + Church Courts, i., 227, 230, 371. + + Cists, i., 55, 93, 95. + + Civilisation, + primary causes of, i., 19‒20, 31‒33, 34, 35; + ii., 426, 427; + gradual progress of, i., 53, 70, 71, 98‒102, 119‒121, 135, + 149‒151, 161, 164, 169, 170, 181‒188, 232‒241, 245‒55, + 330‒332, 366‒371, 382‒397, 408, 418‒422, 465‒472; + ii., 109, 278‒291, 398, 419; + iii., 101, 102, 294‒335; + rapid development of, iii., 215; + iv., 142‒145, 165, 284, 324‒332; _et seq._, 341‒400. + + Clackmannan, iv., 343. + + Claim of Right, + of the Scotch Parliament, iii., 176, 177; + Claim of Right, of General Assembly of the Church, iv., 480, + _et seq._ + + Clan, i., 146; + iii., 225. + + Clan Canan, i., 150. + + Clan Morgan, i., 150. + + Clanranald, chief of, i., 356; + ii., 226; + iii., 242, 243. + + Cleland, William, iii., 153. + + Clunymore, i., 378. + + Coal, + early notice of, i., 238, 409; + mining, ii., 286; + iii., 292‒293; + iv., 341‒343. + + Cochrane, Robert, i., 348‒350. + + Cockburne, of Henderland, ii., 224. + + Cockburn, Sir Richard, Sir John, iii., 18. + + Coinage, i., 238, 394‒397; + ii., 279‒282; + iii., 320‒327; + paper currency, 327‒329. + + Coldingham, i., 209, 246. + + Colin, King, i., 137. + + Colliers, iii., 291‒292; + iv., 342‒344. + + Colville, John, i., 448. + + Commerce, i., 239‒240, 391‒394; + ii., 286‒290; + iii., 112, 300‒303, 311; + iv., 352‒357, 359‒363, _et seq._ + + Compurgators, i., 228‒229. + + Comyn, Clan, i., 213‒214. + + Comyn, + John, i., 217, 256, 271, 275, 277; + slaughter of, 281. + + Confessions of Faith, ii., 34‒35, 102, 204‒205; + iii., 89. + + Constantine, Roman general, i., 112. + + Constantine I., son of Kenneth M‘Alpin, i., 136. + + Constantine II., 136‒137. + + Constantine III., 138. + + Conventicles, acts against, iii., 130, 131, 133, 138, 140, 146, + 148, 149. + + Convention of Royal Burgh, i., 234, 235. + + Convention of Estates, iii., 173‒177. + + Cope, Sir John, iii., 226, 227. + + Corrichie, battle of, ii., 123, 124. + + Cotterel, Colonel, iii., 110, 111. + + Covenant, + National, iii., 59‒62; + Solemn League and Covenant, 83‒86. + + Covenanters, iii., 68‒73, 74‒77, 78‒82, 86, 89‒102, 103‒105, 107. + + ♦Craftsmen, i., 335, 336, 404‒408; + ii., 240, 241, 242, 293, 294; + iii., 287‒289. + + ♦ “Craftesmen” replaced with “Craftsmen” + + Craig, + John, ii., 110, 158, 167, 185; + Sir Thomas, 384; + Andrew, iii., 245. + + Craigellachie, iv., 354. + + Craigmiller Castle, i., 349. + + Craigphadrig, vitrified fort, i., 91. + + Crannogs, i., 42, 84‒87. + + Cranstoun, Sir William, iii., 21, 24, 25, 27. + + Crawar, Paul, i., 332. + + Crawford, Earl of, i., 321, 340, 341, 342, 343, 364; + iii., 120, 179, 186. + + Crawford, Sir William, i., 388, 389. + + Crawford Moor, ii., 282; + iii., 293. + + Crichton, Sir William, i., 338, 339, 340. + + Crinan, Abbot of Dunkeld, i., 139, 140. + + Cromwell, iii., 99, 108, 100, 110, 111, 112‒115. + + Culblean, battle of, i., 306. + + Cullen, burgh of, i., 385, 386. + + Culloden, battle of, iii., 229, 230, 351, 352; + iv., 172, 173. + + Cumberland, i., 105, 125, 142. + + Cumberland, Duke of, iii., 228, 229. + + Cummene, i., 181. + + Cunningham, Allan, iv., 192, 193. + + Cupar, i., 465; + iii., 157. + + Curates, under Charles II., iii., 130, 132, 173. + + + Dacre, Lord, ii., 62. + + Dalkeith, iii., 227; + castle of, i., 316, 342; + ii., 423. + + Dalriada, i., 116, 117, 127. + + Dalry, iii., 133. + + Dalrymple, Sir John, iii., 191‒193, 233, 234. + + Dalziel, General, iii., 134, 135, 342. + + Dancing, i., 457, 468; + ii., 124, 125, 415; + iv., 416. + + Darien Colony, iii., 196‒204. + + Darnaway Castle, i., 360; + ii., 124. + + Darnley, ii., 128, 129, 130‒136, 137, 138. + + Dauney, William, iv., 416. + + David I., reign of, i., 201‒204, 221, 223, 224, 225, 227, 228, + 230, 232, 234, 235, 243, 244. + + David II., reign of, i., 304, 306, 307‒313, 429. + + David, Earl of Huntingdon, i., 204, 256. + + Davidson, + John, ii., 198, 214, 373, 374; + Thomas, 302, 303; + John, Principal of the University of Glasgow, 352, 408; + Dr. Patrick, iv., 164. + + Dean of Lismore’s Book, i., 442, 443. + + Defence of the Country, armour, weapons, organisation of the + army, i., 409‒413. + + Denmark, marriage treaty, i., 346. + + Descartes, method and principles of his system, iii., 403‒418. + + Dickson, David, iii., 61, 359. + + Dingwall, i., 385, 386. + + Divorce, ii., 265, 266. + + Donald I., i., 136. + + Donald II., i., 136. + + Donald Bane, i., 144. + + Donald Balloch, i., 329, 330. + + Donald, Lord of the Isles, i., 324‒326. + + Douglas, + Sir William, i., 266, 267; + Sir James, 283, 286, 287, 290, 292, 300, 303; + Sir Archibald, 305, 306; + Sir William, 307; + Sir John of Dalkeith, 342; + Sir James, 435; + Sir William of Drumlanrig, 389; + Sir James, ii., 225; + George of Parkhead, 284, 285; + Sir Archibald, iii., 18. + + Douglas, Earl of, i., 316, 317, 318, 321, 323, 326, 338, 339, + 340, 341, 342, 343, 349, 388, 389, 390. + + Douglas, + Gavin, ii., 36, 310‒315; + Dr. James, iv., 320. + + Drumclog, battle of, iii., 153. + + Drummond, + Lord, i., 360; + ii., 228; + Earl of Perth, iii., 171, 172; + Lady Margaret, i., 360. + + Drummond, + General, iii., 135; + James, 227; + William, 366, 367. + + Dryburgh, Monastery, ii., 66. + + Duff, + King, i., 137; + Angus Chief, 329; + + ♦Dumbarton, i., 114, 121; + castle of, 248, 278; + ii., 149, 154, 155; + burgh of, i., 386, 391; + iii., 302, 303; + iv., 361. + + ♦ Separate item, not part of Duff. + + ♦Dumfries, + Castle of, i., 248, 290; + burgh of, 282, 356, 384; + ii., 131, 186; + iii., 24, 27, 134, 212, 228, 342, 386; + iv., 371. + + ♦ Printed out of alphabetic order. + + ♦Dumplin, battle of, i., 305. + + ♦ Printed out of alphabetic order. + + Dunaverty Castle, i., 285, 355. + + Dunbar, + Castle, i., 263, 383; + ii., 133, 140, 141, 143, 149; + town of, i., 383, 503; + iii., 227, 300, 387; + battle of, 109. + + Dunbar, Earl of, i., 212, 214, 217, 218; + iii., 18, 25, 26, 30. + + Dunbar, William, ii., 303‒310. + + Dunblane, + cathedral, i., 249; + ii., 423; + city of, i., 238, 408. + + Duncan I., i., 139, 140. + + Duncan II., i., 143, 144. + + Duncan, Dr. Andrew, iv., 302‒304. + + Dundee, i., 83, 119, 248, 265, 267, 288, 387, 391, 437; + ii., 69, 93, 197, 202, 233, 235, 237, 240, 243, 400; + iii., 93, 223, 301, 303; + iv., 243, 331, 357, 358, 375, 376. + + Dundee, Viscount, iii., 174, 175, 181, 182, 183. + + Dunfermline, + Abbey of, i., 141, 144, 156, 239, 248, 252, 303, 385; + burgh of, 238, 258, 408; + ii., 400; + iv., 375. + + Dunfermline, Earl of, iii., 18, 30. + + Dunkeld, i., 119; + church of, 120, 134; + abbot of, 138, 139, 143; + bishopric of, 210, 218, 222, 225. + + Dunlop, + John, iv., 155; + Alexander, 480. + + Dunnichen, i., 116. + + Dunnotter, i., 136. + + Duns Law, iii., 74. + + Dunsinnane, i., 91, 92, 140. + + Dupin, Nicolas, iii., 313, 318, 333. + + Durham, i., 203; + battle of, 308; + iii., 97. + + Durham, James, iii., 359. + + ♦Durrisdeer, i., 91. + + ♦ Printed out of alphabetic order. + + Durward, Alan, i., 214, 216. + + Dury, John, ii., 167, 178, 179, 182. + + + Eadmer, i., 200, 201. + + Earth-houses, i., 65‒70. + + Earthenware, iii., 317; + iv., 365, 366. + + Edgar, King, i., 143, 144, 148. + + Edinburgh, + annexed, i., 137, 144, 151, 233, 247, 258, 276, 301, 306, 312, + 317, 319, 338, 352, 354, 370, 388, 389; + ii., 35, 54, 58, 65, 66, 78, 89, 90, 91, 93, 97, 99, 100, + 115, 117, 119, 124, 128, 132, 133, 135, 140, 143, 148, + 151, 154, 163, 167, 179, 183, 203, 206, 213, 219, 237; + iii., 37, 41, 42‒44, 48, 49, 54, 55, 56, 67, 81, 99, 110, + 120, 129, 134, 135, 147, 153, 163, 168, 171‒173, 174‒176, + 180, 182, 186, 203, 206, 213, 219, 227, 236, 241, 274, 285; + iv., 44, 70, 75, 87, 97, 144, 148, 165, 174, 178, 194, 211, + 222, 234, 330, 391, 405‒6; + Castle of, i., 248, 264, 274, 307, 322, 339, 349, 350, 358, + 429; + ii., 101, 134, 142, 144, 149, 152, 155; + iii., 73, 159, 174, 175, 227; + University of, ii., 414‒419; + iii., 392, 393; + iv., 18, 69, 70, 74, 75, 87, 97, 102, 103, 136, 148, 156, + 157, 167, 257, 263, 274, 291‒315. + + Edinburgh, treaty of, ii., 100. + + Edmund, i., 143. + + Education, i., 184, 245, 466; + first Educational Act, 466, 467, 468; + ii., 109, 110, 397‒422; + iii., 375‒393; + iv., 324‒330. + + Edward I., policy of, i., 218, 219, 255‒260, 261, 262, 263‒265, + 266, 269‒271, 272, 273‒279, 283, 287. + + Edward II., i., 287, 290, 291, 292, 293, 294, 296, 298, 299, 300. + + Edward III., + Invasions of Scotland, i., 305, 306, 307; + policy of, 309, 310, 311, 312. + + Edward IV., i., 348, 349, 351. + + Edward VI., ii., 75, 86, 87. + + Egfrid, defeat of, i., 116. + + Eglinton, Earl of, ii., 140, 229; + iii., 56, 75, 99. + + Elgin, i., 139, 264, 385, 390; + ii., 251; + iii., 92, 94; + iv., 370; + + Elizabeth, wife of Robert I., i., 303. + + Elizabeth, Queen, ii., 92, 93, 99, 100, 145, 150, 220; + iv., 147. + + Elliot, Robert, iii., 27. + + Ellon, iv., 370. + + Elphinstone, Bishop, i., 467; + ii., 300, 301. + + Elphinstone, + Lord, iii., 19; + master of, 292. + + England, policy of toward Scotland, i., 206, 214, 218, 257‒260, + 261, 263‒265, 271, 273, 278, 280, 283, 287, 299, 300, 301, + 305, 306, 309, 310, 322, 349, 361, 362; + ii., 54‒57, 63‒67, 76, 99‒101, 155; + iii., 179, 183, 184, 190‒193, 198, 201‒204, 206, 217‒221. + + English language, i., 441, 443, 464. + + English money, i., 396; + ii., 282; + one standard fixed, iii., 216. + + Eocha, King, i., 136. + + Episcopacy, ii., 108, 109, 157‒160, 164‒171, 177, 182‒185, 188, + 210‒218; + iii., 28‒42, 44‒69; + abolished, 70‒72; + reintroduced, 122‒128; + again abolished, 180, 181, 184. + + Erc, Chief, i., 116. + + Eric II., King of Norway, i., 217, 259. + + Errol, Earl of, i., 365, 373; + ii., 195, 196, 199, 201, 212; + iii., 19. + + Erskine, + Lord Robert, i., 334; + John, of Dun, ii., 88, 89, 93, 108, 158, 185; + Rev. Ebenezer, iv., 213; + Rev. Ralph, 213; + Dr. John, 213, 214; + Thomas, Lord, 232‒234. + + Ethnology, i., 38‒43; + of Scotland, 43‒47, 114, 115, 116, 118. + + Etive, Loch, vitrified fort on, i., 91. + + Evans, Dr. John, i., 50, 51. + + Exchequer, i., 221. + + Excise, difficulties connected with, iii., 217‒219; + iv., 395, 396. + + Excommunication of Robert I., i., 295, 303; + form of, ii., 255, 257. + + + Fairfax, iii., 342. + + Falasie, i., 192. + + Falkirk, battle of, i., 269‒271; + iii., 228. + + Falkland Castle, i., 323, 430; + ii., 213, 274. + + Fast Castle, i., 324, 353. + + Fasting, i., 131; + ii., 257‒260; + iii., 272, 273. + + Fergus, + King, i., 120; + Chief, 116, 205. + + Ferguson, + David, ii., 352; + Adam, iv., 69‒74, 152. + + Fergusson, Robert, iv., 178, 179. + + Feudalism, i., 161, 190, 193, 198, 199, 201, 203, 209, 211, + 220‒228, 256, 260, 261, 269, 337, 371‒376, 411. + + Fife, Earl of, i., 143, 204, 209, 213, 217, 225, 271, 308, 314, + 317, 319, 333. + + Fifeshire, i., 105, 119, 121, 136, 304; + ii., 66; + iii., 151; + iv., 142, 143, 341, 373. + + Finlay, John, i., 446. + + Firth of Forth, i., 23, 28, 109, 110, 115, 119. + + Fisheries, i., 239, 377, 390, 391, 432; + ii., 40, 54; + iii., 301, 302, 303, 308; + iv., 400. + + Flanders, Count of, i., 240, 241, 391, 392. + + Fleming, + Robert, i., 283; + Malcolm, 327, 339. + + Fleming, Lord, i., 345; + ii., 150. + + Fletcher, + Sir John, iii., 120; + Andrew, of Saltoun, 179, 206, 255. + + Flint weapons and tools, i., 48‒52. + + Flodden, Battle of, i., 363‒365. + + Forbes, Lord, i., 353, 354. + + Forbes, + Patrick, Bishop, iii., 362; + Dr. John, 362, 363; + Professor, iv., 266, 268. + + Fordoun, iii., 94. + + Fordun, John, i., 463. + + Forest, + free, i., 223; + forest laws, 225, 417. + + Forfar, + Castle of, i., 248, 267, 288; + burgh of, 373, 387; + iv., 375. + + Forfarshire, i., 89, 121, 202, 264, 378; + ii., 88; + iii., 90, 110; + iv., 373. + + Forfeited estates, i., 343, 344, 347; + ii., 60; + iii., 217, 224; + iv., 336. + + Forman, Andrew, Archbishop of St. Andrews, i., 428; + ii., 36. + + Forres, i., 248, 372, 385. + + Forrest, Thomas, martyred, ii., 58. + + Forrester, Robert, martyred, ii., 58. + + Four Burghs, court of, i., 234, 235. + + France, + Alliance with, i., 262, 274, 275, 299, 300, 315; + French troops in Scotland, 316, 317, 330, 363; + ii., 76, 97. + + Franchise, iv., 456, 460, 461‒463. + + Francis II., ii., 97, 116. + + Frankfort, ii., 75. + + Fraser, William, Bishop of St. Andrews, i., 217, 246, 255. + + Fraser, + Sir Simon, i., 275, 277, 285; + Alexander, 283; + James, 305; + Simon, 305; + Captain Simon, iv., 421. + + Free Trade with England under Cromwell, iii., 112. + + French refugees, ii., 189. + + Fyvie, i., 50, 432; + iii., 91. + + Fyvie, Lord, ii., 204; + iii., 18. + + + Gaelic, i., 148, 175, 183, 184, 442‒444. + + Galgacus, Chief, i., 106‒109. + + Galloway, i., 115, 122, 201, 203; + risings in, 205, 206, 211, 212, 272; + law of, 229, 230; + castles of, 290. + + Galloway, + Lord of, i., 211, 230, 256; + Bishop of, 212; + ii., 153. + + Galt, John, iv., 204. + + Game laws, i., 417. + + Garioch, i., 325. + + Gasklune, battle of, i., 319, 320. + + Geddes, Sir William, iv., 142. + + Geneva, ii., 75, 89, 113, 114, 359. + + Geology, iv., 268‒271. + + George I., iii., 222. + + Gibbs, James, iv., 402‒404. + + Gibson, James, ii., 188. + + Gilbert, Chief, i., 206. + + Gillespie, George, iii., 87, 362. + + Gillies, Dr. John, iv., 152, 153. + + Gladstanes, Archbishop of St. Andrews, iii., 19. + + Glammis, + Lord, i., 373; + Master of, ii., 177, 181; + iii., 19. + + Glasgow, + Bishop of――Wishart, i., 266, 273, 277, 283, 294; + Turnbull, 466, 467; + Laing, 467; + Archbishop of, ii., 38, 59; + iii., 19, 35, 363; + Cathedral of i., 249. + + Glasgow, + city of, i., 125, 238, 403, 408, 465; + ii., 97, 252, 400, 402, 403; + iii., 50, 69, 128, 153, 218, 228, 245, 246, 248, 254, 284, + 302, 303, 319, 328, 330, 331; + iv., 348‒351, 360‒363, 370, 376, 378, 380, 383, 389, 392‒393, + 395, 397‒399, 406‒409, 428; + University of, i., 466; + ii., 408‒410; + iii., 388, 390, 391, 392; + iv., 18, 19, 44, 60, 102, 260‒263, 266, 272‒275, 284, 315‒317. + + Glass, + introduction of, i., 420; + Glass-making, iii., 315‒317; + iv., 363‒365. + + Glencairn, Earl of, ii., 69, 88, 89, 97, 130, 133, 145, 148, 177; + iii., 120, 124. + + Glencoe, iii., 191‒193. + + Glenfinnan, iii., 226. + + Glengarry, chief, iii., 190, 191, 226. + + Glenlivet, battle of, ii., 201, 202. + + Glenmore, i., 25, 215. + + Godly Ballads, ii., 341‒345. + + Gold ornaments, ancient, i., 79‒81. + + Goodal, Walter, iv., 145. + + Goodsir, John, iv., 306. + + Gordon, Duke of, iii., 174, 175; + iv., 421, 454. + + Gordon, + Sir Adam, i., 298, 305; + Sir Alexander, 338; + Sir John, ii., 124; + George, 124; + Sir Robert, iii., 237, 238; + Sir Alexander, 238; + Lord Gordon, 238, 239; + Robert, 247; + George, 267, 268; + Dr., iv., 309; + Sir John W., 446. + + Gourlay, Norman, burned, ii., 54. + + Gow, + Neil, iv., 418, 420; + Nathaniel, 421, 422. + + Gowrie, Earl of, ii., 177, 179, 180, 181, 218, 219. + + Gowrie, Carse of, i., 28. + + Graham, + Sir John, i., 271; + David de, 277; + Sir Robert, 327, 334, 335, 336, 337; + William, iii., 313; + John of Claverhouse, 153; + George F., iv., 416. + + Grammar Schools, i., 465, 466; + ii., 399‒405; + iii., 380‒388; + iv., 327. + + Grant, James, iv., 208. + + Gray, Lord, iii., 238. + + Gray, David, iv., 195. + + Greenock, i., 409; + iii., 303; + iv., 394. + + Gregory, + James, iii., 371, 372; + David, 372, 373; + Dr. John, iv., 300, 302; + Dr. James, 302. + + Greyfriars Church, iii., 49. + + Greyfriars Churchyard, iii., 61, 154. + + Grub, Dr. George, iv., 164. + + Gruoch, i., 139, 140. + + Guilds, laws of, i., 235‒236, 404. + + Guinea, iii., 330. + + Guise, House of, ii., 57, 92, 93, 116, 124, 125. + + Grum John, iv., 422. + + Guthrie, + James, iii., 123, 326; + William, iv., 150; + Dr. Thomas, 222. + + + Hackston, of Rathillet, iii., 151, 153, 156. + + Haco, i., 215, 216. + + Haddington, i., 307, 386, 387, 465; + ii., 69, 303, 315; + iv., 370. + + Haddington, Earl of, iv., 335. + + Haddingtonshire, i., 271; + iv., 343, 373. + + Hailes, Lord, iv., 146, 151, 152. + + Halidon Hill, battle of, i., 306. + + Hall, Sir John, i., 336. + + Hamilton, + Lord, i., 345, 346; + Lord Claud, ii., 150, 155, 208; + Marquis of, iii., 63, 64, 65, 67, 70, 71, 74; + Duke of, 98, 99, 174, 175, 177, 179, 181, 193, 207, 211. + + Hamilton, Patrick, martyred, ii., 49, 50. + + Hamilton, + of Bothwellhaugh, ii., 152; + John, Archbishop of St. Andrews, 71, 77, 87, 96, 138, 150, 154, + 406; + Sir Thomas, of Monkland, iii., 18; + James, Master of Paisley, 19; + Sir Robert, 154; + William, iv., 167; + William, of Bangour, 170; + Sir William, his writings, 102‒135. + + Hamilton town, iii., 153; + iv., 295, 296. + + Harlaw, battle of, i., 324‒326, 450. + + Harold, King, i., 194. + + Harold, Earl of Orkney, i., 207, 208. + + Harrington, James, iii., 450. + + Hastings, + John, i., 256, 259, 260; + Henry de, 204. + + Hawick, iv., 369, 370, 371. + + Hawley, General, iii., 228, 229. + + Hay, + Gilbert, of Errol, i., 283; + Hugh, 283, 284; + Alexander, iii., 19; + Sir James, 19. + + Hebrides, i., 22, 23, 118, 134, 144, 156, 215, 217, 329, 346, + 348, 355, 356, 357; + ii., 60; + iii., 242, 243. + + Henderson, + James, ii., 238; + Alexander, iii., 52, 55, 60, 61, 70, 87, 88, 362. + + Henry, the minstrel, i., 458‒462. + + Henry I., i., 195, 202. + + Henry II., i., 205, 206. + + Henry III., i., 214. + + Henry IV., i., 322, 324. + + Henry VI., i., 345. + + Henry VII., i., 353, 358, 361, 362. + + Henry VIII., i., 362, 363; + ii., 37, 51, 54‒56, 57, 61, 63‒67, 69, 76. + + Henry II. of France, ii., 97. + + Henry, Dr. Robert, iv., 151. + + Henryson, + Robert, i., 376, 462, 463; + Dr. Edward, ii., 383. + + Hepburn, + William, i., 353; + Patrick, Lord Hailes, 353; + John, ii., 36, 406. + + Hereditary jurisdiction, i., 220, 221, 223, 225, 226, 228, 237, + 238, 372, 411, 424‒426; + iii., 213, 225, 226. + + Heresy, i., 37, 327, 332; + ii., 18, 19, 49, 53, 58‒60, 68‒70, 74, 75, 78, 81, 91. + + Hermitage Castle, i., 309. + + Herries, Ralph, i., 285. + + Herries, Lord, ii., 150. + + Hertford, Earl of, ii., 65‒67. + + Hexham, i., 253, 254, 268. + + High Commission, Courts of, iii., 34, 132, 133. + + Highlands, i., 23‒25, 27, 29, 206‒208, 329, 348, 355‒357; + ii., 226, 227, 290; + iii., 237‒239, 241‒244; + iv., 353, 354. + + Hill, Dr. George, iv., 219, 470. + + Hill forts, i., 88‒92. + + Historic Interpretation, i., 33‒37. + + Historical conditions, i., 19, 45, 46, 85, 88, 101, 102, 113, + 119, 120, 121, 135, 136, _et seq._, 227, 228, 255‒265; + ii., 1, 2, _et seq._, 100, 103, 220; + iii., 17‒20, 176, 177, 214, 215. + + History of Scottish philosophy, iv., 17‒142. + + Hogarth, George, iv., ♦422, 423, 427, 429. + + ♦ page numbers supplied by transcriber + + Hogg, James, iii., 344; + iv., 189‒191. + + Holland, John, iii., 328. + + Holyrood Abbey, i., 221, 222, 249, 338; + Palace of, ii., 117, 130, 133, 136, 142, 179, 206, 209, 215, + 273, 275, 423; + iii., 396; + Chapel of, ii., 119, 138; + iii., 37, 51, 169, 172. + + Home, Lord, i., 364; + ii., 199, 224. + + Home, John, iv., 174. + + Homeldon Hill, battle of, i., 323. + + Homil, James, i., 348, 350. + + Hope, Sir Thomas, iii., 84, 367. + + Howard, Lord, i., 363. + + Hume, Lord, ii., 143, 145, 148. + + Hume, + Alexander, ii., 377, 378; + Alexander, 402, 403; + Sir Patrick, iii., 179; + David, + his philosophical writings, iv., 25‒44; + history, 146‒148. + + Huntingdon, Earl of, i., 204. + + Hunter, + Dr. Henry, iv., 217, 218; + Dr. William, 320, 321; + Dr. John, 321‒323. + + Huntly, + Earl of, i., 342, 350, 354, 356, 357, 358, 364; + ii., 63, 64, 78, 116, 123, 124, 133, 134, 135, 136, 138, 139, + 150, 152, 155, 192, 195, 196, 199, 201, 202, 203, 204, 206, + 212; + Marquis of, iii., 68, 74, 90, 94, 104, 222. + + Hurry, General, iii., 93, 94. + + + Icolmkill, statutes of, iii., 242, 243. + + Inchaffary, Abbot of, i., 292. + + Inchcolm, ruins of monastery, i., 163. + + Inchkeith, i., 23. + + Inchmahome, i., 249. + + Incontinence, i., 155, 244, 245; + ii., 41. + + India-rubber manufactures, iv., 391, 392, 393. + + Indulf, King, i., 137. + + Independents, iii., 88, 96, 97. + + Influence of surrounding nature upon the Mind, i., 19, 20, 31‒33, + 66; + ii., 427. + + Innermaith, Lord, ii., 145, 146. + + Innes, + Thomas, iv., 145; + Cosmo, 162. + + Invercharron, iii., 105, 106. + + Inveresk, iv., 418. + + Inverkeithing, i., 307, 387; + iii., 301. + + Inverlochy, battle of, iii., 92. + + Inverness, i., 83, 91, 127, 151, 207, 233, 240, 306, 329, 356, + 385, 390, 404; + ii., 226, 227; + iii., 94, 225, 226, 227, 228, 288, 302; + iv., 354, 373, 374. + + Inverurie, i., 278‒287; + iii., 74. + + Iona, i., 127‒134, 156, 175, 181, 182. + + Ireland, 21, 48, 70, 77, 78, 126, 127, 133, 161, 174, 181, 211, + 285, 291, 357; + iii., 65, 85, 90, 297, 302, 303. + + Irish, + early writings, i., 117, 150; + note illuminated manuscripts, 172, 173. + + Iron works and manufactures, iv., 345‒352. + + Irvine, i., 267, 391, 434; + iii., 134. + + Irvine, Sir Alexander, i., 328. + + Irving, Dr., ii., 367; + iv., 163. + + Isles, lordship of forfeited, i., 348, 355. + + Isabella, daughter of Earl David, i., 204, 256. + + + Jack, Thomas, ii., 402. + + Jacobites, iii., 175, 176, 181‒183, 190, 193, 195, 196, 201, + 205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 211, 213, 218, 219, 220, 222‒224, + 226‒230. + + Jacobite Songs, iii., 346‒353. + + James I., reign of, i., 226‒337. + + James II., reign of, i., 338‒344. + + James III., reign of, i., 344‒352. + + James IV., reign of, i., 353‒365. + + James V., reign of, ii., 38‒39, 49‒62. + + James VI., reign of, ii., 169‒220; + iii., 17‒42. + + James VII., policy of, iii., 163‒172. + + James VIII., Pretender, iii., 223. + + Jamesone, George, painter, iii., 393‒396. + + Jamieson, Dr., i., 280, 461. + + Jedburgh, 238, 356, 383, 426; + ii., 292; + iii., 24, 27, 380; + iv., 371; + castle of, i., 248, 264, 324; + abbey of, 248; + ii., 66. + + Jeffrey, Lord, iv., 234‒236. + + Jesuits, ii., 82‒84, 192, 195. + + Joanna, Queen of David II., i., 302, 306, 307, 310. + + John, King of England, i., 208, 209, 210. + + Johnstone, + of Johnstone, ii., 186, 224; + Archibald, of Warriston, iii., 60, 61, 70, 87, 121, 123; + Dr., 380; + Mrs., iv., 204, 205. + + Justiciary, i., 214, 222, 330, 386, 424. + + Jury trial, i., 221, 230, 371. + + Justice of the Peace, iii., 248, 249, 294. + + + Kay, John, iv., 366. + + Kells, Book of, illuminated manuscripts, i., 172, 173. + + Keith, iii., 244. + + Keith, + Sir Robert, i., 292, 293, 305, 367; + Sir William, of Inverugy, ii., 228; + Dr. William, iv., 319. + + Kelso, i., 238, 344, 384; + iv., 369; + Abbey of, i., 216, 249, 250, 252‒254, 432; + ii., 66. + + Kennedy, + Bishop of St. Andrews, i., 340, 345; + Walter, ii., 309; + Quintin, 349, 352, 353. + + Kennedy, Lord, i., 360; + ii., 309. + + Kenneth I., M‘Alpin, i., 120, 121, 136. + + Kenneth II., i., 138. + + Kenneth, M‘Duff, i., 138. + + Ker, + George, ii., 195, 196; + Mark, 224; + Robert, iii., 19; + Dr. David, iv., 319. + + Kilconcath, William, i., 246. + + Kildelith, i., 246. + + Kildrummy Castle, i., 247, 264, 276, 284, 285, 306, 307. + + Killiecrankie, Battle of, iii., 181‒183. + + Kilmarnock, i., 409; + iii., 297; + iv., 369, 371, 372. + + Kilpatrick, West, i., 110. + + Kilsyth, battle of, iii., 95. + + Kincardineshire, i., 136, 137, 378. + + Kinghorn, i., 217, 258. + + Kinghorn, Earl of, iii., 19. + + Kirk-of-Field, ii., 135. + + Kirkcaldy, iii., 301, 303; + iv., 375. + + Kirkcaldy, Sir William, of Grange, ii., 71, 149, 152, 153, 155, + 156. + + Kirkpatrick, i., 282. + + Knapdale, i., 348. + + Knox, + John, ii., 69, 72, 73, 74, 75, 87‒89, 93, 94, 96, 97, 98, 99, + 100, 104, 118, 119, 120, 123, 124‒127, 130, 134, 147, 153, + 154, 159, 160‒165; + his writings, 345‒349, 352‒354, 360‒364; + Andrew, minister of Paisley, 195; + Bishop of the Isles, iii., 242, 243; + Dr., iv., 309. + + + Laing, David, ii., 300, 305, 331, 340, 343, 346; + iv., 163. + + Lamberton, Bishop of St. Andrews, i., 274, 281, 283, 285. + + Lanark, i., 356, 387; + ii., 181; + iii., 160; + iv., 373. + + Lanarkshire, i., 29, 81, 114, 271, 279; + iii., 134; + iv., 341, 342, 343, 344, 347, 378, 381, 388. + + Land, in connection with the tribe, and organisation of society, + i., 100, 146‒150, 202, 223‒228, 250‒254, 371‒376, 377‒380, + 380‒382, 421, 422; + ii., 39, 40, 110, 266, 297; + iii., 305; + iv., 336‒339. + + Langside, battle of, ii., 150. + + Largs, battle of, i., 216. + + Latin, i., 183, 245, 463, 464; + ii., 5, 6, 379, 380. + + Laud, Archbishop, iii., 45, 63, 66. + + Lauder Bridge, i., 350. + + Lauder, Sir Thomas D., iv., 206. + + Lauderdale, Earl of, iii., 14, 129, 137, 142, 348. + + Laws, early, i., 151‒153, 221, 222, 228‒231, 370, 371. + + Lawson, James, ii., 162, 167, 184, 421. + + Le Crocke, ii., 161. + + Leibnitz, theory of monads, iii., 432‒434; + iv., 255, 256. + + Leighton, Bishop, iii., 141, 363‒364. + + Leith, i., 316, 333, 346, 358, 359, 419; + ii., 66, 89, 97, 98, 99, 100, 117, 132, 158, 275, 291, 294; + iii., 74, 84, 300, 301, 303, 309, 313, 331, 332; + iv., 357, 369. + + Lennox, + Earl of, i., 217, 283, 285, 327, 328, 354, 364, 365; + ii., 37, 128, 131, 139, 152, 154, 155; + Duke of, iii., 54. + + Lennox, Esme Stewart, Duke of, ii., 175, 176, 177, 179. + + Lesley, Norman, ii., 71. + + Leslie, + General Alexander, iii., 73, 76, 79, 338; + General David, 95, 338; + Sir John, iv., 263‒265. + + Lesly, John, ii., 116. + + Lesmahagow sanctuary, i., 232. + + Leven, Earl of, iii., 175. + + Lewis, island, i., 22, 357. + + Leyden, University of, iv., 287, 292, 293, 304. + + Leyden, John, ii., 319; + iv., 184, 185. + + Liddel, Dr. Duncan, ii., 393, 394. + + Lindisfarne, i., 126. + + Lindores, i., 323. + + Lindsay, + Alexander, i., 267, 277; + Sir James, 317; + Sir William, 321, 322; + David, Lord of Crawford, 434; + David, ii., 158, 167, 188. + + Lindsay, Lord, ii., 132, 134, 143, 145, 148, 155, 175, 181, 206, + 207. + + Linlithgow, i., 258, 264, 274, 276, 290, 294, 307, 326, 345, 358, + 387, 390; + ii., 120, 152, 207, 349, 400; + iii., 29, 80, 54; + iv., 370. + + Linlithgow, Palace of, i., 333, 360, 377, 429, 430, 470; + ii., 62. + + Linlithgow, Earl of, iii., 19. + + Linlithgowshire, i., 29, 119; + iv., 341, 342, 343, 373. + + Lismore, Book of the Dean of, i., 442. + + Literature, + early, i., 181‒185, 215‒247, 441‒464; + Poetry, ii., 301‒315, 331‒341, 370‒380; + Ballad, 341‒345; + Historical and various, 315‒330, 345‒364, 364‒370, 380‒385, + 393‒396; + Ballad and Jacobite Song, iii., 336‒355; + Historical and various, 356‒368; + Historical, iv., 143‒154, 154‒164; + Poetry, 165‒182, 183‒198; + Fiction, 199‒212; + Religious, 213‒228; + Miscellaneous, 228‒254. + + Liturgy, iii., 44, 46‒50, 51‒58, 62, 63. + + Livingston, + Sir Alexander, i., 338, 339, 340; + John of Livingston, 389, 390; + Sir William, iii., 19. + + Livingston, Lord, i., 345; + ii., 150. + + Livingstone, Dr. David, iv., 250. + + Lochaber, i., 329, 356; + iii., 181. + + Lochiel, chief of the clan Cameron, i., 356; + iii., 181, 226. + + Lochindorb Castle, i., 247, 276. + + Lochleven, i., 140; + ii., 144, 145, 147, 150. + + Lochmaben, + Castle, i., 281; + town of, 372, 468. + + Locke, John, writings of, iii., 452‒462; + iv., 17, 18, 27. + + Lockhart, + Colonel, iii., 113; + Sir George, 148, 233; + Sir George of Carnwath, 208, 209, 210, 214; + John G., iv., 207, 208. + + Logan, John, iv., 177, 178. + + Logic, iii., 437‒439; + iv., 130‒133. + + Logie, Margaret, i., 310. + + Lomond, Loch, i., 29. + + London, i., 271, 279, 280, 285; + ii., 99, 220; + iii., 54, 82, 86, 116, 118, 173, 179, 183, 198, 229, 296; + iv., 167, 173, 245. + + Long Parliament, iii., 80, 84, 86, 87, 89, 96, 97. + + Lord of the Isles, i., 285, 292, 312, 324, 325, 329, 330, 341, + 348, 355. + + Lords of the Articles, i., 369, 370; + iii., 37, 38, 129, 130, 180, 183, 184. + + Lords of the Congregation, ii., 89, 91, 93, 95, 96, 97, 99, 100. + + Lorne, + Lord of, i., 284, 312; + black knight of, 338; ii., 89. + + Lothian, i., 47, 116, 138, 185, 189. + + Lothian, Earl of, iii., 18, 188, 189, 190. + + Loudon, Lord, iii., 55, 57, 58, 60, 61. + + Loudon Hill, battle of, i., 286, 287. + + Lowe, Dr. Peter, ii., 393. + + Lovat, Lord, i., 386. + + Lubeck, i., 268. + + Lude Hill, iii., 181. + + Lulach, i., 140. + + Lumphanan, battle of, i., 140. + + Luther, ii., 17, 32‒34, 49. + + Lyndsay, Sir David, ii., 42, 331‒340. + + + M‘Ancrum, Donald B., ii., 229. + + M‘Angus, William, iii., 237. + + Macbeth, i., 139, 140, 148. + + M‘Cowane, Donald C., ii., 229. + + M‘Crie, Dr. Thomas, iv., 154. + + M‘Culloch, Horatio, iv., 449. + + Macdonald, Lord, i., 163. + + Macdonald, + Sir Donald, iii., 190; + Chief of Glencoe, 191‒192; + of Boisdale, Glengarry, Keppoch, 191, 226; + Donald Gorm of Sleat, Donald of Ylanterim, Captain of + Clanranald, Angus of Dunivaig, 242, 243. + + Macdonald, Alaster, iii., 90. + + Macduff, i., 261, 271. + + Macgill, James, ii., 146, 158, 274. + + MacGregors, + clan of, iii., 243; + Patrick Roy, 244. + + MacHeth, i., 205, 207, 209. + + Mackay, ii., 227; + Donald, iii., 237, 238; + Dr. Charles, iv., 196; + Angus, 425. + + Mackay, General, iii., 176, 181‒183. + + Mackenzie, + Kenneth, iii., 19; + Sir George, 144, 146, 147, 234, 368; + Henry, iv., 199, 200. + + Mackinnons, i., 117, note; + Rory, iii., 242. + + Mackintosh, + of Borlum, iii., 224; + Sir James, iv., 97‒101; + Robert, 421. + + Macknight, Dr. James, iv., 216, 471. + + Maclean of Lochbuy, i., 357; + Lauchlan, iii., 242; + Hector of Duart, 242; + Lauchlan of Lochbuy, 242. + + Macleod, + of Lewis, i., 357; + Rory, of Harris, iii., 242; + Dr. Norman, iv., 223, 224. + + MacNeil of Barra, i., 357. + + Macpherson, James, iv., 175, 176. + + Macquharrie, Gellespie, iii., 242. + + M‘Sevir, Farquhar, ii., 229. + + MacWilliam, i., 207, 208, 209. + + Magi, i., 128, 129. + + Magnus VI., King of Norway, i., 216. + + Maid of Norway, i., 217, 218, 219. + + Mair, John, ii., 51, 315, 316. + + Maitland, + Sir Richard, i., 445; + ii., 370, 371; + William, 99, 100, 120, 121, 135, 141, 152, 155, 156, 157. + + Malcolm I., reign of, i., 137. + + Malcolm II., reign of, i., 138, 139. + + Malcolm III., reign of, i., 140‒143. + + Malcolm IV., reign of, i., 204, 205. + + Malise, Earl of Strathern, i., 203. + + Mallet, David, iv., 169. + + Man, Isle of, i., 216, 301. + + Manufactures, + Textile, woollen, i., 100, 133, 150, 162, 241, 390, 392, 406, + 407; + ii., 294; + iii., 306‒310; + iv., 366, 369‒372; + linen, iii., 311‒313; + iv., 372‒376, 377; + jute, 375‒377; + cotton, 377‒379, 383; + thread, 379‒380; + silk, 380; + mixed fabrics, 380, 381. + + Mar, + Earl of, i., 208, 214, 216, 217, 304, 305, 312, 325, 334, 348, + 349; + ii., 139, 145, 148; + elected Regent, 155, 177, 184; + iii., 19; + John, Secretary of State, 210; + his rising, 222‒224. + + March, Earl of, i., 255, 270, 305, 321, 322, 328, 333, 334. + + Marchmont, Earl of, iii., 262. + + Margaret, + Queen of Malcolm III., i., 141, 143, 155‒157; + Queen of James III., 346, 351; + Queen of James IV., 360‒362; + ii., 36, 37. + + Marischal, Earl, i., 358; + ii., 86, 419; + iii., 19, 222. + + Marriage, i., 99, 153‒156, 428; + ii., 229, 261‒266; + iii., 264, 278‒281. + + Mathematical Science, progress of, ii., 386‒391; + iii., 371‒374, 403; + iv., 254‒260. + + Marston Moor, battle of, iii., 95. + + Mary of Gueldres, Queen of James II., i., 340, 344, 345. + + Mary of Guise, Queen of James V., ii., 57, 86, 87, 90, 91, 93, + 95, 97, 98, 101. + + Mary, + Queen of Scotland, ii., 62, 63, 79; + reign of, 116‒147; + imprisonment of, 144; + escape, flight to England, 150; + her execution, 189, 190. + + Mary, Queen of England, ii., 87, 92. + + Maxwell, + Lord, i., 345; + ii., 186, 187, 224; + Master of, 225; + iii., 27. + + Maybole, ii., 353. + + Mechanical Science, i., 408; + ii., 384‒386; + progress of, iv., 271‒285. + + Medical Science, + state of, i., 414, 415; + ii., 392‒394; + iii., 368‒371; + progress of, iv., 286‒323. + + Melrose, Monastery of, i., 125, 126, 246, 254, 302, 303, 432, + 438; + ii., 66. + + Melville, + James, ii., 71; + Sir James, 141, 142; + Andrew, 167, 182, 201, 202, 213, 214, 409, 410, 412; + iii., 32, 33; + Sir Robert, iii., 19. + + Melville, Lord, iii., 179, 183, 186. + + ♦Menteith, Earl of, i., 213, 214, 217, 218, 263, 383, 308, 317. + + ♦ “Monteith” replaced with “Menteith”; + Printed out of alphabetic order. + + Menteith, Sir John, i., 278, 279. + + Metaphysics, iii., 399‒401, 405, 407‒414, 418‒452, 432‒434, 468, + 469, 470; + iv., 126‒130, 136‒139. + + Methven, + Bruce defeated at, i., 284; + lands of, 377. + + Middleton, Earl, Royal Commissioner, iii., 121‒123, 125‒129. + + Military service under the feudal organisation, i., 409‒412. + + Mill, + Walter, executed for heresy, ii., 91; + John S., iv., 135; + James, 155. + + Miller, Hugh, iv., 238‒240, 271. + + Mining, ii., 282‒286; + iii., 291‒294; + iv., 340‒345. + + Mitchell, + James, 135, 147, 148; + Dr. Charles, iv., 318. + + Moir, + Dr. James, i., 461; + David, iv., 208. + + Monk, General, iii., 110, 116. + + Monmouth, Duke of, iii., 153, 154, 167. + + Monro, + John, iv., 292; + Alexander, professor, 292‒294; + Alexander, 304‒305; + Alexander, 305‒306. + + Montgomery, + Sir John, i., 321; + Sir Hugh, 449; + Sir Matthew, ii., 229; + Alexander, poems of, 375‒377; + Sir James, iii., 179, 180. + + Montgomery, Lord, i., 345. + + Montrose, i., 276, 387, 391; + ii., 69, 182, 217; + iii., 301, 303, 323; + iv., 369, 375, 424. + + Montrose, + Earl of, iii., 18, 74; + Marquis of, 90‒95, 105, 106, 338, 339. + + Moral philosophy, iii., 417, 418, 424‒430, 448, 451, 452, + 466‒467; + iv., 19‒24, 38‒40, 45‒50, 68, 69, 71‒74, 81, 82, 94‒96, + 98‒101. + + Moray, + Sir Andrew, i., 266, 267, 268; + Sir Andrew of Bothwell, 306, 307, 378; + Thomas, 379. + + Moray, + Earl of, Randolph, i., 283, 290, 292, 296, 298, 299, 300, 302, + 304, 305, 308, 317, 360; + James Stewart, Earl of, ii., 123, 128, 129, 130, 131, 134, 136; + elected Regent, 148‒152. + + Morken, King, i., 124, 125. + + Morton, + Earl of, ii., 132, 133, 134, 142, 143, 145, 147, 151; + elected Regent, 155, 158, 165, 169, 175, 176. + + Mouat, Bernard, i., 285. + + Mowbray, 291, 294. + + Mure, William, iv., 163, 164. + + Murray, + Lord George, iii., 227, 228; + Mungo, 227; + Gideon, 21. + + Music, i., 245, 468, 469; + ii., 421‒422; + iii., 386‒388; + iv., 416‒428. + + Musselburgh, ii., 144; + iii., 300. + + + Nairn, i., 372, 386; + castle of, 248. + + Napier, John, inventor of logarithms, ii., 386‒391. + + Narne, Duncan, ii., 415. + + Nasmyth, iv., 436. + + Navigation, teaching of, iii., 386. + + Navy, under James IV., i., 363. + + Negative Confession, ii., 176. + + Ness, Loch of, i., 25. + + Newbattle, i., 239, 434, 435. + + Newbattle, Lord, iii., 18. + + Newcastle, i., 318; + ii., 75, 184; + iii., 33, 79, 80, 97. + + Nithsdale, Earl of, iii., 222. + + Nithsdale, i., 26, 272. + + Norham, + meetings at, i., 255, 256, 258; + castle of, 209, 300, 359, 363. + + Normans, i., 189‒194, 196, 197, 101‒103. + + Norman Conquest, i., 141, 197, 198. + + Norsemen, i., 47, 118, 120, 134, 136, 214‒217. + + Northallerton, battle of, i., 203, 204. + + Northampton, Treaty of, i., 300, 301. + + Northumberland, i., 142, 143, 262, 268, 295, 300, 318. + + Northumbria, i., 116, 138, 441. + + Norway, 21, 144, 215, 216, 217, 219. + + + Oaths associated with feudalism, i., 258, 264, 281, 372, 373. + + Ochiltree, Lord, ii., 146, 275; + iii., 19, 235, 236. + + Odistown, i., 303. + + Ogham, writing, i., 174, 175. + + Ogilvie, Sir Walter, i., 319, 320. + + Oliphant, Sir William, i., 277, 278. + + Oliphant, Lord, i., 373; + ii., 228. + + Orkney Isles, i., 22, 47, 53, 58‒61, 138, 139, 158, 215, 217, + 219, 346; + ii., 60; + iii., 302; + iv., 372, 373. + + Orkney, Earl of, i., 138, 139, 207, 208; + iii., 239‒241. + + Ormiegill, i., 55. + + Ormiston, Laird of, ii., 69. + + Ormond, Earl of, i., 343, 379. + + Ossian, Ossianic poems, i., 442‒444; + iv., 175, 176. + + Otterburn, battle of, i., 318, 449. + + Otterburne, Thomas, i., 468. + + Oxford, i., 451, 452; + iii., 372, 373, 374; + iv., 102, 134. + + + Pae, David P., iv., 208, 209. + + Painting, i., 470; + ii., 423, 424; + iii., 393‒396; + iv., 428‒454. + + Paisley, i., 83, 151, 238, 409; + ii., 195; + iii., 386; + iv., 182, 183, 205, 206, 214, 372, 377, 378, 380; + Abbey of, i., 249, 324, 355. + + Paper, manufacture of, ii., 2; + iii., 317‒319; + iv., 384‒389. + + Parliament, + origin and constitution of, i., 366‒370; + Meetings of, 295, 309, 310, 311, 313‒315, 316, 320, 327, 328, + 329, 330, 334, 340, 343, 347, 349, 351, 353, 354, 357; + ii., 38, 49, 60, 65, 68, 91, 102, 126, 139, 149, 183, 193, + 213; + iii., 30, 33, 37, 41, 44, 77, 81, 84, 97, 99, 103, 121‒128, + 129, 137, 140, 142, 158‒160, 164‒167, 168, 180, 183, 193, + 202, 203, 205, 206‒208, 210‒215. + + Parliament of the United Kingdom, introduced changes in Scotland, + iii., 217‒218, 220. + + Paterson, + Abraham, ii., 284; + Robert, 289; + William, iii., 196, 199. + + Patronage, ii., 107, 172; + iii., 103, 104, 184; + iv., 467‒473 _et seq._ + + Peasantry, + in Normandy, i., 191, 193; + in Germany, ii., 16, 17. + + Pedro de Ayala, i., 360. + + Peebles, i., 282, 356, 384, 402; + ii., 260; + iii., 274, 290, 307, 380; + iv., 246, 369. + + Peers, Scottish representative, iii., 214. + + Pembroke, Earl of, i., 283, 284, 286, 287. + + Pennington, Joseph, iii., 21. + + Pentland Firth, i., 22. + + Pentland, battle of, iii., 134. + + Percy, + Henry, i., 266; + Sir Henry, Sir Ralph, 318, 449. + + Perkin Warbeck, i., 357‒359. + + Persecution, ii., 49, 50, 53, 54, 58, 68‒70, 91; + iii., 130‒135, 140, 144‒154, _et seq._ + + Perth, i., 119, 151, 205, 208, 233, 258, 264, 276, 278, 279, 283, + 290, 307, 311, 320, 327, 333, 335, 369, 386, 387, 391, 433; + ii., 69, 93, 94, 96, 179, 214; + iii., 39‒41, 90, 193, 194, 222, 223, 226; + iv., 196, 354, 373. + + Perth, Earl of, iii., 171, 172. + + Peterhead, iii., 223, 301, 302; + iv., 370, 374. + + Philip IV., of France, i., 262, 271. + + Phillip, John, iv., 450, 451. + + Philiphaugh, battle of, iii., 95, 338. + + Philosophy, ii., 28‒30, 220; + outline of European in the seventeenth century, and early part + of the eighteenth, iii., 398‒471; + Scottish, iv., 17‒142. + + Physical Science, progress of, iv., 255‒271. + + Picts, i., 112, 114, 115, 116, 119, 120, 127, 128. + + Pinkerton, John, iv., 153, 154. + + Pinkie, battle of, ii., 76. + + Pitcairn, + Dr. Archibald, iii., 371; + Robert, iv., 163. + + Plantations, nonconformists banished to, iii., 167, 168, 223. + + Pont, Robert, ii., 158, 184, 382, 383. + + Poor Laws, ii., 238, 239, 267; + iii., 248‒254. + + Population, i., 413; + iv., 214, 495. + + Postal communication, iii., 296‒296; + iv., ♦352, 356. + + ♦ Page numbers supplied by transcriber. + + Prehistoric period, + Stone Age, i., 36, 47‒71; + stone weapons and tools, 48‒53; + modes of disposing of the dead, chambered cairns, cremation, + 53‒65; + earth-houses, 65‒70; + primitive boats, 70; + Bronze Age, 71‒74, 74‒96; + bronze weapons and implements, 74‒79; + ornaments, 79‒81; + traces of dwellings, 81‒83; + crannogs, 84‒87; + hill forts, 88‒92; + cairn, and urn interment, 92‒96; + summary, 96‒104. + + Prelacy, iii., 177. + + Presbyterianism, ii., 166‒175, 193‒194; + iii., 68‒72, 184‒185. + + Press, censorship of, ii., 84, 277, 278. + + Preston, battle of, iii., 227. + + Primrose, Sir Archibald, iii., 120. + + Pringle, Charles, iii., 236, 237. + + Printing, + introduction of, ii., 2, 25‒27, 299‒303; + development of, iv., 389‒391. + + Privy Council, ii., 223, 225, 229, 248, 273, 275, 279, 281, 283, + 288, 403; + iii., 18‒20, 24, 26, 28, 30, 47, 49, 52, 53, 54, 55, 57, 59, + 62, 67, 123, 124, 128, 131, 133, 134, 136, 142, 146, 147, + 148, 163, 171, 182, 192, 195. + + Protestantism, history of in Scotland, ii., 149‒218. + + Protests, iii., 59, 65, 67. + + Protesters, iii., 109, 110, 111. + + Provincial councils of the Roman Catholic clergy, i., 212, 213; + ii., 41, 42, 76, 77, 78. + + Psalms, ii., 114, 342, 422. + + Psalmody, iv., 426‒427. + + Psychical faculties, i., 34, 35. + + Psychological phenomenon, ii., 439, 441. + + Psychology, ii., 30; + iii., 414‒417, 422‒430, 435, 436, 438‒444, 453‒460, 470; + iv., 20, 27‒39, 61‒68, 77‒82, 88‒96, 108‒126. + + + Quakers, iii., 114, 115, 256‒259. + + Quarries, iv., 406, 411, 412. + + Queensberry, Duke of, iii., 164, 202, 205, 210. + + Quoyness, i., 59. + + + Raban, Edward, iii., 363. + + Raeburn, Sir Henry, iv., 436‒439. + + Raid of Ruthven, ii., 179‒181. + + Ramorgny, Sir John, i., 322. + + Ramsay, + John, i., 460; + Allan, ii., 305; + his writings, iv., 165, 166; + Allan, painter, 429‒431. + + Randolph, Thomas, i., 283, 284. + + Ratisbon, ii., 351. + + Reader, office of, ii., 108, 174. + + Reeves, Dr., i., 127, 129, 181. + + Reformation, + rise of, ii., 16‒31; + eras of, 32, 85, 86; + history of, in Scotland, 38‒54, 58‒60, 67‒103, 104, 105, 149. + + Reformed Church, organisation of, ii., 104‒115, 121, 122, + 161‒175. + + Regalities, i., 225, 226, 373, 374, 425, 426; + iii., 225. + + Regality burghs, i., 234, 237, 238. + + Reid, + Dr. Thomas, writings, iv., 161‒169; + General, 427, 428. + + Religion, + prehistoric in Scotland, i., 58, 63, 99; + primitive, ii., 426, 428. + + Renwick, James, iii., 155, 171. + + Representatives of Scotland in the United Parliament, iii., 214. + + Rescissory Act, iii., 122. + + Resolutioners, iii., 109, 111. + + Reuchlin, ii., 17, 18. + + Revenue, i., 220, 221, 391. + + Revocation Act of Charles I., iii., 43‒45. + + Ricco, ii., 131, 132, 133, 134. + + Richard, I., i., 206. + + Riderch, King, i., 125. + + Ripon, iii., 80, 81. + + Roads, i., 256, 413; + iii., 225, 294‒296; + iv., 352‒355. + + Robert I., reign of, i., 283‒303. + + Robert II., reign of, i., 313‒319. + + Robert III., reign of, i., 319‒324. + + Robert, Prior of Scone, i., 201. + + Robertson, + William, iv., 148‒150; + Joseph, 162, 163; + E. W., 163; + George C., 139‒142; + James S., 425; + Andrew, 439. + + Robin Hood, i., 451. + + Rollo, a Norman hero, i., 190, 191. + + Rollock, + Robert, ii., 380, 381, 415, 416; + Hercules, 402. + + Roman Catholic Church, ii., 3‒14; + Power of, 14‒20; + state of the clergy, 20‒23, 40‒43, 51‒77, 78, 328, 329. + + Roman invasion, i., 104‒112. + + Romanised tribes, i., 112, 113. + + Rome, i., 45, 122, 129, 140, 341, 354, 355; + ii., 5, 20, 33, 58, 82, 103, 434, 435, 438. + + Roslin, battle of, i., 275. + + Ross, Earl of, i., 209, 211, 217, 264, 306, 312, 324, 325, 326, + 340, 341, 348. + + Ross, Lord, iii., 179. + + Ross, + Alexander, iv., 170, 171; + William, 425. + + Rothes, Earl of, ii., 130, 139, 150; + iii., 56, 60, 61, 120, 129, 148, 156, 165. + + Rothesay, Duke of, i., 320, 321, 322, 323. + + Rowll, i., 463. + + Roxburgh, i., 231, 232, 245; + Castle of, 248, 264, 290, 305, 364, 383. + + Roxburgh, Earl of, iii., 49, 57. + + Royal Burghs, i., 233‒237, 382‒387, 397‒408. + + Runic Inscriptions, i., 59, 175. + + Russell, Dr. William, iv., 152. + + Rutherford, Samuel, iii., 359‒362. + + Rutherglen, i., 386, 409; + iii., 152. + + Ruthven, + Lord, ii., 132, 133, 134, 135, 145, 158; + Master of, 219. + + Ruthwell, i., 175. + + + Sadler, Sir Ralph, ii., 57, 65. + + St. Adamnan, his life of St. Columba, i., 126, 181‒183. + + St. Andrews, i., 137, 148, 200, 201, 238, 239, 277, 322, 332, + 367, 387, 408, 413; + ii., 49, 66, 69, 70, 91, 96, 120, 136, 153, 199; + iii., 38, 151; + Castle of, i., 322; + ii., 49, 70, 71, 72, 73‒75; + Cathedral of, i., 249; + Bishop of, 137, 200, 209, 217, 255, 271, 281, 283, 285, 304, + 340, 345, 353, 355, 360; + ii., 36, 58, 71, 77, 78, 90, 138, 154, 159, 182, 271, 380; + iii., 19, 63, 119, 124, 129, 131, 135, 147, 151; + University of, i., 466; + ii., 405‒408, 410‒413; + iii., 390, 392, 393; + iv., 136, 178, 219, 220, 224. + + St. Bartholomew, massacre of, ii., 160, 161. + + St. Bridget, i., 131. + + St. Columba, i., 126‒131, 132‒135, 136. + + St. Cuthbert, i., 125, 126. + + St. Duthac, i., 436, 438. + + St. Fergus, i., 439. + + St. Fillan, relics of, i., 180, 439. + + St. Finnian, i., 127. + + St. Giles, i., 430, 431; + ii., 239. + + St. Kentigern, i., 124, 125. + + St. Maclou, i., 431. + + St. Monance, i., 430. + + St. Nicholas, i., 431; + ii., 239, 240. + + St. Ninian, i., 122, 123; + shrine of, 48. + + St. Regulus, i., 148. + + St. Serf, monastery of, i., 455. + + St. Servanus, i., 407. + + Sandlands, John, i., 358. + + Salt, export of, ii., 288, 289. + + Sang Schools, early, i., 245, 468; + ii., 421, 422. + + Sanquhar, Declaration proclaimed at, iii., 155. + + Sauchie Burn, battle of, i., 352. + + Saxons, i., 47, 112, 115, 116, 119, 141, 189. + + Scandinavia, i., 161, 190. + + Scandinavians, i., 47, 118. + + Schools, i., 245, 465, 466; + ii., 398‒405; + iii., 375‒388; + iv., 224‒327. + + Schrander, Dr., i., 41. + + Science, progress of, ii., 384‒391; + iii., 371‒374; + iv., 255‒323. + + Scolocs, i., 184. + + Scone, i., 119, 121, 137, 141, 204, 209, 213, 217, 221, 241, 260, + 262, 264, 283, 305, 313‒315, 319, 327, 353; + iii., 110, 223; + Monastery of, i., 201, 227, 239, 250; + ii., 94. + + Scots, i., 112, 116, 118, 120, 127. + + Scott of Tuschielaw, ii., 224; + John, 303, 372; + Walter, iii., 27; + Sir Walter, iv., 187‒189, 202‒204; + William B., 453. + + Scrymgeour, + Alexander, i., 366; + Sir James, iii., 19. + + Sculptured stones, i., 165‒174. + + Seaforth, Earl of, iii., 92, 110, 222. + + Selby, Sir William, iii., 21. + + Security of the Kingdom, Act for, iii., 205, 206. + + Segrave, Sir John, i., 275. + + Selkirk, i., 356; + ii., 189; + iii., 378; + iv., 371; + forest of, i., 223, 274, 287, 343. + + Semple, Robert, ii., 374. + + Serfs, i., 250, 380‒382. + + Seton, Sir Christopher, i., 283, 385, 453. + + Seton, Lord, ii., 138. + + Seton of Pitmedden, iii., 211. + + Severus, his campaign, i., 110, 111. + + Sharp, James, Archbishop of St. Andrews, iii., 118, 119, 120, + 124, 129, 135, 137, 143, 147, 148, 151, 152. + + Shawfield, iii., 218. + + Sherifmuir, battle of, iii., 223. + + Sheriffs, Sheriffdoms, i., 223, 261, 423‒426; + ii., 223. + + Shetland Isles, i., 22, 47, 174, 185, 215, 217, 346; + ii., 60; + iv., 372. + + Shipbuilding, i., 133, 240, 333, 363; + iv., 357‒363. + + Shipping, i., 239, 240, 241, 391‒393; + ii., 286‒289; + iii., 300‒303; + iv., 356‒357. + + Sibbald, Sir Robert, iii., 370. + + Sigurd, i., 138. + + Silver, ancient ornaments of, i., 177‒178. + + Siward, Earl of Northumberland, i., 140. + + Simpson, Sir James Y., iv., 313‒314. + + Simson, + Andrew, ii., 400, 403; + Robert, iv., 260; + William, 446. + + Sinclair, + Oliver, ii., 62; + Sir John, iv., 346. + + Skene, + Dr. Gilbert, ii., 392, 393; + Sir John, 383, 384; + iii., 18; + Dr. William F., iv., 161. + + Smith, + Adam, iv., 25, 43, 44‒59; + Alexander, 195, 196; + William R., 226, 227; + Robert A., 426. + + Smollett, Dr., iv., 150, 172, 173, 199. + + Social state of the People, i., 70, 71, 98‒103, 145‒157, 220‒254, + 366‒440; + ii., 222‒298; + iii., 232‒335. + + Solemn League and Covenant, iii., 85, 86. + + Solway Firth, 21, 26, 70, 105. + + Solway Moss disaster, ii., 62. + + Somerled, i., 205. + + Somerset, + Earl of, i., 326; + Duke of, ii., 76. + + Soulis, + John, i., 271, 274, 277; + Nicholas, 256. + + Southesk, Earl of, iii., 222. + + Spain, i., 357, 360, 363; + ii., 18, 19, 20, 131, 191, 192. + + Spear-heads, + flint, i., 50; + bronze, 76, 77. + + Spense, John, ii., 138. + + Spey, i., 150; + iv., 354. + + Spinoza, his method and ethics, iii., 418‒432. + + Spottiswood, + John, ii., 104, 108, 349, 350; + John, Archbishop, iii., 19, 26, 39, 63; + his writings, 357. + + Stair, Lord, iii., 223, 232, 235, 367, 368. + + Standard, battle of, i., 203, 204. + + Stephen, King, i., 202, 203. + + Stevenson, Professor, iv., 18, 75. + + Stevenson, Robert L., iv., 211, 212. + + Steward of Scotland, i., 214, 217, 218, 267, 274, 277, 292, 306, + 307, 308, 309, 312, 313. + + Stewart, Lord of Brechin, i., 321. + + Stewart, + Sir Walter, of Jedworth, i., 321, 384; + Sir Alexander, 328; + Sir James, 338; + Duncan, 319, 320; + Sir Walter, 327; + James, 360; + Captain James, iii., 235; + William, 236. + + Stewart, + Dugald, iv., 74‒84; + Matthew, 260. + + Stirling, i., 83, 116, 140, 151, 209, 233, 234, 238, 264, 276, + 386, 387, 391; + ii., 58, 93, 97, 99, 120, 124, 129, 140, 147, 152, 155, 179, + 181, 187; + iii., 59, 62, 123, 228; + iv., 369; + castle of, i., 206, 248, 277, 278, 291, 294, 307, 338, 341, + 352, 430; + ii., 140, 152, 181; + iii., 64, 228. + + Stirlingshire, i., 29, 119, 121, 265; + ii., 364; + iv., 341, 342, 343, 373, 378. + + Stirling, James, iv., 259, 260. + + Stirling, Earl of, iii., 366. + + Stone circles, i., 94‒96. + + Stone weapons and tools, i., 48‒53. + + Stone of Destiny, i., 119, 137, 264, 265. + + Stonehaven, i., 28, 106. + + Stormont, Earl of, iii., 222. + + Strachan, Colonel, iii., 106. + + Strafford, iii., 80. + + Strathbogie, i., 140, 284; + castle of, ii., 123, 124, 202. + + Strathclyde, i., 84, 85, 114, 139. + + Strathern, i., 136, 138. + + Strathern, Earl of, 203, 209, 213, 214, 217, 308, 317, 333. + + Strathmore, i., 28. + + Strathmore, Earl of, iii., 205. + + Strathspey, i., 27, 207, 267. + + Strathurd, lordship of, i., 378. + + Succession Acts, i., 296, 313‒315; + iii., 155. + + Stuart, Lord of Aubigny, i., 362. + + Stuart, + John, i., 68, 69; + Dr. Gilbert, iv., 151; + Dr. John, 162. + + Sugar works, iii., 330; + refining of, iv., 394, 395. + + Sunday, i., 158, 439; + observance of, enforced, ii., 247, 248, 251‒254; + iii., 269‒272. + + Superintendents, ii., 108. + + Surrey, Earl of, i., 264, 267, 268, 270, 364. + + Sutherland, Earl of, i., 306, 308, 318; + ii., 139; + iii., 53, 61. + + Sutherland, James, iii., 369. + + + Tables, institution of, iii., 56, 57. + + Tacitus, i., 106‒108. + + Tactics of the Scots, i., 412. + + Taverns, i., 415. + + Taxes in early times, i., 149, 150, 220, 221, 251, 386‒391. + + Tay, i., 27, 105, 106, 109, 110, 119, 264, 267, 287; + iv., 354. + + Test Act, iii., 158, 159. + + Teviotdale, i., 26. + + Thane, thanage, i., 152, 251, 252. + + Thrift, early laws touching, i., 128‒131. + + Thomas the Rhymer, i., 446‒448. + + Thomson, + James, iv., 167, 168; + Dr. Andrew, 219; + Dr. John, 309‒311; + Sir William, Lord Colvin, 266, 284; + George, 434. + + Thor, ii., 436. + + Thorburn, Robert, iv., 452. + + Thorfinn, i., 138, 139. + + Tithes, i., 243, 244; + ii., 40; + iii., 43, 44. + + Todd, Dr., i., 117. + + Torture, i., 276, 427; + ii., 195, 196; + iii., 134, 147, 148, 158, 177. + + Torwood, i., 291; + iii., 156. + + Traquair, Earl of, iii., 58, 59, 62, 77. + + Trent, Council of, ii., 79‒85, 161. + + Tucker, iii., 300, 301. + + Tullibardine, Marquis of, iii., 222. + + Tulloch, Dr. John, iv., 224, 225. + + Turgot, Bishop, i., 156, 200. + + Turnberry Castle, i., 286. + + Turner, + Sir James, iii., 134; + William, iv., 306. + + Tweed, i., 21, 138, 203, 363; + iii., 79, 86. + + Tweeddale, i., 26. + + Tweeddale, Marquis of, iii., 206, 210. + + Tyrie, James, ii., 353, 354. + + Tytler, + William, iv., 151; + Patrick F., 155. + + + Ulbster, i., 55. + + Umfraville, Sir Ingram, i., 274. + + Union of England and Scotland, + proceedings connected with, iii., 206‒215; + advantages of, 216, 217, 231. + + Universities, + institution of, i., 466‒468; + changes in, ii., 405‒419; + iii., 388‒393; + iv., 327‒330. + + Urns, i., 92, 93‒96. + + + Vane, Sir Henry, iii., 84, 85. + + Veitch, John, iv., 246, 247. + + Vesy, John, i., 258. + + Vienne, John de, i., 316, 317. + + ♦Vipont, i., 294. + + ♦ Printed out of alphabetic order. + + Vikings, i., 118. + + Vitrified forts, i., 90‒92. + + + Wade, General, iii., 224‒225. + + Wager of battle, i., 228‒229. + + Wake, Lord, i., 301, 315. + + Wales, i., 125, 174. + + Walker, + William, iv., 197, 198; + James, 425. + + Walls, Roman, i., 109, 110. + + Wallace, Sir William, i., 265‒272, 277, 278‒280. + + Wallace, + Adam, ii., 78; + William, iv., 253. + + Wanlock, lead mine, ii., 284. + + Wardlaw, Dr. Ralph, iv., 221. + + Warwick, iv., 342. + + Watson, Dr. Robert, iv., 152. + + Watt, James, iv., 272, 274‒281. + + Weapons, prehistoric, i., 49, 50, 75‒78. + + Webster, Dr. Alexander, iv., 214. + + Wedderburn, + Robert, ii., 319, 341; + James, 341, 343; + John, 343. + + Weights and measures, i., 239, 332, 401, 402. + + Wells, venerated, i., 128, 135, 260, 261. + + Welsh, + John, iii., 29; + Dr., iv., 483. + + Welwood, William, ii., 384, 385. + + Wemyss, glass work at, iii., 315. + + Westminster Assembly of Divines, iii., 85, 87‒89. + + Whig, early use of the word, iii., 155, 342, 350, 351. + + Whisky, ii., 192, 193; + iv., 396, 397. + + White Caterthun, i., 89, 90. + + William the Conqueror, i., 142, 143, 192, 193‒195, 196, 198. + + William the Lion, reign of, i., 205‒209, 222, 227, 230. + + William Rufus, i., 143, 196. + + William of Orange, iii., 171, 173, 174‒176, 178‒180, 183‒185, + 186‒190, 192, 201‒204. + + Willock, John, ii., 87, 97, 98, 101, 104, 108. + + Wilson, + John, iv., 105, 205, 206; + Alexander, 182. + + Wine, i., 393, 394, 415, 416, 432; + ii., 292. + + Winram, John, ii., 52, 104, 108, 158. + + Winzet, Ninian, ii., 349‒352. + + Wishart, + Bishop of Glasgow, i., 266, 273, 283, 285; + George, ii., 69; + seized and martyred, 69, 70. + + Witchcraft, ii., 9, 268‒277; + iii., 259‒264. + + Witherspoon, Dr. John, iv., 214, 215. + + Wool, i., 240, 333, 387, 388; + ii., 290; + iii., 306, 307, 308. + + Worcester, battle of, iii., 110. + + Wyntoun, Andrew, i., 455, 456. + + + York, Duke of, iii., 156, 157, 163. + + York, Archbishop of, i., 200, 201. + + Young, + Peter, ii., 403; + Dr. Thomas, iv., 267. + + Yule, i., 416, 417. + + + Zealand, i., 392. + + + END OF VOLUME I. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78937 *** |