before whereupon they forbad him to enter their Borders but sent him Word That they themselves without his Presence would gather Money for and send Souldiers to the Syrian War and indeed they sent Souldiers under the Command of the Earls of Carick and Athol Two of the Chief Nobility to Lâ—wis King of Franâ—e and to the Pope lest he might think himself altogether disesteemed they sent 1000 Marks of Silver The Year after Henry King of England died and his Son Edward the First succeeded him at whose Coronation Alexander and his Wife were present she returning died soon after yea David the Kings Son and also Alexander being newly Married to the Daughter of the Earl of Flanders followed her a little time after by their continued Funerals Margarite also the Kings Daughter departed this Life who left a Daughter behind her begot by Hangonanus King of Norwey Alexander being thus in a few years deprived both of his Wife and Children too took to Wife Ioleta the Daughter of the Earl of Dreux and within a Year he fell from his Horse and broke his Neck not far from Kinghorn in the Year of our Lord 1285. and the Fourteenth of the Calends of April he lived Forty Five years and Reigned Thirty Seven He was more missed than any King of Scotland had been before him not so much for the eminent Virtues of his Mind and the Accomplishments of his Body as that People foresaw what great Calamities would befal the Kingdom upon his Decease Those wholsome Laws which he made are antiquated by the Negligence of Men and the Length of Time and their Utility is rather celebrated by Report than experienced by Trial. He divided the Kingdom into Four Parts and almost every year he Travelled them all over staying well near Three Months in each of them to do Justice and to hear the complaints of the Poor who had free Access to him all that time Assoon as he went to an Assize or Sessions he Commanded the Prefect or Sheriff of that Precinct to meet him with a select number of Men and also to accompany him at his departure to the end of his Bailywick till the next Precinct where he was Guarded by another like Company By this means he became acquainted with all the Nobility and was as well known to them and the People as he went were not burthen'd with a Troop of Courtiers who are commonly Imperious and given to Avarice where they come He commanded the Magistrates to punish all Idle Persons who followed no Trade nor had any Estates to maintain them for his Opinion was That Idleness was the Source and Fountain of all Wickedness He reduced the Horse-Train of the Nobles when they travelled to a certain number because he thought that the Multitude of Horses which were unfit for War would spend too much Provision And whereas by reason of Unskilfulness in Navigation or else by Mens Avarice in committing themselves rashly to Sea many Shipwracks had happened and the Violence of Pyrates making an Accession thereto the Company of Merchants were almost undone he commanded they should Traffick no more by Sea That Order lasted about an Year but being accounted by many of a publick Prejudice at length so great a Quantity of Foreign Commodities were imported that in Scotland they were never in the Memory of Man more or less cheap In this Case that he might study the good of the Merchants-Company he forbad that any but Merchants should buy what was imported by whole Sale but what every Man wanted he was to buy it at second Hand or by Retail from them The Eighth BOOK ALEXANDER and his whole Lineage besides one 〈◊〉 by his Daughter being extinct a Convention of the Estates was held at Scone to Treat about Creating a new King and setling the State of the Kingdom whither when most of the Nobility were come in the first place they appointed Vicegerents to govern Matters at present so dividing the Provinces That Duncan Mackduff should preside over Fife of which he was Earl Iohn Cumins Earl of Buchan over Buchan William Frazer Archbishop of St. Andrews over that Part of the Kingdom which lay Northward And that Robert Bishop of Glascow Another Iohn Cumins and Iohn Stuart should Govern the Southern Countries and that the Boundary in the midst should be the River Forth Edward King of England knowing that his Sisters 〈◊〉 Daughter of the King of Norway was the only surviving Person of all the Posterity of Alexander and that She was the Lawful Heiress of the Kingdom of Scotland sent Ambassadors into Scotland to desire Her as a Wife for his Son The Embassadors in the Session discoursed much of the publick Utility like to accrue to both Kingdoms by this Marriage neither did they find the Scots averse therefrom For Edward was a Man of great Courage and Power yet he desired to increase it and his Valour highly appeared in the Holy War in his Fathers Life time and after his Death in his subduing of Wales neither were there ever more Endearments passed betwixt the Scots and the English than under the last Kings Yea the Ancient Hatred seemed no way more likely to be abolished than if both Nations on Just and Equal Terms might be united into One. For these Reasons the Marriage was easily assented to other Conditions were also added by the consent of both Parties as That the Scots should use their own Laws and Magistrates until Children were begot out of that Marriage which might Govern the Kingdom or if no such were begot or being born if they dyed before they came to the Crown then the Kingdom of Scotland was to pass to the next Kinsman of the Blood-Royal Matters being thus setled Embassadors were sent into Norway Michael or as others call him David Weems and Michael Scot Two eminent Knights of Fife and much Famed for their Prudence in those days But Margarite for that was the Name of the young Princess dyed before they came thither so that they returned home in a sorrowful posture without their errand By reason of the untimely death of this young Lady a Controversie arose concerning the Kingdom which mightily shook England but almost quite ruined Scotland The Competitors were Men of great Power Iohn Baliol and Robert Bruce of which Baliol had Lands in France Bruce in England but Both of them great Possessions and Allies in Scotland But before I enter upon their Disputes that all things may be more clear to the Reader I must fetch them down a little higher The Three last Kings of Scotland William and the Two Alexanders The Second and the Third and their whole Off-spring being extinct there remained none who could lawfully claim the Kingdom but the Posterity of David Earl of Huntington This David was Brother to King William and Great Uncle to Alexander the Third He Married Maud in England Daughter to the Earl of Chester by whom he had Three
Courtiers cast into Pâ—ison condemn'd by the King 's privy domestick Council and put to Death by having a Vein Opened till he expired his last The Cause of his Death was given out amongst the Vulgar to be because he had conspir'd with Witches against the King's Life and to make the matter more plausible twelve of the Witches of the lowest condition were Try'd and Burnt The Death of Iohn did rather stifle than dissipate the Conspiracy which seem'd almost ready to break forth Alexander the next as in Blood so in Danger tho' he indeavour'd to avert all Suspicion from himself as much as he could yet the Kings Officers thought they should never be Secure as long as he was alive and therefore they presently clapt him up Prisoner in the Castle of Edinburgh where he was strictly kept by those who judg'd his Power would be their Destruction and seeing he could not appease the Kings Wrath by the Mediation of his Friends he began to think of making an Escape he had but one of his own Servants left tâ— wait upon him in his Chamber him and none else he acquainted with his Design who hired a Vessel for him to be ready fitted in the adjoining Road then he suborn'd Messengers to make frequent Errands to him from the Court who should tell him Stories before his Keepers for he was forbid to speak with any Body but in their presence that the King was now more reconcileable to him than formerly and that he would speedily be set at Liberty When the day appointed for his Escape approach'd he compos'd his Countenance to as much Mirth as in that calamitous Condition he was able to do and told his Keepers that now he believ'd the Messages sent him by the King that he was reconcil'd to him and that he hop'd he should not be held much longer in Durance hereupon he invited them to a noble Supper and himself drank freely with them till late at Night then they departed and being all full of Wine fell into the Sounder sleep being thus alone he made a Rope of the Linen-Blankets of his Bed long enough as he thought for the height of the Wall and First to make a Tryal he caus'd his Servant to slide down by it but perceiving by his Fall that 't was too short he lengthned it out as well as he could in those Circumstances and himself Slid down too and took up his Servant who had broke his Leg by his Fall upon his Shoulders and carry'd him about a Mile to the Vessel where they went aboard and having a Fair Wind failed to Dunbar there he fortify'd the Castle against any forcible Assault and with a smal Retinue passed over into France In his absence Andrew Stuart the Chancellor was sent with an Army to take in the Castle they besieg'd it closely some Months and 't was defended as bravely but at last the Garison for want of Necessaries were forced to get Vessels and in the Night to depart privately for England so that in the Morning the Empty Castle was taken by the Besiegers some men of Note of the Besiegers were slain there About these Times it was that the Kings both of England and Scotland being weary'd out with Domestick Troubles had each of them a desire to make Peace and an Embassy was appointed to compleat it which was kindly received and the Peace was not only agreed upon but an Affinity accorded to confirm it that Cecilia the Daughter of Edward should be Married to Iames his Son as soon as they were Both Marrigeable Part also of the Dowry was paid on this Condition That if when they came to Years the Marriage were not Consummated the Dowry should be paid back to the English and Hostages were given for performance of Conditions which were some Burgers of Towns But this Peace lasted not long for by reason of the old grudges remaining since the last Wars Incursions were made Preys driven and Villages burnt So that by reason of these mutual Injuries the matter broke forth into an open War And besides each King had other peculiar Provocations Douglas the Old Exile and Alexander the Kings Brother the new One excited Edward thereunto For Alexander as I said before going into France Married the Daughter of the Earl of Bulloign but not being able to procure Aid from Lewis the II. then King of France for the Recovery of his own he Sailed over into England hoping from thence to make some Attempt upon Scotland As for Iames of Scotland Lewis of Franâ—e edg'd him on to a War having sent Robert Ireland a Scots man and Dr. of the Sorbon with Two French Knights to him on that Errand Hereupon the Peace was violated and altho' the Scotish Affairs in regard some of the Country was wasted were in none of the best State and Condition yea an Army also was decreed to be sent against Scotland by the English under the Command of the Duke of Glocester yet the King and those which were about him did levy Forces tho' very unwillingly For the Upstarts such they lately were and very poor too whose Greatness was founded on the Calamities of others and who had been the Authors of such desperate Counsels to the King fear'd nothing more than the frequent Assembly of the Nobility when he came to Lauder a Town near the Borders of Merch and Teviotdale Countrys either wasted by the Enemy or else by Force necessitated to submit to him the King yet proceeded on in his wonted Course of Exactions from them he distrusted the Nobility and manag'd all by his Cabinet-Council The Nobles would indure the Indignity no longer and therefore in the third Watch they met in a Church in the Town where in a Full Assembly Archibald Douglas Earl of Angus is reported to have declar'd the Cause of their Meeting in this wise I think it not necessary Noble Peers to make a long Oration concerning the state of Scotish Affairs you your selves Partly remember it and Partly you see it with your Eyes the Chief of the Nobility are either banished or else compelled to suffer intolerable and to act nefarious things and you in whom the strength of the Kingdom doth reside are left without an Head as a Ship without a Steers-man subject to all the Storms and Tempests of Fortune Your Lands are burnt your Estates plunder'd the Husbandman either slain or else perceiving no other Remedy or relief hath submitted to the Enemy And the King if he were Himself a man of a generous Spirit and rare Prudence yet being carried away by poysonous Insinuations refers all things pertaâ—ning to the Good of the Common-wealth as to Peace War and the like not to an Assembly of the Nobles but to inferior Underlings these men do consult South-sayers and Wizards and so carry their Answers to the King whose mind is Sick and easily taken with such vain Superstitions and thus Decrees are made under the Influence of such
the 26th of August 1482. the Castle of Berwick should be surrendred up to the English and a Truce was made for a few Months till they could have more time to Treat of a Peace Thus Berwick was lost after it had been enjoy'd by the Scots 21 Years since they last recovered it Then the Duke of Glocester having made a prosperous Expedition return'd in Triumph Home Edward by the Advice of his Council judg'd it more for the advantage of England to nullifie the Marriage for he fear'd that the Intestine Discords of the Scots were so great that possibly the Issue of Iames might lose the Crown and if Alexander were made King be hoped to have a Constant and Faithful Ally of him in regard of the great Kindness he had receiv'd at his Hands Hereupon an Herauld was sent to Edinburgh to renounce the Affinity and to demand the Repayment of the Dowry when he had declar'd his Errand publickly on the Twenty Fifth of October the Scots obtained a Day for the Payment thereof and restor'd it to a Penny and withal they sent some to convoy the Herald as far as Berwick Alexander that he might extinguish the Remainders of the Old Hatred of his Brother against him and so obtain new Favour by a new Courtesie brought him out of the Castle and restor'd him to the free Possession of his Kingdom But the memory of old Offences prevail'd more with his Proud Huffing Spirit than This of his late Courtesie Moreover besides the Kings own Jealousies there were Those who did daily calumniate him and buzz into the Kings Ear his too great Popularity as if now 't was very Evident that he affected the Kingdom he being advis'd by his Friends that Mischief was hatching against him at Court fled privately into England and gave up the Castle of Dunbar to Edward In his absence he was Condemn'd The Crimes objected against him were First That he had often sent Messengers into England and then that he had retir'd thither himself without obtaining a Pass-port from the King and that there he joined in Counsel against his Country and his Kings Life All the other of his Partizans were pardon'd and amongst the rest William Creighton who was accus'd not only to have been an Abettor of his designs against his Country but also the chief Author and Instigator of him thereunto But after he had obtain'd Pardon for what was past he was again accus'd that he did incourage Alexander by his Advice and Counsel after he was Condemned frequent Letters passing between them by the means of Thomas Dickson a Priest and that he had caus'd his Castle of Creighton to be Fortified against the King and commanded the Garison Soldiers not to surrender it up to the King's Forces Hereupon he was summoned to appear the 13th Day of February in the Year 1484. but he not appearing was outlawed and his Goods Confiscate These were the Causes of his Punishment mentioned in our publick Records But 't is thought that the Hatred the King had conceiv'd against him upon a private Occasion did him the most Mischief of all It was this William had a very beautiful Wife of the Noble Family of the Dunbars when her Husband found that the King had had the use of her Body he undertook a Project which was rash enough in it self but yet not unproper for a Mind sick of Love and also provok'd by such an Injury as his was for he himself lay with the King 's young Sister a beautiful Woman but ill spoken of for her too great Familiarity with her Brother and on her he begot Margarite Creighton who died not long since In the interim Creighton's Wife died at his own House and the King's Sister whom as I said the King had vitiated was so much in Love with William that she seem'd sometimes to be out of her Wits for him The King partly by the Mediation of William's Friends and partly being mindful of the Wrong he himself had done him of the like sort and being willing also to cover the Infamy of his Sister under a pretext of Marriage permitted William to return Home again to Court upon Condition that he would Marry her William was persuaded by his Friends and for want of better Counsel especially since Richard of England was dead came to Eâ—verness where he had Conference with the King not long before Both their Deaths and great Hopes were there given of his Return His Sepulchre is yet there to be seen These things were done at several times but I have put them together that so the Thread of my History might not be discontinued and broken off Let us now return to what was omitted before Edward of England died in the Month of April next after Dunbar was delivered to him in the Year 1483. leaving his Brother Richard Guardian to his Sons He was first content with the Name of Protector and under that Title Govern'd England for two Months but afterwards having by several Practises engaged a great part of the Nobility and Commonalty to his side he put his Brothers Two Sons in Prison the Queen and her Two Daughters being forced to retire into a Sanctuary near London but the next Iune he took upon him the Name and Ornaments of a King Alexander of Albany and Iames Douglas being willing to try how their Countrymen stood affected towards them came with 500 select Horse to Loch-Maban on Maudlins-day because a great Fair used that day to be there held There a Skirmish began between the Parties with inraged Minds on Both sides and the Success was various as Aid came in out of the Neighbouring District either to This or That Party They fought from Noon till Night and the issue was doubtful but at last the Victory inclined to the Scots though it were a Bloody one as having lost many of their Men Douglass was there taken Prisoner and sent away by the King to the Monastery of Lindors Alexander was set on a Horse and escap'd but staid not in England long after that In the mean time many Incursions were made to the greater Loss of the English than Benefit of the Scots Richard was uncertain of the Event of things at home and withal fear'd his Enemy abroad for many of the English did favour the Earl of Richmond who was then an Exile in France and had sent for him over to undertake the Kingdom so that Richard was mightily troubled neither was he less vext with the Guilt of his own Wickedness and because he saw he could not quell Domestick Seditions as soon as he hoped therefore he thought it best to Oblige Foreigners by any Conditions whatsoever that so by their Authority and Power he might be safer at home and more formidable to his Enemies For this cause he sent Embassadors into Scotland to make Peace or at least a Truce for some years there he found all things more facile than he could have hoped for For Iames
plunder seeing the Town fortifi'd and the Royalists ready for the Encounter return'd the nearest Way they could to their Own-homes and the Rebels with their Vassals and a Company of Foot retreat to Hawick never thinking that the Enemy would in the least attempt any thing against them there and their Hopes were increas'd by the Winter-season which was sharper than ordinary by reason of a great Quantity of Snow lately fallen which cover'd all the Ground But Ruven intended to make use of the Opportunity and in the third Watch drew out his Party and march'd so speedily towards Hawick that he was in a Mile of it before the Enemy took the Alarum They at Hawick were so amaz'd that there was no room for Counsel left but Foot and Horse were immediately drawn out and following the Current of the next River endeavour'd to retreat to a Place of more Safety But the Swiftness of their Pursuers prevented them the Horse knew the Country and made a shift to escape but the Foot were left for a Prey they possest themselves of a small Wood on a Rock near the River there they were surrounded by the Horse and not adventuring to stay till the Foot came up they all surrendred themselves at Mercy But seeing that other Dangers were to be prevented and they could not be carried up and down in so sharp a Winter having past their Words to return at an appointed Day and leaving some Hostages to that purpose they were sent home without their Arms When they were discharged Kircade made sleeveless Pretences to elude their Promises and so hinder'd them from returning at the time appointed The rest of the Winter and the following Spring was wholly spent in light Skirmishes wherein Few fell but more of the Rebels than Royalists For the Rebels when they saw an Advantage would draw out on the Hills near the City and before they had scarce begun a skirmish would retire sometimes again in to the City In the interim frequent Embassies came from England to reconcile the Factions but without effect For the Queen of England tho she most favour'd the King's Party yet she was willing so to make Peace as to ingage both Parties to her but the French were wholly inclin'd to the Queen's Cause and therefore by large Promises hindred Peace and advis'd to continue the War Some Mony they sent at present not enough to do the Business but only to feed Hope and a great Part of what was sent was still nibbled away by those that brought it In the mean time light Skirmishes past for some Months betwixt the Parties but not at all contributing to the main Chance Neither were other Parts of the Kingdom free from Plunderings and Firings Adam Gordon gather'd a Party and entring Angus besieg'd Douglas's House of Glembervy and finding that himself was absent they miserably Burnt and Destroy'd all that he left behind which struck such a Fear into those of Dundee that they call'd in the Garisons from the adjoining Parts of Fife to their Assistance they were Enemies to the Gordonians as having been highly Faithful continually to the King's Cause About this time Blackness was betray'd by the Governor thereof to the Hamiltons 'T is a Castle that hinders commerce betwixt Leith and Sterlin The Regent broke down all the Mills about Edinburgh he also garison'd all the Noble Men's Houses about it and stopt all Passages into the City many Prisoners were taken on both sides Archibald Douglas one of Morton's familiar Friends was apprehended on Suspicion which was increas'd upon him by the Baseness of his former Life and also by some Letters found about him yea even after he was taken entercourse of Letters past betwixt him and the Enemy which evidenc'd that he had assisted the Rebels by Advice and Action too as having transmitted to them both Mony and Arms. THE END An ALPHABETICAL TABLE of the Principal Matters contained in the foregoing HISTORY NB. FOR the Reader 's Ease and Conveniency in the speedy finding out of the Quotations in the following Table as also in the Catalogue of the Scotish Kings preceding this History he is desired to take notice That whereas a new Alphabet and Folio doth begin at the later Part of this History viz. at Book 13. and so continues to the End all the Quotations marked between Parentheses's do belong to the Folio's and Pages of the said later Part only The rest do all belong to the former Part. A Page ABercorn-Castle 22 Aberdeen 19 Famous for Salmon-Fishing ibid. Aberdone ibid. Aberbrothock or Abrinca ibid. Abernethy wherein was the old Palace of the Picts Kings 16 18 Abria or Abyr a Country or Shire the Etymology thereof 19 Abridic or Erisbach-Isle 25 Abthane an old Name of Magistracy and Dignity amongst the Scots See Thane 187 206 Achaius King of Scotland 164 He makes a defensive War against the Irish ibid. The First of the Scotish Kings that ever made a League with France 165 Achnar-Isle 26 Acho King of Norwey lands in Air with a great Fleet 241 Is overthrown and dies of Grief ibid. Achmode-Isles See Aebudae Adams Isle 30 Adamannus 161 Adam Huntly taken Prisoner by the Earl of Murray 170 Ado Viennensis quoted and corrected 87 Adrian passes out of France into Britain 112 His Wall ibid. Adrian the Pope's Legate in England 433 Advatici Who 10 Aebudae Islands 22 Their Number ibid. Aelius Pertinax in Britain 117 Aelius Spartianus quoted 118 Aemodae Isles the same with Aebudae Aeneia 18 170 Air 14 Aestions spake the British Language 50 They inhabited Prussia 77 Aetius the Britains crave Aid of him 93 Afulla Isle 31 Agnes Keith Daughter of the Earl of Merch married to James Earl of Murray 161 Agathyrsi painted their Bodies 53 Aidan King of Scots invested in that Dignity by Columb 155 Ailmer Edward of England's General overthrows Bruce 12 61 Air County 20 Alan of Lorn keeps his Brother Prisoner 407 408 He is imprisoned himself ibid. Albanact Son of Brute from him the Scots called Albani 42 Albinick the Scots so called 11 Albium or Albion Isle retains the Name of Britanny 1 More Islands than one anciently so called ibid. It s Etymology 11 12 Album or White the Name of Height as well as of Colour whence many Words are derived as Albingaunum Albula Albici Albini c. 11 Alcluyth 92 Alexander I. King of Scots 221 222 Why Sirnamed Acer ibid. His Iustice to a poor Woman 222 He is relieved by Hermites ibid. Alexander II. 237 Enters England and takes Carlile ibid. He and his Queen visit Henry of England 239 His Queen dies at London 239 He marries a French Lady ibid. Alexander III. 240 The Nobles combine against him 241 He hath an Interview with Henry of England 240 Is made Knight by him and espouses Margarite his Daughter ibid. Assists the King of England 243 He and his Queen present at the Coronation of King Edward I. He marries Joleta a French Lady 244 He forbids
II. 306 His Duel with Henry Percy 316 Is slain fighting valiantly 318 His three last dying Requests ibid. James Douglas made Earl when William Douglas his Father was slain 386 He accuses the King and Nobles of Perfidiousness ibid. Proclaimed a publick Enemy 387 Marries Beatrix his Brother's Widow 388 Persuaded to a Reconciliation with the King which he refuses ibid. Being forsaken by his Friends he applies to England for Aid 389 And to Donald the Islander 390 Forsaken by his Wife ibid. James Douglas Earl of Morton and Alexander Hume take the Coronation-Oath for King James VI. in his Minority 214 He provides for the Common-wealth at his private Charge 215 Commands the King's Army against the Queen 220 Goes into England with the Regent 224 Sent Embassador into England 261 His Cheerfulness to encounter the Enemy 278 Taken Prisoner and then takes him Prisoner whose Captive he was before 282 James Haliburton taken Prisoner 281 James Hamilton Earl of Arran Admiral of a Navy under James IV. 16 He plunders Knockfergus in Ireland ibid. At last sails for France 17 Is chosen Regent 75 Opposes Archibald Douglas after his Return from France 39 Highly disgusted by King James V. 65 Compelled to change his Opinion concerning the Controverted Points of Religion 79 80 His shameful Flight Vanity and Inconstancy 84 86 Remiss in the Case of George Wiseheart 111 Corrupted by Avarice 112 Put from his Regency and made Duke of Chastle-herault 113 114 James Hamilton returns from France 229 Endeavours to engage Queen Elizabeth of England to make him Regent ibid. But without Success 232 He submits to the Regent 234 James Hamilton Son of the Archbishop of St. Andrews's Sister treacherously shoots Murray and kils him 245 246 James Hamilton a Bastard Brother to the Earl of Arran chosen Iudg against the Lutherans 68 He is tried condemned and executed 69 James Hepburn Earl of Bothwel committed to Prison 163 164 But escapes 167 Banished 66 A Rival to the Earl of Lennox 80 Called out of France by the Queen 171 172 Endeavours to supplant Murray 163 Divorced from his former Wife 198 Procures a Schedule from the Nobility about his Marriage with the Queen 196 Surprizes and marries the Queen 199 Outlawed 173 Accused of the King's Murder 194 His Mock-Trial 173 193 195 Wounded by an High-way Pad 184 Designs to destroy Murray 192 His Challenge answered 209 He flies 210 And dies distracted in Denmark 215 James Kennedy Archbishop an Adversary to the Douglasses 373 Retires from a corrupt Court 376 Disallows the Faction of the Queen-Mother 399 His Oration that Women ought not to govern 401 c. His Praise Death and Character 409 410 James Kennedy builds a vast Ship 420 James Levingston put to Death by the Douglassian Faction 375 376 Lindsy's Obstinacy in following his Enemies 319 James Macgil sent with others Embassador into England 224 261 James Macintosh unjustly put to Death 160 James the Son of Murdo burns Dumbarton 339 James Earl of Murray appointed Vicegerent 60 Settles the Borders 57 Sent into France 63 James Earl of Murray refuses to associate with the Queen and Bothwel 204 But chuses rather to leave the Land 205 He returns from Travel and is made Regent 213 His resolute Speech 217 He meets the Queen of England's Embassadors at York 224 Waylayed by his Enemies in his Iourny ibid. Goes to London 226 Where he manages the Accusation against the Queen 227 Whence honourably dismiss'd and his Transactions there approved in Scotland 233 He is deserted by his Friends 243 Too câ—â—eless of himself 245 Killed by one of the Hamiltons 246 His laudable Character 246 247 James Murray offers to encounter Bothwel hand to hand 209 James Sandiland Embassador from Scotland to France 150 James Sandiland sent against the Thieves 59 Carries Propositions from the Reformers to the Queen Regent 125 James Stuart marries Joan the Widow of James I. 364 Is banished 375 James Stuart the Queen's Brother puts the English to a Retreat 108 Hath threatning Letters sent him by the Queen 130 An Actor in reforming Religion 131 Made Earl of Marr and Murray 161 Iceni and Icium 10 Icolumbkil 26 Idleness the Source of Mischief 345 Idlers Isle or of the Otiosi 25 Ierna i. e. Ireland 69 Jews imitated by the Romanists 381 Issurt or Issert Isle 30 Igerne vitiated by Uter yet he afterwards marries her 149 Ignis Fatuus what 264 Ila Isle see Yla Ilan na Covihaslop 26 Images demolished at Perth 128 Immersi Isle 26 Impostors notorious ones 393 6 7 c. 58 Indigenae who 42 50 Indulfus King of Scots 181 Casually slain by the Danes 182 Indulgence over-much to Children punished 337 Informers though sometimes allowed yet dangerous Instruments in a State 148 Inhumanity to Prisoners 297 Innerlochy 20 Innerness 20 Interregnum in Scotland after Alexander the IIId's Death 245 Inundation of the River Tay at Perth 236 And great Ones in Lothian 305 John Annins writes the Original of the Brittons in Verse 42 Johannes Scotus sent for by Charles the Great 165 Johns or Jeans Isle 26 John Baliol his Genealogy 246 247 248 More solicitous for a Kingdom than a Good Name 250 Made King and surrenders himself and Kingdom to the King of England ibid. He confesses his Fault for so doing 251 Disgusts Edward of England 252 Overthrown by Edward made Prisoner and released 251 252 253 John King of England meditates a War against Scotland 235 Makes divers Leagues with the Scots 236 Enters Scotland 237 The Pope's Beneficiary ibid. Poisoned by a Monk 238 John Son of Alexander Brother to James III. Duke of Albany declared Regent when in France 31 He arrives in Scotland 32 Gets the Queen Mother into his Power 34 Goes into France appointing Governours in his Absence 37 Returns to Scotland 39 Raises an Army against England but makes a Truce 40 41 Goes again into France whence he returns with a great Navy 41 42 Marches into England and assaults Werk-Castle 45 Goes the third time into France and his Power is vacated in his Absence 46 John Erskin sent Embassador into France 63 Of the Queen's Faction 105 Made Governour of Edinburgh Castle 115 Sent Embassador into France 121 John Brother to King James III. put to death 421 John Erskin favours the Reformation 126 Afraid of the Queen Regent 128 Beats the Rebels out of Sterlin 282 Chosen Regent 283 Straitens Edinburgh 286 John Armstrong Captain of Thieves executed 57 John Earl of Athol marries Beatrix Douglas 301 He his Wife taken Prisoners by Donald 408 John Earl of Buchan aids the French King's Son 334 Made Lord High Constable of France 335 Slain there by the English 336 John Cumins marches into England and wasts Northumberland 253 His Treachery against Robert Bruce 2â—0 Which cost him his Life ibid. John Earl of Carick base Son to Robert II. 307 John Cockburn of Ormiston wounded and taken by Bothwel 140 John Cuningham imployed in surprizing Dumbarton-Castle 263 John Earl Douglas's Brother made Baron of
257 Courted by King Edward 258 Refused to swear Obedience to him 259 Betrayed to Edward by a false Friend 260 261 By whom he was drawn hanged and quartered ibid. Wallace slain in Fight by the English 379 Walowithia 60 Walsch or Welsch what it signifies in German 54 61 Walter Mills martyred for Religion 123 Walter Steward of all Scotland 21â— Walter the Son of Murdo imprisoned 338 Walter Earl of Athol conspires against the King and murders him 355 356 He is executed 357 358 Walter Scot endeavouring by Force to take the King from the Douglasses is overthrown 49 Made Prisoner 57 Restored to Liberty ibid. Ioins his Forces with the Regent's 89 Wardships their Origin and Nature 203 351 A Badg of Slavery 15 War Pretence of the Holy War cozâ—ns the Simple of their Mony 243 Warwick Earl overthrown by the Queen of England 397 Watersa Isle 29 Weathers Isle ibid. Werk Castle described 45 Weights corrected 344 Wester-oy or Wyer-oy 36 Whales Plenty of them about the Isle Lewis 32 Whales-oy Isle 37 Whey the Brittons Drink 23 White Battel what 271 Wife of Seton's Speech to her Husband encouraging him to part with 〈◊〉 Sons rather than the Town of Berwick 289 Witches discovered and punished 183 William King of Scots 231 Taken by the English 233 Accompanies Henry of England into France ibid. Released ibid. Sends his Brother David to the Holy War 235 William Creighton Chancellour 359 Deceived by the Queen and her Son the King taken from him 360 361 He guides the King after he had taken him in a Wood to his Party 365 Highly accused 361 Craves Aid of Douglas but in vain 362 Agrees with the Regent 363 Is received into Favour 374 His Death 391 William of Normandy repairs Newcastle 217 Conquers the Danes 71 Overthrown in Scotland 116 William Cecil a prudent Counsellour in England 146 Sent Embassador into Scotland ibid. William Creighton slain 111 William Creighton outlawed with his Crimes 428 William Douglas refuseth to swear Fealty to King Edward 253 He treats Alexander Ramsay inhumanly 301 Is slain 303 William Douglas Son of Archibald of Galway 314 The King marries his Daughter Aegidia to him though he were a Bastard ibid. Killed by Ruffians at Dantzic 322 William Douglas succeeds Archibald his Father 363 Corrupted by Flatterers profuse enticed by the Chancellour to Edinburgh and beheaded 370 William Douglas Son of James the Gross marries Beatrix his Vncle's Daughter 370 Submits to the King 371 By his Obsequiousness makes the King his Own and by that means revenges the Deaths of his Kinsmen 372 375 Goes to Rome 381 Accused in his Absence and his Solicitor overthrown in the Trials ibid. He pays Damages out of his Estate 381 382 Returns and is declared Regent 383 Comes to Court on safe Conduct 385 At last slain by the King 's own Hand 386 William Douglas desires leave to revenge the Death of his Brother the Earl of Murray 248 William Drury an English Knight secretly favours the Rebels 278 William Bishop of Dunblane sent into France to excuse the Queen's hasty Marriage in Scotland 199 200 William Graham the King's Guardian 407 William Hume beheaded 36 William Elphinston Bishop of Aberdene laments the State of Scotland 30 William Keith taken Prisoner by the English 122 William Kircade of Grange Admiral of the Navy against Bothwel 215 William Levingston goes into France with the Queen 107 William of Malmesbury a British Writer 8 William Maitland an ingenious young Man 161 Sent into England to desire Aid 224 Sent into England to complement Queen Elizabeth on Mary's Account 154 Persuades her to declare Mary her Heiresâ— 155 Which she refuses to do 157 He favours the Queen's Affairs 225 Is factious and perfidious ibid. Studies Innovations 226 He is taken and released 242 243 William Murray of Tiâ—bardin angry with the Regent 216 William Rogers an English Musician one of James the IIId's Evil Counsellours 420 William Sylly or Souls executed 271 William Sivez his Story 418 Arch-deacon and a great Astrologer ibid. Vndermines Patrick Graham and gets the Bishoprick 419 William Stuart Bishop of Aberdene sent Embassador into France 63 Womans Isle see Nuns Isle Women some of a manly Spirit 290 297 397 Women whether the supreme Government ought to be committed to them 401 X X Vsed by the Spaniards for double SS 60 Y YEw Isle 25 Yla Isle 26 Z ZEal or Yel Island 3â— Zeland or Schetland Isles ibid. Zerobia Queen of Palmira unsuccessful in her Government 405 Zeviot or Cheviot Hills or Mountains â—3 FINIS ERRATA In the first Twelve Books PAge 16. marg for Adrews read Andrews P. 23. l. 29. f. wear r. did wear P. 24. marg f. Arraâ— r. Arrâ—â— P. 31. l. 18. f. Nastick r. Na Aich P. 39 40 41 42. in the Title f. Book I. r. Book II. P. 75. marg f. â—â—lalabria's r. Calabria's P. 82. l. 47. f. hither r. hitherto P. 109. l. 41. f. Peâ—itius r. Petiliâ—â—â— P. 110. l. 10 〈◊〉 p. 111. l. 5. f. Agrippa r. Agricola P. 110. l. 42. f. Eighth r. Seventh P. 116. marg f. vnâ—â—â—ry r. 〈◊〉 P. 120. l. 45. and p. 183. l. 26. f. Wizard r. Witch P. 131. l. 43. f. Thus r. This. P. 160. l. 22. r. Redemptioâ— P. 168. marg f. Kennetius r. Kennethus P. 183. l. 17. f. Causes r. Cause P. 197. l. 22. f. vaiâ— r. in vaiâ— P. 21â— l. 23. f. Neice r. Grandchild l. 29. f. Nephew r. Grandson P. 227. l. 25. f. 1553 r. 1153. P. 228. l. 6. dele good P. 236. l. 20. f. 1643 r. 1214. P. 245. l. 2. f. Neice r. Grandchild l. 13. f. Neice r. Grandchild P. 248. l. 41. f. to the Marriage with his Queen r. Marriage of his Son with their Queen l. 15. f. Dutchess r. Dâ—tchy P. 272. l. 9. dele some P. 273. l. 1. after taken add Besides many of inferiour Rank John Britain Earl of Richmond was also taken P. 286. marg f. Ear. r. Earn l. 27. f. the Caledonians r. Dunkel P. 287. dele the last marginal Note viz And declare War against France P. 292. l. 21. after Wepont add or Oldbrigs P. 297. l. 16. f. 1â—37 r. 1337. P. 299. r. Alexander Ramsay P. 319. l. 19. f. Army r. Arms. P. 325. l. 11. r. 18 years old Earl of Rothes P. 329. l. 1â— and 27. f. 300. r. 30. ibid. l. 49. dele of P. 330. l. 30. r. Charles VI. P. 331. f. Youth's r. Child 's P. 332. marg f. Murray r. Garioch P. 339. l. 35. f. before r. after P. 342. l. 46. f. 〈◊〉 of Caitâ—nes r. the Clan-cattan Men. f. Cameron r. the Camerons P. 347. marg f. Trust r. Frâ—it P. 348. l. 44. f. 〈◊〉 r. Marr. P. 353. l. 12. f. quietly r. quickly P. 3â—5 f. his Nephew by his Son r. Grandson P. 357. l. 46. f. 〈◊〉 Nephew by his Son r. Grandson P. 360. l. 25. f. no r. now P. 370. l. 23. f. upon r. before P. 389. l. 43. f. 〈◊〉 r. dwindle P. 403. l. 41.
overthrowâ— Gilespâ— a Free-â—ooâ—er The 〈◊〉 of the â—aâ—thnessmen against their Bishop punished Saturnalia * Thomas the Natural Son of Alan of Galway overthrown * Alexander and his Queen Visit King Henry His Queen dies at London He marries to a French Lady Bizâ—â— offers to clear himself by a Duel He flys to Ireland Sumerled overthrown in Argyle The Cumins's 〈◊〉 the Roast in 〈◊〉 which disgusts the opposite Faction An Embassy to England An Interview between the Two Kings November 24. * Alexander of Scotland made Knight by the K. of England A Contract of Marriage between Him Henry's Daughter The Chancelâ—oâ— of Scotland 〈◊〉 * Work Castle standing 〈…〉 above 〈…〉 side A Sedition of the Nobles against Alexander An Ancient Privilege of the Scots not to be citeâ— to Râ—me August 1. * Acho King of Norwey lands with an Army in Scotland * A Town in Cuningham standing on the Clyde But is overthrown by Alexander Stuart And dies of Grief Isle of Man recovered by the Scots * Acho's Son makes Peace with Alexander * * * Ottobon the Popes Legâ—â—e Another Legate 〈◊〉 Rome * A Town in France * A Borough over against Leith in Lothian * March the 19th Alexanders Death and Commendable Character Idle Persons punished Edward of England desires Margarite of Norway Heiress of Scotland as a Wife for his Son which is yielded to But She dyes before their Marriage Contests for the Crown of Scotland * The Original of the Controversie between the Baliols and the Bruces in Scotland The Story of the Discords between Fergus of Galway his Children after his Decease Rolland's Valouâ— and Genealogy October 1. * Comâ— Stabuâ—â— Martha Countess of Carrick falls in Love with Robert Bruce The several Pretensions of the Competitors to the Crown Which difference could not be decided by the Scots But was referred to the Umpirage of Edward of England * The 〈◊〉 Case as pâ—opounded to Lawyers by K. Edward The Lawyers differ in their Opinions about it Edward decides for Baliol. * Baliol swears Fealty to Edward * At which many of the Scots Nobles are offended * An Interrognum in Scotland before Baliol was made King Young Mackduff complains to K. Edward against Baliol. Baliol disgusts Edward He sides with the French And withdraws his Subjection from England Whereupon Edward Warâ— against Scotland He sides with Bruce Overthrows the Scots and takes Berwick Grafton Censured by This Author * Edinburgh and Sterlin But is released by Mediation of the Pope A Duodeceâ—â— virat in Scotland Iohn Cumins marches into England The Story of Wallis Wallas or Wallace and his famous Exploits against the English He is made Regent The chief Town of Clydsdale And takes many Places from the English * Or Logan He overthrows Cressingham the English General at Sterlin Bridge September 15. He enters with an Army into England 1 November 1 February Edward returns from France to subdue Wallace But retreats from the North without Fighting The Scots Nobles envy Wallace for his Success * Or Wallace Edward gives the Scots a great overthrow at Falkirk A Conference betwixt Bruce and Wallace in the Field Iuly 22. Wallace dismisses the remainder of his Army The Scots by the mediation of the King of France obtain a Truce from Edward The Scots 〈◊〉 in Armâ— again And overthrow the English at Roslin in Mid-lothian Feb. 24. Edward in revenge enters into Scotland with a vast Army and subdues all the Country Wallace courted by King Edward to come over to his Party with his stout Answer in the Negative Three Miles Eâ—st of Elâ—in All the 〈◊〉 Sâ—eâ—r Alâ—eâ—â—ance to 〈…〉 Wallace Edward appoints Magistrates all over Scotland Edwards Severity Censâ—red He carries the Marble Stone into England on which the Scots Kingâ— uâ—ed to be Crowned Seeds of new Troubles in Scotland A formal Agreement between Cumins and Bruce Which Cumins discovers to K. Edward Bâ—uce like to suffer for Treason but is informed of his danger by a Wiâ—e and flies by Night into Scotland Bruce's Horses shod backward to secure his Flight Bruce kills Cumins for betraying him * Febr. 10. Wallis unworthily betrayed by his Friend is Hang'd and Quartered by Edward His Chaâ—actâ—r Lying upon the River Aâ—mon near Perth * Iuly the 2â— * Bruce overthrown and retires in a disguise to save his Life Bruce thought to be Dead starts out from his Retirement and takes some Castles * In the Braes of â—â—gus on the Head of the North-Water Esk. Cumins of Bâ—chan 〈◊〉 againâ—t Bruâ—e But dares not fight him Iames Douglas joyns with Bruce Bruce causes himself to be carried sick into his Army and overthrows Iohn Cumins * A Town in Garioch * Iune 30th Bruce conquers all Galway Edward enters Scotland against Bâ—uce but retreats again Bruce invades England He takes Perth Dumfreiz c. with Eâ—inburâ—h and the Isle of Man from the English Sterlin-Castle capitulates with Edward Bruce Edward of England enters Scotland with a vast Army Bruce his Policy in a Fight * Small Engins ordinarily round with sharp Iron Spikes standing out on each side of Them so that throw them which way soever you will upon the Ground one Spike or other turns upward and wounds or pierces the Horses Foot that treads upon it and thus makes him Lame and unfit for Service * Iuneâ—3 â—3 The English receive a great overthrow at Bannoâ—k near Sterling * Or Menteith * Or Calhound in the Country of Lennox The Treachery of Menteith who before betrayed Wallace against the King discovered Menthet Rewarded for his Valour in Bannock Fight Berwick takeâ— by Bruce The Kingdom confirmed to Bruce Bruce desired to accept the Crown of Ireland He drives the English out of Vlster Edward Bruce overthrown in Ireland by the English October 5. An English Army worsted in Scotland Bishop Sinclar's Valour against the English Edward besieges Berwick Randolfe invades England and overthrows the Arch-Bishop of York The Wâ—itâ— Battel 〈◊〉 Edward retreats upon a Truce with the Scots Robert calls for the Deeds of Mens Lands Whereupon he receives an Affront A Conspiracy against Bruce discovered and the Actoâ—â— put to deaâ—â— The Scots Excommunicated Bruce invades England Edward enterâ— Scotland but soon retreats In Teviotdale Bruce follows him and had almost taken him in a Skirmish * Not â—ar from Maltoâ— in Yorkshire Andâ—ew Bâ—râ—ly put to Death The Scots absolved by the Pope And make a League with the French The Rise of the Family of the Hamiltons with the Occasion thereof Edwâ—rd of England slain by a strange kind of Death not without the Pâ—ivity of his Relations Bruce settles the Succession in hiâ— Family And agrees with Baliol then in France who consents theâ—eto Bâ—uce's Army 〈…〉 Edward makes Head against them The Scots flying Army of Horse weary the Engâ—ish to follow them Stags suddenly rouzed affright the English * The English Army highly incommoded in their march Reparties between both Armies Douglas breaks in upon the
The Parliament Graâ—ity neither Party fully but chuse Regents of which the Queens Friends are an equal Number with the rest A Truce with England for 1â— Years The Queen Mothers Death Intestine Commotions in Scotland By Alan of Loâ—n And Donald the Islander * Or Redshanks Donald takes the Earl of Athol Prisoner pillages and burns St. Brides Church He is Shipwrackâ—d and theâ—eupon falâ—s distrâ—cted Iames Kennedy his commendation The Boyds câ—eep into Favour at Court Alexander Boyd abuses Kennedy The Boyds carry the King to Edinburgh Whereupon the Kennedies depart from the Court Boyd's Sarcasm to Iohn Kennedy Kennedy's Death and Character * Patrick Graham Elected Bishop of St. Andrews in the room of Iames Kennedy and Confirmed by the Pope But the Boyds obstruct his Admission Scots Bishops freed from the Jurisdiction of the Arch-Bishop of York by the Popes Decree The Boyds strengthen their Faction and procure Pardon for their Misâ—aâ—iageâ— by Publick Instruments to which the King assents Robert Boyd made Regent Thomas Boyd Marries the Kings Eldest Sister The Greatness of the Boyds occasions their Ruin James by his Ambassadors desires Margarite Daughter of the King of Denmark for a Wife The King of Denmark resigns up the Orcades and Scheâ—land to the Scots as a Dowry Thomas Boyd sent Ambassador to bring the new Queen from Norwey The Boyds undermined in the absence of Thomas Robert Boyd flies into England Alexander Boyd Beheaded A Critical or Ambiguous Pardon Thomas Boyd declared a publick Enemy in his â—bsence Who thereupon retires into Burgundy King Iames Married to Margarite of Norwey * A Town on the River Irwyn in Cuningham Thomas Boyd's Wife divorced fâ—om him and Married to Iames Hamilton Boyd's Death Bishops anciently chosen by their Canons and Abbats by their Monks Bâ—t King Iames assumes the naming of 〈◊〉 to himseâ—â— Which Patrick Grahâ—m laboâ—rs to withstand But the Court-brokers â—ppose him The Story of William Sivez and his worming of Graham out of the Archbishopâ—ick of St. Andrews Patrick Graham Excommunicated and his Rents gathered into the Kings Exchequer Situate upon the Head of Monks-Moor Five Miles North of Falkland 〈…〉 of his Bâ—shoprick imprisoned till 〈◊〉 Death and hiâ— Adversary Sivez succeeds him A Town four Miles above Queens-Ferry in Fife Iohn the Islander rises in Arms but quickly submits himself Iames Kennedy built a vast Ship which is rifled by the English but upon a Peace made by Embassadors he receives satisfaction Embassadors to Charles of Burgundy who soon after was slain at Nants by the Switzers One Andrews an Astrologer and Physician foretels K. Iames's Death K. Iames degenerates into Tyranny Iohn the Kings Brotheâ— put to Death And Aâ—exander impriâ—oned But he makeâ— his Escape to Dunbar and then to France Dunbar Castle deserted and taken by the Scots Peace between the Scots and English wherein it was agreed That Cecily Edwards Daughter should Marry Iames's Young Son But the Peace is soon broken and an Army Marches into England * In Lauderdale Douglasses Oration to the Nobles in the Camp against the King's Evil Counsellors Cockran and the Rest of the Evil Counsellors dragg'd out by an Incensed Army to their Deaths Their Crimes Objected were Brass-Money Coyned Their Aliâ—nating the King's Heart from the Nobility with 〈◊〉 Incouraging of him in Magical Aâ—ts and Exciting him to Cruelty against his own Flesh and Blood The Scots Army disbanded An English Army under the Duke of Glocester and Alexander the Kings Brother enters Scotland The Sâ—ots Nobâ—â—â—ty raise an Army Yet mediate a Peace by their Agents Reparties between both Armies * Near Hadington in 〈◊〉 Lothian Alexander is reconciled to the King returns into his own Country and is made Regent Beâ—wick Castâ—e surrendered to the Engâ—ish The intended Marriage be Iames's Son and Edward's Daughter Null'd and the Dowry repaid Alexander disgusted condemned and flees to England Creighton condemned with the Reasons why Edward of England dies and his Brother Richard made first Protector and then King A Scuffle in Scotland On the North-side of Fife upon the Riveâ— Tay. A Truce between Richard of England and the Scots Richard of England 〈◊〉 and Henry the 7 th 〈◊〉 him Dunbar-Castle surrendred to the Scots A Truce between the English and Scots for 7 Years The Death of the Queen of Scots and of Alexander the King's Brother who left Two Sons behind them The King again addicts himself to Evil Counsellors Iohn Ramsy c. The King labours to cajole some of the Nobles by Honors He discovers his Design against the Nobles to Douglas Who dissuades him from such Cruelty The Nobles Arm against the King and chuse the Kings Son for their General A Temporary Agreement The Nobles insist on the Kings resigning of the Crown The King sends Embassadors for Foreign Aid A Battel between the King and the Nobles where the King is slain The Character of james III And of the Foreign Princes his Contemporaries Wood's Constancy to King Iames the 3 d. On the North-side of Forth 2 Miles below Sterlin Andrew Wood reconciled to K. Iames the 4 th He fights the English Fleet overthrows them Some of the Scots Nobility combine against the new King's Party But are overthrown * Off the Point of Fife The manner of the Fight between Andr. Wood and the English Admiral Wood's second Victory over the English A strange Monster K. Iames the 4 th his first Parliament ‖ A Castle lying 4 miles South off Fâ—râ—ar in Angus * The Commendation of Iames the 4 th His Clemency His sorrowful Resentment for his Fathers Death Peter Warbeck some call him Perkin comes into Scotland His Story * A Town in Flanders standing on the Bank of the Sâ—â—â—ld †A Gallo-Belgick People possessing 〈◊〉 Warbeck set up by Margaret Dutchess of Burgundy Warbeck's feigned Harangue of himself The Scots Council cajol'd by Warbeck K. Iames marries Katherine Gordon his Kinswoman to Warbeck and assists him with an Army against England K. Iames begins to smell out Warbeck's Cheat. Henry of England prepares an Army against Scotland An Insurrection in England prevents K. Henry's Design against Scotland at that time K. Iames invades England but to little purpose * In the Mers on the River Aye a mile above Aymouth An Embassador form Spain to England Who mediates a Peace between Scotland and England * The chief Town in Tividale standing on the West of the River Ied Warbeck dismist out of Scotland Taken and hanged in England A War like to arise on a small Occasion betwixt England Scotland but accommodated by Fox Bp. of Durham * Mulross in Tiviot-dale on a bare Promonâ—ory on Tweed side three Miles below its confluence with Gala. A Conference between King Iames and R. Fox Bp of Durham concerning the Marriage of King Henry's Daughter Margaret to Iames. Which took Effect A vast Ship built by King Iames. Wardship a Badg of Slavery Recognition what Wardship disused K. Iames's resolution 〈…〉 Ierusalem The execution of it
Peace being thus restored he applied his mind to make Laws a thing almost wholly neglected by former Kings and indeed he Enacted many good and useful ones which now are either wholly unknown or else lie unobserved to the great damage of the Publick In a word he so managed the Government for ten years that if he had not obtained it by Violence he might have been accounted inferior to none of the former Kings But when he had so strengthned himself with the Aid and Favour of the Multitude that he feared no Force to disturb him the Murder of the King as 't is very probable hurried his Mind into dangerous Precipices so that he converted his Government got by Treachery into a Cruel Tyranny He vented the first Shock of his Inhumanity upon Bancho who was his Companion in the Kings Parricide Some ill Men had spread a kind of Prophecie abroad among the Vulgar That hereafter his Posterity should enjoy the Kingdom whereupon fearing lest he being a powerful and active Man and also of the Blood Royal should imitate the Example proposed by himself he courteously invited him and his Son to Supper but in his return he caused him to be slain as if a sudden Fray and Tumult had arisen His Son Fleanchus being not known in the dark escaped the Ambush and being informed by his Friends how his Father was treacherously slain by the King and that his Life was also sought after he fled secretly into Wales Upon that Murder so cruelly and perfidiously committed the Nobles were afraid of themselves insomuch that they all departed to their own homes and came but few of them and those very seldom to Court So that the Kings Cruelty being partly discovered by some and partly vehemently suspected by all mutual Fear and Hatred sprung up betwixt him and the Nobility Whereupon seeing the matter could no longer be concealed he broke forth into open Tyranny and the Rich and Powerful for light frivolous and many times but pretended Causes were put to Death Their Confiscated Goods helped to maintain a Band of Debauchees which he had about him under the name of a Guard And yet he thought that his Life was not sufficiently secured by them neither so that he resolved to build a Castle on the top of the Hill Dunsinnan where there was a large Prospect all over the Country which Work proceeding but slowly on by reason of the difficulty of Carriage of Materials thither he commanded in all the Thanes of the whole Kingdom and so dividing the Task amongst them They themselves were to oversee That the Labourers did their Duty At that time Mackduff was the Thane of Fife a very powerful Man in his Country He being loth to commit his Life unto the Kings hands went not himself but sent thither many Workmen and some of them his intimate Friends to press on the Work The King either out of a desire as was pretended to see how the Building proceeded or else to apprehend Mackduff as he himself feared came to view the Structure and by chance spying a Teem of Mackduff's Oxen not able to draw up their Load against a steep Hill he took thence a willing occasion to vent his Passion against the Thane saying That he knew well enough before his disobedient Temper and therefore was resolved to punish it and to make him an Example he threatened to lay the Yoke upon his own Neck instead of his Oxen. Maecduff hearing of it commended the Care of his Family to his Wife and without any delay fitted up a small Vessel as well as the streights of Time permitted and so passed over into Lothian and from thence into England The King hearing that he intended to fly made haste into Fife with a strong Band of Men to prevent him but he being departed before the King was presently admitted into his Castle where he poured out all his Fury upon the Thane's Wife and Children who were there present His Goods were confiscated He himsel was proclaimed Traitor and a grievous Punishment was threatened to any who dared to converse with or entertain him He exercised also great Cruelty against others if they were either Noble or Rich without distinction For now the Nobility was despised by him and he managed the Government by Domestick Counsels In the mean time Macduff arriving in England found Malcolm there Royally Treated by King Edward For Edward when the Danes Power was broken in England being recalled from Banishment did favour Malcolm who was brought to him by Sibert his Grandfather by the Mother side for many Reasons as either because his Father and Grandfather when Governors of Cumberland had always favoured the Concerns of his Ancestors as much as the Times would permit them to do or else because the Similitude of Events and the remembrance of Dangers did assimilate their Minds for each King had been unjustly banished by Tyrants Or Lastly because the Affliction of Kings doth conciliate and move the Minds even of the greatest strangers to pity and favour them Whereupon the Thane as soon as he had opportunity to speak with Malcolm in a long Discourse declared to him the Necessity of his unhappy Flight the Cruelty of Mackbeth against all ranks of Men with the universal Hatred of the People conceived against him so that he advised him in an accurate Harangue as he was a Son so to endeavour the Recovery of his Fathers Kingdom especially seeing he could not without incurring a great deal of Guilt leave the Murder of his Father to pass unrevenged nor neglect the Miseries of the People which God had committed to his Charge nor finally ought He to shut his Ears against the just Petitions of his Friends Besides he told him That King Edward was so Gracious a Prince That he would not be wanting to him his Friend and Suppliant That the People did also favour Him and hated the Tyrant In fine That Gods Favour would attend the Good against the Impious if he were not wanting to himself But Malcâ—lm who had often before been persuaded and solicited to return by Messengers secretly sent to him from Mackbeth That he might not be ensnared before he committed so great a Concern to Fortune resolved to try the Faithfulness of Mackduff and therefore he framed his Answer thus I know says he That all what thou hast said is true but I am afraid That you who invite Me to undertake the Regal Government do not throughly know my Disposition for those Vices which have already destroyed many Kings viz. Lust and Avarice do almost Reign even in me too and thô now my private Fortune doth hide and disguise them yet the Liberty of a Kingdom will let loose the Reins thereunto And therefore said he Pray have a care that you invite me not rather to my Ruin than to a Throne When Mackduff had replyed thereto That the Lust and Desire of many Concubines might be prevented by a lawful Marriage and
his Reign some few were rouzed up at the hubbub and pursued scatteringly divers of them rushed amongst their Enemies as not being willing to forsake their King and so were made Prisoners also William was carried to Henry then Warring in France The English being elated with this unexpected Success invaded Cumberland thinking to carry it without Blows But Gilchrist and Rolland Two Scotâ— Commanders did so entertain Them that being repuls'd they made a Truce and were content to enjoy Northumberland only as long as the Scots King was a Prisoner and to leave Cumberland and Huntingtonshire to the free Possession of the Scots In the mean time David the Brother of William Earl of Huntington in England and of Garioch in Scotland who then fought under the English Banners received a Convoy and returned into Scotland where having setled things for the present he sent Embassadors into England about the Redemption of his Brother who was then kept Prisoner at Falise a Town in Normandy The King gave Fifteen Hostages to the English and surrendred up Four Castles viz. the Castle of Roxburgh of Berwick of Edinburgh and of Sterling and then he was permitted to return home in the Calends of February But then he was called upon by the English to appear at York with his Nobles and Bishops on the 18th of the Calends of September Being arrived there he and all his Followers who were the Chief Nobility took an Oath of Obedience to King Henry and gave up the Kingdom of Scotland into his Guardianship and Patronage These Conditions thô very hard yet the Scots were willing to accept of That so they might have the best of Kings restored to them as the English Writers say Thomas Walsingham of England writes That this Surrender was not made at York but at Constance Yet some say That this Interview of Both Kings was not in order to the Surrender of the Kingdom but for the Payment of certain pecuniary Pensions and That the Castles were put into the hands of the English as Cautionaries only till the Money was paid This Opinion seems to me most probable as appears by the League renewed with Richard Henrys Son of which in its due place William at his Return in a few Months by Gilchrist his General quelled the Insurrections made in his absence in Galway On the Fourth of the Calends of February there was an Assembly Indicted at Norham by Tweed Thither William came where the English laboured extreamly That all the Scots Bishops should acknowledge the Bishop of York for their Metropolitan The Popes Legate also concurred with them in their Desire and earnestly pressed That it might be so Enacted After a long Dispute the Scots Answered That at present few of their Countrymen were there and that they could not bind the absent to obey their Decree if they should consent to any Hereupon the matter was deferred to another time and shortly after the Scots Bishops sent Agents to Rome to justify their Cause before Alexander the Third by whose Decree the Bishops of Scotland were freed from the Yoke of the English and so the Messengers returned joyfully home Not long after Gilchrist whom I have often mentioned before slew his Wife who was the King's Sister because she had Committed Adultery Whereupon he was summoned to appear on a certain day but not coming was Banished for ever His Houses were Demolished and his Goods Confiscate About the same time the Castle of Edinburgh was restored to the Scots one of the Pensions having been paid and to make the Concord between Both Kings more firm a Law was made That neither King should harbour the Enemy of each other Upon this Law Gilchrist who lived Banished in England was forced to return and shifting from place to place as a Stranger amongst Strangers and unknown he passed his Miserable Life in great Penury and Want In the interim William prepared for an Expedition into Murray to suppress the Thieves of the Aebudae whose Captain was Donald Bane i.e. the White who derived his Pedigree from the Kings and had also assumed the Name of King He made his Descent from his Ships in many places and spoiled not only the Maritime Parts but his Boldness increasing by reason of Impunity those Places also which were very remote from the Sea The King sent out Ships to sail about and burn his Fleet whilst he with a Land Army attacqued them and so doing he put them almost all to the Sword In his return as he was near Perth he found Three Countrymen which yet seemed to be more than so had not it been for their shabby and uncouth Habit who seemed to avoid meeting any Company but the King caused them to be brought to him and viewing them intently was very earnest to know What manner of Creatures they were Gilchrist being the Elder of them fell down at the King's Feet and making a Miserable Complaint of his Misfortunes tells Who he was upon which the Memory of his former Life which he had passed with so much Splendour did so passionately affect all that were present That they could not chuse but fall a Weeping Whereupon the King commanded him to rise from the Ground and restored him to his Former Dignity and the same Degree of Favour he had before These things fell out about the Year 1190 at which time Richard who the Year before had succeeded Henry his Father in the Realm of England prepared for an Expedition into Syria He restored the Castles to the King of Scots and sent back the Hostages freeing him and his Posterity from all Pacts either extorted by Force or obtained by Fraud made with the English and suffered him to enjoy the Realm of Scotland by the same Right and within the same Limits as Malcolm or any former Kings had held it Mathew Parâ—s makes mention of These Conditions William on the other side That he might not be ungrateful to Richard upon his going to War into a strange Country gave him 1000 Marks of Silver and commanded David his Brother who was Declared Earl of Huntington to follow him into Syria This David in his Return from thence had his Navy scattered by Tempest was taken prisoner by the Aegyptians redeem'd by the Venetians and at last being known at Constantinople by an English Merchant after Four years time he returned into Scotland and was received with the general Gratulation of all Men especially of his Brother Boetius thinks that the Town where this David was landed in Safety before-named Alectum was now called Deidonum but because the Name of Alectum is found in no Author but only in Hector Boetius I rather think it was called Taodunum a Word compounded of Tay and Dun i. e. Dundee Not long after Richard after many Hazards and Misfortunes returned also from the same Voyage William and his Brother came to congratulate him upon his Return and gave him 2000 Marks
of Silver as a Largess being moved thereunto either out of Remembrance of his former Bounty to him or on the Consideration of his present Want Neither were ever the Scots and English more Gracious than at that time as many judge There William fell very Sick and a Rumour of his Death being noised abroad caused new Combustions in Scotland Harald Earl of the Orcades and of Caithnes hated the Bishop of Caithnes because as he alledged he was the Obstacle that he could not obtain what he desired of the King and therefore he took him Prisoner cut out his Tongue and also put out his Eyes The King returning home overthrew Harald in several Skirmishes and destroyed most of his Forces Harald himself was taken in his Flight and brought back to the King who when his Eyes also were first put out by way of Retaliation was afterwards hanged his whole Male-Stock were Gelded the rest of his Kinn and Companions of his Wickedness were deeply Fined These things are thus related by Hector Boetius and common Report confirms them yea the Hill receiving its Name from Testicles gives credit to the Relation so that it seems truer than what others Write in this matter These things happened in the Year of our Salvation 1198. in which Year the King had a Son named Alexander Born to him and Richard of England dying his Brother Iohn succeeded him Whereupon the King of Scots went into England to take his Oath to him for the Lands which he held in England and in the beginning of Iohn's new Reign his Coming was not more acceptable than his Departure displeasing because he refused to follow Iohn in his Expedition into France against Philip his old Friend So that as soon as Iohn returned out of France he sought Occasion for a War with the Scots and began to build a Fort over against Berwick William having in vain complained of the Injurie by his Embassadors gathered a Company together and demolished what was built thereof Upon which Armies were Levied on both sides but when their Camps were near to one another Peace was made by the Intervention of the Nobles on these Terms That William's Two Daughters should be given in Matrimony to Iohn's Two Sons assoon as ever they were Marriageable A great Dowry was promised and Caution made That no Fort should be built and Hostages also were given in the case William at his return fell into an unexpected Danger The greatest Part of the Town of Berth was swept away in the Night by an Inundation of the River Tay Neither was the King's Palace exempted from the Calamity but his Son an Infant with his Nurse and 14 more were drowned the rest hardly escaping Many also of the Promiscuous Multitude lost their Lives The King perceiving that the Water had overwhelmed the greatest part of the Ground on which the City stood and that almost every House in the Town had suffered thereby caused a new City to be built a little below in a more commodious place on the same River and making some small variation of the Name called it Perth in Memory as some say of one Perth a Nobleman who gave the King the Land on which the City was built About the same time the King took Gothered Makul Captain of the Rebels in the North who was betrayed to him by his own Men. When he was Prisoner he constantly abstained from all Food to prevent as 't is thought a more heavy Punishment This was in a manner the last memorable Fact of William's which yet in regard of his unweildy Age was acted by his Captains For he Dyed soon after in the 74 th year of his Age and the 49 th year of his Reign A. D. 1643. Not long before his Death Leagues were renewed with Iohn King of England almost every Year for he being a Man desirous to enlarge his Dominions thô he had War with the French abroad with the Romanists at home and moreover was never on sure Terms of Peace with the Irish or Welsh yet did not break off his Inclination to invade Scotland which had then an old Man for their King and the next Heir to him a Child Frequent Conferences happened on this Occasion rather to try what might be obtained than in hopes of any good Issue at length the Matter broke out into open Suspicion And after many Leagues made between Them at last William was called to Newcastle upon Tine Whither he came but there falling into a dangerous Disease he returned without doing any thing In fine a little before his Death he was invited to Norham on the Tweed and when his Sickness would not permit him to go his Son was desired to come in his stead which yet by the Advice of the Council was refused the Leagues established in those Interviews I shall not particularly mention for they almost all contain the same things having in them nothing New save that in One of them it was Articled That the Scotish Kings should not Swear nor be Feudataries to the Kings of England Themselves for the English Lands they held but their Children only The Mention of these things is wholly omitted by the English Writers also I believe for this very Cause Alexander II. The Ninety Fourth King WIlliam was succeeded by Alexander his Son begot on Emergard who was Kinswoman to the King of England and Daughter to the Earl of Beaumont He was but Sixteen years of age when he began to Reign entring upon the Government in troublesom Times he composed and setled things more prudently than could be expected from one of his years First of all he Indicted a Publick Convention of the Estates and therein by a Decree he confirmed all the Acts of his Father that good and prudent Prince His first Expedition was into England not out of any private Ambition but to bridle the Tyranny of Iohn and it was then said that he was sent for in by the Ecclesiasticks of that Kingdom He left Norham upon certain Conditions when he had begun to besiege it and piercing further into the Kingdom he carried it very severely against all the Royalists Upon his Return home Iohn invaded Scotland quickly after He made a mighty Devastation in Dunbar Hadington and all the Neighbouring Parts of Lothian and to spread the War and Ruin further he determined to return another Way Alexander being very desirous to decide it by a Battel pitcht his Tents between the Pentland Hills and the River Eske which way as it was bruited he would return but Iohn to avoid fighting marched along by the Sea and burnt the Monastery of Coldingham he also took and burnt Berwick which was then but meanly fortified As he thus marched hastily back Alexander followed him as fast as he could and making great havock all over Northumberland came as far as Richmond But Iohn by speedy marches having retreated into the heart of England Alexander returned by Westmorland and
laid all waste to the very Gates of Carlisle The City it self he took by Force and Fortified it The next year Lewis the Son of Philip King of France was sent for by those who favoured the Ecclesiastical Faction to London that so he upon the Proscription of Iohn might possess the Kingdom and so was King Alexander of Scotland too who came to aid his Old Friend But Iohn being forsaken by his Subjects and assaulted also by Foreign Arms upon the Payment of a great Sum of Money at present and the Promise of a perpetual Pension and moreover transferring the Right of the Kingdom of England to the Pope so that the Kings of England for the future were to be His Feudataries was received into Favour So that he obtained Letters from Rome by Cardinal Galo a Man of known Avarice wherein the Scots and French were with great Threats forbid to meddle with a People which were Tributaries to the Holy See Upon this sudden Change of things Lewis returned into France and Alexander into Scotland but his return home was not so quiet as his entrance into England was For the English pressing upon the Rear of his retiring Army took many of the Stragglers Prisoners And besides Iohn had broken down all the Bridges on the Trent and had fastned sharp Pikes or Palisadoes in all its Fords removing away all Ships and Boats so that it seemed to be so great an Impediment unto him that he could not avoid it but must certainly be destroyed In the mean time Iohn was poysoned by an English Monk at Newark a Town seated on the Trent and being carried in a Litter died in two days That Casualty opened the way for Alâ—xander's March. Then blaming and punishing his Men for their former Carelessness he marched on more circumspectly but not without the great Damage of those through whose Countrys he passed For whatsoever could be driven away or carried he took with him and so returned home with a great Booty Galo the Popes Legat when he had setled Henry the Son of Iohn in the Throne mulct the Nobles of England in a great Sum of Money and then received them into Favour And to give them some Recompence for their Loss by the like Calamity of their Enemies he Excommunicates Lewis of France and Alexander of Scotland in hopes to obtain some Prey from them also The Scots were Interdicted all Divine Offices for he imagined that his Thundring Curses would prevail more amongst the simple Vulgar than with the Kings But at last Peace was made between the Two Kings the Scots were to restore Carlisle and the English Berwick and the Ancient Bounds at Kings-Cross were to be observed by them Both. Alexander and his Subjects were released from their Censures by the English Bishops who were Authorized thereunto Hereupon Galo was much enraged That so great a Prey should be taken out of his Hands so that he turned his Anger on the Bishops and the rest of the Clergy of Scotland as his own Peculiar with whom Kings had nothing to do He summoned them to appear at Alnwick Whither when they came the more fearful appeased his Wrath with Money the more resolute were Cited to Rome But they having also received many Letters from some of the English Bishops and Abbats directed to the Pope concerning the sordid Spirit of the Ambassador or Legat made grievous Complaints against him calling him the Firebrand of all mischief because he studied not the Publick Good but his own Avarice and did chaffer for and sell Peace and War amongst Princes at his own pleasure Galo not being able to acquit himself of the Crimes laid to his charge was Fined by the Pope in the Loss of the Money he had got which was to be divided amongst his Accusers Hereupon they returned home loaden with large Promises but with empty Purses A few years after Henry of England being now grown Ripe both in Years and Judgment came to York there he agreed with Alexander in the presence of Pandulphus the Popes Legat to take Henry's Sister to Wife by whom yet because of her untimely Death he had no Children From that time there was Peace between Both Kings as long as they lived There he also solemnly Promised and Swore before the same Pandulphus That he would bestow the Two Sisters of Alexander in Honourable Marriages according to their Dignity as his Father had promised before But one of them returned home unmarried one only being bestowed in Marriage The next Year viz. 1220 the Cardinal of St. Giles came into England to fish for Money for the Holy War and accordingly having scraped together a great Sum in both Kingdoms which by his Impostures he had gulled Persons 〈◊〉 credulous of he Luxuriously spent it in his Journy so that he came empty to Rome falsely alleging That he was robbed by Thieves in the way Another Legat presently succeeded him but Men having been twice cheated by Roman Fraud by a Publick Decree forbad him to set his foot on Land Alexander was busied to suppress Vices at home which sprung up by the Licentiousness of War and he travelled over the whole Kingdom with his Queen to do Justice whilest Gilespy a Rossian spoiled Ross and the Neighbour Counties for passing over the River Ness he took and burnt the Town of Enverness He cruelly slew all those that refused to obey him Iohn Cumin Earl of Buchan was sent against him who took him and his two Sons as they were shifting up and down and changing their Quarters to secure themselves and cut off their Heads and so sent them to the King About this time the Caithnesians entred by night into the Bedchamber of Adam their Bishop and there killed a Monk who was his usual Companion for he had been before Abbat of Mulross and one of his Bedchamber as for the Bishop himself they grievously wounded him and dragging him into the Kitchen there they burnt him and the House he was in The Cause of their great Cruelty was as 't is reported because the Bishop was more severe than in former times in exacting his Tithes The Offenders were diligently sought out and most severely punished The Earl of Caithnes though he were not present at the Fact yet was somewhat suspected but afterward being brought privately to the King in the Christmas Holy-days which the Scots call Saturnalia he humbly begg'd Pardon of the King and obtained it About this time Alane of Galway the powerfullest Man in Scotland departed this Life He left Three Daughters behind him of whom I shall speak hereafter Thomas his Bastard Son despising their Age and Sex sets up for himself as Lord of the Family and not contented herewith he gathers 10000 Men together kills all that oppose him and drives Booties far and near from all the Neighbouring-Countries At last the King sent an Army against him who slew 5000 of the
Rebels with their General The same year Alexander with his Wife went for England to allay the Tumults as much as he could raised against Henry and to reconcile him to the Nobility Whilest he was busie about this at York his Wife went with the Queen of England a Pilgrimage to Canterbury but at her return she fell sick died and was buried at London Not long after her Death the King being Childless Married Mary the Daughter of Ingelram Earl of Coucy in France in the year of Christ 1239 by whom he had Alexander who succeeded his Father in the Kingdom Two years after viz. in 1242 whilst the King was hastening to England to visit that King newly returned from France and refreshed himself a while at Hadington in Lothian with Horse-Races the Lodging or Inn of Patrick of Gallway Earl of Athol was set on Fire wherein he and two of his Servants were burnt the Fire speading it self a great way further It was not thought to have casually happened because of the Noted Fewds between Patrick and the Family of the Bizets And though William the Chief of that Family was at Forfar above 60 Miles from Hadington the same night that the Fire happened as the Queen could testify in his behalf yet because the adverse Party being the Kindred of Patrick pleaded That many of his Servants and Tenants were seen at Hadington at that time William was Summoned to appear He came to Edinburgh at the day prefixed but not daring to stand to his Tryal because of the Potency of his Adversaries which were the Cumins's he would have Tryed the matter in a Duel but That being not accepted he and some of his Sept banished themselves into Ireland where he left a Noble Family of his Name and House There was also another Seditious Tumult in Argyle Raised by Sumerled Son of the former Sumerled but he was soon suppressed by Patrick Dunbar and submitting to the Kings Mercy obtained Pardon for all his past Offences The King not long after fell sick and died in the 51 Year of his Age the 35 of his Reign and of our Lord 1249. Alexander the III. The Ninety Fifth King ALexander the Third His Son was Crowned King at Scone the same Year a Child not past Eight years Old The Power of all things was mostly in the Faction of the Cumins's For they turned the Publick Revenue to the Enrichment of themselves oppressed the Poor and by false Accusations cut off some of the Nobles who were averse to their humours and desires and dared to speak freely of the State of the Kingdom and being Condemned their Goods were Confiscated and brought into the Kings Exchequer from whence they who rather Commanded than Obeyed the King received them back again for their Private Emolument A Convention of the Estates being held the chief Matter in agitation was to pacify the King of England lest in such a troublesome time he should make any Attempt upon Them and to do it more easily an Affinity was proposed This Way seemed more commodious to the Anti-Cuminian Party to undermine their Power than openly to oppugn it Whereupon Embassadors were sent to England who were kindly received and munificently rewarded by that King who granted them all their Desires The next Year which was 1251 both Kings met at York the 8th of the Calends of Dâ—cember There on Christmas day this Alexander was made Knight by the King of England and the day after the Match was concluded betwixt him and Margarite Henrys Daughter A Peace was also renewed betwixt them which as long as Henry lived was inviolably observed And because Alexander was yet but a Child and under Age it was Decreed by the advice of his Friends That he should consult his Father-in-Law as a Guardian in all Matters of Weight Some of the Prime men being accused by Virtue of this Decree secretly withdrew themselves When the King returned home Robert Abbat of Dumferling Chancellor of the Kingdom was accused because he had Legitimated the Wife of Alane Durward who was but the Natural or Base-born Daughter of Alexander the Second That so if the King dyed without Issue she might come in as Heiress Upon this Fear the Chancellor as soon as ever he returned home surrendred up the Seal to the Nobles Gamâ—lin afterwards Bishop of St. Andrews succeeded him in his Office The Three next Years they who were the Kings Council did almost every one of them carry themselves as Kings whatever they catched was their own so that the poor Commonalty was left destitute and miserably oppressed The King of England being made acquainted therewith out of his paternal Affection to his Son in Law came to Werk-Castle scituate on the Borders of Scotland and sent for his Son in Law Alexander and his Nobles thither There by his Advice many advantageous Alterations were made especially of those Magistrates by whose Defaults Insurrections had been made at home And also many profitable Statutes were Enacted for the Future The King returned to Scotland with his Wife and having an English Guard to convey him home he resolved to dwel in the Castle of Edinburgh Walter Cumins Earl of Monteath kept the Castle who was disaffected because of the Change of the Publick State made by the King of England yet he was compelled to surrender it by Patrick Dunbar with the Assistance of the English Forces The greatest Part of the Nobility and of the Ecclesiasticks were offended in regard their Power was somewhat abridged by those New Statutes which they looked upon as a Yoke imposed upon them by the English and a Beginning of their Servitude Yea they proceeded to that height of Contumacy that being Summoned to give a Legal Account of their Management of Affairs in former times they made light of the Summons The same Persons who were the Principal Actors in disturbing things before were now the Chief Incouragers to Disobedience They were generally the Clans of the Cumins's Walter Earl of Monteath Alexander Earl of Buchan Iohn Earl of Athol William Earl of Marr and other Considerable Men of the same Faction They dared not to put their Cause on a Legal Tryal as being conscious to themselves of the many Wrongs done to the Poor and meaner Sort yea to the King himself and therefore they resolved to out-face Justice by their Impudent Audacity For being informed That the King was but lightly Guarded and lived securely at Kinross as in a time of Peace They immediately gathered a Band of their Vassals about them Seized him as he was asleep and carried him to Sterling and as if there were no Force in the Case but they had been rightfully Elected they discharged and expelled his Servants took New and managed all things at their own Will and Pleasure so that now the Terror and Consternation was turned upon the Former Counsellors But this Sedition was allay'd by the Death of Walter Cumins who
was Poysoned as it is thought by his Wife an English Woman The Suspicion thereof was encreased on her because tho' she were Wooed by many Nobles yet she Married Iohn Russel her Gallant a Young English Spark She was accused of Witchcraft too and cast into Prison but she bought out her Liberty Russel and his Wife obtained Letters from the Pope permitting them to commence an Action of the Case against their Adversaries for the Wrong done them before the Popes Legate But it was to no purpose because the Scots urged an Ancient Privilege exempting them from going out of the Kingdom when they were to plead their Causes When the King was of Age upon the humble Petition of the Cumins's he Pardoned them as if all their offences had been expiated by the Death of Walter He was induced so to do as some say by reason of the Greatness of their Family and also because he feared Foreign Wars when Matters were so unsetled at home But that War began not so soon as Men thought it would In the Year of Christ 1263. in the Calends of August Acho King of Norwey with a Fleet of 160 Sail came to Air a Maritime Town of Coil where he Landed 20000 Men. The Cause of the War as he pretended was that some Islands which were promised to his Ancestors by Mackbeth were not yet put into his Hands viz. Bote Aran and both the Cumbras's which were never reckoned amongst the Aebudae But it was enough for him who sought a pretence for a War that they were called Islands Acho took two of the greatest of them and reduced their Castles before he could meet with any Opposition being lifted up by this success he makes a descent into Cuningham the next Continent over against Bote in that part of it which they call the Largs There he met with Two Misfortunes almost at one and the same First he was overcome in Fight by Alexander Stuart the Great Grandfather of him who first of that Name was King of Scotland and being almost taken by the Multitude of his Enemies he hardly escaped in great Fear to his Ships The other was That his Ships being tossed in a mighty Tempest hardly carried him with a few of his followers who escaped into the Orcades There were slain in that Battel Sixteen Thousand of the Norwegians and Five Thousand of the Scots some Writers say that King Alexander himself was in this Fight Yet they also make Honourable mention of the Name of this Alexander Stuart Acho died of Grief for the Loss of his Army and of his Kinsman too a Valiant Youth whose Name is not mentioned by Writers His Son Magnus who was lately come to him perceiving Things in a desperater Posture than he ever thought they would be brought to especially having no hopes of Recruit from home before the Spring and also finding the Minds of the Islanders alienated from him and that he was forsaken of the Scots too in Confidence of whose Aid his Father had undertaken that War these things considered he easily inclined to Terms of Peace The Spirit of the young Man was quailed both by the unlucky Fight and also by his Fear of the Islanders For Alexander had then recovered by sending about some Ships the Isle of Man situate almost in the midst between Scotland and Ireland upon these Conditions That the King thereof should send in Ten Gallies to the Scots as oft as there was occasion and that the Scots should defend him from a Foreign Enemy When Magnus saw That the rest of the Islands inclined to follow the Example of the Manks-Men he sent Ambassadors to treat of Peace which Alexander refused to make unless the Aebudae were restored at last by the diligence of the Commissioners it was agreed that the Scots should have the Aebudae for which at present they were to pay 1000 Marks of Silver and 100 Marks an Year And moreover That Margarite Alexanders Daughter being then but Four years old should Marry Hangonan the Son of Magnus assoon as she was fit for Marriage About this time the King of England being infested with Civil War had Five Thousand Scots sent him for his Assistance under the Command of Râ—bert Bruce and Alexander Cumins whom the English Writers call Iohn the greatest part of them were slain in Fight and Cumins with the Englâ—sh King himself and his Son and a great part of the English Nobility of the Kings Party were taken Prisoners Moreover the Scots King was much troubled at the Arrogance of the Priests and Monks in his Kingdom who being enriched by former Kings began to grow wanton in a continued Peace Yea they endeavoured to be equal if not superior to the Nobility whom they excelled in Wealth The young Nobility repining at it and taking it in great disdain used them coursly whereupon complaints were made by them to the King who imagining either that their Wrongs were not so great as they represented them or else that they suffered them deservedly neglected their pretended Grievances whereupon they Excommunicated All but the King and in great Wrath determined to go to Rome But the King remembring what great Commotions Thomas Becket the prime promoter of Ecclesiastical Ambition had lately made in England called them back from their Journy and caused the Nobility to satisfie not only their Avarice but even their Arrogance too And indeed they were the more inclinable to an Accord with the King because he had lately undertaken the Patronage of the Ecclesiastical Orders against the Avarice of the Romanists For a little before Ottobon the Popes Legate was come into England to appease the Civil Discords but not being able to effect the thing he came for he omitted the publick Care and studied his own private Gain and Lucre he Indicted an Ecclesiastical Assembly of the English Procters from Scotland being also called thereunto in the mean time he endeavoured to exact Four Marks of Silver from every Parish in Scotland and Six from all Cathedrals for the Expence of Procurations This Contribution or Tax was scarce refused when News was brought That another Legate was arrived in England intending also for Scotland on pretence to gather up Money for the Holy War and besides that procurable by Indulgences and other Lime-Twigs to catch Money he endeavoured to wrest from all Bishops Abbats and Parish Priests as judging them to be immediately under Papal Jurisdiction the Tenth part of their yearly Revenues that so Edward and Edmond Sons to the King of England might go more Nobly and Numerously attended to the War in Syria The Scots judged this Tax to be very grievous and unjust especially because the English seemed to be so forward to have it granted as if Scotland were not sui Iuris or an absolute Kingdom but Dependent on England Moreover they were afraid lest the Legat should riotously mispend the Money designed for the War as was done some Years
being a Grand-son than Iohn Baliol who was but a Great Grand-son As for Dornadilla with whom he stood in equal Degree yet he was to be preferred before her as a Male before a Female The Scots Nobles could not decide this Controversie at home for by reason of the Power of both Parties the Land was divided into Two Factions For Baliol by his Mother held all Galway a very large Country and besides he was allied to the Cumin's Family which was the most Powerful next the Kings for Mary the Sister of Dornadilla had Married Iohn Cumins Robert on the other side in England possessed Cleveland in Scotland Annandale and Garioch and by his Son Earl of Carrick who was afterwards King was related to many Noble Families and he was also very Gracious with his own People so that for these Reasons the Controversie was not able to be decided at home yea if it should have been equitably determined yet there was not a sufficient Party in Scotland to compel both sides to stand to the Award and therefore Edward of England was almost unanimously chosen to be the Decider thereof Neither was there any doubt made of his Fidelity as being Born of such a Father as the late King of Scotland had Experienced to be both a Loving Father in Law to him and a just Guardian too and on the contrary the English King had received a late and memorable Testimony of the Scots Good-Will towards him in that they so readily consented to the Marriage of his Son with their Queen Whereupon Edward as soon as he came to Berwick sent Letters to the Peers and Governors of Scotland to come to him protesting That he Summoned them to appear before him not as Subjects before their Lord or Supreme Magistrate but as Friends before an Arbitrator chosen by themselves First of all he required an Oath of the Competitors to stand to his Award in the next place he required the same Oath of the Nobles and Commissioners to obey Him as King whom he upon his Oath should declare so to be and for this he desired a publick Scrol or Record signed by all the States and each ones Seal affixed thereto to be given to him This being done he chose of the most prudent of all the Estates 12 English and adjoyned 12 Scots to them from them also he exacted an Oath to Judge Rightly and Truly according to their Consciences in the Case These things were managed openly and above board which in appearance were honest and taking with the People but his private Design was secretly agitated amongst a few only how he might bring Scotland under his Subjection The Thing was thought feasable enough in regard the Kingdom was divided into Two Factions but to make the Way more Intricate and the Fraud more Covert he raised up Three other Competitors besides Bruce and Baliol that out of so great a Number he might more easily bring over One or More to his Party And lest so great a Matter might seem to be determined unadvisedly he consulted with Those who were most eminent in France for Piety Prudence and the Knowledge of the Law Neither did he doubt but that as that sort of Men are never always of One Opinion he should fish something out of their Answers which might make for his purpose The New Competitors seeing no Grounds for their Pretensions of their own accord quickly desisted but to the Lawyers whom he Governed and Influenced as he pleased a false or made Case was Stated and Propounded Thus A certain King that was never wont to be Crowned nor Anointed but only to be placed in a kind of Seat and declared King by his Subjects yet not a King so free but that he was under the Patronage of another King whose Homage or Beneficiary he professed himself to be Such a King died without Children Two of his Kinsmen begat by Sempronius Great Vncle of the deceased King claim the Inheritance to wit Titius Great Grand-son by the Eldest Daughter of Sempronius and Seius Grand-son by his Younger Daughter now Which of These is to be preferred in â—n undividable Estate The Case being propounded well near in those very Words They all Generally answered That if any Law or Custom did obtain in the Kingdom which was sued for they were to be Guided by and stand to it if not then they must be Guided by him under whose Patronage they were because in Judging of Freehold Custom doth not ascend i. e. The usage and award of the Superior is to be a Law to the Inferiour but not on the contrary It would be too prolix a Task to reckon up particularly all the Opinions but in brief almost all of them answered very doubtfully and uncertainly as to the Right of the Competitors but as the Case was falsely put they all gave the Supreme Power of Judgment in the Controversie to Edward Hereby the Matter was made more intricate and involved than before so that the next Year they met again at Norham There Edward by Agents fit for his purpose gently tried the Minds of the Scots Whether they would willingly put Themselves under the Power and Jurisdiction of the English which as was alleged their Ancestors had often done But when they all unanimously refused so to do he called to him the Competitors whom he himself had set up and by great Promises extorted from them to Swear Homage to him and he persuades the rest to remove the Assembly to Berwick as a more convenient Place There he shut up the 24 Judges Elected as before in a Church without any Body else amongst them commanding them to give their Judgments in the Case and till they did so no Man was to have Access to them But they being slow in their Proceedings he ever and anon went in alone to them and by discoursing sometimes One and sometimes Another finding that most were of Opinion That the Right lay on Baliol's side tho' he were inferiour in Favour and Popularity he went to Bruce who because he was Legally cast by their Votes he thought he might more easily persuade to assent to his Design and promised him the Crown of Scotland if he would put himself under the Patronage of the King of England and be Subject to his Authority Bruce answered him ingeniously That he was not so eager of a Crown as to accept of it by abridging the Liberty his Ancestors had left him Hereupon he was dismissed and he sends for Iohn Baliol who being more desirous of a Kingdom than of honest Methods to come by it greedily accepted the Condition offered him by Edward John Baliol The Ninety Sixth King WHereupon Iohn Baliol was declared King of Scotland 6 Years and 9 Months after the Death of Alexander The rest of the Scots being studious of the publick Tranquillity led him to Scone and there Crowned him according to Custom and all Swore Fealty to him except Bruce He being thus made King by
Kirkpatrick one his Kinsman the other his old Friend perceiving by his Countenance that he was troubled asked him the Cause he told them in breif the whole Business adding withal That he thought he had killed Cumins What says Lindsay will you leave a Matter of that Consequence upon an I thought and assoon as he had spoke the Word he ran into the Church and dispatched him quite and also his Kinsman Robert Cumins who endeavoured to save him This Murder was committed in the Year 1305. on the Fourth of the Ides of February About the same time also Wallis was betrayed in the County of Glascow where he then hid himself by his own Familiar Friend Iohn Menteith whom the English had Corrupted with Money and so was sent to London where by Edwards Command he was wofully Butchered and his Limbs for the terrour of others Hanged up in the most noted Places of London and Scotland Such an End had this Person the famousest Man of his Time who deserved to be compared with the most Renowned Captains of Ancient Times both for his Greatness of Mind in undertaking Dangers and for his Wisdom and Valour in overcoming Them For Love to his Country he was Second to none who when others were Slaves he alone was Free neither could be induced by Rewards or Threats to forsake the Publick Cause which he had once undertaken His Death was the more to be Lamented because he was not conquered by his Enemy but betrayed by his Friend who had little Reason so to do Bruce The Ninety Seventh King BRVCE stayed so long till he had obtained Pardon from the Pope for killing a Man in Holy Church and then in April following Anno Domini 1306. he went to Scone and was Crowned King The first thing he did knowing that he had to do with a Powerful Enemy was to levy all the Force he could make but in regard the whole Family of the Cumins's whose Greatness was never equalled by any in Scotland either before or since was against him and also the Minds of many were offended with him for his former assisting of the English and moreover most of the Scots were out of Fear willing to be quiet under the English Power yet he adventured with a small Army to try his Fortune at Methven where he was overthrown by Ailmer Edwards General but with little Slaughter because his Men seeing their own weakness fled away entire almost at the first Charge this was done on the 13th of the Calends of August And not long after coming to Athol and designing for Argyle his design was discovered by the Cumins's and he was forced in his very march at a place called Dalree i. e. Kings-land to try his Fortune in a Battel where he was overthrown also but lost few in regard every one fled several ways as they thought fit After that time he had but Two or Three in his Company for he thought himself more secure with a few and thus he wandred up and down in secret places living mostly a Foresters Life and in despair of any Aid if he had a mind again to try his Fortune For the Vulgar upon his double Discomfiture drew thence discouraging Omens and so they all left him only Two of his old Friends Malcolm Earl of Lennox and Gilbert Hay never forsook him but remained constant to him in all Misfortunes The English not yet satiated with his Miseries send about through all Parts of the Kingdom to apprehend his Allies and Kindred and besides they Commanded all the Wives and Children of those who were banished to depart the Kingdom at a time prefixed The Wife of Robert himself was taken by William Earl of Ross and sent into England and Neile his Brother with his Wife and Children came into the Hands and Power of the English his Castle of Kildrummy being betrayed by the Governor thereof to them Moreover his Brethren Thomas and Alexander endeavouring to pass out of Galway to Carick were taken at the Loch Ryan which Ptolemy calls the Bay Rerigonius and sent into England These Three were put to Death in several Places the rest of the Brucian Party were diligently sought after and put also to Death and their Estates Confiscate The King himself with one or two and sometimes alone wandred up and down through uncouth Places daily yea hourly changing his Recesses and yet even thus not thinking himself safe enough from the Cruelty of his Enemies and the Perfidiousness of his Subjects he passed over to another Friend of his into the Aebudae where he lurked for some Months And in regard he did no where appear he was thought to be Dead and so they left searching for him This Report as it made for his Safety so if it had continued long it would have taken away all Hopes from his Friends of his ever obtaining and recovering the Kingdom Whereupon he judged it fit to attempt something and receiving a small Force from his Friends where he had hid himself he sailed over into Carick and by Means of his sudden coming he there surprized a Castle which was his own Inheritance but Garisoned by a strong party of English whom he put all to the Sword and lest his Passage might be stopped by the Enemy he passed over by the Bay of Clyde and came to the strong Castle of Ennerness situate on a pretty high Hill by the River Ness which as being in a remote Country and negligently Guarded he also happily took The Report hereof being divulged occasioned great Thoughts of Heart all over Scotland For besides his Old Friends who came to him from all Places out of their Lurking Holes the Pride of the English had raised him up many New ones for They thinking that he had been dead began to Lord it more imperiously and cruelly than ever they had done before So that his Forces being considerably encreased and that with very good Soldiers whom either Labour had hardned or Despair urged to the most desperate Attempts he took all the Castles in the North of Scotland and demolished them as they were taken partly That he might not weaken his Forces by dividing them into Garisons and partly That the Enemy might have no Harbour there Thus overcoming all as he went he came into the very Heart of the Kingdom Iohn Cumins Earl of Bachan being informed thereof gathered together a suddain Company of Scots and English even as many as were able to bear Arms when he was come to the Forest through which the River Esk falls down into the Plains of Mern he overtook him at a Place called Glenesk Bruce perceiving that the Narrowness of the Passages was advantageous for his Men stood ready to Fight expecting his Enemy Cumins drew out his Army in length imagining that Bruce would be astonished at the sight of such a Multitude But when he saw that he stirred not from the Place and being also Conscious of the Weakness
The Scots answered the Ambassadors That Berwick always belonged to Scotland till his Grandfather Edward had injuriously seized upon it At length when Robert Bruce their last King had recovered the rest of Scotland he took away that Town from Edward Father of him who now requires the Reddition of it and reduced it unto its Ancient Rightful Possessor and Form of Government yea not long ago Edward himself by the Advice of his Parliament had renounced all Right which He or his Ancestors might pretend to have over all Scotland in general or any of the Towns and Places therein in particular From that time they were not Conscious to themselves That they had acted any thing against the League so solemnly Sworn to and confirmed by Alliance of a Marriage Why then within the compass of a few Years were they assaulted by secret Fraud and by open War These things being so they desired the Embassadors to incline the Mind of their King to Equity and that he would not watch his Opportunity to Injure and Prejudice a young King in his absence who was both Innocent and also his own Sisters Husband As for Themselves they would refuse no Conditions of Peace provided they were Honourable but if he threatened them with an unjust Force then according to the Tutelage of the King committed to them they resolved rather to dye a Noble Death than to consent to a Peace prejudicial to Themselves or the Kingdom This was the Answer of the Council of Scotland But the King of England sought not Peace but Victory and therefore having encreased his great Army with Foreign Aid also he besieged Berwick by Sea and Land neither did he omit any thing which might Contribute to the Taking of it for having a Multitude of Men he gave his Enemy no rest Night nor Day Neither were the Besiegers behind hand with them but Valorously Sallied out upon them every day They threw Fire into their Ships which Anchored in the River and burnt many of them In which Skirmish William Seaton the Governors Bastard-Son was lost much lamented by all for his singular Valour For whilst he endeavoured to leap into an English Ship his own being driven too far off by the Waves he fell into the Sea neither in that Exigent could any Relief come to him And besides another Son of Alexanders begot on his Lawful Wife who out of eagerness to fight proceeded too far in a Sally was taken by the English But the Siege which was begun in the Ides of April had now lasted Three Months and the Defendants besides their Toil and Watchings were also in great want of Provisions so that they seemed hardly able to hold out the Town any longer but made an Agreement with the English That unless they were relieved by the Third of the Calends of August they would surrender up the Place And for this Thomas Alexanders Eldest Son was given in Hostage Whilst these things were acting at Berwick the Scots Indicted an Assembly to consult about their Affairs and in regard the Regent was Prisoner at Roxburgh that they might not be without a General they chose Archibald Douglas Captain-General they also Voted That he should have an Army to march into England that so by Foraging the Neighbouring Countrys he might draw off the King of England from the Siege Douglas according to this Order and Decree marched towards England but hearing of the Agreement which Alexander had made he changed his Mind and thô against the Advice of his most prudent Commanders he marched directly towards the English and on the Eve of Mary Magdalen came in Sight of them and was beheld both by Friends and Enemies The King of England tho' the Day was not come wherein it was agreed That the Town should be surrendred yet when he saw the Scots Forces so near he sent an Herald into the Town to acquaint the Governor That unless he presently Surrendred up his Garison he would put his Son Thomas to Death The Governor alleging That the Day appointed for the Surrender was not yet come and that he had given his Faith to stay till the time allowed by their Paction was expired but all was in Vain Hereupon Love Piety Fear and Duty towards his Country did variously exercise his Paternal and Afflicted Mind and the English to drive the Terror more home had set up a Gallows in a Place easily visible to the Besieged whither he caused the Governors Two Sons One the Hostage the Other a Prisoner of War to be brought forth to Execution At this miserable Spectacle his Fatherly mind was at a great stand and in this Fluctuation of his Thoughts his Wife the Mother of the Young Men a Woman of a Manly Courage came to him and put him in mind of his Faithfulness towards his King his Love towards his Country and the Dignity of his Noble Family upon all which grounds she endeavoured to settle his wavering Mind If these Children be put to Death said she you have others remaining alive and besides we are neither of us past Age You to beget and I to bear more If they escape Death yet it will not be long but that by some sudden Casualty or else by maturity of Age they must yield to Fate but if any Blot of Infamy should stick upon the Family of the Seatons it would remain to all Posterity and be a foul Blur even to their Innocent Offspring She further told him That she had often heard those Men much commended in the Discourses of the Wise who had given up Themselves and their Children as a Sacrifice for the safety of their Country but if he should give up the Town committed to his Trust he would betray his Country and yet be never the more certain of his Childrens Lives neither For how could he hope That a Tyrant who violated his Faith Now would stand to his Word for the Future And therefore she entreated him not to prefer an Vncertainty and if it should be obtained a Momentany Convenience before a certain and perpetual Ignominy By this Discourse she somewhat settled his Mind and that he might not Behold so dismal a Spectacle she carried him to another Place from whence it could not be seen The English King after this Punishment inflicted which was not very acceptable neither to some of his own men removed his Camp to Halidon-Hill near Berwick and there waits his Enemies coming Douglas who before would not hearken to the Advice of his Grave Counsellors as to the Foraging of the English Counties and so averting the Siege now was inflamed with raging Wrath and withal presuming That if after the Perpetration of so horrible a Wickedness almost before his Eyes he should draw off without Fighting it might be said That he was afraid of his Enemy was resolved to fight at any rate and so marched directly towards the Enemy and because the English kept their Ground and would
that Feud for he had brought so Many of his Friends and Tenants along with him that he became formidable to all the rest and besides his Disposition which was various and mutable his vast Mind and the Noyse of the coming of the English with whom every one knew that Athol would join increased their Suspicions of him And indeed not long after Edward invaded Scotland with great Forces both by Sea and Land bringing Baliol along with him his Navy consisting of 160 Sail entred the Forth He himself marched by Land as far as Perth spoiling the Country as he went along and there waited for Cumins In the mean time Randolfe went to Iohn who challenged the Aebudae as his Own and not being able to draw him to his Party he was content in so troublesome a posture of Affairs to make a Truce with him for some months and thereafter returning to Robert the other Regent he found him dangerously sick So that it was as bad a time as could be for all the Burden to be cast upon his Own Shoulders and therefore he durst not Fight the English in a set Battel but divided his Force that so he might attack them by Parties And hearing that a strong Army of Gueldrians were coming through England to join the English in Scotland he waited for their coming on the Borders Where also Patrick Earl of Merch and William Douglas of Liddisdale met him together with Alexander Ramsay one of the most experienced Soldiers of that Age All these waited for the said Gueldrians in the Fields near Edinburgh Assoon as ever they came in sight one of another they fell to it immediately and after a sharp Conflict the Gueldrians were overcome and fled to the next Hill where there was an old ruinous Castle The next day having no Provision they surrendred themselves only upon Quarter for Life Randolfe out of respect to Philip Valois who was their singular good Friend as was then said did not only freely release them but accommodated them with Provisions for their March yea he himself undertook to be their Convoy in his march he was taken by an Ambush of the English Party and so brought to the King who was then besieging Perth with a powerful Army At the same time David Cumins who steered all his Counsels according to the Inclinations of Fortune being glad of the Distress of his Enemy comes to the King of England and promises him in a very short time to drive all the Brucians out of the Kingdom and the Truth is he was as active in performing his Promise For Perth being surrendred and the Walls thereof demolished the King prepared to return to England because Provision for his Army came but slowly in in regard That all the Scots upon notice of his coming were advised to drive their Cattle into the Mountains As for their other Provisions they should either convey them to some Fortified Places far remote or if they could not do so they should spoil them altogether Neither did his Fleet on which he most relied for Bread for his Army much relieve him For as soon as it arrived at the Forth and had destroyed a Monastery of Monks in the Isle Inch-colm as it rode at Anchor in the open Sea it was grievously turmoiled and suffered great Losses by a Tempestuous Storm so that part of the Ships could hardly get to Inch-Keith a desolate Island near adjoining Others were carried further by the Winds but as soon as they could recover themselves they imputed the Cause of the Tempest to the Anger of St. Columb because they had avaritiously and cruelly destroyed a Monastery of His and therefore whatever Prey or Plunder they had got they carried it thither as an Expiation for their Offence neither was any memorable Act performed by that Fleet the whole Year Though these Causes did much incline the King of England to return yet that which did most accelerate it was his Propension to the French War which was then most in his thoughts And therefore he marched back his Army and took Baliol with him as if the Scotish War had been almost at an end and left Cumins as Regent to perfect the Remainder thereof He to ingratiate himself to Both Kings and to avenge himself on his Enemy was extraordinary cruel in his Proceedings which Severity of his was the more resented because that lately he himself obtained his Pardon so easily when he was reduced to the lowest Ebb not many Months before There were scarce above Three of all the Scotish Nobility whom neither Promises could entice nor Dangers enforce to submit to the English Yoke and Those were Patrick Earl of Merch Andrew Murray and William Douglas These joined their Forces and march to Kilblane Forest against Cumins who was besieging Kildrummy Castle with him they had a sharp Fight Cumins was more in Number and a Few might easily be snapt by a great Many but the coming in of Iohn Craig Governor of the Castle with 300 Fresh Men decided the Controversy and gave an undisputed Victory to the Brucians All the Valiantest of Cumins his Army were slain either in the Fight or in the Pursuit Many were saved in a Neighbour Castle called Cameron belonging to Robert Meinze But seeing there were not Provisions for so great a Multitude pent up in so narrow a Room the next day it was surrendred and the Defendants upon their Submission confirmed by an Oath Pardoned There fell in this Fight besides the General himself Robert Brady and Walter Cumins Two of his intimate Friends Thomas his Brother being taken Prisoner was the next day put to death Upon this Victory in regard Randolfe was a Prisoner and Stuart was sick the Name and Power of Regent was confirmed on Andrew Murray by Military Suffrage For when Letters came from the King of France concerning a Truce the Nobles of the Brucian Party being forced to receive them did by unanimous Consent restore that former Honour to Murray which his Calamitous Misfortune had deprived him of He after the Truce for a few Months was ended laid Siege to the Castle of Lochindores which was held by the Wife of David Cumins She foreseeing what would happen had craved Aid of the English who shortly after landed some Forces in Murray and raised the Siege They also pierced as far as Elgin a Town situate by the River Lossy wasting all as they went with Fire and Sword As they were marching to Perth they burnt Aberdene and Garison'd the Castles in all Merss Dunoter Kinneff and Laureston They laid a Command on the six adjoining Monasteries to repair the Walls of Perth which were demolished and then committing the Affairs of Scotland to Edward Baliol who was returned thither they went back for England Upon the Departure of the English and the low Condition of the Scots Henry Beaumont thought it a fit Opportunity for him to stir to revenge the Death
Triumphed over And so She herself and her Kingdom which was enlarged and increased by her Husband Odenatus was lost in a moment Neither may I pass over in silence what is principally to be regarded in the management of other Mens Affairs That the Chief Command is not to be intrusted to such sort of Persons who are not accountable for their Mal-Administration I do not at all distrust the Disposition Faithfulness nor Care of the Queen but if any thing be acted amiss as it often happens by the Fraud of others and Matters be carried otherwise than the Publick Good or the Dignity of Her Place doth Require What Mulct can we exact from the Kings Mother What Punishment can we require Who shall give an account for Miscarriages The Highest Matters will then be managed in the Meetings of Women in the Nursery or Dressing Room You must There either each Man in particular subscribe to Decrees or All in General Make them and She whom you scarce now restrain tho' She be without Arms and obnoxious to you by Laws and Customs when you have by your Authority put Power into Her hands you will certainly feel Her Womanish Wilfulness and Extravagance Neither do I speak this as if I did fear any such thing from our Queen who is the Choicest and Modestest of all Women but because I think it base and unseemly for us who have all things yet in our own Hands and Power to place the Hope of our Safety which we may owe to our Selves only in anothers Power especially since both Divine and Human Laws the Custom of our Ancestors yea and the Consent of all Nations throughout the whole World make for us 'T is true some Nations have endured Women to be their Chief Magistrates but they were not elected to that Dignity by their Judgment and Suffrage but were cast upon them by the Lot of their Birth and Nativity but never any People who had freedom of Vote when there was plenty of able Men to chuse did ever prefer Women before Them And therefore most Eminent Patriots I advise and earnestly intreat you That according to the Laws of our Country and the Customs of our Ancestors we chuse One or if you think fit More the Best out of the Noblest and Best who may undertake the Regency till the King arrive at that strength both of Body and Mind as to be able to manage the Government Himself And I pray God to Bless your Proceedings herein Kennedy spake thus with the Approbation of the undoubtedly major part of the Assembly and the rest perceiving that it was in vain to oppose passed over to their Opinion The Matter was thus composed That neither Party seemed to have the Better of the other Two of each Faction were chosen for the Guardianship for the King who were to manage all Publick Affairs with Fidelity to Collect and Expend the King's Revenue and to undertake the Charge of the Royal Family Of the Queens side William Graham and Robert Boyd then Chancellor Of the Other Robert Earl of the Orcades and Iohn Kennedy All on both sides the Chief of their Families To these were added the Two Bishops of Glasgo and Caledonia The Queen was allowed to be present at the King's Education but She was not to touch any part of the Publick Government As for the other Children which were Four viz. Alexander Duke of Albany and Iohn Earl of Mar and Two young Females She had the Charge of their Educations Herself Matters being thus composed at home Embassadors from England had their Audience who desired a Truce which was granted for Fifteen Years The next Year which was 1463. The King's Mother Died being not well spoken of in point of Chastity The same Year Alexander the King's Brother returning from his Grandfather by the Mothers-side out of France was taken Prisoner by the English but freed soon after in regard the Scots urged it as a Breach of the Truce and threatned a War thereupon Peace being obtained abroad it was not long before Intestine Commotions arose at home for when the Disputes and Controversies betwixt the Nobility concerning ordering the State of the Kingdom were bruited abroad and magnified by vulgar Rumors And Moreover the King's Minority together with the fresh Remembrance of the Licentiousness of the late Times were brought upon the Stage all these Temptations put together did easily let loose the Reins to Men who were turbulent enough in their own Nature Alan of Lorn a Seditious Person had a mind to enjoy the Estate of Iohn his Elder Brother and therefore kept him Prisoner intending there to detain him so long alive till the hatred of his cruel Practise did with time abate and so he yield to his Will and Pleasure when Calen Cambel Earl of Argyle heard of it he gather'd a Band of his Tenants together freed Iohn and cast Alan into Prison in his room resolving to carry him to Court that he might suffer Punishment for That as well as for his other noted Robberies but he prevented his Punishment by Death whether voluntary or fortuitous is not known In another part of the Country Donald the Islander as being a more powerful Person began to make a far greater Commotion for after the Kings Death as free from Fear and judging That turbulent state of things to be a fit Opportunity for him to injure his Inferiors and to increase his own power he came to Enverness with no great Train and was kindly invited into the Castle by the Governor thereof who had no Thoughts or so much as the least Fear of any Hostility from him when he was entred he turned out the Garison seized upon the Castle and gathering his Islanders about him proclaim'd himself King of the Islands He sent forth Edicts into the Neighbour Countries That the Inhabitants should pay Tribute to none but himself and that they should acknowledge no other Lord or Master denouncing a great Penalty to those that did otherwise The News hereof caus'd Debauch'd Persons to flock to him from all Parts so that having made up an Army great enough he entred Athole with such celerity that he took the Earl thereof who was the Kings Uncle and his Wife Prisoners before they suspected any such thing For the Earl hearing the sudden Tumult of a War distrusted the strength of his Castle of Blare and went into the Church of St. Brides near adjoining to defend himself there as in a Sanctuary by the Religion of the Place many also of his Vassals and Countrymen being surprized at the sudden danger carried and laid up their best Goods there That Church was venerated in those Parts with great Ceremony and it had remain'd inviolate to that very day by reason of the great Opinion of its Sanctity but the consideration of Gain was more prevalent with that Savage and Avaritious Person than any sense of Religion For he violently pull'd out the Earl and his
overthrow such suspected Persons The Noise of this Discord betwixt such Potent Factions let loose the Reins to Popular Licentiousness For the People accustom'd to Robberies did by Intervals more eagerly return to their former Trade The Seeds of Hatred which were supprest for a time did now bud forth again with greater Vigour and the Seditious did willingly lay hold on these Occasions for Disturbances so that there was a general Liberty taken to do what Men listed in hopes of Impunity Neither were the Kennedys wanting to the Occasion who partly did spread abroad Rumors to inflame the People and to cast all the Cause of their Disturbance and Miseries upon the Boyds and partly also as some thought they were not much averse from the Design of the Seditious but did privily cast Fewel into the Fire This was plain and evident by their very Countenancâ—s That this troublesom State of Affairs was not unpleasant or unacceptable to them There seem'd but only One thing wanting utterly to subvert the flourishing Power of their Enemies and That was to make the King of their Party For they had Strength enough or too much they knew that the Commonalty who affect Innovations and love every thing more than what is present would crowd in to their Party hereupon they agreed to try the King's Mind by some crafty Persons who should pretend themselves to be Lovers of the Boydian Faction In the interim Embassadors were appointed to pass over into Denmark to desire Margarite the Daughter of that King as a Wife for Iames and that they should take all the care they could that the Old Controversie concerning the Orcades and the Isles of Shetland which had cost both Nations so much Blood might be accorded The Chief of the Embassie was Andrew Stuart Son to Walter who was then Chancellor of Scotland The Danes easily assented to the Marriage and they quitted all their Right which their Ancestors claim'd over all the Islands about Scotland in the Name of a Dowry only the private Owners of Estates in those Islands were to enjoy them upon the same Terms as they had formerly done Some write that they were passed over in Mortgage till the Dowry was paid but that afterward the King of Denmark gave up all his Right thereto for ever to his Nephew Iames who was newly born by his Daughter When the Chancellor had inform'd the King that all things were finish'd according to his desire the next Consult was to send an handsom Train of Nobles to bring over the New Queen And here by the Fraud of his Enemies and Inadvertency of his Friends Thomas Boyd Son of Robert Earl of Arran was chosen Embassador his very Maligners and Envyers purposely commending his Aptness for that Imployment by reason of his Valour Splendor and Estate fit for such a Magnificent Errand He judging all things safe at Home in regard his Father was Regent willingly undertook the Imployment and at the beginning of Autumn with a good Train of Friends and Followers he went a Ship-board In the mean time the Kennedy's had loosened the Kings Affection to the Boyds and whereas they thought to retain his Good Will by Pleasures and Vacation from Publick Cares Those very Baits they imputed as Crimes to them and by magnifying their Wealth though Great in it self yet as too Bulky and even dangerous to the King himself and withal alleging what a great Advance would accru to his Exchequer by the Confiscation of their Estates upon their Conviction they did variously agitate the infirm Mind of the King who was inclin'd to Suspicions and Avarice And the Boyds on the other side though they endeavour'd by their Obsequious Flatteries and their hiding the publick Miseries from him to banish all Melancholly Thoughts out of his Mind yet the Complaints of the Vulgar and the Solitariness of the Court Both which were of set purpose contriv'd and increast by their Enemies could not be hid And besides there were some who when the King was alone did discourse him freely concerning the Publick Calamities and the Way to Remedy them yea the King himself as if he were somewhat awakned to Manly Cares declar'd That what was sometimes Acted abroad did not please him But the Boyds though they perceiv'd that the King was every Day less and less Tractable to them than formerly and withal that popular Envy rose higher and higher against them yet remitted nothing of their former Licentiousness as trusting to the Kings former Lenity and to the Amnesty which they had for what was past Whereupon the contrary Faction having secretly wrought over the King to their Party and Thomas Earl of Arran being sent packing Ambassador into Denmark from whence he was not expected to return till late in the Spring because those Northern Seas are Tempestuous and Unpassable for a great part of the Year upon these accounts they thought it a fit season to attempt the Boyds who were Old and Diseased and therefore came seldom to Court and besides were destitute of the Aid of many of their Friends who were goâ—â— away in the Train of the Embassy The First thing tâ—â—y did was to persuade the King to call a Parliament which had been much long'd for a great while to meet at Edinburgh on the Twenty Second Day of November in the Year 1469. Thither the Boyds Two Brothers were Summoned to come and make their Appearance where Matters were variously carried towards them as every ones Hatred of them or Favour to them did dictate and direct But they were so astonisht at this sudden Blow as having made no great Provision against so imminent a Danger that their Minds were quite dejected not so much for the Power of the adverse Faction as for the sudden Alienation of the Kings Mind from them so that Robert in Despair of his safety fled into England but Alexander who by reason of his Sickness could not fly was call'd to his Answer The Crime objected to both the Brothers was That they had laid Hands on the King and by private Advice had carried him to Edinburgh Alexander alleg'd That he had obtain'd his Pardon for that Offence in a publick Convention and therefore he humbly desired That a Copy of that Pardon might be Transcrib'd out of the Parliament Rolls but this was denied him What his Accusers did object against that Pardon the Writers of those Times do not Record and I though a Conjecture be not very difficult to be made in the case yet had rather leave the whole Matter to the Readers Thoughts than to affirm Uncertainties for Truths Alexander was Condemn'd on his Tryal and had his Head cut off Robert a few years after dy'd at Alnwick in England the Grief of Banishment being added to the pains of his old Age. His Son though absent and that upon a publick Business was declar'd a publick Enemy without Hearing and all their Estates were Confiscate Thus stood the matter of Fact but I
mightily enriched by this Booty and thereupon omitted the severity of their Ancient Discipline yea there were some amongst them who counted That Gain as a Pious and Holy Fraud alleging That the Mony could never be better bestowed than to be given to Devout Persons that they might pray forsooth for the Redemption of their Souls out of Purgatory The Fight was carried on so obstinately that towards Night both Parties were weary and withdrew almost Ignorant of one anothers Condition so that Alexander Hume and his Souldiers who remained untouched gathered up a great part of the Spoil at their pleasure But the next day in the Morning Dacres being sent out with a Party of Horse to make discovery when he came to the place of Fight and saw the Scots Brass-Guns without a Guard and also a great part of the Dead unstripp'd he sent for Howard and so gathered up the Spoil at leasure and celebrated the Victory with great Mirth Concerning the King of Scotland there goes a double Report The English say he was slain in the Battel But the Scots affirm That in the Day of Battel there were several others cloathed in the like Coat of Armour and the Habit of the King which was done on purpose on a double account partly that the Enemy might principally aim at one Man as their chief Opponent on whose Life the safeguard of the Army and total ruin of the Enemy did depend and partly also if the King hapned to be slain that the Souldiers might not be discouraged nor sensible of his loss as long as they saw any Man armed and clothed like him in the Field and riding up and down as a Witness of their Cowardise or Valour And that one of these was Alexander Elphinston who in Countenance and Stature was very like the King and many of the Nobility perceiving him armed in Kingly Habiliments followed him in a Mistake and so died resolutely with him but that the King himself repassed the Tweed and was slain by some of Humes his Men near the Town of Kelsoe but it is uncertain whether it were done by his Command or else by the forwardness of his Souldiers who were willing to gratify their Commander for they being desirous of Innovation thought that they should escape Punishment if he were taken off but if he were alive they should be punished for their Cowardise in the Fight Some Conjectures are also added as that the same Night after this unhappy Fight the Monastery of Kelsoe was seized upon by Car an Intimate of Hume's and the Abbat thereof ejected which it was not likely he would dare to have done unless the King were slain and moreover David Galbreth one of the Family of the Hume's some Years after when Iohn the Regent questioned the Hume's and was troublesome to their Family is said to have blamed the sluggish Cowardise of his Allys who would suffer that Stranger to rule so arbitrarily and imperiously over them whereas he himself had been one of the Six that had put an end to the like Insolency of the King at Kelsoe But these Things were so uncertain that when Humes was afterward tried for his Life by Iames Earl of Murray the King 's Natural Son they did not much prejudice his Cause However the Truth of this Matter stands yet I shall not conceal what I have heard Lawrence Talifer an Honest and a Learned Man to report more than once He was then one of the King's Servants and was a Spectator of the Fight he saw the King when the Day was lost set upon an Horse and pass the Tweed many others affirmed the same thing So that the Report went currant for many Years after That the King was alive and was gone to Ierusalem to perform a Religious Vow he had made but would return again in due Time But that Rumor was found as vain as another of the same Batch which was heretofore spread abroad by the Brittons concerning their Arthur And but a few Years since by the Burgundians concerning Charles This is certain That the English found the Body of the King or of Alexander Elphinston and carried it into England and retaining an inexpiable Hatred against the Dead they left it unburied in a Lead Coffin I know not whether their Cruelty therein were more foolish or more barbarous because he had born sacrilegious Arms against Pope Iulius the Second whom the English then sought to curry favour with or else as some say because he was perjured as having contrary to the Oath and League between them taken up Arms against Henry the Eighth Neither of which Exprobrations ought to have been laid to his Charge especially by such a King who during his Life was not constant or tight in any one Religion nor by such a People who had took up Arms so often against the Bishop of Rome Not to speak of many of the Kings of England whom their own Writers do accuse as guilty of Perjury as William Rufus who is charged with That Crime by Polydore and Grafton Henry the First by Thomas Walsingham in his Description of Normandy King Stephen hath the like Brand inured upon him by Neobrigensis Grafton and Polydore Henry the Eighth by the same Newberry Grafton and Polydore Richard the First by Walsingham in his Hypodigma Neustriae Richard the Third by Grafton and Walsingham Edward the First by Walsingham I cull out these few for Example-sake not of the First Kings of the Saxon Race of which I might instance in a great Many but in Those of the Norman Family whose Posterity enjoy the Kingdom to this Day and who lived in the most flourishing Times of England's Glory to put them in mind not to be so bitter against Strangers who with so much Indulgence bore the Perjuries of their own Kings especially since the guilt of the Crime objected lies principally on those who were the first Violaters of the Truce But to return to the Matter Thomas Howard Earl of Surrey had gone off with great Renown for That Victory over the Scots if he had used his Success with Moderation but being a Man almost drunk with the Happiness of his prosperous Success and little mindful of the Instability of Human Affairs he made his Houshold Servants as the English custom is to wear a Badg on their left Arms which was a White Lyon his own Arms on the top of a Red one and rending him with his Paws God Almighty did seem to punish this his insolent Ambition for there were in a manner none of his Posterity of either side but dyed in great Disgrace and Ignominy But King Iames as he was dear to all whilst living so he was mightily lamented at his Death and the Remembrance of him stuck so fast in the Minds of Men as the like was not known of any other King that we have heard or read of 'T is probable that it hapned by making a Comparison with the bad Kings who preceded his Reign
Government it would be no great Loss for thereby he would but give up the Rule wholly to the French which was intirely manag'd by their Counsels before And he would have this Advantage also that by laying down the invidious Title of Viceroy or Regent which however he could not long keep he would procure Safety and Security to Himself and His. This Prospect pleased so that an Agreement was made on these Conditions That for what Goods of the late King 's Hamilton had made use of the French King would see that he should be indemnified and also that he should be free from any Account on the pretence of Overseership only he was to take an Oath to restore what did appear not imbezill'd yet in this he did not perform his Promise For about twelve years after when his Castle of Hamilton was taken after the Fight at Langside many things were there found which shewed his Perjury Besides there were large Gifts bestowed upon him and he was honoured with the Title of Duke of Castelrot which is a Town in Poictou situate near the River Vien and had a yearly Stipend of twelve thousand French Pistols half of which Sum was paid for some Years Another Condition was also added by the Suffrage of all the Estates that if the Queen died without Children Hamilton should be the next Heir These were the Conditions of the Surrender which were sent into France that they might there be confirmed by the Queen and some to be Guarrantees The Queen by the Advice of her Mother makes Henry the 2 d King of France Francis Duke of Guise and Cardinal Charles his Brother the Guarrantees and the Regent tho by persuasion of Painter he had promis'd to relinquish the Government and the time to do it was at hand yet when it came to the point according to his wonted Inconstancy he was at a great stand for he began to consider how grievous a thing it would be for him to fall down from the Supreme Magistracy to a private Life for then he should be obnoxious to those whom in his Government he had wronged Hereupon he began to elude his Promise and to frame Excuses in regard the Queen was not yet full twelve Years old Thus tho those Allegations might have been answer'd yet the Queen Dowager chose rather to retire to Sterlin and there to expect the Expiration of the Set-time for the giving up his Charge than to make any Quarrel about a small matter tho never so true In this her Retirement the greatest part of the Nobility came in to her Fortune favouring her side whom she sought by all means to ingage in her Faction and those she had ingag'd she fix'd and confirmed filling them all with abundance of hopes and making many Promises in general and in particular how obliging she would be to them all when she was advanc'd to the Government which they all knew should shortly follow she prevailed so much by these Artifices that only two of the Nobility remained with the Regent Iohn his base Brother and Levingston his near Kinsman All the rest past over to the Queen This Solitude of the Regent's Court and the Fulness of the Queen's was a Signification to him how all the Estates were alienated from him hereupon he repented himself and was glad to accept of those Terms which he rejected before only with this addition That the Queen Dowager would procure them to be ratifi'd by the Three Estates in the next Parliament and also by the Guarrantees in France About the same time Matters were very troublesome in England by reason of the Death of King Edward the 6 th a young Prince of high Expectation by reason of his rare Ingenuity and Propension to all kind of Virtue which was both connate with him and also cultivated by Learning and Study At the beginning of the next Spring the Nobility assembled at Sterlin where in a full Assembly the Transactions with the Regent were confirm'd which the Queen and Guarrantees had subscribed this Addition was also made That the Regent should keep a Garison at Dunbarton and to compleat all a Parliament was Indicted at Edinburgh to be held the 10 th day of April then next following where all the Pacts and Agreements approved by the Guarrantees as hath been said were produced and when they were read the Regent arose and openly abdicated himself from the Magistracy and gave up the Ensigns of his Government to D'Osel who received them in the behalf of the Queen who was absent and by command delivered them up to her who received them by a general Consent and thus being advanced into the Regent's place she was carried with great Ceremony through the City to the Palace in the Suburbs And the Regent who at his Entrance into the Parliament was attended with a great number of the Nobility and had the Sword Crown and Scepter carried before him according to Custom now being degraded mixt himself amongst the Croud in the Year 1559. This was a new Sight in Scotland and never heard of before that day that a Woman should be by the Decree of the States advanced to the Helm of Government Though matters thus inclined to the French Interest yet the Scots would never yield that the Castle of Edinburgh should be garison'd by them if so they feared if the Queen died without Issue the French would then make it the Seat of their Tyranny so that 't was put into the Hands of Iohn Erskin as an indifferent Person who was to surrender it to None but by the Command of the Estates After this when the State of the Publick seemed to be somewhat settled the Queen-Regent as then she was called sent out George Gordon Earl of Huntly to apprehend Iohn Murderach chief of the Family of the Mac-Reynalds a notorious Robber who had plaid many foul and monstrous Pranks 'T is thought that Gordon did not play fair in this Expedition so that when he return'd without doing the Business he was sent about he was kept Prisoner till the time appointed for his Answer In the Interim his Kindred excused him and laid the Blame of the Miscarriage upon the Clanship of Catan thus they spread false Reports amongst the Vulgar for they gave forth tho untruly that the Macintoshes had spoiled the Design by reason of their Animosity against the Gordons This Hatred between these two Clans arose upon this occasion When the Queen prepared for her Expedition into France Gordon kept William chief of the Catan-Family as his Prisoner a young Man well educated by the care of Iames Earl of Murray There was no Crime prov'd against him but only because he would not put himself under his Clanship or Clientele and besides it turn'd to his Prejudice that he was of Kin to Murray as being his Sister's Son Gordon having thus provok'd the Young-man did not think it safe to vouchsafe him his Liberty and so
Traffick by Sea ibid. He reduces the Train of his Nobles in Travelling ibid. His violent and untimely Death ibid. His Character ibid. Alexander Duke of Albany Brother of James III. taken by the English 407 But soon released ibid. Committed Prisoner to Edinburgh Castle 421 Whence he craftily made his Escape ibid. And coming to the King of England solicits him to take Arms 425 He is recalled by the Scots and hath the chief Government bestowed upon him 427 He restores his Brother James to the free Possession of the Kingdom ibid. He falls again into Disgrace and dies in France 430 Alexander the Son of Alexander of Albany ibid. Alexander Boyd abuses and wounds John Kennedy 410 His is tried for his Life 414 Beheaded ibid. Alexander Bruce surrenders himself to Baliol 287 Slain in a Fight with the English 290 Alexander Earl of Buchan base-born Son to Robert II. 307 Alexander Cambel a Dominican the Notoriety of his End 53 Alexander Cuningham slain with King James III. in his Army 433 Alexander Cuningham brings Aid to the Reformers 129 Being taken Prisoner he takes him Prisoner whose Captive he was before 282 Alexander Elphinston slain in Fight 26 Alexander Forbes marries Graecina Boyd 6 Alexander Forbes taken by Adam Gordon 284 Alexander Earl of Crawford deserts Douglas and submits to the King 388 Alexander Earl of Glencarn banished 175 A General in the King's Army 220 Alexander Gordon beats the Earl of Crawford 387 Alexander Hume marches into England 19 He brings his Squadron off safe from Flodden Field 25 His great Authority 28 Accused by Hepburn 33 Sides with the Queen 34 Goes for England is reconciled to the Regent and returns ibid. He raises an Insurrection 35 His Goods confiscate he is taken and beheaded 36 Alexander Hume as a Proxy takes the Coronation-Oath for James VI. yet a Child 214 He is General of the King's Army 220 Wounded 221 Revolts to the Queen's Party 243 His Castle taken and rifled by the English 256 He is chief in the Council of the Rebels 280 Taken Prisoner but by the coming in of his Friends released 281 Alexander Haliburton wounded and dies 141 Alexander Levingston made Supream Governour or Regent 357 He puts the Queen in Prison 364 Disagrees with Creighton the Chancellour 360 364 The King taken out of his Hands 365 Reconciled to the Chancellour 366 368 Lays down his Office 372 Is brought to his Trial and remanded to Prison 375 Alexander the Son of William Levingston taken Prisoner 265 Alexander the Islander gathers together a Band of Free-booters 341 But is forced to submit to the King 342 Alexander Lindsy overcomes Alexander Ogilby 273 274 Alexander Macrory Captain of Thieves executed 341 Alexander Earl of Marr the Son of Alexander 348 349 Alexander Ramsay a brave Souldier 299 His House the School of War ibid. He takes Roxburgh 300 Wounded and starved to Death by Douglas 301 Ramsay's chearful Forwardness in surprizing Dumbarton Castle 265 Alexander Seton sent to Berwick 287 Having no hopes of Relief he surrenders up the Town to the English 290 Alexander Stuart Arch-bishop of St. Andrews slain at Flodden-Fight 29 Stuart's Encounter with the King of Norway 242 Allectus a Roman slain 124 Alfrid King of Northumberland 161 Alnwick Castle taken 398 Alsa or Ailze Isle 24 Alpa for Alba 11 Alps whence so called ibid. Alpin King of Scots 166 Slain by the Picts ibid. Altissidorus i. e. Auxerre in France 68 Alured King of England makes Peace with the Scots 177 Amberkeleth King of Scots 162 Slain ibid. Ammianus Marcellinus quoted 88 89 Amiens the Bishop thereof in Scotland his Cruelty 148 St. Andrews 18 Its Vniversity when erected 333 Andreae Fanum and Fanum Reguli i. e. St. Andrews why so called 16 Andrews a great Astrologer 420 Andrew the Apostle Tutelary of Scotland 218 Andrew Briton or Breton his Story 18 Slain by Thomas Howard the English Admiral 19 Andrew Berclay beheaded for Treason 273 Andrew Car escapes out of Prison 36 He disagrees with Douglas 38 Andrew Car revenges his Father's Death 18 Andrew Car beaten by the Duke of Norfolk 120 Andrew Forman sent into England and France by James IV. 16 He hath a great many Church-Preferments 29 Sent again into England 26 He is accused by Hepburn 33 Mediates for Peace 35 Bruce's Sister's Son Regent 296 Taken by the English 288 Ransomed 294 His Faithfulness and Death 297 Andrew Earl of Rothes banished 175 Andrew Wood faithful to King James III. 1 Admiral of the Scots Navy 1 Reconciled to James IV. 2 Overcomes the English in one Sea-Fight ibid. And also in a second 4 Andrew Stuart Chancellour 413 His Freedom of Speech against a Popish King 173 He is wounded in Fight 222 Angus 18 Angus or Aeneas raised an Insurrection in Galway 230 Angusianus King of Scotland 126 Slain by the Picts ibid. Annandale so called from the River Annand 13 14 Anna Momorancy suspects the Power of the Guises in France not without Cause 121 Anselm the Norman Arch-bishop of Canterbury 219 Anti-Assemblies in Scotland two 276 280 Anthony Darcy slain by David Hume 38 Apparition to King Kenneth III. upon his Murder of Malcolm 195 Apparition to King James IV. dissuading him from a War with England 20 21 Apoceanitae Who 10 Apology of the Scots Nobles to the Queen of England 267 c. 272 c. Apostacy punished by God 159 Arran or Arren Island 24 Arborary or Tree Isle 25 Archibald Douglas created Regent 288 He is slain by the English 290 Archibald Earl of Douglas sirnamed the Austere his Feuds with Geo. Dunbar 325 He dies 326 Archibald his Son succeeds him who is taken Prisoner by the English 329 Released ibid. Made Duke of Turein by the Dolphin of France 336 Slain by the English there ibid. Archibald Douglas his great Power 359 His affronting Answer to the Chancellor 362 His Death 363 Archibald Douglas his Oration to the Nobles against the King's Evil Counsellors 423 With the Effects thereof 424 Archibald Douglas his Speech to King James IV. dissuading him to fight the English 22 At which the King is offended and Douglas retires in Discontent 23 He marries the Widow of James IV. 29 Accused by Hepburn 33 Takes Edinburgh but resigns up the Government thereof 38 Flies into England 34 Returns from France and England into Scotland 46 Opposed by his Wife 46 Chosen one of the Governours of King and Kingdom 47 Overthrows Lennox 50 Forbid to meddle with the Government 53 Outlawed and banished 56 Returns after fifteen Years Exile 75 Coming to compose Controversies he is detained by Hamilton 82 His memorable Speech and Fact 87 He persuades the Regent to break with the Cardinal and to side with the Nobles 88 He beats the English 89 Archbishop of St. Andrews with the Bishop of Aberdene imprisoned 46 Archbishop of St. Andrews executed as Accessory to the King and Regent's Murders 266 Ardan Rider or the High Isle of the Horseman 28 Ardiescar Isle 25 Aremorici or Armorici Who 7 8
Argadius Regent 115 Being accused he repents and supplicates for Pardon ibid. Whereupon he is continued in his Government ibid. And prevails against the Islanders 116 Argyle Country 17 Argyle Earl joins with the Reformers 131 Arren see Arran Arrii painted their Bodies 53 Arrogance the usual Companion of Power 412 Uterson's begotten in Adultery King of the Britains 150 His Character 154 He overcomes the Saxons and takes London and York from them ibid. He is slain 151 152 Arthur the Son of Henry VIII of England marries Katherine the Infanta of Spain 11 14 Arthur Forbes slain 284 Arveâ—ni Who 46 Asclepiodotus a Roman Lieutenant-General kills Allectus in Britain 124 Askerme Isle 29 Assassination of King Henry odious to all Nations 192 Assassins of King Henry labour to impute the Parricide to Murray and Morton 191 Astrological Predictions Courtiers much addicted to them 418 Asyle Isle See Flavannae 30 Athelstan King of England fights the Picts 165 He is slain at a Place since called Athelstan's Ford 165 Athelstan base Son of Edward King of England overcomes the Danes and Scots in Battel 179 180 Recovers Dunbritton from the Scots ibid. Athircus or Athirco King of Scotland 119 He reigns vitiously and kills himself 120 Athol a fruitful Country 18 It abounds with Witches 357 Atrebates Who 56 Aven 15 Aven and Avon What they signify 70 Avon Laggan 26 Avona Isle its Etymology 25 Auresius Ambrosius his Original 146 147 Aureliacum i. e. Orilhach 60 Austin a Monk comes into England and calls himself Archbishop of all Britain 157 He promotes Superstition rather than true Religion ibid. Authority got by good Arts is lost by bad 208 Avus or Aw a Loch or River 17 Auxerre see Altissidorus B BACA Isle 27 Badenach County 19 Balta Isle 37 Baliol Edward lands in Scotland 285 Overthrows Seton and the Regent ibid. Declared King 286 Worsted in Scotland 287 Edward of England espouses his Cause 288 Bandying betwixt him the Nobles 291 292 Ball a Priest stirs up the Commons of England to an Insurrection 309 Bancho a Scots General 208 Overthrows the Danes 210 Slain by Mackbeth 211 Baptism celebrated but once a Year and sometimes by Parents themselves 30 Bards Who 39 57 They committed nothing to writing 35 Barnera Island 29 30 Barodunum or Dunbar whence so called 170 Baronia i. e. Renfrew 14 Barra Isle 29 Bas-Alpin the Place where Alpin was slain 167 Bassianus a Roman General in Britain 124 Slain there by Allectus ibid. Bassinets or Monk-Fishes ominous 175 Batavians or Hollanders their Fleet returning from Dantzick spoiled by Alexander Earl of Marr 349 Beath Island 25 Beatrix leaving her Husband James Douglas asks Pardon of the King 391 She marries John Earl of Athol the King 's Natural Brother ibid. Bedford the Earl thereof King Henry's General in France carries James of Scotland along with him thither 336 Bede quoted 91 92 93 Beds made of Heath 23 Bei what it signifies 22 Belhac Isles 25 Bellach Isles 25 Belus King of the Orcades kils himself 106 Bergh in German signifies High 12 Bergion the Name of a Giant 11 Berlings What 32 Bernera an Island 25 The Great and the Small 29 30 Berth a great Part of it destroyed by an Inundation 236 Berton for Breton 5 Berwick taken from the English by Robert Bruce 269 Besieged by Edward of England 370 Rendred to the English 397 Its Castle taken by Ramsay but regained by Percy 308 Bethic Isle 26 Betubium or Dungisby Head a Promontory 21 Bigga Isle 37 Bishops of England not true to Maud their Queen 224 Bishops in Scotland holy Monks 165 Chosen heretofore by their Canons 417 Anciently not Diocesans 171 Bishop of Dunblane sent into France to excuse the Queen's Marriage with Bothwel 200 c. He is chouzed in his Embassy 209 Bishopricks six in Scotland 218 Four others added to them and endowed 223 Bishop of Caithness had his Eyes and Tongue plucked out 235 Another burnt 236 Bishop of Caledonia or Dunkel commanded when the English Navy was worsted in the Forth 270 Whereupon called the King's Bishop ibid. Bishop of Dunkel commended 40 Bishop of Durham comes too late to assist Percy 317 319 His Army terrified with the Noise of Horses 320 Bishop of St. Davids sent by the English King to the Scots 63 Bishop of the Orcades prefers Court-Favour before Truth 199 Bizets a Family in Ireland anciently from Scotland 240 Blackmoney What 425 Blackness betrayed to the Hamiltons 286 Blandium an old Drink amongst the Scots 23 Blair of Athol 18 Blood rained for seven days over all Britain 261 Also Milk c. turned into Blood ibid. Bogia or Strabogy 140 Boadicea see Voadicea Bodotria i. e. the Scotish Sea 100 Boids creep into Favour at Court 409 Their Faction against the Kennedies 410 They carry the King to Edinburgh and strengthen themselves by getting the King's Pardon 411 Their Greatness occasions their Ruin 412 Boin Country 20 Bote or Boot Isle 24 Bracara or Braga 47 Braid Albin 17 Brasa Isle 37 Brecantia a Town 65 Bredius overthrown by Ederus 106 Brendinus slain in Battel 156 Brennus's Two 79 Brettish Isles 4 Bria Brica Briga signify a City with the Names of several Cities so ending 63 64 65 Bridi Isle 26 Brien-Loch 31 Brigantes and Brigiani 65 Brigantium ibid. Brigidan Isle 26 Brigids or Brides Church burnt 408 Britanny its Description 1 c. Several Islands anciently so called ibid. Mentioned by Aristotle and Lucretius 3 It hath divers Acceptations 8 It s Original and Description out of Caesar Tacitus c. 81 82 Inhabited by three Nations 70 71 Several Limits of it anciently 180 Britains their fabulous Original 41 They praised God in five Tongues 33 Britains and Gauls of one Religion 56 They painted their Bodies 76 Made no difference of Sex in Government 85 Vexed by the Scots and Picts 139 They ask Aid of the Romans 93 135 136 Make Peace with Scots and Picts 139 Enter Scotland 100 Foment Divisions betwixt Scots and Picts 95 Overthrown by Scots and Picts 142 Their woful Complaints to Aetius 93 143 Have hard Conditions of Peace imposed upon them 141 What sort of Weapons they used in War 50 They were five hundred Years under the Roman Government 70 Overthrown by Scots and Picts 156 Subdued by the Saxons 70 Revolt from the Romans and after twelve Years return to their Obedience 124 Britton and Britain all one 9 Their Origin 50 Britto with a double t 5 First mentioned by Martial 9 Brix a diminutive Word in Scotch Brixac 60 Bruce and Cumins formally agree 259 Like to suffer for Treason in England but escapes by shooing his Horse backward 260 Kils Cumins for betraying of him ibid. Bruce David sent for France 286 Bruce Edward drives the English out of Ulster in Ireland 270 He is afterwards overthrown there by the English ibid. Bruce Robert the Kingdom confirmed to him 269 He is desired to accept the Crown of Ireland also ibid. He calls for the Deeds of Mens Lands
him 421 Again possessed by him and delivered to the English 427 Retaken by the Scots 429 Dunbritton 17 The Castle surrendred to Robert Bruce 268 Twice surprized 371 Taken by the Queen 164 Retaken by the Regent by Surprize with the Manner how 260 It s Scituation and why so called 262 263 Duncan King of Scots 229 He is slain ibid. Duncan Earl of Marr Regent 284 Slain in Battel 285 Duncan Stuart rising in Arms is suppressed 323 Duncaledon rather than Deucaledon to be read in Ptolemy 56 Dunchonel Isle 25 Dundee 18 Dundeans Enemies to the Gordons 286 Dunedin by the ancient Scots now Edinburgh 171 Dungisby Head 22 See Betubium Duni pacis what 15 119 Dunkelden 18 Duno or Dunum Words so beginning or ending are the Names of Places 65 66 67 Dunoter 19 Dunsinnan Hill and Castle 212 Dunstafnage 20 Duodecemvirate in Scotland 253 Dur the Names of some Places derived therefrom 68 Durstus King of Scots 102 He invites the Nobility to a Supper and there treacherously kils them ibid. He is slain 103 Durstus made King of the Picts 132 Slain in Battel 137 E EAnfrid 159 Easdale Isle 25 Easter-Day a Dispute about it raised by Austin the Monk 157 Eboracum i. e. York whence derived 60 Ecclesiasticks their Power over Kings 237 Their Avarice 238 243 They are reformed by Constantine II. are superstitâ—ous 195 Eder preserved by his Nurse 104 Educated by Cadvallus 105 Created King of Scots 106 Edgar then in Scotland demanded by William the Norman 216 Returns to England 217 Made King of the Sâ—ots 221 Builds Coldingham Abby ibid. Edifice a strange one 15 Edinburgh or Edinum whence so called 171 Its several Names 175 How seated 276 A Convention held at one End when the Enemy had the Castle at the other ibid. Edinburghers would not admit the English Exiles nor Hamilton to enter their City 252 Edmund King of England his Story 215 He gives Cumberland and Westmoreland to Malcolm King of Scots 181 Edward I. King of England takes away all Scotish Monuments 119 Endeavours to bring Scotland under his Dominion 249 Enters Scotland with a great Army 264 265 Overcomes the Scots and forces them to swear â—ealty to him 259 Appoints Magistrates all over Scotland ibid. Desires Margarite of Norwey Heiress of Scotland a Wife for his Son but she dies before her Marriage 245 Edward II. succeeding his Father in the Kingdom of England 263 Besieges Berwick makes a Truce with the Scots and retreats 270 271 Worsted in Scotland 272 Is cast into Prison by his Wife and his Son and there put to a cruel Death 274 Edward III. King of England makes Peace with the Scots 300 Baliol takâ—â— into his Protection 288 Hâ—s Cruelty to Seton's Children 289 〈◊〉 Berwick 288 Hath three Kings his Prisoners at once 304 He overthrows the Scots 290 Takes Berwick 290 Enters Scotland once or twice but retreats again 293 296 His Death 308 Edward Duke of York cals himself King of England 396 Edward IV. of England makes Peace with the Scots 416 He dies 428 He laid the Foundation of Tyranny 434 Edward VI. of England an hopeful Prince his Death 114 Edward Bruce called to be King in Ireland 269 Assists his Brother Robert 265 Edward Baliol with a numerous Fleet in the Bay of Forth 284 He overcomes the Scots 285 Enters on the Kingdom 286 Swears Fealty to the King of England 288 His supposititious Son 7 Education at Court what 160 Egfrid King of Northumberland slain by the Picts 161 Edwyn of Northumberland 159 Eels taken in abundance 14 Egg Isle See Rum 28 Eglish or Church Isle 25 Eglisa or Eglish-oy Isle 36 Elbeouf Marquess of it stays with the Queen in Scotland 154 Elgin a Town 20 Eliot's Authority disallowed 4 Elizabeth Queen of England sends Aid to the Reformers of Religion in Scotland 141 144 Her grave Oration to the Embassador of the Queen of Scots 155 156 c. She in part adopts the Cause of the Queen of Scots 222 Her Letters to the Regent to defer the Convention of the Estates ibid. Her other Letters to him which break off the Course of his Victories 223 She is informed by the Regent that the Cause of their Queen's deposing was the Murder of her Husband 227 228 She sends Letters to the Nobles of Scotland to receive their Queen again 239 c. Their Answer to her Letters 241 Howard's Conspiracy against her detected 244 She demands the English Fugitives to be given up to her by the Scots 284 She is made Arbiter between the Parties in Scotland 260 Some of her Council would have King James sent into England 275 Which the Scots refuse to do 280 She favours the King's Cause most yet is politickly slow in her Aid 279 286 Ella an English King 172 Embassadors from France desire the Scots to make War upon England 119 Embassadors from France and England to Scotland 352 England divided by four Rivers 13 The King thereof the Pope's Feudatary 237 Its King makes Peace or Truce with the Scots 249 250 Enecus General of the Danes 200 Slain by the Scots 201 Enemies not to be undervalued 174 291 Their sudden Liberality to be suspected 43 English how said to rule over all Britain 180 Incommoded in their March in Scotland 276 Their Army worsted 270 Quit their Claim to any Part of Scotland 234 Regain a great Part of Scotland 303 Drawn into an Ambush 304 Their Army of 60000 Men 274 Driven out of all Scotland except Berwick 300 English Souldiers less rapacious than the French 313 Worsted in Scotland 391 Overthrown by the Scots at Sea 379 Ask Aid of the Scots against their own King 392 English their Horses frightned in Scotland 42 Make War on Scotland 59 Enter Scotland again 86 Are worsted 89 Again enter 100 And give the Regent a great Overthrow 104 Enter Scotland again 105 And prevail against James Douglas 106 English Fleet attempts the Orcades 123 English called Deliverers of Scotland 152 Send Aid to the Reformers in Scotland 143 Assist the Vindicators of King and Regent's Murderers against the Queen's Faction 253 c. 256 257 Their Queen Elizabeth designed to be destroyed and the King of Scots too 280 Enner what it signifies 106 Ennerlute or Ennerlochy a Mart-Town 20 Ennerness a Mart-Town 106 Eorsa Isle 27 Eoy Isle 29 Ericaean or Heath Isle 26 Erisbach Isle see Abridic Eriscaia or Erisay Isle 30 Erin Isle ibid. Erra Isle 26 Esk River 13 South and North 19 Thence the Country called Eskdale 13 Etfin King of Scots 163 Ethelfrid King of Northumberland 156 Routs the Scots 157 Marches into Galway ibid. Ethodius I. King of Scots makes Laws about Hunting 112 Overcomes the Islanders ibid. Slain by Night in his Bedchamber by his Harper ibid. Ethodius II. rules by his Deputies 119 Is slain ibid. Ethus King of Scots 171 Eu Island 31 Eubonia or Man Isle 24 Evenus I. King of Scots 103 Aids the Picts against the Brittons ibid. The first that required an Oath of
II. Son of Stephen King of England seeks occasion for a War against Scotland 224 Malcolm of Scotland acknowledges himself his Feudatary ibid. Henry IV. of England 326 His Death 333 Succeeded by Henry V. ibid. Henry V. takes James I. King of Scots with him into France 336 Henry VI. undervalues the Nobility and advances Vpstarts 392 A Conspiracy against him by the Nobles of England ibid. He is taken by the Duke of York and brought to London 396 He flies into Scotland 397 Ioins Battel with Edward IV. and is overcome 398 Returns privately to England and is taken ib. Henry VII succeeds Richard III. who was slain in Battel 429 He denounces War against France 16 Desires to make a perpetual League with the Scots 430 Marries his Daughter Margarite to James IV. 14 War denounced against him by James as he was besieging Tournay 20 His Magnanimous and Kingly Answer to the Heraulds ibid. He eases the Commonalty of some old Burdens 71 Henry VIII desires the exiled Douglasses may be restored 60 By the French Embassador he desires a Peace with the Scots ibid. He sends Controversal Books of Divinity to James V. 62 Complains the Scots had violated the Law of Nations wars upon them takes Leith and burns Edinburgh 82 83 His Forces are worsted 89 His General persuades the Scots to Peace 102 Gives the Scots a great Overthrow 104 Henry of France sends some German Foot into Scotland 106 He displaces the Regent by Subtilty 113 Henry Percy invades Scotland 306 His Horse affrightned with rattling Instruments 307 His Duel with James Douglas 317 Henry Percy the younger overthrows the Scots at Homeldon 327 Conspires against his own King 329 Henry Stuart comes out of England into Scotland 171 Made Duke of Rothsay and Earl of Ross by the Queen of Scots 174 At which many of the Nobles are disgusted 175 He marries the Queen ibid. Strangely disrespected at the Baptism of his own Son 186 He withdraws from Court ibid. Is poisoned but overcomes it by the strength of his Youth 186 187 A Design to destroy him 187 188 Is actually murdered 190 Heraulds slain against the Law of Arms 230 Hergustus King of the Picts 127 131 Hepburn John insinuates himself into the new Regent 32 Heris hanged by James Douglas 384 Hâ—rmodra Isle 30 Herodian quoted 76 Heruli who 89 Hethland Isles see Schetland High Isle 25 Hirta Isle 30 Historians their flattering Dispositions 46 Hoia Promontory 21 Hollanders Fleet spoiled by Alexander Earl of Marr 349 Holland Horse sent for over into England 275 Holmes i. e. Plains full of Grass 35 Holy Isle or Lindisfarm 398 Honnega Isle 37 Horestia 18 Parted between two Brothers 170 Horses Isle or Naich 28 Hugh Kennedy his couragious Answer 51 Huilin Isle 30 Hulmena 31 Humber River 13 Humble Isle or Ishol 25 Hume Castle surprized by the Scots 107 Hungus the Pict fights prosperously against Athelstan 165 He prays to God and is encouraged by a Vision ibid. He offers Tithes to St. Andrew ibid. His Death 166 Hunting Laws made by King Dornadilla 89 And by King Ethodius 116 Huntly overthrown by James Earl of Murray taken and pardoned 235 237 Hypoconistical i. e. Diminutive 6 I JAmes I. Son of Robert III. sailing for France is taken by the English 330 Where he is educated and married 331 338 His Return to Scotland upon a Ransom 398 Crowned King ibid. Renews a League with France 340 352 Punishes the Captains of Thieves 341 343 Twins born to him 344 He rectifies Weights and Measures ibid. Reforms the Ecclesiastical Estate and erects publick Schools 345 Invites Tradesmen from beyond the Seas 347 Perfidiousness imputed to him answered 353 354 Is cruelly murdered 356 His Character 356 357 James II. King of Scots 359 Carried out of the Castle of Edinburgh in a Chest by his Mother 361 Taken again by the Chancellour and brought to Edinburgh 365 Enters on the Government 371 Marries Mary Daughter to the Duke of Guelderland 380 He kils William Douglas 386 Marches to assist the English Nobles 391 392 Deceived by a counterfeit Embassador from Rome suborned by the English 393 Takes Roxburgh Town ibid. His casual Death in his Camp 394 His Queen encourages the Souldiers and takes Roxburgh Castle ibid. His Character 395 James III. begins his Reign at seven Years old 396 Six Regents of the Kingdom in his Minority 407 His Mother's Death ibid. In his Time a Truce made with England for five Years 407 Marries Margarite the King of Denmark's Daughter 413 415 His Death foretold 420 He degenerates into Tyranny ibid. Addicts himself to Evil Counsellours 231 The Nobles arm against him 432 Is slain by them in Fight 433 His Character 434 James IV. 1 Chosen General by the Nobles against his Father 432 His first Parliament which justifies taking Arms against his Father 5 His Clemency and sorrowful Resentment for his Father's Death 6 He leads an Army into England 11 Marries Margarite Henry VII of Enggland's Daughter 14 Builds a vast Ship and is profâ—se in other Buildings ibid. Resolves to go to Jerusalem but prevented 15 Sends Forman into England to pick a Quarrel 16 Denounces War against England 20 Resolute in his Opinion 22 Fights with the English at Flodden where he is overthrown and slain 24 25 Doubtful Reports concerning his Death 26 Some Aspersions cast upon him indeavoured to be wiped off 27 His Character 27 28 James V. 28 Enters upon the Government 46 He and his Mother in the Power of the Douglasses 47 He frees himself from them 53 He is an Enemy to their Faction 50 Inclinable to a French Alliance 65 Three Maries offered to him 62 Treats with the Emperour about a Match 61 Visits the Orcades 62 And other Isles of Scotland ibid. Receives Controversal Books of Divinity from Henry of England 63 Agrees to an Interview with Henry which is disappointed 64 Sails to France and marries Magdalen Daughter to their King Francis who soon dies 65 He accuses his Nobility as Dastards 70 He marries Mary of the House of Guise 66 67 His presaging Dream 69 He dies with Grief for the Loss of his Army 71 His Character 71 72 James VI. his Birth 183 His Mother endeavours to get him under the Power of Bothwel 205 Enters on the Government 214 215 James Abernethy a skilful Physician 186 James Earl of Arran Son to James returning from France sides with the Reformers 135 Goes to his Sister Mary the Queen 151 Hardly persuaded to allow the admission of the Mass in the Queen's Chappel 159 Made Earl of Marr and afterwards of Murray 161 James Balfure Governour of Edinburgh Castle for the Queen 206 207 He raises Insurrections 226 James Culen taken and executed for his Crimes 279 James the first Earl of Douglas 308 James Douglas joins with Bruce 263 He marches with great Forces into England 275 James sirnamed Crassus the Douglasses being dead succeeds to the Right of the Earldom 370 He dies ibid. James Douglas marries Eufemia Daughter to Robert
to be Richard 332 Richard Duke of Gloucester marches with an Army against Scotland 426 Takes Berwick 427 Made Protector of England 428 Casts his Brother's two Sons into Prison and sets up himself King 428 Slain by Henry VII 429 Is very Tyrannical in his Government 434 Richard Duke of York brings King Edward Prisoner to London 396 Slain by the Queen ibid. Richard Colvil put to Death by Douglas 380 Richard Fox Bishop of Durham a very prudent Man mediates for Peace between the two Nations 12 13 An Instrument of James his Marriage with Margarite of England 14 Richard Grafton an English Writer blamed 252 Rins of Galway 14 Rinard Isle 26 Ridhead see Red Promontory Roadilla Monastery 31 Robbers punished 183 189 48 57 Robert Bruce his Genealogy 246 His magnanimous Answer to the King of England 250 Begins his Reign 261 Is overthrown and flies in disguise to save his Life ibid. His Wife imprisoned and his two Brothers put to Death by the English 261 262 He baffles Cumins ibid. Carried sick into his Army 264 Causes Edward of England to retreat ibid. Invades England takes Perth Edinburgh c. 265 Overthrows the English at Bannock near Sterlin 267 Robert the Son of Robert Bruce conspires with John Cumins against England 259 260 Is crowned King 261 Overcomes Edward II. in Battel 267 The Nobles conspire against him 271 Robert II. King of Scots 306 Marries Elizabeth More 307 The Dispute betwixt his Legitimate and his Natural Children occasions great Troubles 350 He invades England 311 His Death and Character 322 Robert III. before called John succeeds his Father 323 His Generals cause the Islanders to destroy one another 324 He makes the first Dukes in Scotland 325 He imprecates God's Iudgments on his Brother and the other Murderers of his Son David 330 He dies with Abstinence and Grief for the Captivity of his Son James in England 331 His Brother Robert made Regent after his Death 331 Robert Boyd kils James Stuart 374 Made Guardian to the King 409 Created Regent 412 Flies into England and dies there 414 Robert Boyd deserts the Reformed and revolts to the Queen 218 Robert Britain hath great Command at Court 56 Robert Cockerane of a Tradesman made a Courtier 420 Taken by Douglas and committed to Prison 424 425 Robert Cuningham of the Family of the Lennoxes opposes Bothwel 195 Robert Douglas desires that the Death of 〈◊〉 Brother Murray might be revenged 249 Robert Earl of Fife 315 Starves to Death David the King's Son 328 Robert Graham a great Enemy to King James 355 Conspires against him 357 Seizes him with his own Hands for which he is executed 358 Robert Maxwel 71 Coming to reconcile Differences is imprisoned by Hamilton 82 Robert the Son of Robert Maxwel taken Prisoner by the English 91 Robert Earl of the Orcades made one of the King's Guardians 407 Robert Petcarn sent Embassador into England 242 Queen Elizabeth's Answer to his Embassy 257 Robert Read sent Embassador into France 63 Poisoned there 122 Robert Semple kils Creighton 111 Bruce's Grand-son by his Daughter rises in Arms for Bruce 293 Made Regent 294 Taken by Baliol and swears Fealty to the King of England 286 Sought for to be slain 292 Roch Isle 26 Roffa for Raufchestria i. e. Rochester 8 Romachus King of Scots 125 Roman Generals in Britain 84 c. Roman Fraud 239 Roman Legates Pick-pockets 243 418 The Jews Apes 381 Romans their memorable Fact in Britain before their Departure 138 Rona Isle 32 Ronanus his Spade ibid. Rolland a Carpenter discovers a Treachery against Robert Bruce 268 Rolland's Valour he overcomes Gilcolumb 246 247 Rose white Badg of the York Faction 7 Ross and its Etymology 21 139 170 Rothsay Castle 25 Rotti Isle 37 Rous-oy 36 Round Isle 26 Roxburgh Town taken 393 Its Castle taken 394 Royalists overthrown in the North 283 Ruby a French Lawyer in Scotland his Character 147 Rudana Isle 27 Rum Isle 28 It abounds with Eggs of Sea-Fowl ibid. Ruven had the Mayoralty of Perth taken from him by the Cardinal 92 S SAcred or Cleirach Isle 31 Sacred Sanctuary 25 Saga Isles the Great and the Small 30 Saliar Verses not easy to be understood 44 Salii who 44 Salisbury Earl commands the English in Scotland 297 Taken Prisoner 300 Salmon Fishing Aberdene famous for it 19 Sanachies who 39 Sancterr Isle 37 Sanda Isle 25 Scandians who 200 Satrael King of Scots 117 Slain ibid. Saturnals old Feasts retained 239 Saxe or Rock Isle 26 Saxons kill the English Nobles by Treachery 70 Overcome by the Normans 71 Worsted by Picts Scots and Brittons 149 Cruel in Wars 146 Not faithful in Peace 148 Their Fight with three Kings 148 149 Scalpe Isle 28 30 Scarba Isle 25 Schan Castle 31 Schanny Isle 25 27 Schetland Isles 36 The Nature of their Inhabitants 37 The greatest of them called Pomona ibid. Sclata or Sleach Isle 25 Scoff sharp given to Bothwel by a Tradesman 194 Schools publick erected by James 345 Scorpions i. e. Cross-bows 311 Scotland how divided 13 Where narrowest 20 Had anciently learned Monks 169 Scots their fabulous Original 46 47 Scots and Picts unite against the Romans 134 Scots and Brittons overthrown by the Saxons 157 Scots Monks unjustly banished out of England 160 Scots and Brittons unite against Picts and Saxons 146 Scots Monks preach the Gospel in Germany 165 Scots have hard Terms of Peace imposed upon them by the English 173 Scots Bishops freed from the Iurisdiction of the English 234 411 Scots have an ancient Priviledg not to be cited to Rome 241 Scots excommunicated by their Ecclesiasticks 243 Excommunicated again but absolved 272 273 Scots join with the French against England 253 Scots receive a great Overthrow from Edward of England at Falkirk 256 Obtain a Truce from him ibid. Rise in Arms again and overthrow the English at Rosline 258 Scots make a League with the French 273 When their first Alliance with France began 165 Scots of Jerna and Scots of Albion 52 Scots overthrown by Maximus the Roman General and banished out of their Country 124 March into England but retreat again 91 Scots Nobles some rise against James IV. but are quelled 3 Scots Nobles anciently had Skill in Chirurgery 28 Scots complain of the French Breach of Faith by their Embassadors 60 Scots Prisoners released at London 74 Scotish Parliament demolishes all Monasteries 152 Scotish Crown ordered to be sent to the Dolphin of France 126 Scotish Kings anciently travelled over their Kingdoms themselves to administer Iustice 123 Scoto-Brigantes in Claudian to be read for Scuta-Brigantes 76 Scroop an English General in Scotland 256 Sea-Calves 29 Sea-Monks an ill boding Fish 175 Security dangerous in War 172 173 Seditions perillous 141 309 Secla or Seil Isle 25 Seneciones who 39 Seuna Isle 30 Severn River 13 Severus his Wall 8 148 His Expedition against the Brittons 117 118 Seuna or Suin Isle 25 30 Servanus 145 Shevi Isle 30 Sheep fair yet wild in Hirta Isle 30 Their Fat good
against Donald * Or Râ—dshanks Mackbeth his Character Mâ—cduald is overthrown by Mackbeth and Bâ—nâ—ho Swain and his three Sons Swain King of Norwayâ—ands â—ands in Scotland * A Town standing on the Forth in Pertâ—shiâ—e * The Scâ—tâ— by an inebâ—â—ating Dâ—ink made of Night-shade stupifie the Danes * The Herb Night-shade its Description and Properties Danes overthrown * Druâ—iâ—aâ—-Sands 〈…〉 North-side of the 〈…〉 * A Burgh-Roâ—aâ— on the North 〈…〉 Another Fleet of the Danes overthrown by Bancho * Or Inch-Colm * The Danes swore neveâ— to invade Scotland any more * Mackbeth's Dream encouraging him to aspire to the Kingdom * He thereupon slâ—ys King Donald or Duncan as some call him and is declared King Donald's Children fly for their Lives Mackbeth severe against Thieves He makes Wholesom Laws But afterward degenerates causes Bancho to be treacherously slain * Lying Southwest 3 miles from Cowper in Angus Mackduff ill resents Mackbeth He flies into England And stirs up Duncan's Son against him * Malcolm by the assistance of Edward K. of England recovers the Kingdom from Mackbeth * See Note a p. 77. * Malcolm First brought in Foreign Titles of Honour into Scotland * Mackduff the first Earl in Scotland * Three Grand Privileges of the Mackduffâ— * Called Straâ— or Sâ—rath-Boâ—y Forty Miles North of Aberdeen * Mackbeth's Son slain by Malcolm * Or Icolumbâ—â—l an Isle 2 Miles from the South end of Mul. * Malcolm assaulted by private Conspiracies which he overcomes * The Story of Edmond K. of England and Canutus * William the Norman demands Edgar then in Scotland * Whom Malcolm refuses to Surrender * Whereupon a War 〈…〉 Roger Richard Odo and Robert Generals for William of England worâ—â—ed in Scotland Newcastle repaired A Peace concluded between the Scots and English * Or Re-Crosâ— on the North-side it had the Portâ—aicture of the Scots King and of the English King on the South * Home-bred Seditions against Maâ—colm queâ—l'd The Original of the Family of the Stuarts afterwards Kings of Scotland * Lying on the South-side of the River Danâ— in Marr * Malcolm's Vow to St. Andrew Alexander Carron preferred and Sirnamed Scrimger The Seditious quell'd The Piety of Malcolm's Queen c. * Or Mortlich * Malcolm erects new Bishopricks * Malcolm erects new Bishopricks * Sumptuary Laws made by Malcolm * Marâ—heta Mulierum What * Malcolm builds the Cathedrals of Durham and Dumferling * King William Rufus Wars against Malcolm * Malcolm and his Son Edward slain by the English * On the River Lian on the British Sea Weâ—t of Calice * Prodigies viz. The Inundation of the German-Sea and Men-killing Thunder-bolts * Donald promises the Islands to Magnus King of Norway * Donald flies * Duncan slain by the procurement of Donald * Edgar's Pious Reign He builds the Monastery of Coldingham * Lying within two Miles of Aymouth in Mersâ— near the Scotish Sea Alexanders Valour * He doth Justice to a Poor Woman * Lying on the East-side of the Carss or Plain of Gowry within two Miles of Dundee * Lying in the Braes or Risings of the Carss of Gowry five Miles above Dundee * Inch-Colm or St. Columb's Isle in the Firth of Forth in Fife near Aberdeen David's just Reign * He creates new Bishopricks He is censured for his Profuseness towards Monasteries * In Teviotdale Henry of England never Laughed after the Drowning of his Children * K. Henry setles the Succession on his Daughter Maud the Empress by causing the Nobility to Swear Fealty to her in his Life time * Stephen notwithstanding his Oath seizes on the Crown of England * His Pretensions for so doing The Bishops of England not True to Maud according to their Oaths David of Scotland maintains the Cause of Maud his Kinswoman He lays Perjury to Stephens's Charge North Allerton lying near the River Swale in the North-Riding of Yorkshire He Fights the English and Overthrows them An Agreement between David and Stephen not observed Which hath its Source near Black-Laws in Teesdale The Scots overthrown by Stephen Another Agreement between the Scots and Stephen King of England Henry Heir of England sent to David his Uncle to be made Knight by him * King David loses his hopeful Son and Heir * But â—ears his Affliction Piously and Patiently * May 24. Lying on the North-west of Aberdeneshire K. David's extraordinary Character for Piety and Virtue A great Pestilenâ—e 〈◊〉 Scotland Somerled rises in Arms but is overthrown Henry of England designs against Malcolm And makes him take a Feodatary Oath to him He carries Malcolm into France And at his return despoils him of his Ancient Patrimony in England * The Scots make War upon England Peace concluded between the English and Scots wherein Malcolm quits Northumberland A Rebellion in Galway quell'd The Murray-Men under Gildominick rise in Arms. But are suppressed * Sâ—merled stirs agaiâ—â— but is overthrown and slain The Estates persuade Malcolm to Marry His Negative Answer to their Request * December 9th * William solicits Henry of England for the restitution of Northumberland He accompanies Henry into France * Part of Nâ—rthumberland restored to the Scots * William enters England with an Army But is overthrown taken Prisoner by the English and sent to Henry then in France * August 1â—th February 1st * K. William Ransomed and takes an Oath to K. Henry * Not That Constance in Germany but That in Normandy now called Contances * Ianuary 〈…〉 Gilchrist King Williams General The Scots Bishops freed from the Jurisdiction of English Bishops Gilchrist Kills his Wife for Adultery and flys into England But is Forced to return into his own Country Donald Bane rises in Arms but is quelled Distressed Gilchrist Pardon'd and Restored * To the Holy War for Recovery of Ierusâ—lem from the Turks * The English quit their Claim to any part of 〈◊〉 * William sends David his Brother to accompany Richard to the Holy Land David returns from Sâ—â—ia * So doth Richard Lex Taâ—â—onâ—â— executed upon one Harald Earl of the Orcades * K. Iohn of England meditates a War against Scotland * But Matters are accommodated upon Terms between both Kingdoms * Berth destroyed and new Built Makul a Criminal abstains from all manner of Food * Several Leagues between Iohn of England and William of Scotland * A Maritime Town in Normandy 〈◊〉 France * Alexander enters England with an Army * Iohn enters Scotland Alexander takes Carlisle * King Iohn agrees with the Pope and becomes his Feudatary Cardinal Galo Avaâ—itiâ—â—â— * King Iohn Poysoned * Others say at 〈◊〉 Abby near Bostâ—n in Lincolnshire * The Scots Excommunicated * A Stone-Cross erected in Sâ—anmoâ—e in Cumberlâ—nd as a Boundary between the Two Kingdoms of England and Sâ—otland * Cardinal 〈◊〉 ill Character * Pandulphus the Popes Legat a Witness of the Peace between the Two Kings * Roman Fraud * Câ—min
the Fifth to Scotland to sâ—iâ— them up to War against England Berwick Castle surprised by Ramsay but regain'd by Percy Iames the First Earl of Douglas enters England with an Army * In Cumberland A Pestilence in Scotland Talbet overthrown in Scotland A Truce between the Scots and English for three Years Quatuor nummos Angâ—â—coâ— A Rising of the Commons in England at the Instigation of Iohn Baâ— a Priest Lancaster the English Embassador in Scotland denied entrance into Berwick Loch-Maban Castle taken by the Scots unbar surprizes the Governor of Roxburg Lancaster enters Scotland He favours the Edinburgers But is put to a Retreat Douglas prevails in Scotland he dyes and his Son William succeeds him A Truce made for a Year between French English and Scots which the French were to acquaint the Scots with The English enter Scotland before Notice is given them of a Truce made Some Scots Nobles also invade England before the Truce is Proclaimed Richard II. enter'd Scotland with an Army Whereupon the Scots enter England They both return home The French and Scots quarrel â—bout the Bears Skin before he was catcht French Soldiers more licentious than Scots or English which occasions a disgust betwixt them The French Army leaves Scotland but their General is retain'd to satisfy damages Nov. 1. Will. Douglas sails into Ireland And takes Dundalk * A Town on the North side of the Nith a Mile about Drumlanerick in Nithisdale * A Sea Town in the County of Louth and Province of Vlster in Ireland And returns from thence The Scots enter England 〈◊〉 Against the mind of Robert and his Son Aug. â— An English Spy in the Scots Army discovered The Scots Army divide themselves to attack England Douglas in Northumberland encountred by Percy A Duel between Earl Douglas and Earl Percy The Scots march to Otterborn A terrible Fight between the Scots and English under Percy and Douglas Hart slain And Douglas mortally Wounded His Three last dying Requests Ralfe Pâ—rcy 〈…〉 The English overthrown Lindsay takes Redman Prisoner and releases him on his Parol Courtesy to Prisoners The ancient punishment of Prisoners not returning upon their Parol The Bishop of Durham comes too late to Assist Percy The Bishops Forces terrified with the Sound of Horns and Retreat Lindsay's Kindness to Redman requited by him Ralfe Percy released on his Parol Henry Percy Ransomed Douglas buried at Mulross Both the Scots Armies lament Dougâ—aâ— Iuly 21. Robert Earl of Fife made Governor of Scotland Earl Marshal vaunts over the Scots Whereupon Robert enters England and returns with a great Booty A Peace between France and England Robert assents thereto on his own Head * Lying on the River Irwin Apr. 19. Roberts Death and Character Alexander Earl of Buchan burns Elgin Church William Douglas slain at Dantzick by the procurement of Clifford of England * Or Prussias A noted Maâ—t Town of great Trade on the Wesseâ— acknowledge the King of Poland for Protector August 1â— Robert the Third his Name changed from Iohn Duncan Stuart rises in Arms but is suppressed A notable Policy to divide the Islanders and make them Instruments to destroy one another which takes effect accordingly Dukes First made in Scotland E. Douglas refuses that Title Richard the Second of England resigns his Crown and Hen. the Fourth succeeds him Difference in Scotland occasioned by the Marriage of the King's Son Dunbar joyns with Percy and infests Scotland Standing upon Tine 3 Miles below Hadington The Death of Archibald Douglas August 13. Henry of England Enters Scotland Carries it Moderately And Retreats * A Castle over against Holy-Isle in Northumberland The Scots overthrown by Percy and Dunbar at Homeldon May. 7. Coâ—â—â—aw-Castle besieged by the English but they raise the Siege themselves Arch Bishop Traâ—â—e an observer of Ancient Discipline David after his Mothers decease le ts loose the reins to Licentiousness David most cruelly starved to Death by his Uncle Robert Scituate at the North bottom of Locâ—-Lomond near the Centre of Fife The Governor of Faâ—kâ—and's cruelty to his own Daughter Douglas joyne with Percy against the K. of England Having Performed valiantly in a fight he is taken Prisoner and after ransomed Robert accused for Davids Death Undergoes a partial Tryal and is Acquitted King Robert imprecates God's judgment on the Murderers of his Son Iames the K. Son for security sent into France but Landing in England is detained There Dispute 〈◊〉 King 〈…〉 concerning the Detention oâ— Diâ—mission oâ— Iames. Iames well Educated in England yet his Captivity breaks his Fathers Heart April 1. Robert's Death and Character Robert his Brother made Regent Percy overthrown and flies to Scotland Henry of England invades Scotland Dunbar returns to Scotland Percy betrayed by Rokesby his pretended Friend and put to Death A Supposititious Prince Standing on a Rock above the Firth of Forth near St. Ebâ—s Head in the Merss A County lying on 〈◊〉 River Stâ—aâ—-Bogy 40 〈…〉 Aâ—â—rdeen * In Murray A Cruel Fight between Donald and the Governour The Erection of St. Andrews University March 21. Henry the 4 th Dyes and Henry the 5 thâ—â—â—â—ceeds â—â—â—â—ceeds 〈◊〉 Percys Posterity restored to their Dignity Council of Constance send Ambassadors to Scotland so doth Peter Lune Anti-Pope The King of France distracted Divisions in France A County of France lying on the River Carus The French King craves Aid of the Scots which is sent him under the Command of the Earl of Buchan The Scots Auxiliaries Land in France Is overthrowâ— by them And slain Buchan made Lord High Constable of France September 3. Robert dies and his Son Murdo made Governor of Scotland Buchan returns to Scotland but is recalled to France Douglas made Duke of Turein Earl of Bedford sent by Henry into France who carries with him Iames I. King of Scotland A Chief Town of the County oâ— Bâ—â—e in France situated near the Matrona A Town in or near Normandy A Chief Town of the County oâ— Bâ—â—e in France situated near the Matrona A Town in or near Normandy A large Country about Orleanâ— on the 〈◊〉 The Scâ—ts overthrown in Fâ—ance 〈…〉 English and their Chief 〈…〉 Reflections on some English Writers Fond Indulgence to Children justly punished in a Father The Scots send for King Iames the First out of England Who returns upon a Ransom May 27. April 20. 〈…〉 Scotlâ—nd â—bout 〈…〉 The King remits one halfe of his Ransom-Tax Several Scots Nobles imprisoned Others 〈◊〉 to 〈◊〉 Murdo brought to his Trial. The Ancient manner of Trying Nobles in Scotland Murdo c. found Guilty and Beheaded Embassadors from France to Scotland about Peace and a Marriage K. Iames the First his prosperous Beginnings Free 〈◊〉 punished by the King Alexander the Islander â—iseâ— in Armâ— But is suppressed * Easter And submits to the Kings Mercy Donald Bâ—lâ—ck makes an Insurrection But is quelled Tories fall out among themselves Mackdonald a Free-booter His Cruelty to a Woman Retaliated on himself and his Followers Donald's
prevented and how * On the North-west of Spain in the Cantabrian Ocean Henry of England wars against France Andrew Forman sent into England by Iames to pick a Quarrel And from thence into France Hamilton sent with a Fleet to France but turns to Knockfergus in Ireland Hamilton at last arrives in France * Little Britain lying in the Chanel on the Northwest of France Robert Car severe against Moss-Troopers He is slain †Standing on a Rock above the Firth of Forth * In Northumberland The Murderers of Robert Carr escape not unpunished The Story of Andrew Breton A sharp Fight between the English Admiral and Breton where Breton was slain K. Iames complains to Henry of Breton's Death Alexander Hume marches with a Party into England But is worsted in his Retreat K. Iames resolves a War against England The pretended Causes of the War K. Henry's Answer to King Iames's Herald A strange Apparition of an old Man forbidding K. Iames to proceed in his War with England * A place near Cowper in Fife Yet he proceeds and enters England below Ouler in Northumberland The English challenge him to give them Battel The French Embassador presses Iames on to a Battel * In Northumberland K. Iames resolved to fight Which Earl Douglas disswaded him from in an Oration Repartees between the King and Douglas concerning a present Fight Earl Douglass in discontent retires * Or Floddonhill lying between the Town of Ouler and the River of Tweed †In Northumberland on the North side of the River Blico three miles above Stannington-Bridg ‖ Or Milfeild Flodden Fight and the Manner of it described Various Reports concerning K. Iames's Death Howard Earl of Surrey General against the Scots at Flodden falls afterwards into Disgrace The Character of K. Iames the Fourth Scots Nobility all anciently had Skill in Chirurgery Iames the 5 th of about 2 years old proclaimed King The Ambition of Alexander Hume * Q. Margaret the first Female Regent in Scotland She loses her Regency by her Marriage Three Competitors for the Archbishoprick of St. Andrews Douglas Hepburn and Forman * Lying within two Miles of Aymouth in the Merss near the Scotish Sea The Nobility divided about choosing a Regent in the room of Q. Margaret * Iohn Duke of Albany then in France chosen Regent †A little Town in Cuningham standing on the Firth of Clyd Iohn Duke of Albany the new Regent arrives in Scotland Peter Muffat a noted Robber punished * Hepburn insinuates himself into the new Regent Douglas Hume and Forman accused by Hepburn as the Three â—eads of the then Factions * Hume * Hume in discontent applies himself to the Queen and Douglas * Hume's Design disappointed Three Governors over the young King the Queen and Douglas being displaced * Hume the Queen and Douglas fly into England But upon Reconciliation with the Regent return home again (a) Alexander Hume raises an Insurrection But submits and is made Prisoner He escapes and creates further Disturbances But is quelled with his Party Both the Hume's come to Court Are imprison'd Tryed and Executed (c) Chiefly by the Instigation of Iohn Hepburn (d) Andrew Car escapes out of Prison The Regent desires leave to pass over into France * He appoints seven Deputies to govern in his absence (f) Q. Margaret returns to Scotland * Or Inse-Garvy a fortify'd Rock lying in the middle of the Forth or Scotish Sea (g) A Town in the Merss a mile west of Duns (h) Wederburn in the Merss (i) Darcy slain by David Hunt (k) Discord between Douglas Earl of Angus and Andrew Car. (l) Archibald Douglas surrenders up his Government (m) The Western Nobles conspire to apprehend the Earl of Angus (n) But he defends himself by force and worsts them (o) The Regent after 5 Years absence returns from France * In Mid-Lothian (p) The Regent raise an Army against England (q) But the Nobility oppose his Design Whereupon he claps up a Truce with the English and râ—treats The Regent a second time goes into France A Skirmish between the French and English Fleeâ—â— The Earl of Surry with an Army ravages over part of Scotland Iedburgh taken by the English A strange Fright among the Horses of the English Army The English Army retreats The Regent arrives in Scotland from France a second time Q. Margaret with her Brother Henry the 8 th of England persuade the Scots to break with the French with their Arguments to inforce it But the French Faction in Scotland oppose in with their Reasons Cardinal Woolsy a self-ended and ambitious Statesman * The Regent again marches with an Army into England †Besieges Werke-Castle is repulsed and retreats ‖ Werke-Castle described * In the 〈◊〉 near 〈◊〉 Castle * The Regent undertakes his third Voyage into France ‖ In his absence the young King enters upon the Government * And vacates the Regents Power †Margarite's Husband returns from France through England into Scotland ‖ He with his Partisans seize on the young King and manage the Government * Three Moderators of the Kingdom Douglas Stuart and Cambel †But Douglas soon ouâ—â— the other Two At which the Nobility is much discontented and endeavour to take the King by Force out of his Hands * Walter Scot overthrown by the Douglasses in his Endeavours to free the King ‖ Iohn Stuaâ—t Earl of Lennox with the King's Privity renews the Design of redeeming the King from the Douglasses * A Mile above the Bridg near Linlithgo ‖ Lennox fights with the Douglassians and Hamiltonians is worsted and slain Great Severity used by the Douglasses against Lennox's Party * The couragious Answer of Hugh Kennedy in behalf of Gilbert Earl of Cassils The bold Attempt of an Under-Groom to destroy Iames Hamilton in Revenge of his Master's the Earl of Lennox his Death The Groom apprehended and tortured yet dies very resolutely Patrick Hamilton nobly descended put to Death upon the account of Religion * The strange Death of Alexander Cambel the self-condemned Persecutor of Patrick Hamilton * The King frees himself from the Douglasses * Or Falcoland about the middle of Fife The Douglasses forbidden by Proclamation to intermeddle in the Government New Officers at Court ‖ August 26. * In East-Lothian opposite to the Bass-Isle †In Sterlingshire not far from Toâ— wood ‖ The Douglasses arm in desperation * In Lothian †About four Miles South of Dalkeith ‖ November 21. * A Town lying in the Firth or Forth in East-Lothian four Miles South of Dunbar †Tantallon-Castle besieged by the King ‖ In the Author it is Tantallon but I judg it to be a Mistake of the Transcriber for Duâ—bar * The Siege of Tantallon raised †Within two Miles of Eymouth in the Moss ‖ The Douglasses forced to fly into England * Embassadors from England to piece up an Accommodation between King Iames and the Douglasses †In Twidale ‖ Iames Earl of Murray
in a certain Familiar Discourse with some young Portugal Gentlemn upon mention made of the Eucharist he should affirm That in his Judgment Austin was more inclinable to the Party Condemned by the Roman Church in that Controversie There were also other Witnesses produc'd against him as some years after it came to his Knowledge viz. Iohn Tolpin a Norman and Iohn Ferrerius of Sub-Alpine Liguria their Testimony was That they had heard from divers Creditable Persons That Buchanan was not Orthodox as to the Roman Faith and Religion But to return to the matter after the Inquisitors had wearied both themselves and him for almost an year and a half at last that they might not seem to have causelesly vex'd a Man of some Name and Note in the World they shut him up in a Monastery for some Months there to be more exactly Disciplined and Instructed by the Monks who to give them their due were Men otherwise not uncivil or bad though Ignorant of all Religion 'T was principally at this time that he rendred most of David's Psalms into several sorts of Latin Metre At last he was set at Liberty and suing for a Pass and Accommodations from the King to return into France he was desired by him to stay where he was and he had a small parcel of Money bestowed upon him for his daily Expence till some better Provision might be made for his Subsistence But he being tired out with delay as being put off to no certain time nor on any sure Grounds of hope having got the opportunity of Passage in a Ship then Riding in the Bay of Lisbon was wafted over into England He made no long abode in England though fair offers were made him there for he saw that all things were in an Hurry and Combustion under a very young King the Nobles at Variance one with another and the Minds of the Commons yet in a Ferment upon the account of their Civil Combustions Whereupon he returned into France about the time that the Siege of Metz was raised There he was in a manner compell'd by his Friends to Write a Poem concerning that Siege which he did though somewhat unwillingly because he was loth to interfere with several of his Acquaintance and especially with Mellinus Sangelasius who had composed a Learned and Elegant Poem on that Subject From thence he was call'd over into Italy by Charles de Cossé of Brescia who then managed matters with prosperous Success in the Gallic and Ligustic Countries about the Po He abode with him and his Son Timoleon sometimes in Italy and sometimes in France the space of Five Years till the year of Christ One Thousand Five Hunderd and Sixty the most part of which time he spent in the Study of the Holy Scriptures that so he might be able to make a more exact Judgment of the Controversies in Religion which in those days did Exercise the greatest part of Men. 'T is true those disputes were somewhat silenced in Scotland when that Kingdom was freed from the Tyranny of the Guises of France so he returned thither and entered himself into the Church of Scotland Some of his Writings in former times being as it were Redeemed from a Shipwrack were Collected and Published by him The rest of them which are yet in the Hands of his Friends he commits to the disposal of Providence At present being in the Seventy Fourth Year of his Age he is in Attendance on the Education of Iames the Sixth King of Scotland to whom he was appointed Tutor in the Year One Thousand Five Hundred Sixty Five where being broken with the Infirmities of old Age he longs for the desired Haven of his Rest. He departed this Life at Edinburgh on the 28 th day of September in the Year of our Salvation One Thousand Five Hundred Eighty Two The Names of the KINGS of SCOTLAND I. FErgus I. pag. 95. II. Feritharis p. 97. III. Mainus p. 98. IV. Dornadilla Ibid. V. Nothatus p. 98. VI. Reutherus p. 99. VII Reutha p. 101. VIII Thereus Ibid. IX Josina Ibid. X. Finnanus p. 102. XI Durstus Ibid. XII Evenus p. 103. XIII Gillus Base Born p. 104. XIV Evenus II. p. 105. XV. Ederus p. 106. XVI Evenus III. p. 107. XVII Metallanus Ibid. XVIII Caratacus Ibid. XIX Corbred I. p. 108. XX. Dardanus Ibid. XXI Corbred II. Sirnamed Galdus p. 109. XXII Luctacus p. 111. XXIII Mogaldus p. 112. XXIV Conarus p. 113. XXV Ethodius I. p. 116. XXVI Satrael p. 117. XXVII Donald I. Ibid. XXVIII Ethodius II. p. 119. XXIX Athirco Ibid. XXX Nathalocus p. 120. XXXI â—indochus p. 121. XXXII Donald II. p. 122. XXXIII Donald III. p. 123. XXXIV Crathilinthus Ibid. XXXV Fincormachus p. 125. XXXVI Romachus Ibid. XXXVII Augusianus p. 126. XXXVIII Fethelmacus p. 127. XXXIX Eugenius I. Ibid. XL. Fergus II. p. 133. XLI Eugenius II. p. 138. XLII Dongardus p. 144. XLIII Constantin I. p. 145. XLIV Congallus I. p. 147. XLV Goranus p. 148. XLVI Eugenius III. p. 154. XLVII Congallus II. p. 155. XLVIII Kinnatellus Ibid. XLIX Aidanus Ibid. L. Kenneth I. p. 158. LI. Eugenius IV. Ibid. LII Ferchard I. Ibid. LIII Donald IV. p. 159. LIV. Ferchard II. p. 160. LV. Maldvinus Ibid. LVI Eugenius V. p. 161 LVII Eugenius VI. Ibid. LVIII Amberkelethus p. 162. LIX Eugenius VII Ibid. LX. Mordacus Ibid. LXI Etâ—nus p. 163. LXII Eugenius VIII Ibid. LXIII Fergus III. Ibid. LXIV Solvathius p. 164. LXV Achaius Ibid. LXVI Congalâ—us III. Ibid. LXVII Dongalâ—us Ibid. LXVIII Alpinus Ibid. LXIX Kenneth II. p. 167. LXX Donald V. p. 172. LXXI Constantin II. p. 174. LXXII Ethus p. 175. LXXIII Gregory Ibid. LXXIV Donald VI. p. 78. LXXV Constantine III. p. 179. LXXVI Malcolm I. p. 18â— LXVII Judulfus Ibid. LXXVIII Duffus p. 182. LXXIX Culenus p. 184. LXXX Kenneth III. p. 187. LXXXI Constantine IV. Sirnamed The Bald. p. 196. LXXXII Grimus p. 19â— LXXXIII Malcolm II. p. 200. LXXXIV Donald VII p. 207. LXXXV Macbeth p. 211. LXXXVI Malcolm III. p. 224. LXXXVII Donald Banus VIII p. 220. LXXXVIII Duncan Ibid. LXXXIX Edgar p. 221. XC Alexander I. Sirnamed Acer Ibid. XCI David I. p. 222. XCII Malcolm IV. p. 227. XCIII William p. 231. XCIV Alexander II. p. 237. XCV Alexander III. p. 240. XCVI John Baliol p. 250. XCVII Robert Bruce p. 261. XCVIII David II. p. 282. XCIX Edward Baliol p. 286. C. Robert II. p. 306. CI. Robert III. p. 223. CII James I p. 338. CIII James II. p. 359. CIV James III. p. 396. CV James IV. p. 1. CVI. James V. p. 73. CVII Henry Stuart p. 28. and Mary Stuart p. 175. CVIII James VI. p. 214. THE HISTORY OF SCOTLAND BOOK I. WHen I first determined to Write the Famous Atchievements of our Ancestors and after I had purged them from the mixture of vain Fables to vindicate them from oblivion I thought it conducive to my purpose to repeat from the very beginning as much as so long a distance of Time and first the scarcity then
Disposition as usually Kings have many such Parasites did often persuade him to take Arms yet he would never be induced thereunto First then he applied himself to correct the publick Manners neither did he attempt to reduce the Ancient Discipline till he had Created new Magistrates and by their means had abridged Suits and Controversies and restrained Thefts and Robberies Peace being setled at home he endeavoured to reclaim others to a civiller course of Life first of all by his own Example and if any took no Copy from him but persisted obstinately in their Evil Courses Such he either gently chastized and punished or else sleighted them as despicable and worthless Persons and thus he quickly reduced all things to their former state Seeing as I said before at the beginning of his Reign he gave up himself wholly to the study of Peace the Brittons began to persuade Aurelius Ambrosius to recover Westmorland from the Scots which they had possessed many years Hereupon several Embassys being sent to and fro betwixt them the Matter was like to be decided by the Sword if fear of the Common Enemy had not put an end to the Dispute so that the League made by Constantine was renewed and no Alteration made in reference to Westmorland Congallus had War with the Saxons all the time of his Reign but it was a slow and intermittent one as Parties fortuitously met in driving of their respective Preys in which kind of Fighting the Scots being nimble light and most Horsemen accounted themselves Superior to their Enemies but they never came to a pitch'd Battel For Congallus was of opinion That it was best to commit as few things as we could to the Arbitrement of Fortune and therefore he sent Part of his Forces to help Aurelius Ambrosius and with the rest he wearied his Enemy and never suffered him to rest Night nor Day Merlin and Gildas lived in the days of these and the next Kings They were both Brittons and obtained great Fame amongst Posterity for the Opinion conceived of them concerning Prophecies and Divinations Merlin was a little the Ancienter of the Two a Cheat and Impostor rather than a Prophet His Vaticinations are scattered up and down but they are obscure and contain no Certainty at all to encourage any ones hopes before their fulfilling or to satisfy them when they are so that upon neither account can you affirm them to be True And besides they are so framed that you may accommodate or apply them to different or contrary Events as you will your self Yet tho' they are dayly furbished up and also augmented by new Additions such is the Folly oâ— credulous men That what they understand not they are yet bold to affirm to be as True as Gospel and tho' they be taken in a notorious I â—e yet they will not suffer themselves to be convinced thereof Gildas was later than he a Learned and Good Man and one who was had in great Veneration both Alive and Dead for his Excellent Learning accompanied with Sanctity of Life The Prophecies which go under his Name are such Ridiculous Sentences and so course and ill-framed in Wording and also in the whole Series of their Composure that no Wise Man can esteem them to be His Yet each Prophet as you call them had a Patron suitable to his own Disposition Merlin had Vortigern for his Patron and after him Vter to whom he was a Pander for his Lust. Gildas had Aurelius Ambrosius a Person no less admirable for the Probity of his Life than for his Victories in War after whose Death Gildas retired unto Glastonbury in Sommerset-shire where he lived and died very devoutly Our Books of the Life of Aurelius Ambrosius do make mention of him After his Death Vter the youngest of Constantines Three Sons succeeded him in the Year of our Lord Five Hundred And the next year after Congallus King of Scotland departed this Natural Life in the Twenty Second year of his Reign Goranus The Forty Fifth King GORANVS his Brother Succeeded him who after his Example governed Scotland with great Piety and Justice as much as Foreign Wars would suffer him so to do for he not only travelled all over the Kingdom as the good Kings of old were wont to do to punish Offenders but also to prevent the Injuries which great Men did offer to the Poor who in such Cases dared not to complain and to curb their oppressive Domination over them he appointed Informers who were to find out such Miscarriages write them down and bring them to him a Remedy necessary perhaps for those times but in our days a very hazardous one He was the chief Means and Occasion that the Picts deserting the Saxons made a joint League with the Scots and Britains At that time Lothus was King of the Picts a Person who excelled the Princes of his time in all accomplishments both of Body and Mind Goranus dealt earnestly with him to break his Alliance with those Barbarous Nations alleging That he ought to remember his own Country in which they were all born and especially their common Religion That he was much deceived if he imagined that the Peace betwixt him and the Saxons would be faithfully kept when once the Brittons and Scots were overthrown seeing he had to do with Men of inhuman Cruelty and insatiable Avarice That they had given sufficient proofs how little they esteemed Leagues or any other thing when they wickedly slew the Nobility of the Brittons who had so well deserved of them upon Pretence of calling them out to a Conference That the Son in Law was saved alive by the Father in Law not for any releif of his Calamity but for upbraiding of the Enemy he added That the Sacredness of Leagues which amongst other Nations are accounted the firmest bonds of Union was amongst them as a Snare or Bait to catch the simple and unwary in To what purpose was it to run so many hazards to free themselves from the Tyranny of the Romans if they must spontaneously give themselves up to the much harder and baâ—er Servitude of the Saxons This were not to make a change of their Condition but of their Masters only Yea it was to prefer a Truculent and Barbarous One before One that was mild and gentle What a Foolish and Wild a thing was it to take away Lands from the Scots and Brittons and to deliver them to the Germans And so to despoil those who were but lately their Friends and endeared to them by many ancient Courtesies and Respects that they might enrich Pirates the common Enemies of Mankind even to their own Destruction That it ought to be esteemed the most grievous thing of all by one who was a true Christian to consent to that League whereby Christian Religion must be extinguished profane Rites renewed and wicked Tyrants Enemies of Piety and Humanity armed with Power against God and his Law Lothus knew all this to be true
immediately after Congallus but there are More who insert Kinnatellus betwixt Them Aidanus The Forty Ninth King AIdanus being Nominated King by Kinnatellus and confirmed by the People received the Royal Habiliments from Columba For the Authority of that Man was so great in those days that neither Prince nor People would undertake any thing without his Advice And at that time after he had in a long Speech persuaded the King to rule Equitably over the People and the People to be Loyal to their King he earnestly pressed them Both to persist in the pure Worship of God for then Both of them would prosper but if they forsook it they must expect Destruction as the reward of their Offences Having perform'd this Service he returned into his own Country The first Expedition of Aidanus was against the Robbers who infested Galway coming thither he put their Commanders to Death and Fear restrain'd the rest but a greater Storm encountred him at at his Return For after he had had three Conventions of the Estates in Galway Abria or Loch-abyr and Caithness and thought all things were settled there there was a Tumult arose amongst them in Hunting that much Blood was spilt and the Kings Officers who came to punish the Offenders were repulsed and beaten The Authors for fear of Punishment fled into Lothian to Brudeus King of the Picts when Ambassadors were sent to him to deliver them up according to the League betwixt them they were refused whereupon a feirce War commenced betwixt the Scots and Picts but it was quickly ended by the means of Columba who was according to his Merit highly esteemed by both Nations In the mean time England was again divided into Seven Kingdoms and the Brittons were driven into the Peninsula of Wales but the Saxons not contented with such large Dominions stirred up a new War betwixt the Scots and Picts The Author and Kindler thereof was Ethelfrid King of Northumberland a Covetous Man and who was weary of Peace out of the desire he had to enlarge his Dominions He persuaded the Picts but with difficulty Brudeus hardly consenting thereto That they should drive away Preys out of the Scots Territories and so give an occasion to a War Aidanus understanding the Treachery of the Saxons that he might also strengthen himself with Foreign Aid renewed the ancient League with Malgo the Britton He sent his Son Grifinus and his Sisters Son Brendinus King of Eubonia now called Man a Military Man with Forces who joyning with the Brittons entred Northumberland and after Three days march came to the Enemy but the English refused to engage them because they expected new Succors which were reported to be neer at hand for indeed Ceulinus King of the East Saxons a very Warlike Man was coming to them with great Forces the Scots and Brittons fell upon him in his March and wholly destroyed the Front of his Army which was a long way before the rest together with his Son Cutha but they were afraid to engage the rest lest they should be circumvented by Ethelfrid who was not far distant The two Kings of the Saxons being joined together again renewed the Fight with much Slaughter on both sides wherein the Scots and Brittons were put to flight There were slain of the Scots Nobles Grifinus and Brendinus in the opposite Army Ethelfrid lost one of his Eyes and Brudeus was carried wounded out of the Field to the great Astonishment of his Party The next Summer after Ethelfrid uniting his Forces with the Picts marched into Gallway supposing he should find all things there in great Consternation by reason of their ill Success the last Year But Aidanus coming with his Forces thither sooner than his Enemies thought set upon the straggling Plunderers and drave them with great trepidation to their Camp Thus having chastized their Temerity supposing now they would be more quiet the Night after he passed by their Camp and joyned himself with the Brittons Both Armies having thus united their forces pitch'd their Tents in a narrow Valley of Annandale and their Enemies as now Cock-sure of their Destruction beset the passages entring into it But they having fortify'd their Camp as if they intended there to abide in the Night when the Tide was out marched thro' the Ford which was known to them amidst the quavering Sands into Cumberland and afterward into Northumberland making great Havock whithersoever they came The Enemie followed them at their Heels and when they came in fight of one another both Armies prepare themselves for the Fight The Scots and Britains added Four Commanders to those they had before who were noble Persons of great experience in Warlike affairs that so the rash-Headed Common Soldiers might be commanded by a greater Number of Captains of the Brittons there were added Constantine and Mencrinus of the Scots Calenus and Murdacus By their Conduct and Incouragement the Soldiers fell upon the Enemy with so great Violence that he was presently broken and put to flight There goes a Report that Columb being then in the Isle Icolumbkil told his Companions of this Victory the very same hour in which it was obtained Of the Saxon Nobles there were slain in this fight Cialinus and Vitellius both great Warriors and highly descended about Eleven years after this Victory the Saxons and Picts infested the adjacent Country whereupon a Day was appointed wherein the Brittons and Scots should meet and with their united Forces set upon the Saxons Aidanus tho' very old came to the place at the appointed time and staid for the Brittons but in vain for they came not yet he drove Preys out of his Enemies Country Ethelfrid having now gotten a fair Opportunity to act something in set upon the dispersed Scots and made a great slaughter amongst them Aidanus having lost many of his Men fled for his Life yet the Victory was not unbloody to the Saxons for they lost Ethelfrid's Brother and some of those Squadrons that followed him were almost wholly cut off Aidanus having received this overthrow and being also informed of the death of Columb that Holy Man whom he so highly honoured foreseeing to what Cruelty the Remainder of the Christians were likely to be exposed being worn out with Age and Grief did not long survive he Reigned 34 years and died in the Year of our Lord 604. In his Reign it was That a certain Monk Named Austin came into Britain being sent by Gregory Pope of Rome who by his Ambition in Preaching a New Religion mightily disturbed the Old for he did not so much Preach the Christian Religion as the Ceremonies of the Roman Church Yea the Brittons before his coming were Converted to and taught the Principles of the Christian Religion by the Disciples of Iohn the Evangelist and were instituted in the same by the Monks who were Learned and Pious in that Age. As for Austin He laboured to reduce all things to the
thereupon He nevertheless persisted in his slothful kind of Life which gave opportunity to the Remainders of the Picts as if an hopeful Alarm had been given them even from the very bottom of Despair to address themselves to Osbreth and Ella Two of the most potent and prevalent Kings of the English for then England was divided into many Kingdoms They bewail'd their misfortune to them and craved earnestly their Assistance promising That they and all their Posterity would become Feudataries to the English in case they obtained the Victory over the Scots which they prejudg'd would be an easy one by reason of the slothful Nature of Donald The English were easily persuaded and having setled things at home they led out their Army into Merch from whence they sent Heralds to Donaldus requiring that the Lands which the Scots had forceably taken away from the Picts their Friends and Allies might be restored which unless he would do they would not neglect their old Confederates who had now also newly cast themselves upon them Donaldus by the advice of the Estates which in this time of imminent Danger he had thô unwillingly convened Levied an Army and met with the Enemy at Iedd a River of Teviotdale where he joyned Battel and overthrew Osbreth enforcing him to fly to the next Mountains From thence he marched on by Tweed unto the Sea side recovered Berwick which had been taken by the English and again deserted by them upon the ill news of the success of the Battel where he took all the Ships riding in the Mouth of the River and seized upon all the Enemies Provisions therein There he got an opportunity to renew his interrupted Pleasures and as if his Enemies had been wholly overthrown he drowned himself in all kind of Voluptuousness Whereupon the English who in the last Fight were rather scatter'd than subdued understanding by their Spies the Carelesness and Security of the Scots gathered together what Force they could out of the Neighborhood and by night set upon the Scots who were laden with Wine and fast asleep making a great slaughter amongst them but they took the King who was between sleeping and waking Prisoner From thence they followed the Course of their Victory and to make their Ravage more compleat they divided their Army into Two Parts and so marched into the Enemies Country Part of them when they came to the Forth got Vessels and essayed to pass over by Water into Fife but a great Number of them were Shipwrackt and drowned and the rest by the violence of the Storm were forced back to the Shore where they embarked from whence marching to Sterling and joyning with the rest of their Army they pass over the Forth on a Bridge The Scots after their flight gathered themselves into a Body thereabouts having the bare show rather than the strength of an Army and sent Ambassadors to the English for Peace which they did not refuse because their strength was weakened by the unsuccessful Battel of Iedd and also by their own Shipwrack The English propounded hard Conditions yet such as the present State of Affairs made to seem tolerable As that The Scots should yield up all the Land which was within the Wall of Severus That their Bounds should be beneath Sterling the Forth beneath Dunbarton the Clyd and between the Two Rivers the Wall of Severus Amidst such hard Terms of Peace yet this happened as joyous so unexpected to the Scots That no mention was made concerning the Reduction of the Picts For the English and Britains divided the Lands surrendred up betwixt them the River being a Boundary betwixt them both There are some who think the Money yet called Sterling was then Coined there The Lands being thus divided the Picts who thought to recover their own being eluded of their hopes passed over to the Cimbrians and Scandians i. e. as we now speak to Denmark and Norway Those few of them that staid in England were all put to death by them upon pretence that they would attempt Innovations by their soliciting of Forein Aid Donaldus after he had made Peace upon his Return was Honourably received partly out of Respect to his Ancestors and partly in hopes of his Repentance But he persevering in his wonted Slothfulness the Nobles fearing that so filthy and sluggish a Person who would neither hearken to the Counsels of his Friends nor be reclaimed by his own Calamities would lose that part of the Kingdom which remained cast him into Prison where either for Grief in having his Pleasure restrained or for Fear to be made a Publick Spectacle of Scorn he laid violent hands on himself in the Sixth Year of his Reign Others report that This Donaldus performed many Noble Exploits both at home and abroad and that he dyed a natural death at Scone in the Year of our Lord 858. Constantinus II. The Seventy First King COnstantinus the Son of Kennethus undertook the Kingdom after him at Scone he was a Prince of a great Spirit and highly Valorous He was desirous to obliterate the Ignominy received under Donaldus and to enlarge his Kingdom unto the Bounds left by his Father but he was otherwise advised by his Nobles because the greatest part of the Soldiery were slain under Donaldus and the remainder was grown so Corrupt that it was not fit to put Arms into their hands And thereupon the King first bent his care to amend the Publick Discipline and so he reduced the Order of Priests to their Ancient Parsimony by severe Laws in regard they had left off Preaching and had given up themselves to Luxury Hunting Hawking and to Courtly-Pomp He caused the Young Soldiers who were effeminated with Pleasures to lye on the Ground and to Eat but once a day Drunkards he punished with Death He forbad all sports but those who served to harden both Body and Mind for the Wars By these Laws the Soldiery of the Kingdom were reduced to a better pass And presently upon a certain Islander named Evenus whom he himself had made Governour of Loch-Abyr a Man of an unquiet Spirit and Ambitious of Dominion rose up in Arms who knowing That the Youthful Fry of Soldiers could not well bear the Severity of these New Laws First gathered together a small Number and then a greater complaining of the present State of Things And when he found his Discourse was acceptable to them he easily persuaded them to conspire for the Destruction of Constantine But being more active than cautelous in gathering strength to their Faction they were betrayed by some of their Own and slain before they knew any Forces were gathered together against them Evenus the head of the Conspiracy was hanged About this time it was That the Danes then the most Potent and Flourishing Nation amongst the Germans were solicited by the Picts against the Scots and also by one Buernus or as others write Verna whose Wife Osbreth had forceably
Vitiated which They being over-stocked with Youngsters at home easily assented to and so they transported themselves in a great Navy into Britain Their first Descent was in Fife there they slew all they met without distinction out of Hatred to the Christian Religion and dividing their Army they spoiled the Country two several ways Constantinus drew forth against them and first he set upon that Brigade which Hubba Brother to the Danish King commanded who being hindred to joyn with their Fellows by the sudden swelling of the River Levin were there easily overcome and slain except a few of his Men who could swim over the River who fled to their other Commander called Humber Constantinus followed after them as to a Prey not a Battel and overtook them not far from the Town of Carail but not before they had well fortify'd their Camp For the Danes being very provident after their late unhappy Fight had made a kind of Defensive Fortification upon some small Winding Rocks near the shore by heaping up a parcel of Stones together which lay thereabouts In that posture Constantine assaulted them where by reason of the Incommodiousness of the place and the Desperation of the Danes he paid dear for his Rashness for he lost a great Part of his Army he himself being taken Prisoner and haled into a little Cave hard by was there slain There are some Monuments of this Fight remaining to this day as the Cave the Circumference of their Camp which was not cut out regularly or by equal spaces but turning and winding according to the Bending of the Rocks Some lay the blame of this unlucky Accident upon the Picts who being admitted into Constantines Fealty and Army were the first that ran away and drew the greatest Part of the Army after them The Danes gathered up the Spoils and departed to their Ships The Kings Body was found the day after and carried to the Sepulchres of his Ancestors in the Island Icolumb-kil He possessed the Kingdom sixteen Years and died in the Year of our Lord 874. Ethus The Seventy Second King HIs Brother Ethus succeeded him from the Swiftness of his Feet Sirnamed Alipes he was elected King upon no higher or other Account but because he gathered together the Relicts of the Army which was scattered by the Danes Amongst the Prodigies of his Time they reckon those Sea-Fishes then appearing which are seldom seen and not after long Intervals of Time but they never appear but in Sholes nor without some unlucky Presage The Common People call them Monachi-marini i. e. Sea-Monks others give them the Title of Bassineti i. e. Hooded or Helmered Fish Ethus being unmindful both of his Brother and of his Ancestors giving up himself to all manner of Vices and drawing the young Soldiers easily seduceable along with him was taken Prisoner by a Combination of the Nobles made against him and after all the flagitious Acts of his Life had been declared to the People in a long Speech he was forced to abjure the Government in the second Year of his Reign Three days after he died in Prison for Grief That which chiefly offended the Martial Men was his slothful Unactiveness because that when the Danes were at War with the English and many bloody Battels had been fought between them yet he never bethought himself of the recovering the Country he had lost nor would he suffer himself to be put in mind thereof by others Some write that he was not inforced to relinquish his Kingdom but that he was wounded in a Combate by Gregorius who was emulous of the Kingdom and that he died Two months after Anno Christ. 875. Gregorius The Seventy Third King GRegorius the Son of Dongallus was set up in his stead a Man of a Royal Spirit in whom no Virtue requisite in a King was wanting First he reconciled all those to him who were against him in suing for the Kingdom and then he proceeded to compose the Discords of the Nobles amongst themselves He so tempered the Severities of his Government with Affability that he did more with his Subjects by Love than by Fear He restored the Old Laws concerning the Immunity of the Ministers of the Church who were but in the nature of Slaves under the Picts or else he made New to the same purpose His first Expedition was into Fife against the Picts left there by the Danes whilst they were employing their Arms against the English He drove them not out of Fife only but out of Lothian and Merch too The Danes when he came to Berwick fearing if they should have any Misfortune the English also would be upon their backs durst not join in a Field-fight with Gregory but sent Part of their Forces over the River into Northumberland commanding them to join with a small Brigade of their Country-men who had gathered themselves together and were newly landed there The Rest of them enter'd Berwick to strengthen the Garison there But the English who were but unwillingly under the Command of the Danes as being Men of a different Religion from them gave admission to the Scots in the night by which means all the Danes were put to the Sword From thence Gregory marched into Northumberland and fought a prosperous Battel against Hardnute wherein he made so great a slaughter of them that their Numbers which were lately formidable to all Britain were mightily diminished partly by Gregory of Scotland and partly by Alfrid of England Gregory took in all Northumberland and gave free leave to those English to depart who were willing so to do to the rest he very courteously distributed Lands The greatest part of the English staid behind partly out of love to their native Soil partly by reason of the Kings Bounty to them and partly also for fear of their Enemies For seeing they had now for many years had several cruel Fights with the Danes the Victory being many times uncertain Many of the English chose rather to be under the Dominion of the Scots who though formerly Enemies were yet Christians than either to fall into the power of the Bloody Danes or to hope for uncertain Aid from their own Countrymen especially since things were in such an hurly burly over all Britanny that the English knew not which Party to succour first After he had so chastised the Danes that he expected no more Trouble from them he turned his Arms upon the Brittons who as yet held some of the Scotish Dominions with These also he made Peace they restoring the the said â—ands and promising to assist him against the Danes if they did return Whereupon he disbanded his Army But the Brittons after their return home repented of the Peace they had made and entring Scotland again in an hostile manner they were driving away a great Booty but Gregory met them at Loch-Maban and after a bloody Fight overthrew them Constantine their King being also slain The Brittons having received this fruit of their
England on such Terms That the Government of Cumberland was always looked upon as previous to the Throne of Scotland for it had been so observed for some Ages past The King perceiving That this Malcolm for the Reasons aforementioned would be an hindrance to his Design not daring to do it openly caused him privately to be made away by Poyson Thus died that excellent young Man much lamented and near to his greatest Hope some Signs of Poison appeared in his Body but no Man ever dreamt of suspecting the King Yea his Deportment was such as to avert all Suspicion for he Mourned and Wept for his Death and made an Honourable mention of his Name when occasion was administred to speak of it and caused him magnificently to be Interred no Ceremony being omitted which could be invented for the Honour of the Deceased But this superlative Diligence of the King to remove the Suspicion from himself gave a shrewd Jealousie to the more Sagacious Yet they forbore to speak out for the Reverence all bore to and had conceived of the Kings Sanctity But soon after the King himself scattred some Words abroad to try the Minds of Men How they would bear the abrogating of an old Law and the enacting a new concerning the Succession of their Kings viz. That according to the Custom of many Nations if a King died his Son should succeed him and if he were under Age then to have a Protector or Tutor assigned to him so the Kingly Name might rest in the Child but the Power of Government in the Tutors or Guardians till he came to Age. Though a great Part of the Nobles praised his Speech as being willing to Gratifie him yet the Suspicion concerning the Death of Malcolm prevailed upon the Major part and especially upon the Nobility and Those of the Royal Stock who were afraid of the King Mens Spirits being in this posture Ambassadors came from England to comfort the King upon the loss of his Kinsman and withal desiring That in substituting another Governor he would remember That Cumberland being the Bond of Concord betwixt the Two Nations he would set Such a Person over it who might be an indifferent Arbiter of Peace and that would maintain the ancient Alliance betwixt the Two Nations for the Good of them Both and if any new Suspicions or Jealousies should arise that he would labour to extinguish them The King judged this Embassy fit for his purpose so that having Convened the Nobility at Scone he made a grave Harangue to them against the ancient Custom of the Assemblies of Estates in this Point wherein he recited all the Seditions which had happened for that Cause and with how great Impiety some of the surviving Kindred had treated the Children of former Kings and what Wars Rapines Slaughters and Banishâ—â—nts had ensued thereupon On the other side he put them in Mind How much more Peaceable and less Turbulent the Parliamenâ—â—â—y Assemblies of other Countries were and what great Reverence was born to the Royal Blood when without convasing for Succession Children succeeded their Parents in the Throne Having thus spoken he referred the matter to that Great Council to determine something in this Case He acquainted them also with the Demands of the English Ambassador and to give a greater Manifestation of his Condescention and Civility whereas it was in the Kings Power alone to appoint a Governor of Cumberland he left it to them to nominate One supposing that by this his Moderation he might the more easily obtain his Desire concerning the Succession to the Crown For if he himself had Nominated his Son for a Governor he thought he should have prejudiced his other Request because as I said before the Government or Prefecture over Cumberland was looked upon as the Designation of the Person to be the next succeeding King of Scotland Constantine the Son of Culenus and Grimus the Son of Mogal Brother to King Duffus who were thought most likely to oppose both Requests were first asked their Opinions in the Case who partly for Fear of Danger and partly that they might not run cross to the Major part of the Nobility who had been prepossessed and influenc'd by the King gave their Vote That it was in the Kings Power to Correct and Amend Laws which were inconvenient to the Publick and also to appoint what Governor he pleased over Cumberland The rest though they knew that they had spoken contrary to their own Sense yet Consented to what they said And by this means Malcolm the Kings Son though not of Age but Immature for Government was declared Governor of Cumberland and also Prince of Scotland which Title signifies in Scotland as much as Daulphin doth in France and Caesar amongst the old Roman Emperors and the King of the Romans amongst the Modern Germans whereby the Successor to the preceding Magistrate is understood Other Laws were also made viz. That as the Kings Eldest Son should succeed his Father so if the Son died before the Father the Nephew should succeed the Grandfather That when the King was under Age a Tutor or Protector should be Chosen some Eminent Man for Interest and Power to Govern in the Kings Name and stead till he came to Fourteen Years of Age and then he had Liberty to choose Guardians for Himself And besides many other Things were Enacted concerning the Legitimate Succession of Heirs which ran in common to the whole Nobility as well as to the King The King having thus by indirect and evil Practises setled the Kingdom on his Posterity as he thought yet his Mind was not at rest For though he were very Courteous to all and highly Beneficial and Obliging to a great many and withal did so manage the Kingdom that no one Part of a good King was wanting in him yet his Mind being disquieted with the guilt of his Offence suffered him to enjoy no sincere or solid Mirth but in the Day he was vexed with the Thoughts of that foul Wickedness which did inject themselves and in the Night terrible Apparitions disturbed his Rest. At last a Voice was heard from Heaven either a true one as some think or else such an one as his disquieted Mind suggested as it commonly happens to Guilty Consciences speaking to him in his Sleep to this Sense Dost thou think That the Murder of Malcolm an Innocent Man secretly and most impiously Committed by thee is either unknown to me or That thou shalt go unpunished for the same Nay there are already Plots laid against thy Life which thou canst not avoid neither shalt thou leave a Firm and Stable Kingdom to thy Posterity as thou thinkest to do but a Tumultuous and Stormy one The King being terrified by this dreadful Apparition betimes in the Morning hastned to the Bishops and Monks to whom he declared the Confusion of his Mind and his Repentance for his Wickedness They instead of prescribing him a true Remedy according to the
Angus There he landed his Men and attempted to take in some Places but being disappointed he fell a plundering Having pitched his Tents at Balbridum i. e. the Village of St. Bride word was brought him by his Spies that the Scots Forces were scarce two miles distant from him whereupon both Generals according to the Exigence of the time exhorted their Men to fight and the next day they were all ready at their Arms almost at one time The third day they fought with so great eagerness and fury as either new Hope or old Hatred could occasion and suggest At last the Scots prevailed and Camus endeavouring to secure the Remainders of his Army by flying to the Mountains towards Murray before he had gone two miles was overtaken by the Pursuers and he and all his Men cut off There are Monuments extant of this Victory in an Obeliske and a Neighbouring Village which as yet retains the Memorable Name of Camus Another Band of them were cut off not far from the Town of Breichin where also another Obeliske was erected The Remainder being few in Number under the Covert of the night made to their Ships These last were tossed up and down several days in the raging Sea by cross Winds at length coming to the inhospitable Shore of Buchan they rode there so long at Anchor till they were necessitated for want to send about 500 of their Men ashore to get some Relief out of the Neighbouring Country Mernanus the Thane of the place stopp'd them from returning to their Ships and compelled them to retire to a steep Hill where being assisted by the Conveniency of the place they defended themselves with Stones and slew many of the Scots who rashly attempted them At last the Scots encouraged one another and in several Parties in great Numbers got up the Hill and put every Man of the Danes to the Sword There also as well as at Bambreid when the Wind blows up the Sand there are Bones discovered of a greater Magnitude than can well suit with the Stature of the Men of our Times Yet Sueno was not discouraged no not with this Overthrow also but sent his Son Canutus with new Levies into Scotland He landed his Souldiers in Buchan and so preyed upon the Country Malcolm though he had yet hardly recovered his Loss sustained in former Battels yet made head against him and being not willing to hazard all by fighting a pitched Battel he thought it best to weary the Enemy with light Skirmishes and to keep him from plundering for by this means he hoped in a short time to reduce him to great want of Provisions as being in an Enemies Country almost quite wasted and desolated by the Miseries of War before He followed this Counsel for some days but at last when the Scots had got a full understanding of their Enemies Strength they less diffided their Own and both Armies being equally pressed with Want did unanimously crave a Signal to the Battel pretending unless it were given they would fall to it even without the Consent of their Generals Hereupon Malcolm set the Battel in array which was fought with such desperate Rage and Fury that neither Party came off in Triumph And though the Victory did nominally rest on the Scots side yet a great part of their Nobility being slain and the rest wearied and discouraged in their Spirits returned to their Camp giving the Danes liberty to retreat without any pursuit The next day when both Parties mustered their Men they found so great a Slaughter to have been made that they willingly admitted some Priests to be Intercessors of Peace between them Whereupon Peace was made on these Conditions That the Danes should leave Murray and Buchan and depart and that as long as Malcolm and Sueno lived neither of them should wage War with one another any more nor help one anothers Enemies That the Field in which the Battel was fought should be set apart and Consecrated for the Burial of the Dead Upon this the Danes withdrew and Malcolm took Order for the Interment of the slain A while after he called an Assembly of Estates at Scone and that he might reward those who had deserved well of their Country he divided all the King's Lands between them On the other side the Nobility granted to the King That when any of them died their Children should be under the Wardship and Tutelage of the King till they arrived at the Age of 21 Years and that the King should receive all their Revenue except what was expended for the Education of the Ward And besides that he should have the Power to give them in Marriage Or otherwise to dispose of them when they were grown up and should also receive their Dowry I judge this Custom came rather from the English and Danes because it yet continues throughout all England and in part of Normandy too Afterwards the King bent his Thoughts to repair the Damages sustained by the War he re-edified many Temples and Sacred Places demolished by the Enemy he built New Castles or else repaired the Old in every Town Having thus restored Peace to the Kingdom by his great Valour he endeavoured further to adorn it with good Institutions and wholsom Laws and in order thereunto be erected New Names for Magistrates I believe such as he borrowed from his Neighbours which served rather for vain Ambition than for any real Use. For in former times there was no Name superior in Honour to that of a Knight except that of Thane i. e. Governor or Sheriff of a Province or Country which Custom as I hear is yet observed amongst the Danes But now a days Princes keep no Mean in instituting New Names or Titles of Honour though there be no use at all of those Names but the bare Sound Thus Malcolm having finished his Toilsom Wars Reigned some Years in great Splendor and Glory But in the Progress of his Age he sullied the Beauty of his former Life with the blot of Covetousness That Vice being incident to Old Men partly grew up in him with his Age and partly arose from that Want which his immoderate Largesses had driven him to So that those Lands which he had unadvisedly distributed amongst the Nobility he did as unjustly and wickedly labour to resume by which means he put some of them to Death and reduced others to great Penury Hereupon the present sense of suffering though sometimes just drowned the Memory of all former Courtesies so that the Injury reaching to a few but the Fear to many the Friends and Kindred of those which were slain and impoverished bent all their Thoughts to revenge Them and to secure Themselves And at last bâ—â—bing the King 's Domesticks at Glammes in Angus they were admitted at Night into the King's Bed-Chamber and slew him When they had committed the Fact those bribed Domesticks together with the Parricides took Horse which they had ready
to hear the Complaints of the Poor and as much as he could he would not suffer the Great men to oppress Them But as these Virtues did endear him to the Good so they lessen'd his Authority amongst the Lovers of Sedition so that his Clemency to the Former occasioned the Rage of wicked men against him The beginning of lessening and despising his Government hapned in Loch-Abyr upon the account of one Bancho Thane of that Country a strict Lover of impartial Justice some ill Men not enduring his Severity in Punishments made a Conspiracy against him Plundered him of his Goods and drove him away being wounded and almost dead As soon as ever his Wounds permitted him to endure the jogging of his body he took a Journy and complained to the King the King sent a publick Officer to do Justice upon the Offenders but he was grievously affronted and afterwards slain by them so great Security did they fancy to themselves by reason of the Lenity but as they interpreted it Sloth of a good King The chief of the Faction which raised the Rebellion was named Mac-duald who despairing of Pardon prepares himself for an open War He called in the Islanders to his assistance who were always prone to Sedition and also the forwardest of the Irish in hopes of Prey He told them That under an effeminate and slothful King who was fitter to rule Monks than Warriors there was no fear of Punishment but there might be great hopes of Advantage and that he did not doubt but the Scots who were as it were fettered with the Chains of a Long Peace under the former King when an Alarm was sounded to the War would come in to recover their Ancient Liberty These Exhortations were seconded with a successfull beginning which much heartned the Party There was one Malcolm of the Prime Nobility sent by the King against them with some Forces but his Army was presently overthrown by them and he himself being taken Prisoner had his head cut off by them The King being troubled at this Overthrow called a Council together to consult of what was fit to be done Some were very slow in delivering their Opinions but Mackbeth Kinsman to the King laid the blame of the Misfortune on the Sluggâ—shness of former times withal promising that if the Command or Generalship were bestowed on him and Bancho who was well acquainted with that Country he would quickly subdue all and quiet things This Mackbeth was of a sharp Wit and of a very lofty Spirit and if Moderation had accompanied it he had been worthy of a Command tho' an eminent one But in punishing Offenders he was so severe that having no respect to the Laws he seemed soon likely to degenerate into Cruelty When the chief Command of the Army was conferred upon him many were so terrified that casting aside their Hopes whch they had conceived by reason of the Kings Slothful Temper they hid themselves in Holes and Corners The Islanders and the Irish their Flight being stopp'd were driven into great Despair and in a fierce Fight were every one of them slain Macduala himself with a few others flying into a Neighbour Castle being past all hopes of Pardon redeemed Himself and His from the Opprobriousness of his Enemies by a voluntary death Mâ—ckbeth not content with that punishment cut off his Head and sent it to the King at Perth and hung up the rest of his Body for all to behold in a conspicuous place Those of the Red-shanks which he took he caused to be hanged This Domestick Sedition being appeased a far greater Terror succeeded and seized on him occasioned by the Danes For Sueno the powerful King of the Danes dying left Three Kingdoms to his Three Sons England to Harold Norway to Sueno and Denmark to Canutus Harold dying soon after Canutus succeeded him in the Realm of Scotland Sueno or Swain King of Norway being Emulous of his Brothers Glory crossed the Seas with a great Navy and Landed in Fifâ— upon the Bruit of his coming Machbeth was sent to Levy an Army Bancho the other General staying in the Interim with the King Duncanus or Donald as if he had been rouzed from a fit of Sluggishness was forced to go meet the Enemy They fought near Culross with such obstinate Courage that as One Party was scarce able to fly so the Other had no heart to pursue The Scots who look'd upon themselves as overcome rather by the Incommodiousness of the Place than by the Valour of their Enemies retreated to Perth and there staid with the Relicts of their conquered Forces waiting for the Motions of the Enemy Swain thinking That if he pressed eagerly on them all Scotland would speedily be his Own made towards Perth with all his Forces to besiege Duncan his Ships he sent about by the Tay to meet him there Duncan tho' he much confided in the present Posture of Affairs because Mackbeth was very near him with a new supply of Force yet being counselled by Bancho to piece out his Force by Stratagem he sent Messengers one to Mackbeth to desire him to stop where he was and another to Swain to treat about the Surrender of the Town The Scots desired That upon the Surrender They and Theirs might have Liberty to depart in safety Swain supposing their Request proceeded from the very bottom of Despair would hear of nothing but surrendring at Mercy upon this he sent other Messengers with unlimited Instructions and a Command to delay time in making Conditions who to ingratiate themselves the more told the Norvâ—gians That whilst the Conditions of Peace were propounding and setling their King would send abundance of Provisions into their Camp as knowing That they were not over-plentiful in Victuals That Gift was acceptable to the Norvegians not so much on the account of the Scots Bounty or their own Penury as that they thought it was a Sign their Spirits were cowed out and quite broken Whereupon a great deal of Bread and Wine was sent both Wine pressed out of the Grape and also strong Drink made of Barly-Malt mixed with the â—uice of a Poysonous Herb whereof abundance grows in Scotland called Somniferous Night-shade The Stalk of it is above two Fâ—ot Long and in its upper part spreads into Branches the Leaves are broadish acuminated on the outside and faintly Green The Berrys are great and of a Black Colour when they are ripe which proceed out of the Stalk under the bottom of the Leaves Their Taste is sweetish and almost insipid It hath a very small seed as little as the Grains of a Fig. The Virtue of the Fruit Root and especially of the Seed is Soporiferous and will make men mad if they be taken in too great Quantities With this Herb all the Provision was infected and they that carried it to prevent all suspition of Fraud tasted of it before and invited the Danes to drink huge Draughts thereof
that Avarice might be also bounded and forborn when the fear of Penury as it must be upon a Throne is removed Malcolm subjoyned That he had rather now make an ingenious Confession to him as his Friend than to be found guilty hereafter to the great damage of them both For my Self to deal plainly with you said he There is no Truth nor Sincerity in me I confide in no Body living but I change my Designs and Counsels upon every blast of Suspition and thâ—s from the Inconstancy of my own Disposition I use to make a Judgment of other Mens Whereupon Mackduff replyed Avant says he Thou Disgrace and Prodigy of the Royal Name and Stock worthier to be sent into the remotest Desert than to be called to a Throne and in a great Anger he was about to fling away Then Malcolm took him by the hand and declared the Cause of this his Dissimulation to him telling him That he had been so often assaulted by the Wiles of Mackbeth that he did not dare lightly to trust every body But now he saw no Cause to suspect any Fraud in Macduff in respect either of his Lineage his Manners Fame nor Fortune Thus they plighting their Faith one to another consulted concerning the destruction of the Tyrant and advised their Friends of it by secret Messages King Edward assisted him with Ten Thousand Men over whom Malcolm's Grandfather by the Mothers side was made General At the Report of this Armies March there was a great combustion in Scotland and many flock'd in daily to the new King Mackbeth being deserted by almost all his Men in so suddain a Revolt not knowing what better course to take shut up himself in the Castle of Dunsinnan and sent his Friends into the Aebudae and into Ireland with Money to hire Soldiers Malcolm understanding his Design makes up directly towards him the People praying for him all along as he went and with joyful Acclamations wishing him good Success His Soldiers took this as an Omen of Victory and thereupon stuck up green Boughs in their Helmets representing an Army Triumphing rather than going to Fight Mackbeth being terrified at the Confidence of his Enemy immediately fled and his Soldiers forsaken by their Leader surrendred themselves up to Malcolm Some of our Writers do here Record many Fables which are like Milesian Tales and fitter for the Stage than an History and therefore I omit them Mackbeth Reigned Seventeen Years In the first Ten he performed the Duty of a very good King in the last Seven he equalled the Cruelty of the worst of Tyrants Malcolm III. The Eighty Sixth King MALCOLM having thus recovered his Fathers Kingdom was Declared King at Scone the 25 th day of April in the Year of our Redemption 1057. At the entrance of his Reign he convened an Assembly of the Estates at Forsar where the First thing he did was to restore to the Children their Father's Estates who had been put to death by Mackbeth He is thought by some to have been the First that introduced New and Foreign Names as distinguishments of Degrees in Honour which he borrowed from his Neighbor-Nations and are no less Barbarous than the former were Such as are Dukes Marquesses Earls Barons Riders or Knights Mackduff the Thane of Fife was the First who had the Title of Earl conferred upon him and many others afterwards according to their respective Merits were honoured with New Titles Some write That at that time Noblemen began to be Sirnamed by their Lands which I think is false for that Custom is not yet received amongst the Ancient Scots and besides then all Scotland used their Ancient Rights and Customs but instead of a Sirname after the manner of the Greeks they added their Fathers Name to their own or else adjoyned a Word taken from some Event or from some Mark of Body or Mind and that this Custom did then obtain amongst the Gauls is plain by those Royal Sirnames of Crassus Calvus Balbus and also by the Sirnames of many Noble Families in England especially such as followed William the Conqueror and fixed their Habitations there For the Custom of taking Sirnames from Lands was received but lately amongst the other Gauls as appears by Frossard's History no mean Author Mackduff had Three Requests granted to him as a Reward for his Services One That his Posterity should place the King who was to be Crowned in the Chair of State Another That they should lead the Van of the Kings Armies And a Third That if any of his Family were Guilty of the unpremeditated slaughter of a Nobleman he should pay Four and Twenty Marks of Silver as a Fine if of a Plebeian Twelve Marks Which last Law was observed till the days of our Fathers as long as any of that Family were in being Whilst these things were acted at Forfar They who remained of the Faction of Mackbeth carryed his Son Luthlac to Scone who was Sirnamed Fatuus from his Disposition and there he was Saluted King Malcolm assaulted him in the Valley Bogian where he was slain three Months after he had Usurped the Name of King yet out of respect to his Kingly Race His and his Fathers Bodies were buried in the Royal Sepulchres in Ionia Afterwards he Reigned four years in Peace Then word was brought him that a great Troop of Robbers were Nested in Cockburn-Forest and that they infested Lothian and Merch to the great damage of the Husbandman Patric Dunbar with some Trouble overcame them losing Forty of his own Men in the Onset and killing 600 of Them Forty more of them were taken Prisoners and hanged Patric for this Exploit was made Earl of Merch. The Kingdom was now so settled that no open Force could hurt the King yet he was assaulted by Private Conspiracies The whole Plot was discovered to him whereupon he sent for the Head of the Faction and after much familiar Discourse he led him aside into a secret Valley commanding his Followers to stay behind There he upbraided him with the former Benefits bestowed on him and declared to him the Plot he had contrived against his Life adding further if Thou hast Courage enough why dost thou not now set upon me seeing we are both Armed that so thou mayst obtain thy desire by Valour not by Treachery He being amazed at this sudden Discovery fell down on his Knees and asked Pardon of the King who being a Merciful as well as Valiant Prince easily forgave him Matthew Paris makes mention of this Passage In the mean time Edgar to whom next to Edward the Crown of England belonged being driven by contrary Winds came into Scotland with his whole Family What I am to speak concerning this Person that it may be the better understood I shall fetch things a little higher Edmond King of England being slain by the Treachery of his Subjects Canutus the Dane who Reigned over Part of the Island presently seized upon
the Whole At first he Nobly treated Edward and Edmond the Sons of the Deceased Edmond when they were brought to him Afterwards being edged on by wicked Ambition he desirous to confirm the Kingdom to his Posterity by their Destruction sent them away privately to Valgar Governour of Swedland to be Murdered there Valgar understanding their Noble stock and considering also their Age and Innocence withal taking Compassion of their Condition and Fortune sent them to Hungary to King Salomon pretending to Canutus That he had put them death There they were Royally Educated and so much grateful Towardliness appeared in Edward that Salomon culled him out of all the Young Nobles to give him his Daughter Agatha to Wife By her he had Edgar Margaret and Christian. In the mean time Canutus dying Hardicanute succeeded him When he was slain Edward was recalled from Normandy whither he was before Banished together with his Brother Alured Earl Godwyn a powerful man of English Blood but who had Married the Daughter of Canutus was sent to fetch them home He being desirous to transfer the Kingdom into his own Family caused Alured to be Poysoned as for Edward he was preserved rather by Gods Providence than by any human Counsel and Reigned most devoutly in England But wanting Children his Chief care was to recal his Kinsman out of Hungary to undertake the Government alleging That when Edgar returned he would willingly surrender up All to him but His Modesty out-did the Kings Piety for he refused to accept of the Kingdom as long as he was alive At length upon Edwards death Harald Godwyns Son invaded the Throne yet he dealt kindly with Agatha the Hungarian and her Children But he being also overthrown by William the Norman Edgar to avoid Williams Cruelty resolved with his Mother and Sisters to return into Hungary but by a Tempest he was driven into Scotland There he was Courteously entertained by Malcolm who made him his Kinsman also by the Marriage of his Sister Margaret William then Reigning in England upon every light Occasion was very cruel against the Nobles either of English or Danish Extraction But understanding what was a doing in Scotland and fearing a Tempest might arise from thence he sent an Herald to demand Edgar denouncing War against Scotland unless he were surrendred up Malcolm looked upon it as a cruel and faithless Thing to deliver up his Suppliants Guest and Kinsman and one against whom his very Enemies could object no Crime to his Capital Enemy to be put to Death and therefore resolved to suffer any thing rather than so to do And thereupon he not only detained and harboured Edgar but also gave Admission to his Friends who in great Numbers were Banished from their own homes and gave them Lands to live upon whose Posteritys were there Propagated into many Rich and Opulent Families Upon this Occasion there followed a War betwixt the Scots and English wherein Sibert King of Northumberland favouring Edgar joyned his Forces with the Scots The Norman being puff'd up with the good Success of his Affairs made light of the Scotish War and thinking to end it in a short time he sent one Roger a Nobleman of his own Country with Forces into Northumberland But he being overcome and put to flight was at last Slain by his own Men. Then Richard Earl of Glocester was sent with a greater Army but he could do but little good neither for Patrick Dunbar wearied him out with light Skirmishes so that his Men could not straggle for to get in Prey at last William's Brother and Bishop of Bayon being made Earl of Kent came down with a much greater strength he made great spoil in Northumberland and slew some who thought to stop him from plundering but as he was returning with a great Booty Malcolm and Sibert set upon him slew and took many of his Army and recovered the Prey When his Army was recruited William's Son was sent down thither but he made no great Earnings of it neither only he pitched his Camp at the River Tine and he rather kept off than made or inferred the War In the mean time he repaired Newcastle which was almost decayed by reason of its Antiquity William being thus wearied with a War more tedious than profitable his Courage being somewhat cooled applied himself to thoughts of Peace which was made on these Conditions That in Stanmore i. e. a Stony Heath a Name imposed on it for that very Cause lying between Richmond-shire and Cumberland the Bounds of both Kingdoms should be fixed and in the Boundary a Cross of Stone should be Erected which should contain the Statues and Arms of the Kings of Both Sides That Cross as long as it stood was called Kings Cross That Malcolm should enjoy Cumberland upon the same Terms as his Ancestors had held it Edgar was also received into William's Favour and endowed with large Revenues and that he might prevent all occasion of suspition of his innovating things he never departed from the Court Voldiosus also the Son of Sibert was to have his Fathers Estate restored to him and besides he was admitted into Affinity with the King by Marrying a Neice of his born of his Daughter Intestine Tumults did succeed this External Peace for the Men of Galway and of the Aebudae did Ravage and commit Murders over all their Neighbouring Parts and the Murray-Men with those of Ross Caithness and their Allies made a Conspiracy and assuming their Neighbour Islanders to their Aid gave an Omen of a greater War Walter the Nephew of Bancho by his Son Fleanchus who was before received into Favour with the King was sent against the Galway-Men and Macduff against the other Rebels whilst the King himself was gathering greater Forces Walter slew the Head of that Faction and so quell'd the common Souldiers that the King at his Return made him Lord Steward of all Scotland for his Good Service This Magistrate was to gather in all the Kings Revenues also he had a Jurisdiction such as the Sheriffs of Counties have and he is the same with That which our Ancestors called a Thane But now a days the English Speech getting the better of our Country Language the Thanes of Counties are in many places called Stewards and he which was anciently called Abthane is now the Lord High Steward of Scotland Yet in some few places the Name of Thane doth yet remain From this Walter the Family of the Steuarts who have so long Reigned over Scotland took its Beginning But Macduff warring in another Province when he came to the Borders of Marr the Marrians promised him a Sum of Money if he would not enter into their Province and he fearing the Multitude of the Enemy did protract the time in Proposals and Terms of a pretended Peace till the King arrived with greater Forces When they came to the Village Monimuss they joined Camps and the King being troubled at the bruit
of the Enemies Numbers promised to devote the Village whither he was going to St. Andrew the Apostle the Tutelary Saint of Scotland if he returned Victor from that Expedition After a few Removes he came to the River Spey the violentest Current in all Scotland where he beheld a greater number of Soldiers than he thought could have been levied out of those Countries standing on the other side of the River to hinder his Passage Whereupon the Standard Bearer making an Halt and delaying to enter the River he snatch'd the Standard out of his Hand and gave it to one Alexander Carron a Knight of known Valour whose Posterity had ever afterwards the Honour of carrying the Kings Standard in the Wars and in stead of Carron the Name of Scrimger was given him because he being full of true Valour though ignorant of the Modes and Niceties of War had out-done One who was a Master in handling of Arms and who valued himself highly upon that Account As the King was entring the River the Mitred Priests with their Mitres on their Heads prevented him who by his Permission having passed over to the Enemy before had ended the War without Blood The Nobles surrendred themselves upon Quarter for Life Those who were the most Seditious and and the Authors of the Rising were Tryed had their Goods Confiscated and themselves Condemned to perpetual Imprisonment Peace being thus by his great Industry obtained both at home and abroad he converted his pains to amend the publick Manners for he lived Devoutly and Piously himself and provoked others by his Example to a Modest Just and Sober Life It is thought that he was assisted herein by the Counsel and Monitions of his Wife a choice Woman and eminently Pious She omitted no Office of Humanity towards the Poor or the Priests neither did Agatha the Mother or Christiana the Sister come behind the Queen in any Religious Duty For because a Nuns Life was then accounted the great Nourisher and Maintainer of Piety Both of them leaving the toilsome Cares of the World shut themselves up in a Monastery appointed for Virgins Then the King to the Four former Bishopricks of St. Andrews Gasgow Whithorn and Murthlack where the old Discipline by the Bishops Sloth and Default was either remitted or laid quite aside added That of Murray and Caithness procuring Men Pious and Learned according to the rate of those times to fill the Sees And whereas also Luxury began to abound in those days in regard many English came in and great Commerce was had with Foreign Nations and also many English Exiles were entertained and scatt'red almost all over the Kingdom he laboured though to little purpose to restrain it But he had the hardest Task of all with the Nobles whom he endeavoured to reclaim to the Practice of their ancient Parsimony for they having once swallowed the bait of Pleasure did not only grow worse and worse but even ran headlong into Debauchery yea they laboured to cover that foul Vice under the false Name of Neatness Bravery and Gallantry Malcolm forseeing that such courses would be the Ruin not only of Religion but also of Military Discipline did first of all Reform his own Family very exactly afterwards he made most severe Sumptuary Laws denouncing great Punishment against the Violators of them Yet by those Remedies he rather stopp'd than cured the Disease nevertheless as long as he lived he employed all his endeavours to work a thorough Reform therein It is also Reported That his Wife obtained of him That whereas the Nobles had gradually obtained a Priviledge to lye the first Night with any Married Bride by the Law of Eugenius That Custom should be altered and the Husband have Liberty to Redeem it by paying half a Mark of Silver which Payment is yet called Marcheta Mulierum Whilst Malcolm was thus busied in reforming the publick Manners William King of England dies His Son William Rufus succeeded him Peace could not long be continued between two Kings of such â—ifferent Dispositions For the King of Scots chose that Time to Build two Temples or Cathedrals in one at Durham in England the other at Dumferling in Scotland upon Both which Piles he bestowed great Cost so that he endeavoured to retrieve Church-Affairs which then began to flag and decay And withal he translated Turgot Abbat of the Monks at Durham to the Bishoprick of St. Andrews This he did whilst Rufus was plucking down Towns and Monasteries and making Forests that he might have the more room to hunt in And when Anselme the Norman then Arch-Bishop of Canterbury did with freedom rebuke him for the same he Banished him the Land He also sought for an Occasion of War against the Scots And thereupon he surprized the Castle of Alnwick in Northumberland having slain the Garison which was therein Malcolm having demanded Restitution but in vain Besieged the Castle with a great Army They within being reduced to great extremity and want talk'd of surrendring it and desired the King to come and receive the Keys with his own Hand which as he was a doing being tendred to him on the point of a Spear the Soldier run him into the Eye and killed him And his Son Edward also being forward to revenge his Fathers Death and thereupon more negligent of his own safety made an unwary assault upon the Enemy wherein he received a Wound of which he died soon after The Scots being afflicted and troubled at this double Slaughter of Two of their Kings broke up the Siege and returned home Margaret did not long survive her Husband and Son but died of Grief The Bodies of the Kings which at first were buried at Tinmouth a Monastery at the mouth of Tine were afterwards brought back to Dumferling Malcolm held the Kingdom Thirty and three years being noted for no Vice but famous to Posterity for his great and many Virtues he had six Sons by his Wife Margaret of whom Edward was slain by the English in the Siege of Alnwick Castle Edmond and Etheldred were Banished into England by their Uncle Donald where they died The other Three Edgar Atheldred and David succeeded in the Kingdom one after another He also had Two Daughters the Elder Maud Sirnamed the Good Married Henry King of England the younger named Mary had Eustace Earl of Bologn for her Husband Several Prodigies hapned in those days and in particular there was such a mighty and unusual an Inundation of the German Ocean that it did not only drown the Fields and Country and choked them up with Sand but also overthrew Villages Towns and Castles And besides there were great and terrible Thunders and more were killed with Thunderbolts than were ever Recorded to have perished by that Death in Britain before Donaldus VII Sirnamed Banus The Eighty Seventh King UPon the Death of Malcolm Donaldus Banus i. e. The White his Brother who for
there he turned into a Monastery for Monks Being once carried by Tempest into the Isle Aemona he was there reduced to great Want and Hunger for neither he nor his Companions could procure any Food for some Days but what they got from those that Lived Solitary Lives vulgarly called Hermits He built also a Church there in Memory of St. Columb supplying it with Canons as they call them and Lands to maintain them He also gave great Guifts and Largesses and settled Revenues on St. Andrews which was Rich enough before He finished the Church at Dumferling which his Father had begun and Endowed it with Revenues After these Transactions in Peace and War when he had Reigned Seventeen Years he departed this Life leaving no Children by Sibyl his Wife Daughter of William the Norman David I. The Ninety First King HIS Brother David succeeded him in the Kingdom in the Year of Christ 1124. He seeing that his Brothers Reigned successively one after another in Scotland stayed with his Sister Maud in England There he Married Maud his Niece a Woman of great Beauty Wealth and Nobility For Voldiosus of Northumberland was her Father and her Mother was Iudith Niece to William the Norman On her he begot a Son named Henry in whom both his Father's and Mother's Disposition did presently appear By this Marriage his Revenues were much encreased by the Accession of Northumberland and Huntington-shire thereto Thus with the Universal Gratulation of his Subjects he came into Scotland to possess the Kingdom 'T is true the Memory of his Parents was of great Force to procure him the Favour of the People yet his own Virtue was such that he stood in no need of any adventitious Help For as in other Virtues he equalled other good Kings so in his Condescention to hear the Causes of the Poor he was much superiour to them As for the Complaints of the Rich he heard them himself and if a false Judgment had been given he would not rescind it but compelled the Judge himself to pay the Damages awarded He restrained Luxury which then begun to spread according to the Example of his Father He banished Epicures and such as studied Arts to provoke the Appetite out of the Kingdom He far exceeded the Beneficence of his Parents and Allies which were worthy rather of Pardon than Praise in increasing the Revenues of the Church He repaired Monasteries whether decayed by Age or ruined by the Wars and He also built New Ones from the Ground To the Six Bishopricks before he added Four more Ross Brechin Dunkelden and Dunblain He almost impoverished the succeeding King to Endow them for he bestowed upon them a great part of the Royal Revenue Iohannes Major who when I was but a Youth was famous for his Theological Studies having highly praised this King for his other Actions yet he blames his profuse Lavishness in Endowing Monasteries in a solemn and I wish it had been an undeserved Oration And I the more wonder at this immoderate Profusion of the Publick Stock and Patrimony because in those very Times St. Bâ—rnard sharply reproves the Priests and Monks in his Invective and Severe Sermons for their excessive Luxury and Expence which yet if compared with That of our Age seems but moderate And the Fruits which followed these Donations shew That the Design was not well grounded For as in Bodies too Corpulent the use of all the Members ceases so the Sparks of Wit oppressed by Luxury did thereby languish in Abbies The Study of Learning was extinct Piety degenerated into Superstition and the Seeds of all Vices sprung up in them as in an unplowed Field All the time of his Reign he had but one Commotion and that was rather a Tumult than a War And it was quickly ended in the Slaughter of Aeneas Earl of Murray with a great Number of his Followers Malcolm Mackbeth endeavouring to raise a new Sedition was committed Prisoner to the Castle of Roxburgh Other Matters succeeded according to his desire but yet a twofold Distress or rather Calamity seized him One from the untimely Death of his Wife The Other of his Son As for his Wife Maud she was a Woman of high Descent of exquisite Beauty and most accomplished Manners He loved her passionately whilst she lived and the loss of her in the Flower of her Age did so affect him That for Twenty Years after he lived a Widower neither did he touch any other Woman all that while And yet the Greatness of his Sorrow was no hindrance to him from managing the Publick Offices and Concerns both of Peace and War Concerning his Son I will speak in due place David thus addicted himself to the Arts of Peace but some troublesom Matters in England drew him unwillingly into a War The Occasion this All the Off-spring of King Henry of England besides his Daughter Maud were drowned in their passage out of France into England which Misfortune did so grieve him that it is reported he never laughed after Maud who only survived and escaped that Calamity Married the Emperor Henry the Fourth Her Husband dying without Children she returned into England to her Father He was willing to settle the Succession on her and in Order thereto because she was a Widow and Childless if he himself should die he caused all the Nobility to swear an Oath of Fealty to her and in hopes that she might have Children he Married her to Geoffry Plantagenet Earl of Anjou Five Years after that Marriage Robert Duke of Normandy and King Henry died and Geoffry of Anjou falling into a dangerous Disease lay Bedrid In the mean time Stephen Earl of Bologne in this want of Royal Issue took heart to attempt the Crown of England Neither did he look upon it as a Design of any great Difficulty both by reason of the Weakness of the adverse Party and also because he himself had some Royal Blood running in his Veins For he was born of a Daughter of William the Norman which had Married the Earl of Bloys He himself had also Married Maud Daughter of the former Earl of Bologne and Cousin-German to Maud the Empress and begotten upon Mary Sister to David King of Scotland Upon the Confidence of so great Alliances by reason of the absence of Maud the Queen and the Sickness of Geoffry he thought he might easily obtain the Crown of England And to make his Way clearer without any Conscience or Regard of his Oath which he and th' other kindred had taken to Queen Maud he drew in by great Promises the Bishops of England who had also taken the same Oath into his Unlawful design and especially William Arch-Bishop of York who was the first that Swore Allegiance to Queen Maud and Roger Bishop of Salisbury who had not only taken the Oath himself but had also read the Words of it to the other Nobles when they Swore Upon this Confidence even before his Uncle
Henry was buried he stept into the Throne and the Two First Years reigned peaceably enough Whereupon growing insolent he began to neglect his Agreement made with the English and also to deal harsly with strangers After he had compelled all the English partly by Fear partly by fair Promises to take an Oath of Allegiance to him he sent Embassadors to David King of Scots to put him in mind to take the same Oath for the Counties of Cumberland Northumberland and Huntingdon which he held of him David returned Answer That he together with Stephen himself and the other Nobles of England had not long since bound themselves by an Oath to obey Maud their Lawful Queen And that he ought not nor would acknowledge any other King as long as she was alive When this Answer was brought to Stephen presently a War began The English entred upon the adjacent Scots the Scots doing as much for them The next Year an Army of Scots under the Conduct of the Earls of Merch of Menteith and of Argus entred England and met the English at the Town of Allerton whose General was the Earl of Glocester A sharp Battel was there fought with equal slaughter on both sides as long as the Army stood to it at last the English being overthrown many perished in the flight and many of the Nobility were taken Prisoners amongst whom was the Earl of Glocester himself Stephen being much concerned at this Overthrow lest the Friends and Kindred of the Captive Nobles might be alienated from him refused no Conditions of Peace The Terms were These That the English Prisoners should be released without Ransom That Stephen should quit all the Claim which as chief Lord he pretended to have over Cumberland But Stephen observed those Conditions no better than he did the Oath formerly taken to Maud his Kinswoman For before the Armies were quite Disbanded and the Prisoners Released he privately surprized some Castles in Northumberland and by driving away Bootys from the Scots Countrys renewed the War The Scots gathering a sudden Army together out of the Neighbour Countrys and despising the English whom they had overthrown in Battel the self same Year did rashly run on to the Conflict at the River Tees where they paid for their Folly in undervaluing the Enemy by receiving a great Overthrow and were also enforced to quit Northumberland David to retrieve this Loss and Ignominy gathered as great an Army as ever he could together and came to Roxburgh Thither Turstan or as William of Newberry calls him Trustinus was sent by the English to Treat concerning a Pacification and there being some hope of Agreement a Truce was made for Three Months upon Condition That Northumberland should be presently restored to the Scots But this Promise which was made by Stephen only to have the Army Disbanded was not performed so that David drove away a great Booty out of that Part of Northumberland which obeyed Stephen and Stephen gathering a great Force together pierced as far as Roxborough But understanding That the Nobility were averse and complained That they were intangled in an Unjust and Unnecessary War without performing any Memorable Exploit he retired into the heart of his Kingdom And the next Year fearing some intestine Sedition he sent his Wife Maud to David her Uncle to treat of Peace Upon her Mediation it was accorded That David from Newcastle where he commonly aboad and Stephen from Durham should send Arbitrators for composing of Matters to the Town of Chester in the street scituate in the Midway equally distant from Both Places David sent the Arch-Bishops of St. Andrews and Glasgoe Stephen the Arch-Bishops of Canterbury and York Both Parties were the more inclineable to Peace because Stephen feared War from abroad and Seditions at home and the Scots complained That they were forced to bear the shock of a War made in the behalf of another whereas Maud for whose sake it was commenced did nothing at all in it The Peace was made on These Conditions That Cumberland as by Ancient Right should be possessed by David and that Northumberland unto the River Tees as William of Newberry the Englishman writes and Huntingtonshire should be enjoyed by Henry Davids Son upon the account of his Mothers Inheritance and That he should do Homage to Stephen for the same When things were thus composed David retired into Cumberland and Stephen into Kent This Peace was made in the Year of our Lord 1139. In which Year Maud being returned into England sent her Son Henry afterward King of England to Carlisle to David his Great Uncle that he might be instructed in Feats of Arms and also be made Knight by him who without doubt was the excellentest Warrior in his time which Matter in those days was performed with a great deal of Ceremony At that time there was so great a Disturbance in England by reason of Domestique Discords That no Part of it was free from a Civil War but That which David the King of Scots held And that he alone might not plead Exemption from the publick Calamity within Three Years after his Son the only Heir in hope of so much Power and Felicity dyed in the flower of his Age leaving Three Sons and as many Daughters behind him He left so great a Love behind for him both from the Scots and English that besides the publick Loss every one lamented his own private Misfortune also at his death For so great a Sincerity and Moderation of Mind shined forth in him even in that Age wherein Youth is accustomed to wantonize That every body expected most rare and singular Fruits from his Disposition when it was ripened by Age. His Fathers Grief was also further increased by reason of the tender Age of his Nephew and the Ambition and restless Disposition of Stephen and if he dyed he was troubled at the Fierceness of Henry's Spirit then in the fervor of his Youth who being the Son of Maud was to succeed in the Kingdom When the Thoughts of so many foreseen Mischiefs did assault his diseased and feeble Mind insomuch that all Men imagined he would have sunk under them yet he bore up so stoutly that he invited some of the Prime Nobility who were solicitous for him lest he should be too much afflicted as well they might to Supper and there he entertained them with a Discourse rather like a Comforter than a Mourner He told them That no new thing had hapned to him or to his Son That he had long since Learned from the Sermons of Learned and Holy Men That the World was Governed by the Providence of Almighty God whom it was a foolish and impious thing to endeavour to resist That he was not ignorant his Son was born on no other Terms but that he must also dye and so pay that Debt to Nature which he owed even at his very Birth And when Men were always ready to pay that Debt 't was
no great matter when God their Creditor called upon them for it That if only Wicked Men were subject to Death then a Man might justly grieve at the Decease of his Kindred but when we see Good Men also Dye all Christians said he ought to be throughly setled in this persuasion That no Evil can happen to the Good either alive or dead and therefore Why should we be so much troubled at a short Separation especially from our Kindred who have not so much left us as they are gone before us to our common Country Whither we also thô we should live never so long must yet at last follow As for my Son if he hath undertaken this Voyage before us that so he might visit and enjoy the Fellowship of my Parents and Brethren those precious Men before-hand if we are troubled at it let us take heed That we seem not rather to envy his Happiness than to Mourn for our own Loss As for you Worthy Lords as I am beholding to you for many Offices of Respect so both I and my Son for I shall undertake also for him are much obliged for your Loves to me and your Grateful and Pious Memory of him This Greatness of Mind in the King as it added much to his own Veneration so it increased the Sense of the loss of his Son in the Minds of all when they considered What a Prince they and their Children were deprived of And David that he might make use of the only way of Consolation which was left him caused his Nephews and his Sons Children to be brought to him and to be trained up in Court-discipline which was then most Pious In Fine he provided for their Security as far as Human Counsel could foresee He commended Malcolm the eldest of the Three to the Care of the whole Nobility and particularly of Mackduff Earl of Fife a very powerful and prudent Man and he caused him to carry him all over the Land that so he might be received as the undoubted Heir of the Kingdom William the next Son he made Earl of Northumberland and sent him presently to take Possession of that Country David the Third Son he made Earl of Huntington in England and of Garioch in Scotland He made the more haste to prefer them because being Sick of a mortal Disease he foresaw his Time could not be long in this World He dyed in the Year of Christ 1553. the Ninth of the Calends of Iune He was so well beloved That all Men thought they had lost rather a Father in him yea the best of Fathers than a King For thô his whole Life was so Devout as no History records the like yet some few Years before his Death he Devoted himself to the Preparation for his later End So that his Deportment then did much increase Mens Veneration for the former part of his Life For thô he equalled former Kings who were most Praise-worthy in the Art of War and excelled them in the Study of Peace Yet now leaving off contending with others for Superiority in Virtue He maintained a Combat with himself alone wherein he advanced so much That if the Highest and most Learned Wits should endeavour to give the Idea or Pattern of a Good King they could never comprehend in their Thoughts such an exemplary Prince as David shewed himself in his whole Life to be He Reigned 29 Years 2 Months and 3 Days Malcolm IV. The Ninety Second King HIS Nephew Malcolm succeeded him who thô yet Under-age gave great hopes of his future Ingenuity For he was so Educated by his Father and Grandfather that he seemed to resemble them asmuch in the Virtues of his Mind as in the Lineaments of his Body In the beginning of his Reign a great Plague raged all over Scotland whereby great Numbers of Men and Cattle also were destroyed At that time one Somerled was Thane of Argyle whose Fortune was above his Family and his Mind above his Fortune He conceiving some hopes to enjoy the Kingdom by reason of the King's Non-age and the present Calamity gathered a Band of his Confidents together and invaded the adjacent Countries Yea the Havock he made was spoken of far and neer and the fear of him spreading itself further many Bad Men coming in to him and some Good good being forced to joyn with him too in a short time he made up a vast Army Upon the report of this Tumult Donald also the Son of Malcolm Macbeth made another Bustle but being taken at Whithorn in Galway and sent to the King he was committed to the same Prison with his Father But soon after the King was reconciled to them and they were both released Gilchrist Earl of Angus was sent with an Army against Somerled who defeated and killed many of his Men and caused him with some few more to fly into Ireland This Victory thus unexpectedly and suddainly obtained produced Tranquillity at home but Envy abroad For Henry King of England an Ambitious Prince and desirous to inlarge his own Dominions resolved with himself to curb the growing Greatness and Power of Malcolm But he could not well make open War upon him out of Conscience of that Pact and Oath which he had sworn to him For when he received the Military Girdle as the Custom is from King Malcolm's Grandfather at Carlisle he promised and took his Oath on it as William of Newberry besides our own Writers say That he would never go about to deprive either David himself or any of his Posterity of any part of those Possessions which David then held in England He being somewhat bound up by this Oath That he might find out some colour for his Calumniations he resolved to try the Kings Patience in a lesser Matter When Iohn Bishop of Glascow was Dedicating Churches Shaving Priests and performing the other Parts of his Episcopal Office as then they were judged to be all over Cumberland Henry by Trustine Archbishop of York sent a new Bishop into that Country called the Bishop of Carlisle Iohn was so moved at the Injury that seeing no sufficient Safeguard neither in the King nor in the Law he left his Bishoprick and retired into the Monastery of Tours in France Whence he returned not untill the Pope at Malcolm his Request drew him unwillingly out of his Cell and made him return to his own Country Malcolm bore the wrong better than some hoped so that not thinking it a sufficient Cause for a War he went to Chester in the Street there to quiet Suspicions and to cut off occasions of Discord Being arrived there by the Fraud of Henry he was Circumvented and made to take an Oath of Fidelity to him whereas it was not the King himself but his Brothers who had Lands in England according to an old Agreement who were to take that Oath But this was Craftily and Maliciously devised by the English King to sow the Seed of Discord amongst Brethren which
the following year did more fully appear when he cokes'd Malcolm out of Northumberland which was his Brother William's Patrimony For he sent for him to London That according to the Examples of his Ancestors he in a publick Assembly might acknowledge himself his Feudatary for the Lands which he held in England He under Covert of the Publick Faith came speedily thither but without doing any thing of That for which his Journey was pretended he was inforced against his Will with that little Retinue which he had to accompany Henry into Henry's Design herein was partly that the Scots might not attempt any thing against him in his absence and partly to alienate the Mind of Lewis King of France from him Thus Malcolm was compelled for fear of a greater Mischief to go against his old Friend and was not suffered to come back to his own Country till King Henry having made no great Earnings of the French War returned home also Then Malcolm obtained leave to return to Scotland where in a Convention of the Nobility he declared to them the Adventure of his Travels but he found a great Part of them very much incensed that he had joyned with a certain Enemy against an Old and Trusty Friend and did not foresee the Artifices by which Henry had gulled him The King on the other side alleged That he was haled unwillingly into France by a King in whose Power he was and to whom he dared to deny nothing at that time and therefore he did not despair but the French would be satisfied and appeased when they understood he was hurried thither by Force and carried none of his Country Forces along with him This Harangue with much ado quieted the Sedition for the present which was almost ready to break out But Henry who had Spies every where knew That the Tumult was rather suspended than that the Minds of Men were reconciled to him and therefore he Summoned Malcolm to come to a Convention at York There he was accused of a pretended Crime That the English had been worsted in France principally by his means and therefore it was referred to the Assembly Whether he ought not to lose all the Countries which he held in England Though he answered all the objected Crimes and fully cleared himself yet he found all their Ears shut against him as being prepossessed by the Fears or Favour of their King so that a Decree was made in Favour of Henry Neither was he contented with this Injury but he also suborned some Persons fit for his purpose to bruit it abroad That Malcolm had freely and of his own accord quitted his Interest in those Countries At which his Subjects the Scots were so incensed that at his Return home they besieged him in Perth and had almost taken him But by the Intervention of some great Men their Anger was somewhat abated when he had informed the Nobility how unjustly and fraudulently Henry had despoiled him of his Ancient Patrimony Whereupon they unanimously agreed upon a War that so he might recover by just Arms what was unlawfully taken from him by Force Thus a War was Decreed Denounc'd and Waged not without great Inconveniencies to both Nations At last both Kings came to a Conference not far from Carlisle and after much dispute Pro and Con Henry took away Northumberland from Malcolm leaving him Cumberland and Huntington-shire Henry had no other Pretence for his Ambitious Avarice but This That he could not suffer so great a Diminution to be made of his Kingdom But seeing no respect to Justice and Right no Pacts Covenants no nor the Religion of an Oath could hinder the unsatiable Avarice of Henry Malcolm being a Man of a low Spirit and too desirous of Peace upon any Conditions whatever accepted of his Terms sore against the Minds of the Scots Nobility who denied That the King could alienate any part of his Dominions without the General Consent of the Estates After this the King began to be despised by his Subjects as not having Fortitude or Prudence enough to weild the Scepter neither did any thing bridle their fierce Minds from Rising in Arms but a greater Fear from Henry who they knew did aim at the Conquest of the whole Island being encouraged thereunto by the Simplicity of Malcolm and by his Hopes of Foreign Aid This General Disaffection to the King did much lessen the Reverence of his Government A Rebellion was first begun by Angus or rather Aeneas of Galway a Potent Man but yet more encouraged by the Kings Sloth than his own Power Gilchrist was sent against him who overthrew him in Three Fights and compelled him to take Sanctuary in the Monastery of White-horn out of which it was not counted Lawful to pull him by Force and therefore after a long Siege being driven to the want of all Necessaries he was forced to Capitulate He was to lose part of his Estate for his Punishment and his Son was to be given as an Hostage for his good Behaviour for the future But he being of a lofty Spirit and not able to endure this abatement of his former Greatness turn'd Monk shaved himself and shut himself up in a Monastery near Edinburgh to avoid the shame and scorn of Men. Neither was there Peace in other Parts of the Realm for the Murray-Men being always given to Mutinying rose in Arms under Gildo or rather Gildominick their Captain and did not only spoil the circumjacent Counties but when Heralds of Arms were sent from the King they most barbarously slew them Gilchrist was sent out against them also with a greater Army but with unlike Success For the Valour of an Adversary which is wont to be a Terrour to other Rebels drove those wicked Persons conscious of their own Demerits to Desperation and therefore endeavouring to sell their Lives as dear as they could they routed the opposite Army and became Conquerors Malcolm upon this overthrow recruited his old Army and marched into Murray and met the Murray-Men at the Mouth of the River Spey who though they knew that the Kings Forces were encreased and Theirs diminished in the late Fight yet being encouraged by the Opportunity of the Place and their newly obtained Victory they resolved to Adventure a Battel The Fight was carried on with great Resolution and no less Slaughter For the Moravians gave not back till the Kings Forces being wearied had new Releif from Reserves sent them Then the Moravians were broken and there was no more Fighting but Killing The Fury of the Soldiers spared no Age nor Rank of Men. In this Fight the old Moravians were almost all slain which Punishment though Cruel seemed not to be undeserved and the Greatness of the Revenge was allayed and made excuseable by the Savage Cruelty of that perfidious People against others Hereupon new Coâ—onies were sent into the Lands of the slain Neither did Sumerled in this hurly burly think it fit to sit still
he as I said before after his overthrow fled into Ireland and from that time forward exercised Pyracy upon the Coasts of Scotland but now judging that a great Part of the Military Men being slain in Battel he might either get a rich Booty from those who would shun the hazard of Fighting or else an easie Victory from them who would stand to it gathered a great Band of Roysters together and arriving at the Firth or Bay of the River Clyde there made a Descent and Fortune at first favouring his Design he penetrated as far as Renfreu But there whilst he was more intent on Plunder than on the Safety of his Men he was surprized by a far less Number than his own and lost all his Soldiers he himself being saved and brought alive to the King for further Scorn and Punishment though some say That both he and his Son too were slain in the Battel These things were acted about the Year of Christ 1165. The Kingdom being thus quieted from all Tumults an Assembly of all the Estates was Indicted at Scone where many things were Decreed for the Confirmation of the State of the Kingdom and amongst the rest the whole Assembly unanimously made it their Request to the King That he would think of Marriage in regard he was now fit for it as being above Twenty Two years of Age and by that means he might beget Children to succeed him They told him It was a publick Debt due to the Kingdom as well as a private One to his Family and that he ought to mind not only the present time but to have a prospect to the Tranquillity of future Ages too His Answer was That ever since he had been capable to Order and Direct his own Life he had Solemnly Vowed to God to live a Continent and a Batchelor's Life which Vow said he I think was the more acceptable to God both because he gave me the strength to perform it and also because he hath prepared Heirs already to succeed me so that I am not compelled to break my Vow neither by any Weakness of my own Spirit nor by any other publick Necessity Thus dismissing the Parliament having Peace abroad he applied his Mind to the Arts of his Forefathers i. e. Building of Churches and Donations on Monks wherein he would have exceeded his Ancestors if God had given him a longer Life For he died not long after on the Fifth of the Ides of December in the Twenty Fifth Year of his Age and a little more than the Twelfth Year of his Reign and in the Year of our Redemption 1165. William The Ninety Third King HIS Brother William Succeeded him who entred upon the Kingdom Fifteen Days after Malcolm's Death He would Transact no Publick or Private Business of any weight till he had craved of Henry of England the Restitution of Northumberland Henry commanded him to come to London to do him Homage for the Counties of Cumberland and Huntingdon according to custom which he did not unwillingly yet desisted not from pressing to have Northumberland restored Henry gave him an Ambiguous Answer saying That in regard Northumberland was taken away from Malcolm and given to him by the States of the Kingdom he could not part from it without their Consent but he should come to the next Parliament and there expect Iustice to be done William though he expected no Good from the Parliament yet to cut off all occasions of Calumny from his Adversary resolved to wait in England for the Convening and Opening of it and in the mean time he accompanied Henry though against his Will to the War in France There he profited nothing by his daily Solicitations and foreseeing that the King would not speedily return into England with much ado he obtained a Convoy and returned into Scotland After his Return the first thing he did was to repress the Insolencies of Thieves and Robbers by punishing and clearing the Country of the Offenders Then he erected Castles and placed Garisons in convenient Places to prevent suddain Invasions At last he sent Ambassadors into England to demand Northumberland denouncing War in case of Refusal Henry being intangled in the French War yielded up to him that Part of Northumberland which William's great Grandfather held William took It but on this Condition That he would not remit his Right in or Claim to the rest The English King took this very heinously and being sorry he had parted with any of Northumberland before the Controversie was decided he made Incursions into the Scots Borders and thus sowed the Seeds of a new War and by this means he hoped to have taken away also the other Lands which he would have brought into dispute When Right was claimed by the Wardens of the Marches according to Custom the English complained That their Borders were molested by Scotish Robbers so that the Ambassadors were sent away without obtaining the thing they came for yea almost without an Answer The Scots to obtain that by Force which they could not do by fair means levied an Army and entred upon and wasted the bordering Lands of the English with Fire and Sword This being about Harvest the English in the absence of their King were content only to stand upon the Defensive what they could but then levied no Army yet the Winter following some Action passed and many Incursions were made The next Summer William listed a great Army and marched into the Enemies Country the English having few or no Forces ready to withstand them send Ambassadors to their Camp proffering a great Sum of Money for a Truce which if they could obtain they gave Hopes that all things would be accorded to Content William being a plain-Hearted Man and willing to preserve Peace if obtainable upon reasonable Conditions before a War though a just one gave Credit to their Fallacious Promises The English spent all the time of the Cessation in Preparations for War but in the mean time they plied the Scots with Ambassadors who made large Promises though their true Errand was to discover their Enemies Camp and finding the Scots on Confidence of the Truce re-miss and negligent and the greatest Part of their Army scattered to get in Forage they returned and gave their Army notice that now was a fair opportunity for Action which they urged them not to omit whereupon placing the greatest Part of their Army in Ambush about Four Hundred nimble Horsemen in the Third Watch a few hours before Sun-rising marched directly to Alnwick where the Scots Camp was pitcht there finding all things in greater Security than they expected they set upon the King who was riding up and down with Sixty Horse only as if there had been a setled Peace and before they could well be discerned whether they were Friends or Enemies for they disguised themselves with Scots Arms and Ensigns that they might pass for Scots They took him Prisoner in the Nineth Year of
Daughters The Eldest Named Margarite Married Alan of Galway a Man very powerful amongst the Scots The Second was matched to Robert Bruce Sirnamed the Noble of High English Descent and of a large Estate The Third was Married to Henry Hastings an Englishman also whose Posterity do deservedly enjoy the Earldom of Huntington at this day But to let him pass because he never put in for the Kingdom I shall confine my Discourse to the Stock Cause and Ancestry of Baliol and Bruce only Whilst William was King of Scotland Fergus Prince of Galway left Two Sons Gilbert and Ethred William to prevent the Seeds of Discord betwixt the Two Brothers divided their Fathers Inheritance equally betwixt them Gilbert the Eldest took this highly amiss and thereupon conceived an Hatred against his Brother as his Rival and against the King too for his unequal Distribution Thereupon when the King was Prisoner in England being then freed from fear of the Law he discovered his long-concealed Hatred against them both As for his Brother he took him unawares pulled out his Eyes cut out his Tongue and so not content with a single Death he put him to grievous and excessive Tortures before he dyed and he himself joyned with the English and preyed upon his Neighbors and Country-men as if they had been in an Enemies Country for he wasted all with Fire and Sword And except Rolland the Son of Ethred had gathered a Band of Countrymen who remained firm to the King together to resist his Attempts he had either wasted the neighbour Countries or drawn them all over to his Party This Rolland was a forward young Man of great Abilities both of Body and Mind he not only abated the Fury of his Uncle but many times fought valiantly and sometimes successfully with the English as he met them whilst he repressed their Plunderings or as he himself spoiled their Lands At last when the King was restored Gilbert by the Mediation of his Friends got a Pardon upon promise of a sum of Money for the Wrongs he had done and giving Pledges to that purpose But Gilbert dying a few days after those who were accustomed to Blood and Prey under him and who had given up themselves into the Protection of the King of England either out of the Inconstancy of their Dispositions or for fear of Punishment being stirr'd on by Gripes from an accusing Conscience for what they had formerly done took up Arms again under the Command of Gilpatrick Henry Kennedy and Samuel who before had been the Assistors and Companions to Gilbert in his Wickedness Rolland was sent with an Army against them and after a great Fight he slew their chief Leaders and a great Part of the common Soldiers They who escaped fled to one Gilcolumb a Captain of the Freebooters and Robbers who had made a great spoil in Lothian and much endamaged the Nobles and Richer sort of whom also he killed some Thence marching into Galway he undertook Gilbert's Cause when all others looked upon it as desperate He not only claimed his Lands as his Own but carried himself as the Lord of all Galway At last Rolland fought with him in the Calends of October about Three Months after Gilbert's Forces were defeated and slew him with the greatest part of his Army with very little loss of his own side amongst the slain there was found his own Brother a stout young Man The English being troubled at the overthrow of these Men who had put themselves under their Protection the Year before march'd with an Army to Carlisle thither also came Rolland being Reconciled to the King of England by the Mediation of William where he refuted the Calumnies of his Enemies and shewed That he had done nothing Maliciously or Causelesly against his own and the Publicks Enemy upon which he was honourably dismissed by the King William also returned home and calling to Mind the Constancy of his Father Ethred and how many Noble Exploits he had performed for the Good of the Publick he gave him all Galway And besides he bestowed Carrick on the Son of Gilbert though his Father had not deserved so well of him William of Newberry the English Writer Records these things as done Anno 1183. Rolland took to Wife the Sister of William Morvill who was Lord High Constable in Scotland who dying without Issue Rolland enjoyed that Office as Hereditary to him and his Family He had a Son called Alan who for his Assistance afforded to Iohn King of England in his Irish War was rewarded by him with large Possessions on which accompt by the permission of William of Scotland he was a Feudatary to the English King and swore Fealty to him This Alan took to Wife Margarite the Eldest Daughter of David Earl of Huntington By her he had Three Daughters the Eldest Dornadilla he Married to Iohn Baliol who was King of Scotland for some years But Robert Bruce Married Isabella Davids Second Daughter he came to be Earl of Carrick upon this Occasion Martha Countess of Carrick being Marriageable and the only Heiress of her Father who died in the Holy War as she was a Hunting cast her Eye on Robert Bruce the Beautifullest Young Man of all her Train whereupon she Courteously invited him and in a manner compelled him into her Castle which was near at Hand Being come thither his Age Beauty Kindred and Manners easily procuring mutual Love they were quickly Married in a private way When the King was informed thereof he was much offended with them Both because the Right of bestowing the Lady in Marriage lay in him yet by the Mediation of Friends he was afterwards Reconciled to them Out of this Marriage Robert Bruce was Born who afterwards was King of Scotland Thus having enlarged my self in this Prologue I come now to the Matter in Hand and to the Competitors of the Kingdom They were Dornadilla the Grand-child of David of Huntingdon by his Eldest Daughter and Robert Bruce Earl of Carrick Grand-son of the said David by his youngest Daughter Dornadilla's Pretensions were grounded on the Custom of the Country whereby he or she that was nearer in Degree had a better Right Robert Bruce insisted on the Sex that in a like degree of Propinquity Males ought to be preferred before Females so that he denied it to be just that as long as a Grand-son was alive a Grand-daughter should inherit her Ancestors Estate And though sometimes the contrary may be practised in the Inheritances of private Men yet the matter is far otherwise in those Estates which are called Feuds and in the Succession of Kingdoms And of this there was urged a late Example in the Controversie concerning the Dutchess of Burgundy which the Earl of Nevers who Married the Grand-child of the last Duke by his Eldest Son Claimed yet the Inheritance was adjudged to the Son of the Duke's younger Brother so that Robert contended That he was nearer in Degree as
the English and accepted by the Scots being now secure of the Kingdom came to Edward who was at New-Castle upon Tine and according to his Promise Swore Fealty to him so did the Nobles also who were of his Train as not daring to contradict Two Kings especially they being so far from home As soon as the rest of the Nobility heard of it they were grievously offended but being conscious of their want of Power they dissembled their Anger for the present But soon after an Occasion was offered them to shew it Mackduff Earl of Fife who in the Time of the Interregnum was One of the six Governors of the Land was slain by the Abernethians which was then a rich and potent Family in Scotland and the Earls Brother being accused by them and brought to his Answer before the Assembly of the States the King gave Sentence in Favour of the Abernethians So that Mackduff was dispossessed of the Land which was in Controversie betwixt them whereupon he conceived a double Displeasure against the King One on the Account of his own Wrong and Another because he had not severely punished the Murderers of his Brother So that he appealed to the King of England and desired that Baliol might answer the Matter before Him Hereupon the Cause was removed to London and as Baliol was casually sitting by Edward in the Parliament House and when he was called would have answered by a Proctor it was denied him so that he was enforced to arise from his Seat and to plead his Cause from a lower Place He bore the Affront silently for the present not daring to do otherwise but as soon as ever he was dispatched from thence such Flames of Anger burnt in his Breast that his Thoughts were wholly taken up how to reconcile his own Subjects and how to offend Edward As he was thus musing it happened commodiously for him That a new Discord arose betwixt the French and English which presently after broke out into a War Whereupon Embassadors were sent to the Assembly of Estates in Scotland from Both Kings The French's Errand was to renew the Old League with their New King And the English was upon the Account of their late Oath to Edward to receive Aid from them in the War he had undertaken Both Embassys were referred to the Council of the Estates where the Nobles prone to Rebellion were of Opinion That the Request of the French was Just of the English Unjust For the League made by universal Consent with the French more than 500 Years before had been kept Sacred and Inviolable to that very Day in regard of the Justness and Utility thereof but this late Subjection and surrendring themselves to the English was extorted from the King against his Will and thô as they proceeded to allege he had been willing yet it did oblige neither King nor Kingdom it being made by the King alone without the Consent of the Estates whereas the King might not act any Thing relating to the Publick state of the Kingdom without much less against the Advice of the States So a Decree was made that Embassadors should be sent into France to renew the Ancient League and that a Wife should be desired for Edward Baliol Son to Iohn out of the Kings Royal stem Another Embassy was also sent into England to signify that the King of Scots did revoke the Reddition of the Kingdom and Himself which he had forceably and unjustly made and renouncing his Friendship both for that Cause and also for the many and innumerable other Wrongs which he had done to Him and His he was resolved to assert his Ancient Liberty No man of any Eminencie would carry this Message to Edward because he was of a fierce Nature and was rendred more so by reason of the Indulgence of Fortune which made him even almost to forget himself At last a certain Monk or as some say the Abbat of Aberbrothoc carried Letters of that Import to him who was grievously affronted for his Pains and had much ado to escape home being protected more by his undervalued Tenuity than the Reverence of his Embassadorship In the mean time Edward had made a Truce with the French for some Months hoping That before they were ended he might subdue the Scots taking them unprovided and therefore he sent his Fleet designed for France against Scotland commanding them to stop all Provisions from being carried into Berwick wherein he heard there was a very strong Garison The Scots fought with this Fleet in the Mouth of the River they destroyed and took 18 of their Ships and put the rest to flight Edward out of Fierceness of Mind by this Loss was highly enraged to Revenge He Summons Baliol once and again to appear And he himself Levies a great Army and comes to New-Castle upon Tine There also he gave forth an Edict for Iohn to appear Legally to purge himself from the Crimes objected against him But neither He nor any for him appearing ar the day appointed he added Policy to Force and sent for Bruce and promises him the Kingdom if he would do his endeavour faithfully to Depose and drive out Baliol. To do which said he you need be at little Labour or Cost only write Letters to your Friends that either they would desert the Kings Party or not be hearty or forward if it came to a Battel He by great Marches came to Berwick but not being able to carry it by reason of the strength of the Garison he pretended to raise his Siege and caused a Rumour to be spread abroad by some Scots of Bruce his Party that he despaired of Taking it and that Baliol was coming with a great Army to raise the Siege and was now near at hand whereupon all the Chief Men of the Garison made haste out to receive him Honourably in promiscuous Multitudes Horse and Foot together so that Edward sent in some Horse amongst them some they trod down and killed others they divided from their Company and seizing on the nearest Gate they entred the Town Edward followed with his Foot and made a miserable Slaughter of all sorts of People Above 7000 of the Scots are reported to have been there slain amongst Them were the Flower of the Lothian and Fife Nobility Though I love not to interrupt the continued Series of my History as having resolved against it at first with any unnecessary Digression yet I cannot forbear to expose that unbridled Liberty of Evil speaking which Richard Grafton who lately compiled the History of England assumes to himself that so they who read what I here write may judge what Credit is to be given to him For he says that Hector Boetius writes in his 14th Book and ad Chapter That so much Blood was split there that Rivers of it running through the City might have driven a Water-Mill for two days To which I say First That Boetius never
Country he banished and sent the Scots Nobility whom he most suspected into the heart of England till his return Amongst which was Iohn Cumins Lord or Petty King of Badenach and Alan Longan a Man fit both for Advice and Action and having setled Matters after this sort he was so far from fearing any Insurrection in Scotland that he carried all his Army over along with him But hearing of the many Exploits of Wallace he thought there was need of a greater Force to suppress him yet that the Expedition was not worthy of a King neither as being only against a Roving Thief for so the English called Wallace and therefore he writes to Henry Percy Earl of Northumberland and William Latimer That they should speedily Levy what Forces they could out of the Neighbouring Parts and join themselves with Cressingham who as yet remained in Scotland to subdue the Rebellious Scots Thomas Walsingham writes that the Earl of Warren was General in this Expedition But Wallace who was then besieging the Castle of Cowper in Fife left his Army which he had increased against the coming of the English should be idle the English being near at hand marched directly to Sterlin The River Forth no where almost fordable may be there passed over by a Bridge of Wood though it be increased by the Addition of other Rivers and by the coming in of the Tide too There Cressingham passed over with the greatest part of his Army but the Bridge either having its Beams loosned and disjointed on purpose by the Skill of the Architect as our Writers say it was that so it might not be able to bear any great Weight or else being overladen with the heavy burden of so many Horse Foot and Carriages as passed over was broken and so the March of the rest of the English was precluded and hindred The Scots set upon Those who were passed over before they could put themselves into a Posture and having slain their General drove the rest back into the River the Slaughter was so great that they were all either killed or drowned Wallace returned from this Fight to the besieging of Castles and in a short time he so changed the Scene of Affairs that he left none of the English in Scotland but such as were made Prisoners This Victory wherein none of any eminency among the Scots fell save Andrew Murray whose Son some years was Regent of Scotland was obtained in the Ides of September in the year of Christ 1297. Some say that Wallis was called off to this Fight not from the Siege of Cowper but of Dundee whither he also returned after the Fight so Iohn Major and some Books found in Monasteries do relate By means of these Combustions the Fields lay untilled insomuch that after that Overthrow a Famine ensued and a Pestilence after the Famine from whence a greater Fear was apprehended than from the War Wallis to prevent this Mischief as much as he could called together all those who were fit for Service to appear at a certain day with whom he marched into England thinking with himself that their Bodies being exercised with Labour would be more healthy and that Wintring in an Enemies Country Provisions might be spared at home and the Soldiers who were in much want might reap some Fruit of their Labours in a rich Country and flourishing by reason of its continued Peace When he was entred into England no Man dared to attack him so that he staid there from the Calends of November to the Calends of February and having refreshed and inriched his Soldiers with the Fruits and Spoils of the Enemy he returned home with great Renown This Expedition as it increased the Fame and Authority of Wallis amongst the Vulgar sort so it heightned the envy of Nobles against him mightily For his Praise seemed a tacite Exprobration to them who being Men of great Power and Wealth either out of Slothfulness durst no◠or out of Perfidiousness would not attempt what He that was a Mean Man and destitute of all the Advantages of Fortune had not only valiantly undertook but also successfully performed Moreover the King of England finding the Business to be greater than could well be managed by his Deputies made some settlement of things in France and returned home and gathering together a great Army but hastily levied for he brought not back his Veteran Soldiers from beyond Sea and for the most part raw and unexperienced Men he marches toward Scotland supposing he had only to do with a disorderly Band of Robbers But when he saw both Armies in Battel array about 500 Paces one from another in the Plains of Stanmore he admired the Discipline Order and Confidence of his Enemies So that thô he himself had much the greater Force yet he durst not put it to the hazard of a Battel against such a Veteran and Experienced a Captain and against Soldiers inured to all hardships but turned his Ensigns and marched slowly back Wallace also durst not follow him for fear of Ambushes but kept his Army within their Trenches Having thus got the Victory thô Bloodless over so puissant a King his Enemies were so much the more enraged against him and caused Rumours to be scattered up and down That Wallis did openly affect a Supream or Tyrannical Power at which the Nobles especially Bruce and the Cumin's of the Royal Stock did mightily disdain for they said thus within themselves That if they must be Slaves they had rather be so under a Great and Potent King than under an Vpstart whose Domination was like to be not only base but also dangerous And therefore they determined by all means to undermine the Authority of Wallis Edward was not ignorant of these Disgusts and therefore the next Summer he Levies a Great Army consisting partly of English partly of Scots who had remained Faithful to him and came to Falkirk which is a Village built in the very Tract of the Wall of Severus and is distant from Sterling little more than 6 Miles The Scots Army were not far from them of sufficient strength for they were 30000. if the Generals and Leaders had agreed amongst themselves Their Generals were Iohn Cumins Iohn Stuart and William Wallace the most flourishing Persons amongst the Scots the Two former for their high Descent and Opulency the Later for the glory of his former Exploits When the Three Armies were ready to fight a new Dispute arose besides their former Envy Who should lead the Van of the Army and when all Three stood upon their Terms the English decided the Controversie who with Banners displaid marched with a swift pace towards them Cumins and his Forces retreated without striking a stroke Stuart being beset before and behind was slain with all that followed him Wallace was sorely pressed upon in the Front and Bruce had fetched a compass about an Hill and fell on his Reat yet he was as little disturbed
of his Men he durst not draw them forth into a Place of greater Disadvantage Hereupon he first sent an Herald to Bruce for a Truce wherein they might Treat of Terms of Peace The Truce being obtained Cumins made no more Mention of Peace but encreas'd his Forces as much as ever he could neither would he trust the Scots that were with him the Favour of many of them inclining to Robert but craved Aid from England In the mean time Bruce to remove the Contemptible Opinion which the English might conceive of him and to encourage the Spirits of his Friends was always nibbling at his Enemies Heels here taking some there others and surprizing their weakest Garisons he never staid long in a Place neither gave he Opportunity to the Enemy to fight him But about this time Simon Frazer and Walter Longan brave Soldiers Both and Lovers of their Country were taken by some of the Cuminian Faction delivered over to the English and put to Death at London And almost about the same time Iames Douglas joined himself with Bruce his Party He was the Son of William a young Man passing well instructed in all the Liberal Arts who when he was studying at Paris hearing that his Father was cast into Prison by the English where he soon after Died returned home to receive the Advice of his Friends how he might Order the Residue of his Life But being deprived of his Patrimony and all his Friends variously dispersed in great Want he repaired to William Lambert Bishop of St. Andrews by whom he was admitted as one of his Family and kindly entertained until King Edward came to Besiege Sterlin after he had Conquered almost all Scotland besides Lambert going thither to Salute the King carried Douglas along with him and having gotten a fit Opportunity he spake to the King to restore his Patrimony to take him into his Protection and to make Use of his Faithful Endeavours in his Service some other things he also added in Praise of the young Man the King hearing of his Name and Family spake very roughly concerning the stubbornness of William his Father withal adding That he intended not to make any use of his Son nor of any Assistance of his and as for his Paternal Estate he could not restore it if he would because he had gratified his Friends with it who had merited well of him Iames being thus dismissed by the King stayed with Lambert till Bruce came to Merne And then that might he omit no Occasion to prejudice Edward whose Mind he found was implacably bent against him he took away Lamberts Horses and some Money not without his Privity and came to Bruce and his Service was of great use to him in many sharp Storms afterwards Not long after Both Kings almost in the same Moment of time fell grievously Sick Edward being busie in Preparations for War against Scotland died within a few days at Lancaster leaving his Second Son Edward for his Heir who was called Edward of Carnarvon from the Place where he was Born he marching into his Enemies Country with the Army which his Father had recruited sent a Proclamation before to Dumfreiz That all the Scots should meet him there but there came in but a Few and those out of the Neighbouring Parts and very heavily too He being also informed That his Matters beyond Sea went not well on left a Force such as he thought sufficient to quell the Insurrection in Scotland and settling things as soon as he could he passed over into France In the interim Robert hearing of Edward's Death was somewhat relieved and began to hope better of his Affairs and so the strength of his Mind supported his weak Body But not being ignorant how much the sole Conduct of a General might contribute to a Victory he so prepared himself for the extreme Push of Fortune that he expected his Enemy and a Battel On the other side the English King coming back more slowly than his Friends hoped Iohn Cumins being greedy of the Glory That the War was ended by him hoping also that Robert was dead by reason of his sore Disease added to his other Hardships or at least that his Sickness would hinder him from being present in the Army gathered together all the Forces he could make and marched directly towards his Enemy On the other side Robert to encourage his Men caused himself to be set on Horseback His very Sight tho' he was supported by Two Men and could not stay long yet gave such Heart to his Men that they never began any Fight more Courageously than they did That Cumins who had placed the Hope of his Victory in the Sickness of his Enemy being not able to keep his Men together neither by Persuasions nor Punishments was forced to fly away in their Company many were taken in the pursuit and all courteously used This Victory gotten at Ennerury as it recovered the King from his Disease so it was the Omen of his future prosperous Proceedings for from that day forward he succeeded in All that he attempted A while after he marched into the Country of Argyle which he pillaged and forced Alexander the Lord of it to a Surrender who retiring into England in a little time there ended his miserable Life in great Want The same Year the Day before the Calends of Iuly Edward Bruce also had prosperous success at a Battel fought at Die a River of Galway Rolland a Noble Knight of Galway was slain in the Fight Donald the Islander was taken Prisoner as he was flying away and the whole Country of Galway was wasted far and near These Tumults rouz'd up Edward who was rather desirous to live in Peace to a War even against his Will for perceiving that his Affairs were ill-managed he the next Year with a great Army of English entred Scotland and there joyned a numerous Body of Scots who had not yet revolted from the English With those Forces he pierced as far as Ranfro◠and then retreated having performed no Memorable Act in his Expedition either because he himself was of a dull and unactive Nature or else because Robert besides the scarcity which did then generally afflict all Scotland had caused all the Provisions to be carried away from those Places thrô which his Army was to march and had laid them up more out of the way After his Departure Robert spent the rest of the Year in recovering those Castles which the English yet held of which Many surrendred before they were Besieged as despairing of any help from England The next Year which was 1310. Bruce to cry quits with the English for the damage they had done in Scotland marched twice into England with his Army and returned back laden with spoils without any Encounter at all The Two next Years he recovered almost all the strong Garisons which yet remained in the hands of the English He took Perth by Storm and put all the Garison
Soldiers both English and Scots promiscuously to the Sword and that others might be deterred from the like Obstinacy by their Example he razed their Walls and filled up their Trenches The Terror of that Example caused Dumfriez Lanerick Air and Bote and many other weaker Forts to Surrender At the beginning of the Spring Roxburgh was taken by Iames Douglas when the Garison was intent upon their Sports and Pastimes in those Revels which were wont to be celebrated at the beginning of Lent And not long after Thomas Randolph recovered the Strong Castle of Edinburgh The Isle of Man was also surrendred and the Castles thereof demolished that they might not again be a Receptacle to the Enemy In the mean time Edward Bruce closely besieged the Castle of Sterlin scituate on a Rock steep every way but one where the Passage to it lay It was defended by Philip Mowbray a vigilant Commander who perceiving the Success of the Brucians in Scotland and foreseeing a Siege had mightily stored and fortified it with Arms and Provisions before hand And therefore when Edward had fruitlessly spent many days in besieging it and had no hopes to carry it by force That he might not seem to be repulsed without doing any thing he enters into Conditions with Mowbray That if he was not relieved in an Year to commence from that very Day by the English then the Castle was to be surrendred and the Garison should have Liberty Bag and Baggage to march whither they pleased These Conditions did much displease the King yet that he might not detract from his Brothers Credit he resolved to observe them Yet in regard he did not doubt but the English would come at the time appointed he prepares as much as in so great a scarcity of things he was able to manage his last Encounter with his potent Enemy And indeed Edward considering that he was not only dispossessed of Scotland whose People his Father had left to him conquered and broken but that England was also in danger had a desire to root out so Rebellious Disobedient and Unquiet a Nation In order whereunto he levied an Army not only of English and such Scots who adhered to them but he increased it by supplys from his Transmarine Dominions which then were many great and opulent so that his Army was bigger than ever any King of England had before Yea he received also an Accession of Force from his Allyes beyond the Seas especially from Flanders and Holland whom his Father had strenuously assisted against Philip King of France They say it consisted of above 100000 Fighting men There followed also his Army a Multitude of Baggagers Attendants and Sutlers who carries Provision both by Sea and Land because they were to come into a Country not very fruitful of it self and besides which had so many years before been harassed with all the Miseries of War Moreover there was a Multitude of Such as were to set out or describe Colonies and to receive Dividends of Land who brought their Wives and Children along with them so that the Force of so Rich Powerful and Flourishing a Kingdom as England was being thus as it were abridged and epitomized into one Army the Consideration thereof produced such a Confidence in them all That now all the Discourse was not of Fighting but rather of Dividing the Spoil Bruce hearing of this great Preparation of the Enemy prepares also his Forces far inferiour in Number to so great a Multitude as being Thirty Thousand only but such as were inured to Hardships and the Toyl of a Civil War and who now carried the Hopes of their Lives Fortunes and of all that is dear to Men as it were on the Point of their Swords With this Army he sate down on the left Bank of the River Bannock This River hath steep Banks on Both sides and it had but a few and those too narrow Passages or Fords it is about Two Miles from Sterlin Below the Hills before it makes its influxe into the Forth it passeth thrô a little leveller Ground yet here and there it is Marshy In the Winter it usually runs with a rapid Torrent but in that hot Time of the Year the Water was but Low and Fordable in many Places Bruce by how much the Weaker in Force was so much the more Circumspect and therefore he used Art and Policy to make the Passage over the River more difficult to the English who possessed the right-hand Bank thereof In order whereunto he caused deep Trenches to be dug in level Places wherein he fastened sharp Stakes or Spikes and covered them with some light Turffs a top that so his Stratagem might not be discovered and moreover he caused Calthrops of Iron to be thrown up and down on the Ground in Places most convenient Wherefore when Camp was almost joyned to Camp as being on different Hills only a small River between them Edward sent 800 Horse a little before to Sterlin who marched a little off from the Camp Robert imagining that they were sent to plunder in the Neighbourhood gave command to Thomas Randolph to follow them with 500 Horse either to prevent the stragglers in wasting the Country or if a fit Occasion were offered to fight them The English seeing them desisted from their intended March to Sterlin and faced about The Fight was sharp and continued long the Victory inclining for a time to neither Party so that Iames Douglas being concerned for the Scots who were the fewer in Number earnestly desired Bruce That he might go and relieve them Bruce peremptorily denied him whereupon tho' at present a Spectator only from an Hill yet he resolved if the Scots were further distressed to succour them but perceiving the English to give back and the Scots to get Ground he stopped his March that so he might detract nothing from another mans Praise The English having lost but those Few out of so numerous an Army were not discouraged in their Spirits and also the Scots prepared themselves for the Encounter the next day as if they had already received an Omen of a compleat Victory The Night thô very short for the Battel was fought on the 9 th of the Calends of Iuly yet seemed long to both Parties for the Eagerness they had to Fight All the Scots were divided into Three Brigades The King led the Middle or Main Battel His Brother Commanded the Right Wing and Randolf the Left The English besides a multitude of Archers which they placed on the outside of Both their Wings had also Curiassiers out of France They speeding towards Randolf who stood on the Lower Ground and endeavouring to fall obliquely on his Flank fell suddainly into the Diâ—ches made by Bruce where they tumbled one upon another with great Slaughter both of Man and Horse They that first fell in were Slain by the pressure of Those that fell upon them and the last Ranks being discouraged at the loss of the
First retreated back This Terror did also somewhat retard the Foot for they were afraid of falling into the like Snares There also did happen another Accident which thô little in itself yet contributed very much as such Niceties are wont to do in War to the main Chance Robert rode up and down before his Army to keep them in their Ranks having a Batoon in his Hand a certain Englishman knew him and ran at him with his Spear The King avoided the blow and as the Horse in his Carrier ran a little beyond him struck his Rider dead with his Batoon and down he tumbled from his Horse to the ground The Common Soldiers highly commended the perillous Audacity of the King and were hardly kept in by their Commanders but hand over head would rush upon the Enemy with such an eagerness of Mind that they were likely to break their Enemies Ranks unless the English Archers who were placed in their Wings had repulsed them with great Loss and Bruce also sent in some Troops of Horse who drove them back Yet in this Action a Mistake did more prejudice to the English than their Enemy did The Rabble-Rout which followed the Camp caused the Baggage-men to mount their Draught horses and to hang out some Linen Cloth instead of Ensigns thus they stood on an Hill where they might easily be seen and made an Appearance of a new Army The English who stood nearest were surprized with a double Fear and betook themselves to their Heels Their Fear disordered the rest of the Army A Multitude of common Soldiers were slain the pursuit some of our Writers say Thi◠Fifty Thousand English fell at that Fight Caxton an Englishman doth not set down the precise Number but he says it was a mighty Overthrow an innumerable Multitude being slain and he did well in not being positive in the Number for it was hard to compute it in regard the Flight was so scattered wherein more perished than in the Battel This is certain the Slaughter was so great that the English thô they had many Provocations from the Scots yet did not stir for Two or Three Years after Of the English Nobility there fell about Two hundred and almost an equal Number were taken Prisoners The Prisoners related That the King himself began to fly first and if he had not been received into the Castle of Dunbar by the Earl of March and so sent in a Skiff by Water to Berwick he had not escaped the hands of Douglass who with 400 Horse pursued him Forty Miles Amongst the Prisoners there was taken a Monk One of those who are called Carmelites from Mount Carmel in Syria he was accounted a good Poet for that Age and was brought into the Army to celebrate the Victory of the English in a Poem but they being beaten he Sung their Overthrow in a Canto for which he had his Liberty His Verse was rude and barbarous yet it did not altogether displease the Ears of the Men of that Age. Neither was the Victory unbloody to the Scots they lost above Four thousand Men amongst whom there were but Two Knights Hereupon Sterlin Castle was surrendred according to Compact and the Garison sent away About these times there happened a Passage not unworthy to be related in regard of the variety of Providences in a narrow compass of time Iohn Menthet who betrayed his Friend Wallis to the English and was therefore worthily hated by the Scots received amongst other Rewards the Government of the Castle of Dumbritton from the English When other Forts were recovered That only or but very few with it held out for the English And because it was naturally impregnable the King dealt with the Governor by his Friends and Kindred to Surrender it He demanded the Country or Earldom of Lennox as the Price of his Treachery and Surrender Neither would he ever so much as hear of any other Terms In this Case the King did waver and fluctuate in his Mind what to do on the One side he earnestly desired to have the Castle yet on the Other he did not so much prize it as for its sake to disoblige the Earl of Lennox who had been his Fast and almost his only Friend in all his Calamities But the Earl of Lennox hearing of it and coming in soon decided the Controversie and persuaded the King by all means to accept the Condition Hereupon the Bargain was made as Iohn Menteith would have it and Solemnly confirmed But when the King was going to take Possession of the Castle a Carpenter one Rolland met him in the Wood of Cholcon about a Mile from it and having obtained Liberty to speak with the King concerning a matter of great importance he told him what Treachery the Governor did intend against him Yea and had prepared to execute it It was This In a Wine-Cellar concealed and under Ground a sufficient number of Englishmen were hid who when the rest of the Castle was given up and the King secure were to issue forth upon him as he was at Dinner and either to kill or take him Prisoner Hereupon the King upon the Surrender of the other Parts of the Castle by Iohn being kindly invited to a Feast refused to eat till as he had searched all other parts of the Castle so he had viewed that Wine-Cellar also The Governor excused it pretending That the Smith who had the Key was out of the way but that he would come again anon the King not satisfied therewith caused the Door to be broken open and so the Plot was discovered The English were brought forth in their Armour and being severally examined confessed the whole Matter and they added also another discovery viz. That a Ship rode ready in the next Bay to carry the King into England The Complices in this wicked Design were put to death but Iohn was kept in Prison because the King was loth to offend his Kindred and especially his Sons in Law in so dangerous a time For he had many Daughters all of them very beautiful and Married to Men rich enough but Factious Therefore in a time of such imminent Danger the Battel drawing near wherein All was at stake lest the Mind of any powerful Man might be rendred averse from him and thereby inclined to practise against him Iohn was released out of Prison upon this Condition for the performance whereof his Sons in Law undertook That he should be placed in the Front of the Battel and there by his Valour should wait the Decision of Providence And indeed the Man otherwise fraudulent was in this as good as his Word for he behaved himself so Valiantly that that days Work procured him not only Pardon for what was past but large Rewards for the future The Fame of this Victory being divulged over all Britain did not only abate the Fierceness of the English but raised up the Scots even from extream Desperation supplying them not only with Money
to have their Cause heard and never shunned the Determination of an Equal Judge nor the Arbitration of any Good men and moreover when they produced many Grants and Summons of Former Popes which made for them and against their Enemies the Scots were always present at the day and the English tho' they had Notice given never came Hereupon the Pope was easily reconciled to the Scots and the French as easily induced to renew the Ancient League only one Article was added to the old Conditions That if any Controversy did hereafter arise amongst the Scots concerning him who was to succeed in the Kingdom the same should be decided by the Council of the States and the French if there were need were to assist Him by his Authority and with his Arms who by Lawful Suffrages was by them declared King Our Writers cast the Rise of the Hamiltons now a powerful Family in Scotland upon these Times There was a certain Nobleman in the Court of England who spake Honourably of the Fortune and Valour of Bruce whereupon one of the Spencers Bed-Chamber Man to the King either thinking That his Speech was Reproachful to the English or else to curry Favour with the looser sort of the Nobility drew forth his Faucheon and making at him gave him a slight wound in the Body The Man being of a great Spirit was more concerned at the Contumely than at the Damage and being hindered by the coming in of many to part the Fray from taking present Revenge the day after finding his Enemy in a sit Posture in the same place he run him thorough And fearing the Punishment of the Law and the great Power of the Spencers at Court he fled presently into Scotland to King Robert by whom he was courteously received and some Lands near the River Clyde were bestowed upon him His Posterity not long after were admitted to the Degree of Noblemen and the Opulent Family of the Hamiltons was Sirnamed from him and also the Name of Hamilton was imposed on the Lands which the King gave him Not long after Edward had great Combustions at home insomuch that he put many of the Nobles to Death and advanced the Spencers the Authors of all Evil Counsel higher than his own Kindred could bear so that he was apprehended by his Son and by his Wife who had received a small Force from beyond the Seas and kept close Prisoner and not long after he was slain by a course sort of Death an hot Iron was thrust into his Fundament through a Pipe of Horn by which his Bowels were burnt up and yet no Sign of so terrible a Fact appeared on the outside of his Body His Wife and Son were thought Privy to the Parricide either because his Keepers would never have dared to commit such a Deed so openly unless they had had Great Authors or else because they were never called in Question for so Immane a Butchery These Disturbances in England which were followed by the Kings Death Bruce also growing old and weak in Body were the Occasions that Peace for some Years did intercede between the Two Neighbour Nations For Bruce being freed from the Fear of the English and being also called upon by his Age converted his Thoughts to settle his Domestick Affairs And first he made hast to confirm the Kingdom which was not yet quite recovered nor fully setled from the Commotions of former Times to his only Son yet but a Child by the Consent and Decree of the Estates And if he died without Issue then he appointed Robert Stuart his Nephew by his Daughter to be his Successor He caused the Nobles to take an Oath for the Performance of this Decree But afterwards fearing That after his Death Baliol would begin his old Dispute about the Kingdom especially seeing his Heirs because of their Minority might be liable to be injured by others he sent Iames Douglas to Iohn Baliol being in France with large Gifts and Promises That he would cease his Claim to the Kingdom This he did not so much to acquire a new Right because according to the Scotish Custom The King is made by the Decree of the Estates who have the Supream Power in their Hands but that he might cut off all Occasion from Wicked Men to Calumniate his Posterity and also that he might Eradicate the very Seeds of Sedition Douglas found Baliol far more placable than he or others thought he would be for he was now surrounded with the Miseries of Extream Old Age. He ingenuously Confessed That his Peccant Exorbitance was justly restrained and that he was deservedly driven out of the Kingdom as unworthy to Reign And therefore he was very willing That his Kinsman Robert should enjoy the Crown by whose high Valour singular Felicity and great Pains-taking 't was Vindicated into its Ancient Splendour In one thing he rejoyced That they by whom he was deceived did not enjoy the Reward of their Perfidiousness When Robert had setled these Matters according to his own desire the same Year which was 1327. our Writers say That Ambassadors were sent into Scotland by Edward the Third for a Pacification in which Matter they seemed to act Treacherously and instead of Peace they carried home War but what the particular Fraud was is not expressed and the English say That the War was openly denounced by Robert but they describe not the Cause of it surely it must needs be some great and mighty One or else a valetudinary old Man when Peace was scarce setled at home and who might have been sated with his former Victories rather than with War would not so soon have been provoked to reassume his Arms. This is certain That the King by reason of his Age could not manage the War himself in Person so that Thomas Randolfe and Iamâ—s Douglas the Valiantest and Wisest of all that Age were sent by him into England with Twenty Thousand brave nimble Horse but no Foot at all The Reason was That they might fly up and down swiftly and not abide in one place nor be forced to Fight the English unless they themselves pleased For they knew that the English would make Head against them in their first Expedition with a far more numerous Army Neither were they deceived in their Opinions for the King of England besides his Domestick Forces had procured great Assistance of Horse from Belgium but in regard they and the English fell out at York some English Writers say That they returned home again But Frossard a French Writer of the same Age says That they accompanied the English during the whole Expedition and that not only for Honours sake but also for Fear of Sedition they had the next Place to the Kings Regiment always assigned to them in the Camp The King having made a Conjunction of all his Forces which were clearly above Sixty Thousand Men marched against the Scots who had already passed over the Tine Now there were
Assoon as they came in fight one of another the Scots had so divided their Men into Three Batailions upon an Hill that the Rocks and Precipices thereof secured them on the Right and Left from whence they might cast down Stones on the Enemy if they endeavoured to come up to them At the Foot of the Hill the English had a rapid Torrent to pass so full of Great and Round Stones that they could not Ford over to their Enemy or if they had so done they could not Retreat without certain Ruin The English perceiving that they could not come at the Enemy but with great disadvantage pitched their Tents and sent an Herald at Arms to the Scots advising them to come down into the Champion Country to Fight for Glory and Empire by true Valour in an open Plain The Scots answered That they would Fight for no bodies pleasure but their own That they marched into England to revenge the Injuries they had received if they had done any thing which did offend them they had free Liberty to take their own Revenge As for Themselves they resolved to abide There as long as they pleased and if their Enemy did attaque them at his Peril be it The next Three Days their Camps being near and Parties placed at the Fords some slight Skirmishes passed betwixt them the Fourth Day assoon as it was Light the Watch brought Word That the Scots had forsaken the Hill on which they were whereupon Scouts were sent out to bring certain News and to follow them if they had Retreated who brought word That the Scots had pitched their Tents on another Hill by the same River much more convenient for them than the First where they had a Wood which secured their Ingress and Egress The English who hoped that they should Famish the Scots who avoided Fighting in a Foreign Soil being frustrated of their Expectation followed them and pitched their Tents on an opposite Hill After they had abode there some Days it was observed That they grew more Negligent than formerly in their Night-watches either because they undervalued the Scots because of their Paucity or else because they meditated nothing but Flight Douglas took hold of the Opportunity to attempt something and passing over the River with 200 Select Horse he entred the Enemies Camp where he saw it was but slenderly Guarded He had almost pierced to the King 's own Tent where cutting off the Cords the Alarm being taken he killed near 300 English in his Retreat and brought his Men safely off After this no Memorable Action happened save that the English instructed by their own Loss placed more careful Watches in convenient Places At last it was told them by a Scot whom they had taken Prisoner That there was a Proclamation in that Camp That at the Third Watch all should be ready to follow Douglas whither-soever he should lead them This Relation struck such a Terror into the Englâ—sh That dividing their Army into Three Batailions at a moderate Distance one from another they stood all that Night in their Arms and their Servants held their Horses Bridled Sadled and ready prepared for whatever should happen in their Camp And moreover they placed strong Guards at all the Fords of the River At last towards Day Two Scots Trumpeters were brought to the King who told him That the Scots were Commanded to returned home and if the English had a mind to revenge the Loss they had sustained they must Follow them Hereupon the English called a Council of War where it was resolved That it was better to march back with the Army at present than to follow such flying Stragglers to the great vexation both of Horse and Man considering they had lost more Men in this Expedition by Famine and Sickness than might have fallen in a Set-Battel When their Retreat was resolved upon many of the English either in hopes of Prey which might be left behind in their hasty Retreat or else desirous to understand something of their Enemies Affairs went into their Camp where they found about Five Hundred Deer and especially Stags already killed of which sort the English keep many not only their Kings but even many private Persons also and also great Budgets made of raw Skins in which they boiled their Meat and about Ten Thousand Snapsacks Moreover there were Two English Men whose Legs were broken but they were yet alive All these things being Evidences of great Hardiness and Poverty did confirm the goodness of their Advice who were for marching the Army back This Year Walter Stuart and Queen Elizabeth died one the Son in Law the other Wife to the King Besides the Castles of Alnewick and Norham were besieged by the Scots but without Success Preys were also driven out of Northumberland In March Ambassadors came from England to treat of a perpetual Peace and a Truce was made for Three Years The next Year which was 1328. the English held a Parliament at Northampton the Eighth of the Calends of Iuly wherein all the Orders of Estates agreed to a Peace with the Scots upon these Terms That the English should renounce all Right which they or their Ancestors pretended to have to the Crown of Scotland and That they should leave That Kingdom as Free as it was at the Death of Alexander the Third and That they should be Subject to no External Yoke of Servitude and on the other side the Scots were to surrender up all the Lands they sometimes held in England as Feudataries That Cumberland and Northumberland as far as Stanmore should be Boundaries to the Scots That David the Son of Robert should take to Wife Ioan the Sister of Henry That the English should faithfully return all Pacts Bonds and Writings or any other Monuments of Subjection into the Hands of the Scots and should disanul them for the future That the Scots for the Damage which they had lately done the English King and for the Lands which his Father and Grandfather had given to his Favourites in Scotland should pay him Thirty thousand Marks of Silver Both Kings had their proper Reasons why they consented so easily to these Conditions The English King having wasted his Treasure and having been put to an Ignominious Flight and thereby lessened in the Eyes of his own Subjects as well as of his Enemies thereupon was afraid That some Domestick Sedition would arise and then a Warlike Enemy pufft up with his late Success should come on his Flank and thereby mightily endamage his Kingdom And Robert being broken with Old Age Toil and Diseases for a little before his death he fell into a Leprosy having also been long exercised with the events of both Fortunes good and bad resolved if he could to give up himself to his Ease and not only so but to provide for the Tranquillity of his Heirs in regard of their infirm and tender Age. And therefore having settled Peace abroad he turned himself wholly
made to him he now thought it seasonable to Declare Himself King That Advice was safer to him because the greatest part of the Slaughter had fallen upon the Families adjoyning to Perth For there were slain in the Battel besides the Regent Robert Keith with a great number of his Kindred and Tenants There fell Eighty of the Family of the Lindseys and amongst them Alexander the chief of the Sept. The Name of the Hays would have been quite extinguished in this Fight if William the Chief of the Family had not left his Wife big with Child behind him Moreover Thomas Randolfe Robert Bruce Murdo Earl of Monteath William Sinclare Bishop of the Caledonians and Duncan Macduff Earl of Fife made Prisoners by him and being thus in such a desperate Posture were enforced to take an Oath of Obedience to him Baliol The Eighty Ninth King HEreupon Baliol trusting to his present Fortune went to the Neighbouring Abby of Scone and there entred upon the Kingdom in the Year of our Lord 1332. the Eighth of the Calends of September By this Wound and Loss the Power of David Bruce was much weakened in Scotland yet his Friends not broken in their Spirits by this Calamity took care to secure him from the danger of War he not being yet fit to manage the Government and therefore they sent him and his Wife to his Fathers Friend Philip King of France to be there out of Harms way In the mean time they prepare themselves for all hazards being resolved to Dye Honourably or else to restore their Country to its former State And First of all they set up Andrew Murray an Eminent Person Son of the Sister of Robert Bruce as Regent in the place of Duncan then they sent Messengers into all parts of the Kingdom partly to confirm and fix their old Friends and partly to spur up the more Remiss to Thoughts of Revenging their wrongs The â—irst who took Arms as being excited by their Grief for the loss of their Parents and Kindred at Duplin were Robert Keith Iames and Simon Frazer who about the Autumnal Aequinox besieged Perth the Siege lasted longer than they expected yet in Three Months they took it Macduff Earl of Fife who held the Town for Baliol was sent Prisoner with his Wife and Children to Kildrum a Castle in Marr Andrew Murray of Tullibardin who discovered the Ford over the River Earn to the English was put to death The Black Bock of Pasley says That the Walls of the Town were demolished which seems more probable to me than that it should be made a Garison as others write especially in so great a want of Faithful Friends and Soldiers At the same time Baliol was at Annandale very busie in receiving the Homage of the Nobles who were so much surprized and astonished at the suddain Mutation of Things That even Alexander Bruce Lord of Carrick and Galway despairing of the Retrieve of his Kinsman David's Affairs came in to him After this prosperous Success he despised his Enemy and grew more negligent and regardless of him When the Regent heard thereof by his Spyes he sent Archibald Douglas Brother to Iames who was lost in Spain That if there were any Opportunity for Action he should lay hold upon it He took with him William Douglas Earl of Liddisdale Iohn Randolfe the Son of Thomas and Simon Frazer with a Thousand Horse and so came to Maufet where having sent out Scouts to see that the Coast was clear he marched in the Night and set upon Baliol as he was asleep and put his Army into so great a Fright and Consternation that Baliol himself half Naked was fain to get upon an Horse neither Bridled nor Sadled and so fled away many of his Intimate Friends were slain Alexander Bruce was taken Prisoner and obtained his Pardon by the means of his Kinsman Iohn Randolfe Henry Baliol got great Credit that day by his Valour amongst both Parties who in so confused a Flight defended some of his Men whom their persuers pressed upon he wounded many and killed some of his Enemies and at last was slain Fighting valiantly There fell also the Chief of the English Faction Iohn Mowbray Walter Cumins and Richard Kirke These Things were acted the Eighth of the Calends of Ianuary in the Year 1332. The Brucian Party were somewhat relieved by these Successes so that they came in great Numbers to Andrew Murray the Regent to consult about the main Chance They made no doubt but that Baliol fought the Kingdom not for himself but for the English by whom he was guided and influenced in every thing Wherefore they resolved to Declare the King of England their Enemy and accordingly they prepared all things necessary for the War with great Diligence as against a very powerful Enemy They made the Garison of Berwick very strong for they thought the English would Assault That first They made Alexander Seton a worthy Knight Governour of the Town and Patrick Dunbar of the Castle and the adjoyning Precincts William Douglas Earl of Liddisdale whose Valour and Prudence was highly commended in those Times was sent into Annandale to defend the Western Coasts Andrew Murray went to Roxburgh where Baliol kept himself Thus their several Governments being distributed at home Iohn Randolfe was sent into France to visit David and to make an Address to Philip of France informing him of the State of Scotland and desiring some Aid from him against the Common Enemy Murray at his coming to Roxburgh had a sharp encounter with Baliol at a Bridge without the City and whilst he pressed too eagerly after the English who were retreating over the Bridge into the Town he was intercepted from his Men and taken Prisoner whereby a Victory almost quite obtained slipt out of his hands At the same time in a contrary Province William Douglas of Liddisdale in a Fight with the English was wounded and made Prisoner whose Disaster so troubled his Men that they also were put to flight This Inconstancy and Variableness of Fortune divided Scotland again into Two Factions even as Love Hatred Hope Fear or each Man 's private Concern inclined him The King of England presuming That by reason of these Dissensions he had a fit opportunity to seize upon Scotland received Baliol into his Protection for he was too weak to support himself by his own Strength and took an Oath of Obedience from him yea nothing regarding his Right of Affinity with Bruce nor reverencing the Sanctity of Leagues nor the Religion of an Oath so that he might satisfie his immoderate Ambition he at once denounced and also made War on the Scots at that time destitute of a King and also at variance amongst themselves And to give a colourable Pretence of Justice to his War he sent Embassadors to demand Berwick which Town his Father and Grandfather had held many Years and he presently followed with an Army
not come down into the Champion he placed all the Scots Army on a contrary Part of the Hill This his rash Counsel and Project had the like Event for as with great Difficulty they were getting up the Hill the Enemy with their Darts and the hurling down of Stones did wound them very sore before they came to handy Blows and when they came near they rushed upon them in such close Bodies that they tumbled them headlong over the steep Precipices There fell that day about Ten some say Fourteen Thousand of the Scots almost all such who escaped out of the unhappy Battel of Duplin were lost here The chief of them whose Names are recorded were Archibald himself the General Iames Iohn and Alan Stuarts Uncles to Robert who Reigned next after the Brucians Hugh Kenneth and Alexander Bruce the several and respective Earls of Ross Sutherland and Carrâ—ck Andrew Iohn and Simon three Brothers of the Frazers This Overthrow of the Scots happened on St. Mary Magdalens Day in the Year 1333. After this Fight all Relief was despaired of so that Alexander Seaton surrendred up the Town to the English and Patrick Dunbar the Castle upon Condition to march out with all their Goods Both of them were forced to Swear Fealty to the English and Patrick Dunbar was further enjoyned to Re-edifie the Castle of Dunbar at his own Charge which he had demolished that it might not be a Receptacle to the English Edward having staid there a few days Commended the Town and the Reliques of the War to Baliol and he himself retired into his own Kingdom leaving Edward Talbot in Scotland a Noble Person and very Prudent with a few English Forces to assist Baliol in subduing the rest of Scotland And indeed it seemed no great Task so to do in regard that almost all the Nobility were Extinct and of those few that remained some came in to the Conqueror others retired either into Desert or else Fortified Places The Garisons which remained Faithful to David were very few as on this side the Forth an Island in a Lough whence the River Down flows scarce big enough to bear a moderate Castle and Dumbritton beyond the Forth a Castle scituate in Lough Levin and also Kildrummy and Vrchart The next Year Ambassadors came from the Pope and from Philip King of France to end the disputes between the Kings of Britain The English were so puft up with the prosperous course of their Affairs that the King would not so much as admit the Ambassadors into his Presence for he thought That the Hearts of the Scots were so cowed and their strength so broken That for the future they durst not neither were they able again to Rebel But this great Tranquillity was soon changed into a most grievous War and that upon a very light Occasion where it was least expected viz. Upon a Discord arising amongst the English themselves at Perth Iames Mowbray had Lands given to his Ancestors in Scotland by Edward the First but they being lost by the various Changes of the Times he recovered them again when Edward Baliol was King He dying without Issue Male Alexander their Uncle Commenced a Suit against his Daughters for those Lands Those of the English Faction that maintained the Cause of the Females were Henry Beaumont who had Married one of them also Richard Talbot and David Cumins Earl of Athol Baliol took Alexanders part and decided or adjudged the Lands to him which so offended his Adversaries that they openly complained of the Injustice of the Decree and seeing that Complaints availed nothing they left the Court and went every one to his own home Talbot was going for England but being apprehended was carried to Dunbarton Beaumont Garisoned Dundury a strong Castle of Buchan and took Possession not only of the Lands which were in Controversie but also of all the Neighbouring Country Cumins went into Athol where he fortified some convenient Places and prepared to defend himself by force if he were attacked Baliol being afraid of this Conspiracy of such Potent Persons altered his Decree and gave the Lands in Question to Beaumont he also reconciled Cumins by giving him many Fertile Lands which belonged to Robert Stuart the next King Alexander being concerned at this injurious Affront joyns himself with Andrew Murray Regent of the Scots who had lately Ransomed himself from the English for a great Sum of Money These things were acted at several times yet I have put them together that the whole course of my History might not be interrupted In the mean time Baliol in another part of the Country attacked all the Forts about Renfrew some he took others he battered down and demolished Having settled Matters there according to his own Mind he Sailed over into the Island Bote and there fortified the Castle of Rothsay of which he made Alan Lisle Governour whom he had before made Chief Iustice for Matters of Law He diligently sought after Robert Stuart his Nephew or Grandchild to put him to Death but he by the help of William Heriot and Iohn Gilbert was wafted over in a small Vessel into the Continent on the other side where Horses stood ready for him which carried him to Dunbarton to Malcolm Fleming Governour of that Castle Baliol having setled things at Bote at his return took Dunâ—oon a Castle seated in Coval the Neighbouring Continent whereupon the Nobility of the Vicinage were struck with so great Fear that they almost all submitted to him Marching from thence the next Spring he bent all his care to besiege the Castle of Lough Levin but this project seeming too slow he left Iohn Sterlin a powerful Knight of his Party to besiege the Castle to whom he joyned Michael Arnold David Weemes and Richard Melvin with part of his Army They built a Fort over against it where the passage was narrowest and having in vain tried all ways to subdue it by force Alan Wepont and Iames Lambin Inhabitants of St. Andrews making such a vigorous Resistance at length they endeavoured to drown it by stopping up the passage of the River for the River Levin goes out from the Lake or Loch with a narrow Girt or Neck and an open Rock This Place they essayed to stop up by making a Wall or Bank of Stones and Turfs heaped upon one another but the Work proceeded on very slowly because as the Heat did incommode the Labourers so the Brooks which flowed into the Lake were then almost dry and the Water being far spread abroad received an increase by moderate Additions By this means the Siege was lengthned out to the Month of Iuly when there was an Holy Day kept in Remembrance of St. Margaret heretofore Queen of Scotland on which day there used to be a great Concourse of Merchants at Dumferlin where the Body of that Saint is reported to be buried Thither went Iohn Sterlin with a great part of his Men some for
his Former Life and especially for his late and yet reaking Conquests was received with a great deal of Favour and had the Government of Roxburgh bestowed on him yea and the Sheriff-wick of all Teviotdale was also added to his Authority William Douglas took this mighty heinously that Ramsay was preferred before him in that Honour For seeing he had expelled the English from almost all Teviotdale he had sometimes presided over the Publick Assembly there thô without the Kings Command yet relying upon his Merits towards his Country the Nobleness of his Stock and the Power of his Family he hoped That no man would have been his Competitor for that Office Whereupon being wholly bent on Revenge he at present dissembled his Anger but in Three Months after he met with his Adversary holding an Assembly in the Church of Hawick and unawares assaulted and wounded him having also slain Three of his Followers who endeavoured to rescue him and so set him upon an Horse and carried him to the Castle of Hermitage where he starved him to Death About the same time William Bullock a Man of singular Loyalty to the King was put to the same kind of Death by David Berclay These Two Savage and Cruel Facts filled almost the whole Kingdom with Seditions and distracted it into several Parties These things did mightily exercise the King who was yet but Young and not accustomed to Men of Rough and Military Dispositions yet though he used great diligence to find out Douglas to bring him to Condign Punishment he by Means of his Friends of which he had procured Many by his Noble Exploits for the Liberty of his Country and especially of Robert Stuart the King's Son by his Sister obtained his Pardon And indeed the Magnificent yet True Report of his Famous Actions did much facilitate the Obtaining thereof together with the present Conjuncture of the Time wherein there being but an uncertain Peace abroad and Seditions at home Military Men were to be respected yea and honoured too Upon which Account he was not only pardoned but preferred also to the Government of Roxburgh and of Teviotdale too a Clemency which perhaps in the present Circumstances of Things might be useful but certainly of very ill Example for the Future David having thus settled Matters at Home the best he could denounces War against England the greatest Part of the Nobility dissuading him from that Expedition by reason of the great Scarcity of Provisions Yet he Listed an handsom Army and made Thomas Randolfe General thereof he himself accompanied him but in disguise that he might not be known to be the King This Army having wasted Northumberland for about Two Months time returned home with great Booty Within a few Days after he made another Inrode into the Enemies Country but then he did not disguise but openly professed Himself both King and General The English being inferior in Strength would not venture to give a set Battel whilst their King was absent in France but skirmished their Enemies with their Horse and so kept them from plundering much by a close March Five of the Chief Nobility whom David had lately raised to that Honour straggling too far from their Men were taken Prisoners their Followers being also killed or put to Flight So that David to spend no more time there in vain returned with his Army He made also a Third Expedition with what Force he could privately Levy that so he might fall upon his Enemy unawares But entring England in a stormy Autumn the small Brooks were so swollen with large Showres that they made all the Country unpassable and also hinder'd the Carriage of Provision so that Home he came again yet that he might not seem to have taken so much Pains to no purpose he demolished a few Castles Not long after Embassadors were sent to and fro in order to obtain a Truce for Two Years which the Scots consented to upon Condition That Philip King of France gave his Consent for That was one Article in the Treaty between the Scots and French That neither of them should make Truce or Peace with the English without the Other 's Consent For those Two Years Scotland was quiet About the Fourth Year after David's Return the French were overcome in a great Battel and Calais a Town of the Mâ—â—ini was besieged by them so that Philip pressed the Scots by his Ambassadors to Invade England and to so draw away some of their Force from Him Hereupon an Army was commanded to meet at Perth Thither they came in a great Abundance and there David Earl of Rosse waylaying Reginald Lord of the Aebudae his Old Enemy fell upon him in the Night and slew him with Seven Nobles in his Company This Murder did much weaken the Army for the Kindred and Tenants of both Parties yea the Neighbouring Inhabitants fearing a Civil War between Two such Potent Families returned to their own Homes And therefore William Douglas of Liddisdale earnestly persuaded the King to desist from his present Expedition and to compose Matters at Home His Counsel was refused and the King his Friendship to Philip overcoming his Love to his Country marches forward into England and destroyed all as he went by Fire and Sword And thus in Sixteen Days he came into the County of Durham where the English parly levied by Percy and partly sent back from the Siege of Calais made a great Body and shewed themselves to the Enemy in Battel-array sooner than ever the Scots could have imagined David who feared nothing less than the coming of the Enemy and therefore had sent abroad Douglas to forage the Neighbouring Country gave a Signal of Battel to his Souldiers Douglas fell unawares amongst his Enemies and having lost Five Hundred of his Men was put to slight and returned in great Fear to the Camp And the End of the Conflict was as unhappy as the Beginning For the Fight being sharply begun Randolfe's Men were routed at the first Onset and he himself slain The main Battel in which the King was was assaulted by Two Brigades of the English One that had conquered before and Another that was intire and had not yet charged who shattered it and cut it off quite They being resolved to die and therein almost all the Scotish Nobility were utterly lost and the King himself after his Arms were taken away was taken Prisoner by Iohn Copland but he struck out Two of his Teeth with his Fist though he himself was sorely wounded with two Arrows The Third Wing commanded by Robert Stuart and Patrick Dunber perceiving the Slaughter of their fellow-Souldiers withdrew themselves with little Loss The Nobility were so destroyed in this Fight that immediately after it Roxburgh Hermitage and many other Castles were surrender'd to the English And the Scots were enforced to quit their Claim to all the Lands they held in England and also to Merth Teviotdale Liddisdale and Lauderdale and the
Bounds and Borders of the English were inlarged to Cocâ—burns-Path as they call it and Soltra-Hill Baliol not contented to have recovered the Possessions of his Ancestors in Galway marched over Annandale and Liddisdale and all the Country lying near the Clyd and destroyed all by Fire and Sword He also by the Assistance of Percy of England made the like Havock in Lothian neither could there a sufficient Army be raised against them in Scotland for some Years As an Addition to this Misery there hapned also a grievous Plague which swept away almost the Third Part of the People And yet in such an afflicted State of Things Men did not abstain from Domestick Mischiefs David Berclay a Noble Knight who before had slain Bullock was at this time also present at the Murder of Iohn Douglas at Dalkeith William Douglas of Liddisdale who was taken Prisoner by the English at the Battel of Durham and was not yet released caused him to be slain by the Hands of his Tenants and after he himself was Released and returned into Scotland he did not long survive him For as he was a Hunting in the Wood of Attic he was killed by William Douglas the Son of Archibald newly returned from France in Revenge for his Murder of Alexander Ramsay Neither did the Clans of the Ancient Scots as impatient to be quiet abstain from injuring one another In the midst of these Calamities which pressed in on every side William Douglas gathered together a Band of his Vassals and Tenants and recovered Douglas the Patrimony of his Ancestors having driven the English out of it and afterwards upon this little Success Mens Minds being more inclined to him he reduced a great part of Teviotdale also In the mean time Iohn King of France Heir to his Father Philip both in his Kingdom and in his Wars fearing lest the Scots being broken by so many Misfortunes should quite succumb under so Puissant an Enemy sent Eugenius Garanter to them with Forty Gallant Cavaleers in his Train to desire of them To make no Peace with England without his Consent He brought with him Forty Thousand French Crowns to press Soldiers and besides by large Promises he wrought over the Nobility to his Side and Opinion They received the Money and divided it among themselves but levied no Soldiers only they carried on the War by light Incursions as they were wont to do Assoon as the English heard of this they almost wasted all Lothian which had been sorely harassed before To Revenge this wrong Patrick Dunbar and William Douglas gathered a good strength together as privately as they could and placed themselves in Ambush but sent out David Ramsay of Dalhouse a noted and Valiant Soldier with part of the Army to burn Norham a populous Town upon the Banks of Tweed When Ramsay had accomplished his design the English were trained on to the Ambush where some were surprized and slain at last being not able to resist so great a Multitude the English surrender themselves This success heartned the Scots and therefore the same Commanders uniting their Forces together Thomas Stuart Earl of Angus resolves to attack Berwick And to do it privately he hired Vessels Ladders and other Implements used in Scaling the Walls of Towns wherever he could procure them he acquaints Patrick with his coming he meets him at the Hour appointed and creeping to the Walls with as little noise as they could yet the Sentinels espied them whom after a sharp Conflict they repulsed and so became Masters of the Town but not without loss on their own side the Castle was still kept by the English which they assaulted but in vain When the King of England heard how Matters went in Scotland he gathered together a Puissant Army and in swift Marches hastned thither The Scots hearing of his coming and not being provided with Materials for a long Siege spoiled and burnt the City and so returned home Edward employed all kind of Workmen and Artificers to repair what the Flames had Consumed in the Interim he himself quartered at Roxburgh Thither Baliol comes and Surrenders up the Kingdom of Scotland to him desiring him earnestly not to forget the Injuries offered him by the Scots Edward as it were in Obsequiousness to his Desires invades Lothian by Land and Sea and makes a further Devastation of what was left after the former Ruin He determined in that Expedition so to quell all Scotland that they should never recover strength to Rebel again But his Purpose was disappointed by reason of a most grievous Tempest which so shattered and tore his Ships that carried his Provisions that very Few of them ever met in one Port so that he was enforced to return home for want of Provision only he vented his Spleen upon Edinburgh Hadington and other Towns of Lothian Edward and his Army being gone for England Douglas drove the English out of Galway Roger Kirk-Patrick out of Nithisdale and Iohn Stuart Son of the Regent out of Annandale so that those Three Countries were recovered by the Scots About the same time Iohn King of France was overthrown by the English in a great Battel in Poictou and he himself taken Prisoner Edward having Two Kings his Prisoners at once passed the Winter merrily amongst the Gratulations of his Friends so that the Scots thinking that his Mind being sated with Glory might be more inclined to Equity they sent Ambassadors to him to treat about the Release of their King Bruce that the Scots might have easie Access to him was sent to Berwick but in regard they could not agree about the Conditions he was carried back to London Not long after the Popes Legates were sent who took great Pains to make a Peace betwixt the English and French they also transacted the same for Scotland upon the Promise of the Payment of an Hundred as our Writers say or as Frossard of Five Hundred Thousand Marks of English Money to them Part of which was to be paid in Hand the rest by Parcels To make up that Sum the Pope gave the Tenths of all Benefices for Three Years in the mean time a Truce was made and many young Nobles given for Hostages who died almost all in England of the Plague Hereupon David returned the Eleventh Year after he was taken Prisoner The first thing he did was to punish those who had been the forwardest to fly in the Battel of Durham From Patrick Dunbar he took away a great part of his Lands he cut off all hope from Robert Stuart his Eldest Sisters Son of succeeding in the Kingdom and substituted Alexander Son of the Earl of Sutherland by his Youngest Sister and made the Nobles to swear Fealty to him This young Mans Father distributed large and fruitful Lands amongst the Nobles to engage them more firmly to his Son But Alexander dying soon after he was reconciled to Robert Stuart and in a full Assembly
Foreigners to aid them and that in such a conjuncture of Time when the French Themselves designed also to Land a vast Army in England whereupon he gathered a very puissant Army together consisting as the English Writers say of 60000 Foot and 8000 Horse with this Force he resolved so to tame the Scots that they should not in many Years after be able to Levy any considerable Army Besides he Rigged out a great Navy which were to bring Provisions into the Forth For he knew That part of Scotland wherein he was to make his Descent had been harassed for many Years by continual Wars And if any Provisions were left in it that the Inhabitants would convey them away into the neighbouring or other remote Places Add hereto he was secure of the French for he knew that they would not put to Sea in a Stormy Winter With those Forces he entred Scotland sparing no Place neither Sacred nor Profane no nor any Age nor Degrees of Men if they were capable to bear Arms. In the mean time Monsieur Vien being more mindful of his Kings Commands to him at his parting from him than of the present posture of Affairs in Scotland was earnest with Douglas to come to a Battel He still answered him That the Scots forbore to engage not out of any Alienation of Mind from the French but being Conscious of their own Weakness and thereupon he took him up into an high Place from whence he might safely take a view of the Enemy He then perceiving the long Train of the English in their March quickly turned to be of his Opinion Whereupon they both concluded That in the present circumstances the best and only Way for them to incommode the Enemy was to gather together what Force they could and so to invade England Thereupon they entred far from the Kings Army into Cumberland and made a great Havock therein and in the neighbouring Counties The English Winter being now at hand and the Country of Lothian being spoiled by the War for they durst not gâ—â—ar from their Ships lest Provisions should fail them consulted about their Return Some were of Opinion that it was best to follow after the Scots in the Rear and in their Return to compel them to Fight whether they would or no. But those who knew the Ways better through which they were to march replyed on the contrary That there would be great difficulty in passing over such Marshes and Mountains and sometimes narrow Places wherein there was also so much want of all things that a very few Men and those nimble ones too could carry Provisions enough with them thô but for a few days to finish the March and besides if they should overcome those Difficulties yet the next Country which was to receive them was not over-fruitful of itself and also it had been wasted by the War Again if they should wade through all those Inconveniencies yet they had to do with a nimble and shifting Enemy whom it would be more difficult to find and to bring to a Battel than to overcome and if they could find him out yet he would not be compelled to Fight but in his own Places of Advantage That Edward the Third his Grandfather had Experience hereof to the great Damage of his Own and little Inconvenience of the Scots Army Upon Hearing of this as also casting in their Minds what Miseries they might suffer in an Enemies Country in a cold Winter and in the mean time leave their Wives Children and what else was dear to them desolate at home they changed their Minds and marched back directly the same way that they came Thus both Armies had a free Time of plundering in their Enemies Country and each of them returned home again without seeing any Enemy The Scots well knowing That the English could not attempt another Expedition till the next Summer resolved to attack Roxburgh a Neighbour Town and the Garison there which was greatly annoyous to the Country thereabout When they were â—ome thither a dissension arose betwixt the Scots and the French about the Town even before it was taken The French alleging That seeing by a large Experience in Wars at home they were more skilled in the Methods of taking Towns than the Scots and moreover that they had spent a great deal of Mony in the War They therefore thought it but just That if the Town were carried it should be Theirs and remain under the Jurisdiction of France On the contrary the Scots urged That it was very unjust That Auxiliaries should reap the Reward and Benefit of the whole War and for what Expences they had been at it had been spent rather on Themselves than the Scots it being in order to distract and divide the Forces of England and so to avert Part of the War from France and if the Friendly Offices on Both sides were put in the Ballance the Scots might upon juster grounds demand the Charge of the whole War of the French than the French could challenge any Reward for their Assistance especially such a Reward as no History in the Memory of Man doth relate either to have been demanded or given by Allys one to or amongst another Yea The Unjustness of their Demand appeared by This That the Scots might have sate still in Peace without being prejudiced by the English and so might have been Spectators only of the Wars betwixt Two potent Kings but the French could not have Obtained the same Quiet unless they would have yielded up a good Part of their Country Neither could they see of what use that Town would be to the French if they had it save only to be as a Bridle that so the Arbitrement of War or Peace might be at their dispose and if That were their intent it were more for the Profit yea and for the Credit too of the Kings of Scotland to be without the Town than on a Trivial occasion to give up Themselves to a voluntary Servitude But if by so unequal a Postulation they thought to excuse their Return home which they sometime before attempted there was no need at all of such a Blind for as they freely came so they had Liberty always at their pleasure freely to depart neither was it adviseable in the Scots to stay Them in regard they might easily foresee their Service would be but small if they were detained against their Wills Hereupon They retreated from Roxburgh without attaquing it and whereas there had grievous Complaints been made betwixt Both Parties before so if matters should still continue at that Pass open Enmity did seem likely to arise The Original of the Dissension arose from the different Custom and Carriage of either Nation in managing of a War For the Scots and English Soldiers pay honestly for what they take at their Quarters and carry it amongst their Countrymen as moderately and soberly in War as in Peace But the French otherwise where-ever they march All 's their
what Country so great a Storm would fall and then according to the Enemies Motion they would steer their Couâ—se and as the Scots had done the Autumn before in reference to England so now they would enter into Scotland another Way and repay Loss for Loss In the interim they sent a Spy to inform themselves fully of the Enemies advance who was now so near them for they counted it highly conduceable to their affairs to know not only the Design but even the very last Words Resolves and Actions of their Enemies He that was sent differed nothing in Speech Habit or Armour from the rest and so was easily taken for a Scots Man So that having found out every thing which he desired to know he was going to a Tree where he had tied his Horse to fetch him and so to be gone but he found that some Body had stollen and carried him away before so that he was fain in his Boots Spurs and Riding-Apparel to undertake his Journey on Foot Hereupon the Matter began to be suspected and when he was gone a great way some Horsemen were sent after to bring him back as a Runagate when they came up to him and demanded Who or What he was and Why he went from his Colours in that Fashion he not being able to give a ready Answer they brought him back to the chief Officers of the Army to whom for fear of a greater Punishment he discovered all the designs of the English When the Scots heard this they also changed the Order of their Designs they divided their Army so That the greatest Part of it should march towards Carlisle and that the Kings Two Sons the Earls of Fife and Strathern should command them to whom were joyned Archibald Douglas of Galway and the Earls of Marr and Sutherland The other Part was to enter Northumberland under the Command of Iames Douglas and the Two Brethren Dunbars George and Iohn the One Earl of Murray the Other of Merch. Their Party consisted of 300 Horse and 2000 Foot besides Servants and Attendants on the Horse for every Horseman hath at least one Servant who being lightly armed can run almost as fast as an Horse and when occasion is offered can with his Fellows encounter an Enemy When their Forces were thus divided They who marched towards Cumberland and Carlisle carried all before them by reason of the Numerousness of their Army and met with no Enemy at all But Douglas in the Devastations which he made in the other Circuit had not the same Fortune for he had so ordered the Course of his Expedition as to take great and yet secret Marches and so passing over Tine to pierce as far as Durham before he gave his Army leave to spoil and plunder This he did with such Secrecy and Speed That the English did not know where their Enemies were but by the Smoke of the Fires they had made Percy the Elder was the Greatest man in Northumberland and the adjacent Countrys both for Wealth and Power When the News was brought to him he sends Two of his Sons Henry and Ralph very active Young men Both before to New-Castle commanding the rest to follow them thither His Intent was to stop the Scots in their Retreat and to keep them from returning But they having spoiled the Wealthy County of Durham returned home with a great Prey and repass'd the Tiâ—â— about Three Miles above New-Castle There the Commanders being nobly descended in their own Country as also desirous of Glory and besides lifted up with their present Success such as it was thought it an Inglorious thing in Them to strike terrour only into Rusticks and Plâ—beians if they did not also affright Cities Whereupon they marched to New-Castle and threatning to besiege it they endeavoured by Contumelies and Big Words to draw out the Enemy When they had staid there Two Days and some light Skirmishes with various Success had passed betwixt them There was one Combat which towards the Evening of the Last Day attracted the Eyes of all the Beholders And that was a Duel betwixt the Two Generals for they being in a sort equally matched in respect of Lineage Power Age and Courage had a mind to encounter each other in the Sight of both Armies Hereupon a Challenge was sent and they Both Iames Douglas and Henry Percy entred the Lists and ran at one another with their Spears Percy was unhorsed at first Brush and Douglas got his Spear but he could not touch his Person because the English came in to his Assistance He shook the Spear and cryed out aloud so as he might easily be heard That he would carry That as a Trophy into Scotland So the Combat being ended the Scots kept very diligent Watch in regard they were near a City well-Peopled and full of Enemies The Day after they retired towards Scotland but very slowly as being laden with Booty As their Prey moved leisurely on they themselves assaulted a Neighbour-Castle of the Enemies carried and demolished it and from thence they marched to Otterborn about Three Miles distant from Newcastle There they took Counsel concerning the Rest of their March The Major Part were of Opinion to March towards Carlisle to meet the other Army and so not to Fight singly as was at first agreed but to wait the Conjunction of Both Armies But Douglas was minded to stay Two or Three Days in that Place that so he might make a Real Confutation of the Vaunts of Percy who had boasted That they should never carry his Lance into Scotland In the mean time that they might not be idle they would attaque the Neighbouring Castle This Opinion though it was judged by Many none of the best yet for Douglas his sake they all submitted to it And therefore they fortified their Camp for the present Occasion which on one side was sufficiently guarded by Marishes and and then proceeded on to take the Castle But Percy being of a fierce Nature that he might blot out the Ignominy he had received would have followed him presently upon their Retreat with those Forces which he had about him but the Graver Sort detained him for fear of an Ambush for they did not think it probable that so small a Number of Scots would have appeared before so strong a Town unless they had more Forces near at hand hid in some secret Places That Day and the next they were busie in making Discoveries but finding that there was no Danger of the Greater Army as being far distant from Douglas his Party thereupon Percy immediately with Ten Thousand Fighting Men put himself upon the March without staying for the Bishop of Durham who that very Night was expected with some Forces for he thought he had Force enough to overcome his Enemies who were not half as many as He. When the English came in Sight some of the Scots were at Supper others being wearied at the Taking of the Castle had composed themselves
unwilling to expose them to needless danger At this very time a Truce was made and Hopes of Peace between France and England by the Mediation of the Pope and the Neighbouring Princes on This Condition That the Allies of Both might be comprehended by Name viz The Portugals of the English side the Scots and Spanish Castilians of the French's King Robert against the Advice of his Counsel gave his single Assent thereunto but upon no solid ground for he was able to make neither Peace nor War but by the Publick Advice of the Estates neither could he promise any firm Truce without their Decree in the Case Neither could the Nobility conceal any longer that hidden Grief and Disgust which they had conceived against the French who had only done them this Courtesie the backward way that when they were to do Service against an Enemy they would strike the Weapons out of their Hands and so take away the Fruit of a former Victory and also the Hopes of a New At last after much dispute and quarrelling the French Ambassador gained this Point but with much ado That the Scots should send Ambassadors into France about the Matter that so the Hopes of a Peace so near at hand might not be hindred by their Obstinacy Robert the King lived not long after but departed this Life in his Castle called Dundonald in the Year of Christ 1390 the 13th of the Calends of May. He lived 74 Years and Reigned 19 Years and 24 Days This King managed Wars by his Deputies and usually with good Success he was present in few Battels himself which some impute to his Age others to his Cowardize but all say That he was a very Good Man and in the Arts of Peace easily comparable with the best of Kings He administred Justice diligently and impartially to all he severely punished Robberies In his Actions he was Constant in his Words Faithful He undertook the Kingdom in troublesome times yet he setled things at home appeased Discords and governed with great Equity and Justice and he got such Conquests over his Enemy that he reduced all the Castles they had but Three After his Death Tumults arose where they were least expected Alexander Earl of Buchan the youngest of the Kings Sons by Elizabeth More fell into a deadly fewd with the Bishop of Murray upon a light Occasion and when he could not come at him to kill him he wrecked his fury upon the Church of Elgin which was then one of the fairest in all Scotland and burnt it down to the Ground The same Year William Douglas Earl of Nithisdale who as I said before for his Valour was made the Kings Son in Law was slain at Dantzick on the Vistula by some Ruffians who were sent to perpetrate the Murder by Clifford of England For Douglas when Matters were quieted at home that he might not lye lazie and idle intended for the Holy War and in Borussia he gave such Proof of his Valour That he was made Admiral of the whole Fleet which was a Great and Magnificent One and withal well accommodated But a Quarrel arising between him and Clifford grounded upon Old Emulations because he gruded him that Honour he sent him a Challenge to Fight with him Hand to Hand But the Challenger perceiving into what an Hazardous Adventure he had run himself by that Challenge before the set time came caused him to be slain by hired Assassins The Tenth BOOK Robert III. The Hundred and First King ROBERT the Second was Succeeded by his Eldest Son Iohn in the Ides of August and Year of our Lord 1390. He was called Iohn till that time but then by the Decree of the Estates his Name was changed into Robert whether it were for the Misfortunes and Calamities of Two Kings called Iohns one of France the other of England Or for the Eminent Virtues and Felicity of Two Roberts both in Peace and War who lately Reigned in Scotland as Authors are silent in so I will not determine The Excellency of this Robert was That he rather wanted Vice than was Illustrious for any Virtue so that the Name of King was in him but the management of all publick Affairs rested on Robert his Brother In the Beginning of his Reign there was Peace abroad by reason of the Three Years Truce made with the English which a while after was enlarged for Four Years more But at home a Sedition was begun by Duncan or Dunach Stuart He was the Son of Alexander Earl of Buchan the Kings Brother and was every jot as feirce as his Father who upon the Death of his Grandfather imagining now that he had a fit opportunity for Rapine and Pillage got a Band of Roisters about him and descending into Angus spoiled all as if it had been an Enemies Country Walter Ogilby and Walter Lichton his Brother endeavouring to oppose him were slain with Sixty of their Followers They being lifted up with this Success did afflict the Country more grievously than ever but hearing of the approach of the Earl of Crawford whom the King had sent to restrain their Insolence the nimblest of them fled speedily to their lurking Holes of those who made not so much hast some were slain some taken and afterwards put to Death Thus the Wickedness of these Unquiet and Turbulent Men being hindred from breaking in upon the Plain and Champion Countries they fell out most grievously amongst Themselves at their own homes And especially Two Families of them did exercise great Rage and Cruelty one upon another They refused to end their Fewds by course of Law or to refer them to indifferent Arbitrators So that the King sent Two Earls to suppress them Thomas Earl of Dunbar and Iames Lindsay his Father being Dead now Earl of Crawford These Commanders considering they were to engage against a feirce and resolute People who valued not their Lives nor the Pleasure thereof so that they were not likely to subdue them by force without great Slaughter of their own Men they therefore resolved to try what they could do by Policy And thereupon they accosted the Clans of both Families a part and represented to them what danger would accru to Both by their mutual Slaughters one of another and if one Family should extirpate the other yet that was not likely to be effected without the Great Damage even of the Conquering Side and if either Party should prevail yet the Contest would not end so For then they were to engage the King's Forces tho' they were weakned before by their mutual Conflicts of whose Anger against them Both they might be justly sensible because he had sent them with Forces to destroy them Both even before they had severely and irrecoverably engaged against one another But in regard they were more desirous of their Preservation than their Ruin if they would hearken to them they would shew them a Way How they might be reconciled with
the King 's good Liking and that on no dishonourable Terms neither no nor unrevenged one upon another To this Motion they seemed inclinable so that the Condition was proposed That 300 of each side should Try it out in Fight before the King Armed only with their Swords They that were Conquered should have an Amnesty for all past Offences and the Conquerors should be Honoured with the King's Favour and the Nobles too Both sides were well pleased with the Terms so that a day was fixed for the Combate and at the time appointed the Heads of the Families with their Parties came to Court and part of a Field on the North side of the Town of Perth which was severed from the rest by a deep Trench was appointed for the place of Combate and Galleries built round for Spectators Hereupon an huge Multitude was Assembled together and sate ready to see the Dispute but the Fight was delayed awhile because one of the 300 of the One Party had hid himself for Fear and their Fellows were not willing to engage without having just an equal number with their Adversaries neither was any one found to supply the Place of him who was absent And of the other Party not a Man would be drawn out or exempted from the Fight lest he might seem less valued and not so couragious as the rest After a little pause an ordinary Tradesman comes forth and offers to supply the Place of him that was absent Provided That if his Side Conquered they would pay him halfe a Gold Dollar of France and also provide for him afterward as long as he lived Thus the Number being again equalled the Fight began and it was carried on with such great Contention both of Body and Mind as old Grudges inflamed by new Losses could raise up in Men of such fierce Dispositions as were accustomed to Blood and Cruelty especially seeing Honour and Estate was propounded to the Conqueror Death and Ignominy to the Conquered The Spectators were possessed with as much Horror as the Combatants were with Fury as detesting to behold the ugly and deformed Mutilations and Butcheries of one anothers Bodies the Detruncation of their Limbs and in a word the Rage of Wild Beasts under the shape of Men. But all took notice that none carried himself more valiantly than that Mercenary and Supposititious Hireling to whose Valour a great Part of the Victory was to be ascribed Of that Side that he was of there were Ten left alive besides himself but all of them grievously wounded Of the contrary Faction there remained only One who was not wounded at all but seeing there was so much odds that he alone must encounter with so many he cast himself into the River Tay which was near at hand and in regard his Adversaries were not able to follow him by reason of their Wounds he escaped to the other Side By this means the forwardest of Both Parties being slain the promiscuous Multitude being left without Leaders left off their Trade of Seditioning for many Years after and betook themselves to their Husbandry again This Fight or Combat happened in the Year 1396. About Two Years after in an Assembly of the States at Perth the King made David his Son being 18 Years before old of Rothes and Robert his Brother Earl of Menteith and Fife Dukes of Albany This vain Title of Honour then was first Celebrated in Scotland a great increase to Ambition but none at all to Virtue neither did it afterwards thrive with any who enjoyed it The King would have bestowed the same Title of Honour upon the Earl of Douglas also but he being a grave and solid Person absolutely refused that nominal Shadow of empty Honour and if any Man told thim that he should be a Duke he rebuked him sharply for it Some say That the Name of Governour which was given by his Father to Robert the Kings Brother was this Year confirmed by the King as also That the Family of the Lindsys had the Earldom of Crawford added to their former Honours But they do not fully clear Whether the Name of the First Earl of that Family were Thomas or David The next Year after Richard the Second King of England was enforced to resign the Crown and Henry the Fourth succeeded him In the Beginning of his Reign before the Truce was quite ended new Seeds of War with the Scots were sown George Dunbar Earl of Merch had betrothed his Daughter Elizabeth to David the King's Son and had already paid a good part of her Dowry Archibald Earl of Douglas storming That so powerful a Man and his Corrival should be preferred before him alleging That the Consent of the Estates was not obtained in the Case which no Man ever remembred but was asked in any of the King's Marriages before offered his Daughter Mary with a larger Dowry and by means of Robert the King's Brother who could do All at Court He brought it about that the Condition was accepted and the Marriage was Consummated by the Decree of the Estates George was much affected at this Injury as well as Reproach and made great complaint to the King but seeing what was once done could not be undone he desired at least the repayment of the Dowry This his just Demand being denied and perceiving that he was not like to obtain any Right in regard the Minds and Ears of all the Court were prepossessed by his Rival he departed upon very angry yea threatening Terms and so giving up the Castle of Dunbar to Robert Maitland his Sisters Son he went for England Robert presently yielded up the Castle to an Herald sent by the King to demand it and Douglas was admitted into it with a Garison so that when George returned home he was denied entrance Hereupon he took his Wife Children and some intimate Friends and returned into England Being there as he was a Man powerful at home and famous abroad he joyned Counsels with Percy a mortal Enemy to the name of the Douglas's and in regard he was well beloved by the bordering Scots of which many were either his Tenants Allies or otherwise obliged to him he made an Inroad into the whole Province of Merch and drove great Preys from the Country especially from the Lands of the Douglasses The King of Scots first proclaimed George a Publick Enemy and confiscated all his Estate next he sent an Herald to England to Demand That he might be given up as a Fugitive according to the League made betwixt them and also to complain of the violation of the Truce Henry of England gave a peremptory Answer to his Demands That he had given the Publick Faith to George for his Protection and that he would not break his Royal Word as if a private Pact with a Runagate were more Religiously to be observed than That which had been publickly confirmed by Embassadors and Heralds for the Days of the Truce made with Richard were not yet expired In
Military Matters was upheld by Douglas the Ecclesiastical Authority and Resemblance such as it was of Ancient Discipline by Trayle and the Dignity of the Court by the Queen as did soon appear by what happened after her death For David the Kings Son was a Young man of a fierce Disposition and enclined to Wantonness and Lust. The Indulgence of his Father encreased those Vices for tho' he had not Authority enough to maintain the Reverence due from him to his Father yet by the diligent Monitions of Those who were appointed to be his Tutors in his Youth but much more by the Counsel and Advice of his Mother his Youthful Heats were somewhat blunted and restrained but when she was dead he as new freed from this Curb returned to his own Manners and Lustful Courses for laying aside all shame and fear he took away other Mens Wives by Force yea and Virgins too tho' well descended and Those that he could not persuade by fair means he ravished by Compulsion and if any one endeavoured to stop him in his libidinous ways he was sure to come off not without Punishment Many Complaints were brought to his Father about These his Exorbitancies so that he wrote to his Brother the Governour to keep him with him and to oversee his Conversation until his Lustful Spirit did abate And till he gave some hopes of his Amendment of Life The Governour had now an Opportunity put into his hands to effect that he most desired which was â—o destroy his Brothers Issue so that he met David three Miles from St. Andrews and carried him into the Castle thereof which he kept in the nature of a Garison after the Arch-Bishops death After a while he took him out from thence and carried him to his own Castle of Falcoland and there shut him up close Prisoner intending to starve him But that miserable death which his Uncles Cruelty had designed him to was prorogued and staved off for a few days by the Compassion of Two of the Female Sex one was a Maid and Virgin whose Father was Governour of the Castle and Garison She gave him Oate Cakes made so thin that they would be folded up together as 't is usual in Scotland so to make them and as often as she went into the Garden near the Prison she put them under a Linen Vail or Hood which she did as it were carelesly cast over her Head to keep her from the Sun and thrust them into the Prison to him thro' a small Crany rather than a Window The other was a Country Nurse who Milked her Breast and by a little Canale conveighed it into his Mouth By this mean fare which served rather to encrease than kill his hunger his wretched Life and Punishment was protracted and lengthned out for a little while till at length by the vigilance of the Guards they were discovered and put to Death The Father mightily abhoring the Perfidiousness of his own Daughter whilst he endeavoured to manifest his Faithfulness to an unfaithful Regent The Young man being thus left destitute of all human Support having by Force of Hunger gnawed and torn his own Flesh died at length more than a single kind of Death His End was concealed from his Father thô it were commonly known abroad because no Man durst to be the Messenger of such sad Tidings to him But to return to the Affairs of England as far as they are intermixed with Ours When Percy and a great Number besides of the Nobility had conspired to make War upon their own King he agrees with Douglas whom he still held Prisoner since the Battel of Homeldon That if he would improve his Interest by assisting him against the King as strenuously and as faithfully as he had before done against him he would set him at Liberty without ransom which Douglas frankly promised him to do as being willing to omit no Opportunity of service against the English King Hereupon he gathered some of his Friends and Tenants about him and prepared himself for the Fight wherein he behaved himself as stoutly as he promised to Percy so that without regard to the Common Soldiers his Mind and Eye was wholly intent upon the King only and in regard there were several Commanders cloathed in Royal attire which was done on purpose by the English either to deceive the Enemy if they should press hard upon him or else that the Soldiers in more places than one might find him a present witness of their Courageousness or Cowardize Douglas took notice of One of these who had Gallant Armour and rushed in upon him with all his might and so unhorsed him But he being relieved by those who were next he did the same to a Second and a Third who were all attired as Kings thus Edward Hall the English Writer affirms as well as Ours so that he was not taken up so much with the Apprehension of his own danger as with a wonderment from whence so many Kings should start up at once At length after a terrible and bloody Fight Fortune turned about and the King won the day Douglas was sore wounded and found amongst the Prisoners and whereas many urged to put him to death the King saved him and did not only commend his Faithfulness to his Friend but also rewarded him for his Valour and when his Wounds were cured after he had staid some Months with him upon the Payment of a great sum of Money he was released In the mean time the Scotish King heard of the death of David his Eldest Son by the unnatural Cruelty of his Uncle The Author was sufficiently pointed at by private whisperings tho' no man dared publickly to accuse so potent a man Whereupon the King sends for his Brother and makes an Expostulation with him concerning the matter He had prepared his Tale before-hand and charges others with the Guilt of the Young Mans death as for him and his they were ready forsooth whenever the King pleased to plead and assert their Innocency in a due course of Law as for the Murderers some of them he had taken already and the others he would diligently look out Thus the matter being brought to Examination in the Law The Author of the wickedness Summons a Council sets up an Accuser and he who was impleaded as Guilty was by them acquitted as Innocent of the Murder The King imprecated a most dreadful punishment from the God of Heaven above to be poured down on him and his Posterity who had committed that horrid Wickedness And thus being overpressed with Grief and bodily Weakness he returned to Bote whence he came The Suspicion was encreased in him That his Brother had committed the Parricide tho' he was too powerful to be brought by him to Justice and Punishment for the same But he like a strong dissembler brings the supposititious Authors of the wickedness out of Prison and put them to Cruel deaths 't is true they were
Lewd Persons yet Innocent of that Particular Fact for which they suffered In the interim the King advised with his Friends how he might preserve Iames his Youngest Son for whose safety he was very solicitous and whom he had left in the custody of Walter Wardiloe Arch-Bishop of St. Andrews an honest man and faithful to him They gave their Opinion in the case that he could not be safe in any part of Scotland and that therefore it was best to send him over to Charles the IV. King of France the old Ally and only Friend of the Scotish Nation for he could be Educated no where more safely and honourably than there The fresh Example of David Bruce stuck yet in their Minds who in dubious and troublesome times at home had there for some years an Honourable retreat and Entertainment Hereupon a Vessel was prepared and he put on bord at the Basâ— a Rock rather than an Island Henry Sinclare Earl of the Oreades was sent with him as his Guide or Rector whilst they were compassing the shore he Landed at the Promontory of Flamburgh either driven in by Tempest or else to refresh himself on shore from his Sâ—â—-Vomit and Nauseation There he was detained by the English till they sent to their King who commanded that he should be brought up to Court So that neither the Law of the Truce which was made a little before for 8 years nor the supplicating Letters of his Father did prevail but he was kept as a Lawful Prisoner For his Father at his departure had sent Letters by him to the King of England if possibly he should be necessitated to land there wherein he made complaining and lamentable discourses both of his own and also of the common fortune of all Mankind But tho' the King of England were not ignorant of the Inconstancy of human affairs yet the old grudge against the Nation of the Scots more prevailed with him than either the respect of the Youth 's Innocent Age or the Tears of his grieved Father or the dignity of the Kingly Name or the Faith of the Pacification and Truce For having referred the matter to his Council how he should treat the Son of the King of Scots being arrived in his Dominions Those who had any regard to Equity and were weary of the present War inclined to the milder Opinion viz. That the Royal Youth who fled from the Cruelty of his own Countrymen and was now their Suppliant should be hospitably and Friendly Entertained That so a feirce Nation and unconquer'd by the War of so many Ages might be won and wrought over to a Reconciliation by Courtesie For this they thought was the most solid and firm victory not when Liberty was taken away by force but when Minds are united by the indissoluble bond of Amity Others were of contrary Opinion That he might be lawfully detained as a Prisoner either because many of the Scots Nobility had Personally assisted Percy in the Insurrection which he made against the King or because his Father had Entertained and Relieved Percy the Elder when he was Banished and Condemned as a Traitor in England This Opinion as commonly the worst things do prevailed thâ— they that were present at the Consult knew well enough that those Scots who fought against the English King in Percy 's Insurrection were not sent by any Publick Commission from the King but came out of their private Affection to Douglas who was then also in Percy 's Power They might also have remembred what Henry himself had answered to the Scots a few Years before when they demanded George Dunbar to be given up yet notwithstanding they stuck to this last Opinion as commonly in the Courts of Princes a false preâ—ence of Advantage doth weigh down Honest and Righteous Counsels Yet in one thing Henry dealt Nobly and Royally with his Captive That he caused him to be Educated in Learning and Good Discipline This Calamity of the Son was brought to his Fathers Ears whilst he was at Supper and did so overwhelm him with Grief that he was almost ready to give up the Ghost in the Hands of his Servants that attended him but being carried to his Bed-chamber he abstained from all Food and in 3 Days dyed for Hunger and Grief at Rothesay which is a Town in the Island Bote in the 16th Year of his Reign in the Calends of April and Year of Christ 1406. He was Buried at the Abby of Pasley This Robert for tallness of Stature and for the Beauty and Composition of his whole Body was inferior to none of his Contemporaries His Life was very harmless and there was no Virtuous Accomplishment fit for a private Man wanting in him so that it may be truly said of him That he was a better Man than a King After the King's death the Government of the Kingdom was setled upon Robert his Brother by the Decree of all the Estates who had many things in him worthy of that Office and Dignity if out of a blind Ambition to Rule he had not used unjust Courses to hasten to the Throne He was Valiant in War Prudent in Counsel Just in Judgment Liberal to the Nobles and Tender in Levying Taxes on the Commons The same Year Percy the Elder again entred into a Conspiracy against the King to revenge upon him the deaths of his Brother and Two Sons who had been slain but his Design was discovered many of his Accomplices taken and put to death and he himself for fear fled into Scotland that from thence he might pals over into Flanders and France to procure Auxiliaries to renew the War In the mean time Henry the King of Englands Son made great Incursions into Scotland both by Land and Sea when he was returned home with a great Booâ—y the Castle of Iedburgh which the Enemy had kept from the Fight in Darham to that day was taken by the Commons of Teviotdale Pillaged and then by the Governors Order wholly demolished And George Earl of Merch who had done much damage to his Countrymen in behalfe of the English being not able to procure from them Aid to recover his Own nor an honest Maintenance amongst them neither pacified the Governor by his Friends and so returned home yet he lost part of his Patrimony viz. his Castles in the Loch-Maban and Annandale which were given to Douglas for the Losses he had sustained and thus all Offences were forgiven on both sides and he passed the rest of his Life in great Concord with his Neighbours and faithful Subjection to his King The next Year Percy after he had made a vain and fruitless Peregrination over France and Flanders returned into Scotland to his old Friend the Earl of Merch by whom he was courteously Entertained and Accommodated according to his Estate There he Transacted by private Messengers about returning into his own Country and amongst the rest he wrot to Ralph Rokesby his Ancient
and Faithful Friend as he thought That he did not want Force both of Scots and English who were ready to assist him to recover his Ancient Patrimony provided that he would joyn in his assistance with them This Ralfe was at that time Sheriff of Yorkshire so they there call the Officer which presides in Chief over Juridical Assemblies He enticed Percy to him upon pretence of giving him Aid and then discovered the Conspiracy to the King Thus his Friend was betrayed by him his Head cut off and sent to the King at London There was also at that time a certain Englishman in Scotland who called himself Richard the Second but I judge falsly For when Percy the Elder did often and earnestly desire to speak with him he would not by any persuasion be induced thereunto fearing as may be guessed left his Imposture might be detected by a Man who so well knew his King Yet he was for some Yearss Treated as one of the Blood-Royal and that he might live more securely he feigned himself most averse from any desire of enjoying the Kingdom But at last he was Buried in the Church of the Franciscan-Fryers at Sterlin The Title of the King of England being inserted in his Epitaph â—ot long after Fastcastle a very Strong Castle as the Name intimates in Merch was taken from the English by Patrick Dunbar Son to George and therein Thomas Holden Governor thereof who had infested all the Neighboring Places of Lothian with his continual Thievery And moreover in Teviotdale William Douglas and Gawin Dunbar youngest Son to the Earl of Merch had broken down the Bridge of Roxburgh and burnt the Town but they attempted not the Castle because they were destitute and unprovided of all things necessary for a Siege But the next Year after which was 1411. Donald the Islander Lord of the Aebudae claiming Ross as the next Heir for so indeed he was as unjustly taken away from him by the Governor when he could get no Right he Levied 1000 Islanders and made a Descent on the Continent and so easily seized on Ross the whole Country being willing to return to the Subjection of their own just Master But this Facility of the Rossians in submitting to him gave him whose Mind was greedy of Prey Encouragement to attempt greater Matters For he passed over into Murray and there being no Force to defend it he reduced it to his Obedience and then passed further in his Depredations into Strath-Bogy and did threaten Aberdeen Against this suddain and unexpected Enemy The Governour gathered Forces but in regard the Greatness and Propinquity of the Danger did not admit the expectancy of slow-paced Aid Alexander Earl of Marr the Son of Alexander the Governours Brother and almost all the Nobility beyond the Tay at a Village called Harlaw set themselves and their Men in Battel-array against him The Fight was Cruel and Bloody for the Valour of many Nobles did then contend for Estate and Glory against the Savage Cruelty of the opposite Party At last the Night parted them and it may be rather said That they were Both weary with Fighting than that either Party had the better so that the event of the Fight was so uncertain that when Both sides had reckoned up how many they had lost each counted himself the Conqueror In this Fight there fell so many Eminent and Noble Personages as scarce ever perished in one Battel against a Foreign Enemy for many Years before And therefore the Village which was obscure before grew Famous therefrom even to Posterity This Year also Publick Schools began first to be opened at St. Andrews which was effected rather by the consent of Learned Men who made an overture at the Profession of Science than by the Occasion of any Private or Publick Assistance The next 10 Years there was hardly any Memorable thing acted betwixt the Scots and English either because there was a Truce made which yet Authors are silent in or because Henry the 4 th Dying on the 12 th of the Calends of April and his Son Henry the 5 th presently succeeding him being all the rest of his Life intent on the Affairs of France the English abstained from offering any Injury to the Scots And besides the Governour of Scotland did not dare to stir on his side for fear lest the English should bring back upon them the true Heir of the Crown whom he knew many of the Scots would close with out of the Commiseration of his Misfortunes Therefore what Inroads were made at that time were rather like Robberies than Wars For both Penrith in England was burnt by Archibald Douglas and Dunfrize in Scotland by the English And also there was an Exchange of Prisoners made Murdo the Governours Son taken at Homildon Fight was exchanged for Percy who when his Grandfather's Party was subdued in England was brought into Scotland and left with the Governor But upon the New King 's coming to the Crown he was restored to the Dignity of his Ancestors He though he were not properly a Prisoner by the Law of Arms yet the unjust detention of Iames Son to the King of Scots stopt the mouths of the English that they could not justly complain of any injury in the Case As for Percy himself he was so far from resenting it that as long as he lived he acknowledged the Civility and great Friendship of the Scots to him in all kind of mutual Service Moreover the same Year another Embassy came from the Council of Constance the Head whereof was the Abbat of Pontiniack and another from Peter Lune who had seized on the Papacy and as pertinaciously kept it He by Henry Harding an English Franciscan had wrought over the Governor to his Party but in vain for the whole Body of the Priesthood was against him for they having assented to the Council of Constance had subscribed to the Election of Martin the Fifth In the mean time the King of France by means of a violent Disease fell besides himself and his Distemper was encreased by the Monks who pretended to Cure him By which means France was divided into Two Factions The Head of the One was the Duke of Burgundy who having slain the Kings Brother drew him to the English Party The Head of the Other was the Kings Son who being disinherited by his distracted Father was called by his Enemies in a jeer the King of Berry because he usually kept himself at Burges in Berry a Town of the Bernois He being forsaken by a great part of his own Country Men and destitute also of Foreign Aid in the Year 1419. sent the Earl of Vendosme his Ambassador to the Scots to demand Aid of them according to the League made betwixt the Two Nations The Assembly of the Estates ordered him Seven Thousand Men and indeed at that time in regard the Soldiers were increased by reason of the long
Peace with England it was no hard matter to make up such a Number of Men being only Voluntiers Iohn Earl of Buchan the Governours Son was made General of the Forces and many eminent Persons followed him but Archibald Earl of Wigton the Son of Archibald the Second Earl of Douglas was far more eminent than all the rest When they came into France they were sent by the Dolphin so they call the Eldest Son of the King of France into Turein a Country very plentiful in all sorts of Provision and near to the Enemy For the Duke of Clarence Brother to the King of England was then in France instead of the King himself and made great Havock of the Country of Anjou whose Inhabitants remained in their Obedience to the French King And it was thought he would have come as far as the Town of Beujeu This was done Two Days before Easter whereupon the Scots thinking that the General would cease from any Military Action those few days of that Feast as the custom is and apply himself to Ecclesiastical Duties or as others say presuming upon an Eight Days Truce which was made carried themselves more securely than otherwise they were wont to do The Duke of Clarence was informed thereof either by Andrew Fregose an Italian or else by some Scots Foragers whom his Horse had taken Prisoners and having gotten a fair opportunity for Action as he thought he rose up presently from Dinner and with his Horse only marched toward the Enemy he himself besides his other Gallant Furniture and Armour had a Royal Diadam on his Head beset with many Jewels Some few French who were quartered nearest the Enemy in a Village called Little Beaujou being terrified with his sudden coming fled into the Tower of a Church adjoyning whilst he was assaulting of these the Alarum was given to the rest of the Army and presently in great dismay they all cryed out To your Arms. The Earl of Buchan whilst the rest were sitting themselves sent out 30 Archers to take possession of a Bridge which was the only Passage over a Neighbour River There a Skirmish begun and Hugh Kennedy who quartered in a Church hard by came in to them with One hundred Men who in so sudden a Fright were but half-armed This Party with their Arrows hindred the Horse from passing over whereupon Clarence with the forwardest of his Men leapt from his Horse and maintained the Combat on foot so that in a Lusty Charge they repelled the Scots who were some unarmed and some but half-armed from the Bridge and this opened the Passage for his Men. In the mean time whilst Clarence was mounting his Horse and his Men were passing the narrow Bridge a few at a time the Earl of Buchan was at hand with 200 Horse who being very earnest to shew themselves on Both sides a sharp Fight began with equal courage and hatred For the Scots were glad that they had gotten an Opportunity to give the first Proof of their Valour and so to refute the Reproaches of the French who were wont to upbraid them as Men given more to Eating and Drinking than Fighting The like Reproach do the same French use to cast upon the Britains The Spaniards on the French and the Africans on the Spaniards On the other side the English took it in great disdain That they should be attack'd by such an implacable Enemy not only at home but even beyond the Seas and so they fought stoutly but none more fiercely than Clarence himself He was known by his Armour Iohn Swinton ran at him and with his Lance grievously wounded him in the Face and the Count of Buchan also smote him with a Truncheon and struck him from his Horse when he was fallen the English ran away and were slain in the pursuit even until night This Battel was fought the day before Easter when the days are short in cold Countries a little after the Vernal Equinox There fell of the English in the Fight above 2000 amongst which were 26 of eminent Rank Many Prisoners were taken of good Accompt in their own Country and especially some of the Dukes Allies Few of the Scots or French were lost and those of no great Note neither This is the most common report concerning the Death of Clarence but the Pluscarty Book says that he was slain by Alexander Maccasland a Knight of Lennox who took off the aforesaid Diadem from his Head and sold it to Iohn Stuart of Derneley for 1000 Angels of Gold and he again pawned it to Robert Huston to whom he owed 5000 Angels This he says was the Vulgar Opinion The chief Praise of this Victory was ascribed to the Scots neither could their greatest Detractors deny it Whereupon Charles the Dolphin created the Earl of Buchan Lord High Constable which is the highest Office in France next the King The rest of the Commanders had also Honours bestowed on them according to their Rank and Valour Whilst these Things were acted in France in the year 1420 Robert Governor of Scotland died the same year in the Third of the Nones of September and Fifteen years after the Death of King Robert the Third His Son Murdo succeeded in his place a Man of a sluggish disposition and scarce fit to govern his private Family much less the Common-wealth So that either by his Slothfulness or else his too much Indulgence he so spoiled his Children for he had Three that in a short time he brought both them and himself into great Calamity and at last Destruction This change of Domestick Affairs caused the Earls of Buchan and Wigton with many of their Kindred to return from France But Matters being soon setled at Home the Dolphin recalled the Earl of Buchan who with his Son in Law Archibald Iames his Son and the Flower of the Scotish Soldiers sailed into France leaving his other Son the Earl of Wigton behind him who being grievously sick could not follow him They landed with 5000 Soldiers at Rochel and so came to the Dolphin at Poâ—ctou where they were joyfully received and Douglas was made Duke of Turein When Henry of England heard of the Death of Clarence he substituted Iohn Earl of Bedford his other Brother in his place and sent him before into France with 4000 Horse and 10000 Foot He himself followed soon after and took with him Iames King of Scots in the Expedition thinking by that means either to insinuate himself with the Scots who fought against him in France or else to render them suspected to the French But he obtained neither of his Ends nor could he prevail with them at the desire of their own King so much as to return home and to be Newters and Spectators only of the War For addressing to all the Garisons held there by the Scots They made him one General Answer That they could not acknowledge him for their King who was under the Power of another Man
Henry being offended at their Peremptoriness and Constancy having taken the Town of Meaux by Storm hanged up 20 Scots which he found there alleging That they bore Arms against their own King Soon after He and Charles the Sixth King of France died immediately one after another About Two years after the English prevailed in a Battel at Vernevil where there were slain of the Prime Scots the Earl of Buchan and Douglas one Duke of Turein the other Master of the Horse to the French King and also Iames Douglas his Son Alexander Lindsay Robert Stuart and Thomas Swinton and of Common Soldiers above 2000. And about three years after the Auxiliary Scots received another great Overthrow at Beaux when they were carrying Provisions to Orleans They set upon the English in the way in which Fight there were slain of Scots of note William Stuart with his Brother and two eminent Knights of the Family of the Douglas's whose Posterities do yet enjoy two Castles and large Possessions about them in Scotland viz. one of them the Castle of Drumlanerick and the other the Castle of Lough Levin in Fife Thus have I briefly touched at the Actions of the Scots performed in a few years in France as External and Foreign Occurences the farther Explication of them is to be had in the French Annals which though they be not quite alien from the Affairs of Scotland yet I had not stepped out of my way to mention them if the calumny of some English Writers had not compelled me so to do For they endeavour to undervalue and speak evil of what they do not deny if Histories did not mention their Atchievements yet the Munificence of the Kings the Decrees of the Cities and the Honourable Monument at Orleance and Turein do sufficiently declare them What I pray can they here object The Scots say they are too poor to maintain so great a Force in a Foreign Country I answer First That if they be Poor it is the fault of the Soil not of the Men neither would I have taken this for a Reproach if it did not appear by their Writings That the English intended it for Such and therefore I shall only answer them with this That these Poor and Indigent Scots as they call them have got many great and famous Victories over the Opulent and Wealthy English And if they do not believe me herein let them consult their own Histories and if they suspend their Belief of them also let them not require of us to receive them for True in other things But to return to the Affairs of Scotland Murdo being set up as I said but now in the place of his Father he maintained a very loose Discipline in his own House his Children whose Names were Walter Alexander and Iames did despise their Inferiors and consequently oppress them with many Injuries and they infected the Youth with those Vices to which they themselves were addicted and seeing their Father did not curb nor restrain them at last he was punished himself for giving them such bad Education The old Man did highly prize a certain Bird he had of that sort of Hawks which they call Falcons Walter had often begg'd him of his Father and was as often denied so that upon a time he catched it out of his Fathers Hand and wrung off his Neck To whom his Father replied Because thou can'st not find in thy Heart to obey me I will bring in another That both thou and I too shall be forced to obey And from that time forward he bent his Thoughts to restore his Kinsman Iames and there was an Eminent Man of Argile chief of the Country named Calen Cambel whom before Walter had affronted and wronged who approved of his Design herein so that he assembled the Estates at Perth and a Consultation being had concerning the Revocation of their King They all either out of Favour to the true Heir of the Kingdom or out of Weariness of the present posture of Affairs willingly agreed to send an Embassy about his Restitution Some Nobles were chosen Embassadors who coming into England found the English more inclinable to it than they expected For the Duke of Gloucester who in the Kings Minority governed the Affairs of England called the Council together and easily persuaded them That Iames Son to the King of Scotland should be sent back at the desire of his People into his own Country seeing he was not in his present posture of so great Authority amongst them as to be able to recal the Scots Auxiliaries out of France or to draw any Part of the Kingdom to an Alliance with England And besides he thought to make another advantage of him That he would not only be his sure and fast Friend but would always be under the power and influence of England for he had Married Ioan the Earl of Salisbury's Daughter the Beautifullest Woman of her Time which he then was mightily in Love with he persuaded himself that by her means the League with France might be easily undermined and if he were freed either he would be obliged by that Courtesy or else whilst he was busie in revenging the Wrongs his Kindred had done him he would intangle his Country in a grievous intestine War and by this means it would come to pass That either the English would be made stronger by the Accession of such a Friend or if their Scotish Enemies disagreed amongst themselves yet they should be more disingaged and readier for a Foreign War And indeed these were no imprudent Considerations if they themselves by the Narrowness of their Spirits had not marred their own Market For seeing they demanded a greater Sum of Money for his Redemption than the Scots in their present Circumstances either durst promise or were able to pay a Compremize was made That the Dowry of his Wife should be retained as for One half and that the Sons of some Noblemen should be given in Hostage for the payment of the Other Iames being set at Liberty upon these Terms returned home 18 years after he had been a Prisoner in the year of our Lord 1423. Amidst the great Concourse of People which flocked in to see him and to Congratulate his Return he was soon entertained with the Complaint of those who grievously lamented what Wrongs they had sustained since the last Kings Death partly by the Negligence and partly by the Injuries of the late Governors Walter the Son of Murdo Malcolm Fleming and Thomas Boyd were highly accused who to pacifie the Commons for the present were committed to several Prisons until the next Convention of the Estates which was appointed to be the Sixth of the Calends of Iune But Fleming and Boyd upon payment of Damages and some kind of Compensation and also upon laying down a round Sum which they were Fined at into the Kings Exchequer were set at Liberty James I. The Hundred and Second King IN the mean time
to bear the Government of a Stranger he return'd back and provided a stately Fleet with great Cost yet no great Benefit because it was against Men who were very well provided both with Land and Sea-Forces At length he set upon their numerous Fleet returning from Dantzic which he took and pillaged and slew the Mariners and burnt the Ships so that he repaid the Enemy for the Loss he receiv'd from them many times over yea he so subdued the Fierceness of their Minds that they desired a Truce for an Hundred Years and obtain'd it He also caus'd a Breed of brave Mares to be brought from as far as Hungary into Scotland whose Race continu'd there for many Years after These Rich Earls Dying without Issue Buchan and Marr their Patrimonial â—nheritances descended Rightfully to the King And moreover he alone injoy'd all the Possessions of the Three Brothers Sons to King Robert the 2d by his last Wife but not without the Grudges of the Nobility who had been accustomed to Largesses that he alone should enjoy all the Prey without sharing any Part of it amongst them Further they conceiv'd another and fresher Cause of Offence That the King had revok'd some Grants made by Robert and Murdo the last Regents as unjust Amongst those Grants There were Two noted ones George Dunbar who was Declared a Publick Enemy was afterwards recall'd by Robert and part of his Estate restor'd to him His Son George succeeded him therein to the Joy of many who were well pleas'd that so Ancient and Noble a Family which had so often deserv'd well of their Country were restor'd to their Ancient Dignity But the King who look'd narrowly and perhaps too pryingly into his Revenue was of Opinion that the Power to restore Incapacities to recal Exiles and to give back their Goods forfeited for Treason and so brought into the King's Exchequer was too great for One that was but a Guardian of another Man's Kingdom and chosen but as a Tutor only to Claim and Use especially since Largesses made in the Minority of Princes by the Old Laws of Scotland might be recalled if not confirm'd by their respective Kings when they came to be of Age. And therefore Iames that he might reduce the Merch-men into his Power without noise in regard they were a Martial People and Borderers upon England detains George with him and sends Letters to the Governour of the Castle of Dunbar Commanding him on receipt thereof he should immediately Surrender it up to William Douglas Earl of Angus and Alexander Hepborn of Hales whom he had sent to receive it Hereupon George complain'd that he was wrongfully dispossest of his Ancient Patrimony for anothers Fault and such a Fault too as was forgiven by him who then had the Supreme Power The King to pacifie him and to proclaim his Clemency amongst the Vulgar bestowed Buchan upon him This Fact of the King 's was variously spoken of as every ones Humour and Disposition led him And moreover there was also another Action which much hastned his End the Beginning whereof is to be fetcht a little higher I said before that King Robert the 2d had Three Sons by his Concubine he had also Two by his Wife Eufemia Walter Earl of Athole and David Earl of Stratherne yet when their Mother the Queen was Dead he Married the Concubine afore-spoken of that so he might by that Marriage Legitimate the Children he had by her and leave them Heirs to the Crown and accordingly at his Death he left the Kingdom to the Eldest of them To the 2d he gave great Wealth and the Regency also The 3d. was made Earl of several Counties In this Matter tho' his other Wif's Children thought themselves wrong'd yet being younger and not so powerful as they they smothered their Anger for the present And besides their Power was somewhat abated by the Death of the Earl of Strathern who left but only one Daughter behind him afterwards Marry'd to Patrick Graham a Noble young Man and one of a potent Family in that Age on whom he begat Meliss Graham His Parents liv'd not long after and the Child after a few Years being yet a Stripling was sent as an Hostage into England till the Money for the King's Ransom was paid But the Earl of Athole tho' every way too weak for the adverse Faction yet never gave over his Project to cut off his Kindred nor cast away his Hopes to recover the Kingdom and because he was inferior in open Force he craftily fomented their Divisions and Discords and invidiously made use of their Dangers to promote his own Ends so that by his Advice that large Family was reduc'd to a few For many were of Opinion that he gave the Counsel to take off David King Robert's Son and Iames had not escap'd him neither unless he had past a good part of his Life in England far from home for he gave Advice to the Earl of Fife that seeing his Brother was a Drone he Himself should seize on the Kingdom When the King lost all his Children and was obnoxious to his Brothers Will and not long after dyed of Grief himself There was only the Regent of the Kingdom with his Children that hindred his hopes in regard he was an active Man of great Wealth Power and Authority and moreover very Popular and full of Children These Considerations did somewhat retard his Counsels but when Robert Dyed of a Natural Death and his Son Iohn was slain in the Battel of Vernevil then he resum'd his former Project with greater earnestness and bent all his Mind and Endeavour how to free Iames and set him at variance with Murdo and his Children And seeing they could not all of them stand safe together which soever of them fell he foresaw that his Hope would be advanced one step higher to the Kingdom And when Iames was returned into his Country he turn'd every Stone to hasten Murdo's Destruction he suborn'd Men fit for the turn to forge Crimes against him and he himself sate Judge upon Him and his Sons And when they were cut off there was only Iames left and one little Son a Child not yet 6 Years old And if he were slain by the Conspiracy of the Nobles he did not doubt but himself who was then the only remaining Branch of the Royal Stock should be advanc'd to the Throne Athole was in these Thoughts Night and Day yet he conceal'd his Secret Purposes and made a great shew of Loyalty to the King in helping to rid his Allies out of the way for that was his only Contrivance that by the Offences of Others he might increase his own Power and diminish his Enemies In the mean time Meliss Graham who as I said before was given in Hostage to the English was depriv'd of Strathern because the King making a diligent Enquiry into his Revenue found that 't was given to his Grandfather by the Mothers-side upon condition That if
fought with and slew him and some of his Followers Douglas took the Fact so hainously that he made a Solemn Oath never to rest till he had expiated the Murder by Colvil's Death Neither were his Threatnings in vain for he Storm'd his Castle took and plunder'd it and killed all therein that were able to bear Arms. This Fact though 't was performed against Law and Custom yet some did excuse and in effect commend as proceeding from Indignation a Passion not unbeseeming a Generous Mind Thus as it commonly happens in degenerate Times Flattery the perpetual Companion of Greatness did clothe the highest Offences with Honest and Plausible Names Moreover Douglas was so lifted up with the Flatteries of Fortune which did now incline to his Destruction that he had a great Ambition to make an Ostentation of his Power even to Foreign Nations as if the splendor of so great a Family oâ—â—ht not to be straitned within the narrow Theatre of one Island onâ—â— so that he had a Mind to go to Rome he pretended Religion but the principal design of his Journy was Ambition the Church of Rome had adopted the old Rites of the Iewish for as the Iewish Church every Fiftieth year was to forgive all the Debts of what kind soever to their Country Men and to restore all Pledges Gratis and also to set their Hebrew Servants at Liberty So the Pope taking an Example therefrom as Gods Vicar on Earth did arrogate the Power of forgiving all Offences For whereas at other times he trucked out his Pardons by Peice-Meal every Fiftieth Year he open'd his full Garners thereof and pour'd out whole Bushels full of them publickly to all yet I will not say Gratis Douglas with a great Train of Nobles who were desirous partly to see Novelties and partly allur'd by hopes of Reward sail'd over into Flanders From thence he Travelled by Land to Paris and took with him his Brother appointed Bishop of Caledonia who afterwards seeing Douglas had no Children was by the Kings Permission put in hopes to be his Heir In France he was highly caressed partly upon the account of their Publick League with the Scots and partly in Memory of his Ancestors Demerits from that Crown hereupon all Rome was filled with the Expectation of his coming About Two Months after his departure from Scotland his Enemies and Rivals began to lift up their Heads they durst not for Fear complain of him when he was present but now they laid open all the Injuries they had received from him And when it was once noised abroad that the Access to the King was easie and that his Ear was open to all just Complaints The Troop of Complainants lamenting their Sufferings did daily increase so that all the ways to the Palace were almost stopt by them The King could not well either reject the Petitions of the Sufferers nor yet condemn the Earl in his absence without hearing of him so that he gave a middle Answer which satisfi'd their Importunity for the present viz. That he would Command the Earls Proctor or Attorney to appear that so in his own Presence a fair Tryal might be had Whereupon the Proctor was summon'd but did not appear so that the Kings Officers were sent out to bring him in by force when he was brought to Court some alledged that he ought to be immediately punisht for disobeying the Kings Command in regard that by too much Patience the Kings Authority would be despis'd and run low even amongst the meaner sort for under the pretence of Lenity the Audaciousness of the Bad would increase and the Impunity of Offendors would open the way for more Crimes The King was not mov'd by those Instigations but remain'd constant to his Resolution which was rather to satisfie his greatest Accusers by the Compensation of their Losses than to satiate their Vindicative Minds with the spilling of his Blood Hereupon he caus'd the Earls Proctor to be brought out of Prison and to plead in his Masters behalf telling him That if he had any thing to allege in Purgation of the Crimes objected he should freely declare it without any fear at all When he was cast in many Suits and the King Commanded him immediately to pay the Damages The Proctor answer'd He would defer the whole matter till the return of the Earl who was expected in a few Months This he spake as 't was thought by the advice of Ormond and Murray the Earl's Brothers When the King was inform'd of his Resolution he sent William Sinclare Earl of the Orcades who was then Chancellor first into Galway and then into Douglasdale he appointed Sequestrators to gather up the Rents of Douglas's Estate and so to pay the Damages adjudg'd by Law But in regard Sinclare had not Power enough to inforce his Order some eluded others Contumeliously abus'd him so that he return'd without effecting his Business The King being provokt by this Contempt of his Authority Commands all the Favourers of Douglas his Faction to be Summon'd to appear which they refusing to do were declared Publick Enemies an Army was Levy'd against them which marcht into Galway At their first coming the Commanders were driven into their Castles but a small Party of the Kings Forces pursuing after the rest through Craggy Places were repuls'd and not without Ignominy driven back to the King The King taking it in great Indignation that a few Vagabond Thieves should dare to make such Attempts resolv'd to redeem their slighting of him by attempting their Strongs Holds he took the Castle of Maban with no great difficulty but his Soldiers were so much toil'd and weary'd in the taking of Douglas Castle that therefore he wholly demolisht it As for the Vassals and Tenants who had submitted themselves and their Fortunes to him he Commanded them to pay their Rents to his Treasurers till Douglas's Estate had fully satisfi'd what was awarded against him by Law And when this was almost done he dismist his Army having obtain'd a good Report for his Lenity and Moderation even amongst his very Enemies When these Matters were related to the Earl at Rome his great Spirit was mightily mov'd yea his Esteem did then abate amongst his own Attendants so that a great Part of them deserted him and he enter'd upon his Journy homewards with but a few Followers He came through England and drawing near to the Borders of Scotland he sent his Brother Iames to feel the Kings Pulse how he stood affected towards him And when the King was appeasable he return'd home and was kindly receiv'd only he was admonisht to abandon and subdue all Robbers especially those of Annandale who had plaid many Cruel and Avaritious Pranks in his absence Douglas undertook to do so and confirm'd his Promise by an Oath Whereupon he was not only restor'd into his former Grace and Favour but also made Regent over all Scotland so that every one was injoin'd to obey his Commands But
his vast Mind which was always hankering after Supremacy and Height was not content with this Honour which was the greatest he could be advanced to under the King but by his Temerity he gave the State new Occasions of Suspicion For he undertook a Journy very privately into England and after his Address to that King he told him that the cause of his coming was That his Estate though Claimed by him was not yet restor'd But this seem'd to Iames a light and no way probable cause of his Journey and therefore the King conceiv'd a greater Suspicion in his Mind which before was not well Reconcil'd against him neither did he conceal his Anger as supposing that there was a deeper Design hid under that his Discourse with the English King Douglas having now an offended King to deal with fled presently to his wonted Refuge the Kings known Clemency and cast himself at his Feet The Queen also and many of the Nobles interceded for him and after a Solemn Oath that for the future he would never act any thing which might justly offend the King his Fault was forgiven only he was deprived of his Office Whereupon the Earl of the Orcades and William Creighton who had always remained Loyal were advanc'd again to sit at the Helm Douglas was very angry with all the Courtiers for this Disgrace for so he interpreted it but he was most of all incens'd against William Creighton for he thought that 't was by his Prudence that all his Projects were disappointed and therefore he was resolv'd to dispatch him out of the World either by some Treachery or if that succeeded not by any other way whatsoever And that he might do it with the less Odium he suborn'd one of his Friends to Witness that he heard Creighton say That Scotland would never be 〈◊〉 quiet so long as any of the Family of the Douglas 's were left alive and that the safety of the King and Kingdom the Concord of the Estates and the Publick Peace did depend upon the Death of that one Man For he being of a Turbulent Nature and supported by many and great Assinities and Irreconcileable by any Offices of Respect and Advancements to Honour 't were better to have him taken out of the way that so the publick Peace might be confirm'd and settled This Tale when nois'd abroad and believed by many by reason of the Probability thereof rais'd up a great deal of Ill-Will against Creighton Douglas being inform'd by his Spies when he was to depart from Edinburgh lays an Ambush for him late in the Night as secretly as he could and when he and his Train came to it the liers in wait set upon them with a great shout they who were first assaulted were so astonisht at the suddenness of the Danger that they could not lift up an Hand to defend themselves But William being a Man of great Courage and Conduct assoon as he had a little recover'd himself from his Fright slew the first Man that Assaulted him and Wounded another and so he and his Attendants brake through the midst of their Enemies having only received some Wounds He fled to Creighton Castle and there staid some days to cure his Wounds and soon after he got a great Number of his Friends and Tenants about him and in great silence came to Edinburgh His speed did so prevent the Noise of his coming that he had almost surpriz'd his Enemy unawares Douglas being thus freed from an unlook'd for Danger either out of Fear Shame or Both when he saw the Power of the Adverse Faction to increase with the good liking of the People endeavour'd also to strengthen his own Party as much as ever he could and therefore he joins himself in League with the Earls of Craford and Ross which were the most Noted and Potent Families in Scotland next to the Douglas's a mutual Oath was entred into betwixt them That each of them should be aiding and assisting to the Friends and Confederates one of another And in Confidence of this Combination they slighted the Forces of their opposite Faction yea and the Kings too The King took this in great Indignation and besides he had other fresh Causes of Provocation against him which hastned his Destruction Iohn Herris a Knight of a Noble Family in Galway being averse from the ill Practices of the Douglas's ordinarily kept himself within the Walls of his own House but the Annandians were sent in upon him which did him much mischief he often complain'd hereof to Douglas but in vain so that at length he determin'd to revenge himself and to repel Force by Force And accordingly he gather'd a Company of his Friends together and entring Annandale he and all his Followers were there taken Prisoners by those Bandity and being brought to Douglas he hang'd him up as a Thief though the King had earnestly interceded for him by his Letters That matter seem'd very hainous as indeed it was so that Speeches were given out That Douglas by evil Practices did endeavour and that not obscurely to make his Way to the Crown for-now there was nothing else remaining which could satisfie his vast and aspiring Mind Which Suspicion was soon after increast by another Fact which he committed as foul as the former There was a certain Family of the Macklan's in Galway one of the best and chiefest there The prime Person of that Family had slain one of Douglas his Attendants from whom he had received continual Wrongs and Affronts whereupon he and his Brother were by Douglas cast into Prison The King being made acquainted with it was very much importun'd by the Friends of the Prisoners not to suffer so Noble and otherwise a very honest Man to be hal'd forth not to a Legal Tryal but to an undoubted Destruction the same Man being both his Capital Enemy and his Judge too and that it was not his present Crimes which did prejudice him so much as that he had always been of the Honest or Royal Party Hereupon the King sent Macklan's Uncle a worthy Knight and Kin also to Douglas to Command him to send the Pris'ner to Court that the Matter might be Tryed there in due course of Law The Earl receiv'd Gray very courteously but in the mean time he caused Execution to be done upon the Pris'ner and intreated Gray to excuse him to the King as if it had been done by his Officers without his Knowledge But he perceiving how manifestly he was deluded was in such a Rage that he told Douglas That from that Day forward he would renounce all Alliance Friendship or any other Obligation to him and was resolv'd to be his perpetual Enemy and do him all the Mischief he could when the news hereof was brought to Court the Fact seem'd so unworthy to all that heard it that Speeches were openly scatter'd That now Douglas did exceed the bounds of a Subject and plainly carry'd himself as a King For
to what other purpose else did his Combinations with the Earls of Craford Ross Murray and Ormond tend And moreover his private Discourse with the King of England his putting Good Men to Death and his allow'd Licentiousness in pillaging the People were Indications of the same Design Now Innocency was accounted Cowardize and Loyalty to the King punish'd as Perfidiousness that the Enemys of the Common-wealth grew insolent by the overmuch Indulgence of the King That 't was time for him now to take the Reins of Government into his own Hand and to act as a King himself and then it would appear who were his Friends and who were his Enemies or if he did not dare to do it openly by reason of the Powerfulness of some Men yet by some private way or other he should punish Treachery but if he were so fearful as not to do so neither what remain'd but that they who had hitherto been constant in their Loyalty to him should now at length provide for themselves These Discourses thô the Life of the Douglas's and the Credulity of the King prone to Suspicion did confirm to be true Yet the King out of his innate Clemency or else having before laid his Design seâ—ds for Douglas to Court He being conscious of so many mischievous pranks he had plaid and calling to remembrance how often he had been pardon'd and withal understanding how distastful his new League with Craford was to the King tho' he put great confidence in the King's Clemency yet being more inclin'd to Fear refus'd to come alleging that he had many powerful Enemies at Court and some of them had lately lain in wait to take away his Life Hereupon to remove this his Fear many of the Nobles about the King sent him a Schedule with their Hands and Seals to it promising upon Oath that if the King himself should meditate any thing against his Life yet they would dismiss him in safety so that Douglas encourag'd by the King's Clemency and by the Publick Faith testify'd by the Subscriptions of so many Noble Persons with a Train of Followers came to Sterlin where he was courteously Treated by the King and invited into the Castle After Supper with great hilarity was ended the King took him aside into his Bed-chamber with but a few of his Confidents he did not so much as admit Those to whom he was wont to communicate his most secret Counsels There he ript up from the very beginning the Loyalty and Valour of his Ancestors and his own Indulgence towards their Family and especially towards himself who having committed many hainous Offences either by the Greenness of his Years or by the Persuasions of wicked Men he had freely pardon'd always hoping that either by his courteous Clemency toward him or else by the Maturity of his Age he would be Reform'd and as yet says he I despair not but it may be so and if you repent of what you have impiously committed the door of my Clemency shall never be shut against you This last League proceeded he with Craford and Ross as it is not Creditable for you so it is ignominious to me and therefore tho' I take it much amiss that you entred into it yet I put it into your Power and as yet give you liberty to cancel and break it off which tho' by my Prerogative I may command yet I had rather by fair means persuade you so to do that seeing all Mens Eyes are upon you you may avert all cause of Suspicion with greater Diligence Douglas answer'd submissively enough to all other Points but when he came to the Mention of the League he was somewhat perplext and did not clearly declare what he would do but that he would advise with his Associats neither did he see any Cause why the King at present should tye him to a Breach of it seeing there was nothing contain'd therein which might justly offend him The King either having resolv'd upon the Fact before or eâ—se provok'd by his contumacious Answer as the Courtiers say replyed If thou wilt not break it I will and immediately struck his Dagger into his Brâ—ast Those that stood at the Door hearing the Noise rusht in and destroy'd him quite with many Wounds Some say that next after the King Patrick Grey of whom mention was made before struck him into the Head with a Bill and the rest that came in to shew their Duty to the King every one gave him a Blow He was slain in the Month of February in the Year 1452. according to the Roman Account He had then 4 Brothers in Sterlin whom a great number of the Nobility had accompany'd thither they as soon as â—ver they heard of what was done ran in great amazement to theâ—â— Arms as in such suddain Hurly-burlies it uses to happen and filled the Town with Noise and Clamour but when the Tumult was appeas'd by the Nobles they were Commanded to go each Man to his respective Lodging The next Day they met to consult and First of all Iames was call'd Earl in the room of his Brother who was slain he mightily inveigh'd against the Perfidiousness of the King and the Courtiers and advises to Besiege the Castle with what Force they then had and with all speed to Levy more and so to pull out those Men out of their lurking holes who were valiant only to commit perfidious Mischiefs whilst they were yet in some Fear and Trepidation for the Guilt of their Offence The Company commended the Piety of Iames and the Couragiousness of his Spirit but were averse from his advice to a Siege because they were not prepar'd with any Materials for so great an Enterprize so that they all departed home and after Consultation with the Chief of their Friends the 6th of the Calends of April they return'd again and tyed a Cord to an Horse Tail on which they fastned the Schedule of the King and Nobles promising the Publick Faith to Douglas for his Security This they drew through the Streets abstaining from no manner of Reproach either against the King or Council when they came to the Market-place they Proclaim'd the King and Those that were with him Truce-breakers Perjur'd Persons and Enemies to all Good Men. Moreover they were angry with the Town tho' that had committed no Offence and after they had pillaged it they sent Iames Hamilton back to Burn it yea their Fury continued for some Days so that they rang'd all over the Country and made Havock of the Lands of all those who were Loyal to the King they besieg'd the Castle of Dalkeith and took an Oath not to depart from it till they had taken it for they were very Angry with Iohn the Owner of it because he and the Earl of Angus had separated themselves from the Counsels of the rest of the Douglasses The Siege lasted longer than they expected for Patrick Cockburn Commander of the Garison made a strenuous Resistance against all
a Friendly Patriot for he not only forgave the Earl the many grievous Injuries he had done him but further commended his Suit and spake in his Favour to the King for he foresaw as it after hapned That by this Accession the Kings Party would be strengthen'd and his Enemies weaken'd daily for the future in regard many were likely to follow the Example of this Great Man And besides the King thinking that his former Fierceness was tam'd and that he was really penitent for what he had done was not hard to be intreated but gave him his Pardon restor'd him to his former Estate and Honour only advis'd him for the future to keep within the Bounds of his Duty And indeed Craford being thus ingag'd by the Lenity and Facileness of the King did afterwards endeavour to perform him all the Service he possibly could he followed him with his Forces in his March to the furthest Parts of the Kingdom and having setled Things there for the present he entertained him nobly at his House in his return and when he march'd to make a full end of the Civil War he promis'd him all the Force he could make and indeed the whole course of his Life was so chang'd that laying down his former Savageness he liv'd courteously and in Complaisance with the Neighbouring Nobility so that his Death which followed soon after brought the greater Grief to the King and to all the People The King thus weakning Douglas's Party by degrees his remaining Hopes were from England if possibly he might obtain Aid from thence Hereupon he sent Hamilton to London who brought him back Word that the King of England would undertake a War against Scotland on no other Terms but that Douglas must submit himself and all his Concerns to that King and acknowledge himself a Subject of England So that his Hopes thence were cut off and on the Other side the King of Scotland prest hard upon him by his Edicts Proscriptions and Arms yea by all the Miseries which accompany Rebellious Insurrections So that Hamilton advis'd the Earl not to suffer the King to nim away his Forces by piece-meal and by catching a Part to weaken and in time overthrow the Whole he should rather march out with his Army trust Fortune put it to a Battel there to dye Valiantly or conquer Honourably This Resolution said he is worthy of the name of the Douglassâ—s and the only Way to end the present Miseries Being alarum'd with this Speech he gather'd as great an Army as he could of his Friends and Dependants and marched out to raise the Siege of the Castle of Abercorn for the King after he had demolish'd many Castles of the Douglasses had at last besieged That It was a very strong Hold seâ—tuate almost in the Mid-way between Sterlin and Edinburgh When Douglas came so near that he saw and was seen by the Enemy his Friends advis'd him to push at all and either to make himself renown'd by some Eminent Victory or by a Noble Death to free himself from Reproach and Misery but when all his Party were ready for the Onset he daunted all their Spirits by his own Delay for he retreated with his Army again into his Camp and determin'd to draw and eke out the War at length His Commanders dislik'd his Design and Hamilton not enduring his Cowardize and despairing of the Success of his Arms that very Night revolted to the Kings Party Upon this his Defection the King gave him his Pardon but not putting any great Confidence in him because of his Subtilty he sent him Prisoner to Rosseline a Castle belonging to the Earl of the Orcades but afterwards by the Mediation of his Friends he was releas'd and receiv'd into Favour and that unbloody Victory ascribed to him as the main Occasion thereof The rest of the Douglassians follow'd Hamilton's Example and slipt away from him every one whither he thought most convenient for himself so that at length the Castle after much Loss on both sides was taken the Garison put to the Sword and after 't was half demolished it was left as a Monument of the Victory Douglas being thus deserted by almost all his Friends with a few of his Familiars fled into England from thence not long after he made an Inrode with a smal Party into Annandale which was then possest by the Kings Garisons but being worsted in a Skirmish He and his Brother Iohn escap'd Archibald Earl of Murray was slain George was much wounded and taken Prisoner and after his Wounds were cur'd was brought to the King and put to Death In an Assembly of the Estates held at Edinburgh in the Nones of Iune in the Year 1455. Iames Iohn and Beatrix all Douglasses were again proscrib'd The Publick Acts do make Beatrix their Mother which seems not very probable to me unless perhaps they might be called her Sons by Adoption Earl Iames having thus lost his Brothers being deserted by his Friends and distrusting the English that he might leave no Stone unturn'd apply'd himself to Donald King of the Aebudae a man bad enough in his own Nature They met at Dunstafnage where he easily persuaded him to joyn with him in the War whereupon they committed great Outrages on the Kings Provinces near adjoyning without distinction either of Age or Sex there was nothing spar'd which could be violated by Fire or Sword the like Cruelty was us'd in Argyle and Arran and then being laden with Booty he return'd home and afterward having wasted Loch-Abyr and Murray he turn'd to Innerness he took the Castle pillag'd and burnt the Town Neither were the English quiet all this while but watching their Opportunity they made Incursions into Merch where they slew some men of Note who endeavoured to oppose their furious Ravaging and so returned home without Loss but full of Plunder from that opulent Country The next Year after Beatrix Wife to the former Earl of Douglas and also living for some years with Iames his Brother as his Wife came in to the King She laid all the Fault of her former Miscarriages upon Iames that she being a Woman and helpless was inforc'd to that Wicked Marriage but at the first Opportunity as soon as Iames was absent she was fled from that Servitude that now she laid her self and all her Concerns at the Kings Feet and whatever Order he should please to make concerning her or her Estate she would willingly obey it The King receiv'd her into his Protection gave her an Estate in Balvany and Married her to his Brother the Earl of Athole by the same Mother The Wife of Donald the Islander followed her Example she was the Daughter of Iames Levingston and was Married to Donald by her Grandfather the Regent by the persuasion also of the King that so He might a little soften the rugged disposition of the man and keep him firm to the Kings Party But then her Kinsman being restor'd to
the Favours and Graces they formerly had and her Husband having joyned himself to the Douglassian Faction she was every day more and more slighted and despis'd by him so that she implor'd the Kings Assistance against his barbarous Cruelty There was no need of her making such an Apology in regard the King himself had been the Author of the Match so that she was nobly treated and had a large Revenue setled upon her for her Life About the same time Patrick Thornton who had followed the Court a great while yet was secretly of Douglas's Faction slew Iohn Sanderland of Caldar a Young man of about 20. years of Age â—nd Alan Stuart of Noble Families Both and of eminent Faithfulness to the King having got a convenient Opportunity so to do at Dunbarton and soon after he himself was taken by the Clans of the Adverse Party and Executed for the same This Year was remarkable for the Death of many Noble Personages but especially of William Creighton He tho' born of an Equestrian Family yet by reason of his great Prudence Fortitude and his Singular Loyalty to the King even to the last day of his Life left a great Loss behind him to all Good men The next Year the English being incouraged by their Impunity for former Injuries made great spoil in Merch under the command of Henry Percy Earl of Northumberland and Iames Douglas the Exile to hinder their devastations George Douglas Earl of Angus gathered a Party of his Countrymen together and made an Assault on the Plunderers and drave that Part of them which he assaulted in great Confusion back to their own Standards the English being mov'd at this Indignity marched on their Army before the rest had recover'd their Colours and the Scots were as ready to receive them The Fight was manag'd on both sides with greater Courage than Force a great while neither did any odds appear till the English who were scatter'd up and down the Country by the Noise and Temult perceiving that the Enemy was come for fear of losing the rich Booty they had gotten hasted directly home their departure gave an easier but yet not unbloody Victory to the Scots there being almost an equal number slain on Both Sides but many of the English taken in the pursuit The News of this Victory being brought to the King did something relieve his Mind which was opprest with Thoughtfulness between the Arms of his own Subjects and of the English afterwards Donald the Islander perceiving the ill success of his Affairs was inforc'd to send Agents to the King to intercede for a Peace They in an humble Oration commemorated the King's Clemency shew'd to Craford and the rest of his Partisans in the same Cause as for their own Crimes they laid them on the Fatality of the Times but for the future they made large Promises how Loyal and Obsequious Donald would be The King seem'd to be somewhat affected with their Speech yet gave them but a middle Answer neither quite pardoning Donald nor utterly excluding all hopes of his Pardon he told them That his many Crimes were very evident but he had discover'd no Specimen of a chang'd Mind in him if they would have the Penitence which they pretended in Words to be believ'd as really True and Hearty he should make Restitution for the Loss he had formerly caus'd and restore their Estates to such as he had outed of them and thus to cancel the Memory of his former Mischiefs by some Eminent and Loyal Service 'T is true said he no Virtue becomes a King more than Clemency but Care must be had lest the Reins of Government be not let loose by too much Lenity and so Evil Men rather made more insolent than Good Men excited to their Duty thereby that he would give Time to Donald and his Party to manifest by some Tokens that they repented of their Miscarriages and that they should always find him towards them such as their Actions and their Words did Declare them to be In the mean time they need not fear for Now it was put into their own Power whether they would every Man be Happy or Miserable for the future By this means intestine Discords were either compos'd or else laid asleep so that the King now bends all his Care against England whilst he was consulting concerning a War with them and concerning their frequent violations of Truces behold Embassadors came from the English Nobility to Desire Aid against Henry their King For Henry had slighted the Nobles and advanc'd Upstarts by whose Advice his Wife a Woman of a Manly Spirit and Courage Ruled the Roast And besides the King had incurr'd the Displeasure and Contempt of his Friends because things had not succeeded well in Aquiâ—ane and Normandy for they having lost so many Provinces and being now pent up within the Ancient Bounds of their own Island did mutter and grumble that the Kings Sluggishness and the Queens Pride were no longer to be endur'd The Heads of the Conspiracy were Richard Duke of York with the Earls of Salisbury and Warwick when the English Embassadors had discours'd much concerning the Justness of their Cause to begin a War and also concerning their own Power and the Cowardly Temper of their King they crav'd Aid against him as against a Common Enemy who was fearful in War fordid in Peace and who had nourish'd Civil Discords amongst the Scots and had assisted their Exiles withal they promis'd if they got the Victory to restore the Castles and Countries which were taken in former Wars from the Scots The King by Advice of his Council made Answer That he before knew the State of the English Affairs and that he was not ignorant of the Right or Demands of either side but that he would not intetpose Himself an Arbiter in another Mans Kingdom unless he were chosen by both Parties to that Office As to the War he had long since determin'd to revenge the Injuries of the former Times and â—f he could not otherwise obtain the Places he had lost on the Occasion of these Discords he would recover them by Force But if the Duke of York and his Party would promise to restore Them then he would assist him against Henry The Embassadors agreed to the Terms and so return'd home The King prepar'd his Forces and was about to enter England when behold an English Impostor sent by Henry met him he had been a long time at Rome and was well acquainted with the Speech and the Customs of the Italians his Habit and Train was all Outlandish and he had counterfeit Letters as from the Pope whereby he was easily believ'd by Men suspecting nothing but to be a Legate sent from him and to gain the greater Credit to his Impostures he had a Monk with him whose fained Sanctity made the Fraud less suspected they were brought to the King and in the Popes Name Commanded him to proceed no further
with his Army if he did they threatned to Excommunicate him with Bell Book and Candle For the Pope said they is wholly intent upon a War against the Common Enemy of Christendom and so would have the differences compos'd all over Europe that they might be free for that War and that they were sent before to give him Notice hereof but there was a more Solemn Embassy which would shortly arrive and which they believ'd was already come as far as France to decide the Civil Discords of England and to give satisfaction to the Scots for the Wrongs they had sustain'd The King did not imagine any Fraud in the Case and desiring nothing more than an Honourable Peace in regard things at home were not quite setled to his Mind Obey'd the Legate and Disbanded his Army He had scarce dismist it but he was advis'd from England that this suppos'd Embassador was a Cheat so that he gather'd again some Forces and because he could not joyn the Duke of York that he might keep off some of the King's Force from him and also revenge his own Wrongs he march'd directly to Roxborough the Town he took and destroy'd it at his first coming but whilst he was laying Siege to the Castle Embassadors came from York and his Associats informing him that their King was overcome and the War ended in England They gave him Thanks for his Good-Will and his Desire to assist them in the maintenance of their Lives and Honours and that they would in time be mindful to requite the Courtesie but at present they desir'd him to raise the Siege and draw off from the Castle and likewise to forbear any other Act of Hostility against England For otherwise they should be laden with great Envy amongst the People who could hardly be contain'd or satisfy'd but that an Army must presently march against the Scots Iames congratulated their Victory but ask'd the Embassadors Whether the Duke of York and his Allies had given them nothing in Command concerning restoring the Places promis'd He Answer'd Nothing Then said he before your last Embassy came to me I was determin'd to pull down that Castle which is built upon my Land neither since that time am I so much obliged by the Courtesies of that Faction as to give over an Enterprize which is begun and almost finisht As for the Threatnings made either by the People or by Them let them look to it goe you and tell them that I will not be remov'd hence by Words but Blows Thus the Embassadors were dismist without their Errand and whilst he did press upon the Besieg'd by all the hardships of War Donald the Islander came into his Camp with a great Band of his Country-men He to obtain the easier Pardon for his past Offences and fully to Atone and Reconcile the King promis'd him that if he would march forward into the Enemies Countries as long as he was there he would march a Mile before his Army and endure the sharpest and first of all Brunts and Hazards But he was Commanded to be near the King yet some of his Troops was sent out to prey upon the Country It happen'd also that at the same time Alexander Gordon Earl of Huntly brought in new Forces to the King This Accession of Strength made the King more resolute to continue the Siege tho' a strong Defence was made by Those within So that whereas before it was a Blockade only a well-laid and close Siege was now made when he had Soldiers enough some presently succeeded in the Places of others insomuch that the Garison Soldiers of whom many were Slain many Wounded and unfit for Service the rest tired out with continual Toil and Labour were not so eager to run into the Places of most Danger as before and to strike the more Terror into them the King gave Command to batter part of the Wall with Iron pieces of Ordnance which were then much us'd and were very terrible And whilst the King was busie about one of them to press on the work the Fire catcht within it and with its force drove out a wooden Wedg or Plug which immediately fell'd the King to the Earth and slew him without hurting any body else Those Courtiers who stood next him tho' they were terrify'd at this sudden Accident yet they cover'd his Body left if his Death were divulg'd the Common Soldiers should run away The Queen who that very Day came to the Camp did not give up her Mind to Womanish Lamentations bur call'd the Nobles together and exhorted them to be of good Courage and that so many valiant Men should not be so dismayed at the Loss of One as counting it dishonourable to desert a Business that was almost ended She told them She her Self would speedily bring them another King in the place of him that was slain in the mean time they should press with might and main upon the Enemy lest he might grow more resolute upon News of their Generals Death and so imagin that all the Courage of so many valiant Men was extinguisht in in the Fate of one Person only The Officers were asham'd to be exceeded in Courage by a Woman Whereupon they assaulted the Castle with such Violence that neither Party was sensible that the King was lost In the mean time Iames the King's Son being about 7 Years of Age was brought into the Camp and Saluted King And 't was not long after before the English being tired out with Watching and continued Service surrendred up the Castle to the new King upon Condition to march away with Bag and Baggage The Castle that it might be the Occasion of no new War was levell'd to the Ground This End had Iames the 2d in the Year of Christ 1460. a few Days before the Autumnal Equinox in the 29 th Year of his Age and the 23d of his Reign he had been exercis'd always even from his Youth with Domestick or Foreign Wars he bore Both Estates of Life the Prosperous and Adverse with great Moderation of Mind he shew'd such Valour against his Enemies and such Clemency to those that submitted themselves that All Estates were much afflicted for his Loss and his Death was the more lamented because 't was sudden and that in the Flower of of his Youth too after he had escap'd so many Dangers and when the Expectation of his Virtues was at the highest And he was the more miss'd because his Son was yet immature for the Government whilst Men consider'd what Miseries they had suffer'd for the last 20 Years the Ashes of which Fire were hardly yet rak'd up so that from a reflective Remembrance of what was Past they seemed to Divine the Estate of future Things The Twelfth BOOK James III. The Hundred and Fourth King JAMES II. as I have related being slain in his Camp to prevent all Controversy concerning the Right of Succession which had happen'd at other times his Son Iames a Child
of about 7 Years Old who was the younger of the Twins and surviv'd his Brother enter'd upon the Government in the Town of Kelsoe Afterwards when the Nobles according to Custom had taken their Oaths of Allegiance to him 8 Days after he began his Reign he left his Army and retir'd home â—o the Castle of Edinburgh to be under the Tutelage of his Mother till an Assembly of the Estates were Celebrated to determin of the Grand Affairs of the Kingdom The Assembly was Indicted later than ordinary because Matters was not compos'd in England and yet quiet in Scotland So that the Nobility were of Opinion That War was first of all to be thought on that so they might revenge old Injuries and punish their Enemies by some notable Loss who did always lye at catch to take Advantage of the Distresses of Others Hereupon they marched into the Enemies Country without any resistance where they committed much spoil and demolished many Castles from whence the Enemy was wont to make suddain Incursions the Chief of which was Wâ—rk situate on the Banks of the River Tweed formerly very injurious to the Country of Merch. The Army ravaged over the Enemies Country as far as they could for the time of the Year and at the very beginning of Winter returned home This Year Henry King of England was Taken by the Duke of York and brought to London there a Form of Peace was concluded betwixt them for Henry durst not deny any thing That He as long as he lived should bear the Name and Ensigns or Badges of a King but the Power of Government should be in York under the Name of a Protector And when Henry Died Then the Name also of King was to be transferred to Edward and his Posterity Whilst these Things were acted at London News was brought That the Queen was marching up with a great Army to Redeem her Husband out of Prison York went out to Engage her with about 5000 Men with him leaving the Earl of Warwick and King Henry behind he marched as far as Yorkshire and lest He who in France had Defended himself against great Armies not with Walls but with Arms should now shun a Battel with a Woman He Fought against a far greater Number than his Own and in the Fight He his youngest Son and a great many Nobles were slain The Heads of the Commanders were set up as a Spectacle upon the Gates at York The Queen thus Victorious and marching on further to Deliver the King the Earl of Warwick met her bringing the King along with him as if he would Defend the Pact made concerning the Kingdom under his good Omen Both Armies met at St. Albans which is thought to be the Old Verulam where the Queen was again Victorious She slew the Commanders of the adverse Army released her Husband and marched directly up for London but considering that the Earl of Pembroke was sent by Her to gather Forces as was also York's Son by his Father and that these Two had had a Fight in their March wherein Edward the Son of her Enemy was Victorious and withal knowing what cruel Hatred the Londoners bore against Her She withdrew towards Northumberland because She looked on that Part of England as the Seminary or Source of Her Strength There She was also Overcome in a Bloody Fight more than 36000 valiant Men being reported to be slain and the Enemy pressing upon Her and giving Her no Time to recollect Her Forces She her Husband and Son fled into Scotland The Conqueror call'd himself Edward the Fourth King of England Henry desired Aid in his Distress and by means of Iames Kennedye Archbishop of St. Andrews who then surpassed all in Scotland in point of Authority and Opinion of his Prudence he was Entertain'd with a great deal of Honour and Respect so that he was erected to some Hope of recovering his former Dignity and to nourish that Hope by all the actual good Offices which he could he restored the Town of Berwick to the Scots which the English had held ever since the Days of Edward I. The Scots upon this Obligation did assist Henry's Faction in all things not only in piecing up the Relicks of his former Misfortunes but promising him more Aid in time to recover his Own And that the Friendship now begun might be the more firmly established the Two Queens Both of Them of French Descent began to Treat concerning a Marriage between Iames his Sister and Henry's Son whom they called Prince of Wales tho' neither of them as yet were above Seven Years old Philip of Burgundy Uncle to the Queen of Scots but a Mortal Enemy to the Queen of England endeavoured by all means possible to hinder this Marriage For he sent Grathusius a Nobleman his Embassador for that purpose For Philip was at such deadly odds with Renatus Grandfather to the Lady by the Mother's side that he sought all Occasions to hinder his Stock from increasing so that in Favour of him the Matter was at that time rather delayed than broke off But the Fortune of Henry kept off the Event which Philip of Burgundy feared For being something encouraged by the Kindness of the Scots towards him and also by some comfortable Letters sent from his Friends out of England he sent his Wife beyond Sea to Renatus her Father to procure what Aid she could from her Foreign Friends She prevailed so much in France that her Faction were to have a safe Place of Retreat there but her Adversaries were excluded and moreover she obtained 2000 Men as Monstrelet says under Warren their General but as Ours and the English Writers to whom I rather assent 500 Commanded by Peter Brice or as some call him Brace a Britton rather as Companions for her Journy than as any Auxiliary Aid With this small Band she returned into Scotland and thought fit to attempt something not doubting but at the Noise of Foreign Assistance her Countrymen would rise and joiâ— with her whereupon she made a Descent at Tinmouth but this small Company being dismayed at the report of a great Force coming against them without the performance of any thing remarkable returned to their Ships where also as if Fortune had crossed them on all hands they were encounter'd with a grievous Tempest which drove the greatest Part of them who followed the Queen to Scotland into Berwick buâ— some few of them were cast upon the Isle Lindisfarm where they were taken by the Enemy and slain But the Manly spirited Queen was nothing discouraged at this Misfortune but levied a great number of Scots to join with her own Soldiers and resolves to try her Fortune once again Whereupon she left her Son at Berwick and she and her Husband entred Northumberland where she made great Devastation by Fire and Sword in all the adjacent Parts At the report of this new Army some of the Nobles as the Duke of
Authors concerning the Safety of us all for they knowing that they are deservedly hated by all do persecute all by as alternate an hatred and their endeavour is not only to undermine your Authority but to cut you all off by all the possible Arts and Practices they can they have remov'd some of us by Death others by Banishment neither do they ascend gradually to play their Pranks as inferiour Persons when they are promoted are wont to do but these do immediately pitch upon the Royal Blood to exercise the Tryals of their Cruelty and Avarice upon One of the King's Brothers they have most inhumanly put to death the Other they have robb'd his Country of by banishing him and so have given him as a General to our Enemies they being thus taken out of the way their next work is to deal with the Nobility for being of low Estate and Condition themselves they would have nothing of Excellency and Sublimity to survive them All those that have either Riches to satisfy their Avarice or Power to resist their Audaciousness Them they account as their Enemies and yet in the mean time we manage a War against the English as our Publick Enemy as if any Enemy were more deadly than That who is never satisfy'd in point of Covetousness with your Estates nor in point of Cruelty with your Blood Now to make it clear to you that this intestine Plague is more dreadful than That Foreign one suppose which God forbid that the King of England should conquer us doubtless he would remember old Grudges and in pursuance of that Conquest what End of his Successes would he propound to himself or what Reward of his Victory Would he aim at the Life of the King his Enemy or at your Lives I think at Neither For the Dispute between us is not for Life but for Glory and Empire and a generous Mind as 't is vehement and eager against those that resist it so 't is easily mitigated inclin'd to Lenity by Submission and Obsequiousness even upon the account of remembring the Instability of all human Affairs But suppose that the Enemies rage should aim at the Kings Life and Destruction I pray Which of the Two do act more mercifully either he that together with Life takes away all Sense of Misery or they that reserve him whom they ought principally to love and reverence next to God to a dayly Butchery and Execution Who arm his Mind already prepossest with Witch-crafts to the Destruction of his Friends who keep the King now almost encompast by the Arms of his Enemies in the nature of a Prisoner and do not suffer him to see the Faces of his Friends that he may understand their Affection to him and experience their Loyalty They are not so much Enemies who pitch Camp against Camp and so openly profess their Hostility as they who at home do treacherously contrive our Destruction They alienate the Kings mind from his Friends and betray him to his Enemies and thus they deprive us of our Commander and expose us as a Prey to our Enemies Arms by whom if your Lives are given you after you are conquer'd yet you will fall into Shame and Servitude and if you overcome them yet you will not procure Quiet to your selves Strength to your Country nor Glory to your King but a greater Liberty to your Enemies to play their Pranks at present and that in security for the future and thus we shall bring a Plague and Misery on our selves and a stricter Servitude on our King â—o that Victory will not free us from Foreign Miseries but will increase our Domestick Ones And therefore in short my Opinion is That we shake off the Yoke at home before we venture to â—ngage the Enemy For otherwise we shall all be made Slaves to the Lusts of a few men we shall strengthen the Enemy and betray the Common-wealth God bless your Consultations in this matter After Douglas had ended his Speech there followed not a Debate but a confus'd Noise over the whole Assembly crying out To your Arms against the Publick Enemy for the Minds of all present were so inflam'd That though they had none to lead them yet they were about to break in upon the Kings Quarters But the graver Sort who by reason of their Honour and Authority had a great Interest in the rest appeas'd the Tumult for they fear'd lest in an impetuous assault of the People the King himself should come to some harm And therefore they agreed That the prime Commanders should take a smal number of their chiefest Confidents and without any general remove of the whole Army should go the Kings Pavilion and so lay hold on the Offenders who had the Management of things and bring them forth to be judged before the whole Army that so they might suffer condign Punishment according to the Laws Whilst these things were in agitation News was brought to the Court that the Nobles were assembled before day in the Church for What 't was not known but it must certainly be some great Matter which ingag'd such Persons to assemble unknown to the King and his Counsellors The King was awakned and rose in great fear out of his Bed and ask'd those about him What was best to be done In the mean while he sends Cockran before to observe what was a doing and to bring him certain word when he was coming to the Church with a small Retinue he meets with the Chief of the Nobility coming to Court Douglas presently laid hands upon him and took him by a Massy-Gold-Chain which he wore about his Neck whereby he somewhat strain'd his throat and gave him up a Prisoner to the Marshal and then he goes directly to the Kings Bed-Chamber They which were there made no Opposition either because they were astonished at his sudden Coming or else out of Reverence to the Man so that there the rest were seiz'd upon who were thought to have corrupted the King by their wicked Counsels only one Young man hung about the Kings Neck and he desired them to pardon him his name was Iohn Ramsy of a good Family who being excus'd upon the account of his Age was dismist Whilst the rest were led on to their Tryals there was a Tumult and Noise rais'd over the whole Army crying out Hang them Rogues whereupon they were presently hurry'd away and ended their Lives in an Halter yea the Army in general was so intent upon their Execution that when they wanted Ropes upon such a sudden they all offer'd the Reins of their Horse-Bridles and their Baggage-Horse Tackle for that Use and they strove much Who should have the honour to offer his own first This Court-Faction had committed many Injuries against private Persons but their Wrongs to the Publick lay chiefly here They had been the Authors of Coining new Brass-Money which the common People did call by the invidious Name of Black-Money Upon this Project there first ensued a Dearth
of all things and afterwards a Famine for the Sellers had rather suffer their Commodities to be spoil'd at Home than under a pretence of Sale to give them away to the Buyers But that all Commerce might not wholly cease amongst the People this one Remedy was found out for Bargainers and Chapmen That they should mention in their Contracts in what sort of Money the Payment should be made 'T is true some of our former Kings had Coin'd that kind of Money but 't was more for the necessary use of the Poor than for their own Gain and also Provision was made by a Law beyond what Sum Sellers might not be compell'd to take it in payment And thus the Buyers of small Commodities had a Benefit and also it seem'd sufficiently caution'd by the Law that the Richer Sort should have no Damage by this way of Change or Sale It was also objected against them That they had alienated the King's Heart from the Nobility and had set him a-gog upon Magick and had hurried him on to the Destruction of his own Kindred But that which made Cockran most envy'd was his Earldom of Merch which Country and Title the King had given to him or else had committed to his Trust upon the Death of the Youngest Brother When those Evil Counsellors were remov'd out of the way The King had no great Confidence in the Souldiery nor the Souldiery in him so that the Army was dismist and return'd Home and the King though for the present he supprest his Anger and made many large and fair Promises to the Nobility yet his Heart inwardly boiled with Blood Slaughter and Revenge And therefore as soon as he thought himself at Liberty he retired with some few of his Confidents into the Castle of Edinburgh and the Nobility not knowing what to think of it had also their Consultations apart The King of England gather'd Forces in the Winter-Season by the persuasion of Alâ—xander chiefly who inform'd him of the Dissension betwixt the King and his Nobles in Scotland and also assur'd him That as soon as ever he entred Scotland great Numbers of Horse and Foot would come in to him whereupon he made Richard his Brother Duke of Glocester General and commanded him to march into Scotland He began his March when it was about Midsummer and understanding in what Condition the Scotish Affairs were he turn'd aside to Berwick He was receiv'd immediately into the Town and left 4000 Men to besiege the Castle and with the rest of his Army he march'd directly to Edinburgh making a foul Devastation in all Places where he came But Alexander leading them on they entred the City without committing any Rapine and by a Publick Proclamation made in the Market-Place he advis'd Iames seeing he could not come to speak with him First to perform what he had promis'd to Edward and then that he would cause Satisfaction to be made for all the Wrongs and Injuries he had offered to the English and unless he would so do Richard Duke of Glocester would persecute him and his Country with Fire and Sword But Iames perceiving at present that he was not able to perform what was requir'd and on the other side that he was as unable to withstand the Power of the Enemy return'd no Answer at all either by Writing or Message But the Nobles of Scotland being thus forsaken of their King that they might not be wholly wanting to the Publick Safety Levy'd another Army and form'd a Camp at Hadington and that they might somewhat alleviate the imminent Danger and Pressure and stop the Enemy in his Career of Victory they sent Agents to the Duke of Glocester to desire That the Marriage so long promis'd might be consummate they were also to declare That it should not be their Fault if the Agreements made between the Nations were not punctually perform'd The English General knew That the Scots would not put things to the Hazard of a Battel in regard part of their Strength was with him upon the account of Alexander a popular Man and that the rest were divided into several Factions and therefore he made this Answer That he did not know what his King did resolve in reference to that Marriage but he thought it fit that the Money paid to Iames upon the account of the Dowry should be presently repaid to him and if they would have Peace they should promise to surrender up the Castle of Berwick or if they could not do that then to make a solemn Promise That they would not attempt to relieve the Besieged nor to hinder the Besiegers until it was either taken by Storm or surrendred upon Conditions The Scots return'd Answer by their Embassadors That 't was not their Fault the Marriage was not consummated but it happen'd because both Bride and Bridegroom were under Age That the Money was not yet due because the Day of Payment was not come and if there were not sufficient Security given for the payment thereof they would give more but the Castle of Berwick as being built by the Scots and that in the Scotish Soil and was and for many Ages had been under their Jurisdiction they could not part with and though the English had possest it sometimes by Force yet their Injury did not prejudice the Scots ancient Right but Glocester who was Superior in Strength resolv'd to carry the Point and to admit of no legal Dispute in the case The same Day Calen Cambel Earl of Argyle Andrew Stuart and the Bishops of St. Andrews and Dunblane sent to Alexander who was in the English Camp at Lethington a Chart sign'd with their Hands and Seals promising him if he would be Loyal to the King in the next Assembly they would take care that his Estate should be restor'd and an Amnesty given for what was past for the performance whereof they solemnly interpos'd their Faith Alexander acquainted Glocester with the thing who was very friendly and did dismiss him thereupon and so he return'd into his own Country where in the next Assembly of Estates he was made Regent by an unanimous Consent and presently a Proposition was made concerning raising the Siege of Berwick The wiser sort were of Opinion that in so dangerous a time when things were thus unsetled by reason of Domestick Seditions that if the Enemy were quiet yet Storms would rise amongst themselves that it was best to clap up a Peace upon any Terms for they saw plainly that if they should have the better of so powerful an Enemy yet it would rather provoke than dishearten him but if they themselves were overcome it was uncertain how an Enemy fierce by Nature and further elevated by Success would use his Victory Some that were more hot-spirited than they had then any Reason for did oppose this Opinion yet it was carry'd in the Parliament After many Conditions were canvast to and fro at length 't was agreed That on
who for his many and notable Crimes was grievously hated by his own People as well as Richard was by His willingly gave ear to his Ambassadors for he hoped That if once he had Peace with England that he could revenge his Wrongs at home at leisure when England could not be a Refuge to his Opposers For these Reasons especially Both Kings sent some of their Confidents to the Borders where after many and long Disputes concerning Compensation for Losses seeing Peace could not be made by Reason of the Multitudes of Complainants and the Weakness of their Proofs they made a Truce for Three Years And because Matters could not then be adjusted for the Difficulties above-mentioned and also the Straitness of Time Arbiters were appointed on Both sides who together with the Commanders of the Borders should see all things done according to Equity One Condition in the Truce was set down very intricately about the Castle of Dunbar to be restor'd to the Scots for the English interpreted it that they might keep it and the Scots that they might reduce it by Force notwithstanding the Truce For when the Scots after the Expiration of the Sixâ—Months allotted sent Embassadors to Demand the Castle Richard by his Letters made them Promises of his Good Will but he delay'd the Reddition alleging sometimes This and sometimes Other things as an Obstacle in the way till his Death which follow'd not long after He was slain by his Countrymen and Henry the 7 th not yet fully setled in the Throne when â—ames laid Siege to the Castle in a very sharp Winter The Garison Soldiers seeing that they were not like to have Relief from England in regard of the present Distractions surrendred it up But Henry being troubled with many Cares that he might cut off the Occasion of Foreign Wars and extirpate the Seeds of old Hatred came to Newcastle upon Tine from thence he sent Embassadors to Scotland either to make a perpetual League or at least a long Truce with them for he being a Man of great Prudence and having experienc'd many Vicissitudes of things in his Life did judge it highly conducing to the Establishment of his Kingdom to make Peace with his Neighbors and especially with the Scots because that ordinarily those Two Kingdoms did lye at catch for Advantages against each other and did also nourish Rebels flying thither yea and entertain those which were exiled and maintain Sedition by giving their Authors hope of Refuge and Supply And as for Iames he desir'd nothing more than to be free from the fear of Strangers that so he might punish his own disobedient Subjects as he pleased And therefore he kindly receiv'd the Embassadors and told them that he desir'd nothing more than a Peace but his Opinion was that his Subjects would not yield to it that either there should be a perpetual Peace or any long Truce betwixt them partly because it was forbid by an Ancient Law lest when all Fear of an Enemy was removed their Minds might languish in Idleness and the Sinews of their Industry be remitted and partly because they could not so suddainly lay down that fierceness of Spirit which they had acquir'd by so long Use of Arms. But if they could be brought to This to yield to a Truce for 6 or 7 Years he would not have them refuse it But as for himself he was willing to maintain a firm and inviolate Peace with them as long as he liv'd and he would also take care that the Truce should be renewed before the Date of it was quite expired but he earnestly desired the Embassadors not to divulge abroad the Discourse which they had in secret with him lest his Nobilitie should be more backward to a Pacification if they saw him to be partial in the Case When this was told Henry who knew in what a tumultuous Case the Affairs of Scotland were and how convenient it was for that King to have a Peace imagining likewise that he spoke really and from his Heart he accepted of the Truce for 7 Years and so retir'd back to York In the mean time the Queen of Scots dyed a Woman of a singular Beauty and Probity too and by her good Graces she was thought sometimes to have moderated the unbridled Appetites and Efforts of her Husband Alexander also the King's Brother Dyed in France leaving Two Sons behind him Alexander by his First Wife the Daughter of the Earl of the Orcades and Iohn by his Second who was afterward the Regent King of Scotland for some Years Iames having thus setled Peace abroad and at home being freed from Two troublesome Interrupters of his Designs return'd to his own Nature he excluded almost all the Nobility and had none but Upstarts about him upon them he bestowed great Honors and Preferments the Care of all Publick Affairs and the Ways of getting Money were Both cast upon them whilst he himself did wholly immerge himâ—â—â—f in Voluptuousness The Chief of this Court Faction was Iohn Ramsy who was preserv'd at Laâ—der by the King's Request and then escap'd Punishment He was grown so insolently proud that not content with the Stewardship of the Houshold which is a Place of prime Honor amongst the Scots which the King had given him and many rich Lordships besides he obtained an Edict That none but he and his Retinue should wear a Sword or other weapon in those places where the King Lodg'd that so by this means they might strengthen themselves and their Retinue against the Nobility who kept their distinct and frequent Meetings by themselves and walk'd up and down guarded by reason of the Terror of their Arms. But that Edict made People to hate Ramsy more than fear him for now nothing but the Image of perfect Slavery was represented to their Eye In the mean time the King meditated nothing more than how to satisfy himself with the Blood of those Men who were believ'd to be the Authors of Rebellion against them And seeing he could not do it by open Force he thought to effect it by Subtilty and therefore he fain'd himself to be reconcil'd to This and to the Other Man and entertain'd them so courteously that 't was even below the Dignity of a Prince so to do Others who were eminent in Power he gave Honors and Largesses to He made David Lindsy Earl of Craford Duke of Montross endeavouring to win him by that means being so powerful a Man in his Country As for George Earl of Angus he had him frequently about him and as if he had been wholly receiv'd into his Favour he acquainted him with his private Designs yet none of his Rewards and Flatteries could persuade Men that he was sincere For They that knew his Disposition did not at all doubt that his Simulation of Benevolence and Respect tended to no other end but that he might either apprehend the Nobility One by One apart or else might set them together
by the Ears one with another which his Assembling the Chief of the Nobility at Edinburgh made more plainly to appear For he called Douglas to him into the Castle and told him that he had now an Eminent Opportunity to revenge himself for if the Leaders of the Faction were apprehended and put to Death the rest would be quiet but if he omitted this Opportunity which was so fairly put into his hands he could never expect the like again Douglas who knew that the Kings Mind was no more reconcil'd to himself than to others did craftily reason with him concerning so cruel and so ruinous a Design alleging that all Men would judge it to be a base and flagitious Act â—f he should hurry so many Noble Persons to Death without any Hearing or Tryal to whom he had pardon'd their former Misdoings and now they also rested secure in that they had the Publick Faith given them for their Safety For the fierce Minds of his Enemies would not be broken by the Death of a Few but rather if his Faith were once violated all Hopes of Concord would be cut off and if once Men despair of Pardon their Anger will be turn'd into Rage and from thence a greater Obstinacy and Contempt both of the Kings Authority and of their own Lives too will ensue But if you will hearken to my Counsel said he I will shâ—w you a Way whereby you may salve the Dignity of a King and yet revenge yourself too For I will gather my Friends and Clans together and so openly and in the day time I will lay hold upon them and then you may try them where you will and inflict what Punishment you please upon them This Way will be more creditable and also much more safe than if you should set upon them secretly and by night for then 't would look as if they were murder'd by Thieves The King thought the Earl had been real in what he spake for he knew that he was able to perform what he had promised and therefore he gave him many Thanks and more Promises of great Rewards and so dismist him He presently acquainted the Nobility with their imminent Danger and advis'd them to withdraw themselves as he himself also did The King perceiving that his secret Projects were discover'd from that day forward would trust no Body but after he had staid a while in the Castle of Edinburgh he sailed over into the Countries beyond the Forth for they as yet remain'd firm in their Obedience to him and there levy'd a considerable Force And the Nobles who before had sought his Amendment not his Destruction now seeing all Hopes of any Agreement or Concord were cut off managed all their Counsels for his utter Overthrow and Ruin Only there was one difficulty which troubled them and That was Who should be their General that after the King was subdued might be Regent or Vice-King who might be acceptable to the People and on the account of the Honour of his Family would load the Faction with as little Envy as might be after many Consultations in the case at last they pitcht upon the King's Son He was entised thereunto by the Supervisors and Tutors of his Childhood and he did it out of this Fear that if he refus'd the Government and Command would pass over to the English the perpetual Enemies of their Family The King by this time had past over the Forth and pitcht his Tents by the Castle of Blackenes and his Sons Army was not far off ready for the Encounter when loe the matter was compos'd by the Intervention of the Earl of Athole the Kings Uncle and Athole himself was given up as an Hostage for the Peace to Adam Hepburn Earl of Bothwel with whom he remain'd till the Kings Death But Suspicions increasing on Both sides the Concord lasted not long however intercourse of Messengers passed between them and at last the Nobility gave this Answer That seeing the King did act nothing sincerely therefore a certain War was better than a treacherous Peace there was but one Medium left upon which they could agree And that was that the King should resign the Government and his Son be set up in his Place and if he would not assent to This 't was in vain for him to give himself the Trouble of any more Messages or Disputes The King communicated this Answer to his Embassadors which he sent to the French and to the English making it his Desire to them that they would assist him against the Fury of a Few of his Rebellious Subjects by their Authority and if need were by some Auxiliary Forces that so they might be reduc'd to their Obedience for they ought to look upon it as a Common Fortune and that the Contagion by this Example would quickly creep to the Neighbour-Nations There were also Embassadors sent to Eugenius the Eighth Pope of Rome to desire him that out of his Fatherly Affection to the Scotish Name he would send a Legat into Scotland with full Power by Ecclesiastical Censures to compel his Rebellious Subjects to lay down Arms and obey their King The Pope writ to Adrian of Castell then his Legat in England a Man of great Learning and Prudence to do his endeavour for the composing the Scotish Affair but these Remedies were too late For the Nobles who were not ignorant What the King was a doing and knew that he was implacable toward them resolv'd to put it to a Battel before any more Forces came in to him And though they had the Kings Son with them both to countenance their Matters with the greater Grace amongst the Vulgar and also to shew that they were not Enemies to their Country but to their Misled King only yet lest the Hearts of the People might be weakned by the Approach of Foreign Ambassadors they were solicitous night and day how to decide it by a Battel But the Kings Fearfulness was an hindrance to their hasty Design who having levied a great Strength in the Northern Parts of the Kingdom resolved to keep himself within the Castle of Edinburgh till those Aids came to him But he was taken off from that Counsel and Advice though it seem'd the safest for him by the Fraud or at least the Simplicity of those about him for in regard of the frequent Washes and Firths which gave delay to those who were coming in to him they persuaded him to go to Sterlin the only Place of the Kingdom fit to receive Aids coming from all Parts thereof And there he might be as safe as he was in the Castle of Edinburgh seeing his Enemies were unprovided of all Materials requisite for the Storming of Castles and also he might have his Fleet which he had rigg'd out against all hazards to ride in some convenient Harbour near adjoining This Counsel seem'd both faithful and also safe if Iames Shaw Governor of the Castle being corrupted by the contrary Faction
had not refus'd to give him entrance so that the Enemy was almost at his Heels and before he knew whither to betake himself he was forc't with that Strength which he had to run the hazard of a Fight At the beginning they fought stoutly and the first Ranks of the Nobility's Army began to give ground but the Men of Annandale and the Neighbouring Parts inhabiting the West of Scotland came boldly up and having longer Spears than their Adverse Party they presently routed the Kings Main Battel he himself was weakned by the Fall of his Horse and fled to some Water-Mills near the place where the Battel was fought his Intent was as is suppos'd to get to his Ships which lay not far off there he was taken and a few more with him and slain there were Three that persued close after him in his Flight i. e. Patrick Grey the Head of his Family Sterlin Car and a Priest named Borthwick 't is not well known Which of them gave him his Deaths Wound When the News of his Death though as yet not fully certain was divulg'd through Both Armies it occasion'd the Conquerors to press less violently upon those who fled away so that there were the Fewer of them slain For the Nobles manag'd the War against the King not against their Fellow Subjects There was slain of the Kings Party Alexander Cuningham Earl of Glencarn with some Few of his Vassals and Kindred but there were many wounded of Both sides Thus Iames the Third came to his end a Man not so much of a bad Disposition by Nature as corrupted by ill Custom and Acquaintance For having at first given forth a Specimen of great and notable Ingenuity and of a Mind truly Royal he degenerated by degrees the Boyds being the first Occasion thereof into all manner of Licentiousness When the Boyds were taken off then Persons of the Lowest Sort were his Advisers to all kind of Wickedness and besides the Corruption of the Times and the evil Examples of his Neighbour Kings contributed not a little to his Overthrow and Ruin For Edward the Fourth in England Charles in Burgundy Lewis the Eleventh in France Iohn the Second in Portugal had all laid the Foundations of Tyranny in their respective Kingdoms also And Richard the Third exercised it most highly and cruelly in England His Death was also branded with this Ignominy that in the next Assembly the whole Parliament voted that he was justly slain and Provision was made for all that had born Arms against him that neither They nor their Posterity should be prejudic'd thereby He died in the Year of our Lord 1488 in the Twenty Eighth Year of his Reign and the Thirty Fifth of his Age. The Thirteenth BOOK JAmes the Third being thus slain near Sterlin in or about the Month of Iune they who were his Contrariants being as yet uncertain what was become of Him retreated to Linlithgo There Word was brought them that some Boats had passed to and fro from the Ships to the Land and that they had carried off the Wounded Men. Whereupon a Suspicion arose amongst them that the King himself also was gone a Shipboard which occasioned them to remove their Camp to Leith From thence the Prince for that 's the Title of the King of Scot's eldest Son sent some Agents to require the Admiral of the Fleet to come ashore to him His Name was Andrew Wood he was a Knight and being mindful of the King's Kindness towards him remained constant in his Affection to him even after he was dead but he refused to come ashore unless Hostages were given for his safe Return Seaton and Flemming two Noblemen were appointed as Hostages When he landed the King 's Council asked him if he knew where the King was and who were they that he carried off to his Ships after the Fight As for the King he told them he knew nothing of him but that he and his Brothers had landed out of their Boats that so they might assist the King and all his good Subjects but having endeavoured in vain to preserve him they then returned to the Fleet He added if the King were alive they resolved to obey none but him but if he were slain they were ready to revenge his Death He uttered also many reproachful Speeches against the Rebels yet nevertheless they sent him away in Safety to his Ships that so their Hostages might not suffer When the Hostages were returned the Inhabitants of Leith were called up to the Council and pressed by Promises of great Reward to rig out their Ships and subdue Andrew Wood. They all in general made answer that he had two Ships so fitted with all Things for a Fight and so well furnished with valiant Seamen and withal that he himself was so skilful in Naval Affairs that no ten Ships in all Scotland were able to cope with his Two So that that Consultation was put off and they went to Edinburgh There they were fully informed of the King's Death and appointed a magnificent Funeral to be made for him at Kambus-Kenneth a Monastery near Sterlin on the 25 th day of the Month of Iune IAMES the IVth the CV'th King IN the Interim an Assembly was summoned about creating a new King There were few which came together to perform this Service and those were mostly of the Party that had conspired against the former King The new King at his first entrance sent an Herauld to the Governour of Edinburgh-Castle for him to surrender it which he did and then he passed over to Sterlin and that Castle was also delivered up to him by the Garison-Souldiers When the Vogue was up in England how troublesom Matters were in Scotland five Ships were chosen out of that King's Fleet who entred into the Firth of Forth and there made havock of the Goods of all Merchants making many descents on both Shores they mightily infesting the Maritime Parts for they expected greater Disturbances on Land by the sidings of the Scots one against another For seeing the adverse Party were rather shattered than broken in the late Fight in regard they were not all there and of those that were there were but few slain they thought a feircer Tempest would have arisen from Minds which yet continued to be inflamed with Hatred and Envy and which were elevated by confidence in their own Strength And it encreased the Indignation that now the power over so many Noble and Eminent Persons was so easily fallen not into the King's but to a few particular Mens Hands for tho the King might retain the Name and Title of a King yet being but a Youth of 15 Years old he did not govern but was himself governed by those that killed his Father For the whole management of Matters would reside in Douglas Hepburne and Hume and their Confidence was the more encreased because all the Shores were infested with the two Fleets the Scottish and the English To obviate this
as he lived and every Year he added one Link thereunto and tho this Practice might seem formidable to those that were the Causers of his Father's Death yet they had such Confidence either in the Gentleness of the King's Disposition or in their own Power that it occasioned no Insurrection at all Amidst this publick Jubilee and also the private Rejoycings of particular Persons about the seventh Year of the King's Reign Peter Warbeck came into Scotland But before I declare the Cause of his coming I must fetch things something further back Margaret the Sister of Edward the fourth King of England having married Charles Duke of Burgundy she endeavoured all the ways she could if not to overthrow yet at least to vex Henry the Seventh the Leader of the contrary Faction In order whereunto she raised up one Peter Warbeck as a Competitor for the Kingdom he was a Youth born of mean Parentage at Tornay a City of the Nervii but of such Beauty Ingenuity Stature of Body and Manliness of Countenance that he might easily be believed to have been descended of a Royal Stock And by reason of his Poverty he had travelled up and down in several Countries so that he was known but by very few of his own Relations and there he had learned several Languages and had hardened himself to all kind of bold and impudent Carriage when Margarite who was intent on all occasions to disturb the Peace of England had got this Youth she kept him a while privately by her till she had informed him with what Factions England laboured at that time what Friends and what Enemies she had there in a word she made him acquainted with the whole Genealogy of the Royal Progeny and what Happinesses or Misfortunes had attended each of them When things seemed thus to be somewhat ripe she was resolved to try Fortune and took private order that he should be sent in a decent Equipage first into Portugal then into Ireland there he had a great Concourse of People flock'd about him and was received with huge Applause as the Son of King Edward of England either because his own Disposition assisted also by Art was inclined to Dissimulation or because being there amongst wild Kerns he was soon likely to raise great Stirs and Tumults When a War brake forth suddenly betwixt the French and the English he was called for out of Ireland by Charles the Eighth and had great Promises made him so that coming to Paris he was there honourably received in the Garb and Equipage of a Prince and had a Guard appointed him yea the English Exiles who were numerous at that Court put him in a sure hope of the Kingdom But that Tumult being quieted upon Terms he departed privately out of the Court of France for fear lest he should have been delivered up and so retired to Flanders there he was highly caressed by Margaret as if it were the first time that ever she had seen him and was diligently shewed to all the Courtiers and several times in the hearing of many of them he was desired to relate the Story of all his Adventures Margarite as if this were the first time she had ever heard it did so accommodate her dissembled Affections in compliance with each part of his Discourse both when he related his Successes and also his Misfortunes that every body thought she believed what he had spoken to be certainly true After a day or two Peter was desired to go abroad in the habit of a Prince and had thirty Men to be his Guard wearing a white Rose which is the Badg of the York-Faction amongst the English and so was every where declared as the undoubted Heir of the Crown of England When these things were divulged first in Flanders afterward in England the Minds of Men were so stirred up that a great concourse of People flock'd in to him not only of those who lurked in Holes and Sanctuaries for fear of the Laws but even of some Noble-men whom their present State did not please or who desired Innovations But when a longer delay which Peter hoped would bring in more Force to him was likely to abate his present Strength if he were discovered to be a Counterfeit therefore he determined to try his Fortune in a Fight so that having gotten a pretty great Party together he landed some few of them in Kent to try the Affections of the Kentish-men but in vain All those who landed were taken so that he was forced to steer his course for Ireland and there also he met not with the entertainment he hoped for so that he sailed over into Scotland well knowing that Peace betwixt Scotland and England never used to continue very long He being admitted into the King's Presence made a lamentable complaint of the Ruin of the York-Family and what miserable Calamities he himself had suffered and therefore he earnestly besought him to vindicate Royal Blood from such contumely and shame The King bid him be of good chear and promised he should shortly find That he had not desired his help in his Distresses in vain A few days after a Council was called where Peter made a sad Story of his Misfortunes That he being born of a King the most Flourishing of his Time and that of the highest hopes too was left destitute by the untimely death of his Father and so was like to have fallen into the Tyrannical Hands of his Uncle Richard before he was sensible almost what Misery was That his Elder Brother was cruelly murdered by him but that he himself was stolen away by his Father's Friends so that now he durst not live no not a poor and precarious Life even in that Kingdom of which he was the lawful Heir That he had so miserably lived amongst Foreign Nations that he preferred the Condition of his deceased Brother before his own in regard he was snatch'd away from all further Calamity by a suddain and violent Death That he himself was reserved as the ridicule of Fortune and that his Sorrow had not that alleviation that he durst bewail his miserable State amongst Strangers to incline them to pity him for after he had begun openly to profess what he was Fortune had assaulted him with all her Darts and to his former Miseries had added a daily fear of Treachery for his crafty Enemy had sometimes tampered with those who entertained him to take away his Life and sometimes he had privily suborned his Subjects under the name of Friends to discover his secret Designs to corrupt his true Friends and to find out his secret ones and to calumniate his Stock and Pedigree by false Accusations amongst the Vulgar to reproach his Aunt Margaret and those English Nobles that owned him and yet notwithstanding that she being supported by a good Conscience against the revilings of Enemies and also out of compassion to her own Blood had supported him in his low Estate with her Assistance
them who were already in great Want and Necessity and thus whom the Sword had not consumed Famine and Poverty would These were the publick Complaints of all the Commons but the Cornish were more enraged than all the rest for they inhabiting a Country which is in great part barren are wont rather to gain than lose by Wars And therefore that warlike People having been accustomed rather to encrease their Estates by Military Spoils than to lessen them by paying Taxes and Rates first of all rose against the King's Officers and Collectors and slew them and then being conscious that they had engaged themselves in so bold an Attempt that there was no retreat nor hopes of Mercy the Multitude flocking in daily more and more to them with Arms in their hands they began their march towards London But 't is not my Business to prosecute the Story of this Insurrection it is enough for my purpose to tell you that the King was so busied this whole Year by the Cornish that the Army which he had designed against Scotland he was enforced to employ against them In the mean time Iames foreseeing That Henry would not let the Injuries of the former Year pass unrevenged and being also informed by his Intelligencers That he was raising great Forces against him He on the other side levied an Army to the intent That if the English invaded him first he might be in a posture to defend himself if not then he himself would make an inroad into his Enemies Country and there so waste and destroy the bordering Counties that the Soil poor enough of it self should not afford sufficient Necessaries even for the very Husbandman And hearing of the Cornish Insurrection he presently began his march and entered England with a great Army dividing his Forces into two parts one went towards Durham to ravage that Country and with the rest he besieged Norham a strong Castle scituated on a very high Hill by the River Tweed But neither here nor there was there any thing considerable done For Richard Fox Bishop of Durham a very prudent Person foreseeing that the Scots would not omit the Opportunity of attempting somewhat during the civil Broils in England had fortified some Castles with strong Garisons and had taken care that the Cattle and all other driveable and portable things should be conveyed unto places either safe by Nature or made so by the vicinity of Moors Rivers And moreover he sent for the Earl of Surry who had great Forces in Yorkshire to assist him and therefore the Scots only burnt the Country and not being able to take Norham which was stoutly defended by those within raised the Siege and without any considerable Action returned Home The English followed them not long after and demolished Aytown a small Castle seated almost in the very Borders and he returned out of their Enemies Country without any memorable performance also Amidst these Commotions both foreign and domestick Peter Hialas a Man of great Wisdom and as those Times were not unlearned arrived in England he was sent by Ferdinand and Isabel King and Queen of Spain The purport of his Embassy was That Katharine their Daughter might marry Arthur King Henry's Son and so a new Affinity and Friendship might be contracted betwixt them The English did willingly embrace the Affinity and therefore were desirous to finish the War with Scotland and because Henry thought it was below his Dignity to seek Peace at the Scots Hands he was willing to use him as a Mediator Peter willingly undertook the Business and came into Scotland there he plied Iames with several Arguments and at last made him inclinable to a Peace and then he wrote to Henry That he hoped a good Peace would be agreed without any great difficulty if he pleased to send down some Eminent Person of his Council to accord the Conditions Henry as one that had often tried the inconstancy of Fortune and that the Minds of his Subjects were grown fierce by these late Tumults as being rather irritated than wholly suppressed commanded Richard Fox who resided in his Castle at Norham to join Counsels with Hialas These Two had many Disputes about the Matter with the Embassadors of Scotland at Iedburgh and after many Conditions had been mutually proposed they could agree upon nothing The chiefest Impediment was The demand of Henry that Peter Warbeck should be given up to him for he judged it to be a very reasonable Proposition in regard he was but a Counterfeit and had been already the Occasion of so much Mischief Iames peremptorily refused so to do alledging That it was not honourable in him to surrender up a Man of the Royal Progeny who came to him as a Suppliant whom he had also made his Kinsman by Marriage against his Faith given to him to be made a Laughing-stock by his Enemies And thus the Conference broke off yet the hopes of an Agreement were not altogether cast off for a Truce was made for some months till Iames could dismiss Warbeck upon Honourable Terms according to his Promise For now by the Conference with the English and other evident Indications it plainly appeared that the Tale concerning Peter's State and Kindred was a mere Falsity and therefore the King sent for him and told him what singular good Will he had born him and how many Courtesies he had bestowed upon him of which he himself was the best Witness as first That he had undertaken a War against a Potent King for his sake and had now managed it a second Year to the great Inconvenience of his Enemy and the Prejudice of his own Subjects That he had refused an Honourable Peace which was freely offered him merely because he would not surrender him up to the English and thereby he had given great Offence both to his Subjects and his Enemy too so that now he neither could nor would any longer withstand their Desires And therefore whatever might ensue whether Peace or War he desired him to seek out some other and fitter Place for his Banishment for he was resolved to make Peace with the English and when it was once solemnly made to observe it as religiously and to remove from him whatsoever might be an Impediment or Disturbance thereto Neither ought he to complain That the Scots had forsaken him seeing the English had done so first in confidence of whose Assistance the Scots had begun the War And yet notwithstanding all these Circumstances he was resolved to accommodate him with Provisions and other Necessaries to put to Sea Warbeck was mightily troubled at his unexpected dismission yet he remitted nothing of his dissimulated height of Spirit but in a few days sailed over into Ireland with his Wife and Family From whence soon after he passed into England and there joined himself with the Reliques of the Cornish Rebels but after many Attempts being able to do no good he was taken and having confessed
all the Pageantry of his former Life he ended his days in an Halter The Seminary of War between England and Scotland being almost extinguished and a great likelihood of Peace appearing behold there arose a great Ebullition of Spirit upon a very light occasion which had almost broken out into a fierce War Some Scottish Youths went over to the Town of Norham which was near to the Castle as they were oft wont to do in Times of Peace there to recreate themselves in Sports and Pastimes and to junket together with their Neighbours as if they had been at Home for there was but a small River which divided them The Garison in the Castle out of the Rancour yet lodging in their Breasts since the former War and being also provoked by some passionate words accused those Scots as Spies and so from Words they came to Blows many were wounded on both sides and the Scots being fewer in number were forced to return Home with the loss of some of their Company This Business was often canvassed in the Meetings between the Lords of the Marches and at last Iames was very angry and sent an Herald to Henry to complain of Breach of Truce and how unconstant the English were in keeping Covenant and unless Satisfaction were given according to the just Laws which were made by general Consent about restitution betwixt the Borderers he commanded him to denounce War against him Henry had been exercised by the Violence of Fortune even from his Cradle and therefore was more inclined to Peace his Answer was That whatever was done of that kind was against his Will and without his Knowledg and if the Garison-Souldiers had offended in the Case by their Temerity he would take order That Examination should be made and that the Leagues being kept inviolate the Guilty should be punished But this was slowly done and Iames looked upon the Answer as dilatory that so Punishment might be deferred and the Sentiment thereof worn out with Time and therefore it rather provoked than satisfied Iames. But Richard Fox Bishop of Durham who was owner of the Castle being much troubled that an occasion of breaking the League should be administred by any of his Tenants to prevent it sent several Letters to Iames full of great submission modesty and civility which so inclined the Mind of Iames that he wrote him word back that he would willingly speak with him not only about the late Wrongs done but also about other Matters which might be advantagious to both Kingdoms Fox acquainted his King herewith and by his Consent he waited upon Iames at Mulross where he then was There Iames made a grievous Complaint of the Injury acted at Norham yet by the prudent and grave discourse of Fox he was so pacified that for Peace-sake of which he shewed himself very desirous he remitted the Offence Other things were acted privately betwixt them but it appeared afterward that the Sum of them was this That Iames did not only desire a Peace but both before and also now an Affinity with Henry and a stricter Bond of Union And if Henry would bestow his Daughter Margaret upon him in Marriage he hoped that the thing would be for the benefit of both Kingdoms and if Fox whose Authority he knew to be great at home would but do his Endeavour to accomplish the Affinity he did not doubt but it would be soon effected He freely promised his Endeavour and coming to the Court of England acquainted the King with the Proposition and thereupon gave hopes to the Scots Embassadors that a Peace would easily be accorded betwixt the two Kings Thus at length three Years after which was An. 1500 even about one and the same time Henry's Eldest Daughter was betrothed to Iames the IVth and also Katharine Daughter to Ferdinand of Spain to Henry's Eldest Son and their Marriages were celebrated with great Pomp the next Year after After the Marriage all things were quiet and the Court turned from the Study of Arms to Sports and Pastimes so that there was nothing but Masks Shews Feastings Dancings and Balls it was as a continued Jubilee and upon that account every day was as an Holy-day There were also Horse-Tiltings frequently made mostly according to the French Mode betwixt which as Tragical Acts there intervened the Challenges of Moss-Troopers one of another who were wont to live upon Spoil which Sport the King was well pleased to behold because he judged that the killing of them was a Gain to him When the noise of these Tourneaments came to Foreign Nations many Strangers and especially from France came daily over to shew their Prowess who were all liberally entertained by the King and as bountifully dâ—smissed Neither did he rest in these ludicrous Exercises but he laid out a great deal of Mony upon Building at Sterlin Falkland and sundry other places and especially in building of Monasteries but his Cost about Ships was greatest of all for he built three stately ones of a great Bulk and many also of a middle Rate one of his great ones was to admiration the biggest that ever any Man had seen sail on the Ocean it being also furnished with all manner of costly Accommodations our Writers have given a Description of it which I pass over and the Measure of it is kept in some places but the Greatness of it appeared by this That the News thereof stirred up Francis King of France and Henry the 8 th King of England each of them to build a Ship in imitation thereof and each endeavouring to out-vie the other when their Ships were finished and fitted with all necessaries for sailing and brought to Sea they were so big that they stood there like unmoveable Rocks unfit for any use These Works being very expensive did exhaust Iames his Treasure so that he was forced to devise some new ways to get Mony and amongst the rest he pitched upon one by the Perswasion as it was thought of William Elphinstone Bishop of Aberdeen which was very displeasing to all the Nobility Amongst the Tenures of Land in Scotland this is one kind by which the Owner holds what he buys or else is given him on these Terms That if he dye and leave his Son and Heir under Age The Wardship of him should belong to the King or to some other Superior Lord yea and all the Revenue is to be received by him till the Heir come to the age of 21 Years There is also another Badg of Slavery annexed to this Hold that if an Owner do sell above half his Estate without the consent of the chief Lord then he is to forfeit the whole to him This Law was introduced by Court-Parasites to advance the King's Exchequer but being looked upon as unjust had lain dormant a long time but the King being informed that Money might be got out of the Violators of it commanded it to be put in Execution that Process they call Recognition
This way of raising Money by the King tho it outed no Man of his whole Estate yet was a greater Grievance to the Country than his Father's Covetousness had been for the Wrong redounded to very many and to the worthiest People most because under the two last Kings by reason of their Forreign and also of their Civil Wars the Memory of that Law was almost quite abolished and thereupon by reason of this new Project they were enforced either to redeem their Lands from the Officers of the King's Exchequer or else to relinquish part of them And yet the love of the Subjects towards their King was so great that tho they suffered great Inconvenience thereby his other Vertues gave him such a Reverence amongst them that their Indignation did not proceed to an actual Rising in Arms. But when the King set no bounds to his Expences neither were there some Flatterers a perpetual mischief to Courts wanting who covered this vitious Excess under the plausible Names of Splendour and Magnificence Hereupon he determined to undertake a Voyage into Syria that so he might put an end to his vast Expence which he could not continue without Ruin nor yet give over without Shame and so by his Absence to abridg it He made an honest Pretence for his Journey that it was to expiate the Fault he had committed in bearing Arms against his Father And indeed he had given some evidence of his Penitence whether true or pretended upon this account from the very beginning of his Reign as I said before and he would often speak of it in his common Discourse He had rigged a Navy for this Voyage and had nominated the chief of his Retinue and had acquainted his Neighbour-Kings by his Ambassadours of his Intent and many of his Followers as if they had obliged themselves by the same Vow suffered the Hairs of their Heads and Beards to grow at length and it was thought he would immediately have taken Ship if some Hinderances had not intervened even whilst he was most intent on his Journey For at that time there arose a vehement Suspicion of a War like to ensue betwixt France and England for Henry did not like the Successes of the French in Italy and besides he was solicited by Iulius the 2 d then Pope and by Ferdinand of Spain his Father-in-Law to join with them and with the Venetians Swiss and Maximilian too tho he did regulate his Councils ordinarily according to Events for it was likely that the Conjunctions of so many Nations against France would almost swallow it up The King of England being in the prime of his Age and elevated much in the sense of the Power of his Kingdoms and also being very willing to be in Action was desirous to enter into this Confederacy but wanted a fair Pretence to fall out with France But both of them knew one anothers Designs by their Spies and when France could not be persuaded to desist from warring against the Pope who was Henry's Friend at length an Herauld was sent into France to demand Normandy Aquitain and Anjou as the old Possessions of the English in France But in regard France was not moved by these Threats neither to intermit the War in Italy hereupon Henry denounced War against him and sent an Army into Biscay to join his Father-in-Law Ferdinand and he himself prepared for an Expedition into France Now Iames of Scotland tho he resolved to side with neither of them yet as more inclinable to the French he sent his Navy aforementioned as a Present to Ann Queen of France that so it might seem rather as a mark of his Friendship than any real Assistance for Military Action And moreover the Scots Clergy who were used to French Largesses were willing to shew themselves in behalf of Lewis of France and seeing they durst not openly do it they sought out occasions to alienate the King's Mind from the English In order hereto Andrew Forman then Bishop of Murray one of their Faction and a Friend to Lewis was sent into England to demand a vast Sum of Gold and Silver the greatest part thereof consisted in Womens Jewels and Ornaments which were reported to be given by Will by Arthur Henry the 8 ths Elder Brother to his Sister Margaret now married to Iames as I related before Henry as 't is probable looked upon this Demand only as a Pretence for a Quarrel and therefore he answered Iames very mildly That if any thing were due to him he would not only pay it but if he wanted a greater Sum or any other Assistance he would not fail to supply him When Iames received this Answer he resolved to assist Lewis in any other way but by no means to invade England and he sent over the same Forman into France to acquaint Lewis therewith Meanwhile because he had heard that great Naval Preparations were making on both sides he resolved to send the Fleet aforementioned to Ann immediately that so it might arrive there before the War did actually break forth he made Iames Hamilton Earl of Arran Admiral of it and caused him to set sail with the first Opportunity But Hamilton tho a Man good enough yet was more skilled in the Arts of Peace than War and therefore either out of fear of Danger or else out of his habitual backwardness left his Voyage for France and turned to Knockfergus a Town in Ireland scituate over against Galway in Scotland which place he pillaged and burnt and afterward as if he had been a mighty Conqueror he hoisted sail for Air in Scotland a Port-Town in Kyle When the King heard of his Return he was very outragious against him and could not forbear to express his menacing Reproaches against the Man and he was the more inraged against him because he had received a Letter from Queen Ann out of France which did endeavour to flatter him into a War against England and he had also other Letters from Andrew Forman which informed him That he was generally upbraided with the Promise of sending the Fleet which they now looked upon as vain in regard no such thing was done The King was willing to obviate this mischief as well as he could and therefore seeing Hamilton had broke off the Course he was commanded to run and had destroyed a Town that had never been an Enemy to the Scots and was then also in Alliance with them and so had made War upon his Friends without denouncing it beforehand therefore he cashiered him the Admiralship and caused him to be summoned to appear before him Archibald Douglas Earl of Angus was designed to succeed him in that Command and Andrew Wood was sent with him to take the Fleet into his Charge But Hamilton had notice by his Friends before their coming of the King's Displeasure against him and therefore presently hoised Sail resolving rather to commit himself to the wide Sea than to an enraged King he was
a long time sailing for France his Ship being tossed with contrary Winds and sore Storms in the Way so that he arrived not there till the French had laid aside the Thoughts of any Naval Preparations and then he landed in Base-Britaine where the Ship which cost so much Money and Labour to build had her Tackle taken out and so rotted in the Harbour of Brest In the interim other causes of Discord arose at Home which wholly alienated Iames from Henry In the Reign of Henry the 7 th there was one Robert Carr a worthy Knight so much beloved of Iames for his excellent Virtues that he made him his chief Cup-bearer Master of his Ordnance and Lord-Warden of the middle-Borders or Marches He was a severe punisher of all Robbers which procured him great Favour with the King but increased the Hatred of the Borderers against him So that both English and Scots whose Licentiousness he restrained by putting the Laws in Execution against them jointly sought all occasions to take away his Life and at length at a solemn meeting of Scots and English which used to be kept to adjust and recompense Damages received a Quarrel arose and three English-men bold Fellows Iohn Hern Lilburn and one Starhed set upon him one came behind and ran him through his Back with a Lance and when he was wounded the other two dispatched him quite This Business was likely to create a War but Henry as he was just in other Things so in this was as angry as Iames at the foulness of the Fact and therefore he caused Iohn Hern the Brother of th' other Iohn Lord of Foord and Governour of the English Borders to be delivered up to the Scots with Lilburne for the other Two had made their escape They were shut up in Prison in Fast-Castle and there Lilburne died And for the expiation of so manifest a Crime it was decreed That in future Assemblings of that kind the English should first crave the publick Faith for their Security and so enter Scotland and have their Meetings there and the Ambassadors of England by many solemn Protestations and Ceremony of Words should declare That the Publick was not concerned as guilty of that particular Murder The other two Murderers lurked in the inland Parts of England till the Reign of Henry the 8 th and yet they went not unpunished for when they had got a Young King fierce potent and saw that he was willing to shew the greatness of his Strength they crept out of their Dens Hern by the mediation of his Kindred lived openly at his own House and privately sent in Robbers to Scotland to disturb the Publick Peace hoping that if a War were once begun he should obtain Indemnity for his old Offences and Impunity even with freedom to commit new But Starhed got a Place to live in about 90 Miles from the Borders thinking to be safe by reason of the remoteness of his Habitation but Andrew Carr the Son of Robert who saw that the Seeds of Hatred which would soon break out into a War were then sown and fearing that if once they entred into Arms he should lose the avengement of his Father's Blood persuades two of his Tenants of the Family of the Tates to disguise themselves and to kill Starhed They undertook to do it and so entred his House securely in the Night for living so far from the Borders he thought he needed no Watch where they killed him cut off his Head and brought it to Andrew he in testimony of his desired Revenge sends it to Edinburgh and sets it up there upon an high and conspicuous Place Of Hern I shall speak in due time A new Fact trod on the Heels of this old Injury which awakened the Anger of the King of Scots that was rather asleep than extinguished before At that time there was one Andrew Breton a Scots Merchant his Father had a Ship rifled by the Portugals and himself cruelly slain Andrew had the Cause heard in Flanders because there the Murder was committed where the Portugals were cast but they not paying what was adjudged neither did their King tho' Iames sent an Herald to him for that end compel them so to do Andrew hereupon obtained Letters of Mart from Iames to satisfy himself for the Damages and Murder and it was directed to all Princes and Cities lying near the Sea That they should not account him as a Pirate or Robber if by open Force he revenged himself on the Portugals who were such Violaters of common Right and Equity so that in a few Months he did much mischief to the Portugals Their Ambassadors in the height of the War the French made against Pope Iulius the Second and which was soon like to break out against the English as siding with Iulius came to Henry and told him That this bold and impudent Fellow Andrew which had done them so much Mischief who were the Ancient Allies of the English would assuredly be his Enemy when he warred against France but now he was secure and might easily be subdued and cut off and if the Fact were evil spoken of it might be excused under a pretence of his exercising Piracy This if he would do he might prevent the Losses of his own Subjects and also gratify their King his Friend and Ally very much Henry was thus easily persuaded by the Portugals to entrap Andrew In order whereto he sent his Admiral Thomas Howard with two strong Ships of the Navy Royal well-appointed to way-lay him in the Downs so they call the Heaps of Sand which appear aloft when the Tide is out in his return from Flanders It was not long before they espied him coming in a small Vessel with a lesser one in his Company and set upon him Howard himself attaqued Andrew between-whom there was a sharp Fight and altho' Howard had all the Advantage imaginable against him yet he had much ado to take the Ship neither could he do that till Andrew and many of his Men were slain This is certain That Andrew was a Man of that Courage even when his Case was desperate that tho' he had several Wounds and one of his Legs was broken with a Cannon Bullet yet he took a Drum and beat an Alarm and a Charge to his Men to incourage them to fight valiantly this he did till his Breath and Life failed him together The lesser Ship seeing that she was no way able to cope with the Enemy endeavoured to save her self by flight but was taken with a great deal less opposition They which were not killed in the Fight were cast into Prison at London from whence they were brought to the King and humbly begging their Lives of him as they were instructed to do by the English he in a proud ostentation of his Mercifulness dismissed and sent the poor innocent Souls away Hereupon Embassadors were sent into England by Iames to complain That his Subjects
Ships were taken in a time of Peace and the Passengers slain They were answered That the killing of Pirats was no violation of Leagues neither was it a justifiable Cause for a War This Answer shewed the spight of one that was willing to excuse a plain Murder and seemed as if he had sought an occasion for a War Whereupon the English which inhabited the Borders by that which was acted above-board guessed at their King's Mind and being also accustomed to sow the Seeds of Dissention in the times of the firmest Peace and besides being much given to Innovation began to prey upon the adjacent Countries of the Scots At that time there was one Alexander Hume who had the sole command of all the Scots Borders which was wont to be distributed into three Mens Hands he was mightily beloved by Iames but his Disposition was more fierce than was expedient for the Good of those Times The King was intent upon War and very solicitous how to blot out the Ignominy received by those Incursions and Hume promised him That he and some of his Kindred and Vassals would in a little time make the English repent of the Loss and Damage they had done as being resolved to turn their Mirth into Sadness To make good his Word he gathered together about 3000 Horse entred England and spoiled the Neighbouring Villages before any Relief could come in but as he was returning his Men being accustomed to pillaging and then also laden with a great deal of Booty being impatient to stay there any longer divided their Spoil even in their Enemy's Country and went their ways severally Home Alexander with a few brought up the Rear to see that no assault might be made upon them in their Retreat but perceiving none to follow he was the more careless and so fell into an Ambush of 300 English who taking the opportunity set upon them and struck such a suddain Terror into them that they routed and put them to flight In this Conflict a great many of the Scots were slain and 200 taken Prisoners amongst whom was Alexander's Brother who was exchanged for the Lord Hern of Foord who had been kept Prisoner many Years in Scotland for the Murder of Robert Carr But all the Booty came safe into Scotland because they who drove it were marched on before This new Offence coming upon the King's Mind which was not easy before upon the account of what I formerly related made him unruly and headstrong and thereupon he called a Convention to consult concerning the War The wiser sort were against it but L'amot the Embassador of France earnestly pressed it by Entreaties and Promises And also frequent Letters from Andrew Forman urged the same thing yea the King himself inclined thereto so that many to gratify him fell in with his Opinion the rest being the minor part lest by a fruitless Opposition they might incur the King's Displeasure gave also their assent so that a War was voted to be made against England both by Land and Sea 't is doubtful whether the Counsel or the Event was the worst a set day was appointed for the Army to meet together An Herald was sent into France to Henry who was then besieging Tournay to denounce War upon him The Causes of it were rendred to be That Satisfaction for Losses had been required but not given That Iohn Hume the Murderer of Robert Carr did openly shew himself That Andrew Breton in violation of the Leagues betwixt the two Crowns had been pillaged and slain by the King 's own Command And though he did not mention any of those Wrongs yet he should never endure That the Territories of Lewis King of France his Ancient Ally nor of Charles Duke of Gelderland his Kinsman should be so miserably harrassed with all the Calamities of War and therefore unless he desisted therefrom he bid him Defiance Henry being young and having a flourishing and puissant Kingdom and besides a general Combination of almost all Europe against France alone these things kindled a desire in his Mind which was otherwise ambitious enough of Glory to continue his Arms and therefore he gave the Herald an Answer more fierce than suted with his youthful Age That he heard nothing from him but what he long before had expected from such a Violator of all Divine and Human Laws and therefore he should do as he thought fit for his part he was resolved not to be threatned out of his Procedure in a War wherein he had so well prospered hitherto and besides he did not value his Friendship as having already had sufficient proof of his Levity This Denunciation of War being brought into Scotland as the King was going to his Army at Linlithgo whilst he was at Vespers in the Church as the manner then was There entred an old Man the Hair of his Head being Red inclining to Yellow and hanging down on his Shoulders his Forehead sleek thro' baldness bare-headed in a long Coat of a russet Colour girt with a linen Girdle about his Loins in the rest of his Aspect he was very venerable He pressed thro' the Crowd to come to the King When he came to him he leaned upon the Chair on which the King sat with a kind of rustick simplicity and bespoke him thus O King said he I am sent to warn thee not to proceed in thy intended Design which Monition if thou neglect neither Thou nor thy Followers shall prosper I am also commanded to tell thee That thou shouldest not use the Familiarity Intimacy and Counsel of Women which if thou dost it will redound to thy Ignominy and Loss Having thus spoken he withdrew himself into the Crowd and when the King enquired for him after Prayers were ended he could not be found which Matter seemed more strange because none of those who stood next and observed him as being desirous to put many Questions to him were sensible how he disappeared Amongst them there was David Lindsy of Mont a Man of approved Worth and Honesty and a great Scholar too for in the whole course of his Life he abhorred Lying and if I had not received this Story from him as a certain Truth I had omitted it as a Romance of the Vulgar But the King notwithstanding went forward in his March and near Edinburgh mustered his Army and a while after entred England took the Castles of Norham Werk Etel Foord and some others near to the Borders of Scotland by Storm and demolished them and spoiled all the adjoining part of Northumberland mean while the King falls in Love with one of the Ladies he had taken Prisoner she was Hern's Wife of Foord and neglected his present business insomuch that Provision beginning to grow scarce in a not very plentiful Country and it being very difficult to fetch it from far the greatest part of his Army stole away and left their Colours very thin only the Nobles with a few of their
or else were likely speedily to follow after It considering also his eminent Virtues yea his popular Vices did easily deceive vulgar Minds under a specious Resemblance and Affinity to Virtue For he was of a strong Body just Stature a Majestick Countenance of a quick Wit but by the default of the Times not cultivated by Learning He did greedily imbibe one ancient Custom of the Nation for he was skilful in curing of Wounds for in old Times that kind of Knowledg was common to all the Nobility as Men continually accustomed to Arms. The Access to his Presence was easy his Answers were mild he was just in Judgment and moderate in Punishment so that he seemed to be drawn to it against his Will He bore the malevolent Speeches of his Enemies and the Monitions of his Friends with a Greatness of Mind which arose in him from the Tranquillity of a good Conscience and the Confidence of his own Innocency insomuch that he was so far from being angry that he never returned them an harsh Word There were also some Vices which crept in among these Virtues by reason of his two great affectation of Popularity For by endeavouring to avoid the Name of a covetous Prince which his Father had incurred he laboured to insinuate himself into the Good will of the Vulgar by sumptuous Buildings by costly Pageants and immoderate Largesses so that his Exchequer was very low and his want of Money such that if he had lived longer the Merits of his former Reign would have been extinguished or at least out-ballanced by his Imposition of new Taxes so that his Death seemed to have hapned rather commodiously than immaturely to him IAMES the Vth the CVIth King WHen Iames the Fourth was slain he left his Wife Margaret and Two Sons behind him the Eldest of which was not yet full two Years old The Parliament assembled at Sterlin proclaimed him King according to the Custom of the Country on the 24 th day of February and then they addressed themselves to settle the publick Affairs in doing whereof they first perceived the greatness of their Loss For those of the Nobility who bore any thing of Authority and Wisdom before them being slain the major part of those who survived by reason of their youthful Age or incapacity of Mind were unfit to meddle with Matters of State especially in so troublesom a time and they who were left alive of the better sort who had any thing of Prudence in them by reason of their Ambitions and Covetousness abhorred all Counsels tending to Peace Alexander Hume Lord Warden of all the Marches had got a great Name and a large Estate in the King's Life-time but when he was dead he obtained an almost Regal Authority in the Countries bordering upon England He out of a wicked Ambition did not restrain Robbers that so he might more engage those bold and lewd Persons to him thinking thereby to make way for his greater Puissance but that Design was unhappy to him and in the end pernicious The Command of the Country on this side the Forth was committed to him the Parts beyond to Alexander Gordon to keep those Seditious Provinces within the Bounds of their Duty But the Name of Regent was in the Queen her self For the King had left in his Will which he made before he went to fight that if he miscarried as long as she remained a Widow she should have the Supream Power This was contrary to the Law of the Land and the first Example of any Woman who ever had the Supream Rule in Scotland yet the want of Men made it seem tolerable especially to them who were desirous of Peace and Quietness But her Office continued not long for before the end of the Spring she married Archibald Douglas Earl of Angus one of the prime young Men of Scotland for Lineage Beauty and Accomplishments in all good Arts and before the end of that Year the Seeds of Discord were sown They took their Rise from the Ecclesiastical Order for after the Nobles were slain in all publick Assemblies a great part were of that sort of Men and many of them did their own business amidst the publick Calamity and got such Estates that nothing did more hasten their Ruin than that inordinate Power which they afterwards as arrogantly used Alexander Stuart Archbishop of St. Andrews was slain at Flodden and there were Three which strove for that Preferment but upon different Interests Gawin Douglas upon the account of the Splendor of his Family and his own Personal Worth and Learning was nominated to the place by the Queen and accordingly took Possession of the Castle of St. Andrews Andrew Hepburn Abbat of St. Andrews before any Archbishop was nominated gathered up the Revenues of the place as a Sequestrator and he being a potent factious and subtile Man was chosen by his Monks to the Vacancy for he alleged that the Power of electing an Archbishop by ancient Custom was in Them so that he drove out the Officers of Gawin and placed a strong Garison in the Castle Andrew Forman had obtained great Favour in the Courts both of Rome and France by his former Services so that besides the Bishoprick of Murray in Scotland which he held from the beginning Lewis the 12 th of France gave him the Archbishoprick of Bourges And Pope Iulius had also dismissed him loaden with many rich Preferments for he bestowed on him the Archbishoprick of St. Andrews the two rich Abbies of Dumfermling and Aberbrothock and made him his Legate à Latere as they call him besides But so great was the Power of the Hepburns at that time that the Hume's being yet at Concord with them no Man could be found that durst proclaim the Popes Bull for the Election of Forman to that Dignity until at last Alexander Humes was induced by great Promises and besides other Gifts with the actual Donation of the Abby of Coldingham to David his younger Brother to undertake the Cause which seemed to be honest and just and especially because the Family of the Formans was in the Clanship or Protection of the Hume's so that he caused the Popes Bull to be published at Edinburgh And that was the Original of many Mischiefs which ensued for Hepburn being a Man of a lofty Spirit from that day forward studied day and night how to destroy the Family of the Hume's The Queen whilst she sat at Helm did this one thing Worthy to be remembred that she wrote to her Brother that he would not make War upon Scotland in respect to her and her young Children and that he would not infest the Dominions of his Cousin by his Foreign Arms which of its own accord was divided into so many Domestick Factions but that he would rather defend them against the Wrongs of others upon the account of his Age and the Affinity betwixt them Henry answered very Nobly and Prince-like That if the Scots desired
much the more because he fell not for the perpetration of any new Crime but merely by the Calumnies as 't was thought of Iohn Hepburn the Abbat For he being a Factious Man and eager of Revenge bore an implacable Hatred against Hume because by his Means alone he was disappointed of the Arch-Bishoprick of St. Andrews So that tho he had stifled his old Hatred for a Time yet 't was believ'd he push'd on the Regent who of himself was suspicious enough of and disaffected to the Hume's to the greater Severity against him by telling him how dangerous it would be to the King and all Scotland if he at his going into France should leave so fierce an Enemy alive behind him For what would he not attempt in his Absence who had despised his Authority when present So that the Contumacy of the Man which could not be lenified by Rewards Honours nor by frequent Pardons had need be conquered by the Axe if he would ever keep Scotland in quiet These and such like Insinuations upon pretence of consulting the publick Safety being buzz'd into the Ears of a Man disaffected to them before contributed more to the Destruction of the Hume's in the Judgment of many than any of their Crimes When the Hume's were put to Death Andrew Car obtained the Respite of one Night to provide for his Souls Health but by means of his Friends and especially a French-man his Keeper it was suspected upon the payment of a good Sum of Money down upon the Nail he made his Escape Alexander Hume left three Brothers behind him who all met with various Misfortunes in those Days George for a Murder he had committed lay private as an Exile in England Iohn Abbat of Iedburgh was banished beyond the Tay David the youngest Prior of Coldingham about two Years after the Execution of his Brothers being called forth by Iames Hepburn his Sisters Husband upon pretence of a Conference fell into an Ambush laid purposely for him and was slain being much pityed by all that an innocent young Man of so great hopes should be betrayed so unworthily by one who had little reason so to do When Severities and Punishments had thus ranged over the whole Family of the Hume's at last it fell to their Enemies share and especially to Hepburn's who had been so severe an Exactor of the unjust Punishment of others yet the Destruction of one Family once so powerful brought such a Pannick Fear upon all the rest that Matters were the quieter a great while after The next December the Regent brought the King from Sterlin to Edinburgh and then he desired leave of the Nobility of Scotland to return into France every one almost was against the Motion so that he was forced to stay till late in the Spring and then took Shipping promising speedily to return in case any more than ordinary Commotion should arise which required his Presence For the Government of the Kingdom in his Absence he left the Earls of Angus Arran Argyle and Huntly the Arch-Bishops of St. Andrew's and Glasgoe to whom he added Anthony Darcy a French-man Governour of Dunbar who was injoined to correspond with him and to inform him of all Passages in his Absence And that no Discord might arise out of an ambitious Principle between such Great and Noble Personages by reason of their Parity in the Government he allotted to each of them their several Provinces Darcy the French-man the rest condescending thereunto had the chief Place amongst them Merch and Lothian being appointed to be under his Government The other Provinces were distributed to the rest according to each Man 's particular Conveniency Mean while the Queen about a Year after she had been in England near the end of May returned to Scotland and was attended by her Husband from Berwick But they lived not together so lovingly as before The Regent at his Departure to prevent the budding and growth of Sedition in his Absence had carryed along with him either the Heads of the noblest Families or else their Sons and Kindred upon a pretence of doing them Honour but indeed as Pledges into France And he had sent others of them into different and remote parts of the Kingdom where they had as 't were but a larger Prison He had also placed French Governors in the Castles of Dunbar Dunbarton and Garvy yet a Commotion arose upon a slight occasion whence it was least feared or dreamt of Anthony Darcy had carried it with a great deal of Equity and Prudence in his Government especially in restraining of Robberies The first Tumult in his Province which tended to any thing of a War was made by William Cockburn Uncle to the Lord of Langton he had driven away the Guardians of the young Ward and had seized upon the Castle of Langton relying principally on the power of David Hume of Wederburn whose Sister Cockburn had married Thither Darcy marched with a sufficient Guard but they Within refused to surrender the Castle and moreover David Hume with some few nimble Horse riding up to him upbraided him with the cruel Death of his Kinsman Alexander the French-man partly distrusting his Men and partly confiding in the Swiftness of the Horse he rode upon fled towards Dunbar but his Horse falling under him his Enemy overtook and slew him and set up his Head in an eminent place on Hume-Castle he was slain the 20 th of September in the Year 1517. Whereupon the other Governours had a Meeting and fearing a greater Combustion after this terrible beginning they made the Earl of Arran their President and committed George Douglas Brother to the Earl of Angus upon Suspicion of his being privy to the Murder newly committed Prisoner to Garvy-Castle They also sent to the Regent in France to call him back into Scotland as soon as ever he could About the same time some Seeds of Discord were sown between the Earl of Angus and Andrew Car of Farnihurst by reason of the Jurisdiction over some Lands which did belong to the Earl but Andrew alleged he had Power to keep Courts in them The rest of the Family of the Car's sided with the Earl but the Hamilton's took part with Andrew which they did more out of hate to the Douglas's than for any Justice Car had for his Pretensions so that both Parties provided themselves against the Court-day to run a greater hazard than the matter they strove about was worth And Iohn Somerval a noble and high-spirited young Man of the Douglas's Faction set upon Iames the Natural Son of the Earl of Arran on the Way and slew five of his Retinue putting the rest to flight he also took above thirty of their Horses When an Assembly was summoned to be held at Edinburgh April the 29 th 1520. The Hamiltons alleged that they could not be safe in that City where Archibald Douglas was Governour whereupon Douglas that he might not impede
publick Business about the end of March resigned up his Government of his own accord and Robert Long a Citizen of Edinburgh was substituted in his Place The Nobility of the West part of Scotland of which there were very many had frequent Meetings in the House of Iames Beton the Chancellor their Design was to apprehend the Earl of Angus for they alleged that his Power was too great and formidable to the Publick that as long as he was at Liberty they should have no freedom for Debate or Resolution And Opportunity seemed to favour their Design for he having now but a few of his Vassals about him might be easily surprized before his Kindred came in to his Assistance When he perceived what was agitated against him he sent his Uncle Gawin Bishop of Dunkelden to them to pacify them whom he said he had provoked with no Injury and to desire them to manage the Dispute without force of Arms for if they could make out any just Complaint against him he was willing in Equity to give them all due Satisfaction But his Speech profited not or being made to Men prepossessed fierce puissant and greedy of Revenge And therefore Gawin could obtain no good Terms from them but returned to Angus and acquainted him with the Arrogance of his Enemy and then caused his whole Family to follow the Earl He himself being a Priest and infirm too by reason of Age retired to his own Lodging Some think he did this to upbraid the unseasonable Pride of the Chancellor who when he ought to have been a Promoter of Peace flew armed up and down like a Fire-brand of Sedition Douglas seeing there was no hopes of Agreement exhorted his Men rather to die valiantly than like Dastards to hide themselves in their Lodgings from whence to be sure they would soon be pluck'd out by the Ears to their Deaths for their Enemies had stopp'd all Avenues and Passages so that not a Man of them could get out of the City All that were there present assented to what he had spoken and thereupon he and his Party being clad in their Armour seized upon the broadest Street in all the Town He had about fourscore in his Train but all stout resolute Men and of known Valour They divided themselves into the most convenient places and so set upon their Enemies as they came out of several narrow Alleys at once the first they slew and drove the rest back tumbling one upon another with a witness The Earl of Arran who commanded the opposite Party with his Son Iames got to a Ford and made their escape by the North-Lough the rest ran several ways for shelter to the Convent of the Dominicans Whilst these things were acting there was a mighty Combustion all over the Town and in the midst of the Bustle Angus's Brother enters the City with a great Party of his Clan-ship When Douglas had got this Accession to his former Strength tho there were abundance of his Enemies in the Town yet he made a Proclamation by a Trumpeter that none should dare to appear in the Streets with Arms about them but his Friends and Party Those that desired Passes to depart quietly had them easily granted there went out in one Company about 800 Horse besides those who had taken their Flight before with greater Ignominy than Loss For there fell not above 72 but amongst them were Men of Note as the Brother of the Earl of Arran and Eglington's Son This was done the 30 th day of April 1520. To revenge this Disgrace the Hamilton's besieged Kilmarnock a Castle in Cuningham Robert Boyd a Friend of the Douglas's commanded it but they soon left it without effecting any thing The next Year Douglas came to Edinburgh on the 20 th of Iuly bringing with him the Hume's which had been banished and there he took down the Heads of Alexander and William Hume which had been set up on Poles The whole five Years that the Regent was absent were very full of Tumults there was no end of pillaging and killing till his Return which was Octob. 30. 1521. Upon his Arrival he resolved to abate the Power of the Douglas's in order to the quieting of those Seditions which had hapned in his absence The Earl of Angus Head of that Family he sent into France he caused the Pope to call over his Uncle the Bishop of Dunkelden to Rome to purge himself there from some imputed Crimes who the Year after in his Journy to Rome fell sick of the Plague in London and died His Virtues were such that he was very much lamented for besides the splendor of his Ancestry and the comliness of his Personage he was Master of a great deal of Learning as for those Times and being also a Man of high prudence and singular Moderation even in troublesome Times he was much esteem'd in point of Faithfulness and Authority even by contrary Factions he left behind him considerable Monuments of his Ingenuity and Learning written in his Mother-Tongue The next Year after the return of the Regent a Parliament was held and an Army levyed appointed to rendevouz at Edinburgh on a set day whither they came accordingly and pitch'd their Tents in the Fields near Rosselin none knowing upon what Service they were to be put but at last an Herauld proclaim'd that they were to march towards Annandale a great Punishment being denounced on those who refused so to do The rest of the Army marched obediently enough to the River Solway the Boundary of Scotland only Alexander Gordon and his Party staid behind three Miles backward further from England When the Regent heard of it he came back to him the next Day and brought him up to the Camp There he called the Nobles and chief Commanders together and shewed them many great and weighty Reasons why he invaded England on that side But a great part of the Nobility by the Instigation of Gordon who was their Senior and of greater Authority than them all wholly refused to set Foot on English Ground whether out of Disaffection to the Regent or else as they pretended that 't was not for the Interest of Scotland so to do The specious Pretences cast abroad amongst the Soldiers pleased them well enough for if they had levyed an Army in favour of the French lest the English might bring their whole Strength upon them it was sufficient for that purpose only to make a shew of War but if the Interest of Scotland were considered Matters were not well setled at home and their King was but a Child so that 't was most adviseable for them at that time only to be on the Defensive and to keep their own Country in quiet for if they should march forward the blame even of fortuitous Miscarriages might be laid to their charge and an account of such their Misfortunes might be required at their Hands in a very short time Lastly tho they were never so willing
in those parts the rest was taken away by the Country-men who were so ignorant of the price of it that they thought the Cinnamon therein to be but a low priz'd Bark and so sold it to make Fire with yet the whole Envy of the matter fell upon the Douglasses Upon this change of Affairs the Tories who had a long time refrain'd their Depredations for fear of Punishment came forth out of their lurking holes and grievously infested all the circumjacent Countries And though many Pranks were plaid by others up and down yet all the Murders and Robberies every where committed were charg'd upon the score of the Douglasses by those Courtiers who thought they humour'd the King by so doing that so they might make the name of that Family otherwise popular invidious to the vulgar And in the beginning of Winter the King march'd to Tantallon a Castle of the Douglasses by the Sea side to take it in that so no Refuge might be left for the Exiles and that he might take the place with less Labour and Cost he was supplied with Brass-Guns and Powder from Dunbar That Castle was distant from Dunbar six Miles and it was garison'd by the Souldiers of Iohn the Regent because it was part of his Patrimony he continued the Siege for some days wherein some of the Besiegers were slain others wounded and some blown up with Gun-Powder but none at all of the Besieged were lost so that he raised his Siege and retreated In his return David Falkner who was left behind with some Foot-Souldiers to carry back the Brass-Ordnance was set upon by Douglasses Horse who were sent out to snap up the Stragglers in the Rear and slain his Death did so inrage the young King who was incens'd enough before that he solemnly swore in his Passion that as long as he liv'd the Douglasses should never have the Sentence of their Banishment revoked And as soon as he came to Edinburgh to straiten them the more by the Advice of his Council he order'd that a party of Souldiers should be continually kept at Coldingham which was to be rather an active or flying than a numerous one to prevent the pillaging of the Country by them The charge of doing it was commended by the King to Bothwel one of the greatest Persons for Authority and Puissance in Lothian but he refused the Imployment either out of Fear of the Power of the Douglasses which not long since all the rest of Scotland was not able to cope with or else because he would not have the Disposition of the young King who was eager and over-violent of his own accord to be inur'd to such Cruelty as totally to destroy so noble a Family And whereas the King had no great Confidence in the Hamiltons as being Friends to his Enemies and he did also disgust them upon the account of the Slaughter of Iohn Stuart Earl of Lennox and besides there being none of the Nobility of the adjacent parts that had Power or Interest enough for that Service at last he resolved to send Calen Cambel with an Army against the Rebels a Person living in the furthest parts of the Kingdom but a prudent Man of approv'd Valour and upon the account of his Justice very popular The Douglassians when the Hamiltons and the rest of their Friends failed them were reduced to great straits so that they were compell'd by Calen and by George chief of the Humes to retire like Exiles into England In the Month of October two eminent Persons came Embassadors from the King of England about a Peace which tho earnestly desir'd by both Kings yet they could scarce find out the way to make it up For Henry being about to make War upon Charles the Emperor was willing to leave all safe behind his back and with the same labour to procure the Restitution of the Douglasses As for Iames he did much desire to have Tantallon Castle in his Power but his Mind was very averse to restore the Douglasses and for that Reason the Matter was canvassed to and fro for some Days and no Temper for Accommodation could be found out but at last they came to this That Tantallon Castle should be surrendred to Iames and a Truce be granted for five Years and their other Demands the King was to promise the granting of under his Signet The Castle was surrendred accordingly but the other Demands were not as punctually performed save only that Alexander Drummond had leave given him to return home for Brittain's sake For some Months before Iames Colvill and Robert Carncross upon suspicion of their favouring the Douglasses were removed from Court and their Offices bestowed on Robert Brittain who then was in high Favour at Court and had great Command there After this tho Matters were not quite settled abroad for the English had burnt Arn a Town in Teviotdale before their Embassadors return'd yet the rest of the Year was more quiet but the Insolence of the Banditti was not quite suppressed whereupon the King caus'd William Cockburn of Henderland and Adam Scot noted Robbers to be apprehended at Edinburgh and for a Terror to the rest he put them to Death The next Year in the Month of March the King sent Iames Earl of Murray whom he had made Deputy-Governour of the whole Kingdom to the Borders there to have a Meeting with the Earl of Northumberland in order to settle a Peace and to treat about mutual Satisfaction for Losses But a Contention arose betwixt them about expiating the Murder of Robert Car. The One pleaded that the Process ought to be form'd in Scotland according to the Law The Other would have it in England In the Interim each of them sent Messengers to their several Kings to know their Minds in the Case On the 17 th of the Calends of May there was held a Council of the Nobility where after a long Debate which lasted till Night 't was concluded That the Earl of Bothwel Robert Maxwel Walter Scot and Mark Carr should be committed Prisoners to Edinburgh Castle And that the Earls and chief Men of Merch and Teviotdale should be sent Prisoners to other Places it being supposed That they privately scatter'd abroad the Seeds of a War against England And in Iuly the King levied about 8000 Men and marched out against the Robbers and that with so much speed that he quickly pitch'd his Tents by the River Ewse Not far from thence lived one Iohn Armstrong chief of one Faction of the Thieves who had struck such a Fear to all the neighbouring Parts that even the English themselves for many Miles about bought their Peace by paying him a certain Tribute yea Maxwel was also afraid of his Power and therefore endeavoured his Destruction by all possible ways This Iohn was enticed by the King's Officers to make his Repair to the King which he did unarm'd with about fifty Horse in his Company but having forgot
to obtain the King's Pass and safe Conduct for his Security he fell into an Ambush who brought him to the King as if he had been taken Prisoner by them so that he and most of his Followers were trussed up They who were the Causers of his Death gave forth That he had promised to bring that part of Scotland for some Miles under the Obedience of the English if he himself might be well considered for that Service But on the other side the English were glad of his Death for they were thereby freed of a dangerous Enemy Six of his surviving Companions the King kept as Hostages but in regard their Fellows were no way deterred thereby from committing the like Insolencies in a few Months they were hanged also And the King took new Hostages of those who staid at home for the Liddisdale Men left their homes and passed over in Troops to England making daily Incursions and great Spoil in the neighbouring Parts Not long after the King restor'd the noble Men to their Liberty having first taken Hostages from them Of these Walter Scot to gratify the King killed Robert Iohnston a noted Tory amongst the Thieves which bred a deadly Feud between the two Families to the great loss and prejudice of them both The next Year which was 1531 there happened a matter very memorable neither did the Obscurity of the Author nor the Curiosity of the Time which made a strict Enquiry thereinto abate any thing of Mens Admiration of the Novelty thereof One Iohn Scot a Man of no Learning nor of any great Experience in Business neither had he a subtil Wit of his own to impose Tricks upon Men being overthrown in a Law-suit and not having Ability to pay Damages hid himself some days in the Sanctuary of the Monastery of Holy-Rood-House without eating or drinking any thing at all When the thing was known and related to the King he commanded that his Apparel should be chang'd and diligently search'd and so caus'd him to be kept apart from all Company in the Castle of Edinburgh where every Day Bread and Water was set before him but he voluntarily abstained from all human Food for thirty two days After that time as if he had been sufficiently tried he was brought forth naked into publick view where the People flocking about him he made them a long but sorry Speech in which there was nothing memorable but that he affirm'd he was assisted by the Virgin Mary to fast as long as he himself pleased This Answer savouring of Simplicity rather than Craft he was released from his Imprisonment and went to Rome where he was also imprison'd by Pope Clement until he had fasted long enough to convince him of the Truth of the Miracle Then they clothed him with the Habit that Priests say Mass in and bestowed many Presents on him and gave him a Testimonial under the Leaden-Seal which is of great Authority amongst the Papists Whereupon he went to Venice where he also confirm'd their Belief by his miraculous Fasting and alleging That he was obliged by a Vow he had made to visit Ierusalem he receiv'd of them fifty Ducats of Gold for his Charges on the way At his Return he brought back some Leaves of Palm-trees and a Bag full of Stones which he said were taken out of the Pillar which Christ was tied to when he was scourg'd In his Return he past through London and mounted the Pulpit in Paul's Church-yard and in a great Audience of People preached much about the Divorce of King Henry from his Queen and of his Defection from the See of Rome his Words were bitter and if he had been looked upon of any Repute for Wisdom he must have eaten them again but being imprisoned for some time and having wholly abstained from Food for almost fifty days together he was dismiss'd When he came back to Scotland he would have joined himself to one Thomas Doughty who about that time came from Italy and had built a Church dedicated to the Virgin Mary out of the Alms the People had given him and had got great Gain by his feigned Miracles But the Life of this Thomas was sufficiently known to be very wicked and the Cheats of his pretended Miracles were discovered yet no Man durst openly gainsay him for fear of the Bishops who by this their new Atlas sought to prop up the Pile of their Purgatory then a tottering and he to requite them for their Courtesy when any of the richer sort of Priests came to the Place where he was to say Mass had still one Beggar or other ready at hand to counterfeit himself mad or diseased in Body that so forsooth by his Massing he might be recovered and healed But Thomas rejected Iohn Scot because he was not willing to admit any other into the Society of his Gain and thereupon he hired an obscure Cell in the Suburbs of Edinburgh and there having erected an Altar and furnished it according to his Ability he set up his own Daughter who was young but very beautiful with Wax-Tapers lighted about her to be adored instead of the Virgin Mary But that way of Gain not answering his Expectation he returned to his old course of Life having gain'd nothing by all his preposterous Dissimulation of Sanctity but to let all Men know that he wanted not a Will but Ability rather to become an errand Cheat. At the beginning of the following Year which was 1532 the Earl of Bothwel was committed Prisoner to Edinburgh-Castle Ianuary 16 because he had taken a private Journy into England and there had secret Conference with the Earl of Northumberland Iohn Sunderland a Knight by reason of the great Prudence Integrity and Authority which he had amongst all good Men even beyond his State and Degree was sent to Hermitage a Castle of Liddisdale to restrain the Incursions of Thieves and Robbers Of ancient time there had been no fix'd Days nor any set Place appointed for Matters of Nisi Prius to be handled by the Judges until Iohn Duke of Albany had obtained of the Pope that a yearly Sum of Mony as much as was sufficient to pay a Salary to a few Judges should be charged on the Ecclesiastical Order and 't was to be levied on every one according to the value of his Benefice Gawin Dunbar Bishop of Aberdene hereupon made his Appeal to the Pope in the behalf of himself and other Priests The Controversy held from the 11 th of March to the 24 th of April and then there was a College of Judges settled at Edinburgh At their first Sitting they devised many advantageous Projects for the equal distribution of Justice yet the hoped Event did not follow For seeing in Scotland there are almost no Laws but Decrees of the Estates and many of them too made not for perpetuity but temporary and the Judges hinder the enacting of Laws what they can The Estates of all the Subjects were committed to the Pleasure
of fifteen Men who were to have a perpetual Power and even a Tyrannical Government for their Wills were their Laws In favour of the Pope they were very severe against the Lutherans and the Pope on the contrary to gratify a King so well deserving at his Hands gave him the Tithes of all Parsonages for the next Year following This Year the English perceived that the State of Affairs in Scotland grew every day more quiet than other but yet that they were destitute of foreign Aid because they themselves had joined with the French against Charles the Emperor Hereupon they sought out an occasion for a War In April they made an Expedition out of Berwick and spoiled Coldingham Douglas and many other neighbouring Towns and drove away great Booty They had no apparent Provocation neither did they denounce War before-hand How eager they were upon War appears by that King's Proclamation soon after publish'd wherein 't was said that the Garison of Berwick was provoked by some licentious and contumelious Words which the Scots had let fall But the Words mentioned in the Proclamation carry no Contumely in them at all But this Cause not seeming just enough for a War they demanded Canabie a small Village in the Borders with a poor Monastery in it as if it belonged to them which they never pretended to before and likewise that the Douglasses might be restor'd For the King of England perceiving that his Aid was absolutely necessary to the French King so that he could by no means want it and also knowing that he had him fast in a League wherein the Interest of Scotland was not considered hereupon he thought it no hard Matter to bring the Scots to what Conditions he pleased Moreover because the Emperor was alienated from him by the Peace with France and the Divorce with his Aunt and the Pope of Rome did raise up Wars amongst all Christian Princes he thought he should omit a great opportunity at home for innovating of things if he neglected That The King of Scots that he might not be unprovided against this Storm by a publick Proclamation made all over the Kingdom appointed his Brother the Earl of Murray to be his Vicegerent and because the Borderers of themselves were not able to cope with the English who had also a great number of Auxiliaries with them he divided the Kingdom into four Parts and commanded each of them to send out the ablest Men amongst them with their Clans and Provision for fourty Days These Forces thus succeeding one another by turns made great Havock in the Towns and Castles in those Parts so that the King of England was frustrated in his Expectation seeing the War was likely to be drawn out in length and other Concerns were also to be cared for by him and therefore he was willing to hearken to a Peace but would have it fought for at his Hands for he thought it was not for his Honour either to offer it or to seek it of himself And therefore it seem'd most convenient to transact the Matter by the King of France the common Friend to both Nations Whereupon the French King sent his Embassador Stephen D'Aix into Scotland to enquire by whose Default such a War was commenced between the two Neighbour-Kings The King of Scots clearly acquitted himself from being any Cause of the War he also made a Complaint to him how long his Ambassadors had been detained in France without Hearing And at the Ambassador's Departure he sent Letters by him to his Master desiring him to observe the ancient League which was renewed by Iohn the Regent at Roan he also sent David Beton into France to answer the Calumnies of the English and besides to treat concerning the keeping of the old League and to contract a new Affinity between France and Scotland He also sent Letters by him to the Parliament of Paris very bitter and full of Complaints concerning those matters which had been transacted and agreed between Francis their King and Iohn Regent of Scotland how that ancient Friendships Pacts and Agreements were slighted in behalf of Those who were once their common Enemies His Ambassador Beton was commanded if he saw that the things he had in Command did not succeed well in France to deliver those Letters to the Council of the Judges and presently to withdraw himself into Flanders with an Intent as it might be conjectured to make a League Agreement and Affinity with the Emperor In the mean time War was waged in Britain and Disputes were manag'd at New-castle concerning the Lawfulness thereof when the Embassadors sent from both Nations could not agree on terms of Peace Monsieur Guy Flower was sent over by the King of France to compose matters The Scotish King told him that he would gratify his Master as far as ever he was able and also he had some Communication with him as much as was seasonable at that time concerning the conjugal Affinity about which he had sent Embassadors before which were then in France Flory or Flower being thus the Umpire for Peace the Garisons were withdrawn on both sides from the Borders and a Truce was made which was afterwards followed with a Peace When the Peace was settled the King having for some Years last past transacted Business with the King of France and with the Emperor by his Embassadors about a matrimonial Contract now being freed from other cares his Thoughts were more intent that way than ever For besides the common causes which might incline him to some potent Alliance he was thoughtful how to perpetuate his Family by Issue of his Body he himself being the last Male that was left alive insomuch that his next Heirs had already conceived a firm hope in their Minds of the Kingdom which did not a little trouble Him who was otherwise suspicious enough of himself And indeed things did very much concur to raise them up to that hope as for instance their own domestick Power the Kings being a Batchelor his Venturousness in slighting all Danger so that he would not only stoutly undergo all Hazards but often court and invite Them for with a small party he would march against the fiercest Thieves and tho they were superior in number yet he would either prevent them by his Speed or else fright them by the Reverence of his Name and so force them to a Surrender he would sit Night and Day on Horse-back in this Employment and if he did take any Refreshment or Food 't was that which he lighted on by chance and but little of that neither These Circumstances made the Hamiltons almost confident of the Succession yet it seem'd to them a long way about to stay for either fortuitous or natural Dangers and therefore they studied to hasten his Death by Treachery A fair Opportunity was offer'd them to effect it by his Night-Walkings to his Misses having but one or two in his Company But all these things not answering
their Expectation they resolved to cut off the hope of lawful Issue by hindring his Marriage what they could although Iohn Duke of Albany when he was Regent seemed to have made sufficient Provision against that Inconvenience for when he renewed the ancient League between the French and Scots at Roan he had inserted one Article that Iames should marry Francis's eldest Daughter But there were two Impediments in the way which almost broke off and cut this League asunder For Francis being freed out of the Hand of the Spaniard by the Industry and Diligence principally of Henry the 8 th had entred into so strict a League with the English that the Scotish League was much intrenched upon thereby and besides the eldest Daughter of Francis was deceas'd a while before and therefore Iames desired Magdalen his next Daughter to Wife and sent Embassadors over to that purpose but her Father excused the matter alleging that his Daughter was of so weak a Constitution of Body that there was little hopes of Children by her no nor hardly any Likelihood of her Life it self for any long time About the same time there was an Affinity treated of with Charles the Emperor by Embassadors and at length the 24 th day of April 1534. The Emperor sent Godscalk Ericus that the matter might be carry'd with greater Secrecy from Toledo in Spain through Ireland to Iames. After he had declared the Commands he had in charge from the Emperor concerning the Wrongs offer'd to his Aunt Catharine and her Daughter by King Henry concerning the calling a general Council concerning the rooting out the Sect of the Lutherans and concerning contracting an Affinity The Emperor by his Letters gave the King his choice of three Marys all of them of his Blood they were Mary Sister to Charles a Widow ever since the Death of her Husband Lewis of Hungary who was slain in Battel by the Turks Mary of Portugal the Daughter of his Sister Leonora and Mary of England his Niece by his Aunt Catharine And because Charles knew that King Iames was more inclinable to this last Match he also shewed a greater Propension thereunto that so he might take off Iames from his valuing of and adhering to the League with Francis and at the same time might set him at ods with Henry Iames made answer that the Marriage with England was indeed in many respects most advantageous if it could be obtained but 't was a Business of uncertain Hope but of great Danger and Toil and would be encumber'd with so many Delays that his single Life he being the last of his Family could hardly bear it and therefore of all Caesar's Neices he told Him that the Daughter of Christiern King of Denmark was most convenient for him who was begotten upon Isabel the Sister of Charles A while after Charles answered this his Demand from Madrid that she was already promised to another and though Caesar by offering Conditions seem'd rather to prolong the matter than really to bring it to pass yet the Treaty was not wholly laid aside Matters being quiet at home Iames resolved to go a Ship-board to take a View of all his Dominions round about and to curb the stubborn Spirits of the Islanders and make them more obedient First he sailed to the Orcades where he quieted all Disorders by apprehending and imprisoning a few of the Nobility he garison'd two Castles there his Own and the Bishops afterwards he visited the rest of the Islands and sent for the chief Men to come to him those that refus'd he seiz'd by force he laid a Tax on them took Hostages and carried away with him those who were most likely to be Incendiaries and clapping some of his own Train into their Castles he sent the leading Men of them some to Edinburgh and some to Dunbar Prisoners For about that time Iohn Duke of Albany had surrendred up Dunbar to the King which till then had been kept by a French Garison In the next Month of August great Severity was used against the Lutherans some were compelled to make a publick Recantation others refusing to appear upon Summons were banished Two were burnt of which one named David Straiton was free enough from Lutheranism but he was accused thereof because he was somewhat refractary in Payment of Tithes to the Collectors of them and so was put to Death only for a supposed Crime In an Assembly which the King caused to be convened at Iedburgh in order to the suppressing of the Robbers thereabouts Walter Scot was condemned of high Treason and sent Prisoner to Edinburgh Castle where he remained as long as the King lived The same Month of August when Francis as I said before had excused his Daughters Marriage on account of her Health but withal had offer'd him any other of the Blood Royal The King sent Embassadors into France Iames Earl of Murray Vice-roy of the Kingdom and William Stuart Bishop of Aberdene those Two went by Sea and Iohn Erskin by Land because he had some Commands to deliver to Henry of England by the way To them be added a Fourth i. e. Robert Reed a good Man and highly prudent There Mary of Bourbon the Daughter of Charles Duke of Vendosme a Lady of the Blood was offer'd to them as a fit Wife for their King Other points were accorded easily enough but the Embassadors fearing that this Marriage would not please their Master would make no Espousal till they had acquainted him therewith In the mean time Henry of England to trouble a matter which was upon the point of concluding in November sent the Bishop of St. Davids into Scotland who brought Iames some English Books containing the Theses's of the Christian Religion desiring Iames to read them and diligently to weigh what was written therein but he gave them to some of his Courtiers who were most addicted to the Sacerdotal Order to inspect They before ever they had scarce look'd on them condemn'd them as Heretical and moreover they highly gratulated the King that he had not polluted his Eye so they phrased it with reading such pestiferous Books This was the cause of their Embassy according to common Vogue yet some say that they brought some other secret Messages to Iames Afterward the same Bishop together with William Howard Brother to the Duke of Norfolk came so unexpectedly to Sterlin that they almost surprized the King before he heard any News of their coming their Errand was that Henry desir'd Iames to appoint a day of Interview wherein they might confer together for he had at that meeting things of high Concernment and of mighty Advantage to both Nations to propound to him In that Message he gave great hope if other matters could be well accorded that he would bestow his Daughter in Marriage upon him and leave him King of all Britain after his Decease and that he might give more credit to his Promises he would make him for the
present Duke of York and Vice-roy of the Kingdom of England Iames willingly assented to such large and alluring Promises and accordingly fixt a day for the Interview But there were two Factions which resolved to oppose his Journy for England First the Hamiltons who secretly laboured to keep the King from marrying that so they being the next Heirs he might have no Children to exclude them from the Succession And next the Priests also were mightily against it and their Pretences were seemingly just and honest as first the danger he would run if with a small Retinue he should put himself into the Power of his old Enemy for then he must comply with his Will though it were never so much against his Own They also recited the Examples of his Ancestors who either by their own Credulity or else by the Perfidiousness of the Enemy were drawn into a Nouse and from flattering Promises of Friendship had brought home nothing but Ignominy and Loss They also urg'd the unhappy Mistake of Iames the First who in a time of Truce landing as he thought in his Friends Country was there kept Prisoner eighteen Years and at last had such Conditions imposed upon him which he neither lawfully could nor ought to have accepted and then said they he was avariciously sold to his own Subjects Moreover first Malcolm after him his Brother William Kings of Scotland were brought on the Stage who were inticed to London by Henry the 2 d. and then carried over into France to make a shew of assisting in a War there against the French King their old Ally But say they if it be objected Henry the 8 th will do none of these things they answered first How shall we be assured of that next Is it not a point of high Imprudence to venture ones Fortune Life and Dignity which are now in ones own Power into the Hands of another Besides the Priests saw that all their Concerns were now at stake and therefore they must now or never stand up for them in order whereto they caused Iames Beton Arch-bishop of St. Andrews and George Creighton Bishop of Dunkelden two old decrepit Men to come to Court there to baul it out That Religion would be betrayed by this Meeting and Interview even That Religion said they which had been observed so many Ages by their Ancestors and which had all along preserved its Defenders till now The Ruin of which would be attended with the total Destruction of the Kingdom also to forsake that Religion upon every light Grounds especially in such a time wherein the whole World doth conspire together with Arms in their Hands for its Preservation could not be done without great Danger at present and Infamy for future yea it would be a thing of great Wickedness and Impiety also With these Engines they battered Iames's Mind which of it self was inclined enough to Superstition and moreover they corrupted those Courtiers who could do most with him desiring them in their Names to promise him a great Sum of Mony so that hereby they wholly turned away his Mind from the Thoughts of an Interview Henry took this Disappointment in great Disdain as indeed he had reason so to do and thus the Seeds of Dissension were again sown between the two Kings In the mean time the King was weary of his single Life and by reason of foreign Embassies and his Court-Distractions at home was variously agitated in his Thoughts all pretended the publick Good but some aimed at their own private Advantage under that Vail and though many persuaded him to an Affinity with Charles in regard of the flourishing Estate of the Empire at that time yet he rather inclined to an Alliance with France And therefore seeing the matter could not be ended by Embassadors he himself resolved to sail over into France and accordingly rigging out a small Navy the best he could fit in so short a time on the 26 th of Iuly he set Sail from Leith none knowing whither he would go many were of opinion that his Design was for England to visit his Uncle and to ask him pardon for disappointing the Interview agreed on the Year before But a Tempest arising and being also toss'd with contrary Winds the Pilot ask'd him what course he should steer If there be a necessity said he Land me any where but in England Then his Mind was understood He might have return'd home but he was willing rather to sail round Scotland and to try the Western Ocean there also he had very bad Weather and by the advice of a few of his Domesticks as he was asleep he was carried back again when he was awake he took the matter in such great Indignation that for ever after he bore an implacable Hatred against Iames Hamilton whom he also disgusted before upon the account of the killing the Earl of Lennox neither was he well pleased with the rest of the Authors of that Counsel ever after and there were some who in compliance with the King 's angry Humour buzz'd him in the Ears That the Hamiltons under a pretence of a serviceable Attendance and Duty had accompany'd him on purpose to undermine his Voyage However he put to Sea again with a great Train of Nobles September the 1 st and in ten days arrived at Diep in Normandy from thence that he might prevent the News of his Arrival he went disguis'd and in great speed to the Town of Vendosme where the Duke then was and saw his Daughter which pleased him not so that he presently made haste to Court he came unexpectedly upon Francis and the whole Court and yet was honourably receiv'd by him and on the 26 th of November almost against his Will he bestow'd in Marriage his Daughter Magdalene upon him For her Father as I related before judging his eldest Daughter by reason of her sickly temper unfit to bear Children offer'd him his youngest or any other Woman of the French Nobility for a Wife but Iames and Magdalene had contracted a Friendship by Messengers which was confirmed by the mutual Sight Meeting and Discourse one with another so that neither of them could be diverted from their purpose The Marriage was celebrated Ianuary the 1 st in the Year 1537 to the great Joy of all and they both arrived in Scotland the 28 th of May being attended by a French Navy She lived not long after but died of an Hectick Feaver Iuly the 7 th to the great Grief of all except the Priests for they feared that her Life would have put an end to their Luxury and Ambition because they knew she was educated under the Discipline of her Aunt the Queen of Navar. As for others they conceiv'd such a Grief for her Death that then as I think Mourning Garments began first to be used in Scotland which yet after forty Years do scarce continue to be worn though the publick Manners do decline and seem to require it
Ambassadors were presently sent into France Cardinal David Beton and Robert Maxwel to bring over Mary of the House of Guise Widow to the Duke of Longoville for the King presaging the Loss of his Wife had cast his Eye upon her This same Year the Earl of Bothwel because he had past over secretly into England and also had held private Cabals with the English in Scotland was banish'd out of England Scotland and France Moreover about the same time many Persons were accused and condemned for high Treason Iohn Forbes an active young Man the Head of a great Family and Faction was brought to his end it was thought by the Emulation of the Hâ—ntly's for there was one Straughan a Man fit for any flagitious Enterprize who was many Years very familiar with Forbes and was either privy to or else Partaker or Author of all his bad Actions He being not as much respected by him as he thought he deserv'd deserted him and apply'd himself to his Enemy Huntly and before him accused Forbes of Treason or as many think he there plotted the Accusation with Huntly himself against him viz. That Forbes many Years before had a Design to kill the King The Crime was not sufficiently prov'd against him nor by fit and unexceptionable Witnesses neither was the Plot of his Adversaries the Huntlys against his Life hid in the Process yet on the 14 th of Iuly the Judges who were most of Huntly's Faction condemn'd him and he had his Head struck off His Punishment was the less lamented because though Men believed him guiltless as to the Crime he suffered for yet they counted him worthy of Death for the Flagitiousness of his former Life Straughan the Discoverer because he had concealed so foul an Offence so long was banish'd Scotland and liv'd many Years after in France so deboistly and filthily that Men thought him a fit Instrument for any wicked Prank whatsoever The King not long after as if he had repented of his Severity against Forbes took another Brother of the Forbes's into his Family and another he advanced to a rich Match restoring to them their Estate which had been confiscate A few Days after there was another Trial which on the account of the Family of the accused Parties the Novelty of the Wickedness charged on them and the heinousness of the Punishment was very lamentable Ioan Douglas Sister to the Earl of Angus and Wife to Iohn Lyons Lord of Glames also her Son and later Husband Gilespy Cambel Iohn Lyons Kinsman to her former Husband and an old Priest were accused for endeavouring to poison the King All these tho they lived continually in the Country far from Court and their Friends and Servants could not be brought to witness any thing against them yet were put on the Rack to make them confess and so were condemn'd and shut up in Edinburgh-Castle The fifth day after Forbes was executed Ioan Douglas was burnt alive with the great Commiseration of all the Spectators The Nobleness both of her self and Husband did much affect the Beholders besides she was in the vigour of her Youth much commended for her rare Beauty and in her very Punishment she shewed a manlike Fortitude But that which People were most concern'd for was That they thought the Enmity against her Brother who was banish'd did her more prejudice than her own objected Crime Her Husband endeavoured to escape out of the Castle of Edinburgh but the Rope being too short to let him down to the Foot of the Rock he brake almost all the Bones of his Body in the Fall and so ended his Days Their Son a young Man and of greater innocent Simplicity than to have the Suspicion of such a Wickedness justly charged upon him was shut up Prisoner in the Castle and after the King's Death was released and recovered the Estate which had been taken away from his Parents Their Accuser was William Lyons he afterwards perceiving that so eminent a Family was like to be ruined by his false Information repented when it was too late and confess'd his Offence to the King and yet he could not prevail to prevent the Punishment of the Condemned or to hinder their Estates from being confiscate The next Year following on the 12 th of Iune Mary of the House of Guise arrived at Balcomy a Castle belonging to Iames Laird of Lermont from whence she was conveyed by Land to St. Andrews and there in a great Assembly of the Nobility she was married to the King In the beginning of the Year following which was 1539 many Persons were apprehended as suspected of Lutheranism And about the End of February five were burnt nine recanted but many more were banish'd amongst the Sufferers of this Class was George Buchanan who when his Keepers were asleep made his Escape out of the Window of the Prison to which he was committed This Year the Queen brought forth a Son at St. Andrews and the next Year another in the same Place Also this Year and the former Matters were rather somewhat hushed than fully composed some Men wanting rather a Leader than an Occasion to rebel For tho many desired it yet no Man durst openly avow himself Head of any Insurrection And now the King having Heirs to succeed him and thereby becoming more confident of his Settledness and Establishment began to slight the Nobility as a sluggish and unwarlike Generation and not likely to attempt any thing against him whose Family was now rivetted and confirmed by Issue-Male So that he applied his Mind to sumptuous and unnecessary Buildings he stood in need of Mony for that Work and in regard he was as Covetous as he was Indigent both Factions of Nobles and Priests were equally afraid and each of them indeavoured to avert the Tempest from falling upon them that it might light on the Other And therefore whenever the King complain'd of the Lowness of his Exchequer amongst his Friends One Party would extol the Riches of the Other as if it were a Prey ready for the Seisure and the King hearkned sometimes to the One and sometimes to the Other and so kept both in Suspence between hope and fear So that when Ambassadors came at that time out of England to Court to desire the King to give his Uncle a Meeting at York promising some mighty Advantages by that Interview and making a large Harangue concerning the Love and Good-will of their King towards him The Faction which was adverse to the Priests persuaded him by all means to meet at the Time and Place appointed When the Sacerdotal Party heard of this they thought their Order would be quite undone if they did not hinder the Meeting and so disturb the Concord by casting in Seeds of Discord betwixt the King and his Nobles And considering of all ways how to effect it no Remedy seemed more ready at hand for the present Malady than to attempt the King's Mind which
Gordons a coming they were put into a Fright and so fled away scatteringly to escape their Enemies there were not many slain but several taken Prisoners Iames Lermont who was treating about a Peace at New-Castle had scarce received his answer but that the War might be carry'd on the more cunningly he was commanded to return in company of the English Army Moreover Iohn Erskin and .... were sent Ambassadors from Scotland to meet the said Army at York where they were detained by Howard the General and never dismissed till they came to Berwick Iames being assured by his Spies before the return of his Ambassadors of the marching on of the English Army formed his Camp at Falkirk about 14 Miles from the Borders but sent George Gordon before with ten thousand Men to prevent the plunderings of the English yet he did nothing considerable and had not so much as a light Skirmish with the Enemy The King of Scotland was mighty earnest to give Battel but the Nobility would not hear of it by any means so that he was full of Wrath and brake forth in a Rage against them calling them Cowards and unworthy of their Ancestors ever and anon telling them That seeing he was betrayed by them he himself and his own Family would do that which they had cowardly refused to do neither could he be appeased tho they came about him and told him That he had done enough for his Honour That he had not only kept the English Army which was so long time a levying and that had assaulted Scotland on a sudden and that with Threats to do great Matters from wandring up and down for depredation but also for the space of 8 Days that it remained in Scotland had so pent them up that they never marched above a Mile from the Borders for after they drew out of Berwick they went as far as Kelso up against the Stream and there being informed of the march of the Scotish Army they pass'd over the Ford being so fearful to ingage that they rush'd into the River scatteringly and in no order at all and as every one pass'd over they left their Colours and hastn'd home the nearest way they could Gordon in the mean time who saw this afar off not stirring at all nor making any attempt upon them in their Rear For which the King conceived against him an implacable hatred Maxwel to appease the King's Anger as much as he could promised if he might have ten thousand Men to march into England by the Solwaâ— and to do some considerable Service and he would have been as good as his Word unless the King being angry with his Nobles had given secret Letters and a Commission to Oliver Sinclare Brother to the Laird of Rosselin which he was not to open till such a prefixt time The Contents were That the whole Army should acknowledg him for their General Iames's Design therein was That if his Army had the better the Glory of the Victory might not redound to the Nobles When they were come into their Enemies Countrey and about 500 English Horse appeared on the Neighbour-Hills Oliver Sinclare was lifted up on high by those of his Faction and leaning upon two Spears caused the King's Commission to be read at which the whole Army was so offended and especially Maxwel that they broke their Ranks and ran in higly piggly one among another Their Enemies tho accustomed to Wars yet never hoped for so great an Advantage when from the upper Ground they beheld all things in such a Confusion amongst them ran in upon them with a great Shout as their manner is and so assaulted them as they were in a Fright and hovering between the design of Flying or Fighting and thus Horse Foot and Baggage were all driven confusedly into the next Marshes where many were taken by the English more by the Scotish Moss-Troopers and sold to the English When this loss of his Army was brought to the King who was not far off he was moved beyond measure with Indignation Anger and Grief insomuch that his Mind was distracted Two ways sometimes to take Revenge of the perfidiousness of his own People as he called it and sometimes to make Preparation for a new War and Retrieval of his Affairs But in that almost desperate state of things it seemed the best way to make a Truce with the English and to call back Archibald Douglas Earl of Angus on the best Conditions he could But his Body being worn out with Watching and Fasting and his Mind overwhelmed with Cares he dyed a few Days after on the 13 th of December leaving his Daughter his Heiress a Child of about five Days old he was buried the 19 of Ianuary in the Monastery of Holyrood near his first Wife Magdalene In his life-time his Countenance and the Make of his Body were very Comly his Stature indifferent Tall but his Strength above the Proportion of his Body his Wit was sharp but not sufficiently cultivated with Learning through the fault of the Times His Diet was sparing he seldom drank Wine he was most patient of Labour Cold Heat and Hunger he would often sit on Horse-back Night and Day in the coldest Winter that so he might catch the Thieves unawares and his Nimbleness struck such fear into them that they abstained from their ill Pranks as if he had always been present amongst them He was so well acquainted with the Customs of his Country that he would give just Answers concerning weighty Matters even on the High-way as he rode on a Journy with a great deal of Readiness and Prudence He was of easy Access even to the poorest But his great Virtues were almost equalled by as many Vices yet they had this Alleviation That they seemed imputable rather to the Time he lived in than to his own Disposition and Nature For such an universal Licentiousness had over-run All that Publick Discipline could not be retrieved but with a great deal of Severity and Strictness That which made him so covetous of Money was That when he was under the Tutelage of others he was educated in great Parsimony and as soon as ever he came to be of Age he entered into an empty Palace for all his Houshold-Stuff was embezill'd So that all the Rooms of his House were to be new-furnish'd at once and his Guardians had expended his own proper Patrimony on those uses which he wholly disapproved besides the Instructors of him in his Youth made him more inclinable to Women because by that means they hoped to have him longer under their Tuition A great part of the Nobility did not much lament his Death because he had banished some of them and kept many others in Prison and many for fear of his Severity a fresh Disgust being now added to their former Contempt chose rather to surrender themselves to the English King their Enemy than to commit themselves to the Anger of their own King The
Fifteenth BOOK Mary and Henry Stuart the CVII th Queen and King THE King dying in the Flower of his Age rather of Grief than any Disease the Tumults of the former Times were rather hush'd asleep than compos'd so that wise Men foresaw so great a Tempest impending over Scotland as they had never heard of the like in ancient Records nor had themselves seen any like The King had not so much as ordered his own Domestick Affairs but had left a Daughter born about 8 Days before his Death Heiress to the Crown as for those of the Nobility who had born any sway either they were kill'd in Battel or else were banish'd or taken Prisoners by the Enemy And if they had been at home yet by reason of private Animosities or of Dissension on the account of Religion which were stifled out of fear during the King's Life but now that Restraint being taken off were likely to break forth they were at Discord amongst themselves so that they were not likely to act like sober Men. And besides they had War abroad against a most Puissant King and how he would use his Victory every one spoke severally according to his Hope or Fear He that was the second Heir and next to the Crown as he was not commonly reported to have much of Virtue even for the management of his private Life so he was as little noted for Counsel or Valour to manage a Kingdom As for the Cardinal he thinking that in these publick Calamities he might have an Opportunity to greaten himself that he might shew himself Some body both to his own Order and also to the French Faction undertook an Attempt both bold and impudent For he hired Henry Balfore a Mercenary Priest to suborn a false Will of the Kings wherein he himself was nominated to the Supream Authority with Three of the Potentest of the Nobility to be his Assessors He conceived an hope that his Project would succeed from the Disposition of the Earl of Arran which was not turbulent but rather inclinable to quietness and rest And besides he was near of Kin to him for he was Son to the Cardinal's Aunt And further he was one of those Three Persons who was assum'd into a Partnership in the Government Moreover the Opportunity to invade the Supream Power seem'd to require haste that he might prevent the return of the Prisoners and of those that were banished out of England That so they might have no Hand in conferring of this Honour upon him for he was afraid of their Power and Popularity neither did he doubt but that their Minds were alienated from him upon the score of a different Religion That was the Cause that presently after the King's Death he published the Edict concerning the chusing of four Governours for the Kingdom He also bribed some of the Nobles by Promises and Gifts to ingage them to his Faction and especially the Queen who was somewhat disaffected to the adverse Party But Hamilton the Head of the contrary Faction was a Man not ambitious but rather willing to live in quiet as was offer'd him if his Kindred would have suffer'd him but they studying their own Humour and Interest rather than his Honour Night and Day puffed up the Mind of the young Gentleman with strange Hopes and advised him by no means to let slip so fair an Opportunity put into his Hands for they had rather have Things all in a Combustion than to live in a fix'd and private condition of Life And besides the Hatred of the Cardinal got them some Friends and the Indignity of their Bondage under a Mercenary Priest They had also some appearance of hope which tho uncertain in it self yet was not inefficacious to stir up Mens Endeavours That seeing Hamilton was the next Heir many of them entertained such Thoughts as these That a Female so few days old and which was the only Person betwixt him and the Crown might meet with many Mischances either casually or by the fraud of her Supervisors before she came to be Marriageable Thus they laid the Foundation of the Greatness of the Hamilton's for a long time after yet so that it seemed most adviseable to them not to neglect the Advantage which the present State of Things did offer and thus to cherish an hope of the future Advancement of the Hamilton's and if that hope did deceive them yet it would not be difficult for them to regain the Favour or at least the Pardon of a new Princess who in the beginning of her Reign would study to win the Respects of all Men. Whilst Things were at this pass in Scotland the King of England out of his extraordinary Joy for so unexpected a Victory sent for the chief of the Scotish Prisoners up to London where after they had been imprison'd in the Tower two Days on St. Thomas day which was the 20 th of December they were brought all through the City where it was the longest as if they were to be shown as a publick Spectacle to the People and coming to Whitehal the King's Court they were sharply reprov'd by the Chancellor as Violators of the League and after he had made a large Discourse concerning the Goodness and Clemency of his King who had remitted much of that Rigour of Justice he might have used towards them they were distributed into several Families as to a larger Prison There were seven of the Nobility and twenty four of the Gentry besides But when the News came three days after That the King of Scots was dead and had left one only Daughter his Heiress Henry thought it a fit opportunity to conciliate and unite the Minds both of Scots and English in a Band of Concord by espousing his Son to their Queen Upon this he recalled the Prisoners to Court and imployed some fit Persons to feel their Pulses in the Case where being kindly entertained and promising to afford their Assistance towards the Match as far as they might without detriment to the Publick or their own Dishonour on the First of Ianuary at the beginning of the Year 1543 they were all released and sent back towards Scotland When they came to Newcastle and had given Hostages to Thomas Howard Duke of Norfolk as to other matters they were free and so returned home There returned also with them the Douglas's two Brothers being restored to their Country now fifteen Years after their Banishment They were all received with the Gratulation of the major part of the People The Cardinal who saw that this Storm gathered against him as making no doubt but the Prisoners and the Exiles would be both his Contrariants in the Parliament had taken care to be chosen Regent before their coming but he injoy'd not that Honour long for within a few days his Fraud in counterfeiting the King's Will and Testament being discovered he was thrown out of his Place and Iames Hamilton Earl of Arran made Regent That which occasioned his setting
that impregnable Castle and so waited for a change of Affairs which they did not doubt but shortly would come to pass But he was resolved for England where he was honourably received by the King who besides his other Respects gave him Margaret Douglas in Marriage she was Sister to Iames last King of Scotland begot by the Earl of Angus upon the Sister of Henry King of England a Lady in the Flower of her Age of great Comeliness and Beauty In the mean time the Queen-Dowager received into her Protection That Scotish Faction which by the Departure of Lennox was left without an Head and which did obstinately refuse to come under the Power of Hamilton whose Levity they knew before and now feared his Cruelty for she was afraid that they might be inrag'd in such an hurry of Things and so desperately ingage in some new Commotion The Hamiltons were glad at the departure of so potent an Enemy but yet not satisfied with the Punishments already inflicted they used their Prosperity very intemperately For in the next Convention held at Linlithgo they condemned him and his Friends confiscated their Goods and banished them the Land A great Sum of Money was raised out of the Fines of those who redeemed their Estates out of the Exchequer but not without great Disgust and the high Offence of all good Men. In the midst of these Domestick Seditions The English entred Scotland and committed great Spoil and Desolation on Iedburgh Kelso and the Country thereabout from thence they went to Coldingham where they fortified the Church and the Tower as well as they could for the time by making Works and leaving a Garison and so departed And the Garison-Souldiers made great havock in all the adjacent parts partly out of a greediness for Plunder and partly that the Country thereabouts might not afford Provisions to the Enemy when they besieged them Hereupon they who ruled the Roast in Scotland the Queen-Dowager Cardinal and Regent by the advice of the Council sent forth a Proclamation That the Nobles and the most discreet and ablest of the Commons should come in armed with eight Days Provision to march whither the Regent led them In a short time about 8000 met together and in a very sharp Winter too who having battered the Tower of the Church of Coldingham with their great Guns stood in their Arms all that Day and Night to the great wearying of Horse and Man The Day after the Regent either out of Tenderness and Inability to indure Military Toil or fearing the Invasion of the Enemy for he was informed from Berwick a Neighbour-Town that the English were upon their March unknown to his Nobles and with but a few in Company mounted on Horse back and with full speed fled back to Dunbar They who endeavour to excuse the baseness of this Flight say that he was afraid lest his Army out of Hate preconceived on many former Accounts would have given him up to the English His Departure made a great Disturbance in the whole Army and the rather because the Cause of his Flight was unknown and therefore many thought that 't was the more considerable and that they had greater Reason to fear Hereupon some were obstinately resolved to run home the nearest way they could and leave their Guns behind them Others who would seem a little more provident and stout were for overcharging them that so they might break in pieces at a Discharge and become useless to the Enemy But Archibald Earl of Angus withstood them all telling them that they should not add so foul an Offence to their base Flight but not being able to retain them either by his Authority or Entreaty he burst out into these Words with a loud Voice so that many might hear him As for me said he I had rather chuse a noble Death than to enjoy my Life tho opulent and secure after the admission of so foul a Fact You my Friends and Fellow-Soldiers consider what you will do as for me I will bring back these Guns or else I will never return back hence alive my Honour and my Life shall go together This Speech affected some Few whose Honour was dearer to them than their Lives but the rest was so disheartened by the shameful Flight of the Regent that they broke their Ranks and went every one scatteringly home Douglas sent the Guns before and he with his Party followed in good Order in the Rear and tho he was prest upon by the English Horse whom the Tumult had excited yet he brought the Ordnance safe to Dunbar This Expedition rashly undertaken and as basely performed discouraged abundance of the Scots and raised up the English to an intolerable height as drawing the Cowardise of the Regent to Their Praise And therefore Ralph Evers and Brian Laiton two brave English Cavaleers overran all Merce Teviot and Lauderdale without any Resistance and made the Inhabitants of those Countries submit themselves and if any were refractory they wasted their Lands and made their Habitations desolate yea the undisturbed course of their Victories made them so resolute and insolent that they propounded the Bay of Forth to be the Boundary of their Conquest And with this hope they went to London and crav'd a Reward from Henry for their good Service Their Petition was referred to the Council and in debate thereof Thomas Howard Duke of Norfolk who had made many Expeditions against the Scots and had done them much Mischief understanding that in that troublesom Posture of Affairs in Scotland it was no hard Matter to over-run naked and unguarded Countries and to compel the Commonalty when they had no other Refuge to take an Oath of Fealty to them and withal knowing the constancy of the Scots in maintaining their Country and their Resolution in recovering it when lost upon these Considerations 't is reported that he advised the King to give them all the Land which they could win by the Sword and also to allow them a small Force to defend it till the Scots therein were inured to the English Government This Gift they willingly receiv'd and the King as willingly gave upon which their vain boasting being as vainly requited they return'd joyfully to the Borders having obtain'd 3000 Souldiers in pay besides the Borderers who are wont to serve without any Military Stipend Their return mightily disturb'd all the Borderers because they had no hopes of any help from the Regent in regard he was influenc'd in all his Counsels by a Priest especially by the Cardinal Hereupon Archibald Earl of Angus being much affected with the Publick disgrace and also concerned upon the Account of his own private Losses for he had large and fruitful Possessions in Merch and Teviotdale sent to the Regent to prevent it The Regent deplor'd his own solitude and complain'd how he was deserted by the Nobility Douglas told him it was his own not the Nobilities fault for they were willing to spend their
have reason to believe 80 of the chief of the Family had left their Wives at home great with Child all of which in due time brought forth Male-Children and they all lived to Man's Estate At the same time the King of England heard that his Army was beaten and wasted in Scotland and that an Embassador was sent by the Regent to the King of France to acquaint him with the Victory and to desire Aid of him against the Demands and Threats of the King of England and likewise to inform against Lennox in Defamation of his Departure into England as for Aid he could scarce obtain any because the French knew for certain that Henry was about passing over with great Forces into France only they sent 500 Horse and 3000 Foot not so much to defend the Scots from the Incursions of the English as to hold them in play that they might not fall with their whole Strength upon France Henry that Summer did not think it fit to send greater Forces to the Borders of Scotland because he was of opinion that the Garisons there were sufficient to inhibit the Excursions of the Scots and besides he knew well enough that the Scots in such a perplexed State of their affairs could not raise a great Army that Year to attack any well-fortified places The Scotish Embassador in France objected some sorry matters against Lennox in his Absence scarce worth the answering as that he had concealed the Mony sent to him that by reason of his Dissensions with the Cardinal the cause of the Publick was betray'd and as for his Departure into England That he exaggerated most invidiously The King of France who by means of false Rumors had conceiv'd such an Anger against Lennox that he would by no means admit of any Compurgation or Apology against those Calumnies and who also had imprisoned Lennox's Brother unheard Captain of his Guards when the Truth began a little to appear as 't were in excuse for his temerarious Fault sought for some colour to hide it and commanded an Examination to be made of the Crimes objected against Lennox And the Enquiry was committed to Iames Montgomery of Lorge Commander of the French Auxiliaries a Man active and good enough but a bitter Enemy to Lennox 't was put into his Hands by the Procurement of the Guises because they were not able to separate the cause of their Sister from the Perfidiousness of the Cardinal Montgomery arriv'd with his French Auxiliaries lately mention'd in Scotland on Iuly the 3 d in the Year 1545. where by shewing the Letters and declaring the good Intentions of the King of France towards them in the Council he obtained that an Army should be levied but only of the better sort who were able to bear the charges of the War and they were to meet together upon a short day And accordingly at the time appointed there met 15000 Scots at Hadington and marching to the Borders they formed their Camp over against Work a Castle in England From thence almost every other day they marched with their Colours into England and did obtain great Booty the Enemy endeavour'd to resist their Incursions but in vain they made indeed some light Skirmishes but unprosperously so that the Scots wasted all the Country for six Miles round This they continued during ten Days never going further into the Enemies Country in the Day-time than they could return back to their Camp at Night In the Interim Montgomery and George Hume dealt earnestly with the Regent that he would remove his Camp to the other side of the Tweed that so they might make freer Inrodes upon the parts adjacent and spred the terrour of their Army to a greater Distance but their Solicitations were in vain For the Regent and those of the Council about him were against it because they were destitute of all Necessaries for storming of Castles so that they disbanded the Army and returned home The other took up their Winter-Quarters as every one thought fit but Montgomery went to Sterlin to the Court where knowing of the Calumnies raised against Lennox by his Enemies though he himself did highly disgust him too yet he grievously rebuked the Cardinal that without any considerable Provocation on Lennox's part he had loden so noble and innocent a Person with such calumnious Imputations and had compell'd him even against his Will to join himself with the Enemy About the same time Inroads were made on both sides on all parts of the Borders with various Events Robert Maxwel the Son of Robert a young Man of singular Valor was taken Prisoner by the English there was nothing memorable done besides At the beginning of the following Winter Montgomery return'd to France and the Cardinal carried about the Regent with him through the Neighbouring Provinces upon pretence to reconcile and heal the Seditions and Distempers of all Parties First they came to Perth where four Men were punish'd for eating Flesh on a day prohibited and also a Woman and her Infant were both put to Death because she refused to call upon the Virgin Mary for Aid in her Travel then they applied themselves to the Overthrow of all the Reformed universally they went to Dundee and as themselves gave out 't was to punish such as read the new Testament for in those days that was counted a most grievous Sin and such was the Blindness of those Times that some of the Priests being offended at the Novelty of the Title did contend that That Book was lately written by Martin Luther and therefore they desired only the Old There 't was told them that Patrick Grey chief of a noble Family in those parts was coming with a great Train and the Earl of Rothes with him The Tumult being appeased the Regent commanded both of them to come to him the day after but the Cardinal thinking it not safe to admit two such potent and factious Persons with so great a Train into that Town which was the only one highly addicted to the Reformed Religion persuaded the Regent to return to Perth The Noble-Men when they were ready for their Journy heard News that the Regent was gone for Perth whereupon they followed him thither and when they came in sight of the Town the Cardinal was so afraid that to gratify him the Regent commanded them to enter the City severally and apart and the next day after they were both committed to Prison yet Rothes was soon released but Grey was delivered with more difficulty afterwards because he was more hated and feared by them Before they went from thence the Cardinal thought good to abate the Power of Ruven Mayor of the City so that the Regent took away the Mayoralty from him and gave it to the Laird Kinfans a Neighbour-Laird Gray's Kinsman Ruven was envied by the Cardinal because he favoured the Reform'd Religion and as for Grey he was not wholly averse from the Reformed neither nor yet any great Friend of
for his Fortune Wife Children Religion and Liberty Besides this Project said they concerns the very Vitals of the Scotish Empire and 't was a thing of greater Consequence than to be debated at this time and in this Age of our young Queen for if 't were granted it could be effected without any Sedition yet this new way of managing a War is both useless and also much feared and suspected by the most especially since out of the Tribute of the Scots Men none of the richest Mony enough could hardly arise to maintain a Guard of Mercenaries for the Defence of the Borders and therefore 't was to be feared that the Event of this Counsel would be to open the Door of the Borders to the Enemy not to shut it For if the English living in a richer Kingdom should erect a fuller Treasury for that use there was no doubt but they might maintain Forces double to ours with less Grievance to their own People and then they would break in not only upon the Borders but even into the very Body of the Kingdom The other part of their Oration I know not whether it be not better to suppress in Silence than to declare it amongst the Vulgar some Mutterings there were Who will collect this Mony What great part of it must necessarily be expended upon Distrainers and Treasurers as a Reward for their pains Who will undertake that it shall be spent for publick Uses and not on private Luxury 'T is true the Probity and Temperance of our noble Princess who now rules gives us great Hope yea Confidence that no such thing will be yet if we consider what hath been done by others abroad and by our selves at home we cannot contain or so govern our selves but must needs fear that what hath once been done may possibly be done again But to let these things pass which perhaps we have no cause to fear let us come to that wherein our Ancestors plac'd their greatest hope of Defence to maintain their Liberty against the Arms of an overpowring Enemy There was no King of Scotland ever judg'd wiser than Robert the first of that Name and all confess he was the most valiant He at his Death as he had often done in his Life out of a Prospect to the good of his Subjects gave this advice That the Scots should never make a perpetual Peace no nor One for any long time with the English For he out of the Wisdom of his own Nature and also by his long Experience and Exercise under both Conditions prosperous and adverse knew well enough that by Idleness and Sloth the Minds of Men would be broken with Delights and Blandishments of Pleasures and their Bodies also grow languid for when severe Discipline and Parsimony is extinct Luxury and Avarice do grow up as in a Soil untill'd accompany'd also with an Impatience of Labour and a Slothfulness occasioned by continu'd Ease averse from and hating a military Life by which Mischiefs the Strength of Body and Mind being enervated and weakned doth abandon Virtue which is exercised by Sufferings and that a short and unaccustomed Ease and Pleasure is over-ballanced by some notable Calamity to ensue Upon this Oration the Queen-Regent fearing an Insurrection if she had persisted in her opinion remitted the Tribute and acknowledg'd her Error 't is reported she was often heard to say that it was not Her self but no obscure Men of the Scots themselves who were the Authors and Architects of that Design By those Words some thought she meant Huntly a Man fierce of his own Disposition and newly released from Prison and as it seems more mindful of the Injury of his Imprisonment than of the respect shewed in his Deliverance And therefore when he saw that the Regent was intent upon this one thing to accustom the Scots to pay Tribute fearing that thereby her Power would increase and the Authority of the Nobility would be weakned and infring'd in regard she being a Foraigner sought to bring all things into the Power of her own Country-men it was thought he gave this Counsel to her which suited well with her Mind as to the raising of Mony which she was then about for otherwise the advice was plainly Destructive Hostile and Pernicious for he knew well enough that the Scots would not pay such great Taxes neither would they be as obedient Subjects as they had been before some thought that David Painter Bishop of Ross found out this way of Tax for he was a Man of a great Wit and learned besides he had receiv'd many Courtesies from the Hamiltons and was a Friend to their Family and Designs The next year which was 1557 whilst the Embassadors of Scotland were treating about Peace at Carlisle the King of France sent Letters to Scotland to desire the Regent to declare War against England according to the League The Cause was pretended to be because the Queen of England had assisted Philip of Spain her Husband who was ingag'd in a fierce War against France by sending him Aid into Belgium The English Embassadors return'd without confirming any settled Peace or War either whereupon the Regent call'd together the Nobility at the Monastry of Newbottle where She declar'd to them the many Incursions the English had made upon Scotish Ground what Preys they had taken and when Restitution was demanded none was made so that She desir'd the Scots to denounce War upon England both to revenge their own Wrongs and also by the same labour to assist the King of France yet she could not prevail with the Nobility to begin first and therefore by the advice as 't is thought of D'Osel she brought about the matter another way She commanded a Fort to be built at the Mouth of the River Aye against the sudden Incursions of the English wherein also she might safely lay up great Guns and other Necessaries for War as in a safe Magazine from whence she might fetch them upon occasion and so save labour of carrying them from the remoter parts of the Kingdom whereby much time would be spent and besides the troublesomeness of the Carriages opportunity of Action would be lost These Conveniencies were visible enough but she had another Reach in it she knew that the English would do their utmost to hinder the Work and not suffer a Garison to be erected under their Noses so near Berwick Thus the Seeds of War which she desired would be sown and the fault of taking up Arms cast upon the Enemy And the Event answered her Expectation For the Scots being provoked by the wrongs of the English whilst they were compell'd to defend their own Borders easily assented to the Regent's desire to make War upon England whereupon the Embassadors sent into England to make a Peace were call'd back a Proclamation was made and a Day appointed for a general Rendezvouz at Edinburgh when the Camp was form'd at Maxwel Heugh and the Council had not yet
Parties Some abode at Glascow that they might command the Neighbouring Provinces and defend their Partners in the Reformation from Wrong Others were sent into Fife The French did what Mischief they could to their Enemies but being troubled to hear of the English Supplies they endeavoured to subdue the Relicks of the contrary Faction before their Coming and first they marched against that Party which was in Fife First in their March they plundered Linlithgo and the Estates of the Hamiltons from thence they march'd to Sterlin where they staid no longer but till they could pillage the Towns-men and then pass'd over the Bridg and led their Army along the Shore of the River which was full of Towns and Villages well inhabited They ransack'd all they met with and at last came to Kinghorn The Scots to stop their Career put a small Garison into a Town called Dysert Here the French made light Skirmishes for twenty Days together and because they could not wreek their Fury upon the Masters they did it upon the bare Walls of their Houses and raz'd a Village called Grange belonging to William Kircaldy from the very Foundation He knowing that the French were wont to make often Excursions from thence to plunder the Country-People a little before day plac'd himself in Ambush and observing Captain L'abast a Savoyard to march out with his Company he kept himself close so long till the French were above a Mile from their Garison and then his Horse started up and intercepted them from their Fellows The French had but one way for it in those Circumstances and that was to enter a Country-Village near at hand and so to endeavour to defend themselves behind Walls and Hedges The Scots being irritated by the former Cruelty of the French were utterly unmindful of their own Safety while they were intent to attend their Enemies though they had no Arms but Horsemens Lances yet broke down all which was in their way and rush'd in upon them the Captain who refused to take Quarter and fifty of his Men were slain the rest they sent Prisoners to Dundee They who were at Dysert as in a setled Post met at Cowper out of them and others that were at Glasgow there were some Persons chosen to be sent to Berwick to agree the Terms of the League with the English The chief Articles were these That if any Strangers should enter Brittain in a Warlike manner each of them should aid and assist one another That the Queen of England should pay the Scots in England and also the English Auxiliaries in Scotland That the Prey taken from the Enemy should belong to the English but the Towns and Castles should presently be restored to the right Owners That the Scots should give Hostages which were to remain in England during the Marriage of the French King with the Q. of Scots and if that Marriage were disanull'd one year after These Transactions past at Berwick February 27 1570. One thing the English gave strict warning of to the Scots which was that they should not join in a set Battel and so hazard all before the Aids of their Friends came for the English Nobles were much afraid that the over-eager Spirits of the Scots would precipitate the whole matter into an irrecoverable Mistake In the mean time the French having plundered Dysert and Weemes had a Debate among themselves Whether they should march directly towards the Enemy or else go all along the Shore to S. Andrews and so to Cowper This later opinion prevailed because by reason of the great Snow which had fallen all the High-ways were so clogged that the Horse without great Inconvenience could not march thrô the Mid-land Countries wherefore passing along a little by the Sea when they came to the Promontory called Kincraige i. e. the Head or end of a Rock some of them got thereupon where there was a large Prospect into the Sea and they came down in great Joy and told their Fellows that they discovered eight great Ships of the first Rate at Sea whereupon the French did certainly conclude that those Vessels had brought them over Aid which they had long before expected and therefore they saluted them as the Custom is with the Discharge of their great Guns and congratulated one another invited them on Shore resolving to pass that day in a great deal of Mirth and Jollity not long after one or two Boats landed from the contrary Shore of Lothian they haivng in their passage had some Discourse with the Passengers in those Foreign Ships made a Discovery that it was a Fleet of English and withal that the Report was that the Land-Forces of the English were not far from the Borders of Scotland Hereupon there was a sudden change of Spirit among them and their unseasonable Laughter was turned into Fear and Trembling so that presently they catch'd up their Colours and retreated part of them to Kinghorn others to Dumfermlin many of them leaving their Dinners behind them for very haste for they were afraid lest the Garison which they had left at Leith might be cut off and they themselves exposed to the Fury of the Enemy who lay about them in all Quarters before they could gather all their Strength into a Body During this whole March they plundered more of the Papists who came in thick to them than of their Enemies For of them the richer sort had withdrawn a great part of their Estates into remote places of Safeguard as for those who had not thus secured their Estates the French Commanders being lifted up with their present Success and also with the hopes of Aid from France which was every day expected in Confidence whereof they hoped to be perpetual Lords of those Countries hereupon they reserved the richest Farms and Villages which most abounded with all kind of Provisions unplundered as a peculiar Prey for themselves But the Papists were either exhausted by the frequent Invitations of the principal Commanders to feast at their Houses under a Pretence of Friendship or else were privately pillaged by the common Souldiers or at least in their Retreat were openly spoiled by the French who were in great want of Provisions and that not without bitter Exprobrations of their Cowardise in Fighting and their Avarice in not relieving their Friends which things said they we leave to you to judg how near a-kin they are to plain Perfidiousness This contumelious Pride joined with the Rapacity of the French Faction quite turned the Hearts of many from them and not long after the Fife Men being compell'd partly by Fear of their Enemies and partly by the Wrongs received by their own Partizans joined themselves to the Reformers and at last the remote Countries did universally revolt from the Outlandish and shewed themselves as eager in repressing the Tyranny of the French as the other Scots did in asserting their Religion The Spring was now at hand and both Parties hastened to draw their Forces together
Batteries signified little or nothing removed their Camp on the other side Leith-River near the Town where they might more certainly annoy the Enemy and also have frequent Skirmishes with him Hand to Hand On the last day of April about two Hours before Sun-set a casual Fire seized upon part of the Town which being assisted by the Violence of the Winds burnt fiercely till the next Morning destroying many Houses and making a great Devastation yea it took part of the publick Granary and consum'd a great deal of Provisions In this hurly-burly the English were not wanting to the occasion for they turn'd their great Guns upon that part and plaid so hot upon the People that they durst not come to quench the Fire yea they enter'd the Trenches and in some places measur'd the height of the Walls so that if the French at the beginning of the Combustion fearing some Treachery had not run thick to the Walls and thereby prevented their loss in such a general Consternation that very day had put an end to the War On the 4 th of May the English set fire to the Water-Mills which were near the Town one of them they burnt down before day the other the next day after the French in vain indeavouring to quench the Flames On the 7 th of May the Besiegers set Ladders to the Walls to make an Assault but the Ladders were too short so that they were beaten off many wounded and 160 slain The three following days the French were imploy'd with great Labour and Hazard in repairing the Walls the English continually playing upon them where they saw the greatest Numbers The Papists were extreamly puft up with this Success so that now they promis'd to themselves that the English would depart the Siege would be rais'd and the War be finish'd But the English and Scots were nothing discourag'd by this Blow but exhorted one another to Constancy and the English promis'd to stay till they heard their Queen's pleasure from her Court. In the mean time Letters came from the Duke of Norfolk which did mightily incourage all their Spirits For he wrote to Grey the chief Commander wishing him to continue the Siege and that he should not want Souldiers as long as there was a Man able to bear Arms in his Province which was very large reaching from Trent to Tweed and if need were he himself would come in Person into the Camp and as a sure Pledge thereof he caus'd his own Tent to be erected in the Camp and in a few days sent in 2000 Auxiliaries so that the Memory of the former loss was quite worn out and with great alacrity they renew'd the War and from that day forward though the French made frequent Sallies yet hardly one of them was prosperous to their Party In the mean time the Queen of England sent William Cecil a learned and prudent Person who was then the chief Manager of Affairs in England and Nicholas Wotton Dean of York into Scotland to treat about a Peace they were commanded to confer Counsels with Randan and Monluck of the French Party concerning Conditions of Peace For the Kings of France thought it a thing below their Dignity to enter into an equal dispute with their own Subjects The fame of this Conference was the Cause that as if all Controversies had been already decided a Convention was Indicted to be held in Iuly In the mean time the Queen Dowager died in the Castle of Edinburgh Iune 11 worn out with Sickness and with Grief Her Death did variously affect the minds of Men for some of them who fought against Her did yet bewail her Death for she was indowed with a singular Wit and had also a Mind very propense to Equity she had quieted the fiercest Highlanders and the furthest Inhabitants of the Isles by her Wisdom and Valour some believ'd that she would never have had any War with the Scots if she had been left free to her own Disposition for She so accommodated her self to their Manners that she seem'd able to accomplish all things without Force but the Misery was Though the Name of Governess resided in Her neither did she want Virtues worthy of so great a Dignity yet she did as it were rule precariously because in all Matters of Moment she was to receive Answers like so many Oracles from France For the Guises who were then the powerfull'st in the French Court had design'd the Kingdom of Scotland as a Peculiar to their Family and accordingly they advis'd their Sister to be more severe in asserting the Papal Religion than either her own Disposition or those Times could well bear This she gave some evident hints of for she hath been heard to say that if Matters were left to her own Arbitrement she did not despair but to compose them upon no unequal Conditions Some others were of opinion that she alleged those things rather popularly than really as her Mind was and that not only with an intent to avert the fault or envy of Mal-administration from her Self but also that under a pretext of asking Advice she might spin out the time in delay whilst She sent for foreign Aid and so by yielding she might blunt the vehement edg of the Scots and in time suffer their angry mood to abate in regard she was of Opinion that the Scots Troops being Volunteers after one or two Disbandings could not again be easily got together because they were made up of Men who were not under Pay nor under any certain Command And the Inconstancy of the Queen in keeping her Promises was no obscure evidence of this her Dissimulation for She did not expect the end of a Truce which by Conditions she was oblig'd to do in renewing a War but if any specious Advantage were offer'd she would adventure to do it Arbitrarily of her own Head Others there were who cast the blame of all things which were avariciously or cruelly acted or which were attempted by Fraud or Calumny upon those who were her Counsellors in managing Affairs For when She undertook the Regency at the very First some French Counsellors were join'd to her Assistance as Osel Embassador of the King of France a Man quickly and vehemently passionate otherwise a good Man and well-skill'd in the Arts both of Peace and War he was one that directed his Counsel rather by the Rule of Equity than the Will and Pleasure of the Guises One Monsieur de Ruby was join'd to him as his Companion a Lawyer of Paris who was to dispute Matters of Law if any such did occur He in his publick Administration conform'd all things as much as he could to the Manners and Laws of France as if That alone were the right Way to govern a Commonwealth by which means he rais'd a suspicion of Innovation upon him and though others might share the Guilt of the same Crime with him yet he alone in a manner bore the blame and envy of it But these Two
devises all manner of ways to cast the Odium of the Fact when committed upon her Brother Iames and the Earl of Morton for she thought if those Two whose Authority and Esteem was much fear'd and hated by her were taken out of the way all things else would fall in of themselves She was also incited thereunto by Letters from the Pope and from Charles Cardinal of Lorrain For the Summer before having by her Uncle desir'd a Sum of Mony from the Pope for levying an Army to disturb the State of Religion in Britain and the Pope more cunningly but the Cardinal plainly had advis'd her to destroy those who were the greatest Hindrances to the Restitution of Popery and especially Those two Earls by Name if they were once taken off they promised a Mass of Mony for the War Some Inckling hereof the Queen thought was come to the Ears of the Nobility and therefore to clear her self from any Suspicion or the least Inclination to such a thing she shewed them the Letters But these Designs so subtilly laid as they thought were somewhat disturbed by often Messages from Murray's Wife how that she had miscarried and that there were small hopes of her Life This Message was brought him on the Lord's Day as he was going to Sermon whereupon he returned back to the Queen and desired leave of her to be gone she very much urg'd him to stay one day longer to hear certainer News alleging That if he made never so much haste his Coming would do her no good but if her Disease did abate to morrow would be time enough but he was fully bent on his Journy and went his way The Queen had deferr'd the Murder till that Night and would seem to be so jocund and dissolute as to celebrate the Marriage of Sebastian one of her Musick in the very Palace and when the Evening was past in Mirth and Jollity then she went with a numerous Attendance to see her Husband she spent some hours with him and was merrier than formerly often kissing him and giving him a Ring as a Token of her Love After the Queen's Departure the King with the few Servants that were about him recollecting the Proceedings of the Day past amongst some comfortable Speeches given him by the Queen he was much troubled at the remembrance of a few Words for she whether not being able to contain her Joy arising from the Hope that the Murder would be now acted or whether it fell from her by chance cast out a word That David Rize was slain the last Year just about that time This unseasonable mention of his Death tho none of them lik'd it yet because much of the Night was past and the next Morning was design'd for Sports and Pastimes they went speedily to Bed In the mean time Gunpowder was plac'd in the Room below to blow up the House other things were cautiously and craftily enough transacted yet in a small matter they lest a track whereby to be discovered For the Bed in which the Queen us'd sometimes to lie was taken from thence and a worse put in its place as if though they were prodigal enough of their Credit yet they would spare a little Mony In the mean time one Paris a French Man a Partisan in the Conspiracy entred into the King's Bed-Chamber and there stood still yet so that the Queen might see him That was the Sign agreed on betwixt them that all things were in a readiness As soon as she saw Paris as if Sebastian's Marriage came into her Mind she began to blame her self that she had bin so negligent as not to dance that night at the Wedding as 't was agreed and to put the Bride to Bed as the manner is whereupon she presently started up and went home Being returned to the Palace she had a pretty deal of Discourse with Bothwel who being at length dismiss'd went to his Chamber chang'd his Apparel put on a Souldier's Coat and with a few in his Company pass'd through the Guards into the Town Two other Parties of the Conspirators came several ways to the appointed Place and a few of them entred into the King's Bed-Chamber of which they had the Keys as I said before and whilst he was fast asleep they took him by the Throat and strangled him and one also of his Servants who lay near him When they were slain they carried their Bodies through a little Gate which they had made on purpose in the Walls of the City into a Garden near hand then they set fire to the Gunpowder which blew up the House from the very Foundation and made such a Noise that it shook some of the neighbouring Houses yea those that were sound asleep in the furthest parts of the City were awakened and frighted at the Noise When the Deed was done Bothwel was let out by the Ruins of the City-Walls and so return'd to the Palace through the Guard another way than that he came This was the common Report about the King's Death which held some Days The Queen had sat up that Night to wait for the Event and hearing of the Tumult called together those of the Nobility who were at Court and amongst the rest Bothwel and by their Advice sent out to know What was the matter as if she had been ignorant of all that was done some went to inspect the Body the King had only a linen Shirt on the upper part of his Body the rest of it lay naked his other Apparel and his Shoes lay near him The Common People came in great Multitudes to see him and many Conjectures there were yet they all agreed sorely against Bothwel's Mind That he could never be thrown out of the House by the Force of the Gunpowder for there was no part broken bruis'd or black and blew about his Body which in a Ruin by Gunpowder would have been besides his Apparel lying near him was not sing'd with the Flame or covered with any Ashes so that it could not be thrown thither by any Casualty but plac'd there on purpose by some bodies Hand Bothwel returned home and as if he had been in great Admiration brought the News to the Queen whereupon she went to Bed and lay secure soundly asleep a great part of the next Day In the mean time Reports were spread abroad by the Parricides and carried into the Borders of England before day That the King was Murdered by the design of Murray and Morton yet every Body thought privately within himself That the Queen must needs be the Author of the Murder Neither was the Bishop of St. Andrews free from Suspicion There were shrewd Conjectures against him as the high and cruel Enmities betwixt the Families neither was the Bishop ever well reconciled to the Queen before she design'd that Wickedness in her Mind and of late when he accompanied her to Glasgow he was made acquainted with the utmost of her Projects It increast Mens suspicions of him because at
that time he had retir'd to the House of his Brother the Earl of Arran which was near to the House where the King was slain Whereas before he always us'd to live in some Eminent part of the City where he might conveniently receive Visits and curry Favour with the People by Feasting them and besides Lights were seen in his House and a Watch all the Night from the upper part of the City and when the design'd Powder-Clap was then the Lights were put out and his Vassals many of whom watch'd in their Arms were forbidden to go out of Doors But the true Story of the matter of Fact which broke out after some Months gave occasion to People to look upon those things as certain Indications which before were but Suspicions only When the Murder was committed presently Messengers were sent into England who were to Report That the King of Scots was cruelly Murdered by his Subjects by the contrivance especially of Murray and Morton The News was presently brought to Court which so inflam'd all the English to the hatred of the whole Nation that for some days no Scots Man durst walk abroad without Danger of his Life and tho many Letters past to and fro discovering the secret Contrivances of the Design yet they could hardly be appeas'd The King's Body having been left a while as a Spectacle to be gaz'd upon and a great Concourse of People continually stockt thither the Queen order'd That it should be laid on a Form or Bier turn'd upside down and brought by Porters into the Palace There she her Self viewed the Body the fairest of that Age and yet her Countenance discover'd not the secrets of her Mind neither one way or other The Nobles there present Decreed that a Royal and Magnificent Funeral should be made for him But the Queen caus'd him to be carry'd forth by Bearers in the Night to be buried in no manner of State and that which increas'd the Indignity the more was that his Grave was made near David Rizes as if she design'd to Sacrifice the Life of her Husband to the Ghost of that filthy Varlet There were Two Prodigies hapning at that time which are worth the while to relate One of them a little preceded the Murder it was This One Iames Londin a Gentleman of Fife having been long Sick of a Feaver the day before the King was kill'd about Noon lifted up himself a little out of his Bed and as if he had been astonish'd cry'd out to those that stood by him with a loud Voice to go help the King for the Parricides was just now Murdering him and a while after he call'd out with a mournful Tone Now 't is too late to help he is already Slain and he himself lived not long after he had utter'd those Words The Other did accompany the Murder it self Three of the familiar Friends of the Earl of Athol's the King's Cousin Men of Reputation for Valour and Estate had their Lodgings not far from the King 's when they were asleep about Midnight there was a certain Man seem'd to come to Dugal Stuart who lay next the Wall and to draw his Hand gently over his Beard and Cheek so to awake him saying Arise they are off'ring Violence to us He presently awak'd and considering the Apparition within himself Another of them cries out presently in the same Bed Who kicks me Dugal answer'd perhaps 't is a Cat which us'd to walk about in the Night whereupon the 3 d which was not yet awake rose presently out of his Bed and was going to run away demanding Who it was that had given him a box on the Ear as soon as he had spoken it one seem'd to go out of the House by the Door not without some Noise Whilst they were descanting on what they had heard and seen The noise of the King's House that was blown up drove them all into a great Fright He that took the Murder most heinously was Iohn Stuart Earl of Athol as for other Reasons so because he was the chief Maker of the Match between the Queen and him The Night after the Murder arm'd Guards watch'd the Palace at Night as in such sudden Consternations is usual and they hearing the outside Wall of the Earl of Athols Lodging make a Noise or Crack as if some were gently digging at the Foundation they rais'd the Family which went no more to Bed that Night The day after the Earl went into the Town and a little after that went home for fear of his Life The Earl of Murray at his return to Court from St. Andrews was not without danger neither for arm'd Men walkt about his House at Night but he not being well and his Servants thereupon using to watch with him all Night the Villains could not attempt any thing privately against him and openly they durst not At length Bothwel who would willingly have been freed from such a trouble resolved to perform the wicked Fact with his own Hands And therefore about Midnight he askt his Domesticks how Murray did They told him he was grievously troubled with the Gout What said he if we should go see him and presently he rose up and was hastening to his House As he was going he was inform'd by his Domesticks that he was gone to his Brother Roberts to be at more Freedom and Ease out of the Noise of the Court whereupon he held his Peace stood still grieving that he had lost so fair an Opportunity and so return'd home The Queen mean while look'd very demurely and dissembling great Sorrow thought That way to reconcile the People to her but that speeded as ill with her as the rest of the Conspiracy For whereas it was the Custom time out of Mind for Queens after their Husbands Death to abstain several Days not only from the sight of Men but even from seeing the Light she indeed personated a fain'd Grief but her Joy did so exceed it that thô the Doors were shut yet the Windows were open and casting off her mourning Weeds in 4 days she could well enough bear the sight of the Sun and Air And before 12 days were over her Mind was harden'd against the talks of the People and she went to Seton about 7 Miles from the Town Bothwel never departing from her side there her Carriage was such that she seemed somewhat chang'd in the Apparel of her Body but nothing at all in the habit of her Mind The Place was full of the Nobility and she went daily abroad to the accustom'd Sports thô some of them were not so fit for the Female Sex But the coming of Mr. D'Crocke a French-Man who had often before been Embassador in Scotland did somewhat disturb their Measures for he telling them how infamous the Matter was amongst Strangers they returned to Edinburgh But Seton I perceive had so many Conveniencies that th◠with the further hazard of her Credit she must needs return thither again There
which Party was strongest and so were inclin'd to side with the most Powerful Their Faction was thought to be the strongest who either consented to the Murder or when the thing was done in obsequiousness to the Queen subscrib'd to that sceleratious Fact The chief of them came in to Hamilton and being very strong would receive neither Letters nor Messengers from the contrary Party in order to a Settlement neither did they spare to reproach them with all kind of calumniating Language and they were so much the more inrag'd because the greatest part of the Nobles who respected rather the Blasts of Fortune than the Equity of the Cause did not come in to the Vindicators for they that were not against them they concluded were for them Moreover they esteem'd it a piece of Vain-Glory that the Vindicators should enter before them into the Metropolis of the Kingdom and from thence send for them who were the greater Number and more powerful The other Party though they had not imperiously commanded them but only humbly desir'd yet to prescinde any Shew of imputable Arrogance they prevail'd with the Ministers of the Churches to write jointly to them all and severally to each in particular That in so dangerous a time they should not be wanting to the Publick Peace but setting aside private Animosities they should consult What was most expedient for the Publick Good These Letters did no more Good with the contrary Faction than Those of the Nobles before they all making the same Excuses as if it had been so agreed purposely between them Afterwards the Queen's Faction met together in diverse Places and finding no means to accomplish their Designs they all slipp'd off and dispers'd several ways In the Interim the Vindicators of the publick Parricide dealt with the Queen whom they could not separate from the Concerns of the Murderers to resign up her Government upon pretence of Sickness or any other specious Allegation and to commit the Care of her Son and the Administration of Publick Affairs to which of the Nobles she pleas'd At last with much ado she appointed as Governours to the Child Iames Earl of Murray if upon his Return home he did not refuse the Charge Iames Duke of Castle-herault Matthew Earl of Lennox Gilespy Earl of Argyle Iohn Earl of Athol Iames Earl of Morton Alexander Earl of Glencarn and Iohn Earl of Marr. Moreover they sent Proxies to see the King plac'd in his Royal Throne and so to enter on the Government either at Sterlin or any other Place if they thought fit These things were acted Iuly the 25 th in the Year of our Lord 1567. A little before Iames Earl of Murray hearing how Matters went at home returned through France and was pretty nobly entertain'd at Court yet so that Hamilton whose Faction the Guises knew were more intimately affected towards them was far better receiv'd which was occasion'd chiefly by the Guises who were averse to all Murray's Designs After he was dismiss'd the Archbishop of Glasgow who called himself the Queen of Scots Embassador told the Court That Iames though absent yet was the Chief of the Faction and as in former times all things were acted by his Influence so now he was sent for as an Head to the Body of them Hereupon some were sent after to bring him back but he being forewarned by his Friends had set Sail from the Haven of Deip where he was before the King's Letters came and arriving in England was honourably entertain'd by all Orders of Men and so sent home There he was receiv'd with the high Gratulation and Joy of all the People especially of the Vindicators and they all earnestly desir'd him to undertake the Government whilst the King his Sister's Son was yet a Child for he alone was able to manage that great Trust with the least Envy because of his Propinquity in Blood his known Valour in many Dangers his great Popularity grounded on his Deserts and moreover the Queen desir'd it too He tho knowing what they had spoke was true yet desir'd a few Days of Deliberation before he gave in his Answer In the mean time he writes earnestly to the Heads of the other Faction and chiefly to Argyle as being his Kinsman and one whom by reason of ancient Acquaintance he was loth to offend he told him in what posture things were and what the Infant-King's Party did desire of him and therefore he intreated him by their Nearness of Blood by their ancient Friendship and by the common Safety of their Country that he would give him opportunity to speak with him that so by his Assistance himself and their Country might be deliver'd out of the present Difficulties He also wrote to the rest according to every ones Place and Interest and in general he desir'd of them all that seeing Matters were in such Confusion there was no likelihood of a Settlement without a chief Magistrate That they should all agree to meet together as soon as might be in a Place they should judg most convenient and so by common Consent to settle Matters At length being not able to obtain a Meeting from the One Faction nor any longer delay of a Convention from the Other with the unanimous Consent of all there present he was elected REGENT IAMES the VIth the CVIIIth King ON the 29 th of August after an excellent Sermon made by Iohn Knox Iames the Sixth of that Name began his Reign Iames Earl of Morton and Alexander Hume took the Oath for him that he would observe the Laws they also promised in his Name that he would observe that Doctrine and those Rites of Religion which were then publickly taught and practised and oppose the contrary A few days after Hamilton's Partisans murmured That a few Persons and those none of the powerfullest neither had without their Consent and contrary to their Expectation grasp'd all things into their own Hands When they had tried all the Nobility one by one they found few of their Opinion besides those who first came in to them for many were rather Spectators than Actors of what was done At length they wrote to the Royalists That Argyle was ready to give a Meeting to confer with the Earl of Murray These Letters being directed to the Earl of Murray without any other Title of Honour were by the Council's Advice rejected and the Messenger dismissed in effect without an Answer But Argyle knowing what had offended in superscribing his Letters and trusting to the Faithfulness of the Regent with a few of the chief of his Faction came to Edinburgh where having receiv'd Satisfaction That 't was not out of any slighting of those Nobles that were absent but mere Necessity so requiring that had caused them to make such haste in setling a chief Magistrate A few Days after he came to the publick Convention of the Estates The Nineteenth BOOK WHEN the King was set up and the Power of the Regent almost
out Horse several ways to forbid the Execution The second Squadron of the Royalists stood so long till they saw the Enemy scattering and flying in a disorderly manner then they also brake their Ranks and pursued The Queen stood about a Mile from the Place to behold the Fight and after the Discomfiture fled with some Horsemen of her Party who had escap'd out of the Battel toward England the rest ran away as they could each to his own home There were but few slain in the Field but more fell in the Pursuit being wearied and wounded all along the High-ways and Fields The Number of the Slain was about 300 but there were more taken Prisoners Of the King's Forces there were not many wounded of the chief Commanders none but Alexander Hume and Andrew Stuart only one Man was slain the rest of the Army besides a few Horse-men who followed the Pursuit very far returned joyfully into the Town where after giving Thanks to Almighty God for prospering their just Cause against a double Number of their Enemies and for giving them in a manner an unbloody Victory mutually gratulating one another they went to Dinner This Battel was fought May the 13 th eleven Days after the Queen's Escape out of Prison The French Embassador expected the Event of the Fight and promis'd himself a sure Victory on the Queen's side but being thus disappointed of his Hope he put off his Vizard and without taking his Leave of the Regent to whom he pretended he was sent got a Party of Horse to guide him and with what Speed he could made for England In the way he was robb'd by Moss-Troopers but Iames Douglas Laird of Drumlanerick though he knew he was of the Enemies Party yet deferr'd so much to the Honour and Name of an Embassador that he caus'd his Goods to be restored to him The Regent spent the rest of the Day of Battel in taking a List of the Prisoners some he discharged gratis others upon Sureties the chief Commanders were retained especially of the Hamilton's Family and sent to Prison The Day after knowing how much that Sept was envied in the Neighbourhood he took only 500 Horse commanding the rest of the Army to abide in their Quarters and went into the Vale of Clydisdale where he found all Places naked and desolate the Inhabitants being run away as rather conscious to themselves what they had deserved than confiding in the Regents Clemency of which yet they had Experience before he took in the Castles of Hamilton and Draffin which were naked Places only in Hamilton-Castle some of the Houshold-Stuff of King Iames the 5 th was found The same Fear and Terror drove the Queen into England too either because she thought no Place in that Part of Scotland safe enough for her or else because she durst not trust Iohn Maxwel of Herreis When the Regent had setled all things as well as he could at present he summon'd an Assembly of the Estates to be held at Edinburgh in the Month of ..... The adverse Party plotted many Ways to hinder it Rumors were spread abroad of Aid from France neither were they altogether without Ground For some Troops were drawn down to the Sea-side under the Command of the Earl of Martigues a stout Man of the Luxemburgh's Family to be transported with all Speed into Scotland and they had been so unless the Civil Wars had on a sudden broke forth in France But that Assistance would not have been so prejudicial to the Regent as his Enemies thought for it would have alienated England from them and engaged It to him Moreover Argyle with 600 of his Clanship came to Glasgow there he had a Conference with the Hamiltonians and other Leaders of the Faction to hinder the Convention but finding no way to do it they went every Man severally home Huntly also had gathered together a thousand Foot against the Day of the Parliaments Sitting he came as far as Perth and there perceiving that the Fords of the River Tay were guarded by William Ruven and the Neighbouring Nobility who remained Loyal to the King he retired without doing any thing to Purpose About the same time there came also Letters from the Queen of England obtained by the Intercession of the adverse Party to the Regent to put off the Parliament she desired that Judgment might not be hastned concerning the Rebels till she were made acquainted with the whole Cause for she could not well bear the Injury and Affront which the Queen her Neighbour and near Kinswoman did pretend she had received from her Subjects Tho the Request was but small in it self yet if it should have been granted at the Instance of the Rebels they might have thought to have carried all either because such a Trifling and Delay seem'd to hearten them and weaken their Enemy especially seeing it might argue a Fear in the Royalists and also that they in the mean time resolv'd to Indict a Convention in the Name of the Queen But the Regent being sensible of what great Consequence it was to have the Parliament to sit yea though all the Force of the Enemy had combin'd against it resolved to keep his Day In that Parliament there was a great Debate Whether all those who had took Arms against the King and afterward had not obtained their Pardon should be condemn'd as Traitors and have their Goods confiscate But William Maitland who favoured the Rebels but covertly obtained that only a few of them should be condemn'd at present as a Terror to the rest and a Door of Clemency should be opened to others if they repented That Procedure did wonderfully incourage the Conspirators and increas'd their Obstinacy in regard they saw their Punishment was deferr'd and they were verily persuaded that the Queen of England being their Queen's Neighbour and Kinswoman nor the Guises who then were very powerful in the French Court nor the French King himself would suffer such an Encroachment to be made on the Royal Authority yea if they should be deserted by them yet they were not so weak of themselves as not to be able to maintain their Cause without foreign Aid as being superior in Number and Power so that nothing was wanting to the Victory but the empty Shadow of the Royal Name which was said they usurped by Force In the mean time the Regent minded only the publick Peace some of the Neighbouring Offenders he fined in small Sums and so took them into Favour the Earl of Rothes by his Friends Intercession was banish'd for three Years as for the rest he daily by Correspondents solicited them to repent and come in but perceiving That many of them were obstinate and inclined to Revenge he levied an Army and march'd into Annandale Niddisdale and lower Galway where he took some Castles and put Garisons into them others whose Owners were more refractary he demolish'd and in a short time he would have ran over the whole Country unless
Letters from the Queen of England had interrupted the course of his Victories She was persuaded by the Exiles That the Queen of Scots had receiv'd much Wrong That her ill-affected Subjects had laid unjust Imputations on her and That she would not suffer the Royal Name to grow so cheap or Majesty to be so contumeliously used as to be exposed to the Wills of seditious Persons That the Wrong of this great Wickedness redounded only to One but the Example to All and therefore she desired they would apply some speedy Remedy that the Contagion of dethroning Princes might not spread further Having made a great Harangue in her Letters to this purpose against the Avengers of the King's Murder she desired of the Regent That he would send Commissioners to her to inform her in the State of the whole Matter and to make Answer to those either Crimes or Reproaches which were cast upon and alleged against himself This Demand seemed very grievous and offensive That things already judg'd should be called again in Question to a new and hazardous Trial and that before foreign Princes who are oft-times emulous if not Enemies and their Minds already prepossess'd by Adversaries yea for a Man as it were to plead for his own Life before a foreign Judicature though the Case was dangerous and hard yet many Arguments induc'd him to accept of the Proposal though never so unequal Abroad the Cardinal of Lorrain the Queen's Uncle rulâ—d all in France and at home a great part of the Nobility conspired in behalf of the Queen and if the Queen of England were disobliged too then he should have no Force to withstand so great Difficulties Being thus resolved to send Embassadors he could not tell Whom to pitch upon The chief Nobles declining the Employment At last the Regent himself resolved to go and chuse Companions to accompany him amongst whom was William Maitland though much against his Will but the Regent knowing him to be a factious Man and inclinable to the Queen's Party did not think it safe to leave him behind whilst things were in such a doubtful Posture at home and therefore he persuaded him by great Promises and Rewards to accompany him not doubting but to overcome his avaritious Mind with Largesses and Gifts the rest went willingly along The chief were Iames Douglas and Patrick Lindsy of the Nobles of the Clergy the Bishop of the Orcades and the Abbat of Dumfermlin of Lawyers Iames Macgil and Henry Balnavey to whom he added a Ninth viz. George Buchanan Though these difficult Circumstances did attend him yet Two things relieved his Thoughts One was the Equity of his Cause the Other the last Letters he received from the Queen of England gave him Assurance that if the Crimes objected against the Queen of Scots were true she held her unworthy to hold that Scepter any longer The Regent was a little heartned by those Letters and with above a 100 Horse in his Company he began his Journy though he had certain Intelligence brought him that the Earl of Westmorland at the Command of the Duke of Norfolk watch'd to intercept him before he got to York yet October 4. he came to York the Place appointed for the Conference and the same Day and almost hour Thomas Howard Duke of Norfolk entred the City also The reason why an Ambush was laid for the Regent was because the Duke by secret Correspondents was dealing with the Queen of Scots to marry her and therefore that the Suspicion of the King's Murder might be more easily taken away she resolved if the Regent were slain to return home and also to take and suppress the Letters she had wrote to Bothwel containing a manifest Discovery of the Plot but because the Duke was so near she could not so accomplish it as that he also might not be aspersed with the Infamy of so cruel a Murder and therefore the Plot was deferr'd till another time Besides Norfolk there were appointed Two other Commissioners by the Queen of England to determine the Controversies of the Scots the Earl of Sussex who inclined to Howard's Party as 't was commonly reported and Sir Ralph Sadler an indifferent and equal Person Within a few days there came Messengers from the Queen of Scots to complain of her disobedient Subjects and also to desire leave of the Queen of England to return home without Delay they had their Hearing apart from the Regent and his Attendants First they Protested that they came not before them as Judges that had a lawful Superiority over them then they made a long Harangue What Wrong the Queen had received from her Subjects and after desired of the Queen of England that either she would persuade her ungrateful Subjects to admit their Prince or if they refused then she would supply her with an Army to force them so to do After some few Hours the Regent was heard He stood upon the Equity of his Cause before indifferent Judges He pleaded that the Royalists had done nothing but according to the ancient Laws and Customs of their Nation and that in full Parliament ratified and approved and that he being a single Person with those few with him could not abrogate any thing which had been enacted by common Consent of all the Estates in Parliament But when the English Commissioners told them they could not be satisfied with those Statutes made at their Parliaments at home and now produced unless withal they produced the Reasons which moved the Nobles to such a severe Judgment against the Queen The Regent was unwilling as much avoiding to divulge the foul Offences of the Queen being his Sister also and that amongst Foreigners who were forward enough to hear them and therefore denied to do it unless upon these Terms That if he made good the Charge against the Queen that she killed her Husband then the Queen of England should stipulate and promise to defend the young King's Cause and take him as 't were into her Protection But when the English Embassadors told them that they had only a Commission to hear the Demands of both Sides and so to lay the whole Matter before the Queen The Regent again urg'd them to obtain such a Promise from their Queen or else that they themselves should get a Commission fully to decide the Controversy if they would do That he promised that unless he did evidently make it appear that the King was slain by his Wives Means he would not deprecate the Punishment due to the most heinous Offence The Commissioners wrote to the Queen to know her Mind herein who returned Answer That the Scots of the Royal Party should send one or more of their Number to her Court who might fully acquaint her with the Merits of their Cause and then she would consult what was fit for her to do Whereupon the Regent sent William Maitland on whom many sinister Opinions did daily arise and Iames Macgil not so much to be
his Assistant in publick Business as to observe what his Actions were The Causes which made Maitland suspected were These amongst many others Before his Journy into England though he mightily endeavoured to conceal his Designs yet by his Words and Actions and further by his great Familiarity with the Men of the adverse Party but more clearly yet by Letters he sent to the Queen which were intercepted they could not be hid In those Letters he endeavoured to persuade the Queen that his Service might yet be useful to her using the Example of the Lion as 't is in the Fable who being taken in a Net was freed by such mean Animals as Rats And after he came to York there was scarce a Night wherein he did not meet with the chief Embassadors of the adverse Party compared Notes with them and acquainted them with the Designs of the Regent The Regent did not forbid those Meetings knowing he should do no Good thereby only then they would meet more secretly Though these were manifest Evidences of his Treachery yet casually there happen'd an undeniable Demonstration thereof Norfolk and He went abroad pretendedly to hunt where they had much Discourse concerning the whole Affair and came to this Agreement amongst themselves to spin out the matter if 't was possible and so to delay it that at last nothing might be done and yet the Cause not seem wholly deserted neither For by this means the Regent must depart without effecting what he came for or else some Commotion at home would inforce him so to do and then other Remedies might emerge in time For Norfolk was then designing a Civil War how to take off the One Queen and to marry the Other Maitland inform'd Iohn Lesly Bishop of Ross herewith one intimately acquainted with all the Queen's Affairs who accordingly inform'd his Mistress by Letter how the Duke would have her write to Court what Course to steer for the future and tho her Cause went but slowly on yet that Delay should not hinder her from expecting a good Issue thereof The Queen having read those Letters laid them by as loose Papers so that they came to be read by diverse others and from hand to hand were at last brought to the Regent who by them discovered the main of his Adversaries Design against him as for Maitland he had experimented his Perfidiousness many times before When the Embassadors before-mentioned came to the Queen at London She and her Council thought it best that the Regent himself should come up and so dispute the Controversy by word of Mouth Whereupon he dismiss'd part of his Retinue and with the rest went to London but there he met with the same Difficulty as he had done at York for he refus'd to enter upon the Accusation of the Queen and his Sister too unless if he prov'd her Guilty the Queen of England would take the Scots King's Party into her Protection if she would do That he would begin the Accusation immediately upon the same Terms as he had propounded to the Delegates at York Whilst these things were acting in London the Queen of Scots by means of Iames Balfure endeavoured to raise Commotions in Scotland and that she might more easily accomplish her Designs she wrote Letters to all the Exiles and to Bothwel's Friends to contribute all their Endeavours to infest the contrary Faction by Force of Arms And besides she created Lieutenants through all the Kingdom to whom she gave even Kingly Power And moreover she caus'd Rumours to be spread abroad That the Regent and his Companions were committed Prisoners to the Tower of London and foreseeing that Lie could not be long believed she devis'd another i. e. That the Regent had promis'd to subject Scotland to the Crown of England and That he was to give up the King as a Pledg thereof 'T is thought her Design herein was That whereas she had promis'd the same things by her Commissioners and the English look'd upon it as a Vanity in her seeing She had no power to perform it yet she was willing to possess the Minds of the Vulgar with an Untruth and so to raise up Envy against the Regent and if she could not avert the whole Reproach from her self yet at least she would have her Adversaries bear a Part with her therein When the Regent saw himself in these Straits he resolv'd to end the Matter as well as he could and so to return home Whereupon at the earnest Sollicitation of the English who desir'd to know the Causes of the Proceedings in Scotland without which they could determine nothing he also being desirous to satisfy the Queen of England at that time whom he could nor offend without great prejudice to his Cause and being willing also to return home to extinguish the Civil War then appearing in its first Rise neither of which he could well do unless the Queen of England was his Friend or at least not his Adversary induc'd by these Motives He first protested before the Council of England That 't was not willingly but by the importunity of his Enemies that he was compell'd to accuse his Queen and she his Sister's Son too of so horrid a Crime that he did not do it out of a wanton humour to accuse but out of necessity to clear himself for he was very unwilling to discover those things which he wish'd if possible might be cover'd in perpetual Oblivion and therefore if any Reflection were made on what he did the Envy ought deservedly to light upon Those who would not suffer him to be like Himself that is to obey his Prince chearfully when Good and to reprove Him or Her against his Will when she was Evil only he desire one Thing That the Queen's Proxies who had inforced him to that Dispute might be present to hear the Crimes objected that so if they were false they might disprove them before the Council and that he himself in many weighty Matters might also make use of their Testimonies The Queen's Commissioners refus'd this as putting little Confidence in their own Cause and insisted only on this one thing That the Queen who was by Force of Arms ejected might be restor'd Whereupon a Day was appointed for the Regent to shew Cause why the Revengers of the King's Murder had taken up Arms for he himself was then in France and had ejected the Queen from her Government and acted other things as till that time they had done When the Time came he declar'd the Order of all Things as they had been acted and the Testimonies of the Partisans of the King's Murder made before their Deaths and also the Statute of Parliament to which many of the Regent's Accusers had subscribed And when the Silver Cabinet was produc'd which the Queen had given her from her former Husband Francis and had bestow'd on Bothwel in which were Letters to Bothwel writ in French with the Queen 's own Hand and also a French
in Prison or to give in Hostages of their Kindred for their forth-coming This also was added to the Conditions That all of the same Party might come in if they pleas'd on the same Terms Argyle and Huntly refus'd to subscribe to those Articles either out of anger to Hamilton that he had given up himself to his Enemies Hands without asking their Advice or else because they thought to obtain for themselves more easie Terms of Peace in regard of their Power or else being incourag'd by frequent Letters from England they were easily inclin'd to That they had most mind to For whilst these things were acted in Scotland Letters came from the exiled Queen containing large Promises and willing them not to be terrifi'd with vain Threats for she should shortly be with them with a great Army Their Minds were ready to receive this News and so much the rather because the Queen was kept with a looser Guard than ordinary and there was daily talk of her Marriage with Howard When Hamilton was come to Edinburgh at the Day appointed he eluded his Promise by various Postulations and Pretences making many Delays as that the rest of his Party should come together and so be all comprehended at once in one Agreement And also that they might send to the Queen to know her Mind and to this end he desir'd to defer the Matter till the 10 th day of May. To this his plain Mockery they answer'd That 't was to no purpose for him to expect Argyle and Huntly for they had declar'd they would manage their Concerns apart As for the Queen 't was demanded if she did not approve the Capitulation what they would do Then Hamilton answer'd ingenuously enough but not so prudently for the time That he was compell'd to those Conditions by the Force and Terror of an Army and that if he were left free to himself he would not subscribe any thing thereof This their Baffle being openly discover'd The Regent committed Hamilton and Maxwel to Edinburgh Castle The rest of the Dispute was about Argyle and Huntly For Argyle whilst the Regent was in England came to Glasgow to consult about publick Affairs with about 1500 Men in his Company Thither also came many of the neighbour Countries of the same Faction where they differ'd in their Opinions and agreed in nothing but only to disturb the Publick Peace The Hamiltonians desir'd of Argyle That in regard the Inhabitants of Lennox were firm to the King's Cause he would vex them by driving away Preys from them that so he might draw them tho unwilling to his Party or else might so impoverish them that they might not much advantage their own Party When Argyle had communicated the thing to the Council of his Friends not one of them favour'd his Design For they remembred That for many Years the Lennoxians had been much addicted to Argyle and that there were many Alliances between them Moreover said they Why are the Argyle Men nearer to the Lennoxians than the Hamiltonians seeing they lie in the middle betwixt them Both why then should they put a Service so full of odium upon him Seeing it was their own Affair principally let them appear first in it and then Argyle would not be wanting He would be a Companion not a Leader in such a plundering Expedition When that Assembly had held some Days it was dissolv'd without doing any thing and Argyle return'd thrô Lennox which was his nearest way without doing them any hurt which Moderation of his did indear him even to the chief of the opposite Faction and made his Pardon more easily obtainable But Huntly had indeavour'd to break thrô Mern Angus and Strath-â—arn in the Regents absence having plunder'd the Country and prey'd their Castle and ranging over the neighbour Places had appointed Crawford and Ogilby his Lieutenants about Dee Usurping also all the Power of a King That Carriage of his made his Reconciliation the more difficult These two Men seeing their Concerns were several had a Council assign'd to meet at St. Andrews Thither Argyle came first He was easily reconcil'd for that Year and the Former he had committed no hostile Act and besides he was the Regent's Kinsman and from his Childhood his great Acquaintance and familiar Friend So that all he requir'd of him was an Oath to be Faithful to the King for the future which if he were not besides the usual punishment of the Law he did not deprecate but that he was to be accounted the basest Person living the rest also were admitted into Favour upon the same Oath but on far different Conditions But Huntly's Case before his Arrival was long debated in Council For whereas in England the Marriage of the Exile Queen with Howard was carry'd on and their coming into Scotland was privately design'd their Faction there did by degrees take heart and incourage the Rebellious to Disobedience For if Matters were put into a Confusion they thought the new King would have an easier entrance to possess the Kingdom Wherefore when they knew That the Regent would not be persuaded to betray the King as being his Guardian and Uncle they endeavour'd by all means to abridg his Power For besides Those that openly took Arms against the King a great part of the Counsellors did not now as heretofore favour Huntly in secret but openly they pleaded for him might and main That he should be indemnified for what was past for that was the readiest and safest way to Agreement yea 't was more creditable for the State to heal civil Breaches without Violence and not to proceed to forfeiture of Goods or loss of Life and by this means Peace might be obtain'd at Home and Renown Abroad But if a military Course were taken they must fight with a Man who by reason of his ancient Power his great Alliance and by his many Clanships was very formidable and if he were overcome which yet was uncertain yet he might fly to the Highlands and Mountainous Deserts or to foreign Kings where out of a small spark of Disgust a mighty flame of War might in time be kindled On the other side 't was alleged That the War would not be so formidable as some imagin'd For his Father tho he had the Report of a very prudent Man even whilst his Force was intire was yet easily subdued and therefore this young Man whose Power was not yet establish'd and besides was discourag'd by the recent calamity of his Family was never able to bear up against all the Power of the Kingdom and the Majesty of the Kingly Name too and if he were overcome in fight or if distrusting his Forces he fled to the Mountains there were Those who by the same Largesses as he had firm'd them for his Service or by greater might be induc'd either to kill him or to betray him to the Regent For the Faith of Mercenaries is changed with Fortune they follow the Prosperous and forsake the
Afflicted As for foreign Kings They esteem'd Men according to their Power neither were they concern'd for anothers Misery but respected only their own Advantage But if any King of another Kidney should be so Courteous and Merciful as to entertain a Fugitive and a Beggar too yet now the Times were such as did cancel that fear For England alone of all Europe was the Country which enjoy'd a flourishing Peace and That favour'd the King's Cause but other neighbour Kingdoms were so busied with domestick Dissensions that they had no time to look Abroad And if they had leisure so to do yet there was some ground of Hope That Equity would prevail more with them than Mercy towards Exiles who were Rebels to their own Kings and Faithless to the Kings of other Nations As for the Indemnity which they say will declare our Clemency it will rather be an Argument of our Negligence in regard a just Combate being declin'd thrô Fear a War is imprudently nourish'd under a pretence of Peace and that an unjust pretence too which would incourage the crest-fallen Spirits of the Rebels and weaken the chearful endeavours of the King 's best Friends For how do you think will both Parties stand affected When the one side sees That all is lawful for them without present punishment and so they hope it will be for the future And the other sees perfidious Enemies to enjoy the Rewards of their wicked Crimes themselves robbed of all their Goods and vexed with all the Calamities of War and whereas they expected a Reward for their Faithfulness and Constancy instead thereof to be punish'd for their Love to their King and Country And therefore who can doubt but that if Matters hereafter come to Arms which of necessity they must do unless this Fire be now quenched before it break forth who I say can doubt but that Party will be strongest which thrives by its Wickedness and who may do all things with Impunity rather than the other who must suffer all injuries offer'd to them forcibly gratis And if those Inconveniencies did not attend this vain shew of Clemency yet neither the Regent nor the King himself could lawfully so Pardon as to give away the Goods of the Robbed to their Plunderers If they should do that They must lay down the Persons of Rulers and take upon them the habit of Spoilers too if such a Condition should be granted it were much more Cruel for People to be despoil'd of their Estates by Kings the Granters of Indemnity than by their very Enemies and Toryes themselves that robbed them Many things having been alternately canvas'd and alleged to this purpose on either side Those which were for his Indemnity were out-voted by a few Voices The Regent declar'd That for Peace-sake he was very willing to Pardon the private wrongs done to himself and the King but for the Injuries offer'd to particular Persons he neither could nor would Pardon them But if Huntly and those Friends of his who follow'd his Party could make some Terms of Agreement with those they had plunder'd he was very willing by the Consent of both Parties to appoint Arbitrators who might adjust the value of the Losses Peace as 't was thought being settled on these Conditions there was another Dispute arose seemingly small but manag'd with greater eagerness than before The Controversy was Whether Pardon were to be given to all of Huntly's Party promiscuously or Whether every Mans Cause and Desert should be consider'd apart Some were of Opinion that because they thought Huntly was dealt hardly with in being inforc'd to pay Dâ—mages to the Sufferers that it was equitable to indulge him here and not to press so severely as to disoblige his Followers also On the other side 't was alleged That the chief aim in such kind of Wars was to dissolve Factions and that could not be done easily any otherwise than if the judgment of Pardon or Punishment did reside in the Breast of the Prince alone All Men understand how unjust it is to impose an equal Fine on Those whose Offences are unequal and that the adjusting of the Punishment should be left to Huntly himself was by no means fit for he 't was probable would exact the lightest Mulct from the greatest Offenders and would lay almost the whole Burden upon such as were least Nocent in regard in imposing Punishment he would not weigh each Man's Merit but rather his Propensity to his Service and as any Man had been more fierce and cruel in the War so he would obtain from him an higher Place in his Favour On the other side the lightest Offenders would have the sorest Punishment and they which were less active in Wickedness should be fined for their Moderation and Favour towards the King These Reasons so prevail'd with the Council that they decreed to weigh every Man's Case apart and yet that they might seem to gratify Huntly in some thing his Domesticks were exempted he was to lay a Fine on them himself as he pleas'd But that which he most desir'd that the Regent should not come with an Army into the North-parts was absolutely refus'd him Things being thus settled with Huntly at St. Andrews the Regent with two Bands of Souldiers and a great Number of his Friends went first to Aberdeen then to Elgin at last to Inverness The Inhabitants near the Town were commanded to appear they obeyed the Summons some paid down their Mony imposed as a Fine on them others gave Sureties Huntly and the chief of his Septs and Clanships put in Hostages Thus having settled the Country towards the North being highly gratulated by all good Men through all his March he return'd to St. Iohnston's there an Assembly of the Nobility was Indicted by reason of Letters which Robert Boyd had brought out of England to the Regent at Elgin some of them were publick some were private the private ones were from some Courtiers in England containing a Relation of Howard's Conspiracy which was so strong and cunningly laid that they thought no Force or Policy could withstand it no not if all the remaining Power of Britain were united together Therein his Friends exhorted him not to mingle his own flourishing Fortune with the desperate Estate of others but to provide for himself and his Concerns yet unimpair'd apart The State of Affairs in England compels me here a little to digress because at that time the Good and Ill of both Kingdoms were so conjoin'd that the one cannot well be explained without the other The Scots a few Years before were delivered out of the Slavery of the French by the Assistance of the English and thereupon they observed and subscribed to the same Rites in Religion in common with the English that sudden Change of things seemed to promise an universal Quietness to all Britain free from all domestick Tumults But presently thereupon the Pope of Rome with the Kings of France and Spain threatned a War and privately
learned Man to interpret it yet if there were any eminent Scholars there as there were oft Many and such were still well respected by him he would ask their Opinions which he did not out of a vain Ambition but out of a desire to conform himself to the Rule thereof He was in a manner too liberal he gave to Many and often too and his Alacrity in giving commended the Gift To a great many who were modest in receiving he presented privately with his own Hand In a word He was honest and plain-hearted to his Friends and Domesticks for if any of them did amiss he reprov'd them more sharply than he did Strangers By these his Manners Deportment and Innocency of Life he was dear and venerable not only to his Country-Men but even to Foreigners especially to the English to whom in all the vicissitudes of Providence in his Life his Virtues were more known than to any other Nation The Twentieth BOOK ALL that Time which immediately followed the Death of the last Regent although it were free from Blood-shed yet was embroyled with the various Attempts of the Factions Before the Murder the Hamiltons in great Numbers had met at Edinburgh under the Pretence of prevailing with the Regent to release Iames Hamilton the Head of their Kin or Tribe who was yet kept Prisoner in the Castle But after the Murder was perpetrated they sent some from amongst them to the rest of the Hamiltons who were to dissuade the other Clans for so they would have made People believe from joining with or protecting the publick Parricides But as very many suspected it was to bid them be prepared and ready for all Occasions For the next Night after the Murder Walter Scot and Thomas Carr of Farnihest entring into England did ravage over all Places with Fire and Sword and that with somewhat more Cruelty than was used in former times Neither was it so much the Desire of Prey or Revenge which mov'd them to this unusual Crueltie as that it was long before resolved by the Bishop of Saint Andrews and the rest of the Heads of the Faction to incense the English against the Scots And if they could provoke them no other way to take up Arms then by Injuries to draw them tho unwillingly into a War The Governour of the Castle although convinced by many Evidences so that all Mens Eyes and Discourse were upon him by way of Reflection as yet continued in his former counterfeited Loyalty to the King 'T was upon his account that William Maitland was delivered out of Prison For when he had in many Words pleaded his Innocency before the Council the Nobles then present attesting That it did not with any certainty appear to them That he was guilty of those Crimes which were laid to his Charge for he was accused to have been privy to the King 's and Regent's Murders and also to be the Author of the Civil War that was lately raised in England he was at last dismissed yet so that the Matter seem'd to be deferred till Another time rather than absolutely to be decided at That He also protesting his Innocency upon Oath did promise to appear whensoever the King's Kindred would set a Day for his Trial. Afterwards when upon consulting about the State of the Kingdom they had almost agreed That of those whom the Queen before she abjured her Government had nominated Tutors to the King he that would undertake it provided he had not afterwards revolted to the adverse Faction should have the chief Administration of Affairs Maitland now contriving the Disturbance of Matters brought it so about that it should be again signified to the absent Lords that they might if they pleased be present in the Parliament of the Regent to be assembled at a set Day lest they might afterwards complain That so great an Affair was hastily rash'd up in their Absence Athol with a few others consented neither did the rest refuse it more that they would take away all occasion of Detraction and Calumny from their Adversaries than that they had any Hopes that this Delay of the Parliament would bring any Profit to the Publick After these Things Thomas Randolph the English Embassador had Audience for That Queen the Regent being yet alive had sent her Embassadors to demand those English Exiles who after Howard's Conspiracy was detected and he punished for fear of Punishment had escaped thither The Regent giving these Embassadors Audience at Sterlin put them off till his Arrival at Edinburgh and after his Death Things being in Confusion they departed without an Answer But when they conven'd about choosing a Regent Randolph who for some years had been in Scotland for that he was thought to be well read in the Affairs and in the Men of that Nation and that his former Embassies had been also advantagious to both Nations was in dear Esteem of all that were good like himself He being introduc'd into the Council having declared How great his Queen 's Good-will had always been towards the Scots That as she had not formerly been wanting to them in their Disturbances so she would not fail them now Then he rehearsed their Incursions into England the Slaughters Rapines Burnings of late Days committed Adding That she knew well enough That none of these Things were acted by the Publick Council therefore that at present her Kindness and Friendship towards them was the same it ever was So that although she had been grievously and without any Cause provoked yet she did not as she might justly do repeat Matters nor publickly require Reparation nor for the Fault of a Few seek Punishment of All That indeed she was not ignorant what a great Disturbance in Affairs was risen of late yet she was not doubtful of the Good-will of honest Men towards her That in Favour of them she did not only free the Publick from any Guilt but if by reason of domestick Troubles they could not compel the Disturbers of the Peace to resettle Matters that she would join her Forces with theirs that so by common Consent they might exact Punishment of those Violators of Leagues and Truces But if they were not able to do That that then she would revenge their Injuries with her own Souldiers That her Army should pass peaceably through the Country without the least Damage to it That none that had not been guilty of the Crimes should be concerned in the Punishment The remaining Heads of his Embassy contained Admonitions ever profitable in all Legal Assemblies but now as the present Posture of Affairs was very necessary viz. That they should first of all with all Care and Vigilance have regard to Religion which alone teaches us our Duty both towards God and towards Man That seeing no Common-wealth at Discord within itself can long subsist they should bend their chiefest Endeavours and strive with their utmost Force that at Home among Fellow-Subjects and Country-Men Peace and Concord might be religiously observed
be thus betrayed and forsaken by those very Men that had put them upon the War every one of them betakes himself to take care for his own Safety their Hopes for the time to come being all blasted So that so many cross Accidents unexpectedly falling out at one and the same time quite and clean disturbed all their Plots and Machinations but the sudden Approach of the English Army was It which most surprized them and therefore to see if they could put a stop to it they make use of two Embassies into England the One to Thomas Earl of Sussex to desire a Truce till such time as they had laid open the State of their Affairs to the Queen of England The Other Embassador carried Letters to the Queen containing many things as well for their own Cause as against the King's Faction especially by making their Brags of greater Forces than they had in reality and vilifying Those of their Adversaries thereby covertly threatning the English with a War For Maitland had made them believe That that Queen a Woman naturally timorous would do any thing rather than be brought to a War at a time when both the French and Spaniard were for many Reasons at Emmity with her and her own Affairs at home were scarce setled The Rebels desired that by the English Queens Arbitrement all the Ordinances of the last Two Years should be called in although many amongst them had subscribed them and that all things being as it were acted de novo a new Ordinance should by a general Consent be made And that they might better set forth the Potency of their Faction their Letter had all the great Mens Names that were of their Party subscribed to It and also for the greater Ostentation of their Multitude they set to it the Names of Many as well of the adverse Faction as of those that were Neuters in Hopes that the English by Reason of the great Distance and their Ignorance of things done so far off and that their Letters to the Queen would be exposed to the View but of few Persons would hardly be able to detect their Fraud About that time an Accident happened as they thought very advantagious to their Affairs as hoping that it would both make the English less forward and also terrify the Scotch Populacie viz. the Arrival of a certain French-Man however of a mean Condition who as being Lansack's Menial Servant was for his Master's sake entertained at that Court This Man brought a great many Letters all of the same Purport from the French King not only to the Heads of the Queen's Faction but likewise to Many who had not declared themselves for either Faction in which great Thanks were given to every one of them for their having hitherto taken the Queen's Part the King desiring them constantly to persist in so doing and he would send them Aid even greater than they had desired of him as soon as ever he could do it with Conveniencie He also that brought the Letters adds as from himself That all things were now at quiet in France Iaspar Colligny and the other Rebels being reduced to such Terms as to promise to depart from France lest their Presence should be a Hindrance to the Publick Peace And that he doubted not but that the Souldiers which were to be sent to assist them would all be raised before his Return The Wiser sort although they knew that these things were mostly nothing but vain Reports yet permitted the common Sort to be deluded by them When therefore the Minds of many People became by these Means to be erected their Joy was lessened by the unsuccessful Return of their Embassadors For Sussex could not by any Conditions they could offer him be induced to think it to be for the English Interest either to maintain an Army only to idle their Time away in Truces or wholly to desist from the War And the Queen having after Perusal caused their Letter to be sealed up again and sent back to the King's Party in Scotland which was done that the Expectation of an Answer from her should cause Delay in Affairs and thereby their Fraud be easily found out And for that their Letter contained nothing but vain Boasting and that the English were not ignorant of any thing that had been transacted in Scotland their Embassadors grievously abashed with Reproaches were forced to return Therefore being disappointed of that Hope and affrightned by the so sudden drawing near of the English Army to their very Borders and those who were to have assisted them being gone to defend their own Homes having also small Confidence in the Citizens and knowing that their Enemies would come to Edinburgh on the first of May They therefore departed thence and went to Linlithgo holding that Place to be very commodious for the sending for those of their Party from the most distant Places of the Kingdom as also for the hindring the Journies of the others that were going to the Assembly and for bringing about of those other things which were lately discussed at their Consultations From this Place the Hamiltons with their Friends and Vassals made the whole Road leading to Edinburgh very unsafe for Passengers and knowing that Iohn Erskin Earl of Marr was to come that Way they placed themselves on the Neighbouring Hills to hinder his Journy but he knowing how the Way was beset passed the River about two Miles above and so April 29 in the Evening he came safe to Edinburgh After that Day the King's Party abode at Edinburgh and the Queen 's at Linlithgo mutually charging and criminating one another as the Causes and Rise of these Civil Combustions But those at Edinburgh informed their Contrariants That they were willing to come to an easy Agreement upon other Heads as that if they had done any Man wrong they would give him just Satisfaction as indifferent Arbitrators should award provided always That this King's Authority might be secured and that both Parties might join to revenge the Murder of the last King and of the Regent To this Proposal they at Linlithgo gave no satisfactory Answer but instead thereof made an Edict That all Subjects should obey the Queen's Commissioners and the three Earls of Arran Argyle and Huntly Indicted an Assembly to be held at Linlithgo August 3. Whereupon the other Party sent Robert Petcarn their Embassador to the Queen of England to treat with her about suppressing the Common Enemy and to shew how well-affected the Scots stood towards her he was to inform her That they would chuse such a Regent as she should please to recommend or approve Thus whilst each Party was crossing one another's Design the English enter Teviotdale and spoil the Towns and Villages belonging to the Families of the Cars and of the Scots who had violated the Peace by making Excursions into England and giving Harbour to such English Fugitives as fled to them for Shelter wasting and burning
Necessity of the time requir'd them to steer their Counsels so as they might be pleasing to the Queen of England And on the other they knew of what Concernment it was to the Publick That one chief Magistrate should be set up to whom all Complaints might be made and for want of creating One some Months already past the Enemy had improv'd the delay to gather Forces to make new Courts of Justice daily to set forth new Edicts and to usurp all the Offices of a King On the other side the Royalists were dejected and a Multitude without one certain Person whom to obey could not be long kept in Obedience After the Embassadors Return News came That there was a new Insurrection in England and that in London the Popes Bull was fastned on the Church Doors to exhort the English partly to cast off the unjust Yoke of the Queen's Government and partly to return to the Popish Religion and it was thought that the Hand of the Queen of Scots was in all This. These things tho kept private yet came to be known by Letters from the Earl of Sussex and also the same Thomas Randolph had in presence confirm'd it yet they could hardly be restrain'd from chusing a Regent But at last a middle Way prevail'd That they might have an appearance of a chief Magistrate to set up an Inferior Regent or Deputy-Governour to continue till the 12 th of Iuly in which time they might be further inform'd of the Queen of England's Mind they judg'd That she was not averse from their Undertaking especially upon This ground That she had put it into the Articles of Capitulation That the Rebels should give up all the exil'd English If that were done they might easily understand that the Spirits of all the Papists about England were alienated from the Queen of Scots If it were denied then the Conference or Treaty would break off and the Suspicions which made the Commonalty averse would daily increase For they saw that other things would not easily be agreed upon when a greater Danger was imminent over the English than the Scots upon the Deliverance of their Queen and if other things were accorded yet the Queen of England would never let her go without giving Hostages neither was she able to give any such who could make a sufficient Warranty These Considerations gave them some Encouragement so that they proceeded to create Matthew Stuart Earl of Lennox the King's Grandfather to be Vice-Gerent for the time Whilst this new Vice-Roy by the advice of his Council was busied in rectifying things which had been disorder'd in the late Tumults Letters came opportunely from the Queen of England Iuly the 10 th wherein she spake much of her Affection to the King and Kingdom of Scotland and freely offer'd them her Assistance withal she deprecated the naming of a Regent which was a Title invidious of it self and of no good Example to them only if they ask'd her Advice she thought none was to be preferr'd to that high Office before the King's Grandfather none being of greater Faithfulness to the King yet a Pupil and who now for the same Reasons was made Deputy-Governour of the Kingdom These Letters incourag'd them by the joint Suffrages of all the Estates of a Vice-Roy to make him Regent Assoon as ever he was created Regent and had taken an Oath according to Custom to observe the Laws and Customs of his Country First of all he commanded that All which were able to bear Arms should appear at Linlithgo August the 2 d to hinder the Convention which the Seditious had there Indicted in the Name of the Queen then he himself summon'd a Parliament in the Name of the King to be held the 10 th day of October he also sent to the Governour of the Castle of Edinburgh who as yet pretended great Friendship to the King's Party tho his Words and Actions did very much disagree to send him some Brass-Guns Carriages and other Apparatus for the managing of them This he did rather to try them than in hopes to obtain his desires He promis'd very fair at first but when the Day was coming on that the Parliament was to Meet when he was desir'd to perform his Promise he peremptorily refus'd alleging That his Service should be always ready to make up an Agreement between but not to shed the Blood of his Country-Men Nevertheless the Regent came at the Day appointed to Linlithgo with 5000 arm'd Men in his Company but hearing that the Enemy did not stir only that Huntly had placed 160 Souldiers at Brechin and had sent out an Order commanding the Brechinians to get in Provision for some Thousands of Men by the 2 d of August The Garison there plac'd by him did rob not only the Inhabitants but all Travellers also when they were wearied with their Journy Whereupon the Regent by the advice of his Council resolv'd to march thither and to seize on the Place which would be of great advantage to him before Huntly's coming and if occasion were offer'd there to fight him before his Partners came up with their Force and so to overthrow that Party of Musqueteers which was All he had and by that means he might catch some of the Leaders of the Faction as the Earl of Crawford Iames Ogilby and Iames Balfure who he heard were there Whereupon he commanded Patrick Lindsy and William Ruven chief Officers and Iames Haliburton Governour of Dundee to take what Souldiers they could raise at Dundee and St. Iohnstons and to make haste thither to prevent the News of their coming They made all the speed that ever they were able the next Night horsing their Foot for greater Expedition yet as they drew near the Place they march'd slowly that they might get some Refreshment before they charg'd the Enemy so that the Alarum was taken at Brechin that the Enemy was a coming whereupon Ogilby and Balfure who chanc'd to be there got the Souldiers presently together and incouraging them as well as they could for the time They told them that They and Huntly would return again in 3 Days and so they got an Horseback and made haste away over the Mountains The Souldiers that were left catch'd up what was next at hand and about 20 of them got to the Tower of a Church that was near The rest fled into the House of the Earl of Marr which was seated on a Hill near thereto it was like a Castle and commanded the Town Iames Douglas Earl of Morton with 800 Horse went a further March about and came not in till the Day after The Regent sent home the Lennoxians and the Renfroans to guard their own Country if Argyle should attempt any thing against it But he himself in 3 Days overtook those whom he had sent before to Brechin At the noise of his coming the neighbour Nobility came in so that now he muster'd 7000 Men effective Whereupon they who were in the Church Tower
reach'd not beyond the middle Rock of the Castle but the upper Part of it was so dark that the Guards in the Castle could see nothing of what was done below But as the Mist came seasonably so there was another Misfortune which fell out very unluckily and had almost marr'd the whole Business For many Ladders being required to get up that high Rock and the first were unmanageable by reason of their Length they being over-loaden with the Weight of those who went hastily up and being not well fastned at Foot in a slippery Soil fell suddenly down with those that were upon them That Accident cast them into a great Consternation at present but when they found that no Body was hurt in the Fall they recollected their Spirits which were almost desponding and as if God Almighty had favoured their Design they went on upon that dangerous Service with greater Alacrity so that they set the Ladders up again more cautiously and when they came to the middle of the Rock there was a Place reasonably convenient where they might stand and there they found an Ash Shrub casually growing amongst the Stones which did them great Service for they tied Ropes to it and let them down by which means they lifted up their Fellows that were left below so that at one and the same time some were drawn up by the Ropes to the middle of the Rock and others by setting other Ladders got up to the Top thereof There also they met with a new and unexpected Misfortune which had almost spoiled all their Measures for one of the Souldiers as he was in the middle of the Ladder was suddenly taken with a kind of Fit of an Apoplexy so that he stuck fast to the Ladder and could not be pluck'd therefrom but stopp'd the Way to those that would ascend This Danger was also overcome by the Diligence and Alacrity of the Souldiers for they bound him to the Ladder so that when he recovered out of his Fit he could not fall and then in great Silence turning the Ladder the rest easily ascended when they came to the Top of the Rock there was a Wall built by Hand to which they were to put their third Ladders to get over it Alexander Ramsy with two Files of Musqueteers got upon it the Sentinel presently spied him gave the Alarm and cast down Stones upon him and his Men Alexander being assaulted with this unusual kind of Fight as having neither Stones to throw again nor an Helmet to defend him yet leap'd down from the Wall into the Castle and there was set upon by Three of the Guard he fought it out valiantly with them till his Fellow-Souldiers being more solicitous for his Danger than their own leapt down after him and presently dispatch'd the three Sentinels In the mean time the rest made what haste they could so that the Wall being old loose and overcharged with the Weight of those who made haste to get over it fell down to the Ground and by its Fall as there was a Breach made for the rest to enter so the Ruins made the Descent more easy through the Rock that was very high and rugged within the Castle whereupon they entred in a Body crying out with a great Noise For God and the King and often proclaiming the Name of the Regent also so that the Guards were amazed and forgot to fight but fled every one to shift for himself as well as he could some kept themselves within Doors till the first brunt of the Souldiers Fury was over Flemming escaped the Danger by slipping down through the oblique Rock having but one in his Company who was knock'd down and fell but he descending a by-way was let out at the Gate and so got into a Vessel on the River which by reason of the Tides being in came up to the Walls of the Castle and so fled into Argyle The Sentinels of the lower Castle and twenty five more of the Garison-Souldiers who had been Drinking and Whoring in the Town all Night taking the Alarum never offered to fight but fled every one which way he could There were taken in the Castle Iohn Hamilton Arch-bishop of S. Andrews Iohn Flemming of Bogal a young English Gentleman that had fled from the last Insurrection in England Verac the French Man who a good while before had been sent to them with some Warlike Furniture and Provisions and staid there in the Name of his King to acquaint the French King with the State of Scotish Affairs Alexander the Son of William Levingston endeavoured to escape by changing his Habit but was discovered and brought back The Regent being inform'd of the taking the Castle before Noon came thither 1 st He highly commended the Souldiers then he comforted Flemming's Wife and gave her not only her own Furniture Plate and all her Houshold-stuff and Utensils but also assigned an Estate part of her Husband 's which had long before been forfeited into the King's Exchequer to maintain her Self and Children The rest of the Booty was allowed the Souldiers Having setled things thus he had Leisure to take a View of the Castle and coming to the Rock by which the Souldiers got up it seem'd so difficult an Ascent to them all that the Souldiers themselves confess'd if they had foreseen the Danger of the Service no Reward whatsoever should have hired them to undertake it Verac was accused by the Merchants that whereas they came into the Bay of Clyde he had robb'd them in an Hostile Manner Whereupon many of the Council were of Opinion he should have been Indicted as a Pirate or Robber but the empty Name of an Embassador prevailed more with the Regent which yet he himself had violated by his flagitious Actions Wherefore that the despoil'd Persons might be kept in some Hope at least of Satisfaction from him he was kept seemingly for a Trial and lodg'd in an House at St. Andrews whose Owner was inclined to the Rebels whence he was taken away as 't were by Force which was the thing aim'd at and so he speedily departed The English-Man though many Suspicions were fix'd upon him and besides the Commendatory Letters of Iohn Lesly Bishop of Ross to Flemming which were found after the Castle was taken did convict him yet he was sent home but after he was gone 't was found that he was suborn'd by the Norfolkians to poison the King of Scots Bogal was kept Prisoner There was one Prisoner more which the Governour most desired to have punish'd That was the Bishop of St. Andrews He in former times while his Brother was Regent had advised him to many cruel and avaricious Practices and under the Queen also he bore the Blame of all Miscarriages The Regent feared if he should delay his Punishment the Queen of England would intercede for him and the Arch-bishop's Friends were in great Hopes of it and lest Straitness of time should prevent them the Arch-bishop earnestly desired he might be tried
Presumptuous Confidence in descending to debate her Cause after that Fashion and therefore say's the Queen seeing they are so averse from the Way of Concord which I propose I will detain you no longer but if she hereafter repent of her present Sentiment of which I have some hope and take the Course chalkt out by me I do not doubt but you for your part will perform your Duty Thus we were lovingly and kindly Dismist and the 8 th Day of April began our Journy towards our own Country This Account was given at Sterlin by the Embassadors before the Convention of the Estates Whereupon the Care and Diligence of the Embassadors were unanimously approv'd Other Matters they referr'd to the first of May a Parliament being summon'd against that time In the mean time both Parties bestir themselves one to promote the other to hinder the Assembling thereof The wisest Senators were of opinion That the Queen of England would never let the Scot's Queen depart as foreseeing how dangerous her Deliverance would be to all Britain In the interim Mention was made by some of demanding the Scot's King as an Hostage for his Mother rather in hopes to hinder a Concord than to establish it for she was well assur'd that the Scots would never yield to it but there were some potent Men in her Council who did secretly favour the Duke of Norfolk's Faction These were desirous that the Queen of Scots should be deliver'd and thereby the adverse Faction might in tract of time be broken and diminish'd that so they might obtain that Point from her by Necessity which they saw they could not otherwise do neither did they doubt but the Matter would come to that Pass if the Râ—bels were assisted with Mony and other Furniture for War from France and the Royalists had their Eye only on the Queen of England who had at the beginning largely promis'd them upon understanding the flagitious Act of the Queen that she would take a special care of the King and Kingdom of Scotland Neither could the French King well compass his Designs He was willing the Scot's Queen should be deliver'd but not that the King should be put into English Hands and hearing how strong the Norfolk Faction was which was all for Innovations he did not despair but that the Scot's Queen might in time escape out of Prison privately or be deliver'd by his Means Thus stood the State of Britain at that time Morton having given a laudable Account of his Embassy to the Convention at Sterlin return'd to his own House about 4 Miles from Edinburgh he had a Company of 100 Foot and a few Horse to guard his House and to defenâ— himself if the Townsmen should attempt to make any Excursion till more Forces might come in In the mean time the Queen's Faction were Masters of the Town and set Guards in all convenient Places and levell'd all their Designs to exclude the Regent and to hinder the Parliament which was Indicted to be held at Edinburgh Whereupon Morton was commanded by the Regent with 20 Horse and about 70 Foot for the rest had Passes to go abroad for Forage to march to Leith who was to make a publick Proclamation there for they had garison'd Edinburgh already That no Man should assist the Rebels by Land or Sea either with Provision Arms or any other warlike Furniture they that did so were to undergo the same Punishment with them They knowing themselves to be inferior to the Town-Souldiers sent their Foot another Way about which was cover'd by an Hill from the Sight of the City commonly call'd Arthur's Seat and the Horse past near the Walls and Gates of the City not a Man of the Enemy stiring out When they had done what they were commanded to do at Leith they had not the same Fortune at their Return for the Foot refus'd to march back the same Way that they came but return'd against the will of the Horse near the Gates of the City and so pass'd with them under the Walls with an intent to try what Metal themselves were made of and their Enemies too when lo on a sudden a Sally was made out against them from Two of the Gates At first they fought Manfully so that the Oppidans were driven back in disorder into the Town with no great loss 't is true yet it easily appear'd that they were Inferior in Valour though Superior in Number The Regent having nothing in readiness to assault the Town and having no time neither by reason of the sudden Sitting of the Parliament to bring any great Guns thither thought it better to desist from Force and to hold the Parliament without the Gate of Edinburgh For that City being stretch'd out mostly in Length they who first compassed it with a Wall left a great Part of it in the Suburbs yet so that the Inhabitants of that Part had the full priviledg of Citizens as well as those within the Walls There the Convention was held for the Lawyers gave their Opinions That 't was no great Matter in what Part soever of the City it met In this Parliament These were declar'd Traitors viz. The chief of Them who held out the Castle especially those who out of Consciousness of their guilt of the King 's and Regent's Murders had avoided Tryal The Rebels being thus condemn'd by an Act of Parliament The Judgment of which Court is of very great Authority lest the Commonalty which ordinarily is at the beck of the Nobility should be alienated from them They also of the Number which they had there made up a Convention such as it was Few appear'd there who had any lawful right to Vote and of them some came not into the Assembly at all some presented themselves but as Spectators only abstaining from all Judiciary Actings so that they having neither a just Number of Voices nor were they assembled either in due Time or according to ancient Custom yet that they might make shew of a lawful sufficient Number Two Bishops and some Others which were absent a thing never heard of before sent in their Votes in writing at hap-hazard as being doubtful of the Event of that Assembly At this time the Castle continually plaid with great Guns upon the Place where the Nobles were Assembled and though the Bullets often fell amongst crouds of People yet they neither hurt nor kill'd so much as one Man There were but few condemn'd in either Convention and both Parties appointed another Convention to be held in August one at Sterlin the other at Edinburgh When the Assembly was dismist neither Party issued out one upon other so that there was a kind of Truce between them Thereupon the greatest part of the Souldiers that were with Morton being press'd Men slipt away to their own homes They who kept the Town knew That Morton had but a small Party for his Guard and being willing also to cry quits for their former
Hamilton was killed Huntly's Kinsman a Commander of Foot hid himself in a poor Woman's Pantry but was discovered and brought to Leith The Common People when they saw him made such a Shout that it plainly appeared they would not be satisfied but by his Death for in the former Civil Wars he had been a cruel and avaritious Plunderer He was infamous in his Military Imployment in France and when the Kings of Denmark and Sweden were at odds he promised to serve them Both and accordingly had Mony to raise Souldiers from either but couzen'd them Both. And he being thus taken at length as I said to the great Joy of all was led forth to his Execution After a few Days Rest the Townsmen recruited their Forces and then shewed themselves again in Arms after that there were light Skirmishes past betwixt the Parties almost every Day with various Events The King's Party were more valorous but the Rebels had Places more convenient for Ambushes and besides they had an high Castle from whence they might see all the Motions of their Enemies neither would they ordinarily venture an Onset any further than their Ordnance out of the Castle could command The Regent kept himself at Leith watching all their Sallies and stopping all Provisions by Sea for he could not do it by Land by reason of the Largeness of the City and Inconvenience of the adjacent Places in the surrounding whereof many Opportunities of Service were lost Whilst these things were acting about the City a French Ship was taken that brought Gun-Powder Iron Bullets small Brass-Guns and some Mony to the Rebels The Mony went to pay the Souldiers but the Bullets Powder and Part of the Guns being sent with little or no Guard to Sterlin against the Tide the Rebels having Intelligence thereof procured some Vessels from other Havens and surprized them but not being able to carry their Booty to the Castle they sunk it in the River About the same time another Ship was also taken in which there was little else but Letters and large Promises of Assistance speedily to be sent from France For during the Two whole last past Years wherein at times there was War in Scotland The Queen of England on behalf of the Royalists the King of France and the English Papists on behalf of the Rebels did send in some small Dribblets of Mony but loaded them with more Promises as rather studying that their side might not be conquer'd rather than conquer respectively Both of them were willing Matters should be brought to that Pinch of Necessity The Queen of England's Design was That the Scots being worn out by their Divisions might be willing to send their King into England and so seem to depend wholly on her The French did it That the Rebels might surrender Dunbarton and Edinburgh to him and by those Two commanding Garisons from both Seas he would keep the Scots always in fear of his Arms. But despairing of the Queen's Delivery and Dunbarton Castle being lost he mov'd but slowly in the Cause of the Rebels his Aim only was That the Kingdom being exhausted with domestick Sedition he might not undertake a new and unnecessary War for the sake of one Castle only it was enough he thought at present if it did not fall into the Enemies Hands The Scots were fully resolved not to give up their King to the English upon the account of old Controversies and also because the English Papists were so strong who plac'd all their Hopes in his Death For if he were taken out of the way the Queen of England would not only seem weaker seeing it was the Life of one King only that delayed their Hopes but also the Queen of Scots was the undoubted Heir of the whole Kingdom who by heâ— Marriage might gratify whom she pleased with the Realm and so bear a great Figure in the Change of the State of Religion through all Europe And in the English Court there were some no mean Men who preferred the Hope of Novelty before ancient Courtesies yet if as long as the King of Scots was alive they should cut off Elizabeth many of those of the Queen's Privy-Council feared lest the known Wickedness of the Scots Queen might diminish her Authority and increase her Son's Power and so for fear of Tyranny endear him more to the English Whereupon the English Rebels were willing to destroy the Queen of England and King of Scots Both and not succeeding in doing it openly they resolved upon Poison Matters standing thus in Scotland Both Factions prepared themselves against the approaching Sitting of the Parliament The Rebels had only Three of the Lords voting with them of which Two were the Proctors or Commissioners to the Convention to be held in the Queen's Name The Third Alexander Hume was the only Man who had Right to vote And of the Ecclesiastical Order Two Bishops the One banish'd thither a few Months before by the Regent and the State of the City being chang'd not daring to depart without a Convoy he staid there against his Will The Other was a Bankrupt who having spent his Estate was driven thither by necessity By their Votes above 200 were condemned some of them being Children under Age. Moreover the malapert Souldiers as if they had already got the Victory divided other Mens Patrimonies among themselves and so put many quiet and innocent Persons and by that means more liable to Injuries into the Roll of the Confiscate The Regent went to Sterlin where he had a great Convention of the Nobles Therein about Thirty of the obstinatest of the Queen's Party were condemn'd the rest were put off in hopes of Pardon The Rebels thought this a fit Opportunity for them to attempt something in the absence of the Nobility and thereupon they drew all their Forces out of the City and to make a greater Show the Townsmen with them they set them in Battel-array that so as in former times by light Skirmishes they might draw the King's Forces out of Leith In the mean time while the Enemy were kept in play by them they resolved to send the rest privately to march about and when the Garison was drawn out to enter in at the opposite Gate and so burn the Town Patrick Lindsy was Governour of Leith a wise and valiant Person he drew forth his Forces having sufficiently provided against their Treachery and marched directly towards the Enemy they fought stoutly at first at last he gave the Rebels a round Salvo and so beat them back yet not without Loss to the Gates of the Town a great many Prisoners were brought off but the most part of them were Townsmen Alexander Hume was taken once but reliev'd again by his own side In the Evening as the King's Party were retreating joyous for the Victory Iames Haliburton a good Man and a skilful Souldier who commanded all the Foot being too far from his Body was taken by a Troop of
271 And receives an Affront thereupon ibid. A Conspiracy discovered against him ibid. He agrees with Baliol then in France 274 His Army enters England 275 His last Will and Testament 279 His three Counsels to his Nobles ibid. He would have his Heart buried at Jerusalem 280 His Death and Praise 281 Brudeus King of the Picts 156 Brudus King of the Picts slain 166 167 Brutus his Story 41 to 44 Buchan 19 Its Etymology 139 Buchan the Earl thereof made Lord High-Constable of France 335 Bull 's Head put upon a Man's heretofore a sign of Death in Scotland 370 Burgundus from Burgus 63 Bullock an English Man turns to the Scots 298 Put to Death 301 Burgh a Danish Name 201 Burra Isle 35 36 37 Buthroti Who 46 Buiia Isles great and small 29 30 70 C CAdvallus made Vice-King 105 He dies of Grief 106 Caithness 21 133 Caithness Men cruel against their Bishop and are punished for it 239 Calaman Isle 26 Calden in Scotch is an Hasel 56 Caledonia a Town i. e. Dunkel 18 Caledones Who ibid. Caledonian Woods whence so called 56 Caledonians Picts and Scots sometimes all called Britains 74 Calen Cambel with two others chosen Governour of the King and Kingdom 47 He is sent against the Douglasses 56 Calfa Isle 27 Calthrops politick Engines in War what 266 Camber Son of Brute 42 Cambri ibid. Why so called 61 Camus the Dane slain by the Scots 202 Caâ—a Isle 26 28 Cantire Promontory 17 Canutus a Danish General in Scotland 202 Makes Peace with the Scots 203 Caprary or Goat Isle 25 Cara Isle 25 Carail Town 18 Purged from Monuments of Idolatry 131 Caratacus King of Scotland 107 The Orcades not subdued by Claudius Caesar in his Time 108 Carausius a Roman composes the Differences betwixt Scots and Picts 124 He seizes on Britain for himself ibid. Carausius Brother of King Findocus causes him to be slain 122 Cardorus unjustly put to death by Dardanus 188 Carick 14 Carniburgh's two Islands 27 Carron-water 15 Carron why sirnamed Schrimger 218 Cave an unusual one turning Water into Stone 20 Cassivelannus his Town i. e. Verulam taken by Caesar 82 Cecily Edward of England's Daughter promised in Marriage to the Son of James III. 422 The intended Marriage null'd and the Dowry repaid 427 Celestine Pope sends Palladius into Scotland 145 Cells so the ancient Scots called their Temples 125 Celts Who 58 Celtiberi so called from the Celts and Iberians 49 Celuinus or Cialine King of the East-Saxons 156 Slain by the Scots 157 Charles the Dolphin of France seeks Aid of the Scots 334 Charles of Burgundy slain at Nants 420 He lays the Foundation of Tyranny in his Country 434 Charles the Fifth sends to Scotland to join in Affinity with them 63 Why his Mother was committed to perpetual Imprisonment 269 Charles Guise Cardinal Guarantee for the Kingdom of Scotland 114 Charn Islands 27 Chourna Isle ibid. Childeric a Saxon Commander wounded 152 Christian Religion promoted in Scotland 125 Christ's Birth-day prophaned 151 Christians join in League against the Danes 176 Christiern of Denmark with all his Male-Stock cast out of the Kingdom 269 Chualsa Isle 73 Cicero quoted about Britain 86 Church its woful State 417 Cimbri so the French and Germans call Thieves 77 78 Cities Names in Bria Brica Briga 63 64 65 In Dunum 65 66 67 In Durum 68 In Magus 69 Clacman Prefecture or Stewarty 18 Clarence Duke of it slain in France by the Scots 335 Clarshacks What 24 Claudian a Verse in him corrected by Joseph Scaliger 76 Cleirach Isle 31 Cloich Isle 25 Clydsdale 13 14 Cluyth 92 Cnapdale 17 Cockburn Forest or Path 13 Cockrane one of King James the IIId's Evil Counsellors put to Death 425 Coemeteries for the Kings of three Nations 27 Coilus King of the Britains slain by the Scots 96 Colca a rare kind of Bird 32 Colgernus a Saxon Commander killed 152 Coll Isle 27 Collonsa Isle 26 Colman an holy Bishop 160 Columb the Saint his Monastery 26 His great Authority 155 He tells of a Victory at a very great distance 155 156 His Death 157 Columb Isle see Icolumbkill Colvansa Isle 27 Colurn i. e. Chourna or Hasel Isle 26 Comes Stabuli Who 247 Commodus the Emperor in Britain 117 Commonâ—lty usually comply with the Humour of their Prince 188 Affect Innovations 413 Competitors for the Crown of Scotland with their several Pretensions 248 The Controversy not decided in Scotland but referred to Edward of England ibid. The Case as stated by Edward and propounded to Lawyers 249 Bruce refuses the Kingdom offered him on ignoble Terms 250 Edward decides for Baliol ibid. Competitors for the Regency 283 Conanus elected Vice-Roy 101 Conanus perswades to Peace but is seditiously slain by the Britains his Country-men 141 Conarus King of Scotland joins in a Conspiracy against his Father 113 He demands large Subsidies but is denied 114 He wars against the Britains 113 Ends his Life in Prison 115 Confidence sometimes praised for Constancy 358 Congal I. King of Scotland 147 Congal II. enriches Priests 159 Congal III. 166 Conscience guilty gives no Rest 195 Constantine Chlorus in Britain 124 Chosen General by the Brittons 125 Made their King 143 Slain by Vortigern ibid. Constantine the Emperour born 124 Constantine I. King of Scots 145 Reigns wickedly ibid. His violent Death 146 Constantine II. 174 Renews publick Discipline ibid. Slain by the Picts 175 Constantine III. 179 Makes a League with the Danes ibid. Invades the Subjects Right ibid. Abjures the Kingly Office 172 And retires into a Monastery 180 Constantine IV. sirnamed Calvus 196 Canvasses for the Crown ibid. Inveighs against the Law of Kenneth about Hereditary Succession 197 〈◊〉 the Decree of its Council seasonable for Perjured Persons 77 Controversy between the Baliols and the Bruces concerning the Crown of Scotland 245 c. Convention of the Nobles to choose a Regent after Murray's Death 251 Cony Isle 25 30 See Sigrama Corbred I. King of Scots 108 Corbred II. sirnamed Galdus 109 He first fought with the Romans ibid. And beat them out of Caledonia 111 Cornavii 22 They are in Scotland and England too 60 Cornish rise against Henry VII of Enggland 10 11 Cornovallia or Cornuvallia whence derived 60 Corshera Isle 26 Coval 17 Covihaslop see Round Isle Council of Constance send Embassadors to Scotland 334 They deny Faith to be kept with those they call Hereticks 77 Count of Rothes committed to Prison 92 Coupins-oy 36 Courtesy to Prisoners 319 Courts many times prefer Honour before Honesty 333 Cowper a Town 18 Cracoviac see Kirkwal Craford Earl of it takes part with the Douglasses 384 But afterwards deserts them 389 And is received into Pavour by the King ibid. Crackles i. e. little jangling Bells terrify Horses 307 Crathilinthus King of Scots 123 Much addicted to hunting 124 Crathilinthus kils his Grandfather 192 He rises in Arms but is suppressed 193 Cree River 14 Cressingham an English General slain by the Scots 255 Creighton sent
Embassador into France 376 Croke the French Embassador dislikes the Queen's Marriage with Bothwel 199 He mediates a Peace 208 209 Crowling Isle 28 Cruelty an Example thereof 329 Culbrenin Isle 25 Culdees a kind of Monks 18 125 Worshippers of God 18 Culen King of Scots an incestuous Person 184 185 He is slain by a Strumpet 187 Cull 196 Culross whence so called 170 Cumbra Isles the greater and the lesser 25 Cumbri and Cumri 75 Cumins their Faction powerful 240 Cumins overthrows Gilespy 239 Cumins John overthrown by Bruce 264 Cumins William poisoned by his Wife 241 Cuningham 14 Cuningham's overcome by the Hamiltons 85 Cup of St. Magnus see Magnus Curia a Parish-Church 26 Curry a Merchaâ—t an Instrument in surprizing Edinburghâ—â—stle â—â—stle 299 Cutberectus 161 D DAal what it signifies in Old Scotish 100 Dalkeith 13 Dalreudini why the Scots so called 100 Danes enter England 71 Invade Scotland 174 Fight a bloody Battel with the English 178 Turn Christians ibid. Land in Scotland 182 Are overthrown ibid. Danish Fleet lands again in Scotland 190 Stupified by an inebriating Drink and overcome by the Scots 209 Swear never to return to invade Scotland any more 210 Dangers make Men sagacious 26 Dardanus King of Scots 108 His cruel Reign and violent Death ibid. David I. King of Scots 212 Profuse towards Monasteries 223 Maintains the Cause of Maud his Kinswoman against Stephen of England 224 Accuses him of Perjury ibid. Makes two Accords with Stephen 225 226 Henry Heir of England made Knight by him 226 Loses his hopeful Son yet comforts himself and his Nobles in a Christian Discourse thereupon 226 He erects new Bishopricks 223 His extraordinary Character for Piety and Virtue 227 David King William's Brother accompanies Richard of England to the Holy War 235 He is shipwrack'd and taken Prisoner yet at last returns ibid. David II. anointed King of Scotland 282 Sent into France when he was a Child 286 Returns to Scotland 300 Taken Prisoner in a Fight by the English 302 Ransomed 304 His Death and Character 305 306 David Cumins appointed Ruler over Scotland by the English 293 He and Douglas disagree 294 Forced to take an Oath to Bruce ibid. Makes large Promises to Edward of Enggland 295 Follows the good Success of the English ibid. Left by the English King as Regent of Scotland where his Army is overthrown and he himself slain 296 David the Son of Robert III imprisoned and starved to Death by his Vncle who was his Governour 328 329 David Beton the Cardinal 73 Chosen Regent by a pretended Will but the Fraud being discovered he is displaced and imprisoned 75 He endeavours to avert the imminent Ruin of Popery 76 He chouzes Lennox with vain Hopes of marrying the Queen 80 He grieves to be deprived of a rich Morsel which he had swallowed in his Hopes 81 He is sharply reproved by Montgomery 91 His Cruelty against Protestants 93 He espouses his Daughter to the Earl of Craford's Son 97 He is slain in his Castle with the manner thereof 98 His foul Character 99 David Douglas with his Brother William beheaded 370 David Hamilton defends the Cause of the Gospel 93 David Panater or Painter Bishop of Ross made an Abbat by the King of France 113 David Rize a Musician his Story 171 He persuades the Queen to cut off the Scotish Nobility 177 His Court-Preferments Familiarity with the Queen of Scots violent Death and Burial 179 to 183 David Spence slain 282 David Straiton or Straton burnt for a Lutheran 63 Death better than a miserable Life 12 d ee a River in England 13 Three of that Name in Scotland 14 70 Deidonum i. e. Dundee 18 Deiri Who 159 Delators or Informers appointed by Evenus 13 Denmark the King thereof bargains with the Embassador of Scotland to quit his Right to the Islands about Scotland 413 Derivative Words shew the Affinity of a Language 6â— Dessius General of the French Forces in Scotland 106 Called home by the King of France 110 Descants on the Law about Hereditary Succession of the Crown 205 Descants on over-severe Executions of Criminals 358 Deucaledonian Sea What 21 Diana's Oracle counterfeited by a Monk 44 45 Dicaledones rather to be read Duncaledones in Marcellinus 56 Dioclesian a supposed King of Syria 41 Dionethus gives himself forth to be King of the Brittons 136 Dion quoted concerning Britain 90 91 118 Dona River 20 Donachs or Duncans Bay 22 Donald I. King of Scots 117 He first received the Christian Religion ibid. Donald II. 122 Overthrown by Donald the Islander and dies ibid. Donald Brother of Malcolm III. yields up the Possession of the Islands to the King of Norwey 23 Donald III. 123 Reigns Tyrannically and is slain by Crathilinthus ibid. Donald IV. or Donebald sends Christian Doctors into England and interprets pious Sermons to the People himself 159 Donald V. Brother of Kenneth 172 Reigns licentiously and is put in Prison 173 Donald VI. Son of Constantine II. 178 Donald VII or Duncan 204 Donald Murderer of King Duffus taken and executed 185 Donald Bane calls himself King of the Aebudae 164 He is slain ibid. Donald VIII or Banus 220 He promises the Islands to Magnus King of Norwey ibid. Donald of Athol 154 Donald Baloc overthrows Alexander and Alan Stuarts 343 He is taken in Ireland and his Head is sent to the King 344 Donald Lord of the Aebudae rises in Arms 333 With the Earl of Ross and Douglas he figâ—â—s with the King's Forces ibid. He is left by his Wife 391 Sends Agents to make his Peace with the King 392 After the King's Death he plays Rex again 408 He takes the Earl of Athol Prisoner and burns St. Bride's Church ibid. He is shipwrack'd and fals distracted 409 Donald Monro commended 22 He travelled over the Islands of Scotland and described them 31 Dongal King of Scots 168 He is drowned ibid. Dongard King of Scots 144 Opposes the Pelagian Heresy 145 Dornadilla King of Scots 98 Dorstologus slain 166 Dorus flies for fear of Nathalocus 120 Dovallus kils King Nothatus 99 He himself is slain in Battel 100 Douglas River 14 Douglas Dale 140 Douglas made Duke of Turein 336 Douglas slain by the Moors 280 Douglas William takes Dundalk in Ireland 314 Douglas William pardoned 301 Douglas breaks in upon the English Army 278 Douglasses their Power intolerable 372 377 Their Power broken 53 Drinach Isle 25 Drix 60 Druides Who 56 Drumalbin 17 Drummilaw Sands 209 Drunkenness punished with Death 174 Druskins King of the Picts and all his Nobility slain 169 Drury intercedes for Peace between the Parties in Scotland 278 Duffa or Dow Isle 25 Duffus King of Scots 181 Witchcraft practised upon his Body 183 He is slain 184 Dukes when the Name first brought into Scotland 325 Duke of York overthrown and slain by the Queen of England 396 Dulcitius in Britain 89 Dunacus and Domnacus 68 Dunbar whence so called 13 14 Its Siege raised 297 Fortified by Alexander against the King but deserted by
Allegiance of his Subjects ibid. First settles Itinerary Iudges in Scotland ibid. Evenus II. 105 Overthrows the Orkney Men 106 Evenus III. noted for Obscenity 107 He makes a Law for Polygamy ibid. Is slain ibid. Eugenius I. or Evenus King of Scots 127 Slain by the Romans 128 Evenus an Islander put to Death 174 Eugenius II. 138 His Character 144 In his time the Romans leave Britain ibid. Eugenius III. Brother of Congal King of Scots 154 Assists against the Saxons ibid. Eugenius IV. Brother of Aidanus 158 Brought up under Columb ibid. He harbours the fugitive Saxons ibid. Eugenius V. 161 Eugenius VI. ibid. Learned in Theology ibid. In his Time it rained Blood ibid. Eugenius VII causes the memorable Facts of Kings to be recorded 162 He is suspected for the Murder of his Queen but causlesly ibid. Eugenius VIII slain in an Assembly of the Nobles 163 Evonia Castle 20 Eusdale County so called from the River Ewes 13 140 Examples of Princes more influential on Subjects than their Laws 155 Exchequer Officers defend sometimes most unjust Laws 113 Exchequer Profits sometimes Disprofits 35 Excommunication unjustly pronounced affects not the Excommunicated 272 Exile more tolerable than Servitude 132 F FAbilla or Fable Isle 30 Fair or Fara Isle 36 Faith or Fidelity towards wicked Persons unsteadfast 105 107 Sacred among Souldiers 319 330 Not to be kept with Hereticks as Papists say 130 Falamgal Isle see Finlagan Falcons in the Isle of Muick 28 Famine breaks stout Spirits 140 Famine and Pestilence in Scotland 388 Fara Isle 29 Farrow-head 21 Faunus's Oracle 43 Fenella commands Kenneth to be slain 169 Feraia Isle 29 Ferchard I. King of Scots 158 Endeavours to introduce Tyranny ibid. Maliciously nourisheth Factions amongst his Nobles and is guilty of the Pelagian Heresy 159 He kils himself ibid. Ferchard II. wickedly kils his Wife and abuseth his Daughters 160 He is excommunicated reproved by Coleman and repouts at his Death ibid. Feredeth King of the Picts 166 Ferelay Island 30 Fergus I. King of Scots sent for out of Ireland 95 The Kingdom settled on him by Common Consent 96 Drowned at Carickfergus in Ireland 97 Came first into Albium when Alexander the Great took Babylon ibid. Fergus II. whilst a Child flies by Sea with his Parents into Scandia is recalled from thence and made King 133 134 He is slain in Fight 137 His Praise with a Comparison between him and Fergus I. ibid. He is deservedly called The second Founder of the Scotish Kingdom ibid. Fergus III. poisoned by his Wife for his Adulteries 163 She owns the Fact and kils her self 164 Fergus of Galway's Children disagree after his Death 246 Feritharis King of Scots 97 An old Law concerning Succession to the Crown made in his Time ibid. Ferlegus Son of Fergus conspires against his Vncle for which he is condemned 97 98 Fethelmach King of Scots 127 Fidler or Harper One kils King Ethodius I. 116 Another assists to destroy Fethelmach 127 Fifteen Iudges appointed in Scotland but soon disused 59 Fife County 18 So called from Fifus 170 Fights memorable between Scots and English 355 At Bannock 267 At Otterborn 317 318 319 Fish shapeless 29 A strange sort ibid. Fincormachus King of Scots 125 Findochus King of Scots 121 Overcomes Donald ibid. Is slain by means of his Brother Caransius 122 Finelaw or Finlaw Bishop Author of ill Counsels 339 Finlagan Isle 26 Finnanus King of Scots 102 Fiole Isle 25 Flada Isle 24 28 29 30 Flanders Artificers sent for from thence into Scotland 347 Flata Island 36 Flattery the Pest of great Families 363 380 Flavanae Isles 30 Fordun 19 Forestia ibid. Forth or Scotish Sea 13 Fortune an Example of its Inconstancy 375 Fotlar Isle 37 Francs Who 46 Francis I. King of France by the help of the King of England restored to liberty out of the Hands of the Spaniards 62 He sends the Earl of Lennox into Scotland 78 Is alienated from Lennox 83 Sends Montgomery into Scotland 91 Francis II. of France sends La'bross into Scotland 136 He is influenced by and is under the Power of the Guises 150 His Death ibid. Francis Duke of Guise Curator of the Kingdom of Scotland 114 Appointed General of the Popish Faction 153 174 Franciscans or begging Friars their Wealth 128 France its miserable State 151 It s King Francis promises to aid the Scots of the Queen's Faction 254 And the Scots Rebels 279 280 Vpon what Grounds he did it ibid. Frazer's Family almost extinct 89 Frederethuâ— slain 166 Friend betrays Friend 332 Their Injuries the most grievous 314 Our Father's Friends not to be neglected 101 Friendship with Princes far off sometimes safer than with Those nearer home 44 French Gauls Franâ—s their Original 46 They receive Characters of Letters from the Massilian Greeks 38 Their Communion with the Brittons 61 When French and Scots Alliance first began 165 They send Aid to the Scots 90 106 Their Souldiers very licentious 313 Their Army leaves Scotland 314 Their unjust Demand 312 What Good the Scots got by their Alliance 322 Their King distracted 334 They ask Aid of the Scots ibid. They renew their League with the Scots 240 251 273 French and Scots Souldiers mutiny 109 Their Auxiliaries in Scotland cannot forbear their wonted Plundering 314 They hinder an Alliance with England by Bribes as much as they can 43 44 Assault Werk Castle 45 Their Souldiers kill the Governour of Edinburgh with some of the Citizens 209 They design to surprize Hadington ibid. They are disgusted by the Scots 110 French and English in Scotland agree 111 French transported into their own Country 112 French King sends Auxiliaries to strengthen the Queen Regent 135 143 French Embassadors Demands from the Reformed 136 152 French their contumelious Pride against some of the Scots 143 144 Their Design to establish Tyranny ibid. French Embassador busy between the Queen and the Royalists 218 219 Vpon the Queen's Overthrow he sculks away 221 French to leave Scotland by Consent 149 French Ship sent with Provision and Ammunition into Scotland taken by the Royalists 279 French Tongue heretofore not much different from the British 58 Friars Mendicants Mercenaries to Parish-Priests and Curats 345 346 Their Opinions and why Manducants rather than Mendicants 129 Fuda Isle 29 G GA Letter commonly used by the French for V 60 61 Gaga Isle 25 Gald Gael Galle 62 Galdus the Sir-name of Corbred what it signifies 109 Galeatius Sforza slain by his Vncle 231 Gallovid in Old Scotish signifies a Gaul 14 Galo Cardinal the Pope's Legat in England 237 He excommunicates the Scots 238 A wicked and avaritious Man ibid. Galvinus Son of Lothus 151 Galway why so called 14 61 139 Garalinga Isle 29 Garaard King of the Picts 162 Garvae Isles three 25 Garvillan Isles 30 Gavin Isle 25 Gauls sent Colonies into Spain 48 Into Italy 49 Into Germany ibid. Into Britain 50 Into Ireland 51 Gathelus a Prince feigned by some to be the Founder of the Scots Nation 46 Gawin Dunbar
the King's Tutor made Chancellour 54 Gawin Douglas called Archbishop of St. Andrews 29 Committed to Prison 164 Genrach Isle 26 Geoffry of Monmouth a Writer of British Affairs 8 Geldrians come to help the English against the Scots 295 Geloni painted their Bodies 53 Genistery or Broom Isle 25 George Buchanan imprisoned for Religion escapes out of his Chamber-Window whilst his Keepers were asleep 67 He is sent in Embassy with others into England 224 His ingenuous Speech concerning Himself 71 George Brother to the Earl of Douglas made Earl of Ormond 377 Commands the Forces against England 378 Extolled for his Victory over them 380 Declared a publick Enemy 387 Beheaded 390 George Douglas Earl of Angus 377 His memorable Fact 398 He is against the Queen Mother 399 His bold and unworthy Speech to the King 50 George Douglas the Regent's youngest Brother 217 Delivers the Queen out of Prison 218 George Dunbar Earl of Merch espouses his Daughter to David King Robert's Son 325 Which Marriage not taking effect he joins with Percy of England against the Scots 326 Proclaimed a publick Enemy ibid. Percy and he overthrow the Scots 307 Takes Douglas Prisoner in Fight 327 Ioins with Percy against the King of England is wounded and taken Prisoner 329 Being reconciled to the Regent returns into Scotland 332 George Gordon sent with an Army against England 70 The King's Hatred against him 71 Accused and imprisoned 115 Released 116 Studies to raise Commotions 154 Privy to the Conspiracy against Murray 168 Condemned for Treason 170 Restored by the Queen to his former Dignity 173 Chief of the Queen's Faction 209 George Lesly Earl of Rothes sent Embassador into France 121 There poisoned as 't was believed 122 George Ruven slain 282 George Wiseheart Preacher of the Gospel 93 Persecuted by Cardinal Beton against the Regent's Mind 94 Foretels the Death of Cardinal Beton 97 His pious and Christian Deportment before and at his Martyrdom 95 96 97 Gerlock Isle 28 Gerlock Bay See Loch-ger 17 Gersa or Gress-oy Isle 37 Gernich or Gaxnico 22 Germany whence so called 42 Germâ—nâ— their fabulous Original 45 Ingenious in relating the Origin of their Nation 38 39 German Navy lands on the Coast of Scotland 94 Gessoriaci i. e. People living about Calais 10 Getes painted their Bodies 53 Gethus King of the Picts 97 Slain 100 Getini and Getae whence 49 Geurasdil Isle 25 Gigaia or Gega Isle ibid. Gigamena Isle ibid. Giles Tutelary God of Edinburgh his Show affronted 124 Gilbert Kennedy slain by the Command of James Douglas 57 A Man of a great Spirit ibid. Kennedy's Constancy in keeping his Word â—77 Gilbert Kennedy Earl of Cassils sent Embassador into France 121 He dies there not without the suspicion of Poison 127 Gilbert his Son chosen Iudg in Bothwelâ—s â—s Case but excuses himself 195 Gilchrist kils his Wife the King's Sister for her Adultery 234 King William's General 230 Banished but received again into Favour 234 Gilcolumb slain 164 Gildas quoted concerning Britain 93 He wrote 400 Years after Tacitus 38 Favoured by Aurelius Ambrosius 148 A good Man and died at Glastenbury in Somersetshire the Prophecies that go under his Name not genuine ibid. Gildominick and the Murray Men suppressed 230 Gilespy Cambel an Actor in the Reformation 129 Recalled by threatning Letters by the Queen Regent 130 Gilespy Earl of Argyle banished 175 His Levity 206 Privy to the Queen's Wickedness 216 General of her Army 220 Refuses to own himself a Subject to the King 234 The Regent receives him into Favour and he is in great Authority 235 251 Gillan Isle 30 Gillo Commander of the exiled Scots 129 Gillus the Bastard King of Scots 104 Flies into Ireland 105 Slain by Cadvallus 106 Glascow 14 The Bishop thereof frightned by a Voice from Heaven 376 Glass Isle 28 Glenluce 14 Glotta River i. e. Clyde 14 Glottiana see Clydsdale Goat Isle 25 God's Favour attends the Good 213 Gomâ—dra Isle 27 Goran King of Scots 148 Persuades the Kings of the Picts and Brittons to join with the Scots against the Saxons 148 He is treacherously slain by his Subjects 154 His Wife and Children fly into Ireland ibid. But are recalled by Congal II. 155 Gordons at Feud with the Forbes's 284 Gordon an Enemy to Murray 162 He labours to destroy him 164 166 His Design against him at one time wonderfully prevented 168 169 Gordon's bold Attempt against the Queen her self 167 Gorlois wickedly slain by Uter 149 Goropius reproved 10 Goths Who 33 Gothunni and Gothini who 49 Grafton censured 252 Graham or Grame 135 Appointed Tutor to Eugenius 137 Recals Christian Pastors into Scotland 140 Graham's Dike 138 Grampian Hills or Mountains 17 Gramry Isle 25 Granisa Isle 36 Gray hath the chief Command in Scotland against the French 146 Gregory King of Scots his famous Atchievements against the Picts Danes and Brittons 175 176 He takes several Cities in Ireland 177 Green Isle 25 28 Grevan River 14 Gria Isle 30 Griffin slain in Fight 156 Grime King of Scotland 198 Makes an Agreement with Malcolm ibid. Which he afterwards breaks is overthrown and made Prisoner 199 And dies 200 Groom in a Stable his bold Attempt on James Hamilton in revenge of his Master's Death 52 For which he is put to Death ibid. Gruinorta Isle 31 Guidi 15 92 Guises their Desire to hasten the Marriage of Mary with the Dolphin 221 Their over-great Power suspected 122 They design Scotland as a Peculiar for their Family 151 They seek to destroy James Earl of Murray as an Enemy to Popery 165 Gun Isle 27 Guns i. e. Great Ordnance of Iron when first began to be used in Scotland 394 H HAdington 13 Deserted by the English 111 Hago a Danish Admiral 181 Haie or Hea Isle 30 Hakerset Isle 29 Hamiltons the Original of their Family 273 Hamilton leaves the Party of the Douglasses 390 Hamiltonians willing to free the Queen out of Prison 216 Overthrown in Battel and some of them taken Prisoners 221 222 They meet at Edinburgh in behalf of Queen Mary 252 Hara Isle 37 Harald Earl of Caithness punished for his Cruelty 235 Haraya or Harray Isle 31 Harpers of old used to lie in the Bedchamber of the King and of the Nobles in Scotland 116 Harrick Isle 30 31 Havatere or Havere Isle 30 Havelschire Isle 29 Haura Isles the great and the less 31 Hay and his two Sons fight for their Country 191 Hath a Coat of Arms assigned to his Family 192 The Name almost extinguished 286 Heath Isle 21 Heath its Nature 23 Good to make Beds to lie on ibid. Hebrides Isles see Aebudae Hector Boetius blamed 13 Mistaken 76 Compared with Lud 80 Helena Mother of Constantine 124 Hellisay Isle 29 Helscher vetularum Isle ibid. Helricus a Danish Admiral 181 Hengist Captain of Pirates hath Lands given to him in Britain by Voâ—tigern 144 Henry I. of England never laughed after the drâ—wning of most of his Children 224 He settles the Succession on his Daughter Maud ibid. Henry
to revenge the Cardinal's Death 101 Lewis Isle 30 Many Whales taken there 32 Lewis XI espouses Margarite the King of Scots's Daughter 340 He lays the Foundation of Tyranny 434 Lewis de Galais Embassador from France to the Queen's Party 254 Liddisdale so called from the River Lidal 13 140 Liguria 11 Lilborn worsted by the Scots 306 Linga Isle 30 37 Lingaia Isle 39 Lindil Isle 29 Linlithgo 30 Lindsay's and Ogilby's Fight 373 The Lindsays prevail 374 Lismore Isle 25 Loch-Abyr 19 20 Loch-Aw 17 Loch-Brien 31 Loch-Earn ibid. Loch-Fin 17 Loch-Ger ibid. Loch-Long ibid. Loch-Lomund ibid. Loch-Loubrun 21 Loch-Louch 20 Loch-Maban 300 The Castle in it taken by the Scots 309 Loch-Ness 20 Whose Water never freezeth ibid. Loch-Ryan 14 Loch-Spey 140 Loch-Tee 20 Lochindores Castle 296 Locrine Son of Brute 42 Loegria an old Name for England ibid. Lollius Urbicus in Britain 113 London anciently called Augusta 89 Longay Isle 25 Lords of the Articles who 305 Lorn County 17 Lothian so called from Lothus King of the Picts 13 Lothus King of the Picts 13 He joins with the Scots against the Saxons 148 Complains that his Sons were deprived of the Kingdom of Britain ibid. He is commended ibid. Lox or Lossy River 20 Luctacus King of Scots a flagitious Person 111 He is slain ibid. Lud or Lloyd allows that by Prudania is meant Britain 2 He is refuted 71 72 73 77 78 79 80 Luing Isle 25 Lunga Isle 25 27 Luparia or Wolf Isle 25 Lupicianus in Britain 88 89 Luss River 14 Lusitania why Portugal so called as some say 47 Lust a Punishment to it self 186 Lutherans persecuted 63 67 91 Mackbeth's Son slain by Malcolm 215 Luxury accompanies Peace 143 M MAalmori Isle 26 Macalpine Laws 70 Macdonald rises in Arms but is overthrown and kils himself 207 208 Mackbeth King of Scots his Character 208 His Dream 210 211 He flies 214 Macdonald his cruel Fact to a Woman retaliated on himself 343 344 Macduff ill resents Mackbeth 212 He stirs up Malcolm against him ibid. Three Priviledges granted him by Malcolm 215 The first Earl of Fife 214 He complains against Baliol to Edward of England 250 Macklan executed by Douglas 384 Maenavia Isle 24 See Man Magistrates have Power over Mens Bodies but not over their Consciences 127 Magna or Megala Isle 29 Magnus his carousing Goblet â—4 Magnus King of Norwey seizes on the Islands 221 Makes Peace with the Scots 242 Magus Towns so ending 68 69 Maiatae who 26 Mainland see Pomona Main an English Commander against the Scots slain in Fight 3â—9 Main Son of Fergus 97 King of Scots 98 Makul a Criminal abstains from Food 236 Maldon not in Scotland 16 Maldwin King of Scots 160 A Plague in his Time over Europe ibid. He is strangled by his Wife 1â—â— Malgo a Britain ibid. Malcolm Fleming executed by the Douglasses 37â— Malcolm I. 18â— Sits in Courts of Iudgment himself ibid. He is slain ibid. Malcolm II. Competitor with Constantino for the Crown 197 Confirms the Law for Succession 2â—â— Overthrown by the Danes 2â—1 Afterwards overthrows them in several Battels 202 His Murderers drowned 2â—4 Malcolm III. brings in foreign Titles of Honour into Scotland 214 He recovers the Kingdom from Mackbeth ib. Quâ—ls Conspiracies made against him 215 217 His Vow to St. Andrew 218 He erects new Bishopricks and makes wholesome suâ—pâ—uary Laws ibid. Builds the Cathedrals of Durham and Dunfermling 219 Is slain by the English with his Son Edward ibid. His Queen and other Female Relations very pious 218 Malcolm IV. takes a Feâ—datary Oath to Henry of England 227 He accompanies him into France 229 Is despoiled by him of Part of his Patrimony in Englâ—nd ibid. Is persuaded by the Scots to marry but gives them a negative Answer 231 Man Isle its several Names 24 Marcelâ—inâ—â— quoted and corrected 56 Marble Stone on which the Scots Kings were crowned 171 Maâ—ble white Mountains of it in Sutherland 21 Marchetâ— Mulierum what the Scots call so 219 Margaritâ—â— or St. Margarite's Port 35 Margarite Creighton who 428 Margarite Queen of England delivers her Husband Edward by Force of Arms 397 She flies into Scotland and thence into France ibid. Margarite Sister to Edward of England Wife to Charles of Burgundy endeavours to raise Commotions in England 6 Margarite Daughter of Henry VII marries James IV. 14 The first Female Regent in Scotland 29 After her Husband's Death she marries Archibald Dougâ—as ibid. She flies with her Husband into England 34 But returns 37 Displeased with her Husband ibid. Persuades the Scots to break with the French 42 But opposed therein by the French Faction 43 Marianus Scotus 180 Mariners to offend them dangerous to Passengers 286 Marr and Mâ—arn Counties whence so called 19 170 Martha Countess of Carick falls in Love with Robert Bruce and marries him 247 Martiqâ—â—â— the Earl of it comes â—â—to Scotland with his 〈◊〉 148 Mary Wife of 〈◊〉 II. her manly Spirit 394 Mary of Guise Widow of the Duke of Longuevil marries James IV. 67 By degrees she dispossesseth the Regent 112 113 Takes upon her the Ensigns of the Government 113 114 Imposes new Taxes 117 Changes ancient Affability into Arrogance 127 Persecutes the Reformed and is perfidious 130 1â—1 Makâ—s a Truce with the Reformed 134 The Administration of the Government taken from her by Proclamation 139 She dies in the Castle of Edinburgh 146 Her Disposition and Character 147 Mary Queen of Scots born 71 Begins her Reign ibid. Henry of England desires her for his Son's Wife 75 She is sent into France 107 From whence that Kingâ— sends Letters desiring her a Wife for his Son 120 Embassadors sent thither for that purpose of which some die there 121 122 She marries the Dolphin 121 When Mary of England died she carried her self as the next Heir and assumed the Royal Arms of that Kingdom 127 When her Husband died she resolves to return into Scotland 151 Her subtil Answer to a cunning Cardinal 153 She lays the Foundation of Tyranny 196 Designs a Guard for her Body ibid. Her unbecoming Familiarity with David Rize 172 She marries Henry Stuart 175 She punishes David's Homicides 183 Her strange Proclamation about Rize's Death ibid. She brings forth James VI. ibid. She is willing by all means to be rid of her Husband 183 184 185 A joculary Process against her Husband's Murderers 193 She marries Bothwel 199 The French Embassador and the Scotish Nobles dislike her Marriage ibid. She frames an Association against the Nobles 204 And they Another against her 205 Earl of Murray leaves Scotland in Discontent ibid. Besieged with Bothwel at Borthwick and escapes in Man's Apparel 206 Surrenders her self Prisoner 209 210 Proved guilty of her Husband's Death by Letters 211 Hamilton designs her Deliverance 216 She escapes 218 Is overthrown by the Nobles and 〈◊〉 for England 221 She endeavours by Balfure to raise Tumults in Scotland 226 Designs to marry Howard of England 233 23â— Continued in the Lord Scroop's House 239
Her Faction garison Edinburgh from whence they sally out 〈◊〉 Morton â—â—â— Massacre designed in France by the Guâ—â—es 750 Matthew Stuart Earl of Lennox marries Margarite Hamilton â— Sent for out of France into Scotland 78 Returns 171 Circumvented by the Cardinal 's Cunning about his marrying the Queen 80 Vpon which he rises in Arms but is forced to agree with the Regent 82 He justifies himself to the French King 83 Is worsted and flies into England where he is kindly received and marries Margarite Douglas 83 85 86 Created Regent 258 259 Takes Brechin from Huntly 260 Hurt by a Fall 261 Maximianus Commander of a Roman Legion in Britain 136 He overthrows the Scots and Picts 137 Mâ—xim grave in Policy 176 Another 208 Others 239 Maximus in Britain 127 He overcomes the Scots 128 Takes the chief Government upon him 129 Banishes all the Scots out of Britain ibid. Measures and Weights amended and rectified 334 Mechanical Engine of Brass a strange one 192 Mecla Isle 37 Meliss Graham deprived of Strathearn by the King 351 Men fight like wild Beasts one with another 324 Mendiâ—ant Friars called Manducant 129 Menteiâ—h 17 140 Mentheâ—'s Treachery against Robert Bruce 268 He is rewarded 269 Merch 13 Merchants forbid to traffick by Sea for a time 244 Merchants or Châ—nnards Isâ—e 26 Mercenary Souldiers change with Fortune 236 Fit to establish Tyranny 117 177 Merlin the Prophet or Impostor rather when he lived 147 A wicked Man 149 A Comparison between Gildas and him à dissimili ibid. Mern whence so called 170 Mernoch Isle 25 Mertaâ—k Isle 31 Metellan or Maitland King of Scots 107 Michael Weems helps the Royalists 277 Milesian Fables what 77 Minturnae 78 Modred Son of Lothus General of the Picts Forces 151 Competitor with Constantine 153 Slain ibid. Moesici who 89 Mogald King of Scots 112 Makes an unjust Law 113 He is slain ibid. Molas Isle 24 Mologhascar Isle 25 Mon Isle put falsly for Man 24 Monfort slain by Preston 297 Mongomery comes into Scotland 91 Monk poisons King John of England 238 Another poisons Thomas Randolph 283 Their Impudence in devising Fables 42 Their Luxury 143 Their Monasteries overthrown by Order of the Lords 152 Monster like an Hermaphrodite born in Scotland 4 5 Monk-Fishes never seen but they predict Mischief 175 Mordac King of Scots 162 Mordac Earl of Fife Son of Robert taken Prisoner 327 Returns to Scotland 333 Succeeds his Father in the Government 336 Takes Care to recal King James from England 337 Imprisoned 339 Executed 340 More Isle 25 More in old Gaulish signifies Mare the Sea 10 More marusa 7 10 77 Morini who 10 Morton's large Account of his Negotiation in England to the Regent 267 Mother cruel to her own Children 231 Mourning Garments when first used in Scotland 66 Muick Isle 28 Mull of Galway 14 Mull Isle 26 Mulmore Isle ibid. Mungo or St. Mungo see Kentigern Murderer discovered sometimes by touching the Murdered Body 184 Murdo and his Sons put to Death 348 Murray a fruitful Country 20 Its Inhabitants seditious 230 Murray made Regent 226 His Death 298 Musa Isle 37 Musadil Isle 25 Musicians or wandring Minstrels restrained 282 283 N NAick Isle 28 Nagunner Isle ibid. Names new by ambitious Men given to Places 170 171 Names of Towns new shew the Affinity of a Language 62 Naomph Isles 26 Naosg Isles 26 Narn 140 Nathalocus King of Scots 120 Murders the Nobility and consults Soâ—â—hsayers ibid. Nathalocus a Noble Man conspires against Athirco 119 Is himself slain 121 Navern Province so called from the River Navern 21 140 Nectamus King of Scots 126 Ness Town i. e. Innerness and River whose Water is always warm 20 Nightshade its Description and Properties 209 Ninian 145 Nithisdale from the River Nith 13 140 Nobility their Tyranny over the Commons restrained 182 Nobles how anciently tried in Scotland 340 Normans overcome the Saxons and Danes in Britain 71 Norman Lesly his Valour against the English 89 He surprizes St. Andrews and kils Cardinal Beton 98 Northumberland divided into two Kingdoms viz. the Deiri and the Bernici 159 Nostvade Isle 37 Nothatus King of Scots 98 First sets up Arbitrary Government ibid. He is slain 99 Noviogagus many Cities so called 68 Nuns Isle or Monades 27 O OCCA General of the Saxons overthrown by three Kings and wounded 151 152 Occidental or Western Isles 22 Ocel-Mountains 17 Olavus General of the Scandians 200 Old Castle Isle 31 Oracle feigned by a Monk 44 Oransa Isle 28 29 Oration of Archbishop Kennedy that the Administration of the chief Government is not to be committed to Queen-Mothers 401 c. Orcades Isles 33 Their Description ibid. Writers not agreed about their Number 35 Orca Promontory 21 Ordovices who 109 Original of Letters 38 Orkny the Bishop thereof marries the Queen to Bothwel 199 Orma Isle 37 Orvansa or Oversa Isle 26 Osbreth aids Picts against Scots 172 Overthrown at first but afterwards beats the Scots ibid. Osellius a French Man desirous of Glory 120 Differs with the Scots Nobles but afterwards yields to Them ibid. Osrim Isle 26 Oswald King of Northumberland promotes the Christian Religion 159 Otterborn Fight wherein the English are worsted 318 Oversa Isle 26 Ovia Isle ibid. Otiosi Isle 25 Oxon for Oxonford 8 P PABA Isle noted for Robbery or Piracy 28 29 Pabaia Isle 30 Palladius sent by Pope Celestine into Scotland first sets up Bishops there 145 Pandulphus the Pope's Legat 238 Papa Isles great and small 36 37 Parish Priests and Friars Mendicants the Cause of the Decay of Ecclesiastical Discipline 243 Parricide God suffers not to be unrevenged 184 185 Parsimony the Mother of Health 33 Parsonages Church-Preferments sold 419 Bestowing of them causes Strife 57 Pasly Book or the Black Book of Pasly what 134 Patrick Graham chosen Bishop of St. Andrews by his Canons in the room of Jameâ— Kennedy 411 Made Primate of Scotland by the Pope but obstructed by the Courtiers ibid. He labours to maintain Church-Priviledges 417 Is excommunicated and forced to resign his Bishoprick 418 419 And dies in Prison ibid. Patrick Grey one of those who slew King James III. 433 Patrick Grey committed to Custody 92 Patrick an holy Man sent into Scotland 145 Patrick Blackater flies from the Douglasses 47 He is treacherously slain by John Hume 48 Patrick Hamilton put to death for Religion by the Conspiracy of the Priests 53 Patrick Lindsy sides with the Reformers 132 Goes with the Regent into England 222 Ruven's Magnanimity 181 182 He kils David Rize ibid. He acquaints Murray with the Conspiracy against him 173 Paul Mefane or Meffen Preacher of the Gospel troubled for Religion 123 Harboured by the Inhabitants of Dundee 124 Paulus Orosius quoted 86 Corrected 87 Paul Termes sent with Aid from France to Scotland 110 Peace-downs see Duni Pacis Peace sometimes more dangerous than War 140 112 347 Peace confirmed with an intended Affinity betwixt Scots and English 422 But soon broken ibid. Mediated for by
the Scotish Nobility 426 Made between French and English 111 Between the Reformers and the Court 149 Peachti 53 Pentland Firth 35 53 Pentland Hills 13 53 People of the Commonalty their Heat soon over 207 Percy Henry taken Prisoner and ransomed 320 Percy the Elder conspires against the King of England 329 Overthrown and flies to Scotland 332 Betrayed by his Friend ibid. His Posterity restored to their Dignity 334 Perth 18 A great part of it destroyed by Water 236 Its Walls demolished 287 Taken by Edward of England 295 Retaken by the Scots 298 Pestilence in Scotland 227 303 305 381 Peter Cerealis in Britain 86 109 Peter Maufet a Robber executed 32 Peter Hiale the King of Spain's Embassador in England 11 His Errand to solicite a Match between Katharine of Spain and Henry's Son ibid. He mediates a Peace between Scots and English 12 Petronius Turpilianus in Britain 85 Peter Warbeck a notable Impostor 6 Set up by the Dutchess of Burgundy to vex Henry 7 Sails out of England into Scotland ibid. Marries Katherine the Earl of Huntly's Daughter 9 Engages James IV. against Henry 9 Dismiss'd out of Scotland 12 Taken and hanged in England 13 Pheodor-oy 37 Phylarchae who 101 Physicians why so much esteemed in Scotland 101 102 Picts whether derived from the Saxons 33 Whence so called 53 Foretold by the Oracle that the Scots should extirpate them 95 132 Repent joining with the Romans against the Scots 131 132 Their Origin from Germany 55 95 Overcome the Scots 167 Overcome by the Scots 168 169 Their Kingdom abolished in Scotland 169 Solicite Aid from Osbreth and Ella 172 Beaten quite out of Britain 173 Pliny a Place in him corrected 12 Pluscartin Book i. e. a Book or Chronicle of Scotland written by the Religious of Pluscarty an Abby in Murrayland 344 Pollack Fish where found 17 Polygamy a Law made for it by Evenus 107 Pomona the greatest Isle of the Orcades 35 Pope of Rome his Emissaries in Britain 157 The Right of the Kingdom of England conferred upon him by King John 237 His Embassadors excommunicate the Scots 272 David II. King of Scots anointed by his Permission 282 His Legat denied entrance into Scotland 243 Porcaria Isle 26 Port or Na Port Isle 25 Portugal why so called 47 Possessions confounded by often Wars 271 Praenestin Lots what 43 Priests or Clergy Isle 31 Priests corrupted by Luxury reformed by Constantine 174 Richer than the Nobility 243 Gain by the Losses of the Nobility 25 29 Not subject to Kings 245 Impostors 58 Priests so ignorant as to think the New Testament was written by Martin Luther 9 Priests One the Author of a Sedition 309 Another treacherous 374 Betrays Queen Joan 375 Another forges a Will 73 Preys retaken and restored to their Owners 106 Prince of Scotland the King 's Eldest Son so called 194 Princes not Slaves to their Words 130 Priviledg of the Scots not to be summoned to appear out of their own Country 241 Prodigies on divers occasions 184 204 191 Process ridiculous against the King's Murderers 193 Proclamation about the same ibid. Proclamation or Schedule of James II. drawn in contempt about the Streets 386 Prosperity dangerous 179 Prudania 2 Prytania ibid. Prophecies of Witches how fulfilled 357 Ptolemy hath Deucaledon for Duncaledon 56 Punishments too exquisite enrage Spectators 358 Punishment of old to Prisoners not returning on their Parole 319 Pygmee Isle 30 Q QUadrantary Faith what 126 Quindecemvirate in Scotland 59 Queens their Marriage to be ordered by the Estates of the Realm and why 269 Anciently Kings Wives not allowed to be so called 402 403 Queen Mother of James III. sues for the Regency with her Reasons 400 The Scots not willing to be governed by her ibid. Queen Dowager sails into France 112 Where she labours to out the Regent of his Government 113 Hath the Regency conferred upon her 115 The First Female Regent in Scotland ibid. Levies new Taxes 117 But because of an Insurrection desists from collecting them 118 Refuses the Propositions sent her by the Reformed 127 Prepares Forces against them 129 Makes a Temporary Agreement with them 130 Which she endeavours to elude ibid. Makes another Truce with them 134 Repartees betwixt Her and the Reformed 136 137 138 Her Death and Character 146 147 Queen of Scots not â—o use the English Arms during Queen Elizabeth's Life 159 Queen of Scots one of their Deaths 430 Queen's Party divide from the King 's 255 They send Embassadors to France and England for Aid 254 Queen Elizabeth rejects them 254 Question debated Whether a Chief Magigistrate may be compelled by force to do his Duty 159 c. R RAarsa Isle 28 Rachlinda Isle 25 Ralph Evers his vain Boast 87 Ralph Rokesby betrays Percy his Friend 332 Ralph Sadler Embassador from England about the Marriage of Mary with King Henry's Son 75 He hears the Scots Differences and endeavours to compose them 224 Ramsay Isle 25 Ranalds-oy 35 Ranalsa a Southern Isle 36 Randolf Thomas invades England 270 Made Regent 282 Executes a Murderer though he had the Pope's Pardon 282 His Law against Thievery ibid. He punishes the Cheat of a Country-man 283 Poisoned by a Monk ibid. Ratra River hath no Salmons in it 19 20 Rebels after Murray the Regent was dead had several Meetings 247 They send Embassadors to the Queen of England to desire a Truce but in vain 253 254 They solicite the French and Spaniards for Aid 260 Assault Leith 281 Surprize Sterlin but beaten out again 281 282 Attempt Jedburgh but repulsed and routed 285 286 Recognition what 15 Red or Ridhead Promontory 19 Redshanks who 106 Reformation the best Method thereof for Princes to begin at home 188 Reformed Religion the Nobles swear to maintain it in behalf of James VI. whilst a Child 214 Reformed Congregation in Scotland the first so called 124 Reformers abrogate the Queen Regent's Power 139 They meet with Difficulties in their Work 140 Are assisted by the English 141 142 Their last Letter to the Regent 144 Regent slain at Sterlin 282 Religion Language Names of Places c. shew the Sameness of a People 56 Religion the Nobles arm for it in Scotland 129 The Vindicators of it make a Truce with the Regent 134 Abrogate her Power 139 Desire Aid from England 140 Which they receive 142 Reign the Desire of it occasions much Mischief in the World 231 232 Renfrew 14 See Baronia Repartees between Scotish and English Armies 277 Rerigonian Bay 14 Reringa Isle 27 Reutha King of Scots 101 Revenge the importune Desire of it dangerous 124 131 132 Reuther King of Scots 99 Called Reuda by Bede 100 Rhingrave sent with Aid by the French King into Scotland 106 Rian Lake or Loch 14 Richard of England very angry with the Scots for bringing in foreign Aid 311 He invades Scotland with a great Army ibid. His Expedition to the Holy War 234 Richard II. of England enforced to resign the Kingdom to Henry IV. 325 One in Scotland pretends himself
to eat ibid. Ships of great Bigness built by James IV. 14 Siapins-oy an Isle 36 Sicambri who 79 Sigrama Isles Great and Small 30 Silva or Yew Isle 25 Silures who 61 109 Simon Breccus 171 Similitudes for Illustration 187 188 Similitude of Events do assimilate Mens Manners 213 Sinclare's Valour against the English 270 Siuna Isle 25 Skenny or Skerry Isles 37 Skirmish between English and French in Scotland 145 Sky Isle 28 Skyanna Isle ibid. Slata Isle 25 Slavery worse than Banishment 132 Slegana Isle 30 Soa Isle 27 30 Soabreâ—il Isle 28 Sodora Town 24 Solan or Sea Geese ibid. Solanum the Herb Nightshade soporiferous 209 Solinus quoted about Britain 87 Solvathius King of Scots 164 Solwey River 13 Sorbonists sent into Scotland 136 Spain hath several Names 41 Spaniards a Colony of them come into Ireland 94 Inhabited the West Part of Britain 51 Subject to the Injuries of Foreigners 94 Spey River 20 Spring that carries down shapeless Fish 29 Stacbad Isle 26 Stafa Isle 27 Stanmore whence so called 217 The Cross there ibid. Stags fright the English 276 Stephano-Dunum or Dunstaffnage 20 Stephen Bull overthrown by Andrew Wood 3 4 Stephen Earl of Bologn seizes on the Kingdom of England 224 Notwithstanding he had taken an Oath to Queen Maud ibid. Sterlin County 15 Sterlin Mony 173 Stinsiar River 14 Strathnavern 21 140 Strath-bogy 140 Strat and Strathern 17 140 Stratagems in War 154 179 Stromoy Isle 35 Stronza Isle 36 Stuart the Name of an Office 217 Stuarts their Original ibid. Who was the Rise of their Family ibid. Stuart Regent 298 Succession to the Crown of Scotland an old Law made for it 97 The Administration of the Government to whom to be committed when the King is a Minor 230 231 Suffrages incroached upon 179 Suilkir Isle 32 Sumereld Thane of Argyle in hopes of the Kingdom but is overthrown and slain 228 231 Suin Isle 25 Suna Isle 36 Sussex the Earl of it commands an English Army in Scotland 255 Sutherland 21 Swain gets the Kingdom of England 71 He comes into Scotland 200 He distributes three Kingdoms to his three Sons 208 He comes again into Scotland ibid. He is overthrown 209 T TAichy i. e. Menteith 17 Talbot overthrown by Keith 297 Again overthrown 308 Thames River 13 Thane who 187 Thanat Isle 88 Tanasta Isle 26 Taodunum i. e. Dundee 18 Taransa Isle 30 Tarscheir Isle 26 Tarvedrum Promontory 21 Tay the greatest River in Scotland 18 Temple of Terminus 15 119 Terris Isle 27 Teviotdale 13 Texa Isle 26 Textors Isle ibid. Theodosius his memorable Speech 268 Thereus King of Scots flies to the Brittons 101 Thiana Isle 25 Thomas Eliot his Opinion refuted 4 Thomas Becket promotes Ecclesiastical Ambition in England 243 Thomas Boyd marries the Eldest Sister of James III. 412 He is sent Embassador into Norwey 413 Declared a publick Enemy 415 Assists the Burgundians ibid. His Wife divorced from him and married to James Hamilton ibid. He dies at Antwerp 416 Thomas Car wasts England 247 Thomas Duchty or Doughty an Impostor 58 Thomas Howard Admiral of the English Navy 24 General at Flodden Fight 24 Afterwards fals into Disgrace 27 Sent into Scotland and takes Jedburgh 41 42 Treats of a Marriage with the Queen of Scots 224 Meditates a Civil War against the Queen of England 226 239 The Conspiracy detected 242 Thomas Petcarn sent Embassador to Queen Elizabeth 255 Thomas Randolph designed the King's Tutor 269 Marches with an Army into England 275 Thomas Randolph the English Embassador in Scotland demands the English Exiles 248 Thomas Earl of Sussex the English General in Scotland inclinable to the Queen's Faction 256 Thomas Wolsy a Cardinal self-ended and ambitious 44 Thornton Patric put to death for Murder 391 Tintallon Castle besieged by the King 55 Surrendred to him 56 Tine River 14 Titles of Honour 203 Tithes for Ecclesiasticks 140 Tiren or Tirriss Isle 27 Toncetus an unjust Iudg slain 154 Toray Isle 30 Trajan's remarkable Speech 268 Trajectus Passage or Na Port Isle 25 Trayl Archbishop his Commendation 328 His Death ibid. Triaracha Isle 25 Trebellius Maximus in Britain 86 Tree Isle 25 Tributes or Impositions part of them nibbled away by the Collectors who are usually malapert 339 Imposed but remitted 355 The Cause of War and their Exactors slain 10 11 Designed but not paid 117 Trimarchia 77 Trojans Greeks by Descent 45 Many pretend themselves derived from Them 46 Trons Isle 37 Tronta Isle 28 Truce betwixt Scots and English 309 380 Betwixt the French English and Scots 310 311 Between Scots and English for seven Years 430 Truces violated 325 332 378 392 Truce between the Queen Regent and the Reformers 133 And on what Terms ibid. Twedale 13 Twede River ibid. Tueman Isles 30 37 Turff Isle 27 Turdetani who 38 Twine Laurence his Story 284 He stirs up Baliol to invade Scotland ibid. Twentieth Part taxed in Scotland 339 Tyana Isle 25 Tyranny its Root cut by Finnanus and how 102 Tyrants Avarice bring the richer Sort to their Ends 107 V VAlay Isle 30 Valerius Asiaticus his bold Speech 271 Valla and Vallis Isle 36 Vannota King Arthur's Wife not true to him 153 Vallia 60 Varro Plato c. too inquisitive about Words 3 Vatersa Isle 29 Vectius Bolanus in Britain 86 Vecturiones who 18 Vemendra Isle 37 Venta Belgarum 10 Vera Isle see Wyer-oy Vervedrum Promontory 21 Vestra Isle see Wester-oy Vexa Isle 30 Via Isle 37 Viccoil Isle 31 Victorinus sent into Britain from Rome 131 Vidam in France who 150 Vidogara See Loch-Ryan 14 Vien a French General iâ— Scotland 311 Vigils or Watches necessary in Camps and Armies 285 308 Vikeran Isle or Na-whoker 25 Virid or Green Isles viz. Charn More and Charn Beg the greater and the less 27 Vitellius a Saxon Commander slain by the Scots 157 Vituline or Gawin Isle 25 Uist or Yyists Isle 29 30 37 Ulva Isle 27 Voadicea Commandress of the Brittons See Boadicea 85 Vonnedra Isle 37 Vortigern of a Monk made King of England 143 Afterwards deposed 145 Sends to Hengist the Saxon 144 Overthrows the Scots and is slain 144 145 Vortimer King of the Brittons renews a League with the Scots and Picts 145 Ure River 114 Ure Isle 37 Uridick Isle 25 Usabrast Isle 26 Uter succeeds his Brother in Britain 148 His Story and flagitious Fact 149 Utility sometimes preferred before Honesty in Princes Courts 331 Uxellum in Caesar perhaps for Ocellum 70 Uust see Uyist Island W W A Letter hard to be pronounced but by such as Germanize 6 60 61 Waes Isle 36 Wales how anciently divided 13 60 Wall a memorable one built by the Romans 138 By Adrian 8 16 By Severus 8 Wallace or Wallis his Story 253 Made Regent and takes many Places from the English in Scotland 254 Overthrows Cressingham the English General 255 Edward of England afraid to fight him 255 256 Envied by the Scots Nobles 256 Hath a Conference in the Field with Bruce ibid. Dismisses his Army
the Picts w Wherein Angusianus was slain But 〈◊〉 Murderd afterwards by two Picts inbornâ—d by 〈◊〉 * Maximus a Roman General in Britain z Roman◠〈◊〉 Picts 〈…〉 the 〈◊〉 a 〈…〉 by Maximus and Eugenius slain b Maximus at first using his Victory moderately yet afterwards at the instigation of the Picts c He banisht the Scots out of all Britain upon pain of Death and give away their Lands a The Eâ—iled Scots endeavouring to recover their Country are worsted by their Enemies b And forced to make Peace with the Râ—mans b And forced to make Peace with the Râ—mans Which they obtain from Maximus on moderate Conditions d Victorinus sent from Rome to Govern Britain e Who incensed the Picts by his Tyrannick Government over them f The Picts repent of their Conjunction with the Romans to Root out the Scots and also of the Persecution of the Monks being of the same Reâ—â—gion with themselves g They send to recal Fergus a Scottish Exile from Scandia to take the Regal Government upon him h The Scots and Picts unite against the Romans then brought low by their own Civil Dissensions * A Parchment Chronicle of Scotish Affairs written by the Monks of the Abby of Pasley a Town and Abby situate not far from Glascom in the Baâ—ony of Renfrew called from its Cover The Black Book * Fergus prepares for War * The Brittons send for Aid to the Romans and receive one Legion * Who repulsed their Enemies and return * The Brittons receive another Auxiliary Legion of the Romans under Maximianus * Dionethus a Britton * Maximianus overcomes Fergus King of Scots 〈◊〉 King of Picts and Dionethus * The Two Fergus's compared * The Roman Legion leaves Britanny to maintain their Empire at home * Graham's Dike a The 〈…〉 by the 〈◊〉 and 〈…〉 of the Râ—mans b A Peace made betwixt the Scots and Picts of the one part and the Brittons on the other * Tithes for Ecclesiasticks * Peace sometimes more dangerous than War * Famine the forest of Evils c New occasions of Dissention between the Scots and Brittons d Whereupon the Brittons Arm. Tho dâ—ssuaded therefâ—om by Conanâ—s their Countrymâ—n f Who is 〈…〉 g A terrible Fight between the Scots and the Picts and the Brittons h Wherein the Brittons are overthrown i And have 〈◊〉 Conditions of Peace imposed on them k The Brittons make Constantine King who was soon after slâ—in by Vâ—rtigern * Luxury the usual Companion of Peace l Vortigern having slain Constantine's Heir makes himself King of the Brittons m He sends for Aid to Hengist the Saxon by whose help he repels the Scots Picts * The Character of King Eugenius * Dongard an opposer of the Pelagian Heresy n Pope Celestine sends Paâ—ladius and other Learned Monks into Scotland * Or St. Mungo o Palladius first institutes Bishops in Scotland which before was governed by Monks with less splendor but more Piety * Vortigern deposed and Vortimer made King of the Brittons who concludes a Peace with the Scotâ— Picts p Constantineâ— wicked Reign q And violent Death r Scots and Brittons unite against Picts and Saxons * Aurelius Ambrosius in Britain s Merlin and Gildaâ— When they lived with a Comparison between Them the Formerâ— counteâ— an Impostor the Laâ—er a 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 * Gildas his Prophecies not Genuine * Gildas his Death at Glastonbury in England * Informers found dangerous by Experience a Goranus persuades Lothus King of the Picts and Vter King of the Brittons to join with the Scots and break with the Saxons b By the joint Confederacy of those three Kings the Saxons are worked c The Story of Vter and of Arthur his Son Kings of the Brittons c Arthur takes London and York from the Saxons d The Licentious rather than Religious Observation of the Day of Christ's supposed Nativity called Iuletide The Scots Picts and Brittons overthrow the Saxons g And at last drive them out of a great part of Britain h Competitorship between Modredus and Constantine for the Kingdom after 〈◊〉 Death i Arthur's Character k The People by the Instigation of Donald of Athol Murder Toncetus and after that the King Goranus himself l A Prince's example hath a greater influence on his Subjectâ— than his Laws m Columbas's great Authority * War betwixt Scots and Picts * A Fight between the Saxons Scots and Brittons wherein the Brittâ—ns are overthrown a The Scots and Britons overthrow the Saxons * Columb's wonderful Narration of a Victory at a very great distance from him * Ethelfrid routs the Scots being shatter'd afore * Columb's Death b Austin the Monk comes into Britain rather to promote the Ceremonies and Domination of Pope Gregory than to Preach the true Doctrine of the Gospel * A dispute raised about the Observation of Easter-day c Eugenius harbors the fugitive Saxons d Ferchard endeavours to turn limited Monarchy into Tyranny for which he is imprisoned and there lays violent hands on himself e Northumberland divided into two Kingdoms i. e. the Deiri Inhabiting on this side Tine and the Bâ—rnici Inhabiting beyond Tine to Tweed f Apostacy justly punish'd g King Donald repeats and interprets Pious Sermons to his Subjects himself Ferchard's wicked Life and Repentance at his death * Scots Monks unjustly banished out of England * Maldvinus Strangled by his Wife for which Fact she is Burnt â—liâ—e a Egfrid King of Northumberland overthrown by the Scots and Picts b Two Kings very great Theologistâ— c Blood rained down from Heaven for 7 days c. d Amberkelethus slain e Eugenius like to suffer for the supposed Murther of his Queen f He first appoints the Acts of Kings to be Registred in Monasteries * A Town in the East part of Strachern near Fife g An Abby not far from Wigton in Galway * Donald a great Plunderer * Donaldus slain by Bugâ—nsus * Eugenius slain by his Nobles for his vitious Life h Fergus for his Adulteries slain by his Wife who to avoid punishment â—illâ— her Self * One Donald calls himself King of the Aebudae * Donald slain * War between the Scots and Irish. * Which is soon composed i Achaius the first of the Scots Kings that enters into a Friendship with France k Learned Men sent for out of Scotland by Charâ—es the Great as Iohannes Scotus c. * Who Preach the Doctrine of Christiâ—nity in Germany l A Battel between Athelstan of England and Hungus the Pict who was aided by the Scots l A Battel between Athelstan of England and Hungus the Pict who was aided by the Scots * Hungus his Visiâ—n upon his Prayeâ— to God * Athelstan overthrown and slain * 〈…〉 Andrew * Hungus's Death * Dongal drowned * Wars between the Scots and Picts * King Alpin overthrown in Battel by the Picts and slain * Kenneteus by a witty Invention engages his Nobles to make War upon the Picts * The
English Camp and does Execution The English Army Retreats Cruelty to Prisoners Iune 24. A Peace concluded between the Scots and English with the Conditions thereof Bâ—â—ce's last Will and Testament His Three Advices to his Successors wâ—th the Reasons upon which they were grounded 〈◊〉 Bruce's Vow to assist in the Holy War recommended to Douglas to perform Bruce would have his Heart buried at Ierusalem Douglas in his Voyage to Ierusalem assists the Spaniards against the Moors and was there slain Bruce his high Encomiâ—ms Iuly 9 th Randolf made Regent or Guardian November 24. * Situate near the Irish Sea He executes a Murderer though he had the Popes Pardon A notable Law made by the Regent to prevent Theiving The Collusive Cheat of a Country Man punished Stâ—ict Laws made by the Regent * In Tâ—vâ—otdaâ—â— A Monk Poysons Randolf with a slow-working-dose Edward marches for Scotland Edward punishes the Monk because his Poyson did not kill Randolf as soon as he said it would Edward retreats Iuly 20. Randolf's death and Character Duncan Earl of Marr made Guardian in Randolfs Place August 2. Iuly 31. Edward Baliol appears on the Scots Coast. * The Story of Twine or Tuenam Loresâ—n He stirs up Edward Baliol then in France to invade Scotland Edward Baliol Lands in Scotland * A Burgh on the North side of Firthâ—n â—n Fife over against Lâ—â—th in â—othâ—an August 〈◊〉 He overthrows Alexander Seaton In Strathernâ— And afterwards beats the Regent Himself making great slaughter of his men and himself being also slain Edward Baliol Declared King Aug. 25. K. David Bruce in his Minority to secure him sent to France Murray made Regent by K. David's Party A Castle standing on the North Bank of the River Ear in Strathern Built on the side of the River Don. Perth Walls demolished A County in the South of Scotland not far from Northumberland A Town in the head of Annandale near the source of the River Annan Baliol like to be surprized by Archibald Douglas Dec. 25. The Brucianâ— prevail against the Baliolans and Declare War against England The Brucian Nobles divide the Provinces they were to Govern And Declare War against Franâ—â— The King of England espouses Baliol's Cause and invaded Scotland His Pretensions for the War He claims Berwick The Scots Answer to the 〈◊〉 The English besieges Berwick * Apâ—iâ— 13. A Capitulation with the English about the surrender of Bâ—rwick Iuly the 30. Archibald Doâ—â—las made Regent by 〈◊〉 Party He makes inroads into England And comâ—â— near the Eâ—â—lish Army 〈◊〉 Berwiâ—â— Alexander Seatons Sons threatned to be put to Death unless he surrendred Berwick His Wife incourages him to part with his Children rather than the Town Alexanders Children put to Death by a Sâ—mmum jus as some think The Scots overthrown near Berwick Bâ—â—wick Surrendred to the English Edward pufft up with hiâ— Success refuses to hear foreign Ambassadors who were sent to mediate â— Peace Dissensions between the English in Scotland occasion a War * Now demolished The Nobles Bandy against Baliol. And Baliol against them Iohn Sterlin besieges the Castle at Loch-Leven * A Veteri poâ—â—e But the Governor beats him off and raises the Siege Edward enters Scotland again but retreatâ— and 〈…〉 with him to 〈…〉 General in Scotland Robert Stuart and Calen Cambel rise in Arms for Bruce and make Prosperous Beginnings Robert Stuart and Iohn Randolf made Regents in behalf of David Bruce In Teviotdale April 1. A Fewd between Douglas and Cumins Edward invades Scotland * 〈…〉 of the 〈◊〉 Provinces The Gueldrians Auxiliaries to the English overthrown by Randolfe Randolf taken Prisoner Cumin's large Promises to Edward Perth taken by Edward Edward 〈◊〉 to England Cumins left Regent by him in Scotland In Marr. * On the side of the River Don in Marr. Cumin's Army overthrown and himself slain Murray made Regent The English again enter Scotland Standing on a Rock in the Sea And upon their Retreat leave Edâ— Baâ—iol their General A strong Castle in Buchan Mâ—rray's prosperous Succeâ—sâ—s 〈◊〉 Cruelty Salisbury and Aruâ—del Command some English in Scotland Monfort slain by Preston A piece of Savage Inhumanity Talbot overthrown by Keâ—th Dunbar resâ—ved and the Siege raised Murray the Regent dyes Stuart made Regent His prosperous Beginnings He Saâ—lâ— over to David then in France At his return he Levies an Army Bullock turns to the Scots Perth taken by the Scots so is Sterlin And Edinburgh Castle by Stratagem Aâ—ex Ramsays House the School of War His Expedition into England He harasses Northumberland And takes Roxburgh * The Earl of Salisbury taken Prisoner by the Scots as some say * It is 3 Miles in Compass Three Governors of the Borders The English driven out of all Scotland except Berwick * Iuly 2. K. David returns to Scotland Edward enters Scotland with a great Army Embassadors from Scotland obtain a Pacification Iune 1. The Scots Nobles stock in to David A Town in Teviotdale Ramsay taken and starved to Death by Douglas Bullock put to Death Douglas pardoned David makes several Expeditions into England A Truce for two Years betwixt the Scots and English Calais besieged by the English See p. 4. Note i. David at the solicitation of the French enters England with an Army Where he receives a great overthrow and is taken Prisoner by Iohn Capland Upon which the English regain a great part of Scotland A strong Pass on the Sea shore in that Bourn which divides East-Lothian from the Meâ—â—s A Plague in Scotland Bloody Feude Douglas prevails against the English Iohn of France persuades the Scots to make no Peace with the English but by his Consent The English waste Lothian Norham burnt by the Scots The English drawn into an Ambush Berwick Town taken by the Scots but not the Castle Edward enters Scotland Baliol Surrenders the Kingdom to him Edward retreats upon which the Scots recover some of their Losses Edward overthrows â—ohn of France in Aquitaâ—n and hath two Kings his Prisoners at one time 〈◊〉 Bruce â—â—eased upon pâ—ying a great Ransom wherein the Pope assists the Sâ—â—ts David settles the Succession first on Alexander and then on Robert Stuart Great Inundations of Water endammage Lothian A Grievous Pestilence Eight Prudent Persons chosen out of all the Orders to prepare Matters for that High Court Davids unacceptable Propositions to the Scots Davids Policy to subvert the Islanders His Death and Character William's Son Marries Eufemia the Kings Daughter August 11. New Discordâ— betwixt the Scots and English Lilburn overthrown A Town in the Merss six Miles Northwest from Berwick Iohn Scotus born at Duns Percy enters Scotland They run from the Scots Sea to 〈◊〉 and divide 〈◊〉 from Lothian Percâ—'s Horse are affrighted with rattling Instruments and 〈◊〉 The 〈…〉 Robert upon his Queens decease Marries Elizabeth More by whom he had Children before whom he prefers to great 〈◊〉 Edward the Third dies and his Grandchild Richard the Second succeeds him Ambassadors from Charles
Head sent to the K. from Ireland The King reforms Publick Manners He also rectifies Weights and Measures His Queen brings forth Twins Doâ—glaâ— and Kennedy released from Prison He reforms the Ecclesiasticaâ— Estate Which was Wofully degenerated and corrupted He Erects Publick Schools and is present himself at their Disputations Parish Priests and Begging Friers the Causes of the Decay of Ecclesiastical Discipline with the Manner how King Iames aims to prefer only Worthy Persons to Benefices and Church Preferments He invites Tradesmen out of Flanders Luxury and Prodigality the trust of Idleness Robert and Murdo affect the Throne Murdo and his Sons put to Death The 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 and his Exploits Exceptions taken against Iames. A Castle standing upon the Tâ—ne 3 Miles below Hadington The Dispute between Robert's Legitimate and Natural Children occasion great Troubles The Earl of Athol's Ambition A Town of Normandy in France Plots against Iames. Upon the Account of Wardships c. Embassadors from France and England to Scotland The Scots joyn with the French against England Iames Marries his Daugâ—â—â—◠〈◊〉 to 〈◊〉 oâ— France and sends her thither A Stately City on the Lâ—â—r The English Writers imputing Perfidiousness to Iames are blamed by this Author and their Reflections upon him Wiped off In Champaign in France A Fight between the Sâ—â—ts and Engâ—ish Iames enters England but retires upon notice of a Conspiracy formed against him by his own Kindred K. Iames Cruelly Assassinated His Death highly lamented with his Laudable Character Earl of 〈◊〉 and other of Iames's Murderers Tortured and Executed Descants upon such severe Executions Marchâ—7 â—7 Alexander Levingston made Regent William Creigton made Chancellor Douglas labours to imbroil things The Râ—gent and Chancellor disâ—gree The Queen by Policie get the Kings Person out of the Chancellors Power * Situate below â—anton Bridge on the Ti ne in 〈◊〉 Lothian The Chancellor highly accused And besieged in Edinburgh Castle The Chancellor craves Aid of Douglas But receives an affronting Answer from him Whereupon he agrees with the Regent And sâ—rrenâ—ers up Edinburgh Castle September 29. Lying on the River 〈◊〉 in Cuningham Iuly 9. Deadly â—ewds The 〈◊〉 of Archibaâ—d Dougâ—as With the Profuseness of his young Heir * Or Lâ—ther a great and ancient Family in Lothian The Queen with her Husband Iames Stuart and others committed to Prison August 2. August 31. But she is Releast again The Aebudians ravage the Continent A Two years Pestilence in Scotland The Râ—gent and Câ—â—â—cellor again Disagree The Chancellor surprâ—zes the Kings Person The Regent being out-Witted by the Chancellor inwardly frets And Meditates a Reconciliation with him His Condescending Haâ—angue to the Chancellor A New Knot of Amity between the Regent and the Chancellor The Miseries of the Commons Occasioned Principally by the Earl of Douglas Where he and his Brother David were slain William Douglas Marries Beatrix his Uncles Daughter The high 〈◊〉 oâ— Thieves Dunbarton Castle twice surprized King Iames being of Age enters on the Government Douglas throws himself at the Kings Feet acknowledges his Offences is Pardoned and Received into Favour The Regent and Chancellor lay down their Offices Douglas by his Power at Court summons them to Appear They excusing themselves are declared publick Enemies * Oâ— Forester In Mid-Lothian two 〈◊〉 West of Edinburgh A Town on the River 〈◊〉 West-Lothian A Castle standing on a Rock lying near the Firth of Forâ—h above Abercorn Creighton late Chancelor defends himself by force Douglas incensed against Creighton's Friends The Clans of the Lindsys and Ogilbys Fight Ian. 24. The Lindsys prevail Iuly 15. Creighton received into Favour and is made Chancellor again Deadly Fewds betwixt particular Persons and Families An Abby in Lennâ—x A Castle standing upon Tine near Hardington Douglas attempts the Levingstons of whom Iames is put to Death c. Creighton sent Embassador to France The Bishop of Glasco frightned by a Voice from Heaven for his wicked Life which does him to Death Iames Kennedy retires from a Corrupt Court Dunbar E. of Murray Dies and Archibald Douglas succeed◠〈◊〉 A Barony â—â—ing on the 〈◊〉 Spey The immoderate Power of the Douglas's eâ—poses them to Envy The Miserable Estate of the Commons under Douglas Mutual Incursions betwixt the Scots and English Or Saâ—s The English overthrown by the Scots A Truce between the Scots and English Iames Married to Mary of Gelderland Colvil put to Death by Douglas Douglas goes vain-gloriously in a year oâ— Iubilee to Rome In his absence his Enemies sue him and 〈◊〉 Damages for wrongâ— received Which are answered out of his Estate Douglas at his return from Rome received into Favour And made Regent Douglas gives Iames new occasion of Suspicion Douglas design against Creighton's Life 〈◊〉 deâ—ends himself 〈…〉 Douglas joyns with Craford and Ross. He provokes the King In the Case of Herris And Macklan Douglas on safe Conduct comes to Court Where the King Stabs him with his own Hand Mâ—rch 27. Whereupon the rest of the 〈◊〉 rise in Arms. The Douglasâ—â— proclaimed publick Enemies Iames Douglas Marries his Brothers Wife A Famine and Pestilence in Scotland Douglas persuaded to a Reconciliation with the King Which he refuses Craford forsakes Douglas and is pardoned by the King Douglas applys to England for Aid but in vain Hâ—milton 〈◊〉 Douglas * Standing upon Nâ—â—th-Esk in Mid-Lâ—thiâ—n 4 Miles above Daâ—keith Iune 5. Douglas joyns with the Enlish and then with Donald the Islander Douglas's Wife forsakes him and 〈◊〉 to the King Lying on the River Spâ—â— So doth Donald's Wiâ—e too In Mid-Lothian Thornton put to death for Murder The death of Will. Creightoâ— A Party of English worâ—â—ed in Scotland Donald the Islander submits to the King The English Nobles crave Aid of Iames against Henry their King He marches to their Assistance but is diverted by a Counteâ—feit Leâ—at from Rome Iames takes Roxborough Town And besieges the Castle Where he is casually slain The Queen shews Herself a virago immediately after her Husbands Death Roxburgh Castle Surrendred and Demolisht Iames II. his Character Iames III. begins his Reign about 7 years of Age. Henry of Enggland taken Prisoner by the Duke of York York overthrown by the Queen So is Warwick The Queen overthrown and flies witâ— her Husband into Scotland Berwick surrendred to the Scots by King Henry Henry's Queen sues for Foreign Aid * Or Renny Which having obtained 〈◊〉 enters Scotland and England again Holy-Isle seven miles South-East of Berwick on the Coast of Northumberland Henry's Army overthrown at Hexham Alnwick Castle besieged and Douglas's gallantry in bringing off the Garison Henry of England taken Prisoner and his Queen 〈◊〉 Disputes in the Assembly of Estates about the Regency Which the Queen claimâ— But Kennedy and Douglas oppose A Truce for a Month betwixt the Parties The Commonalty dislike the Queens Regency The Queens Plea for the Regency Kennedys Grave and Prolix Oration in Answer thereunto Queen of Palmira a City in Syria now called Faid
and the Earl of Northumberland meet to settle Matters betwixt the Borderers * April 15. †In Teviotdale Iohn Armstrong with many of his Followers hanged ‖ The strange and seemingly miraculous Fast of one Iohn Scot for many weeks together with his Story Thomas Doughty a great Cheat. Fifteen Judges with Salary appointed to decide Controversal Matters in Scotland But quickly disused * The English make War upon Scotland †Upon the River Esk. ‖ The French Ambassador mediates a Peace between the English and Scotish Kings * Iames transacts with the French King and afterwards with the Emperour about a Match †Which the Hamiltons labour to hinder ‖ The chief City of Normandy * Three Maries offered by Charles the Emperor to King Iames out of which to chuse a Consort †King Iames visits the Orcades and other Isles of Scotland ‖ Lutherans severely dealt with * Mary of Bourbon offered by Francis as a Wife to Iames. †Henry of England sends Controversal Books of Divinity to Iames by his Ambassadors ‖ Ambassadors sent by Henry to Iames desiring an Interview which was agreed to Tho afterwards disappointed upon several pretences * Henry takes the disappointment of the Interview in great disdain King Iames sails over into France And marries Magdalene that King's Daughter Who died sooâ— after Mourning-garments when and upon what occasion first used in Scotland Ambassadors sent over into France to fetch Mary of the House of Guise Earl of Bothwel banished Iohn Forbes condemn'd for Treason 'T was thought unjustly The Lady Ioan Douglas c. accused for conspiring to poison the King For which she suffers Death being burnt alive * Mary of the House of Guise arrives in Scotland and is married to K. Iames. †In the East-corner of Fife ‖ Troubles in Scotland about Religion * George Buchanan the Author of this History imprisoned for the same cause but makes his Escape †Queen Mary brings forth a Son and the next year another * Ambassadors from England to desire an Interview at York Which the Faction of the Ecclesiasticks prevent ‖ Iames Hamilton set up for a Judge against Lutherans But prevented from executing his Commission Imprisoned Tried Condemned and put to Death King Iames presaging Dream * His two Sons depart this Life Henry of England being affronted about the Interview prepares War against Iames And sends an Army against him commanded by Howard his General The Nobility of Scotland refuse to fight against England which moves Iames's Passion against them * Standing upon the Tweed 14 Miles above Berwick K. Iames sends an Army into England Which is defeated The overthrow of his Army breaks his Heart K. Iames the 5 th his Character Cardinal Beton suborns a false Will of King Iames therein nominating himself with three Assessors to he Vice-gerenâ—s of the Kingdom Hamilton opposes the Cardinal Scotish Prisoners and Exile released and dismissed at London and the Reason why * The Cardinal's Cheat discovered and thereupon Iames Hamilton Earl of Arran chosen Regent †Sir Ralph Sadler sent Ambassador to Scotland to treat about a Match for the young Queen with King Henry's Son But is affronted by the Cardinal and his Faction upon colourable pretences The Decree of the Council of Constance forbids Faith to be kept with Hereticks as the Reformed are by them called †Kennedy Earl of Cassills his just Resolution to return like another Regulus into England to redeem his Hostages highly praised and rewarded by Henry of England ‖ Matthew Stuart Earl of Lennox sent for out of France into Scotland to ballance the Hamiltons * Kirk-Liston lying on the North-side of the River Annand that divides Middle and West-Lothian An Agreement made between Hamilton and Lennox The Regent recants his Opinions as to the Reform'd Religion Lennox was promised to marry the Queen but afterwards illuded by her and the Cardinal Upon which he retires and rises up in Arms and from Glascow marches to Leith But was forc'd to capitulate with the Regent at present Henry of England makes War upon Scotland Burns Edinburgh c. and retreats Lennox labours to justify himself to the French King against the Calumnies of the Queen and Cardinal * Or Grampius Glasgow Castle taken from Lennox by the Regent Lennox and Cuningham worsted by Hamilton Lennox flyes into England where he marries Margaret Douglas The English enter Scotland with an Army and garison Coldingham The Regent raises an Army but retreats shamefully The vain boast of Evers and Laiton two English Cavaleers The Regent by the advice of Angus raises a party to oppose the English In Teviotdale * The English being overconfident are worsted principally by thâ— Valour of Norman Lesley and Walter Scot. * The Family of the Frasers almost like to be quite extinguish'd †The French assists the Scots with some small Force * Hadington a Town in East Lothian twelve Miles South of Edinburgh The Scots march'd into England with an Army But again retreat Lutherans cruelly punish'd The ignorant Priests thoughâ— the Book of the New Testament was written by Martin Luther * Or Ruthven ‖ Kinfans is two Miles East of Perth on the North of Tay. The History of Wiseheart's Persecution by Cardinal â—eton and his Ecclesiasticks ‖ The Cardinal desires a criminal Judg against George Wiseheart But David Hamilton of Preston a Village in East Lothian persuades the Regent noâ— to grant one †The Regent not satisfied to proceed against George Whereupon the Cardinal proceeds against him by his own Authority Wiseheart's pious and Christian Leportment before his Death Wiseheart's Prophecy at his death concerning the Cardinal's Fall The Martyrdom of George Wiseheart The foul Character of Cardinal Beton Norman Lesly with a few Partisans surprises the Castle of S. Andrews and kills Cardinal Beton accord-to Wistheart's Prophecy before-mentioned Those that slew the Cardinal â— thosummoned yet refuse to appear * November 5. The Murderers of the Cardinal not reclaimed by the preaching of Iohn Knox. The English invade Scotland †A small River in Ewsdale The Regent marches against the English ‖ Or Lang-hope lying near the Conduence of the Rivers Esk and Ewes in Ewsdale * St. Ebbs Head on the Mouth of the Forth in Merss St. Andrews Castle taken by the Regent with the Assistance of the French The English enter Scotland and repulse the Regent's Forces †Two Miles East of Musselborough in East-Lothian The English send Letters to the Scots persuasory to Peace Which being rejected by the Regent He gives them Baâ—â—el But receives a great Overthrow †Brockty standing on a Rock on the Aâ—gus-side of Tay 2 Miles below Dundee The English retreat out of Scotland The English again enter Scotland And overtrow a Party of Scots commanded by Iames Douglas 〈◊〉 of Franceâ—ends â—ends Aid to the Scots The Queen of Scotland sails into France Hume and Fascastle garison'd by the English are surprized by the Scots ‖ Standing on the Firth of
Children Sforâ—a's Murder with its Consequents The Queen of England declares against Hamiltons design for the Regency A Marriage designed between the Queens of Scots and Howard Buds of discontent between the Queens of England and Scotland The Regent honourably dismisâ— from England and arrives in Scotland The Transactions of the Regent with the Queen of England confirmed by the Nobility of Scotland Hamilton forced to submit to the Regent So is Argyle Hamilton's Tergiversation For which he is imprisoned Various Disputes about admitting Huntly to a Reconciliation with Arguments Pro and Con. Sententious Maximes in Policy Yet at last the Regent pardons him upon Terms Letters from England declaring the Intrigues between the Q. of Scots and Howard Queen of Scots confined to the Lord Scroop's House in the North of England Letters from both Queens to the Scots Nobles read and debated The Scots answer Q. Elizabeth's Letter Petcarn sent Embassador into England to satisfy Q. Elizabeth The Regent's Lenity his own Overthrow The Regent deserted by his intimate Friends Howard imprisoned The Regent receives an encouraging Message from the Queen of England The Regent too negligent of his fore warned Danger The Regent shot out of a Balcony at the Instigation of the Hamiltons Of which Wound he died The Pious and Laudable Character of the Regent Bandyings in Scotland upon the Regent's Murder Randolph's Queen Elizabeth's Embassador sober Speech to the Scots The Douglasses Petition against the Murderers of the Regent which occasions several Debates * Or Commissioners * A Barony on the East-side of Clyde A Convention of the Nobles with various Opinions about choosing a Regent But is dissolved re infecta The Hamiltons and others of the Queen's Party meet at Edinburgh The Edinburghers much courted to side with them but in vain An English Army coming into Scotland puts the Queen's Faction to a stand The Queen's Party send Embassadors into England St. Lewis de Galais Ld. of Lansach in France An Embassador from France to the Queen's Party Q. Elizabeth rejects the Embassy of the Queen's Party in Scotland The Queen's Party at Linlithgo the King 's at Edinburgh Petcarn an Embassador from the Royalists in Scotland to Q Elizabeth The English Army under Sussex ravage over a great Part of Scotland Lord Scroop enters Scotland with another English Army The Hamiltonians depart from Glasgow Hamilton-Castle taken Petcarn's Answer from the Q of England Matthew Stuart Earl of Lennox created Vice-Roy and then Regent Huntly garisonâ— Brechin Which is taken by the Regent Queen Elizabeth made Arbiter betwixt both Parties in Scotland The Regent sends Embassadors into England The Regent hurt by a Fall from his Horse A notable Design of the Regâ—nts to surprize Dunbarton Castle with the occasion of it and the manner of carrying it on The Scituation of the Castle and Town of Dunbarton described punctually by our Author who was born there Dumbritton why so called Iohn Fleming Governor of Dunbarton * In Lennox Ignis Fatuus Country People call it Iack with a Lanthorn or Will with a Wisp Dumbarton-Castle taken by Surprize The Regent's Clemency to Flemming the Governor's Wife The Archbishop of St. Andrews executed as guilty of the King 's and Regent's Murders with Evidences proving the same 〈…〉 an Actor in the King's Murder in trouâ—le oâ— Conscience accuses himself and the Arâ—h-bishop of St. Andâ—ews oâ— that horrid Crime The Regent's Embassadors Morton c. return from England with an ample account of their Negotiations there and the grounds alledged by them to justify the late Actions in Scotland against their Queen The Original of Kingly Government in Scotland Kingly Government What Trajan and Theodosius their memorable Speeches Christiern of Denmark deposed Valerius Asiaticus his bold and confident Speech He is said to have slain his own Sons Who would have brought back Kingly Government into Rome Some of Q. Elizabeth's Counsellors desire the Scots King to be sent into England The Queen's Faction garisoned Edinburgh Morton comes to Leith and publishes a Proclamation against Them The Garison of Edinburgh sallies out upon him in his retreat Edinburgh How seated A Convention of the Estates held at one end of the City of Edinburgh because the Enemy possessed the Castle The Castle plays upon the Conventioners with Cannon but does them no hurt Two Anti-Assemblies Indicted A Sally out of Edinburgh against Morton at Dalkeith Near two 〈◊〉 from Edinburgh wherein both Parties â—â—ceive some Checks A Scotch Troop from Denmark comes to help the Royalists Morton falls sick at Leith Drury intercedes in vain between the Parties The Rebels sally out against Morton at Leith But are repulsed with â—oss Iames Culen a cruel Amâ—odexter justly punished A Ship from France taken by the Regent The Queen of England and King of France censured for their slow Supplies to their several Parties in Scotland The Scots refuse to send their young King into England with their Reasons why The Rebels Convention at Edinburgh The Regent's Convention at Sterlin The Rebels assault Leith but are repulsed Iames Haliburton taken Prisoner by the Rebels by a Mistake The bold Attempt of the Rebels to surprize Sterlin and the Nobles of the Convention there assembled Which in part took Effect The Rebels beaten again out of Sterlin by the Valour of Iohn Erskin Governour of the Castle The Regent slain in this Scuffle with Capt. Spence who endeavoured to save him * For killing him after he had Quarter given him Three Competitors for the Regency Iohn Erskin Earl of Marr chosen Regent He assaults Edinburgh but without effect The Royalists receive a loss in the North with the manner of it Deadly fewds between the Gordons and the Forbes's The Cruelty of the Gordons against the Forbes's The King's Party overthrown The chief Town of Teviotdale standing on the River Ied near where it falleth into the River Teviot The Rebels attempt Iedburgh * An Abby in Teviotdale But are driven back to Hawick where they are Routed * A Town in Teviotdale A Barony upon the Water of Bervy in Angus The Dundeans Enemies to the Gordons * A Castle on a Rock lying in the Firth of Forth above Abercorn The Regent straitens Edinburgh Archibald Douglas apprehended upon Suspicion of his Tampering with the Enemy
his room a man of no ill Disposition and yet not constant in Good neither The Danes who could incline Gregory and Donald the Two last Kings of the Scots by no Promises or Persuasions to take Arms against the English which were then Christians Now they easily wrought upon Constantine by Gifts and by the vain Hope of enlarging his Dominions to make a League with Them which lasted scarce Two years but the Danes deserting the Scots struck up a League with the English This League had scarce continued Four years before Edward of England gathered an Army speedily together and spoiled the Danes Country whereby they were reduced to such 〈◊〉 that they were enforc'd to return to the Scots whom they had lately deserted To whom they Swore most Religiously That they would for ever after observe the Amity most inviolably betwixt Them This Second League is reported to have been entered into with great Ceremony in the Tenth Year of Constantines Reign He gave the same year Cumberland to Malcolm Son of the last King which was as an honourable Omen to him that he should Reign after him And afterwards the same Custom was observed by some succeeding Kings to the manifest disanulling of the old way of Convening the Estates whose Free Suffrages ought not to have been thus abridged but this was like the Designation of the Consuls by the Caesars which put an end to the Roman Liberty A War being now commenced between Edward the Son of Alured and the Danes Constantine sent Aid to the Danes under the Conduct of Malcolm He joyned his Army with the Danes and being Superior in number they harassed the adjoyning Countries of the English and made great Devastation wheresoever they came to the end that they might force the English who had a far less numerous Army to Fight Yea they were so arrogantly confident of their Numbers that they thought their Enemy would never so much as look them in the Face so that now as secure of the Victory they began to talk of dividing the Spoil But as Prosperity doth blind the Eyes of the Wise so Adversity and the foresight of Danger is a good Schoolmaster even to the weaker side What the English wanted in strength they supplyed in Cunning and Skill Their Army was well seconded with Reserves and so they began the Fight the First Ranks being commanded so to do give ground and pretend a Discomfiture and Flight that so their Enemies following them in disorder they might again return upon them in that straggling posture Athelstan the Base-born Son of Edward was General of all the English Forces as our Writers affirm and Grafton also says the same thing They make this Athelstan guilty of Parricide for killing his Father and his Two Brothers Edred and Edwin whose Right it was immediately to succeed their Father in the Kingdom Fame doth increase the Suspicion that Edward was violently put to death because it accounts him a Martyr For that Fact he was hatâ—d and therefore to recover the Favour of the People by some eminent Undertaking he determined to expiate the Blood of his Kâ—ndâ—ed by shedding That of his Enemies And thereupon after he had fought stoutly a-while he gave Ground by little and little but afterward in greater Fear and Confusion as if he intended absolutely to run away The Danes and Scots supposing themselves Conquerors were unwilling to make any brisk pursuit lest the Cowardliest of the Soldiers should enjoy all the Prey and therefore they returned to plunder their Camp Hereupon Athelstan gave a Signal and the Engâ—ish returning to their Ensigns set upon them as they were scattered and laden with Booty and killed them like Dogs The greatest part of the Scotish Nobility was lost in this Fight who chose rather to dye on the spoâ— than to undergo the Ignominy of deserting their Companions Malcolm being much wounded was carried off the Field by his own Men and sent the doleful Tidings of the loss of his Army to King Constantine neither was the face of things more pleasant amongst the Danes Athelstan during this Astonishment of his Enemies took Cumberland and Westmerland from the Scots and Northumberland from the Danes Constantine having not force enough neither to wage War or to carry on matters in Peace called a Convention of the Estates at Abernethy and willingly resigned the Kingdom and betook himself to the Culdeâ— certain Hermits so called living in Cells Worshippers of God for so the Monks of that Age were called as into a Sanctuary amongst whom he lived the rest of his life at St. Andrews Here the English Writers who are profuse enough in their own Praises do affirm That Athelstan was the Monarch of all Britanny and that the rest who had the Names of Kings in Albium were but precariously so and his Feudataries only as taking an Oath of Fidelity to him as the supreme Lord. And they introduce many ignoble English Authors as Favourers of that Opinion And to procure the greater Credit thereunto they add also Marianus Scotus an Illustrious Writer indeed But here I desire the Reader to take notice that there is not the least mention of any such thing in that Edition of Marianus which was Printed in Germany but if they have another Marianus different from him who is publickly read and interpolated or foisted by them let them produce him if they can Besides they being Men generally unlearned do not in some Places sufficiently understand their own Writers neither do they take notice That Bede William of Malmesbury and Geffrey of Monmouth do commonly call that part Britain over which the Britains ruled i. e. That within the Wall of Adrian or when they stretched their Dominions furthest within the Wall of Severus so that the Scots and Picts are oftentimes reckoned by them to be out of Britain and not seldom are called Transmarine People And therefore when they read that the English sometime Reigned over all Britanny they understand the Authors so as if they meant all Britanny i. e. Albium or Albion whereas they do often Circumscribe Britanny within narrower limits as I have said before But of this I have spoken more largely in another place To return then to the Affairs of Scotland Malcolm I. The Seventy Sixth King COnstantine having retired himself into the Cloyster of the Monks Malcolm the Son of Donald was declared King Athelstan being dead and his Brother Edward Reigning Cumberland and Westmerland revolted from the English and returned to their old Masters Moreover the Danes who remained in Northumberland sent for Avalassus their Countryman of the Royal Progeny who was Banished into Ireland to make him King Edmund foreseeing what Clouds of War were gathering over his Head yielded up Cumberland and Westmerland to Malcolm upon this Condition That he who should next succeed in the Scotish Kingdom should take an Oath to the King of England as the Lord Paramount of that Country Afterwards he easily reduced the
Danes who had been afflicted with so many Calamities Neither did he long survive his Victory The English chose his Brother Edred King after him against whom the Danes who possessed Northumberland and never cordially observed any Peace made with the English did rebel and took from him many strong Places whilst he was busied in other parts of his Kingdom and principally York but he overcame them by the assistance of 10000 Scots Malcolm returning home gave himself up wholly to the Arts of Peace And to cure the Inconveniencies occasioned by the Wars especially Luxury and Bribery he himself did ordinarily Visit all the Scots Courts of Judicature once in two years and administred Justice with great Equity At length whilest he was busie in punishing Robbers and in restraining the lewd Manners of the younger sort he was slain by some Conspirators of Murray-Land in the night in the Fifteenth year of his Reign The Perpetrators of that Villany were with great diligence sought after and found out by the Nobles and being apprehended were put to several exquisite Deaths according to every ones share of demerit in committing the Parricide Indulfus The Seventy Seventh King INdulfus Reigned after him who having setled things in Peace at home lived seven years after in great Tranquillity But in the Eighth year of his Reign the Danes taking it amiss that the Alliance with the English was preferred before Theirs and that a perpetual League was made between the two Kings against them came with a Navy of 50 Ships into the Firth of Forth when the Scots little expected any such thing insomuch that they had almost surprized and overthrown them unawares In such a sudden emergency all were full of fear and amazement insomuch that some carried their Goods into the midland Country as a place of more safety others came to the Sea-side to hinder the Enemies Landing Hago and Helricus were the two Admirals of the Fleet. They endeavoured first to Land in Lothian and afterwards in Fife but in vain then they essayed to enter the Firth of the River Tay but there also they were hindred from making any descent on Land so that they Coasted about the Sea-Coasts of Aeneia or Angus of Mern Marr and Buchan but in all places being hindred from Landing they hoisted their Sails into the Main as if they intended to return home But within a few days when all was secure they came back again and having gotten a convenient place in Boâ—â— at the Mouth of the River Cullin they there landed their Men without opposition before the Country People could give any alarm of their Arrival When Indulfus heard of their landing he marched towards them before they could well have any notice of his coming and first he set upon the straggling Plunderers and drove them to the rest of their Army but made no great Slaughter of them because the Camp of the Danes was near for them to retreat to When the Armies came in sight of each other they both set the Battel in array and fell to it with equal force and courage Whilst they were thus fiercely fighting Grame and Dumbar with some Troops of Lothian-Men appeared on the Rear of the Danes which struck them into such a Pannick fear that they all run away some to their Ships others to unknown places whithersoever the Fear of the Enemy drove them But a great part of them cast themselves into a Ring in a Woody Vale and there waited for an occasion of acting valorously or dying resolutely Indulfus as if his Enemies had been wholly overcome rode up and down with a few Attendants and casually lighting on them was there slain at the beginning of the Tenth year of his Reign Some say that he was slain with an Arrow shot out of a Ship having disarmed himself that he might be more nimble in the pursuit and press the more eagerly upon them as they were going a Shipboard Duffus The Seventy Eighth King AFter his Death Duffus the Son of Malcolm got the Kingdom in the beginning of his Reign he made Culenus Son of King Indulfus Governour of Cumberland and sent him into the Aeâ—â—dae which were then in War and Disorder by reason of the frequent Robberies committed there For the young Soldiers of the Nobility having got a great Pack of their Fellows about them made the Common People tributary to them imposing a pecuniary Mulct on every Family besides Free-quarter and yet Culenâ—s dealt not harmer with them than with the very Governors themselves of the Island who ought â—o have restrained such outrages He commanded That for the future They by whose negligence these disorders had happen'd should make Satisfaction to the Commonalty and also pay a Fine to the King This Injunction strook such a Terror into these Idle paltry Fellows that Many of them went over into Ireland and there got their Living by their Daily labour As this matter was acceptable to the Commons so it was as offensive to the Noble Allies of Those who were Banished and to many of the younger sort who did approve that idle kind of Life These Men in all their Meetings and Assemblies First secretly Afterwards in the presence of a Multitude of such as applauded them began openly to revile their King alleging That he despised the Nobility and was drawn away and seduced by the Counsel of sorry Priests That he put Men of Gentile Extraction to Servile Offices That he advanced the most abject of the People to the Highest Honours That in fine he made such Medleys as to turn all things Topsy-Turvy They added farther That if things should continue at that pass either the Nobility must transport themselves into other Countrys or else must make them a new King who might Govern the People by those ancient Laws whereby the Kingdom had arrived to that height out of so small beginnings Amidst these things the King was assaulted with a new and unusual Disease no evident cause thereof appearing so that when all Remedies had been tryed in vain a Rumour was spread abroad by I know not who that he was bewitched the suspicion whereof arose either from some Indications of his Disease or else because his body did waste and pine away by continual sweating and his strength was so much decay'd that the Physicians who were sent for far and near knew not what to apply for his relief Thus no Common causes of the disease discovering its self they had recourse to a Secret one And whilst all were intent on the Kings Malady at last News was brought That Nightly Assemblies and Conspiracies were made against him at Foress a Town in Murray The Report was taken for truth there being nothing to contradict it Whereupon some faithful Messengers were sent to Donald Governor of the Castle in whom the King confided much even in his greatest Affairs to find out the truth of the matter He by the discovery of a certain Harlot whose Mother was