Iuletide substituting the Name of Iulius Caesar for that of Saturn The Vulgar are yet persuaded that the Nativity of Christ is then celebrated but mistakingly for 't is plain that they imitate the Lasciviousness of the Bacchanalia rather than the Memory of Christ then as they say born In the mean time the Saxons were reported to have pitched their Tents by the River Humber and Whether it were so or no Arthur marched towards them But in regard the Brittons were enfeebled by Pleasures by that means they were less fit for Military Services in so much that they did not seem the same Men who had overthrown the Saxons in so many Battels heretofore for by their Luxurious Idleness they had added so much to their Rashness as they had lost of their ancient Severity of Discipline Hereupon Advice was given by the wiser sort to send for Aid from the Scots and Picts Whereupon Ambassadors were sent and Aid easily obtained so that those whom Ambition had almost disjoined yet the mutual Care of Religion and Emulation too did so piece together That Forces were sent from either King sooner than could well have been imagined Lothus also that he might give a Publick Testimony of his Reconcilement brought his Sons Modredus and Galvinus with him into the Camp Galvinus he gave to Arthur as his Companion whom he received with so great Courtesie that from that Day forward they lived and died together The Army of the Three Kings being thus ready and their Camps joyned it was unanimously agreed between them That as the Danger was common to them all and the Cause thereof was also the same so they would drive out the Saxons and restore the Christian Rites and Religion which were profaned by them The Armies drawing near the one to the other Occa Son of a former Occa who was then General of the Saxons made haste to joyn Battel In the Confederate Army the Two Wings were allotted to the Scots and Picts the main Battel to Arthur The Scots at the first onset wounded Childerick Commander of that Wing of the Enemy which fought against them he falling by reason of his Wounds so terrified the rest that the whole Wing was broken In the other Wing Colgernus the Saxon after great Complaints made of the Perfidiousness of the Picts made an assault upon Lothus with great Violence who was easily known by his Habit and his Arms he dismounted him but he himself being environed in the midst of his Enemies was run through by Two Picts with Spears on both sides of his Body The main Battel where there was the sharpest Fight having lost both Wings did at length give Ground Occa being wounded was carried to the Sea-side with as many as could get on Shipboard with him and Transported into Germany of the rest of the Saxons Those who were most obstinate in their Errour were put to Death The rest pretending to turn to the Christian Religion were saved There were great Forces of the Saxons yet remaining in the Eastern part of England and in Kent The Summer after Arthur marched against them having 10000 Scots and Picts for his Assistance Congallus the Son of Eugenius commanded the Scots and Modredus the Son of Lothus the Picts both young Men of great Hope and who had often given good Testimonies of their Valour and Conduct This Army of Three Kings being about Five Mile from the Enemy and their Camps being distant one from another The Saxons being inform'd by their Spies that the Picts who were farthest distant from the other Forces were very careless and secure they made a suddain and unexpected Assault on them in the Night Modredus made a gallant Resistance for a time at last when things were almost desperate on his side he mounted on an Horse with Gallanus his Father-in-Law and so fled to King Arthur Arthur was nothing dismayed at the loss of the Picts but spent that Day in setling things which were discomposed after that his Army being commanded to march in the Third Watch he came upon the Enemy with a Treble Army and was at the Saxons Camp before they knew what the Matter was The Saxons being dismayed ran up and down having no time to take counsel or to arm themselves thus their Camp being entred they were slain by the Brittons and especially the angry Picts were cruel to all without distinction Some Writers of English Antiquities say That Arthur fought Twelve pitched Battels with the Saxons But because they give us only the Names of the Places where they were fought and nothing else I shall mention them no otherwise To speak briefly of his Famous Actions This is manifest That he wholly subdued the Forces of the Saxons and restored Peace to Britain And when he went over to settle Things in Lesser Britain in France he Trusted the Kingdom to Modredus his Kinsman who was to manage the Government as King till his Return I have no certainty of the Exploits he performed in Gaul As to what Geofry of Monmouth attributes to him there it hath no shadow much less likelyhood of Truth in it so that I pass them by as impudently forged and as causelesly believed But to return to the Matter Whilst Arthur was absent and intent on setling the Gallick Affairs there were sown the Seeds of a War most pernicious to Britain There was a certain Man in Arthurs Retinue named Constantine the Son of Cadoris who for the excellent Endowments both of his Body and Mind was highly in all Mens Favour He did secretly aim at the Kingdom and to make the People his Own Whereupon the Nobles at a convenient time when the King was free from business cast in Words concerning his Successor beseeching him to add this also to the other innumerable Blessings he had procured for his Country that if he died Childless he would not leave Britain destitute of a King especially when so great Wars were like to be waged against them Hereupon when some named Modredus as nearest of Kin and already accustomed to the Government both in Peace and War and One too who had given good Proof of himself in his Viceroy-Ship who also was likely to make no small Accession to the British Affairs These things being spoken the Multitude who favoured Constantine cryed out That they would not have a Stranger to be their King and that Britain was not so devoid of Men but that it would afford a King within its own Territories They added also That it was a Foolish thing to seek for that abroad which they might have at home Arthur knew before the Love of the People to Constantine and therefore though being a Man otherwise Ambitious yet he easily took part with the People and from that day shewed him openly and cherished in him the hopes of the Kingdom Modredus his Friends took this ill and looked upon it as a great wrong to him they alleged That by the League made by Arthur with Lothus
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 âo 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 Wârk 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
But at last when he perceived that he could not have Aid enough from her to recover his Kingdom being a Widow and old too he had solicited Neighbour-Kings and Nations desiring them to respect the common Chances of Man's Life and not to suffer Royal Blood to be oppressed by Tyrannical Violence and so himself to pine away with Grief Fear and Misery and that he though so the present afflicted with great Evils yet was not so dejected in his Mind but that he hoped the time would come that being restored to his Kingdom by the Aid of his Friends of whom he had many both in England and Scotland he should be able to consider every particular Man's Service and reward him accordingly especially if the Scots would join their Forces with His and if ever he was restored to his Kingdom by their Arms they should soon understand that they had won a fast Friend and that at such a time too when the trial of true Friendship is wont to be made for he and his Posterity would be so gratefully mindful of the Obligation that they would ever acknowledg that the accession of his better Fortune was due to them alone Besides he added many things in praise of the King part of them true and part accommodated to their present Condition Having thus said he held his Peace but the King called him up to him and bid him Take Heart for he would refer his Demands to the Council whose Advice in Grand Affairs he must needs have yet however they did determine he promised him faithfully That he should not repent that he made His Court his Sanctuary Upon this Peter quitted the Assembly and the Matter being put to a debate the wiser sort who had most experience in State-Affairs thought it best to reject the whole Business either because they judg'd he was a Counterfeit or else that they foresaw there would be more Danger by the War than Advantage by the Victory tho' they were sure of it But the major part either through unskilfulness in Affairs or inconstancy of Spirit or else to gratify the King argued that Peter's Cause was most just and that they greatly pittied the Man they added also That now Matters were in some confusion in England and Mens Minds were yet fluctuating after the Civil War and therefore it was good to lay hold of this Opportunity and that which the English were wont to do to them they themselves ought to try for once to make use of the Enemies Distractions for their own Advantage yea they foretold a Victory preconceived in their Minds before they had put on their Armour especially if great Forces of the English came in to join them nay if they should not come in in such Numbers as they hoped yet one of these two things must necessarily follow That either they should conquer Henry and so settle this new King on his Throne who in recompence for so great a Benefit must needs grant them all that they desired Or if they could end the Matter without Blows yet Henry upon the quelling Domestick Tumults not being yet fully settled in his Throne would submit to what Conditions they pleased But if he refused so to do when War was once begun many advantages might offer themselves which now were unforeseen This was the Opinion of the major part and the King himself inclined to them and his Vote drew in the rest And after this he treated Peter more honourably than before gave him the Title of Duke of York and as such shewed him to the People And not contented herewith he gave him Katharine Gordon Daughter to the Earl of Huntly to Wife a Woman of as great Beauty as Nobility of Stock by this Affinity erecting him to hopes of thriving and bettering his Condition And therefore by Advice of his Council he levied an Army and marched for England first of all carrying it warily and having his Troops ready to engage if any suddain Assault should be made upon him But afterwards when he understood by his Spies that the Enemy had no Army in the Field he sent out Parties to Plunder and in a short time wasted almost all Northumberland and the Countries thereabout He staid some days in those Parts and not an English-Man stirred in behalf of Peter And it being told him that an Army was levying against him in the adjacent Counties he thought it dangerous to venture his Souldiers who were loaden with Booty against the new and fresh Forces of the English and therefore he resolved to return into Scotland and there to leave their Booty and as soon as the time of the Year would permit to undertake a new Expedition Neither did he fear that the English would follow him in his retreat for he knew that new-raised Souldiers would not be long kept together neither would they make after him if they could through a Country so lately harassed and desolated by the Wars especially having no Provisions prepared before-hand And besides Peter was afraid that in regard none of the English came in to him as he hoped that if he staid any longer in his Enemies Country his Cheat would be discovered so that he himself seemed to approve of the King's Resolution came cunningly to him and composing his Speech and Countenance so as might best move Compassion he humbly besought him That he would not make such Havock in a Kingdom that was his own by Right and that he would not so cruelly shed so much Blood of his Subjects for no Kingdom in the World was of so much worth to him as for its sake to have his Peoples Blood so largely spilt and his Country so wasted with Fire and Sword to procure it The King began now to smell out and understand whither this unseasonable Clemency did tend and therefore told him That he feared he would preserve that Kingdom in which not a Man did own him as a Subject much less as a King not for himself but for his Capital Enemy and so by common consent they returned Home and the Army was disbanded Henry being made acquainted with the Invasion and also the Retreat of the Scots appointed an Expedition against them the Year after and in the mean time levied a great Army and that he might not be idle in the Winter-time he summons a Parliament who approved of his Design to make War on Scotland and granted a small Subsidy upon the People for that end That Tax raised up a greater flame of War upon him at Home than that which he designed to quench Abroad For the Commonalty complained that their Youth and Souldiery were exhausted by so many Wars and Impressments which had been made within these few Years that their Estates were impaired and ran very low But the Nobles and Counsellors to the King were so far from being moved with these Calamities that they sought to create new Wars in a time of Peace that so they might impose new Taxes on
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 rulâd 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
the adverse Party urg'd That they saw no new Cause of such great haste 60 days was but a lawful time for Bothwel who was out of the Kingdom to appear within which time a new Commission might be sent Neither ought that Delay to seem long especially to her who had past over so great a Matter in Silence now two Years and now also she had sent Letters which were of themselves an Hindrance why those who were willing to gratify her could not comply with them but if she desired a Divorce 't was easy to be obtained let her but write to the King of Denmark desiring him to punish the Murderer of her former Husband if he were dead though they all were unwilling yet she might marry where and whom she pleased but if she refused This then 't was plain she spake not sincerely and from her Heart but made a counterfeit Pretence of Divorce that if she married again she might also live in a disputable and uncertain Matrimony even with her next Husband too And hereof there was a shrewd Suspicion because she desired such Judges to determine of the Divorce who had no Power in the Case For what Power could the Regent have over Exiles with whom he had nothing at all to do who unless they themselves pleased might refuse to stand to his Judgment or how should they submit to anothers Judgment who were under the Power and Dominion of other Princes but seeing that there seem'd to be some hidden Fraud in the Case a Decision was not to be hastily made but the Queen of England was to be acquainted therewith in whose Power it was either to promote or hinder it Hereupon a Young Nobleman of the Regent's Friends was sent to the Queen of England to acquaint her with the Acts of the Convention Some may perhaps wonder That seeing greater Matters were transacted with less Dispute there should be such ado made about the Divorce But this was the cause of it Howard had privately transacted by his Friends concerning his marrying the Queen of Scots and the Conspiracy was so strong both at home and abroad That 't was bruited among the Vulgar the Design was to take away both of the lawful Princes and so to seize on the two Kingdoms for themselves the Place Time and the Whole of the Design was so ordered that all things seem'd to be secure against any Force whatsoever The Conspirators did most insist on This To remove what might hinder the Marriage If that were done they seemed secure that all the rest should fall in of it self On the contrary They which were for the King made it their chief Business to cast in Rubbs to delay it for in the Interim many secret Designs might in time be discovered and the Conspiracy prevented by the Care of both Princes In this Posture of Affairs the Decree of the Scots Council was brought to the Queen of England but she alleging she was not satisfied with that Answer and the Messenger did not seem to her a fit Person with whom she might confer in so dangerous a time and about such weighty Matters desired to be better inform'd by the Scots of those Matters Whereupon there was another Assembly of the Nobility Indicted at Sterlin where they drew up this Answer That as for the last of her Requests it might admit a Consultation in order to an Agreement but the second was of that kind that no Consultation at all could be admitted on that Head without manifest Impiety in regard it would not only diminish but even extirpate the Royal Authority For besides that all Partnership in Supream Magistracy is dangerous how can Two be equally join'd in Government whereof One was a Youth scarce out of his Infancy the Other a Woman in the prime of her Age of a crafty Disposition having past through Variety of Fortunes who as soon as ever she can creep into Part of the Government will by the Strength of that Faction which though she was removed by a publick Decree from the Administration thereof do yet labour to introduce her not by Entreaties but Threats or else by corrupting the King's Enemies or lastly by foreign Souldiers whom she is now busy to procure soon derive the whole Authority to her self How will she indure that an Infant should be equall'd with her who would not be match'd even with her Husband Besides if she should marry some potent Man such a Matter being now on Foot her Strength would be doubled and her Husband as of Necessity he must be admitted into Part of the Government perhaps he would not willingly suffer that his Children should be prevented in the Succession by a Son-in-Law and then in what a Case would the Child be What if his Friends as all Men are inconstant should prefer a present Largess before their future Hope and so side with the strongest What can attend the Child being now thrust down into the second and anon into the third Place but utter Ruin As for other things they had rather leave them to her private Thoughts to meditate upon than to make a previous Conjecture What an angry Woman having Power in her Hands prompted by the Imperious Counsels of her Uncles having evidenc'd her Cruelty towards her Husband being also exasperated by her Banishment would attempt against a Child especially when stript of all Aid of Nature and Providence and exposed as a Sacrifice to her Rage And what Life would his Friends live by whom she thought she was so grievously wrong'd Besides what would the State of Religion be when she could vent that Rage which in former time her Fear had concealed especially if an Husband of known Arrogance should further excite her innate Cruelty How easily might his Friends be destroyed when the young King was slain or else how soon might the King be subverted when he had lost his Friends For these Reasons the Queen could not be assumed into a Part of the Government without evident Destruction to the King's Affairs Matters standing thus there was no need to speak any thing to the first Head of her Demands Robert Petcarn was sent to carry this Answer into England a Man of no less Prudence than Loyalty and he came to that Court in the very nick of time when the Conspiracy to kill the Queen and to seize on both Kingdoms was discovered and made known The Plot was so strongly laid That the Queen of England began to be afraid of her self and after she had imprisoned Howard in the Tower of London she durst not proceed to punish the Queen of Scots but was consulting to send her by Sea to the Regent of Scotland but when the Storm was a little over that Design did not hold In the mean time the Regent in regard the Power of the adverse Faction did mightily increase sends for William Maitland who was a great Incendiary to the Conspiracy from Perth to Sterlin he being conscious of his Guilt though he had
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 â 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 â In Northumberland on the North side of the River Blico three miles above Stannington-Bridg â 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 â 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 âeads 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 râtreats The Regent a second time goes into France A Skirmish between the French and English Fleeââ 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 â Besieges Werke-Castle is repulsed and retreats â Werke-Castle described * In the ãâã near ãâã Castle * The Regent undertakes his third Voyage into France â In his absence the young King enters upon the Government * And vacates the Regents Power â Margarite's Husband returns from France through England into Scotland â He with his Partisans seize on the young King and manage the Government * Three Moderators of the Kingdom Douglas Stuart and Cambel â But Douglas soon ouââ 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 â Iohn Stuaât 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 â 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 â August 26. * In East-Lothian opposite to the Bass-Isle â In Sterlingshire not far from Toâ wood â The Douglasses arm in desperation * In Lothian â About four Miles South of Dalkeith â November 21. * A Town lying in the Firth or Forth in East-Lothian four Miles South of Dunbar â Tantallon-Castle besieged by the King â In the Author it is Tantallon but I judg it to be a Mistake of the Transcriber for Duâbar * The Siege of Tantallon raised â Within two Miles of Eymouth in the Moss â The Douglasses forced to fly into England * Embassadors from England to piece up an Accommodation between King Iames and the Douglasses â In Twidale â Iames Earl of Murray
Death * Bothwel outlawed â Ianuary 26. â Lent observed on a Politick not Religious Account * Matthew Stuart Earl of Lennox returnâ out of France after twenty two Years Exile â Henry Stuart his Son comes out of England and is in great Favour with the Queen â The Story of David Rize * In Prâvence situated on the Mediterranean-Sea at the foot of the Alps which divides France from Italy near Villa-Franca â Rize his Politick Court to Henry Stuart Lord Darnly Bothwel avoids his Trial. Various Disputes concerning the Queen's marriage with Darnly * Viz. Reformed The Queen actually Marries Henry Lord Darnly Which disgusts many of the Nobility A Politic Maxim both Prudent and also Equitable * A Town standing on the West-side of Clyde 2 Miles above Bothwel-Bridg The Nobles that rose up in Arms are quelled Rize persuades the Queen to cut off some of the Scotish Nobility and to entertain Foreigners as a Guard to her Person The Queen after her hasty Marriage is assoon alienated from the King who at the instigation of Rize is plausibly dismist from Court * Or Pebils * A Castle on North-Esk two Miles above Dalkâith in Mid-Lothian with the demesnes thereof The King being ãâ¦ã made sensible of Rizes scandalous Familiarity with the Queen resolves to destroy him The Peremptoriness of Rize â Or President Articles of Agreement betwixt the King and the Nobles for the destruction of Rize c. Rize haled from the Table as he was at Supper with the Queen and slain Damiot's warning to Rize to get him packing out of Scotland which he scornfully rejected Ruven's memorable Speech to the Queen on the occasion of Rize's Death The King takes Rize's Death upon himself â The banished Nobles offer themselves to their Trial. â Rize's Body buried by the Queen's Order in the Sepulchres of the Kings of Scotland * A Proclamatiââ against Rize's Murderers â The Queen delivered of King Iames the Sixth * The Queen disgusts her Husband and favours Bothwel â In Clackmannan-shire on the North side of the Forth below Sterlin â Bothwel wounded by an High-way-Pad â In Liddisdale â A Castle in Mid-Lothian * The Queen falls sick yet continues to flight the Applications of her Husband to her * She meditates a Divorce Strange Disrespect to the King at the Baptism of his own Son Thereupon he withdraws from Court Is poisoned but overcomes ãâã by the Vigour of his Youth The Story of the Infernal Design to destroy Henry Stuart King of Scotland agitated and complotted with the Series of its Procedure The King strangled And then the House wherein he was blown up with Gunpowder â The Bishop of St. Andrews shrewdly suspected about the King's Death The Assassiââ do falsly impute the King's Murder to Murray and Morton The English inflamed against the Scots upon hearing the horrid Murder of their King Prodigies accompanying the King's death Bothwel designs to destroy Murray The Assassination of the Scots King odious to all Nations Bothwels Mock-Trial for the King's Murder before the Earl of Argyle A Proclamation published for a Blind to discover the King's Murderers The bold Speech of a Taylor The Queen solicitous to procure the Government of Edinburgh-Castle into her own Hands The Earl of Lennox first publickly accuses Bothwel of the King's Murder * April 15. Whereupon a Court is hastily summon'd By which Bothwel is acquitted tho but Conditionally Bothwel challenges his Accusers Bothwel procures a Schedule from some of the unwary Nobility incouraging his Marriage with the Queen Which some of them afterwards retract The Queen to be sâemingly surprized by Bothwel in order to her Marriage with him The Water of Almond divides Mid-lothian from West-lothian in Linlithgo-shire Bothwel actually surprizes the Queen And is divorc'd from his former Wife for Adultery Ecclesiasticks backward to publish the Bans or to celebrate the Marriage between the Queen and Bothwel Yet at last the Bishop of Orkney marries them The French Embassador refuses to come to the Wedding â Even the Vulgar dislike the Queen's Marriage Politic Instructions to the Bishop of Dunblanâ to excuse the Queen's hasty Marriage at the French Court. The Queen frames an Association for the Nobility to subscribe Which the Earl of Murray refus'd to do And therefore departs the Land A contrary Association entred into by several of the Nobility to preserve the young King The Queen escapes from the associated Nobles in Mans Apparel And arms against them A State Maxim irrefragably true Both Armies ready to ingage Monsieur Crock the French Embassador mediates for a Peace But not prevailing he withdraws himself Bothwel's daring Challenge answered But the Queen forbids the Duel The Queen's Army refuses to fight * In Fife Whereupon Bothwel flies and the Queen is taken Prisoner The Bishop of Dunblane chouzed in his Embassy to France Wondrous Discoveries concerning the King's Murder in Bothwels Cabinet of Letters The Queen pitied in her Distress The Hamiltons stir in her behalf Governours appoinetd for the young King by the Queen her self The Earl of Murray returns from Travel And is chosen Regent Iohn Knox preaches a Sermon at the Coronation of K. Iames the 6 th The Coronation-Oath taken by Proxies by reason of the King's Minority Bothwel flies to the Northern Isles and from thence to Denmark Where he is imprisoned and dies Distracted The Queen's Party of which the Hamiltons were the chief design Her Deliverance out of Durance * In Strath-âarn The Regent remarkable Speech and Resoluâioâ An Embassador from France The Queen escapes out of Prison and gathers Forces against the Regent The French Embassador busy betwixt the Parties * Two Miles South of Glasgow A Fight between the Royalists and the Queen's Forces Wherein the Queen is overthrown and flies for England The French Embassador sculks away after the Fight In Clydsdalâ Queen Elizabeth of England doth in part adopt the cause of the Scots Queen Whereupon the Regent with some others meet the Queen of England's Commissioners at York to debate Matters George Buchanan accompanies the Regent into England A Plot to cuâ off the Regent in his Journy Disputes between the Commissioners of both Sides Upon their Disagreement Queen Elizabeth avokes the Cause to London Commissioners sent to London by the Regent Maitland not true to the Regent The Regent himself comes to London The Queen of Scots endeavours to raise Commotions in Scotland in the Regent's Absence The Regent manages his Accusation against the Queen and her Party To the convincement of the Queen of England and her Privy-Council ãâã acquitted from Guilt by the Queen of Scots's Commissioners themselves Iames Hamilton returns from France and labours to embroil things in Scotland hoping thereby to get the Regency from Mârray The Queen of England tampered with by the Hamiltonians to make Hamiâton Regent The Royalists answer their Reasons in a large discourse The Cruelty of Robert against his Brother's Children Laodice's Unnaturalness towards her own
Children Sforâa'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 Regânts 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 ãâ¦ã an Actor in the King's Murder in trouâle oâ Conscience accuses himself and the Arâh-bishop of St. Andâews 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 ãâã from Edinburgh wherein both Parties ââceive 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 âoss Iames Culen a cruel Amâodexter 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
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 âindochus 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 Etânus p. 163. LXII Eugenius VIII Ibid. LXIII Fergus III. Ibid. LXIV Solvathius p. 164. LXV Achaius Ibid. LXVI Congalâus III. Ibid. LXVII Dongalâus 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
infected with their Soloecisms that on the contrary when they had once tasted of the sweetness of the Latin Tongue they pared off much of the roughness which they had brought upon it They so smoothed some harsh Words as to make them less offensive to the Ear such as are Oxonia and Roffa for Oxonfordia and Raufchestria and many others Lud himself not contradicting And he allows himself the same Liberty in many other Words though he be so severe an Exactor in this one Word Britannia But now he doth pertinaciously contend against the Ancient Custom of all Nations for a new obscure and uncertain Word Sure it is that the Royal Name of Lud of a Danish Original and kept as a Palladium to this very Day may not be buried in Oblivion To prevent which Lud manages a Contest against the consent of the Multitude the Antiquity of Time and even against Truth it self There is yet also another Observation in the Word Britannia That Foreign Writers make it the Name of the whole Island but the Britains and English who have wrote the British History sometimes agree with Foreign Writers in their Appellation of it and sometimes they call only that part of the Island Britain which was a Roman Province and that variously too as the event of War changed the Borders sometimes they made the Wall of Adrian sometimes That of Severus to be the Limits to their Empire The rest which were without those Walls they sometimes termed Barbarous sometimes Outlandish People Bede in the beginning of his first Book writes thus Wherefore the Picts coming into Britain began to Inhabit the North Part of the Island for the Britans Inhabited the South He says also Chap. 34. Aidan was King of the Scots who Inhabit Britain And Lib. 4. Chap. 4. writing of the return of Colman out of England into Scotland he says In the mean time Colman who was of Scotland leaving Britain And elsewhere Then they began for many Days to come from the Country of Scotland into Britain And farther Oswald was slain near the Wall that the Romans had built from Sea to Sea to defend Britain and to repel the Assaults of the Barbarians The same Form of Speech is found in the same Author Lib. 2. Chap. 9. Claudian doth not seem to be ignorant of this manner of Speech peculiar to the Britains when he writes That the Roman Legion which curbed the Fierce Scot lay between the Britains i. e. opposite to the Scots that it might cover the Britains from their Fury in the farthest part of England and Borders of Scotland William of Malmsbury and Geoffry of Monmouth none of the obscurest Writers of British Affairs do often use this kind of Speech in whom a Man may easily take Notice that That only is called Britain which is contained within the Wall of Severus Though this matter be so clear to them than no Man can be ignorant of it yet it hath produced great mistakes amongst the Writers of the next Age what some have affirmed in their Works i. e. That Alured Athelstan and some other of the Saxon Kings did sometimes Reign over the whole Island when yet 't is clear they never passed beyond the Wall of Severus For when they Read That they held the Empire of all Britain they presently thought that the whole Island was possessed by them Neither is the Observation much unlike in the use of those Names Britannus and Britto for all the old Greek and Latin Writers caâl the whole Island Britannia and all its Inhabitants Britains without any distinction The first that I know of the Romans who called them Brittons was Martial in that Verse Quam veteres bracchae Brittonis pauperis The old Trouses of Britton poor The Vulgar commonly call the Inhabitants of the Gallick Peninsule Brittons though Gregory Turonensis always calls it Britain and its Inhabitants Britains The Romans do constantly call their Provincials Britains though their Provincials themselves like the Name of Brittons well enough Both Names have one Original viz. Britannia and as they both flow from one Root so they both signifie one and the same thing And that the Verses of Ausonius the Poet do plainly shew Silvius ille bonus qui carmina nostra lacessit Nostra magis meruit disticha Britto bonus 'T is Silvius Bonus whom my Disticks blame But Britto Bonus were his Prop'rer Name Silvius hic bonus est Quis Silvius Iste Britannus Aut Britto hic non est Silvius aut malâs est Silvius is good What Silvius The Britain Silvius no Britton is or a bad one Silvius esse Bonus Britto ferturque Britannus Quis credat civem degenerassâ lonum Silvius Bonus a Britan or Britton How he degen'rates from good Denizon Nemo bonus Britto est Si simplex Silvius esse Incipiat simplex desinet esse bonus No Britton's good If Silvius 'gin to be Simple simple and good do not agree Silvius hic bonus est Sed Britto est Silvius idem Simplicior res est dicere Britto malus Silvius is Bonus Yet a Britton still 'T is plainer Phrase to say the Britton's ill Silvi Britto Bonus quamvis homo non bonus esse Ferris nec se quit jungere Britto bono O Silvius bonny Britton but bad Man Britton and good together joyn who can They who contend that the Britains were a Colony of the Gauls do say that Hercules begat a Son on Celto a Gallick Virgin called Britannus from whom the Nation of the Britains had their Original Pliny placeth this Nation near to the Morini the Atrebates and the Gessorâaci Neither are there wanting some Greek Grammarians to confirm it as Suidas and he who wrote the Book called Etymologiâum Magnum C. Iâlius Caesar and C. Cornelius Tacitus seem to have been of the same Opinion and so do other Latin Writers also not unlearned yet not so famous as those two Besides the Religion Speech Institutions and Manners of some Nations inhabiting near the Gallick Sea do evince the same thing out of which the Britains seem to me to have been exhausted by Transmigrations and the Morini by little and little to have been quite extinguished The Word Morinus seems to draw its Etymologie from More which in the old Gallick Tongue signifies the Sea Venta called in old Latin Venta Belgarum because Inhabited by the Gallo-Belgae i. e. Winchester and Icenum derived from Icium these Names make it very probable that their Colonies Transported with them into a Foreign Soil their own Country Terms in the place of a Sirname and at their very entrance meeting with the Britains whom they acknowledged to be their Off-spring they brought them home and did as it were entertain them at their own Houses For Morinus amongst the old Gauls signifies Marinus And Moremarusa Mare Mortuum Though Gorropius hath almost stoln from us those two last Names
Them For they seeing one Shore to be altogether Mountainous and the other depressed level and spread into Campagne or open Fields they called the first Albion from its height But whether they gave any Name to the second from its low Situation the Length of Time and the Negligence of the Inhabitants in Recording Ancient Affairs hath made uncertain Besides this also adds Strength to my Opinion That the Name of the Island derived from Album whether Albion or Albium as yet pertinaciously remains in Scotland as in its Native Soil neither could it ever be extirpated there notwithstanding so many Mutations of Inhabitants Kingdoms Languages and the Vicissitude of other things These things seem true or at least probable to me yet if any Man can inform me better I will easily be of his Opinion Hitherto of the Ancient Names of the Island The next thing is To explain the Situation of the Countries The English Writers have plainly and clearly enough described their own several Counties But Hector Boetius in his Description of Scotland hath delivered some things not so true and he hath drawn others into Mistakes whilst he was over-credulous of those to whom he committed the Inquiry after Matters and so Published their Opinions rather than the Truth But I shall briefly touch at those things which I am assured of and those which seem obscure and less true I will correct as well as I can England as far as concerns our present purpose is most conveniently divided by Four Rivers Two running into the Irish Sea viz. d ee and Severne and Two into the German Sea i. e. Thames and Humber Between Dee and Severne lies Wales being distinguished into Three several Regions Between Severne and Thames lies all that part of England which is opposite to France The Countries interjacent between Thames and Humber make the Third Part and the Countries reaching from Humber and Dee to Scotland make up the Fourth But Scotland is divided from England first by the River Tweed then by the high Mountain Cheviot and where the Mountain fails then by a Wall or Trench newly made and afterwards by the Rivers Eske and Solway Within those Bounds from the Scotish Sea to the Irish the Counties lies in this Order First Mârch in which the English do now possess Berwick situate on the left side of the Tweed On the East it is bounded with the Firth of Forth On the South with England On the West on both sides the River Tweed lies Tiviotdale taking its Name from the River Tiviot It is divided from England by the Cheviot-Hills After this lie three Counties not very great Liddisdail Eusedail and Eskdail being so called of three Rivers which have a near Appellation viz. Lidal Eue and Eske The last is Annandale taking its Name from the River Annand which divides it almost in the middle and near to Solway runs into the Irish Sea Now to return again to Forth on the East it is bounded by Lothian Cockburnes Path and Lamormoore-Hills do divide it from Merch. Then bending a little to the West it touches Lauderdale and Twedale the one so called from the Town Lauder the other from the River Tweed dividing it in the middle Liddisdale Nithisdale and Clidesdale do border on Twedale on the South and West The River Nith gives Name to Nithsdale running through it into the Irish Sea Lothian was so named from Lothus King of the Picts On the North-East it is bounded with the Forth or Scotish Sea and it looks towards Clidesdale on the South-West This Country does far excel all the rest in the Civility of its Inhabitants and in plenty of all things for the use of Life It is Watered with five Rivers âine both the Eskes which before they fall into the Sea joyn in one Chanel Leith and Almond These Rivers arising partly from the Lamormoore-Hills and partly from Pentland-Hills disgorge themselves into the Firth of Forth Lothian contains these Towns Dunbar Hadington Dalkeith Edinburgh Leith and Linlithgoe More to the West lies Clidsdale on both sides the River Clid which by Reason of its length is divided into two Prefectures or Sheriffwicks In the uppermost of them there is an Hill not very high yet out of it Rivers run into three divers Seas Tweed into the Scotish Annand into the Irish and Clyd into the Deucaledonian-Seas The most eminent Cities in it are Lanerick and Glasgo Kyle on the South-west is adjoining to it Beyond Kyle is Galloway It is separated from Nithsdale by the River Clyd bending almost wholly to the South and by its Shore that remaining part of Scotland is also covered It is all more fruitful in Cattle than Corn it hath these Rivers running into the Irish Sea Vre or Ore d ee Kenn Cree and Luss it hath scarce any great Mountains but only some small Hills in it between which the Water stagnant in the Valleys makes abundance of Lakes by which in the first Showres after the Autumnal Aequinox the Rivers are encreased which bring down an incredible quantity of Eeles which the Inhabitants take in Weels made of Osier Twigs and salting them get no small Profit thereby The Boundary of that side is the Mul of Galloway under which in the mouth of the River Lus is a Bay which Ptolomy calls Rerigonius The Bay commonly called Loch-Rian and by Ptolomy Vidogara flows into it on the other side from the Firth of Clyd The Land running betwixt those Bays the Inhabitants do call Rinns i. e. the edge of Galloway They also call Nonantum the Mul i. e. the Beak or Jaw But the whole Country is called Galloway for Gallovid in old Scotish signifies a Gaul Below Loch-Rian on the Back side of Galloway there lies Carrick-Bailiery gently declining to the Firth of Clyd Two Rivers pass through it Stinsiar and Girvan both of them having many pleasant Villages on their Banks Between the Rivers there are some small Hills fruitful for Pasture and not unfit for Corn 'T is all not only self-sufficient with Land and Sea-Commodities but it also supplies its Neighbours with many Necessaries The River Down separates it from Kyle which ariseth from a Lake of the same Name wherein is an Island with a small Castle Kyle follows next bordering upon Galloway on the South and on the North East on Clydsdale on the West it is separated from Cuningham by the River Irwyn The River Aire divides it in the middle Near it is scituated Air a Town well traded the Country in general abounds more with valiant Men than with Corn or Cattle for the Soyle is poor and sandy and that sharpens the Industry of the Inhabitants and their Parsimony confirms the Strength both of their Bodies and Minds After Air Cuningham runs on to the North and doth as it were justle out and streighten the Clyd
for it reaches from the German quite home to the Caledonian Sea Where it is Mountainous 't is barren and untilled but the Plains thereof scarce yield to any part of Scotland for Fruitfulness It hath also many pleasant Valleys in it which are Watered with Rivers full of Fish together with several Lochs well-stored with Fish But the greatest of them all is Loch-Loubrun From the Deucaledonian Sea the Shore grows somewhat narrower and turns back towards the North-East From the opposite Shore the German Sea making its way between the Clefts of high Rocks within Land expands it self into a spacious Bay which affords a safe Harbour and Road for Ships against all Storms for the Passage into it is not dangerous and when you are once entred even the greatest Ships that are may be secure from all Injury of Wind and Weather At the farthest point of Ross towards the North lies Navern so called from the River Navern which the Vulgar following the Propriety of their Country Speech call Strath-Navern Ross bounds it on the South The Deucaledonian Sea washeth it West and North And on the East it reaches to Caithness Sutherland is so interjected between the three last mentioned Provinces that it borders on them All and in some Quarter or other touches them all For on the West of it lies Strath-Navern On the South and East Ross And on the North Caithness The Inhabitants thereof according to the Nature of the Soil are more given to Pasturage than Tillage I know no remarkable thing in it save only that it hath some Mountains of White Marble a rare Miracle in so cold a Country which yet are of little or no use to the Inhabitants because That luxuriant Humour which affects Curiosity hath not yet reached to this Place Caithness is the last Province of Scotland towards the North in which Coast Strath-Navern also meets It. These Two Counties do contract the Bredth of Scotland into a narrow Front In that Front there are Three high Promontories The highest of them all is in Strath-Navern which Ptolomy calls Orca or Tarvedrum now Farrow-Head The other Two are in Caithness but not so high as the former i. e. Vervedrum now called Hoia i. e. Strathy-Head and Betubium Dunsbey-Head falsly called by Hector Boetius Dume some call it Duncans-Bei from which word some Letters being substracted the word Duns-Bei seems to be derived At the Foot of the Hill there is a small Bay which little Vessels coming from the Orcades use as an Haven or Port. For a Bay of the Sea is there called Bei And this Creek or Bay being called by the Neighboring Inhabitants the Bei of Duncan or Donach from both those words conjoyned the Country Language hath formed Dunis-Bei In this Tract Ptolomy places the Cornavii or Caithness-men some Footsteps of which Name do yet remain for they commonly call the Castle of the Earls of Caithness Gernico for those whom Ptolomy and other Foreiners call Cornavii the Britains call Kernici And seeing he places the Cornavii not in this Tract only but even in a far distant part of the Island viz. Cornwal in England they who retain the old British Speech do yet call the same persons Kernici And perhaps 't is no absurd conjecture to imagine that the Cornovalli are so called for Kernicovalli i. e. the Kernic-Gauls yea in the very midst of the Island some footsteps thô obscure ones of the Name seem to have remained For Bede writes that the beginning of the Wall of Severus was not far distant from the Monastery of Kebercurnig whereas there is now no sign of a Monastery in those parts but there remains not far from thence the halfe-ruined Castle of the Duglasses called Abrecorn Whether both of those words or only one of them be corrupted from Kernicus I leave to the Reader to judge It remains now that I speak somthing concerning the Islands of Scotland which Part of the British History is involved with abundance of mistakes But omitting the Ancients who have delivered nothing certain on this Subject I shall only insist on what the Writers of our times have more truly and plainly acquainted us with Of all the Islands which do as it were begirt Scotland they make three Classes or Ranks The Western the Orcades and the Zealandish or Shetland Islands Those are called the Western Isles which lve between Scotland and Ireland on the West of Scotland in the Deucaledonian Sea and do reach almost to the Isles of Orkney or Orcades They who have written of the British Affairs either now or in the Age before us call them Hebrides a new Name of which there are no Footsteps or any Original in Ancient Writers For in that Tract of the Sea some Authors place the Aebudae or Aemodae but with such inconstancy amongst themselves that they scarce ever agree in their Number Situation or Names Strabo to begin with the most Ancient may be the better excused because he followed uncertain Report That part of the World being not fully discovered in his time Mela reckons the Aemodae to be Seaven Martianus Capella makes the Acmodae to be as many Ptolomy and Solinus count the Aebudae Five Pliny numbers the Acmodae to be Seaven and the Aebudae Thirty I for my part think it fit to retain the Names most used by the Ancients and therefore I call all the Western Isles Aebudae and I purpose to describe the Site Nature and Commodities of every one of them as out of Later so out of Surer Authors In performing this Task I will principally follow Donald Monro a Pious and Diligent Person who himself Travelled over all those Islands and viewed them Ocularly They lye dispersed in the Deucaledonian Sea being above Three hundred and odd in number The Kings of Scotland were Masters of them time out of mind until Donald the Brother of Malcolm the Third yielded up the possession of them to the Kings of Norway that by his Aid he might forcibly seize upon the Crown of Scotland to which he had no Right The Danes and Norwegians enjoyed them about One hundred and sixty years until being overcome in a great Battel they were outed of them by Alexander the Third King of Scotland These Islanders either confiding in their strength or else egg'd on and induced by Sedition have some time endeavoured to vindicate their Liberty and to set up Kings of their own For of late Iohn of the Family of the Donalds as well as others before him usurped the Name of King In their Diet Habit and the whole Administration of their Domestick Affairs they use the Ancient Parsimony Hunting and Fishing afford them Food They boil their Flesh in Water poured either into the Paunch or into the Skin of the Beasts they kill and in Hunting they sometime eat raw Flesh when the Blood is squeezed out The Broth of boiled
the design could wholly extirpate the old Heathenish Rites and Ceremonies But the Expedition of Severus the Emperor falling out in his time did mightily disturb all his Measures both Publick and Private For Severus being very skilful in Military Affairs brought so many Forces into Britain in hopes to conquer the whole Island as never any Roman General had done before him There were also other Causes for this Expedition of his as the corrupt Life of his Sons by reason of the Vices reigning in Rome and the Effeminacy of his Army occasioned by sloath and lying still To remedy these mischiefs he thought it best to put them upon Action Upon his Arrival the private Tumults which were about to break forth were suppressed and the Scots and Picts leaving the Counties near the Enemy retreated to Places of greater safety and more difficult Access Severus that he might once for all put an end to the British Wars led his Army through all the waste places deserted by their Inhabitants against the Caledonians Though his Enemy did not dare to give him Battel in the Field he was much incommoded by the Coldness of the Country and underwent a great deal of Trouble to cut down Woods to level Hills and to throw vast heaps of Earth into the Marish Grounds and also to erect Bridges over Rivers to make a passage for his Army In the mean time the Enemy despairing of success if they should Fight so great a Multitude in a pitch'd Battel did here and there leave Herds of their Cattle on purpose as a Prey to them that so they might stop the Romans who in hopes of such Booties were inticed to stray far from their Camp And indeed the Romans besides those that being thus dispersed were taken in the Ambushes laid for them were also much prejudiced by continual Rains and being wearied with long Marches and so not able to follow were in many places slain by their own Fellows that so they might not fall alive into the Hands of their Enemies Yet notwithstanding though they had lost 50000 of their Souldiers as Dion writes they did not desist from their Enterprize till they had pierced even to the End and extream Bounds of the Island As for Severus himself though he was Sick during this whole Expedition and thereupon was fain to be carried in a covered Horse-Litter yet by his incredible Obstinacy and Perseverance he made his Enemies to accept of Conditions of Peace and to yield up to him no small part of their Country He built a Wall as a Mound to the Roman Empire between the Fiâths of Forth and Clyd where Agricola before him had also determined to bound their Province That Wall where it toucheth the River Carron had a Garison thereon so situate and the Ways and Passages so laid out that it was like a small City which some of our Country-Men though mistakingly do think to be Maldon But it is more probable that This was the City which Bede calls Guidi A few years before the Writing hereof some footsteps of Trenches Walls and Streets did appear neither yet are all the Walls so demolished but that they discover themselves visibly in many places and when the Earth is a little digg'd up square Stones are quarried out which the owners of the Neighbouring Countries use in Building their Houses Yea sometimes Stones with Inscriptions on them are found which shew that it was a Roman Pile of Building Those Words of Aelius Spartianus do shew the Grandeur of this Structure He strengthened Britain says he with a Wall drawn Cross-ways or Thwart the Island from Sea to Sea which is the greatest Ornament of his Empire By which Words he seems to intimate That it was not a Trench as Bede would have it but a Wall especially since he gives such a Commendation to a Work which is shorter by half than Adrian's Wall Yea this Fortificatiân where it is least distant yet is Eighty Miles off from the Wall of Adrian There are also other Indications of that Peace if I mistake not For a little below that âarison of which I have spoken there is a round Edifice on the opposite side of the River Carron made of square Stones heaped on one another without Lime or Mortar 'T is no bigger than a small Pidgeon-House the Top of it is open but the other Parts are whole save that the upper Lintel of the Door wherein the Name of the Builder and Work is thought to have been inscribed was taken away by Edward the First King of England who did also invidiously deface all the rest of the old Scotish Monuments as much as ever he could some think and have Written accordingly that That Structure was the Temple of Claudius Casar But my Conjecture is rather That it was the Temple of the Heathen God Terminus There were also on the left Bank of the same River two Hillocks or Barrows of Earth raised as it sufficiently appears by the Hands of Men. A great part of the lesser one which inclines more to the West is swept away by the Washing and Over-Flowings of the River the Neighbouring Inhabitants call them yet Duni Pacis So that Peace being again procured by this Division of the Island and all Matters being in a sort accommodated Donaldus departed this Life having Reigned One and Twenty years Ethodius II. The Twenty Eighth King ETHODIVS the Second Son of the former Ethodius was substituted in his Room a Man almost stupid This is certain he was of a more languid and soft Disposition than was fit to have the Government of such a Feirce and Warlike People conferred upon him which being taken notice of the Nobles in a Convention bore that Reverence to the Progeny of King Fergus that they left the Name of King to Ethodius as sloathful as he was but yet not guilty of any Notorious Wickedness but set Deputies over all the Provinces to administer Justice therein whose Moderation and Equity did so regulate Matters that Scotland was never in a quieter State For they did not only punish Offenders but also made the immoderate Covetousness of the King to be no burden to the People This King in the Twenty first year of his Reign was slain in a Tumult of his own Officers Athirco The Twenty Ninth King ATHIRCO his Son manifesting greater Ingenuity than is usually found in such an Youthful Age was therefore made King For by his Manly Exercises in Riding throwing the Dart and vying with his young Courtiers in Feats of Arms as also by his Bounty and Courteous Demeanor he won to himself the Love of all But his Vices increasing with his Age by his profound Avarice Peevishness Luxury and Sloath he so alienated the Minds of Good Men from him that the more the Sons were delighted with his Nefarious Practices the more their Fathers were offended thereat At last a Conspiracy of the Nobles was formed against him occasioned by one Nathalocus a Nobleman whose
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 âe 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 baâer 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
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 Banishâânts had ensued thereupon On the other side he put them in Mind How much more Peaceable and less Turbulent the Parliamenââây 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
bridled and saddled for all Events and being not able to find the way in regard the Snow covered all the Track they were confounded and arrived at a Lake by the Town of Forfar where endeavouring to pass ovâr the Ice being not very firm they sunk with their Weight and were all drowned Their Bodies lay undiscovered for a season by reason the Ice closed again but when a Thaw came they were found and hung upon Gibbets in the High-ways there to rot for the Terrour of the Living and in Reproach to them after they were dead This is the common Report about Malcolm's End though some write that he was slain by an Ambush laid by the Kinred of Grimus and Constantinus the former Kings after a bloody Bâttel joyned and fought betwixt them Others say that he was killed by the Friends of a Noble Virgin whom he had forceably vitiated but all agree that he came to a violent Death Malcolm Reigned so justly above Thirty Years that unless Avarice had corrupted his Mind in 's Old Age he might well have been numbered amongst the Best of Princes The Year in which he died was a Prodigious One for in the Winter the Rivers did mightily overflow and in Spring there were great Inundations of the Sea And moreover a few Days after the Summer Solstice there were very pinching Frosts and mighty Snows by which means the Fruits of the Earth being spoiled a great Famine did ensue The Seventh BOOK I Have declared in the former Book how eagerly Kennethus and his Son Malcolm did strive to settle the Succession to the Crown in their Families That the Eldest Son might succeed the Father But what the Success thereof was will appear in the Sequel This is certain That that Publick Benefit which was promised to the whole Kingdom nor yet the private Advantage alleged to arise to our Kings thereby were not at all obtained by this New Law An Universal Good to All was pretended in thus settling the Succession that Seditions Murders and Treacheries might be prevented amongst Those of the Blood and also that Ambition with the other Mischiefs accompanying it might be rooted out from amongst the Nobles But on the contrary when I enquire into the Causes of Publick Grievances and compare the Old with the Modern it seems to me That all those Mischiefs which we would have avoided by this New Law are so far from being extinguished by the Antiquating of the Old that they rather receive a great Increase therefrom For not to speak of the Plots of their Kinred against Those who are actually in the Throne nor of a present King 's Evil Suspitions of those whom Nature and the Law would have accounted as most dear to him I say omitting these things which in the Series of our History will be further explained all the Miseries of former Ages may seem light and tolerable if compared with those Calamities which followed upon the Death of Alexander the Third Neither will I insist upon the Particulars following viz. that That Law doth enervate the Force of all Publick Councils without which no Lawful Government can subsist That it doth willingly and by consent create those Evils to our selves which others who have Interest in Publick Governments do chiefly if not only deprecate viz. To have Kings over whom other Governors must be appointed and so the People are to be universally committed into their Power who have no Power over themselves insomuch That those Persons who are hardly brought to Obey Wise Prudent and Experienced Kings are now required to yield Obedience as it were to the very shadow of a King by which means we willingly precipitate our selves into those Punishments which God threatens to Those who despise and contemn his Holy Majesty namely That Children Male or Female may Reign over us whom the Law of Nations and even Nature it self the Mother of all Laws hath subjected to the Rule of others As for the private Benefit That Kings aim at by this Law i. e. That they may perpetuate their Name and Stock how vain and fallacious that Pretence is the Examples of the Ancients yea even Nature it self might inform them if they had but considered by how many Laws and Rewards the Romans endeavoured to perennate the mighty Names of their Families of which yet no one Footstep remains at this Day no not in any part of the World which they had Conquered Which Disappointment doth deservedly attend those who fight against even Nature it self by endeavouring to cloath a fading frail Thing subject to Momentany Alterations and Blasts of Fortune with a sort of Perpetuity and to endow it with a kind of Eternity which they themselves neither are Partakers of nor can be yea they strive to effect it by those Mediums which are most cross to their purpose For what is less conducive to Perpetuity than Tyranny Yet this New Law makes a great Step thereto for a Tyrant is as it were the White or Mark exposed to the Hate of all Men insomuch that he cannot long subsist and when he falls all His fall with him It seems to me That God doth sometimes gently chastize and disappoint this endeavour of Foolish Men and sometimes he doth expose it even to Publick Scorn as if it were emulous of his own Power There can be no clearer or fitter Example of Gods Will and Pleasure than That which we have now under our Hands For Malcolm who so much laboured to confirm the Law which was almost forcibly Enacted by his Father by common Suffrage and Consent For the Kings Children to be substituted in the Room of their deceased Parents even He left no Male-Child behind him but he had Two Daughters One called Beatrix whom he Married to a Nobleman named Grimus the Thane of the Western Islands and the Chief of all other Thanes and therefore styled in that Age Abthane the Other named Doaca he Married to the Thane of Angus by whom he begot Mackbeth or Macbeda of whom in his Place Donaldus VII The Eighty Fourth King MALCOLM being slain as hath been related Donaldus his Nephew by his Daughter Beatrix succeeded him A Prince of great Courtesy and of more Indulgence to his own Kindred than became a King For he was of a mild and Inclineable Disposition and from his Youth gave forth Omens of his Popularity For in the most difficult times when he was made Governor of Cumberland by his Grandfather and could not câme to the King by reason of the Danish Troops which swarmed over the Country and stopped all Passages to Swear to the Laws yet he faithfully took part with the English until Canutus having had the rest of England surrendred to him made an Expedition against him and then he submitted himself to the Danes on the same Conditions under which he obeyed the English before This also was popular in him That he administred Justice with great Equity and every Year he visited the Provinces
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 âifferent 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
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
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 Râbert Bruce and Alexander Cumins whom the English Writers call Iohn the greatest part of them were slain in Fight and Cumins with the Englâsh 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
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 Lâwis King of Franâe 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 ãâã 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 ãâã 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
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 Ides of Iuly in the Year of Christ 1329. and of his Reign the Twenty Fourth The Ninth BOOK THE Nobles of Scotland having performed the Funeral Obsequies for the late King assoon as they could conveniently did Indict a Convention of the Estates for the Electing of a Regent where the Inclinations of the Publick easily pitched on Thomas Randolf Earl of Murray for even in the Kings Life Time he had for some Years managed that Office and the King at his Death had also Recommended him to the People by his last Will and Testament David II. The Ninety Eighth King THE Coronation of the King was deferred till the Eighth of the Calends of December the next Year following that so by the Permission of the Pope he might be Anointed and that new Ceremony be performed more Augustly amongst the Scots Assoon as the Regent was chosen he first of all ratified the Peace made with the English afterward he applied his Mind to settle quiet at home and to suppress publick Robberies In order whereto he kept a strong Guard of Armed Men about him which were ready on all Occasions so that when News was brought him as he was going to Wigton which is a Town in Galway that there was a strong Band of Thieves who beset the Highways and robbed Travellers in that Country he sent out his Guard against them even as he was in his Progress who took them every Man whom he caused to be put to Death He was Inexorable against all Murderers so that he caused a certain Man to be apprehended who had obtained the Popes Bull of Pardon for his Offence and thereupon thought himself secure to be apprehended alledging That the Pope might Pardon the Soul-Guilt but the Body-Punishment belonged to the King To prevent Robberies which were yet too frequently committed by reason of the remaining Contagion of the Wars he made a Law That the Country Men should leave their Iron Tools and Plough-Gear in the Field all Night and that they should not shut their Houses nor Stalls If any thing were stollen the Loss was to be repaired by the Sheriff of the County and the Sheriff was to be reimbursed by the King and the King was to be satisfied out of the Estates of the Thieves when they were taken There was one Country Man either over-greedy of Gain or else judging that Caution to be Vain and Frivolous who hid his Plough Iron in the Field and came to the Sheriff to demand Satisfaction as if it had been stollen the Sheriff paid him presently but inquiring further into the Matter and finding that he was the Author of the Theft himself he caused him to be Hanged and his âoods to be Confiscate He restrained the loose Pack of Drolling Vagabonds and Minstrellers from wandring up and down the Country under most grievous Penalties If any one assaulted a Travellor or any Publick Officer in performing his Office he made it Lawful for any Body to Kill him So that when Thirty Assailants had been slain by the Companions of a certain Publick Minister at a Village called Halydon he pronounced That the Fact was just and Indemnified the Committers of it This Domestick Severiây made him Formidable to flagitious Persons at home as his Valour did to his Enemies abroad And therefore the English who upon Roberts death watched all Occasions to revenge themselves perceiving That they could attempt nothing by open Force as long as Randolph was living turned their Thoughts to secret Fraud and Stratagem The speediest Way to be rid of their Enemy seemed to be by Poysoning him Neither wanted there a fit Minister to attempt it which was a certain Monk of that Class which are idly brought up and for want of Masters to teach them better they do many times pervert Good Wits to Evil Arts and Practices There were Two Professions joyned in him viz. Monkship and the Profession of Physick the First seemed proper to gain him Admittance the Second rendred him fit to perpetrate the Wickedness Hereupon he comes into Scotland giving out in all Places That as he had Skil in all other Parts of Physick so especially in curing the Stone by which means he obtained an easy Access to the Regent and being employed to cure him he mixed a Slow-working Poyson with his Medicine and then taking a few Days Provision with him he returned again into England as if he had gone only to get and prepare more Drugs and Medicines There he makes a Solemn Asseveration before Edward That Randolf would dye by such a certain day In Hopes whereof Edward levied a great Army and marching to the Borders found there as great an Army of Scots ready to receive him not far from his Camp whereupon he sent a Trumpeter to them upon Pretence to demand Reparation for Damages but he was enjoyned to inquire Who commanded the Scots Forces Randolph his Disease growing on and the Monk not returning at the Day appointed suspected all things for the worse and therefore dissembling his Grief as much as he could he sate in a Chair before his Tent Royally apparelled and gave Answer to the Demands of the Herald of Arms as if he had been a man perfectly Healthy and Sound The Herald at his Return acquainted the King with what he had seen and heard so that the Monk was punished as a Lying Cheat and Edward marched back his Army only leaving a Guard on the Borders to prevent Incursions Randolph also was hindred from marching forward by the Violence of his Disease but returning he disbanded his Army and at Musselborough about Four Miles from Edinburgh departed this Life in the year of our Salvation 1331. and the 13th of the Calends of August having managed the Regency Two years after Robert's death He was a Man no whit Inferiour to any of our Scotish Kings in Valour and Skill in Military Affairs but far Superiour to them in the Arts and Knacks of Peace He left Two Sons behind him Thomas and Iâhn Both worthy of so great a Father When Randolf Guardian of the Kingdom for so they then called him was dead Duncan Earl of Marr was chosen in his Place the 4th of the Nones of August The King being then Ten year old on which very Day a sad Message was brought to Court That the day before the Calends of that Month Edward Baliol was seen in the Firth of Forth with a Navy very Numerous To make all things more plain concerning his coming I must go a little back When King Robert died there was one Laurence Twine an English man of the Number of Those who having received Lands in Scotland as a Reward of their Military Service dwelt there He was of a Good Family but of a Wicked Life He conceiving Hope of greater Liberty upon the Death of One King and the Immature Age of Another gave himself up more licentiously to unlawful Pleasures so that
being often found in Adultery and admonished by the Judge of the Ecclesiastical Court yet not desisting he was at last Excommunicated by the Official as they call him of the Bishop of Glasgow Whereupon he as if he had received a grat deal of Wrong way-laid the Judge as he was going to Air and kept him so long a Prisoner until upon the Payment of a Sum of Money he had absolved him Twine being informed That Iames Douglas was extremely angry with him for this Fact and that he sought for him to have him punished for Fear of his Power he fled into France and there he addressed himself to Edward Baliol Son to Iohn who had been King of Scotland some few years informing him of the State of Affairs in Scotland and withal advising him by no means to omit so fair an Opportunity of recovering his Fathers Kingdom For said he Their King was now but a Child and he had many Enemies about him and readier to be Avengers of the hatred towards his Father than his Friends The Fathers of some were slain in a publick Convention at Perth others were banished and lost their Estates others were mulct with the Loss of a great part of of their Lands and besides many of the English race who were deprived of the Lands given them by his Father would be his Companions in the Expedition yea that there were Men enough needy and criminal who either for hope of gain or to avoid the punishment of the Law being desirous of Change and Innovation wanted nothing but a Leader to begin a Disturbance And moreover Iames Douglas being killed in Spain and Randolf by reason of his Sickness being unfit for the Government there was not a Man besides to whose Authority the giddy and disagreeing Multitude would as soon submit as to His. Baliol knew That what he had spoken was for the most part true and hearing also that Edward of England was sending great Forces into Scotland Thereupon the crafty Impostor easily persuaded Him who of himself was desirous of Empire and Glory to get what Ships he could together and so to bear a Part in that Expedition But before the coming of Baliol into England Edward had disbanded his Army Nevertheless âhe exiled Scots and those English who had been dispossessed of their Lands in Scotland flocked in to him and so he made up no inconsiderable Army Some say That he had but 600 men accompanying him in so great an Attempt which seems not very probable I rather think Their Speech is more agreeable to Truth who write That the English assisted him with 6000 Foot And they were all more encouraged in their designed Expedition when they heard That Randolf was dead whilst they were making their Preparations for that mightily erected their Minds as a good Omen of their Future Success With this Navy he came to Kinghorn and there Landed his Naval Forces in the Calends of August The Land Forces were led by David Cumins heretofore Earl of Athol as also by Mowbray and Beaumont and the Forces of the English by Talbot At the News of the arrival of this Fleet Alexander Seaton a Nobleman who happened to be in those Parts at that time strove to oppose them thinking that upon their disorderly Landing some Opportunity of Service might be Offered but in regard few of the Country came in to him he and most of his men were cut off Baliol allowed some Few Days to his Soldiers to refresh themselves after their troublesome Voyage and then marched directly towards Perth and pitched his Tents by the Water-Mills not far from the Water of Earn The Regent was beyond and Patrick Dunbar on this side the River each of them with Great Forces their Camps being five miles distant one from another Baliol thô upon the Coming in of Many to him on the bruit of his good Success he made up an Army of above Ten thousand men yet being between Two Armies of his Enemies and fearing to be crushed in the midst he thought it best to attack them severally and that on a sudden when they least expected any such thing and he resolved to set upon Marr the Regent first because it was likely That he being most remote from his Enemy would be less watchful and so more liable to a surprize He got Andrew Murray of Tullibardin to be hiâ Guide who not daring to joyn himself openly with the English in the Night fastned and stuck up a Pole or Stake in the River where it was Fordable to shew Baliol's men the Way over They being covered with the Woods which grew on the other Side the River came near the Enemy before they were aware where they understood That they kept but a thin Watch and slender Guard and passed the Night as in no Expectation of an Enemy at all upon the Account of this their Negligence they marched by their Camp in great Silence thinking to make an Assault on the adverse part thereof where they supposed they should find them more secure But it happened That in that Part where they presumed the greatest negligence was That Thomas Randolf Earl of Murray Robert Bruce Earl of Carrick Murdo Earl of Monteath and Alexander Frazer kept the Guard and Watch. They gathering a lusty Band of their Friends together received the First Charge and Onset of the Enemy very Valiantly upon the Edge of a Ditch which the falling down of the Rain-Water had made In the mean time a great Noise and Tumult was made in the Camp each one hastening to his Arms and running in to the Conflict but rushing in rashly in no Order and without their Colours first they broke the Ranks of their own men who bore the Brunt of the Baliolans and so the Last push'd on the First who falling into the Ditch they also in a ruinous manner foll down upon them There many were slain by the Enemy but more both of Horse and Men pressed to death by their âall and the most part were so weakened that they had hardly strength enough left either to Fight or Fly There fell of the Scots 3000 many of those that escaped fled to Perth but they being few and generally without Arms or Guides were easily taken by the pursuing English together with the City itself The next Day Dumbar hearing of the overthrow of the other Army and that Perth was taken and being informed also of the Paucity of the English marched directly towards the Town with an intent to Besiege it and destroy the Enemy whilst they were yet in want of all things but the Matter being debated amongst his Chief Commanders each one excused himself and so they departed without effecting any thing Baliol having performed so great Matters in so short a time even beyond his Hope was encouraged to attempt the rest of the Scots either to win them by Favour or to conquer them by Force And there being such a mighty concourse of People
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 Carrâck 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 Dunâoon 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
of Andrew was made Governor of the Castle Baliol was so terrified at this suddain Mutation of Affairs That he left Galway where he usually abode and went for England A while after the Castle of Edinburgh was taken not by Force but Stratagem Walter Curry a Merchant who then chanced to have a Ship laden with Provisions in the Bay or Firth of the River Tay at Dundee was sent for by William Douglas into the Forth There He and Bullock agreed That Curry should fain himself to be an Englâshman and should carry Two Bottles of his best Wine and some other Presents to the Governor of the Castle desiring his Leave to sell the rest of his Provision in the Garison and withal to inform him That if He or the Garison stood in any need of his Service he would Gratifie them as far as ever he was able Hereupon the Governor commanded him to bring some Hogsheads of Wine and a certain Number of Biskets and promised him Free Admittance whenever he came He for Fear of the Scots forsooth who often made Incursions into the neighbouring Parts promises happy be lucky to come betimes the next Morning That Night Douglas with Twelve Select Men accompanying him clad themselves in Mariners attire under which their Armour was hid and so carried Provisions into the Castle as for his Soldiers he laid them in Ambush commanding them to wait for the Signal to be given Douglas and Simon Frazer went before and commanded the rest to follow Them at a moderate distance When they were let by the Porter into the Fort which was made of Beames before the Gate of the Castle they observed That the Keys of the Doors hung on his Arms him therefore they killed and so opened the Castle-Gate and then as they had before agreed they gave the Signal to their Fellows by blowing an Horn the Noise whereof was a Sign to the One That the Castle was entred by their Friends To the Other That it was surprized by their Enemies Both Parties made all the haste they could the Scots cast down their Burdens in the very Passage of the Gate lest the Doors might be shut so they kept out from their Fellows who could march but slowly up on so steep an Ascent Here there happened a sharp Dispute with Loss of Both sides at length the Garison-Soldiers had the worst who were all slain except the Governor and six more It was this self same Year or as some say the next That Ramsay the most Experienced Soldier of all the Scots made his Expedition into England Men had so great an Opinion of his Skil in Military Affairs That every Body was accounted but a Fresh-Water Soldier who had not been disciplin'd under Him And therefore all the young Fry came in to him as the only School where the Art of War was to be taught He having before made many prosperous Expeditions into his Enemies Country thô but with small Forces their Affairs being now at a Low-Ebb in Scotland took heart to attempt greater Matters so that gathering together an handsom Army of his Tenants and Friends he spoiled and harassed Northumberland and upon his Retreat the English drew fotrh all their Force from the Country and Garisons and so followed him with a very great Army What was to be done in this case Alexander could not avoid Fighting and yet he perceived That his Soldiers were somewhat Crest-fallen by reason of the Multitude of the Enemy In these Circumstances he sent away his Booty before and placed his Foot in Ambush and commanded his Horse to straggle abroad as if they were Flying and when they came to the Place of Ambush then to rally again at Sound of Trumpet The English imagining That the Horse had fled in good earnest pursued them as disorderly and when the Signal was given to come together again they in a moment turned back upon Them The Foot also skipping out of their Ambushes which struck such a Consternation and Terrour into the English That they fled back faster than before they had pursued Many of them were slain many taken and the Prey carried home safe Amongst the Prisoners there was the Governor of Roxburgh who had drawn out almost all his Garison to follow him so that Alexander knowing the Town to be empty assaulted and easily took It at the First Onset and when he had taken the Lower Part of the Castle the Remainders of the Garison-Soldiers sled up into a strong Tower therein but being vigorously assaulted and having no hopes of Relief They surrendred up Themselves Some say That the Earl of Salisbury was there taken and exchanged for Iohn Randolf But most Writers whom I am rather inclined to follow affirm That Salisbury was taken Prisoner in France and that by French Troops Randolf going into Annandale took his Castle which was seated by Loch-Maban from the English And the Three Governors of the Borders Alexander Ramsay of the East William Douglas of the Mid-Border and Randolf of the West drove the English beyond their old Bounds which they had in the Reign of Alexander the Third and left them no footing at all in Scotland but only Berwick Some say That Roxburgh was taken by Ramsay in the Night who set Ladders to the Walls when the Watch was asleep in the Year 1342. the 30 th Day of March and the Black Book of Pasley says so too The same Year on the 4 th of the Nones of Iuly David Bruce and His Wife arrived at Ennerbervy Nine Years after his Departure His Coming was the more acceptable because the Affairs of Scotland were then at such a low Ebb. For Edward having made a Truce for Three Years with Philip King of France at Tournay and so being freed of his French War determined to invade Scotland with all his Force He had then in his Army Forty Thousand Foot and Six Thousand Horse and he had also Equipp'd out a Gallant Navy of Ships to carry Provisions for his Foot Soldiers that there might be no Want that way They set Sail in the Month of November but were encountred by so fierce a Tempest that after a long Distress at Sea they were cast upon the Belgick and German Shores and so were of no use to him in the present War In the Interim Edward and his Land Forces staid about New-Castle upon Tine in great want of Victuals Thither Embassadors came to him from Scotland desiring a Pacification for Four Months which they obtained upon Condition That if David came not to them before the Calends of June all the Scots would become Subjects to Edward but David hearing of the Preparation of the English had set Sail before the coming of Embassadors to him Amongst those who flocked in to gratulate the King at his Return as Many did from all Parts of the Kingdom there came Alexander Ramsay also who being eminent both for the splendid Atchievements of
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 Mââini 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
with some Troops to join Percy Iohn Gordon had notice of his March and laid an Ambush for him into which he fell and imagining his Enemy to be more numerous than he was he sought to Fly but was taken with his Party in the pursuit and brought back again Moreover in the Western Borders Iohn Iohnston carried it so that he obtained both Honour and Booty too for he so exercised his Neighbouring Foes with small but frequent Incursions that he did them as much mischief as a great Army would have done Thus all things succeeded prosperously with Robert for the First Two Years of his Reign but in his Third Year Eufemia Daughter to Hugh Earl of Ross dyed The King had three Children by her Walter afterwards made Earl of Strathearn David Earl of Athol and Eufemia whom Robert Douglas Married as I said before Robert not so much for the Impatience of his Widow'd and unmarried Estate as for the Love of the Children which he had before begot on the Body of Elizabeth More took her to Wife This Woman was exceeding Beautiful the Daughter of Adam More an Illustrious Knight the King fell in Love with her when he was young and had Three Sons and Two Daughters by her and he bestowed her in Marriage on one Gifard a Nobleman in Lothian It happened that Eufemia the Queen and Elizabeth's Husband died about one and the same time Whereupon the King either induced by the old Familiarity he had with Her or else as many Writers report to Legitimate the Children she had born to him took their Mother to Wife and presently advanced her Sons to Riches and Honour Iohn the Eldest Son was made Earl of Carrick Robert of Mânteith and Alexander of Buchan to which Badenock was adjoined Neither was he content with this Munificence but he prevailed upon the Assembly of Estates met at Scone to pass by the Children of Eufemia and to observe the Order of Age in making his Son King after him which Matter was in aftertimes almost the utter Ruin of that numerous Family During the next Two years there was neither assured Peace nor open War but light Incursions or rather Plunderings on both sides In the mean time Edward the Third died and Richard the Second his Grandchild by his Son Edward born at Bourdeaux succeeded him being Eleven years of Age at which time Ambassadors were sent by Charles the Fifth King of France into Scotland The Cause of their Embassy was To renew the ancient League with Robert and to desire him to invade England with an Army and so to take off the Stress of the War from France In the interim whilst they were treating with the Assembly Alexander Ramsay as the English Writers report out of Frossard being accompanied with Forty young Fellows in the middle of the Night when the Sentinel was asleep took the Castle of Berwick all that were in it being either killed or made Prisoners The Townsmen being amazed at this suddain surprize send for Percy who came and laid Siege to the Castle with Ten thousand Men When the News hereof was brought to the Assembly of the Estates at Scone Archibald Douglas being concerned for the danger his Kinsman was in took with him a flying Body of 500 Horse only and speeded thither but all Passages to the Besieged were intercluded and stopp'd so that he was forced to return again without any Action And the Castle after a valiant Defence for some days was at length taken by Storm and all put to the Sword except Alexander alone Thus the English but Our Writers say That the Castle was taken by the help of six Country People of Merch who not being able to keep it were fain to desert it Not long after the Assembly Iames the First Earl of Douglas gathered together an Army of Twenty thousand Men and entred England and coming unawares to a Town called Penrith on a Fair-Day he took plundered and burnt it and then marched his Army back again in safety laden with Spoil but withal he brought the Pestilence home with him which was greater than any before so that it raged over all Scotland for the space of Two years The English to cry Quits with the Scots passed over the Solway and entred Scotland Talbot a fierce General led them being 15000 Men with which Number he made a great Desolation far and near and as his Army was returning back laden with Spoil he pitch'd his Tents in a narrow Valley not far from the Borders of England about 500 Scots came upon them in those Streights being secure unprovided and generally without their Arms and at the first Assault they killed all who were in their way so that the Tumult and Fear diffusing it self they were wholly put to Flight many were slain upon the Place 250 taken Prisoners and a great Number in such a sudden Trepidation taking the River were drowned the rest left their Prey behind them and ran home the nearest way they could In the mean time the English carried on a fierce War both by Sea and Land against the French and besides part of their Forces were sent into Portugal so that it was resolved by their Parliament That Iohn Duke of Lancaster the King's Uncle should be sent Embassador into Scotland to Treat about a Peace that so they being engaged in so many Wars might have Quiet on that side at least which lay most exposed and open The Scots being made acquainted with his coming by an Herald appointed Iames Earl of Douglas and Iohn Dunbar Earl of Murray to Treat with him a Truce was made for Three Years But whilst they were Treating about a Peace there a most grievous Civil War broke out in England The First Author of it is said to be one Iohn Ball a Priest He perceiving that the Commonalty was grievously offended because Poll-Money of Four English Pence an Head was imposed on Them First of all obliquely and in private Confessions Discourses and Meetings inflamed the Minds of the Commons against the Nobility and perceiving that his Speech was well entertained then he discoursed it openly besides this New Occasion there was also another more Ancient one viz. That the Greatest Part of the Commons were made little better than Slaves to the Great Ones A great many Tradesmen and Day-Labourers came in to them and others also who in point of Estate or Credit had nothing to lose insomuch that they raised so great a Tumult and Combustion that the Main Chance seemed greatly to be hazarded and to lie at stake These things were known at the Meeting of the Embassadors yet Both of them dissembled the Matter till they had Treated and made a Pacification Then Douglas told Iohn of Lancaster That he knew from the beginning in what State the Affairs of England stood but they were so far from laying hold on the Opportunity either to make a War or to hinder a good Peace That they
Own as if they had publick Permission to Rob and Spoil for they having been accustomed to this kind of Life think they might lawfully do That which Custom hath inured them always to do heretofore And therefore before that time there had often Quarrels and sometimes Blows happened betwixt the Scots and French These endeavouring to practise their wonted Rapacity and the Other not submitting to such an unaccustomed Servility so that as One snatcht away what was none of His the Other laboured to defend his Own After this Disgust and Alienation of Minds at Roxburgh the French Commissaries used greater Licentiousness than ever before in gathering in Provisions as intending shortly to depart and the Country-men disdaining to be made a Prey to a Few men and those Strangers too many times took away their Baggage and their Horses and the Officers and straggling Soldiers sent out to Forage were sometimes wounded sometimes slain outright by them When Complaints hereof were brought to the Council the Countrymen answered with one Consent That they were Treated more Coursly and Robbâd by the French who called Themselves Friends than by the English their Professed Enemies and therefore they resolved That they should not depart the Land till they had made them Recompence for their Losses neither could this obstinate Humour of theirs be stopt by the Douglasses thô they were the most Popular men of that Age. Hereupon the Army was sent back but the General was detained till full Payment was made The French set Sail in the Calends of November the Scots either tired with the Military Toil of the last Year or satiated with the Spoils of so many Prosperous Expeditions sate still all that Winter But the next Spring William Douglas the Son of Archibald Earl of Galway sailed over into Ireland both to revenge at present the often Descents of the Irish upon the Coasts of Galway and also to restrain them for the Future This William was a Young man the Eminentest in all Virtues both of Body and Mind amongst all the Scots He was a big-bodied Man and had strength accordingly and his comely Beauty was accompanied with a Manly and Graceful Dignity of Presence which seldom happens in Bodies of that Bulk And moreover his Successfull Exploits in War did much recommend him for he oft-times with a Few would assault a greater Number of his Enemies and come off a Conquerour Neither was he ever employed in any Expedition but he gave evident Proofs of his Valour These Excellencies which in some are matter of Envy yet in him by reason of his Affability Complaisance and courteous Modesty were acceptable to All. And upon the account of those Virtues tho' the King knew him to be Base-born yet he bestowed his Daughter Aegidia upon him in Marriage a Woman of the rarest Beauty in those Times and one who had been Courted by many of the Noblest Youngsters of the Court. With Her he gave Nithisdale the next Country to Galway as a Dowry He Landed his Men at Carlingford a rich Town in that County and the Suddenness of the Thing struck such Terrour into the Townsmen That they presently sent out to him to Treat about Conditions of Surrender Douglas entertained them courteously and in the mean time as secure of the Enemy he sent out Robert Stuart Laird of Disdeir with 200 Soldiers to bring in Provisions into his Ships The Townsmen having gotten this time for Consultation send for Aid from Dundale Five hundred Horse were sent with whose help they divided themselves into Two Bodies and so drew forth against their Enemy for because they were so much Superior to them in Number they thought presently to kill them all and so to become Masters of their Ships too But both their Bodies were routed the Town taken plundered and burnt Fifteen Ships which rode in the Harbour were laded with the Spoils of the City and in his return home he plundered the Isle of Man by the way and so arrived at Lough-Rian which divides Part of Galway from Carrick There Douglas heard That his Father was gone in an Expedition against England Whereupon he hastned after him as fast as he could That Expedition was undertaken chiefly upon this Ground Richard of England having entred Scotland the Year before and spated nothing either Sacred or Profane at his return home met with a Domestick Sedition which had changed the State of his whole Kingdom To heal this Mischief he transfer'd the Government of the Provinces and the management of Lesser Matters as is usually done in such Cases from one to another and by this means the Fire of Hatred was not so much quenched as covered in the Ashes and likely soon after to break out again But on the the contrary Scotland enjoyed a Great but yet uncertain Tranquillity For it was full of Young Soldiers fit for War and as fruitful and well-stored with good Commanders as ever before So that the Nobility were desirous of a War and in all their Assemblys and Meetings they still muttered That so gallant an Opportunity to be revenged upon the English for their old Injuries was not to be neglected and that the English would never have omitted it in reference to Scotland if the Affairs thereof had been in the like Perturbation But King Robert being a Man of a quiet Disposition and moreover by reason of his growing and unweildy Age not so forward for War seemed not to be sufficiently concerned at the Publick Injuries And his Eldest Son Iohn was naturally Slow and besides Lame with the stroke of an Horse so that he was not well able to endure the Hardships of a Camp And therefore the Nobles made their Addresses to Robert the next Son Earl of Fife To whom they complained of the deplorable State of the Publick and they all presently Concluded That the wrong lately received was to be revenged and therein every one promised his Chearful Assistance so that it was agreed That a Levy of Soldiers should be made against the Nones of August next but so secret That neither King either Scots or English should know thereof But the English were quickly advertised by their Spies of the Time and Place of Meeting so that they resolved to prevent their Enemy with the same Surprize For they advised the rest of the Nobles with all their Followers to be in a readiness not at any one day but whenever there was need that they might draw to their Colours Matters being thus resolved on when they heard That the Scots to the Number of 30000 or as Frossard will have it of 40000 were met together in Teviotdale nor far from the Borders they resolved further that seeing they were not able to encounter so great a Multitude they would attempt nothing before the Coming of the Enemy upon them And in the mean time to conceal their Project the better every man was to stay at his own home till they saw upon
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 ânheritances 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
the Male-Line fail'd it should return to the King in regard 't was a Male-Feo as Lawyers now speak This Young Man's Loss who was absent and also an Hostage did move many to Commiserate his Case but Robert his Tutor took it so heinously that it made him almost Mad. For he taking the Case of his Kinsman more impatiently than others did not cease to accuse the King openly of Injustice and being Summon'd to Answer for it in Law he appear'd not and thereupon was banish'd the Land This made his fierce mind more enrag'd for revenge as being irritated by a new Injury So that he joyn'd secret Counsels with those who had also their Estates confiscated or who took the punishments of their Friends tho' justly inflicted in great disdain or who accus'd the King as a Covetous man because he was so intent upon his gain that he had not rewarded them according to their Expectations And besides he bewailed That not only many noble Families were brought to ruin but that the Wardships of Young Nobles which were wont to be the Rewards of Valiant Men were now altogether in the Kings hands so that all the wealth of the Kingdom was almost in one hand and others might starve for misery and want under such an unjust Valuer of their labours Now that which he upbraided him concerning Wardships with is This 'T is the Custom in Scotland England some Countrys of France that Young Gentlemen or Nobles when their Parents dye should remain in the Tutelage of those whose Feudatarys they are till they arrive at the age of 21 Years and all the Profits of their Estates besides the Charges necessary for their Education and also the Dowry given with their Wives comes to such their Tutors and Guardians Now these Tutelages or as they are commonly call'd Wardships were wont to be Sold to the next of kin for a great Sum of Money or sometimes well deserving men were gratify'd with them So that they expected Benefit upon the Sale of such Wardships or Incomes for a reward by their keeping of them But now they were much vex'd that the King took them all to himself neither did they conceal their vexation and displeasure When the King heard of these Murmurings and Complaints he excus'd the thing as done by Necessity because the publick Revenue had been so lessen'd by former Kings and Governors that the King could not maintain his Family like himself nor be decently guarded and attended nor yet give Magnificent Entertainment to Ambassadors without them Besides he alleged that this Parsimony and Care of the King in providing Money in all just and honest Ways was not unprofitable to the Nobility themselves whose greatest damage was to have the Kings Exchequer low For then Kings were wont to extort by Force from the Rich what they could not be without yea sometimes they were forced to burden and vex the Commons too by exacting Taxes and Payments from them and that the Parsimony of the King was far less prejudicial to the Publick by imposing a Mean to immoderate Donations than his Profuseness was wont to be for then he was still forc'd to seize on other Mens Estates when his Own was consum'd This answer satisfy'd all those who were Moderate but those who were more Violent and who rather sought after occasions of complaint than were willing to hear any just Compurgation of an imputed Crime were more vehemently enraged by it This was the State of Scotland when Embassadors arrived out of France to fetch Margarit Iames his Daughter who had before been betrothed to Lewis Son of Charles the 7th home to her Husband That Embassy brought on another from the English For seeing that the Duke of Burgundy was alienated from their Friendship and meditated a revolt and that Paris and other transmarine Provinces were up in a Tumult lest when all the strength of the Kingdom was drawn out to the French War the Scots should invade them on the other side The English sent Embassadors into Scotland to hinder the Renovation of the League with France and the Consummation of the Marriage but rather to persuade a perpetual League with them who were born in the same Island and us'd the same Language And if they would do so and solemnly Swear That they would have the same Friends and Enemies with the English then they promis'd that their King would quit his claim to Berwick Roxburgh and other Places and Countrys which were before in Controversy betwixt the Nations Iames referr'd the Desire of the English to the Assembly of the Estates then met at Perth where after a long debate upon it the Ecclesiasticks were divided into two Factions but the Nobility cry'd out That they knew well enough the Fraud of the English who by this new League sought to break their old Band of Alliance with the French that so when the Scots had lost their Ancient Friend they might be more obnoxious to them if at any time they were freed from other Cares and could wholly intend a War with Scotland and that the liberal Promises of the English were for no other End but as for themselves they would stand to their old League and not violate their Faith once given The English being thus repuls'd turn from Petitions to Threats and seeing they refus'd to embrace their Friendships they denounc'd War telling the Scots that if their King sent over his betroth'd Daughter into France one that was an Enemy to the English The English would hinder their Passage if they could yea and take them Prisoners and their Retinue too having a Fleet ready fitted for that purpose This Commination of the Embassadors was so far from terrifying Iames that he rigg'd his Navy and Shipped a great Company of Noblemen and Ladies for her Train and so caus'd his Daughter to set Sail sooner than he had determin'd that he might prevent the designs of the Englâsh And yet notwithstanding all this precaution it was God's Providence rather than Man's Care that she came not into the Enemies hand for when they were not far from the Place where the English concealing themselves waited for their Coming behold upon a sudden a Fleet of Hollanders appear'd laden with Wine from Rochel to Flanders The English Fleet made after them with all their Sail because the Burgundian being a little before reconciled to the French did oppose their Enemies with all his might and being nimble Ships they quietly fetcht them up being heavy laden and unarm'd and as easily took them but before they could bring them into Port the Spaniards set upon them unawares and took away their Prey and sent the Flandrians safe home Amidst such changeable Fortune betwixt Three Nations the Scots landed at Rochel without seeing any Enemy They were met with many Nobles of the French Court and were brought to Tours where the Marriage was Celebrated to the great Joy and mutual Gratulation of Both Nations Upon this Occasion
same Voice was heard louder than before which struck all there present into a Great horror Afterwards when it sounded again more terribly and frightfully than before The Bishop gave a great groan put out his Tongue and was found Dead in his Bed This so evident an Example of God's Vengeance as I shall not rashly credit so I have no mind to refute yet it being deliver'd by others and constantly affirmed to be true I thought good not to omit it At the same time Iames Kennedy One of a far different Life and Manners as referring all his Counsels to the Good of the Publick when neither by his Authority nor Counsel he could resist the daily new-springing Evils of his Country and seeing likewise That the Kings Power was not able to oppose the Conspiracies of Wicked men he left all his Estate for a Prey and shifted for himself Neither in these Domestick Miseries were Matters much quieter abroad When the Truce made with the English was expir'd the Scots made an Inrode into England and the English into Scotland and where-ever they went they wasted all with Fire and Sword in England Alâwick was taken and burnt by Iames Brother to the Earl of Douglas In Scotland the Earl of Salisbury did the like to Dunfreiz and the Earl of Northumberland to Dunbar great Booties of Men and Cattel were driven away on Both sides But the Commanders agreed amongst themselves that the Prisoners should be exchang'd for they were in a manner equal both for Number and Degree By these Incursions the Country was depopulated and yet the main chance of the War not concerned so that a Truce was again accorded for 7 Years In this state of Affairs Iames Dunbar Earl of Murray departed this Life he left two Daughters his Heiresses the Eldest of them was Marry'd by her Father before his Death to Iames Creighton The Younger after her Fathers decease marry'd Archibald Brother to the Earl of Douglas He against the Laws and the Custom of his Ancestors was called Earl of Murray so superlative was Douglas's Power then at Court neither was he contented with this Accession of Honour but that he might further propagate the Dignity of his Family he caus'd his Brother George to be made Earl of Ormond his Brother Iohn had many fair and fruitful Farms and Lands bestowed upon him and was also made Baron of Balvany against the mind of many of his Friends who had in Suspicion the Power of that Family too great before that it would be at last formidable even to the King himself yea they imagined that these immoderate Accessions Frolicks of Fortune would not be long-lived But his Enemies did as invidiously as they could inveigh against This unsatiable Ambition for who say they could safely live under the Exorbitant rule of such a Tyrant for whose Avarice nothing was enough and against whose Power there was no Safeguard who right or wrong invaded the Patrimony of the Nobles and expos'd the Countrymen to be a Prey to his Tenants and those who oppos'd his Lust he caus'd them by Thieves and Cut-Throats either to lose all they had or else to be put to death that he advanced Upstarâs to high Honours whom he grafted on the ruin of Noble Families so that all the Power of the Kingdom was now brought into one House besides many Knights and Barons there were five Opulent Earls of the Family insomuch that the King himself did but Reign precariously and men were like to suffer all Extremities under the Cruel Bondage of the Douglas's and he that utter'd the least word tending to Liberty must pay his Life for his Boldness These and other discourses of this kind some true others to create greater Envy stretcht beyond the Lines of Truth were spread abroad amongst the Vulgar which made Those who were of neither Faction to fit loose from the Care of the Publick and every one to mind his own private Concerns The wiser sort of his Enemies were glad to hear that a man of such Power against which there was no making Head should thus voluntarily run headlong to his own Destruction Neither did they presage amiss for his Mind was grown so proud and insolent by reason of his Great Successes that ãâ¦ã his Ears against the free Advices of his Friends yea many ãâã not with any safety dissemble and cover by their silence what they did dislike because he had Parasites which did not only lie at catch for Words but observ'd mens very Countenances As for his old Enemies many of them were hal'd to Judgment before him who was both their Adversary and Judge too so that some of them were outed of their Estates some depriv'd of their Lives and others to avoid his unrighteous and partial Judgment fled out of their Country The men also of Douglas's Faction lived in no Fear at all of the Law for no man durst implead them but letting the Reins loose to all Licentiousness they invaded and made havock of things Sacred as well as Profane Those which were obnoxious to them they slew and kill'd out of the way neither was there any End of their Wickedness sometimes when they had no sufficient Cause to do a man a Mischief they then did it unprovok'd and gratuitously as it were lest thro' disuse of offending any honest and tender Thoughts should arise in their Minds so as to allay their Brutish Cruelty Every one thought himself the noblest and bravest Fellow that could cast the greatest Contumely on the Commons When such great Miseries were diffus'd into so many Parts of the Kingdom Scotland had certainly sunk under the Burden unless England at the same time had been as much embarassed with civil Combustions which at last being somewhat allay'd the English violated their Truce and invaded Scotland When they had runover a great Circuit of Ground and pillaged many Villages They drove away a Vast Number of Cattle and return'd home neither was it long before the Scots cry'd quits with them for they also entred England with a good Force and did the Enemy more Damage than they receiv'd Thus the Minds of Both were irritated by these alternate Plunderings so that a mighty Desolation was made in the Territories of either Kingdom but the greatest share of the Calamity fell upon Câmberland which had been the Rise of the Injury and Wrong for that Province was so harassed by the War that it was almost quite destroy'd When this war related at London it occasion'd the English to levy a far greater Army against the Scots for thereby they thought easily to reduce the Country into their Power they being poor and also weakned by Civil Discords Hereupon an Army was rais'd of the Better sort of People and the Earl of Northumberland made their General in regard he knew the Country well and besides his Name and Power was great in those Parts To him they joyn'd one Main of a Knightly Family but who had
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 oââht not to be straitned within the narrow Theatre of one Island onââ 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
Somerset and Ralph Percy and many of Henry's old Friends besides who for fear of the Times had retired to King Edward came into Them but there was a far greater Confluence from the adjacent Parts of England of such Persons as had lived Rapacious Lives in hopes of some new Prey To appease this Commotion Edward makes great Military Preparation both by Land and Sea he commanded the Lord Mountague with a great part of the Nobility to march against the Enemy and he himself would follow with his whole Army Both Armies pitched their Tents not far from Hexham but the Common Soldiery who came in for Booty beginning to slip away Henry thought it best in such a desperate Case to put it to a Push and accordingly a Fight begun wherein he was overthrown his chief Friends were either slain or taken Prisoners and he himself made an hasty Retreat to Berwick of the Prisoners some had their Heads cut off presently and some a while after Edward having thus got the Day by the Generals of his Forces came himself to Durham that so he might prevent the Incursions of the Scots by the Terrour of his Neighbouring Army and also that by his Presence he might quell any Domestick Insurrections if any such should happen Whilst he was there he sent out part of his Army under several Commanders to take in the Places possessed by his Enemies of which having taken many by Storm or by Surrender at last he laid Siege to the Castle of Alnwick which was greater and better fortified than the rest and which was maintained by a Garison of French who defended the Castle very well in hopes of Relief from Scotland which was so near at hand But the Scots having lately had ill success in England an Army could not be so soon levyed as the present Exigent required for the raising of the Siege insomuch that whilst others were backward and delayed to give in their Opinion George Earl of Angus undertook with great Audacity the Matter which was so full of hazard He collected about 10000 Horse of his Friends Vassals and the Neighbouring Province of which he was Governor He came to the Castle and Horsed the French that were in Garison upon some empty Horses he had brought for that purpose and so brought them off safe even to a Man into Scotland whilst the English stood and looked on as amazed at the Boldness of his Miraculous Enterprize or thinking that Douglas had help near at hand or rather hoping to have the Castle given up without a Battel and so they would not put the Whole to an hazard by joining in Fight with that small though select Party Edward settled Guards at all convenient Places that so no Rebellious Troops might march to and again and then as if he had quieted the whole Kingdom he returned to London In the mean time Exiled Henry either on the Accompt of some Hope 's cast in by his Friends or else weary of his tedious Exile determines to shelter himself privately amongst his Friends in England But Fortunes Malice followed him to the last he was there known taken brought to London and committed Prisoner to the Tower And his Wife Margaret distrusting her present Affairs with her Son and a Few Followers left Scotland and Sailed over to her Father Renat into France To return then to the Affairs of Scotland The time for the Assembly which was Indicted to be held at Edinburgh was come where there was a Full Appearance but the Body of them was divided into Two Factions Part of the Nobles followed the Queen but the Major Part by far stuck to Iames Kennedy and George Douglas Earl of Angus the Heads of the contrary Faction The Queen lodged in the Castle the Bishop and the Earl lay in the Abby of Holy-Road-House at the furthest part of the Suburbs towards the East The Cause of the Dissension was That the Queen thought it equal and just for her to have the Tutelage or Guardianship of her Son the other Party judged it most fit that One should be chosen out of the whole Assembly for that careful Work The Queen alleged the Maternal Name her Interest and Propinquity the Adverse Party insisted on the old Law confirmed by perpetuated Custom In the Third day of the Assembly the Queen comes down from the Castle with her Followers and caused her self to be Decreed Tutrix of the King and Governess of the Kingdom by her own Faction and so returns into the Castle again When Kennedy heard of this he hastned with his Party into the Market-place and there in a long Speech he told the Multitude which was thick about him That he and his Associates did aim at nothing but the Publick Good and the Observation of their Ancient Laws but their Adversaries were ââd each one by his private advantage And That he would evidenâây make appear if he might have a Place Free to dispute the Poinâ Having thus spoken he retired with his Followers to his Lodgiââ but was not gone far from the Market-place before he heard That the other Party was coming down Armed from the Castle Douglas looked upon This as an intolerable Thing That Valiant Men should yield to the Threats of a Few and That their Retirement should be looked upon as a Flight and therefore was hardly kept in by Kennedy from assaulting the adjoining Gate of the City and Weaponless as he was to encounter Armed Men and unless the Three Bishops of Glasgo Galway and Dumblane upon Noise of the Uproar had come in his Indignation would not have been stopp'd till they had come to Blows But by the Mediation of those Bishops the Matter was so far composed That a Truce was agreed upon for one Month. Though the Chief of the Faction were thus quieted yet the Multitude could not be restrained from expressing their Wrath and Indignation in rough and cutting Language as that the Desire of the Queen was Dishonourable to the Kingdom and Undecent for Herself What said they is the Valour of the old Scots at so low an Ebb That amongst so many Thousand Men there is none worthy to Govern the Affairs of Scotland but a Woman must do it What was there no Man that could Rule over the Nation And That would live the greatest part of his Life in Arms What likelihood was there That those who had not been altogether Tractable to their King when weak should now yield Obedience to a Woman and that a Stranger too What had they undergone so much Labour and lost so much Blood these many years by Sea and Land That Men born and brought up in Arms should freely give up themselves to the Servitude of a Woman What if the English should invade them as they had often done at other times in revenge of their Losses with a great Army Who could in that case Give or Accept Terms of Peace or War These were the Discourses of the Commonalty
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
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
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
the Nobility should attend him at Edinburgh where he made an elegant Speech to them commending their Constancy in maintaining their ancient League and their Prudence in rejecting the perfidious Promises of the English He highly extolled the Goodwill Love and Liberality of Francis the French King towards the Scots and exhorted them to lay aside their private Animosities and Fewds and seeing foreign Aid was come into them to revenge their Wrongs and to repress the Insolence of their Enemy by some notable blow Hereupon after his Souldiers had refresh'd themselves and the Scots Forces had joined them he marched towards the Borders whither he came the 22 d of Octob. But being about to enter England and having already sent part of his Forces over a Wooden Bridg which was at Mulross the Scots made the same Pretences as they did in the former Expedition at Solway and refus'd to enter England so that he was forc'd to recal that party which he had commanded over and pitching his Tents a little below on the left side of the Tweed endeavour'd to storm the Castle of Werke scituated over against him on the right side of the River In the mean time the Horse that had pass'd over the River beset all Passages that no Relief could come to the Besieged they alsââaged with Fire and Sword against all the Country thereabouâ ãâã â he Description of Werke Castle is this In the inner Courâ ãâã there is a very high Tower well fortifi'd it is compass'd with a double Wall the outward Wall incloses a large space of Grounââ whither the Country-People were wont to fly in time of War and to bring their Corn and Cattle with them for Safeguard the inner Wall is narrower but trench'd round about and better fortâfi'd with Towers built thereon The French took the outward Coârt by Storm but the English set Fire to the Barns and the Straw ãâã was in them which made such a Smoke and Flame that they ãâã them out again For the next two days they batter'd the inner Wall with their great Guns and after they had made a Breaâh wide enough for Entrance the French again attempted the matter and valiantly storm'd at the Breach they had made but they in the inner Castle being yet safe darted down all sorts of Weapons upon them and they lay expos'd to every Blow so that having lost some few of their Men they were beat back to their Army and so returned over the River The Regent perceiving that the Minds of the Scots were averse from Action and also âearing for certain that the English were coming against them with a numerous Army their own Writers say no less than 40000 fighting Men and besides that 6000 more were left to defend Berwick a Neighbour-town The 11 th of Novemb. he removed his Camp to a Nunnery called Eccles about six Miles distant from his present Encampment thence at the 3 d Watch he marched by Nâght to Lauder both Horse and Man were much incommoded in their March by the sudden Fall of a great Snow The same Storm occasion'd the English also to disband and return home without effecting any thing The rest of the Winter was quiet enough At Spring the Regent in an Assembly of the Nobles told them the Causes why he must needs go again into France but he promised them to return before the 1 st of September next following And moreover he desired them that during his Absence the King might remain at Sterlin and that they would make no Peace or Truce with the English before his Return as also that they would innovate nothing in the Government They promised him faithfully to obey his Commands and thus on the 14 th of May He and his Retinue set Sail for France In his absence the Reins were let loose every Man's Will was his Law and a great deal of havock was made and Mischief done without any Punishment at all whereupon the King though but a Child by the advice of his Mother and the Earls of Arran Lennox Crawford and many other of the prime Nobility came from Sterlin to Edinburgh and on the 29 th of Iuly by the Counsel of his Nobles whom he had convened at his Palace of Holy-rood-house he took upon him the Government of the Kingdom and the next day caused them all to swear Fealty to him a second time and to shew that he had actually assumed the Administration of matters into his own Hands he discharged all publick Officers but a few days after he restored them to their places again There was a great Assembly of the Nobles held on the 20 th Day of August that so he might vacate the Power of the Regent which he had now taken upon himself and so went in great Pomp as the manner is into the publick Hall of the Town only the Bishops of St. Andrews and Aberdene dissented alleging That they ought to stay till the first of September at which time the Regent had promis'd to return whereupon they were imprison'd But they reveng'd themselves with their own Church-weapons and excommunicated all of their Diocesses However in about a Month or two after they were reconcil'd to the King and restor'd to the same place in his Favour which they held before About the same time Archibald Douglas who as I said before was sent into France sent Simon Penning an active Man and much trusted by him to the King of England to persuade him to give him the liberty of returning home through his Dominions which was granted For Henry was well enough pleased at the Diminution of the Authority of so active a Person as the Duke of Albany and at the Change which was made in Scotland so that he entertained the Earl courteously and dismiss'd him very honourably But his Return did variously affect the Minds of the Scots For seeing all publick Business was transacted under the Conduct of the Queen and the Earl of Arran a great part of the Nobility the Heads whereof were Iohn Stuart Earl of Lennox and Calen Cambel Earl of Argyle taking it in great Distaste that they were not admitted to any part of the publick Administration received Douglas with high Expressions of Joy as hoping by his Aid either to gain over the Power of the adverse Faction to themselves or at least to abate their Pride On the other side the Queen who as I said before was disaffected towards her Husband was much troubled at his coming and sought by all means to undermine him And moreover Hamilton out of the Relicks of his old Hatred was none of his Friend besides he fear'd lest Douglas who he knew would not be content with a second place should mount the Saddle and make him truckle under so that he strove to maintain his own Dignity and opposed him with all his Might They kept themselves within the Castle of Edinburgh and tho they knew very well that many of the Nobility
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
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
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 Hântly'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
up was because some were willing to curry favour with him as the next Heir of the Crown Others foresaw so long before the Cruelty of the Cardinal in matters of Religion and therefore provided against it by lessening his Power Their Fear was increas'd upon this ground that there was found amongst the King's Papers after his Death a List wherein the Names of above 300 of the Nobility were contained as Criminals and amongst them He now chosen Regent was first to have been questioned Whereupon his Election was very grateful to the most because it seem'd the most probable Medium to ease the Grievances of many and to curb the Pride of the Priests Besides he himself did willingly read the Books that contained Controversies about Religion and the Quietness and Retirement of his former Life far remote from Court-Ambition made many hope that he would be sober and moderate in his Government Besides being out of the Magistracy he had not yet discovered any Unactiveness or Sluggishness of Mind In a Parliament which was held in May Sir Ralph Sadler came Embassador from England in order to a Marriage and setling a Peace Some of the Nobility he put in Mind of their Promise Others as Report goes he tempted with Mony The Queen Cardinal and the whole Faction of Priests were not only agâinst this Peace but by disturbing some Members and Counsellors and corrupting others they would not suffer it so much as to be put to the Vote so that by the general consent of almost the whole Parliament the Cardinal was confin'd to his Chamber till the Question was put when he was removed out of the way the Agreement was easily made as to the Queen's Marriage and other Articles and Hostages were promised to Henry to ratify the Agreement The Cardinal at the Instance of the Queen-Mother was kept in a loose kind of Custody by Seton who was persuaded for a certain Sum of Mony a while after to let him go When Peace seemed thus to be setled to the great Advantage of both Kingdoms after so great a fear of an imminent War every Body thought it would be a lasting One and therefore the Merchants who for some Years before had been hindred from trading went thick and threefold to Sea and laded very many Ships with the best Commodities they could procure for the time allotted them so to do Edinburgh sent out twelve Ships other Cities of that Circuit which is the richest part of Scotland rigg'd out Ships each according to their respective Abilities This Fleet in Confidence of the Peace with England some of them drew nearer the Shores than they needed to have done and when the Wind was calm there they lay at Anchor Others entred into the Ports open to the Injuries of the English if any Tumult of War should arise About the same time Iohn Hamilton Abbat of Pasley and David Painter returned out of France These Men now cast off the Vizard wherewith before they had disguised themselves for many Years and returned to their true Manners for as if they had been educated not in the School of Piety but of Profaneness they were the Ring-leaders at Court to all manner of Flagitiousness The Cardinal being restor'd to his Liberty unexpectedly being also of a proud Disposition which was aggravated by the affront he had receiv'd and by the Ignominy accruing on the Detection of his Fraud sought out all occasions whatsoever to disturb this Concord First of all he communicated the matter to the Queen Dowager and they Both took it in great Indignation That the Douglasses who for the many Benefits they had received from the English must needs be their fast Friends should immediately after so many Years Banishment be admitted into the Parliament-House to debate the weightiest Affairs of the Kingdom Besides they all jointly feared a Change of the Establish'd Religion the Consequent whereof must needs be a Breach of the League with France Hereupon the Cardinal by the consent of the Queen summon'd a Convocation of Priests and extorted from them a great Sum of Mony as fearing the universal Ruin of the whole Papal Church Part of this Mony was paid to some of the Nobles of the adverse Party and many large Promises were made them besides to persuade them not to give any Hostages to the English and as for those who were newly return'd from their Imprisonment and had left their Children or Kindred as Hostages for their Return he desired them not to prefer those otherwise dear Pledges before the Laws the publick Safety and their ancient Religion whose Preservation was turn'd upon this Hinge alone and that they would not run willingly into a perpetual Bondage Besides he caused the Ecclesiasticks to carry it proudly and disrespectfully towards the English Embassador insomuch that the very Rabble did reproach and abuse his Retinue and what he said or did was all taken in the worst Sense But the Embassador resolv'd to bear all Affronts and to tide it out till the day for delivering the Hostages did approach that so he might give no occasion of a Rupture on his part And when that Day was come he went to the Regent and complained of the Affronts which had been offered not so much to himself as to his King whom he represented and how that the Law of Nations was violated thereby and moreover he desired him to give Hostages according to the Tenor of the League newly made that so the Amity might be kept sacred and inviolate to the mutual Advantage of both Nations The Regent as to the Affronts offered excused himself and said he was sorry for them and that he would speedily search into the matter that so the Punishment of such petulant Offenders should be a suffient Testimony of the Love and Veneration he had for the English Nation But as to Hostages he answered that he could not obtain them with the good Will of the States neither was he able to compel them without publick consent For the Government which he bore was such that he received as much Law as he gave and therefore all his Measures were disturb'd by the great Sedition which he saw the Cardinal had raised that he was as it were carried down in the Stream of popular Fury and could scarce maintain his own Station and Dignity The new Hostages being thus deny'd there was another thing as weighty as That which fell under Debate and that was concerning the Nobles lately taken Prisoners of War who upon their Releasement had given Hostages and made solemn Asseverations That if there were not a Peace concluded as Henry desired upon just and fair Terms they would surrender themselves Prisoners again As for Them the Cardinal's Faction and the rest of the Ecclesiastical Order dealt with them partly by Reasons and partly by Examples not to prefer their Estates Kindred Children or any other thing which might be dear to them before the Love of their Country And moreover he threatned them
with Auxiliaries from France and that all Europe did conspire for the Defence of their ancient Rites and Religion and if they acted contrary they would betray theiâ Country and thereby the Ruin of their ancient Families would be imminent and at hand They also desired them in so dangerous a time not to forsake their Country for if That were safe they might hope for more Kindred and Children but if That were overthrown then all was gone Moreover they discoursed much concerning the inexpiable Hatred betwixt the Nations and of the Cruelty of the King into whose Hands they were to come thus blending Truths and Falshoods together Moreover they alleged the Decree of the Council of Constance That all Pacts Contracts Promises and Oaths made with Hereticks ought to be rescinded and made void The greatest part of those who were concerned in this matter were willing to hearken to any colourable pretence for their Fault only there was One of them who for no pecuniary Consideration whatever could be persuaded no nor by any Threats deterred from keeping his Word and that was Gilbert Kennedy Earl of Cassils he had left two of his Brothers Hostages in England and he openly profess'd that neither for Fear nor Favour he would redeem his own Life with the Loss of his Brothers but whatever came of it he would surrender himself back a Prisoner and so against the Will of many he undertook his Journy straight to London Henry very much commended the resolute Faithfulness of the Young-Man and to the intent that all might know he had an Esteem for Vertue he richly rewarded him and sent him back with his two Brothers into Scotland But Henry's Mind was not more pacified towards Gilbert than his Anger was implacable against the rest of the Scots and thereupon he laid an Embargo upon the Scots Ships in all English Ports and Harbours of which there were a great Number as I said before and so presently denounced War His Threatnings were great as against the Violators not only of Leagues but even of the Law of Nations And yet though Scotland stood in so dangerous a State the Memory of Alliances the common Love to their Country and the respect of the publick Safety were so far laid aside that the Brands of Sedition were kindled more fiercely than ever For the Faction of the Cardinal and of the Queen Dowager who were all for the French sent over Ambassadors thither to tell them That unless they sent in Assistance the Matter was upon the very Point That England and Scotland would make a Coalition into one Government and how such a Conjunction would concern France the Experience of former Ages had shewn But they made it their chief Request to the French that they would send back Matthew Stuart Earl of Lennox into his own Country who did not only emulate the Family of the Hamiltons but was also their deadly Enemie being they had slain his Father at Linlithgoe This young Man was greatly beloved not only for his extraordinary Beauty and stately Garb in the very Flower of his Youth but chiefly upon the account of the memory of his Father who was so popular a Man and also because he was a single Man and the Extinction of such a noble Family now reduced to a few was in great Hazard besides he had many Clanships at home and had also Affinity with many other great Families Furthermore the former King had design'd him to be his next Heir and Successor if he himself died without Issue Male and he would have confirmed that his Intention by a Decree of the States who have the Sovereign Power to order such publick Affairs if his Life had been prolonged Yea there were some Flatterers which did elevate his generous Mind already rais'd up with the expectation of great things but not so well fortified against fraudulent Adulation to larger Hopes for besides the Supreme Rule for about twenty Years and the Domination over his old Enemies they promised him that he should marry the Queen Dowager and if the young Queen who had the Name only of Supreme Governess should miscarry then without doubt he would be the next King and not only so but also the lawful Heir of Iames Hamilton lately deceased seeing the Regent was a Bastard and was so far from any just expectation of the Kingdom that he could not lawfully claim the Inheritance of his own Family Besides they urged the Promises of the French King who gave hopes of great Assistance in due time When the plain-hearted and credulous young Man was thus persuaded he provided for his Voyage into Scotland Hamilton was not ignorant of any of these things and to the intent that he might gain an Accession of Strength to his own Party by the Advice of those Friends whom he most trusted he resolved to take away the young Queen from Linlithgo where she yet was under the Power of her Mother for if he once got Her then not only the Shadow of the Royal Name which is an attractive thing amongst the Vulgar would be of his Side but also he should have the Power to bestow her in Marriage and so make himself Arbiter of the Kingdom to transfer it whithersoever he pleased which if he could obtain then the King of England might be persuaded if need were to join with him This Design was much approved but as is usual in Civil Discords there are Spies on both sides who being informed thereof acquainted the Cardinal therewith He gathering together some of the Nobility whom he had corrupted with Mony came to Linlithgo and to the great Burden of the Inhabitants staid there some days as a Guard to the Queen In the mean time Lennox arrived out of France and was kindly received by the Regent each of them dissembling their Hate then he went to Linlithgo there he addressed the Cardinal and then went to his own House where in a Meeting of Friends he discours'd at large Why he came over at Whose Command by Whom sent for and upon What hopes That he was promised not only the chief Magistracy but also that the Heads of the Faction with the Queen Dowager's Consent had assured him that he should marry Her And that in order to the effecting thereof the King of France had encouraged him to expect Aid and Assistance from thence they all assented to his Speech and advised him not to be wanting to the Occasion which so freely had offer'd it self and thus with above four thousand Men he came to the Queen Hamilton who had levied and mustered his Men and with his Kinsmen about him was resolved to issue out of Edinburgh and break thorow to the Queen now perceiving that his Forces were too weak by the Advice of his Friends and out of his own Disposition also which was inclinable to Peace began to treat of an Accommodation whereupon some prudent Persons were chosen on both sides who met at the Town of
also expose his Friends Kindred and Vassals whom he had engaged in the publick Cause and who had been almost worn out with toil and labour to Servitude and Torment under an impious and cruel Tyrant who as much as in him was had sold both Queen and Kingdom to the Enemy and who observed the Pacts and Promises he made to Men no more religiously than he did the Duties of Piety towards God for within a few Years he had changed his Religion Three times neither was it to be wonder'd at in him who looked upon Oaths and Promises not as Bonds obliging to Faithfulness but as lurking holes to hide Perfidiousness And therefore he moved earnestly That the King and those of his Council would consider whether in so great an Affair They would believe him all whose Ancestors had devoted themselves their Lives Honours and Fortunes for the increase of his Greatness and who indeed had been honoured and rewarded by him with many Benefits which yet were rather Testimonies of their good Acceptance than just Rewards and Compensations of their Labours or else a Man who would change his Friends and Foes at the blast of every Wind and who depended on the Arbitrement of Fortune alone Though many were not ignorant that his Allegations were true yet the French King was so influenc'd by the Guise's the Queen Dowager's Father and Unkle and who in all things endeavoured to promote her Concerns that his Heart and Ear were both shut against Lennox's Request insomuch that he would not permit Iohn Cambel a Man of approved Virtue sent by Lennox to have Audience or so much as to come into his Presence but kept him in the nature of a Prisoner and had Spies set upon him to watch him that so he might not write back any thing of the Designs agitated in the French Court yet notwithstanding this their Caution there were some who told him all When Lennox heard this by the Dispatches which were sent him his troubled Mind was variously hurried betwixt Anger and Shame he was ashamed to leave his Enterprize which he had begun unfinished and the rather because he thought that he was not able to satisfy the Love of his Friends and Kindred whom he had drawn with him into the same Danger but by the Sacrifice of his Life As for the rest his Anger was highly inflamed especially against the Queen-Dowager and the Cardinal by whose perfidious Contumely he was cast into these Straits but he was chiefly offended with the King of France complaining that he had brought him upon the Stage and now in the midst of his Acting had forsaken him and joined himself with his Enemies Whilst his Thoughts thus fluctuated not knowing where to fix News was brought him That all the Inhabitants on this side Mount Grantzbain who were able to bear Arms were commanded by Proclamation by such a Day to appear at Sterlin and to bring ten Days Provision along with them that they might be ready to march whithersoever the Regent should command them whither accordingly they came at the Day appointed and the Regent marched them to Glasgow There he besieged the Castle ten Days and battered it with his Brass-Guns but in vain yet at last a Truce was granted for a Day and the Guards tampered with so that the Castle was surrendered upon Quarter and Indemnity to the Garison-Souldiers yet notwithstanding all of them but One or Two were put to Death In the mean time Lennox being forsaken by the French King and also cut off from any hope of other Aid made trial by his Friends how the King of England stood affected towards him and finding it fair Weather there he resolv'd for England but before he went he had a great Mind to perform some notable Exploit against the Hamiltons and communicating his Design to William Cuningham Earl of Glencarn They two at a Day appointed with their Tenants and Adherents resolved to meet at Glasgow and from thence to make an inroad into the County of Clydsdale which almost all belonged to the Hamiltons When the Regent heard of this he resolved to be before-hand with them and so to seize upon Glasgow and thereby prevent the place of meeting but Cuningham with a great Party of his Men were entered the Town before and there expected the coming of Lennox but hearing of Hamilton's coming and of his Design he drew out his Men into the Fields adjoining and according to the number of those he had set them in array there were about 800 of them part of his own Clanship and part of the Citizens of Glasgow which favoured his Cause and thus with greater Courage than Force he joined Battel and fought so valiantly that he beat the first Rank of the Enemy back upon the second and took the Brass-pieces they had brought with them But whilst the Fight was hot about the Regent's Quarter and the Matter was in great Hazard there on a sudden Robert Boyd a valiant and brave Man came in with a small Party of Horse and thrust himself into the midst of the Fight where the hottest Service was He occasioned a greater Fear and Trepidation than so small a number need to have done for both Armies believed that great Assistance was come into the Hamiltons This Mistake quite changed the fortune of the Day whilst one thought the assistance was come into his Party the other to his Enemies There were slain in the Battel about 300 on both sides the greatest part was of the Cunningham's and amongst them two Sons of the Earl's gallant Men both Neither was the Victory unbloody to the Hamiltons for they lost considerable Persons on their side too But the greatest Mischief fell upon the Inhabitants of Glasgow for the Enemy not contented with the Blood of the Towns-men which they had killed nor with the Miseries of those who survived nor yet with the Plunder of their Houses they also took away the Valves and Shutters of their Gates and Windows and their Iron-Bars neither did they forbear any kind of Calamity but only the firing of their Houses which were so torn and deformed before The Event of this Battel wrought a great change in Mens Minds so that Lennox's Friends and Kinsmen refused to commit the Matter to the Hazard of a second Encounter not so much because their Enemies Force was increased and theirs lessened nor that because having lost so many valiant Men they could not speedily gather together a new supply from places so remote as that they were unwilling to give any new Provocation to Hamilton or by too much Obstinacy to offend him under whose Government they knew they must shortly come Lennox being thus deserted by the French and the greatest part of the Scots too made George Sterlin Governour of the Castle of Dunbarton and he himself with a few in his Company sailed for England against the advice of his best Friends who were willing he should have stayed some Months in
parties every day six Miles round who burnt and destroy'd all within that Compass They attempted nothing considerable besides saving the fortifying the desolate Islands of Inch-Keith and Inch-Colm in the Bay of Forth and in the Bay of Tay they took the Castle Brockty and in their return by Land they took by Surrender the Castles of Fascastle and Hume which the Garisons out of Fear gave up and they raised Forts one at Lauder and another in the Ruins of Roxborough Castle Their sudden Departure gave some Relief to the Scots and a breathing-time for them to meet together to consult about the main chance The Regent presently after the Fight came with that part of the Nobles which were with him to the two Queens at Sterlin and to the Nobility attending there the Regent and his Brother were very sad and dejected for the Calamity which happen'd by their Default and the Queen Dowager gave forth many outward Signs of Grief in her Speech and Countenance but they which knew her Heart did judg that she was not much troubled to see the Arrogance of the Hamiltons so curbed but to be joyous in a publick Calamity they who use to cover the Faults of Princes under honest Disguises are wont to call Greatness of Mind Besides the Dowager ever since the Death of the Cardinal had used all ways and means to throw the Regent out of his Office and to invest the supream Authority in her self but she knew she could never effect it as long as They were uppermost and had all fortified places in their Hands In all her Discourse she heighten'd the Fear she had from the English and complained of the Weakness of their own domestick Forces and propounded the Dangers imminent from the civil Dissensions amongst them She communicated her Design to those who she knew were ill affected towards the Hamiltons When the Nobles were in Consultation about the grand Affairs of the Kingdom a Decree was made that the Queen should retire to Dunbarton whilst the Nobility did debate concerning the Estate of the Kingdom Iohn Erskin was made Governour of it an unquestionable Favourer of the Queen's Faction and William Levingston a Friend to the Hamiltons was join'd in Commission with him Embassadors were also sent into France to demand Aid of their King Henry against their common Enemy according to the League made with him Hopes was also given them that the Queen would come over into France and marry the Dolphin but the French were intent upon their own Affairs and therefore their Auxiliaries were slower than the present Danger required In the mean time the English entred Scotland on both sides of the Borders The Earl of Lennox as if he had been sent for by his Friends came to Dumfries for his Father-in-Law Angus and his old Friend Glencarne had promised him two thousand Horse and Foot of the neighbouring Parts to assist him if he would leave the English and come over to them but when he came at the Place appointed there were hardly Three hundred come together and those too of such who used to live on Robberies These and some other things of the like Nature being very suspicious and specially the wavering Mind of Iohn Maxwel who had already given Hostages to the English made Lennox believe that he was betrayed and therefore he resolved to circumvent his Enemies with the like Fraud he retained with him Glencarn Iohn Maxwel and other chief Men of the Scots who had treated with him concerning his Transition and Return into his own Country and in the middle of the Night march'd toward Drumlanerick with six hundred Horse part of the English and part of the Scots who had yielded to them when they came to the appointed Place he sent out five hundred to commit what Spoil they could in the neighbouring Parts that so he might draw out Iames Douglas Owner of the Castle into his Ambush he imagining such a thing kept within his Hold till 't was Day and then being out of fear of Treachery he marched out with his Men and pass'd over the River Nith and press'd straglingly upon the Plunderers charging their Rear as they were retreating They having got a convenient Time and Place to rally turn'd back upon him with great violence and struck such a Terror into them in the Straits of a Ford that they disordered their Ranks killed some and took many considerable Prisoners This light Expedition struck such a Terror into the greatest part of Galway that they strove which of them should yield first to the English partly to gratify Lennox and partly fearing lest being forsaken by their Neighbours they should lie open to all Affronts The Scotish Regent fearing lest in such a general Hurly-burly if he did attempt nothing he should altogether dispirit his Men who were discourag'd enough before besieg'd the Castle of Brockty and having laid before it almost three Months without performing any thing considerable he drew off his Men leaving only an hundred Horse under the Command of Iames Halyburton an active young Man to infest the neighbouring Places and to hinder any Provisions from being carried in by Land to Brockty or to the Garison which the English had plac'd on an Hill adjoining These Matters pass'd at the End of that Year In the beginning of the next which was 1548 the English fortified Hadington a Town in Lothian upon the Tine and burned the Villages and plundered the Country about which was the richest part of Scotland and they form'd another Garison at Lauder Lennox about the end of February having pass'd over the West-Border hardly escap'd an Ambush laid for him by Part of those who had yielded themselves but returning to Carlisle he revenged himself by punishing some of the Hostages especially Iohn Maxwel the chief Author of the Revolt according to the Contents of some Letters he had receiv'd from the King of England During these Transactions Henry of France who succeeded his Father Francis sent Forces to the Sea to be transported into Scotland about six thousand Men of which three thousand were German Foot commanded by the Rhine-grave about two thousand French and one thousand of divers Nations all Horse they were all commanded to obey Monsieur Dessy a French Man who had been a Commander in France some years and had done good Service there They landed at Leith and were ordered to quarter at Edinburgh till they had recovered their Sea-sickness The Regent and the Forces with him marched to Hadington where they beset all Passages and laid a close Siege to the Place He sent out a Proclamation into all Parts in pursuance whereof in a short time there came into him about eight thousand Scots There the Nobility assembled and the Consultation was renewed concerning the Queen's going into France and marrying the Daulphin a Council was called in a Monastery of Monks without Hadington in the very Camp In that Convention there were various Disputes some said that
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
Ensigns of the Kings and that the Queen's Husband should be created King of Scotland according to Custom To whom the Embassadors answer'd in short That they had receiv'd no Commands concerning those Matters The Chancellor reply'd That no more was desir'd of them at present than what was in their Power viz. That when these Matters came to be debated in the Parliament of Scotland that they would give their Suffrages in the Affirmative and give it under their Hands that they would so do That demand seem'd to be fuller of Peremptoriness than the former and therefore they thought it best to reject it with great vehemency and disgust Insomuch that their Answer was That their Embassy was limited by certain Instructions and Bounds which they neither could nor would transgress but if they had been left free from any restriction at all yet it was not the part of faithful Friends to require That of them which they could not grant without certain Infamy and Treachery tho there were no danger of Life in the Case That they were willing to gratify the French their old Allies as far as the just Laws of Amity requir'd and therefore they desir'd them to keep within the same Bounds of Modesty in making their Demands Thus the Embassadors were dismiss'd the Court and tho they hasten'd home assoon as they could yet before they went a Ship-board four of the chief of them Gilbert Kennedy George Lesly Robert Reed and Iames Fleming all very virtuous and true Patriots departed this Life as also did very many of their Retinue not without suspicion of Poison It was thought that Iames the Queen's Brother had also taken the same Dose for altho by reason of the Strength of his Constitution and his youthful Age he escap'd Death at that time yet he lay under a dangerous and constant weakness of Stomach as long as he liv'd That Summer Matters were at that dubious pass in Britain that there seem'd rather to be no Peace than a War For there were Skirmishes on both sides Preys driven and Villages burnt Incursions were mutually made and not without Blood Two of the Nobility of Scotland were carry'd away Prisoners by the English William Keith Son to the Earl of Merch and Patrick Grey chief of a Family so call'd amongst the Scots the rest of the Military damages fell upon mean Persons About the same time the English sent a Fleet under the Command of Sir Iohn Clare to infest the Coasts of Scotland they came to the Orcades intending there to Land and to burn Kirkwall a Bishops See the only Town in that Circuit When they had made a descent with a good part of their Force a fierce Tempest suddenly arose which carry'd their Ships from the Coast into the Main where after a long contest with the Winds and Waves they at length made Sail for England back again They which were put a Shore were every one Slain by the Islanders This year and the year before the Cause of Religion seem'd to lie Dormant for it being somewhat crush'd by the Death of George Wiseheart one Party accounted themselves well satisfy'd if they could worship God in their own Tongue in private Assemblies and dispute soberly concerning Matters of Divinity and the other Party after the Cardinal was slain shew'd themselves rather destitute of an Head than undesirous of Revenge For he who succeeded in his Place did rather covet the Mony than the Blood of his Enemies and was seldom Cruel but when it was to maintain his Licentiousness and to expend on his Pleasures In April Walter Mills a Priest none of the most learned was yet suspected by the Bishops because he left off to say Mass whereupon he was haled to their Court Though he was weak by Constitution of Body and Age extream Poor and also brought out from a nasty Prison and lay under such high Discouragements yet he answer'd so stoutly and prudently too that his very Enemies could not but acknowledg That such greatness and confidence of Spirit in such an enfeebled Carkase must needs have a support from on High The Citizens of St. Andrews were so much affected at the wrong done him that there was none found who would sit as Judg upon him and all the Tradesmen shut up their Shops that they might sell no Materials toward his Execution which was the Cause of his Reprieve for one day more than was intended At last one Alexander Somerval a Friend of the Archbishop's was found out a naughty Fellow who undertook to sit as Judg upon him for that Day This is certain the Commonalty took his Death so hainously that they heap'd up a great Pile of Stones in the Place where he was Burnt that so the Memory of his Death might not end with his Life The Priests took Order to have it thrown down for some Days but still as they dissipated it one Day it was rais'd up the next till at last the Papists convey'd the Stones away to build Houses with about the Town Iuly the 20 th was the day appointed by the Bishops for Paul Meffen an eminent Preacher of God's Word in those days to come to his Answer There was a great Assembly of the Nobles at the time so that the Matter seem'd to tend towards a Tumult whereupon the Process was deferr'd to another time several were condemn'd but it was of those which were Absent who that they might not be terrify'd with the severity of the Punishment were commanded to come in by the 1 st of September and pardon was promis'd them if they recanted The same 1 st of September was St. Giles day whom the Inhabitants of Edinburgh do venerate as their Tutelar God carousing to him in great Goblets and making high Entertainments for their Neighbours and Guests The Regent fearing lest in such a confus'd Rable some Tumult should arise was willing to be present her self at the Wake The Papists were very glad of her Coming and easily persuaded her to see the Show and Pageant wherein St. Giles was to be carried about the City but St. Giles alas did not appear for he was stol'n out of his Shrine by some body or other However that St. Giles might not want a Pageant nor the Citizens a Show upon such a Festival Day there was another young Gilesling forsooth set up in his room After the Regent had accompanied him thro the greatest part of the Town and saw no danger of any Insurrection she retired weary as she was into an Inn to repose her self But presently the City-Youths pluck'd down the Picture of Giles from the Shoulders of those who carried him threw him into the dirt and spoiled the Glory of the whole Pageantry The Priests and Friars running several ways for fear created a belief of a greater Tumult but when they had understood that there was more Fear than Danger in the thing and that the whole Matter was transacted without Blood they crept again out
this Action there fell so great and sudden a Terror upon the Cause of the Reformed which did mightily disturb them for the present and also cut off all hopes of Success for the future For the Regent partly by Threats and partly by Promises had wrought off many who had given in their Names to the Reformers from the Faction of the Nobles and besides their Camp was full of Spies who discovered both their Words and Actions yea those which they thought were concern'd to be kept most secret to the Regent and when Balfure's Servant was taken carrying Letters to Leith the Suspicion lighted on a great many and the Fear diffus'd it self over the whole Body And moreover the Mercenary Souldiers mutinied because they had not their Pay down upon the Nail and if any one indeavoured to appease them he was grievously threatned by them But Men did less admire the Sedition of such Men who had neither Religion nor Honesty than they did the Imbecillity and Faintheartedness of the Duke of Castle-herault who was so amazed at the Fear of his Neighbours that his Terror discouraged the Minds of many Those who were most couragious endeavoured to apply Remedies to these Miseries and their first Consultation was to appease the Mercenaries And seeing the Nobles which remained could not make up a Sum sufficient to quiet and pay them some declining through Covetousness others pleading Inability at last they agreed to melt down all their Silver-Plate and when the Say-masters were ready to assist therein the Mints or Stamps I know not by whose Fraud were taken away The only ground of Hope was from England which was adjudg'd too slow At last they resolved to try the Fidelity of their private Friends and thereupon they sent Iohn Cockburn of Ormiston to Sir Ralph Sadler and Sir Iames Croft two Knights of known Valour who at that time were Officers at Berwick to obtain of them a small Sum of Mony to serve their present Occasion This their Design though they kept it as private as they could was yet discovered to the Regent who commanded the Earl of Bothwel to waylay him in his Return He though in a few days before he had taken a solemn Oath that he would not prejudice the Cause of the Nobles in the least yea though he had given them hopes that he would join himself to their Party yet nevertheless lay in Ambush for Ormiston assaulted him unawares wounded and took him Prisoner and so became Master of all the Mony that he brought When the noise of this Exploit was brought to Edinburgh it alarm'd the Earl of Arran and Iames Stuart and almost all the Horse to draw out not so much for desire of Revenge as to free Ormiston if he were alive or at least to put a stop to their March that he might not be convey'd to the Regent But Bothwel having notice thereof by a Spy prevented their coming by his Flight The same Day the Governour of Dundee with the Towns-men thereof and a few Volunteers marched towards Leith and placed their Ordnance on an adjoining Hill The French who were informed by their Scouts that almost all the Enemies Horse were absent drew forth some Troops to cut off those few Foot whose Paucity they saw The Dundeans stood a while in hope of Relief but in regard those few Mercenaries which followed them turned their backs almost at the first Charge they also retired leaving their Guns behind them until at length a Noise was raised in the Rear that the French were gone another way towards the Gates of the City to seize them and so to keep them out upon this bruit there was such an universal Perturbation that every one shifted for himself the best he could and whilst each Man endeavour'd to save one the Weak were trodden under foot by the Strong so every body look'd to his own Particular and there was no Provision made in common for them all The Papists on this Emergency crept out of their lurking Holes and did openly reproach them Insomuch that they who ever pretended great Zeal for the Reformatition began partly to withdraw themselves secretly and partly they consulted how to desert the whole business On the 5 th Day of November when News were brought that the French were march'd out to intercept some Provisions coming towards Edinburgh besides the Disagreement of the Reformed amongst themselves the Mercenaries could scarce be got out of the Town to oppose them The Earl of Arran and Iames Stuart and their Friends went out first against them with whom there joined many worthy and valiant Persons They charged the French more fiercely than prudently so that they were near upon the point to have been shut out from Edinburgh and so to have paid for their Rashness For the Marishes on the one side and the adjacent Wall of an Orchard left them but a narrow space for their March and That also open to the French Musketeers so that they were trodden under foot partly by their own Men and partly by the Enemies Horse In this Trepidation they had been all certainly cut off unless the Commanders leaping from their Horses had put themselves into equal Danger with the rest some of the common Souldiers seeing this stopp'd for Shame amongst whom was Alexander Haliburton a Captain a stout young Man and very forward in the Cause of Religion he was grievously wounded taken Prisoner and soon after died of his Wounds After this Conflict in which there fell about twenty five many withdrew themselves and others were upon the point of Desperation but the Earl of Arran and Iames Stuart promised to continue their Endeavours if but a small Company of them would keep together when all in a manner refused so to do the next Consultation was to leave the City and as the Nobles had decreed in the second Watch they began their March and the Day after came to Sterlin There Iohn Knox made an excellent Sermon to them wherein he erected the Minds of many into an assur'd hope of a speedy Deliverance out of these Distresses Here it was agreed upon in a Convention that because the French were continualally strengthen'd and increas'd with new Supplies they also would strengthen their Party by foreign Aid and in order thereunto William Maitland was sent into England a young Man of great Prudence and Learning he was to inform the Queen what eminent Danger would accrue to England if the French were suffer'd to fortify Places and plant Garisons in Scotland in regard they sought the Destruction not of Religion only but of Laws and Liberties too and if the Scots were overcome by Force or Fraud yea if they were reduced to Servitude by unjust Conditions they would have an easier step to infringe the Power of the English The English after a long Debate of the Matter at length gave some hopes of Assistance Whereupon the Noblemen who were the Assertors of Liberty divided themselves into two
into one place The Earl of Martigues a stout and noble Young-Man landed from France in two Ships bringing with him about 1000 Foot and a few Horse he and his Souldiers presently went on Shore but the Ships were taken in the Night by the Scots About the same time the Marquess of Elbeuff Brother to the Regent who was bringing Aid of Men and Mony in eight Ships returned back into the Haven whence he set Sail partly for Fear because the Sea was full of English Ships and partly excusing himself for the Badness of the Weather Moreover a new Fleet of English was sent in to second the former who flew up and down the whole Chanel and held Keith-Island besieged stopping all manner of Provision from passing by Sea into Leith In the mean time the chief of the Assertors of Liberty who commanded in Fife went to Perth and after three Days Conference there with Huntly they won over all that Northern part of Scotland to their Party and Order was soon after given that they should all assemble and rendevouz at the end of March. About the same time all the chief Reformers had a Meeting at Linlithgo from thence they went to Hadington and on the first of April they joined the English there were in the English Army above 6000 Foot and 2000 Horse The next Night they pitched their Tents at Preston The same day the Regent to withdraw her self from the Danger now nearly approaching and to avoid the uncertain Hazard of War retired with some few of her Domesticks into the Castle of Edinburgh Iohn Erskin was Governour thereof a Man of approved Piety and Carefulness he had received the Command of it by a Decree of the publick Council as hath been before related but upon this Condition That he should render it up to none unless by the Command of the same Council The French saw that the Possession of this Castle was of huge Advantage to their Affairs and therefore they used great Endeavours to obtain it by Treachery The Governour though he were not ignorant of their Intentions towards him and had so fortified the Castle and made such other diligent Provision that 't was secure either from Force or Fraud yet was not willing to exclude the Regent at such a time but in receiving her into the Castle he took great care that both she and the Castle might be still under his Command The Nobles who were the Assertors of publick Liberty though before they had often found that her Mind was obstinately averse against the Cause which they had undertaken yet thought it adviseable not to pretermit the present Occasion as hoping that the Fear of the War approaching nearer to her and the Uncertainty of Aid from a remote Country might incline her Mind to peaceable Counsels Whereupon the chief of the Party had a Meeting at Dalkeith from whence they wrote to her to this purpose We have oft-times heretofore earnestly intreated you both by Letters and Messengers to send away the French Souldiers who do yet another Year grievously oppress the poor Country-People yea they raise up a just Fear in the Commonalty that they shall be reduced into miserable Bondage from which Fear we have many times requested you to free us but when our just Intreaties prevail'd nothing with you we were inforced to represent our deplorable Estate to the Queen of England as the nearest Princess to our Borders and to desire Aid of her to expel the Strangers who threatned to make us Slaves out of our Kingdom and that by Force of Arms if it could not otherwise be done and though she out of a sense of our Calamities hath undertaken our Cause yet that we might perform our Duty towards the Mother of our Queen and might prevent the Effusion of Christian Blood as much as is possible and might then have Recourse to Force of Arms when we have tried all other Ways to obtain Right without Success do as yet deem it a part of our Modesty again to pray you to command the French Souldiers with their Commanders and Officers to depart immediately out of the Land In order to the Accomplishment whereof the Queen of England will not only afford them a safe Passage through her Kingdom but will also assist with her Fleet to transport them If this Condition be rejected we call God and Man to Witness that we take up Arms not out of Hatred or any wicked Intent but inforc'd thereto by mere Necessity that so we may try the Extremity of Remedies that the Common-Wealth our Selves our Estates and Posterities might not be precipitated into utter Ruin And yet notwithstanding though we at present suffer very heavy Pressures and heavier ones are near at hand no Danger whatsoever shall ever inforce us to depart from our Duty towards our Queen or from the King her Husband in the least tittle wherein the Destruction of our ancient Liberty and the Ruin of our Selves and our Posterity is not concerned As for you most benign Princess we beseech you again that weighing the Equity of our Demands the Inconveniencies attending War and how necessary Peace is to this your Daughter's Kingdom so miserably harrassed you would afford a favourable Ear to our just Requests which if you shall do you will leave a grateful and pleasant Memory of your Moderation amongst all Nations and will also provide for the Security of the greatest part of Christians Farewel Dated at Dalkeith the 4 th of April in the Year 1560. The 6 th Day of April when the English drew near by the Sea-side about 1300 French march'd out of Leith and possessed a little rising Hill at the end of the Plain because they thought that the English would pitch their Tents there There was a sharp Fight for above five Hours for the recovering and keeping the Place with no small Loss on both sides at last the Scotch Horse with great Violence rush'd in amongst the thickest Band of the French and drove them back in great Astonishment into the Town and if the English Horse had come in sooner than they did as 't was agreed they had been all excluded from their Fellows and so cut off After this Onset there were Conferences managed between the Parties but in vain for the English did despise all Truce and ever and anon made some light Excursions yet not without Blood 't is not necessary to recount them On the 22 d of April Iohn Monluck Bishop of Vallence in Savoy was first carried into the English Camp then into the Castle of Edinburgh to the Regent where he had a Conference with her three Days and then returned to the Scotish Nobles the Terms of Concord could not then neither be agreed on because the Scots persisted peremptorily in their Demand that the foreign Souldiers should return home Hereupon the English because the distance between their Camp and the Town was too great for their Ordnance to do any Execution so that their
committed no Offence which was remediless and uncurable Towards the end of the War there were three French Generals having distinct limits allotted them who manag'd Military Affairs in Scotland viz The Count Martigues of the House of Luxemburgh who was afterwards made Duke of D'Estames L'abros of a Noble or Equestrian Family highly experienc'd in Military Matters and a Third was the Bishop of Amiens accompanied with some Doctors of the Sorbon as if the Matter were to be determin'd by the Pen not the Sword All the Counsels of these Three did tend to open Tyranny Martigues his Advice was to destroy all the Country near to Leith by Fire and Sword that so the desolateness of the Country and the want of Necessaries might compel the Scots to raise the Siege But if that Counsel had took Effect many peaceable Persons poor besides and for the most part Papists too would have been destroy'd and the Besieged would have had no benefit neither for the Sea being open Provisions might easily have been brought by Ships from all the Maritim places of Scotland and England into the Leaguer of the Besiegers and the devastation of the Land and Soil would have redounded as much on the Papists as on the Embracers of the True Religion L'abros was of opinion That all the Nobility of Scotland were to be cut off without distinction and that a thousand French Curiassiers were to be garison'd on their Lands who were to keep under the common Sort as Vassals This his Design was discover'd by some Letters of his intercepted which were going for France and 't is scarce credible how the Hatred against the French begun upon other Causes was increas'd thereby As for the Bishop of Amiens he would have had all Those to be seiz'd on and put to Death without pleading in their own Defence whom he thought not so favourable to the Pope's Cause as he would have them yea all Those who were not so forward to assist the French Party as he expected and he mightily blam'd the French Souldiers for suffering those who were disaffected to their King to strut it openly up and down One he particularly aimed at viz. Mr. William Maitland a Noble and learned Man whom because the Sorbonists could not refute by their Reasons the Bishop design'd to take off by the Sword yea he upbraided the French Souldiers for permitting him to live and advis'd them to kill him which he having notice of took his opportunity to withdraw himself from the French and so escap'd into the Scots Camp The Seventeenth BOOK A Few days after the Death of the Regent a Truce was made for a short time to hear the Embassadors who were come to treat of Peace out of both Nations France and England Hereupon the Nobles assembled These could not effect any thing the greatest obstacle to an agreement was That the French who the Winter before had obtain'd great Booties out of the neighbouring Parts refus'd to depart unless they carry'd their Baggage and plunder along with them This was denied them Whereupon Irruptions were made more fierce than ever though not so prosperous to the French At length when both sides were weary of the War and the Inclinations to Peace could no longer be dissembled the Embassadors on both sides met again in a Conference The things which most inclin'd all to Peace were these The French had no hopes of any relief and their Provisions grew daily scant and were not likely to hold out long so that their Condition was almost wholly desperate And for the English they were wearied out with the long Siege and wanted Necessaries as well as the French so that They likewise desir'd an end of the War And the Scots too receiving no Pay could hardly be kept from running away So that they easily hearkned to a Capitulation Thus by the joint Consent of all Parties on the 8 th day of Iuly in the Year of our Lord 1559 Peace was Proclaim'd on these Conditions That the French should Sail away in 20 days with their Bag and Baggage and seeing they had not Ships enough to transport them all over at present they were to hire some from the English leaving Hostages till they were safely return'd That Leith should be render'd up to the Scots and the Walls thereof demolish'd That the Fortifications lately made by the French at Dunbar should be slighted That these Articles being perform'd the English should immediately reduce their Forces That Mary Queen of Scots by the consent of her Husband Francis should grant an Oblivion of all that the Scotish Nobility had done or attempted from the 10 th day of March 1559 till the 1 st of August 1560. And that a Law should be made to that purpose to be confirm'd in the next Parliament there which was appointed to be in August And Francis and Mary were to give their Consent to the holding that Assembly That 60 of the French should keep the Island of Keith and the Castle of Dunbar that so the Queen might not seem to be ejected out of the Possession of the whole Kingdom at once After this departure of the foreign Souldiers there was a great Tranquillity and Cessation from Arms till the Queen's Return The Assembly of the Estates were kept at Edinburgh wherein the greatest Debate was about promoting the Reform'd Religion The Statutes made were sent into France for the Queen to give her consent to and subscribe This was done rather to sound her Mind than out of any hope to obtain any thing from Her Embassadors also were dispatch'd for England to give them thanks for their Assistance so seasonably afforded Not long after Iames Sandeland Knight of Rhodes came unto the French Court a Man as yet free from the Discords of the Faction his business was to excuse things past and to pacify the the Grudges remaining since the former Wars and so to try all ways to establish Peace and Concord But his arrival hapned to be in very troublesome times for the whole Conduct of the French Affairs was then in the Hands of the Guises who when they perceiv'd that neither Threatnings nor Flatteries did prevail endeavour'd to oppress the contrary Faction by force of Arms and when they could lay no other plausible Crime against their Contrariants they accus'd them of High-Treason for betraying the Kingdom Hereupon the King of Navarr was condemn'd to perpetual Imprisonment and his Brother the Prince of Conde sentenc'd to Death Annas Duke of Momorancy and the two Sons of his Sister Iasper and Francis Colignes and their Kinsman the Vidam of Charters were destin'd to the Slaughter and besides those above 7000 more were put into the black List of Criminals Moreover all means were us'd to terrify the People The City of Orleans was full of Foot-Souldiers Guards of Horse were posted all up and down the Country all the High-ways were beset by them Sentence was past by a few Men in the Court concerning
the Lives Fortunes and good Names of the honestest Men all the Steeples of Churches and Towers round about the Walls had their Windows shut up and their Gates and Doors fortified being design'd for Prisons Criminal Judges were call'd together out of the whole Kingdom The manner of Punishment was thus design'd That as soon as the Frost broke and the River Loir was navigable the King should go to Chinon in Poictou at the Mouth of the River Vien and then the Guises with a few of their Partizans at the Command of the Court-Cabal of which They were the chief should perform the Execution Mean while Sandeland came to Court not so much humbly to desire Pardon for what was past as to excuse his Country-Men laying all the blame of the Tumults upon the French The Guises receiv'd him very coursly blaming him that he being a Man dedicated to the Holy War had undertaken to manage the Commands of the Rebels upon the Account of that execrable Heresy which the Consent of all Nations had highly condemn'd in the Council of Trent yea many of them did admire not at the Folly but even Madness of the Scots that they being but a few and disagreeing amongst themselves and besides destitute of Mony and other Warlike Preparations should dare to provoke so potent a King who was now at quiet from any foreign Enemy Between these fretful Indignations and Threatnings the King fell suddenly Sick The Embassador was dismiss'd without any Answer but the Message of the Kings Death reach'd him at Paris in the Nones of December whence he made haste home hoping for better things for future The News of the King's Death being divulg'd did not so much erect the Minds of the Scots being in great Suspence by reason of their imminent Dangers as it fill'd all France with Faction and the Poison of domestick Discords Iames the Queen's Brother Scotland being now freed from the Domination of the French by the Death of Francis made what haste he could to the Queen who when her Husband was dead went to Lorrain to her Uncles either as a Recess to her Grief or else out of womanly Emulation that she might not be near her Mother-in-Law who by reason of the Slothfulness of Anthony Burbon King of Navar did by degrees derive the whole Administration of Affairs into her own Hands There Iames the Queen's Brother having setled things in Scotland for a Season found her and after much Discourse the Queen told him she had a mind to return to Scotland and fix'd a Day by which they might expect her her Uncles being also of the same Opinion For before Iames's Coming there had been great Consultation about the Matter some alleging the Difficulty of the Voyage especially the Queen of England being nothing favourable besides she was to go to a barbarous People and naturally seditious who were hardly kept in quiet by the Government of Men. Moreover she had fresh Examples before her Eyes of her Father and Mother whom when they could not or durst not openly oppress by sundry Artifices they drove them to Despair so that she would be in daily peril either of her Honour or of her Life amongst them On the other side they who were skill'd in the Affairs of Scotland did urge that the Seditions arising there were occasion'd oftner by default of the Princes than the People in that they endeavour'd to reduce that Kingdom to an Arbitrary and boundless Rule which time out of mind had been circumscrib'd and manag'd within due Bounds of Law and That such a Nation which was more warlike than opulent could never endure But all those Kings who never attempted to infringe the Liberties of the People were not only free from private Enemies and popular Tumults but also reigned much beloved of their Subjects famous Abroad and unconquered by their Enemies But the best and almost only Way at present to quiet things was to attempt no Alteration in the State of Religion as then establish'd These were the Debates as publickly bruited on both sides But there were other more prevailing Causes with her Uncles for they in the Troubles of France cherishing rather great than honest Hopes thought if the Queen were absent she would be more in their Power than if she staid in France and that Neighbour-Princes in hopes to carry her for a Wife would seek their Friendships and use them as Mediators In the mean time one or other of their Faction would preside over the Management of Affairs in Scotland Besides the Queen's Resolution swayed much in the Case who was determined to return into her own Country for her Husband was dead and her Mother-in-Law who manag'd Matters of State being something alienated from her she saw she should be cheap at that Court and tho she had been but a little used to Government yet a Woman young of a flourishing Age and a lofty Spirit too could not endure to truckle under another she had rather have any Fortune in a Kingdom than the richest without one neither could she hope that her Condition would be very honourable the Power of the Guises being weakned by the adverse Party at the first brush Besides the Persuasions and Promises of her Brother Iames serv'd much to weigh down the Ballance for he assur'd her she would find all Quiet at home especially seeing he was a Man to whose Faith she might safely commit her self being her natural Brother and who from his Youth had performed many noble and brave Exploits and so had got great Credit and Renown amongst all Men. Whilst the Queen was intent on these Matters Noal a Senator of Bourdeaux who was sent out of France came into Scotland a little after the end of the publick Convention and was put off till the next Assembly which in order to the setling publick Matters was Indicted to be held at Edinburgh May the 21 st yet the Nobles who met there at the time in great abundance did not sit because they were as yet uncertain of the Queen's Will and Pleasure In the mean time Iames Stuart returned from France and brought a Commission from the Queen giving them Liberty to sit and enact Laws for the Good of the Publick Then the French Embassador had Audience the Heads of his Embassy were That the ancient League with the French should be renewed and the new one with the English broke That Priests should be restor'd to their Estates and Dignities whence they had been ejected To which Answer was given As to the French League that they were not conscious to themselves that they had broken it in the least but that it had been many ways infring'd by the French themselves and especially of late in their opposing the publick Liberty and indeavouring to bring a miserable Yoke of Bondage upon a People which were their Allies and giving no occasion on their part As for the League with England they could not dissolve it without a brand of
and promised them to reduce all the Country beyond Dunkelden to the old Religion But they suspected the matter as having heard enough of the Disposition of the Man and fearing lest he should raise a new Storm to no purpose communicated the matter to Iames the Queen's Brother The rest of the Year was spent in Balls and Feastings and in sending away the French who out of Civility had attended the Queen and were then honourably dismiss'd only one of her Uncles the Marquess of Elbeuff staid behind Amidst these Matters William Maitland junior was sent Embassador into England to complement that Queen as the Custom is and to acquaint her how highly she stood affected towards her and how much she desired to maintain Peace and Concord with her He also carried to her Letters from the Nobility in which was mentioned a Friendly Commemoration of former Courtesies and Obligations but one thing they earnestly desired of her and That was that both publickly and privately she would shew her self friendly and courteous towards their Queen and that being provoked by good Offices she would not only persevere in her ancient Friendship but add daily stronger Obligations if possible hereunto As for their part it should be their earnest Study and Desire to pretermit no occasion of perpetuating the Peace betwixt the two Neighbour-Kingdoms That there was but One sure way to induce an Amnesty of all past Differences and to stop the Spring of them for ever if the Queen of England would declare by an Act of Parliament firmed by the Royal Assent That the Queen of Scots was Heiress to the Kingdom of England next after her Self and her Children if ever she had any After the Embassador had asserted the Equity of such a Statute and how beneficial it would be to all Britain by many Arguments he added in the close That she being her nearest Kinswoman ought to be more intent and diligent than others in having such an Act made and that the Queen did expect that Testimony of Good-will and the Respect from her To which the Queen of England answered in these Words I expected another kind of Embassy from your Queen I wonder she hath forgot how that before her Departure out of France after much urging she at last promised that the League made at Leith should be confirmed she having promised me faithfully it should be so as soon as ever she returned into her own Country I have been put off with Words long enough now 't is time if she have any respect to her Honour that her Deeds should answer her Words To which the Embassador answered That he was sent in this Embassy but a very few days after the Queen's Arrival before she had entred upon the Administration of any publick Affairs That she had been hitherto taken up in treating the Nobility many of whom she had never seen before who came from divers parts to perform their dutiful Salutations to her but she was chiefly imployed about setling the State of Religion which how difficult and troublesome a thing it is said he you your self are not ignorant Hence he proceeded your Majesty may easily understand that the Queen of Scots had no vacant time at all before my Departure neither had she as yet called fit Men to her Council to consult about various Affairs especially since the Nobility that liv'd in the furthest parts towards the North had not been yet to attend her before his Coming without whose advice Matters of such publick Moment could not nor ought not to be transacted Upon which the English Queen was something moved and said What need had your Queen to make any Consultation about doing that which she hath obliged her self to under her Hand and Seal He replied I can give no other Answer at present for I received nothing in command about it neither did our Queen expect that an account thereof would now be required of me and you may easily consider with your self what just causes of Delay she at present lies under After some Words had past betwixt them upon these matters the Queen returned to the main Point I observe said she what you most insist upon in behalf of your Queen and in seconding the Requests of the Nobles you put me in Mind that your Queen is descended from the Blood of the Kings of England and that I am bound to love her by a natural Obligation as being my near Kinswoman which I neither can or will deny I have also made it evident to the whole World that in all my Actions I never attempted any thing against the Weal and Tranquillity of her self and her Kingdom Those who are acquainted with my inward Thoughts and Inclinations are conscious that though I had just cause of Offence given by her using my Arms and claiming a Title to the Kingdom yet I could never be persuaded but that these Seeds of Hatred came from others not from her self However the case stands I hope she will not take away my Crown whilst I am alive nor hinder my Children if I have any to succeed me in the Kingdom But if any Casualty should happen to me before she shall never find that I have done any thing which may in the least prejudice the Right she pretends to have to the Kingdom of England what that Right is I never thought my self obliged to make a strict Disquisition into and I am of the same Mind still I leave it to those who are skilful in the Law to determine As for your Queen she may expect this confidently of me that if her Cause be just I shall not prejudice it in the least I call God to witness that next to my self I know none that I would prefer before her or if the matter come to a Dispute that can exclude her Thou knowest says she who are the Competitors By what Assistance or in hopes of what Force can such poor Creatures attempt such a mighty thing After some further Discourse the Conclusion was short That it was a matter of great Weight and Moment and that this was the first time she had entertained any serious Thoughts about it and therefore she had need of longer time to dispatch it A few days after she sent for the Embassador again and told him That she extreamly wondred Why the Nobles should demand such a thing of her upon the first Arrival of the Queen especially knowing that the Causes of former Offences were not yet taken away But what pray do they require That I having been so much wrong'd should before any Satisfaction receiv'd gratify her in so great a matter This Demand is not far from a Threat If they proceed on in this way let them know that I have Force at home and Friends abroad as well as They who will defend my just Right To which he answered That he had shewn clearly at first how that the Nobility had insisted on this hopeful Medium of Concord partly out of Duty
above 300 Men maintaining themselves in their Posts When Murray came thither he stood with his Party in Order and Rank on a small Hill where he overlook'd all the Marish the rest as they were advancing towards the Enemy gave evident Tokens of Treachery putting Boughs of Heath on their Helmets for that Plant grows in abundance in those Parts that they might be known by the Enemy When they came near the Huntleans secure of the Success hasten to them and seeing the adverse Army disordered by the Traitors and put to Flight that they might more nimbly pursue them they cast away their Lances and with their drawn Swords to terrify those Ranks that stood they cried out Treason Treason and made with great Violence at the Enemy The Traitors thinking that they should also put to Flight the standing Party made haste towards it But Murray perceiving no hope in Flight and that nothing remain'd but to dye nobly cried out to his Party to hold out their Lances and not to let those that were running away come in amongst them They being thus unexpectedly excluded from both Wings passed by in great Disorder But the Huntleans who now thought the matter ended and the Victory sure when they saw a Party though but small standing in a terrible manner with their Pikes forward they who were making towards them dispersedly and out of order and could not come to handy-strokes by reason of the length of their Spears being struck with a sudden Terror fled as swiftly as they had pursu'd before The Revolters perceiving this change of Fortune press'd upon them in their Flight and as if willing to expiate their former Fault what Slaughter was made that Day 't was They that did it There were 120 of the Huntleans slain and 100 taken Prisoners of the other Army not a Man was lost Amongst the Prisoners was Huntly himself and his two Sons Iohn and Adam the Father being an old Man corpulent and pussy dyed under the Hands of those that took him The rest late at Night were brought to Aberdeen Murray had appointed a Minister of the Gospel to wait for his Return where in the first place he gave Thanks to God Almighty who out of his Mercy alone beyond all Men's Expectation without any Strength or Wisdom of his own had delivered him and his Men out of so imminent a Danger afterwards he went to the Court where though many did highly congratulate him yet the Queen gave no Sign of Joy at all either in Speech or Countenance A few days after Iohn Gordon was put to Death not without the Trouble of many for he was a manly Youth very beautiful and entring on the prime of his Age not so much designed for the Royal Bed as deceived by the Pretence thereof and that which moved no less Indignation than Pity was that he was beheaded by an unskilful Headsman The Queen beheld his Death with many Tears but as she was prone to conceal and counterfeit Affections so various Descants were made upon her Grief and Passion and the rather because many knew that her Brother was as much hated by her as Huntly She pardoned Adam because he was but young George the eldest Son in this desperate case fled from his House to his Father-in-Law Iames Hamilton there to shelter himself or else by his Mediation to obtain his Pardon As for Gordon's Followers according to the Degrees of their Offences some were fined others banish'd the Land many sent packing into remote parts of the Kingdom that they might make no more Commotions at home Those who lighted upon powerful Intercessors were remitted their Offence and taken into former Grace and Favour Matters being thus settled or at least appeased for the present the rest of the Winter was spent in Peace The 26 th day of November Bothwel who had escap'd out of Prison was by a Proclamation commanded to render himself again and in Default thereof he not obeying was declared a publick Enemy When the Queen was returned from Aberdene to St. Iohnston's Iames Hamilton came to her to beg Pardon for George Gordon his Son-in-Law he received an Answer not wholly severe yet was forced to deliver up his Son-in-Law who was sent Prisoner to Dunbar and the next Year after which was 1563 on the 7 th of the Calends of February was brought to Edinburgh there condemned for Treason and sent back to Dunbar 'T was about this time that there came forth a Proclamation under a pecuniary Mulct That no Flesh should be eaten in Lent The pretence was not any thing of Religion but civil Advantage only The Arch-bishop of St. Andrews because he did not forbear to hear and say Mass after the Edict made at the coming in of the Queen was committed Prisoner to the Castle of Edinburgh Others guilty of the same Fault were punish'd but slightly yet were threatned to be more severely treated if they offended in the like sort again Now the time of the Parliament drew near which was summon'd to be held the 20 th day of May where the Queen with the Crown on her Head and her Royal Robes went in great Pomp to the Parliament-house a new Spectacle to many but that Men had been accustom'd to bear the Government of Women in her Mother's and Grandmother's Days In that Assembly some Statutes were made in Favour of the Reformed and some Coyners were punish'd the rest of the Summer the Queen spent in Athol in the Sport of Hunting At the end of Autumn Matthew Stuart Earl of Lennox by the Queen's Leave returned to Scotland having been unworthily deserted by the King of France the 22 d Year after his Departure as I said before And the next Year which was 1564 in the Month of Ianuary at a Convention of the Estates held almost on purpose for that very thing his Banishment was remitted and his Goods restored the Queen seconding that Remission with many favourable Words and repeating the many great Services the Earl had done her in her very Infancy she having been delivered out of her Enemies Hand and advanced to her Throne by his Means Afterwards Henry his Son came out of England into Scotland on the 12 th of February having there obtained a Convoy for three Months This Young Man being of an high Linage and very beautiful the Son of her Aunt the Queen of Scots received very courteously and delighting daily in his Society the common Speech was That she would marry him neither was the Nobility against it because they saw many advantages might redound to Britain by that Marriage if it might be made by the Queen of England's Consent Both of them were in an equal Degree of Consanguinity from her and she was so far from being against it that she was willing rather to seem the Author of it and so to lay some Obligation upon her in making the Match besides she thought it for her Advantage to humble
prosecuting them yea sometimes they were recompens'd with great Advantages but the Wrath of Princes was not to be quench'd but by Death only But Murray and Glencarn who understood that their discourse was not founded on the Good of the Publick but their own private Advantage for upon the Queen's death they were the next Heirs to the Crown did equally abhor the Princes death and Hamiltons Government too which they had lately experienc'd to be Avaritious and Cruel so that They were for milder Counsels and in regard 't was a civil Dissension wherein as yet there was no blood shed the Dispute having been hitherto managed by Votes not Arms they thought it fit if possible to end it by an honest Agreement Hereunto they thought many in the King's Army would hearken as being desirous of Peace and would not be wanting to plead for Those that in Defence of their Liberties were inforc'd to take up Arms. As for the King and Queen They being yet young might not perhaps be so Provident and for their Parts they had not yet so far transgrest as to indanger the Common-wealth as for smaller Injuries which affected their Names and Reputations only 't was fitter they were cured by other Remedies than Death For they remembred 't was an old Caution transmitted from their Ancestors for Imitation That in the Lives and Manners of Princes their hidden Vices ought to be concealed their doubtful Ones taken in the best sense and their open Ones so far born with as they did not endanger the Ruin of the Publick This Opinion pleased the most and the rest of the Hamiltons acquiesced therein and resolved to be quiet only Iames chief of their Family with 16 Horse remained with the Nobility who being lessened by the recess of the Hamiltons were not able to give Battel to the Enemy nor yet to break through each to his own Clan and therefore they yielded to the Times and came that Night to Hamilton and the next Day to Edinburgh to consult how to manage the War But in regard the Castle which commanded the Town continually plaid upon them and their Friends could not come in so soon from remote Parts as was requisite and moreover the King and Queen were reported to be near them with their Forces by the great Persuasions and Promises of Iohn Maxwel of Herreis they directed their Course towards Dumfreiz The King and Queen returned back to Glascow and left the Earl of Lennox their Lieutenant in the Country towards the South-West they themselves went afterward to Sterlin and thence into the middle of Fife They made the greatest part of the Nobility take an Oath That if any Commotion arose from England they would faithfully oppose it the rest were punish'd some by Fine some by Banishment The Goods of those who fled into England wherever they could find them were seized upon and they appointed Commissions of Oyer and Terminer to be held in all Counties to enquire into the Remains of the Rebellion On the 9 th of October they drew forth their Army out of Edinburgh and march'd towards Dumfriez Maxwel who till that time had pretended to be highly of the Party which was against the King thinking it now a fit opportunity to cater for himself went forth to meet them as if he would have interceded for Pardon for the whole Party He dealt with them to have part of his Father-in-Laws Estate which he had a great mind to have bestow'd upon him they look'd upon him as an active subtil Man fit for Counsel and Business and granted his Request whereupon he return'd to the Rebels and told them he could do them no good and therefore they must all shift for themselves England was near at hand if they would retire thither after he had settled his Affairs at home he would follow them and live and die with the Party In the interim he got a thousand Pounds from Murray upon the account of Mony which he alleged he had expended in listing some Horse For being commanded to raise some few Troops of Horse he caused all his Domesticks to appear as if they had been Souldiers formally listed The Rebels were terrified at the coming of the King and Queen and at Maxwels revolt from them So that the King and Queen hereupon did what they pleas'd They drove away most of the Leaders of the Faction and the rest were intent on the Event of their Danger so that about the end of October they return'd to Edinburgh and all things were quiet in Scotland till the beginning of the next Spring A Convention of all the Estates of the Kingdom was Indicted to be held in March that so the Goods of those who were banish'd might be Confiscate their Names struck out of the Roll of the Nobility and their Armorial Ensignes torn in Pieces neither of which the Kings of Scotland can lawfully do without an Act of Parliament In the interim David perceiving the Court to be empty of Nobility and thinking it an opportunity to shew and declare the Excessiveness of his Power did suggest severe Counsel to the Queen daily pressing her to cut off some of the chief of the Faction if a few of them said he were executed the rest would be quiet and in regard he thought the Queen's Guard being Scots-men would not easily consent to the cruel Murder of the Nobility he was very intent to have them thrown out of their Places and to introduce Foreigners into their Rooms a Project that is wont to be the beginning of all Tyranny first Mention was made of sending for some Germans over for that Service because that Nation were highly faithful to their Princes But when David had considered seriously with himself he thought it more conducive to his Interest to have Italians first because being his Country-Men he presumed they would be more at his Devotion next that being Men of no Religion they would be fitter to make Disturbances so that he thought they might easily be induc'd to venture upon any Design Right or Wrong for being wicked and indigent Persons born and bred up under Tyrants us'd to War and being far from their own home they car'd not what became of Britain and therefore seem'd most Proper to attempt Innovations Hereupon Souldiers of Fortune were privately sent for out of Flanders and other Countries of the Continent but they were to come in by Piece-meal as 't were One by One and at several times too that the Design might not be discover'd It would be more dangerous said he to offend any one of those Ruffians than the Queen her Self But as David's Power and Authority with the Queen did daily increase so the King grew Cheaper with her every Day for as She had been rashly precipitate in making the Marriage so She as soon repented and gave manifest Tokens of her alienated Mind For as presently after the Marriage was celebrated she had publickly Proclaim'd him King by an Herauld
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
Poem not unelegantly compos'd by her and also the Manner of the King's Death and after his Death her Surprize and three Contracts of Marriage with him the One before the Parricide written with her own Hand wherein as by a Bill she promises to marry him as soon as ever she was freed from her former Husband The Other was before the Divorce from his former Wife writ by Huntly's Hand The Third was openly made a little before the Marriage When all this was produc'd seen and read before the Council The whole Fact was so plainly expos'd that now no Doubt could be made Who was the Author of it Though the Queen of England could not but believe these Discoveries yet she did fluctuate in her Mind on the one side there was Emulation Queens mutually hating one another there were also such great Crimes and such evident Proofs that the Queen thought her Kinswoman of Scotland deserv'd no Assistance to restore her And though her Mind did incline to that which was right yet 't was shaken and did hesitate upon the remembrance of her former State not without a Commiseration and besides the Majesty of Kingly Honour and a Feaâ lest the Example of driving out Princes might creep into the Neighbour-Kingdoms wrought much upon her Besides she was afraid of France for the Peace with them was not very sure or firm and then especially the French Embassador did plead the Cause of the banish'd Queen daily The Spanish Embassador was desir'd also to interpose his Mediation but the foulness of the Crimes did so deter him that he refus'd to meddle therewith Whereupon the Queen of England that she might leave a Door for Repentance if Matters should succeed amiss in France and not cut off all occasion of gratifying them gave a middle Answer so tempering it that at present she said She saw no cause to the contrary but that all things had been acted according to Law and Justice in Scotland yet as if she deferr'd the compleat Decision till another time she desir'd that seeing intestine Tumults did recal the Regent he would leave here one of his Retinue in his Place to make Answer to those Crimes which might be objected against him in his Absence But the Regent who saw the Matter to be so put off that That Queen might take her Measures to give Sentence for her own Advantage and the Event of foreign Affairs left no Stone unturn'd that he might have the Cause fully determin'd now and therefore he desir'd as most just and equitable that if his Enemies who had long studied before-hand to accuse him had any thing to allege they would now produce it and not watch an Opportunity to calumniate him in his Absence seeing they refus'd to cope with him face to face he was not ignorant what Rumors his Enemies would cause to be spread amongst the People and what they had already said to some of the Council and to the French Embassador and therefore he earnestly desir'd of the Council to command them not to mutter privately but to declare openly what they had to say and that he would not make such haste home but that though it were much to his own Damage and the Publicks yet he would willingly purge himself there in presence Whereupon the Commissioners of the banish'd Queen were sent for and demanded If they had any thing to allege against the Regent or his Companions in reference to the King's Murder they should produce it Their Answer was They had nothing at present but they would accuse them when they were commanded by their Queen The Regent answer'd That he was always ready to give an account of all the Actions perform'd by him neither would he shun either Time or Place so to do yeâ seeing the Queen began that Accusation of him he desir'd of his Accusers there present That if any of them had the least Objection against him they would then declare it for 't was much more noble and handsom to produce it before so illustrious an Assembly than in private Cabals to nibble at his Fame in his Absence They also refused This. Whereupon the whole Council cried out upon them and in a manner reproach'd them so that they were compell'd singly and severally to confess That they knew nothing of themselves why Murray or any of his should be accus'd of the King's Murder Then after a long Dispute pro and con the Council was dismiss'd and from that time there was never any more mention made of accusing the Regent or any of his Companions Whilst the Regent was thus necessarily detain'd in England on a publick Account the Queen's Faction turn'd every Stone both at Home and Abroad to make Disturbances but without effect Iames Hamilton who had been Regent some Years before seeing that Things went not according to his Mind at Home had gone long before into France there he had but a few Companions but lay privately with a Servant or Two to attend him free from the hurry of all Publick Business but when the Queen of Scots was escap'd out of Prison overcome in Battel and then fled for England The French knowing that Murray was call'd Home into his own Country and in his Passage through France not being able to work him over to their Party in regard they could not send Men or Mony to Scotland to raise Disturbance there by reason of their own Commotions at Home they therefore thought it most advisable to set up Hamilton in an emulating competition with him especially at that Time when the Regent with part of the Nobility were absent and out of the way He was therefore drawn out of his Privacy and accommodated with some few Pistols and larger Promises In his return thro' England his Friends persuaded him That in regard the Queen of Scots with her Faction favour'd him and the Queen of England was not averse from it he would deal with her to persuade Murray by her Authority to resign his Regency to him in regard that Office by the Law and Consent of almost all Nations and especially by the Custom of their own Country was due to him as the next in Blood and Heirship Neither said he was there any great need to make a laborious search into the Records of Ancient Times for This wherein they might easily find That Governors were always appointed to their Princes when under Age out of the next of Kin as when Iames the 3 d died in the absence of Iames the 1 st his Uncle Robert manag'd the Government and his Son Murdac succeeded Robert And of late Times Iohn Duke of Albany was made Governor to King Iames the 5 th whilst he was under Age Yea Hamilton himself had been Regent some few Years before Mary now Queen was of Age fit to Govern or Marry and how he was not excluded from that Office by any lawful Suffrages but unjustly by the Rebellious and that which increas'd the Indignity was That
managed Designs to alter things The Pope was not wanting by his Exhortations and Promises to stir up their Minds already inraged but the Kings were not sufficiently agreed amongst themselves and their Forces were so exhausted that they rather desired a War than were able to make it Besides there was an Emulation betwixt them one could not well bear that the other should have so great an Accession as England if it were conquered to his Dominions Moreover some Disputes arose betwixt Them and their Subjects which diverted their Thoughts from foreign Affairs though the Novelty of a Woman's Reign and she a young Woman too without an Husband gave Encouragement thereto especially since those who were ill affected to her said she was born to Henry the 8 th in an unlawful Marriage and also the former Differences about the Kingdom and about Religion were rather stifled than extinguished yea the Sparks of Discontent did glow in Mens Minds which in a short time were likely to break forth into a great Flame In the mean time the English Papists had made many Attempts but in vain for they were soon quell'd and though their Designs never succeeded yet Foreigners still feeding them only with blooming Hopes not with real Supplies they still persisted in the same resolute Design wanting rather a Commander for their Numbers than Power or Courage to come together The Common People of that Sect had taken a View of all the Nobility and they found none fit enough to whom they might commit their Lives and Fortunes many of the most stirring had been consumed in the Civil Wars many had past over to the other Party some were so old that they were unfit for publick Business or else the Vigor of their Minds as well as the Strength of their Bodies was so debilitated that they desired Peace if it were but a tolerable one There was only one Man who for Courage and Power seemed fit to undertake so great a Business and that was Thomas Howard who though he was of himself inclinable to Quietness yet there were some Causes which moved him to study Innovations For his Father and Grand-father though they had been highly eminent both in War and Peace yet in the Storms of an unstable Court they had been so toss'd that their highest Glory was ballanc'd with as great Disgrace His Father was condemn'd for Treason and publickly beheaded and Two Queens his Kinswomen had been also put to Death He in those Difficulties was liberally brought up and so preserved his Family from being quite extinguish'd and blown up In his very Youth he gave a Specimen of great Prudence and in a few Years by the Death of his Wives and by new Marriages he grew so rich that next to the Queen he was the most potent of the English for Wealth and Prudence the rest of the Nobility yielded to him but as for his Skill in Military Matters he had yet given no Proof of his Valor but in the Controversies of Religion he carried himself so swimmingly and ambiguously that tho he favoured Popery in his Heart yet he was such a Fosterer of the contrary Party that Many of them made sure of him in their Thoughts as their Own Amids these things the Queen of Scots was overcome in Battel and fled to England whence she wrote Letters to that Queen concerning the cause of her coming she was bid by her to retire to the House of the Lord Scroop Warden of the Marches till she did consider of her Demands in Council Scroop's Wife was Howard's Sister and by her Means the Treaty of Marriage was secretly begun betwixt the Queen and Howard and the Opportunity seemed to be offered by God himself seeing Howard's third Wife was lately dead and he was then a Widower The Design was concealed as being intrusted but to a few yet 't was whisper'd abroad among the Common People For narrow Spirits cannot conceal great Hopes but Ioy gives them Vent and so they fly abroad The Matter was so far advanc'd That the Fire of a Civil War seemed ready to break out yea some were so confident of Success after they had considered the Strength of the Parties that they thought Howard might easily do what he pleased without using any Force Things were in this Posture when the Scots Nobles had a great Meeting at Perth to hear the Demands of both Queen's both of them having wrote to them The Queen of England's Letters proposed one of these Three Conditions The first was absolute That the Queen might be restored to her Throne and Dignity as formerly But if that could not be granted Then that she might reign jointly with her Son that so she might injoy Princely Honour in Letters and publick Acts in the mean time the Regency should be in the Hands of the present Regent till the King came to the Age of seventeen If neither of those could be obtained then the third Condition was if the Queen could be persuaded to accept of it That she should live privately at home being content with those Honours which saving the Authority and Majesty of the King might be granted to her This last Request was easily assented to if the Queen would accept it But the other Two were peremptorily refused For the better and more incorrupt Part of the Nobility were resolute in this That they neither could nor ought to determine any thing which did diminish the King's Authority especially being lawfully inthron'd but the two former Heads did take off from the King's Honour yea it exposed his Life too being a Pupil unless it could be thought that his Mother who was known to be cruel towards her Husband and was not well affected toward her Son neither being exasperated by her Banishment besides should be no more kind to him than she had been ever before Also the Letters from the exil'd Queen were read wherein she desired That some Judges might be appointed to consider of her Marriage with Bothwel and if 't was found contrary to Law that she might be divorced from him Those Letters did highly incense the King's Party because she wrote her self as Queen and commanded them as Subjects Yea some would not have had them answered at all because they indeavoured to abridg the King of his Power and to instate the Rule in the sole Power of an exil'd Queen but that Part of the Council which was for the Queen alleged that they wondered much why those who had formerly the last Year much desired that she would separate her Cause from Bothwel's now when it was freely offer'd to them should hinder it as eagerly or rather more as they had before earnestly desired it if a Word or two in the Letters did displease them that Fault might easily be amended yea some there were who undertook provided the Matter of the Divorce might be handled in the mean time to procure a Commission from her in what Expressions they themselves would have it On the contrary
would follow which in a great Multitude without a Governour is easily rais'd but not so easily laid The Third Opinion condemned both the Others The First for that now there ought less Account to be made of the Queen's Letters-Patent since if the Matter of Law were considered they were from their beginning of little or no force The Other for that a Prorogation would both draw much Danger along with it also a greater Delay than the present Condition of Affairs could well permit and therefore they would have all those to meet who at first had advised the King to enter upon the Government and had constantly adhered to him ever since These according to the sense of this Party were to take the best Care they could for the Publick-Weal and speedily appoint such a Regent who was both able and willing to provide for the Safety of King and Kingdom both But this Opinion was rejected also and so before any thing was concluded upon the Convention was broke up So many Meetings having been tried in vain the Rebels again return to the old Seminary of the English War thereby to draw the Populacy to their Faction and send out the same Captains of the Freebooters which were sent before who left nothing of Cruelty uncommitted even to the utmost extremity And in the mean time the Heads of their Faction bespatter the Queen of England with all manner of Reproaches And also they maliciously accuse the Scotish Nobles as Pensioners to the English commonly giving out in a way of Threatning That if their Adversaries did call in the English to their Aid they would have recourse to the French and Spanish Succours About this time Mr. Le Verac one of the King of France's Bed-Chamber-Men came from France to Dumbritton who with his large Promises somewhat raised up their Courages Hereupon the Hamiltons appointed a Meeting of their People to be held the 9 th of April at Linlithgo Where when the Queen's Faction was gathered together in great Numbers They began openly to treat of That which they had long before meditated in their private Cabals That if a War against the English could be made thereby private Injuries and Actions either about the King 's or Regent's Murder in that universal Disturbance of Affairs would either grow out of Remembrance or at least the Resentment of them much abate These Things having been transacted at Linlithgo by the Associates of the Conspiracy only who having not yet plainly unmasked their Intentions that they might have more Shew of Authority they determine to meet at Edinburgh on the 11 th of April and thereby besides the other Conveniencies which the Place would afford them draw the Citizens of whom they always made great account either way to their Party This seemed no hard Matter since they had already gained William Kircady the Governour both of the City and Castle to their Side But because they understood that Watch and Ward was kept there and that the Common People were more inclined to their Adversaries they thought fit to send to the Citizens first to know Whether or no it was their Pleasure they should meet there The Citizens Answer was That they would exclude no Person that was desirous of the Publick Peace and obedient to the King but that they would admit neither the English Exiles nor the Hamiltons into their City lest they should either highly displease the Queen of England in whose Kingdom they had great Traffick or seem to join in Counsel with those that were guilty of that horrid Murder nor likewise would they endure the Proposal of any New Edicts which might tend to the lessening of the Regal Authority or that their Souldiery should be forc'd as the Custom was to run to their Arms by sound of Drum Upon these Conditions how hard soever they seemed they notwithstanding came into the City in hopes by degrees to gain upon the unwary Multitude and by soothing them up with fair Speeches at last to bring them all to their beck but for all this they could not prevail with the Citizens to deliver up their Keys to them or to cease their usual Watch though Kircady Governour of the Castle and City join'd his utmost Endeavours with them that they should do so All that time they visited Maitland who if he did not dissemble deeply was troubled with the Gout every day and in such Numbers that his House was commonly named a School and he a Schoolmaster Athol the whilst incessantly passing from one Place to another that he might draw those of the contrary Faction to this Meeting at Edinburgh but they all with one accord refused to come before May 1. which was the Day generally agreed on by all unless they were satisfied of the necessity of coming before if any thing of moment had happen'd which would admit of no Delay they would have them acquaint the Earl of Morton with it who was at his House but four Miles off and he would tell the rest of it Athol at last appoints a Day on which some of either Faction should meet at Morton-Hall which is in Dalkeith but this Place did not please the Queen's Faction not that they dreaded any Treachery but out of a Conceit That it would be an undervaluing to their Authority if they should come to Morton rather than He come to Them Therefore after many Attempts and that nothing proceeded to their Satisfaction they were forc'd to break up the Meeting for seeing that being desirous to rid the City of their Adversaries they could not prevail with the Citizens to join with them in order to it they resolved to call in a greater Number of their Friends dwelling nearest that in spite of the Inhabitants they might get all Things into their own Power The Governour of the Castle facilitated This very much who set at Liberty those Persons whom he had in Custody and they were well nigh All the Heads of the Queen's Faction But a sudden Rumour That the English Army was come to Berwick startled all their Resolutions Alexander Hume and Iohn Maxwel lately let out of Prison without any Publick Authority betook themselves to their own Homes to look to their own Concerns And Hume had part of the Mony gathered for raising of Souldiers given him to fortify his own Castle Hume Thomas Carr and Walter Scot who by the Instigation chiefly of the Archbishop of St. Andrews had made Incursions into England foreseeing That from this beginning a War would be kindled between the Two Kingdoms being deserted by their Neighbours and doubtful of their own Strength send to the Heads of their Faction for Aid or if that could not be done that at least they would come as far as Lauder a neighbouring Town and from thence make a Shew of War Therefore when they could neither obtain their Request in This nor yet the least Portion of their common Stock for the Publick Advantage and being highly incensed to
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 Arveâni 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
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 Germânâ 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 â77 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 Bothwelâs âs 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 Gomâdra 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 Voâtigern 144 Henry I. of England never laughed after the drâwning of most of his Children 224 He settles the Succession on his Daughter Maud ibid. Henry
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 âo 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
f. induce r. introduce P. 407. l. 28. f. Caledonia r. Dunkel P. 420. l. 22. f. Naâts r. ãâã P. 4â1 l. 44. f. Blankets r. Sheets P. 422 l. 27. â Lewis the XI P. 424. l. 35. r. Go to the Kings ãâã In the Eight last Books P. 2. l. 7. f. infesting r. infested P. 3. l. 24. f. Grampias r. Grampius Ibid. l. 40. f. Edward r. Hââry P. 6. l. ââ f. Grââina r. Graecina P. 8. l. 45. f. so the present r. for the present P. 9. l. 7. f. Their r. His. P. 11. marg f. ãâ¦ã from Ib. l. 38. f. returnedâ so returned P. 15. marg f. go Ierusalem r. go to Ierusalem P. 39. l. 6. f. ãâã r. as bâing P. 40. marg f. raise r. raises P. 44. l. 46. r. Assembly P. 59. l. 19. f. Sunderland r. ãâã P. â3 l. 2. f. King r. Regent P. 99. l. 49. r. Nones of November P. 104. l. 17. dele all P. 106. marg r. ãâã P. 108. l. 13. f. Minnans r. Minians Ib. l. 29. dele soâe P. 193. l. 40. f. Guest r. ãâã P. 19â l. 23. r. as in many other Princâs so c. P. 254. marg f. St. Lewis r. Monsieur Lewis In the Alphabetical Table For Cassivelannus r. Cassivelaânus For Gaxnico r. Garnico For Genrach r. Geârach For Hypocââisâical p. 6. r. Hypoââristical P. 60. In Kirkwal for Pomonae r. Pomoâa The Authors design More Islands than one anciently called Britanny The situation of Britanny Albion and Ireland two of the biggest of them Albion It s length and breadth It was accounted Triangular by the Romans The Air. The Soil The Food of some of its Inhabitants in old time It s ancient Names Three according to some Prudania Prytaneia and Britannia ãâã or Lââyd and ãâã Two Wâiteâs ãâã British Antiquiâieâ in Hen. 8. and Queen Eliz. Reigns Prudania Lud or ãâã Authority disallâwed of and why ãâ¦ã Words Lucretius ãâã Aristotle ãâã the Name oâ Britain Propeâââââ Eâiot's Authority disallow'd Prytaneia Stephanus Martian and Ptolomy Bards committed nothing to Writing (a) Ancient words cannot always be observed and Why (b) 't is hard to find the Origin of old Words (c) Which was unknown to the Ancients but later Inquiries have found it out (d) i. e. The Language of the Highlanders (e) The Letter W. hard to be pronounced but by those that Germanize * Pliny * Mârini Mâremârââa Armârici Oxonia and Roffa for Oxonfordia and Raufchestria i. e. Oâfârd and Rochester (f) The Word Britannia hath divers Acceptations * The Walls of Adrian and Severus Bede Claudian William of Malmsbury and Geoffry of Monmouth Britannus and Britto Bâitton first ãâã by Martiâl Slop-Breecheâ or Galagaskinâ * Bishop of Tourâ Brittons in France * Auson Epigr. 109. c. (g) This Epigram was made by the Poet against one Siâvius Sirnamed Bonus or Little-Britain in France ãâã whom he had a ãâã and it seems against the whole Nation of the Britains for his sake He takes an occasion to ãâã him from the Ambiguity of his Sirname Bonus which signifies also good in Latin and by the Figure Antiphrasis evil as here sometimes it is taken This Author makes it a Dâdecastich whereas later Interpreters have divided it into Six Distichâ but all of one Subject âccording to the Poets mind expressed in the First of them They are not here quoted for the Sarcasms conteined therein and therefore are not over-curiously Translated but only to shew that in this Poets time who lived under Gratian the Emperor about Anno Christi 390. Britto and Britannus were Terms Synonymus (h) The Printed Books read Britto homo which is scarce sense and therefore Vinecus hath amended it Britto bono and so I have Englished this last Distich (i) A People of Gallia-Belgica lying betwixt the River Lye and the Sââme in West-Flanders as some write not far from Bollogne Ypre and St. Omers Their chief City was called Teroven now but a small Village (k) Inhabitants of Artois (l) Inhabitants about Bollogne or betwixt Bollogne and Calais (m) More in old Celtick is the Sea (n) Inhabitants of Essex as Lud or rather of Suffâlk Norfolk Cambridge and Huntington as Camden and Leland (o) Calais aâ some but Witsand âby the Plandrians called Isten and Esseâ a Port betwixt Calais and Bollognâ in which some Footsteps of the word Iconi do appear as others (p) Near the Sea (r) People of Dowar as some of Brabant and Bosleduc as others and of Namur as divers say (s) People of Little-Britain in France to the West of Normandy (t) Dwellers near the Sea (q) The Dead Sea (u) Gascoigne or Guienne of which Bourdeaux is the chief City (w) Albion oâ Albium the Ancient Name of this Islând (x) Albion the Fabulous Son of Neptune (y) As also Bârgion (z) Liguria was anciently a Country lying betwixt the Po in Italy and the Rhosââ in France (a) A Peopâe living in the Skirts of the Alps. (b) Album signifies High as well as White (c) Albinga under the Câââeses (d) Ventimiglid belonging also to the Republick of Genoua (e) A People made up of Gauls and Illyrians whose Possessions reached down to the Adriatick Sea near Istria (f) Tilââr (g) Elbe (h) Cohan (i) Berg in the German Language signifies High (k) Bergomates a People of Bergamo in Italy now under the Venetian (l) Britain why called Albion (m) The Name Albion is still retained in part of Scotland (n) The Situation of the several Counties ân Albion described by English Writers (o) Hector Boetius blamed (p) England how divided (q) Now only into two viz. North and South-Wales for Pembroke-Shiâe with part of its adjacent Counties heretofore called West-Walâs is now counted part of South-Wales (r) The Situation of Scotland and the several Counties thereof (s) Merch. (t) Tiviotdale or Tividale (u) Lyddisdail (x) Eusedail (y) Eskdail (z) Annandale (a) Forth or the Scotish Sea (b) Lauderdale and Twedale (c) Liddisdale Nithisdale and Clidesdale (d) Lothian whence so called (e) Edinburgh in Lothian (f) Clidsdale divided Kyle Galloway Abundance of Eels taken Mul of Galloway * Now Glenluce Rinns of Galloway Nonantum Carrick Kyle Air. Cuningham Renfrew White Carth. and Black Carth. Clydsdale Sterling Carron-water Duni pacis Emblems of Peââe A strange Edifice Guidi Adrian's Wall built before Severus's Maldon not in Scotland but in Essex Iulius Agricola Adrian's Wall where Severus's Wall now Grames Dike where Abernethy once the Royal Seât of the Picts then St. Andrews Lennox Menteath Loch-Lomund Pollacks an unusual Fish Mount Grampius Loch-Ger Loch-Long Cowel Argyle Knapdale Loch-Finn Loch-Awe Cantyre A Narrow Neck of Land joyns Cantyre to Knapdale Birlings a small sort of Seâ-Vessels Lorn or Laern (a) Granzeben or the Grampian-Hills run from Aberdeen in the North to Dunbarton in the West (b) Braid-Albin (c) Drum-Albin (e) Loch-Earn (f) Strath-Earn (g) Strat whaâ (h) Menteath (i) Ocel-Hills (k) Clacman Culross and Kinross Stewarties (k) Clacman Culross
Picts being deserted by the English receive a great overthrow by the Scots * The Picts again routed by the Scots their King Drusken slain and their Kingdom abolished * Kennethus compared with both the Fergus's and reckoned the Third Founder of the Scotish Kingdom g The wholsome Laws made by Kenneth called Mac-Alpin-Laws because he was the Son of Alpin h The Country lâing between the Tay and Dee i Aeneia all one with Angus k The Mearns lie alongst the East-Sea between Dâe and North-Esk l It stands on the North-side of Forth in Pârthshire m A Town lying on the beginning or head of a point of Land that runs into the West-side of Locâ ãâã Otherwise called the Sheriâfdom of Bââwick Edinburgh hath several Names p The Story of the Marble Stone on which the Scotch Kings were anciently Crowned q An Abby on the North-side of ãâã a Miâe above Perth r The Ancient Scots Bishops not Diocesaâs a Donaldus's Licentiousness b It gives opportunity to the Picts to solicite Aid from Osbreth in England c Osbreth overthrown by the Scots but his Men rallying overcome the Scots when secure after their Victory d Peace granted upon hard Terms to the Scots e The Picts driven out of Albium and never recalled * Sterling Money * Donald cast into prison where he dies * Ecclesiasticks Reformed by Constantine f Drunkenness Punished with Death g Evenus put to Death for conspiring against Constantine h The Danes Invade Scotland are worsted at first yet afterwards overthrow Constantine who was slain by them * On the East-point of Fife a Sea-Monks a prodigious sort of Fish swimming in Sholes always portending some Evil. b Ethus for his Viciousness forced to abjure the Government c Gregory overcomes the Picts and Danes * In Annandale d And the Brittons also causing them to restore Cumberland and Westmorland e Peace made between Aââred of Engâand and the Scots f The Iâish break in upon Galway in Scotland g Which causes Gregory to follow them into ãâã h Where he takes Dundalk Tredagh and Dublin and then makes Peace with the Irish and returns i The Danes Fight a bloody Battel with the English and afterward turn Christians * A Town in Murry-land not far from Eâgin k Constantine taketh part with the Danes against the English * The Ancient Liberty of the Subâect invaded l The Scots and Danes are overcome by the Policy of Athelstan of England m Who recovers from them Westmerland Cumberland and Northumberland which yet soon after reâoât to thâââ old Mastââs * Constantine resigns the Kingdom * Culdeâs perhaps contracted from Cultores Dei or Kelds Who n Malcolm sometimes fââs in Courts of Justice himself o He is slain p The Danes Land in Scotland q Indulfus Slain in a Fight with the Danes r Murmurings against King Duffus ãâ¦ã King Duffus Hoâ and by Whom * A Tour in Murry-land ãâ¦ã * King Duffus treacherously Murdered by Donald and his Wife * In Murry-land * A Traditional Opinion still obtaining Especially if the Murtherer touch the Murdered Body * Prodigies upon the Murder of Duffus awaken the Estates to revenge it * The Murderers of Duffus apprehended and executed Culen leâs loose the reinâ to Voluptnousness and indeavours to justifie it in hâmself and the young Nobility His Intemperance enfeebles his Body * Lust a punishment to itself Culenus Summoned to appear at Scene * Or Meffen lying on the River Aâmond Two Miles above its Confluence with Tââ Three Miles above Perth He is slain by a Thane for Vitiating his Daughter * Thââe was a ãâã of Dignity amongst the Old Scots and Picts before them equal with a Baron now Mr. Seldeâ judges it to come from a Saxon rooâ His Office was like that of a Sheriff amongst us to gather up the King 's Revenu Or as an Under-Steward to pay it in to the Lord High Steward who was called Abâhane * Thââe was a ãâã of Dignity amongst the Old Scots and Picts before them equal with a Baron now Mr. Seldeâ judges it to come from a Saxon rooâ His Office was like that of a Sheriff amongst us to gather up the King 's Revenu Or as an Under-Steward to pay it in to the Lord High Steward who was called Abâhane Illustrating ãâã upon Philosophical ãâã * The right Method for Publick Reformations is for Princes to begin at home as K. Kenneth the 3d did * On the Banks of Clyd 5 Miles above Hamilton Kenneth politickly circumvents his Nobility at Scone and causes them to Reform their Clandships * Red-Head A Danish Fleet appears upon the Coast Crathilinthusâââses âââses a disturbance in Scotland * But is suppressed and put to Death Kenneth embrues his Hands in the Blood of the hopeful Prince and his Kinsman ãâã Kenneth III. endeavours to alter the old Law concerning Succession of the Crown and to make it Hereditary And carries the Point Kenneth troubled in Conscience for his Murder of Malcoâm An Apparition and Voââe to Kenneth Mock-Plaisters applied to Kenneth's wounded Conscience by Sâperstitious Ecclesiasticks * Situate at the Foot of Clermont in Mern * A strange Mechanical Statue or Engine * Kenneth slain by Fenella * Constantine inveighs against the Law made by Kenneth about the Hereditary Succession to the Crown with his Reasons to back his Opinion * Malcolm Competitor with Constantine for the Crown * Or Almond-water dividing Mid-Lothian from West-Lothian or Linlithgoshire Constantine slain * An Agreement made between Malcolm and Grimus conâerning the Crown * Grime having broken the Agreement with Malcolm is overthrown by him in Battel * The Law concerning Hereditary Succession to the Crown Confirmed Sueno or Swain coming into Scotland obtains Aid there against Engâand * Sâedes Danes Laps and Norts were anciently so called * The Danes enter Scotland and overthrow King Malcolm in Battel * A Burgh or Burough * A Village on the West of the River Fâddick near Balvany * The Danes overthrown by the Scots and their Generaâ Eneââs slâân * Called Redhead Ridhead or Reedhead * Bâmbreid in the midway between Dundee and Aberbrothock * The Danes under their General Camus receive another overthrow from the Scots * On the River South-Esk in Angus * Canutus sent by Swain into Scotland * A Third desperate Battel between the Danes under Canutus their General and the Scots * Which produceth Conditions of Peace between Them * The Originals of Wardships * New Titles of Honour * About four Miles South of Forfar * King Malcolm Murdered * The Chief Town of Angus * K. Malcolm's Murderers drowned in their Flight Prodigies Descants by way of Reflection upon the Law of Kenneth about Hereditary Succession to the Crown * Abthane or great Thane is the Chief above all other Thanes which receives the King's Revenue as Lord High Treasurer from the other Thanes Donaldâust âust Government both to Râch and Poor * One Mac-duald Rebels
against Donald * Or Râdshanks Mackbeth his Character Mâcduald is overthrown by Mackbeth and Bânâho Swain and his three Sons Swain King of Norwayâands âands in Scotland * A Town standing on the Forth in Pertâshiâe * The Scâtâ by an inebââating Dâink made of Night-shade stupifie the Danes * The Herb Night-shade its Description and Properties Danes overthrown * Druâiâaâ-Sands ãâ¦ã North-side of the ãâ¦ã * A Burgh-Roâaâ on the North ãâ¦ã 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 slâys 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 Sârath-Boây Forty Miles North of Aberdeen * Mackbeth's Son slain by Malcolm * Or Icolumbââl 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 ãâ¦ã Roger Richard Odo and Robert Generals for William of England worââed in Scotland Newcastle repaired A Peace concluded between the Scots and English * Or Re-Crosâ on the North-side it had the Portâaicture of the Scots King and of the English King on the South * Home-bred Seditions against Maâcolm queâl'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 * Marâheta 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 Weât 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 âears 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 Pestilenâe ãâã 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 * Sâmerled stirs agaiââ 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 Nârthumberland 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 1âth 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 ãâ¦ã 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 Ierusâlem from the Turks * The English quit their Claim to any part of ãâã * William sends David his Brother to accompany Richard to the Holy Land David returns from Sââia * So doth Richard Lex Taââonââ 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 ãâã 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 Avaâitiâââ * King Iohn Poysoned * Others say at ãâã Abby near Bostân in Lincolnshire * The Scots Excommunicated * A Stone-Cross erected in Sâanmoâe in Cumberlând as a Boundary between the Two Kingdoms of England and Sâotland * Cardinal ãâã ill Character * Pandulphus the Popes Legat a Witness of the Peace between the Two Kings * Roman Fraud * Câmin
long serv'd in France and was commended for his Industry and Valour 'T is said that he out of his Mortal hatred against the Scots had bargain'd with the King of England that what Lands he took from the Scots either by killing or driving away the Inhabitants he and his Posterity after him should enjoy On the other side the Scots hearing of the Preparation of their Enemies were not negligent in gathering Forces on their Part. George Dunbar Earl of Ormond was made Captain General who presently marcht into Annandale whither his Intelligence inform'd him that the Enemy would come And indeed the English had prevented him and entred Scotland before They had past over the Rivers Solway and Annand and pitch'd their Tents by the River Sarc from whence they sent out Parties on every side to pillage but hearing of the coming of the Scots they recall'd them all by Sound of Trumpet and contracted all their Force into One Body As soon as ever they came in sight one of another they fell to it without delay Main commanded the Left Wing of the English and Iohn Penington the Right he had the Welsh the Relicks of the Ancient Britains for his Assistants the Earl himself commanded the Main Battel George Douglas appointed Walter Laird of Craig to fight Main and Maxwel and Iohnston each with their Troops to attack Penington he himself took Care of the Main Body he gave them a short Exhortation to conceive a good Hope of Victory because they had taken up Arms in their own Defence as provoked by the Injuries of their Enemies and that a prosperous Issue must needs attend so just a Cause and if they could abate the Pride of their Enemy by some Notable overthrow they would reap a lasting Fruit of their short Labour The English who abounded in the number of Archers wounded many of the Scots with their Darts at a distance Whereupon Wallace who commanded the Left Wing cryed out aloud so as to be heard of most of his men Why they ârifled so and Skirmish'd at a distance they should follow him and rush in upon the Enemy hand to hand and then their Valour would truly appear for that was the Fighting fit for Men. Having thus spoken he drew the whole Wing after him And presently with their long Spears wherewith the Scots both Foot and Horse were furnish'd they drove the Enemy back routed and put them to Flight Main perceiving his Wing to give back being more mindful of the just Glory of his former Life than of his present Danger rushes with great Violence upon Wallace that so by his Boldness he might either renew the Fight or else breath out his last in the Glory of some Illustrious Attempt but unwarily Charging he was intercepted from his own Men and with those few that follow'd him was slain When Both Armies heard that he was slain the Scots prest on more chearfully so that the English Army did not stand long as they fled home straggingly and in great haste more were slain in the Pursuit than Fight but the chiefest Slaughter was upon the Banks of the Solway for there the Tide had swollen up the River so that they could not pass About 3000 of the English were slain in this Fight and 600 of the Scots There were many Prisoners taken the Chief were Iohn Penington and Robert Huntington The Earl of Northumberland's Son might have escap'd but whilst he was helping his Father to Horse he himself was taken Prisoner The Booty was greater than had been ever known in any Battel betwixt the Scots and English before For the English trusting to the Number and Goodness of their Soldiers and depending also on the discord of the Scots came on so securely as if it had been to a Shew not to a Fight so great was their Confidence and Undervaluing of their Enemy Wallace was wounded carried home in a Litter and in 3 Months after died of his Wounds Ormond being thus a Conqueror took a view of the Prisoners the chief Commanders he sent Prisoners to the Castle in Loch Maâan he himself return'd to Court where every Body went out to meet him and he was received with all kind of Honour The King did highly extol his Military Services but withal advis'd him and his Brother That as they had often given a Proof of their Courage abroad and had defended the State of Scotland by their Labour and Valour even in Perillous Times so at home that they would accustom themselves to a modest Deportment and that they themselves should refrain from Injuring the Poorer sort and also inhibit their Clans from doing it and that they should shew their Puissance and Grandeur which their Ancestors had obtain'd by their many Merits both of King and Subjects rather in restraining of Robbers than in cherishing them that This was the only thing which was wanting to compleat their Praise and make it absolute and if they would do this thing they should certainly find that he would esteem the Honour of the Douglas's and their Family before any thing else whatsoever They answer'd the King submissively and so took their leave and went Joyfully home After this Fight at Sarc as the Borders of Scotland were quieter from the wrongs of their Enemies so when the matter was reported at London it did rather irritate the English than deject them For a Council being call'd about a War with Scotland a new Army was order'd to be rais'd to blot out the former Ignominy Whilst they were all intent hereupon presently Civil Wars arose amongst themselves and a strong Conspiracy of the Commons made against the King took off their Thoughts from a Foreign War so that Embassadors were sent into Scotland to treat of a Peace which were so much the more welcome because their own Affairs were not well settled at home Yet they could not well agree on Terms of Peace but only made a Truce for Three Years and so returned home These things were acted in the Year of Our Lord One Thousand Four Hundred Forty Eight This Publick Joy was soon after increast by a Message sent out of Flanders from the Chancellor who went Ambassador to Charles the Seventh about contracting a Marriage By his endeavours Mary the Daughter of Arnold Duke of Gelderland was betroth'd to Iames she was of the Kingly Race by her Mothers side who was a Sister of the Duke of Burgundy The Year after she came with a great Train of Noble Persons into Scotland and in Iuly was Crowned in the Abby of Holy-Rood-House near Edinburgh This Universal Joy for the Victory for the Peace and for the Marriage was soon disturbed by the Death of Richard Colvill a Man of Note which though perhaps in it self not undeserv'd yet was of very bad Example to the Common-Wealth This Colvil having receiv'd many and great wrongs from one Iohn Afflech a Friend of Douglas's and after many complaints could get no Remedy in Law nor Equity he