of Silver as a Largess being moved thereunto either out of Remembrance of his former Bounty to him or on the Consideration of his present Want Neither were ever the Scots and English more Gracious than at that time as many judge There William fell very Sick and a Rumour of his Death being noised abroad caused new Combustions in Scotland Harald Earl of the Orcades and of Caithnes hated the Bishop of Caithnes because as he alledged he was the Obstacle that he could not obtain what he desired of the King and therefore he took him Prisoner cut out his Tongue and also put out his Eyes The King returning home overthrew Harald in several Skirmishes and destroyed most of his Forces Harald himself was taken in his Flight and brought back to the King who when his Eyes also were first put out by way of Retaliation was afterwards hanged his whole Male-Stock were Gelded the rest of his Kinn and Companions of his Wickedness were deeply Fined These things are thus related by Hector Boetius and common Report confirms them yea the Hill receiving its Name from Testicles gives credit to the Relation so that it seems truer than what others Write in this matter These things happened in the Year of our Salvation 1198. in which Year the King had a Son named Alexander Born to him and Richard of England dying his Brother Iohn succeeded him Whereupon the King of Scots went into England to take his Oath to him for the Lands which he held in England and in the beginning of Iohn's new Reign his Coming was not more acceptable than his Departure displeasing because he refused to follow Iohn in his Expedition into France against Philip his old Friend So that as soon as Iohn returned out of France he sought Occasion for a War with the Scots and began to build a Fort over against Berwick William having in vain complained of the Injurie by his Embassadors gathered a Company together and demolished what was built thereof Upon which Armies were Levied on both sides but when their Camps were near to one another Peace was made by the Intervention of the Nobles on these Terms That William's Two Daughters should be given in Matrimony to Iohn's Two Sons assoon as ever they were Marriageable A great Dowry was promised and Caution made That no Fort should be built and Hostages also were given in the case William at his return fell into an unexpected Danger The greatest Part of the Town of Berth was swept away in the Night by an Inundation of the River Tay Neither was the King's Palace exempted from the Calamity but his Son an Infant with his Nurse and 14 more were drowned the rest hardly escaping Many also of the Promiscuous Multitude lost their Lives The King perceiving that the Water had overwhelmed the greatest part of the Ground on which the City stood and that almost every House in the Town had suffered thereby caused a new City to be built a little below in a more commodious place on the same River and making some small variation of the Name called it Perth in Memory as some say of one Perth a Nobleman who gave the King the Land on which the City was built About the same time the King took Gothered Makul Captain of the Rebels in the North who was betrayed to him by his own Men. When he was Prisoner he constantly abstained from all Food to prevent as 't is thought a more heavy Punishment This was in a manner the last memorable Fact of William's which yet in regard of his unweildy Age was acted by his Captains For he Dyed soon after in the 74 th year of his Age and the 49 th year of his Reign A. D. 1643. Not long before his Death Leagues were renewed with Iohn King of England almost every Year for he being a Man desirous to enlarge his Dominions thô he had War with the French abroad with the Romanists at home and moreover was never on sure Terms of Peace with the Irish or Welsh yet did not break off his Inclination to invade Scotland which had then an old Man for their King and the next Heir to him a Child Frequent Conferences happened on this Occasion rather to try what might be obtained than in hopes of any good Issue at length the Matter broke out into open Suspicion And after many Leagues made between Them at last William was called to Newcastle upon Tine Whither he came but there falling into a dangerous Disease he returned without doing any thing In fine a little before his Death he was invited to Norham on the Tweed and when his Sickness would not permit him to go his Son was desired to come in his stead which yet by the Advice of the Council was refused the Leagues established in those Interviews I shall not particularly mention for they almost all contain the same things having in them nothing New save that in One of them it was Articled That the Scotish Kings should not Swear nor be Feudataries to the Kings of England Themselves for the English Lands they held but their Children only The Mention of these things is wholly omitted by the English Writers also I believe for this very Cause Alexander II. The Ninety Fourth King WIlliam was succeeded by Alexander his Son begot on Emergard who was Kinswoman to the King of England and Daughter to the Earl of Beaumont He was but Sixteen years of age when he began to Reign entring upon the Government in troublesom Times he composed and setled things more prudently than could be expected from one of his years First of all he Indicted a Publick Convention of the Estates and therein by a Decree he confirmed all the Acts of his Father that good and prudent Prince His first Expedition was into England not out of any private Ambition but to bridle the Tyranny of Iohn and it was then said that he was sent for in by the Ecclesiasticks of that Kingdom He left Norham upon certain Conditions when he had begun to besiege it and piercing further into the Kingdom he carried it very severely against all the Royalists Upon his Return home Iohn invaded Scotland quickly after He made a mighty Devastation in Dunbar Hadington and all the Neighbouring Parts of Lothian and to spread the War and Ruin further he determined to return another Way Alexander being very desirous to decide it by a Battel pitcht his Tents between the Pentland Hills and the River Eske which way as it was bruited he would return but Iohn to avoid fighting marched along by the Sea and burnt the Monastery of Coldingham he also took and burnt Berwick which was then but meanly fortified As he thus marched hastily back Alexander followed him as fast as he could and making great havock all over Northumberland came as far as Richmond But Iohn by speedy marches having retreated into the heart of England Alexander returned by Westmorland and
Bounds and Borders of the English were inlarged to Cocâ—burns-Path as they call it and Soltra-Hill Baliol not contented to have recovered the Possessions of his Ancestors in Galway marched over Annandale and Liddisdale and all the Country lying near the Clyd and destroyed all by Fire and Sword He also by the Assistance of Percy of England made the like Havock in Lothian neither could there a sufficient Army be raised against them in Scotland for some Years As an Addition to this Misery there hapned also a grievous Plague which swept away almost the Third Part of the People And yet in such an afflicted State of Things Men did not abstain from Domestick Mischiefs David Berclay a Noble Knight who before had slain Bullock was at this time also present at the Murder of Iohn Douglas at Dalkeith William Douglas of Liddisdale who was taken Prisoner by the English at the Battel of Durham and was not yet released caused him to be slain by the Hands of his Tenants and after he himself was Released and returned into Scotland he did not long survive him For as he was a Hunting in the Wood of Attic he was killed by William Douglas the Son of Archibald newly returned from France in Revenge for his Murder of Alexander Ramsay Neither did the Clans of the Ancient Scots as impatient to be quiet abstain from injuring one another In the midst of these Calamities which pressed in on every side William Douglas gathered together a Band of his Vassals and Tenants and recovered Douglas the Patrimony of his Ancestors having driven the English out of it and afterwards upon this little Success Mens Minds being more inclined to him he reduced a great part of Teviotdale also In the mean time Iohn King of France Heir to his Father Philip both in his Kingdom and in his Wars fearing lest the Scots being broken by so many Misfortunes should quite succumb under so Puissant an Enemy sent Eugenius Garanter to them with Forty Gallant Cavaleers in his Train to desire of them To make no Peace with England without his Consent He brought with him Forty Thousand French Crowns to press Soldiers and besides by large Promises he wrought over the Nobility to his Side and Opinion They received the Money and divided it among themselves but levied no Soldiers only they carried on the War by light Incursions as they were wont to do Assoon as the English heard of this they almost wasted all Lothian which had been sorely harassed before To Revenge this wrong Patrick Dunbar and William Douglas gathered a good strength together as privately as they could and placed themselves in Ambush but sent out David Ramsay of Dalhouse a noted and Valiant Soldier with part of the Army to burn Norham a populous Town upon the Banks of Tweed When Ramsay had accomplished his design the English were trained on to the Ambush where some were surprized and slain at last being not able to resist so great a Multitude the English surrender themselves This success heartned the Scots and therefore the same Commanders uniting their Forces together Thomas Stuart Earl of Angus resolves to attack Berwick And to do it privately he hired Vessels Ladders and other Implements used in Scaling the Walls of Towns wherever he could procure them he acquaints Patrick with his coming he meets him at the Hour appointed and creeping to the Walls with as little noise as they could yet the Sentinels espied them whom after a sharp Conflict they repulsed and so became Masters of the Town but not without loss on their own side the Castle was still kept by the English which they assaulted but in vain When the King of England heard how Matters went in Scotland he gathered together a Puissant Army and in swift Marches hastned thither The Scots hearing of his coming and not being provided with Materials for a long Siege spoiled and burnt the City and so returned home Edward employed all kind of Workmen and Artificers to repair what the Flames had Consumed in the Interim he himself quartered at Roxburgh Thither Baliol comes and Surrenders up the Kingdom of Scotland to him desiring him earnestly not to forget the Injuries offered him by the Scots Edward as it were in Obsequiousness to his Desires invades Lothian by Land and Sea and makes a further Devastation of what was left after the former Ruin He determined in that Expedition so to quell all Scotland that they should never recover strength to Rebel again But his Purpose was disappointed by reason of a most grievous Tempest which so shattered and tore his Ships that carried his Provisions that very Few of them ever met in one Port so that he was enforced to return home for want of Provision only he vented his Spleen upon Edinburgh Hadington and other Towns of Lothian Edward and his Army being gone for England Douglas drove the English out of Galway Roger Kirk-Patrick out of Nithisdale and Iohn Stuart Son of the Regent out of Annandale so that those Three Countries were recovered by the Scots About the same time Iohn King of France was overthrown by the English in a great Battel in Poictou and he himself taken Prisoner Edward having Two Kings his Prisoners at once passed the Winter merrily amongst the Gratulations of his Friends so that the Scots thinking that his Mind being sated with Glory might be more inclined to Equity they sent Ambassadors to him to treat about the Release of their King Bruce that the Scots might have easie Access to him was sent to Berwick but in regard they could not agree about the Conditions he was carried back to London Not long after the Popes Legates were sent who took great Pains to make a Peace betwixt the English and French they also transacted the same for Scotland upon the Promise of the Payment of an Hundred as our Writers say or as Frossard of Five Hundred Thousand Marks of English Money to them Part of which was to be paid in Hand the rest by Parcels To make up that Sum the Pope gave the Tenths of all Benefices for Three Years in the mean time a Truce was made and many young Nobles given for Hostages who died almost all in England of the Plague Hereupon David returned the Eleventh Year after he was taken Prisoner The first thing he did was to punish those who had been the forwardest to fly in the Battel of Durham From Patrick Dunbar he took away a great part of his Lands he cut off all hope from Robert Stuart his Eldest Sisters Son of succeeding in the Kingdom and substituted Alexander Son of the Earl of Sutherland by his Youngest Sister and made the Nobles to swear Fealty to him This young Mans Father distributed large and fruitful Lands amongst the Nobles to engage them more firmly to his Son But Alexander dying soon after he was reconciled to Robert Stuart and in a full Assembly
and thither and is not content to Flow and Ebb so far as the Banks but inserteth and windeth it self into the Land shooting into the Mountains and Cliffs as to his own Chanel Now what manner of Men the first Inhabitants of Britanny were Foreign brought in or Born in the Land as among a barbarous People it is not certainly known Their Complexions are different and thence may some Conjectures be taken For the Red Hair of the dwellers in Caledonia and mighty Limbs import a German Descent The coloured Countenance of the Silures and Hair most commonly Curled and Site against Spain seem to induce a belief that the old Spaniards passed the Sea and possessed those places The nearest to France likewise resemble the French either because they retain something of the Race from which they descended or that in Countries butting together the same aspects of the Heavens do yeild the same Complexion of Bodies But generally it is most likely the French being nearest did People the Land In their Ceremonies and Superstitious Persuasions there is to be seen an apparent Conformity The Language differeth not much like boldness to challenge and leap into Dangers When Dangers are come like fear in refusing them saving that the Britains make more shew of Courage as being not mollifi'd yet by long Peace for the French also were once as we read redoubted in War till such time as giving themselves over to Peace and Idleness Cowardise crept in and Shipwrack was made both of Manhood and Liberty together And so it is also befaln to those of the Britains which were subdued of old the rest remain such as the French were before Their strength in the Field consisteth in Footmen some Countries make War in Wagons also The greater Personage guideth the Wagon his Waiters and Followers Fight out of the same Heretofore they were govern'd by Kings now they are drawn by Petty Princes into Parties and Factions And that is the greatest help we have against those Puissant Nations that they have no common Council together Seldom it chanceth that two or three States meet and concur to repulse the common danger So whilst one by one fighteth all are subdued The Sky is very Cloudy and much given to Rain without extremity of Cold. The length of Days much above the measure of our Climate the Nights light and in the furthermost part of the Island so short that between the going out and coming in of the Day the space is hardly perceived and when Clouds do not hinder they affirm that the Sun-shine is seen in the Night and that it neither Setteth nor Riseth but passeth along because belike the extream and plain parts of the Earth project a low Shaddow and raise not the darkness to an heigth so the Night falleth under the Sky and the Stars the Soil setting aside the Olive the Vine and the rest which are proper to warmer Countries taketh all kind of Grain and beareth it in abundance it shooteth up quickly and ripeneth slowly the Cause of them both is the same the overmuch moisture of the Soil and the Air. Britany beareth Gold and Silver and other Metals to inrich the Conqueror The Ocean bringeth forth Pearl also not Orient but duskish and wan which proceedeth as some do suppose for lack of skill in the Gatherers For in the Red Sea they are pulled out panting and alive from the Rocks but in Britany cast out by the Sea and so taken up For my part I do rather beleive the Nature of the Country not to yeild it than that our Covetousness could not find out the way to gather it aright The Britains endure Levies of Men and Money and all other Burdens imposed by the Empire patiently and willingly if Insolencies be forborn Indignities they cannot abide being as yet subdued to be Subjects not Slaves The first of the Romans which entred Britanny with an Army was Iulius Caesar who although he terrified the Inhabitants with a Battel which went on his side and gained the Shoar yet may seem rather to have shewed the place to Posterity than to have delivered to them the possession thereof The Civil Wars ensued and Bandyings of Men of great quality against the Republick of Rome and long after that lay Britany forgotten even in Peaceable Times Augustus termed it Policy and chiefly Tiberius so to do That Cajus had a meaning to invade Britanny it is certainly known but his rash running Head and hasty Repentance and chiefly his great Attempts against Germany turning to nothing averted that purpose Claudius did first with effect prosecute the matter transporting Legions and Aids and assuming Vespasian into the action which was the beginning of the Greatness whereunto he after attained Some Countries were subdued some Kings were taken and Vespasian made known to the World The first Lieutenant General was Aulus Plautius then Ostorius Scapula both Excellent Warriers And so by little and little was the nearest part of the Island reduced to the Form of a Province and besides a Colony of old Souldiers established there Certain Cities were also bestowed in pure Gift upon King Cogidunus who remained most Faithful even in our days according to an old Custom anciently received of the Romans to use even Kings themselves for Instruments of Bondage Then Didius Gallus succeeded who kept That which his Predecessors had gotten and builded some few Castles further in the Land to win by that means a Fame and Credit to his Office After Didius succeeded Verantius who died within one year Then Suetonius Paulinus for two years space behaved himself Fortunately subduing the Nations and establishing Garisons Upon Confidence whereof going to assail the Isle of Man which ministred supply to the Rebels he disfurnished the Country behind and laid it open to all opportunities of the Enemy For through the absence of the Lieutenant the Britains free of fear began to discourse the Miseries of Bondage to lay their Injuries together and aggravate them by Constructions and Inferences as That their Patience had profited them nothing save only to draw heavier Burdens upon themselves as Men willing to bear them That whereas in former times they had only one King now were there Two thrust upon them the Lieutenant to suck their Blood the Procurator their Substance whose disagreeing was the torment of the Subjects and their agreement their undoing the one vexing by Souldiers and Captains the other by Wrongs and Indignities That now their Covetousness and Lust laid hold without exception on all And whereas in Field he that spoileth is commonly stronger Now were they by Cowards and Weaklings for the most part dispossessed of their Houses berest of their Children injoyned to yeild Soldiers for other Mens behoof as though they were Men that knew to do nothing else save only to die for their own Country For otherwise what a small handful of Souldiers were come over if the Britains would fall to reckon themselves
Carantius being sent to the Sea-Coasts of Bolognâ— by Dioclesian to defend Belgick Armorica from the Incursions of the Francs and Saxons after he had taken many of the Barbarians yet would neither restore the Prey to the Provincials the Right Owners nor yet send them to the Emperor hereupon a suspicion arose that he purposely allowed the Barbarians to plunder that so he might rob them at their return and thereby enrich himself with the Spoil For this Reason Maximianus commanded him to be slain but he taking Authority upon him seized upon Britany and to strengthen his Party against Bassianus the Roman Lieutenant-General he reconciled the Discords betwixt the Scots and Picts and entred into a firm League and Alliance with them Both. The Romans made many Attempts against him but by his Skill in Military Affairs he defeated all their Designs After he had restored the Scots and Picts into the possession of those Lands which they formerly held he was slain by his Companion Allectus after he had Reigned seven Years Allectus having Reigned three Years was slain by Asclepiodotus and thus Britanny was restored to the Romans in the Twelfth Year after its Revolt But neither Asclepiodotus nor he who succeeded him Constantinus Chlorus did any memorable thing in Britain but that this later begat Constantin afterwards Emperor on Helena his Concuâ—bne Amidst these Transactions Crathilinthus died after he had Reiigned 24 years Fincormachus The Thirty Fifth King FIncormachus his Cousin-German succeeded him who perform'd many excellent Exploits against the Romans by the aid of the Britains and Picts Yea some Battels he fought them without any Auxiliaries at all At length when the Romans were weakned by their Civil Wars at home and perpetual molestations abroad Matters being a little quieted the Scots were also glad to embrace Peace Who being thus freed from external cares did principally endeavour to promote the Christian Religion they took this occasion to do it because many of the British Christians being afraid of the cruelty of Dioclesian had fled to them Amongst which sundry eminent for Learning and Integrity of Life made their aboad in Scotland where they led a solitary Life with such an universal Opinion of their Sanctity that when they died their Cells were changed into Temples or Kirks From hence the Custom arose afterwards amongst the Ancient Scots to call Temples Cells This sâ—rt of Monks were called Culdees whose Name and Order continued till a later sort of Monks divided into many Sects did expel them Yet these last were as far inferiour to the former in Learning and Piety as they did exceed them in Wealth in Ceremonies and in Pomp of outward Worship whereby they please the Eye but infatuate the Mind Fincormachus having settled affairs in Scotland with great equity and reduced his Subjects to a more civil kind of Life departed this Life in the 47th Year of his Reign Romachus The Thirty Sixth King AFter his Death there was a great contest about the Kingdom between Three Cousin-Germans begot by the Three Brothers of Crathilinthus their Names were Romachus Fethelmachus and Augusianus or rather Romachus's Plea was that his Father was the Eldest of the Three Brothers of Crathilinthus and that his Mother was descended from the Blood-Royal of the Picts as also that he himself was of a stirring Disposition and likely to procure Friends and Allys That which made for Augusianus was his Age and Experience in the World as also his admirable Deportment to which was added the Favour of the People and that which was the principal of all Fethelmachus who was before his Competitor now voted for him By reason of this Sedition the matter being like to be decided by Arms nothing could be concluded in the First Convention of the Estates but That being dissolved the whole Kingdom was divided into Two Factions and Romachus who was least in the favour of the People called in the Picts Militia for his assistance that so he might strengthen himself by Foreign Aid Augusianus being informed that Ambushes were laid for him judged it better once for all to try the shock of a Battel than to live in perpetual solicitude and fear Whereupon gathering his Party into a body he fought with Romachus but being overcome by Him He and Fethelmachus fled together into the Aebudae Islands But perceiving he could not be safe there because on the account of his Victory he was formidable to the Heads of the Factions and that he was also amongst a people naturally venal and corrupted by the promises of Romachus he fled into Ireland with his Friends Romachus having thus removed his Rival and obtained the Kingdom rather by force than the good will of the People did exercise his Power very cruelly over his Enemies and to put a pretence of Law on the matter when he went about the Country to keep Assizes he took no Counsel of others as was accustomed but assumed all Capital causes to his own Arbitrement so that he made great Execution amongst the People and strook a general Terror into the hearts of all good Men. At length when all were wearied with the present state of Affairs the Nobility made a sudden combination against him and before he could gather his Forces together he was taken in his flight to the Picts and put to death in the Third year of his Reign His Head was carried up and down fasten'd to the Top of a Pole and afforded a joyful Spectacle to the People Angusianus The Thirty Seventh King HEreupon Angusianus was recalled by general consent to undertake the Kingly Government In the beginning of his Reign They which were the Ministers of Cruelty and Covetousness under Romachus being afraid to live under so good a King stirred up Nectamus King of the Picts to make War upon Him in revenge of his Kinsman Angusianus being a lover of Peace sent Embassadors to them very often to advise them That both Nations would be much prejudiced by those Divisions in regard the Brittons did but watch an Opportunity to destroy them both But they hearkned not unto them either out of confidence of their strength or out of anger and vexation of Spirit So that perceiving them to be averse from Peace he led forth his Army against them and after a sharp conflict obtained the Victory The King of the Picts made his escape with a few in his company and after he had a little master'd his fear being inflam'd with Rage and Fury he obtained but with great difficulty of his Subjects to raise him a new Army And when it was levied he marched into Caledonia Angusianus having again propounded Terms of Peace which not being hearkned unto he drew his forces towards the Enemy The Fight was maintain'd with equal obstinacy on both sides one striving to retain their acquired Glory and th' other endeavouring to wipe away their received Ignominy and Disgrace At length the Scots Angusianus being slain brake
before whereupon they forbad him to enter their Borders but sent him Word That they themselves without his Presence would gather Money for and send Souldiers to the Syrian War and indeed they sent Souldiers under the Command of the Earls of Carick and Athol Two of the Chief Nobility to Lâ—wis King of Franâ—e and to the Pope lest he might think himself altogether disesteemed they sent 1000 Marks of Silver The Year after Henry King of England died and his Son Edward the First succeeded him at whose Coronation Alexander and his Wife were present she returning died soon after yea David the Kings Son and also Alexander being newly Married to the Daughter of the Earl of Flanders followed her a little time after by their continued Funerals Margarite also the Kings Daughter departed this Life who left a Daughter behind her begot by Hangonanus King of Norwey Alexander being thus in a few years deprived both of his Wife and Children too took to Wife Ioleta the Daughter of the Earl of Dreux and within a Year he fell from his Horse and broke his Neck not far from Kinghorn in the Year of our Lord 1285. and the Fourteenth of the Calends of April he lived Forty Five years and Reigned Thirty Seven He was more missed than any King of Scotland had been before him not so much for the eminent Virtues of his Mind and the Accomplishments of his Body as that People foresaw what great Calamities would befal the Kingdom upon his Decease Those wholsome Laws which he made are antiquated by the Negligence of Men and the Length of Time and their Utility is rather celebrated by Report than experienced by Trial. He divided the Kingdom into Four Parts and almost every year he Travelled them all over staying well near Three Months in each of them to do Justice and to hear the complaints of the Poor who had free Access to him all that time Assoon as he went to an Assize or Sessions he Commanded the Prefect or Sheriff of that Precinct to meet him with a select number of Men and also to accompany him at his departure to the end of his Bailywick till the next Precinct where he was Guarded by another like Company By this means he became acquainted with all the Nobility and was as well known to them and the People as he went were not burthen'd with a Troop of Courtiers who are commonly Imperious and given to Avarice where they come He commanded the Magistrates to punish all Idle Persons who followed no Trade nor had any Estates to maintain them for his Opinion was That Idleness was the Source and Fountain of all Wickedness He reduced the Horse-Train of the Nobles when they travelled to a certain number because he thought that the Multitude of Horses which were unfit for War would spend too much Provision And whereas by reason of Unskilfulness in Navigation or else by Mens Avarice in committing themselves rashly to Sea many Shipwracks had happened and the Violence of Pyrates making an Accession thereto the Company of Merchants were almost undone he commanded they should Traffick no more by Sea That Order lasted about an Year but being accounted by many of a publick Prejudice at length so great a Quantity of Foreign Commodities were imported that in Scotland they were never in the Memory of Man more or less cheap In this Case that he might study the good of the Merchants-Company he forbad that any but Merchants should buy what was imported by whole Sale but what every Man wanted he was to buy it at second Hand or by Retail from them The Eighth BOOK ALEXANDER and his whole Lineage besides one 〈◊〉 by his Daughter being extinct a Convention of the Estates was held at Scone to Treat about Creating a new King and setling the State of the Kingdom whither when most of the Nobility were come in the first place they appointed Vicegerents to govern Matters at present so dividing the Provinces That Duncan Mackduff should preside over Fife of which he was Earl Iohn Cumins Earl of Buchan over Buchan William Frazer Archbishop of St. Andrews over that Part of the Kingdom which lay Northward And that Robert Bishop of Glascow Another Iohn Cumins and Iohn Stuart should Govern the Southern Countries and that the Boundary in the midst should be the River Forth Edward King of England knowing that his Sisters 〈◊〉 Daughter of the King of Norway was the only surviving Person of all the Posterity of Alexander and that She was the Lawful Heiress of the Kingdom of Scotland sent Ambassadors into Scotland to desire Her as a Wife for his Son The Embassadors in the Session discoursed much of the publick Utility like to accrue to both Kingdoms by this Marriage neither did they find the Scots averse therefrom For Edward was a Man of great Courage and Power yet he desired to increase it and his Valour highly appeared in the Holy War in his Fathers Life time and after his Death in his subduing of Wales neither were there ever more Endearments passed betwixt the Scots and the English than under the last Kings Yea the Ancient Hatred seemed no way more likely to be abolished than if both Nations on Just and Equal Terms might be united into One. For these Reasons the Marriage was easily assented to other Conditions were also added by the consent of both Parties as That the Scots should use their own Laws and Magistrates until Children were begot out of that Marriage which might Govern the Kingdom or if no such were begot or being born if they dyed before they came to the Crown then the Kingdom of Scotland was to pass to the next Kinsman of the Blood-Royal Matters being thus setled Embassadors were sent into Norway Michael or as others call him David Weems and Michael Scot Two eminent Knights of Fife and much Famed for their Prudence in those days But Margarite for that was the Name of the young Princess dyed before they came thither so that they returned home in a sorrowful posture without their errand By reason of the untimely death of this young Lady a Controversie arose concerning the Kingdom which mightily shook England but almost quite ruined Scotland The Competitors were Men of great Power Iohn Baliol and Robert Bruce of which Baliol had Lands in France Bruce in England but Both of them great Possessions and Allies in Scotland But before I enter upon their Disputes that all things may be more clear to the Reader I must fetch them down a little higher The Three last Kings of Scotland William and the Two Alexanders The Second and the Third and their whole Off-spring being extinct there remained none who could lawfully claim the Kingdom but the Posterity of David Earl of Huntington This David was Brother to King William and Great Uncle to Alexander the Third He Married Maud in England Daughter to the Earl of Chester by whom he had Three
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 Alâ—wick 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 Upstarâ—s 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 〈…〉 his Ears against the free Advices of his Friends yea many 〈◊〉 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 Câ—mberland 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
ridiculous and incredible things were Objected against him and amongst the rest this was One That he had said Mass Thrice in one Day whereas in that Age there was hardly a Bishop who did the same in Three Months Hereupon his Enemy being Judge and Witnesses being hired against him he was Ejected out of his Bishoprick And Sivez who carried the Decree to the Pope was made Bishop in his room Neither were his Enemies contented with this Mischief they had done him but perceiving that he bore all their Contumelies with much Greatness of Spirit They took order that he should be shut up in some desolate Monast'ry under Four Keepers Inch Colm was chosen to be the Place a Rock rather than an Island from whence Three Years after he was remov'd to Dunferlin for fear of the English Fleet betwixt whom and the Scots a War had then broke forth and from thence he was again carried to the Castle which lies in Loch Leven where being worn out with Age and Miseries he departed this Life He was a Man guilty of no known Vice and in Learning and Virtue inferior to none of his Age. The other Good Men being terrify'd by his Calamity and perceiving no hopes of any Church-Reformation went all about their own private Affairs In the Court Church-Preferments were either Sold or else given away to Flatterers and Panders as a Reward for their filthy Service Tho' these things were acted at several times yet I have put them altogether in my Discourse that so the Thread of my History might not be too often interrupted and also that by one memorable Example we might have an entire View of the Miseries of those Times For one may easily imagin how vitious the ordinary sort of Men were seeing a Man that was so Eminent for all kind of Virtue and besides had the Advantage to be Allyed to the King and to many Noble Families besides was by a few Scoundrels of the Lowest-sort expos'd to the Reproach and Cruelty of his Enemies But to return to the other Occurrences of those Times In the Year 1476. there was a Publick Decree made against Iohn Lord of the Islands who had seiz'd upon some Provinces and had done great spoil on the Maritime Coasts insomuch that the King resolv'd to march against him by Land and Commanded the Earl of Craford his Admiral to meet him by Sea Hereupon Iohn perceiving that he was too weak to withstand such great Preparations by the Advice of the Earl of Athole the King's Uncle came in an Humble manner to Court and surrendred up himself to the King's Mercy The Provinces which he had forcibly enter'd upon were taken from him as Ross Kintire Cnapdale but the Command of the Islands was still permitted to him The same Year the Controversie with the English which was just about to break forth into a War was ended and decided The Occasion was this Iames Kennedy had built a Ship the biggest that ever Sailed on the Ocean at that time She being at Sea was by a Tempest cast upon the English Shore and her Lading rifled by the English Restitution was often sought for but in vain This bred a disgust betwixt the Nations for some Years at last the English sent Embassadors into Scotland The Chief of which were the Bishop of Durham and Scroop a Nobleman by whom Edward having been tost by the Inconstancy of Fortune and his Exchequer drain'd by continual Wars desir'd a Pacification which was easily renew'd upon Condition That the value of the Ship rifled and its Lading might be estimated by indifferent Persons and just Satisfaction made The same Year Embassadors were sent to Charles Duke of Burgundy in behalf of the Merchants who were disturb'd in their Trades When they came into Flanders they were Honourably receiv'd by him But one Andrews a Physician and a great Astrologer too being occasionally invited by them to Supper understanding the Cause of their coming took them aside and told them That they should not make too much haste in their Embassy for in a very few Days they should hear other News of the Duke And accordingly his Prediction was fulfilled for within Three Days after his Army was overthrown by the Switzers at the City of Nants in Lorain where he was slain Hereupon the Embassadors return'd without effecting their Business and when they came to the King and told him how highly skilled that Andrews was in Predicting Things to come they persuaded him who of himself was inclinable to those Arts to send for the Man upon promises of a good Reward and accordingly he came was well receiv'd and gratify'd with a rich Parsonage and other Boons He as 't is reported told the King That he should speedily be Destroy'd by his own Subjects and that Speech agreed with the Vaticinations of some wizardly Women to which the King was immoderately addicted who had Prophecy'd That a Lyon should be killed by his Whelps Hereupon from a Prince at first of great Ingenuity and good Hopes and as yet not wholly depraved he degenerated into a fierce and cruel Tyrant for when his Mind had entertain'd and was stuft with Suspicions he accounted even his nearest Kindred and all the Best of the Nobility as his Enemies and the Nobles were also disgusted at him partly by reason of his Familiarity with that Rascally sort of People but chiefly because he slighted the Nobility and chose mean Persons to be his Counsellors and Advisers The Chief of them were Thomas Preston One of a good Family but who was resolv'd to humor the King in all things Robert Cockrain a Man endued with great strength of Body and equal Audacity of Mind he came to be known by the King by a Duel which he fought with another and presently of a Tradesman was made a Courtier and that in a fair way of rising to some greater Advancement for having perform'd some lighter Matters intrusted to him with Diligence and also applying himself to the King's Humor he was soon admitted to advise concerning the Grand Affairs of the Kingdom insomuch that Preston chose him out to be his Son-in-law The Third was William Rogers an English Singing Man or Musician who coming into Scotland with the English Embassadors after the King had heard him once or twice in a cast of his Offence he was so taken with him That he would not suffer him to return but advanced him to wealth and honour soon after making him a Knight The rest of his Intimates were the most despicable sort of the meanest Tradesmen who were only known by their Improbity and Audaciousness Whereupon the Nobility had a Meeting wherein the Kings Brothers were the Chief to purge the Court from this sort of Cattle and some notice of it being divulg'd abroad Iohn the Youngest of the Brothers more unwary than the rest speaking a little too boldly and rashly concerning the State of the Kingdom was seiz'd upon by the
their Expectation they resolved to cut off the hope of lawful Issue by hindring his Marriage what they could although Iohn Duke of Albany when he was Regent seemed to have made sufficient Provision against that Inconvenience for when he renewed the ancient League between the French and Scots at Roan he had inserted one Article that Iames should marry Francis's eldest Daughter But there were two Impediments in the way which almost broke off and cut this League asunder For Francis being freed out of the Hand of the Spaniard by the Industry and Diligence principally of Henry the 8 th had entred into so strict a League with the English that the Scotish League was much intrenched upon thereby and besides the eldest Daughter of Francis was deceas'd a while before and therefore Iames desired Magdalen his next Daughter to Wife and sent Embassadors over to that purpose but her Father excused the matter alleging that his Daughter was of so weak a Constitution of Body that there was little hopes of Children by her no nor hardly any Likelihood of her Life it self for any long time About the same time there was an Affinity treated of with Charles the Emperor by Embassadors and at length the 24 th day of April 1534. The Emperor sent Godscalk Ericus that the matter might be carry'd with greater Secrecy from Toledo in Spain through Ireland to Iames. After he had declared the Commands he had in charge from the Emperor concerning the Wrongs offer'd to his Aunt Catharine and her Daughter by King Henry concerning the calling a general Council concerning the rooting out the Sect of the Lutherans and concerning contracting an Affinity The Emperor by his Letters gave the King his choice of three Marys all of them of his Blood they were Mary Sister to Charles a Widow ever since the Death of her Husband Lewis of Hungary who was slain in Battel by the Turks Mary of Portugal the Daughter of his Sister Leonora and Mary of England his Niece by his Aunt Catharine And because Charles knew that King Iames was more inclinable to this last Match he also shewed a greater Propension thereunto that so he might take off Iames from his valuing of and adhering to the League with Francis and at the same time might set him at ods with Henry Iames made answer that the Marriage with England was indeed in many respects most advantageous if it could be obtained but 't was a Business of uncertain Hope but of great Danger and Toil and would be encumber'd with so many Delays that his single Life he being the last of his Family could hardly bear it and therefore of all Caesar's Neices he told Him that the Daughter of Christiern King of Denmark was most convenient for him who was begotten upon Isabel the Sister of Charles A while after Charles answered this his Demand from Madrid that she was already promised to another and though Caesar by offering Conditions seem'd rather to prolong the matter than really to bring it to pass yet the Treaty was not wholly laid aside Matters being quiet at home Iames resolved to go a Ship-board to take a View of all his Dominions round about and to curb the stubborn Spirits of the Islanders and make them more obedient First he sailed to the Orcades where he quieted all Disorders by apprehending and imprisoning a few of the Nobility he garison'd two Castles there his Own and the Bishops afterwards he visited the rest of the Islands and sent for the chief Men to come to him those that refus'd he seiz'd by force he laid a Tax on them took Hostages and carried away with him those who were most likely to be Incendiaries and clapping some of his own Train into their Castles he sent the leading Men of them some to Edinburgh and some to Dunbar Prisoners For about that time Iohn Duke of Albany had surrendred up Dunbar to the King which till then had been kept by a French Garison In the next Month of August great Severity was used against the Lutherans some were compelled to make a publick Recantation others refusing to appear upon Summons were banished Two were burnt of which one named David Straiton was free enough from Lutheranism but he was accused thereof because he was somewhat refractary in Payment of Tithes to the Collectors of them and so was put to Death only for a supposed Crime In an Assembly which the King caused to be convened at Iedburgh in order to the suppressing of the Robbers thereabouts Walter Scot was condemned of high Treason and sent Prisoner to Edinburgh Castle where he remained as long as the King lived The same Month of August when Francis as I said before had excused his Daughters Marriage on account of her Health but withal had offer'd him any other of the Blood Royal The King sent Embassadors into France Iames Earl of Murray Vice-roy of the Kingdom and William Stuart Bishop of Aberdene those Two went by Sea and Iohn Erskin by Land because he had some Commands to deliver to Henry of England by the way To them be added a Fourth i. e. Robert Reed a good Man and highly prudent There Mary of Bourbon the Daughter of Charles Duke of Vendosme a Lady of the Blood was offer'd to them as a fit Wife for their King Other points were accorded easily enough but the Embassadors fearing that this Marriage would not please their Master would make no Espousal till they had acquainted him therewith In the mean time Henry of England to trouble a matter which was upon the point of concluding in November sent the Bishop of St. Davids into Scotland who brought Iames some English Books containing the Theses's of the Christian Religion desiring Iames to read them and diligently to weigh what was written therein but he gave them to some of his Courtiers who were most addicted to the Sacerdotal Order to inspect They before ever they had scarce look'd on them condemn'd them as Heretical and moreover they highly gratulated the King that he had not polluted his Eye so they phrased it with reading such pestiferous Books This was the cause of their Embassy according to common Vogue yet some say that they brought some other secret Messages to Iames Afterward the same Bishop together with William Howard Brother to the Duke of Norfolk came so unexpectedly to Sterlin that they almost surprized the King before he heard any News of their coming their Errand was that Henry desir'd Iames to appoint a day of Interview wherein they might confer together for he had at that meeting things of high Concernment and of mighty Advantage to both Nations to propound to him In that Message he gave great hope if other matters could be well accorded that he would bestow his Daughter in Marriage upon him and leave him King of all Britain after his Decease and that he might give more credit to his Promises he would make him for the
if they sent away the Queen they must expect perpetual War from England and Bondage from the French others were of opinion that by reason of Agreement in Religion and the Condition of the present Times it was best to embrace the Terms offered by the English which were a Ten Years Peace with no bad Covenants or Obligations on the Scots For the whole of the League was That if the King of England or Queen of Scotland died within ten years all things should be on both sides as they were before and though no fortuitous Event should happen between yet the Kingdom might be hereby freed from its present Pressures which had almost broke its Strength and the Souldiery which were almost all lost in the late Battel might have time to grow up and increase in a long continued Peace and that intestine Discord being laid asleep they might more maturely consider of the Grand Affairs than they could do amongst Drums and Trumpets And in such Consultations Delays were oftentimes of great Advantage and rash Festination was attended with speedy Repentance Thus They. But all the Papists favoured the French and some others too whom French Bounty had either forestalled or else had rais'd up to great hopes of Advantage amongst whom was the Regent he had an yearly Revenue of 1200 French Pistols promised him and the Command of an 100 Curiassiers so that the most Voices carried it for the Queen 's going into France The Fleet which was to convey her rode at Leith and making as if they would go away they sailed about all Scotland and came to Dunbarton where the Queen went on Ship-board having staid some Months for its Arrival in the Company of Iames her Brother Iohn Erskin and William Levingston She was tossed with much foul Weather and contrary Winds but at last landed in Bretaign a Peninsule in France and by easy Journies went to Court In Scotland whilst the War stopp'd at Hadington yet the Common People in several Places were not wanting to the present Occasion For the Garisons of Hume and Fascastle doing great hurt to the Neighbourhood the Scots observing that Hume was negligently guarded by Night got up to the Top of a Rock where the Confidence of the Unaccessibleness of the Place made those within less watchful and so they killed the Sentinels and took the Castle And not long after when the Governor of Fascastle had commanded the Country thereabouts to bring in a great quantity of Provisions into the Castle at a certain Day The Country upon this occasion came numerously in and unlading their Horses they took up the Provision on their backs to carry them over a Bridg made betwixt two Rocks into the Castle assoon as ever they were entred they threw down their Burden and upon a Sign given slew the Guards and before the rest of the English could come in they seized on their Arms and placed themselves in the Avenues and thus setting the Gates open for their whole Party to enter they made themselves Masters of the Castle In the mean time the Naval Force of the English was not idle for the whole stress of the Land-War lying upon Hadington their Commanders thought that the neighbouring Parts were weakned and spoiled of all Defence so that they resolved to land in Fife And accordingly they pass'd by some Sea-Towns which were well inhabited and came to St. Minnans Kirk a Place peopled well enough that from thence they might march by Land to greater Towns but less fortified where the Pillage might be more worth their Labour Iames Stuart the Queen's Brother receiving the Alarum which the People of Saint Andrews and a few of the Country-men which were left at home made towards them and in his way many of the Neighbourhood struck in with him The English were already landed and about 1200 of them stood ready in their Arms for the Encounter The great Guns which they had landed struck such a fear into the Country-men that they quickly fled but Iames after he had a little stopp'd their Fear charged the Enemy so briskly that though he had but a raw and tumultuous Band along with him he soon routed them and drove them toward the Sea killing many upon the Place and many in the pursuit not a few of them were drowned in hastning to their Ships one Boat with all its Passengers was sunk whilst they endeavoured some in Throngs to get on board 'T is reported that there were 600 slain in the Fight and 100 taken Prisoners Whereupon the Fleet presently saâ—led to Mern a Country less inhabited their Design was to surprise Monross a Town not far from the Mouth of the River Dee They resolved to land in the Night and therefore they staid at Anchor out of sight of Land as long as there was any Light in the Sky But as they were making to Shoar in the dark they discovered themselves by their own Imprudency by hanging out Lights in every Boat Iohn Erskin of Downe Governour of the Town commanded his Men to arm without making any Noise and he divided them into three Bodies he placed some behind an earthen Bank which was rais'd on the Shoar to hinder their landing he with some Archers lightly arm'd made directly towards the Enemy and a third Band of Servants and promiscuous Vulgar he plac'd behind a Neighbour Hill adding a few Souldiers to them to govern the Rabble Matters being thus order'd he with his Archers fell upon the Enemy in their Descent and maintain'd a sharp Dispute with them till in a tumultuary kind of Fight he had drawn them on to the Banks there he join'd his other Party who stood ready at their Arms and they all fell on the Enemy yet they had not given Ground unless the last Body had shewn themselves with Colours flying from the next Hill then they made such haste to their Ships that of about 800 which came on Shoar hardly the third part escaped to their Ships In the mean time great Salleys were made about Hadington not without loss on either side but most of the English whereupon they being in some want of Provisions and fearing a greater and perceiving also that the Relief prepared came slowly on and that they were so weakned as to be hardly able to admit of the Delay In the Interim two brave Souldiers Robert Bovy and Thomas Palmer were commanded to march thither from Berwick with 1000 Foot and 300 Horse and to make all the Speed they could These all fell into an Ambush laid for them and scarce a Man of them escaped alive The English resolved to send more Aid but the French discovering their Design beset the narrow Passages by which they were to march but Dessius being deceived by one of the Enemies Scouts which he had taken who told him that the English were far off and were marching another way to relieve the Besieged left the Straits he had possess'd and went to another Place in the
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
without the consent of the States and afterwards in all her Mandates till that time the King and Queens Name were exprest now she chang'd the Order keeping both Names in but setting her own First At length the Queen to deprive her Husband of all opportunity to do Courtesies for any found fault with him that whilst he was busy in Hawking and Hunting many State-Matters were acted unseasonably or else were wholly omitted and therefore it would be better that She might subscribe her Name for them Both and by this means he might enjoy his Pleasure and yet no publick Business be retarded He was willing to gratify her in every thing and yielded to be dismist upon such frivolous Grounds that so being remote from the Council and Privity of publick Affairs the Obligation for all Boons might rebound to the Queen her self For she thought thus with her self that if her Husband's Favour could do no good Offices for any and his Anger were formidable to none he would by Degrees grow to be despis'd by all and to increase the Indignity David was substituted with an Iron Seal to impress the King's Name on Proclamations He thus fraudulently cheated out of publick Business lest he might also prove an Interrupter of their private Pleasures in a very sharp Winter was sent away to Pebly with a small retinue far beneath the Dignity of some private Persons for a Prey rather than Recreation At the same time there fell such a quantity of Snow that the Place not being very Plentiful and besides troubled with Thieves He that was always bred up at Court and used to a liberal Diet was in great hazard of wanting Necessaries unless the Bishop of the Orcades had casually come thither for he knowing the scarcity of the Place brought him some Wine and other Provisions for his use The Queen was not content to advance David and as 't were to shew him to the People from such an obscure Original on the account before mention'd but she advis'd another way how to cloath him with domestick Honour For whereas the Queen had for some Months before permitted more Company than was usual to sit with her at her Table that so in the Croud David's place might be less envy'd by this shew of Popularity she thought to gain the point that the unaccustomedness of the Sight would by the Multitude of Guests and daily Usage be somewhat alleviated and so Mens high Stomachs by degrees be inur'd to bear any thing At last it came to this That but he and one or two more fat at Meat with Her and that the straitness of the Room might take off something from the envy of the thing sometimes she would eat her Junkets in a small Parlor sometimes at David's own Lodgings But the Way she thus took to abate did but increase the Reflections for it maintained Suspicions and gave occasion to odd Discourses Mens Thoughts were now inclin'd to the worst and it serv'd to inflame them That in Housholdstuff in Apparel and in the Number of brave and stately Horses he exceeded even the King himself and it made the matter look the worse that all this Ornament did not credit his Face but rather his Face spoil'd all this Ornament But the Queen not being able to amend the Faults of Nature endeavour'd by heaping Wealth and Honour upon him to raise him up to the degree of the Nobles that she might cover the Meanness of his Birth and the Defects of his Body too with the Vail of his lofty Promotions But he was to be advanced by degrees lest he might seem to be but a poor Mercenary Senator The first Attempt was made on the account of a piece of Land near Edinburgh the Scots call it Malvil The Owner of the Land his Father-in-Law and others that were best able to persuade him were sent for and the Queen deals with the present Owner to part with his Possessions and she desir'd his Father-in-Law and Friends to persuade him to it But this Matter not succeeding the Queen took the Repulse as an Affront to her and which was worse David took it very heinously also These Things being noised abroad the Commonalty did bewail the sad State of Affairs and expected that things would grow worse if Men eminent for their Families Estates and Credits should be outed of their ancient Patrimonies to gratify the Lust of a beggarly Varlet yea many of the elder Sort call'd to mind and told others of that time when Cockburn wickedly slew the King's Brother and of a Stone-cutter was made Earl of Marr which rais'd up such a Fire of Civil War that could not be extinguish'd but by the Death of the King and almost the Destruction of the Kingdom These things were spoken openly but Men in private did mutter much more as it useth to be in Matters not very creditable Yet the King would never be persuaded to believe it unless he saw it with his own Eyes so that one time hearing that David was gone into the Queen's Bed-Chamber he came to a little Door of which he always carried the Key about him and found it bolted in the inside which it never us'd to be he knock'd no body answered whereupon conceiving great Wrath and Indignation in his Heart that Night he could not sleep From that time forward he consulted with some few of his Servants for he durst trust but a few many of them having been corrupted by the Queen and put upon him rather as Spies of his Actions than Attendants on his Person how to rid David out of the way they approved his Design but could not find out a probable Way to effect it that Consultation had been managed for some days when other of his Servants who were not of the Privacy suspected the matter and there being evident signs of it they acquainted the Queen therewith and told her They would bring her to the place where they were and they were as good as their Words they observ'd and watch'd the opportunity when others were shut out and the King had only his Confidents with him the Queen as if she were passing through his Chamber to her own surprized him with his Partisans whereupon she inveighed against him most bitterly and highly threatned his Domesticks telling them all their Plots were in vain she knew all their Minds and Actions and would remedy them well enough in time Matters being brought to this pass the King acquaints his Father with his sad Condition they both concluded That the only Remedy for the present Malady was to reconcile that part of the Nobility which were present and to recal those that were absent but great haste was required in the thing because the Day was near at hand wherein the Queen resolved to condemn the Nobles that were absent she having Indicted a Convention of the Estates for that purpose against the Wills of the French and English Embassadors who interceded in the Case For they knew that the
and Kinross Stewarties (k) Clacman Culross and Kinross Stewarties (l) Fife (m) It ariseth out of Loch-Leven and falls into the Forth at the Town of Leven (n) Or Creal on the East point of Fife (o) St. Andrews heretofore called Fanum Reguli an University (p) Cowper the Shire-Town of Fife (q) Abernethy anciently the Royal Seat of of the Picts (r) Tay the greatest River in Scotland (s) Loch-Tay Twenty four Miles long (t) Athol (u) Blare of Athol (w) Caledonia i. e. Dunkel or Dunkelden Why so called (x) Ammianus Marcellinus divides the Picts into Caledons and Vecturions (y) Perth on the South of Tay called St. Iohnston's from St. Iohn the Evangelist its Patron (z) gowry-Gowry-land is the farthest East-point of Perth-shire the Plain thereof is called the Carss of Gowry and the Hilly part the Brae of Gowry (a) Angus called also Aeneia Horestia and Forestia (b) Wherein there was an Abby near the Water Ila (c) The Gift of God (d) Dundee called Taodunum and why (e) It stands near the Sea on a little Brook in Angus called Brâ—thâ—ck (f) Redhead or Reedhead (g) Called the Sheriffdom of Mearns lying betwixt Dye and North-Esk (h) Or d ee (i) It ariseth in Strathdon the Hilly part of Marâ— and falls into the German Sea at old Aberdene (k) Aberdene standing on the Don and Aberdee standing on the Dee or Dye now both called Old and New Aberdene (k) Aberdene standing on the Don and Aberdee standing on the Dee or Dye now both called Old and New Aberdene (k) Aberdene standing on the Don and Aberdee standing on the Dee or Dye now both called Old and New Aberdene Marr hath the German Ocean on the East d ee on the South Badenach on the West and Bamâ—â—shire on the North. (m) Or Badenâ—ck a continued Ridge of Hills (n) Called Loch-Abyr from a little Loch lying in the midst of a shaking Bog over against Enver-Locâ—ie or as some call it Inner-lochie (o) The three Counties of Loch-Abyr Badenach and Marr comprehend the Bredth of Scotland betwixt both Seas (p) Buchan abounds with Salmon (q) The Water of Ratra in Buchan hath no Salmon in it (r) An unusual Cave turning Water into Stone (s) The like Cave at Tholouse in Languedocâ— (t) South of Bamss on the Sea-Coast (u) Eâ—â—y lying on the South of the Spey (w) Or Spey it watereth Badenach and Sâ—râ—th-Spey and falls into the German Ocean near Gâ—rmâ—ch (x) Loch-Lâ—uch Lochty or rather Loâ—chty (z) Or Envâ—r-Lochty standing on the West-side of the Mouth of the River Lochty in Loch-Abyr (a) A Castle on an high Rock in Lorn of old the Habitation of the Scotch Kings (b) Evonia is not Dunstafnage (c) Muâ—râ—y-Land some call it Mâ—â—râ—eff land from More the Sea and Rieâ—â— â—ent (d) A Chief Town in Murrâ—y within four Miles of the Sea (e) Oâ— Enverness on the South-side of the Ness where it falls into Murray Firth (f) It is a narrow and deep Loch arising near the West-Sea in Glendulphin the Water thereof never freezeth perhaps because encompassed with high Rocks and Mountains which keep off the severity of the cold Air. (g) Where Scotland is narrowest i. e. but 8 Miles broad between Loch and Loch or Sea and Sea (h) 〈…〉 by the mistâ—ke of the 〈◊〉 for the whole of it is mentioned by and by in its propâ—r plâ—ce (i) Râ—â—s is a Shire that extends it self cross ways from the Easâ— to the Wesâ— Sea which no County in Scotland doth besides Navern or 〈…〉 It aâ—ise 〈◊〉 Sutherland and running sâ—rait North frameth Loch-Navern and falls into the Deucaledonian Sea at Inver-Naâ—a or Innâ—â—-Navern as some call it West of Vervedrum or Strathâ—-Hoâ—d It aâ—ise 〈◊〉 Sutherland and running sâ—rait North frameth Loch-Navern and falls into the Deucaledonian Sea at Inver-Naâ—a or Innâ—â—-Navern as some call it West of Vervedrum or Strathâ—-Hoâ—d (m) A Name given it by the Pâ—cts as some think It hath Assin-Shire also to the West of it (n) Mountains of White Marble in Sutherland (o) Caithness the most Northern Shire in Scotland (p) Farrow-Head is the farthest North-West point of Scotland lying in the small Edar-da-cheules (p) Farrow-Head is the farthest North-West point of Scotland lying in the small Edar-da-cheules (q) Because Strathy-Head is by some reckoned to be in Strath-Navern not in Caithness therefore they make Hoia to be the Hill of Hoy in Caithness which hath a Fountain at Top and at its Bottom bubbles forth a River that runs to the Town of Wick in Caithness the usual Port for Ships to and from the Orcades * or Dungisby (r) The Cornavii in Caithness in Scotland and in Cornwal in England too (s) Now Castle Sinclare (t) Kernicovalli Who (a) Kebercurnig (b) Abrecorn or Abercorn (c) The Islands of Scotland divided into three ranks with their several Names viz. 1st Western 2. Orcades or Orkny 3 Schetland Isles (d) Western-Isles called Hebrides Aemodae and Aebudae (e) These Number according to Mela Capella Ptolomy Solinus and Pliny (f) The Name Aebudae most approved by this Author (g) Donald Monro sometime Dean of Murray Travelled over the Islands of Scotland and described them (h) Alexander the 3d. King of Scotland drove the Danes and Normans out of these Islands after they had possest them about 160 years (i) The Disposition Customs c. of their Inhabitants (k) Blandium an old Drink made of Whey claâ—â—fied with Herbs * Heath itâ— Nature (l) Isle of Man called Mana Eubonia Mevania Manim (m) Sodora in Man once the Bishop of the Islandâ— See (n) Ailze (o) abounds with Soland Gâ—ese (p) Or Arran (q) Lamlach (r) Flada (s) Boot Isle (t) Rothsey Castle (u) Keames Castle (w) Mernoch (x) Cumbras Two (y) Sanda (z) Rahglin near Ireland (a) Cara. (b) Gaga (c) Iura a large Island formerly called Dera and why (d) Scarba (e) Many lesser Island◠〈◊〉 their Nameâ— (f) Garvillan Vskâ—a Garvillan More and Garvillan â—eg (g) Sleach (h) Tyan (i) Once the Bishop of Argyle's 〈◊〉 (k) Yla a large Island (l) Avonlaggan (m) Finlagan once the Seat of the Prince of the Islands * Ilan na-Covihaslop called also the Island of Council and why (n) Many small Islands between Ila and Iura with their Names (o) Mull a large Island (p) Calaman (q) Erra (r) Icolumkill (s) Curia a Parish Church * Columbus his Monastery (t) Three Tombs or Câ—meterys for the Kings of Three several Nations (u) Soa (w) Nuns Island (x) Skanny (y) Eorsa (z) Vlva (a) Colvansa (b) Gomedra (c) Stafa (d) Carniburghs Two (e) Black or Turff Island (f) Lunga (g) Baca. (h) Terriss (i) Gun Isle (k) Coll. (l) Calfa (m) Charn More and Charn Beg. (m) Charn More and Charn Beg. (n) Glass More and Glass Beg. * Ardan Rider (o) Island More (p) Rum * Naich * Muick full of Falcons c. (q) Soavretiâ—l Sky the biggest Isle about Scotland Skianacha the old name for Sky 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉