257 Courted by King Edward 258 Refused to swear Obedience to him 259 Betrayed to Edward by a false Friend 260 261 By whom he was drawn hanged and quartered ibid. Wallace slain in Fight by the English 379 Walowithia 60 Walsch or Welsch what it signifies in German 54 61 Walter Mills martyred for Religion 123 Walter Steward of all Scotland 21â— Walter the Son of Murdo imprisoned 338 Walter Earl of Athol conspires against the King and murders him 355 356 He is executed 357 358 Walter Scot endeavouring by Force to take the King from the Douglasses is overthrown 49 Made Prisoner 57 Restored to Liberty ibid. Ioins his Forces with the Regent's 89 Wardships their Origin and Nature 203 351 A Badg of Slavery 15 War Pretence of the Holy War cozâ—ns the Simple of their Mony 243 Warwick Earl overthrown by the Queen of England 397 Watersa Isle 29 Weathers Isle ibid. Werk Castle described 45 Weights corrected 344 Wester-oy or Wyer-oy 36 Whales Plenty of them about the Isle Lewis 32 Whales-oy Isle 37 Whey the Brittons Drink 23 White Battel what 271 Wife of Seton's Speech to her Husband encouraging him to part with 〈◊〉 Sons rather than the Town of Berwick 289 Witches discovered and punished 183 William King of Scots 231 Taken by the English 233 Accompanies Henry of England into France ibid. Released ibid. Sends his Brother David to the Holy War 235 William Creighton Chancellour 359 Deceived by the Queen and her Son the King taken from him 360 361 He guides the King after he had taken him in a Wood to his Party 365 Highly accused 361 Craves Aid of Douglas but in vain 362 Agrees with the Regent 363 Is received into Favour 374 His Death 391 William of Normandy repairs Newcastle 217 Conquers the Danes 71 Overthrown in Scotland 116 William Cecil a prudent Counsellour in England 146 Sent Embassador into Scotland ibid. William Creighton slain 111 William Creighton outlawed with his Crimes 428 William Douglas refuseth to swear Fealty to King Edward 253 He treats Alexander Ramsay inhumanly 301 Is slain 303 William Douglas Son of Archibald of Galway 314 The King marries his Daughter Aegidia to him though he were a Bastard ibid. Killed by Ruffians at Dantzic 322 William Douglas succeeds Archibald his Father 363 Corrupted by Flatterers profuse enticed by the Chancellour to Edinburgh and beheaded 370 William Douglas Son of James the Gross marries Beatrix his Vncle's Daughter 370 Submits to the King 371 By his Obsequiousness makes the King his Own and by that means revenges the Deaths of his Kinsmen 372 375 Goes to Rome 381 Accused in his Absence and his Solicitor overthrown in the Trials ibid. He pays Damages out of his Estate 381 382 Returns and is declared Regent 383 Comes to Court on safe Conduct 385 At last slain by the King 's own Hand 386 William Douglas desires leave to revenge the Death of his Brother the Earl of Murray 248 William Drury an English Knight secretly favours the Rebels 278 William Bishop of Dunblane sent into France to excuse the Queen's hasty Marriage in Scotland 199 200 William Graham the King's Guardian 407 William Hume beheaded 36 William Elphinston Bishop of Aberdene laments the State of Scotland 30 William Keith taken Prisoner by the English 122 William Kircade of Grange Admiral of the Navy against Bothwel 215 William Levingston goes into France with the Queen 107 William of Malmesbury a British Writer 8 William Maitland an ingenious young Man 161 Sent into England to desire Aid 224 Sent into England to complement Queen Elizabeth on Mary's Account 154 Persuades her to declare Mary her Heiresâ— 155 Which she refuses to do 157 He favours the Queen's Affairs 225 Is factious and perfidious ibid. Studies Innovations 226 He is taken and released 242 243 William Murray of Tiâ—bardin angry with the Regent 216 William Rogers an English Musician one of James the IIId's Evil Counsellours 420 William Sylly or Souls executed 271 William Sivez his Story 418 Arch-deacon and a great Astrologer ibid. Vndermines Patrick Graham and gets the Bishoprick 419 William Stuart Bishop of Aberdene sent Embassador into France 63 Womans Isle see Nuns Isle Women some of a manly Spirit 290 297 397 Women whether the supreme Government ought to be committed to them 401 X X Vsed by the Spaniards for double SS 60 Y YEw Isle 25 Yla Isle 26 Z ZEal or Yel Island 3â— Zeland or Schetland Isles ibid. Zerobia Queen of Palmira unsuccessful in her Government 405 Zeviot or Cheviot Hills or Mountains â—3 FINIS ERRATA In the first Twelve Books PAge 16. marg for Adrews read Andrews P. 23. l. 29. f. wear r. did wear P. 24. marg f. Arraâ— r. Arrâ—â— P. 31. l. 18. f. Nastick r. Na Aich P. 39 40 41 42. in the Title f. Book I. r. Book II. P. 75. marg f. â—â—lalabria's r. Calabria's P. 82. l. 47. f. hither r. hitherto P. 109. l. 41. f. Peâ—itius r. Petiliâ—â—â— P. 110. l. 10 〈◊〉 p. 111. l. 5. f. Agrippa r. Agricola P. 110. l. 42. f. Eighth r. Seventh P. 116. marg f. vnâ—â—â—ry r. 〈◊〉 P. 120. l. 45. and p. 183. l. 26. f. Wizard r. Witch P. 131. l. 43. f. Thus r. This. P. 160. l. 22. r. Redemptioâ— P. 168. marg f. Kennetius r. Kennethus P. 183. l. 17. f. Causes r. Cause P. 197. l. 22. f. vaiâ— r. in vaiâ— P. 21â— l. 23. f. Neice r. Grandchild l. 29. f. Nephew r. Grandson P. 227. l. 25. f. 1553 r. 1153. P. 228. l. 6. dele good P. 236. l. 20. f. 1643 r. 1214. P. 245. l. 2. f. Neice r. Grandchild l. 13. f. Neice r. Grandchild P. 248. l. 41. f. to the Marriage with his Queen r. Marriage of his Son with their Queen l. 15. f. Dutchess r. Dâ—tchy P. 272. l. 9. dele some P. 273. l. 1. after taken add Besides many of inferiour Rank John Britain Earl of Richmond was also taken P. 286. marg f. Ear. r. Earn l. 27. f. the Caledonians r. Dunkel P. 287. dele the last marginal Note viz And declare War against France P. 292. l. 21. after Wepont add or Oldbrigs P. 297. l. 16. f. 1â—37 r. 1337. P. 299. r. Alexander Ramsay P. 319. l. 19. f. Army r. Arms. P. 325. l. 11. r. 18 years old Earl of Rothes P. 329. l. 1â— and 27. f. 300. r. 30. ibid. l. 49. dele of P. 330. l. 30. r. Charles VI. P. 331. f. Youth's r. Child 's P. 332. marg f. Murray r. Garioch P. 339. l. 35. f. before r. after P. 342. l. 46. f. 〈◊〉 of Caitâ—nes r. the Clan-cattan Men. f. Cameron r. the Camerons P. 347. marg f. Trust r. Frâ—it P. 348. l. 44. f. 〈◊〉 r. Marr. P. 353. l. 12. f. quietly r. quickly P. 3â—5 f. his Nephew by his Son r. Grandson P. 357. l. 46. f. 〈◊〉 Nephew by his Son r. Grandson P. 360. l. 25. f. no r. now P. 370. l. 23. f. upon r. before P. 389. l. 43. f. 〈◊〉 r. dwindle P. 403. l. 41.
able to take so much pains nor to be at so great expence to maintain places so far off and therefore they advised the Brittons not to expect any more Aid from them for the future But they advised rather that they themselves should take Arms and inure themselves to undergo Military Pains and Hazards and if they had offended before through Slothfulness that now by Industry and Hardiness they would make an amends and not permit themselves to grow so contemptible to their Enemies to whom they were Superior in Number and Forces as to suffer them to drive away yearly Booties from their Country as if they had gone forth only as Hunters for their Prey And the Romans themselves that they might do them good for future times did undertake a great and memorable Work for them For they gathered together an huge Company of Workmen out of their whole Province the Romans and Brittons both vying who should be forwardest and where the Trench or Graft was drawn by Severus Thirty Mile long there they built a Wall of Stone Eight Foot broad and Twelve high they distinguished it by Castles some of which represented small Towns It was finished and bounded on the West by a place now called Kirk Patrick and on the East it began from the Monastery of Aberkernick as Bede affirms in which Country about One Hundred and Twenty years since there was a strong Castle of the Douglasses called Abercorn but no sign of any Monastery at all Moreover left their Enemies should make a descent by Ships into Places beyond the Wall as in their Memory they had formerly done they set up many Beacons or Watch Towers on the higher Grounds along the shore from whence there was a large prospect into the Sea And where it was convenient they appointed Garisons but consisting of such Cowardly and Effeminate Fellows that they could not endure so much as to see the Face of an Armed Enemy The Roman Legion did this Beneficial and Obliging Work for their Provincials before their departure Withal vehemently exhorting them to defend their own Country with their own Arms for they must never more hope for Assistance from the Romans whose Affairs were now brought to that Exigence that they could help their Allies especially so far remote no more When the Scots and Picts understood for certain by their Spies that the Romans were departed and would return no more they assaulted the Wall with all their might and much more eagerly than before and did not only cast down their Opposers by hurling Darts at them but also drew them off the Wall with Cramp-Irons as Bede calls them which were as I understand Crooked Iron Instruments of Hooks fastened on the tops of long Poles so that the upper Fortification being thus made destitute of its Defenders they applied their Engines and overthrew the Foundation also and thus an entrance and passage being made they enforced their affrightned Enemies to leave their Habitations and Dwellings and to fly away for safety wherever they could find it For the Scots and Picts were so eagerly bent on Revenge that all their former Calamities seemed tolerable to their Enemies in respect of Those they were now forced to endure Afterwards the Assailants rather wearied than satisfied with the Miseries of their Enemies returned home and began at last to bethink themselves That they had not so much taken away the Goods of their Enemies as withal they had despoiled themselves of the Rewards of their Victory And therefore convening an Assembly of the Estates it was disputed amongst them How so great a Victory might be improved and their first Result was to replenish those Lands which they had taken from the Enemy with new Colonies for the Procreation of a new Progeny This Counsel seemed the more wholesome and adviseable because of the abundance of Valiant but Indigent Officers and Soldiers who had not room enough to live in their ancient Habitations This turn of Prosperity being signified to the Neighbouring Nations encouraged not only the Scotish Exiles but a great company of Strangers too who lived but poorly at home to flock in as to a Prey for they supposed that a Man of that Spirit and Conduct as Graham was would never lay down Arms till he had brought the whole Island of Britain under his Subjection but herein they were mistaken for he having run so many hazards was more inclineable to Peace with Honour and Glory than to hazard his present certain Felicity by casting himself into an uncertain Danger And therefore he made Peace with the Brittons who were not only willing to but also very earnestly desirous of the same The Terms were That each People should be contented with their own Bounds and abstain from Wrong and Violence towards one another the Mound to both was Adrian's Wall After this Peace was made Graham divided the Lands not only to the Scots but to those outlandish Men also who had followed his Ensigns By this means almost all the Provinces were called by new Names because many of them were Peopled with strange and new Inhabitants and the rest for the most part were born in exile Galway a County next to Ireland falling by Lot to the Hibernians is thought to have got its Name so Famed in their own Country from Them Caithness was so called because it was Mountainous Ross because it was a Peninsula Buchan because it paid great Tribute out of Oxen. Strath-Bogy Narn Strathnavern Loch-Spâ—y Strath-Earn and Monteath took their respective Names from several Rivers of the same Appellation Loch-Abyr was so called from a Lough or rather Bay of the Sea Many of the Provinces situate on this side the Forth as Lennox Clydsdale Twedale Tevidale Liddisdale Eskdale Eusdale Nithisdal Annandale and Dowglas-dal had their Sirnames from Rivers Many Places retained their ancient Names and some had theirs only a little changed Afterwards to the end that he might by just Laws bridle the Licentiousness which was grown to such a height by the long continuance of Wars He first called home the Monks and Teachers of the Christian Religion from their Exile and lest they might be burdensom to an indigent People he ordained That they should have an yearly Income out of the Fruits of the Earth which thô it was small as those times were yet by reason of the Modesty and Temperance of the Men it seemed great enough for them He placed Garisons in the most convenient Passages against the sudden Incursions of the Enemie He repaired Places that were demolished and erected new The Fury of War being thus extinguished thrô the whole Island thô the Brittons being saved as it were out of a dangerous Tempest did enjoy the Sweets of Publick Peace yet it was doubtful whether the War or the Peace did them most mischief For when their Cities were razed their Villages burnt their Cattel driven away and all their Instruments of Husbandry lost they who survived this Cruelty of
their Enemies were enforced to maintain their needy Lives by Hunting or else to turn their course of Plunder from their Enemies upon their own Countrymen So that an Intestine War was almost like to ensue upon an External Peace Neither were they only the perpetual Enemies of Foreiners For thô they abstained from open Wars yet ever and anon they spoiled the Countries contiguous to them Also a Party of the Hibernians being encouraged by hope of Booty did vex the poor People who were already miserably enough distressed with their Marine Invasions Their last Calamity and the worst of all was Famine which did so cow the Hearts of that Warlike People that many of them voluntarily surrendred up themselves into their Enemies Hands At last those few of them that remained lurking in Caves and Dens were necessitated to peep abroad and so to scatter the wandring Troops of those Plunderers they also drove the Irish back to Sea and forced them to depart from Albium That Mischief was no sooner removed but a Calamity nearer hand began to press upon them The Scots and Picts their perpetual Enemies were not contented to drive Preys from them by stealth but watched an opportunity to attempt higher Matters For Eugenius the Son of Fergus who till that time had lain still under the Tutorage of another his Strength being increased by a long Peace and much augmented by a young Fry of Soldiers flocking in to him desired to shew himself and besides the weakness of the Brittons there happened likewise a private Cause of War Graham being his Grandfather by the Mothers-side and nobly descended as I spake before in his own Country was yet of that Faction which were desirous to free themselves from the bondage of the Romans For which Cause he was banished by the contrary Faction who were then more powerful and so he fled to the Scots his old Allies between whom many Civilities had formerly passed After his Death Eugenius by his Ambassadors demanded a Restitution of those fruitful Lands which were his Ancestors situate within the Wall of Adrian intimating plainly to them That unless they did restore them he would make War upon them When the Ambassadors had declared their Message in an Assembly of the Brittons there were such Heats amongst them that they came almost to blows They that were the fiercest of them cryed out That the Scots did not seek for Lands so much of which they had enough as for War and That they did not only insult over their new Calamities but also were resolved to try their Patience if the Lands were denied then a War would presently follow if they were restored then a cruel Enemy was to be received into their own Bowels and yet they should not have Peace even Then unless they imagined That their Covetousness would be satisfied with the Concession of a few Lands who were not contented with large Provinces which were parted with in the last War And that therefore it was good to obviate their immoderate and unsatiable Desires in the very beginning and to repress their Licentiousness by Arms lest by the Grant of small things their Desires might be enlarged and their Boldness encreased to ask more There was in that Assembly one Conanus a British Nobleman and eminent amongst his Countrymen on the account of his Prudence who discoursed many things gravely concerning the Cruelty of their Enemies and of the present State of the Brittons and that all their Soldiers were almost drawn out for Foreign Service adding withal That War abroad Seditions at home and Famine proceeding from Poverty or Want would consume or else weaken the miserable Remainders of his Countrymen As for the Roman Legions they were gone home to quell their own Civil Wars without any hopes of Return and therefore he gave his Advice That they should make Peace with their formidable Enemies if not an advantagious one yet the best they could procure This Counsel he gave as he alleged not out of any Respect to his private Interest but merely for the necessities of the Publick which appears said he by this That as long as there was any probability to defend ourselves against the Cruelty of our Enemies he never made any mention of Peace at all he added That he was not ignorant that this Peace which he now persuaded to would not be a lasting one but only prove a small Respite from War till the force of the Brittons weakned by so many losses and almost ruined might be refreshed and gather strength by a little intermission Whilst he was thus speaking a Noise arose in the whole Assembly which made him afraid For the Seditious cryed out That he did not respect the publick Good but only endeâ—voured to obtain the Kingdom for himself by means of Foreign Aid Whereupon he departing from the Council called God to witness That he had no private end of his own in persuading Peace but a Tumult arising amongst the Multitude he was there slain His Loss caused the wiser sort to refrain giving their Votes freely thô they evidently saw that the Destruction of their Country was at hand The Ambassadors returning home without their Errand The Scots and Picts left off all other Business and prepared wholly for War The Brittons foreseeing the same after their fit of Passion was somewhat over send Ambassadors to Scotland who upon pretence of making Peace were to put some stop to the War and to offer them Money giving the Scots hopes That they might get more from them by way of an amicable Treaty than they pretended to seek for by War That the Chances of War were doubtful and the issue uncertain That it was not the part of Wise Men to neglect the benefit which was in their view and upon uncertain hopes to cast themselves upon most certain and assured Dangers Nothing was obtained by this Ambassy for Eugenius was informed by his Spies That the Brittons did but dissemble the obtaining of a Peace abroad whilst they were intent upon high Warlike Preparations at home so that for that reason the Scots and Picts being inflamed with their old hatred and invited by the Calamities of the Brittons or else lifted up with Success would give them no Conditions but to yield up All so that both Armies prepared for the last Encounter The Confederate Kings having been Conquerors for some years were now erected to the hope of a greater Victory and the Brittons on the other side set before their Eyes all the Miseries that a fierce and conquering Enemy could inflict upon them In this posture of Affairs and temper of Spirit when both Parties came in sight of one another such a sharp Fight commenced between them as the Inhabitants of Britanny had never seen before it was so obstinately maintained that after very long and hot Service the Right Wing of the Scots was thô with difficulty enforced to give ground which Eugenius perceiving having before brought all his
thereupon He nevertheless persisted in his slothful kind of Life which gave opportunity to the Remainders of the Picts as if an hopeful Alarm had been given them even from the very bottom of Despair to address themselves to Osbreth and Ella Two of the most potent and prevalent Kings of the English for then England was divided into many Kingdoms They bewail'd their misfortune to them and craved earnestly their Assistance promising That they and all their Posterity would become Feudataries to the English in case they obtained the Victory over the Scots which they prejudg'd would be an easy one by reason of the slothful Nature of Donald The English were easily persuaded and having setled things at home they led out their Army into Merch from whence they sent Heralds to Donaldus requiring that the Lands which the Scots had forceably taken away from the Picts their Friends and Allies might be restored which unless he would do they would not neglect their old Confederates who had now also newly cast themselves upon them Donaldus by the advice of the Estates which in this time of imminent Danger he had thô unwillingly convened Levied an Army and met with the Enemy at Iedd a River of Teviotdale where he joyned Battel and overthrew Osbreth enforcing him to fly to the next Mountains From thence he marched on by Tweed unto the Sea side recovered Berwick which had been taken by the English and again deserted by them upon the ill news of the success of the Battel where he took all the Ships riding in the Mouth of the River and seized upon all the Enemies Provisions therein There he got an opportunity to renew his interrupted Pleasures and as if his Enemies had been wholly overthrown he drowned himself in all kind of Voluptuousness Whereupon the English who in the last Fight were rather scatter'd than subdued understanding by their Spies the Carelesness and Security of the Scots gathered together what Force they could out of the Neighborhood and by night set upon the Scots who were laden with Wine and fast asleep making a great slaughter amongst them but they took the King who was between sleeping and waking Prisoner From thence they followed the Course of their Victory and to make their Ravage more compleat they divided their Army into Two Parts and so marched into the Enemies Country Part of them when they came to the Forth got Vessels and essayed to pass over by Water into Fife but a great Number of them were Shipwrackt and drowned and the rest by the violence of the Storm were forced back to the Shore where they embarked from whence marching to Sterling and joyning with the rest of their Army they pass over the Forth on a Bridge The Scots after their flight gathered themselves into a Body thereabouts having the bare show rather than the strength of an Army and sent Ambassadors to the English for Peace which they did not refuse because their strength was weakened by the unsuccessful Battel of Iedd and also by their own Shipwrack The English propounded hard Conditions yet such as the present State of Affairs made to seem tolerable As that The Scots should yield up all the Land which was within the Wall of Severus That their Bounds should be beneath Sterling the Forth beneath Dunbarton the Clyd and between the Two Rivers the Wall of Severus Amidst such hard Terms of Peace yet this happened as joyous so unexpected to the Scots That no mention was made concerning the Reduction of the Picts For the English and Britains divided the Lands surrendred up betwixt them the River being a Boundary betwixt them both There are some who think the Money yet called Sterling was then Coined there The Lands being thus divided the Picts who thought to recover their own being eluded of their hopes passed over to the Cimbrians and Scandians i. e. as we now speak to Denmark and Norway Those few of them that staid in England were all put to death by them upon pretence that they would attempt Innovations by their soliciting of Forein Aid Donaldus after he had made Peace upon his Return was Honourably received partly out of Respect to his Ancestors and partly in hopes of his Repentance But he persevering in his wonted Slothfulness the Nobles fearing that so filthy and sluggish a Person who would neither hearken to the Counsels of his Friends nor be reclaimed by his own Calamities would lose that part of the Kingdom which remained cast him into Prison where either for Grief in having his Pleasure restrained or for Fear to be made a Publick Spectacle of Scorn he laid violent hands on himself in the Sixth Year of his Reign Others report that This Donaldus performed many Noble Exploits both at home and abroad and that he dyed a natural death at Scone in the Year of our Lord 858. Constantinus II. The Seventy First King COnstantinus the Son of Kennethus undertook the Kingdom after him at Scone he was a Prince of a great Spirit and highly Valorous He was desirous to obliterate the Ignominy received under Donaldus and to enlarge his Kingdom unto the Bounds left by his Father but he was otherwise advised by his Nobles because the greatest part of the Soldiery were slain under Donaldus and the remainder was grown so Corrupt that it was not fit to put Arms into their hands And thereupon the King first bent his care to amend the Publick Discipline and so he reduced the Order of Priests to their Ancient Parsimony by severe Laws in regard they had left off Preaching and had given up themselves to Luxury Hunting Hawking and to Courtly-Pomp He caused the Young Soldiers who were effeminated with Pleasures to lye on the Ground and to Eat but once a day Drunkards he punished with Death He forbad all sports but those who served to harden both Body and Mind for the Wars By these Laws the Soldiery of the Kingdom were reduced to a better pass And presently upon a certain Islander named Evenus whom he himself had made Governour of Loch-Abyr a Man of an unquiet Spirit and Ambitious of Dominion rose up in Arms who knowing That the Youthful Fry of Soldiers could not well bear the Severity of these New Laws First gathered together a small Number and then a greater complaining of the present State of Things And when he found his Discourse was acceptable to them he easily persuaded them to conspire for the Destruction of Constantine But being more active than cautelous in gathering strength to their Faction they were betrayed by some of their Own and slain before they knew any Forces were gathered together against them Evenus the head of the Conspiracy was hanged About this time it was That the Danes then the most Potent and Flourishing Nation amongst the Germans were solicited by the Picts against the Scots and also by one Buernus or as others write Verna whose Wife Osbreth had forceably
with contrary Winds at Sea was Shipwracked and cast ashore and being brought to the King he and all his underwent their most deserved punishments They who brought him to the King were liberally rewarded his Castle was burnt and all that were therein were slain And the Body of Duffus was honourably interred amongst his Ancestors As these things did highly ingratiate Culenus to those who were good so the remaining part of his Life did accumulate so much Odium on him as never any King before him ever laboured under For whether induced by his own Nature or urged for fear of Danger as he would have it thought he suffered the severity of the Discipline used under Indulfus and Duffus to grow cold and remiss and permitted the younger Tribe being given up to unseasonable Debauchery and Foreign Delights to run into those Licentious practices which were forbid by the Laws till at last they broke forth into open Violence and Robbery And when he saw the greatest part of the young Nobility addicted to those Vices he also immerged himself in the same so that he abstained not from vitiating Noble Matrons and even Religious Nuns which in that Age on the account of their Chastity were had in great Veneration no nor from his own Sisters or Daughters neither nay he kept Troops of other Harlots hired by his Panders in his Court as in a Brothel-house When he was admonished and put in mind of these things by Wise and Prudent Persons on the behalfe of the young Nobility he answered That something was to be indulged to their Age and as for himself thô he confessed That some things were amiss yet he was forced out of fear to tolerate them For I remember said he what great Calamity the unseasonable Severity of the former King brought not only on himself but on the whole Kingdom also That the Nobility were the Stay and Prop of the Throne That it was not true that the Martial Spirits of Men were always broken by this free kind of Life or made low and abject nor That the Thoughts of Arms were so neglected by them in Peace as if they expected That there would never be any more War at all 'T is true proceeded he The Luxury of Youthful Age is so far to be restrained that it proceed not too far that so the good Seed of Ingenuity might not be choaked as it were by overmuch jollity in the very bud yet it is not wholly to be abridged or taken away lest the Seeds of Virtue should be plucked up together with it When the Nobles heard this his Defensatory Plea and perceiving they could do no good upon him by their Persuasions but rather create trouble to themselves if they should use the same liberty of Speech to him in their Rejoynders they withdrew themselves from the Court fearing lest they should be compelled to be Witnesses yea Partakers also of these facinorous Practices the sight and hearing whereof they did detest and abhor The King being freed from such troublesom Interposers gave up himself wholly to Wine and Women He proposed Rewards to those who could invent any new kind of Pleasure thô never so sordid and detestable His Court was filled Night and Day with wanton Songs and the Huzza's of Drunkards So that Intemperance and Impudence were as much praised by him as Modesty and Chastity are wont to be esteemed by Good and Pious Princes Those Evils which thô allowed or connived at by the Law in other Men yet are acted by Them in Secret were here openly committed without Shame The young Nobility being thus Effeminated by Pleasure and a Multitude of Parasites and Flatterers with them extol the King to the Skies as if he were the very First of their Kings who had joyned Splendor and Magnificence with Authority as tempering the Severity of his Government with Lenity and easing the burdens of Care and Labour by some Relaxation of Spirit and Allowance of Delight Now to continue these Luxuriant courses there was need of great Expence and therefore the wealthier sort were Fined upon fained Accusations and the Plebeians were suffered to be preyed upon and harassed with all sorts of servile Offices He that was not pleased with the present state of things was accounted a barbarous Country-Clown or if he seemed to be of an higher Spirit than ordinary he was presently accused by a company of Informers as if he studied Innovation in the State After 3 Years were spent in this flagitious Liberty when Men were silent out of Fear or Sâ—oth Luxury began to be a punishment to itself For when the King's Strength was exhausted by immoderate Lust and his Body had contracted Deformity by excessive Banquetings those Diseases followed which are wont to be Companions of such Vices so that there remained nought but a rotten Carkass fit for nothing but to â—ear the Punishment of his former mispent Life The King being thus disabled for all Functions of Life the strength both of his Body and Mind being enervated and weakened by Intemperance and his Courtiers also following the same practices some Aâ—â—â—â—cious Fellows being encouraged by hopes of Prey and Impunity committed publick Robberies and Murders regarding neither the Plebeians as being Men of poor Servile Spirits nor the Courtiers as Persons enfeebled by Luxurious wickedness Hereupon the founder Part of the Nobility being encompassed with a double mischief and therefore enforced to look to the Main called an Assembly of the States at Scone The King also was willed to be there That he might consult in common with the rest in such a dangerous Juncture of Affairs for the Publick Safety He being inwardly struck at this Summons and as it were awakned from his drowzy Sloth began to advise with his Confederates What a Man in such streights were best to do And thô he knew not how to make any Resistance nor yet how to fly away and thô his Mind also presaged no good to him yet he resolved to go to the Assembly And as miserable Men are wont to flatter themselves in Adversity so he did not altogether Despair That he either out of Pity or out of Respect to his Fathers Memory should procure some Favour that he might not be suddenly cast down from so great a Dignity to an Abyss of Misery In his Journy to Scone having a Train big enough but unarmed and dispirited about him he was slain at a Neighbour Village called Methvin by the Thane or Sheriff of that Country because he had forceably vitiated his Daughter When his Death was made known thô all Men were well pleased to be freed from such a Monster with less trouble than they supposed they should yet the Perpetration of the Fact by Roharans or Rodardus the Thane was very much disliked by all People He Reigned as the former King did 4 Years and 6 Months Kennethus III. The Eightieth King KENNETHVS the Brother of Duffus and Third of that Name succeeded
after them and in a short time they were brought to the King and punished according to Law Whereupon the Nobles were dismissed having received some Gifts and many large Promises from the King and the Commonalty also pray'd heartily for their King Matters being thus composed at home he faithfully observed the League made by some former Kings with the English But this great Tranquillity of all Britain was soon disturbed by the Danes who appeared with a great Fleet and Anchored near the Red-Promontory a Place in Aeneia or Angus They there staid some days in Consultation Whether they should Land there or direct their Course towards England as they intended at first Many of them were of Opinion That it was most adviseable to make for England an opulent Country where they might have both Provision enough for their Army and also some hopes of Auxiliaries and Recruits in regard that there many of the Danish stock were yet alive amongst them and many others stood obliged to them for old Courtesys and Friendships and that These upon the first notice of their Arrival would presently flock in to them as of old they used always to do But as for the Scots they were a fierce Nation and very hardy as Those use to be who are bred in Barren and Hungry Soiles That they never attempted them without some great and remarkable loss and in the present case if they overcame them it would hardly be worth their Labour But if they were overcome by them they must endure the utmost Extremity and Rigour Others were of a different Opinion alleging That if they made their Descent on the Coasts of England then they should be obliged to Fight Both Nations at once but if the Scots were First overcome the War against the English would be easy when they were bereft of Foâ—â—ign Aid and also terrified with the Loss of their Friends They further urged That it was not the part of Great and Magnanimous Spirits to be intent on Prey and Booty only they should rather call to mind the Blood of their Kindred and Ancestors who had been so often cruelly slain in Scotland And that now especially having a Great Army and being furnished also with things necessary for War they ought to take That Revenge which might punish the Savage Cruelty of the Scots according to their Deserts and might also carry the terror of the Danish Name to all the Neighbouring Nations After this Battel Peace seemed to have been settled for many Years when behold some troublesome matters at home did disturb this Calm As for the Commotion of the Islanders who in a Plundering way ranged over all Ross That was quickly suppressed some of the Robbers being slain in â—ight some taken in pursuit and after Executed But Crathilinthus the Son of Fenella or as some call her Finabella gave far greater disturbance He was then the chief of all Mern both in Descent and Wealth Crathilinthus his Grandfather by the Mothers side was made Governor by the King over that part of Angus which lies between the Two Rivers each of them having the Name of Eske where he gathered up the Kings Taxes and Revenues his Nephew coming with a great Train to visit him a sudden Quarrel arose amongst their Servants so that two of Crathilinthus's Friends were slain He complained thereof to his Grandfather who laid the blame of the Tumult upon his Nephews rude Retinue and Company and after a sharp Reproof he was dismissed by him but not without Contumelies from his Servants and Domesticks So that returning home he in great Wrath complained of the Affront to his Mother who was so far from endeavouring to allay his Rage and quiet the Mind of the incensed Youth by grave and wholesome Counsel that she importuned him to Revenge himself by force of Arms even upon her own Father and his Grandfather too Hereupon not long after Crathilinthus having gathered an armed Company together fit for his purpose comes by Night into Angus to his Grandfathers Castle He with some few Followers were admitted in without Suspicion and being once entred he gave the Word to the rest who lay in Ambush and let in them also so that he slew his Grandfather with his whole Family plundered the Castle depopulated the Country adjacent and as if he had done a Famous Exploit he returned pompously with a great Booty into Mern But the Angusians did not suffer this Injury to pass long Unrevenged For soon after gathering a great many of their Faction together they made great Havock in the District of Mern From that time forward Slaughters and Rapines were occasionally committed on both sides Kennethus hearing of it published a Proclamation That the Chief of either Faction should appear at Scone within Fifteen Days to answer What should be objected against them for he feared that if a greater number should resort to the Factions further Tumults might arise some few being terrified by this minatory Edict made their appearance accordingly but the greatest part of whom Crathilinthus was Chief being conscious of their own Demerits fled away as every one thought most convenient The King made diligent search after them the greatest part of them were taken in Loch-Abyr and some elsewhere Crathilinthus and the Cheif of the Faction were punished with Death others according to the Degree of their Crimes had lesser Punishments and those who were but a little Guilty had none at all inflicted on them This Moderation and Temperament procured to the King Fear from the bad but great Love from others and settled Peace in all his Kingdom till the Twenty first year of his Reign Insomuch That if he had persisted in that course of Life which he had begun he might well have been reckoned amongst the Best of Princes for he so performed all the Offices both of Peace and War that he got great Renown upon the account of his Equity Impartiality and Valour But the Excellency of his former Life was blurred by one Wicked Fact that he committed which seemed too more aggravated in him in regard it was incredible and unexpected to proceed from his Disposition who had before so severely punished Grand Offenders The Occasion of it was This The King being now grown somewhat ancient had a Son named Malcolm a Prince of great Ingenuity but in point of Age not yet mature to Govern so fierce a People if his Father should die Further the Custom of our Ancestors was then against it that he should Reign next after his Father For They were wont to choose not the next but the fittest of the deceased Kings Relations provided he were descended from Fergus the First King of the Scots Besides the Favour of the Nobility was another Obstacle which did incline to another Malcolm the Son of King Duffus the most Praise-Worthy Prince of all the Scotish Royal Race Moreover he was then Governor of Cumberland which County the Scots did hold as Feudataries of the Kings of
England on such Terms That the Government of Cumberland was always looked upon as previous to the Throne of Scotland for it had been so observed for some Ages past The King perceiving That this Malcolm for the Reasons aforementioned would be an hindrance to his Design not daring to do it openly caused him privately to be made away by Poyson Thus died that excellent young Man much lamented and near to his greatest Hope some Signs of Poison appeared in his Body but no Man ever dreamt of suspecting the King Yea his Deportment was such as to avert all Suspicion for he Mourned and Wept for his Death and made an Honourable mention of his Name when occasion was administred to speak of it and caused him magnificently to be Interred no Ceremony being omitted which could be invented for the Honour of the Deceased But this superlative Diligence of the King to remove the Suspicion from himself gave a shrewd Jealousie to the more Sagacious Yet they forbore to speak out for the Reverence all bore to and had conceived of the Kings Sanctity But soon after the King himself scattred some Words abroad to try the Minds of Men How they would bear the abrogating of an old Law and the enacting a new concerning the Succession of their Kings viz. That according to the Custom of many Nations if a King died his Son should succeed him and if he were under Age then to have a Protector or Tutor assigned to him so the Kingly Name might rest in the Child but the Power of Government in the Tutors or Guardians till he came to Age. Though a great Part of the Nobles praised his Speech as being willing to Gratifie him yet the Suspicion concerning the Death of Malcolm prevailed upon the Major part and especially upon the Nobility and Those of the Royal Stock who were afraid of the King Mens Spirits being in this posture Ambassadors came from England to comfort the King upon the loss of his Kinsman and withal desiring That in substituting another Governor he would remember That Cumberland being the Bond of Concord betwixt the Two Nations he would set Such a Person over it who might be an indifferent Arbiter of Peace and that would maintain the ancient Alliance betwixt the Two Nations for the Good of them Both and if any new Suspicions or Jealousies should arise that he would labour to extinguish them The King judged this Embassy fit for his purpose so that having Convened the Nobility at Scone he made a grave Harangue to them against the ancient Custom of the Assemblies of Estates in this Point wherein he recited all the Seditions which had happened for that Cause and with how great Impiety some of the surviving Kindred had treated the Children of former Kings and what Wars Rapines Slaughters and Banishâ—â—nts had ensued thereupon On the other side he put them in Mind How much more Peaceable and less Turbulent the Parliamenâ—â—â—y Assemblies of other Countries were and what great Reverence was born to the Royal Blood when without convasing for Succession Children succeeded their Parents in the Throne Having thus spoken he referred the matter to that Great Council to determine something in this Case He acquainted them also with the Demands of the English Ambassador and to give a greater Manifestation of his Condescention and Civility whereas it was in the Kings Power alone to appoint a Governor of Cumberland he left it to them to nominate One supposing that by this his Moderation he might the more easily obtain his Desire concerning the Succession to the Crown For if he himself had Nominated his Son for a Governor he thought he should have prejudiced his other Request because as I said before the Government or Prefecture over Cumberland was looked upon as the Designation of the Person to be the next succeeding King of Scotland Constantine the Son of Culenus and Grimus the Son of Mogal Brother to King Duffus who were thought most likely to oppose both Requests were first asked their Opinions in the Case who partly for Fear of Danger and partly that they might not run cross to the Major part of the Nobility who had been prepossessed and influenc'd by the King gave their Vote That it was in the Kings Power to Correct and Amend Laws which were inconvenient to the Publick and also to appoint what Governor he pleased over Cumberland The rest though they knew that they had spoken contrary to their own Sense yet Consented to what they said And by this means Malcolm the Kings Son though not of Age but Immature for Government was declared Governor of Cumberland and also Prince of Scotland which Title signifies in Scotland as much as Daulphin doth in France and Caesar amongst the old Roman Emperors and the King of the Romans amongst the Modern Germans whereby the Successor to the preceding Magistrate is understood Other Laws were also made viz. That as the Kings Eldest Son should succeed his Father so if the Son died before the Father the Nephew should succeed the Grandfather That when the King was under Age a Tutor or Protector should be Chosen some Eminent Man for Interest and Power to Govern in the Kings Name and stead till he came to Fourteen Years of Age and then he had Liberty to choose Guardians for Himself And besides many other Things were Enacted concerning the Legitimate Succession of Heirs which ran in common to the whole Nobility as well as to the King The King having thus by indirect and evil Practises setled the Kingdom on his Posterity as he thought yet his Mind was not at rest For though he were very Courteous to all and highly Beneficial and Obliging to a great many and withal did so manage the Kingdom that no one Part of a good King was wanting in him yet his Mind being disquieted with the guilt of his Offence suffered him to enjoy no sincere or solid Mirth but in the Day he was vexed with the Thoughts of that foul Wickedness which did inject themselves and in the Night terrible Apparitions disturbed his Rest. At last a Voice was heard from Heaven either a true one as some think or else such an one as his disquieted Mind suggested as it commonly happens to Guilty Consciences speaking to him in his Sleep to this Sense Dost thou think That the Murder of Malcolm an Innocent Man secretly and most impiously Committed by thee is either unknown to me or That thou shalt go unpunished for the same Nay there are already Plots laid against thy Life which thou canst not avoid neither shalt thou leave a Firm and Stable Kingdom to thy Posterity as thou thinkest to do but a Tumultuous and Stormy one The King being terrified by this dreadful Apparition betimes in the Morning hastned to the Bishops and Monks to whom he declared the Confusion of his Mind and his Repentance for his Wickedness They instead of prescribing him a true Remedy according to the
time he levied so great an Army that Malcolm at the news of his Approach disbanded his Soldiers and retired himself into Cumberland But Kennethus his Natural Brother begot on a Concubine judging that course to be very Dishonourable persuaded some of the most Valiant Troops to stay behind and so to stop the Enemy at the River Forth near Sterling which was the Boundary to both Armies There both Camps lay idle on the high Banks of the River which was Fordable but in few places by which means they were so afflicted with Pestilence and Famine both which Calamities did rage very much that Year that each Army was forced to Disband Thus the Kingdom being divided into Two Factions the Commonalty was miserably afflicted with Hunger Pestilence and frequent Robberies In the mean time during the absence of Malcolm who according to his League was assisting the English against the Danes Constantine thinking he had now got a convenient Opportunity to subdue the Faction opposite to him marches with great Forces into Lothian Kennethus who was left by his Brother to observe all Constantine's Motions gave him an halt at the Mouth of the River Almon. And because he was inferior in Number he supplyed that defect by Stratagem for he so ordered his Army that he had the advantage both of the Sun and Wind and besides his Army was flanked as much as it could with the River which was the chief Cause of his Victory For the Constantinians trusting to their Multitude rushed violently into the Battel having the Sun-beams darting into their very Faces and besides a Storm suddainly arising drove so much Dust into their Faces and Eyes that they could scarce lift up their Heads against their Enemies A great Slaughter was made in both Armies and both Generals themselves upon a Charge wounded and slew one another after Constantine had invaded the Kingdom an Year and Six Months Grimus The Eighty Second King GRimus the Son of King Duffus or as others say of his Brother Mogallus after Constantine's death was brought to Scone and there by the Men of his own Faction was made King He perceiving that some Nobles of his Party were already corrupted by Messengers sent from Malcolm and More of them were solicited by him to a Defection took some of those Messengers and committed them to Prison Malcolm being much inceased at the Imprisonment of his Embassadors as being done against the Law of Nations breaks forth into open War As Grimus was making head against him a suddain Rumor was dispersed through all Malcolm's Army of the Vastness of the Army coming against them so that all Malcolm's Measures were disturbed thereby many of his Soldiers ran privily away and many others making frivolous pretences did publickly desire to be dismissed The Fear first arose from the Merchants who preferring their Private Concerns before the Publick Good scattered the Report throughout the whole Army And besides there were Some among them who privately favoured Grimus his Party for indeed there were many things in him very attractive of the Vulgar as the Talness of his Stature his great Beauty accompanied with a singular Courtesie and a comely Meen in all his Actions Besides as there was occasion he was severe in punishing Offenders and he managed Matters with great Celerity and Prudence so that many promised themselves an Happy and an Honourable Calm under his Government In this Diversity and Combustion of Mens Spirits Malcolm not daring to commit any thing to an hazard in Battel by the Advice of his Friends dismissed the greatest part of his Army and with some select Troops resolved to stop the Enemies passage over the Forth In the mean time the Bishop of that Diocess Forthadus by Name of whom all had an high Opinion for his Sanctimony endeavoured by his Authority to compose Matters and passing to and fro betwixt both Parties at length he brought Matters to this pass That a Truce was made for Three Months Grimus being to go into Angus and Malcolm into Cumberland And also Arbitrators were to be chosen by both Parties by Consent who were to determine the main Controversie in Dispute Neither did Forthadus give over his Endeavours till Peace was made by them on these Conditions That Grimus should retain the Name of King as long as he lived And that after his Decease the Kingdom should return to Malcolm And for the future the Law of Kennethus for establishing the Succession in the King's Children should be observed as Sacred and Inviolate In the mean time the Wall of Severus was to be the Boundary to them Both. That which was within the Wall was to belong to Malcolm and That without to Grimus Both of them were to be contented with those Limits Neither being to invade each other or to assist the Enemies of one another Thus Peace was made to the great Joy of all Men which was Religiously observed for almost Eight Years Grimus was the first Occasion of the Breach for whereas since the beginning of his Reign in turbulent Times he had carried himself as a good Prince his Industry being slackened by the Quiet he enjoyed he wholly plunged himself in voluptuous Courses and that kind of Life being as usually it is a Life of Expence he was reduced to some Necessity and was thereby enforced to pretend Crimes against the Richer sort that so out of Covetousness he might enjoy their Estates Being told of the danger of this Course he was so far from Reforming it or from abating any thing of his former Vileness That he resolved to put his Monitors in Prison that so others being terrified by their Punishment might not use the like freedom in reproving Kings In order whereto he invited them kindly to his Court but they having notice of his Design by their Friends withdrew themselves at which Grimus was so enraged that he gathered a Band of Men together and made after them spoiling their Lands more than any Foreign Enemy could have done he spared neither Men Houses Cattle nor Corn and That which he could not carry away he spoiled That so it might be rendred useless to the Owners Thus he made a promiscous Havock of all things whether Sacred or Prophane by Fire and Sword Complaint hereof being made to Malcolm who was then busie in helping the English against the Danes he presently returned home for he was incensed not only at the undeserved Sufferings of so many brave and innocent Persons but much more at the Indignity offered him by Grimus who knowing that the Lands were shortly to pass over to another without any Respect to future Times had swept away the Fruits thereof as if it had been an Enemies Country There was a great Resort to Malcolm at his return insomuch that thô Grimus had for a time been Dear to and Beloved of the People yet now the greatest part of the Nobles forsook him Notwithstanding with what Forces he could make he made Head against his
Angus There he landed his Men and attempted to take in some Places but being disappointed he fell a plundering Having pitched his Tents at Balbridum i. e. the Village of St. Bride word was brought him by his Spies that the Scots Forces were scarce two miles distant from him whereupon both Generals according to the Exigence of the time exhorted their Men to fight and the next day they were all ready at their Arms almost at one time The third day they fought with so great eagerness and fury as either new Hope or old Hatred could occasion and suggest At last the Scots prevailed and Camus endeavouring to secure the Remainders of his Army by flying to the Mountains towards Murray before he had gone two miles was overtaken by the Pursuers and he and all his Men cut off There are Monuments extant of this Victory in an Obeliske and a Neighbouring Village which as yet retains the Memorable Name of Camus Another Band of them were cut off not far from the Town of Breichin where also another Obeliske was erected The Remainder being few in Number under the Covert of the night made to their Ships These last were tossed up and down several days in the raging Sea by cross Winds at length coming to the inhospitable Shore of Buchan they rode there so long at Anchor till they were necessitated for want to send about 500 of their Men ashore to get some Relief out of the Neighbouring Country Mernanus the Thane of the place stopp'd them from returning to their Ships and compelled them to retire to a steep Hill where being assisted by the Conveniency of the place they defended themselves with Stones and slew many of the Scots who rashly attempted them At last the Scots encouraged one another and in several Parties in great Numbers got up the Hill and put every Man of the Danes to the Sword There also as well as at Bambreid when the Wind blows up the Sand there are Bones discovered of a greater Magnitude than can well suit with the Stature of the Men of our Times Yet Sueno was not discouraged no not with this Overthrow also but sent his Son Canutus with new Levies into Scotland He landed his Souldiers in Buchan and so preyed upon the Country Malcolm though he had yet hardly recovered his Loss sustained in former Battels yet made head against him and being not willing to hazard all by fighting a pitched Battel he thought it best to weary the Enemy with light Skirmishes and to keep him from plundering for by this means he hoped in a short time to reduce him to great want of Provisions as being in an Enemies Country almost quite wasted and desolated by the Miseries of War before He followed this Counsel for some days but at last when the Scots had got a full understanding of their Enemies Strength they less diffided their Own and both Armies being equally pressed with Want did unanimously crave a Signal to the Battel pretending unless it were given they would fall to it even without the Consent of their Generals Hereupon Malcolm set the Battel in array which was fought with such desperate Rage and Fury that neither Party came off in Triumph And though the Victory did nominally rest on the Scots side yet a great part of their Nobility being slain and the rest wearied and discouraged in their Spirits returned to their Camp giving the Danes liberty to retreat without any pursuit The next day when both Parties mustered their Men they found so great a Slaughter to have been made that they willingly admitted some Priests to be Intercessors of Peace between them Whereupon Peace was made on these Conditions That the Danes should leave Murray and Buchan and depart and that as long as Malcolm and Sueno lived neither of them should wage War with one another any more nor help one anothers Enemies That the Field in which the Battel was fought should be set apart and Consecrated for the Burial of the Dead Upon this the Danes withdrew and Malcolm took Order for the Interment of the slain A while after he called an Assembly of Estates at Scone and that he might reward those who had deserved well of their Country he divided all the King's Lands between them On the other side the Nobility granted to the King That when any of them died their Children should be under the Wardship and Tutelage of the King till they arrived at the Age of 21 Years and that the King should receive all their Revenue except what was expended for the Education of the Ward And besides that he should have the Power to give them in Marriage Or otherwise to dispose of them when they were grown up and should also receive their Dowry I judge this Custom came rather from the English and Danes because it yet continues throughout all England and in part of Normandy too Afterwards the King bent his Thoughts to repair the Damages sustained by the War he re-edified many Temples and Sacred Places demolished by the Enemy he built New Castles or else repaired the Old in every Town Having thus restored Peace to the Kingdom by his great Valour he endeavoured further to adorn it with good Institutions and wholsom Laws and in order thereunto be erected New Names for Magistrates I believe such as he borrowed from his Neighbours which served rather for vain Ambition than for any real Use. For in former times there was no Name superior in Honour to that of a Knight except that of Thane i. e. Governor or Sheriff of a Province or Country which Custom as I hear is yet observed amongst the Danes But now a days Princes keep no Mean in instituting New Names or Titles of Honour though there be no use at all of those Names but the bare Sound Thus Malcolm having finished his Toilsom Wars Reigned some Years in great Splendor and Glory But in the Progress of his Age he sullied the Beauty of his former Life with the blot of Covetousness That Vice being incident to Old Men partly grew up in him with his Age and partly arose from that Want which his immoderate Largesses had driven him to So that those Lands which he had unadvisedly distributed amongst the Nobility he did as unjustly and wickedly labour to resume by which means he put some of them to Death and reduced others to great Penury Hereupon the present sense of suffering though sometimes just drowned the Memory of all former Courtesies so that the Injury reaching to a few but the Fear to many the Friends and Kindred of those which were slain and impoverished bent all their Thoughts to revenge Them and to secure Themselves And at last bâ—â—bing the King 's Domesticks at Glammes in Angus they were admitted at Night into the King's Bed-Chamber and slew him When they had committed the Fact those bribed Domesticks together with the Parricides took Horse which they had ready
the following year did more fully appear when he cokes'd Malcolm out of Northumberland which was his Brother William's Patrimony For he sent for him to London That according to the Examples of his Ancestors he in a publick Assembly might acknowledge himself his Feudatary for the Lands which he held in England He under Covert of the Publick Faith came speedily thither but without doing any thing of That for which his Journey was pretended he was inforced against his Will with that little Retinue which he had to accompany Henry into Henry's Design herein was partly that the Scots might not attempt any thing against him in his absence and partly to alienate the Mind of Lewis King of France from him Thus Malcolm was compelled for fear of a greater Mischief to go against his old Friend and was not suffered to come back to his own Country till King Henry having made no great Earnings of the French War returned home also Then Malcolm obtained leave to return to Scotland where in a Convention of the Nobility he declared to them the Adventure of his Travels but he found a great Part of them very much incensed that he had joyned with a certain Enemy against an Old and Trusty Friend and did not foresee the Artifices by which Henry had gulled him The King on the other side alleged That he was haled unwillingly into France by a King in whose Power he was and to whom he dared to deny nothing at that time and therefore he did not despair but the French would be satisfied and appeased when they understood he was hurried thither by Force and carried none of his Country Forces along with him This Harangue with much ado quieted the Sedition for the present which was almost ready to break out But Henry who had Spies every where knew That the Tumult was rather suspended than that the Minds of Men were reconciled to him and therefore he Summoned Malcolm to come to a Convention at York There he was accused of a pretended Crime That the English had been worsted in France principally by his means and therefore it was referred to the Assembly Whether he ought not to lose all the Countries which he held in England Though he answered all the objected Crimes and fully cleared himself yet he found all their Ears shut against him as being prepossessed by the Fears or Favour of their King so that a Decree was made in Favour of Henry Neither was he contented with this Injury but he also suborned some Persons fit for his purpose to bruit it abroad That Malcolm had freely and of his own accord quitted his Interest in those Countries At which his Subjects the Scots were so incensed that at his Return home they besieged him in Perth and had almost taken him But by the Intervention of some great Men their Anger was somewhat abated when he had informed the Nobility how unjustly and fraudulently Henry had despoiled him of his Ancient Patrimony Whereupon they unanimously agreed upon a War that so he might recover by just Arms what was unlawfully taken from him by Force Thus a War was Decreed Denounc'd and Waged not without great Inconveniencies to both Nations At last both Kings came to a Conference not far from Carlisle and after much dispute Pro and Con Henry took away Northumberland from Malcolm leaving him Cumberland and Huntington-shire Henry had no other Pretence for his Ambitious Avarice but This That he could not suffer so great a Diminution to be made of his Kingdom But seeing no respect to Justice and Right no Pacts Covenants no nor the Religion of an Oath could hinder the unsatiable Avarice of Henry Malcolm being a Man of a low Spirit and too desirous of Peace upon any Conditions whatever accepted of his Terms sore against the Minds of the Scots Nobility who denied That the King could alienate any part of his Dominions without the General Consent of the Estates After this the King began to be despised by his Subjects as not having Fortitude or Prudence enough to weild the Scepter neither did any thing bridle their fierce Minds from Rising in Arms but a greater Fear from Henry who they knew did aim at the Conquest of the whole Island being encouraged thereunto by the Simplicity of Malcolm and by his Hopes of Foreign Aid This General Disaffection to the King did much lessen the Reverence of his Government A Rebellion was first begun by Angus or rather Aeneas of Galway a Potent Man but yet more encouraged by the Kings Sloth than his own Power Gilchrist was sent against him who overthrew him in Three Fights and compelled him to take Sanctuary in the Monastery of White-horn out of which it was not counted Lawful to pull him by Force and therefore after a long Siege being driven to the want of all Necessaries he was forced to Capitulate He was to lose part of his Estate for his Punishment and his Son was to be given as an Hostage for his good Behaviour for the future But he being of a lofty Spirit and not able to endure this abatement of his former Greatness turn'd Monk shaved himself and shut himself up in a Monastery near Edinburgh to avoid the shame and scorn of Men. Neither was there Peace in other Parts of the Realm for the Murray-Men being always given to Mutinying rose in Arms under Gildo or rather Gildominick their Captain and did not only spoil the circumjacent Counties but when Heralds of Arms were sent from the King they most barbarously slew them Gilchrist was sent out against them also with a greater Army but with unlike Success For the Valour of an Adversary which is wont to be a Terrour to other Rebels drove those wicked Persons conscious of their own Demerits to Desperation and therefore endeavouring to sell their Lives as dear as they could they routed the opposite Army and became Conquerors Malcolm upon this overthrow recruited his old Army and marched into Murray and met the Murray-Men at the Mouth of the River Spey who though they knew that the Kings Forces were encreased and Theirs diminished in the late Fight yet being encouraged by the Opportunity of the Place and their newly obtained Victory they resolved to Adventure a Battel The Fight was carried on with great Resolution and no less Slaughter For the Moravians gave not back till the Kings Forces being wearied had new Releif from Reserves sent them Then the Moravians were broken and there was no more Fighting but Killing The Fury of the Soldiers spared no Age nor Rank of Men. In this Fight the old Moravians were almost all slain which Punishment though Cruel seemed not to be undeserved and the Greatness of the Revenge was allayed and made excuseable by the Savage Cruelty of that perfidious People against others Hereupon new Coâ—onies were sent into the Lands of the slain Neither did Sumerled in this hurly burly think it fit to sit still
to have their Cause heard and never shunned the Determination of an Equal Judge nor the Arbitration of any Good men and moreover when they produced many Grants and Summons of Former Popes which made for them and against their Enemies the Scots were always present at the day and the English tho' they had Notice given never came Hereupon the Pope was easily reconciled to the Scots and the French as easily induced to renew the Ancient League only one Article was added to the old Conditions That if any Controversy did hereafter arise amongst the Scots concerning him who was to succeed in the Kingdom the same should be decided by the Council of the States and the French if there were need were to assist Him by his Authority and with his Arms who by Lawful Suffrages was by them declared King Our Writers cast the Rise of the Hamiltons now a powerful Family in Scotland upon these Times There was a certain Nobleman in the Court of England who spake Honourably of the Fortune and Valour of Bruce whereupon one of the Spencers Bed-Chamber Man to the King either thinking That his Speech was Reproachful to the English or else to curry Favour with the looser sort of the Nobility drew forth his Faucheon and making at him gave him a slight wound in the Body The Man being of a great Spirit was more concerned at the Contumely than at the Damage and being hindered by the coming in of many to part the Fray from taking present Revenge the day after finding his Enemy in a sit Posture in the same place he run him thorough And fearing the Punishment of the Law and the great Power of the Spencers at Court he fled presently into Scotland to King Robert by whom he was courteously received and some Lands near the River Clyde were bestowed upon him His Posterity not long after were admitted to the Degree of Noblemen and the Opulent Family of the Hamiltons was Sirnamed from him and also the Name of Hamilton was imposed on the Lands which the King gave him Not long after Edward had great Combustions at home insomuch that he put many of the Nobles to Death and advanced the Spencers the Authors of all Evil Counsel higher than his own Kindred could bear so that he was apprehended by his Son and by his Wife who had received a small Force from beyond the Seas and kept close Prisoner and not long after he was slain by a course sort of Death an hot Iron was thrust into his Fundament through a Pipe of Horn by which his Bowels were burnt up and yet no Sign of so terrible a Fact appeared on the outside of his Body His Wife and Son were thought Privy to the Parricide either because his Keepers would never have dared to commit such a Deed so openly unless they had had Great Authors or else because they were never called in Question for so Immane a Butchery These Disturbances in England which were followed by the Kings Death Bruce also growing old and weak in Body were the Occasions that Peace for some Years did intercede between the Two Neighbour Nations For Bruce being freed from the Fear of the English and being also called upon by his Age converted his Thoughts to settle his Domestick Affairs And first he made hast to confirm the Kingdom which was not yet quite recovered nor fully setled from the Commotions of former Times to his only Son yet but a Child by the Consent and Decree of the Estates And if he died without Issue then he appointed Robert Stuart his Nephew by his Daughter to be his Successor He caused the Nobles to take an Oath for the Performance of this Decree But afterwards fearing That after his Death Baliol would begin his old Dispute about the Kingdom especially seeing his Heirs because of their Minority might be liable to be injured by others he sent Iames Douglas to Iohn Baliol being in France with large Gifts and Promises That he would cease his Claim to the Kingdom This he did not so much to acquire a new Right because according to the Scotish Custom The King is made by the Decree of the Estates who have the Supream Power in their Hands but that he might cut off all Occasion from Wicked Men to Calumniate his Posterity and also that he might Eradicate the very Seeds of Sedition Douglas found Baliol far more placable than he or others thought he would be for he was now surrounded with the Miseries of Extream Old Age. He ingenuously Confessed That his Peccant Exorbitance was justly restrained and that he was deservedly driven out of the Kingdom as unworthy to Reign And therefore he was very willing That his Kinsman Robert should enjoy the Crown by whose high Valour singular Felicity and great Pains-taking 't was Vindicated into its Ancient Splendour In one thing he rejoyced That they by whom he was deceived did not enjoy the Reward of their Perfidiousness When Robert had setled these Matters according to his own desire the same Year which was 1327. our Writers say That Ambassadors were sent into Scotland by Edward the Third for a Pacification in which Matter they seemed to act Treacherously and instead of Peace they carried home War but what the particular Fraud was is not expressed and the English say That the War was openly denounced by Robert but they describe not the Cause of it surely it must needs be some great and mighty One or else a valetudinary old Man when Peace was scarce setled at home and who might have been sated with his former Victories rather than with War would not so soon have been provoked to reassume his Arms. This is certain That the King by reason of his Age could not manage the War himself in Person so that Thomas Randolfe and Iamâ—s Douglas the Valiantest and Wisest of all that Age were sent by him into England with Twenty Thousand brave nimble Horse but no Foot at all The Reason was That they might fly up and down swiftly and not abide in one place nor be forced to Fight the English unless they themselves pleased For they knew that the English would make Head against them in their first Expedition with a far more numerous Army Neither were they deceived in their Opinions for the King of England besides his Domestick Forces had procured great Assistance of Horse from Belgium but in regard they and the English fell out at York some English Writers say That they returned home again But Frossard a French Writer of the same Age says That they accompanied the English during the whole Expedition and that not only for Honours sake but also for Fear of Sedition they had the next Place to the Kings Regiment always assigned to them in the Camp The King having made a Conjunction of all his Forces which were clearly above Sixty Thousand Men marched against the Scots who had already passed over the Tine Now there were
of his Son in Law the Earl of Athole and therefore he killed all that he could take without any distinction who had been in the Fight of Kilblane in a very cruel manner Andrew Murray besieged him in Dâ—ngarg and enforced him to a Surrender and upon taking his Oath That he would return no more into Scotland in an Hostile manner he was dismissed Thus by one continued Course of Victory he took all the Strong Holds on the further side of the Forth besides the Castle of Cowper and the Town of Perth and casting out their Garisons he wholly demolished Them Afterwards he entred England where he got great Booty and somewhat relieved the Spirits of his Soldiers who had suffered much by reason of want in their own Country For in regard Scotland had been harassed that Year by the Injuries of War and wasted by the daily Incursions of both Parties the Fields lay untill'd and there was such a Famine that the English were enforced to desert the strong Castle of Cowper for want of Provisions And a Scotish Seaman who had been abused by them being employed to Transport the Garison-Soldiers by Night to Lothian Landed them upon a Bank of Sand which was bare when the Tide was out they thinking it had been the Continent went a little way and then met with Sea again which made them call again for the Vessel but in vain for they all perished there The next Year which was 1537. the English Besieged the Castle of Dunbar it was defended by Agnes the Wife of the Earl of Merch who was commonly Sirnamed the Black a Woman of a Manly Spirit The Besiegers were the Earls of Salisbury and Arundel the Siege lasted longer than any body thought it would so that Two divers Supplies were sent into Scotland to relieve Baliol the One led by Monfort the Other by Richard Talbot Lawrence Preston undertook Monfort and in a Fight slew him and routed his Army but he himself dyed soon after of the Wounds he there received which caused his Soldiers to wreck their Fury for the loss of their General on the Prisoners whom they inhumanly slew Talbot was taken Prisoner by William Keith and his Army routed yet the Siege of Dunbar continued still And the Sea being stopped by the English the Besieged were driven to so great a want of Victuals that without doubt it must have been surrendred if Alexander Ramsay by a seasonable thô bold Attempt had not relieved it He in the dead time of the Night slipp'd by the Watch which in Gallies of Genoa kept the Sea-Coast-side and came up to the Castle where he landed Forty choice Men and a great quantity of Provisions And then joyning part of the Garison with his own Men in the Covert of the Night he rushed in with such a noise on the English Guard that he made a great slaughter amongst them for they little expected a Sally from an Enemy whom they looked upon as almost Conquered and so the next Night he returned back as sâ—curely as he came Thus after Six Months the Siege of Dunbar was raised For Edward called back his Forces to the French War after they had wearied themselves and tryed all ways to become Masters of the Place Andrew Murray his Country being then almost freed from Foreign Soldiers attempted to reduce First Sterling then Edinburgh but was fain to depart from them Both without carrying them yet he subdued all Lothian and brought it under the King's Subjection In the mean time to give his wearied Mind a little Relaxation he went to see his Lands and Possessions beyond the Mountains where he fell Sick and Dyed he was Buried at Rosmark much Lamented and Desired by all Good Men. For in those Two Years and an halfe whilst he sate at Helme he performed such great Atchievements as might seem sufficient for the whole Life of One of the Greatest Captains in the World After him Stuart was made Regent till the return of David out of France he being yet but young did that Year get the better of the English in many light Skirmishes which were managed under the Conduct of William Douglas yet not without the great hazard and danger of Douglas himself who was often wounded He drove the English out of Teviotdale He took the Castle of Hermitage in Liddisdale and surprizing great store of Provision belonging to the Enemy at Mulross he fortified it too He had such a sharp and obstinate Encounter with Berclay That he himself with but Three in his Company hardly escaped and that by the benefit of the Night too He overthrew the Forces of Iohn Sterling in a bloody Onset yet He himself was a while after like to be taken by him but recovering himself after a fierce Encounter he put Sterling to flight slew Thirty of his Companions and took Forty of them Prisoners he so pressed upon William Abernethy by whom he had been worsted Five times in one Day That before Night he slew all his Men and brought him Prisoner along with him And he had as great Felicity in conquering Lawrence Vaux a stout Enemy At last he Sailed over to King David in France to acquaint him with the State of Scotish Affairs The next Year which was 1339. Stuart hoping to follow on his good Fortune Levied an Army and divided it into Four Parts and so attempts to reduce Perth but the English defended it so valiantly that he was wounded and beaten off After the Siege had lasted Three Months Douglas came to their Assistance when they almost despaired of Success he brought with him Five Pyratical Ships which he hired wherein there were some Soldiers and warlike Engines Part of the Soldiers were Landed but the rest were sent in their Ships to keep the Mouth of the River Tay. Douglas himself went to recover the Castle of Cowper which being deserted by the English was seized on by the Scots And William Bullock an English Priest who was Treasurer also made Governor Douglas agreed with him that he should have Lands in Scotland and so come over to his Party he was the more easily persuaded to it because he could expect no Aid from England and he had not much confidence in the Scots who were in Garison with him This Man was afterwards very faithful to the Scots and of great use to them The Siege of Perth had now lasted Four Months and would have continued much longer unless the Earl of Ross had drained the Water out of the Trench by Mines and subterraneous Passages so that by this means the Assailants came to the very Walls and threw the Defendants off their Works by the Darts sent principally from the Engins so that the English were forced to Surrender upon Terms To march out Bag and Baggage whither they pleased In a little time after Sterlin being Besieged was also Surrendren on the same Terms and Maurice Murray the Son
of the Estates he was by a General Suffrage named Heir Presumptive of the Crown But this was done some Years after The King spent the next Five Years in appeasing the Discords at home in which time there happened Two great Calamities One reached but to a few by an Inundation of Water for the Heavens sent down so much Rain that Lothian seemed to be all a Float yea the force of the Water was such that it carried away Bridges Water-Mills Country Houses with their Owners and Cattle into the Sea it rooted up Trees and almost quite destroyed the Towns which stood near the Banks of Rivers This Misery was seconded by Another namely a grievous Pestilence which consumed many of all Ranks and Ages In the Year 1363. the state of things grew Calmer and then in the Assembly of the Estates the King propounded to the Lords of the Articles That the King of England or else his Son might be sent for into Scotland to undertake the Kingdom if he should chance to Die This he did either by his weariness of War or foreseeing That it would be for the Good of both Kingdoms or as others think because of his Oath which the English had made him to Swear but his Speech was so Unacceptable and Offensive to them all that before every ones Vote could be asked in order they all confusedly cried out upon it as an abominable Propose and it was almost come to That that they who had most freely spoken against it fearing his Displeasure were meditating a Revolt But he understanding their Fears abated his Anger and received them into Favour When he had quieted all things elsewhere yet the Highlanders continued still in Arms and did not only commit Outrages upon one another but also made Havock of the adjacent Countries The King tried all probable Means to bring them to a mutual Concord but being not able to do it his next Plot was To suborn some Crafty Fellows to foment and heighten their Dissensions that so when the feircest of them had destroyed one another the rest might become more Tractable and Pliant The King having performed these Exploits both at home and abroad departed this Life in the Castle of Edinburgh on the Seventh Day of Iune in the Forty Seventh Year of his Age about the Thirty Ninth of his Reign and of our Lord 1370. He was certainly a Man eminent in all kind of Virtue but especially in Justice and Clemency and though he had been exercised with Good and Bad Events alternately yet still his Fortune seemed rather to fail him than his Industry Robert II. The Hundredth King AFter David's Decease the Nobles met together at Linlithgo to Congratulate Robert at the beginning of his Reign who had before been designed King by his Uncle but here the Ambition of William Douglas had almost cast things into a Sedition and Uproar For he demanded the Kingdom as his Hereditary Right in regard he was descended from Baliol and the Cumins's But finding that his Suit was unacceptable to them all and especially to his most intimate Friends as the Two Brothers George and Iohn Dunbars of which one was Earl of Merch and the other of Murray as also to Robert Erskin Governor of the Three well-fortified Castles of Dunbarton Sterling and Edinburgh he desisted and promised to obey Robert as his Liege King and the King to oblige him in a more strict Bond of Friendship espoused his Daughter to Earl William's Son This year the Truce made for Fourteen years was broken by the English There was a great Fair usually kept the Third of the Ideâ— of August whether huge Numbers of both Nations even from very remote Places used to resort thither came the Inhabitants of Merch and it happened that one of Dunbar's Familiar Friends was slain there George according to the Law which was observed among the Borderers sent Heralds to demand the Murderers to be given up to him or else That they would Punish them Themselves but perceiving that Favour did outvy Equity he dissembles the Affront and against the next day appointed for the Fair he secretly prepared a Band of Men and setting upon the Town unexpectedly he slew all the Youngsters burnt the Houses and returned home with a great Booty The English to revenge this Injury did with like Cruelty ravage over all the Lands of Iohn Gordon a Noble Knight and not long after Gordon entred England and took away a great Prey of Men and Cattle but as he was returning home Iohn Lilburn met him with a far greater Force than he had A terrible Fight began betwixt them and Victory seemed a long time to flutter over both Parties with doubtful Wings but at last she inclined to the Scots The Commander of the English Forces was taken Prisoner with many of his Allies and Tenants Henry Percy Earl of Northumberland a Man of a great Spirit being then Lord Warden or Governour of the Eastern Marches or Borders took this Overthrow of his Countrymen in great Disdain and thereupon gathered together a Body of above 7000 Men and encamped at a Village called Duns remarkable for being the Birth Place of Iohn Scotus Sirnamed Subtilis rather than for any thing else There the Countrymen and Shepherds gathered themselves together having no other Arms but such Rattles and Gimcracks wherewith they frighten Stags and other Cattle which do pasture there up and down without any Keeper and so by night they placed themselves on some Risings of the Lamormore Hills which were near to the said Village of Duns The Form of the Gimcrack is This On the top of a long Spear or Pole they fasten some Staves or Hoops of Wood made crooked and bent into a Semicircle all over them they stretched a Skin after the same Form as the Lanterns which the Vulgar Parisians call Falots are made into these Lanterns or Concavities they put small Stones but very hard ones which when they are stirred and tumbled up and down make such a rattling noise as drives away the Beasts and Cattle from the Corn. With these Rattling Instruments they made a mighty Noise on the Hills hanging over Duns wherewith the English Horse were so affrighted that they broke the Headstalls they were tied with and ran up and down the Fields and so were taken by the Countrymen And in the whole Army there was such a Tumultuous Bustle that they cried out Arm Arm and thinking the Enemy had been at their Heels they passed that night without sleep But in the morning perceiving their mistake in regard they had lost many of their Baggage Horses as well as those for Service they retreated six Miles for that Place is so far distant from England on Foot leaving their Baggage behind them almost in the Posture of such as Fly away The same day that Percy retired back from Duns Thomas Musgrave Governor of Berwick had issued out of his Garison
enjoy'd it after him Being lifted up with this Accession of Honour he undervalued the Regent and the Chancellor too being as he alledged his Fathers Enemies neither did he much fear the King himself For these causes the Power of the Douglasses seem'd too excessive yet a further cause of Suspicion was added William Stuart had a large Patrimony in Lorne His Brother Iames after the Kings Death had Marry'd the Queen and had Children by her but disdaining and repining that he was admitted to no part of the publick Government to the end he might more easily obtain what he desired and revenge his concealed Grief he seemed not much averse from Douglas his Faction and it was thought that the Queen was not ignorant of his Design for she also took it amiss that the Regent had not rewarded her Services as she expected By reason of these Suspicions the Queen her Husband and her Husbands Brother were committed to Prison the Fourth of the Nones of August in the year of our Lord .... The Queen was shut up in a Chamber narrow enough of it self yet there she was diligently and watchfully guarded for the rest were laid in Irons in the Common Prison and they were not freed before in an Assembly of the Nobles held the day before the Calends of September the Queen had clear'd her self from being any way privy to these new Plots and Iames and his Brother had given in Sureties that they would act nothing against the Regent neither would they undertake any Office in the Government without his Consent In this Uncertainty of Affairs the Aebudians made a Descent upon the Continent and wasted all with Fire and Sword without distinction of Age or Sex so that their Avarice and Cruelty was not to be parallell'd by any Example Neither were they contented to Prey only upon the Sea-Coast but they also slew Iohn Colchon a Noble Person in Lennox having call'd him out from Inch-Merin in the Loch-Lomond to a Conference and given him their Faith for his Security This was done the 23d of September Many Foul Offences of this Nature were committed so that partly on the account of want of Tillage and partly of Unseasonable Weather Provision came to be very dear and moreover there was a Pestilence for Two years so dreadful and fierce that they who were visited with it died within the space of a day The Vulgar ascribed the cause of all these Calamities to the Regent for Matters succeeding prosperously with him he despised the Chancellor and the Nobles of that Faction and drew the Administration of all things into his own Power Complaints were made against him that he cast Noble and Eminent Persons into Prison upon light and ungrounded Suspicions and afterward most grievously punished them and that he gave Indemnity to those who were really guilty merely by his own Arbitrary Will and Pleasure and that he held Secret Correspondence with Doâ—glas The Chancellor could not bear these Things in silence neither was he able to prevent them by Force and therefore he supprest his Anger for the present and resolved to depart from the Court. And accordingly upon the First Opportunity he left the King and the Regent at Sterlin and with a great Train of Followers came to Edinburgh and there he fixt himself in that Strong Castle being intent and Vigilant in all Occasions of Change which might evene When this matter was noised abroad it rais'd up Envy on the Regent because of his Power and procur'd favour to the Chancellor because of his Retirement neither did William neglect his opportunity amongst their Feuds for he resolved by some bold Attempt to curb the Insolence of his Adversary and to remove the Undervalue he had set upon him And therefore having understood by his Spys that the King went every day a hunting and was but Slightly guarded watching the Season when Alexander was absent and having made sufficient Enquiry into the Conveniency of the Country the Fitness of the Time and the due Number of the Undertakers he chose out a Place not far from Sterlin where the Faithfullest of his Friends with what Force they could make should meet and wait for his Coming And he with a few Horse lodg'd himself in a Wood near the Castle of Sterlin before day and there waited for the Kings coming neither did Providence deceive him in this bold Attempt The King came forth into the Wood early in the Morning with a smal Train and those unarm'd too and so he fell amongst the arm'd Troops of the Chancellor they saluted him as King according to Custom and bid him to be of good Cheer and take Courage The Chancellor in a few Words as the Time would permit advis'd him to provide for himself and the Kingdom and to deliver himself out of Alexanders Prison that so he might live hereafter at Liberty and as a King and might not accustom himself to fulfil the Lusts and Dictates of Other men but might himself lay those Commands which were just and equal upon Others and so might free all his Subjects from their present Misery which they had been plung'd into by the Ambition and Lust of their Subordinate Governors and that so deeply that there could be no Remedy found for them unless the King himself would undertake the Government and This be might easily do without Peril or Pain for he himself had provided a good Body of Horse near at hand who would attend him to what fit Place soever he would go The King seem'd by his Countenance to approve of what he had said either that he really thought so or else that he dissembled his Fear Whereupon the Chancellor took his Horses Bridle in 's hand and led him to his own Men They which were with him being few and unarm'd not able to Encounter so many Men return'd back in great sadness Thus the King came to Edinburgh guarded with 4000 Horse well accoutred where he was received by the Commonalty with great demonstrations of Joy After the Regent heard of what was done his Mind was confounded betwixt Anger and Shame insomuch that he return'd to Sterlin to consider of what was most advisable in the case His great Spirit was mightily troubled to see himself so Childishly deluded by his own Negligence he suspected it was done by the Fraud and Connivance of his own Followers and thus he stood long wavering whom to trust and whom to fear Shame Anger and Suspicion bustling together in his mind At length he took a little heart and began to think with himself what Remedy to apply to his present Malady He knew that his own Strength was not sufficient against the Chancellor a Man politick in Counsel and strong in Force and besides he had the Favour of the People and the Authority of the Kings Name as Buttresses to support him as for the Queen he had so offended her by her close Imprisonment that she was hardly ever
fought with and slew him and some of his Followers Douglas took the Fact so hainously that he made a Solemn Oath never to rest till he had expiated the Murder by Colvil's Death Neither were his Threatnings in vain for he Storm'd his Castle took and plunder'd it and killed all therein that were able to bear Arms. This Fact though 't was performed against Law and Custom yet some did excuse and in effect commend as proceeding from Indignation a Passion not unbeseeming a Generous Mind Thus as it commonly happens in degenerate Times Flattery the perpetual Companion of Greatness did clothe the highest Offences with Honest and Plausible Names Moreover Douglas was so lifted up with the Flatteries of Fortune which did now incline to his Destruction that he had a great Ambition to make an Ostentation of his Power even to Foreign Nations as if the splendor of so great a Family oâ—â—ht not to be straitned within the narrow Theatre of one Island onâ—â— so that he had a Mind to go to Rome he pretended Religion but the principal design of his Journy was Ambition the Church of Rome had adopted the old Rites of the Iewish for as the Iewish Church every Fiftieth year was to forgive all the Debts of what kind soever to their Country Men and to restore all Pledges Gratis and also to set their Hebrew Servants at Liberty So the Pope taking an Example therefrom as Gods Vicar on Earth did arrogate the Power of forgiving all Offences For whereas at other times he trucked out his Pardons by Peice-Meal every Fiftieth Year he open'd his full Garners thereof and pour'd out whole Bushels full of them publickly to all yet I will not say Gratis Douglas with a great Train of Nobles who were desirous partly to see Novelties and partly allur'd by hopes of Reward sail'd over into Flanders From thence he Travelled by Land to Paris and took with him his Brother appointed Bishop of Caledonia who afterwards seeing Douglas had no Children was by the Kings Permission put in hopes to be his Heir In France he was highly caressed partly upon the account of their Publick League with the Scots and partly in Memory of his Ancestors Demerits from that Crown hereupon all Rome was filled with the Expectation of his coming About Two Months after his departure from Scotland his Enemies and Rivals began to lift up their Heads they durst not for Fear complain of him when he was present but now they laid open all the Injuries they had received from him And when it was once noised abroad that the Access to the King was easie and that his Ear was open to all just Complaints The Troop of Complainants lamenting their Sufferings did daily increase so that all the ways to the Palace were almost stopt by them The King could not well either reject the Petitions of the Sufferers nor yet condemn the Earl in his absence without hearing of him so that he gave a middle Answer which satisfi'd their Importunity for the present viz. That he would Command the Earls Proctor or Attorney to appear that so in his own Presence a fair Tryal might be had Whereupon the Proctor was summon'd but did not appear so that the Kings Officers were sent out to bring him in by force when he was brought to Court some alledged that he ought to be immediately punisht for disobeying the Kings Command in regard that by too much Patience the Kings Authority would be despis'd and run low even amongst the meaner sort for under the pretence of Lenity the Audaciousness of the Bad would increase and the Impunity of Offendors would open the way for more Crimes The King was not mov'd by those Instigations but remain'd constant to his Resolution which was rather to satisfie his greatest Accusers by the Compensation of their Losses than to satiate their Vindicative Minds with the spilling of his Blood Hereupon he caus'd the Earls Proctor to be brought out of Prison and to plead in his Masters behalf telling him That if he had any thing to allege in Purgation of the Crimes objected he should freely declare it without any fear at all When he was cast in many Suits and the King Commanded him immediately to pay the Damages The Proctor answer'd He would defer the whole matter till the return of the Earl who was expected in a few Months This he spake as 't was thought by the advice of Ormond and Murray the Earl's Brothers When the King was inform'd of his Resolution he sent William Sinclare Earl of the Orcades who was then Chancellor first into Galway and then into Douglasdale he appointed Sequestrators to gather up the Rents of Douglas's Estate and so to pay the Damages adjudg'd by Law But in regard Sinclare had not Power enough to inforce his Order some eluded others Contumeliously abus'd him so that he return'd without effecting his Business The King being provokt by this Contempt of his Authority Commands all the Favourers of Douglas his Faction to be Summon'd to appear which they refusing to do were declared Publick Enemies an Army was Levy'd against them which marcht into Galway At their first coming the Commanders were driven into their Castles but a small Party of the Kings Forces pursuing after the rest through Craggy Places were repuls'd and not without Ignominy driven back to the King The King taking it in great Indignation that a few Vagabond Thieves should dare to make such Attempts resolv'd to redeem their slighting of him by attempting their Strongs Holds he took the Castle of Maban with no great difficulty but his Soldiers were so much toil'd and weary'd in the taking of Douglas Castle that therefore he wholly demolisht it As for the Vassals and Tenants who had submitted themselves and their Fortunes to him he Commanded them to pay their Rents to his Treasurers till Douglas's Estate had fully satisfi'd what was awarded against him by Law And when this was almost done he dismist his Army having obtain'd a good Report for his Lenity and Moderation even amongst his very Enemies When these Matters were related to the Earl at Rome his great Spirit was mightily mov'd yea his Esteem did then abate amongst his own Attendants so that a great Part of them deserted him and he enter'd upon his Journy homewards with but a few Followers He came through England and drawing near to the Borders of Scotland he sent his Brother Iames to feel the Kings Pulse how he stood affected towards him And when the King was appeasable he return'd home and was kindly receiv'd only he was admonisht to abandon and subdue all Robbers especially those of Annandale who had plaid many Cruel and Avaritious Pranks in his absence Douglas undertook to do so and confirm'd his Promise by an Oath Whereupon he was not only restor'd into his former Grace and Favour but also made Regent over all Scotland so that every one was injoin'd to obey his Commands But
all the Pageantry of his former Life he ended his days in an Halter The Seminary of War between England and Scotland being almost extinguished and a great likelihood of Peace appearing behold there arose a great Ebullition of Spirit upon a very light occasion which had almost broken out into a fierce War Some Scottish Youths went over to the Town of Norham which was near to the Castle as they were oft wont to do in Times of Peace there to recreate themselves in Sports and Pastimes and to junket together with their Neighbours as if they had been at Home for there was but a small River which divided them The Garison in the Castle out of the Rancour yet lodging in their Breasts since the former War and being also provoked by some passionate words accused those Scots as Spies and so from Words they came to Blows many were wounded on both sides and the Scots being fewer in number were forced to return Home with the loss of some of their Company This Business was often canvassed in the Meetings between the Lords of the Marches and at last Iames was very angry and sent an Herald to Henry to complain of Breach of Truce and how unconstant the English were in keeping Covenant and unless Satisfaction were given according to the just Laws which were made by general Consent about restitution betwixt the Borderers he commanded him to denounce War against him Henry had been exercised by the Violence of Fortune even from his Cradle and therefore was more inclined to Peace his Answer was That whatever was done of that kind was against his Will and without his Knowledg and if the Garison-Souldiers had offended in the Case by their Temerity he would take order That Examination should be made and that the Leagues being kept inviolate the Guilty should be punished But this was slowly done and Iames looked upon the Answer as dilatory that so Punishment might be deferred and the Sentiment thereof worn out with Time and therefore it rather provoked than satisfied Iames. But Richard Fox Bishop of Durham who was owner of the Castle being much troubled that an occasion of breaking the League should be administred by any of his Tenants to prevent it sent several Letters to Iames full of great submission modesty and civility which so inclined the Mind of Iames that he wrote him word back that he would willingly speak with him not only about the late Wrongs done but also about other Matters which might be advantagious to both Kingdoms Fox acquainted his King herewith and by his Consent he waited upon Iames at Mulross where he then was There Iames made a grievous Complaint of the Injury acted at Norham yet by the prudent and grave discourse of Fox he was so pacified that for Peace-sake of which he shewed himself very desirous he remitted the Offence Other things were acted privately betwixt them but it appeared afterward that the Sum of them was this That Iames did not only desire a Peace but both before and also now an Affinity with Henry and a stricter Bond of Union And if Henry would bestow his Daughter Margaret upon him in Marriage he hoped that the thing would be for the benefit of both Kingdoms and if Fox whose Authority he knew to be great at home would but do his Endeavour to accomplish the Affinity he did not doubt but it would be soon effected He freely promised his Endeavour and coming to the Court of England acquainted the King with the Proposition and thereupon gave hopes to the Scots Embassadors that a Peace would easily be accorded betwixt the two Kings Thus at length three Years after which was An. 1500 even about one and the same time Henry's Eldest Daughter was betrothed to Iames the IVth and also Katharine Daughter to Ferdinand of Spain to Henry's Eldest Son and their Marriages were celebrated with great Pomp the next Year after After the Marriage all things were quiet and the Court turned from the Study of Arms to Sports and Pastimes so that there was nothing but Masks Shews Feastings Dancings and Balls it was as a continued Jubilee and upon that account every day was as an Holy-day There were also Horse-Tiltings frequently made mostly according to the French Mode betwixt which as Tragical Acts there intervened the Challenges of Moss-Troopers one of another who were wont to live upon Spoil which Sport the King was well pleased to behold because he judged that the killing of them was a Gain to him When the noise of these Tourneaments came to Foreign Nations many Strangers and especially from France came daily over to shew their Prowess who were all liberally entertained by the King and as bountifully dâ—smissed Neither did he rest in these ludicrous Exercises but he laid out a great deal of Mony upon Building at Sterlin Falkland and sundry other places and especially in building of Monasteries but his Cost about Ships was greatest of all for he built three stately ones of a great Bulk and many also of a middle Rate one of his great ones was to admiration the biggest that ever any Man had seen sail on the Ocean it being also furnished with all manner of costly Accommodations our Writers have given a Description of it which I pass over and the Measure of it is kept in some places but the Greatness of it appeared by this That the News thereof stirred up Francis King of France and Henry the 8 th King of England each of them to build a Ship in imitation thereof and each endeavouring to out-vie the other when their Ships were finished and fitted with all necessaries for sailing and brought to Sea they were so big that they stood there like unmoveable Rocks unfit for any use These Works being very expensive did exhaust Iames his Treasure so that he was forced to devise some new ways to get Mony and amongst the rest he pitched upon one by the Perswasion as it was thought of William Elphinstone Bishop of Aberdeen which was very displeasing to all the Nobility Amongst the Tenures of Land in Scotland this is one kind by which the Owner holds what he buys or else is given him on these Terms That if he dye and leave his Son and Heir under Age The Wardship of him should belong to the King or to some other Superior Lord yea and all the Revenue is to be received by him till the Heir come to the age of 21 Years There is also another Badg of Slavery annexed to this Hold that if an Owner do sell above half his Estate without the consent of the chief Lord then he is to forfeit the whole to him This Law was introduced by Court-Parasites to advance the King's Exchequer but being looked upon as unjust had lain dormant a long time but the King being informed that Money might be got out of the Violators of it commanded it to be put in Execution that Process they call Recognition
he had a large Revenue settled upon him he was made Duke of Albany Earl of March and Regent till the King came to be of Age. Moreover Iames the Natural Son of the late King was made Earl of Murray a young Man of such virtuous Endowments that he far exceeded all the hopes Men had conceived of him There was also one Fact which much enhaunsed the estimation of Iohn and it was done almost in the Face of the Assembly and that was the punishment of Peter Muffat He was a notable Thief who after many cruel nefarious Pranks plaid by him in the Two last licentious Years arrived at length to that audaciousness that he appeared openly at Court His unexpected Punishment made such a suddain change of Things that Criminals began to withdraw for shelter The Minds of the Good were erected and the Face of Things began soon to be changed from a stormy Tempest to a suddain Tranquillity In the mean time Iohn Hepburn had so insinuated himself into the Regent by the help of his Friends whom he had privately greased in the Fist and afterwards by his obsequiousness and pretence of knowing the old Customs of the Country he got his Ear who of himself was ignorant of Scotish Affairs insomuch that none was credited in Matters of great Moment but He alone He was sent abroad with Commission by the Regent all over Scotland to inquire into Their Offences who oppressed the Vulgar and made them as their Slaves He obtained that Office principally upon these Grounds First of all he acquainted the Regent What new Discords and old Fewds there were in every County and also what Factions there were and who were their respective Heads Hitherto his Relations were true for the Things were known to all But if any Occasion were offered to speak of Hume he stirr'd up some to complain of his Enormity so that by the Imputation partly of True and partly of Feigned Crimes the Regent's Ears were shut against all Defence he could make But when he had almost gone over the whole Kingdom and expresly declared the Alliances Affinities and Leagues which had interceded between each several Family and had persuaded the Regent That no Man of Power tho' a Criminal could be punished without the Offence of his Clans and that not so much for the Enmity and Conspiracies of their Kindred as that the Punishment reaching to a few yet the Example would extend to a great many more whom a similitude of Faults and a like fear of Punishments out of Enemies would make Friends so that these great and large spreading Factions were not able to be punished by the Force of Scotland only and therefore it was adviseable to desire an Auxiliary Strength from the King of France to break this Knot of Contumacious Offenders and that this would be of use to France as much as to Scotland In the mean time the Heads of the Factions were to be kept under and if it were possible taken off yet with that prudence that they might not think too many of them to be aimed at at once The Heads of the Factions at present were Three of them Archibald Douglas was wonderfully popular insomuch that the Vulgar doted on him His Name was much adored by reason of the great Merits of his Ancestors besides he was in the flower of his Youth and relied so much on his Affinity with England that he bore a Spirit too big for a private Man As for Hume he was formidable of himself and yet rendred more so because he was confirmed in his Power by length of Time Neither did he stop here but made an invidious commemoration of what the Hume's had acted against the Regent's Father and Uncle of all which tho' the Hepburns were partakers yet he cast the Odium upon the Hume's only He often mentioned his Cowardise in the last Battel against the English and the Talk abroad about the King's Death reflecting upon him together with the repairing of Norham Castle which was done by his connivance these things he repeated with great earnestness before the Regent As for Forman says he 't is true he was not to be feared upon the account of his Kindred or any Nobleness of Descent yet he would make a great accession of strength to what Party soever he inclined because all the Wealth of the whole Kingdom was gathered together as it were into one House for he was able to supply the present Want of the Party he sided with with Mony or else by his Promises all Things being then in his Power he could draw many into the Partnership of the same Design with himself This was Hepburn's Speech to the Regent The noted Fewds that had passed between Hepburne and Forman were the Cause that Hepburne was not so much believed in that part And besides his Estate was not so much to be envied for he rather loved to lay it out than hord it up neither was he so munificent to any as to the French that waited on the Regent and besides his desire was more to join all Parties in an universal Concord than to addict himself to any one Faction But the suspicion of the Lord of the Marches sunk deeper into the Regent's Mind which was manifest by the aversion of his Mind from him and because his Countenance was not so friendly to him as before So that after a few Months Alexander Hume perceiving that he was not entertained by the Regent answerable to his hope began to have secret Meetings with the Queen and her Husband In those Congresses Hume grievously lamented the State of the Publick that the King in that Age wherein he could not understand his own Misery was fallen into the Hands of an Exile one born and brought up in that Condition who by a wicked Ambition had endeavoured to rob his Elder Brother of the Kingdom And He being the next Heir Who did not see that all his Endeavours were to settle other Things according to his Mind and then to pack the innocent Child out of the World that He might translate the Kingdom to himself that so what his Father had impiously designed he himself might as wickedly accomplish There was but one Remedy in the Case and that was for the Queen to retire with her Son into England and there to put her Self and Concerns into the Protection of her Brother These things being brought to the Regent's Ears were easily believed by him but being a Man of an active Spirit and of quick dispatch in Business with those Forces which he had ready about him he prevented their Design for he took the Castle of Sterlin and the Queen in it He took the Oath of Allegiance to the King publickly by the Decree of the Nobles the Queen and the Douglasses were removed and Three of the Nobility of great estimation for their Faithfulness Integrity were joined with Iohn Erskin Governor of the Castle to preside over
he goes to Murray and endeavours to persuade him to root out the Hamiltons a Family distasteful and obnoxious to the Queen the whole Kingdom and especially to himself and he offered him his Assistance therein alleging that the thing would not be unacceptable to the Queen in regard besides the common ground of Hatred that Princes bear against their Kindred as desirous of their Ruin the Queen had also some particular and just Causes of Offence either because of his Affection to the Evangelical Doctrine and Discipline of which Arran was the only Assertor for which also he had incurr'd the Hatred of the Guises in France or else for the hard Words he had lately given to one of the Queen's Uncles the Marquess of Elbeuf then in Scotland But Murray being an honest conscientious Man scorn'd to commit so base a Fact Whereupon Hepburn went to the Hamiltons and offered his Service to them to destroy Murray whose Power they could not well brook he told them That he was the only Man who was an Obstacle to their hopes and an Impeder of their Concerns if he were taken away the Queen must needs be in their power whether she would or no and the Means were facile and easy The Queen was then at Falkland a Castle seated in a Town of the same Name There is a small Wood in the Neighbourhood wherein Deer of the nature of Stags mistakenly called Fallow-Deer by the Country were kept and fed The Queen might be easily surpriz'd as she went thither every day or to any neighbour-place with a small Retinue at which time 't were very easy to destroy Murray being unarm'd and suspecting no such thing and to get the Queen's Person into their Hands he quickly persuaded the rest and a time was appointed to perform the Enterprise only the Earl of Arran did execrate the Wickedness and sent Letters privately to Murray acquainting him with the Series of the whole Plot Murray writes back to him by the same Messenger but Arran being casually absent the Letters were given to his Father Whereupon a Consultation being held Arran was shut up a close Prisoner by his Father from whence making his Escape by Night he went towards Falkland As his Escape was made known Horsemen were sent after him all over the Country to fetch him back again but he hid himself in a Wood and frustrated their Expectation for that Night and in the Morning came to Falkland where he discovered the whole Order of the treasonable Design Not long after Bothwel and Gawin Hamilton who had undertaken with a Party of Men to commit the Fact follow'd him and by the Queen's Command had a Guard set upon them as Prisoners in the Castle of Falkland When the whole Design was thus laid open and the Spies brought word that the Officers were met at the Time and Place mention'd by Arran and that many Horsemen were seen there Arran being ask'd to explain the Order of the Plot was a little disturb'd in his Mind for he mightily doted on the Queen and was also a great Friend of Murrays and was desirous to gratify them On the other side his Father was no bad Man only was easily drawn into great and difficult Projects and he had a mind to exempt him from the Conspiracy That Night when he was alone his Mind was so divided between Piety and Love that he was almost besides himself his Countenance and Speech gave evident signs of some Perturbation of Spirit besides there were other Causes which might affect the young Man's Mind For whereas he had been brought up magnificently till that very Day according to the Greatness of his Family his Father being a covetous Man by the persuasion of some Counsellors who nourish'd that Vice in him reduc'd him only to one Servant who before had many Attendants They who attempted the Exploit were sent to divers Prisons Bothwel to Edinburgh-Castle Gawin to Sterlin till their Cause was tried Arran was sent to St. Andrews whither the Queen was going to be there kept in the Archbishop's Castle there in his lucid Intervals he wrote such wise and prudent Letters to the Queen concerning himself and others that many were suspicious he had counterfeited himself mad only to free his Father from the Treason As for the rest he constantly and sharply accus'd them insomuch that when he was brought to the Council and so private a Conspiracy could not be prov'd by other Testimonies he proffer'd to fight with Bothwel himself About the same time Arran's Father first wrote and after that came to St. Andrews to the Queen earnestly desiring her to take Surety for his Son Bothwel and Gawin Hamilton and leave them to him but he could not be heard At the same time also the Queen took Dunbarton-Castle the strongest in all Scotland which Hamilton had held ever since he was Regent George Gordon being an Enemy to Murray was now grown to a far greater hate of Hamilton his Son's Father-in-Law who was accus'd of so manifest a Crime and almost convicted thereof he thought now he had a good opportunity to rid his Enemy out of the way especially when Two such noble Families were join'd to his side And first he caus'd a Tumult to be rais'd in the Town then but thin of Company by his own Friends hoping that Murray would come out from the Court to appease it by his Authority and then being unarm'd he might be easily slain in the Croud This Project did not succeed as he would have it and therefore he sent some of his Septarm'd into the Court to do the Fact they entred in the Evening and were to kill Murray as he was returning to his Lodging from the Queen who was wont to keep him late at Night that time seem'd fittest both to commit the Fact and to escape after it was committed When the Matter was discovered to Murray he would not have believ'd it unless he had seen it with his Eyes and therefore he got some few of his faithfullest Friends to prevent all Suspicion and took one or two of the Gordons in their Armour as he grop'd with his Hand in the Passage The Matter being brought to the Queen Gordon was sent for who pretended that some of his Retinue that were about to go home had arm'd themselves but upon some occasion or other were detain'd this Excuse was rather receiv'd than approv'd of and so they departed for that time That Summer by the Mediation of Embassadors on both sides it was propos'd That the Queens of Scotland and England should have an Interview at York there to debate many Controversies but when they were almost ready for their Journy the Matter was put off till another time The Cause of deferring the Conference was vulgarly bruited because the Duke D'Aumale one of the Brothers of the Guises had intercepted and opened the Letters of the English Embassador then at the French Court and that by his means principally the English
Ship which carried another Embassador was taken and plunder'd For these Wrongs and Injuries Matters being likely to incline to a War with France the Queen went from St. Andrews to Edinburgh and sent Arran thither too clapping him up Prisoner in the Castle In the mean time Iames her Brother went to Hawick a great Market-Town in those Parts and there he surpriz'd fifty of the chief Banditty which were met together not dreaming of his coming which struck such a Terror into the rest throughout all that Tract that the whole Country was quieter for some time after But as that Fact did procure him the Love and Reverence of good Men so it did daily more and more excite the Minds of the Envious to his Destruction for whereas Three very potent Families had plotted his Ruin so the Accession of the Guises made a Fourth for they being willing to restore the old Popish Religion and knowing they could never effect it as long as Murray was alive imploy'd their utmost Endeavours to remove him out of the way many concurrent Circumstances did contribute to the seeming Feasibility of the Attempt especially because the French who had accompanied the Queen to Scotland being return'd home had related what great Interest and Power Gordon had how unquiet his Mind was and what Promises of Assistance he had made to introduce the Mass All these things they aggravated in their Discourse to the height Whereupon the Matter was debated by the Papists in the French Court and This Way of effecting it resolv'd upon They write to the Queen to cherish the mad Spirit of Gordon by large Promises That she should rather pretend than promise to marry Iohn his Son That so being hoodwink'd with that Hope they might lead him whither they pleas'd and also they gave her the Names of those in a List whom they would have destroy'd and slain Besides Letters from the Pope and the Cardinal were sent to her to the same Effect For whereas her Revenue was not sufficient to maintain that immoderate Luxury to which she had used her self she craved some pecuniary Aid of the Pope as if it were to manage a War against those who had revolted from the Roman Church The Pope wrote something obscurely but the Cardinal plainly That she should not want Mony for that War yet so that Those must be first slain whose Names were given her in a Scrole The Queen shewed these Letters to Murray and to the rest design'd for the Slaughter either because she thought they would have some notice of it another way or else to make them believe she was sincere towards them as not hiding from them any of her secret Counsels Thereupon all other things being fitted for the Attempt the Queen pretended a great desire to visit the Parts of Scotland which lie Northwards and Gordon promoted her Desire by his forward Invitation At last when she came to Aberdeen August 13. Gordon's Wife a Woman of a manly Spirit and cunning used all her Art to sift out the Queen's Mind both to know her secret thoughts and also to incline them to her own Party she knew well enough that the Designs of Princes are alterable by small Moments many times neither was she ignorant how the Queen stood affected a little before towards both of them Murray and Gordon too for She hating them both had sometimes deliberated privately with her self which of them she should destroy First she could not away with the Innocency of Murray as being a Curb to her Licentiousness and as for Gordon she had experimented his Perfidiousness against her Father first then her Mother and besides she fear'd his Power but the Letters of her Uncles and the Pope urged her rather to destroy Murray Gordon was not ignorant hereof and therefore to cast the Ballance he promis'd by his Wife to restore the Roman Religion The Queen was glad of that yet there was one Impediment and that no great one which kept her from assenting to him and that was that she did not think it to stand with her Honour to be reconciled to Iohn his Son who a few days before had been committed to Prison for a Tumult raised at Edinburgh but had made his Escape unless he return'd to Sterlin to be there a Prisoner of State at least for a few days The Queen insisted upon this not so much for that Cause which was pretended as that she might have her way clear when Murray was kill'd and might not be compell'd to marry when her Lover was absent Gordon was willing to satisfy the Queen yet made some scruple to give up his Son as a Pledg into the Hands of a Man who was the most adverse of all others to his Designs and that was Iohn Earl of Murray's Uncle Governour of Sterlin-Castle especially being uncertain how the Queen would take the Murder when it was committed Whilst these cunning Wits endeavoured to impose one upon another and were mutually suspicious the Queen affirming that the Delay was not in her part that the Matter was not dispatched and yet she us'd no Expedition neither Iohn Gordon to shew himself officious and to watch all Events had got together about a Thousand of his Friends and Tenants well-arm'd and had quarter'd them in the Vicinage near the Town But Murray though not guarded as he would yet saw that all these things were prepar'd for his Ruin for so he had been advertised by his Friends both from the French and English Courts neither was he much confident of the Queen yet in the day-time he perform'd his accustom'd Services in the Court and at Night had only one or two of his Servants to watch in his Chamber and being often inform'd of the Plots of his Enemies against him yet by the Help of his Friends he disappointed all their Purposes without any Noise About the same time Bothwel was let down by a Rope out of a Window and so escaped from the Castle of Edinburgh Matters stood at a stay at Aberdeen by reason of the Dissimulation on both sides And the Queen intending to make a further Progress was invited by Iohn Lesly a Noble Man and Client of Gordons to his House about twelve Miles off that being a lonesome Place seem'd fit to the Gordons to commit the Murder But Lesly who knew their secret Design interpos'd and dissuaded them from it not to put that brand of Infamy on himself and his Family that he should betray the Queen's chief Brother a Man not otherwise bad against whom he had no private Grudg to the Slaughter The next night they pass'd over quietly enough at Rothymay a Town of the Abrenethies because the day after they determin'd to lodg at Strabog a Castle of the Gordons so that they deferr'd the Murder till that time because there All would be in their power In their Journy Gordon had a long Discourse with the Queen and at last he came to this plainly to desire
under the Power of his Father-in-Law As for him every Body knew that he would make away with the Child as soon as ever he had Opportunity so to do that so he might not Live to be a Revenger of his Fathers death nor to prevent his Children from the Crown The chief of that Combination were the Earls of Argyle Morton Marr Athol and Glencarn besides others of the same Order but inferior and next in Degree as Patrick Linsey and Robert Boyd with their Friends and Partners who had adjoin'd themselves to them But Argyle with the same Levity that he came in to them in a Day or Two discover'd their Designs to the Queen and Boyd was by large Promises wrought over to the contrary Party Next to these she suspected the Families of the Humes the Carrs and the Scots living by the Borders of England whose Power she sought by all means to lessen and for that there seem'd a just occasion to be offer'd For when Bothwel was preparing an Expedition into Liddisdale to make amends for the disgrace he had receiv'd there the Autumn before and also to get some Credit by his Arms to take off the envy of the King's Death all the chief of the Families in Teviotdale were commanded by the Queen to come in to the Castle of Edinburgh that there for some short time they might be secure as in free Custody upon pretence that they might not be led into an Expedition which did not seem likely to be successfully accomplish'd against their Wills and they also if at Liberty might disturb the design out of Envy and in their Absence she might inure the Clans to the Government of others and so by degrees wear off the Love of their old Patrons and Masters But they imagining that there was some deeper Project hid under that Command went home in the Night all except Andrew Carr who was commonly thought not ignorant of the Parricide and Walter Carr of Sesford a Man that by reason of his Innocent Life suspected nothing Hume being often summon'd by Bothwel to come to Court refus'd so to do as knowing the King's thoughts towards him yet notwithstanding the design for the Expedition proceeds and the Queen staid at Borthwick Castle about 8 Miles from Edinburgh In the mean time they who had united to defend the King being not ignorant of Bothwels intention towards him thought it necessary to proceed to Action not only for their own Security but also that by demanding Justice upon the Author of the King's Murder they might acquit the Scotish Name from the Infamy under which it lay amongst foreign Nations And therefore supposing the common People would follow their Motions they privately levy'd about 2000 Horse So that the Queen knew nothing of what was Acted till Hume came to Borthwick Castle vvith part of the Army and besieg'd Her and Bothwel together But the other Part of the Conspirators not coming in at the time appointed and he having not force enough to stop all Passages and was not so active neither as he might have been because the rest had neglected their Parts First Bothwel made his escape and after him the Queen in Mans apparel and went directly to Dunbar Athol was the occasion why his Associates came not in seasonably enough For he either amaz'd at the Greatness of the Undertaking or detain'd by his own sluggish Temper kept the rest at Sterlin until the Opportunity of the Service vvas lost yet that they might seem to have done something a great part of them were sent to besiege Edinburgh Iames Balfure vvas Governor of the Castle there put in by Bothwel as being a Partner in the Parricide and Author of or else Privy to all his Designs but when he saw he had no Pay for his Service and vvas not so vvell respected by the Tyrants as he expected for they had endeavour'd to take away the Command from him he drove out Those of the contrary Faction and brought the Castle under his sole Power he then promis'd the publick Vindicators of the Parricide That he would do them no hurt and was creating of Conditions how to deliver it up There were then in the Town the Principal of the Queen's Faction Iohn Hamilton the Arch-bishop of St. Andrews George Gordon Earl of Huntly and Iohn Lesly Bishop of Ross They understanding that their Enemies were receiv'd into the Town flew to the Town-house and there offer'd themselves Captains to the Multitude to drive them out but very few coming in to them they were driven back to the Castle they were received into it by Balfure and a few days after were sent away safe a by-way For Balfure having not yet fully agreed with the other Side would not then cut off all his Hopes of Pardon from those of his Party The Town easily came into the Combination for it had been burden'd a little before with new Taxes from the Queen and in the publick Necessity they expected no Moderation from her Party and were unanimously offended with her Tyranny yea as oft as they had Liberty to express their Sentiments they cursed the Court-Wickedness with most grievous Execrations Matters being thus slowly carried by the Faction of the Nobles at Borthwick the Queen and Bothwel by the neglect of the Guards escaped by Night and with a small Retinue came to Dunbar where they had a well-fortify'd Castle to secure themselves in Thereupon there followed so great a change of things that they who were lately in great Despair now by the flocking in of those to them who either were Partners in their Evils or else followed the Shadow of the Royal Name grew strong enough as they thought to cope with and subdue their Adversaries On the other side the Vindicators of Liberty were driven to great Straits for to their great Disappointment there were but a few came in to so renown'd an Undertaking the Heat of the Vulgar as is usual quickly abating and a great part of the Nobility being very averse or at least standing aloof off expecting the Issue of the others Danger besides though they were superior in Number yet they wanted Artillery to take in Castles Seeing then no Issue of their Counsels at present Necessity in a manner compelling them they thought to return without effecting any thing But the Queen decided their Doubts for she taking Courage from the Numbers she had resolv'd with them to march for Leith to try her Fortune neer at hand imagining also That at her Coming greater Concourse would have been made to her and That her Boldness would strike Terror into her Enemies Besides the Success of former times had so elated her Spirit That she thought now hardly any Man would stand to look her in the Face This her Confidence was much heighten'd by her Flatterers and especially by Edmond Hayes a Lawyer he told her That all things were pervious to her Valour That her Enemies wanted Force and were at their Wits end and at the
low place so that the Enemies Ordnance might not annoy them Whilst the Queen was conferring with Kircade Bothwel was bid to shift for himself for that was it which she aim'd at by pretending a Conference who made such fearful haste to Dunbar that he commanded two Horse-Men that accompanied him to return back again Such a Load of Guilt lay upon his Mind that he could hardly trust his own Friends The Queen when she thought he was out of Danger articled with Kircade that the rest of her Army should pass quietly home and so she came with him to the Nobles cloth'd only with a Tunicle and that a mean and thread-bare one too reaching but a little below her Knees Of the Van of the Army she was receiv'd not without Demonstration of their former Reverence but when she desir'd that they would dismiss her to meet the Hamiltons who were said to be coming on promising to return again and commanded Morton to undertake for her for she hoped by fair Promises to do what she would when she could not obtain it she brake forth into Bitterness of Language and upbraided the Commanders with what she had done for them they also heard her with Silence But when she came to the second Body there was an unanimous Cry from them all Burn the Whore burn the Parricide King Henry was painted in one of the Banners dead and his little Son by him craving Vengeance of God for the Murder that Banner two Souldiers stretch'd out betwixt two Pikes and set before her Eyes whithersoever she went at this Sight she swooned and could scarce be kept upon her Horse but recovering her self she remitted nothing of her former Fierceness uttering Threats and Reproaches shedding Tears and manifesting other Appendexes to Women's Griefs In her March she made what Delay she could expecting if any Aid might come from elsewhere but one of the Company cry'd out There was no reason she should expect the Hamiltons for there was not an arm'd Man in many Miles of the place At last a little before Night she entred Edinburgh her Face being covered with Dust and Tears as if Dirt had been cast upon it all the People running out to see the Spectacle she past through a great part of the City in great Silence the Multitude leaving her so narrow a Passage that scarce one could go a breast when she was going up to her Lodging one Woman of the Company prayed for her but she turning to the People told them besides other threatning Words That she would burn the City and quench the Fire with the Blood of the perfidious Citizens When she shewed her self weeping out of the Window and a great Concourse of People was made amongst whom some did commiserate her sudden change of Fortune The former Banner was held out to her whereupon she shut the Window and flung in When she had staid there two days she was sent Prisoner by the Order of the Nobles to a Castle scituated in Lough-Levin for Edinburgh-Castle was yet held by Balfure who though he favour'd the Vindicators yet he had not made any Conditions for the Surrender of the Castle In the mean time the Bishop of Dunblane who was sent Embassador into France to excuse the Queen's Marriage being ignorant of all that was done in Scotland after his Departure came to that Court at the time whilst these last Transactions were on foot and obtain'd a Day for Audience The very same day there came 2 Letters to the King and his Mother one from Crock his Embassador another from Ninian Cockerburn a Scot who had serv'd as Captain of Horse some years in France both of them discover'd the present Posture of Affairs in Scotland The Scots Embassador being admitted to the King's Presence made a long accurate Speech partly to excuse the Queen's Marriage without the Advice of her Friends partly to commend Bothwel to the Skies beyond all Right and Reason The Queen of France interrupted the vain Man and shew'd him the Letters she had receiv'd from Scotland how that the Queen was a Prisoner and Bothwel was fled whereupon he was astonish'd at the sudden ill News and held his Peace They who were present did partly jeer and partly smile at this unlook'd-for Accident there were none of them all but thought she suffer'd deservedly About the same time Bothwel sent one of his faithfullest Servants into the Castle of Edinburgh to bring him a silver Cabinet which had been sometimes Francis's King of France as appear'd by the Cyphres on the outside wherein were Letters writ almost all with the Queen 's own Hand in which the King's Murder and the things vvhich followed vvere clearly discover'd and 't was vvritten in almost all of them that as soon as he had read them he should burn them But Bothwel knowing the Queen's Inconstancy as having had many evident Examples of it in a few Years had preserv'd the Letters that so if any Difference should arise betwixt him her he might use them as a Testimony for himself and thereby declare That he vvas not the Author but only a Party in the King's Murder Balfure deliver'd this Cabinet to Bothwel's Servant but vvithal he inform'd the Chiefs of the adverse Party What he had sent Whither and by Whom vvhereupon they took him and found in the Letters great and mighty Matters contain'd which though before shrewdly suspected yet could never so clearly be made forth but here the vvhole vvicked Plot vvas visibly exposed to vievv Bothwel not speeding in any of his Affairs and being destitute of all Help or Hope to recover the Kingdom fled first to the Orcades then to the Schetland Isles and there being driven to great Want he exercis'd Piracy In the Interim many dealt vvith and desir'd the Queen to separate her Cause from Bothwel's for if he was punish'd she might easily be restor'd with the Good-Will of all her Subjects But the fierce Woman bearing as yet the Spirit of her former Fortune and inâ—ag'd vvith her present Troubles answer'd That she would rather live with him in the utmost Adversity than without him in the Royalest Condition But amongst the Nobles there were great Thoughts of Heart the Revengers of the Parricide hoped that at the noise of so famous a Business the Approbation of the Better Part if not All would have concurr'd with them but it fell out far otherwise for popular Envy being abated partly by space of Time and partly by the consideration of the Uncertainty of human Affairs was turn'd into Commiseration yea some of the Nobility did then no less bewail the Queen's Calamity than heretofore they had execrated her Cruelty Both which they did rather by Inconstancy of Mind than by any propense Affection to either side So that it evidently appear'd that in such troubled Waters they did not seek the Publick Peace but rather fish for their own private Advantage many also desir'd Quietness and they weighed within themselves
reach'd not beyond the middle Rock of the Castle but the upper Part of it was so dark that the Guards in the Castle could see nothing of what was done below But as the Mist came seasonably so there was another Misfortune which fell out very unluckily and had almost marr'd the whole Business For many Ladders being required to get up that high Rock and the first were unmanageable by reason of their Length they being over-loaden with the Weight of those who went hastily up and being not well fastned at Foot in a slippery Soil fell suddenly down with those that were upon them That Accident cast them into a great Consternation at present but when they found that no Body was hurt in the Fall they recollected their Spirits which were almost desponding and as if God Almighty had favoured their Design they went on upon that dangerous Service with greater Alacrity so that they set the Ladders up again more cautiously and when they came to the middle of the Rock there was a Place reasonably convenient where they might stand and there they found an Ash Shrub casually growing amongst the Stones which did them great Service for they tied Ropes to it and let them down by which means they lifted up their Fellows that were left below so that at one and the same time some were drawn up by the Ropes to the middle of the Rock and others by setting other Ladders got up to the Top thereof There also they met with a new and unexpected Misfortune which had almost spoiled all their Measures for one of the Souldiers as he was in the middle of the Ladder was suddenly taken with a kind of Fit of an Apoplexy so that he stuck fast to the Ladder and could not be pluck'd therefrom but stopp'd the Way to those that would ascend This Danger was also overcome by the Diligence and Alacrity of the Souldiers for they bound him to the Ladder so that when he recovered out of his Fit he could not fall and then in great Silence turning the Ladder the rest easily ascended when they came to the Top of the Rock there was a Wall built by Hand to which they were to put their third Ladders to get over it Alexander Ramsy with two Files of Musqueteers got upon it the Sentinel presently spied him gave the Alarm and cast down Stones upon him and his Men Alexander being assaulted with this unusual kind of Fight as having neither Stones to throw again nor an Helmet to defend him yet leap'd down from the Wall into the Castle and there was set upon by Three of the Guard he fought it out valiantly with them till his Fellow-Souldiers being more solicitous for his Danger than their own leapt down after him and presently dispatch'd the three Sentinels In the mean time the rest made what haste they could so that the Wall being old loose and overcharged with the Weight of those who made haste to get over it fell down to the Ground and by its Fall as there was a Breach made for the rest to enter so the Ruins made the Descent more easy through the Rock that was very high and rugged within the Castle whereupon they entred in a Body crying out with a great Noise For God and the King and often proclaiming the Name of the Regent also so that the Guards were amazed and forgot to fight but fled every one to shift for himself as well as he could some kept themselves within Doors till the first brunt of the Souldiers Fury was over Flemming escaped the Danger by slipping down through the oblique Rock having but one in his Company who was knock'd down and fell but he descending a by-way was let out at the Gate and so got into a Vessel on the River which by reason of the Tides being in came up to the Walls of the Castle and so fled into Argyle The Sentinels of the lower Castle and twenty five more of the Garison-Souldiers who had been Drinking and Whoring in the Town all Night taking the Alarum never offered to fight but fled every one which way he could There were taken in the Castle Iohn Hamilton Arch-bishop of S. Andrews Iohn Flemming of Bogal a young English Gentleman that had fled from the last Insurrection in England Verac the French Man who a good while before had been sent to them with some Warlike Furniture and Provisions and staid there in the Name of his King to acquaint the French King with the State of Scotish Affairs Alexander the Son of William Levingston endeavoured to escape by changing his Habit but was discovered and brought back The Regent being inform'd of the taking the Castle before Noon came thither 1 st He highly commended the Souldiers then he comforted Flemming's Wife and gave her not only her own Furniture Plate and all her Houshold-stuff and Utensils but also assigned an Estate part of her Husband 's which had long before been forfeited into the King's Exchequer to maintain her Self and Children The rest of the Booty was allowed the Souldiers Having setled things thus he had Leisure to take a View of the Castle and coming to the Rock by which the Souldiers got up it seem'd so difficult an Ascent to them all that the Souldiers themselves confess'd if they had foreseen the Danger of the Service no Reward whatsoever should have hired them to undertake it Verac was accused by the Merchants that whereas they came into the Bay of Clyde he had robb'd them in an Hostile Manner Whereupon many of the Council were of Opinion he should have been Indicted as a Pirate or Robber but the empty Name of an Embassador prevailed more with the Regent which yet he himself had violated by his flagitious Actions Wherefore that the despoil'd Persons might be kept in some Hope at least of Satisfaction from him he was kept seemingly for a Trial and lodg'd in an House at St. Andrews whose Owner was inclined to the Rebels whence he was taken away as 't were by Force which was the thing aim'd at and so he speedily departed The English-Man though many Suspicions were fix'd upon him and besides the Commendatory Letters of Iohn Lesly Bishop of Ross to Flemming which were found after the Castle was taken did convict him yet he was sent home but after he was gone 't was found that he was suborn'd by the Norfolkians to poison the King of Scots Bogal was kept Prisoner There was one Prisoner more which the Governour most desired to have punish'd That was the Bishop of St. Andrews He in former times while his Brother was Regent had advised him to many cruel and avaricious Practices and under the Queen also he bore the Blame of all Miscarriages The Regent feared if he should delay his Punishment the Queen of England would intercede for him and the Arch-bishop's Friends were in great Hopes of it and lest Straitness of time should prevent them the Arch-bishop earnestly desired he might be tried
the King's Tutor made Chancellour 54 Gawin Douglas called Archbishop of St. Andrews 29 Committed to Prison 164 Genrach Isle 26 Geoffry of Monmouth a Writer of British Affairs 8 Geldrians come to help the English against the Scots 295 Geloni painted their Bodies 53 Genistery or Broom Isle 25 George Buchanan imprisoned for Religion escapes out of his Chamber-Window whilst his Keepers were asleep 67 He is sent in Embassy with others into England 224 His ingenuous Speech concerning Himself 71 George Brother to the Earl of Douglas made Earl of Ormond 377 Commands the Forces against England 378 Extolled for his Victory over them 380 Declared a publick Enemy 387 Beheaded 390 George Douglas Earl of Angus 377 His memorable Fact 398 He is against the Queen Mother 399 His bold and unworthy Speech to the King 50 George Douglas the Regent's youngest Brother 217 Delivers the Queen out of Prison 218 George Dunbar Earl of Merch espouses his Daughter to David King Robert's Son 325 Which Marriage not taking effect he joins with Percy of England against the Scots 326 Proclaimed a publick Enemy ibid. Percy and he overthrow the Scots 307 Takes Douglas Prisoner in Fight 327 Ioins with Percy against the King of England is wounded and taken Prisoner 329 Being reconciled to the Regent returns into Scotland 332 George Gordon sent with an Army against England 70 The King's Hatred against him 71 Accused and imprisoned 115 Released 116 Studies to raise Commotions 154 Privy to the Conspiracy against Murray 168 Condemned for Treason 170 Restored by the Queen to his former Dignity 173 Chief of the Queen's Faction 209 George Lesly Earl of Rothes sent Embassador into France 121 There poisoned as 't was believed 122 George Ruven slain 282 George Wiseheart Preacher of the Gospel 93 Persecuted by Cardinal Beton against the Regent's Mind 94 Foretels the Death of Cardinal Beton 97 His pious and Christian Deportment before and at his Martyrdom 95 96 97 Gerlock Isle 28 Gerlock Bay See Loch-ger 17 Gersa or Gress-oy Isle 37 Gernich or Gaxnico 22 Germany whence so called 42 Germâ—nâ— their fabulous Original 45 Ingenious in relating the Origin of their Nation 38 39 German Navy lands on the Coast of Scotland 94 Gessoriaci i. e. People living about Calais 10 Getes painted their Bodies 53 Gethus King of the Picts 97 Slain 100 Getini and Getae whence 49 Geurasdil Isle 25 Gigaia or Gega Isle ibid. Gigamena Isle ibid. Giles Tutelary God of Edinburgh his Show affronted 124 Gilbert Kennedy slain by the Command of James Douglas 57 A Man of a great Spirit ibid. Kennedy's Constancy in keeping his Word â—77 Gilbert Kennedy Earl of Cassils sent Embassador into France 121 He dies there not without the suspicion of Poison 127 Gilbert his Son chosen Iudg in Bothwelâ—s â—s Case but excuses himself 195 Gilchrist kils his Wife the King's Sister for her Adultery 234 King William's General 230 Banished but received again into Favour 234 Gilcolumb slain 164 Gildas quoted concerning Britain 93 He wrote 400 Years after Tacitus 38 Favoured by Aurelius Ambrosius 148 A good Man and died at Glastenbury in Somersetshire the Prophecies that go under his Name not genuine ibid. Gildominick and the Murray Men suppressed 230 Gilespy Cambel an Actor in the Reformation 129 Recalled by threatning Letters by the Queen Regent 130 Gilespy Earl of Argyle banished 175 His Levity 206 Privy to the Queen's Wickedness 216 General of her Army 220 Refuses to own himself a Subject to the King 234 The Regent receives him into Favour and he is in great Authority 235 251 Gillan Isle 30 Gillo Commander of the exiled Scots 129 Gillus the Bastard King of Scots 104 Flies into Ireland 105 Slain by Cadvallus 106 Glascow 14 The Bishop thereof frightned by a Voice from Heaven 376 Glass Isle 28 Glenluce 14 Glotta River i. e. Clyde 14 Glottiana see Clydsdale Goat Isle 25 God's Favour attends the Good 213 Gomâ—dra Isle 27 Goran King of Scots 148 Persuades the Kings of the Picts and Brittons to join with the Scots against the Saxons 148 He is treacherously slain by his Subjects 154 His Wife and Children fly into Ireland ibid. But are recalled by Congal II. 155 Gordons at Feud with the Forbes's 284 Gordon an Enemy to Murray 162 He labours to destroy him 164 166 His Design against him at one time wonderfully prevented 168 169 Gordon's bold Attempt against the Queen her self 167 Gorlois wickedly slain by Uter 149 Goropius reproved 10 Goths Who 33 Gothunni and Gothini who 49 Grafton censured 252 Graham or Grame 135 Appointed Tutor to Eugenius 137 Recals Christian Pastors into Scotland 140 Graham's Dike 138 Grampian Hills or Mountains 17 Gramry Isle 25 Granisa Isle 36 Gray hath the chief Command in Scotland against the French 146 Gregory King of Scots his famous Atchievements against the Picts Danes and Brittons 175 176 He takes several Cities in Ireland 177 Green Isle 25 28 Grevan River 14 Gria Isle 30 Griffin slain in Fight 156 Grime King of Scotland 198 Makes an Agreement with Malcolm ibid. Which he afterwards breaks is overthrown and made Prisoner 199 And dies 200 Groom in a Stable his bold Attempt on James Hamilton in revenge of his Master's Death 52 For which he is put to Death ibid. Gruinorta Isle 31 Guidi 15 92 Guises their Desire to hasten the Marriage of Mary with the Dolphin 221 Their over-great Power suspected 122 They design Scotland as a Peculiar for their Family 151 They seek to destroy James Earl of Murray as an Enemy to Popery 165 Gun Isle 27 Guns i. e. Great Ordnance of Iron when first began to be used in Scotland 394 H HAdington 13 Deserted by the English 111 Hago a Danish Admiral 181 Haie or Hea Isle 30 Hakerset Isle 29 Hamiltons the Original of their Family 273 Hamilton leaves the Party of the Douglasses 390 Hamiltonians willing to free the Queen out of Prison 216 Overthrown in Battel and some of them taken Prisoners 221 222 They meet at Edinburgh in behalf of Queen Mary 252 Hara Isle 37 Harald Earl of Caithness punished for his Cruelty 235 Haraya or Harray Isle 31 Harpers of old used to lie in the Bedchamber of the King and of the Nobles in Scotland 116 Harrick Isle 30 31 Havatere or Havere Isle 30 Havelschire Isle 29 Haura Isles the great and the less 31 Hay and his two Sons fight for their Country 191 Hath a Coat of Arms assigned to his Family 192 The Name almost extinguished 286 Heath Isle 21 Heath its Nature 23 Good to make Beds to lie on ibid. Hebrides Isles see Aebudae Hector Boetius blamed 13 Mistaken 76 Compared with Lud 80 Helena Mother of Constantine 124 Hellisay Isle 29 Helscher vetularum Isle ibid. Helricus a Danish Admiral 181 Hengist Captain of Pirates hath Lands given to him in Britain by Voâ—tigern 144 Henry I. of England never laughed after the drâ—wning of most of his Children 224 He settles the Succession on his Daughter Maud ibid. Henry