|
THE EARLDOM OF
MENTEITH.
INTRODUCTION.
page 19
Soon after the new government was established, the national party lost their
leader. He died suddenly, without male issue, in 1258, and it was believed that
he had been poisoned by his wife, in order that she might be free to marry an
English knight, named John Russell. There was no satisfactory evidence adduced
to prove her guilt but her marriage to Russell, which took place shortly after,
gave colour to the charge. She was in consequence deprived of her earldom, and
imprisoned, along with her new husband, and was ultimately expelled the kingdom
in disgrace. The Countess appealed to the Pope (Urban IV.) against the injustice
which she alleged had been done to her, but the Scottish King and his nobles
indignantly repelled the interference of the Roman Pontiff with the affairs of
the kingdom. Isabella, daughter of the Countess by Walter Comyn, married her
cousin, William Comyn; and after long contention a compromise was effected in
the year 1285, and the vast domains of the earldom were divided between the Lady
Isabella and the husband of her mother's youngest sister, WALTER STEWART, a son
of the High Steward of Scotland, who obtained the title. The new Earl of
Menteith, surnamed Bailloch, or 'the Freckled,' was a famous warrior. He joined
the disastrous expedition under St. Louis of France, called the Third Crusade,
for the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre, and fought with great distinction at the
battle of Largs in 1263, at which his elder brother defeated the Norwegians
under King Haco. He took a prominent part in the proceedings connected with the
contest for the Scottish crown after the death of the 'Maiden of Norway,' and
was one of the commissioners nominated by Robert Bruce in his competition with
John Baliol. The Earl left two sons, who dropped their paternal surname of
Stewart, and assumed that of Menteith. The younger of the two, Sir John Menteith
of Ruskie, is the 'false Menteith' who is branded by Scottish tradition and
history as the betrayer of the patriot Wallace. Lord
Hailes, who sometimes carried his scepticism respecting the statements of the
old Scottish historians a great deal too far, discredits the story, which he
asserts rests only on tradition and the allegations of Blind Harry. Sheriff Mark
Napier, a descendant of Sir John Menteith, has made an elaborate defence of his
ancestor from the charge of betraying Wallace; and Mr.
Burton designates it as a part of the romance of Wallace's
career that he was betrayed by a fellow-countryman and an old companion
in arms. 'Menteith,' he adds, 'held the responsible post of Governor of
Dumbarton Castle, and it seems likely that he only performed a duty, whether an
agreeable one or not.'
There is conclusive evidence, however, afforded by documents recently discovered
that the charge brought against Menteith is not without foundation. Dr. Fraser,
who has discussed this question very fully and impartially in the 'Red Book of
Menteith,' and has carefully examined all the documents bearing on the subject,
is of opinion that the accusation that Menteith basely betrayed Wallace
as his friend rests upon evidence too insufficient to sustain such a charge. But
the documents which Dr. Fraser has examined show that Sir John Menteith fought
on the patriotic side at the battle of Dunbar in 1296, where he was taken
prisoner along with his elder brother; that he afterwards made his peace with
Edward I., and supported the claims of that monarch; that he again returned to
the patriotic party; that he once more submitted to the English king, and
obtained from him the sheriffdom of Dumbarton and the custody of the castle to
which Wallace was conveyed after his capture, and that
he obtained a share of the reward which Edward had promised to the persons who
should be instrumental in delivering the Scottish patriot into the hands of his
enemies. It is impossible to speak with certainty as to the extent of friendship
that may have existed between Wallace and the
vacillating turncoat noble, but there can be no doubt that they must have had
'intercourse and familiarity.' In the 'Relationes Arnaldi Blair,' it is
mentioned that in August, 1298, Wallace, Governor of
Scotland, with John Graham and John de Menteith, and Alexander Scrymegour,
Constable of Dundee and Standard-bearer of Scotland, acted together in an
expedition into Galloway against the rebels who adhered to the party of Scotland
and the Comyns.
page 20
There is abundant contemporary evidence to prove that Sir John Menteith was the
chief agent in the capture of Wallace. In the
'Chronicle of Lancaster,' written in the thirteenth century, it is stated that 'William
Wallace was taken by a Scotsman, namely, Sir
John Menteith, and carried to London, where he was drawn, hanged, and beheaded.'
In the account of the capture and execution of Wallace
contained in the Arundel manuscript, written about the year 1320, it is stated
that 'William Wallace was seized in the house of Ralph
Rae by Sir John Menteith, and carried to London by Sir John de Segrave, where he
was judged.' Fordun, who lived [p.20] in the reign of King Robert Bruce, when
the memory of the exploits of Wallace must have been
quite fresh, says: 'The noble William Wallace was, by
Sir John Menteith, at Glasgow, while suspecting no evil, fraudulently betrayed
and seized, delivered to the King of England, dismembered at London, and his
quarters hung up in the towns of the most public places in England and Scotland,
in opprobium of the Scots.' Wyntoun, whose 'Metrical Chronicle' was written in
1418, says—
The English chronicler, Langtoft, states that Menteith discovered the retreat of
Wallace through the treacherous information of Jack
Short, his servant, and that he came undercover of night and seized him in bed.
A passage in the 'Scala Chronica,' quoted by Leland, says, 'William Walleys was
taken of the Counte of Menteith, about Glasgow, and sent to King Edward, and
after was hanged, drawn, and quartered at London.' But the most conclusive
evidence of all that Menteith took a prominent part in the betrayal and capture
of Wallace is afforded by the fact that while very
liberal rewards were given to all the persons concerned in this infamous affair,
by far the largest share fell to Menteith: he received land to the value of one
hundred pounds.
page 33
'…Of a race renowned of old
Whose war-cry oft has waked the battle swell,
Since first distinguished in the onset bold;
Wild-sounding when the Roman rampart fell,
By Wallace' side it rung the Southron's knell,'
THE KEITHS.
INTRODUCTION.
page 100
SIR ROBERT DE KEITH, the fourth in descent from Philip, the Great Marischal, was
one of the most celebrated knights of his day. In the year 1300 he was appointed
Justiciary of the country beyond the Forth, and in 1305 was chosen one of the
representatives of the barons, to consult respecting the government of the
kingdom after the death of Wallace. Three years later
he repaired to the standard of Bruce, and distinguished himself at the battle of
Inverury, where Comyn of Badenoch, the deadly enemy of the patriot King, was
defeated. As a reward for his signal services in this conflict, Sir Robert
received a grant of several estates in Aberdeenshire, along with a royal
residence called Hall Forest—a donation which led, as in the case of the
Gordons and Frasers, to the removal of the family to the north, where they
ultimately had their chief seat and estates. Sir Robert de Keith rendered
important service to the patriotic cause throughout the War of Independence, and
contributed not a little to the crowning victory of Bannockburn. He was
despatched by Bruce along with Sir James Douglas to reconnoitre the English army
on their march, and to bring him confidential information respecting their
numbers and equipments; and to him was entrusted the important duty of attacking
and dispersing the English archers, whose deadly clothyard shafts so often
overwhelmed the Scottish spearmen. At the head of a small body of cavalry, Sir
Robert, making a circuit to the right, assailed the formidable bowmen in flank,
cut them down in great numbers, and drove them off the field. The effect of this
manoeuvre is portrayed in spirited terms by Sir Walter Scott in his 'Lord of the
Isles.' After describing the position of the Scottish army, and the manner in
which Bruce had drawn up the different [p.100] divisions, with the right wing
under Edward Bruce, protected by the broken bank and deep ravine of the Bannock
on their flank, the poet goes on to say—
THE HAMILTONS.
INTRODUCTION.
page 210
The heads of the Hamilton family continued faithful in their adherence to the
heir of Robert Bruce and the Stewarts. The immediate successors of Walter fought
at the disastrous battles of Halidon Hill and Durham, and took some part, though
by no means a very prominent one, in the affairs of the kingdom and court. The
member of the family to whom their greatness is mainly owing was SIR JAMES
HAMILTON, the fifth knight and first baron, who was raised to the peerage in
1445 under the title of Lord Hamilton of Cadzow (pronounced Cadyow). He was
noted both for his energy and his sagacity, which gave great weight to his
opinion in the national council and among his brother barons. The vicinity of
his estates to the principal seat of the Douglases, as well as kinsmanship with
that family, probably led him at first to enrol himself in the ranks of their
followers. He accompanied the Earl of Douglas in his celebrated visit to Rome in
1450; and, in the following year, went with him on a pilgrimage to the tomb of
Thomas à Becket at Canterbury. As might have been expected, Hamilton joined the
confederacy which Douglas formed with the Earls of Crawford and Ross against the
Crown, and narrowly escaped the fate of the formidable chief of the league when
he was assassinated by the King (James II.) in Stirling Castle. When Sir James
Douglas, the successor of the murdered baron and the last of the old stock, took
the field against his sovereign at the head of forty thousand men, Lord Hamilton
was one of his most powerful and trusted supporters. The insurgents encamped on
the south bank of the Carron, about three miles from the Torwood, so famous in
the history of Sir William Wallace. James, who was well
aware of his danger, advanced from Stirling to meet this formidable array with
an army considerably inferior in numbers, but with 'the King's name as a
tower of strength, which they upon the adverse faction lacked.' A battle seemed
imminent, which should decide whether the house of Stewart or of Douglas was
henceforth to reign in Scotland. But at this critical juncture, art did more
than arms for the royal cause. Acting under the advice of the patriotic and
sagacious Bishop Kennedy, James made overtures to Lord Hamilton and other allies
of the Earl of Douglas, representing the danger which threatened not only the
independence of the Crown, but the welfare of the country and their own
interests, from the ambition and overgrown power of the Douglas family, and
making liberal promises if, in this hour of extremity, they would abandon the
cause of the insurgent baron. These representations produced a deep impression
on the mind of Lord Hamilton, and taking advantage of the contemptuous reply
made by the Earl to his remonstrances against the proposal to postpone till next
day an attack on the royal army— 'If you are afraid or tired, you may depart
when you please'—the politic noble took Douglas at his word, and that very
night passed over to the King with all his retainers. The other insurgent
leaders, who had a high opinion of Lord Hamilton's prudence and sagacity, so
generally followed his example that, before morning, the rebel camp was almost
deserted. The complete overthrow of the formidable house of Douglas speedily
followed: their vast estates were distributed among the supporters of the royal
cause; and Lord Hamilton, whose timely desertion of the 'Black Douglases' had
mainly contributed to their destruction, was rewarded with a large share of
their forfeited possessions. He became thenceforth one of the most trusted
councillors of his grateful sovereign, was frequently employed by him on
important embassies to England, and, in 1474, he obtained the hand of the
Princess Mary, the King's sister, through whom his descendants became next heirs
to the crown after the Stewarts. Besides his legitimate offspring, Lord Hamilton
left several natural sons, one of whom, SIR JAMES HAMILTON, of Kincavel, became
the father of Patrick Hamilton, the protomartyr of the Scottish Protestant
Church, and was himself killed in the celebrated fight between the Douglases and
the Hamiltons in the High Street of Edinburgh, in 1520.
THE CAMPBELLS OF LOUDOUN.
INTRODUCTION.
page 257
The barony in Ayrshire, from which they derive their title, was originally the
possession of the Loudouns of Loudoun, one of the oldest families in Scotland.
Margaret of Loudoun, the heiress of the estate, married Sir Reginald Crawford,
High Sheriff of Ayr, and was the grandmother of Sir William
Wallace,
the illustrious Scottish patriot. The barony passed to the Campbells in the
reign of Robert Bruce by the marriage of Sir Duncan, son of Donald Campbell, to
Susanne Crawford, heiress of Loudoun, and fifth in descent from Sir Reginald
Crawford. Sir Hugh Campbell, Sheriff of Ayr, was created a Lord of Parliament by
the title of Lord Campbell of Loudoun, by James VI., in 1601. His granddaughter,
Margaret Campbell, who inherited his title and estates, married Sir John
Campbell of Lawers, a scion of the Glenorchy or Breadalbane family. He was
created—
THE MAULES.
INTRODUCTION.
page 322
Several centuries before the extinction of the male line of the family in
Normandy, a junior branch of the Maules had taken root in Scotland. A son of
Peter, the first Lord Maule of that name, accompanied William the Conqueror into
England, and received from him a part of the lordship of Hatton de Cleveland, in
Yorkshire, and other extensive estates. ROBERT DE MAULE, one of his sons, became
attached to David, Earl of Huntingdon, afterwards David I. of Scotland, and
obtained from him a grant of lands in Midlothian. His eldest son, WILLIAM DE
MAULE, was with King David at the Battle of the Standard, A.D. 1138, and
received from that monarch a gift of the lands of Fowlis, in the Carse of
Gowrie. He died without male issue, and the line of succession was carried on
through ROGER MAULE, his younger brother—the progenitor of the Maules of
Panmure. His grandson, SIR PETER MAULE, married Christian, only child and
heiress of William de Valoniis, the representative of a great Norman family
whose immediate ancestor settled in Scotland at the end of the reign of Malcolm
IV., and was appointed by William the Lion High Chamberlain about 1180. Sir
Peter obtained [p.322] with her the baronies of Panmure and Benvie in
Forfarshire, and other estates both in England and Scotland, thus uniting the
fortunes of two ancient and influential houses. He had two sons, WILLIAM—by
whom he was succeeded—and SIR THOMAS, who was a soldier of distinguished
valour and 'a most audacious knight in mind and body.' His character has been
oftener than once reproduced in the family. He was governor of Brechin Castle,
the only fortress in the north which shut its gates against Edward I. in his
progress through the country in 1303. 'Trusting to the strength of the walls,
the governor made no account of the war machines brought against them. The King
of England's men incessantly threw stones against the walls without effect. Sir
Thomas held the castle for twenty days against the assaults of the English army,
and was so confident of its strength that he stood on the ramparts and
contemptuously wiped off with a towel the dust and rubbish raised by the stones
thrown from the English battering engines.' Wallace
Papers, p. 21.* But he was at last mortally wounded by a splinter broken from
the wall by the force of a stone missile. 'While he lay expiring on the ground,
being asked if the castle should now be surrendered, he cursed the men as
cowards who made the suggestion.'|R†|r The garrison, however, capitulated next
day. Henry de Maule of Panmure, the nephew of this gallant soldier, fought on
the patriotic side in the War of Independence, and was knighted for his services
by King Robert Bruce. Sir Thomas Maule, the head of the family at the
commencement of the fifteenth century, fought under the banner of the Earl of
Mar at the sanguinary battle of Harlaw, in August, 1411, along with the chivalry
of Angus and Mearns, and was among the slain. As the old ballad says—
page 331
The Government of the Commonwealth imposed on the Earl the exorbitant fine of £10,000
sterling for himself and of £2,500 for his son Henry, who commanded a regiment
in the army of 'the Engagement' for the rescue of Charles and also at the battle
of Dunbar. But the Earl's fine was ultimately restricted to £4,000, and that of
his son to £1,000. Lord Panmure, who was now advanced in years, took no active
part in the cause of Charles II. when he came to [p.331] Scotland, but he sent
£2,000 to the royal coffers, and his eldest son, Lord Brechin, fought for
Charles both at Dunbar and at Inverkeithing, where he was wounded. The aged peer
survived to witness the Restoration, and died in December, 1661. He left a
manuscript history of the patriot Wallace, 'whose deeds
of unselfish devotion and lofty daring,' says Dr. Stuart, 'he himself aspired to
emulate throughout his whole course.' He was three times married, but left
surviving offspring—four daughters and two sons—only by his first wife, a
daughter of Sir Edward Stanhope of Grimstone, in Yorkshire. His eldest son,
GEORGE, LORD BRECHIN, became second Earl of Panmure on his father's death, and
carried out his predecessor's intention of building a new house at Panmure. He
married the eldest daughter of John Campbell, Earl of Loudon, Lord High
Chancellor, who bore him nine children, of whom four sons and one daughter died
young. This close connection with one of the leaders of the Covenanting party
does not appear to have had any influence on the politics of the Panmure family.
The eldest surviving son, GEORGE, third Earl, was a Privy Councillor to Charles
II. and James VII. He was succeeded in his titles and estates by his brother,
JAMES MAULE of Ballumbie, a staunch Royalist and a Privy Councillor to James
VII., but who was 'laid aside' from the Council on account of his opposition to
the abrogation of the penal laws against Popery. This treatment, however, did
not prevent him from advocating the cause of King James at the Convention of
Estates in 1689, and when it was agreed to settle the crown on William and Mary,
the Earl, along with his brother, Harry Maule, of Kelly, left the assembly and
never again attended a meeting of the Scottish Estates.
page 335
The Commissioners at last succeeded in getting the sequestrations set aside, but
a new device was immediately tried to baffle their efforts to obtain possession
of the forfeited estates. It was contended that the lands did not really belong
to the late ostensible owners, and claimants for them sprang up in all quarters.
'The Court of Session was by no means. unwilling to lend its aid to the
promotion of this scheme, and paid little regard to consistency in the judgments
which it pronounced. Seaforth's estates were by one decree declared to belong in
full and absolute right to Kenneth Mackenzie of Assynt, by another to William
Martin of Harwood, by a third to Hugh Wallace of
Inglestone. The estates of the Earl of Mar, the leader of the rebellion, were
successively awarded [p.335] to four of these pretended owners, and Viscount
Kenmure's to five. Even when the Commissioners were put in possession, they
discovered to their disappointment and annoyance that their difficulties seemed
as great as ever. The tenants on many of the estates, who were as staunch
Jacobites as their masters, refused to recognize in any form the authority of
the Act of Parliament in the factors appointed by the Commissioners, and
continued to pay their rents to the late, and as they believed, the proper
proprietors. The clansmen of Seaforth regularly transmitted their rents to their
chief during his exile in France, and successfully resented the attempts of the
Government agent, supported by a detachment of soldiers, to force his way into
their territory. The tenants on the Panmure estates were induced by the Countess
and her factor, Mr. George Maule, to subscribe blank bills for all arrears, and
also a blank bond for two years from 24th June, 1715, nearly four months before
the battle of Sheriffmuir.
THE MARCHMONT HUMES.
INTRODUCTION.
page 398
In the following year (1685) Sir Patrick Hume accompanied the Earl of Argyll in
the disastrous expedition which cost that unfortunate nobleman his head. The
ruin of the enterprise, which from the outset was evidently doomed to failure,
was mainly brought about by the mutual jealousies and contentions of the
leaders. More fortunate than his chief and Sir John Cochrane, the other second
in command, Sir Patrick, after lying in concealment for some weeks in Ayrshire,
a second time made his escape to the Continent, in a vessel which conveyed him
from the west coast, first to Ireland and then to Bordeaux, whence he proceeded
to Geneva, and finally to Holland. At Bordeaux he gave himself out for a
surgeon, as he had done during his former exile, and as he always carried
lancets, and could let blood, he had no difficulty in passing for a medical man.
He travelled on foot across France to Holland. where he was joined by his wife
and children. Under the designation of Dr. Wallace, Sir
Patrick settled in Utrecht, where he spent three years and a half in great
privation, as his estate had been confiscated, and his income was both small and
precarious. His poverty prevented him from keeping a servant, and he was
frequently compelled to pawn his plate to provide for the necessities of his
family. One of Sir Patrick's younger children, named Juliana, had been left
behind in Scotland, on account of ill-health, and her eldest sister Grizel was
sent back to bring her over to Holland. She was entrusted at the same time with
the management of some business of her [p.398] father's, and was commissioned to
collect what she could of the money that was due to him. All this she performed
with her usual discretion and success.
THE DRUMMONDS.
page 96
The succession fell to the descendants of the Earl of Melfort, younger brother
of the Chancellor, and Secretary of State for Scotland under James VII. He too,
as we have seen, became a pervert to the Romish Church, and in his zeal for his
new faith obtained from the King the exclusion of his family by his first wife
from the right to inherit his estates and titles, because their mother's
relations had frustrated his attempts to convert them to Romanism. At the
Revolution he fled to France, and was attainted by Act of Parliament in 1695. He
was created Duke de Melfort in 1701, and for a number of years had the chief
administration of the affairs of the exiled monarch. He died in 1714. His
second wife, daughter of Sir Thomas Wallace of Craigie,
lived to be above ninety years of age, and in her latter years supported herself
by keeping a faro-table. His descendants remained in their adopted country, and
identified themselves with its faith, its interests, and its manners. Most of
them embraced the military profession and attained high rank in the French,
German, and Polish services. Some of them entered the Church, and one was
elevated to the rank of cardinal. GEORGE, Sixth Duke of Melfort, renounced the
Romish faith, conformed to the Protestant Church, entered the British army, and
became a captain in the 98th Highlanders. Having petitioned the Queen for the
restoration of the Scottish attainted honours, he proved his descent, in 1848,
before the Committee for Privileges of the House of Lords, was restored in blood
by an Act of Parliament in 1853, and was reinstated in the earldom of Perth and
the other Scottish honours of his illustrious house.
THE ERSKINES OF BUCHAN AND CARDROSS.
page 126
Lord Cardross was present at his father's death, and figured prominently at his
obsequies, which were performed with great solemnity, and elaborate ceremony.
Lady Huntingdon's party took a great interest in the well-being of the young
Earl, and Fletcher, Henry Venn, and the eccentric Berridge were at once
appointed his chaplains. The name of John Wesley was subsequently added to the
list, much to his own satisfaction. In 1771, Lord Buchan took up his residence
on his Linlithgowshire estate, and set himself to effect, by precept and
example, much-needed improvements in husbandry. He also made vigorous efforts to
induce his brother nobles to act an independent part in the election of their
sixteen representatives in Parliament, and to discontinue the degrading practice
of voting for the list sent down by the Government of the day, and he succeeded
ultimately, almost single-handed, in putting it down. He was the founder of the
Society of Antiquaries in Edinburgh, in 1780, and contributed a number of papers
to the first volume of their Transactions. He was able, in 1786, to buy back the
small estate of Dryburgh, which had of old belonged to his ancestors, with the
ruined abbey and mansion-house, where he took up his residence for half a
century, and performed many curious and eccentric feats. He had a restless
propensity for getting up public fêtes, one of which was an annual festival in
commemoration of Thomson, the author of 'The Seasons,' at Ednam, the poet's
native place. He erected, in his [p.126] grounds at Dryburgh, an Ionic temple,
with a statue of Apollo in the interior, and a bust of thebard surmounting the
dome. Burns wrote a poetical address for its inauguration. He also raised a
colossal statue of Sir William Wallace, on the summit
of a steep and thickly planted bank above the river Tweed. It was installed with
great ceremony. A huge curtain was drawn before the statue, which dropped at the
discharge of a cannon, and then the Knight of Ellerslie was discovered with a
large German tobacco-pipe in his mouth, which some wicked wag had placed
there—to the unspeakable consternation of the peer, and amusement of the
company. Sir Walter Scott used to say that when a revolution should take place,
his first act would be to procure a cannon, and batter down this monstrosity.
THE GRAHAMS.
page 143
The second Sir David de Graham, who held the office of sheriff of the county of
Berwick, was one of thenational, or Comyn, party during the minority of
Alexander II., and resolutely opposed the intrigues ofthe English faction. He
obtained from Malise, the powerful Earl of Strathern, the lands of Kincardine,
in Perthshire, where the chief residence of the family was henceforth fixed. His
second son, the patriotic Sir John de Graham of Dundaft, may be regarded as the
first eminent member of the family. He is stillfondly remembered as the bosom
friend of the illustrious Scottish patriot Wallace. He
was killed at thebattle of Falkirk, July 22, 1298, fighting gallantly against
the English invaders under Edward I., and was buried in the churchyard of that
town. His tombstone, which has been thrice renewed, bears in the centre his
coat-of-arms; at the upper part, round an architectural device, is the
motto, 'Vivit post funere virtus,' and at the lower part the following
inscription:—
THE FRASERS OF LOVAT.
page 270
THE Frasers, like most of the other great Scottish houses, were of Norman
descent. Their original designation was Frissell, which occurs in the roll of
Battle Abbey, and is still given to them in various parts of the country. As is
the case with most of the old Scottish families, a fabulous origin is ascribed
to the Frasers, whose ancestor, it is pretended, came to Scotland in the reign
of Charlemagne, along with the French ambassadors whom that great monarch is said
to have sent to form a league with King Achaius. In reality the first of the
name settled in Scotland in the reign of Malcolm Canmore, and appears to have
obtained from that monarch a grant of lands in East Lothian. In the reign of
David I., Malcolm's youngest son, SIR SIMON FRASER, possessed half of the lands
of Keith, in East Lothian, called from him Keith Simon. Hervey, the ancestor of
the Keiths, Earls Marischal, who married Simon's grand-daughter, was proprietor
of the other half, named from him Keith Hervie. Another member of the Fraser
family, a SIR GILBERT, obtained the lands of North Hailes, and also a large
estate in Tweeddale. Oliver Castle, acelebrated stronghold of the Frasers, of
which a few fragments still remain, was built by OLIVER FRASER, eldest son of Sir
Gilbert. But the most illustrious of the heads of this famous house was SIR
SIMON FRASER, the renowned warrior and patriot, and the bosom friend of Sir
William Wallace. His father, who bore the same name,
held the office of High Sheriff of Tweeddale, and was one of the Scottish
magnates who took part in the discussions respecting the pretensions of the
various claimants to the Scottish crown, and supported the rights of Baliol. He
died in 1291. The great Sir Simon, like his father, adhered faithfully to the
cause of Baliol till that weak and wavering personage betrayed his own
cause, and surrendered the crown to Edward I.
page 270
Sir Simon had evidently been regarded by the English monarch as unfriendly to
his claims, for when he invaded Scotland, in 1296, he carried the chief of the
Frasers with him to England, and kept him there a close prisoner for eight
months. In June, 1297, Sir Simon and his cousin, Sir Richard Fraser, received
permission to pay a visit to Scotland, on giving their pledge to return,
and accompany Edward on his projected expedition to France. The Frasers,
however, like most of the nobles of that day, and even the clergy of the highest
rank, seem to have regarded promises extorted by force or threats as not
binding; and when Sir William Wallace, after the battle
of Falkirk, resigned his double office as Guardian of the Kingdom, and General of
the Army, Sir Simon was chosen to succeed him as commander of the Scottish
forces, while Sir John Comyn of Badenoch was appointed Guardian. In 1303, an
English army of thirty thousand men, in violation, it was alleged, of a truce
which had been agreed upon between the Scots and English, invaded Scotland, and
advanced to Roslin, a few miles from Edinburgh. They were divided into three
bodies, encamped at a considerable distance from each other. The Scottish
leaders, Sir Simon Fraser and Sir John Comyn, hearing of these hostile
movements, made a rapid night march from Biggar at the head of ten thousand men,
and next day (February 25th) attacked and defeated these three divisions
insuccession in one day.
page 272
'Y-fettered were his legs under his horse's wombe,
Both with iron and with steel manacled were his hond,
A garland of pervynk Periwinkle.* set upon his heved;|R†|r
Much was the power that him was bereved
In land,
So God me amend,
Little he ween'd
So to be brought in hand.
'With fetters and with gives y-hot he was to draw He was condemned to be
drawn.*
From the Tower of London, that many men might know,
In a kirtle of burel, a selcouth wise,
And a garland on his head of the new guise.
Through Cheape
Many men of England
For to see Symond
Thitherward can leap.
'Though he cam to the gallows first he was on hung,
All quick beheaded that him thought long;
Then he was y-opened, his bowels y-brend,|R†|r
The heved to London-bridge was send
To shende.
So evermore mote I the,
Some while weened he
Thus little to stand.|R‡|r
'Now standeth the heved above the tu-brigge
Fast by Wallace sooth for to segge;
After succour of Scotland long may he pry,
And after help of France what halt it to lie.
I ween,
Better him were in Scotland
With his axe in his hand
To play on the green,' &c.
page 272
One of the uncles of this illustrious patriot was the celebrated Bishop Fraser
of St. Andrews, Chancellor of Scotland, the counsellor of Sir William
Wallace,
and one of the earliest defenders of the rights and liberties of the kingdom. He
was one of the Lords of the Regency chosen by the States during the minority of
the infant Queen Margaret, the 'Maiden of Norway.' After her death he was
appointed by King Edward one of the guardians of Scotland, and rendered an
enforced homage to that monarch. He took a prominent part in asserting the
independence of Scotland against the violation of its rights and liberties by
the English king, and was one of the commissioners who concluded a treaty,
offensive and defensive, with Philip, King of France.
THE GORDONS.
page 338
DUKE ALEXANDER, the fourth possessor of the ducal title, retained it for the
long period of seventy-six years. In 1761 he was elected one of the sixteen
representative peers of Scotland, and in 1775 was created a Knight of the Order
of the Thistle. A regiment had been raised on the Gordon estates in 1759, which
became the 89th Highlanders, and his Grace was appointed one of its captains. In
1778, during the American war, he raised the Gordon Fencibles, of which he
became colonel; and in 1793 he raised another regiment of fencibles, called the
Gordon Highlanders, which was disbanded with the other fencible corps. in 1799.
As his Grace was the great-grandson of Lady Elizabeth Howard, daughter of the
Earl of Norwich, that extinct title was revived in his favour in 1784, and he
was at the same time created Lord Gordon of Huntly. He was also appointed Keeper
of the Great Seal of Scotland. The Duke was the author of the excellent humorous
song entitled 'Cauld kail in Aberdeen,' but he was best known, and best
remembered, as the husband of the celebrated Duchess Jane, one of the leaders of
fashionable society in London for nearly half a century, and regarded as one of
the cleverest women of her day. Her Grace was the second [p.338] daughter of Sir
William Maxwell of Monreith. Her early years were spent in Hyndford's Close, off
the High Street of Edinburgh, where she seems to have conducted herself with a
freedom of manners which would seem almost incredible in the present day. An old
gentleman, who was a relative of the Maxwell family, stated that on the occasion
when he first made the acquaintance of Jane Maxwell and her sisters, they had
been despatched by their mother, Lady Maxwell, to the 'Fountain Well,' in front
of John Knox's house, to fetch 'a kettle' of water, and Miss Jane was seen
mounted on the back of a sow, ofwhich she had made capture, while her sister,
Miss Betty, afterwards Lady Wallace, lustily thumped
it with a stick. 'The two romps used to watch the animals as they were let loose
from the yard of PeterRamsay, the stabler, in St. Mary's Wynd, and get on their
backs the moment they issued from the Close.' Chambers's Traditions of
Edinburgh.
THE HAYS OF TWEEDDALE.
page 378
THE Hays of Tweeddale have attained higher rank and have figured more
conspicuously in the history of Scotland than any other branch of this ancient
family. They are descended from Robert, second son of William de Haya, who held
the office of royal butler to Malcolm IV. and William the Lion. SIR JOHNDE HAYA,
the grandson of Robert, acquired the lands of Locherworth (now Borthwick) in
Midlothian by marriage with the heiress of that estate. His son, Sir William de
Haya, in the contest for the Scottish Crown in, 1292, was one of the nominees of
Robert Bruce. But like the other Scottish magnates of English descent, he swore
fealty to Edward I. in July of that year, and gave in his submission to him in
1297, as his son, SIR GILBERT HAY, had done in the previous year. Sir Gilbert
made one of those fortunate marriages for which the Hays were so noted. His wife
was one of the daughters and co-heiresses of Sir Simon Fraser, the gallant
patriot, and the friend and companion of Wallace, who
was executed at London by Edward I., with circumstances of shocking barbarity.
By this marriage the Hays obtained the valuable barony of Neidpath, and other
lands on Tweedside, which remained in their possession until the year 1686. SIR
WILLIAM DE HAYA, Sir Gilbert's grandson, fought under the banner of David II. at
the battle of Durham (17th September, 1346), where he was taken prisoner along
with that monarch. SIR THOMAS, his son, was one of the hostages for King David's
liberation, 3rd October, 1357, and seems to have been detained a good many years
in England. In 1385 he received four hundred of the forty thousand francs which
were sent by the French king with John de Vienne, to be distributed among the
most influential Scottish barons.
THE MACLELLANS OF KIRKCUDBRIGHT.
page 410
THE Maclellans are supposed to have come from Ireland at a very early period.
They certainly possessedlands in Galloway in the reign of Alexander II., 1217,
and were hereditary sheriffs of that province. Maclellan of Bombie, an ancestor
of Lord Kirkcudbright, accompanied the Scottish patriot, Wallace,
when, after his defeat at Falkirk, in 1298, he sailed from Kirkcudbright for
France, in order to entreat the help of Philip, the French king, in his struggle
against Edward I., their common enemy. The Maclellans became so numerous and
prosperous about the beginning of the fifteenth century, that there were no
fewer than fourteen knights of the name at that period living in Galloway. About
the middle of the century they unfortunately, through no fault of theirs, came
into collision with the formidable house of Douglas. SIR PATRICK MACLELLAN OF
BOMBIE, head of the family and Sheriff of Galloway, refused to join the
confederacy of the eighth Earl of Douglas with the Earls of Ross and Crawford,
against the King. The imperious Earl, enraged at this opposition to his will,
besieged and captured Sir Patrick in his stronghold of Raeberry Castle, and
carried him a prisoner to his fortress of Thrieve. Sir Patrick Gray, Maclellan's
uncle, who held a high office at Court, obtained a letter from the King (James
II.) entreating, rather than ordering, Douglas to set his prisoner at liberty,
which Gray carried himself. The Earl professed to receive him with all courtesy,
but requested that he should partake of some refreshment before entering upon
the business which had brought him so long a journey. 'It's ill talking,' he
said, 'between a fou man and a fasting.' In the meantime, however, having a
shrewd guess as to Gray's errand, he ordered Maclellan to be immediately put to
death. When Sir Patrick had finished his repast he presented the royal letter to
the Earl, who, after perusing it, expressed his deep regret that it was
not in his power to comply fully with his Majesty's request, and, conducting Gray
to the courtyard where Maclellan's body lay, he jeeringly said, 'Yonder, Sir
Patrick, lies your sister's son. Unfortunately he wants the head, but you are
welcome to do with the body what you please.' 'My lord,' said Gray,
suppressing his indignation, 'since you have taken his head, you may dispose of
his body as you will.' He then instantly called for his horse. But, after
crossing the drawbridge, his indignation could no longer be restrained, and,
turning round, he exclaimed to the Earl, who was standing at the gate, 'If I
live, you shall bitterly pay for this day's work,' and immediately galloped off.
'To horse to horse' exclaimed Douglas, 'and chase him.'. Gray was closely
pursued till near Edinburgh, and if he had not been well mounted, would, without
doubt, have shared the fate of his nephew. |
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