Argyleshire. There, as mentioned in a preceding, aud | mention of the personal danger of Lorn, or of the loss more fully in a subsequent note, he was defeated by the of Bruce's mantle. The last circumstance, indeed, Lord of Lorn, who had assumed arms against him in might be warrantably omitted. revenge of the death of his relative, John the Red According to Barbour, the king, with his handful of Comyn. Escaped from this peril, Bruce, with his few followers, not amounting probably to three hundred attendants, subsisted by hunting and fishing, until the men, encountered Lorn with about a thousand Argyleweather compelled them to seek better sustenance and shjre men in Glen-Douchart, at the head of Breadalbane, shelter than the Highland mountains afforded. With near Teyndrum. The place of action is still called great difficulty they crossed, from Rowardennan pro- Dalry, or the King's Field. The field of battle was unbably, to the western banks of Loch Lomond, partly in favourable to Bruce's adherents, who were chiefly mena miserable boat, and partly by swimming. The va- at-arms. Many of the horses were slain by the long liant and loyal Earl of Lennox, to whose territories they poleaxes, of which the Argyleshire Scottish had learned had now found their way, welcomed them with tears, the use from the Norwegians. At length Bruce combut was unable to assist them to make an effectual manded a retreat up a narrow and difficult pass, he head. The Lord of the Isles, then in possession of great himself bringing up the rear, and repeatedly turning part of Cantyre, received the fugitive monarch and fu- and driving back the more venturous assailants. Lorn, ture restorer of his country's independence, in his castle observing the skill and valour used by his enemy in of Dunnaverty, in that district. But treason, says Bar- protecting the retreat of his followers, « Methinks, bour, was so general, that the king durst not abide there. Murthokson,» said he, addressing one of his followers, Accordingly, with the remnant of his followers, Bruce «he resembles Gol-mac-morn, protecting his followers embarked for Rath-Erin, or Rachrine, the Recina of from Fingal.»-A most unworthy comparison, observes Ptolemy, a small island, lying almost opposite to the the archdeacon of Aberdeen, unsuspicious of the future shores of Ballycastle, on the coast of Ireland. The fame of these names; he might with more propriety islanders at first fled from their new and armed guests, have compared the king to Sir Gaudefer de Larys, but upon some explanation submitted themselves to protecting the foragers of Gadyrs against the attacks of Bruce's sovereignty. He resided among them until the Alexander. Two brothers, the strongest among Lorn's approach of spring (1306), when he again returned to followers, whose names Barbour calls Mackyn-Drosser Scotland, with the desperate resolution to reconquer his (interpreted Durward, or Porterson), resolved to rid kingdom, or perish in the attempt. The progress of his their chief of this formidable foe. A third person. success, from its commencement to its completion, (perhaps the Mac-Keoch of the family tradition) asforms the brightest period in Scottish history. sociated himself with them for this purpose. They watched their opportunity until Bruce's party had entered a pass between a lake (Loch-Dochart probably) the party, had scarce room to manage his steed. Here and a precipice, where the king, who was the last of his three foes sprung upon him at once. One seized his bridle, but received a wound which hewed off his arm; deavoured to dismount him, but the king, putting spurs a second grasped Bruce by the stirrup and leg, and enstirrup. The third, taking advantage of an acclivity, to his horse, threw him down, still holding by the sprung up behind him upon his horse. Bruce, however, whose personal strength is uniformly mentioned as exceeding that of most men, extricated himself from his grasp, threw him to the ground, and cleft his skull with his sword. By similar exertion he drew the stirrup from his grasp whom he had overthrown, and killed him also with his sword as he lay among the horse's feet. The story seems romantic, but this was the age of romantic exploit; and it must be remembered that Bruce was armed cap-a-pie, and the assailants were half-clad mountaineers. Barbour adds the following circumstance, highly characteristic of the sentiments of chivalry. Mac-Naughton, a baron of Cowal, pointed out to the Lord of Lorn the deeds of valour which Bruce performed in this memorable retreat, with the highest expressions of admiration. «It seems to give Note 5. Stanza xi. THE BROACH OF LOAN. It has been generally mentioned in the preceding notes, that Robert Bruce, after his defeat at Methven, being hard pressed by the English, endeavoured, with the dispirited remnant of his followers, to escape from Breadalbane and the mountains of Perthshire into the Argyleshire Highlands. But he was encountered and repulsed, after a very severe engagement, by the Lord of Lorn. Bruce's personal strength and courage were never displayed to greater advantage than in this conflict. There is a tradition in the family of the MacDougals of Lorn, that their chieftain engaged in personal battle with Bruce himself, while the latter was employed in protecting the retreat of his men; that Mac-Dougal was struck down by the king, whose strength of body was equal to his vigour of mind, and would have been slain on the spot, had not two of Lorn's vassals, a father and son, whom tradition terms Mac-Keoch, rescued him, by seizing the mantle of the monarch, and dragging him from above his adversary. Bruce rid himself of these foes by two blows of his redoubted battle-axe, but was so closely pressed by the other followers of Lorn, that he was forced to abandon the mantle, and broach which fastened it, clasped in the dying grasp of the Mac-Keochs. A studded broach, said to have been that which King Robert lost upon this occasion, was long preserved in the family of Mac-Dougal, and was lost in a fire which consumed their temporary residence. The metrical history of Barbour throws an air of credibility upon the tradition, although it does not entirely coincide either in the names or number of the vassals by whom Bruce was assailed, and makes no This is a very curious passage, and has been often quoted in tho Ossianic controversy. That it refers to ancient Celtic tradition, there can be no doubt, and as little that it refers to no incident in the poems published by Mr Macpherson as from the Gaelic. The hero of romance, whom Barbour thinks a more proper prototype for the Bruce, oceurs in the romance of Alexander, of which there is an unique translation into Scottish verse in the library of the honourable Mr Maule, of Panmure.-See Wana's Romances, vol. I, Appendix to Introduction, p. lxxiii. thee pleasure,» said Lorn, «that he makes such havoc rians, and cannot now be ascertained. The fact that among our friends.»-« Not so, by my faith,» replied they met at the high altar of the Minorites or GreyMac-Naughton; << but be he friend or foe who achieves Friars' church in Dumfries, that their difference broke high deeds of chivalry, men should bear faithful wit-out into high and insulting language, and that Bruce ness to his valour; and never have I heard of one, who, drew his dagger and stabbed Comyn, is certain. Rushby his knightly feats, has extricated himself from suching to the door of the church, Bruce met two powerful dangers as have this day surrounded Bruce.>> Note 6. Stanza xi. Wrought and chased with rare device, Great art and expense was bestowed upon the fibula, or broach, which secured the plaid, when the wearer was a person of importance. Martin mentions having seen a silver broach of an hundred marks value. "It was broad as any ordinary pewter plate, the whole curiously engraven with various animals, etc. There was a lesser buckle, which was wore in the middle of the larger, and above two ounces weight; it had in the center a large piece of crystal, or some finer stone, and this was set all round with several finer stones of a lesser size.»-Western Islands. Pennant has given an engraving of such a broach as Martin describes, and the workmanship of which is very elegant. It is said to have belonged to the family of Lochbuy. See PENNANT'S Tour, vol. III, p. 14. Note 7. Stanza xiii. Vain was then the Douglas brand, The gallant Sir James, called the Good Lord Douglas, the most faithful and valiant of Bruce's adherents, was wounded at the battle of Dalry. Sir Nigel, or Niel Campbell, was also in that unfortunate skirmish. He married Marjorie, sister to Robert Bruce, and was among his most faithful followers. In a manuscript account of the house of Argyle, supplied, it would seem, as materials for Archbishop Spottiswoode's History of the Church of Scotland, I find the following passage concerning Sir Niel Campbell:- Moreover, when all the nobles in Scotland had left King Robert after his hard success, yet this noble knight was most faithful, and shrinked not, as it is to be seen in an indenture bearing these words:-Memorandum quod cum ab incarnatione Domini 1308 conventum fuit et concordatum inter nobiles viros Dominum Alexandrum de Seatoun militem et Dominum Gilbertum de Haye militem et Dominum Nigellum Campbell militem apud monasterium de Cambuskenneth 9° Septembris qui tacta sancta eucharista, magnoque juramento facto, jurarunt se debere libertatem regni et Robertum nuper regem coronatum contra omnes mortales, Francos, Anglos, Scotos, defendere usque ad ultimum terminum vitæ ipsorum. Their seales are appended to the indenture in greene wax, togithir with the seal of Gulfrid, Abbot of Cambuskenneth.>> Note 8. Stanza xiii. Vain Kirkpatrick's bloody dirk, Making sure of murder's work. Every reader must recollect that the proximate cause of Bruce's asserting his right to the crown of Scotland, was the death of John, called the Red Comyn. The causes of this act of violence, equally extraordinary from the high rank both of the perpetrator and sufferer, and from the place where the slaughter was committed, are variously related by the Scottish and English histo barons, Kirkpatrick of Closeburn, and James de Lindsay, who eagerly asked him what tidings?» « Bad tidings,» answered Bruce, « I doubt I have slain Comyn.>> <«< Doubtest thou?» said Kirkpatrick; «I make sicker,>> (i. e.) sure. With these words, he and Lindsay rushed into the church, and dispatched the wounded Comyn. The Kirkpatricks of Closeburn assumed, in memory of this deed, a hand holding a dagger, with the memorable words, «I make sicker.» Some doubt having been started by the late Lord Hailes as to the identity of the Kirkpatrick, who completed this day's work, with Sir Roger, then representative of the ancient family of Closeburn, my kind and ingenious friend, Mr Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe, has furnished me with the following memorandum, which appears to fix the deed with his ancestor: from which the family of Kirkpatrick, in Nithsdale, is «The circumstances of the Regent Cummin's murder, said to have derived its crest and motto, are well known to all conversant with Scottish history; but Lord Hailes has started a doubt as to the authenticity of this tradition, when recording the murder of Roger Kirkpatrick, in his own castle of Caerlaverock, by Sir James Lindsay. Fordun,' says his lordship, remarks that Lindsay and Kirkpatrick were the heirs of the two men who accompanied Robert Brus at the fatal conference with Comyn. If Fordun was rightly informed as to this particular, an argument arises, in support of a notion which I have long entertained, that the person who struck his dagger in Comyn's heart was not the representative of the honourable family of Kirkpatrick in Nithsdale. Roger de K. was made prisoner at the battle of Durham in 1346. Roger de Kirkpatrick was alive on the 6th of August, 1357; for, on that day, Humphry, the son and heir of Roger de K., is proposed as one of the young gentlemen who were to be hostages for David Bruce. Roger de K, Miles was present at the parliament held at Edinburgh, 25th September, 1357; and he is mentioned as alive 3d October, 1357, (Federa); it follows, of necessary consequence, that Roger de K., murdered in June, 1357, must have been a different person.'-Annals of Scotland, vol. II, p. 242. «To this it may be answered, that at the period of the name of Kirkpatrick (nearly allied to each other) the regent's murder, there were only two families of in existence-Stephen Kirkpatrick styled in the Chartulary of Kelso (1278), Dominus villæ de Closburn, filius et hæres Domini Ade de Kirkpatrick, Militis (whose father, Ivone de Kirkpatrick, witnesses a charter of Robert Brus, Lord of Annandale, before the year 1141), had two sons, Sir Roger, who carried on the line of Closeburn, and Duncan, who married Isobel, daughter and heiress of Sir David Torthorwald of that ilk; they had a charter of the lands of Torthorwald from King Robert Brus, dated 10th August, the year being omitted-Umphray, the son of Duncan and Isobel, got a charter of Torthorwald from the king, 16th July, 1322-his son, Roger of Torthorwald, got a charter from John the Grahame, son of Sir John Grahame of Mosskessen, of an annual rent of 40 shillings, out of the lands of Overdryft, 1355-his son, William Kirkpatrick, (Kirkpatrick, that cruel was and keyne. But this baron seems to have had no share in the ad- « Universal tradition, and all our later historians, have attributed the regent's death-blow to Sir Roger K. of Closeburn. The author of the MS. History of the Presbytery of Penpont, in the Advocates' Library, affirms, that the crest and motto were given by the king on that occasion; and proceeds to relate some circumstances respecting a grant to a cottager and his wife in the vicinity of Closeburn Castle, which are certainly authentic, and strongly vouch for the truth of the other report. <<"The steep hill (says he), called the Dune of Tynron, of a considerable height, upon the top of which there hath been some habitation or fort. There have been in ancient times, on all hands of it, very thick woods, and great about that place, which made it the more inaccessible, into which K. Ro. Bruce is said to have been conducted by Roger Kirkpatrick of Closeburn, after they had killed the Cumin at Dumfries, which is nine miles from this place, whereabout it is probable that he did abide for some time thereafter; and it is reported, that, during his abode there, he did often divert to a poor man's cottage, named Brownrig, situate in a small parcel of stoney ground, incompassed with thick woods, where he was content sometimes with such mean accommodation as the place could afford. The poor man's wife being advised to petition the king for somewhat, was so modest in her desires, that she sought no more but security for the croft in her husband's possession, and a liberty of pasturage for a very few cattle of different kinds on the hill, and the rest of the bounds. Of which privilege that ancient family, by the injury of time, hath a long time been, and is, deprived: but the croft continues in the possession of the heirs and successours lineally descended of this Brownrig and his wife; so that this family, being more ancient than rich, doth yet continue in the name, and, as they say, retains the old charter.'-MS. History of the Presbytery of Penpont, in the Advocates' Library of Edinburgh. Note Stanza xiii. 9. Barendown fled fast away, Fled the fiery De la Haye. These knights are enumerated by Barbour among the small number of Bruce's adherents, who remained in arms with him after the battle of Methven. With him was a bold baron, Schyr Gilbert de la Haye alsua. There were more than one of the noble family of Hay engaged in Bruce's cause; but the principal was Gilbert de la Haye, Lord of Errol, a staunch adherent to King Robert's interest, and whom he rewarded by creating him hereditary Lord High Constable of Scotland, a title which he used 16th March, 1308, where in a letter from the peers of Scotland to Philip the Fair of France, he is designed Gilbertus de Hay, Constabularius Scotia. He was slain at the battle of Halidon-hill. Hugh de la Haye, his brother, was made prisoner at the battle of Methven. Note 10. Stanza xiv. Well hast thou framed, old man, thy strains, The character of the Highland bards, however high in an earlier period of society, seems soon to have degenerated. The Irish affirm, that in their kindred tribes severe laws became necessary to restrain their avarice. In the Highlands they seem gradually to have sunk into contempt, as well as the orators, or men of speech, with whose office that of family poet was often united. « The orators, in their language called Isdane, were until within these forty years, they sat always among in high esteem both in these islands and the continent; the nobles and chiefs of families in the streah, or circle. Their houses and little villages were sanctuaries, as well as churches, and they took place before doctors of physick. The orators, after the druids were extinct, were brought in to preserve the genealogy of families, and to repeat the same at every succession of chiefs; and upon the occasion of marriages and births, they made epithalamiums and panegyricks, which the poet or bard pronounced. The orators, by the force of their eloquence, had a powerful ascendant over the greatest men in their time; for if any orator did but ask the habit, arms, horse, or any other thing belonging to the greatest man in these islands, it was readily granted them, sometimes out of respect, and sometimes for fear of being exclaimed against by a satire, which, in those days, was reckoned a great dishonour. But these gentlemen, becoming insolent, lost ever since both the profit and esteem which was formerly due to their character; for neither their panegyricks nor satires are regarded to what they have been, and they are now allowed but a small salary. I must not omit to relate their way of study, which is very singular: They shut their doors and windows for a day's time, and lie on their backs, with a stone upon their belly, and plads about their heads, and their eyes being covered, they pump their brains for rhetorical encomium or panegyrick; and indeed they furnish such a style from this dark cell as is understood by very few; and if they purchase a couple of horses as the reward of their meditation, they think they have done a great matter. The poet, or bard, had a title to the bridegroom's upper garb, that is, the plad and bonnet: but now he is satisfyed with what the bridegroom pleases to give him on such occasions.»-MARTIN'S Western Isles. Note 11. Stanza xxv. Was 't not enough to Ronald's bower I brought thee, like a paramour. It was anciently customary in the Highlands to bring the bride to the house of the husband. Nay, in some cases, the complaisance was stretched so far, that she remained there upon trial for a twelvemonth; and the bridegroom, even after this period of cohabitation, retained an option of refusing to fulfil his engagement. It is said that a desperate feud ensued between the clans of Mac-Donald of Sleate and Mac-Leod, owing to the former chief having availed himself of this license to send back to Dunvegan a sister, or daughter, of the latter. Mac-Leod, resenting the indignity, observed, that since there was no wedding bonfire, there should be one to solemnize the divorce. Accordingly, he burned and laid waste the territories of Mac-Donald, who retaliated, and a deadly feud, with all its accompaniments, took place in form. Note 12. Stanza xxvi. Since matchless Wallace first had been In mock'ry crown'd with wreaths of green. Stowe gives the following curious account of the trial and execution of this celebrated patriot:-« William Wallace, who had oft-times set Scotland in great trouble, was taken and brought to London, with great numbers of men and women wondering upon him. He was lodged in the house of William Delect, a citizen of London, in Fenchurch-street. On the morrow, being the eve of St Bartholomew, he was brought on horseback to Westminster. John Legrave and Geffrey, knights, the mayor, sheriffs, and aldermen of London, and many others, both on horseback and on foot, accompanying him; and in the great hall at Westminster, he being placed on the south bench, crowned with laurel, for that he had said in times past that he ought to bear a crown in that hall, as it was commonly reported; and being appeached for a traitor by Sir Peter Malorie, the king's justice, he answered, that he was never traitor to the king of England; but for other things whereof he was accused, he confessed them; and was after headed and quartered.»-STOWE, Chr. p. 209. There is something singularly doubtful about the From this it would appear that the infamy of seizing Wallace must rest between a degenerate Scottish nobleman, the vassal of England, and a domestic, the obscure agent of his treachery; between Sir John Menteith, son of Walter, Earl of Menteith, and the traitor Jack Short. Note 13. Stanza xxiv. Where's Nigel Bruce? and De la Haye, When these lines were written, the author was remote from the means of correcting his indistinct recollection concerning the individual fate of Bruce's followers, after the battle of Methven. Hugh de la Haye and Thomas Somerville of Lintoun and Cowdally, ancestor of Lord Somerville, were both made prisoners at that defeat, but neither was executed. Sir Nigel Bruce was the younger brother of Robert, to whom he committed the charge of his wife and daughter, Marjorie, and the defence of his strong castle of Kildrummie near the head of the Don, in Aberdeenshire. Kildrummie long resisted the arms of the Earls of Lancaster and Hereford, until the magazine was treacherously burnt. The garrison was then compelled to surrender at discretion, and Nigel Bruce, a youth remarkable for personal beauty, as well as for tallantry, fell into the hands of the unrelenting Edward. He was tried by a special commission at Berwick, was condemned, and executed. Christopher Seatoun shared the same unfortunate fate. He also was distinguished by personal valour, and signalized himself in the fatal battle of Methven. Robert Bruce adventured his person in that battle like a knight of romance. He dismounted Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, but was in his turn dismounted by Sir Philip Mowbray. In this emergence Seatoun came to his aid, and remounted him. Langtoft mentions, that in this battle the Scottish wore white surplices, or shirts, over their armour, that those of rank might not be known. In this manner both Bruce and Seatoun escaped. But the latter was afterwards betrayed to the English, through means, according to Barbour, of one Mac-Nab, «a disciple of Judas,» in whom the unfor tunate knight reposed entire confidence. There was mode in which Wallace was taken. That he was besome peculiarity respecting his punishment; because, trayed to the English is indubitable; and popular fame charges Sir John Menteith with the indelible infamy.according to Matthew of Westminster, he was considered <«< Accursed,» says Arnold Blair, «be the day of nativity therefore taken to Dumfries, where he was tried, connot as a Scottish subject, but an Englishman. He was of John de Menteith, and may his name be struck out of the book of life.» But John de Menteith was all along a zealous favourer of the English interest, and was governor of Dumbarton Castle by commission from Edward the First; and therefore, as the accurate Lord Hailes has observed, could not be the friend and confidant of Wallace, as tradition states him to be. The truth seems to be, that Menteith, thoroughly engaged in the English interest, pursued Wallace closely, and made him prisoner through the treachery of an attendant, whom Peter Langtoft calls Jack Short. William Waleis is nomen that master was of theves, He tok him when be ween'd least, on night, his leman him by, demned, and executed, for the murder of a soldier slain by him. His brother, John de Seton, had the same fate at Newcastle; both were considered as accomplices in the slaughter of Comyn, but in what manner they were particularly accessary to that deed does not appear. The fate of Sir Simon Fraser, or Frizel, ancestor of the family of Lovat, is dwelt upon at great length, and with savage exultation, by the English historians. This knight, who was renowned for personal gallantry and high deeds of chivalry, was also made prisoner, after a Gallant defence, in the battle of Methven. Some stanzas of a ballad of the times, which, for the sake of rendering it intelligible, I have translated out of its rude orthography, give minute particulars of his fate. It was written immediately at the period, for it mentions the Earl of Athole as not yet in custody. It was first Thitherward can leap. Though he cam to the gallows first he was on hung, All quick beheaded that him thought long; The heved to London-bridge was send To shende. So ever more mote I the, Some while weened he He rideth through the city, as I tell may, With gamen and with solace that was their play, To London-bridge he took the way, Mony was the wives child that thereon lacketh-a-day," That he was y-born So fair man he was." • Head. Periwinckle. 3 He was condemned to be drawn. 4 Burned. Meaning at one time he little thought to stand thus. Saith lack-a-day. Now standeth the heved above the tu-brigge, Better him were in Scotland, With his axe in his hand, To play on the green, etc. The preceding stanzas contain probably as minute an account as can be found of the trial and execution of state criminals of the period. Superstition mingled its horrors with those of a ferocious state policy, as appears from the following singular narrative. «The Friday next, before the assumption of Our Lady, King Edward met Robert the Bruce at Saint Johnstoune, in Scotland, and with his company, of which company King Edward quelde seven thousand. When Robert the Bruce saw this mischief, and gan to flee, and hov'd him that men might not him find; but S. Simond Frisell pursued was so sore, so that he turned again and abode bataille, for he was a worthy knight and a bolde of bodye, and the Englishmen pursuede him sore on every side and quelde the steed that Sir Simond Frisell rode upon, and then toke him and led him to the host. And S. Symond began for to flatter and speke fair, and saide, Lordys, I shall give you four thousand markes of silver, and myne horse and harness, and all my armoure and income. Tho' answered Thobaude of Pevenes, that was the kinges archer, Now, God me so helpe, it is for nought that thou speakest, for all the gold of England I would not let thee go without commandment of King Edward. And tho' he was led to the king, and the king would not see him, but commanded to lead him away to his doom in London, on Our Lady's even nativity. And he was hung and drawn, and his head smitten off, and hanged again with chains of iron upon the gallows, and his head was set at London-bridge upon a spear, and against Christmas the body was burnt, for encheson (reason) that the men that keeped the body saw many devils ramping with iron crooks, running upon the gallows, and horribly tormenting the body. And many that them saw, anon thereafter died for dread, or waxen mad, or sore sickness they had.»-MS. Chronicle in the British Museum, quoted by Ritson. Note 14. Stanza xxvi. Was not the life of Athole shed, To soothe the tyrant s sicken'd bed? John de Strathbogie, Earl of Athole, had attempted to escape out of the kingdom, but a storm cast him upon the coast, when he was taken, sent to London, and executed, with circumstances of great barbarity, being first half strangled, then let down from the gallows while yet alive, barbarously dismembered, and his body burnt. It may surprise the reader to learn, that this was a mitigated punishment: for, in respect that his mother was a grand-daughter of King John, by his natural son Richard, he was not drawn on a sledge to execution, «< that point was forgiven,» and he made the passage on horseback. Matthew of Westminster tells us that King Edward, then extremely ill, received great ease from the news that his relative was apprehended. << Quo audito, Rex Angliæ, etsi gravissimo The gallant knight, like others in the same situation, was pitied morbo tunc languerit, levius tamen tulit dolorem.» by the female spectators as a proper young man.. To this singular expression the text alludes. |