fore have subsisted for many ages previous to that time, but when and what was its commencement, we cannot determine."

In a charter dated May 24, 1153, Malcolm IV. confirmed the grant of certain estates made by his grandfather, David I., in favour of Walterus, filius Alani, dapifer, and conferred upon him and his heirs for ever, under feudal tenure, the office of Seneschal, which he had held during the reign of King David. Walter was succeeded by his son Alan, who, in his turn, gave place to his son Walter, indifferently designated Senescallus and Dapifer. He is also mentioned as Justiciarius Scotia, a distinct function-in later times hereditary. On the death of Alexander II.'s first Queen, Walter the Steward was sent to France to negotiate a marriage with Mary, daughter of the Sire de Couci, in which employment he was entirely successful. His eldest son, Alexander, appears in the historical records as holding, under Alexander III., the chief command of the Scottish army at the famous battle of Largs in 1263, when Haco and his Norwegians were totally routed. It is less certain that he conquered the Isle of Man and annexed it to the kingdom of Scotland, but there can be no doubt that he was one of the members of the Scottish Privy Council who swore to the King's faithful performance of the contract of marriage between his daughter Margaret and Eric, King of Norway. Riding in the twilight too close to the edge of the cliffs between Burntisland and Kinghorn, Alexander III. was thrown from his horse and, falling down the rock, was killed on the spot. The crown consequently devolved upon his granddaughter Margaret, commonly called the Maid of Norway, who died in her childhood in Orkney on her way to Scotland. James, son and heir of Walter the High Steward, had been appointed one of the Regency of six nobles who were to have governed the kingdom during the minority of the infant Princess, and he afterwards agreed to accept as sovereign Edward's nominee, John Baliol. It thus happened that he accompanied John de Warenne, Earl of Surrey, when marching to encounter Sir William Wallace near Stirling; but, as soon as it was seen that the English were being discomfited, he and the Earl of Lennox fell upon their late allies and made common cause with their own countrymen. Five years later the High Steward was one of the ambassadors sent to France to solicit aid from Philip the Fair on behalf of Robert Bruce; for which and similar demonstrations of patriotism he was specially excluded from the amnesty proclaimed by Edward I. To save his life and some portion of his estates, he ultimately accepted the rigorous terms imposed by that monarch.

At Bannockburn the command of the third "battle," or division,

of the Scottish army was entrusted to Sir James Douglas and his youthful kinsman Walter, the High Steward, who received, moreover, the honour of knighthood from the hand of Bruce. In the following year he married Bruce's daughter Marjory, and became the founder of the royal dynasty named after the honourable office he and his ancestors had held for fully 150 years. This Walter was a brave and experienced soldier, much favoured by Robert I., who appointed him Governor of the town and castle of Berwick, which he bravely maintained against two desperate assaults delivered by the English army under the personal command of Edward II. The Princess Marjory died the year after her marriage in giving birth to her only child, Robert, who on the decease of his uncle David II. succeeded to the Scottish throne. Walter himself survived his consort by barely ten years, but transmitted his martial qualities to his son Robert, who, at the early age of seventeen, signally distinguished himself at the disastrous battle of Halidon Hill. For the next ten or eleven years the youthful Prince seems to have sought concealment in the Island of Bute, but in 1334 we find him taking a prominent part in the desultory expeditions directed against the English party. He is described by Fordun-quoted by Stuart-as "a comely youth, tall and robust, modest, liberal, gay, and courteous; and for the innate sweetness of his disposition generally beloved by true-hearted Scotsmen." In recognition of his services in the interests of the exiled King, still a minor, he was appointed co-Regent of Scotland with Sir Andrew Murray of Bothwell, who had married Bruce's sister Christian. On the death of his colleague in 1338, the Steward was acclaimed Governor of Scotland, and for a brief space maintained peace with England, while he suppressed all internal commotions. That exceptional state of things ceased with the return of David II. from his exile in France. The combined harshness and levity of the King alike disgusted the haughty nobles and alienated the people, at all times averse from giddiness on the part of their rulers. So unpopular, indeed, did he render himself, that, on being made prisoner at the battle of Neville's Cross, he was suffered to languish in captivity for eleven years without any serious efforts being attempted to effect his liberation. During this interval the Government was conducted by Robert the Steward, whom David never forgave for his apathy in that matter. Had it rested with the King, Lionel, the third son of Edward III., would have worn the crown of Scotland to the exclusion of the rightful heir. The Three Estates, however, rejected the proposition with indignation, and sternly replied: "We never will allow an Englishman to rule over us"-just as in modern times French

men loved to sing or shout, "Jamais, jamais en France l'Anglais ne régnera." In the end, however, David recognised the High Steward's right to the Crown on his own decease, and conferred the Earldom of Carrick upon his eldest son, John, afterwards Robert III.

It was on February 22, 1370, that the sixth Lord High Steward of Scotland, by hereditary succession, ascended the Scottish throne as grandson of Robert the Bruce. He was then in the fifty-fifth year of his age, and had sadly degenerated from his warlike youth and prime of manhood. He suffered greatly from inflammation in his eyes, and consequently lived much in retirement, and to a certain extent was incapacitated from taking an active part in public affairs. He had, besides, grown indolent, while his easy, good temper made him reluctant to interfere with his restless and turbulent barons, continually occupied with border raids into England, or with intestine feuds. On the other hand, his love of peace endeared him to the people, who desired nothing so much as the unmolested prosecution of their agricultura! and industrial pursuits. His reign was uneventful. His system of non-interference with his lawless nobles obtained for him twenty years' possession, perhaps enjoyment, of regal power and privileges, but laid the foundation of the long train of trouble and misery which, through so many generations, afflicted his successors and their subjects. His chief claim to be remembered by posterity was the accident that, in his person, perpetuated the title of the hereditary office of the family in the name of Stewart, which entirely superseded that of Alan, or Allan, though as years rolled on it was gradually softened or corrupted into Stuart.

His son John, Earl of Carrick, assumed the style and title of Robert III. on his accession to the throne in 1390. An amiable and sensible prince, he had unfortunately been lamed by an accident, and incapacitated for the martial exercises which alone were esteemed befitting men of noble or gentle blood. At a later period his love of justice might have proved alike honourable to himself and advantageous to the country; but at the close of the fourteenth century it was a quality obnoxious to a feudal aristocracy, and certain to bring him into collision with the great tribal chieftains and the high dignitaries of his court. He had, besides, two brothers of a totally different temperament. To the eldest, the Earl of Fife, his father, in consequence of Robert's infirmity, had committed the general government of Scotland; while the youngest, the Earl of Buchan— surnamed the Wolf of Badenoch, from his cruel and bloodthirsty disposition was set over the northern part of the kingdom, which he kept in a state of incessant agitation and ferment. The Earl of Fife

possessed many of the qualities essential to the completeness of a vigorous ruler, but he was also crafty and vindictive, and suffered no moral scruples to stand between his conscience and the gratification of his caprices. It was clearly a mistake, however, to replace him by the King's eldest son, David, a proud, haughty, licentious young man, entirely devoted to sensual enjoyments. At that time he bore the title of the Earl of Carrick, but was created Duke of Rothsay on succeeding to the functions of the Earl of Fife, who was partially compensated by the dukedom of Albany. Notwithstanding his shocking mismanagement of public affairs, Parliament in 1398 appointed the Duke of Rothsay Lieutenant to the King, a post equivalent to that of Lieutenant-General of the realm in more modern times. In the hope of restraining his dissolute habits, his royal parents were persuaded by the Duke of Albany to select for him a wife from the noble family which should bid highest for the honour of a matrimonial alliance with the heir to the Crown. In the first instance the young prince was betrothed to the daughter of the Earl of March, but the contract was shamelessly violated in view of the larger dowry offered by Archibald, Earl of Douglas, to whose daughter, Elizabeth, Rothsay was accordingly married. He did not for that amend his ways, but associated with men of lower rank than was becoming to a prince in his position, and thus fell under the influence of Sir John de Ramorgny, an utter profligate, without a single redeeming point in his moral character, though of elegant manners and a cultured mind, and acquainted with foreign lands.

Rothsay's conduct to his wife was so cruel and disgraceful, that her father made common cause with Sir William Lindsay, brother of the lady who had been jilted, and, with the subtle support of the Duke of Albany, the two conspirators so worked upon the weakness of the King, that he consented to the arrest and temporary imprisonment of his unworthy son. Armed with this authority, Rothsay's enemies carried him off to St. Andrews Castle, whence he was shortly afterwards removed to Albany's Castle at Falkland, and thrown into a dungeon. If tradition may be credited, he was left for fifteen days without food or water, and after death was secretly buried in a monastery at Lindores. The Duke of Rothsay had a son, afterwards James I., whose education was conscientiously conducted by Henry Wardlaw, Bishop of St. Andrews, until he attained his fourteenth year, when the King, his grandfather, distrusting the Duke of Albany, proposed to send him to the Court of France. The royal boy was accordingly placed on board a ship, which was captured off Flamborough Head by an English vessel and conveyed to London.

Regardless of every proper consideration, Henry IV. imprisoned him in the Tower, where he was detained for twenty years, though in other respects well treated and thoroughly instructed in all the learning and accomplishments deemed at that time suitable to the high position he was born to occupy. This last blow proved fatal to the infirm and broken-hearted old monarch, who expired on April 4, 1406. The Regency naturally devolved upon the Duke of Albany, who lost no time in effecting the release of his son Murdoch, though he took no steps to obtain the liberation of his nephew, his lawful sovereign. After ruling the kingdom in his own name for upwards of twelve years, and after virtually holding the reins of government for thirty-four years, this unprincipled man passed away quietly at the ripe age of four score years, and was succeeded as Regent by his son Murdoch, destitute alike of ambition and ability. Emboldened by his incapacity, the Scottish nobles, who had been kept under some degree of restraint by his father, broke out into all manner of violent outrages, and order ceased to exist. Happily, this anarchy was of brief duration. The Duke of Albany died in 1419, and was followed by Henry V. in 1420. Four years later, on the marriage of James I. with Joan Beaufort, daughter of the Earl of Somerset, and closely connected with the Royal Family of England, the late King's brothers, the Dukes of Bedford and Gloucester, permitted his return to Scotland in the thirty-fourth year of his age.

James I. was a Prince of Romance. Born a poet of no mean excellence, he had been instructed in statecraft by Henry IV., had studied war in "the tented field" under Henry V., and was plentifully endowed by nature and education with the good qualities which befit the ruler of a civilised people. Unfortunately, alike for his happiness as an individual and for his usefulness as a monarch, his Scottish subjects were still in a semi-barbarous condition, and, like Oriental nations at the present day, had scant reverence for any consideration save only superior force. They had no sympathy with his ardent love of justice. They could not forget or forgive the threat imputed to him at an early period of his reign when he was reported to have said, "Let God but grant me lite, and there shall not be a spot in my dominions where the key shall not keep the castle and the furze-bush the cow, though I myself should lead the life of a dog to accomplish it." He began, indeed, with a certain degree of circumspection, though he prevailed upon his first Parliament to vote certain notable measures, which plainly indicated the tendency of his mind. All men were exhorted to honour the Church and the Ministers of Religion. Private feuds and wars were