The Works of John Knox, Volume 1 (of 6)
Chapter 49
[274] In Vautr. edit. the words, "and they made a brag to depose the Governour," are omitted.--Sadler, on the 16th of July 1543, writes to the English Monarch, that the Governor had informed him of the intention of the Cardinal and his party "to come to Linlithgow to surprize the young Queen, _and afterwards_, (if they can,) _to depose and put him downe_."--(Sadler's Papers, vol. i. p. 233.) And in another letter from Edinburgh, dated the 23d of July, he says, "_I thinke they woll not fight, for all their bragges._ The Cardynall and his complices do lye at Lythcoo, with the nomber of 5 or 6000; and the Governour and his frendes and adherentes, with 7 or 8000, do lye here in this toune, not 12 myle a sonder; and ambassadours go bytwen them to treate the matiers, so that, by treatie, it is thought they shall agree, and no hurte done."--(State Papers, vol. v. p. 326.)
[275] This sentence, on to the words "confouud all," is written on the margin of the MS. with this addition, "as after follows;" which, I presume, has reference to the concluding part of the sentence, although it is partially deleted. The statement is not only correct in itself, but is required for the context. In MS. G, Vautr. edit., and all the other copies, while the marginal addition, "The Papists raged," &c., and also the words, "as after follows," are incorporated with the text, the clause, "And without delay," &c., is wholly omitted.
[276] Sir James Foulis of Colinton was appointed Clerk-Register in 1531, and was also admitted a Lord of Session, at the first meeting of the Court, on the 27th of May 1532. He held the office of Clerk-Register till 1548, the year before his death. The Treasurer paid "to Maister Henry Foullis, for his umquhill fatheris feyes, in the yeris of God 1547 and 1548, £26, 13s. 4d."
[277] In Vautr. edit. "preparation."
[278] John Hamilton, Abbot of Paisley. He arrived in Scotland between the 2d and 18th of April 1543.
[279] George Crichton, a son of Crichton of Naughton, (Keith's Bishops, p. 94,) must have been far advanced in life at this time. He was a fellow-student with Dunbar the poet at St. Andrews, having taken his Master's degree in the year 1479. He was Abbot of Holyroodhouse, which he probably resigned on obtaining possession of the See of Dunkeld, previously to November 1520. In 1533, he was nominated an Extraordinary Lord of Session, (Senators of the College of Justice, p. 45;) and died on the 24th of January 1545.
[280] See note 30.
[281] Or, Bellenden, Justice-Clerk. see note 166.
[282] It is surprising that Sir David Lyndesay, among the various persons who were accused of heresy, should have escaped all persecution. For a time, the personal attachment of James the Fifth may explain this exemption, having been in his service since the King's infancy; but the effects of Lyndesay's satirical writings must have rendered him peculiarly obnoxious to the clergy. Yet we find him officially employed in foreign missions, as Lyon-King at Arms, till within a short time of his death, which took place about the year 1555.
[283] Michael Durham appears among the Determinants in St. Leonard's College, St. Andrews, in 1527, and the Licentiates in 1529. It is probable he then went abroad, and took a degree in medicine at some foreign University. From the Treasurer's Accounts, we learn that for a short period before the death of James the Fifth, he was King's physician:--
1542, July or August, "Item, to Maister Michaell Durehame, doctour in medecyne, (enterit before the last feist of Whitsunday,) for his half yearis fee, £50."
1543, Jan., "Item, gevin to Maister Michael Durehame, doctour in medecyne, be one precept in recompensatioun of service done be him to our Sovernne Lord, quhome God assolze, and for the rest of his feis, as his said precept beris, £200."
[284] The name of David Borthwick occurs among the Determinants in the Pedagogy of St. Andrews, in 1515. He became King's Advocate, and will be afterwards noticed.
[285] In MS. G, "to the uter point of ruyne."
[286] James second Earl of Arran was the grandson of Sir James Hamilton of Cadzow, created Lord Hamilton in 1445, and the Princess Mary, daughter of James the Second, and relict of Thomas Boyd, Earl of Arran. His father was thrice married. His first wife was Beatrix Drummond, by whom he had one daughter, married to Andrew Stewart Lord Evandale and Ochiltree. His second wife was Lady Elizabeth Home, sister of Alexander Earl of Home, from whom he obtained a divorce in 1511. Janet, daughter of Sir David Beaton of Creich, Comptroller of Scotland, was his third wife, by whom he had his son James, second Earl of Arran; but who being born during the life of his father's divorced wife, his legitimacy depended on the validity of his divorce. Had he, in such a case, been set aside, Matthew Earl of Lennox would have been next in succession.
[287] The infant Queen, who had hitherto been kept in the Palace of Linlithgow, (note 246,) was brought to Stirling on the 23d of July 1543, (note 274.) After the Governor's very inconsistent proceedings in the month of August, and his reconciliation with the Cardinal, Queen Mary was crowned with great ceremony, on the 9th of September 1543. The following entries are from the Treasurer's Accounts:--
1543. "Item, the fourth day of August, be my Lord Governoris precept and speciall command, deliverrit to Mathew Hammiltoun, capitane and kepar of the Palice of Linlithqw, for furnesyng of the said Palice, the sowme of £55.
"Item, to the Lord Levingstoun, for keping of the Princes[s] in Linlithqw, quhilk was awin him the sum of £93, 6s. 8d.
October. "Item, to the Lord Levingstoun, for keping of the Princes[s] in Striveling, fra the xxiij day of Julij in anno Domini etc. xliij^o to the last day of this moneth of October inclusive, £180."
[288] In MS. G, "with him than in."
[289] All this took place about the 3d of September, or within nine days of the Governor's ratification of the English alliance, mentioned in note 273, and six days of his having issued a proclamation against the Cardinal.--(Sadler's Papers, vol. i. pp. 277, 278, 282.)
[290] On the 9th of September 1543: see note 287.
[291] Sadler, in this embassy, arrived in Edinburgh in March 1543. Notwithstanding the treaty referred to in a previous note, he did not succeed in the great object of his mission at this time, that of gaining the Governor to a steady adherence to his original policy of favouring the Reformed doctrines, and adhering to the English in opposition to the French interest. Sadler was recalled in December 1543; and the country was speedily invaded and devastated by the English troops.
[292] Matthew Earl of Lennox returned to Scotland, by the advice of Cardinal Beaton, and landed at Dumbarton on the last day of March 1543.
[293] A blank in the MS. and in all the copies. The name of Somerville is supplied on the authority of letters from Sir Ralph Sadler to Henry the Eighth, and from the Privy Council of England to Sadler.--(Sadler, vol. i. p. 161; State Papers, vol. v. p. 280.)
[294] Sir Hugh Campbell of Loudon.
[295] In MS. G, "was efter tane in the Lenterne, at the siege of Glasgw."
[296] John Charteris of Couthilgourdy had been elected Provost of Perth, 1st October 1543, but was discharged, by appointment of the Governor, 26th January 1543-44, when Mr. Alexander M'Breck was chosen. Patrick Lord Ruthven, who was chosen Provost on the 7th October 1544, was attempted to be discharged on the 26th January 1544-45, and to be replaced by John Charteris; but the Ruthven party prevailing, Charteris was not admitted.
The skirmish of which Knox here gives a minute and accurate description, took place on the 22d of July 1544, when Lord Gray's partizans were repulsed with a loss of upwards of sixty men.--(Adamson's Muses Threnodie, by Cant, pp. 70, 71, 112.) Lord Gray, in October that year, received from the Cardinal a grant of part of the lands of Rescobie in Forfarshire, for his "ready and faithful help and assistance in these dangerous times of the Church."
[297] Patrick Master of Ruthven was the oldest son of Patrick third Lord Ruthven, the principal actor in Rizzio's murder, on the 9th March 1566, and who fled into England, where he died on the 13th June that year. Having predeceased his father, and leaving no issue, Patrick was succeeded by his next brother, William, who is styled Master of Ruthven, in a charter, 9th April 1565. This son, who was afterwards created Earl of Gowrye, was also concerned with his father in the murder of Rizzio.
[298] Moncrieffe of Moncrieffe, in the parish of Dunbarny, Perthshire.
[299] Mary Magdalene's day, the 22d of July. But the year was 1544, and not 1543: see note 296; and the Diurnal of Occurrents, p. 84, where forty persons are said to have been slain.
[300] In MS. G, "a pretty spaice fra the Fische-Yet."
[301] Sadler, on the 13th of November 1543, states that "the Governor and Cardinal are now gone over the water of Forth, into Fife and Angus," to gain the Earl of Rothes, the Lords Gray, Ogilvy, and Glammis, to their party, "either by force or policy."--(Sadler's Papers, vol. i. p. 340.)
[302] Castle Huntley, in the parish of Longforgan, built by the second Lord Gray of Foulis. He had extensive possessions in the Carse of Gowrye, and according to tradition, he named the Castle after his Lady, a daughter of the Earl of Huntley.
[303] In MS. G, "Balgawy." The place referred to is Balgavie, near Innergowrye, two or three miles from Dundee, on the road to Perth.
[304] The old name of the city of Perth.
[305] The Provost of St. Andrews in 1544, was Sir James Learmonth of Balcomie, or Dairsye.
[306] In Vautr. edit. "their friend."
[307] The marginal explanation having been taken into the text, the later copies read as if the Bishop of St. Andrews and the Abbot of Paisley were different persons. John Hamilton, Abbot of Paisley, became Cardinal Beaton's successor in the Metropolitan See. In MS. G, the passage reads, "This answer reported, was send to thame the Bishop of Sanct Andrewes, the Abbot of Pasley, Mr. David Panter," &c., "to desyre," &c. In Vautr. edit. it is still further from the correct reading, by the omission of _thame_, "This answer reported, was sent to the Bishop of Sainct Andrewes, the Abbot of Pasley," &c.
[308] This proverbial phrase, "Ay rynnis the fox, quhill he fute hes," occurs at the end of a poem "againis Treason," by Dunbar.--(Poems, vol. i. p. 136.)
[309] The Parliament met at Edinburgh, in December 1543, and the following Act against Hereticks was passed on the 15th; which may be quoted in connexion with the proceedings at Perth in the following month,--
"The quhilk day, My Lord Governour causit to be schewin and proponit in plane Parliament to all Estatis being thair gaderit, how thair is gret murmure _that Heretikis mair and mair risis and spredis within this Realme_, sawand dampnable opinionis incontrar the fayth and lawis of Haly Kirk, actis and constitutionis of this Realme: Exhortand thairfor all Prelatis and Ordinaris, ilkane within thair awin diocy and jurisdictioun, to inquir apoun all sic manor of personis, and proceid aganis thame according to the lawis of Haly Kirk; and My said Lord Governour salbe rady at all tymes to do thairin that accordis him of his office."--(Acta Parl. Scot. vol. ii. p. 443.)
[310] St. Paul's day was the 25th of January, and the year 1543-4, is fixed by the reference to "the first burning of Edinburgh," by the English troops under the Earl of Hertford, in May 1544. (See note 320.) Keith, and his editor Mr. Parker Lawson, are at a loss to reconcile the dates of the Governor and Cardinal's visit to Perth, and the execution of the persons mentioned by Knox. Knox's account of these martyrs at Perth is corroborated not only by the more detailed account given in Foxe's Martyrs, (p. 1230,) but by the following extracts from the Treasurer's Accounts. The Governor spent his Yule or Christmas, 1543, not at St. Andrews, but at Stirling. The following were payments made by the Treasurer:--
1543, December. "Item, in the tyme of Zule, deliverit to my Lord Governour, to play at the cartis with the Quenis Grace in Striviling, in ane hundreth crownis of the Sonn, £110."
1543-4, "Item, the xij day of Januar, efter the aggreance maid betuix my Lord Governour and the saidis Lordis, (Earl of Levinox, &c.,) at convenit in Leith againis his Grace, hyrit liiij cart hors, quhilk past agane to Striveling with the said artalze, and fra Striveling to Sanct Jhonstoun [and] Dunde, _for punising certane Heretikis_ within the saidis townis, and payit to the saidis hors viij dayis wagis, to every hors on the day iij s.... Summa, lxiiij lib. xvj s.
"Item, xx Jannarij, after the Counsale and Convention haldin at Striviling, at my Lord Governoris departing towart Sanct Johnstoun _for punischment as said is_, hyrit to turs certane small artalze with his Grace thair, xxvj cart hors, to ilk hors the day iij s.... Summa, xxxj lib. iiij s.
"Item, to xij pyoneris, quhilkis past and convoyit the said small artalze, viij dayis wagis, to every man in the day ij s. Summa, ix lib. xij s."
In Mercer's Chronicle of Perth, is this brief notice, "The execution of James Hunter, Robert Lambe, James Ronaldstone, and his spouse, at Perth, in Januar, in Sanct Pawlis day. 1543[-4] yeiris."
[311] His name was Robert, not William Lamb, burgess of Perth. Calderwood has given a detailed account, as related by "Mr. John Davidson, a diligent searcher in the last acts of our Martyrs," of the manner in which Lamb interrupted Friar Spence, when preaching on All-hallow-day. See Wodrow Society edit, of his History, vol. i. p. 174. He also states that Knox's account of these Perth Martyrs "is confirmed by the Registers of the Justice-Court, where it is registered, that Robert Lamb, merchant in Perth, James Ranoldsone, skinner, William Andersone, maltman, James Hunter, fleshour, were convicted of art and part in breaking the Act of Parliament, by holding an assemblie and convention in Sanct Anne's Chappell, in the Spey-yards, upon Sanct Andrewes day [30th Nov.] last by past, conferring and disputing there upon the Holie Scriptures.... Item, Helen Stirk, spous to James Ranoldsone, convicted Becaus of art and part in breaking the Acts of Parliament, in dishonouring the Virgin Marie." See also Foxe's Martyrs, p. 1230. The executions at this time are thus very summarily noticed in the Diurnal of Occurrents, (p. 30,)--
"Upoun the xxviij day of Januare [1543-4,] the Governour with his Lordis past to Sanct Johnstoun and Dundie, and brunt mony limmaris in the said tolbuis [townis]."
[312] Sir Henry Elder, as his name denotes, was in Priest's orders; and John Elder, we may suppose, was his brother. In a list of the Magistrates of Perth, elected 7th Oct. 1541, we find "John Elder, Treasurer;" and, as a burgess of the town, he is to be distinguished from John Elder "the Redshank," who fled at this time into England. (See Appendix, No. VI.) In the Treasurer's Accounts, 1543-46, there was £200 paid as the composition for the remission granted to John Elder, burgess of Perth, and also £40 for the similar exemption given to Laurence Pillour, "pro disputatione in Sacris Scripturis contra tenorem Acti Parliamenti."--(M'Crie's Life of Knox, vol. i. p. 359.)
[313] In the MS. "broking."
[314] In MS. G, &c., "eye."
[315] In Vautr. edit. "Granton hilles."
[316] In Vautr. edit. "the hilles."
[317] In MS. G, "Sir George." Sir George Douglas of Pittendreich was brother of the Earl of Angus.
[318] Blackness Castle, in the parish of Carriden, Linlithgowshire, close to the river Forth, about five or six miles above South Queensferry. This is one of the four fortresses which were stipulated in the Act of Union, in 1707, to be kept in repair.
[319] In Vautr. edit. "between one and two of the clock."
[320] During this Expedition under the Earl of Hertford, the town of Edinburgh, with the exception of the Castle, was "utterly ruinate and destroyed with fire," during the space of four successive days; "Also, we brent th'abbey called Holy Rode-house, and the Pallice adjonynge to the same." This took place in the beginning of May 1544.--(Dalyell's Fragments of Scotish History, p. 7.)
[321] In MS. G, the word "judged" is omitted.--Craigmillar Castle, now a picturesque ruin, in the parish of Libberton, is about three miles south from Edinburgh. The English forces, on the 8th of May 1544, "past to Craiginillar, quhilk was haistilie gevin to thame: promesed to keip the samyne without skaith; quhilk promes thai break, and brunt and destroyit the said Hous."--(Diurnal of Occurrents, p. 32.)
[322] Sir Simon Preston of Craigmillar. He was Provost of Edinburgh in 1565, and three following years. His father, Simon Preston, had been Provost in 1536.
[323] The Tron, or beam, used for weighing merchandize, stood in the High Street, nearly opposite what is now called the Tron Church. But the Butter-Tron was probably at the building afterwards called the Weigh-House, which stood nearly in the middle of the street, at the head of the West Bow, leading to the Castle.
[324] Among the spoils, it is stated, that the furniture and library in the Palace of Holyrood were carried off; including a fine brazen font from the Abbey. (See Archæologia Scotica, vol. iv. p. 13.) But some of the books and furniture had previously been removed by the Governor to Hamilton Palace, where probably they are still preserved. On the 8th of May the Treasurer paid, "be his Gracis speciall command, to certane pure men quhilkis tursit (carried) his Gracis cofferis out of the Palice of Halyrudhous to the Castell of Edinburgh, and fra thare to the Castell of Hammiltoun, the soume of xj lib."
"Item, (on the 16th of May,) to ane pure man of Edinburgh, quhilkis savit fifty-pece of weschell of my Lord Governouris, the tyme of the Inglische menis being thair, and deliverit the samyn to Sir David Hammiltoun, x s."
[325] Ancrum Moor, about a mile and a half to the north of the village of that name, in the county of Roxburgh. The battle took place on the 17th of February 1544-45, when Sir Ralph Evers was slain, and the English forces routed.
[326] Captain de Lorge Montgomery, with about 3500 men, arrived from France in May or June 1545.--(Acta Parl. Scot. vol. ii. pp. 594-596.)
[327] The Castle of Wark, a border fortress, on the bank of the river Tyne in Northumberland, near Coldstream.
[328] In Vautr. edit. "great slaverie."
[329] In MS. G, "the Frenche Captane."
[330] Matthew Stewart fourth Earl of Lennox, had retired to England in 1545. He married Lady Margaret Douglas, daughter of the Earl of Angus and Margaret, widow of King James the Fourth. She was thus niece of the English Monarch, at whose Court she resided until her marriage. Their son was Henry Lord Darnley, who married Mary Queen of Scots. The Earl of Lennox became Regent of Scotland in 1570, upon the death of the Earl of Murray.
[331] John Hamilton, Archbishop of St. Andrews, was a natural son of James first Earl of Arran. He pursued his studies first at Glasgow, and afterwards at Paris. In 1525, he obtained the rich Abbacy of Paisley; and as Abbot he sat in the Parliaments of 1535 and 1540. His relationship to the Governor, over whom he obtained great influence, led to his rapid promotion. He was successively Lord Privy Seal, High Treasurer, Bishop of Dunkeld, and a Judge in the Court of Session. On the death of Cardinal Beaton, he became his successor as Primate. The "Catechisme," which usually passes under his name, from having been printed at his expense, at St. Andrews, in 1552, exhibits a solitary instance on the part of the Roman Catholic clergy to convey spiritual instruction, and is most creditable to his memory.
[332] That is, the Abbot of Paisley now began, &c.
[333] In the MS. this word _Eme's_, at first inaccurately written, was corrected, but not distinctly, and led to the substitution of _Enemies wyfe_, in all the other copies. _Eme_ usually means _Uncle_; here it merely signifies _kinsman_.
[334] Lady Grizell Sempill was the eldest daughter of Robert third Lord Sempill, and was the second wife of James Hamilton of Stenhouse, Captain of the Castle of Edinburgh. A charter under the Great Seal was granted of the lands of Kittiemuir, on the 10th of March 1539, "Jacobi Hamilton de Stanehouse et Grizeldi Sempill ejus conjugi." Her husband, who was Provost of Edinburgh, was slain in endeavouring to quell a tumult between some of the auxiliary troops quartered in the Canongate, and the inhabitants, on the 1st of October 1548.
[335] In MS. G, "Gilston;" and in Vautr. edit., &c., "haldin in povertie." It probably means, that her connexion with the Archbishop always continued. Some further notice of this Lady will be given in a subsequent note.
[336] George Martine, in his "Reliquiæ Divi Andreæ," written in 1683, has given an account of Hamilton, in which, in reference to the Archbishop and this Lady, he says, "I have seen copies of charters granted by this Archbishop to William, John, and James Hamiltons, his three naturall sones born of this Grizzell Sempill; and they are designed her naturall sones, but they came all to be forfeited." (P. 244.) Letters of Legitimation of John and William Hammylton, bastard sons of Grissel Sempill, daughter of Robert Master of Sempill, were dated 9th Oct. 1551.--(Reg. Mag. Sigill.)
[337] Knox places Wishart's return to Scotland in 1544, although the Commissionars to whom he alludes came back in July 1543. The exact time has not been well ascertained: see Appendix, No. IX.
[338] In MS. G, "a litill space."
[339] William fourth Earl Marishall, according to Sadler's report to Henry, 27th March 1543, was "a goodly young gentleman, well given to your Majesty, as I take him." He was friendly to the Reformation, and survived till about the year 1581.--(Sadler's Papers, vol. i. p. 99.)
[340] In MS. G, "Locnoreis." The person referred to was George Crawfurd of Leifnorris, or Loch Norris, now called Dumfries House, the seat of the Marquess of Bute, in the parish of Old Cumnock, Ayrshire.
[341] Gaston, or Galston, a parish in the district of Kyle.
[342] This phrase, "used much in the Bar," signifies that he frequented the house of Barr, the seat of John Lockhart of Barr, in the parish of Galston.
[343] Sir Hugh Campbell of Loudoun, was hereditary Sheriff of the county of Ayr.
[344] The persons here named were all proprietors of lands in Ayrshire. Mongarswood, or Monkgarswood, is in the parish of Mauchline; Bronnsyde, in Sorne; Dawdeling, (in Vautr. edit. "Dawdilling,") or Daldilling, also in the parish of Sorne; and Tempilland, in that of Auchinleck. The Crawfurds were proprietors of Templeland; and the Reids of Daldilling, appear in the Retours 1651 and 1673, in the succession of their property.--(Ayr, Nos. 449 and 679.)
[345] Kinyeancleuch is in the parish of Mauchline. Hugh Campbell was a cadet of the Campbells of Loudoun; and his son Robert Campbell of Kinyeancleuch, who is afterwards mentioned, was a special friend of Knox, and much distinguished himself by his singular zeal and devotedness in promoting the Reformation.
[346] In Vautr. edit. "Shaw." Laurence Rankin, laird of Sheill, in the parish of Ochiltree, Ayrshire.
[347] The year 1544 is the date usually assigned for the ravages of the plague in Dundee. It would seem to have prevailed in different parts of the country for two or three successive years. The probable time of Wishart's visit on that occasion may have been in August 1545, as we are told, "In this tyme the pest was wonder greit in all burrowis townis of this realme, quhair mony peipill deit with great skant and want of victuallis."--(Diurnal of Occurrents, p. 39.)
[348] In MS. G, "at lycht parte."