Part 35

_Gud_ Lundy _than till hym he callit thar,_ _And_ Hew _the_ Hay, _off Louchowort was ayr._--V. 581.

“Richard de _Lundie_, _Lundin_, or _London_, was a powerful baron in the shire of Fife. He brought five hundred men to Wallace’s aid in the encounter with Macfadyan near Craigmore, in Perthshire.--Lundie, having become dissatisfied with some of the Scottish leaders, was on the side of the English in the battle of Stirling Bridge, September 11, 1297.

“In a charter by King William the Lion to the town of Perth, 1210, one of the witnesses is Robert de _London_, the king’s son. This natural son of the king had married the heiress of Lundin in Fife, and from her lands took his surname. Richard was their lineal descendant.

“In 1679, the family of Lundie, because of their descent, obtained liberty to bear the royal arms of Scotland. Afterwards the heiress married John Drummond, Earl of Melfort,” second son of James, Earl of Perth. This family is now represented by the Hon. R. P. Burrel Drummond of Perth.

I have extracted the greatest part of this note from those added to the Perth Edit. of Wallace, by my worthy friend the late Reverend James Scott of Perth, well known as an accurate and indefatigable antiquary. V. also Nisbet, I. p. 64. 107.

_Hew the Hay_ seems to be the same person who afterwards married a sister of King Robert the Bruce, the widow of Laurence Lord Abernethy. He was descended from William Hay of Errol, and was ancestor to the family of Tweeddale. V. Nisbet, I. 182. He is designed Hay of Locharret, or Lochquharret, county of Edinburgh. The ancient orthography was _Lochuswerword_, _Locherworn_. Sir James Dalrymple’s Coll. Pref. 76; also _Locherward_, Ind. Chart. I. 26,--16. 9. 13.

_All_ Mydlame _land thai brynt wp in a fyr,_ _Brak parkis doun, distroyit all the schyr._--V. 945.

In MS. _mydlen_. This I have explained as signifying middle, or denoting lands lying in the interior of a county or district. V. Etym. Dict. But I have here adopted the reading of Edit. 1594. Wallace being represented as at this time in Yorkshire, this is probably the honour or town of Middleham in the northern part of this county. In Bleau’s Atlas, it is written _Midlam_. It afterwards belonged to the Nevilles, who were Earls of Richmond.

_Amang noblis gyff euyr ony thar was,_ _So lang throw force in Ingland lay on cass,_ _Sen_ Brudus _deit, but battaill, bot Wallace._--V. 962.

In editions _Brutus_: i. e. he who is called _the Brute_.

_Than had we nayn bot ladyis to repruff._ _That sall_ he nocht, _be God that is abuff._ _Vpon wemen I will na wer begyn._--V. 1437.

In Edit. 1594, ver. 1438 is thus given;

That sall _not be_, be God that sitis abufe.

This might at first view seem to correspond better with the preceding line, as signifying the determination of Wallace to make no retaliation on the female sex for the treachery of men; but as the author perhaps refers back to what is said in v. 1435, as to the king breaking any truce, made by women, as soon as he found it convenient, and then proceeds to declare that he would make no war on them, I have retained the verse as it is in MS. Thus, it expresses a determination that Edward should have no opportunity of acting so treacherous a part.

_A harrold went, in all the haist he may,_ _Till_ Tawbane _waill, quhar at the Scottis lay._--V. 1497.

In Edit. 1594, _Auane_. The place is the same mentioned before, v. 1170, Sanct _Awbawnys_, i. e. St Albans. If we might suppose the _Tantonie bell_ to be a corruption of “St Antony’s bell,” we could easily account for the introduction of the letter _T_ here, as an abbreviation for _Sanct_.

_We ask her als, be wertu off this band,_ _Our_ ayris, _our king, be wrang led off Scotland._--V. 1517.

In Edit. 1594;--

Our _awin young_ king, be wrang led fra Scotland.

_Ayris_ is the word in MS. This may be an _erratum_ for _ayr_, in singular, as Bruce is thus designed, v. 1342--_our ayr_, i.e. “heir of our kingdom.” But I have retained it in plural, as by _ayris_ the Minstrel might not only mean the king, but the heirs of noble families, then kept prisoners in England; as Randell, Lorn, Bowehane, &c. mentioned in connexion.

_In the_ Leynhouss _a quhyll he maid repayr_-- _Twa monethis still he duelt in Dunbertane._--V. 1595. 1599.

In Edit. 1594,--_Lenox_, vulgarly pronounced _Lennoss_. The mention of _Dunbertane_ immediately after shows that this district is meant. V. Note on the Bruce, B. II. 40.

_His purpos was to se the king off_ France.--V. 1696.

It is undoubtedly a problematical question, whether Wallace ever was in FRANCE. Some, among whom we must reckon our historian Major, think that this is improbable. The Minstrel, it must be acknowledged, has interspersed so much fable in his narrative, as to bring discredit even on what might otherwise have been readily admitted as fact. It seems unlikely that Wallace should have left his native country twice; and the exploits ascribed to him while in France must generally be rejected, especially those said to have been performed by him in Guienne; because it is incredible that, if he had done so much injury to the English in their recent conquests there, not the slightest notice should have been taken of this by any of their historians. But I do not see the same reason for deeming it improbable that he should ever have been in France.

1. From the great intercourse between Scotland and France, as well as from the great celebrity of the achievements of our hero, it seems very natural to suppose that Philip King of France should express an earnest desire to see him, and even send him an invitation to this purpose; and not less so, that while his hands were tied up, during a truce or peace with Edward, he should take the opportunity of gratifying his curiosity, in visiting that kingdom to which so many of his countrymen had been accustomed to resort, as one that had been long in a state of amity and alliance with their own. He might be the more disposed to a temporary change of place, from the envy which his valorous deeds had excited among the nobles of Scotland.

2. The story concerning the capture of Sir Thomas Charteris of Longueville is in so far supported by the known fact that there was a race of this name at Kinfauns; and that a two-handed sword is still shown in the castle of Kinfauns, which tradition has uniformly ascribed to this Longueville. Henry Adamson, in his Muse’s Threnodie, speaking of this castle, describes it as the place,--

---- ---- which famous Longoveil Sometime did hold; whose ancient sword of steele Remaines unto this day, and of that land Is chiefest evident. ---- _Book_ VI. p. 156.

3. In the Scotichronicon it is said, that “after the battle of Roslin, Wallace, having gone on board a ship, sought to France;” that “he acquired great fame there from the dangers to which he had been exposed, not only from pirates while at sea, but afterwards from the English in France; and that this is attested by certain songs in France as well as in Scotland.” The author goes so far as to assert, that Philip had applied to Edward for a truce between him and the Scots, that Philip might have a pretence for retaining Wallace for some time longer in France. Lib. XI. c. 34. MSS. Cupr. et Perth.

4. It is worthy of remark, that Major, after having mustered up several arguments against the probability of Wallace having ever been in France, at once seems to throw them all aside as of little weight, and in conclusion speaks like a man who had hitherto reasoned against his own secret convictions, acknowledging that he is unwilling expressly to deny that Wallace had been there. He closes the account with these remarkable words: Nolo tamen ob has _ratiunculas_ constanter _inficias ire_ ipsum oras Galliæ visitasse. Hist. Fol. LXXIV, a.

It would appear most probable, that the Charterises of Amisfield, now represented by the Earl of Wemyss and March, were connected with those of Kinfauns; from the similarity of their armorial bearings, if not also from their possession of Elcho, in the immediate vicinity of the latter. There was, however, one family of rank of this name settled in Scotland before the time assigned for the arrival of Longueville. Andrew de Charteris, who is said to have been the ancestor of the Amisfield family, swore fealty to Edward, A. 1296, and William de Charteris in 1306. V. Nisbet, Rem. Ragm. Roll, II. 23. Fœdera, II. 1015.

--_Erest in weyr to Sanct Jhonstoun couth fair._--V. 1697.

_Neirest but weir_, &c. Edit. 1594. This makes nonsense of the passage, and has been an early alteration. Wallace did not go _nearest_ to Perth, but went to the town itself. The meaning must be, “In the earliest part of spring.” V. VEIR, Etym. Dict.

NOTES ON THE NINTH BOOK.

_The barge_, be that, _with a full werlik far, &c._--V. 136.

In Edit. 1594, it is;

The barge _began_ with ane full weirlyke fair.

The language is defective as in MS. But _began_ is scarcely the term that we could suppose the Minstrel to use. He would more probably have said;

The barge, be that, _com_ with full werlik far.

I have therefore adhered to the reading of MS. borrowing the word in brackets in the next verse, from the edition quoted above.

“_For my trespas I wald mak sum ramed._” _Wallace wyst weyll, thocht he war brocht to ded;_ _And off his lyff sum reskew mycht he mak._--V. 153.

The passage, as here given from the MS., is evidently deficient in sense. It is given more intelligibly in Edit. 1594.

For my trespas I wald mak sum remeid, Monie saikles I haue gart put to deide. Wallace wist weill, thocht he to deith was brocht, Fra thame to chaip on na wyse micht he nocht. And of his lyfe sum reskew micht he mak, Ane better purpois syne sone than can he tak.

_Ane Skelton than kepyt the careage,_ A Brankstewat _that was his heretage._--V. 625. MS.

In Edit. 1594, and 1648;

_All Brankistnahait_ haill, that was his heritage.

_A Brankstewat_ seems an error for _All Brankstewat_. Both in MS. and in editions, the name has been evidently corrupted. I suspect that it ought to be _Branthwaite_. For the Skeltons were a family of considerable antiquity in Cumberland. John de Skelton was knight of the shire in the reign of Edward II. _Armathwaite_ was the designation of their property. But Richard Skelton, sheriff of Cumberland, in the reign of Henry VI., lived at _Branthwaite_. _Brankistnahait_, and _Brankistewat_, have been originally _Brankisthwaite_. _Thwaite_ forms the termination of many local names in the north of England. Grose explains it; “The shelving part of the side of a mountain.” Hutchinson’s account corresponds: “Down the river of Dudden stands the manor of _Thwaites_, between the river and the mountains, and the ancient seat of Joseph Thwaites of Ulnerigg, Esq., and the place being a stony mountainous country, is not everywhere altogether fit for tillage, meadow, and pasture. But in several parts and pieces, as they are marked by nature, differing in form and quality of soil, or otherwise, by the inhabitants inclosed from the barren wastes of the fells; such pieces of land are now, and were of old, called _Thwaites_ in most places of the shire, sometimes with addition of their quality, as Brackenthwaite, of ferns; Swithwaite, of rushes; Stonythwaite, of stones; _Brentwaite_, of its steepness; Brunthwaite, of burnt with the sun, &c.” Hist. of Cumberland, I. 531, 532. 494.

I do not find any similar term in AS. conveying the idea of a stony place. The signification has perhaps been originally more general, as denoting any place separated from another, as are those “inclosed from wastes;” from _thweot-an_, exscindere, q. “a place cut off” from another.

_A squier_ Guthré _amang thaim ordand thai,_ _To warn Wallace in all the haist he may._ _Out off Arbroth he passit to the se._--V. 647.

This is understood as referring to the ancestor of the Guthries of Guthrie; and it is a strong presumption of the justness of the idea, that Arbroath is the harbour most contiguous to the seat of this ancient family. He is afterwards in different passages designed “the _gud_ Guthré,” a character which, from all that I have seen, appears to have descended to his posterity.

_In_ Barnan _wod he had his lugyng maid._--V. 692.

_Birnane_, Edit. 1594. This is evidently Birname wood, that has derived such celebrity from its connection with the history of Macbeth.

“The hill of Birnam, rendered classic ground by the magic pen of Shakespeare, rises with a rude and striking magnificence to an elevation higher than that of the Sidla hills in Forfarshire, opposite to it. A round mount at the bottom of Birnam hill in the south-east, is worthy of remark. It is faced with steep oaks [q. rocks?] except for a few yards where it was fortified by art. This eminence has been known for time immemorial, by the names of Court-hill, and _Duncan’s-hill_, and is believed to have been on some occasions occupied by the unfortunate Scottish king of that name. It looks full in the face, at the distance of about twelve miles, the celebrated Dunsinan-hill, the seat and fortress of Macbeth.” Stat. Acc. VII. 355. 374.

Fersly _thai_ fled, _as fyr dois out off flynt._--V. 746.

The reading in MS. is, _Freschly_ thai _ferd_. But to this no meaning can be attached. I have therefore given it as in the editions. But I suspect that there has been some corruption of the original here, as _fled_ is introduced in the next line.

_Till_ Ardargan _he drew him prewaly._--V. 768.

This, I suppose, must be the place now called _Ardargie_, in the Ochil Hills, parish of Forgandenny, Perthshire.

_Apon the morn, with fyftene hundreth men,_ _Till_ Black Irnsyde _his gydys couth them ken._--V. 785.

“All round this monastery [Lindores, Fife,] was _Earn-side_-wood, where Wallace defeated the English. It was anciently four miles in length, and three in breadth; now there is nothing but some few shrubs to the east of the abbey.” Sibbald’s Hist. Fife, P. iv. sect. 9. p. 406.

It is added in a note: “Of this wood no vestige remains. The place where it is said to have grown lies along the shore of the Frith, a considerable way below the junction of the Tay and the Earn. The name seems to countenance the tradition, that the Earn alone once flowed by the bottom of the hills of Fife, and did not unite for several miles below this with the Tay, whose course was then along the foot of the hills, forming the northern boundary of the Carse of Gowrie, which lying thus betwixt two rivers, was frequently overflowed, and only became habitable, when, in a great inundation, the Tay burst into the Earn, where they now join.”

In A. Blair’s _Relationes_, this battle is said to have been fought on the 12th of June 1298.

_Rycht weyll I wait, weschell is lewyt nayn,_ _Fra the_ Wood hawyn, _to the ferry cald_ Aran.--V. 805.

Macpherson thinks that this is perhaps the same with _Portnebaryan_, mentioned by Wyntoun, q. “the haven of bread;” _arran_ signifying bread in Gaelic, and _barra_ in Welsh, Cornish, and Armoric. V. Geogr. Illustrations. Shall we add another supposition,--that _Portnebaryan_ had been the ancient name of _Port-on-craigs_, a ferry to the eastward of _Woodhaven_. The latter still retains its ancient name. It lies opposite to Dundee.

--_In that jornay othir to wyn or end._--V. 1048.

The whole passage to ver. 1057, _Thai worthi Scottis_, &c. is wanting in Edit. 1594, and subsequent editions. Both verses, 1049 and 1057, beginning in a similar manner, the intermediate ones must have been overlooked by some transcriber for the press. In MS. ver. 1050 is; _The_ cruell strakis, &c. But as the sense requires it, I have substituted _with_, as in Edit. 1714, followed by that of Perth, 1790.

_The lord_ Cwmyn, _that erll off Bouchane was,_ _For auld inwy he wald [let] na man pass_ _That he mycht let, in gud Wallace supplé._--V. 1253.

According to Henry, his son John Comyn, younger of Badenoch, served himself heir to this envy; as he attributes to him, in a special manner, the loss of the battle of Falkirk. But the account which he gives of this battle disagrees with that of the English writers, who give not the slightest hint of such variance among the chieftains, as, had it really taken place, could not have been totally unknown to their opponents.

William, one of this family, was Chancellor to King David I., and in the year 1140, by the grant of the Empress Maud, was made Bishop of Durham. Crawfurd’s Officers, p. 7. So powerful did it become, that in the reign of Alexander III. there were three earls and one lord of this name, besides thirty knights of landed property. Nisbet, I. 367.

I need scarcely say that Comyn was competitor with the elder Bruce for the crown, as boasting the same blood. This ancient and honourable family is now represented by Sir William Cumyn Gordon, of Altyre and Gordonstown, Baronet.

_A cruell captane intill_ Erth _duelt thar_, _In Ingland born, and hecht Thomlyn off Wayr._--V. 1283.

It is _Erth_ also in Edit. 1594; _Airth_ in that of 1620, and those of a later age.

“The tower at Airth was built before Sir William Wallace’s time. This tower is in good repair; it makes part of the house of Airth, and bears the name of _Wallace’s Tower_.” Stat. Acc. III. 493, 494.

Alexander de Airth, or Erth, is one of those whose names are recorded in the Ragman Roll. V. Nisbet, Rem. p. 23.

“The Erths of that ilk were once a very considerable family in this shire, being proprietors of Airth, Elphingstone, Carnock, and Plean. We find Adam de Erth mentioned among the commissioners who were appointed, in 1248, to ratify an agreement with England, concerning the regulations called the _Border-laws_. Bernard de Erth, who was probably a son of this Adam, married before 1271, one of the three daughters and co-heiresses of Finlaus de Campsie, a cadet of the family of Lennox.” Nimmo’s Stirlingshire, p. 516, 517. In the reign of James I. the eldest daughter of William Airth married “a son of the ancient family of Clackmannan, who thereupon came into possession of the lands of Airth. The family of Erth, like others, took their sirname from their lands; but it is now quite extinct in this country.” Ibid.

_Than to_ Faslan _the worthy Scottis can pass,_ _Quhar erll Malcom was bidand at defence._--V. 1518.

In editions it is _Falkland_. But this being so distant from the earl’s district, and from Dunbarton, where Wallace was immediately before, it must be an error. Macpherson places Faslan near the head of the Gairloch, above Roseneath, Dunbartonshire. V. Hist. Map of Scotl. In the passage, ver. 1514, Wallace and his party are said indeed to take their course thither from _Roseneath_, now a well known seat of the noble family of Argyle.

_And eftir sone thar wncle couth thaim ta,_ _Gud_ Robert Keth, _had thaim fra Glaskow toun;_ _Atour the se in Frans he maid thaim boun._--V. 1558.

This exactly tallies with the account given by Godscroft. V. p. 20.

_A mariage als thai gert ordane him till,_ _The lady_ Ferss.--V. 1566.

In editions _Ferres_. On this head Godscroft says; “His next wife was an English lady called _Ferrar_, or _Ferrais_, of which name we find the Earls of Darbie to have beene in the dayes of King Henry the Third.” Hist. Dougl. p. 16. In the Fœdera they are designed _De Ferrariis_.

_The_ Sanchar _was a castell fayr and strang._--V. 1577.

_Sauquhair_, Edit. 1594. But here, and in the rest of the narrative, I have replaced what must have been the original term, as in Edit. 1620 and 1648, _Sanquhair_. “The wattyr of Craw,” ver. 1606, must be the rivulet now called Crawick, which falls into the Nith. V. Stat. Acc. VI. 451. There we are informed, that “the old castle of Sanquhair had been a building of considerable magnitude and extent;” and that “it is said to have been for some time in the possession of the English in the reign of Edward I., and to have been recaptured by Sir William Douglas,” as is here related. Ibid. p. 460, N.

_And Jhonstoun als, that duelt in [to]_ Housdaill.--V. 1790.

This, in editions, is rendered _Eskdaill_. But this is undoubtedly a mistake. _Housdaill_ is evidently the asperated pronunciation of the name of that district called _Eusdaill_, as being watered by the river _Ewes_, which joins the Esk at Langholm. V. Bleau’s Atlas, p. 47. This seems to have been the ancestor of the Marquisses of Annandale.

_Thir thre capdanis he stekit in that stound,_ _Off Durisdeyr, Enoch, and_ Tybur mur.--V. 1806.

“The vestiges of _Tiber’s_ castle, which has been a large building, are to be seen on the banks of the Nith. A small part of the wall next the river remains. Fosses are visible, and some entrenchments where it was most accessible. It is supposed that the barony of _Tiber_ is named from Tiber, or Tiberius. There is a Roman encampment too. The English had a garrison in this castle in the time of Sir William Wallace, who took it by surprise.” Stat. Acc. P. of Penpont, I. 209.

NOTES ON THE TENTH BOOK.

_In till a playn set tentis and palyon,_ _South_ hald _Fawkyrk._--V. 89.

I have hesitated whether this be not an erratum for _half_ or _halff_, frequently used by our old writers in the sense of quarter; but have retained the term as in MS. Edit. 1594 has,--

South _the_ Faukirk, &c.

If _hald_ be the original term, it may lead us to the sense of the common termination in vulgar language, as in _Southilt_, _Wessilt_. V. EASSILT, Etym. Dict. Thus it might be resolved, “_Hald_,” or hold, “to the south of Falkirk.” Isl. _halld-a_ signifies, viam dirigere; Haldorsoni Lex.

_The lauch way till_ Enrawyn _thai ryd._--V. 622.

_Innerauyn_, Edit. 1594; _Inneravin_, Edit. 1648. More properly _Inveravon_, a village near the mouth of the river Avon in Stirlingshire, a little to the south of Kinneil. V. Nimmo’s Map of Stirlingshire. The rhyme requires that this should be pronounced as a word of four syllables.

_For weill thai wyst, that it was_ Jhon off Lyn, _Scottis to slay, he said, it was no syn._--V. 803.

It is not improbable that there might be, in that age, some dreaded English pirate, denominated perhaps from _Lynne_ in Norfolk, especially as it is said that his ship was not seen by Wallace and his companions till they were opposite to the mouth of the Humber. But I have not met with any historical traces of him.

_The_ Roman [bukis] _that than was in Scotland,_ _He gart be brocht to_ scham, _quhar thai thaim fand;_ _And, but radem, thai brynt thaim thar ilkan;_ Salysbery oyss _our clerkis than has tane._--V. 1003.

The Roman _buikes_ that then war in Scotland, He gart thame beir to _cume_ quhar thai thaim fand, &c.--Edit. 1594.

The Roman _bookes_, &c. Hee gart them beare to _Scone_ where they them fand.--Edit. 1620.

Although the essential term, _bukis_, has been omitted by Ramsay, the MS. alone makes sense of the passage. Hart’s emendation is equal in absurdity with the reading of Edit. 1594. By the _Salysbery oyss_, I need scarcely say, those missals are meant which were formed _secundum usum Sarisburiensem_. This agrees with the account given by Bellenden.

“He brint all the Cronikles of Scotland, with all maner of bukis als weill of deuyne seruyce as of othir materis; to that fyne that the memorye of Scottis suld peris. He gart the Scottis wryte bukis efter _the vse of Sarum_, and constranit thaym to say efter that _vse_.” Cronikle, Fol. CCIX, a. Libros sacros _Anglico ritu_ conscribi jussit. Boeth.

_Schir Jhon Ramsay and Rowan than fled north,_ _To thair cusyng that lord was off Fyllorth._ _Quhilk past with thaim throw Murray landis rycht;_ _So fand thai thar a gentill worthi knycht_ _At_ Climace _hecht, full cruell ay had beyn,_ _And fayndyt weill amang his enemys keyn._--V. 1021. _The knycht_ Climés _off Ross com sodeynly_ _In Murray land with thair gud chewalry._--B. XI. v. 743.