Chapter VII: Part 7

In an Act "anent deidly feidis", evidently emanating from James himself, the Council reminded the lieges that "The Kingis most gratious Majestie, ever since his first cuming to yeiris of perfectioun", had displayed "ain maist ernest and ardent zaill and desyer to have removit frome amange his subjectis of the cuntrey of Scotland all sic custumis, faschiounnis, and behaviouris as did in ony weyis smell of barbarity and sevegnes", and had been unremitting in his endeavours to suppress the "barbarous and detestable consuetud of deidly feids".[249] Nothing could be better founded than the claim thus put forward on the King's behalf, for one of the most commendable features in his administration is to be found in the perseverance with which he strove to put an end to this characteristically Scottish form of disorder by means both of preventive and punitive legislation. He did not succeed in wholly rooting out the "weid of deidly feid", but there is abundant evidence to prove that, thanks to vigilant care and vigorous action, he was able to check its baneful growth.

In taking the measure of James VI as a statesman, it is important not to overlook the method which he adopted to carry on the government of Scotland as an absentee king. It is assuredly no sign of weakness or incapacity that the nearest approach to that absolutism that he had set up as his ideal was made by him after his departure to take possession of the crown left him by Elizabeth. What he achieved in this respect was once set forth by him in a speech to his refractory English Parliament. "This I must say for Scotland, and may truly vaunt it: here I sit and govern it with my pen; I write and it is done; and by a Clerk of the Council I govern Scotland now--which others could not do by the sword."[250] That such was literally the case, that he kept himself fully acquainted with everything that went on in his northern kingdom, and that the measures adopted by his Ministers for its control and management were nothing but the embodiment of his Royal will, is established beyond dispute by the letters which he periodically sent to Edinburgh from his palace in the capital or one of his hunting seats in the shires.

Even the most hostile of James VI's critics give him credit for having endeavoured to promote one excellent measure--the union of England and Scotland. To what negotiations the scheme gave rise, how it was discussed in both Parliaments, what eloquent testimony Sir Francis Bacon bore to the statesmanlike character of the King's views and intentions, and in what circumstances the projected treaty broke down under the weight of English prejudice and jealousy--those are the details of a story which cannot be told now. It must suffice to recall that, if James had had his way, history would have been anticipated by a whole century.

II.--AS POET

The "bagage littéraire" of James VI is but slight, and if the profound indifference of all and the absolute ignorance of most as to its very existence be taken as representing a fair estimate of its merit it must in truth be worthless. But if, on the other hand, we consult his contemporaries we must, unless we are prepared to dismiss them all as more shamelessly fulsome in their adulation than the average of courtly flatterers, at least recognize the possibility of his having been a little better than posterity has been taught to believe. Long before James VI became James I his reputation as a poet had reached England, and helped to swell the chorus of welcome that greeted him on his arrival. In 1598 Barnfield made the King's love of poetry the point of one of his sonnets:--

And you, that discommend sweet Poesie,
(So that the Subject of the same be good)
Here may you see your fond simplicitie,
Sith Kings have favored it, of royal Blood.
The King of Scots--now living--is a poet,
As his "Lepanto" and his "Furies" show it.[251]

Before this, Harvey in his _Pierce's Supererogation_, had already proclaimed the poetical merit of "Lepanto", declaring it, in his high-flown style, to be "a short, but heroicall worke, in meeter, but royall meeter, fitt for a David's harpe".[252] Two years later the judgment of Vaughan was that "James is a notable Poet, and daily setteth out most learned poems, to the admiration of all his subjects".[253] In 1600 Allott gave ten quotations from James in his _England's Parnassus_, and Bodenham claims that in "The Garden of the Muses", from "what workes of Poetrie have been put to the world's eye by that learned and right royall King and Poet, James King of Scotland, no one sentence of worth has escaped".[254] After the accession to the English throne, Jonson addressed "To King James" an epigram of ten lines, in which he expanded the idea of the monarch's excellence as both prince and poet:--

"How, best of kings, dost thou a scepter bear?
How, best of poets, dost thou the laurel wear?
But two things rare the Fates had in their store,
And gave thee both, to show they could no more.
For such a poet, while thy days were green,
Thou wert, as chief of them are said t'have been.
And such a prince thou art, we daily see,
As chief of those still promise they will be.
Whom should my Muse then fly to, but the best
Of Kings, for grace; of poets, for my test?"[255]

And Sir John Beaumont, in a carefully polished poem written before, but published after James's death, and entitled "To His late Maiesty, concerning the True Forme of English Poetry", bestowed upon him the more subtle flattery of calling him the Master whose "judicious rules" have been his guide.[256] Here the reference is to James, not only as a poet but as a critic also. For one of his early prose treatises was entitled _Reulis and Cautelis to be Observit and Eschewit in Scottis Poesie_. This was the manifesto of a group of poets, amongst whom were, in addition to the King himself, Alexander Montgomerie, the author of _The Cherry and the Slae_; Fowler, and the Hudsons, and whose aim was to found a school of Scottish poetry. This document contained a passage which is interesting enough to be quoted. Setting forth the "twa caussis" that have induced him to compose his treatise, the Royal lawgiver of Parnassus says: "The ane is; as for thame that wrait of auld, lyke as the tyme is changeit sinsyne, so is the ordour of poesie changeit. The other cause is; that as for thame that has written in it of late, there has never ane of thame written in our (Scottis) languag. For albeit sindrie hes written of it in English, quhilk is lykest to our language, zit we differ from thame in sindrie reulis of poesie, as ze will find be experience."[257] And we believe there are Scotsmen who will account it to James for righteousness that he at least made an attempt, abortive though it proved, to maintain Scotland's autonomy in language and in poetry.

In forming an estimate of the King's poetical productions, it is but fair to bear in mind that "all of his poems, save three or four sonnets and the revisions of his early paraphrases of the Psalms, belong to the period of his reign in Scotland", and that "the greater portion of them were composed either before the publication of the first volume of his poems in his nineteenth year or in the time of romantic enthusiasm excited by his marriage".[258] We have "The First Verses that ever the King Made". They are written in a sententious vein which might be looked upon as characteristic of the author, were it not that this special feature "is one of the commonest in Scottish poetry of the Chaucerian tradition". And if, on the one hand, it cannot be claimed for them that they bear evidence of exceptional talent, on the other it must be admitted that, as the production of a lad of fifteen, they were quite creditable:--

Since thought is free, thinke what thow will,
O troubled heart, to ease thy paine!
Thought unreveeled can doe no ill,
But words past out turne not again.
Be cairfull, ay, for to invent
The way to gett thyne owne intent.

To play thyself with thy conceate,
And lett none know what thow doth meane;
Hope ay at last, though it be lait,
To thy intent for to atteane:
Whiles, lett it breake furth in effect,
By ay lett witt thy will correct.

Since fool-haste is not greatest speed,
I would thou shouldest learne to know
How to make vertue of a need,
Since that necessitie hath no law.
With patience, then, see thow attend,
And hope to vanquishe in the end.[259]

James was still, as he puts it himself, in his "verie young and tender yeares: wherein nature (except shee were a monster) can admit no perfection", when he wrote his "Lepanto", which his contemporaries seem to have looked upon as the best of his poems, and to which Du Bartas paid the compliment of translating it into French. It is no masterpiece, but Mr. Westcott, the editor of the _New Poems by James I of England_, does not exaggerate the author's merit when he says that "his style in the description of the battle between the Christian and the Turkish navies is concrete and lively, and at times achieves an almost ballad-like simplicity". This seems to us to be justified by such lines as those which describe the gathering of the Christian forces:--

There came eight thousand Spaniards brave
From hotte and barren Spaine,
Good order kepars, cold in fight,
With proud disdainfull braine.
From pleasant, fertill Italie
There came twelve thousand als,
With subtill spreites bent to revenge,
By craftie meanes and fals.
Three thousande Almans also came,
From Countries colde and wide;
These monney men with awfull cheare
The chok will dourelie bide.[260]

James did not make frequent use of this metre, but he adopted it for another poem of a very different kind, "A Dreame on his Mistris my Ladie Glammes", in which he displays some ingenuity and inventive skill. Interpreting one of the tokens that have been left him--an amethyst--he says:

The secret vertues that are hidd
Into this pretious stone
Indues me with meete qualities
For serving such a one;
For as this stone by secret force
Can soveraignlie remeade
These daizeled braines whome Bacchus' strength
Ou'rcomes as they were deade,
And can preserve us from the harme
Of the envenomed sting,
Of poysoned cuppes, that to our tombe
Untymelie does us bring,
So shall my hart be still preserved
By vertue from above,
From staggering like a drunken man
Or wavering into love:
Bot by this soveraigne antidote
Of her whom still I serve,
In spite of all the poysoned lookes,
Of Dames I shall not swerve.[261]

There are 268 lines altogether, and the discovery of them ought to contribute in some degree to the poetical rehabilitation of the author.

As a knowledge of James's character would suggest, his interest in the art of poetry was mainly directed to the details of verse making and diction, and it seems natural in such a stickler for metrical propriety that in his shorter poems his favourite form should have been the sonnet. His highest achievement in this department has always been considered to be the sonnet to his son Henry, at the beginning of the _Basilicon Doron_:--

God gives not Kings the stile of Gods in vaine,
For on his Throne his Scepter doe they swey:
And as their subjects ought them to obey,
So Kings should feare and serve their God againe:
If then ye would enjoy a happie raigne,
Observe the Statutes of your heavenly King,
And from his Law make all your Lawes to spring:
Since his Lieutenant here ye should remaine,
Reward the just, be stedfast, true and plaine,
Represse the proud, maintayning aye the right,
Walk alwayes so, as ever in his sight,
Who guardes the godly, plaguing the prophane;
And so ye shall in Princely virtues shine,
Resembling right your mightie King Divine.

Of this poem Bishop Percy said that it would not dishonour any writer of that time, and a later critic has pronounced that it is by far James's best performance, "which just misses being really fine". By the side of it there may now be placed, by reason of their "sustained music, conformity to the technique of the sonnet, and prettiness of fancy, if not elevation", at least three others which figure amongst the twenty-six hitherto unpublished poems included in the manuscript which Mr. Westcott has discovered. One of them refers to a lady, probably the daughter of Sir John Wemyss, whose name was Cicely:--

Faire famous Isle, where Agathocles rang;
Where sometymes, statly Siracusa stood;
Whos fertill feelds were bathed in bangster's blood
When Rome and ryvall Carthage strave so lang:
Great Ladie Mistriss, all the Isles amang,
Which standes in Neptune's, circle mouving, flood;
No, nather for thy frutefull ground nor good;
I chuse the, for the subject of my sang:
Nor for the ould report, of scarce trew fame;
Nor heeretofore, for farelies in the found;
But, for the sweet resemblance of that Name,
To whom thou seemest, so sibb, at least, in sound;
If then, for seeming so, thy prays bee such,
Sweet She herselfe, dothe merit more than much.[262]

On the strength of this, or of anything we have quoted from James's poems, it would be supremely unreasonable to claim for him a place on the same level as that of the authors either of "The King's Quhair" or of "The Gaberlunzie Man". But it may be less unjustifiable to suggest that he is not absolutely undeserving of a corner in anthologies of the Scottish poems of the sixteenth and of the early seventeenth century. That he is altogether contemptible is an opinion that might be maintained if we had nothing better of his than the string of punning rhymes quoted in the notes to Walpole's _Royal and Noble Authors_, for the purpose of making him appear ridiculous.[263]

FOOTNOTES: for JAMES VI AS STATESMAN AND POET

[244] _Essay on John Hampden._

[245] _Register of the Privy Council of Scotland_, vol. vii, p. xxvii.

[246] Tytler, _History of Scotland_, p. 238.

[247] Tytler, _History of Scotland_, p. 238.

[248] _Register of the Privy Council of Scotland_, vol. vi, pp. 581-2.

[249] _Register of the Privy Council of Scotland_, vol. vi, p. 594.

[250] _Register of the Privy Council of Scotland_, vol. vii, p. xxv.

[251] Westcott, _New Poems by James I of England_.

[252] Westcott, _New Poems by James I of England_.

[253] _Ibid._

[254] _Ibid._

[255] Op. cit., p. lxxx.

[256] Op. cit., p. lxxxi.

[257] Edited by R. P. Gillies, Edin., 1814; _The Authour to the Reader_.

[258] Westcott, op. cit., p. xlv.

[259] Calderwood, _Historie of the Kirk of Scotland_, vol. iii, Appendix, p. 784.

[260] Op. cit., p. lxix.

[261] _Ibid._, p. 15-16.

[262] Op. cit., p. 39.

[263] "In the _Muses' Welcome to King James_, printed at Edinburgh in 1618, folio, the royal visitor greeted his Scottish subjects with a string of punning rhymes on the names of certain learned professors, which some of them were sagacious enough to turn into Latin. As a sample of the literary taste which prevailed at this academic visitation, these quibbling verses on the name of the college disputants are here subjoined:--

As _Adam_ was the first of men, whence all beginning tak So _Adam-son_ was president, and first man in this act. The theses _Fair-lie_ did defend, which though they lies contain, Yet were _fair-lies_ and he the same right fairlie did maintain. The field first entred master _Sands_, and there he made me see That not all _Sands_ are barren sands, but that some fertile bee. Then master _Young_ most subtilie the theses did impugne, And kythed _old_ in Aristotle, although his name bee Young. To him succeeded master Reid, who though _reid_ be his name Neids neither for his disput blush, nor of his speach think shame. Last entred master _King_ the lists, and dispute like a _King_ How reason reigning as a _queene_ should anger underbring. To their deserved praise have I thus played upon their names; And wills their colledge hence be called the Colledge of KING JAMES."

--Horace Walpole, _Catalogue of Royal and Noble Authors_, Edit. 1806, vol. i, p. 125.

THE INVASION OF AILSA CRAIG

Although in the possession of the historic family of Kennedy, to the head of which it gives his title, Ailsa Craig, the imposing "ocean pyramid" that rises in solitary grandeur to a height of over 1100 feet above the waters of the Firth of Clyde, does not figure prominently in the annals of the country, nor in the special records of the district to which it belongs. Its whole story consists of a single episode, which, though hardly noticed by modern historians, created some excitement, both in Scotland and in England, at the time of its occurrence, and may be read with interest at the present day. That incident, the invasion of Ailsa Craig, which it is here intended to relate on the authority of contemporary documents, takes us back to the year 1597. The chief actors in it were Hugh Barclay, Laird of Ladylands, an Ayrshire gentleman of good family, whose estate was situated in the neighbourhood of Irvine, and Andrew Knox, "minister of God's worde at Paselye".

Though originally a member of the Presbyterian Church, Ladylands had made "defectioun and apostacie fra the said trewe religioun". In the correspondence of the time he is usually to be found figuring in the lists of those whom it was customary to describe as "practising Papists", a designation not undeserved in his case, for amongst the religious enthusiasts who devoted themselves to the restoration of the old religion none displayed a greater fixity of purpose, a more unscrupulous contempt for the law, or a more reckless disregard of personal danger. Andrew Knox, on the other hand, in spite of his peaceful calling, gave proof of equal determination and equal audacity in the fulfilment of the self-imposed mission of hunting down "Jesuitis, seminarie preistis, and suspect trafficquaris with the King of Spain, and utheris foreynaris". The plotting of the laird and the counter-plotting of the minister had more than once brought the two men into personal conflict. Indeed, so far as extant documents go, the career of the one is practically identified with the career of the other.

In 1592, which seems to be the year in which he abandoned Presbyterianism, Ladylands was "excommunicated for Papistrye", but granted "a licence to departe out of the realme". Before his departure, however, it was discovered that he and "twoe Inglishmen of the worst sorte haunted togither" at Irvine and other places in the west.[264] In consequence of this, it was at once resolved to take him and his accomplices "quietlie", and to bring them back to Edinburgh. The difficult task of apprehending him was undertaken by Andrew Knox, and successfully carried out, though at "no little paines and perill". He pursued the conspirators through Glasgow and towards Irvine, and pressed them so closely that Ladylands was driven to the necessity of giving himself up to James Hamilton, the eldest son of Lord Claude, though not till, by some means which are unfortunately not recorded, he had provided for the safety of his confederates. Under the charge of Andrew Knox and Captain Hamilton he was led back to Edinburgh, and handed over to the Provost's keeping. On being examined he "confessed himselfe excommunicated and to be of the Catholique Romaine Church and not of the Church established in Scotlande, and he agreed to answer to any interrogatorye charginge him in cryme of treason wherein he pleaded his inocencye, but he derectlie refused to answere to anye question touchinge matter of religion, or as micht accuse or charge anye person other than himselfe onlye".

The object of the conspiracy in which Ladylands had been engaged soon became apparent. Towards the end of December, George Ker, brother to Mark Lord Newbottle, came down to Fairlie, intending to set sail from the "West Sea Bank". His presence in the neighbourhood and his frequent visits to the Island of Cumbrae having aroused suspicion, he was narrowly watched, and "his speeches taken heed to", with the result that, as Calderwood states it, "he was perceaved to be a Papist passing to Spaine, to traffique betwixt the King of Spaine and some Scottish noblemen". Andrew Knox, to whom the information was brought, lost no time in setting himself upon the track of the suspected conspirator. Accompanied by a number of Glasgow students, he proceeded to Fairlie, where he found, however, that Ker had already crossed over to the Cumbrae. Following him to the island, he succeeded in apprehending him just as he was ready to embark. On being searched, his coffers were found to contain "diverse letters and blankes directed from George Erle of Huntlie, Francis Erle of Erroll, and William Erle of Angus, the Lairds of Auchindoun and Fintrie, and other practisers, some in Latine, some in Frenche, together with their caschets and signets".[265]

There could be no reasonable doubt that Ladylands was connected with the plot, which, though treasonable as to the means to be employed, aimed at nothing more criminal, even on the showing of Calderwood, than the "procuring libertie of conscience". Fortunately for him, however, nothing was found in the intercepted letters or extorted from those of the conspirators who had been arrested that could be turned into legal evidence against him. Two months after his apprehension it was reported by the English agent in Edinburgh that "the arraignement of the Larde of Ladilands was differed in regarde that the cause and evidence against him were not rype and sufficient to proove him gilty of treason".[266] On Sunday, the 25th of March, 1593, he was "lett free out of the Tolbuith of Edinburgh, at the King's command, foure sureties being taikin for his re-entering in ward at Glasgow at the King's pleasure". It was at first intended that he should be kept in "straite warde", but, by the influence of the Duke of Athole, from whom he brought letters with him, he obtained the privileges of "free warde within the Castle". During his confinement he was visited by his captor, Andrew Knox, and it was reported that he had been "wonne, and was contented bothe to subscribe to the articles of religion, and also to discover manye practizes and practisers not yet revealed". The Paisley minister, however, had but little cause to congratulate himself on his theological triumph. As soon as Ladylands had succeeded, by his pretended conversion, in allaying his jailers' suspicions, and inducing them to relax their vigilance, he escaped out of the Castle and fled to the Isle of Bute, whence he subsequently made his way to the Continent.[267]

For the next four years both Ladylands and Andrew Knox disappear from contemporary records. But in the month of February, 1596, Robert Bowes, writing to England, informs Lord Burghley that the plotting Laird had returned to Scotland, and "was lurking about his own house and in parts near Glasgow". He was said to have offered "uppon twoe or three lynes of the King's hand to come and reveale to him great secrets". Though urged to give these "lynes", James refused to comply, but appeared willing "ether to send one of his owne servants to attache him or else to derect the Provost of Glasgow to inclose his house and take him". To those who knew how little the King sympathized with the coercive measures enforced by the Presbyterians against their Catholic fellow subjects, his sincerity was the subject of considerable doubt. The suspicion expressed by Bowes that the apprehension of Ladylands was not likely to be effected by his means appears to have been justified, for three months later, in May, 1597--it is well to remember that at this time the year began in March--the "buissy negociator with the King of Spayne and the Pope" was still at large, and "banded with some of the Montgomeries, Stewarts, Murrays, and others, beinge Papists".[268]

On this occasion the object of the conspirators was "to take and surpryse the island and house of Aylsaie, in the mouth of the Clyde, a place of good strength which mycht much annoye the west parts of Scotland, and to keipe the same for the benifyt of ther Catholique freinds, domesticall and forraigne".[269] To accomplish their purpose they were reported "to have prepared and rigged a shipp, furnished with armour, weapons, powder, lead, and other requesyts for warr". Still the King seemed disinclined to adopt stringent measures. But whilst he was hesitating Andrew Knox solved the difficulty by taking possession of Ailsa Craig, at the head of a small body of nineteen men, with whom he stationed himself on the solitary rock to await the course of events. Before long, Ladylands, ignorant of Knox's movements and wholly unconscious of the ambush laid for him, sailed to Ailsa with thirteen of his fellow conspirators, intending "to have fortefeit and victuallit the same for the ressett and comforte of the Spanishe armey, luiked for be him to have cum and arryvit". On reaching the spit of shingle on the east side, which affords the only landing-place, he found himself suddenly opposed by a band of determined men, who at once "forgadderit with him and his compliceis, tuke some of his associates and desireit himselfe to rander and be takin with thame, quha wer his awne freindis, meaning nawayis his hurte nor drawinge of his blude". Though taken at a disadvantage, the Laird was not of a temper to yield without a struggle; "withdrawing himself within the sey cant", he resolutely defended himself against his opponents till, having been forced to retreat step by step to the very edge of the cliff, he was thrust "backwart in the deip, drownit and perisheit in his awne wilfull and disperat resolution".

In the heat of the struggle no attention had been given to the mooring of the boat in which Ladylands and his accomplices had come across. Not till the skirmish had ceased was it discovered that it had drifted out to sea, bearing with it the Laird's "coffers" and the important documents that they were believed to contain. This untoward accident, however, delayed the clearing up of the plot for but a short time. A few days later the masterless craft was picked up off South Annan. In Ladylands' coffers were found, as had been expected, letters which revealed the whole extent and importance of the treasonable scheme in which he had been engaged.

It appeared "that the conspiracye to have been accomplished by the takinge and forcinge of Ailsa was devysed by the larde of Ladylands, Corronall (Colonel) Hakerson, and the Spanish Ambassador".

On the previous October the three conspirators had met at the town of Nantes, in France, for the purpose of considering the details of their bold undertaking of enlisting the men, and raising the funds necessary for carrying it out. In order to secure the co-operation of those who, had they known the size and position of Ailsa Craig, might have felt considerable doubt as to the advantages to be derived by obtaining possession of it, the rock "was termed the island of Guyanna, and given out as very fertile and commodious for fishinge, but inhabited by barbarous people, and ance possessed, not recoverable be noe enemy out of the hands of men of warr".

To meet the expenses of the enterprise "ther was contribution promised by sondry noblemen of Fraunce, and of Englande, and of Scotland". The agents to whom the task of levying the "contribution" was entrusted were Hakerson in France, Richard Skeldon in England, and in Scotland Ladylands himself. It was arranged that Ladylands should, in the first place, get possession of the island, and then send William Liddell to Spain "with message of their interpryse, and to crave mony and furnishing".

The papers also gave further details of the special objects which the conspirators had in view. In the first place, it was intended to "sett upp and manteyne ane publique masse in this Islande, quhilk should be patent (open) to all distressed papists, where fra so ever they should come". Next to this, there was to be "ane place of releife and refreshment to the Spanyart, or rather a porte to them, at ther arryvall in Ireland". Finally, it was a part of the plan to establish "ane storehouse to keip furnishing and all things profytable to the use of the Erle of Tyrone, with the quhilk Erle, Ladylands, by his commissioners, had been buissy sen his last coming to Scotland".

It may be incidentally mentioned that amongst those who lent their support to Barclay's wild scheme, there was one who possesses another and a better claim to be remembered. It was the author of _The Cherrie and the Slae_. In the Acts of the Privy Council[270] it is recorded that Alexander Montgomerie, brother of the Laird of Heslott (Hasilhead), having failed to appear to answer for being art and part with the late Hew Barclay of Ladylands in the treasonable enterprise for the taking of Hisha for the use of the Spanish army, was denounced as a rebel, on the 14th of July, 1597.

Even after the failure of the first part of the plot and the death of Ladylands, it was deemed advisable to provide against the possibility of further surprise on the part of "some practysers for Ireland whose eyes were espyed to be sett uppon the place". But, singular as it must appear, the Scottish Government, or rather the Scottish King, still remained inactive. It was through English influence that the necessary measures of safety were adopted. Bowes, the English agent, "spoke with and moved the Erle of Cassilis", obtaining from him a vague promise "to gyve regarde to yt". As this, however, only resulted in entrusting the custody of Ailsa to Thomas Hamilton, whom Bowes considered "not very fytt for the charge", recourse was again had to the indefatigable Andrew Knox. He readily undertook "both to awayte uppon the further progress of the surpryse, and also to prevent the interpryse in dewe tyme and sorte as before had been performed". It does not appear, however, that the Paisley minister had further occasion to sally forth hurriedly from his residence, at No. 25 in the High Street, and to display his energy for the protection of Ailsa. The whole plot had really collapsed with the death of the prime mover, the bold and unscrupulous Laird of Ladylands.

Not the least singular part of the whole episode is the treatment of Andrew Knox. Far from securing for him the favour of the Court, his "action against the papists and practysers for Spayne" brought upon him the ill will of some of the most influential nobles in the realm. It was officially reported by Bowes, who acknowledged that he himself had been "alwayes privye with him in these affayres", that he had "entred into dangerous feuds by his commendable behaviour", and that "his lyfe was gredely sought by many and strong persons". The agent's recommendation that he "should be tymelye and favorablie comforted" was doubtless acted upon, and it may be looked upon as the result of the interference of the English Government that the Privy Council, "by direction given by His Majesty in his letter from Striveling upon the 6th of June", issued a proclamation which recognized Knox's conduct "to have been loyal and good service done to His Majesty and the country", and warned all persons, under pain of treason, against "troubling" any of those concerned in the expedition which had resulted in the death of the Laird of Ladylands.[271]

With this one episode the history of Ailsa Craig seems to have begun and ended. There is no trace of its connection with the political events of any previous or subsequent period.

FOOTNOTES: for THE INVASION OF AILSA CRAIG

[264] _State Papers, Scotland: Elizabeth_, vol. xlix, No. 51. Robert Bowes to Lord Burghley.

[265] Calderwood, _Historie of the Kirk of Scotland_, vol. v, pp. 192, 193.

[266] _State Papers, Scotland: Elizabeth_, vol. l, No. 30. Bowes to Burghley.

[267] _State Papers, Scotland: Elizabeth_, vol. i, No. 62.

[268] _State Papers, Scotland: Elizabeth_, vol. lx, Nos. 34, 80.

[269] _Ibid_., vol. lxi, Nos. 12, i; 17; _Register of the Privy Council_, vol. v, pp. 393, 394.

[270] Vol. v, p. 402.

[271] _Register of the Privy Council_, vol. v, p. 394.

THE STORY OF A BALLAD--"KINMONT WILLIE"

The ballad of "Kinmont Willie", as to the genuineness of which we are not among those who entertain doubts that reflect on the good faith of Sir Walter Scott, is not only one of the most spirited to be found in all the Border minstrelsy, it is also noteworthy as being in the number of the comparatively few popular poems that have a real historical event as their foundation. And a further interest attaches to it from the circumstance that the incident which it sets forth was of sufficient importance to give rise to a diplomatic correspondence between the Ministers of James VI and those of Elizabeth, and, indeed, to be the subject of an indignant letter from the Queen herself. The actual facts of the capture and rescue of William Armstrong, commonly known as Kinmont Willie, are in the main such as they are related in the ballad.

In 1596, on one of those customary "days of truce" agreed upon by the officials on both sides of the Border for the purpose of discussing and, if it were possible, of settling in a friendly manner any quarrels that might have arisen between the turbulent inhabitants of the respective marches, Thomas Salkeld, the "fause Sakelde" of the ballad, as deputy for the English Warden, Lord Scroope, had met Robert Scott of Haning, the representative of Sir Walter Scott, "the Bauld Buccleuch", Keeper of Liddisdale. The conference had taken place at a spot where the Kershope, a small tributary of the Liddel, formed the boundary line between the two countries. Nothing untoward had happened. The two officials had parted on friendly terms, and the Scots Borderers, of whom Robert Scott's escort consisted, had set out for their respective homes. One of these happened to be William Armstrong of Kinmont. He was well known to the Englishmen as a "bauld reiver", against whom they had many a complaint of long standing.

It was well understood that the "days of truce" lasted until sunrise on the morning after the breaking up of the meeting, so that all who had been present at it might have ample time to perform the return journey homewards without being exposed to molestation. Trusting to this, Armstrong, whose way lay in the same direction as that of the English Borderers, rode on unconcernedly on his own side of the Liddel and in full sight of them. Their sense of honour was not proof against the temptation of availing themselves of so favourable an opportunity. Making it an excuse for their violation of Border law that at one point Armstrong was obliged to pass out of the territory included in Buccleuch jurisdiction, they crossed the stream, thus committing an act of invasion, fell upon him at such odds as made resistance vain, took him prisoner and carried him off to Carlisle, where he was lodged in the Castle. The indignation aroused by this unwarrantable breach of faith was all the greater from the fact that Willie was popular amongst his kinsmen and neighbours for the daring and resourcefulness which had often ensured the success of the raids on which they had sallied out together. Buccleuch protested against the violation of the truce and demanded Kinmont's liberation; but his remonstrances produced no result. Neither was the Scottish Government itself more successful with Scroope when the general outcry obliged it to interfere.

Buccleuch then resolved to take the law into his own hands. As a first step towards the execution of the bold plan which he had conceived, he got his signet ring conveyed to the prisoner. This he contrived to do through the agency of one of the Grames, who, though English Borderers themselves, appear, from Scroope's repeated complaints against them, to have been in league with the Scottish Warden. A horse race promoted by him afforded him an opportunity of communicating with Kinmont's kinsmen and friends without exciting suspicion. He had no difficulty in enlisting recruits, mainly from amongst the Scotts, the Elliots, the Bells, and, as a matter of course, the Armstrongs, including Willie's sons. Before Kinmont, whose capture had been effected on March 17, had been a month in Carlisle Castle, where, after promising that he would make no attempt at escape, he appears to have been treated with some consideration, everything was ready for a dash into England.

On the evening of April 13, a troop of horsemen numbering five hundred, according to Scroope's estimate of them, crossed the Border in a storm of wind and rain. They were led by Buccleuch, who, before passing into English territory, left one detachment under the Laird of Johnston, and another with the Goodman of Bonshawe, to lie in ambush close to the frontier line in order to check pursuit if, as might well happen, the raiders should return with the English at their heels. Those that rode on towards Carlisle were provided with gavelocks, crowbars, pickaxes, axes, and scaling ladders. They reached the Castle at dead of night, and, making for the postern, set about undermining it. The guards had either fallen asleep or got under cover to protect themselves from the violence of the weather; moreover, the howling of the storm covered the noise unavoidably made by the sappers, quietly as they tried to work, and nothing happened to give either Scroope or Salkeld, both of whom were within the walls, the least warning of what was going on. In a short time the Scots had penetrated into the courtyard. Buccleuch was the fifth to pass through the trench. When he had the rescuing party about him he encouraged them to "Stand to it", as he had vowed to God and his Prince to fetch Kinmont out of England dead or alive; and assured them that, when it was done, he would maintain his action "with fire and sword against all resisters". With this he led them to the room where Will Armstrong was confined. Here one of Scroope's servants, who had been stationed as a guard, had to be overpowered, and sustained some slight injuries. The door was broken open and Armstrong was carried off. As the rescuers were retiring they encountered two men of the outer watch. These were promptly prevented from giving the alarm, but escaped with their lives, Buccleuch having given strict orders that no unnecessary violence should be used and no wanton damage done, lest their enterprise should appear to have had other objects in view than the rescue for which it was solely planned. Then the whole party galloped back to Scotland with their prize.

Even in those days news of so startling an occurrence spread fast. Within a few weeks the daring exploit had aroused the keenest excitement in both North and South Britain. In Scotland Buccleuch's action "was greatly commended by the great people". In England there was a feeling of intense indignation at the "outrageous fact". Robert Bowes, the Ambassador at the Court of King James, gave expression to it at a Convention of the Estates. He had been commissioned to "aggravate the heinousness" of the aggression, and did so in a long oration, "concluding that peace could no longer continue betwixt the two realms unless Buccleuch was delivered into England, to be punished at the Queen's pleasure".[272] The Keeper of Liddisdale was present, and spoke in his own defence. He maintained that, in rescuing a Scottish subject who had been wrongfully captured, he had done nothing but what honour dictated and duty required. He declared, however, that he was willing to submit the case to Commissioners appointed by the English Queen on the one hand, and by the Scottish King on the other, and to abide by their decision. This suggestion met with the approval of the Estates, who accordingly proposed that, "conform to the ancient treaties of peace, and custom observed between the two realms, Scottish and English Commissioners should meet on the Borders to decide upon the said complaint".

The Estates had come to this decision on the 25th of May. A few days later, on the 4th of June, James himself wrote to Elizabeth in regard to the "late attempt of Buccleuch". He begged her to bear in mind that all the information she had so far received proceeded from her own officer who, as a direct party in the matter, might reasonably be suspected of partiality. And he urged this as a reason for her consenting to the appointment of a Commission, in accordance with the proposal made by Buccleuch and adopted by the Convention. Before the end of the same month, both the Privy Council of England and Queen Elizabeth had dispatched replies to Edinburgh. The former, after communicating her Majesty's dissatisfaction at what had taken place and at the turn which matters were taking, confined itself to the expression of a hope that the King, in his own princely judgment, would reverse the Act of his Council, and not show favour to a person so notoriously reported to be factious, seditious, and a favourer of the King's rebels.

The Queen's letter was far more uncompromising in its tone. It contained an emphatic refusal to entertain any thought of a Commission, and it prefaced this vigorously-worded decision with a rebuke such as might have been administered to a naughty child. She told James that she looked upon him as a rare example of a king seduced by evil information. Was it ever seen that a prince, from his cradle preserved from slaughter, upheld in Royal dignity, preserved from many treasons, maintained in all sorts of kindness, should remunerate with so hard measure such dear deservings, and hesitate to yield a just reply to a friend's lawful demand? Ought there to be any question as to whether a King should act rightfully by his equal, and should his Councillors be asked their pleasure as to what he might do? Had this occurred in the nonage of the Prince, it might have some colour; but in a "fatherage" it seemed strange, and, she dared say, was without example. However little regard her "dear Brother" might have for herself, yet she would grieve much to see him neglectful of his own dignity, as the English, whose good opinion she doubted not but he had in some esteem, would measure his love by his deeds, and not by his words on paper. In so far as she was concerned, she told him plainly that she considered herself as ill treated by her professed friend as she could be by her declared foe. Was any castle of hers to be assailed by a night-prowler and her ally not send the offender to his due punisher? Should a friend stick at a demand that he ought rather to anticipate? For other doubtful and litigious Border cases she was willing to appoint Commissioners, if she found it needful, but never in a matter of such villainous usage as this.[273] Nor was this the worst. James was further informed, and that not in a private letter, but through Bowes, that Elizabeth had resolved to stop his yearly gratuity if he did not satisfy her in the redress demanded against Buccleuch.

The correspondence of the time shows that of all who were variously affected by Buccleuch's raid, it was James who, all along, found himself in the most difficult and delicate position. Whilst willing to conciliate Elizabeth, he hesitated to condemn an action of which his subjects were proud as of a triumph over England. He now began to understand that he would have to yield to the imperious Queen. But he was still anxious to delay the inevitable surrender, knowing that amongst the people generally the feeling of opposition to the delivery of Buccleuch was as keen as ever. As a means of gaining time, he raised a new issue, by writing a strong letter of indignation at the Queen of England's threat to stay the payment of his annuity, and at her treatment of him as if he were her pensioner, whereas the money that he received was in return for concessions he had made. This, he thought, was a greater breach of the alliance between them than his not giving up Buccleuch; and to prove that he, for his part, had always been faithful to it, he recapitulated the various acts by which he had always shown his attachment to England.

This led to a prolongation of the correspondence and negotiations between the two countries; and matters dragged on in this way till the month of August, when Bowes was at length able to inform Lord Burghley that Buccleuch had been commanded to ward by the King, and that the place of his detention was St. Andrews. Recognizing this as a step in the right direction, Elizabeth wrote to James to express her satisfaction at his having done what beseemed him. At the same time she gave him to understand that she would not consider herself fairly dealt with until Buccleuch was delivered up to herself. This was again followed by a long exchange of communications, of which the tone, however, marked a gradual approach towards a settlement of the dispute. Before that was reached, James found an opportunity of retaliating in a characteristically petty manner. As Elizabeth insisted that Buccleuch should be delivered over to her for punishment because of his attack on Carlisle Castle, so he demanded that Edmund Spenser should be called to account for his reflections on the character of Mary Stuart. What we know about this new and singular development is contained in a dispatch from Bowes to Burghley. "The King," writes the English agent in Edinburgh, "has conceived great offence against Edmund Spenser, for publishing in print, in the second part of the _Faerie Queen_, chapter IX, some dishonourable effects, as the King deemeth, against himself and his mother deceased. I have satisfied the King about the privilege under which the book is published, yet he still desireth that Edmund Spenser, for this fault, may be duly tried and punished." It does not appear from anything to be found in the State Papers that this frivolous matter received serious attention on the part of Elizabeth, or was further insisted upon by James himself.[274]

As for the Border incident, after all these negotiations, enquiries, and recriminations, it was brought to a close by Buccleuch's surrendering himself into English custody at Berwick. His captivity lasted from October 6th, 1597, till March 21st following. On his release his ten-year-old child took his place as a hostage. It is noteworthy that the redoubtable Borderer not only ceased to give trouble, but even co-operated with the English Wardens in maintaining peace in the marches. There is said to be a tradition in the Buccleuch family that he was presented to Elizabeth, who admired him for his daring, in spite of the annoyance which it had caused her.

FOOTNOTES: for THE STORY OF A BALLAD--"KINMONT WILLIE"

[272] _Spottswood_, p. 415.

[273] _Register of the Privy Council_, vol. v, p. 761-2.

[274] _Register of the Privy Council_, pp. 323, 324.

A RAID ON THE WEE CUMBRAE

Just off the east side of that southern part of the Little Cumbrae which is included in the parish of West Kilbride, and on a low-lying turf and weed-covered rock, which, according to the ebb and the flood of the tide, is itself alternately a peninsula or an islet, there stands the ruin of an ancient castle. It is still a massive pile of masonry, the ground plan of which nearly forms a square, the difference between length and breadth being less than ten feet. Its distance from the Ayrshire coast and from Millport, on the Great Cumbrae, is about the same; and owing to the comparative inaccessibility which the two or three miles of sea give it, its interior is somewhat less dilapidated than is usually the case with similar relics of the past to be met with on the mainland. The partition walls of the several rooms have, it is true, almost disappeared, so that, for instance, the storey immediately above the vaults on the ground floor would appear to have consisted of one hall, if it were not for the fact that it contains two large chimneys. The ceilings are arched throughout, and it is doubtless due to this architectural peculiarity that each of them is still intact and supplies a solid floor for the storey immediately above. The narrow stone staircase is still practicable in its first flight, but fragmentary and rather unsafe beyond that. In its general appearance the Cumbrae castle is very similar to that of Portencross, over the water. It is probable that they both date from the same period, and are the work of the same builder. Both belonged to the Boyd family.

At the present day the Wee Cumbrae, as it is popularly called, is practically uninhabited. At its westermost point it has a lighthouse with the usual staff, and opposite the castle itself there are two houses serving, the one as a shooting-box, the other as a dwelling for the present tenant's gamekeeper. Closer examination of the island, particularly in winter, when the ground is free from bracken, reveals the remains of a dozen or more cottages, which tell of the existence in former days of a small colony on the less exposed half of it.

In the last year of the sixteenth century several of the families that composed the small population were of the name of Montgomery. The castle itself was inhabited by Robert Boyd of Badinhaith. He was a man of some initiative, and had formed a plan for the building of a harbour for "the commone welle and benefite of the haill liegeis of this realme haveing ony trade and handling in the west seyis". In the year 1599, as a first step towards the accomplishment of this praiseworthy scheme, he had purchased "eleven score of joists of oak of twenty-four foot long and a foot and a half of the square". The cost of each joist was £8, and the whole outlay amounted to £1760. Although this, being in Scots currency, represented less than £150 sterling, the sum in view of the value of money in those days was not inconsiderable.

Whatever may have been the relation in which Robert Boyd stood to the other inhabitants of the Little Cumbrae, their attitude towards him was distinctly hostile. There is good reason to believe that these immediate neighbours of his were not all respectable, peace-abiding folk, but that the island served as a convenient refuge for "rebels, fugitives, and ex-communicates". And it is quite intelligible that these outlaws did not approve of the laird's enterprise, one of the results of which would be to bring their sea-girt asylum into closer touch with the outer world and its justice. Whether for this reason or for the mere sake of plunder, it happened that one day, in 1599, some thirty men, with half a dozen of the Montgomerys as their leaders, came to the fortalice with hagbuts, pistols, culverins, swords, and other weapons, and violently, "with engyne of smythis", broke up the doors and gates, and, after having destroyed the glass windows, boards, and ironwork, "spuilzied" the furniture, together with the materials intended for the construction of the harbour. The perpetration of this outrage was followed by the forcible occupation of the castle by four of the Montgomerys, who fortified it "with men, ammunition, and armour", and "resetted within it not only the disorderit thevis and lymmaris of the Ilis, but also such other malefactors as, for eschewing punishment, resorted towards them".

The document[275] which contains the narrative of the "spulzie" on the Little Cumbrae is interesting, not only because of the glimpse which it affords of the state of the country three hundred years ago, but also, and even more, because of the minute inventory which it includes of the articles either "spulzied" or destroyed in the various parts and chambers of Boyd's castle, together with the value put upon each article or set of articles. In the first place the list indicates the internal structural arrangement of such a dwelling. It consisted of a hall, a kitchen, a chamber, a lower wester chamber and a high wester chamber, a low easter chamber, a wardrobe, a brew-house, and vaults. The contents of the several apartments do not point to luxurious appointment, even in what may be taken as a fair specimen of an ancient Scottish house of the larger and better sort.