Chapter VIII: Part 8

The distinction between public rooms and bedrooms does not appear to have existed. There were two or three "stand beds", that is to say, beds with posts, as distinguished from beds that might be folded up, in each of the "chambers". Most of them were of "fir", or plain deal, and valued at £8 Scots, or 13s. 4d. sterling, each. The oak bedsteads, of which there were only two, were set down at 20 marks, or about 23s. sterling apiece. According to the same difference of wood, the "chalmer buirds", as distinct from the "fauldand buird", or dining-table of the kitchen, were worth £4 or £5 respectively. Three beds and a table constituted the sole furniture of the "low easter chalmer" and of the "high wester chalmer". The "lower wester chalmer" was the room which yielded most loot to the raiders. In a cupboard within it they found a "silver piece" of 17 oz. in weight and a cup with a silver foot weighing 7 oz., at £3, that is to say, 5s. an ounce, besides "contracts, obligations, evidents, and books, worth £2000." The same room contained a lockfast chest, which served as a repository for "a doublet and breiks of dun fustian cut out on tawny taffety, a pair of tawny worsted stockings, two linen shirts, two pairs of linen sheets, four pillowslips, two pairs of tablecloths, two broad cloths of linen of five ells in length, two broad towels, and two dozen serviettes".

In the kitchen the utensils were on a scale as moderate as that of the furniture through the whole house. The items which it supplies in the inventory are: Two brass pots, two pans, two spits, a pair of andirons, an iron ladle, a dozen and a half of plates, knives, forks, and spoons for six people, a dozen trenchers, and a folding table. The only engines of war contained in Boyd's fortalice consisted of two "cut-throat guns of iron". They were located in the hall. The whole damage done by the plunder of all the movables and the destruction of such fixtures as doors and windows is estimated at £4776, 10s. 6d. Scots, that is, well under £400 sterling. By no stretch of the imagination can the raid of the Little Cumbrae be considered an event of historical importance. It is rescued from insignificance, however, by virtue of the valuable data which it has been the indirect means of preserving for the information of posterity.

FOOTNOTES: for A RAID ON THE WEE CUMBRAE

[275] _Register of the Privy Council_, vol. vi, pp. 279-281.

RIOTOUS GLASGOW

In 1605 Glasgow could lay no claim to the position of second city of the kingdom that had virtually, though not yet legally, become United by reason of the accession of James VI of Scotland to the English throne. It was not in the first rank, even on its own side of the Tweed, and in a gracious and flattering reference to its condition and estate His Majesty could not go beyond the qualified statement that, "in quantitie and number of trafficquers and others inhabitants", it was inferior to few of the cities and burghs in his northern dominions.[276] There was, indeed, one matter with regard to which it stood on a lower municipal level than either Edinburgh or Perth, Stirling or Dundee. In the choice of its Provost and Magistrates it did not enjoy the full freedom that was the privilege of those more important centres of population.

Prior to the Reformation, and as late after it as the closing year of the sixteenth century, the nomination of the Provost and the selection of the Bailies lay with the Archbishops as temporal, no less than spiritual, superiors of Glasgow. In 1600, however, the King, by a charter dated November 17th, granted to Ludovic, Duke of Lennox, the castle of Glasgow and the heritable right of appointing the civic rulers.

On September 30th of the same year, Sir George Elphinstone of Blythswood appeared before the Town Council, and presented a letter from Duke Ludovic nominating him Provost for the ensuing year. He was also the bearer of an official communication from the King himself, whose friend and favourite he was, and who warmly recommended him for the dignity. The nomination of Sir George, a clever lawyer, who subsequently rose to the rank of Lord Justice-Clerk, appears to have been popular, and he was duly accepted.

With regard to the election of Bailies, the Council was less accommodating. The letter brought by Elphinstone directed that the leet from which a selection was to be made should be submitted, not to himself, but to the Sheriff, to whom he delegated his authority. Such a course was objected to as being both derogatory and contrary to use and wont; and the Council firmly refused to present the leet to any substitute, or to recognize any nomination but such as came from his Lordship's own mouth. In accordance with the resolution arrived at in vindication of their dignity, the Corporation sent Thomas Pettigrew, as its commissioner, to Brechin, where the Duke was staying at the time, and, through him, submitted a list of eight names from which Lennox was to select three.

Unprepared as was Duke Ludovic for such prompt and resolute action on the part of the Glasgow Municipality, he adopted the judicious course of yielding temporary acquiescence to its claims, and on October 7th, Pettigrew was able to report, as the successful result of his mission, that Robert Rowat, James Forett, and Alexander Baillie had been chosen to fill the vacant magisterial seats. Owing to a regrettable gap of nearly four years in the Burgh Records, it is impossible to ascertain what further steps were taken by either side during the period extending from October 27th, 1601, to June 13th, 1605. The only available information bearing on this point is to be gathered from the Register of the Privy Council of Scotland. From a statement to be found there, it appears that Lennox had not maintained his conciliatory attitude towards the Town Council, but that, persisting in his original course, he had devised a means by which the Stewarts of Minto had, under him, "the exercise of the officeis of the said town in their personis".[277]

By August 3rd, 1605, the Municipal Authorities had realized that a greater power than theirs was required to secure for them the free exercise of what they claimed to be rights and privileges sanctioned by the King. On that day a deputation, headed by Sir George Elphinstone and consisting of the Dean of Guild, of one of the Bailies, and of four Councillors, was appointed to go to Edinburgh to settle and end the matter by an appeal to the Privy Council. This further step having proved unavailing, the Corporation, on the 27th of the same month, "ernestlie requestit and desyrit" their Provost to undertake a journey to London, in order to invoke the intervention and aid of James himself. Thanks to Sir George's personal influence and to the favour in which he stood with his sovereign, as much, perhaps, as to the justice of his cause, Lennox was at length prevailed upon to grant the persistent petitioners "the full libertie, fredome, and priviledge of the electioun of thair Magistrattis", without, however, renouncing in any other respect his right of justiciary and bailliary of regality within and around the city.

Sir George Elphinstone's colleagues were not slow to give practical expression to the gratitude that they felt for his public-spirited conduct and to the value that they set on the success of his efforts on their behalf. On October 2nd, 1665, after he had been "removeit of Counsall", they all, with one voice, in respect of the singular care, great zeal and love had and borne by him to the weal and liberty of the Burgh, nominated, elected, and chose him for their Provost. On the same day and in the further exercise of the freedom which he had secured, a list of nine names, including those of three of the "auld Bailies", was submitted to the remainder of the Council, who, by plurality of votes, chose William Anderson, Mathew Turnbull, and Robert Rowat. In recognition of the honour conferred upon them, the new Provost and Magistrates renounced the right which the custom of the time appears to have given them, to the fines levied for certain offences.

Amongst the citizens of Glasgow there was a minority which, looking at the extension of municipal liberty from the point of view of personal interest, felt deeply aggrieved by the new system of magisterial election. It consisted of the members and friends of the house of Minto, a family which had for many generations possessed considerable local influence, and of which the head, Sir Mathew Stewart, had himself filled the position of Provost. It was plain to them, however, that as long as the Council remained united, resistance would be futile, and that their only hope of worsting their opponents lay in dividing them.

For the attainment of this object the means that suggested itself as most feasible was the formation of a faction amongst the craftsmen of the city, "for the most part rude and ignorant men", of whom plausible arguments might make blind and determined partisans. The deacons of some of the numerous crafts or incorporations were first approached. The Stewarts represented to them that the liberty newly acquired by the Council was "nothing else but a manifest thraldom and tyranny against the crafts, a dissolution of the estate of the town, and an heritable establishing of the offices and jurisdiction of the town in the persons of a small number". So widely and successfully did the agitators propagate their "subtile and fals informatioun" that in the end it was "embraced for a treuth be the haill ignorant multitude".

Encouraged by these results, Sir Mathew Stewart saw his way to give more definite and formal shape to his opposition. Shortly before the time when the Provost and his fellow Magistrates were to apply to Parliament for the ratification of their liberty and freedom of election he convoked a meeting, which was held at seven o'clock in the morning, in the house of John Ross, a Town Councillor whom he had won over to his side, and at which between forty and fifty prominent citizens were present. The malcontents drew up a petition against the ratification craved by the Town Council, and, after having appended their several signatures to it, entrusted it to John Ross, James Braidwood, deacon-general, and Ninian Anderson, deacon of the Cordwainers, to be presented to the Lords of the Articles, by whom its prayer was duly granted.

To protect themselves from the consequences of proceedings that might be made to appear factious and seditious, seeing that the meeting had taken place without the presence, knowledge, or consent of the Magistrates, the Stewarts procured from the Lords of Council and Session an exemption in favour of all who had subscribed the application.

Of the sequel there is only one detailed account. It is contained in the complaint subsequently brought before the Privy Council by the Provost and Magistrates, and embodying what is essentially the official view of the case. Whilst it would be unjustifiable to impugn the veracity of this document, there can be no doubt that it places facts in the light least favourable to the agitators; and that in the motives and intentions which it imputes to them it goes further than those facts seem to warrant. It sets forth that, the further to irritate and incense the common multitude against the Magistrates, and to make it appear that they had credit and power to overthrow these at their pleasure, Minto and his accomplices, accompanied by a crowd of some three or four score, all in arms, with targets, swords, and other invasive weapons, came in a very tumultuous and unseemly manner to the Market Cross, whilst the Magistrates were sitting in Council close by; and that, disdaining to ask for the key of the Cross, although it was lying in the Tolbooth ready to be delivered to them, they clambered in, and proclaimed their exemption, "quhilk in effect importit a liberty to thame to do quhat they pleasit, without controlment".

It is alleged that the object of this "tumultuous and barbarous" demonstration was to draw the Magistrates from the Council chamber, and to tempt them to find fault with the proceedings, which would have supplied a pretence for fastening a quarrel upon them and "persewing them of their liveis". If such a design really existed, it was frustrated by the conciliatory attitude assumed by the Provost and his colleagues. Seeing the wisdom of coming to terms with the malcontents, they made arrangements for a conference with the deacons, who, next to the Stewarts themselves, appear to have taken the most prominent part in the movement. The meeting was to take place on July 24th, 1606; and all the ministers in the city, together with the regents of the College, were summoned to attend it.

According to the official account, the Stewarts were apprehensive of the result of the appointed conference, and resolved "to procure some trouble and unquietness in the citie", for the purpose of preventing it from being held. Three of them, it is alleged--Sir Walter, John, and Alexander--knowing that Sir George Elphinstone had arranged to shoot off an archery match at the Castle butts, on the evening of July 23, lay in wait for him near the Drygate with a band of some forty men close at hand at the Wyndhead--all "bodin in feir of weir", that is, equipped for a warlike expedition, with steel bonnets, secret armour, plait sleeves, longstaffs, and other weapons. As the Provost and his friends, who were but five in number and bore no arms but their unbended bows, reached the Drygate, one of them, James Forrett, left the party for the purpose of fetching some arrows from his house. Before he could reach it, Sir Walter, uttering insulting language, attacked him with drawn sword. By this time Sir George had reached the Castle gate, but hearing the altercation, he turned back and endeavoured to pacify the assailant with "fair and gentle" words. "Sir," he said, "I pray you to go youre way; no man sal offend you." His request was unheeded; and then, by the authority of his office, as Provost of the city, he commanded Sir Walter, in His Majesty's name, to go his way.

At this moment the alleged accomplices made their appearance on the scene, and "concurring together, maist cruelli and feirslie set upoun Sir George, and be force and violence drave him and his company back to the Castell porte, quhair he was fred and relevit of the present danger". Thereupon the Stewarts and their party retired to the Wyndhead, where they remained, whilst James Braidwood, by their direction, ran down the High Street, crying: "Arme you! arme you! They are yokit!" This brought up a reinforcement of some two score "airmed men of the seditious faction", headed by Sir Mathew Stewart. With united forces and "with grite furie", the rioters made an onset on the Castle gate, where the Provost was still in shelter. They were checked by the Earl of Wigtown, the Master of Montrose, and the Laird of Kilsyth, three of His Majesty's Privy Councillors, who happened to be at hand.

Being unable to get at Sir George with their longstaffs and weapons, they spitefully threw a volley of stones at him, then rushed tumultuously and apparently aimlessly, "doun the gait to the Barras yet, far beneth the Croce". The tumult, however, was not yet over. Once again the crowd made for the Castle gate, swollen by the accession of some 300 of the "rascall multitude", whom the prospect of plunder had attracted, and who, as they trooped on, indicated their intentions by calling out to each other, "I sall have this buith and thou sall have that buith". Before their arrival the Provost had been removed to the shelter of the Earl of Wigtown's mansion. An attempt was made to storm it; but the Privy Councillors again intervened, and succeeded in dispersing the rioters.

The Privy Councillors, to whose opportune intervention the quelling of the disturbance was mainly due, at once took vigorous measures to prevent the recurrence of outbreaks. The Lairds of Minto were confined by them to the Castle of Dumbarton, whilst Sir George Elphinstone and James Forrett were interned in that of Glasgow. On August 9th, the ward was changed in both cases to the town of Stirling, where the several parties were bound to remain under caution in sums ranging from 5000 merks to £5000, to keep the king's peace. Of the other persons implicated, some were charged to enter ward in Perth, others in Dundee. The 28th of the same month was appointed for the meeting of the Council in Stirling, "to tak tryell in this commotion of Glasgow". The venue was, however, subsequently changed owing to the breaking out of the plague.

It happened that a fortnight before the Minto riots, on July 9th, 1606, Parliament had passed an "Act for Staying of Unlawful Conventions within Burgh". The Glasgow disturbance was the first occurrence that called for the application of this Act. It was embodied in a "proclamation about Glasgow", issued by the Privy Council on July 31st. The preamble referred to the many good Acts of Parliament made by the king and his predecessors, with regard to the modest, good, and peaceable behaviour of the inhabitants within burgh, and to the staying of all tumults, unlawful meetings and convocations, "quhairby it is expressly prohibite and forbidden that all manner of persons within burgh, of quhatsumever rank, qualitie, or condition thai be of, presume or take upon hand, under quhatsumever cullor or pretext, to convein or assemble thaimselffis upon any occasion, except thai make due intimation of the lawfull causes of thair meittings to the Provost and Baillies of the burgh, and obtain thair licence thairto, and that nothing salbe done be thaim in thair saids meittings quhilk may tend to the derogation or violation of the Acts of Parliament, lawis and constitutions made for the wele and quietness of the said burghs"; and whereby also, "the saids unlawfull meittings, and the persons present thereat, are by the saids Acts of Parliament declairit to be factious and seditious; and all thair proceidings thairin to be null and of non availl, and the saids persons ordained to be punished in thair bodies and gear with all rigour". This was followed by a narrative of the recent disturbance between the citizens and the Magistrates--"A thing very undecent and unseamlie and without ony preceiding example in ony burgh within this kingdome". Then came instructions to the officers of arms to pass to the Mercat Cross of Glasgow and there, by open proclamation, "to command and charge the haill inhabitants of the said citie to lay asyde thair armour immediatelie after the publication heirof, conteyne thaimselfis in quietness, and behave them as modest, quiet, and peaceable citizens, forbearing to convocat or assemble upon ony occasion thaimselfis togidder fra this tyme furth, under quhatsumever cullor or pretext, without the knowledge, consent, and licence of the saids Magistrates, nor yit to do, practize nor attempt anything hurtfull or prejudiciall to the saids Acts of Parliament, lawis and constitutions of the said citie: certifying thaim that sall do in the contrair, that thai salbe repute, haldin, esteimit, perseuit and punisht as factious and seditious persons, perturbers of the peace and quiet of the said citie, with all rigour and extreamitie, conforme to his Hienes laws and Acts of Parliament made thairanent".

Complaints had been laid before the Privy Council, on the one side by the Provost and Magistrates of the City of Glasgow against the Stewarts and their abettors, on the other by Sir Walter Stewart of Arthurlie against Sir George Elphinstone and the friends who accompanied him on the eventful evening of July 23rd. Both cases were heard in Edinburgh on August 27th, 1606. With respect to that in which the opponents of the Corporation were the defenders, it was declared that those persons had committed a "verie grite insolence and ryot". For this they were condemned to be warded in the burgh of Linlithgow till His Majesty's will was made known concerning them. At the same time the Lords "assoilzed simpliciter" the Lairds of Minto, elder and younger, and all the other defenders, from forethought felony intended against the pursuers, and from the charge of "thair lying at await" for the Provost at the Wyndhead of the city, the pursuers having failed to prove that part of their complaint. On similar grounds, decree of absolvitor was pronounced in favour of Sir George Elphinstone and his fellow defenders in the suit brought against them at the instance of Sir Walter Stewart.

The King's pleasure was made known to his Privy Council in a letter dated from Hampton Court on October 1st, 1606. After expressing his astonishment that the information communicated to him was so scant as to render it impossible for him to "mak ony distinctioun of offendouris in that ryotte, that, according to the difference of thair faultis, directioun micht haif bene gevin for inflicting upoun several personis the moir mylde and moir hard punishment", His Majesty directed that the meaner offenders should be released, after being bound in "greate pecunnial sowmes for their due obedience to the Magistrates", but that the Lairds of Minto, elder and younger, should both be "fynned in great sowmes", and retained in ward until these were paid.

Such is the information to be gathered concerning an incident which is of sufficient importance in itself to be recorded with greater detail than is given in the local histories written before the publication of the _Register of the Privy Council_. Another circumstance that lends interest to the happily unique collision between the municipal authorities and the citizens, is the coincidence that it was the first occasion for the application of an Act to which, exactly three hundred years later, the Magistrates of Glasgow found it expedient to appeal for the staying of such "unlawfull conventions within burgh" as the mustering and parading of street bands.

FOOTNOTES: for RIOTOUS GLASGOW

[276] _Register of the Privy Council_, vol. vii, p. 141.

[277] The official records bearing on "this commotioun of Glasgow" are to be found in the _Register of the Privy Council_, pp. 230-1, 233, 235, 240-7, 500, 501-2.

THE OLD SCOTTISH ARMY

One of the earliest, if indeed it be not actually the most ancient of extant enactments for the organization of the national forces of Scotland, is a Latin document drawn up in the form and style of a proclamation and purporting to be based on "the Book of Wyntoun laws". It is undated, but this reference to Edward I's Statute of Winchester shows it to have been subsequent to the year 1285. This Scottish adaptation of the English system required every man between sixteen and sixty years of age to be provided with defensive and offensive armour in proportion to the quantity of lands and chattels which he possessed. The owner of chattels to the value of 40 marks was to have a horse; an habergeon, or sleeveless coat of mail; a chaplet, that is to say, an iron skull-cap without vizor; a sword, and "a knife called dagger". The equipment of such as held land worth 40s. or upwards, but less than 100s., was to consist of a bow and arrows, a dagger, and a knife; and, in their case, the absence of defensive armour suggests that they were intended as light infantry. The lesser people, with an income under 40s. were expected to have a hand-axe, bow and arrows. All others, whose means allowed of it, were to be armed with a bow and arrows if they dwelt outside forest lands, or a bow and "pyles" if within them. These pyles being square-headed quarrels or bolts, it may be supposed that the use of them was prescribed because they were looked upon as less suitable for the purposes of poaching. The same ordinance also enjoined that there should be two wapenshaws or inspections every year.[278]

Earlier, though more incidental indication of a system of military service, is to be found, however, in an enactment which is ascribed to William the Lion, who began his reign in 1165, and which set forth that if a man borrowed a horse to join the King's army and the horse were challenged as stolen, he was to be allowed respite until his return to the county within which he alleged that the horse had been lent him. And, rather more than half a century later, in 1220, under Alexander II, further evidence of military obligation is supplied by a statute fixing the fines to be imposed on men of various ranks for remaining away from the King's host in Inverness. A thane was to forfeit six cows and a heifer; an "ochtyern", which is interpreted as meaning "one equal in rank to a thane's son", was liable to be mulcted in the amount of fifteen sheep and 6s., and a yeoman in that of a cow and a sheep.

In 1318, under Robert Bruce, it was ordained that, in time of war, every layman in the realm who had £10 in goods, should have for his body, in the defence of the country, a sufficient acton--a kind of padded and quilted coat, which protected not only the breast but the lower part of the body also; a bascinet or light unvizored helmet; and gloves of plate, with a spear and a sword. The acton and bascinet might, however, be replaced by an habergeon and "a hat of iron". Whoever failed to comply with the requirements of the statute was to forfeit all his goods, of which one-half was to go to his immediate superior, the laird on whose lands he dwelt, and the other half to the King. It was also decreed that every man having in goods the value of a cow should have a stout spear or a serviceable bow, with a sheaf of twenty-four arrows. In the same year another Act ordained that men on their way to join the army should pay for what they took, but enjoined, at the same time, that they should be supplied at moderate rates.

When James I returned from his captivity in England, he lost no time in putting into practice the lesson which he had learnt there as to the efficiency of the bow. Amongst the enactments of his first Parliament there was one which ordained that every male person should, from his twelfth year, busk himself to be an archer; that, near every parish church, "bow marks should be made, at which, on holidays, men might come and shoot, at least thrice about", and have usage of archery; and that whoever did not use the said archery, the laird of the land or the sheriff should raise of him a wedder.[279] This was in 1424. In the same year it was also enacted that, in every sheriffdom, four musters should be held every year for the inspection of arms.[280]

Following closely upon this, there were issued supplementary instructions of a somewhat more comprehensive nature than hitherto. Gentlemen having £10 worth of land, or more, were to provide themselves with a bascinet with whole legharness, that is to say, complete coverings which came up to the hips, and with spear, sword, and dagger. Gentlemen owning less land, or no land at all, were to be accoutred "at their goodly power", subject to the oversight and discretion of the sheriff. Honest yeomen, "having sufficient power", and willing to serve as men-at-arms, were to be "harnessed sufficiently" to the satisfaction of the same official; whilst all other yeomen in the realm, within the statutory limits of age, that is, between sixteen and sixty, were to be "sufficiently bowit and schaffit", or, in other words, adequately equipped with a good bow and a suitable supply of arrows, and were also to have a sword, buckler, and knife. All burgesses and indwellers in the burghs of the realm were to be similarly armed. Failure to attend the four wapenshaws involved fines ranging from 40s. to £10, according to the number of absences, in the case of a gentleman; and from 10s. to 40s. in that of a bowman.[281]

Four years later, in 1429, "by the advice of the whole Parliament", further modifications were made, both in the outfit and in the valuation according to which it was regulated. Every man who disposed of a yearly rent of £20, or who possessed £100 in movable goods, was required to be well horsed and "haill enarmyt", which meant completely armed from head to foot, as a gentleman ought to be. The man of lower standing, with no more than £10 of rent, or £50 of movable goods, was to provide himself with a gorget--a piece of armour which protected the throat and upper part of the chest; with rearbraces and vambraces, as the coverings for the upper arm and the forearm were respectively called; with gloves of plate, breastplate, leg-splints, and knee-pieces, "at the least, or better, if he liked". The yeomen were divided into three classes, of which the highest, consisting of those whose property amounted to £20 in goods, was to be equipped with a good "doublet of fence", an iron hat, bow and sheaf of arrows, sword, buckler, and knife. Yeomen possessing no more than £10 in goods formed the second class. They were required to have a bow and arrows, sword, buckler, and knife; but though no defensive armour was mentioned in their case, it may be assumed that they were not expected to be less protected than the yeoman of the third class, who was no archer and could not deal with a bow, but for whom a good "suir" hat and a "doublet of fence" were prescribed, in addition to a sword, a buckler, and a good axe, or else a staff with a sharp iron point. Every citizen having £50 in goods was placed on the same level as a gentleman, and was required to be armed in the same manner as one. The burgess of lower degree, whose property was not valued at more than £20, was to provide a "suir" hat and doublet, an habergeon, sword, and buckler; a bow with the necessary sheaf of arrows; and a knife. Barons and bailies were required to see that these enactments were duly complied with in their respective districts, under certain pains and penalties which the sheriff was empowered to impose.

During the fifteenth and the sixteenth century there were several other Acts of Parliament and of the Privy Council dealing with wapenshaws. It may be gathered from the preambles to some of them that these periodical inspections were occasionally discontinued for years together; whilst the repeated injunctions to the various local authorities and officials to use their utmost diligence in enforcing the law afford proof that the burden of military service was irksome to those on whom it fell. But the special interest of those enactments lies in the information which they supply both as to the variations in the assessment on which that service was based and as to the changes which took place in the outfit of the several classes of fighting men.

In 1456 it was made obligatory on every man whose goods amounted to 20 marks to be provided at least with a jack having sleeves to the hands, or, failing that, with a pair of "splints" encasing the arms; with a sallet--a light helmet, of which the characteristic feature was a projection behind--or with a spiked hat; and with a sword, buckler, and bow together with a sheaf of arrows. Such as could not shoot were to be armed with an axe, and with a targe either of leather or of deal, with two bands on the back.[282] In the following year steps were taken to organize a system of military training. As a preliminary measure, golf and football were to be "utterly cried down". "Bow marks" were to be set up. The smaller parishes were not required to have more than a pair of these butts; but, in the larger, according to their size, there were to be three, four, and even five. All the male inhabitants, from twelve to fifty years of age, were expected to practise every Sunday, and to shoot at least six shots. Defaulters were liable to a fine of not less than 2d.; and the money thus raised was to be given to those who were more regular in their attendance "to drink". This archery practice was to be kept up from Easter to Allhallowmas. As a necessary supplement to these ordinances, every county town was to have a bowyer and a fletcher, otherwise a maker of bows and a maker of arrows, and was to furnish them "with stuff and graith that they might serve the country with".[283] But as Scotland was not self-sufficing in the matter of either weapons or accoutrements, there was a further enactment which required all merchants of the realm passing over the sea for merchandise to bring home at each voyage as they might "goodly thole" harness and armours, spear-shafts and bow staves "after the quantity of their merchandise".

No further Act of Parliament concerning the equipment of the Scots fighting men was passed till 1471. In that year it was found necessary to fix the length of the spear, or rather, to forbid either the importation or the making of any that fell short of the six ells that had always constituted the regulation size. For those yeomen who could not handle the bow, the substitution of a good axe and a targe of leather was authorized, as it had been in 1456. With regard to the latter, a suggestive standard of toughness and strength was indicated. It was to be sufficiently stout "to resist the shot of England". And a characteristic remark concerning it was, that it would entail "no cost but the value of a hide".[284]

There was practically no change in arms and accoutrement during the fifteenth century; and an Act passed in 1491 is almost verbally identical with that of 1425. More than forty years were yet to elapse before James V, realizing the advantage which other nations had secured for themselves by the adoption of "small artillery", and the consequent necessity of providing himself with similar "instruments of war and battle", caused an Act to be passed with a view to bringing Scotland's armament abreast of that "commonly used in all countries both by sea and land". This was in 1535.[285]

Hand-guns, or hand-cannon as they were called, had been introduced into England in the year 1471, when Edward IV, landing at Ravenspur, in Yorkshire, brought with him, amongst other forces, three hundred Flemings armed with those new weapons. They are also said to have been used at the siege of Berwick in 1521. These portable firearms soon got to be known under the names of culverins and hagbuts. The culverin was originally a small tube of half or three-quarters of an inch internal diameter, fixed to a straight piece of wood or welded to an iron handle. The smallest were about four feet long and weighed some fifteen pounds, and the management of them was as complicated as the weapons themselves were unwieldy. The culveriner had, in addition to his cumbrous piece, "his coarse powder, for loading, in a flask; his fine powder, for priming, in a touch-box; his bullets in a leathern bag, with strings to draw to get at them; whilst in his hand were his musket rest and his burning match". The hagbut was a smaller and improved culverin. At their first introduction into Scotland these firearms appear to have been used mainly for purposes of sport; but it is suggestive of a lack of familiarity with them to find James V paying 40s. to "Walter Cunynghame's wife in Stirling" for a cow which he had slain with a culverin.

By the Act of 1535, which was repeated in 1540, it was ordained that every landed man should have a hagbut of cast-iron, called "hagbut of crochert", together with the mould, bullets, and "pelloks" of lead or iron, and with the powder convenient thereto for every £100 of land that he owned. He that had but 100 marks of land was to supply two culverins; whilst only one was required of the smaller landowner whose valuation did not exceed £40. These pieces were to be furnished with all the necessary accessories. Those who supplied the weapons were also called upon to provide men, not only to fire them, but also to teach others to do so. Neither the clergy nor even women were exempted from the general obligation; and the fine to be imposed on all who neglected to comply with the requirements of the Act was fixed at twice the price that would buy "each piece of the said artillery". As to the burghs, a commission was to be appointed for the purpose of deciding in what proportion each of them was to contribute. And, as a corollary to this enactment, it was further ordained that, because neither artillery nor harness could be furnished nor made ready unless the same were imported into the country, every merchant sailing forth of the realm or exporting goods amounting to a last, that is to twelve tons, should bring home two hagbuts or more, in proportion to the quantity of merchandise shipped, with powder and moulds, or else as much metal as would make the hagbuts.

From another Act passed in the same year it appears to have been anticipated that, in spite of these ordinances, the number of men that could be armed with hand-guns would be but slight as compared with those who would still have to retain the older weapons, for no alteration was prescribed in the matter of defensive armour. This statute is noteworthy, however, by reason of a paragraph bearing the heading, "That the army of Scotland be unhorsed, except great Barons".[286] It was introduced by a reference to the great hurt, scaith, and damage done by the coming, in multitude, of horsemen, through the destruction of cornfields and meadows and the harrying of poor folk, and also to the great impediment made by them in the host, where all men had to fight on foot. It then went on to ordain that no manner of men should have horses with them, but should be ready to march on foot from the first meeting-place it might please the King to assign. For the journey to that meeting-place, however, the use of palfreys was authorized. And if any man came on horseback, or brought horses with him, he was to send them home again immediately, but only with a riding-boy, and not with anyone able to bear arms. The matter was considered to be of such importance that no less a penalty than death was to be imposed for disobedience of the order. A proviso was, however, added, excepting earls, lords, barons, and great landed men from the operation of the Act.

There is a further clause to which also special interest attaches from the fact that it supplies the first evidence to be met with in Parliamentary records of an attempt at organizing a system of military drill. It ordained that a board consisting of the local authorities, the most able persons in the shire, and the commissioners appointed by the King, should, in every parish, choose a suitable man for each company levied within it, and should assign to him the duties of Captain. It was to be his special office to teach the men to march together and to bear their weapons, so that they might be "the more expert to put themselves in order hastily and keep the same in time of need". The companies were to muster for drill before noon on at least two of the most suitable holidays during each of the three summer months, and as often as could be conveniently arranged for during the other nine.

Such efforts were well meant; but perseverance, the first of the conditions necessary to ensure their success, appears to have been wanting. In 1546, a special wapenshaw was ordered to be held on Low Sunday, and the reason given for this step was, that the lieges were out of use of armour and weapons because such inspections had been neglected.[287] The accoutrements mentioned as requiring to be produced on this occasion were practically the same as formerly. In so far as evidence can be found in Acts of either Parliament or Privy Council, this was one of the last occasions on which specific mention was made of the armour and weapons to be borne by the respective classes of fighting men. In the closing years of the sixteenth century, however, the periodical complaint of laxity in the performance of military duties in time of peace again appears in an Act which, besides appointing a general wapenshaw to be held on the 1st of May, 1599, specifies the arms with which persons of various ranks were to be furnished, and thus affords material for an estimate of the change which had taken place in the equipment of the Scots forces, as well as on the obligations which military service now entailed. Earls, lords, barons, and gentlemen were to be armed with corslet of proof, headpiece, vambraces, teslets or coverings for the thighs, and a Spanish pike. In addition to this, every earl was to have twenty stands of similar armour for his household; every lord, ten; and every baron, one, for every 15 chalders of corn. Every baron and gentleman whose living did not depend upon "victual"[288] was to provide a complete stand for every 1000 marks of his yearly rent; every gentleman worth 300 marks in yearly rent was to be furnished with a light corslet and pike, or else with a musket, together with rest and bandoleer, and a headpiece. The regulation was to extend to the burghs; and the local authorities were to see that every burgess worth £500 of free gear should have a light corslet, a pike and halbard, or a two-handed sword, or else a musket, with its accessories, and a headpiece. But they were also to arrange in such a way that, for every light corslet and pike within the burgh, there should be two muskets. The penalties with which defaulters were threatened afford evidence that, although the country was still far from rich, it had made considerable progress since the days when fines were levied in kind. They were graded as follows: Every earl, 2000 marks; every lord, 1000 marks; every baron, for every 15 chalders of victual that he could spend, 100 marks; and every other person of the rank and substance indicated, £40.

It was one thing to require all ranks, degrees, and qualities to provide themselves with arms on this liberal scale, but it was another to put it into the power even of the most willing, to comply with the order. As a subsequent Act frankly admitted, there was "no such quantity of armour made within the realm as anywise might furnish the lieges thereof", and there consequently arose "a great necessity of bringing of the same home, forth of other countries". It was Sir Michael Balfour of Burleigh who, "not upon any respect of gain and profit that he might reap thereby, but upon the earnest affection and great regard he had to his Majesty's service and to the benefit of the realm", suggested a way out of the difficulty. He undertook to bring home 10,000 stands of armour, of which 2000 were to be for horsemen--figures which, in default of more precise data, are of some assistance towards forming an estimate of the military strength of the country.[289]

Sir Michael Balfour's offer was accepted; and the conditions of the contract duly fixed. The outfit for horsemen was to be complete in all pieces, and was to be supplied in two qualities: lance and sword proof, and hagbut proof. The former was to cost £50, and the latter £10 more. A complete suit of armour for a footman was to be charged £18, and was to be of one quality only--lance and sword proof. The price of a hagbut, with flask or bandoleer, was set at £6, 13s. 4d.

From the long list of defaulters that might be made up from the records of the Privy Council, and in which the names of all sorts and conditions of the lieges, of earls and of yeomen alike, would figure side by side, as well as from the legal proceedings which were taken by Sir Michael Balfour, on the one hand, and, on the other, by those who, on various grounds, claimed to be exempted from the operation of the Act, it appears that there was but little military enthusiasm in the country at this time. And this is borne out by an Act of Privy Council passed in July, 1607. It set forth that, notwithstanding the Act of 1599 for general arming and wapenshawing, there had been no inspection within the kingdom for several years past, and that the "lovable custom, which of old was very precisely kept and was very necessary and expedient for the good of the kingdom", had fallen into desuetude by reason of the negligence of the sheriffs and other officials; and it required these "to charge all and sundry, by open proclamation at the market crosses of the head burghs, to give and make their musters and wapenshawing" on the 4th of the following month. A few days later, however, the order was prorogated, for no more urgent reason than the meeting of Parliament; and with that, the periodical inspection of arms appears to have been finally abandoned for the remainder of the reign of James VI, who, by this time, had become James I of England also, a circumstance which goes far to explain the general indifference on the subject.

The first and main object that was always kept in view, and towards which Scotland's military dispositions were directed, was the protection of the country against the attacks of the "old enemy", as England was repeatedly styled. In more than one of the ordinances it was expressly set forth, that all manner of men were to hold themselves in readiness "to come to the Border for the defence of the land when any wittering came of the incoming of a great English host". And if the ever-present danger assumed more definite form and an invasion was actually expected, letters were sent throughout the country, charging all the lieges to be prepared to take the field in all possible haste, well equipped and duly supplied with provisions for a fixed number of days, usually forty, as soon as they were summoned. Warning of the approach of an invading army was signalled round the country by means of bale-fires which were lighted on certain specified hills.

For the purpose of defraying the expenses entailed by a campaign, recourse was had to extraordinary taxation. In 1550, for instance, the Privy Council ordained that "for resisting of our auld ynemyis of Ingland, the defence of the West Borders, and the repairing of a fort of strength in the town of Annan, the sum of £4000 should be raised and uplifted of the prelates and clergy of the realm. If the amount were "thankfullie payit and debursit", exemption from further taxation for the next year was promised.

To meet the requirements of the transport service, certain districts were laid under requisition. Thus, for the same campaign, the sheriffs of Edinburgh principal, Edinburgh lying within the constabulary of Haddington, Selkirk, and Lauderdale, were called upon to assist and concur with the Lairds of Lethington, Whittingham, Elphinstone, Trabroun, and Wauchton, in devising measures for furnishing the oxen and pioneers required for the forthbringing of the munition and artillery to the host and army which was to assemble in Edinburgh.

It was not solely for the defence of their own country that Scotsmen were obliged to bear arms. Occasion might arise when, in conformity with the "old leagues, bands, amity and alliance" which were supposed to have been entered upon by King Achaus and the Emperor Charlemagne, and to have been renewed and confirmed by every king and prince since that time, Scotland was obliged to furnish a contingent for the support of the Most Christian King. Such was the case in 1552. In the month of November of that year, the Regent Arran and the Lords of the Secret Council ordained that every 40-mark land, whether it were royal, temporal, or spiritual, should supply "one able, sufficient footman, well furnished, clad in new hose and a new doublet of canvas at the least, with a jack of plate, steel bonnet, splint sleeves of mail or plate, with a spear of six ells long or thereby". Every burgh within the realm was to provide a company consisting of 300 men, who were, as far as possible, to be hagbutters, furnished with powder flask, morsing horn, and all other gear belonging thereto. Two further companies of footmen were likewise to be raised in the highland parts of the realm, within the bounds of Lord Huntly's lieutenancy. Horsemen to the number of 400, each having "ane dowbill horse", were to be supplied by the bishops, abbots, priors, and prelates, earls, lords, and barons of the Borders and Lowlands. Gilbert, Earl of Cassillis, was appointed Lieutenant-General of the army, and Patrick, Lord Ruthven, Colonel of the footmen. The subordinate officers numbered fifty-five. The expense of the expedition was to be borne by the King of France.[290]

It was not only when Scotland was engaged in actual warfare, either on her own account or as the ally of France, that she required to call out her fighting men. The state of the country was such that the "fencibles" of some district might, at any moment, be required to take the field. Within less than a decade--between 1569 and 1578--there were at least twelve local levies. The first and five others of them, that is to say, a full half of the whole number, were raised for purposes similar to those indicated by an Act of Privy Council, in September, 1569, "to pass forthward for pursuit and invasion of the thieves, traitors, and rebellious subjects, inhabitants of the bounds of the Middle and West Wardencies". For such an expedition as that, there were called out "all and sundry his Majesty's lieges betwixt 40 and 16 years, and other fencible persons" dwelling in 12 sheriffdoms, 2 stewartries, and 3 bailliries. And they were required to assemble, not only "weill bodin in feir of weir"--the current phrase for complete fighting equipment--but also to bring with them twenty days' victuals and provisions, and to provide themselves with tents to lie in the fields.

As it was impossible for every man to carry with him twenty days' provisions otherwise than in the shape of money wherewith to buy them, a commissariat of some kind became a matter of necessity. To provide it, the inhabitants of some town might be required, as was the case with those of Glasgow, in 1572, "to follow the army where it shall repair, with bread, ale, and all other kinds of vivers for men and horse, which shall be bought from them with ready money and thankful payment". If circumstances made it more convenient, a number of burghs, towns, and other places where "hostelry was used" were informed beforehand, by public proclamation, that they would have to "prepare and have in readiness, baked bread, brewed ale, wine, and all other manner of horse meat and men's meat, and address them to transport and carry the same, by land or sea, to the camp, where it shall happen to be, there to be sold upon sufficient and good prices". If, as might be the case in the "countries most ewest of the Borders", lochs or rivers should have to be crossed or otherwise utilized for the purpose of the expedition, commandment and direction was given to all and sundry owners, masters, and skippers of ships, barks, "birlingis", boats, and other vessels meet for ferrying, to have their craft prepared and in full readiness to receive, carry, and transport men, munition, horses, victuals, or other warlike provisions to such place as should be specially appointed. For disobedience to any of the orders issued for the purpose of levying an expeditionary force or of furthering its movements and operations, the penalty to be imposed was always the same, "forfeiture of life, lands, and goods".