Chapter XVII: Appendix: A (2)

“Had he passed round the west end of the lake, or crossed it westward of the Pass of Brandir, he would have entered that wide and open country which I have before described,--a country every where untenable, and so surrounded by natural barriers, that it would have been almost impossible for him to have evacuated it under the closeness of his pursuit. Craiganuni, which had been before him, would have been not only totally unserviceable to him, from the direction in which he entered; but its barriers, lying wholly in his rear, would have made it the most dangerous situation. Had he been beset in the moors, the multitude of his enemies had devoured him; had he been overtaken at the craig, his flight would have been cut off by the gulf below; and those who had fled from the sword would have been driven over the precipices, and plunged into the water. Had he escaped these alternatives of ruin, every hardship would have been presented to his retreat. The country round the pass was wild and barren, even to horror and desolation; and had he succeeded in gaining it with security, he must have pursued his flight, hopeless of reinforcement and straitened for subsistence. By the tactic upon which he acted, he not only avoided all the evils, but converted the whole of their disadvantages to the inconvenience of his enemy. The instant he had occupied Craiganuni, and broken down the bridge over the mouth of the river, he was inaccessible on every side, and possessed in his rear a tract of nearly three hundred square miles, wholly open to his operations, but secured from his enemies by the same barriers which rendered himself unapproachable. In front, the depth of the water, and the precipices of the pass, were an insurmountable barrier; on the north, Loch-Eitive continued the line of circumvallation from the sea to Beann Starabh; and on the south it was extended by Loch-Awe from Lorn to Glen-Urcha. Sir Niel was thus encompassed by a formidable barrier of seventy-three miles in circumference; and from the obstacles of this cordon, and the security of the wide space in his rear, he could at pleasure have evacuated his position under cover of the night, and have retreated, in unmolested security, to Loch-Fine, from whence he might have proceeded in his galleys to the coast of Airshire, and here joined himself with the successful associates of the late victorious Wallace.

“I have said nothing of the ford through the Awe, by which there was an approach to the position of Sir Niel, nor of the capability of MacPhadian, to have passed Loch-Eitive by means of his fleet; of the first, the enemy feared to avail himself from the danger of the passage, and the want of discipline among his troops; and from the second, he could have reaped little avail, since, in the consumption of time necessary to have brought round these vessels from the sea, Sir Niel might have abandoned his position, and in one night have made good his retreat beyond Loch-Awe.

“Thus baffled and out-manœuvred, MacPhadian not only failed in his object of offence, but found himself drawn into an intricate and desolate labyrinth, where his multitude encumbered themselves; the want of subsistence prevented him from remaining to blockade Sir Niel, and his ignorance of the clues of the place made it difficult to extricate himself by a retreat. In this exigence he was desirous of returning to Nether Loch-Awe, where there was abundance of cattle and game for the support of his men. At length he discovered a passage between the rocks and the water; the way was only wide enough for four persons to pass abreast; yet as they were not in danger of pursuit, they retired in safety, and effected their march to the south side of the lake.[146]

“Here we must leave Mac-Phadian, and return to Duncan of Lorn. In his youth the latter had been a school-companion of Wallace at Dundee; and he now determined to resort to him, and make use of their old acquaintance to prevail on the champion of Scotland to come to the assistance of Sir Niel Campbell. As soon, therefore, as Mac-Phadian had evacuated the Pass, Duncan descended from Craiganuni, and pursued his way for the Low country, attended only by a single follower, named Gillemichel. This faithful clansman was an aged man, but even in his age was still famous for an uncommon speed of foot,[147] and on their return performed good service for his master. When Duncan arrived in the Low country he found the Wallace at Dundaff, with Sir John the Græme. The patriot chieftain had just returned from the overthrow of the English in the Barns of Air and the city of Glasgow; and besides the friends and forces who had come to him upon those occasions, he had been joined by Malcolm, Earl of Lennox, and Richard of Lundi, who brought with them a considerable number of their followers. No sooner had Wallace heard the tidings of Duncan MacDougall, than he resolved to go to the aid of Sir Niel Campbell; and, assembling his force, he instantly set out upon his march. He directed his course by Stirling, either to gather increase of followers, or apprehensive of leaving behind him an English garrison on the threshold of the Highlands. The castle, however, was not a place to be taken in a day; and bent upon the destruction of Mac-Phadian, Wallace would not delay his march to pursue the siege in person, but, leaving the Earl of Lennox to carry on that service, he determined to push forward his expedition into Argyleshire. Having assembled his forces at the bridge of Stirling, and found them to amount to two thousand men, ‘worthi and wycht,’ he hastened forward on his way. Duncan of Lorn acted as his guide; and while they pursued their march, he sent forward his man Gillemichel to discover intelligence of the enemy. Blind Harrie proceeds to relate, that as the army proceeded, it became fatigued with its march, that a great part of the men and horses were incapable to continue their way with that speed which the urgency of the expedition required. Upon this Wallace determined to divide the weary from the strong, and to hasten forward with the latter only, and surprise the enemy before they could have the opportunity of choosing a position, where their superiority of numbers could be displayed to its advantage. For this purpose he divided his host into two bodies; the first, consisting of seven hundred men, he chose to haste forward with himself; and the second, which contained but five hundred, and which was spent with fatigue, he left in the rear to follow as well as they might. Before they continued their march Wallace again separated the first division into three companies; the first, consisting of one hundred men, his own chosen West country veterans, he led in person as the advance guard; the second, of the same numbers, he committed to Sir John the Græme; and the last, to the amount of five hundred, he gave to Richard of Lundi, with whom he joined Wallace of Richardtown, his cousin. After this disposition, the two grand divisions separated: that under the leading of Wallace hastened forward on its march, and, crossing the mountain in their front, lost sight of their feeble comrades. In Glen-Dochart they were met by Gillemichel the scout; with him came Sir Niel Campbell, who had escaped from Craiganuni, and at the head of his three hundred clansmen had hastened to join the approaching aid of Wallace.

“In this part of Blind Harrie’s poem there is an error, which throws some confusion upon the traces of the march of Wallace. It appears, however, to have been the fault of the transcriber or reciter, and I think may be satisfactorily explained. The mistake consists in the contradiction of the name of the place where the host of Wallace began to fail with fatigue, and of that in which it is said, that he afterwards met Sir Niel Campbell. The words of the poem are thus:--

“Be our party was passit _Straithfulan_,
Ye small fute folk began to irk ilk ane.”

_Book vii._ l. 763.

To which it is subsequently said,

“In _Glendowchar_ yair spy met yaim agayne,
With lord Cambell,” &c.

_Ib._ l. 785.

“Straith-Phillan opens from the _west_ end of Glen-Dochart towards the _north-west_; and consequently, as Wallace came from the _south-east_, it must have been the second of the two places in the succession of his march, and could not, as it stands in the poem, have been the first. I shall presently show, that there is every evidence from the narrative of the Minstrel, and the evidence of tradition, that Wallace did not pass through Straith-Phillan in any part of his march. The mention of the name, in this place, must therefore have been an error altogether, arising either from the carelessness of the transcriber, or from the confusion of two appellations, something similar in import. I am inclined to lean to the latter opinion. At the northern extremity of Straithearn, between the Glen and Loch-Earn, the mountains form a little amphitheatre, in the middle of which there is a small conical hill, once sacred to St Phillan, and still called by his name. Near its summit was a holy spring, distinguished also by the name of the apostle, and at its foot was a small cell of religious, formed originally by his disciples. It appears to me highly probable, that Wallace entered the Highlands by Straithearn; that it was at St Phillan’s Hill that his men became fatigued; and that it was this place which the reciter or transcriber of Blind Harrie’s poem confounded with Straith-Phillan. This supposition is much supported by the correspondence between the circumstances mentioned by the Minstrel, respecting the march of Wallace, and the route between Straith-Earn and Glen-Dochart. A few miles north of St Phillan’s Hill, the old and short track of the country emerges from the level side of Loch-Earn, and, passing over the transverse mountains at its extremity, enters into Glen-Dochart, at the foot of Bean Mòr, and near the eastern extremity of the lake.

“This was the common Pass used of old by the Highlanders, before the construction of the roads. It is a wild and pathless track, but is still used by shepherds, and is shorter than the modern ‘Rad mòr an righ’[148] by some miles. The mention which Blind Harrie makes of the march of Wallace, after the separation from his weary men, agrees very much with this path, and its direction:--

“Yus Wallace ost began to tak ye hycht,
Our a montayne sone passit off yar sycht.
In Glendowchar yair spy met yaim agayne
With lord Cambell, yan was our folk rycht fayne.”

_Book vii._ l. 783.

“The correspondence is made still more near by the hint which is given of the spot where the men of Wallace met Sir Niel Campbell. It appears to have happened immediately upon their entering Glen-Dochart; and, after having described the meeting of the two parties, when the Minstrel tells us, that they resumed their march, he says--

“By Louthdochyr full sodynlye yaim drew.”

_Ib._ l. 792.

“From this it would appear, that Wallace entered the glen near the extremity of the lake, and this is the exact point where the mountain path enters from Loch-Earn.

“From this period of the poem to the conclusion of the episode of MacPhadian, the relation of the Minstrel is clear and consistent; and, by the aid of the tradition of the country, the route pursued by Wallace may be well identified with the localities of its existent topography. The oral account, handed down in Argyleshire, states, that at the coming of Wallace, MacPhadian and his host were posted in the northern extremity of the Pass of Brandir; and that they were there attacked and overthrown by Sir William and the Campbells. It will be found, that this account is much confirmed by the correspondence between the nature of the country from Glen-Dochart to Loch-Awe, and the particulars of the route described by Blind Harrie, as having been pursued by Wallace from the latter place to the hold where he encountered MacPhadian: it is still farther avouched by the exact conformity between the description of the scene of battle in the poem, and that marked as its site by the tradition. Immediately after passing Loch-Dochart, and consequently leaving that glen, the Minstrel describes the host of Wallace as entering a moss of such an extent and difficulty, that it prevented the farther march of the horses, and obliged the men to dismount and pursue their way on foot.

“Yan Wallace ost upon yair fute yai lycht,
Yair hors yai left yocht yai war neuir so wycht:
For moss and crag yai mycht na langer dre
Yan Wallace said quha gangs best let se.”

_Book vii._ l. 803.

“A short distance beyond the west end of Glen-Dochart, there is a high and wide tract of moss and moor, called ‘The Churan Beag,’ which occupies the most considerable extent of the space between Glen-Dochart and Glen-Urcha, the entrance to Loch-Awe. It is difficult to conceive a more desolate spot, nor one which could more correspond with the moss noticed by Blind Harrie. Its whole extent is a vast waste of swamps, gullies, and broken peat-bags; and its outlets and entrances are by rugged and steep declivities, embarrassed with fragments of rocks, and torn into vast chasms by the torrents which rise on the moss above. Through this miserable region lies the shortest path from Glen-Dochart to Glen-Urcha; and though impassable for horses, yet, in the olden time, when these were little used by the Highlanders, it was the most common thoroughfare between the above-mentioned places, and is still used, on account of its brevity, by the shepherds of the country, and foot-travellers who require expedition. It is several miles shorter than the way by Straith-Phillan and Glen-Lochie; for this reason, and also for its utter solitude, it is highly probable that it should have been the route chosen by Wallace in preference to the other. In addition to the proofs offered in its favour, by the correspondence of its features with those of the road mentioned by Blind Harrie, there is the negative confirmation, that no place of the same nature occurs within the neighbourhood of Glen-Dochart, in any direction by which it is probable that the march of Wallace could have been destined. For this reason, it is, as I have before hinted, impossible that he could have passed through Straith-Phillan; for in the whole way from Glen-Dochart to Glen-Urcha by that road, there is neither moss nor muir, but plain straith and narrow glen. From all these circumstances, it seems very conclusive, that it was through the moss of ‘the Churan Beag’ that Wallace took his march, after his junction with Sir Niel Campbell in Glen-Dochart. But to return to the relation of the Minstrel.

“Previous to the entrance of Wallace upon the muir, he mentions that Gillemichel had been again sent forward to reconnoitre the route. He had not been long entered the moss, when he met a scout of MacPhadian, doubtless sent to discover the approach of Wallace. At the appearance of Gillemichel, the foeman fled; but his speed was not sufficient to enable him to outstrip the fleet foot of his pursuer, and he was overtaken and slain. Delivered from this danger of a discovery, the host of Wallace effected their march through the Churan in perfect secrecy, and reached the hold of MacPhadian before their approach was even known. It may, perhaps, be remarked, that the paucity of the Minstrel, in his relation of this part of the march of Wallace, is inconsistent with the description of the country through which tradition supposes it to have been made; since the poem makes no mention of the progress of the expedition through the intermediate space of ten miles, which lies between the Churan and the pass of Brandir, but, from declaring Wallace’s delivery from the moss, immediately proceeds to communicate his entrance to the hold, without taking any notice of his arrival on the shore of Loch-Awe. But it is to be observed, that, through the whole march of Wallace, it describes those situations only, the circumstances of which affect the incidents of the story. The space from the Churan being destitute of any feature dangerous or advantageous, and the grand interest of the episode being the hold of MacPhadian, the Minstrel appears to have been absorbed in that object, and to have passed without regard the intervening way. This is palpably the fact, by the certain evidence, that, wherever the post of MacPhadian was situated, there was between its entrance and the moss passed by Wallace, a space of water which has not been mentioned by the Minstrel.

* * * * *

“Then Wallace said quha gangs best let se,
Throuchout ye moss deliverly yai zeid,
Syne tuk ye hauld quharof yai had maist dreid,
_Endlong ye schoir_ ay four in front yai past,” &c.

_Book vii. l._ 806.

“From this notice of the shore, it is here evident that Wallace arrived on the banks of some water immediately previous to entering the position of his enemy, and that Blind Harrie has neglected to mention the circumstance. His omission of the mention of Loch-Awe in his description of the march of Wallace, is therefore no objection that the latter was not made in the route affirmed by tradition.

“From the arrival of Wallace in the hold of MacPhadian, the account of Blind Harrie corresponds entirely with the accounts of the oral record, and the nature of the pass of Brandir. The place in which the old people of the country point out the site of the battle, is that narrow stripe of open space which lies near the northern extremity of the pass, between the foot of Cruächan and the narrowing of the lake to the rock of Brandir. The Minstrel coincides with this account.

“Endlong ye schoir ay four in front yai past,
_Quhill yai within assemblyt at ye last._”

_Ib. l._ 810.

“From this narrowness of the column, and the number of Wallace’s men, the whole host could not have entered within the pass, till the head had arrived as far as the space before mentioned. The description of the straitened situation of the position also agrees with the pass of Brandir:

“Her is na gait to fle zone pepil can,
Bot rockis heich and wattir depe and wan.”

_Book vii. l._ 814.

“As soon as the men of Wallace arrived at the post of their enemies, they fell upon them with the utmost fury. Their scout having been slain, as before mentioned, MacPhadian’s followers were completely surprised and taken at disarray. Undismayed, however, by this ill fortune, they snatched up their arms, and rushed to defend the pass with the boldest resolution. At the first onset, the Scots bore back their enemies over five acres of ground; and Wallace, with his iron mace, made a fearful havoc among the enemy. Encouraged, however, by MacPhadian, the Irish came to the rescue; the battle thickened with more stubborn fury; and for two hours was maintained, with such obstinate eagerness on both sides, that neither party had any apparent advantage; and, says the Minstrel, the fiercest found ‘eneuch’ of fighting. At length the cause, and the valour of Wallace, prevailed. The Irish gave way and fled; and the Scots of their party threw down their arms, and, kneeling for mercy, Wallace commanded them to be spared for their birth sake, but urged forward the pursuit upon the Irish. Pent in by the rocks and the water, the latter had but little hope in flight. Many were overtaken and slain as they endeavoured to climb the craigs; and two thousand were driven into the lake and drowned. MacPhadian, with fifteen men, fled to a cave, and hoped to have concealed himself till the pursuit was over; but Duncan of Lorn having discovered his retreat, pursued and slew him with his companions; and having cut off the head of the leader, brought it to Wallace, and set it upon a stone high in one of the craigs, as a trophy of the victory.”

·.· Before the writer met with the work whence the preceding extract is made, he entertained the belief that he was the first who had studied the topography and tradition of this romantic district, with a view of illustrating the labours of the Minstrel, and hence bringing into notice a portion of our history hitherto overlooked by all, save that ill-requited author. Under this impression, he was arranging the materials he had collected, when he became aware of his being anticipated by a more able hand. On comparing his notes with the details of Mr Allan, the similarity of their views appeared too striking to be supposed accidental; and unwilling to incur the charge of appropriating to himself the merits of another, he has suppressed his own observations, in deference to the ingenious author of the “Bridal of Caölchairn.”

F.

MEMOIRS OF JOHN, EARL OF WARREN--LORD HENRY DE PERCY--AND LORD ROBERT DE CLIFFORD.

I. WARREN.

Page 220.

It is presumed the writer will not be far wrong, if he anticipates a little curiosity on the part of the reader, respecting the personal history of so conspicuous a character as the conqueror of Dunbar; and as our English neighbours consider it a matter of difficulty, for a Scotsman to be impartial when the conduct of an enemy of his country happens to be the subject of his investigation, we shall, without either denying or admitting the truth of this allegation, endeavour to escape from the charge, by giving the following biographical notice in the elegant language of one of their own countrymen:[149]

“John Earl of Warren and Surrey was the son of William Earl of Warren and Surrey, by his second wife, Maud, widow of Hugh Bigot, Earl of Norfolk, and sister and coheiress of Anselm Marshal, Earl of Pembroke. In 1240, being then five years of age, he succeeded his father in his dignities. In 1247 he married Alice, daughter of Hugh le Brun, Count of March, and uterine sister of King Henry the Third; and in the following year, though he could not have been above thirteen years of age, he is said to have attended the Parliament which met at London in the octaves of the Purification. During the reign of Henry the Third, he is stated to have filled those stations which, from his high rank, naturally devolved upon him, and at the battle of Lewes he served in the van of the royal army with Prince Edward; but, together with the Earl of Pembroke, disgracefully deserted him at the commencement of the action, and fled first to Pevensey Castle, and from thence to France. Their flight is thus quaintly alluded to by Peter de Langtoft:[150]

“=The Erle of Warenne, I wote, he scaped over the se,
And Sir Hugh Bigote als with the Erle fled he.=

“In May following he returned, and claimed the restitution of his possessions, which, notwithstanding his treachery to the Prince, the rebellious Barons had declared to have been forfeited. The refusal of his demand induced him once more to change sides, and he confederated with the Earl of Gloucester for the restoration of the King’s power, and was present with the royal forces at the battle of Evesham. Thus his interest, rather than his honour, seems to have been his sole rule of action; and unfortunately, such conduct was then far too general to entail upon those who adopted it either punishment or reproach. In 1268 he had a dispute with Henry Earl of Lincoln; and about the same time became involved in a serious affray with Alan Lord Zouche, relative to some lands. This affair was attended with great violence; for, finding that he must submit to the judgment of a court of law, he abused his adversary and his son in the strongest terms, and then assaulted them in such an outrageous manner in Westminster-Hall, that he nearly killed the baron, and severely wounded his son. Neither his power nor influence could save the Earl from the vengeance of the laws he had so flagrantly violated; and, though he retired to his Castle at Ryegate, he was closely pursued by Prince Edward with a strong force, and, finding that opposition would be useless, he met the Prince on foot, and implored the royal clemency with great humility. For his offence he was fined ten thousand marks; but this sum was afterwards reduced to eight thousand four hundred, and he was permitted to pay it by annual instalments of two hundred marks each.

“Immediately after the solemnization of the funeral of Henry the Third at Westminster, the Earl of Warren and the Earl of Gloucester proceeded to the high altar, and swore fealty to his son and successor, King Edward the First. In the 3d Edward I. he received that monarch at his castle of Ryegate in so honourable a manner, upon his return from Gascony, that Edward was induced to remit him one thousand marks of the sum which he had been fined for the affair with Lord le Zouche.

“The next circumstance recorded of the Earl, is one in which that proud and sturdy spirit for which he was celebrated, was displayed in a manner so consonant to the feelings of the present day, that this nobleman has always been a favourite character in English biography; and the pencil was on one occasion employed to perpetuate his independent conduct. After the enactment of the statute of _quo warranto_, the Earl of Warren was, under its provisions, questioned by what title he held his lands; to which inquiry, first unsheathing an old sword, he is said to have replied, ‘Behold, my Lords, here is my warranty. My ancestors coming into this land with William the Bastard, did obtain their lands by the sword; and with the sword I am resolved to defend them against whomsoever that shall endeavour to dispossess me. For that King did not himself conquer the land and subdue it, but our progenitors were sharers and assistants therein.’

“In the 23d Edward I., the Castle of Bamburgh was intrusted to his custody; and, in the 24th Edward I., he commanded the forces sent to reduce Dunbar Castle, which, after a siege of three days, surrendered to him; and having met the Scotch army which came to its relief, he defeated them on Friday the 27th April, and pursued them several miles from the field of battle, when the enemy sustained a loss of 10,000 men. Soon after this event, the Earl was appointed Regent of Scotland; and in the following year was constituted general of all the English forces north of the Trent. But his previous good fortune now deserted him; and his army sustained a signal overthrow at the battle of Stirling, in September 1297.

“His misfortune did not, however, lessen him in Edward’s esteem, for he was immediately afterwards reappointed to the command of the English forces; and, in the 28th Edward I., was made Governor of Hope Castle, in the county of Derby. In that year, also, he commanded the second squadron at the siege of Carlaverock, at which time he must have been about sixty-five years of age.

“In the 29th Edward I., the Earl was appointed, jointly with the Earl of Warwick and others, to treat with the agents of the King of France, relative to a peace between England and Scotland; and in the same year he was a party to the letter from the barons to Pope Boniface VIII., in which he is only styled “Comes Warenne,” though on his seal he is also properly called Earl of Surrey.[151] On the 5th calends of October, 32 Edward I., i. e. 27th September 1304, being then, according to Peter de Langtoft,[152] employed in Scotland, he died.

“The moneth of September yolden was Strivelyn,
Edward may remembre the travaille and the pyn.
With many grete encumbre of in hard stoure,
At Brustwick opon Humbre there he mad sojoure.
Sir Jon of Warenne that ilk tyme gan deie,
His body was redy then in grave for to leie,
After the enterment the King tok his way,
To the south,” &c.

“But according to the registry of the Priory of Lewes, the Earl died that day at Kennington, having, says Dugdale, been Earl of Surrey no less than fifty-four years; though, as he succeeded his father in 1240, it is evident he must have borne that title sixty-four years. He was buried in the midst of the pavement, in the quire of the Abbey of Lewes, before the high altar, and the following epitaph was engraved upon his tomb.

“=Vous qe passez on bouche close.
Priez pur cely ke cy repose:
En vie come vous estis jadis fu,
Et vous tiel serretz come je su.=

=Sire Johan Count de Gareyn gyst ycy.
Dieu de sa alme eit mercy:
Ky pur sa alme priera,
Trois mill jours de pardon avera.=”

“Of the subject of this article, but little that is favourable to his memory can be said; though his faults, or more properly his vices, were those of the age in which he lived. His treachery at the battle of Lewes has, to apply the beautiful expression of a distinguished statesman of the present day, ‘left indelible stains upon his character, which all the laurels of’ Dunbar ‘cannot cover, nor its blood wash away;’ whilst his subsequent conduct was invariably marked by a turbulent and intractable spirit. Not only was he frequently embroiled in disputes both with his compeers and his sovereign, but, with almost unparalleled hardihood, he dared, in a court of justice, to use personal violence towards a baron of the realm. That he should acquire renown in the field, and consequently become possessed of the King’s esteem, is perfectly consistent with that impetuous temper for which he is celebrated. Bravery is, however, but one redeeming trait in a picture, where all besides is dark and repulsive; and even the bold answer relative to his right to his lands, when properly considered, affords no room for praise; for the same resolute opposition to such an inquiry would, there is no doubt, be as readily evinced to defend any part of his property, if it had been acquired by the most flagrant injustice on his part, instead of on that of his ancestors.

“A proof of the estimation in which the Earl was held by Edward the First, is afforded, in Dugdale’s opinion, by the fact, that the King issued precepts, directed to the Bishops of Canterbury and London, and to several Abbots, commanding them to cause masses to be said for his soul; but this testimony of the royal consideration might have arisen from the near connection between the Earl and his Majesty, as is shown by the annexed table:--

King John == Isabel, daughter, and heiress == Hugh le Brun,
| of Aymer, Count of | Count of March,
| Angoulesme. | 2d husband.
+----+ +---+
| |
King Henry III. == Alice == John Earl of
| | Warren.
+----------+ +
|
King Edward I.
|
+

“By the said Alice le Brun, who died on the 9th February 1291, the Earl of Warren had issue, William, who died in his father’s lifetime, leaving his wife _enceinte_ with John, his son and heir, who succeeded his grandfather in his honours. Alianor, who married, first, Henry Lord Percy, by whom she had Henry Lord Percy, spoken of in the poem, (_i.e._ Caerlaverock Castle), as the Earl’s ‘nevou;’ and, secondly, the son of a Scotch Baron; and Isabel, wife of John Baliol, King of Scotland.”[153]

II. PERCY

“If the biographer of an ancient warrior,” says Mr Nicolas, “is in any degree influenced by that enthusiasm which deeds of chivalrous courage are calculated to excite, it is only by more than ordinary restraint upon his feelings that he is enabled to relate them in the sober and chastened language suitable to historical truth; and, perhaps, in no instance is that caution so necessary as when any member of the house of Percy is the subject of his pen. In the age to which Henry de Percy belonged, as well as in a few succeeding centuries, that name was synonymous with almost uncontrollable power, impetuous valour, and all those stern military virtues which characterized the time; and the difficulty of successfully detailing the career of an individual is considerably increased, when, as in the case of this Baron, the merits of his descendants have been sung, not only by rude contemporary bards, but have been immortalized by the greatest dramatic genius that ever existed.

“Henry de Percy was the third son of Henry Lord Percy, by Eleanor, daughter of John Earl of Warren and Earl of Surrey, and succeeded to the barony upon the death of his brother John de Percy, who died under age soon after the year 1272, at which time he appears to have been very young. The first circumstance recorded of him is, that, in the 15th Edward I., being then in ward, on the King’s expedition into Wales, he was acquitted of 120_l._ required from him for scutage. In the 22d Edward I. 1294, he made proof of his age, obtained livery of his lands, and was summoned to attend the King into Gascony; and in March 1296, having accompanied Edward in his invasion of Scotland, he received the honour of knighthood before Berwick. He was present at the battle of Dunbar, and was soon afterwards appointed Governor of Galloway and Aire in Scotland; and in 1297, being with Lord Robert Clifford, commander for the King of England in the eastern parts of Scotland, they were appointed to receive Margery, daughter of Robert Brus Earl of Carreck, as an hostage for his fidelity to Edward. About the same time he was sent by the Earl Warren, then General of all the English army beyond the Trent, with the forces at Carlisle into Scotland; and having entered Annandale with 300 men-at-arms, and 40,000 foot, about the 10th August he proceeded to Aire, where he endeavoured to persuade the inhabitants of Galloway to submit. Finding that a party of Scots were on their route to oppose him, he marched towards them; but from the inferiority of their numbers, they surrendered upon condition of being pardoned.

“In the 26th Edward I., Lord Percy was again in the wars of Scotland, in which year he obtained a grant of the lands forfeited by Ingelrom de Umfreville; and in the following year he was present at the siege of Carlaverock--a fact unnoticed by either of the writers just mentioned--when he must have been about forty-two years of age. The poet alludes to his determined hostility against the Scots, which feeling appears to have been inherited by his descendants, and describes him as the ‘nevou’ of the Earl Warren, which, like the word ‘nepos,’ seems to have been used for grandson as well as nephew, he being the son of Eleanor, the daughter of that nobleman. In February, 28th Edward I., 1301, he was a party to the letter from the Barons to Pope Boniface, wherein he is styled ‘Lord of Topclive;’ and in the 34th Edward I., was again sent into Scotland, to oppose Robert Bruce, against whom he valiantly defended Kenteir. In the 35th Edward I., he was a party to the treaty of peace with Scotland.

“On the accession of Edward the Second, he was, in common with the other peers of the realm, summoned to attend that monarch’s coronation; and in the 3d Edward II., he purchased the celebrated castle of Alnwick, which is now possessed by his representative the Duke of Northumberland. In the 5th Edward II., he succeeded John de Segrave, as Constable of Nottingham Castle, and Justice of the Forests beyond the Trent, and about the same period was constituted Governor of Scarborough and Bamburgh Castles. From a writ tested on the 14th September, 1309, it appears that he was then Constable of the Castle of York, and in that and the preceding years he was again in the wars of Scotland.

“Lord Percy distinguished himself by his enmity to Piers de Gaveston, and it is perhaps just to consider that his hostility arose from patriotic motives; but there is a suspicion attached to his behaviour towards the unhappy favourite, which the biassed historian of the house of Percy has rather increased than lessened, by his laboured attempt to remove. It appears that Gaveston was besieged in Scarborough Castle by the Earl of Pembroke; that he surrendered upon condition that his life and person should be secured; and that both the Earl and Percy solemnly pledged themselves to that effect. Through a false reliance, however, on the Earl’s honour, by Percy, as Collins relates it, the promise was speedily broken, and Gaveston perished on the scaffold at Warwick Castle. This is a version of the tale, which so partial a biographer as that writer uniformly shows himself, would naturally give; but although the impossibility of ascertaining the real merits of the case render it unjust to pass a positive censure upon Percy’s conduct, it is at least equally unfair to conclude that the whole shame of the transaction belongs to his colleague, and that his only error arose from a misplaced confidence. Certain, however, it is, that the King considered him guilty of Gaveston’s death, for he issued special precepts, tested on the 30th and 31st July, 1312, for his apprehension, and for the siezure of all his lands, tenements, and chattels. Towards the end of that year, however, Percy was included in the treaty between the King and the barons; and on making his submission his offence was pardoned, and his lands restored to him. The acquittance of the King to Thomas Earl of Lancaster, Guy Earl of Warwick, Robert de Clifford, and this Baron, of the jewels and horses that belonged to Gaveston, dated on the 6th February, 1313, 6. Edw. II., by which he acknowledges to have received from them the articles therein mentioned, by the hands of Humphrey Earl of Hereford, is still preserved. The document is highly curious; and with the hope of relieving the dullness of this memoir, the following interesting extracts from it are introduced:

‘Un anel d’or, od un saphir, lequel seint Dunstan forga de ses
mayns.

Une boiste d’argent en d’orrez pur porter eynz un anel entour le
col de un homme.

Une grant rubi hors d’or, que fust trove sur sire Piers de Gavaston
quant il fust pris; le pris de mille livres.

Trois granz rubis en aneaux, une amiraude, un diamaund de grant
pris, en une boiste d’argent enamille, que fust trove sur le dit
Pierres quant il fust pris.

Deux seaux un grant e un petit; e un petit seal une clief
pendaunte, un esterling plie, et un calcedoyne; les queux furent
trovez en la burse quant il fuit pris.

En un cofre, lie de feer, une mirour d’argent enamaille; un pigne;
un priket, que fust donné au Roi par la Countesse de Bar à Gant.

Un coronal d’or od diverse perie, pris de cent mars.

Un chapelet d’argent garnis de diverse perie, pris de doze soutz.

En un autre cofre, un grant pot d’argent od trois peiz pur chaufer
eawe, que poise sis livres quinze soutz dis deners.

Trois plates d’argent por especierie, e poisent quatre livres.

Deux plates d’argent pur fruit, des armes de roy d’Engleterre, que
poisent sessant dis oit souz quatre deners.

Une burse de drap d’or ove deux pierres de Jerlm’ dedenz.

Un mors d’argent od quatre botons d’orrez, od deux lions pur chaq’e
de cuir.

Un veil seal entaille, e un pere de Calcedoine. Trois furchesces
d’argent pur mangier poires.

Une ceinture de fil de argent blank.

Une chapelet de Paris, pris de sis souz oit deners.

En un sak un bacenet burny od surcils.

En autre saak une peire de treppes des armes de dit Pieres.

Deux cotes de velvet pur plates coverir.

Une Nouche pur palefrei, des armes du Roy.

Quatre chemises et trois brais de Gascoigne orfresez.

Une veille banere des armes le dit Piers.

Quarant un destres et coucers e un palefrei.

Noef Somers. Duze chivaus charetters.

Deux charettes od tut le herneis.’[154]

“Great part of Gaveston’s plate was marked with an eagle, and several articles of jewellery were in that form, his arms being, _Vert, six eagles displayed, Or._

“The little that remains to be said of this Baron, may be related in a very few words. In 1313 he received letters of safe conduct from the King, for all his dominions; in June in the following year he was present at the fatal battle of Bannockburn, and was regularly summoned to parliament from the 6th February, 27th Edward I. 1299, to the 29th July, 8th Edward II. 1314. He died in 1315, and was buried in the Abbey of Fountains in Yorkshire; and by Eleanor his wife, daughter of John Earl of Arundel, who survived him, he left issue. Henry his eldest son, then aged sixteen years; and William, who was made a Knight of the Bath, 20th Edward II. and died in 1355.”

_Siege of Carlaverock._

III. CLIFFORD.

“Robert de Clifford was the eldest son of Roger de Clifford, who was accidently slain between Snowden and Anglesey in 1280. He was born about Easter, April, 1274, and in the 14th Edward I., 1286, he succeeded his grandfather in his baronial honours, being then twelve years of age. In the 13th Edward I., he was found to be one of the heirs of Ralph de Gaugy, and paid 100_l._ for his relief; after which, the next circumstance which has been found recorded of him is, that he was summoned to attend the King, with horse and arms, on his expedition beyond the sea on the 4th May, 25th Edward I. 1297; and on the 26th September following, he was ordered to be at Carlisle, similarly equipped, to serve against the Scots, at the ensuing Feast of Pentecost; but Dugdale asserts, that he was present at the battle of Dunbar, in 24th Edward I.; that in the 25th Edward I., he was sent with a hundred men-at-arms and twenty-thousand foot from Carlisle to plunder in Scotland; and that, after much slaughter, he returned with considerable booty on Christmas eve. In that year he was also appointed Justice of all the King’s forests beyond the Trent; in 26th Edward I., he was made governor of Nottingham Castle; and on the 27th Edward I., being constituted the King’s Lieutenant and Captain-General in the counties of Cumberland, Westmoreland and Lancaster, and throughout Annandale and the Marches of Scotland, he was joined in commission with the Bishop of Durham and others, to consider of the means of garrisoning the castles in that kingdom, and for guarding the marches. Clifford was again summoned to the Scottish wars on the 7th May, 27th Edward I., 1299, and received his first writ to parliament on the 29th December in the same year.

“As Clifford did not attain his majority till 1295, he consequently could not have been above twenty-five when he was thus honoured with his sovereign’s confidence,--a fact which speaks forcibly in his praise. It was at this period of his life that he was noticed in the poem;[155] and as his conduct at Carlaverock is wholly passed over by his former biographer, it claims especial regard in this memoir. After stating that he served in the third squadron, which was led by the King in person, and extolling Clifford’s valour, descent and prudence, the writer adds, that if he were a young maiden, he would bestow on him his heart and person, in consideration of his renown. During the siege, we are told that he particularly distinguished himself, and was rewarded by being appointed Governor of the Castle when it surrendered; in consequence of which, his banner was placed on its battlements. Clifford was a party to the letter from the Barons to Pope Boniface, in the 29th Edward I., February 1301, in which he is described as “Castellanus de Appelby;” and, in the 34th Edward I., in recompense for his numerous services, he obtained a grant of the borough of Hartlepole, and of all the lands of Robert de Brus. In the same year, he was sent with Aymer de Valence against the said Robert, who had then assumed the title of King of Scotland; about which time the lands of Christopher de Seyton were granted to him. Clifford attended the deathbed of the King in 1307, and received the dying monarch’s injunctions to prevent the return of Gaveston into the realm. In the 1st Edward II., he was again made Governor of Nottingham Castle, and constituted Earl Marshal of England; and, on the 31st January 1308, he joined several other Lords in an engagement to support the title and honour of the young King with their lives and fortunes. In the 2d Edward II. he was constituted Warden of the Marches of Scotland, and soon afterwards Governor of that kingdom; and on the 17th March 1309-10, was one of the Peers selected to regulate the royal household. Several valuable grants of lands were bestowed upon him in the 3d and 4th Edward II., in consideration of his merits; and he was again summoned to serve in Scotland, in the 4th Edward II. In the 6th Edward II. he was joined in commission with the Earl of Hereford and others, to continue a treaty begun at Margate with the Count of Eureux and the Bishop of Poitou, upon some important affairs. On the 6th February 1313, he received an acquittance from the King, for the jewels, horses, &c. belonging to Piers de Gaveston; and he firmly adhered to Thomas Earl of Lancaster, against the unfortunate favourite, for his agency in whose death he afterwards procured the royal pardon.

“Lord Clifford was regularly summoned to parliament from the 29th December, 28th Edward I. 1299, to the 26th November, 7th Edward II. 1313; and he terminated his career in a manner strictly consistent with his life, for he fell in the battle of Bannockburn, on the 25th June 1314, at the early age of forty years. His body was sent to King Edward at Berwick, and is supposed to have been buried at Shapp Abbey, in Westmoreland.

“Clifford married Maud, daughter, and eventually coheir of Thomas de Clare, steward of Waltham-Forest, son of Thomas, younger son of Richard de Clare, Earl of Gloucester and Hertford, by whom, who survived him, and remarried Robert, Baron Welles, he had issue Roger, his successor in the barony, then aged fifteen years, but who died, S. P. in 1337; Robert, brother and heir of Roger, and, according to some pedigrees, two other sons, John and Andrew; and a daughter, Idonea, the wife of Henry Lord Clifford.

“From Robert de Clifford, the second son of the subject of this article, descended the baronial line of Clifford, which, in the reign of Henry the Eighth, was elevated to the earldom of Cumberland. The barony of Clifford is now possessed by Edward Southwell, the present Lord de Clifford, the abeyance having been terminated in favour of his Lordship’s father in 1776.”[156]

G.

HUGH DE CRESSINGHAM.

Page 229.

Respecting this avaricious and time-serving minion, few particulars are known. The historians of his country appear to have left his memory in a state between obloquy and oblivion, and the odium he drew upon himself, during his short administration in Scotland, remains unrelieved by the relation of any redeeming circumstances on the part of those who may be supposed intimately acquainted with his character. Sir Walter Scott, in his Border Antiquities, mentions, that he was Rector of Ruddely, Chief Justiciary of York Assizes, and Prebendary of many churches.

But his numerous ecclesiastical duties were totally neglected, for the more congenial pursuits afforded by the cabinet and the camp; and it is stated, that though in the possession of so many lucrative benefices, he never assumed the garb peculiar to his sacred profession. In his character of Treasurer, he incurred a degree of detestation, which does not appear to have been attached to any of the other officers appointed by Edward to the management of affairs in Scotland. Among his own countrymen, his peculation occasioned disgust, and in many instances desertion; while his short-sighted rapacity chafed the impatient and angry feelings of a people smarting under the infliction of a yoke to which they had been hitherto unaccustomed, and greatly contributed in raising that spirit of insurrection in which his aggressions met with the vengeance they had provoked.

END OF VOLUME FIRST.

PRINTED BY J. HUTCHISON,
FOR THE HEIRS OF D. WILLISON.

FOOTNOTES

[1] Glasgow, 1825.

[2] Hemingford says, that there were _fifty thousand slain_, many drowned, and _three hundred thousand foot_ taken prisoners, besides a thousand horsemen.

[3] Hist. Lib. iv. c. 15.

[4] Appendix to Blair’s Relationes in the Library of the College of Glasgow.

[5] Scottish Historical Library, p. 68. quarto ed.

[6] In England, Thomas à Becket conceded to Henry II., that, in the event of a bondsman becoming a clerk, he should not receive orders without the consent of his lord; and further, if a man of holy church held any lay-fee, he must do the King’s service thereto attached, except in cases connected with the execution of criminals. See _Hearne’s_ Glossary to Langtoft’s Chronicle, vol. ii. p. 530.

[7] Macpherson’s Annals of Commerce, vol. i. p. 324.

[8] Fordun, vol. ii. lib. x. cap. 42.

[9] Fordun, vol. ii. lib. x. cap. 42.--If we compare the following provisions of an act put forth by Edward I., with the above-mentioned enactment, some idea may be formed respecting the views entertained by the two British monarchs, on the subject of foreign commercial intercourse. “It is ordained, that no fishmonger shall have any partnership with a stranger who brings fish from sea to the city; but let them seek for fish in their _own_ ships, and permit foreigners to bring it and sell, when they come in their own ships. Because, by such partnerships, they who are of the city, and have known the state of the city, and the defect of victuals, will hold the fish at a dearer rate than foreigners, who shall not have known it; and also, that they who are of the city, when they cannot sell, as they will lay it up in cellars, and sell it _dearer than the strangers would do, if they came without partnership, and knew not where they might be harboured_.”--Lambert’s Historical Survey of London, vol. i. p. 156, 157.

[10] Fœdera, vol. i. p. 467.

[11] Torfæi Orcades, lib. i. cap. 4.

[12] Chron. of Lanercoste. See Macpherson’s Annals of Commerce, vol. i. p. 446. In 1282, the customs of England were farmed by Bonricini, Guidicon & Co. of Lucca, and the sum realized, from Easter 1281 till Easter 1282, netted 8411_l._ 19s. 11½d. The money, it may be observed at this time, was the same in both countries. _Madox, History of the Exchequer_, c. 23. fo. 1.

[13] The use of coal as fuel was very early known in Scotland. By a charter, dated in April 1291, William de Obervill granted liberty to the monks of Dunfermline, to dig coal for their own use in his lands of Pittencrieff, but upon no account to sell any, (Chart. in Statist. Account of Scotland, vol. xiii. p. 469.) By this restriction, it would seem that the proprietor not only set a value on the sale of coal, but also that the monks of those days were in the habit of improving their resources, by trafficking in temporal as well as in spiritual matters.

[14] Ayloff’s Calendar, p. 88. Some idea may be formed of the injury which the trade of Scotland sustained by the long protracted and impoverishing warfare she had to maintain in support of her independence, from the circumstance of James I. being obliged, in 1430, to commission two citizens of London to send him the following articles for his own use: viz. 20 tuns of wine, 12 bows, 4 dozen yards of cloth of different colours, and 12 yards of scarlet, 20 yards of red worsted, 8 dozen pewter vessels, 1200 wooden bowls (or caps), packed in 4 barrels, 3 dozen coverels, a bason and font, 2 summer saddles, 1 hackney saddle, 1 woman’s saddle, with furniture, 2 portmanteaus, 4 yards of motley, 5 yards of morray, 5 yards of black cloth of Lyn, 12 yards kersey, 12 skins of red leather, and some trifling articles. These goods, shipped on board a vessel belonging to London, were secured by a royal order from being molested by English cruizers, but they were to pay the customary duties. _Fœdera_, vol. x. p. 470.

[15] Rymer’s Coll. MS. vol. ii. p. 287.

[16] This traffic was frequently interrupted by war; in time of peace, it was carried on to a considerable extent. The first notice that we have of its revival after the wars of Wallace and Bruce, occurs in a letter of safe-conduct granted 12th January 1359, to Andrew Murray and Alan Erskine, two Scottish drovers, with three horsemen and their servants for travelling through England, or the King’s foreign dominions, for a year, with horses, oxen, cows, and other goods and merchandise.--Fœdera, vol. vi. p. 114.