Chapter XXXIV: Appendix: No. I (9)

[586] Sir John Masone, Ambassador for England at the French Court, on the 14th June 1550, says, "Touching the Scots at St. Andrews, he (the Constable of France) told me that the Lord Grange and his brother are flown he wist not whither, and two others were already set at liberty; and that the rest, at the King (Edward VI.) my master's contentation, should out of hand be put at large."--(Tytler's Edward VI., &c., vol. i. p. 295.)

[587] In Vautr. edit. "they purposed."

[588] The names of these brethren are very much overlooked by the different Peerage writers of Scotland, in their pedigrees of the Rothes family. The first marriage of George Earl of Rothes with Margaret Crichton, daughter of William Lord Crichton, was declared before 1524 to be uncanonical. But by this lady, "his affidate spouse," he had four sons: the eldest was George, who died unmarried; the others were Norman, William, and Robert. The reader may be referred to the Appendix of Nisbet's Heraldry, vol. ii. p. 141, to explain the grounds upon which the two latter, as heirs-male, were passed over in the succession, at their father's death, in 1558, when Andrew Lesley, the eldest son by subsequent marriage, and who had married a niece of the Governor the Earl of Arran, became Earl of Rothes. Of these two brethren, William is styled in Macfarlane's Genealogical Collections, "Laird of Cairnie, and, (it is added,) as some say, he died without succession." Bishop Lesley, in noticing the death of Norman Lesley in France, in 1554, says, "The King of France, for recompence of his service, received _his eldest brodir William_ in favour, and maid him gentill man of his chalmer."--(History, p. 249.) Knox's words in the text imply that he was alive in 1566. The other brother Robert, is perhaps the same who was admitted an Advocate in the Court of Session, in May 1537. He settled in Morayshire, in the parish of Spynie, and became founder of the Fendrassie family. He married Janet Elphingstone, a daughter of Robert Lord Elphingstone, and left three sons and two daughters. An inscription, in Latin verse, in the Cathedral Church of Elgin, while it commemorates their virtues and attachment, records that he and his wife were interred in the same grave.--(Monteith's Theatre of Mortality, p. 222, Edinb., 1713, 8vo.)

[589] Le Conquet, a small town of Britanny, with a good harbour, opposite the island of Ushant, sixteen miles west of Brest.

[590] He was probably the same person with Alexander Clark of Balbirnie, who became Lord Provost of Edinburgh from 1579 to 1583 inclusive.

[591] In this paragraph Knox sums up briefly his own history between February 1548-9, when he was delivered from the French galley, and his first return to Scotland, in the end of harvest 1555.

[592] Edward died on the 6th July 1553.

[593] The word "English" is omitted in Vautr. edit.

[594] Knox has abstained from entering upon any statement of the disputes which took place in the English congregation at Francfort, in 1554, in consequence of the introduction, by Dr. Coxe and others, of the Book of Common Prayer, and the use of various ceremonies. A short paper by Knox himself, connected with the charge brought against him before the Magistrates of Francfort, has been preserved by Calderwood, (Hist., vol. i. p. 120,) and will naturally fall to be included in Vol. III. of the present work. But a detailed account of the transactions at that time was drawn up and published anonymously, three years after Knox's death, by one of the Nonconformists. It is entitled, "A Brieff Discours off the Troubles begunne at Franckford in Germany, Anno Domini 1554. Abowte the booke off Common Prayer and Ceremonies, and continued by the Englishe men theyre, to thame off Q. Maries Reigne," and was originally published (at Geneva) in 1575, 4to. There is an accurate reprint of it at London, by John Petheram, 1846, 8vo, in which it is suggested, by the Rev. Thomas M'Crie, with great probability, the author may have been Dr. William Whittingham.

[595] There were two editions of Knox's Admonition printed in 1554, within a few months of each other, under a fictitious imprint, and both of them abroad, as will be fully described in Vol. III.

[596] In printing these names, Vautr. edit. is very incorrect; instead of John Sibbald, John Gray, William Guthrie, &c., it has "John _Sibbard_, John Gray, _within gathered_, and Stevin Bell." Yet this unintelligible nonsense is literally copied in MSS. L 2 and 1. MSS. A, W, and E, have "Sibbard," but give Guthry's name correctly. In the summons of treason against the conspirators, John Sibbald is called "brother of the Laird of Cukiston;" and Auchinleck is styled Sir John Auchinleck, chaplain. For mention of Guthrey, in connexion with an indignity offered to the Cardinal's body, the reader may be referred to Pitscottie. In the Treasurer's Accounts, we find 10s. was paid to a messenger, sent on the 3d of December 1547, with "Letters to serche and seik the gudes of Maister Jhonne Gray, persoun of Sanct Nycholace Kirk, beside Cowper, quhilkis pertenis to our Souerane Lady be resoun of eschete, throu the said Maister Jhonnis being fugitive fra the lawes for art and part of the slauchter of the Cardinall."--Gray's name, however, is not included in the list of persons forfeited by the Parliament on the 14th August 1546.

[597] From the above paragraph in Knox, it appears that the prisoners were liberated at different periods between the Winter of 1548-9, and July 1550.

[598] This statement of Knox, written in 1566, or twenty years after the event, is certainly very much opposed to assertions which are easier made than proved, that all the persons concerned in Cardinal Beaton's assassination came to a violent death. There is no doubt that Bishop Lesley says, "Cædis ujus auctores violenta morte Deo vindice mulctantur;" (De Rebus Gestis, &c., p. 482;) but he passes this over in silence, in his English History. Dempster also asserts "Nam nullus nefariorum percussorum non violenta morte extinctus est."--(Hist. Eccles. p. 89.) "So, 'tis observed by the Protestants, that there was not one of his (Beaton's) murderers but afterwards died a violent, and, for the most part, an ignominious death."--(Preface to Beaugué's History, p. 50.) It is not necessary to quote similar assertions reiterated by writers of the present day. James Melville died, it is true, during his imprisonment, in 1548 or 1549, but certainly not a violent death. Norman Lesley died of his wounds, but in no inglorious manner, in 1554; and nineteen years later, in August 1573, Sir William Kirkaldy of Grange, after his gallant defence of the Castle of Edinburgh, suffered an ignominious death. Any other instance of a violent death remains to be proven.

[599] James Melvin or Melville. See note 449. Spotiswood says he was "one of the house of Carnbee." In this way, we may conjecture he was brother of John Mailvile of Carnbee, who had charters of the lands of Granton, 21st February 1508-9, and to his wife Margaret Leirmonth, 26th May 1513. Their son, John Mailvile of Carnbee junior, and his wife Janet Inglis, had a charter of half of these lands, 26th June 1509. The person who acted such a prominent part in Cardinal Beaton's murder, was called Senior, probably to distinguish him from James, "naturali et legitimo filio" of John Mailvile of Carnbee, who had a charter of half the lands of Carnbee, 15th November 1528.--Brist in Bartanzea, is the same as Brest, the well known sea-port of France, one of the best harbours in Europe, on the west coast of Britanny.

[600] MS. G, "Gif we, I say, or they."

[601] In Vautr. edit. "yeare of our Lord."

[602] In Vautr. edit. the word _villain_ was mistaken for the name of a person, and thus we have "his other _William_;" and in the marginal note, "The slaughter of that _Williame_ Davie."--The date of this event, so memorable in Scotish history, from its relation to Queen Mary, was the 9th of March 1565-6.

[603] Balfour, as stated at page 202, was Official of Lothian, and he still retained his ecclesiastical denomination, Parson of Flisk, when raised to the bench, 12th November 1561. Immediately after Rizzio's murder, in March 1566, he was knighted, and appointed Lord Clerk-Register, in place of Mr. James Macgill, one of the conspirators. And on the 6th December 1567, Balfour became Lord President, by the title of Pettendreich.

[604] John Sinclair, Bishop of Brechin, died in April 1560: see subsequent note.

[605] The person here referred to, and whose baptismal name is left blank in the MS., and in all the later copies, was John Lesley, Bishop of Ross. This eminent and learned Prelate, whom Knox calls "a priest's gett," or illegitimate child, was the natural son of Gawin Lesley, parson of Kingussie, as Keith, in his Catalogue of Bishops, has shown from original documents. Lesley's several preferments will afterwards be noticed. He survived till the year 1596.

[606] In Vautr. edit. "gate;" MS. G, "geitt."

[607] Sir Symon Preston of Craigmillar: see note 322.

[608] In the MS. "keape."

[609] A treaty of peace between England and France, comprising Scotland, was concluded at Boulogne, on the 24th March, and proclaimed at Edinburgh in April 1550.

[610] There was concluded a commercial treaty between France and the Low Countries, 26th April 1550; and a treaty of peace between the Emperor Charles the Fifth and Mary Queen of Scots, 15th December 1550.

[611] From Foxe's account, of Wallace's trial, we learn that he was a native of Fail, in Ayrshire; and there was a family of Wallace of Feale. Fail, or Failford, in the parish of Torbolton, was the site of a Monastery founded in 1252, which belonged to the Red Friars. (See the notices in New Stat. Account, Ayrshire, p. 748, &c.) The manner in which Knox speaks of Wallace as "a simple man without learning," may mean, without much pretension to learning, or not having enjoyed a learned education. Yet we find two persons of the same name, Adam Wallace, incorporated at Glasgow in 1536 and 1539.--His trial and execution took place in 1550; yet in the Latin verses by John Johnston of St. Andrews, on the Scotish Martyrs, the date given is 17th July 1549. ("Constantissime demum pro testimonio Christi mortuus, Edinburgi xvii Julij 1549.")

[612] The wife of John Cockburn of Ormiston, called in those days Lady Ormiston, was Alison Sandilands, daughter of Sir James Sandilands of Calder. Her son Alexander, was Knox's pupil: see note 472. She was still alive in 1584, when Vautrollier dedicated "To the Honourable and vertuous Ladie Alison Sandilands, Lady of Hormiston," the treatise called "The Confession of Faith," by Henry Balnaves, (see note 575,) the MS. of which had been fortunately discovered at Ormiston, by Richard Bannatyne, Knox's Secretary.

[613] Winton Castle, in the parish of Pencaitland, East Lothian, about five miles west from Haddington, appears to have been a place of great splendour, according to the glowing description of it by Sir Richard Maitland, in his "Historie and Cronicle of the House of Seyton," p. 35. Winton House or Castle, "biggit, with the yard and garding thereof," by George second Lord Seaton, we are informed, was burned, and the policy destroyed, "by the English of old;" but the house was re-edified by George tenth Lord Seaton, and third Earl of Winton, in 1620.

[614] The monastery of the Dominican or Black Friars was one of the largest establishments in Edinburgh, with extensive gardens, occupying the site of the building which formerly was the High School, on the rising ground to the south of the Cowgate. The close, or "le Venelle," still known as the Blackfriars Wynd, formed a connexion between the Monastery and the High Street, and had been granted to the Friars by Alexander the Second. The Convent was burned to the ground by a sudden fire, on the 25th April 1528, and had only been partially rebuilt at the time of the Reformation.

[615] To the notices at page 152, respecting John Lauder, it may be added, that being one of the Auditors of the Chamberlain's Accounts for the Archbishoprick of St. Andrews, from 1540 to 1549, he is styled Archdeacon of Teviotdale.--(MS. Rental Book, Advocates Library.) In Foxe's account of the trial of Adam Wallace, 1550, Lauder is called Parson of Morebattle. In February 1551, he is styled Archidene of Teviotdale, and Notary Public of St. Andrews.--(Acta Parl. Scot., vol. ii. p. 489.) In the same year, Lauder signs a deed as "_Secretarius_" of Archbishop Hamilton, (MS. Rental Book, at St. Andrews;) as the deed referred to was cancelled, and reconfirmed in 1556, without any notice of Lauder's name, it may be conjectured that he had died during that interval.

[616] In MS. G, "bindeth."

[617] George Gordon, fourth Earl of Huntley, succeeded his grandfather in the year 1524. In 1546, after Cardinal Beaton's death, he became Lord High Chancellor. His subsequent history is well known; and he was killed fighting against the Earl of Murray, at Corrichie, about twelve miles from Aberdeen, 28th October 1562.--(Douglas and Wood's Peerage, vol. i. p. 648; Senators of the College of Justice, p. 83-87.)

[618] See note 173.

[619] Robert Reid: see subsequent note.

[620] In Vautr. edit. "Take yon all, my Lordis, of the clergie."

[621] Foxe, in his Book of Martyrs, as already noticed in note 457, has given a minute account of the trial and execution of Adam Wallace. It will be inserted as No. XII. in the Appendix to this volume, every contemporary narrative of such proceedings, at this early period, being possessed of more than ordinary interest.

[622] The Queen Dowager of Scotland embarked at Leith on the 7th, reached Dieppe on the 19th, and Rouen on the 25th September 1550. In this visit to her daughter in France, she was absent for upwards of twelve months. On her return, she landed at Portsmouth, about the middle of October 1551, and proceeded to London, where she was welcomed by Edward the Sixth and the English Court. See note 627.

[623] In December 1553, Henry the Second, King of France, wrote to the Duke of Chatelherault, to induce him to resign the Regency of Scotland in favour of the Queen Dowager; and on the 22d March 1553-4, the young Queen addressed an order to the Duke to that effect. This led to his resignation, and on the 12th April 1554, Mary of Guise, Queen Dowager, was proclaimed Regent of Scotland, with great solemnity and public rejoicings.

[624] In MS. G, and Vautr. edit., "all understanding or expectatioun of men."

[625] According to the Journal by the English Monarch, which contains a description of the Queen Dowager's sumptuous entertainment during the period she remained at the Court of Edward, from the 22d of October to the 6th of November 1551.--(Tytler's Edward VI., &c., vol. ii. pp. 5, 6.) Bishop Lesley also takes notice of the "gret banqueting and honorabill pastyme maid for intertenement of the Quene Douarier;" and "of the honorabill convoye" she had in returning through England, until she reached Berwick, (Hist. p. 239;) when some of the Scotish Nobility escorted her to Holyrood, where she arrived at the end of November that year.

[626] In MS. G, "Martin Luther."

[627] In the MS. a blank space is left, as if for the purpose of filling in some other names; such as Paulus Fagius, Francis Dryander, and Justus Jonas, who, like the three above mentioned, were eminent Foreign divines, and came to England during the reign of Edward the Sixth.

[628] In adding the name _Emanuel Gualterus_, Knox has evidently confounded two persons: _Emanuel_ Tremelius, a learned Italian, who succeeded Fagius as King's Reader of Hebrew, (Strype's Eccl. Memorials, vol. ii. p. 206,) and Rudolphus _Gualterus_ of Zurich, who had visited England in 1537.--(Strype's Life of Cranmer, p. 449.)--Martin Bucer died in 1551; Peter Martyr, in 1562; and John a Lasco, in 1560.

[629] It is scarcely necessary to add that Queen Mary of England was the daughter of Henry the Eighth, by Catharine of Arragon. Her accession to the throne is reckoned from the death of Edward the Sixth, 6th July 1553. She married Philip, King of Spain, 25th July 1554; and died 17th November 1558.

[630] During the short reign of Queen Mary, it has been reckoned that not less than upwards of 300 persons were committed to the flames, on account of their religious sentiments.

[631] See page 242.

[632] William Harlaw was born soon after the year 1500; and, as we are informed by Calderwood, "first was a taylour in Edinburgh; thereafter went to England, and preached some times as a Deacoun, according to the corrupt custome of that Kirk, under the reigne of King Edward. Howbeit he was not verie learned, yet his doctrine was plaine and sound, and worthie of commendatioun."--(History, vol. i. p. 303.) On the death of Edward, he returned to Scotland in 1551, and in 1556, began "publicly to exhort in Edinburgh," and also in other parts of the country. He was one of the preachers, at Perth, who were denounced as rebels for usurping the authority of the Church, 10th May 1559.--(See page 257.) Harlaw, in 1560, became minister of the parish of St. Cuthberts, in the vicinity of Edinburgh, and he continued there till his death. Robert Pont, who had for four years been his colleague, was presented to "the vicaraige of St. Cuthbert's Kirk, vaicand be the deceise of William Harlaw," in December 1578.

[633] John Willock was a native of Ayrshire. Spotiswood says, he became a Franciscan, and Lesley, a Dominican Friar. Having at an early period relinquished his monastic habit, he went to England, and was employed as a preacher in St. Catherine's, London, and also as chaplain to the Duke of Suffolk. On the accession of Queen Mary to the throne of England, he escaped to the Continent, and practised as a physician at Embden, in Friesland. In 1555, and in 1556, he twice visited Scotland, on a mission to the Queen Regent, respecting trade; and having returned in October 1558, he undertook the public office of the ministry. See the notices in the Wodrow Miscellany, vol. i. pp. 261-264, and the authorities there quoted.

[634] Knox's arrival in Scotland may be placed about the end of September 1555. He set out from Geneva in the previous month, and came to Dieppe, from whence he sailed, and landed on the east coast of Scotland, not far from Berwick.

[635] See subsequent note, page 268.

[636] This was apparently a metrical version of Psalm 103, but the line does not correspond with any of the known versions of the Psalms in metre. The Wedderburns, however, may have versified a greater number of Psalms than those contained in the volume best known as "The Gude and Godly Ballates:" see note 370.

[637] In MS. A, "then if all."

[638] In MS. G, "servantis."

[639] In Vautr. edit. "that might serve for the purpose."

[640] John Erskine of Dun.--The house of Dun is in the parish of that name, in Forfarshire, about half-way between Montrose and Brechin.

[641] Calder house, near Mid-Calder, in West-Lothian, was the seat of Sir James Sandilands.--His second son James, in 1543, succeeded "Schir Walter Lyndesay, Knycht of the Roddis, and Lord of Sanct Johns," (he is so styled in Sir David Lyndesay's Register of Armes, 1542, fol. 57,) as Preceptor of Torphichen, and thus became head of the Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem in Scotland. In 1563, Lord St. John having resigned the possessions of the Order to the Crown, he obtained a new charter of the lands belonging to the Knights Templars and Hospitallers in Scotland, erected into a barony, with the title of Lord Torphichen.--(Spottiswoode Miscellany, vol. ii. pp. 6, 17-32.)

[642] John fifth Lord Erskine, and afterwards sixth Earl of Mar, at this time was Governor of Edinburgh Castle.

[643] Archibald Campbell, Lord Lorne, succeeded his father, the fourth Earl of Argyle, in 1558.

[644] Lord James Stewart was the natural son of James the Fifth, by Margaret Erskine, daughter of John fifth Earl of Mar, and fourth Lord Erskine. This lady afterwards married Sir Robert Douglas of Lochleven; and she appears to have enjoyed a pension from the King; as the Treasurer, in September 1539, in his "Exoneratio," has, "Item, gevin to the Lady Lochlevin, in contentatioun of her pensioun, awing to her zerelie, be ane precept,

vj^clxvj lib. xiij s. iiij d." (£666, 13s. 4d.)

Her son Lord James Stewart was born in 1533, and when five years of age, in 1538, the King conferred on him the Priory of St. Andrews. In the Treasurer's Accounts, March 1539, are various entries for dresses to the Kingis Grace sonis, Lord James of Kelso, and Lord James of Sanctandrois; and in May, to "the Abbot of Kelso, and the Priour of Sanctandrois." He was also Prior of Maçon, in France. As Prior of St. Andrews, he sat in the Provincial Council held at Edinburgh, in October 1549.--(Wilkins, Concilia, vol. iv. p. 46.) He was sent to France in March 1561, to invite Queen Mary to return to Scotland; by whom, on the 30th January 1561-2, he was raised to the Peerage by the title of Earl of Murray.

[645] That is, the winter of 1555.

[646] Most of these places in Kyle, in which Knox taught or officiated, have already been noticed; being the seats of John Lockhart of Barr, Hugh Wallace of Carnell, Robert Campbell of Kingyeancleuch, Andrew Stewart Lord Ochiltree, and James Chalmers of Gadgirth.

[647] Easter fell on the 5th of April, in 1556.

[648] Finlayston in the parish of Kilmalcolm, near the Clyde, to the east of Port-Glasgow. The silver cups which were used by Knox on this occasion, are still carefully preserved; and the use of them was given at the time of dispensing the Sacrament in the Parish Church of Kilmalcolm, so long as the Glencairn family resided at Finlayston.--The title of Earl of Glencairn has been dormant since the death of James 15th Earl in 1796.

[649] Dr. M'Crie, on the authority of this passage, says, that most of the gentlemen of the Mearns "entered into a solemn and mutual bond, in which they renounced the Popish communion, and engaged to maintain and promote the pure preaching of the Gospel, as Providence should favour them with opportunities. This seems to have been the first of those religious Bonds or Covenants, by which the confederation of the Protestants in Scotland was so frequently ratified."--(Life of Knox, vol. i. p. 179.)--I do not think, however, that Knox's words are quite conclusive on this point: that the mutual agreement or resolution of the gentlemen of the Mearns, had assumed the form of a Band or Covenant, such as "the Common Band," signed on the 3d December 1557, (see page 273,) or those of a later date, which Knox has inserted in the Second Book of his History.

[650] William Keith, fourth Earl Marischall, succeeded his grandfather, in 1530. He accompanied James the Fifth in his visit to France, in 1536; and was nominated an Extraordinary Lord of Session in 1541. See note 339, for Sir Ralph Sadler's opinion of him. It was at his request that Knox, in the year 1556, addressed his Letter to the Queen Dowager. He died 7th October 1581.

[651] We find that at the siege of Leith, in 1560, "young Henry Drummond" was slain.--(Lesley's Hist. p. 286; Holinshed's Chron. p. 492.)

[652] This Letter to the Queen Dowager was originally printed in a very small volume, without date, or name of the place or printer, but apparently on the Continent: It is entitled "The Copie of a Letter sent to the Ladye Mary Dowagire Regent of Scotland, by John Knox, in the yeare 1556."

[653] James Beaton was nephew of the Cardinal, and was preferred to the See of Glasgow in 1551. He has been incidentally mentioned in note 459; and in reference to this, Lesley says that the Governor, after Cardinal Beaton's death, "disponed the Archbishoprike of Sanct Androis to his owne broder, the Abbot of Paisley, and gaif ane gift of the Abbay [abbacy] of Arbroith to George Douglas, bastard sone to the Erle of Angus, _notwithstanding that Maister James Beatoun_, tender cousing to the Cardinall, _was lawfullie provydit thairto of befoir_; quhilk maid gret trubill in the countrey eftirwart."--(Hist. p. 193.) It may be added, that when Beaton was translated to Glasgow in 1551, the abbacy of Arbroath was conferred on Lord John Hamilton, second son of the Governor.--(Ib. p. 241.)

[654] The Letter addressed by Knox to the Queen Dowager in 1556, (as above, note 652,) was reprinted at Geneva, "_nowe augmented and explained by the Author_, in the yeare of our Lord 1558." It will be included in Volume Third.

[655] Elizabeth Bowes, mother-in-law of the Reformer, sent before him to Dieppe. She was the daughter and co-heiress of Sir Roger Aske of Aske in Yorkshire, and by her husband, Richard Bowes, youngest son of Sir Ralph Bowes of Streathan, had two sons and ten daughters. See Pedigree of the family, in M'Crie's Life of Knox, vol. ii. p. 407. Knox's first letter addressed "to his mother in law, Mistres Bowis," is dated from London, 23d June 1553.

[656] This very zealous and disinterested friend of the Reformer, as stated in note 345, was a cadet of the ancient family of Campbell of Loudon.

[657] Archibald Campbell, "the old" Earl of Argyle, was fourth Earl, and died in the year 1558.

[658] Castle Campbell, now in ruins, is situated in the Ochil hills, immediately above the village of Dollar. It was burned and destroyed by Montrose, during the Civil Wars, in 1645.

[659] Sir Colin Campbell of Glenurchy, the ancestor of the Breadalbane family. He was a younger son, but by the death of two elder brothers, he succeeded to the family estates in 1551. He became a stedfast friend to the Reformed religion; and survived till the year 1584.

[660] This date should evidently be 1556. Knox having remained in Scotland till after Spring, he arrived at Dieppe, in the month of July 1556.

[661] Knox's Appellation against the sentence of the Bishops, in 1556, was first printed in the year 1558.

[662] There seems to be a confusion in the dates of the events recorded in this paragraph. Knox, as stated above, had left Scotland in July 1556, and returned in May 1559; yet the Comet he mentions was evidently that which made its appearance in September 1558.--(Hevelii Cometographia, p. 853. See also next note.) Christian the Third, King of Denmark, died at the Castle of Coldinghuus, 1st January 1559, aged 56. The Commissioners for a treaty with England met at Dunse, in July 1556; and afterwards at Carlisle, for settling matters in the Borders. This treaty was concluded in July 1557. Yet the Queen Regent, before November 1557, at the instigation of France, was prevailed upon to declare war with England. But the Nobility and Barons would not consent to the proposed invasion.

[663] Bishop Lesley, at the close of 1558, among other "portenta," describes this "flammivomus et barbatus Cometa."--(De Rebus, &c. p. 540.) Sir James Balfour also says, "A fearfull Comett appeired this zeire [1558,] which not only, as the sequell proved, protendit change in Government, but in Religione lykwayes."--(Annals, vol. i. p. 312.) In those days Comets were regarded as the harbingers of disastrous events. Thus Shakespeare, in the First Part of his Henry VI.,--

"Comets importing change of times and states;"

and again,--

"Now shine it like a Comet of revenge, A prophet to the fall of
all our foes;"

and Milton, in Paradise Lost,--

"and like a Comet burn'd,
That fires the length of Ophiuchus huge
In th' Artick sky, and from his horrid hair
Shakes pestilence and war."

[664] Newbattle, in the parish of that name in Mid-Lothian, was the site of an Abbey founded by David the First, in the year 1140.

[665] Wark Castle: see note 4, page 122.

[666] Maxwell-heugh, is a village on a height to the south of the Tweed, nearly opposite the eastern part of the town of Kelso.

[667] Hume Castle: see note 2, page 210.

[668] In MS. G, "pavilion."

[669] This was in November 1557.

[670] MS. G, instead of "breath," substitutes very oddly, "This put an affray in Monsieur D'Oysell's breaches."

[671] Of these preachers, Harlaw has been noticed at page 245: Douglas and Methven will afterwards be mentioned.

[672] John Willock returned to Scotland from Embden in Friesland, (see note 2, page 244,) in October 1558. He continued to preach in different parts of the country, and to officiate publicly in Edinburgh, in the year 1559, when it was unsafe for Knox to remain.--(Wodrow Miscellany, vol. i. p. 213.)

[673] George, sixth Lord Seatoun.

[674] Sanct Geill, or St. Giles, was the tutelar Saint of the Metropolis, whose name is still retained in connexion with the collegiate Church in the Old Town of Edinburgh.

[675] The North Loch formed a kind of boundary of the City towards the north, in the hollow ground, between Princes Street and the Old Town, and extended nearly from St. Cuthbert's Church to the Trinity College Church, in former times.

[676] In Pitcairn's Criminal Trials will be found some interesting details, respecting four of the preachers mentioned by Knox, who were denounced "as rebels for usurping the authority of the Church," 10th May 1559, viz., John Christison and William Harlaw, at Perth; John Willock, at Ayr; and Paul Methven, at Dundee; along with the names of the persons who became cautioners for their appearance, (vol. i. p. 406*, &c.)

[677] Andrew Durie: see subsequent note to page 261.

[678] James, son of Robert Chalmer of Gadgirth, by Margaret, daughter of Sir Hugh Campbell of Loudoun. He had several charters under the Great Seal in 1548, of parts of his estate in the shires of Ayr and Wigtoun. He married Annabella, daughter of John Cunninghame of Caprintoun, in Ayrshire. (Nisbet's Heraldry, App. *20, vol. i. p. 4.)

[679] This use of "Me," instead of "I," or "We," occurs in all the copies.

[680] This Appellation, according to some payments made by authority of the Town Council, was not later than February 1557-8.

[681] St. Giles's day was the 1st of September. In the Appendix, No. XIII., some contemporary notices will be given of the disturbances which were occasioned in September 1558, by this idolatrous procession.

[682] James Carmichael was for many years one of the Magistrates of Edinburgh. He filled the office of Dean of Guild from October 1552 to 1553, again, from 1555 to 1556, and from 1557 to 1559. In his official capacity, he had the charge of the "Kirk werk," that is of looking after the preservation of St. Giles's Church, and taking charge of the jewels, the gold and silver candlesticks, eucharists, chalices, and other precious things belonging to that Church; but these were all ruthlessly disposed of, by order of the Council, (including the _arm-bane_ of Sanct Geill, or rather the ring with "ane dyamant stane, quhilk wes on the fingar of the forsaid arme of Sanct Geill,") in October 1560. See Appendix, No. XIII.

[683] In MS. G, "the comone Crose."--Probably the Girth Cross, at the foot of the Canongate, near Holyrood. But Arnot also makes mention of St. John's Cross, and of a third, near the Tolbooth in that street.--(Hist. of Edinburgh, p. 304.)

[684] Between the _Bowes_, must mean the West-Bow and the Nether-Bow; or the two principal gates of the Old Town.

[685] David Forress: see note 1, page 137.

[686] See pages 209-213.

[687] Andrew Durie, Bishop of Galloway, was brother of George Durie, Abbot of Dunfermline, (note 463,) and was born before the year 1500. His name, "Andreas Durie," occurs in the Registers of both Colleges, as having been Incorporated at St. Andrews, in the year 1511; and at Glasgow, in 1513. He probably completed his studies abroad. Upon a vacancy in the Abbacy of Melrose, he had sufficient interest to procure the King's letters of commendation to the Pope, in the year 1526, and notwithstanding powerful rival claims, he succeeded in the following year in obtaining the benefice. Andrew, Abbot of Melrose, was present at the trial of Sir John Borthwick, in 1540; and he appears as an Extraordinary Lord of Session on the 2d of July 1541. On the following day, he was recommended to be successor to Henry Wemyss as Bishop of Galloway, conjoined with the Deanery of the Chapel Royal, and the Abbacy of Tungland upon his resigning that of Melrose, but retaining a pension of 1000 marks, and some other emoluments. In the Provincial Council at Edinburgh, 1549, his name is enrolled as "Andreas Episcopus Candidæ Casæ et Capellæ Regiæ Strivilingensis."--He was the bearer of a letter from Queen Mary, in France, to her Mother, in June 1554.--(Lettres de Marie Stuart, vol. i. p. 24.) Bishop Durie died at Edinburgh, in September 1558. His name occurs in the list of Scottish Poets; but none of his writings are known to be preserved, although his sayings recorded by Knox, indicate a rhyming propensity. John Rolland of Dalkeith, in the prologue of his "Seven Sages," a kind of poetical romance, alludes to the poets who flourished at the Scotish Court, and after naming Lyndsay, Bellenden, and William Stewart, who he says,

To mak in Scottis, richt weill he knew that art,

he immediately adds,

BISHOP DURIE, sum tyme of Galloway,
For his pleasure sum tymes wald tak thair part.

[688] This has an evident allusion to the name of Mons. de Ruby, one of the Frenchmen patronized at this time by the Queen Dowager. Bishop Lesley, in noticing the several appointments made by the Queen Regent, in 1554, says, there was "Ane callit Monsieur Rubie, Frenchman, a procutour of Paris, appointit to keip the Greit Seill, and to be as Vice-Chancelar and assistar to the Erle of Huntlie, then Chancelar."--(History, p. 250.) He was Controller of her Household, in 1557: see subsequent note, page 292.

[689] David Panter, or Panyter, who held several Church livings, was much employed in public negotiations abroad. His uncle Patrick Panter, Abbot of Cambuskenneth, and David Panter, were successively Secretaries of State in the reigns of James the Fourth and Fifth, and "being admirably versed in the Latin tongue," their names are honourably distinguished by the series of Letters of our Kings, addressed to Foreign Princes, which Ruddiman published under the title of "Epistolæ Regum Scotorum," &c., in the years 1722 and 1724, in 2 vols. 8vo. In the Treasurer's Accounts, 1544, we find this entry,--

"Item, the thrid day of Aprile, gevin for vj^c. (600) crownis of the Sonn, of fynance deliverit in France to Maister David Panyter, Secretar Ambassatour thair, the sowme of viij^c. x lib." (£810.)

On the same day, a similar payment of 400 crowns (or £540) was delivered to Sir John Campbell of Lundy, Ambassador in France. Panter was promoted to the See of Ross in the latter part of 1545. Sir James Balfour, in his Annals, calls him "a notable adulterer."--(Annals, vol. i. p. 312.) He died, says Holinshed, of a lingering illness, at Stirling, on the 1st of October 1558.--(Keith's Catal. of Bishops, p. 192.)

[690] Bishop Lesley, in noticing the return of the Commissioners from the Queen's marriage, says, "they came to Deip about the ende of (August,) quhair suddantlie all the principall Nobillmen and Prelatis became seik. But shortlie thairefter, the most of thame, being of the wysest and most valyeant of the realme of Scotland, deceissit their, to the gret hurt of the commoun weill of the realme."--(Hist. p. 266.) The dates of their death are, however, not accurately given, either by Lesley or more recent historians. The Commissioners who were appointed on the 25th and 26th of June 1558, were James Beaton, Archbishop of Glasgow; Lord James Stewart, Prior of St. Andrews; George Lord Seaton, Provost of Edinburgh; and John Erskine of Dun, Provost of Montrose; along with Robert Reid, Bishop of Orkney; George Earl of Rothes; Gilbert Earl of Cassillis, Lord Treasurer; and James Lord Flemyng, Great Chamberlain. The first four being present in the Parliament held at Edinburgh 29th November 1558, to report their proceedings, it was then mentioned, that the Bishop of Orkney was "deceissit, and the Earls of Rothes, Cassillis, and the Lord Flemyng yit remannand in the partis of France."--(Acta Parl. Scot. vol. ii. p. 505.) This shows that no tidings of their death had then reached this country: see the three following notes.

[691] Gilbert Kennedy, third Earl of Cassilis, as already noticed at page 16, completed his studies under George Buchanan at Paris. In 1554, he was appointed High Treasurer; and was one of the eight Commissioners sent from Scotland as representatives of the Scottish nation, at the marriage of Mary and the Dauphin of France. He died on his return, at Dieppe, on the 28th November 1558.

[692] George Lesley, third Earl of Rothes, the father of Norman Lesley, was tried before the Governor for his accession to the murder of Cardinal Beaton, but wan unanimously acquitted. He was the son of William Lesley and Margaret daughter of Sir Michael Balfour of Mountquhannie; and this relationship may have induced James Balfour and his brothers to join their cousin, Norman Lesley, in the Castlo of St. Andrews. The Earl of Rothes had been appointed one of the Lords of Council and Session 11th November 1532; and he attended James the Fifth, in his journey to France in 1536. He was employed in various public commissions; and was sent as Ambassador to Denmark in 1550. He died at Dieppe on the 28th November 1558. His son Andrew succeeded to the title as fourth Earl of Rothes, and was served heir of his father, 20th February 1558-9.--(Burgh Court-Book of Dundee, marked Vol. iv.)

[693] James Lord Flemyng, hereditary Great Chamberlain of Scotland, was the third of his family in succession who held that office, having succeeded his father, Malcolm, Lord Flemyng, who was slain at Pinkie, in 1547. James, as mentioned above, was one of the Commissioners who were seized with illness at Dieppe. On the 8th November, he made his testament; and having returned to Paris for the benefit of medical aid, he lingered there till he died on the 15th December 1558, aged 24.--(Crawfurd's Officers of State, p. 329.)

[694] Robert Reid, although accused by Knox of avarice, applied at least his wealth to laudable purposes; and in the words of Keith, was "a man of great learning, and a most accomplished politician." He entered St. Salvator's College, St. Andrews, in 1511, and took his Master's degree in 1515; and then proceeded to Paris. On his return to Scotland, he became successively Sub-Dean and Official of Moray; Abbot of Kinloss, in 1526; Commendator of Beaulieu, in 1530; one of the Lords of Council and Session, in 1532; Bishop of Orkney, in 1540; and Lord President of the Court of Session, about the end of 1548. During all this time, he was frequently employed in foreign embassies, and other diplomatic affairs. A variety of liberal benefactions on his part have been recorded, such as the foundation of bursaries, the adornment of the buildings at Kinloss, which he enriched with what was considered an ample library, and the endowment of a school at Kirkwall. He also erected an addition to the Bishop's Palace in Kirkwall; and the Cathedral Church of St. Magnus, in that town, still exhibits the fine porch and some additional pillars erected at his expense; and had he survived for a few years, he no doubt would have put a finishing hand to this venerable edifice; the choir or chancel of which serves for the parish Church, (fitted up as usual in defiance of all good taste.) Bishop Reid's munificence was not limited to his own diocese, as a bequest of 8000 merks towards founding a College for the education of youth in Edinburgh, enabled the Magistrates, in 1581, to purchase from the Provost of the Kirk of Field, (St. Mary's in the Fields,) the ground on which were erected the buildings of our University. Lesley styles Bishop Reid a man "of singular wit, judgment, guid learning, and lyve, with lang experience," (Hist. p. 267;) and says he died at Dieppe on the 6th, but according to other authorities, it was the 15th September 1558.--(Keith's Catal. pp. 223-226; Senators of the College of Justice, pp. 14-19.)

[695] In MS. G, "lickit of the same buist."

[696] To this marginal note there was added, "INSIGNIA QUIDEM ELOGIUM;" but those words are deleted.

[697] John Sinclair was the fourth son of Sir Oliver Sinclair of Roslin, and a younger brother of Henry Sinclair, Bishop of Ross. He was admitted one of the Lords of Council and Session, under the title of Rector of Snaw, 27th April 1510. In 1549, he sat in the Provincial Council at Edinburgh, as Dean of Restalrig. In 1565, he was promoted to the See of Brechin. His brother Henry, Bishop of Ross and President of the Court of Session, having died in 1564-5, the Bishop of Brechin was, on the 13th November, advanced to the Presidentship of the Session. But he did not long enjoy his judicial and prelatic dignities, as he was seized with fever, and died in the month of April 1566. This we learn from Ferrerius, the Continuator of Hector Boethius, who, mentioning that Henry Sinclair, Bishop of Ross, had collected materials for writing a History of Scotland, which were in the hands of John Sinclair, Bishop of Brechin, says, "Sed idem (Præsul) quoque pauculos post menses in febrem peracutam decidit, ex qua derepente o virorum in terris numero exemptus est."--(H. Boethii Hist. App. p. 384, Paris, 1574, folio.)

[698] See note 689.

[699] That is, 10th of March 1556-7.

[700] Sym and Barron were citizen burgesses of Edinburgh, and zealous friends of the Reformer. As here intimated, James Sym, in whose house Knox resided, on his return to Scotland, had died before 1566. At page 245, Knox has given an account of the death of Elizabeth Adamson, Barron's wife, in 1566. James Barron was one of the Magistrates of Edinburgh, and filled the office of Dean of Guild from Michaelmas 1555, to the same term in 1556; and again in 1560 and 1561. At the first General Assembly, held at Edinburgh 20th December 1560, James Barron and Edward Hope were the commissioners appointed for the town, along with John Knox, as minister. His name also occurs in the proceedings of the Assemblies in the years 1562, 1565, and 1569--(Booke of the Universall Kirk, pp. 3, 13, 60, 145.)

[701] In MS. G, "afflictioun;" Vautr. edit. has "affection."

[702] The "Band" subscribed by the Earls of Argyle, Glencairn, Morton, and others, dated 3d December 1557, has been considered as the First Covenant or engagement of the Scottish Reformers, for their mutual defence, in which they engage "to maintain, set forward, and establish the Word of God, and his Congregation." See, however, note 649.

[703] Keith supposes it was Erskine of Dun who signed the letter at page 268, "for the Lord Erskine (he says) had not yet joined himself to that party."--(Hist. vol. i. p. 153.)

[704] There was a John Gray who took his Master's degree at St. Andrews, in the year 1523. It is uncertain whether the person mentioned in the text can be identified with Mr. John Gray, who held the office of Clerk to the General Assembly, from 1560 till his death, which took place in April 1574.--(Register of Conf. Testaments; Booke of the Univ. Kirk, vol. i. pp. 299, 311.)

[705] That is, to procure the Papal Bulls, confirming Sinclair's appointment to the See of Ross, upon the death of David Panter, in October 1558: (see note 688.) But it appears that Sinclair was not consecrated until 1560.

[706] Henry Sinclair, a younger son of Sir Oliver Sinclair of Roslin, was born in the year 1508. He studied at St. Andrews, and was incorporated in St. Leonard's College in 1521. He obtained the favour of James the Fifth, who appointed him a Lord of Session; and he was admitted on the 13th November 1537, as Rector of Glasgow. In 1541, he was Commendator of the Abbey of Kilwinning; which benefice he exchanged with Gawin Hamilton for the Deanery of Glasgow. He was employed in various public matters abroad; and during the absence of Bishop Reid, he acted as Vice-President of the Court of Session. On Reid's death, he was admitted, on the 2d December 1558, as Lord President; and in 1560, he succeeded David Panter in the See of Ross. He died at Paris, after undergoing a painful surgical operation, on the 2d January 1565. Lesley calls him "ane wyse and lernit prelate," (Hist. p. 252,) and Ferrerius refers to his MS. collections for writing a History of Scotland. His name written upon various books and manuscripts preserved in the Advocates Library, and in other collections, evince his great love of literature, in common with several other members of his family.

[707] It has generally been supposed that the Book of Common Prayer of the Church of England, known as the Liturgy of Edward the Sixth, was the one here recommended; and the mention of "the Lessonis of the New and Old Testament, conforme to the ordour," &c., renders this most probable. Dr. M'Crie has considered this point very fully in his life of Knox, (Note DD, vol. i. p. 437-441,) and comes to a similar conclusion. If, however, the English Prayer Book was then used, it was soon afterwards replaced by "The Forme of Prayers and Ministrations of the Sacraments, &c., vsed in the Englishe Congregation at Geneva: and approved, by the famous and godly learned man, Iohn Caluyn." This volume was originally "Imprinted at Geneva, by Iohn Crespin, M.D.LVI." Small 8vo. There were later impressions at Geneva, in 1558 and 1561. It was very frequently reprinted in this country between 1562 and 1643, and was usually prefixed to the metrical version of the Psalms.

[708] Sir David Hamilton of Preston, as heir of his father Robert Hamilton, had charters of the lands of Priestgill and Langkype, in 1541 and 1545. He was one of the attendants of James the Fifth in his voyage to France in 1536.--He survived till November 1584: see the detailed account given in Anderson's House of Hamilton, p. 346.

[709] In MS. G, "how heavy and displeasing a thing."

[710] Not one who belonged to the law, but a person whom the law had rendered infamous.--The reference here is to John Douglas: see page 286.

[711] Vautr. edit. makes this "how well," which changes the sense.

[712] In MS. G, "waver from:" Vautr. edit. has "vary of his faith."

[713] In the other copies, the signature is simply "Sanct Androis."

[714] The Archbishop here alludes to his being _Legatus Natus_, or Pope's Legate, as well as Primate of the Scottish Church.

[715] That is, John Douglas.

[716] In a former page, mention is made of this Lady, who obtained in her days sufficient notoriety. (See p. 124, notes 4 and 5.) Grizzel Sempill was the daughter of Robert Master of Sempill, who succeeded his father, William, as third Lord Sempill, in 1548. The death of her husband, James Hamilton of Stanehouse, is also mentioned by Knox at page 222. He had been appointed Captain of the Castle of Edinburgh, about September 1543; (Lesley's Hist. p. 174;) and five years later, when he lost his life, he also filled the office of Provost of the City. His eldest son and heir, James, who was slain at the same time, was his father's Deputy, and Director of the Chancery. Notwithstanding the ambiguity of Knox's statement at page 124, we may charitably conclude, it was only subsequent to her husband's death that she became the avowed mistress of John Hamilton, Archbishop of St. Andrews, by whom she had several children: (see note 336.) Two of her sons are thus styled in the Register of the Great Seal: "Legitimatio Johannis Hammyltoun junioris bastardi filii naturalis Grissillidis Sempill filiæ Roberti Magistri de Sempill, et Willielmi Hammyltoun ejus fratris etiam bastardi." 9 Oct. 1551. See also note by George Crawfurd, in his Officers of State, p. 381.--It was probably in virtue of some property she may have acquired that she obtained the title of Lady Gilton; as there is no evidence of her having contracted any second marriage. On the 11th July 1550, (not 1553, as usually stated,) William third Lord Creichton of Sanquhar, was slain in the Governor's chamber by Robert Master of Sempill; who was acquitted by the Governor, on the 10th September 1550.--(Pitcairn's Crim. Trials, vol. i. p. 354*.) "He escaped punishment, (says Pitscottie,) by means of John Hamilton, Bishop of St. Andrews, brother to the Governor, who entertained the Lady Stenhouse, _commonly called Lady Gilton_, daughter to this Robert Lord Semple, as his concubine." From the date of the remission, it must have been her brother who had committed this murder. Buchanan and other authorities likewise attribute his acquittal to the same influence; and one compiler says of the Archbishop, in very plain terms, "Amangis many utheris his harlottis, he interteayned this harlot Semple, nather bewtifull, of good fame, or utherwayis in any sort notable, except his awin kynsman, and followed him as scho had bene his lauchfull wyffe."--(Johnston's Hist, of Scotland, MS., Advocates Library.)

[717] Archibald fourth Earl of Argyle, in 1529, married to his first wife, Lady Helen Hamilton, second daughter of James first Earl of Arran, and sister of the Duke of Chattelherault. Their son Archibald succeeded as fifth Earl of Argyle about the end of 1558. See page 290.

[718] See note 710.

[719] In MS. G, "waver from."

[720] Spotiswood says that Douglas was a Carmelite or White Friar.--(Hist. p. 94.) It is not improbable he may have been the same person whose name appears as a Determinant in St. Salvator's College in 1554. In that year another John Douglas had the same rank in St. Mary's College, where he became a Licentiate in 1555. It is, I think, quite certain that John Douglas, who was Chaplain to the Earl of Argyle in 1558, and who may have assumed the name of Grant to escape apprehension, should not be confounded with the Provost of St. Mary's College, as Keith and other writers have done. The latter was born about the year 1494, and was descended from the Douglasses of Pettendreich. He studied at St. Andrews at the same time with John Wynrame, and was a Determinant in St. Leonard's College in 1515, and a Licentiate in 1517. Whether he was the person who entered the Carmelite Order, may be left to conjecture; but on 1st October 1547, he was elected Provost of St. Mary's College. In 1551, "Magister Joannes Douglas Prepositus Novi Collegii Mariani," was elected Rector of the University; and being annually elected to this office for the unprecedented period of twenty-three successive years, (1572-3, being called "Vigesimus tertius Rectoratus Johannis Douglas,) and being a constant resident in St. Andrews, it is obvious he could not have been the obscure person who was protected by the Earl of Argyle.

[721] "How the Bishop's conscience (says Dr. M'Crie) stood affected as to these points, we know not; but it is certain that his practice was very far from being immaculate."--(Wilkins, Concilia, vol. iv. p. 209; Life of Knox, vol. i. p. 320.)

[722] Archibald fourth Earl of Argyle, in 1525, was designed son and heir-apparent of Colin Earl of Argyle. He succeeded to the title before 1533. In 1543, he was opposed to the proposed alliance of Edward the Sixth and Mary Queen of Scots; and distinguished himself at the battle of Pinkie, in 1547, and at the siege of Haddington, in the following year. The precise time of his death is not ascertained; and his Testament is not known to be preserved. But he died towards the close of 1558, as on the 21st August that year he granted a charter to his son Archibald, then Lord Lorne; on the 2d December following, in the confirmation of the same charter, it is expressed that he was then deceased.

[723] Knox in thus alluding to the conduct of Archibald fifth Earl of Argyle, evidently points at his continued adherence to Queen Mary, at the time when the above passage was written.

[724] In MS. G, and Vautr. edit., this date is introduced into the text, as 10th of May 1568. If this was not a clerical mistake, it might be held to indicate that the intermediate MS., from which Vautrollier's edition, as well as the Glasgow MS. was taken, had been transcribed in that year.

[725] On the margin of the MS. is written, apparently in Knox's own hand, and then deleted, "Here tak in the Beggars Summonds warning the Freres." In Vautr. edit., in MS. G, and in all the other copies, it is introduced in this place, where it stands wholly unconnected. The paper referred to occurs at the end of the original MS., (fol. 388,) as a single leaf, entitled "The Blind, Crooked, &c., to the Flockis of all Friars within this realme," &c. It will be seen that the Author had finally resolved upon inserting it near the beginning of Book Second.

[726] See note 768, and Appendix, No. XIV. for some notices of this Provincial Council, in 1558-9.

[727] Knox himself fixes the date of his arrival in Scotland to the 2d of May 1559: see page 318.