NOTES ON THE EIGHTH BOOK.
—“He had sic message seyldyn seyne,
“That Wallace now as gouernowr sall ryng:
“Her is gret faute off a gud prince or kyng.
“That kyng off Kyll I can nocht wndirstand;
“Off him I held neuir a fur off land.”—V. 18.
That Corspatrick, Earl of Dunbar, used this provoking language, appears highly probable; as it is certain from other documents that, “when summoned by the guardian of Scotland, to attend a convention at Perth,” he “contemptuously refused. Blind Harrie is supported by the Tower Records.” Caledonia, II. 246.
I need scarcely say, that the earl had given Wallace this contemptuous designation, as being a native of the district of Kyle in Ayrshire.
“In lyff or dede, in faith, him sall we haiff,
“Or ger him grant quhom he haldis for his lord;
“Or ellis war schaym in story to racord.”—V. 44.
In MS. schapin; but undoubtedly from inadvertency. It had perhaps been written schaym.
In till Gorkhelm erll Patrik leiffit at rest.
For mar power Wallace past in the west.—V. 129.
Edit. 1594,—Cokholme; followed by 1620, and other editions. But Macpherson says that Gorkhelm, here mentioned, is “in Etrik forest.” Geogr. Illustr.
Was nayne sa strang, that gat off him a strak,
Eftir agayne maid neuir a Scot to waik.—V. 285.
In Edit. 1594, wraik, i. e. wreck. Perhaps this is the true reading. As in MS., it may signify, “to be deficient,” or “wanting,” as used for vaik. Here we have the double negative, common in Scottish.
This ryall ost, but restyng, furth thai rid,
Till Browis feild, &c.—V. 493.
In Edit. 1594, Brokis feild; Edit. 1648, Browes. D. Macpherson refers to Browis-feld as in Teviotdale. Geogr. Illustr.
Gud Lundy than till hym he callit thar,
And Hew the Hay, off Louchowort was ayr.—V. 581.
“Richard de Lundie, Lundin, or London, was a powerful baron in the shire of Fife. He brought five hundred men to Wallace’s aid in the encounter with Macfadyan near Craigmore, in Perthshire.—Lundie, having become dissatisfied with some of the Scottish leaders, was on the side of the English in the battle of Stirling Bridge, September 11, 1297.
“In a charter by King William the Lion to the town of Perth, 1210, one of the witnesses is Robert de London, the king’s son. This natural son of the king had married the heiress of Lundin in Fife, and from her lands took his surname. Richard was their lineal descendant.
“In 1679, the family of Lundie, because of their descent, obtained liberty to bear the royal arms of Scotland. Afterwards the heiress married John Drummond, Earl of Melfort,” second son of James, Earl of Perth. This family is now represented by the Hon. R. P. Burrel Drummond of Perth.
I have extracted the greatest part of this note from those added to the Perth Edit. of Wallace, by my worthy friend the late Reverend James Scott of Perth, well known as an accurate and indefatigable antiquary. V. also Nisbet, I. p. 64. 107.
Hew the Hay seems to be the same person who afterwards married a sister of King Robert the Bruce, the widow of Laurence Lord Abernethy. He was descended from William Hay of Errol, and was ancestor to the family of Tweeddale. V. Nisbet, I. 182. He is designed Hay of Locharret, or Lochquharret, county of Edinburgh. The ancient orthography was Lochuswerword, Locherworn. Sir James Dalrymple’s Coll. Pref. 76; also Locherward, Ind. Chart. I. 26,—16. 9. 13.
All Mydlame land thai brynt wp in a fyr,
Brak parkis doun, distroyit all the schyr.—V. 945.
In MS. mydlen. This I have explained as signifying middle, or denoting lands lying in the interior of a county or district. V. Etym. Dict. But I have here adopted the reading of Edit. 1594. Wallace being represented as at this time in Yorkshire, this is probably the honour or town of Middleham in the northern part of this county. In Bleau’s Atlas, it is written Midlam. It afterwards belonged to the Nevilles, who were Earls of Richmond.
Amang noblis gyff euyr ony thar was,
So lang throw force in Ingland lay on cass,
Sen Brudus deit, but battaill, bot Wallace.—V. 962.
In editions Brutus: i. e. he who is called the Brute.
Than had we nayn bot ladyis to repruff.
That sall he nocht, be God that is abuff.
Vpon wemen I will na wer begyn.—V. 1437.
In Edit. 1594, ver. 1438 is thus given;
That sall not be, be God that sitis abufe.
This might at first view seem to correspond better with the preceding line, as signifying the determination of Wallace to make no retaliation on the female sex for the treachery of men; but as the author perhaps refers back to what is said in v. 1435, as to the king breaking any truce, made by women, as soon as he found it convenient, and then proceeds to declare that he would make no war on them, I have retained the verse as it is in MS. Thus, it expresses a determination that Edward should have no opportunity of acting so treacherous a part.
A harrold went, in all the haist he may,
Till Tawbane waill, quhar at the Scottis lay.—V. 1497.
In Edit. 1594, Auane. The place is the same mentioned before, v. 1170, Sanct Awbawnys, i. e. St Albans. If we might suppose the Tantonie bell to be a corruption of “St Antony’s bell,” we could easily account for the introduction of the letter T here, as an abbreviation for Sanct.
We ask her als, be wertu off this band,
Our ayris, our king, be wrang led off Scotland.—V. 1517.
In Edit. 1594;—
Our awin young king, be wrang led fra Scotland.
Ayris is the word in MS. This may be an erratum for ayr, in singular, as Bruce is thus designed, v. 1342—our ayr, i.e. “heir of our kingdom.” But I have retained it in plural, as by ayris the Minstrel might not only mean the king, but the heirs of noble families, then kept prisoners in England; as Randell, Lorn, Bowehane, &c. mentioned in connexion.
In the Leynhouss a quhyll he maid repayr—
Twa monethis still he duelt in Dunbertane.—V. 1595. 1599.
In Edit. 1594,—Lenox, vulgarly pronounced Lennoss. The mention of Dunbertane immediately after shows that this district is meant. V. Note on the Bruce, B. II. 40.
His purpos was to se the king off France.—V. 1696.
It is undoubtedly a problematical question, whether Wallace ever was in France. Some, among whom we must reckon our historian Major, think that this is improbable. The Minstrel, it must be acknowledged, has interspersed so much fable in his narrative, as to bring discredit even on what might otherwise have been readily admitted as fact. It seems unlikely that Wallace should have left his native country twice; and the exploits ascribed to him while in France must generally be rejected, especially those said to have been performed by him in Guienne; because it is incredible that, if he had done so much injury to the English in their recent conquests there, not the slightest notice should have been taken of this by any of their historians. But I do not see the same reason for deeming it improbable that he should ever have been in France.
1. From the great intercourse between Scotland and France, as well as from the great celebrity of the achievements of our hero, it seems very natural to suppose that Philip King of France should express an earnest desire to see him, and even send him an invitation to this purpose; and not less so, that while his hands were tied up, during a truce or peace with Edward, he should take the opportunity of gratifying his curiosity, in visiting that kingdom to which so many of his countrymen had been accustomed to resort, as one that had been long in a state of amity and alliance with their own. He might be the more disposed to a temporary change of place, from the envy which his valorous deeds had excited among the nobles of Scotland.
2. The story concerning the capture of Sir Thomas Charteris of Longueville is in so far supported by the known fact that there was a race of this name at Kinfauns; and that a two-handed sword is still shown in the castle of Kinfauns, which tradition has uniformly ascribed to this Longueville. Henry Adamson, in his Muse’s Threnodie, speaking of this castle, describes it as the place,—
Sometime did hold; whose ancient sword of steele
Remaines unto this day, and of that land
Is chiefest evident. —— Book VI. p. 156.
3. In the Scotichronicon it is said, that “after the battle of Roslin, Wallace, having gone on board a ship, sought to France;” that “he acquired great fame there from the dangers to which he had been exposed, not only from pirates while at sea, but afterwards from the English in France; and that this is attested by certain songs in France as well as in Scotland.” The author goes so far as to assert, that Philip had applied to Edward for a truce between him and the Scots, that Philip might have a pretence for retaining Wallace for some time longer in France. Lib. XI. c. 34. MSS. Cupr. et Perth.
4. It is worthy of remark, that Major, after having mustered up several arguments against the probability of Wallace having ever been in France, at once seems to throw them all aside as of little weight, and in conclusion speaks like a man who had hitherto reasoned against his own secret convictions, acknowledging that he is unwilling expressly to deny that Wallace had been there. He closes the account with these remarkable words: Nolo tamen ob has ratiunculas constanter inficias ire ipsum oras Galliæ visitasse. Hist. Fol. LXXIV, a.
It would appear most probable, that the Charterises of Amisfield, now represented by the Earl of Wemyss and March, were connected with those of Kinfauns; from the similarity of their armorial bearings, if not also from their possession of Elcho, in the immediate vicinity of the latter. There was, however, one family of rank of this name settled in Scotland before the time assigned for the arrival of Longueville. Andrew de Charteris, who is said to have been the ancestor of the Amisfield family, swore fealty to Edward, A. 1296, and William de Charteris in 1306. V. Nisbet, Rem. Ragm. Roll, II. 23. Fœdera, II. 1015.
—Erest in weyr to Sanct Jhonstoun couth fair.—V. 1697.
Neirest but weir, &c. Edit. 1594. This makes nonsense of the passage, and has been an early alteration. Wallace did not go nearest to Perth, but went to the town itself. The meaning must be, “In the earliest part of spring.” V. Veir, Etym. Dict.