NOTES ON THE FIFTH BOOK.
In Gyllisland thar was that brachell brede.—
So was scho vsyt on Esk and on Ledaill;
Quhill scho gat blude no flëyng mycht awail.—V. 25.
Gilderland, Edit. 1594; Gelderland, 1620, 1648, 1673, &c., also 1714. But this must be Gillesland or Gilsland, a barony in Cumberland. The Minstrel having said that the hound was bred here, immediately speaks of her being used to track in Esk and Liddisdale, in the vicinity of Cumberland. So late as the reign of James I. of England, there is an order dated A. 1616, that no less than nine bloodhounds should be kept on the Border, upon Esk, and other places mentioned. V. Pennant’s Tour, 1772; I. 77, II. 397.
Bellenden, after Boece, gives a particular description of these bloodhounds, which agrees with the facts mentioned above, and has considerable interest.
“The thrid kynd is mair than ony rache. Red hewit or ellis blak with small spraingis of spottis, and ar callit be the peple sleuthhundis. Thir doggis hes sa meruellous wit, that thai serche theuis, and followis on thaym allanerlie be sent of the guddis that ar tane away. And nocht allanerlie fyndis the theif, bot inuadis hym with gret cruelté. And thocht the theuis oftymes cors the watter, quhair thai pas, to caus the hound to tyne the sent of thaym and the guddis, yit he serchis heir and thair with sic deligence, that be his fut he fyndis baith the trace of the theiff and the guddis. The meruellous nature of thir houndis wil haue na faith with vncouth peple. Howbeit the samyn ar rycht frequent and ryfe on the bordouris of Ingland and Scotland. Attour it is statute be the lawis of the bordouris, he that denyis entres to the sleuthound in tyme of chace and serching of guddis, sal be haldin participant with the cryme and thift committit.” Discription of Albion, chap. XI.
This extract throws light on a passage in The Bruce, where the king is made to refer to the vulgar idea as to the means necessary for making the blood-hound lose his scent; although the statement given by Boece opposes the opinion which had been generally received.
Bot Ik haiff herd oftymys say,
That quha endland a watter ay
Wald waid a bowdraucht, he suld ger
Bathe the slouth hund, and his leder,
Tyne the sleuth men gert hym ta.
The Bruce, B. v. 317.
John Hardyng has given a curious account of the means used by Edward I. for taking Bruce, similar to that here said to have been employed against Wallace.
The king Edward with hornes and houndes him soght,
With menne on fote, through marris, mosse, and myre,
Through wodes also and mountens [wher they fought]
And euer the kyng Edward hight men greate hyre,
Hym for to take and by might conquere;
But thei might hym not gette by force ne by train,
He satte by the fyre when thei [went] in the rain.
In the stanza immediately following he indeed ascribes the death of Edward to his disappointment, in never being able to get our king into his hands:—
The kyng Edward for anger fell in accesse,
And homeward came full sycke and sore annoyed.—
At Burgh vpon the sande he died anone, &c.
Chronicle, p. 303, 304.
Kerlé beheld on to the bauld Heroun,
Vpon Fawdoun as he was lukand doune.—V. 145.
This appears to have been the head of the ancient family of Heron, who held Ford Castle in Northumberland. In the reign of Henry III. it was in possession of Sir William Heron, who was governor of the castles of Bamborough, Pickering, and Scarborough, lord warden of the forests north of Trent, and sheriff of Northumberland for eleven successive years. V. Hutchinson’s Northumb. II. 19. This castle has attracted much attention, as having been the scene of the enchantments of its fair mistress, by means of which our infatuated James IV. was disarmed before the fatal battle of Flodden; and it has acquired additional celebrity from the no less bewitching Muse of the author of Marmion.
To Dawryoch he knew the forss full weill.—V. 265.
This is Dalreoch, on the south bank of the Earn, four or five miles west from Forteviot. A bridge across the Earn is called that of Dalreoch. By the forss seems to be meant ford. V. Etym. Dict. in vo.
Our thwort the Kerss to the Torwode he yeide.—
The rone wes thik that Wallace slepyt in.—V. 319–357.
“In Dunipace parish is the famous Torwood, in the middle of which there are the remains of Wallace’s Tree, an oak which, according to a measurement, when entire, was said to be about twelve feet diameter. To this wood Wallace is said to have fled, and secreted himself in the body of that tree, then hollow, after his defeat in the north.” Stat. Acc. III. 336.
This “is still dignified by the name of Wallace’s Tree. It stands in the middle of a swampy moss, having a causeway round its ruins; and its destruction has been much precipitated by the veneration in which the Scottish hero has been long held, numerous pieces having been carried off, to [be] convert[ed] into various memorials of the champion of Scotland.” Kerr’s Hist. Bruce, I. 127.
Throuch the Oychall thai had gayne all that nycht,
Till Airth ferry, or that the day was brycht.—V. 411.
In MS. it is Qwenys ferry; but the word first written has been scraped out, and Qwenys substituted on the head margent above it. The term deleted seems to have been erd; most probably written by mistake for Airth, in a copy which may have been taken from recitation. The term Qwenys indeed is apparently in the same hand with the rest of the MS.; but the transcriber, thinking only of erd as signifying the earth, had indulged the idea that it must be an error. As the companions of Wallace were on their way to Dunipace in quest of him, to have gone from Gask to Queensferry would have been to take a very circuitous course without any apparent necessity. Airth is the reading of editions 1594, 1620, 1648, and 1673. In Edit. 1714 it is Queens-ferry, as would seem on the authority of the MS.
In Dundaff mur that sammyn nycht he raid.
Schir Jhone the Grayme, quhilk lord wes of that land,
Ane agyt knycht had maid nane othir band;
Bot purchest pess in rest he mycht bide still, &c.—V. 436.
The castle of Dundaff, of which there are still some remains, was situated in Stirlingshire, near the source of Carron. This old knight, by some called David, by others John, was proprietor not only of Dundaff, but of the lands of Strathblane and Strathcarron. V. Nimmo’s Stirlingshire, p. 358. A fabulous antiquity has been ascribed to this family; it having been asserted that the wall of Antonine vulgarly received the name of Graham’s Dike, because in a very early period of our history it was penetrated by a valorous chief, from whom those of this celebrated name had their origin. We have no written evidence of the existence of this family before the reign of David I., when William de Grahame appears as witness to the charter of the foundation of Holyrood-house. Sir J. Dalrymple’s Coll. p. 397. From it originated many distinguished families, as that of Montrose, Menteith, Fintry, Balgowan, &c. It was the son of this “agyt knycht” who was the faithful friend of Wallace, and who fell at the battle of Falkirk.
“Quhat worth of him? I pray you graithlye tell.”—V. 498.
By misapprehension, in all the printed copies, word; as if the question were, “What intelligence is there concerning him?” But the meaning is, “What became of him?”
Bot weyle I wait, quhar gret ernyst is in thocht,
It lattis wer in the wysest wys be wrocht.—V. 642.
i. e. “Where there is great anxiety of mind, it prevents the carrying on of war in the wisest” or “most proper manner.”
The meaning is lost in Edit. 1594,—
It lettis weir that in wise men is wrocht.
Edit. 1620.
It letteth war, that in wise men is wrought.
The trewth I knaw off this, and hyr lynage;
I knew nocht hyr, tharfor I lost a gage.—V. 654.
That is, “I know the character and descent of this lady; but being a stranger to my former sweetheart, at Perth, I lost my stake.” Hyr in v. 655 is opposed to this in the preceding line.
To the Corhed with out restyng he raid.—V. 724.
At the Corheid full fayne thai wald haif beyne.—V. 816.
I prefer this to Torhed, Edit. 1714 and Perth. It agrees equally well with the MS.; and it is that of 1594 and of the other old editions. Besides, I find Corheid given as the name of a property in Annandale, belonging to the Johnstouns, Inquis. Retorn. A. 1608, N. 63; but no such place as Torheid in Dumfries-shire.
In the Knok wood he lewyt all bot thre.—V. 735.
In the parish of Kirkmichael, county of Dumfries, there is “a small fort in the Knock Wood, called Wallace’s House, said to have been thrown up by Sir William Wallace, after he had slain Sir Hugh of Moreland and five of his men, at a place still named, from that event, the sax corses, i. e. the six corpses.” Stat. Acc. I. 63. It has been ingeniously remarked, that “the sax corses more probably signify six crosses, in allusion to some religious monument so decorated.” Kerr’s Hist. Bruce, I. 125.
Ane Kyrk Patryk, that cruell was and keyne,
In Esdaill wood that half yer he had beyne.
With Ingliss men he couth nocht weyll accord.—V. 920.
This, it appears, was the ancestor of the Kirkpatricks of Closeburne, who appear on record so early as the year 1141. Alexander II. grants a confirmation charter of Closeburne to one of this name, A. 1332, which is still in the possession of the family.
Kirkpatrick Sharpe of Hoddam is a descendant of the Closeburne family in the fourth generation; the name of Sharpe having been added, as attached, by the deed of the possessor, to the estate of Hoddam.
For Jhonstoune send, a man off gud degre:
Secund dochtir forsuth weddyt had he
Off Halidays, nere neuo to Wallace.—V. 1050.
This was the ancestor of the Marquisses of Annandale.
Thai trew that he has found hys name agayne.—MS. V. 1092.