‘Qwhen Schyr David the Lyndyssay rade
Til Lundyn, and thare Tourné made.
A thowsand thre hyndyr and nynty yhere
Frà the Byrth of oure Lord dere
The gud Lyndyssay, Schyr Dawy,
Of Glenesk the Lord mychty,
Honest, abil, and avenand,
Past on (safe) conduct in Ingland.’
“This Author, indeed, never mentions London Bridge, and assigns a different day for the encounter, as we read in the verses on the next page.
‘Swà ewyn a-pon the sext day
Of that moneth that we call May,
Thai ilk forsayd Lordis tway,
The Lyndyssay and the Wellis thay
On horse ane agane othir ran
As thare taylyhè (tally, a bond, or indenture to fight) ordanyd than.
The Lyndyssay thare wyth manful fors
Strak qwyte the Wellis fra his hors
Flatlyngis downe a-pon the grene.
Thare all his saddile twm (toom, empty) was sene.’
“We have, however, sufficient authority for believing that this Justing did actually take place on St. George’s day, for Hector Boethius states, on page 336 b. of his ‘History,’ that because it was through the protection of St. George, on whose day Sir David, or rather Earl, Lindsay fought, he had gained this victory, he founded a Chantry, with a gift of 48 marks,—£32 yearly,’—for seven Priests, with divers Virgins, for ever to sing holy Anthems to the Saintly Soldier in the Church of Dundee. ‘The which,’ adds he, ‘they did unto our time,’—that is, about eighty years afterwards—‘not without singular commendations to the Earl.’
“The Poem also speaks of the use of other weapons than lances; and gives both Sir David Lindsay and King Richard a less degree of courtesy than we find mentioned elsewhere, as you will discover in the following passage.
‘Qwhen all thare cursis on hors wes dune,
To-gyddyr thai mellayid on fute swne,
Wyth all thare wapnys, as by the taylyhè
Oblyst thai ware, for til assaylyhè.
Swà wyth thare knwys at the last
Ilk ane at othir strak rycht fast,
Swà of this to tell yow mare
The Lyndyssay fastnyd his daggare
In-till Wellis armowris fyne
Welle lauche (a good depth) and hym lyftyd syne
Sum thyng fra the earth wyth pyth;
And all (rycht) manful wertu wyth
Oppynly before thame all
He gave the Wellis a gret fall,
And had hym haly at his will
Qwhat evyr he wald have dwne hym til.
The Kyng, in his Swmere Castelle
That all this Towrne sene had welle,
Sayd, ‘Lyndyssay, Cusyne, gud Lyndissay,
Do forth that thow suld do this day.’
As to be sayd, do furth thi dete,
Thare shall ná man here mak lete.’”
“Let me finish this story, Mr. Postern,” said I, as he concluded his repetition of these old Scottish verses; “if it be to have a finish, and you do not really intend to keep me all night in the year 1390 for we must not, certainly, let two such champions pass without one word concerning their families and their Arms; nor leave without distinction the actual Sir David Lindsay, and Lord Wells, who were engaged in this very famous passage of arms. You must, I am sure, remember, Mr. Barnaby, that the immortal Sir William Dugdale, Garter King of Arms, hath, in his ‘Baronage of England,’ London, 1676, folio, volume ii., page 11, a memoir of Lord Wells, very meet to be mentioned here. His Lordship was the descendant of Adam de Welles, who lived in the time of Richard I. and he had served in the wars in Flanders, France, and Scotland, under the Kings Edward III., and Richard II., and the valiant John, Duke of Lancaster. As he was ten years old at his father’s death in 1360, he must have been about forty when he justed on London Bridge; and after having been summoned to Parliament from 1376 to 1420, he is supposed to have died in the following year, on the Tuesday next after the Feast of St. Bartholomew the Apostle, which being Sunday, August the 24th, 1421, made it the 26th of the month. Andrew of Wyntown, whom you have quoted, says of this Lord, you remember, in his Chronicle, volume ii., page 354, alluding to the Justing on London Bridge:—
‘For in all Ingelond afore than
The Welles was a commended man;
Manful, stoute, and of gud pyth,
And high of harte he was there wyth.’