Hong Kong.
[Horace, De Arte Poetica, 102.]
Replies.
MEDAL AND RELIC OF MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS.
(Vol. viii., p. 293.)
I possess a cast of this medal as described by your correspondent W. Fraser, but which is a little indistinct in some of the letters of its inscriptions. The yew-tree represented on it is generally supposed to be that which stood at Cruikston Castle nearly Paisley; and its motto "Vires" may perhaps have been intended to denote its natural strength and durability. The date of the medal being 1566, and Mary's marriage with Lord Darnly having taken place on July 29, 1565, the yew-tree may have been introduced to commemorate some incident of their courtship, and gives likelihood to the common tradition. I once had a small box composed partly of its wood, and of
that of the "Torwood Oak" near Stirling, which was presented to me about thirty-five years ago by an aged lady, whose property it had been for a long time previously, and who placed much value on it as a relic. Though visiting Cruikston Castle in early life, I never heard of there being any feeling of "superstition" connected with such little objects as the crosses, &c. which were long made from the wood of the yew-tree. They are all, I think, to be viewed simply as curiosities associated with the historical interest of the place, and similar examples are to be found among our people in the numerous quaichs (drinking-cups) and other articles which have been formed from the "Torwood Oak" that protected the illustrious Sir William Wallace from his enemies; from his oak at Elderslie, said to have been planted by his hand, two miles to the west of Paisley; and lately from such scraps of the old oaken rafters of the Glasgow Cathedral as could be obtained in the course of its modern repairs.
As respects the yew-tree immediately concerned, some notices of its remains may be found in a work entitled The Severn Delineated, by Charles Taylor, Glasgow, 1831, at page 82. The author, who was a very curious local antiquary, died in 1837, aged forty-two. As his book is now scarce, I may be excused from subjoining rather a long extract, but which also throws some light on other particulars of this subject:
"Retreating from Househill (a seat in the vicinity) to Cruikston Castle, the country is rich, and the scenery delightful. The castle itself might be the subject of volumes, as it has been the theme of many a poet, and the subject of many a painter's pencil. Its name is known all over the world, or may be so, from the circumstance of its once having been the residence of Mary Queen of Scots and Henry Lord Darnly; and though the famed yew-tree decks not now the 'hallowed mould,' as the poet expresses himself,
'Is there an eye that tearless could behold
This lov'd retreat of beauty's fairest flower?'
About three years ago a large fragment fell from the south wing of this ruin, despite of all the attention Sir John Maywell paid to keep it up. The founder of this castle was one De Croc; hence the name Crockston, Crocston, or Cruikston. This family (says Crawfurd), failing in ane heiress, she was married to Sir Alexander Stewart of Torbolton, second son to Walter, the second of that name, Great Stewart of Scotland, and of this marriage are descended the families of Darnly and Lorn."