"From sundry records it appears that Edward II. and Edward III. committed its custody to various persons, and the latter at length conferred his right to it upon William Montacute, Earl of Salisbury, in consideration, probably, of that valiant earl having by his arms regained the island from the Scots, who had resumed possession, and of the circumstance that his grandmother, the wife of Simon de Montacute, was sister and heiress of one of the former kings of Man, and related to the lady who had claimed it as her inheritance on the death of Magnus."
Now, I think MR. GIBSON, on reflection, will agree with me in concluding that the wife of Simon de Montacute, and the lady who claimed the island on the death of Magnus, were one and the same person. There is no document, I believe, of the kind he refers to, of the "31st" of Edw. I.; but in the "21st" of Edw. I., which date is probably intended, there is amongst the Scotch Rolls (anno 21 Edw. I. m. 4.) a citation from Edward I., as supreme lord of Scotland, directed to John Baliol, King of Scots, to answer the complaint of Aufrica, cousin and heiress of Magnus, late King of Man, &c. This is in the year 1292-3; and a few years later we again meet with Aufrica, for amongst the ancient charters in the British Museum is one marked "V. 73." It is a deed by which "Aufrica, heiress of the land of Man," gives up her right therein "to her noble and potent husband, Simon de Montagu." This deed is dated at Bridgewater, on Thursday the Vigil of the Annunciation, 1305; i.e. March 24, 1306.
In this charter (V. 73.) she calls herself Aufrica de Connought: and this is rather curious, for in a volume of pedigrees in the British Museum, in the handwriting of Robert Glover, Somerset Herald (Bib. Harl. 807.), she is said to be the daughter of Fergus, Lord of Galloway (Galway?), and Queen of Man. Galway it is in another MS. in the same collection (MSS. Harl. 1074. folio 22.), where she is styled "Aufrica, Reyne de Man," and daughter of Fergus, Lord of Galway. In both these MSS. she is said to be the wife of Simon de Montagu, who is styled "Roy de Man par sa femme."
Replies to Minor Queries.
Old Scots March (Vol. v., p. 104.).
—The following quotation from a "Dissertation on Scottish Music," by Mr. Tytler, of Woodhouselee (the grandfather of the historian), contained in the Transactions of the Society of Scottish Antiquaries, vol. i. p. 486., although not an answer to his Query, may perhaps prove interesting to J.M.:—
"To the wandering harpers we are certainly indebted for that species of music which is now scarcely known, I mean the Port. Almost every great family had a Port that went by the name of the family. Of the few that are still preserved are, Port Lennox, Port Gordon, Port Seton, and Port Athole, which are all of them excellent in their kind. The Port is not of the martial strain of the march, as some have conjectured; those above named being all in the plaintive strain, and modulated for the harp.
"The pibroch, the march or battle-tune of the Highland clans, with the different strains introduced of the coronich, &c., is fitted for the bagpipe only: its measure, in the pas grave of the Highland piper, equipped with his flag and military ensigns, when marching up to battle, is stately and animating, rising often to a degree of fury."
Although anxious to do so, I have never yet been able to meet with any of the ports here referred to.