,ru.\'.^ CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Cornell University Library DA 880.R8M88 Monastic annals of Tev otdale, or, The h 3 1924 028 090 185 ^^ '%/ Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028090185 MONASTIC ANNALS OF TEVIOTDALE. THE MONASTIC ANNALS OF TEVIOTDALE: OR, THE HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES ,. THE ABBEYS OF JEDBURGH, KELSO, MELROS, AND DRYBURGH. BY THE REV. JAMES MORTON, B.D. FREBENDAKY OF LINCOLN, VICAK OF HOLBEACH, DOMESTIC CHAfLAIN TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE EARL GREY, CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF SCOTLAND, AND HONORARY MEMBER OF THE ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY OF NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE. EDINBURGH : PUBLISHED BY W. H. LIZARS, ST JAMES SQUARE: JOHN HAMILTON, ST ANDREW STREET, EDINBURGH: AND LONGMAN, REES, ORME, BROWN, & GREEN, LONDON. MDCCCXXXII. EDINBURGH: Printed by Andrew Shoetreed, Thistle Lane. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE EARL GREY, THIS WORK IS INSCRIBED, AS A TOKEN OF RESPECT AND GRATITUDE, THE AUTHOR. CONTENTS. Page PREFACE, ..... . . . ix THE HISTORY OF THE ABBEY OF JEDBURGH, .... 1 NOTES DESCRIPTIVE OF JEDBURGH ABBEY, . . . . ,47 POSSESSIONS AND REVENUES OF JEDBURGH ABBEY, ... 49 CARTA CONFIRMATIONIS COMITIS HENRICI CANONICIS DE JEDWORDE, . . 55 CHARTA WILHELMI REGIS SCOTORUM CANONICIS DE JEDBURGH, . . 57 TAXT BOLL OF THE ABBACY OF JEDBURGH, 1626, . . . .60 HISTORY OF THE TOWN AND ABBEY OF KELSO, .... 71 DESCRIPTION OF THE RUINS OF KELSO ABBEY, .... 107 POSSESSIONS AND REVENUES OF KELSO ABBEY, .... 109 CHARTA FUNDATIONIS ABBACIE APUD SCHELECHYRCH, . . . 151 CARTA REGIS DAVID DE PRIMA FUNDACIONE DE KELCHOU, . . 153 CHARTER OF CONFIRMATION GRANTED TO THE MONKS OF KELSO BY KING MALCOLM IV. ....... 156 ROTULUS REDITUUM MONASTERII DE KALKOW, . . . .161 TAXT ROLL OF THE ABBACY OF KELSO, ..... 173 HISTORY OF OLD MELROS, . . . . . . .183 HISTORY OF THE ABBEY OF MELROS, ..... 196 DESCRIPTIONS OF THE RUINS OF MELROS ABBEY, . . . 249, 258 POSSESSIONS AND REVENUES OF MELROS ABBEY, . . . 262 viii CONTENTS. Page CARTA REGIS DAVID DE ABBATIA DE MELROS, .... 280 TAXT ROLL OF THE ABBACY OF MELROS, ..... 282 HISTORY OF THE MONASTERY OF DRYBURGH, .... 289 POSSESSIONS AND REVENUES OF THE SAME, ..... 304 CARTA DAVIDIS REGIS DE DOTATIONE COENOBII DE DRYBRUGHE, . . 312 TAXT ROLL OF THE ABBACY OF DRYBURGH, ..... 314 HOSPITALS AND OTHER RELIGIOUS HOUSES, .... 319 DESCRIPTION OF THE RUINS OF DRYBURGH ABBEY, .... 322 APPENDIX, ........ 325 INDEX, ......... 327 PREFACE. The monasteries of Scotland, in their flourishing state, are believed to have equalled, if not surpassed, in wealth and splen- dour, most establishments of the same kind in the other countries of Europe.* Their lands and domains equalled in extent the possessions of the most powerful barons, and were the richest and best cultivated in the kingdom. The members of their com- munities were, for a long period, revered as the learned instructors and spiritual guides of the people, the indulgent masters of numerous vassals and retainers, and the kind benefactors of the poor. Their churches and conventual buildings, raised with consummate art and skill, and profusely adorned with carving and painting, were the chief architectural ornaments of the country. * Hanc antiquam Scotorum Religionem sat indicat templorum tnagnificentia, ac splendi- dissimus eorum apparatus, in ipso Scotiae regno, ut res fere fidem superet, tot et tam illustria aedificia, ac tam bene instructa, in tam angusto regno potuisse ; cujus tamen rei testes esse possunt multi qui ea oculis suis aspexerunt, et qui ea non viderunt, ex ruderibus, quanta aedificiorum magnificentia extiterit facile conjiciunt. Geo. Thomsonus, De Antiquitate Christiance Religionis apvd Scotos. b X PREFACE. Their halls were the seats of splendid hospitality, where princes and distinguished persons were entertained, and where minstrels, and professors of the liberal arts, were welcome guests.* The example of the order, and economy of their establishments, must have had a beneficial influence on the habits of domestic life ; and the deference and respect they were bound to observe towards each other,! could not but contribute greatly to soften the harsh manners of a rude age, and to introduce elegance, and disseminate urbanity and politeness throughout the intercourse of society. History presents few changes of fortune more sudden and complete than that which befel the monastic communities at the period of the Reformation. Within a few years, their wealth, their honours, their avocations, their establishments, were swept away. However useful their institutions might have been in an earlier and different stage of society, juster views of religion now con- demned them as founded on error, and worse than useless. This, together with the misconduct of individuals among them, degraded them in public estimation ; and the covetousness of those persons who expected to share in the plunder of their ample possessions, made them listen willingly to the disgraceful stories which were easily propagated against them, and readily believed in those times which did not afford the facilities, which exist in the present day, for ascertaining the truth of such allegations. The unfortunate monks, often, perhaps, deeply wronged, though many of them were doubtless loaded with some just accusations, were driven from * " In monasteriis ea vigebat charitas, et hospitalitas, ut omnes, sine discrimine, ad ea diverterent ; in quibus tanto ordine omnia erant disposita, ut, sine religiosae discipline impedi- mento, non modo principes viri, sed et ipsi Scotiae Reges in illis subinde hospitarentur." Geo. Thomsonus, De Ant. Christ. Rel. ap. Scotos. f See page 293, infra. PREFACE. xi their ancient seats ; and their magnificent edifices, if the chance of war had not already desolated them, were either demolished by the blind rage of the populace, and the barbarous ignorance of the government, or left to crumble into premature decay. It cannot but appear desirable to every person of taste and intelligence, that the architectural beauties that are still so strikingly seen in the ruins of many of these buildings, should be faithfully delineated, and, by the power of art, transmitted to posterity, before they are still farther defaced by the slow, but surely destructive, hand of time. Independent of the traditionary legends, and tales of peace and war relating to them, and which clothe them with a romantic interest, their connection with the history of the Christian church, and of the progress of society, excites also a desire to learn the particulars of their authentic story. These considerations, together with a feeling of local partiality, induced the author to undertake the present work ; and although, in the execution of it, he cannot lay claim to any other merit than that of industry and fidelity, yet as he has been so fortunate as to obtain the co-operation of the eminent artist who has furnished the drawings and engravings, he hopes that he is performing an acceptable service in giving it to the public. ERRATA. Page 4, line 16, for a monastery read the monastery. 34, 24, for 1554 read 1544. 43, 31, for provision read provisions. 55, 22, for ayne read ayre. 120, 32, for enumerate read enumerated. 128, 2\,for quandam read quadam. 137, 15, for qui read quae. 146. To the account of the revenues of Kelso abbeyj it should have been added, that the convent had a right to the tithes of Sir Gilbert de Umfraville's horses, bred in his forest in Redesdale, the boundaries of which went from Blackhope to Rammeshope ; and from thence to Harhope, to Goldingpottes, to Flexlei, to Caldelawe above Wilkewde, and so on to the head of Yerdehope, This right being disputed by Roger, the rector of Ellesden, the matter was decided in favour of Kelso, in 1228, by the authority of the pope — Chart Kel. 126, v. HISTORY OF THE ABBEY OF JEDBURGH. MONASTIC ANNALS OF TEVIOTDALE. THE HISTORY OF THE ABBEY OF JEDBURGH. Jedburgh, the chief town of Roxburghshire, is beautifully situated on the banks of the Jed, about two miles above its influx into the Teviot, The course of this small river, which is not longer than twelve miles, is singularly picturesque. It rises near the confines of Liddisdale, at the foot of Carlin-tooth, one of the mountains that divide Roxburghshire from Northumberland; and, being soon joined by the smaller streams of the Blackburn and Carter, winds considerably among round-topped green hills, through an open pastoral valley, once covered with thick forests, but now enlivened with villages and farms. As its limpid waters roll on, the valley contracts and becomes more woody, cultivated, and populous. The ruins of ancient towers and castles are seen on its banks, which, in some places, are overhung by lofty perpendicular cliffs, of a kind of soft red sandstone, the sides of which are wreathed with wild shrubs, and their summits clothed with forest trees. There are caverns in those precipices, which may have been safe retreats, in former times, to the families of the warlike inhabitants, when in danger of the enemy. On the left hand, screened from the river by a deep wood of large and tall trees, lies the ruinous castle of Ferniherst, a place which, although it was never of much strength nor importance, yet was the scene of some fierce contests during the border wars. It was built by Sir Thomas Ker of Kershaugh, in 1490 ; but it was probably demolished during the wars between 1544 and 1550, A 2 HISTORY OF and afterwards rebuilt, as we find the date 1598 carved upon the stone over the door of one of the remaining towers, where are also the arms of the Kers, and the initials A. K. This tower is still very entire, and was, till lately, inhabited by a gamekeeper. An adjoining part of the castle has undergone considerable repairs, and is now a commodious farm- house. As we proceed down the river side, and approach Jedburgh, the vale again expands, and presents on its high sloping sides a cheerful prospect of cultivated fields, orchards, and gardens ; at the bottom of which lies the town, and adjacent to it the interesting remains of the abbey, its chief ornament. Jedburgh consists of three principal streets, besides several others of less importance, diverging from an irregular area in the centre, where the weekly market is held on Tuesdays. The name by which it is most frequently designated by its inhabitants, and the people of the surrounding country, is Jethart, a corrupt form of its original name, Jedworth, com- pounded of the name of the river, and the Saxon Worth, a farm, or hamlet. At the most ancient period to which the history of this place extends, we find that there were two Jedworths. The other was situated about four miles and a half farther up the valley, where a small hamlet still retains the name of Old Jedburgh, and where there was formerly a church or chapel, the cemetery of which is still used as a place of interment. Both were built by Ezred, or Egred, a man of noble birth and ample possessions, who was bishop of Lindisfarne, or Holy Island, from the year 830 till his death in 845. In the history of that see, by Simeon of Durham, it is recorded that Bishop Egred, among other liberal gifts with which he endowed the monastery at Lindisfarne, gave it the two villages, with whatever belonged to them, both called Jedworth, which he built himself in the district south of the Tweed.* The authority of the bishop in this northern part of his diocese gradually declined after the removal of the episcopal seat, in 995, from Holy Island to Durham ; yet Jedworth was still subject to the church of St Cuthbert in 1093 y for it is related, that Eadulf, one of the assassins of the Bishop Walcher, having been himself murdered by a woman, and buried in the church at Geddewerde, his body was afterwards cast out from thence as execrable, by Turgot, the prior and archdeacon of Durham j and history informs us, that Turgot was appointed to the archdeaconry in 1093.t * Hist. Eccles. Dunelm. Lib. ii. cap. v. f Ibid. Lib. iv. cap. viii. THE ABBEY OF JEDBURGH. 3 Upon the accession of Henry I. in 1100, Ralph Flambard, the bishop of Durham, having fallen under the displeasure of that monarch, his diocese was stripped of Carlisle and Teviotdale ; * when that part of the latter which lies on the north side of the river Tweed, was united with the diocese of St Andrews, and the remaining division, situated between that river and the border mountains, was, through the care of David, brother to Alexander I. King of Scotland, annexed to the bishopric of Glasgow. This see is said to have been established as early as the sixth century ; but it had fallen into great decay from the long continued wars between the Picts, Scots, Britons, Saxons, and Danes, by whom the country under its superintendence was successively wasted and harassed. Being now restored and augmented, John, called also Achaius, an ecclesiastic of great worth, who had been David's preceptor, and was his chaplain and intimate friend, was preferred to it in 1115. By the advice and assistance of this prelate, the prince, always intent upon the promotion of religion and learning among his subjects, and himself delighting in the society of men of letters, who, in that age, were hardly to be found but in monasteries, invited over a body of religious men from the abbey of St Quentin, at Beauvais, in France, and established them at Jedworth, near his own castle, which was one of his favourite places of residence, both before and after his accession to the throne of Scotland. They were of the order called Regular Canons, or Augustine Friars, from their observance of the rules of monastic life instituted by Saint Augustine, bishop of Hippo, in Africa, who died in the year 430. Their discipline was less rigid than that of other monks ; but, like them, they lived under one roof, had a common refectory and dormitory, and were bound, by solemn vows, to live according to the rules and statutes of their order, t Their habit was a long black cassock, with a * The see of Durham possessed considerable property in Teviotdale. Before the year 670, Osway, King of Northumberland, and his nobles, gave the church at Lindisfarne numerous donations of land, on the river Bolbenda,* with the following stedes, or hamlets, viz. Suggaripk, Hesterhoh, Gistatadun, Waguirtun, Cliftun, Scerhedle, Colwela, Elterburna,\ Thambumum, Scotadium, Gathan, % and Minethrum.^ Besides the two Gedworths, Egred gave to the same church, Aduna, down to Tefegedmuthe, || and from thence to Wiltuna,^ and thence beyond the mountains, towards the south. — Hist. Sti Cuthberti ajmd k. Scriptores a Tioysden,, Col. 67. -|- For an account of the rules of the Augustinians, as adopted by the canons of the Premonstratensian ord0r, see the History ofDryhurgh Abbey. * Bowmont. f Halterbum, near Yetholin. j: Yetholm? § Mindrum. II The influx of the Jed into the Teviot. t Wilton, near Hawick. 4 HISTORY OF white rochet over it, and over that a black cloak and hood. The monks were always shaved ; but these canons wore beards, and caps upon their heads, instead of cowls.* The exact time of their first settling at Jedburgh, is not clearly ascertained. Andrew of Wyntown, in his Chronicle, places it in 1118 ;t while For dun says, that the monastery was founded in 11 47. if The probability is, that the canons were first brought to Jedburgh, at the time assigned by Wyntown ; and that the establishment, which was at first a priory, was made an abbey, and received other additions to its privileges and importance, at the time mentioned by Fordun. Concerning the superiors of this religious house, whose names have been transmitted to us, very few other particulars are recorded ; and of not a few, even the names appear to be altogether lost in oblivion, as they have been sought after in^ vain, in the Chartularies, and other ancient documents. The first who appears upon record, is Daniel, who is styled " prior de Geddwrda," in a charter, by King David, to a monastery at Coldingham, dated l6tTi August, 1139.§ The name of Osbert, prior de Gedworda, occurs frequently as a witness to charters by King David, his son Earl Henry, and Robert bishop of St Andrews, to Coldingham, Kelso, and other religious communities. It is related of him, that he was a man of singular integrity and unaffected piety, and that he wrote a treatise, addressed to the king, concerning the founding his monastery, composed the rules, and registered the acts of the chapter. II He Continued to style himself prior in 1150; but is called abbot of Geddworth, in charters by Malcolm IV. This king died at Jedburgh, on the 9th of December, 1165, in the 26th year of his age, and the 13th of his reign. Osbert died in 1174* according to the Melros Chronicle, where he is styled " primus abbas de Jedwood." His successor was Richard, the cellarer of the abbey, who presided till his death, which happened in 1192; when Ralph, one of the canons, succeeded him on the 29th of May.^ This abbot had the reputation of a seer ; * * but no particular account of his frequent revelations has been * Grose's Antiquities, vol. i. Preface. f Wyktownis Cronykil, Book vii. X Scotichronicon, vol. i. 301. § Dalrymple's Collections concerning Scottish History, Chartulary of Coldingham., II Dempsxer, quoted in Hay's Scotia Sacra, MS, f Chronica de Mailros. * * Seotiiit Sacra, MS, THE ABBEY OF JEDBURGH. 3 preserved. Whatever may have given rise to this doubtful celebrity, he appears to have possessed qualities which endeared him to the brethren, by tvhom he was much regretted, when he died on the 7th of August, 1205. He was succeeded by Hugh, the prior of Restenote, which was a cell, or dependent priory, subject to the convent at Jedburgh, and was situated near Forfar, in the shire of Angus. At what time this religious confraternity was established, is not ascertained ; but it must have been before 1162, as, in that year, Robert, a canon of Jedburgh, dnd prior of Restenote, was made prior of Scone.* As it was a place of considerable strength, being situated on a peninsula, formed by a lake, and accessible from the land only by a drawbridge, the canons deposited in it the writings and most valuable effects of the abbey, to secure them from an invading enemy, and from the unsparing gripe of the border marauders. The priory of Canonby, in Dumfries-shire, situated between the Esk6 and the Liddal, near their junction. Was another cell to Jedburgh abbey, as early as the time of the Abbot Osbert ; and, with Restenote, continued in the same subjection to it until the Reformation. The priory of Blantyre, in Clydesdale, is also stated to have been a- dependency of this monastery, i* There had been, for some years, disputes between the bishop of Glasgow and the canons of Jedburgh, respecting their several rights and privileges, which interfered with each other, and were imperfectly defined. The matters in question were at last referred to the judgment of five arbitrators,; who, after due inquiry, being assembled in the chapel of Nesbit, in 1220, before many witnesses, pronounced their decision in favour of the claims of the bishop, " The abbot and canons were directed to obey the bishop, or his official, in all canonical matters, in a canonical manner, saving their mutual privileges. The chaplain of the parish church of Jedburgh, was enjoined to yield fit obedience to the bishop, or his official, when they should come to perform episcopal offices in that church. The abbot was, according to ancient custom, to attend in person, or by his procurator, at the festival of the dedication of the church of Glasgow. "When summoned, he was not to omit attendance at synods. The canons were ordered to provide, in the churches under their care and patronage, meet accommoda-. tions for the bishop, when performing his visitations, except where the vicarage was only worth ten marks* And some other points of less. importance were adjusted, in order to leave nothing for future dispute." t * FoHDON, vii. 60. f ScoUchronicon Abbreviatio, X Chalmers's Ca/erfowia, vol. ii, 6 HISTORY OF ■ Dempster, in Ms Ecclesiastical History of Scotland, speaks of one Kennoch, abbot of Jedburgh, a saint, who, by virtue of his unceasing prayers, or entreaties, prevailed upon the kings of Scotland and England to maintain peace, when their minds were strongly inclined to war, for ten years. We are not informed at what period this holy abbot lived ; but we are told, that his festival was Itept annually on the 14th of November. The next abbot, after Hugh, whose name and era are recorded, was Henry ; but of him we are only informed, that he resigned his charge in 1239, on account of his great age and infirmities. He was succeeded by Philip, a canon, who ruled the abbey ten years ; and at his death, in 1249^ Robert de Gyseborn, another of the canons, and one whose very appearance inspired devotion, was appointed in his stead; but died the same year.* His successor, Nicholas, was also chosen from among his brother canons, and presided over them until the year 1275, when, disabled by the infirmities of old age, he retired from the pastoral office, bearing the character of a man of wisdom and prudence. He was thought qualified to transact matters of civil policy; and was sent, in 1265, in company with three other persons, on a mission from King Alexander III. to his father- in-law, Henry III. of England, then in custody of the Earl of Leicester, whose prisoner he had been since the battle of Lewes, the preceding year.t John Morel, a canon of Jedburgh, was raised to the abbot's place, upon the resignation of his predecessor Nicholas. A scene of the most joyous kind, attended with greater pomp and festivity than had previously been witnessed in Scotland, but soon to be followed by the greatest trouble and sorrow to the whole nation, took place at the second nuptials of Alexander III, who was married at Jedburgh, on the 14th of October, 1285, to Jolande, daughter of the Count of Dreux. This town, we are told, was selected as peculiarly fit, on account of its delightful situation, and the beauty of its woods and river, to be the scene of these mirthful solemnities, at which were assembled all the Scotish, and many of the French nobility. But the mirth and hilarity of the company received a shock, from an occurrence, which the credulity of the age deemed preternatural. In the midst of the royal banquet, a sort * Chron. de Mailros. \ Rymer's Fcedera, THE ABBEY OF JEDBURGH. 7 of theatrical masque, which had been arranged previously, entered the hall, and proceeded through the middle of it, between the parties of guests that sat on either side. First came a band of revellers, playing upon various musical instruments, and accompanied with splendid pageants ; and, after them, a party who exhibited their skill and agility in a military dance, with a variety of movements and gesticulations. The procession was closed by an unexpected figure, whose mysterious and singular appearance startled the beholders, who were in doubt whether they saw a human being or a phantom ; for, like a shadow, it seemed to glide, rather than walk. While the whole company gazed upon this ill-omened visitor with increasing disquiet, it suddenly vanished, leaving them impressed with a gloomy anxiety, which ill disposed them to renew the interrupted sports and revelry. * The prevailing opinion of the supernatural and ominous character of this unbidden guest, was not lessened by the sudden death of the wise and virtuous King Alexander, who, on the 19th of March thereafter, was killed by a fall from his horse ; an event most disastrous to Scotland, and * FoRDDN, X. 40. Other narrators describe the spectre as a skeleton, resembling Death ; as in the following poetical version of the story, from Heywood's Hierarchie of the Blessed Angels, Book viii. — " In the mid revels, the first ominous night Of their espousals, when the room shone bright With lighted tapers, — the king and the queen leading The curious measures, lords and ladies treading The self-same strains, — the king looks back by chance; And spies a strange intruder fill the dance, Namely, a mere anatomy, quite bare, His naked limbs both without flesh and hair, (As we decipher Death,) who stalks about, Keeping true measure till the dance be out. The king with all the rest afiirighted stand ; The spectre vanish'd, and then strict command Was given to break up revels ; each 'gan fear The other, and presage disaster near. If any ask, what did of this succeed ? The king, soon after, falling from his steed Unhappily died. After whose death, ensuing, Was to the land sedition, wrack, and ruin." a HISTORY OF which put a stop to that considerable degree of national prosperity and happiness to which it had advanced through the progressive improvements of two centuries. Shortly after this calamitous event, the rival claims of Bruce and Baliol to the inheritance of the crown, failing the descendants of the late king, being brought before the parliament, which met at Scone, it was agreed to refer the matter to the arbitration of Edward I. of England, who was then in Gascony ; and the parliament appointed three commissioners to go to him for that purpose, of whom the abbot of Jedburgh was one. They set out on St Donatus's day, [August 7,] and performing their journey with speed, found the king at Santonge, and brought back his answer to the guardians of Scotland assembled at Clacmanan, on St Catharine's day, [November 25,] waiting for the expected delivery of the queen, in which they were disappointed ; but whether from her not being really pregnant, or from her child's dying in its birth, is not ascertained.* The purport of King Edward's answer is not told by the original historian ; but, as the same cause was afterwards referred to his decision, it may be inferred, that, for the present, he declined giving his opinion in it, and took time to con- sider what manner of proceeding would best forward the ambitious designs which the posture of affairs in Scotland now suggested to him. In 1290, the abbot of Jedburgh concurred in a letter of the common- wealth of Scotland to King Edward, declaring their approval of the proposed marriage of his son with Margaret of Norway, the heiress of the Scotish crown.t There is extant an order, dated July 6, 1292, by which Edward directs William Comyn, keeper of the forest of Selkirk, to send, in his name, a present of six fat bucks to the abbot of Jedburgh, Similar conciliatory gifts were ordered, at the same time, for other persons of distinction in Scotland, t John, abbot of Jedburgh, was present, with other persons of conse- quence, at Newcastle, on the 26th of December, 1292, when John Baliol, having acknowledged the English monarch's claim to be his superior lord, did homage to him for the kingdom of Scotland. In 1296, when Edward, in virtue of this pretended right of feudal superiority, seized the crown of * FoRDUN, xi. 3. f Rotuli Seotim, \ Ibid. THE ABBEY OF JEDBURGH. 9 Scotland for himself, and demanded the homage and submission of the people, the Abbot John, and the convent of Jedburgh, were among those who obeyed the summons, and swore fealty to him as their liege lord at Berwick ; upon which they had their forfeited property restored to them. As their estates lay both in Berwick and Roxburgh, the letters com- manding restitution, dated September 2d, were addressed to the sheriffs of both these counties. The master of the hospital, or Maison Dieu, of Jedburgh, also submitted, and obtained the same favour.* On the 13th of the same month. King Edward sent Thomas de Byrdeleye, clerk, with a letter to the abbot and convent, requesting them to admit the bearer of it among them for life.t It may be conjectured that this religious brother was placed among them as a spy upon their actions. A monastery was not an unlikely place for the friends of Scotish independence to meet together secretly, and concert measures for delivering their country from unjust domination ; and the situation of Jedburgh, near the limits of the kingdom, and on the verge of an extensive forest, which afforded peculiar facilities for the rendezvous of forces, might render it of some importance to Edward to have sure intelligence of any strangers that resorted there, and of the nature of the affairs they appeared to be occupied with. The castle of Jedburgh, at this time one of the strongest places on the borders of the kingdom, was another object which drew his attention. In 1291, the principal fortresses of Scotland were placed under his custody, through the influence of the diflferent claimants of the crown, who, on this and other occasions, shewed themselves more ready to risk the honour and interests of their country than to thwart the designs of the man by whose favour each of them hoped to mount to the object of their common ambition. Jedburgh castle was yielded by John Comyn, about the middle of June, into the hands of Laurence Seymour, who, on the 4th of August the same year, was commanded by King Edward to deliver it into the keeping of Brian Fitzalan.t The reason alleged for this temporary occupation of the Scotish castles was to enable Edward to give quiet possession of the kingdom to him to whom he should award it ; but, judging from the whole of his conduct, it can hardly be doubted that he had also more particularly in view to accustom the Scots to see him exercise authority within their * Jtotuli Scotia, \ lUd, This letter was written at Berwick. ;(: RotuK Scotia. B 10 HISTORY OF country, and thus pave the way for his meditated usurpation of the kingdom itself. The fortresses were, indeed, restored, as soon as John Baliol was settled on the throne; but, in 1295, he demanded that the towns and castles of Berwick, Roxburgh, and Jedburgh, should be again intrusted to him as a pledge to bind the Scotish nation to remain at peace with him during the time that he should be at war with France. * This demand was, however, disregarded ; for Baliol, wearied and provoked by the repeated indignities to which he had been subjected by the insolent interference of his liege lord, was now resolved to throw off the yoke of vassalgg-e, and was negotiating an alliance, for the purposes of mutual aid and defence, with the King of France. This treaty was concluded at Paris, on the 23d of October ; t and its consequences were, invasions of each other's country to the Scots and English, in the following spring, ending in the defeat and dethronement of Baliol, who resigned his kingdom into the hands of King Edward, on the 2d of July, 1296. The strong places in the south of Scotland were reduced in the beginning of summer, when, on the l6th of May, the castle and forest of Jedburgh, and the forest of Selkirk, were committed to Thomas de Burnham, and on the 5th of October thereafter, to Hugh de Eyland.t The safety enjoyed by the canons of Jedburgh, under the protection of the King of England, was of short duration. The undisciplined Scots army, in their recent invasion of England, had set an evil example, in destroying the monastery of Hexham, and some other religious houses. These outrages were, at the time they were committed, overlooked by the politic Edward, who, Baliol being now removed, regarded Scotland as his own property, and wisely resolved to try the effect of conciliatory measures in establishing his authority there, — a design which, if he had been seconded in it by those to whom he committed the government of that country, might perhaps have succeeded. But, through the cruelty and injustice of his tyrannical agents, war being rekindled in 1297, while the Scots, under the conduct of the heroic Wallace, struggled to regain their violated indepen- dence, the protection granted by the English monarch to the religious com- munities of Scotland was either revoked, or it proved an insufficient check upon the covetous and vindictive spirit of his forces, by whom many of * Rymer's Fcedera. f Ihid. % Botidi ScoticB. THE ABBEY OF JEDBURGH. 11 those hitherto venerated seats of religion and learning were ruthlessly wasted and spoiled. Jedburgh abbey was not only plundered, and the conventual buildings unsparingly destroyed, but the lead was stripped off the roof of the church, and was detained by Sir Richard Hastings, even after he had been commanded by King Edward to restore it. The abbot sought legal redress of the grievances done to his community by Sir Richard, which being delayed, he petitioned the king and his council, praying, with particular earnestness, that the lead of his church might be restored. * This laudable anxiety to preserve the hallowed and beautiful edifice from the farther injury to which, thus dismantled, it was exposed, was peculiarly honourable to the abbot, at a time when, it must be con- cluded, he and his brethren had not the refuge of a home themselves, t The canons were, indeed, at this time, reduced to a deplorable state of poverty and distress, insomuch that the monarch, in pity, procured them, in 1300, a separate asylum in dififerent religious houses of the same order in England, where he commanded that they should be received, and kindly treated, until their own monastery might be repaired and made fit for their reception. $ The priory of Restenote was likewise impoverished and ruined ; but its tithes and revenues, which had been seized by the King of England's oflScers, were restored upon the petition of the convent of Jed- burgh ; and twenty oaks were granted them out of the forest of Platir, in Forfarshire, to repair the church and other buildings of that religious brotherhood. § When, after many vicissitudes, the patriotic valour of the Scotish nation had re-established their independence under Robert the Bruce, their rightful sovereign, Jedburgh and several other, strong places on the frontiers still remained, for some time, in the enemy's hands, and enabled them to exercise an oppressive dominion over the neighbouring country. Among other excesses committed by the English garrisons, they exacted heavy contributions from the inhabitants, and seized the cattle, goods, and even the persons, of such as failed to satisfy their demands. The complaints of * Rolls of Parliament, I. 473. f In this enlightened age, it is hoped it will not be thought too great a stretch of liberality to suppose that the worthy abbot might be actuated by sentiments similar to those so nobly expressed in the 3d, 4th, and &th verses of the cxxxii Psalm. :j: Antiquarian Repertory/. § Bolls of Parliament, I. 473, 12 HISTORY OF the oppressed people having been conveyed to King Edward II, he issued orders, on the 10th of November, 1313, that the captains who held his castles in Scotland should treat the inhabitants who were subject to him with kindness. * But the inhabitants of Teviotdale found a better protector in the brave Sir James Douglas, surnamed the Good, who, by his valour and conduct, kept the enemy within their remaining fastnesses, and freed the country from their domination. His usual retreat, and the rendezvous of his forces, was in Jed Forest, where he had secret intelligence of whatever the enemy, who kept the opposite marches and neighbouring castles, were doing or preparing ; and wherever a hostile inroad was attempted, he was at hand, with his warlike followers, to punish the invaders and rescue the prey. The English warden, provoked at his success, determined to make a vigorous effort against so formidable an enemy, hoping to crush him at once. With this design, Thomas de Richmontt marched to the banks of the Jed, at the head of ten thousand men, furnished with woodmen's axes to hew down the forest, that it might never again be a place of refuge and security to the Scots. Douglas was about to make an inroad into the English border, and had assembled his men at Lintalee, a pleasant retreat on the river's side, where they had built wooden huts, and were preparing to enter- tain themselves with good cheer, previous to their excursion, when he was certified of the purpose of the enemy to fall upon them in the ungxiarded hour of conviviality. He quickly drew his little army into a hollow place by the side of a narrow defile, through which the English must pass, and, until they came near, his men endeavoured to render the path through the thickets impervious to their enemy's horse, by twisting and tying together the branches of the underwood which grew on each side, — a circumstance which is still commemorated by a wreath of stakes in the armorial bearings of Douglas's descendants, t When the enemy came up, the Scots lay * Rotuli ScoticB. f He is so called in the Scakt Chronica. Leland, Coll. I. 547. Barbour, from whose metrical History of the Bruce, most of the particulars here related are taken, calls him Thomas Earl of Richmond, which appears to be a mistake. John of Bretagne, Earl of Rich- mond, was made Lieutenant of Scotland by King Edward II. in 1307, and he was still Earl of Richmond in 1332. Rymer's Faedera. Ckron. W. Thorn, in Twysden. J Douglas's Peerage, I. 422. THE ABBEY OF JEDBURGH. 13 concealed, until Douglas thought they had advanced far enough within the defile, when, rushing out, he gave the preconcerted signal for the onset, and falling upon the foremost party, he encountered with the English commander himself, and, after a gallant combat, slew him. The Scotish archers, in the mean while, showered their arrows from the woods, and the men-at-arms closed with their enemies, who, discouraged by the death of their leader, were soon thrown into confusion, and fled, pursued by the Scots. When, however, they got out of the woods, and found themselves in the open country, they rallied ; and Douglas, not being in sufficient force to cope with them in this situation, led his men back to Lintalee, having received intelligence that a party of three hundred Englishmen, with a churchman named Ellis, were making free with the entertainment pro- vided by the Scots before the battle. Their hasty return proved an unseasonable and fatal interruption to these unbidden guests, to whom so little courtesy was shewn, that few of them escaped with their lives. Disheartened by this additional misfortune, the rest returned into England without attempting anything farther.* — It is probable that this transaction, the date of which is not recorded, took place in 1317 j as Bruce was in Ireland at the time, and the Earl of ArUndel was warden of the English marches.t The king went to Ireland about July, 1316, and did not return till the following summer ; and Arundel was appointed warden in November, 13l6.t It is likewise probable, that the castle of Jedburgh was yielded to the Scots soon afterwards. The time and circumstances of its recovery are not mentioned by the chroniclers of the period ; but they inform us, that Berwick, which was retaken by the Scots in April, 1318, was the last of the strong places in Scotland which the English retained. To reward the good services of Douglas, King Robert granted him the lordship of the town, castle,' and forest of Jddworth, with Bonjedworth and the mains of Jedworth. § * Barbour says triumphantly, — " The forest left thai standand still ; To hew it than thai had na will ; Specially quhill the Dowglas Swa ner hand by thair nychtbur was." The Bruce, xvi. 475. f Leland, Coll. i. X Rotuli Scotia. § Robertson's Index of Charters. 14 HISTORY OF In such disturbed times, it was probably a long while before the abbey recovered from its impoverished and dilapidated condition ; and there is no record of its affairs for a considerable period. After the Abbot John, there was an abbot of Jedburgh named William, who may have been his immediate successor. He witnessed a charter granted to Melros Abbey,* along with William, abbot of Kelso, who did not attain that office till after 1314, and William de Lamberton, bishop of St Andrews, who died in 1328. Robert appears to have been the next abbot. His name is found as a witness in the chartulary of Arbroath, in the years 1322, 1325, and in the chartulary of Kelso, in lS29.t When the invading army of Edward II, in their retreat in 1322, dealt unsparingly with the monasteries of Melros and Dryburgh, they do not appear to have visited Jedburgh ; and, when a general peace was concluded, in 1328, it was provided, that the estates and revenues in England, belonging to the abbeys of Jedburgh, Melros, and Kelso, should be restored to them. The orders, which the English king gave for this purpose in behalf of the convent at Jedburgh^ were addressed to the abbess de Pratis, near Northampton j the parson of Abbotslee, in Huntingdonshire ; John de Bolynbroke, his own escheator ; and Thomas de Featherstonhalgh.t The few incidents relative to the monasteries that henceforth occur, are too much interwoven with the public events affecting the country in general^ to be distinctly traced, without keeping the latter in view. By the treaty of peace, Edward III. formally renounced the claim of superior dominion over the king and kingdom of Scotland, so unjustly set up by his grandfather, and pursued by his father. Afterwards, however, he made no scruple of reviving the same iniquitous pretensions, when circumstances seemed to afford him an opportunity of urging them with success. King Robert died in 1329, and was succeeded by his son, David II, then only six years of age. Within three years more, Douglas, and most of the other warlike chiefbains, who had been Bruce's companions inarms, and powerful coadjutors in contending for the freedom of their country, also died. Thus the state of Scotland was left destitute of men of sufficient experience and authority to guide and defend it. At this juncture, Edward Baliol, son of the late Bang John, was induced to claim the inheritance of the crown, chiefly * Cart. Mailros, f. 67. f Cart. Kekhou, f. 193. % Rymer. THE ABBEY OF JEDBURGH. 15 through the encouragement and assistance of Thomas Lord Wake, and Henry de Beaumont, powerful English noblemen, who hoped thereby to recover their forfeited estates in Scotland, which, through some difficulty or neglect, had not been restored to them, as they ought to have been, according to agreement, at the peace.* Their enterprise was, at first, discountenanced, and even forbidden, by the king of England ; neverthe- less, when he saw the success that attended their invasion of Scotland, where they gained an important victory on the 14th of Augflst, 1333, at Duplin, near Perth, soon after which Baliol was crowned at Scone, he changed his policy, and agreed to support Baliol, upon his consenting to hold the kingdom in vassalage under him as lord paramount. When, soon after, the hostility of his subjects made Baliol glad to escape into England, King Edward made oflfers to the party of King David, to support him under the same conditions of subjection ; which being indignantly rejected, he marched with a formidable army into Scotland, in April, 1333 ;t and, after gaining the battle of Halidon hill, reinstated his royal vassal, who, the following year, ceded to him lands and rents on the borders of Scotland, of the value of two thousand pounds yearly, in consideration, as he professed, of the aid afforded him in recovering his kingdom. In this gift was included the town of Jedburgh, of which Robert Maners was directed to take possession ; and the castle and forest of Jedburgh, of which William de Prestfen was to take possession, in behalf of the king of England, their master.1: On the S3d of September, the same year, the English monarch made an exchange with Lord Henry de Percy, giving him the castle and constabulary of Jedburgh, with the towns of Jedburgh, Bonjedworth, and Hassynden, and the forest of Jedburgh, and receiving Annandale in return, which he immediately conferred upon Edward de Bohun.§ But the Scotish nation, who could ill brook being governed by a vassal of England, were stUl less willing that their country should be dismembered of an extensive territory, comprehending several of their most fertile counties. |) The * Rymkr. + The pretext for this invasion was some inroads made by the Scots into the English borders. t I^otuli ScotitB. § Ibid. II It included the counties of Edinburgh, Peebles, Roxburgh, and Dumfries; the constabularies of Linlithgow and Haddington, and the forests of Ettrick, Selkirk, and Jedburgh. 16 HISTORY OF inhabitants of the town and forest of Jedburgh, in particular, refused to become subjects of the English king, and it must have been a useless aiDpointment he conferred upon Thomas de Heton, when, in June 1335, he sent him to receive their submission.* Sir William Douglas, the lord of Liddesdale, recovered all Teviotdale from the enemy in 1338 ; and, in 1342, when King David returned from France, where he had resided with his tutor, the abbot of Kelso, during the usurpation, the English were expelled from every p'art of Scotland, except the town of Berwick. This prosperous state of things was unfortunately of short continuance ; and the fruits of so much valour and patriotism were, in a great measure, destroyed by the discomfiture of a numerous army of Scots, and the captivity of their king, at the battle of Durham, fought on the lyth of October, 1346 ; after which the border counties were again taken possession of by the king of England. We are not informed what share of the disasters of this- period fell to the monastery of Jedburgh ; but we may conjecture that the canons would endeavour, as much as possible, to avoid incurring the displeasure of either of the contending parties. We find the Abbot John, about the year 1338, witnessing a grant to the abbey of Dryburgh, by AVilliam de Felton, the English governor of Roxburgh castle, and sheriff" of Teviotdale.t In 1343, he witnessed a confirmatory charter of King David Bruce, to the abbey of Kelso ; t and, in 1354, his name occurs among the witnesses of a similar deed of King Edward III. to the church of St James, at Roxburgh. § In 1356, the abbot of Jedburgh was present, with the abbots of Kelso, Melros, and Dryburgh, at the castle of Roxburgh, on the 29th of January,' when Edward Baliol made a formal concession of the kingdom of Scotland, and of his own private estates, to the king of England, for the sum of five thousand marks, and an annual pension of two thousand pounds.|| Robert of Jedburgh, who was probably abbot, had a letter of safe-conduct to go to England on the affairs of King David, on the 6th of May, 1358, the vear after the king was released from his long captivity.^ In 1373, the affairs of the convent seem to have been prosperous, as they were able to export wool, the produce of their estates. King Edward issued an order, on the * Botuli Scotia. -)- Chartulary of Dryburgh. X Robertson's Index of Charters, 127. § Chart, Kel. 193, a. Rotuli Scotice. m Rymer. THE ABBEY OF JEDBURGH. 17 14th of May, to the collectors of his customs at the port of Berwick, for- bidding them to exact, or extort, more than half a mark of duty upon each sack of wool of the growth of Scotland, to the number of fourscore sacks, which should be exported by each of the abbots of Kelso, Melros, Dryburgh, and Jedburgh. Two days after, he gave letters of protection, to continue in force three years, in behalf of the abbots, monks, servants, and property, of the same monasteries.* But even royal authority was often found to be only a precarious and insufficient check upon the ferocious habits of people so long subject to the brutalizing influence of predatory warfare. We read that, three or four years after this, no Scotsman could travel in England', notwithstanding his being furnished with a passport, without being stopped and robbed ; and that some canons of Jedburgh and DrybUrgh, who took a journey into England, to sue for the restoration of property belonging to the churches annexed to their monasteries, were even barbarously mur- dered.t The English, having possesion of all the castles and places of strength on the Scotish frontier, maintained their footing many years in the territory they had forcibly occupied, though hartissed by incessant attacks of the dispossessed proprietors, and hostile neighbours. Besides the public and national enmity, there existed a particular Quarrel between the Lord Percys, warden of the English border, and William, Earl of Douglas, who guarded the Scotish marches, because the former, by virtue of the King of England's grant,' already mentioned, kept possession of the lands and forest of Jedburgh, and other estates, which belonged by inheritance to the latter. This animosity gave additional sharpness to the hostilities which about this period desolated the border districts of both kingdoms, and stimulated those warlike chieftains, and their partisans- and dependants, to daring exploitsi that have long been the subject of popular tradition and song. I At length^ by the conduct and persevering valour of Douglas, the' intruders were forced to quit their settlements in' Teviotdale, which they never again permanently occupied ; and in the year 1384, they were all driven out of the kingdom, but such as shut themselves up in Berwicji, and in the castles of RoxFurgh and' Jedburgh, where they were closely watched, and cut off * Rotuii Scotia. ■)• Scotichronwon, xi. 23. X See the ballads of Chevy Chase, and the Battle of Otterburne. c 18 HISTORY OF from all intercourse with their countrymen, except during short intervals of truce. * Thus, in the articles of a truce agreed upon by the wardens of the opposite marches, on the 27th of June, 1386, it was stipulated, that the garrisons and inhabitants of the above-mentioned places should be suifered to have free communication with England, and be at liberty to purchase provisions in Scotland, within the distance of two miles to the north and west of them, t The Earl of Northumberland, with his son Hotspur, having fought successfully against the Scots at Homildon, in 1402, Henry IV. made him a grant, which must have been merely nominal, of Teviotdale and all the lands in Scotland belonging to the earls of Douglas jt but having been concerned in the rebellion against his sovereign in 1403, Henry deprived him of the wardenship of the border ; and, the next year, anxious to reduce his power still farther, he made him exchange his possessions in Scotland for others of equal value in England, which the king engaged to give him. The castle and forest of Jedworth were to be delivered up to Robert Swinpwe, together with the rights of regality, advowsons of abbeys, priories, churches, and hospitals, and all other profits and advantages contained in the grant of Edward III. to Sir Henry de Percy, grandfather of the present earl. § From the mention of advowsons, or patronage of abbeys and priories, it appears that the canons were no longer at liberty to elect their own superior, as in more ancient times, that privilege having now fallen into the hands of a. lay patron, and, in ordinary times, belonging to the king, as will appear in the sequel. Jedburgh xastle, which the English had kept ever since the battle of Durham in 1346, was wrested from them at the expiration of a truce, in the spring of 1409, by the common people of Teviotdale, the peasants and inhabitants of the neighbouring towns and villages ; a hardy and warlike race, no less practised in the use of the spear and the battle-axe, than of the implements of mechanical and rural labour. The inhabitants of Jedburgh * WyntOun, ix. 5. t Rymer. In 1400, Edward de Uderton, captain of Jedworth cgstle, had under him thirty men at arms, and sixty archers, besides the garrison. MS. Cotton. Vespasian, F. vii. :j: Rymer. § Rymer. On the 16th November, 1404, Sir Robert Umfraville is commanded to restore to the Earl of Northumberland the castle and forest of Jedworth, &c. HotuK ScoticB. THE ABBEY OF JEDBURGH. 19 town and forest, in particular, were of known prowess ; and their formi- dable weapons, tlxe Jeddart axe and Jeddart staff, are still celebrated. The latter is described as a stout stake, shod with iron, the iron being four feet in length. * The castle was situated on the brow of the hill adjacent- to the upper part of the town, where its site, occupying a considerable space of ground, may still be traced. The garrisons lodged within it had often laid ihe surrounding country under contribution, and oppressed the town ; wherefore, to prevent the recurrence of such grievances, and that it might never again be a stronghold of the enemy, it was determined to demolish it to its foundations. But, as this was a work of much difficulty and labour, it was proposed, in a meeting of the states of the realm held at. Perth, that a tax of two pennies upon every hearth should be Idvied to defray the expense of its demolition. This, however, was efifectually resisted by the Duke of Albany, who was regent during the minority and captivity of James I, and it was ordered that the sum required should be paid out of the revenues of the crown, t The year 1410 was signalized by a naval expedition of the enemy into the Firth of Forth, and an inroad into Teviotdale ; both conducted by Sir Robert Umfraville, vice-admiral of England, and governor af^Berwick. In the latter, they burned the town of Jedburgh, and ravage^he country on the banks of the Jed, and the adjacent valleys, watered "oy the romantic streams of the Kale and the Rule, t The town was again burned, six or seven years after, by the same commander ; § and a third time by the Ear] of Warwick, in 1464, to punish the Scotish borderers for having given assistance to Queen Margaret of Anjou, in the civil wars between the houses of York and Lancaster. || In the transactions of the times, there is no mention of any circumstance relating to the abbey of Jedburgh for a considerable period. Walter, abbot of Jedburgh, was concerned in an agreement, dated November 16, 1444, with the abbots of Kelso, Melros, and Dryburgh, respecting the corn tithes of the parish of Lessudden.^ In the year 1473, we find the Abbot * « Ferrum chalybeum quatuor pedibus longum in robusti ligni extreme." Ma joris Hist. Ang. et Sco. f FoRDUN, XV, 21. J Hardying, 0. 108. § Ibid. c. 218. || Ridpath. 5[ List of original Charters of Melros Abbey, in the possession of Thomas Thomson, Esq. deputy-register. , 20 HISTORY OF Robert, with the abbot of Kelso and others, commissioned by King James III, holding a meeting at Alnwick, on the 28th of September, with commissioners from the King of England, for the redress of grievances, and settling conditions of truce.* John Hall was appointed abbot in 1478, on the presentation of the king.t When the Scotish parliament, in 1481, expecting war, ordered garrisons to be stationed at different places, for the defence of the borders, the Laird of Cranstoun had the command of sixty men in Jedburgh, twenty in Cock- law, and twenty in Dolfinstoun, with power to appoint two captains under him at two of the places, himself being in the third, t Thomas, abbot of Jedburgh, was one of the Scotish commissioners at a meeting for a truce and redress of grievances, held at Coldstream on the 25th of March, 1494. Among the matters of complaint exhibited by the Scots, were certain trespasses, committed by Englishmen, on the lands of Canonby priory, a cell of Jedburgh abbey. § The name of Henry, iabbot of Jedburgh, is subscribed to charters dated in 1507, 1508, and 1511.11 The citizens of Jedburgh thought proper, in 1513, to establish in the town a convent of Franciscan friars, about thirty in number, of the reformed class, called Observantines,^ from their rigid observance of the rules laid down, by their original founder, St Francis of Assisi, by which they were bound to a very austere mode of life. Neither individuals nor communities of this order were allowed to possess any property, excepting only the ground on which their houses stood. They subsisted entirely upon precarious alms ; and a certain number of them, in their turns, went about with wallets on their shoulders, begging for the fraternity ; whence they were also called mendicants, or begging friars. They went about barefoot, and wore a gray woollen gown, with a cowl, and girt round the middle with a rope. Adam Abel, or Bell, the author of a chronicle relating chiefly to the history of Scotland, who was a regular canon of the monastery of Inchaffray, changed his order, and became a meinber of this community, in which he spent the remainder of his days. He wrote his work, which he called Rota Temporum, or The Wheel of Time, in Latin, beginning at the creation of the world, and eliding in the year 1535. It was printed at Rome, with * Rymer. f MS. Harleian. 4134. % Acts of the Parliament of Scotland. § MS. Cotton. Ca%MZa, B. yii. j] YiA\\ Scotia Sacra. MS. Harleian. 4134. i|[ Spottiswood's Account of Religious Houses in Scotland. THE ABBEY OF JEDBURGH. 21 some small alterations and additions, by John Lesly, bishop of Ross. Father Hay says, that the author made an abridgment of it in English, and con- tinued it to the year 1536 ; and that he, having' procured the original copy of this from Lord Cromarty, then lord register, lost it at Roslin, in 1688, when the mob spoiled the castle. * John Home, abbot of Jedburgh, was one of the lords who sat in the parliament held at Perth, in November, 1518.t He was a member of one of the most powerful families at that time in Scotland, being the son of Alexander, second earl of Home, and brother of the third earl, who held the oflSce of great chamberlain of the kingdom. The public peace had been maintained, and even the borders had enjoyed a state of comparative" rest and tranquillity, for a considerable period previous to the unfortunate battle of Flodden, [September 9, 1513 ;] but soon after that disastrous event, the mountain passes of Cheviot, and the glens of Teviotdale, again re-echoed the harsh clang and barbarous uproar of predatory warfare. The ' scenes of rapine and destruction that were exhibited cannot be better understood than from the descriptions, however uncouth, of the actors themselves. Lord Thomas Dacre, warden of the middle marches of England, who acted under the direction of King* Henry VIII, thus records his achievements, in a letter to the bishop of Durham, dated at Carlisle, October 28, 1513 : — " Ascertayning your lordship, that sens I mett the chamberlain on Setterday was sevinnight, I caused iiij roods to be made in Tevidale ; oone to the toure of Howpaslet,- and there brynt, tooke, and brought away xxviij score shepe, with insight and goodes -, another roode to Carlanrig, made be the inhabitants of Tyndale and Riddesdale, to the castle of Ancrom, and • brynt the town of the same, and toke and brought awey Ix prisoners, with much goodes, cattell,' and insight. And three roods in Annandale, where as great distruction was, both of brynning and taking of gfoodfes. And over that, I entend Tevidale shal be kept waking whils I deale with them myself."1: King Henry had the gratification of reading the details of this intended incursion, into Teviot- dale, in the following letter to himself, dated at Harbottle, November 13, the same year: — " Opon Thuresday last past j I assembled your grace's * Hay's Scotia Sacra, MS. f Acts of the Parliament of Scotland, ii. 281.. j; MS. Cotton. Caligula, B. vii. , . . . , 22 HISTORY OF subjects in Northumberland, to the nomber of 1000 horsemen, and rode in at Gamellespeth, and so to the watter of Kale, ii myle within Scotland, and there set furth ii forayes ; my brother, Philip Dacre, with ccc men, which burnt and destroyed the town of Rowcastell, with all the comes in the same, and thereabouts, and wan ij towres in it, and burnt both roffe and flores ; and Sir Roger Fenwike, with ccc men, burnt the town of Langton, and destroyed all the cornes therein, which townes er in the hert of the countre, ii myles beyond Jedworth, upon the watter of Chevyot. And I come with a stale to a place called the Dungy on, a myle from Jedworth, and so went to the Sclaterford, on the watter of Bowset, and there the Scotts perseued us right sore. Thei bekered with us, and gave us hard stroks. There was com the standers *to .bak theym, that is to say, Dand Karre of Fernehirst, and the laird of Bondgedworth, opon the oone side, and the shereff of Tevidale on the other side, to the nomber of dccc men, or mo. The laird of Walghope was hurt there with an arrowe, and his hors slane. Mark Trumbill was strikken with a spere, and the hede left in hym ; his hors was won, and diverse Scottesmen were hurt there. And so we com forward where we saw my broder Sir Cristofer Dacre, with his oste arreyed at a place called the Bellyng, which was no littil comforth, and to hym gret gladnes, seying the small power we were of at that tyme. " My said broder come in at Cressopbrige, and there entered the medyli march and so come thorow Ledesdale to the Rugheswyre, xiiij myle within the grounde of Scotland, and there he put forth two forreyes ; Sir John Ratclif with fyve hundreth men in oon, which burnt the town of Dyker, sex myle from the said swyre, with a towre in the same. Thei layed come and straw to the dore, and burnt it, both rofe and flore, and so smoked theym owt. Also the said John and his companie burnt the townes of Sowdon and Lurchestrother, with a toure in it, and destroyed all the cornes about theym, and toke diverse prisoners, with much insight and goodes. " Nicholes Haryngton, Nicholes Rydley, Thomas Medilton, and George Skelton, with other, to the nomber of 500 in the othre forreye, burnt the towne of Hyndhalghehede, and a toure in the same, flore and rofe ; and in likewise the townes of West Fawsyde and Est Fawsyde, with a pele of lyme and stane in it. And my said broder Cristofer Dacre with 2000 horsmen and cccc fiite men, with bowes for savegard of th'ost in strayts, come in a stiale to Dykerawe, and there the said forreys releyved to hym; THE ABBEY OF JEDBURGH. 23 and so come forward and met me. We had not rydden above the space of a myle when we sawe the lord chambrelane appere in our sight with ij" men and^iiij. standards. The othre thre standards resorted to hym, and so the country drew fast to theym. We put us in arraye, and come home ward, and rode no faster than the nowt, sheip, and swyne that we had won wold dryve, which was no gret substance ; for the countre was warned of our comyng, and the bekyns burnt fro midnyght forward. And when the Scotts had geven us over, we retourned home to Harbotill at mydnyght ; My broder. Sir Cristofer Dacre, lay that nyght at the towne of Otterburne, and opon the morne to Hexham, and his folkes in othre townes opon the watter of Tyne ; and on the third day at home, as many as might git."* The natural and obvious consequences of this petty war of devastation and plunder, which deprived a spirited and hardy enemy of the means of subsistence, was to force them, from necessity as well as revenge, to acts of retaliation. Accordingly, we find it stated in a letter of the Duke of Albany, written in the year 1515, that the people were animated with a determined spirit of hostility against the English, " that they had had frequent and suc- cessful rencounters with them, and had done them more damage than they had received from them." t But the demoralizing influence of this state of things, in which there was no security for the fruits of industry, nor motive for its exertion, and the ferocity of character engendered and fostered by a life of rapine and continual danger, alternately suffering and inflicting the severest injuries, rendered the borderers oftentimes little scrupulous whether they obtained a booty from the enemy or their own countrymen ; especially when, in the case of the latter, local feuds, and the feelings of rival clanship also intervened. The same causes made them ready and dangerous instru- ments in the hands of the powerful chiefs and nobles, in their ambitious and turbulent quarrels, so frequent in this and succeeding periods of Scotish history. The Earl of Home had recourse to their aid, when, by the intrigues of his enemies, and the failure of his own factious designs, he and his family were placed in hostility to the Duke of Albany, who held the reins of government during part of the minority of James V. t One of the* charges * Cotton. MS. Calig. B. vi. f RiDPATH, Bord. Hist, from Epist. Regum Scotorum i. 259. j HOLINSHED, PlTSCOTTIE. 24 HISTORY OF brought against him and his brother William, in 1516, was their encouraging and protecting the banditti of the borders. Upon this, and the improbable charge, imputed to the chamberlain, of having been accessory to the death of the late king on the day of the battle of Flodden, the two brothers having been enticed to Edinburgh by perfidious promises of safety given them by the regent, who summoned them to assist at a meeting of council in the abbey of Holyrood, in the beginning of October, were there treacherously seized, and beheaded, the one the day fcfUowing their summary trial and condemnation, and the other the second day thereafter. Their brother, the abbot of Jedburgh, was at the same time banished beyond the river Tay. * Albany then went to Jedburgh, and held a court of justice for the trial and punishment of the licentious borderers. Sir Andrew Ker of Ferniherst, who was seneschal, or bailie, of the monastery, being an ally of the Homes, and implicated with them in the transactions for which the chamberlain and his brother lost their lives, was apprehended along with them, but had the good fortune to escape, either by an acquittal, or by the favour of the regent.t By virtue of his oflSce, he claimed a right to exercise jurisdiction in Jed Forest, as included in the regality, or lordship, of the abbey, which became the subject of a dispute, in 1519, between him and the Earl of Angus, the proprietor of the forest. Disputes of this nature seldom terminated, in that age, without bloodshed. Oa this occasion, Ker of Cesford, warden of the middle march, took part with Angus, and, coming with his followers to Kelso, he met and attacked Sir James Hamilton, who was on his way to join Ferniherst with a com- pany of Mersmen, and forty lawless borderers, who served him for pay.t The men of the Mers deserted Hamilton in the beginning of the conflict, and thirty of his horsemen being taken prisoners, and five killed, he was forced, to fly, for safety of his life, to Home castle, which he reached with difficulty, being closely pursued by John Somerville of Cambusnethan, to whom some accounts attribute the whole fame, both of the attack and, pursuit.§ Ferniherst, soon after this occurrence, yielded the point in dispute,, ai^d held a court in the town of Jedburgh as bailie to the earl of Angus. II "While the country was thus disordered by the quarrels and contentions of * Buchanan, Ridpath. f Ibid. % Ridpath, Godschoft. § Memorie of the Somervills. \\ Holinshed, Cliron. Scot. 491. THE ABBEY OF JEDBURGH. 25 its chiefs, happily it had no external enemy to struggle with for about five years ; and the peace of the borders was only disturbed by occasional out-, .breakings of the lawless inhabitants, who could not easily be restrained from indulging their inveterate habits of rapine and spoliation, notwith- standing the strict measures of justice taken by the wardens of the opposite marches, at their stated meetings and courts, held for the punishing and repressing such misdeeds. Offences of this kind began again to increase^ in 1521, when political circumstances too faithfully indicated that a dis- solution of the amicable relations of the two kingdoms was at hand. In the beginning of that year, it was alleged, that " the Potts, Rotherfords; Dalgleishes, and Robsons, with their complices, came into Ingland with two slothunds, lyke as they had wantit goods, and wantit nane, foUoand ane trod ; * and sa, in the colour of the said following, come to the tounie of Kilham, and thair spoilzit a part of the toune, and took away 500 sheep, and 5^- nowt, and spoilzit the pore men and women folloing ther goods." t In the course of the same year a party of English burnt the village of Eckford ; and on the 14th of December a numerous band of Scots, many of whom wore masks, that they might not be known by the conservators of the peace, made an unsuccessful attempt to carry away the cattle belonging to the people of Wark, and returning in greater force a little before midnight, they burnt and destroyed the neighbouring village of Learmouth with the corn in it, produced by the labour of thirty ploughs, and took away 400 cattle, 2000 sheep, 400 go^ts, 30 geldings, and 20 prisoners.^ Lancelot Ker, who had been one of the leaders in this exploit, had his tower of Gaitshaw, with the neighbouring steads and hamlets, burned on the 15th of April, 1522, when the English ravaged the country on the banks of the Bowmont arid the Kale.§ On the 20th of July, the English warden, at the head of two thousand men, * " The border laws allowed the party plundered not only to follow his goods upon the spur, and enter the opposite kingdom for the recovery thereof, without licence or safe con- duct, but even to do thejike at any time within six days after his sustaining the injury, providing always he went to some honest man of good fame inhabiting the marches which he had thus entered, and declared to him the cause of his coming, inviting him to attend him and witness his conduct. The wardens of either realm, or those duly authorized by them, were entitled to pursue fugitives, or oflfenders, of the neighbouring realm by what was called the hot-trod. This pursuit was maintained with a lighted piece of turf, carried on a spear, with hue and cry, bugle-horn, and blood-hound, that all might be aware of the purpose of the party." Introduction to Border Antiquities, by Sir Walter Scott, p. ciii. f Cotton. MS. Calig. B. vi. \ Ibid, folio 202. § Ibid, folio 428. D 26 HISTORY OF made an inroad into Teviotdale, " and went to Leynton towr, and sett upon it with spere and sheld, and in conclusion, or it past none, wan it and brant it clene down to the bare stane walles. Notwithstanding, all the men that were within, whiche was xvi, were saved be reason of a gable of the house that was of stone, and the wind that was ther friend, for betwix the said gable and the batialing, they lay unto the huse i*ofe was fallen," where their enemies " left them all, except one Robyn Carr, whiche cam down in a rope, when the huse was fiirst fired." . Thiere was now open war between the two natibns, the conduct of which, on the part of England, was, about the end of July, committed to the Earl of Shrewsbury, who, proceeding to the borders, speedily collected an army of the warlike inhabitants, and the numerous garrisons of the frontier towns and castles ; and, being joined by Lord l!)acre, warden of the west marches, with his forces, they burst suddenly into Teviotdale, when the corn was ripe in the fields, and forming themselves into sepai*ate parties of sufficient strength, began, as usual, to sack, pillage^ and destroy castles and cottages, and to burn the produce of the fields. The toWn of Kelso, in particular, was pillaged and partly burnt by the detachments under the command of the Lords Ross and Dacre.* Meanwhile, the alarm spread over hill and valley in every direction, and the men of the Mers and Teviotdale, flocking together under their proper chiefs, hastened to the scene of action, and their usual courage being quickened by resent- ment, they dealt their blows with such effect, that their enemies, though twice as numerous as themselves, were forced to make a hasty retreat, and many of them were taken prisoners. Eighteen fortified places were demolished in this expedition, t The King of England conferred the chief command on the Earl of Surrey, in 1523, an eventful year in the history of .the border wars. The first inroad into Teviotdale was made on Holy Thursday, which was the second day of April, by the Marquis of Dorset, warden of the east and middle marches, with other distinguished captains, who, after they had burned " Grimslay, Mowhouse, Dufford Mylles, Ackeforthe, Crowlyng, Nowes Maner, Midder Crowlyng, Marbottel, Cow Bog, Sessforthe Maner, Myddyl Rigge, Primsed, Brocket-Shaws, Haruel,t Wide-open-haugh, and other * Hall's Chronicle. Holinshed. -|- Hall's Chron. X i. e. Hall Rule, pronounced Ha' Rvle. THE ABBEY OF JEDBURGH. 27 towns and villages," returned into England the next day, "with their botie, whiche was iiij™ hede of nete." * In a letter to King Henry VIII, written at Alnwick, on the 21st of May, Surrey gives the following graphic account of an inroecd which he conducted himself: — " Plesith it your grace too be advertised, that, on Mondaye, the xviii day of this moneth, I, being accompanied with my lord warden. Master Compton, Mr Kingiston, and all others, your grace's garrisons ; and also with my Lord of Westmerland, and the gentlemen of the bishoprike, with the powre of the same, whome, with the said lord's company, I estemed too be about xvi'^ men y and also with the Lord Dacre, accompanied with his sonne, a right towarde young man, and v"= of his company of the west border, and, in likewise, with the gentilmen and powre of Northumberland, met at twoo of the clok at afternoon, at a place called Myllfilde, in Glendale ; and frothens marched towardes Scotland, and lodged near unto a fortress called the Lough Toure, whiche, in the mornyng, before sonne risying, was clerely throwen down and rased, with the devises accustomed. And frothens, in the marching towardes Cessforde, we, in likewise, rased the fortress of Lynton ; and frothens, went too Cessforde, and layed our ordy-. nance too the same, about vii of the clok in the mornyng, whiche was estemed to be the strongest place of Scotland, save Donbar and Fas Castell, I had with me one very good cortowte, one dymy colveryn, iiij lizards, and iiij fawcons. The said fortres was vawmeured with erthe of the beste sorte that I have seen, and had a barbican, with another false barbican within the same, to diffende the gate of the dongeon, and divers pecis of iron gonnys within. Our batery began at the vawmeure, which did Uttle prevayle, or, in manyr, did small hurte thereunto. After that, I caused to shote the beste pecis at the place of the dongeon that was thought most weke, whereof none effect ensewed ; for within fewe shotis the cortowtis exiletre brake, and being of newe mounted with another exeltre, was, within iiij shotis soo erased in the seid exeltre, that I durst noon oftener suffi-e her to be shot, having noo newe laa^le-tree] too bring her home withall. In the mean tyme, dyvers of your grace's servants, as the Lord Leonard, Sir Arthure Darcy, Sir William Parre, Harvy, and others, toke skaling ladders, and entered the barmkyn, right dangerfiilly, where many that entered with them were hurte, as well with caste of stonys as with shote of ordynance. They toke very long ladders, purposely made for that entente, and set * Hall's Chron. 28 HISTORY OF them too the dungeon too have scaled the same ; and the ordynance with archers shoting contynually at the vamewre and lopis ; but all that wold not prevaile ; and thus gave to the same ****** assauts without any effecte, whiche perceived, removed the twoo colveryns to an other side of the dongeon, and shot at an old wyndowe aboute vi fote fro the grounde. And the same, being mewred, was opened, and something enlarged, and then the gonners, for a rewards by me promysed, undertook too throwe in the same iiij barrellis of powdre, with shovills, whiche right herdely they accomplished. The Scottis, perceiving the same, threwe fire into the hous where our men had throwen in the powder, before they had all accomplished their busyness ; with the whiche iij of our gonners were marvellously brente, but, thanked be God, not slayne, and the said powder spent, too our knowledge, without doing any hurte to the fortresse, whiche was nothing plesante to us your gracis servants, trusting verely, by means thereof, to have throwen down a parte of the dongeon. Notwithstanding, within a while after, the warden of the marches of Scotlande, owner of the same, being within a myle, fearing his men too be gotten with assault, and soo slayne, sente too me, offring me the place, his men having licence to departe with bag and bagage ; whiche, aftir requysicion made unto me by all the lords openly for a colour, I condissended unto, and was very glad of the said appointment; for in maner I sawe not ho we it wold have been won if they within wold have contynued their diffendyng ; assuering your grace that aftir myn opinion the place was tenable for xxiiij houres againste iij of your grace's best curtowts, the wall being noo les than xiiij fote thik. After the delyvere whereof, I ded with that as I ded with th'odrs ; and, in the tyme of the shoting of th'ordynance, threwe downe in likewise an other strong toure called Whitton. And before this was doon, it was vi a clok at nyght ; and had bee all day contynually rynnyng ; and the coldeste whiche that I have seen this tyme of the yere ; soo that not onely our men were so tired with labour at the saults, but alsoo the horses, being all that daye ,the nyght before, and all Mondaye, laboured without eating any meate, I was enforced to retorne towards England, too a waiste contre too get gres for the said horses ; and lodged that nyght within Scotland, and, in the morning, retorned into England with as wery a soorte of men and horses as ever I sawe."* In the sequel of this letter, Surrey mentions the joy felt by the English * Cotton. MS. Calig. B. ii. fol. 147. THE ABBEY OF JEDBURGH. -29 borderers at the demolition of the towers and castles in the Mers and Teviotdale, and states his opinion, that more good is likely to ensue to England " by the same, than if Edenbrough and iij of the best townys of Scotlande had been brent and distroyed," the Scots being thereby not only deprived of the means of securely annoying their neighbours, but even of defending their own country. With this persuasion of security, he^ with the king's advice, immediately disbanded a great part of his forces, which altogether had exceeded ten thousand men ; but the Scots soon took advantage of this, and made several inroads into England. In return, Surrey planned an expedition against Jedburgh, which, at that time, was a much more considerable place than it is at present ; for it contained twice as many houses as Berwick, with six strong towers, and many handsome buildings, that might have lodged a thousand horsemen.* This inroad was to have been made in August, but the ammunition and warlike stores not. being ready before the moon began to wane, it was found necessary to defer it some weeks. Surrey, giving an account of the reasons for this delay, in a letter to Cardinal Wolsey, written at Newcastle, on the 27th day of August, says, that he considers it as more hurtful to the Scots^.than if the inroad were made sooner, since, by the time intended, " their wheat, rye, and barley, would be for the mooste parte inned and redy to be burned, whiche nowe shuld take nothing so moche hurt."t Being, at length, furnished with the necessary supplies, he quickly assembled six thousand fighting men, in companies, severally commanded by the Earl of Westmore- land, Lord Dacre of Gilsland, Sir William Eure, Sir William Bulmer, Sir Thomas Tempest, Sir Arthur Darcy, and Sir Marmaduke Constable, and putting himself at their head, on the 22d of September, when it was full moon, he led them to Jedburgh, and encamped them in a convenient place by the river side. Next morning they stormed the town, which, although gallantly defended by about fifteen hundred, or two thousand men, who were within it, yet, being without walls, was soon taken. Committing the care of burning it to Sir William Bulmer and Sir Thomas Tempest, Surrey then went to direct the attack upon the abbey, which occupied him till tWQ hours after.,, night-fall, when it was ailso taken, and burnt by the merciless foe. On the morrow, while the main body were continuing the work of destruction. Lord Dacre, his brother Sir Christopher, and some other captains, with ♦ Cotton. MS. Calig. B. ii. fol. 29. f Und.M. 33. 30 HISTORY or seven hundred men, were sent to attack Ferniherst, the castle of Dacre's mortal enemy, the redoubted Sir Andrew Ker, well known on the borders by the familiar appellation of Dand Ker, — a man equally remarkable for his abilities and his courage, who took a distinguished part in the affairs of the country, both in peace and war, for nearly fifty years, till his death in 1545. The place was difficult of access, being situated in the middle of an extensive wood, through which the assailants were obliged to drag their ordnance, and to fight and skirmish at every step with parties of the enemy. Their valour and perseverance, however, surmounted every obstacle ; and, having at length brought their cannon to bear upon the castle, it was taken and battered down, after thirty of the besieged had bravely fallen in its defence. Many of them were taken prisoners, among whom were Ferni- herst himself, * and the Laird of Gradon, also named Dand Ker, famous) for his predatory exploits on the English frontier. + The victors returned in the evening to the camp at Jedburgh, which was fenced round with dikes, carts, and pieces of ordnance, and contained the whole army, except Lord Dacre and liis company, who, not having consulted the commander, had chosen to lodge without. About eight o'clock, while they were at supper, they were alarmed by the quick tramp and clattering of hoofs without, occasioned by the horses of Dacre's company breaking out of an enclosure, and running at large. Those within, imagining the noise to proceed from a sudden attempt of the Scots to surprise the camp, dis- * He was probably soon ransomed or rescued, as he honourably distinguished himself at the siege of Warke, under the Duke of Albany, on the 18th of the following month. f « The xij day of October, [1515,] Mark Car, lard of Dolphinstoun, lieutenant of the myddill marches of Scotland, Lance Car, lard of Gateshawe, Dand Car, lard of Gradon, the yong lard of Mowe, Dand Pringill, constable of Cessfoord, George Daveson of Fowmerden, and others, to thenomber of iiij" men, came into England to aplace called CorklecheuponMylnefield, and there the said lieutenant put forth in a forray viii^'^ horsed-men to a towne called Holborne, and there spoilled all the hole township of their insight, and drove away ij° kye and oxen, xxx horse, and toke the substance of the men of the town prisoners ; wherewith the countrey rose, and Sir Roger Grey, knight, the young larde of Barmour, the larde of Holborne, Ector Gray, and others, followed their neighbour's goods, and were taken prisoners by the said lieutenant, upon the said Mylnefield within Englande, and with them the number of xl prisoners, and were conveyed to Cessfoorde, to the warden's house ; where as the said warden received them, and lete some of them to suretie, and ransomed other some. And when reformacion was axed of hym by the warden of England he wold make none." On the fifth of November, the same party « brent the town of Hesilrig, and tooke xxx prisoners, and drove away iiij'^'' kye and oxen, xxx horse and meres, and the insight of the same town."— Cotton. MS. Caligula, B. ii. fol. 216. THE ABBEY OF JEDBURGH. 31 charged their arrows at them, of which they shot away above a hundred sheaves before they discovered their mistake. This made the animals so wild and furious that more than fifty of them rushed over a steep rock and were killed, and two hundred more ran into the burning town, where they were caught, and carried away by women. The amount of their loss by this accident appeared, on the following day, to be about eight hundred horses ; and they superstitiously attributed, it to the agency of evil spirits. " I dare not vrite," says Surrey, in a letter to Cardinal Wolsey, " the wondres that my Lord Dacre and all his company doo saye they sawe that nyght TJ tymys, of spirits and fereful sights. And universally all their company saye playnly, the devil was that nyght amongs theym vj tymys ; whiche mysfortune hath blemyshed the best jorney that was made in Scotland many yeres." They continued in their camp and its vicinity all the next day, but departed on the twenty-fifth, and arrived at Berwick the same night at ten o'clock. The Scots annoyed them with incessant skirmishing during the whole excursion, and fought so well, that Surrey, in the letter above quoted, thus expressed his admiration of them : — "I assure your grace, I found the Scottes, at this tyme, the boldest men, and the hottest, that ever I sawe any nation. And all the jorney, upon all parts of the armye, kepte us with soo contynuall skyrmyshe, that I never sawe the iyj;e. If they might assemble xl'* M' as good men as I now sawe xv", or ij M', it wold bee a herd encountre to mete theym." * The English commander, and the wardens and their lieutenants, con- tinued, from time to time, their desolating excursions, as long as there was any thing to plunder or destroy within fifteen or twenty miles of the marches, and until the booty was at too great a distance for them to go in small parties, and without a regular, and more powerful, force. The sum of their achievements is impressively stated by Lord Dacre, in a letter to Cardinal Wolsey, dated June 11, 1524. He says, " Litill or nothing is left upon the frontiers of Scotland, without it be parte of aid bowses, whereof the Ihak and covereings are taken away, by reason whereof they cannot be brint."t It would have been wonderful if the untamed and fearless race on whom c those miseries were inflicted, had remained passive under them, out of * Ibid. fol. 29. See the whole of Surrey's letter, in the first vol. of the Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, p. cxxxix. -j- Cotton. MS. C«%. B. ii. 376. 32 HISTORY OF respect for the truce concluded with England in autumn, and continued by short renewals, for about eight years. Reckless of the authority of a government, under which they had seldom found protection, or been subject to just restraint, it was hard, and almost impossible, to convince them that they had not a right to win back by force what force had reft from them. That they might prosecute their daring enterprizes with less danger of control, and, perhaps, to find an occasional refuge and congenial hospitality, while their own dwellings lay ruined and, desolate, many of the Teviotdale freebooters retired to the impervious wilds and fastnesses of the mountainous district of Liddisdale. But the Earl of Angus, who was now regent, being determined to maintain order, and not altogether trusting to the effect of the bishop of Glasgow's excommunication, which he procured to be iulminated against them, made a secret and expeditious journey tliither from Edinburgh, in the summer of 1525 ; and coming suddenly upon the Armstrongs, he apprehended twelve of the chiefs of these bold outlaws, who were reported to be the greatest thieves upon the borders, and " the gretteste maynteners of the theves of Ty vidaill." * In the spring 1526, the regent came again to the borders, and summoned the chiefs to proceed with him against the same rebels, when the Kers of Teviot- dale refused to go, because they were under " a bond of assurance" with the Armstrongs ; t but they supported him when he came with the king to Jedburgh in July the same year, to hold a court of justice for the trial of those who were accused of theft, slaughter, and oppression. The young king is said to have felt displeasure at the partiality and injustice of the proceedings, as well as impatience at the restraint under which he was held by Angus, his guardian ; and it was when they were on their way back to Edinburgh that Scott of Buccleugh attempted to rescue him from his control, t It is said that the plan had been previously concerted, and even, that the borderers had been incited to commit trespasses, with the view of bringing the regent into this part of the country, and affording facility for its execution. Early in the morning, as they were leaving Metros, where they had passed the night, Buccleugh, with a thousand horsemen, appeared descending the Eildon hills, and a desperate encounter took place, in which that chieftain was forced to retire, with the loss of above eighty men. Elliot of Stobs, who was of Buccleugh's party, slew * Cotton. MS. Calig. B. ii. fol. 43. f Ibid. B. vii. 13. :j: Pitscottie. THE ABBEY OF JEDBURGH. 33 Sir Andrew Ker of Cessford, which gave rise to a feud between the Scotts and Kers, which fatally disturbed the borders for many years.* To repress the increasing disorders that arose from the numerous quarrels of this nature now subsisting, Angus proceeded to Jedburgh in the following summer, with six thousand men, and, in the king's name, com- pelled the principal chieftains to give him pledges as a security that they would keep the peace. The king himself, having recovered his liberty, governed with vigour, and, in 1529, executed severe justice upon the Armstrongs, and other outlaws, of Liddisdale ; which is said to have produced quiet and security for a time, on both sides of the marches. But these blessings were again interrupted in the autumn of 1532, and several wasteful excursions were made, both by Scots and Englishmen, into each other's territory, until peace was restored towards the end of 1533.t The * See an animated account of this enterprise in the Minstrelsy of the Scotish Border, vol. i. Introduction. \ The Earl of Northumberland, writing to King Henry VIII, gives the following account of an inroad of the Scots, on the 2Ist of November, 1532 : — « The Scotts being assembled to the number of iij" did com secret upon the close nyght, and kest of thare forray to the number of ccc men, and toke upe a towne called Rosse, and layed their bushment in the edge of Cheviot; after whiche so doon, and the bushment and forray met, they did cast off two other forrays about xij of the cloke of the day light. And the oone forray did run down the water of Bremyshe, and there toke up iiij towns, called Ingram, Reveyley, Brandon, and Fawden. And the other forray come to the water of Aylle, and there tuke up ij towns, called Ryle, and Prendewyke ; which towns standes at the utter parte of your highness middle marches towards Scotland. And aither of thaire said forrays was to the number of cc men. Upon whiche herings the countrey arose with parte of your grace's garrisons, which scrymaged with the said forrays, and pursuing them unto Oswall Forde, being iiij mylle within the grounde of England, did not only perceyve ij great bushments laide, but also did see'opynly iij slanders displaied, as to say, the lard of Sesforth's, the lard of Buckleugh's, and the lard of Farnyhirst's. And perceyving the numbers to be so greate, that thai werre not able to counter with the sam, for their appearance was no less unto theym than five thousand men. Nevertheless, I knaw as well by Englishmen as Scotsmen, that their stale was no les than 3000 men. And thair captains was the lard of Sesford, warden oif the middle marche, the lard of Buckleugh, John Carre, sone and heyr to Dand Ker of Farnyhirst, with all the hedesmen of the forrist, with all Teviotdaill on horsbake and foot; cccc tryed men from the west parte of the marche ; and all th' inhabitants of the forrest of Gedworth ; and all the best tryed men of Moorehowsland* and Lawderdaill, under the lord Buckleughe. And so your highness subjects seeing thame, durst not enterprice with thaim. Whereupon they most contemptuously had into Scotland diverse persons, with great number of horse, nolle, and sheipe." Cotton MS. Calig, B. vi. 24. * Lammermuir. E 34 HISTORY OF same unbridled spirit of the inhabitants of the borders broke forth in 1541, and 1542, which, co-operating with other causes of displeasure, effected a more fatal breach of the relations of amity between the two kingdoms. In July, 1542, Sir Robert Bowes, with three thousand horse, assisted by the exiled Douglasses, attempted to enter Scotland with the intention of destroying Jedburgh, but was met and defeated on Hadden-rig, by the earls of Huntley and Home. In October, the Duke of Norfolk, with an army twenty thousand strong, destroyed Kelso and its neighbourhood ; but when he had advanced a few miles farther to the village of Fairnington, he was compelled to retire, by the address of Huntley, in cutting oflF his supplies of provisions. The resentment of the king of Scots at this attack, was shewn by his hasty and ill-concerted enterprise against the western marches of England in the following month, which ended in fatal discomfiture of his army at Sol way, and imbittered his mind with such grief, that he died of a broken heart nineteen days thereafter. When, upon the failure of the negotiations to effect a marriage between Prince Edward of England, and the infant princess Mary of Scotland, the Earl of Hertford, to whom the conduct of the war was committed, was devising a plan of hostile operations, his attention was drawn to Jedburgh, which, having recovered from the ruin and devastation into which it was thrown by the Earl of Surrey, now Duke of Norfolk, twenty years before^ was still looked upon as a place of importance to the defence of the country, and formidable to the enemy. In a letter written to him on the 11th of March, 1554, by Sir Ralph Eure, it is spoken of as " the strength of Teviotdale, which, once destroyed, a small power would be sufficient to keep the borders of Scotland in subjection." * As it was without walls, its strength must have consisted in the towers, or bastile houses within it, and in the number and valour of the inhabitants. It appears that some Scotsmen, false to their country, had offered to set fire to this town, upon condition of their receiving twenty marks from the enemy. Hertford, in reply to Exire's letter, next day gave his opinion, that, " in case the whole town, or the better part thereof, shall be spoiled and burntj the twenty marks would be well bestowed j but if they were only to burn here and * Haynes's State Papers. This letter is dated 1543, which must be an error, probably of the transcriber, as Hertford was not appointed to the command till 1544. THE ABBEY OF JEDBURGH. 35 there a house about the town, he thought the twenty marks might be better employed."* When the English council planned the invasion of Scotland on the east, which was conducted by the Earl of Hertford in May, it was intended that the Lord Wharton, warden of the west marches, should, at the same time, enter Teviotdale, and burn Jedburgh. This, however, was not done at the time proposed ; and Hertford, after his return from his most destructive inroad, wrote to King Henry to inform him, that " he had devised with the wardens of the east and middle marches, that as soon as their horses, which were much tired in their late journey in Scotland, should be well refreshed and rested, there should be a warden's rode made unto Jedworth, not doubting but, with the grace of God, it should be feasible enough to win the town, and also the church, or abbey, which was thought a house of some strength, and might be made a good fortress. And the same town being the chief place of resort and assembly of all the Mers and Teviotdale, and their principal relief in those parts, if it be taken from them, shall not a little abate their courage, and engender much quietness on the borders." In case the town should not be tenable without a main army, he wishes to know whether he should garrison it, or " proceed to* the burning and utter destruction of the same." In reply, he is directed, by the lords of the council, to garrison both Jedburgh and Home Castle, if they can be taken and made tenable.t Accordingly, on the 1 1th of June, Lord Eure, and his son, Ralph Eure, wardens of the east and middle .marches, with all their forces, and a hundred men from the west, assembled together, by appointment, at Milnfield, and set forward towards Jedburgh by night. They got within half a mile of the town next morning by four o'clock ; and a messenger was forthwith sent to the provost, to say that Lord Eure was come to receive the town into the allegiance of the king of England, or, if resistance were made, to take it by storm, and sack it. The provost demanded that they might be allowed to deliberate till noon ; otherwise, the inhabitants were resolved to stand to their defence. Judging this to be only a pretext to gain time, the English commander divided his men into three companies, who immediately began the attack, and forced their way into the town at three different avenues. The townspeople had * Haynes's State Papers, page 13. t Ibid, pages 37, 39. 36 HISTORY OF brought seven or eight pieces of ordnance into the market place, where they could place them so as to command the three principal streets ; but, disconcerted by the suddenness of the assault, they left their guns, and fled into the woods, pursued by their enemies, who slew six or seven score of them, within and without the town, with the loss of only six or seven of their own number. The English then pillaged and burnt the town and abbey, the Franciscan convent, and many towers or strongholds ; and having loaded five hundred horsiBs with the spoil, turned their faces home- wards, and took with them seven of the pieces of cannon which they found in the streets. On their way they burnt Crailing-grange, Cesford castle, Otterburne, Cowbog, Morbattle church, and all the other villages and steads they passed, till they came to Kirk Yetholm, where they learnt that a band of Scots, conducted by the eldest son of the Earl of Home, had ridden into Northumberland, and were burning Heaton, Tillmouth, Twisel, and other places in that vicinity. Upon this. Sir Richard Bowes, captain of Norham castle, was sent forward, at his own request, and took with him Sir John Witherington, Sir Thomas Grey of Horton, Thomas Foster, and a party of riders, to chastise the invaders ; and they had not advanced half a mile, before Sir Ralph Eure- got leave to follow them with five hundred horsemen. Eager to get to the scene of action, they rode very fast ; but many of their horses, overcome with the fatigue of their previous journey,' fell behind, and were unable to proceed, so that when they came to the burning villages, their company was reduced to two hundred. The Scots fled at the first sight of their standards, and Sir Ralph ordered a hundred of his men to pursue them, while he, with Sir Richard Bowes, and Sir John Witherington, with the other hundred, crossed the Tweed at a place called Chapel-ford, between Cornhill and Tillmouth ; but so many had failed through fatigue, that, by the time he. reached Scotish ground, he had not forty men left. Nevertheless, he advanced two miles into Scotland, and falling in with an assemblage of the unarmed inhabitants, who were con- cealed among thickets, but fled, mostly on foot, at his approach, his party pursued and cut down above a hundred of them, and then returned over the Tweed, where they found Lord Eure waiting for them, and probably apprehensive of his son's danger. Sir Thomas Grey and his party were sq successful in the pursuit on their side, that they took as many prisoners as they were able to bring away, amounting to two hundred ; and, according THE ABBEY OF JEDBURGH. 37 to the English warden's report, which indeed appears somewhat exaggerated, " there was so few Englyshmen, and so many Scotts, that some one Englysheman toke viii or ix Scotts prisoners, and brought all away." * The vales of the Jed and Teviot received another visit from Sir Ralph Eure on the 7th of August ensuing, when Bonjedworth, East Nisbet, West Nisbet, Ancrum-Spital, and several bastile houses were burned ; eighty Scots killed, and thirty prisoners taken ; 220 oxen, 400 sheep, and other spoils carried away.t In the following spring, he and Sir Brian Laiton, with an army of 3000 mercenaries, 1500 English borderers, and about 700 Scots freebooters, chiefly of the clans of Liddisdale, occupied Jedburgh, intending to make it their head-quarters, while they reduced Teviotdale into subjection to the King of England, who, to reward and encourage them in the barbarous warfare in which they had so greatly distinguished themselves, made them a grant of as much land as they might win from the Scots. The Scotish government, distracted by contending factions, had taken no timely or effectual measures to defend the country from the incessant attacks by which it was now desolated ; but the Earl of Angus, already roused to resentment by repeated losses and insults, no sooner heard of this design of conquest than he vowed that he would defend his possessions, and avenge his own and his country's wrongs, or die in the attempt. Being joined by the Earl of Arran, who was then regent of the kingdom for the infant Queen Mary, they set out from Edinburgh with only three hundred horsemen, expecting to be reinforced by the nobility and gentry in their way to the borders ; but they had received little addition to their numbers when they reached Melros. Meanwhile, their enemies at Jedburgh having notice of their arrival, and the smallness of their force, prepared to attack them during the night ; but they, being apprised of this design, retired to the neighbouring hills to await the coming of their friends, and to watch the movements of the enemy. The English being come to Melros, and finding themselves thus thwarted, spoiled the town, and were returning to Jedburgh with their booty, when the Scots, being joined by Norman Lesley with three hundred horsemen from Fife, and afterwards by Sir Walter Scott of Buccleuch with his followers, hovered near them till they came to the * Dalyell's Fragments of Scotish History, Cotton MS. Caligula, B. v. \ Haynes's State Papers. 38 HISTORY OF heights in the vicinity of Ancrum, a village about six miles from Melros, and three from Jedburgh. There a party of the Scots, by a successful stratagem, pretended to run away, and their enemies, thinking themselves already in possession of victory, pursued them with such inconsiderate haste, that they soon became breathless and disordered, when, on a sudden, the main body of the Scots, starting up from an adjacent hollow, where they had been concealed by the advice of Buccleuch, fell upon them with impetuosity, and began a close and general fight. But the English, being unable to recover the order of their ranks, were forced to give way, not- withstanding their great superiority in number, before the undaunted courage of their enemies, who bore them down by the greater length of their spears, and who were likewise favoured by having their backs towards the declining sun, which dazzled the eyes of the Englishmen, and the wind, which drove the smoke of the fire-arms against their faces. The Scots also, who had engaged to serve with them, forsook them in the hour of need, and turned their arms against them, pursuing and committing great slaughter among the fugitives. The leaders Eure and Laiton, the former of whom fell by the hand of the laird of Molle,* with eight hundred of their men, were killed, and a thousand yielded themselves prisoners, among whom were eighty of the rank of gentlemen.! Thus was fought the well known battle of Ancrum muir, which once more compelled the English to abandon their schemes of permanent conquest in Scotland : but their defeat upon this occasion was fiercely avenged in the month of September, by the Earl of Hertford, who, with an army of twelve thousand men, laid waste the whole of the Mers and Teviotdale, * Among the exploits of the Engh'sh in 1546, we find the following: — "Item, the xxij of May, the lord warden of the est marches'' [William lord Eure, or Eures,]] " having informa- cion that the laird of Mowe" [Molle] " who slew his son, repaired to ij towres of his awn, upon the head of Bowbente, [Bowmont] in Tyvidale, th' one called Mowe, and th' other Coteruste, he sent forth the said day at nyght v" men of the garrisons of this eestmarches under the leadinge of his sone Herry Ewry, and George Bowes, son to Richard Bowes, captain of Norhame, who went to the said toweres, and wan, and undermyndett them both, and beat them down, and burned the steads and towns thereabouts ; the laird of Mowe nott being therein, there was one of his brethren, and iiij kynsmen of his, with a dosan of his servandes and frendes that stode at their defence, and wold not give it over, which wer all slayn in the said toweres." Cotton MS. Calig, B. v. t Ridpath's Bard. Hist. Minst. of Scot. Border. III. 245.. Pitscottie, 288. THE ABBEY OF JEDBURGH. 39 In this inroad were destroyed seven monasteries and friaries, sixteen castles towers and piles, five market towns, two hundred and forty-three villages, thirteen milns, and three hospitals.* While this destruction was going forward in Scotland, the Earls of Home and Bothwell, and the abbots of Dryburgh and Jedburgh, with certain companies of Frenchmen in the service of Scotland, amounting to three thousand men, made an incursion into Northumberland, on the fifteenth of the same month, and having burned Horcliff on the Tweed, were destroying Thornton and Shorswood, when the garrison of Norham sallied forth, and drove them back to New- water ford, where two hundred of the French and Scots were killed or drowned, and sixty made prisoners.t After the fatal battle of Pinkie, in 1547, the southern districts of Scot-' land were again occupied by the English, who stationed some companies of Spanish soldiers at Jedburgh, to keep the surrounding country in subjection. The Scotish government, in 1549, fearing that they intended to fortify the town, sent a body of Frenchmen, under the command of Monsieur Desse, to retake it, which was soon accomplished, as the Spaniards fled at his approach. Next day, the laird of Ferniherst came to request his aid in recovering his castle, which had been surprised three or four months before, and was held by sixty or eighty Englishmen, commanded by a man of the most savage and merciless disposition, under whose conduct they cruelly oppressed the neighbouring country. Desse consented, and immediately sent forward some of his officers, with two hundred arquebusiers, and some men-at-arms, to reconnoitre the place j while he and Ferniherst, with the seigneurs d'Oisel and de la Chapelle de Biron, and a sufficient number .of Scots and Frenchmen, prepared to follow. When the first party got within bow-shot of the castle, they saw about twenty-five English arquebusiers prepared to defend the narrow passage that led to it ; but, at the first charge, they retreated into the wood, and, being hotly pursued, maintained a running fight till they reached the gate of the outer court of the fortress, where ten of them, less nimble than their companions, * RiDPATH. The town, abbey, and friaries of Jedburgh^ are in the list of places destroyed at this time, which must be incorrect, as they were burned the year before, and could not yet have been repaired. f CoTTOKT MS. Calig. B. v. 40 HISTORY OF fell to the ground slain, or grievously hurt, and almost all with strokes given in close encounter. The more advanced having found means to get within and shut the gate, the Frenchmen proceeded to reconnoitre the castle. When the rest of the party came up, they began to scale the wall, using long poles instead of ladders, and some of them climbing up with their hands and feet, where they found crevices or projections in the wall to lay hold of, being all the while exposed to showers of stones and arrows from the besieged. When they attained the summit, they used their weapons with such effect, that they forced the English to retreat into the inner tower, or donjon ; and then, leaping down, they gained the base court, and began to force their way into the tower by mining, covering themselves with some tables they chanced to find as a penthouse, or shelter, from the missiles thrown from within. In less than an hour they effected a breach in the wall, through which the captain of the Englishmen came out, and offered to give up the place, upon assurance that their lives should be safe. But Desse would have nothing less than an absolute surrender ; wherefore, seeing no remedy, and fearing lest he should fall into the hands of the enraged borderers, a large body of whom had just burst into the base court, by forcing the gate, he surrendered himself to the Seigneurs de Dussac and de la Mothe Rouge, imploring them to protect his life. Immediately, however, one of the Scotsmen, recognizing in him the ravisher of his wife, came suddenly behind, and struck off his head with so dexterous a blow, that it leaped four or five paces from his body ; and then the borderers, with savage ferocity, vied with each other in mangling and insulting the carcass, and in tearing out the eyes of the prisoners they took in this den of violence, and inflicting other torments upon them, before they put them to death. Not satisfied with the victims who fell into their own hands, they even purchased those taken by the French, and on them also exercised such barbarities as their revenge and cruelty suggested. * The French general, Beauge, is not ashamed to relate, in the history of his Campaigns in Scotland, that, upon this occasion, he himself " sold them a prisoner for a small horse ; and that they laid him down upon the ground, galloped over him with their lances in rest, and wounded him as they passed. When slain, they cut his body in pieces, and bore the mangled gobbets in triumph * Campagnes de Beaug4, Lib. iii. chap. 2, THE ABBEY OF JEDBURGH. 41 upon the points of their spears."* So many atrocities had the English committed, during the three or four months that they had held the castle, that the historian, though he disapproved of the cruelty of the Scots, yet could not but think it was a fair retaliation, t The French auxiliaries under Desse, amounting to fifteen hundred foot and five hundred horse, continued at Jedburgh some time, and annoyed the enemy by several incursions into Northumberland, in small parties, where they collected considerable booty. But they were obliged to quit this station, and retire from the borders in May, to avoid encountering an English army of eight thousand men, led by the Earl of Rutland, who, coming to Jedburgh, found the town deserted, and the houses unroofed ; a precaution frequently used in times of invasion, to prevent the enemy from burning them. Next day, the English took and plundered, and then burnt, Bonjedworth, Hundalee, Hunthill, and other strong places in the neighbourhood, in which the inhabitants of Jedburgh, for security, had deposited their most valuable property. At the same time, a party was despatched to Ancrum bridge, where some Frenchmen, left to secure the retreat of their country- men and protect the village, made a stout resistance,, but were, at last, forced to retire ; and Ancrum was pillaged and destroyed. The enemy, finding the country destitute of provisions, returned into Northumberland the following day. t The peace, concluded in 1550, was little regarded by the borderers on both sides, who took every opportunity to indulge their old habits of rapine. To repress and punish them, the regent, accompanied by Mary of Guise, the queen dowager, and a number of the nobility, held a court of justice at Jedburgh, in the autumn of 155% when, after a strict inquiry, some of the principal persons, whose conduct was found to have been meritorious, were rewarded with the order of knighthood ; and offenders were com- pelled to deliver up their nearest kindred as pledges of their future good conduct. A similar method of binding them to the maintenance of order was pursued in 1561, by Queen Mary, soon after her return from France, when she also caused severe justice to be dealt to the most guilty of them at * Minst. of the Scot Border, I. xxxv. •j- Speaking of the English captain, he says, « II n'avoit obmis un seul acta de I'impietg des plus inhumains Mores de I'AfFrique." X Ridpath's Bord. Hist. 568. F 42 HISTORY OF Jedburgh, by her brother, James Stewart, afterwards Earl of Moray, and regent of Scotland. Mary herself was holding a court of justice here, on the I6th of October, 1566, when intelligence being brought her that the Earl of Bothwell was wounded^ in an encounter with the outlaws of Liddisdale, her anxiety for her reputed favourite induced her to take a journey of twenty-four miles to visit him at Hermitage castle, whence she returned to Jedburgh the same day. * From the fatigue of this journey over hills and muirs, during which she had wellnigh perished in a iriorass, she contracted an illness which threatened her life, and confined her at this town till the 10th of the following month. The house where she is said to have resided upon this occasion still exists, t The firmness and vigilance of the Earl of Moray kept the frontiers, during the two years and a half of his regency, in a state of comparative quiet and security ;t but, after his death, the wild inhabitants broke out with fresh violence into their former excesses. There appeared reason to believe, that some of their chieftains were privy to the plot of the assassin who murdered him at Linlithgow, on the 22d of January, 1570. The very next day after the deed was perpetrated, Ker of Ferniherst and Scott of Buccleuch, who were among the adherents of Queen Mary, now a captive in England, made a destructive inroad into the English marches, in company with some English rebels, whom they protected, being a remnant of the unfortunate party of the earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland. § The object of the invaders was to bring about a war between the two countriesy which * Minst. of the Scot. Bord. I. xl. \ Border Antiquities, Ixiii. J Na theif durst steir, they did him fear so soir. And that they suld nae mair thair thift alledge, Three scoir and twelff he brocht of thame in pledge, Syne wardit tham, whilk made the rest keep ordour ; Than mycht the rasche bus keip ky on the bordbur." Scottish Poems of the xvi. CeMury, p. 232. § The English wardens reported, that the following towns and steads had been wasted and pillaged by the Scots, before the 10th of March: viz — "Learmonth, Mindrum, Belem, . Hethepoole, Ewart, Humbleton, West Newton, and Lanton, spoiled and partly burned. Downam, Doddington, Kirke Newton, and Fenton, spoiled and burned. Monielaws, the Hugge House, Preswine, Akolde, Torburne, North and South Middleton, Spinnelston, Bednell, Sunderland, Coplan, and Middleton by the sea, spoiled. Crookham, Howtell, Millfield, Kilham, Carrham, the Canon Mills, and Crookehouse, laid waste. — Cotton MS. Calig. C. II. THE ABBEY OF JEDBURGH. 43 might further the political designs of them and their friends ; but the retaliation which it provoked, fell almost entirely upon the two Scotish chieftains only, or rather upon their unhappy dependants and adherents. The Earl of Sussex, with a strong force, crossed the border at Carham, on the 18th of April, and directed his march towards Jedburgh, but stopped on his way to burn the Moss Tower, belonging to Buccleuch ; Crailing Tower, where Ker's mother dwelt, and every place he came to belonging to either of them. At Jedburgh, he was well received by the inhabitants and magistrates ; and, as they had not been concerned in the late hostilities, he spared the town. Ker of Cesford, warden of the middle marches of Scotland, came and exculpated himself of any blame in the late breaches of the peace ; and, in consequence, his property, and that of his kindred and friends, were also spared. Sussex then led his men to Hawick, which they burnt J after which he sent off two detachments, one of which ravaged all the valley of the river Kale, and the other that of the Bowmont. He returned with his army to Berwick, on the 23d of April, having, in this expedition, destroyed more than fifty castles and piles, and three hundred towns, villages, and steads. The political differences between the inhabitants of Jedburgh and Ker of Ferniherst, at this time, was the cause of a memorable feud, which, says Sir Walter Scott, " was accompanied with some curious circumstances. The chief was attached to the interest of Queen Mary ; the burghers of Jedburgh espoused that of King James VI. When a pursuivant, under the authority of the Queen, was sent to proclaim that every thing was null which had been done against her, during her imprisonment in Lochleven, the provost commanded him to descend from the cross, and ' caused him to eat his letters, and thereafter loosed down his points, and gave him his wages on his bare buttocks, with a bridle, threatening him, that if ever he came again, he should lose his life.' * In revenge of this insult, and of other points of quarrel, Ferniherst made prisoners, and hanged ten of the citizens of Jedburgh, and destroyed with fire the whole stock of provision, which they had laid up for the winter." t Jedburgh was still in the hands of those who were faithful to the regent's government and to the peace with England, when, in 1572, an attempt • Bannatyne's Journal, p. 243. f Border Antiquities, Ixii. Note. 44 HISTORY OF was made to seize it for the adherents of the captive Queen Mary, by Buccleuch and Ferniherst, with their dependants, and other desperate men of the border, aided by a company of musketeers from Edinburgh. The regent, aware of their design, sent the Lord Ruthven, with a sufficient force, to oppose them, and he had reached Dryburgh, on his way, when the Jedworthers, encouraged by their knowledge of his approach, and by the aid already brought to them by Sir Walter Ker of Cesford, went out to meet Buccleuch's party, and prevent their entering the town. Before they began to fight, Ruthven came up and attacked the enemy's rear, who soon dispersed and withdrew into places of strength. * The peace of the borders was disturbed in 1575, by an affray, in which the townsmen of Jedburgh bore a part. It took place at a meeting held for the redress of grievances, on the seventh day of July, at the Reid Swire,-f a hill on the Umits of the two kingdoms, by Sir John Forster, warden of the middle march of England, and Sir John Carmichael, deputy warden, or keeper of Liddisdale. Besides those who attended on account of the proper business of the meeting, a great concourse of people of both nations assembled, as was usual on such occasions, some from curiosity, and the interest and jealousy they naturally felt about proceedings in which both their friends and their enemies were concerned, and others merely for the purpose of amusement, mutual intercourse, and traffic. When the wardens, in the midst of this multitude, had chosen a convenient place, on English ground, for holding a court of justice, they proceeded to hear complaints and determine causes. An English freebooter, named Henry Robson, whose case had stood over from a former meeting, being called, answer was made that he was absent on account of sickness ; but those who made this answer, refusing to confirm it by an oath, the English warden condemned the party by default. Upon this, Carmichael is said to have demanded the criminal to be delivered up to him, in terms implying his belief, that the English warden wished to screen him from justice, t Forster answered resentfully, and an altercation followed, with signs of anger visible to their * RiDPATH, page 643. f Bord. Ant. cxviii. J On the fifth of April preceding, the Regent Morton wrote to the English secretary, Waisingham, that he found " good answers and justice on all the frontiers, saving in the marches under Sir John Foster's charge, who gave refuge to rebels and outlawes." Cotton MSS. Calig. C. V. 48. THE ABBEY OF JEDBURGH. 45 followers, who soon began also to express their displeasure, and some of the Englishmen of Tynedale made their arrows fly at the Scots, although the English affirmed that the Scots began the fray by shooting the first arrow. Some of the Tynedale men, who loved booty better than blows,- began to spoil the pedlars j and among others, one belonging to Jedburgh being plundered, "he raised the war cry, "A Jedworth, a Jedworth," while the different parties of the English likewise raised their cries. The Liddisdale men ran to the place where the English horses were grazing, and seized them as prey. On the other hand, the loose men of the English border were carrying off the horses of the Scots. The rest of the multitude were, in the meanwhile, at blows ; the Croysers being opposed to the Fenwicks, and every other clan in like manner having singled out those on the opposite side with whom they were at feud. The wardens tried in vain to pacify their followers and stop the fighting, in which the Scots were at first worsted and piit to flight, but meeting with a reinforcement of the craftsmen and citizens of Jedburgh, who came, according to custom, with drums beating and banners displayed, to attend the warden, they returned to the fight, and not only routed their enemies, but pursued them into England, and took many prisoners, among whom were Sir John Forster, Francis Russel, son to the Earl of Bedford, James Ogle, and Sir Cuthbert CoUing- wood. * These were carried to the Scotish regent at Dalkeith, who detained them some days to give them time to recover their temper, and entertained them kindly, lest, if immediately dismissed, they should in their resentment adopt some violent course of revenge. Carmichael was sent prisoner into England, and detained a few weeks at York, after which, as it was found that he was not to blame, he was dismissed with gifts and marks of approbation. This- encounter, which is usually called The Raid of the Reid Swire, was the last of any note between the inhabitants of the borders, who nevertheless continued long after this period to cherish an inclination for predatory enterprise, and from time to time broke, through the restraints of law, and committed deeds of rapine and violence, for which they were usually visited with rigorous and summary punishment, by a watchful and pacific government. The severity exercised against such offenders at Jedburgh, in I6O8, by George Home, earl of Dunbar, who is said to have condemned and executed a great number of them without trial, * Cotton MSS. Calig. C. V. 35. 42. 46 HISTORY OF gave rise to the reproachful phrase Jeddart justice, which is still used proverbially. Jedburgh abbey never recovered from the destruction it suffered from the enemy in 1544, and the establishment being suppressed at the Reforma- tion of religion in 1559, its revenues were afterwards annexed to the crown ; but some part of them was probably enjoyed by Andrew, son to George, fourth earl of Home, who was abbot of Jedburgh at the time of the Reformation, and was alive in 1578. * The laird of Ferniherst had long exercised the office and authority of bailie of the monastery, as well as of the forest of Jedburgh. In 1587, the bailiery of the abbey was continued, or restored to the same family by a grant of King James VI. to Sir Andrew Ker ; and in 1622, the entire property of the lands and baronies which had belonged to the canons of Jedburgh, was erected into a temporal lordship, and granted to him along with the title of Lord Jedburgh. The only part of the monastic buildings now standing, is the church, which is partly in ruins. Nearly the whole of the walls of the nave, the central tower, and the choir, remain. The tower and choir are much dilapidated, and still bear marks of having been battered with the English cannon in 1544. The north transept, which has a beautiful traceried window, is entire, and has long been set apart as a burial-place for the family of the Marquis of Lothian, the descendant and representative of the Kers of Ferniherst. The eastern half of the nave, next the tower, is roofless. The western part, or rather the middle and north aisle of it, being fitted up as a place of worship for the parish, according to the established religion of Scotland, has a modern roof, lower than that which covered the ancient church. The corresponding south aisle was demolished when the parish church was altered, in the last century. The building altogether is lofty, light, and elegant ; having above the arches of the middle part of the nave, throughout its whole length on both sides, a close range of Gothic windows, which rise above the present modern roof. Nothing remains of the south transept, but a small fragment of the walls. The western door- way is a semicircular arch, deeply and richly moulded ; and in the lofty front of the building, above this entrance, is a beautifully radiated circular window. This church was dedicated to God, under the invocation of the Virgin Mary. * Wood's Peerage, THE ABBEY OF JEDBURGH. 47 NOTES BY GEORGE SMITH, ESQ. ARCHITECT. Jedburgh abbej must have been, when entire, one of the finest buildings in Scotland ; though now greatly in ruins, the remains shew it to have been a large cross church, comprehending a nave with side aisles, a cross with transepts, and a choir with chapels. (See Plate IV. ground plan.) The altar, or east end of the choir, is completely gone, and there are no remains either of the cloisters or chapter-house ; but it is evident they had extended to the south side, as the ruins of an old wall is standing at the distance of sixty feet from the transept. In the ruins of this abbey there are three or four distinct styles of ancient architecture to be seen, each characteristic of the period when it was built, and calculated to exemplify the taste of the age. In the choir there are massive Saxon piers, with deep splayed circular arches ; and over these the Norman style appears ; and again, in the superstructure of the nave, we have the old English character, so beautifully exemplified in the long range of narrow pointed windows, and likewise in the blank arches of the west end, (see Plate I.) Over the cross rises a lofty square tower, with angular turrets and projecting battlements. The west end of the nave has been fitted up in a most barbarotf^ style as the parish church, which has completely destroyed the character of this part of the edifice, and, at the same time, it appears to be a most uncomfortable place of worship. The sooner it is abandoned the better, and restored, so far as the ruins will admit, to its original state. There are two magnificent Norman doors in this edifice, one at the west end, the principal entrance to the church, and the other in the south wall of the nave, close by the transept, which appears to have been the entrance 48 HISTORY OF from the cloisters to the church ; the west one is shewn in Plate I. and the south one in Plate III. These doors are of great richness and beauty, and may be ranked amongst the finest Norman doors remaining in this country. The depth of the arch of the west door measures seven feet and a half, enriched with a variety of ornamented mouldings, springing from the capitals of the slender shafts at each side of the ingoing. The only decorated Gothic architecture in the remains of this edifice are the windows of the north transept, which appear to have been renewed during the time that the decorated style was practised in this country. This part of the building having buttresses, is likewise a proof that it has been built at a subsequent period. This transept is now enclosed as a cemetery for the family of the Marquis of Lothian. It is thus evident, from the mixture of these distinct styles, that Jedburgh abbey must have been built, or renewed, at difi'erent periods. THE ABBEY OF JEDBURGH. 49 POSSESSIONS AND REVENUES OF JEDBURGH ABBEY. We learn from the confirmatory charter of Earl Henry, that his father, King David I, when he established the abbot and convent at Jedburgh, made or confirmed to them the following grants of property ; viz. The monastery of Jedworthe, with every thing belonging to it ; namely, the tithes of the twx) Jedworths, Langton, Neshyt, and Creling, the town of Earl Gospatric, * with the consent of his chaplain : and in the same town, a ploughgate and a half and three acres of land, with two houses : also the tithes of the other Creling, the town of Orm, the son of Eylav ; t and of Scraueshurghe : the chapel situated in the forest o^^i^oBite Hernwingeslawe:t also, TJlfstoun, near Jedworth ; Alneclive, near Alncromb, Grumseihe, § and Reperlaw. || He also granted them the tenth part of the game taken by him in hunting in Teviotdale ; the multure of the miln at Jedworth, * Gospatric, one of the sons of Gospatric, Earl of Northumberland, being deprived of his possessions by William the Conqueror, fled into Scotland, where Malcolm III. gave him the territory of Dunbar and other lands in the southern counties. He was the founder of the nunnery at Coldstream. He is styled vicecomes, viscount, or sheriff, in Earl Henry's charter ; but in general is simply styled earl. His descendants were earls of Dunbar and March ; and the present representative is the Earl of Home. f Eilav, or Eilaf, was -probably likewise a Saxon baron, who found an asylum in Scotland, at the Conquest, and had lands given him by the liberality of the king. Elliestoun in St Boswell's parish, appears to derive its name from him. It was anciently written Ylifstoun. ' There are several places, and many families in Scotland called Ormiston, probably from his son Orm. A family of that name was long settled at Old Melros. f In King William's charter, Xernwingeslaw. It appears to be the place now called Mer- vinslaw, on the left bank of the Jed, a little above Old Jedworth. § Crumsethe, otherwise Crumshache and Cromsahie. There is a place called Crumhaugh near Hawick. II Reperlaw is in the parish of Lilliesleaf. G 60 HISTORY OF where all the people of the town ground their corn ; pasture for their cattle in the king's forest, and the right of taking wood and timber for the use of the monastery, except in the place called Quikhege ; the village of Rule Hervey, * which he gave them in exchange for a ten pound land in Hard- inghestorn ; t and Eadwordisley : t also a salt work near Striveline ; § a house in the town of Roxburg, and another in Berewic ; and fi, fishing in the Tweed, opposite the isle of Tunsmidhop. They obtained afterwards another house in Berwick, with a toft adjacent to it. Malcolm IV. gave them the churches of Barton and Grendon in Northamptonshire ; a toft and seven acres in the town of Jedworth ; a fishing above the bridge at Berwick ; and exemption from paying duty for their wine imported into that town. Berengarius de Engain || gave them a mark of silver out of the profits of the miln of Creling, with two oxgangs of land, one villan, or bondservant, and a toft ; and, for the maintenance of the chaplain of the same village, he gave two other oxgangs, and two tofts, one of which was beside the church. David Olifard gave the tithe of the miln of Creling.*^ Richard English gave two oxgangs of land in Sprauesburgh, and two in Langton. Gamel, who, in King William's charter, is styled " clerk," with consent of his sons, Osulf and Ughtred, gave Caverum. ** Margaret, the wife of Thomas de London, with consent of her husband, and Henry Lovel, her son, gave Ughtredshaghe.ff * Now called Abbotrule. f Probably Hardingstone, in Northamptonshire. J Edwardslee is thought to be the place now called Long Edwardly near Jedburgh. § Stirling. II Berengarius de Engain, a noble Anglo-Norman, was one of the followers of Earl David, to whom he gave lands in Scotland, after his accession to the throne.^— Chalmers's Cakdenia. f David Olifard was King David's godson, and much attached to him, although he served in King Stephen's army, which besieged him in , Winchester, in 1141. When the King of Scots escaped, Olifard concealed him and conducted him to Scotland ; for which service he had lands given him in Smailholm and Crailing. *# Probably Cavers. There are two places of this name in Teviotdale, distinguished after the names of the proprietors, — Cavers Douglas, and Cavers Ker. ■j-f The lands of Lessudden were granted to Thomas de London by King David. He married Margaret Lovel, a widow. THE ABBEY OF JEDBURGH. 51 Christiana, the wife of Gervas Ridel, gave the third part of the village of Hernwingeslawe. * Gaufrid de Perci gave the convent the church of Oxenham, with two ploughgates* and two oxgangs of land adjacent thereto, and right of pasture and fuel in the common ; also Nevbhigging, with common pasture and fuel, as enjoyed by the other inhabitants of the same village, t Ralph, the son of Dunegal, and his wife, Bethoc, gave them a plough- gate in Rughechestre, with common pasture, t Turgot de Rossedale gave them the Religious House on the Lidal,§ with all its adjacent lands j and the church of Kirchanders, \\ with every thing thereto belonging. Guido de Rossedale, with the consent of his son Ralph, granted the convent forty-two acres, between the Esk and the Lidal, at the junction of these rivers, with the right of fishing from the foss \ of Lidal to the church. Ranulph de Sulas gave them the church of the vale of Lidal, the church of Dodiffigton, near Berton,** and half a ploughgate in Mesbith^ * Gervas Ridel, descended of an Anglo-Norman family of distinction, settled at Ryedale, in Yorkshire, came into Scotland with Earl David, and was sheriff of Roxburgh in 1 116. The king gave him the lands in the parish of Lilliesleaf, which, although not entailed, continued in the possession of his posterity, by direct male descent, until the twenty-fifth generation, when, in consequence, it is said, of the losses of the late Sir John Buchanan Riddell, in endeavouring to cultivate waste land, the property has been sold by the present baronet to Mark Sprott, Esq. f Gaufrid, or Geoffrey, de Perci, inherited the lands of Heton and Oxenham from his brother Allan, surnamed " le Meschin," who obtained them from King David, for whom he fought in the battle of the Standard. :}: Rule Bethoc, now called Bedrule, was named after this lady. From her descended Randolph, Earl of Moray, the brave and faithful friend of King Robert Bruce. By Ru^echestre, is probably meant Rewcastle, near Jedburgh. § It may be conjectured that this religious house was of more ancient date than the priory of Canonby, which occupied the same spot. II Kirkandrews, in Cumberland. f Part of this ancient foss, or artificial bank of earth, still exists in a very perfect state on the lands of Liddal-bank, and is called the Railzie. It may have been thrown up for the defence of a military station. ** Barton, in Northiamptonshire, was the original seat of the Soulis family, who were brought into Scotland by David I, The church of Lidal stood near the junction of the two 52 HISTORY OF Gervas Lidal, who afterwards became a canon of Jeddeworth, and his brother Ralph, gave them the church of Alboldesle,* with all its rights and dues. William de Vetereponte, or Vipont, gave them a ploughgate in his lordship of Caredene,i with common rights. Waltheof, the son of Gospatric, gave them the rectorial church of Bassenthwaite, in Cumberland, t The church of Dalmenie, in Linlithgowshire, was acquired by the convent, in the reign of King William, or Alexander II. The canons enjoyed the rectorial tithes, and appointed a vicar to serve it. It was valued, in 1275, at £2, 13s. 4d. § The church of Hownam, in Teviotdale, was acquired by the convent about the end of the twelfth century, In 1220, it was settled that the whole of the corn tithes of Hunam should be enjoyed by the abbot and canons ; out of which the vicar was to receive a salary of ten pounds, or the altarages, if he preferred them. The convent reserved an acre of ground for stacking their corn, from which it appears that the vicar enjoyed the rest of the glebe. 11 King Robert I, among other grants, and confirmations of former grants, to the " priory of Rostinot, and the abbot of Jedworth, byding there," confers upon them " the teinds of the king's horses and studs, and the third of the hay of the forest of Platir ;" also that they should get, every day that the king remained at Forfar, two loaves of the bread, called Sunday bread ; four loaves of the second bread ; and six of the bread called hagmans ; two rivers, on a different spot from the present church of Castleton. It was dedicated to St Martin, and valued, in 1275, at £4. It was agreed between the bishop of Glasgow, and the abbot of Jedworth, in 1220, " that the vicarage of Lidal should remain as the charter of the bishop had fixed it ; and that the chaplain officiating, as well as the prior residing there, should yield canonical obedience to the bishop." — Caledonia, ii. 177. * Abbotslee, in Huntingdonshire. ■j- Carriden, in Linlithgowshire. \ HutciIinson's History of Cumberland. § In Bagimont's Roll. Bayamond, corruptly called Bagimont, was an ecclesiastic sent by the Pope, in 1275, to collect the tenths of all the benefices in Scotland, for the relief of the Christians in Palestine. — Caledonia, i. 688. II Caledonia, ii. 166. THE ABBEY OF JEDBURGH. 53 stoups of the best ale ; two stoups of the small ale, called second ale ; and two pair of dishes of each of the three services from the kitchen.* The hospital of St Mary Magdalene, at Rutherford, was given to the convent in 1377, by Robert III, upon the resignation of Alexander de Symondton, the last master thereof. By the conditions of this grant, the canons were obliged to maintain a chaplain, properly qualified, to celebrate divine service regularly in the chapel of the hospital ; and it was provided, that if, by the inroads of the English, or the events of war, the place should happen to be destroyed, so that the chaplain could not reside there, the said canons were to cause the same divine offices to be celebrated in their own convent, until the said hospital should be rebuilt.t There was an altar in the abbey church dedicated to St Ninian, and another to St Mungo. In 1479, Mr James Newton, parson of Bedrule, granted, for the support of St Mungo's altar, in the parish kirk of Jedward, twenty marks of annual rent, to be paid out of two tenements belonging to him in Jedward, the presentation whereof was to belong to James Rutherford of that ilk, and his heirs ; and upon their failing to present within twenty days, the presentation, that time, was to belong to the provost and bailies of Jedward. t * " Dva paria ferculorum, de quolihet trium cursuum de Coquina." Harleian MSS. 41 34, and 4693. Lists of ancient charters. It does not clearly appear from the abbreviated words of the MS. whether the canons were to furnish the king with these provisions during his stay at Forfar, or to receive them from his bounty. \ Registrum Magni SigiUi. The hospital at Rutherford possessed a burgage in the city of Berwick, in 1276. In 1296, the master of this house swore fealty to Edward I. In 1335, the mastership of this hospital was given by Edward III. to Simon de Sandford ; at whose death, in 1337, it was conferred upon William de Emeldpn, October 31 ; and again, December 20 ensuing, upon John de Thorp. On the first of March, 1338, King Edward revoked this presentation, which appears to have been made under a supposition that the said mastership was then vacant, the king now remembering that he had previously appointed William de Emeldon, to whom he now confirms it, and whom, in 1350, he made chancellor and chamber- lain of Berwick, and of all the lands in Scotland, subject to the English crown. In 1352, the king gave him likewise the prebend of Old Roxburgh, in Glasgow cathedral. In 1360, November 23, King Edward gave the guardianship of the hospital of Rutherford to John de Baumburgh, clerk, who obtained, likewise, the prebend of Old Roxburgh the following year. About 1444, this hospital was granted to Alexander Brown. Rotuli Scotice, Harl. MSS. 4620. X Harl. MSS. 4134. 54 HISTORY OF The property of the monasteries having been confiscated at the Refor- mation of Religion, an account of it was taken in 1562, when the revenues of Jedburgh abbey, together with those of Restenot and Canonby, were estimated at £1274, 10s. Scots money. 2 chalders and 2 bolls of wheat. 23 chald. of barley. 36 chald. 13 bolls, 1 firlot, and 1 peck of meal. The temporal possessions of the monastery, at that time, were, the baronies of Ulfstoun, Windington, Ancrum, Belshes, Reperlaw, and Abbotrule. Its spirituality consisted in the kirks of Jedburgh, Eckford, Hownam, Oxnam, Langnewton, Dalmeny, Selbie, Wauchope, Castletoun, Crailing, Nesbit, Plenderleith,* and Hopkirk. Of these, Selbie, Wauchope, and Castle- toun, belonged properly to Canonby. To Restenot belonged the kirks of Forfar, Dounyvald, and Aberlemno.t In " ane accompt of the thirds of the benefices, taken from the accompts of Robert, lord Boyd, collector-general of the saids thirdsj for the year 1576," are the following articles : — " Third of the abbacy of Jedburgh, £333, 6s. 8d. Wheat, 11 bolls, 1 firlot, 3 pecks. Bear, 7 chalders, 10 bolls, 3 firlots, 2 pecks. * Meal, 12 chald. 4 bolls, 1 firlot, 3 pecks. Third of the altarage of St Ninians, in Jedburgh,^ £3, 4s. 5d." A new order was issued in 1587, to collect the king's thirds of the benefices ; when Jedburgh was to pay £200, and Restenneth £100.§ * Plenderleith was a village with a tower and church, at the foot of Hindhope, one of the border mountains. A farm house is all that now remains of it. The turf-covered foundations of the church may still be traced by their elevation on the surface of the ground. t Harl. MSS. 4623, vol. ii. J Ibid. 4612. § Ibid. 4623, vol. ii. THE ABBEY OF JEDBURGH. 55 CARTA CONFIRMATIONIS COMITIS HENRICI* CANONICIS DE JEDWORDE. In honorem sanctse et individuse Trinitatis : Ego Henricus comes Northanhumbriorum canonicis patris mei quos in monasterio Sanctse Marise de Jedworde constituit, in perpetuam eleemosinam concedo, et hujus cartae mese attestatione confirmo, donatum illis ab eodem patre meo, predictum monasterium de Jedworthe, cum omnibus ad illud pertinentibus, viz. decimas villarum totius parochiae, scil. duarum Jeddword, et Langton, Nesbyt, * Henry, Earl of Huntingdon and Northumberland, was a prince endued with every noble and excellent quality, sind who warmly seconded the benevolent and enlightened exertions of King David, his father, to instruct and civilize his subjects. His untimely death, in 1 152, the year preceding that of the king, was a painful disappointment to the hopes of the nation, which has often been remarkably unfortunate in the premature death of its ablest sovereigns. He was buried in Kelso abbey, of which he had been a liberal benefactor. His character is thus eulogized by the prior of Lochleven : — # Howntyntown and Northwmbyrland, And all the kynryk* of Scotland, Than menydf sare that pryncis dede. For he was in his yhowthede A fayre, swete, plesand chyld, Honest, avenand,:}; rack, and myld, Apperand ayne til oure kynryk : Nane of vertu til hym lyk. At all poynt formyd in fassown Abil, of gud condityowne, Welle lettryd he wes, and right vertws ; Large, § and of gret almws|| Til all pure folk, seke and hale, And til all othre rycht liberale. •Kingdom. f Mourned. ;f Courteous. § Liberal. || Alms. 56 HISTORY OF Creling Gospatricii vicecomitis, ipsius Gospatricii capellano ejusdem Creling prsefato monasterio concedente, et testibus legitimis confirmante : Et in eadem villa, unam carucatam terrse et dimidiam et tres acras, cum duabus maisuris : Necnon et decimas alterius Creling villse Orm, filii Eylav ; et de Scrauesburghe : Capellam etiam quae est in saltu nemoris ; et decimam totius venationis patris mei in Thevietdale ; omnes reditus ad supradictum monasterium juste pertinentes. Preterea villas subscriptas ; Ulvestoun juxta Jedworthe, Alneclive juxta Alncromb, Cromseche,* Raperlaw, cum rectis divisis ad easdem villas pertinentibus. Unam maisuram in burgo Roxburg, et unam in Berewie, et ibidem unam aquam, liberas, solutas, et quietas. Et Edwordisley, sicut eam pater mens perambulavit et divisas monstravit. Et animalium pascua ubi patris mei. Et ligna silvarum, et materiem ad sua necessaria ubi pater meus, prseter ilium locum qui vocatur Quikhege. Et multuram molendini Jeddworde, ubi castellum est, de omnibus hominibus ejusdem Jeddworde. Et unam salinam juxta Strevelin. Vole itaque et concedo ut omnia qusecumque modo possident aut deinceps juste possessuri sint, ita libere et pure, omni remota exactione, supradicti canonici patris mei cum omnibus monasterii sui libertatibus et liberis con- suetudinibus pace perpetua possideant, sicut illis pater meus eadem beneficia, carta et auctoritate sua, possidenda precepit et confirmavit. Testibus presentibus : Herb. Glasg. Episcopo ; Arnaldo, abbate de Calco ; Eng. cancellario ; Adam, capellano ; Hugone de Morevilla ; Thpma de Londoniis ; Ranu. de Sola, &c. * Aliter Crushache, et Cromsahie. THE ABBEY OF JEDBURGH. 57 CHARTA WILLIELMI REGIS SCOTORUM CANONICIS DE JEDBURGH, CONCESSA CIRCA ANNUM MCLXV. EX AUTOGRAPHO IN ARCHIVIS DUCIS DE BUCCLEUGH. WiLLiELMUS Dei gratia rex Scottorum, episcopis, abbatibus, prioribus, comitibus, baronibus, justiciis,* vicecomitibus, cseterisque hominibus totius terrae suae, Francis, Anglis, et Scottis, cunctisque sanctae Dei ecclesise filiis salutem. Ex suscepto regimine regni incumbit nobis ecclesiam Dei et ecclesiasticos diligere personas, et non solum de nostris eis benefacere, sed et beneficia ab aliis Dei fidelibus eis collata auctoritate regia confirmare, et cum sua eis integritate conservare. Inde est quod nos, consilio proborum hominum nostrorum, possessiones et bona quae, a predecessoribus nostris et ab aliis regni nostri principibus et fidelibus, Deo et ecclesiae Sanctae Mariee de Jeddeworth et canonicis ibidem Deo servientibus collata sunt, praesenti eis privilegio confirmamus : Videlicit, ex dono regis David monasterium de Jeddeworth cum omnibus ad illud pertinentibus ; capellam quoque quae fundata est in saltu nemoris contra Xernwingeslawe ; decimam totius venationis regis in Thevietdale, Ulvestonam, Alneclive, juxta Alnecrumb, Crumesethe, Raperlawe, cum rectis divisis ad eas villas pertinentibus, in bosco et piano, pratis, pascuis, et culturis ; unam maisuram in burgo Rochesburg ; unam maisuram in Berewico ; tertiam quoque maisuram in eadem Berewico super Tuedam, cum tofto suo circumjacente ; unam aquam quae est contra insulam quae vocatur Tonsmidhop ; Eadwardesle ; pascua animalium proprie, ubi et regis j ligna nemoris, et materiem ad suas necessitates ubi et ipse, praeter in Quikeheg: molturam molendini de omnibus hominibus Jeddeworth ubi castelluin est: unam salinam juxta * Justiciariis. H 58 HISTORY OF Strevelin: Rulam Herevei per suas rectas divisas in nemore et piano, pratis, et pascuis, et aquis, et in omnibus rebus ad eandem villam juste pertinentibus, datam in escambio decern libratarum terrse quas prsefati canonici habuerant in Hardinghestorn : ex dono dilecti fratris mei regis Malcolmi, ecclesiam de Bartona, et ecclesiam de Grendona ; et in burgo meo de Jeddeworth unum toftum et septeni acras ; et in domibus suis quas habent in burgo meo de Berewico talem libertatem, scilicet, ut nuUus ministrorum regis tunella vini a mercatoribus illic allata et ibi evacuata exigere prsesumat ; et unam piscariam in Tuede, illam, scilicet, quae est supra pontem, quam Willielmus de Lambertona avo meo liberam et quietam reddidit ; ex dono Gospatricii vicecomitisT in Craaling unam carrucatam terrse et dimidiam, et tres acras, cum duabus maisuras ; ex dono Berengarii Engain, unam marcam argenti in molendino ejusdem Craaling, et duas bovatas terrse cum uno villano et uno tofto ; et ad sustentamentum victus capellani capellae ejusdem villse servituri alias duas bovatas terrse cum alio tofto et unum aliud toftum juxta ecclesiam ; ex dono David Olifard decimam molendini ejusdem Craaling ; ex dono Oromi filii Eilavi, unam carrucatam terrae in altera Craaling j ex dono Ricardi Angli duas bovatas terrse in Scrauesburg, et duas bovatas terree'in Langetun ; ex dono Gameli, clerici, Caverum, Osulfo et Ughtredo filiis ejus concedentibus illius donationem ; ex dono Margaritse, uxoris Thomse de London, concedentibus eodem Thoma et Henrico Lovel filio ejusdem Margaritse, Ughtredesxaghe cum suis rectis divisis ; ex dono Christianse, uxoris Gervasii Ridel, tertiarii partem villse de Xernvringeslawe ; ex dono Gaufridi de Perci, ecclesiam de Oxenham, cum duabus carrucatis terrse et duabus bovatis eidem ecclesise adjacentibus, et communem pasturam et communem foaliam ejusdem Oxen- ham ; et Niwebigginghe et communem pasturam et communem foaliam cum cseteris hominibus ejusdem villse de Oxenham, quam, scilicet Niwebigging, Henricus de Perci post mortem prsedicti G. fratris sui, ante dilectum fratrem meum regem Malcolmum, concessit canonicis datam ; ex dono Rod. filii Duneg. et uxoris ejus Bethoc, unam carrucatam terrse in Rughechestre, et communem ejusdem villse pasturam ; ex dono Turg. de Rossedale, domum religionis de Lidel, cum tota terra ei adjacente ; ecclesiam quoque de Kirchanders, cum omnibus ad illam pertinentibus ; ex dono Guid. de Rossedale, assensu et consensu Rad. filii sui, quadraginta duas acras inter Esch et Lidel, ubi Esck et Lidel conveniunt, et libertatem aquae a fossa de THE ABBEY OF JEDBURGH. 59 Lidel lisque ad ecclesiam de Lidel ; ex dono Ran. de Sol. ecclesiam de valle Lidel, et ecclesiam de Dodintun, juxta Bertonam, et dimidiam carrucatam terrae in Nasebith ; ex dono Ger. Ridel, qui post factus est canonicus Jeddeworth, et Rad. fratris sui, ecclesiam de Alboldesle, cum omnibus pertinentibus et rectitudinibus suis ; ex dono Willielmi de Veteriponte, unam carrucatam terrae de dominio suo in Caredene cum communi aisiamento villae. Haec autem omnia, ita integre et plenarie, Deo, et beatse Marise, et supradictis canonicis, concedo et confirmo, sicut in autenticis prsedecessorum meorum et aliorum proborum virorum, qui bona praedicta eis contulerunt, scriptis continetur. Volo, itaque, ac firmiter praecipio, ut omnia quaecunque modo pogsident, vel deinceps juste possessuri sint, italibere et pure, omni remota exactione, suprafati canonici mei, pace perpetua, cum omnibus monasterii sui libertatibus liberisque consuetudinibus, confirmatione et auctoritate mea possideant, sicut aliqui canonici possessiones et libertates liberasque consuetudines sui monasterii, sive quselibet ecclesiastica jura, liberius, quietius, atque honestius possident. Hujus autem concessionis et confirmationis meae testes hi sunt ; Ric. episcopus de Sancto Andrea ; Eng, episcopus de Glasg. Job. abbas de Calceo ; Ever, abbas de Holmcultr. Nich. cancellarius ; Matth. Archid. de Sto. Andr. Ric. capellanus ; Walterus fil. Alani;* Ric. de Moreville ;t Phil, de Valoniisjt Rob. Avenel;§ Bernardus fil. Brien ; || Gilleb. fil. Richerii ; David Ovieth. Ap. Pebles. * Walter, the son of Alan, was the first grand steward of Scotland, and ancestor of the kings of the race of Stewart, a name derived from his office. ■j- Richard Morville was the son of Hugh, who was constable of Scotland, and founded Dryburgh abbey. He had great possessions in Lauderdale, the Lothians, and Cumberland. His family became extinct at the death of his son William in 1196. J Philip de Valoines, or Valance, was chamberlain to the king, and possessed lands in Teviotdale. § Robert Avenel obtained lands in Eskdale from David I. He held, for a short time, the office of Justiciary of Lothian. He was a liberal benefactor to Melros Abbey, in which he became a monk, and died in 1185, His daughter bore to King William an illegitimate child, Isabel, who married Robert Bruce. II Bernard, the son of Brien, an Anglo-Norman, who settled in Scotland in the reign of King William. His son, Bernard de Hawden, was sheriflF of Roxburgh in the reign of Alexander U. He had the lands of Hawden, now Hadden, on Tweedside. Crawfokd's Lives. — Chalmers's Caledonia. 60 HISTORY OF The following Rent Roll is extracted from a MS. in the Harleian Collection, No. 4623, vol. I. * " TAXT ROLL OF THE ABBACY OF JEDBURGH, 1626. " 3d January, 1626. In a judicial court of the lordship and abbacy of Jedburgh, holden within the kirk of the said burgh, be Andrew, Master of Jedburgh, baillie principall of the said abbacy, compeared, &c. procurator for the Lord Binning, and produced ane act of convention, holden at Edinburgh, the 27th of October, 1625, where all the vassals fewars were ordained to have conveened that day, with the Lord Binning, for setting down ane taxt roll for his reliefFe of the taxation of the saids lordships, with the extension of the said act, with ane certificat under the lord Register's hand, anent the taxation of the said lordship, extending at every terme of the four terms taxation, to £516, 13s. 4d. ; and upon production thereof, the procurator took infeftment in the hands of the clerk of court. And thereafter the baillie caused call all the vassals, &c. by name and surname, of the whilks only compeared, &c. after lawful time of day bidden. The next day, being oftentimes called and not compearing, the said procurator protested it might be lawful for him, with the persons before written compearing, to sett down the said taxt roll, conforme to the warrant granted by the said act of convention ; whilk protestation the said baillie admitted ; and thereupon, the said procurator, with the persons aforementioned, have all with one consent, sett down the said taxt roll, and ordain, &c. And for the collecting of the said taxation, there shall be augmented yearly, to the said soume of 516 lib. 13sh. 4d. the soume of 183lib. 6sh. 8d. for inbringing the said taxation. In token whereof, the said baillie and procurator, and persons above-mentioned, sett their hands." * It is entitled, An Account of the Revenues of Bishopricks and Religious Houses in Scotland. At the beginning is the following notice: — " This I reckon to be a very valuable collection, concerning the revenue of religious houses in Scotland, which was diligently inquired into a little before the Revolution. And I transcribed this, with my own hand, from a MS. in the hand of one who made inquiry into these matters, and a very fit person for that inquiry ; and the small part in another hand, being one of my clerks, I could trust." THE ABBEY OF JEDBURGH. 61 TEMPORAL LANDS OF THE LORDSHIP AND ABBACY OF JEDBURGH. Rutherford of Hundelye, his 10 lib. land of Belshes, worth yearly 30 bolls victuall, at 80 lib. per chalder ; whereof payes to my lord lOlib. Davidson of Kaymes, for his 5 lib. land in Belshes, and 5 merk land in Raperlaw, estimat worth 50 bolls victuall, whereof payes to my lord 8 lib. ISsh. 4d. Haliburton of Muirhouselaw, his lOlib. land in Belches and Pinnacle, worth 64 bolls ; payes 11 lib. TurnbuU of Wylliespeil, for his merk land of Wylliespeil, estimat to be worth yearly lOOlib. whereof payes ISsh. 4d. TurnbuU, for his 3 lib. land of Hassenden-bank, estimat to be worth yearly 10 bolls victuall, whereof payes £3. Sir John Scott of Newburgh, for his 4 lib land of the barony of Belshes, estimat to be worth 24 bolls yearly, payes 4 lib. Scott of Heidshaw, for his £5 in Belshes, estimat to 42 bolls, payes £5. Sir Robert Ker of Ancrum, for his lands of Ancrum and Woodheid, worth. 20 chalder victuall, payes £32. William Midlemess of Lyllslie* Chapell, for £11 of the barony of Belshes, worth 60 bolls vict. payes £11. Davidsons in Belshes, for their 4 lib. lOsh. land in Belshes, worth 18 bolls vict. paye £4, lOsh. TurnbuU of * * * * *, for his 5 merk land of Belshes, worth 30 bolls, payes 5 m. TurnbuU, for his £5 land of Abbotrule, worth 10 bolls, payes £5. TurnbuUs, possessors of £12 lands beyond the burn of Abbotrule, worth 24 bolls, paye £12. TurnbuU, for Maksyde, worth yearly 80lib. payes 5 lib. TurnbuUs, for their 42sh. 4d. land of Forderlye, worth 10 bolls vict. paye 42sh. 4d. Thomas Ker, for Gaithuscott, worth 24 bolls, payes 368h. Scott of Todrig, for Grange, worth 32 boUs, payes 5 merks. Foulden, for Netherbourten, worth yearly £100, payes 13sh. 4d. * Lilliesleaf. 62 HISTORY OF TurnbuU, for Braidhaugh, worth 5 merks, payes 6sh. 8d. TurnbuU, for his lands of Hartishauch, worth 5 bolls, payes 6sh. 8d. Rutherford, for Woole, worth 10 merks, payes lOsh. TurnbuU, for Overbonchester, worth 6 bolls, payes 30sh. TurnbuU, for his half lands of Eister SwansheiU, worth SO lib. payes 26sh. 8d. Sheills, for Kirknow and Langraw, 80 lib. payes 5 lib. Kirkton, for the 16 lands of Houston, worth 64 bolls vict. payes SO lib. 12s. Kirkton, for Stewartfield and Chapmansyde, worth 60 bolls, payes lllib. 4sh. William Douglas of Bonjedburgh, for his lands of ToftUaw, PadopuiU, and Spittlestains, worth 48 bolls vict. payes £11, ISsh. 4d. Smart, for his 2 lands in Crailling, worth 8 bolls, payes £ 22. Cranston, for Plewlands, and 20sh. land of Nisbitt, worth S4^ bolls, payes 4 lib. 6sh. 8d. Lindores, in Stichell, for his SSsh. 4d. land of Stichell, worth 8 boUs vict. payes SSsh. 4d. Hall, for the half of Haugh-heid, worth 15 bolls, payes SSsh. 4d. The Countess of Bothwell, for the other half, worth 15 bolls, payes ISsh. 4d. Taitt in Cessford-Mayns, for his merk land, yearly worth 2 bolls, payes ISsh. 4d. Rutherford of Hunthill, for Skarsburgh, * worth 4 bolls, payes ISsh. 4d. Ainslie in Oxnam, for his 2 merk land, worth 10 bolls vict. payes 26sh. 8d. Robertson in Harden, for his 20sh. land, yearly worth 4 bolls, payes 20sh. Robertson, for his 20sh. land, payes als much. Andrew, master of Jedburgh, for his lands of Newbigging, worth 200 merks, payes 10 lib. Item, for his lands of Auld- Jedburgh and Hustneley, worth 14 boUs, payes 20sh. Tennent, for ane land worth S bolls, payes 20sh. Storie, in Rowcastle, for his land, worth 1 boll, payes 5sh. Porteus, for ane land worth 4 bolls, payes 20sh. Mader, for 2 lands in Langton, worth 8 lib. payes 40sh. * Scraesburgh. THE ABBEY OF JEDBURGH. 68 Earl of Roxburgh, for his 4 merk land of Newhall, worth 100 merks, payes 53sh. 4d. Eliot of Stobs, for his 25 merk land of Windington, * worth 400 merks, payes 25 merks. Possessors of Hyndhousefield, worth 90 bolls, paye 40 merks. Possessors of Castlewoodfield, worth 60 bolls, paye 9 lib. Ainslie, for 6 aikers possessed by her, worth 8 bolls, payes llsh. Home, possessor of Spittle, worth 8 chalder, victuall : free rent. * Gressoun, for his lands in Spittell, worth 1 chald. vict. payes 5 lib. Ainslie, for his aikers in Boongate, worth 8 bolls vict. payes 4sh. Kirkton and Rutherford, for the possessors of the free milns of Jedburgh, worth 4 chald. vict. paye 90 lib. Earl of Buccleugh, for Cannabie, worth 1200 merks, payes 11 lib. 6sh. 8d. Item, for his lands of Liddisdale, worth 1000 merks, payes 10 lib. Bennet of Chesters, for Raeflatt and Ryknow, worth 2 chald. vict. payes 8 merks. Rutherford, for Steepleside, worth 8 bolls, payes 30sh. Possessors of Sheilfield, worth £40, paye 2sh. Ker, for Hercass, worth 10 merks, payes 6sh. 8d. Robeson, for Cruikes, worth 5 merks, payes 6s. 8d. Andrew, master of Jedburgh, for OverwoolUsmilne, worth 20 bolls vict. payes 40sh. Davidson, for Netherwoolis, worth 20 bolls, payes 20sh. Buckholme, for Belshes milne, worth 24 bolls, payes £20 for money and customs. Hamilton, for Kinglass, worth 400 merks, payes 6sh. 8d. Gledstanes, for Cocklaw, worth 1 chald. vict. payes 20sh. TurnbuU of Bewlie, for 4 aikers in Langnewton, worth 3 bolls, payes 6sh. 8d. Ker of Ancrum, for Knox and Henfield, worth 100 merks, payes 40sh. Master of Jedburgh, for Priestfield, worth 10 merks, payes 1 merk. Trotter, for the Convent yards, worth 25 lib. free rent. Ainslie, for hi^ pairt of the Convent yards, worth £20, payes 20sh. Weir, for Seills, worth 500 merks, payes 200 merks. Ainslie, for the aikers of Boongate, worth £30, payes lOsh. * Winnington-rig, in Kirktown parish, near Hawick. 64 HISTORY OF SPIRITUALITY OF THE ABBEY OF JEDBURGH. Teynds of Ulstoune, confest to be 24 bolls victuall, whereof payes to the minister of Jedburgh 8 bolls. Teynds of Stewartfield, worth 24 bolls, whereof payes to said minister 16 bolls. Master of Jedburgh, his teynd sheaves of Woolis, worth 24 bolls, whereof payes said minister. 10 bolls. The teynd sheaves of Over Crailling, worth 10 bolls, whereof payes to the Earl of Lothian, as lord of erection of the abbacy of Newbattle, 6 bolls. The teynds of Over Crailing, worth 4 chald. vict. whereof payes to the Earl of Lothian 2 chalders. Lord Cranstoun, his teynd sheaves in Nether Crailling, worth 10 chald. payes said earl 48 merks. Teynd sheaves of Samiestoun, worth 10 chald. payes to the minister of Jedburgh 16 bolls. Teynd sheaves of Renniestoun, worth 4 bolls, payes to the minister of Jedburgh 10 furlots of tack duty. Teynd sheaves of Hunthill, worth 2 chald. payes Earl of Lothian 16 bolls. Andrew, master of Jedburgh, for his whole teynds contened in his tack, worth 10 chald. payes to the minister of Jedburgh 24 bolls ; to the minister of Oxnam 3 chald. ; to the minister of Hopkirk 12 bolls ; to the Earl of Lothian 3 chald. 8 bolls. Teynd sheaves of Edgarstoun, worth 2 chald. payes minister of Jedburgh 1 chald. Teynds of Auld Jedburgh, worth 12 bolls, paie Earl of Lothian 8 bolls. William, Earl of Angus, his teynd sheaves of Lintalie, worth 6 bolls, payes to the said earl 4 bolls. THE ABBEY OF JEDBURGH. 65 Kutherford, for his teynd sheaves of Swinnie, worth 16 boUs, payes said earl 6 lib. Teynd sheaves of Hundelie, worth 24 bolls, paie minister of Jedburgh 6 bolls. Teynd sheaves of Castlewood, worth 40 bolls, paid to said earle. Ker of Ancrum, his teynd sheaves of Jedburghside, worth 40 bolls ; payes said earl 12 lib. Teynd sheaves of Gleneslands, worth 16 bolls, paie minister of Jedburgh 14 bolls, Teynd sheaves of Langtoun, worth 6 chald. Teynd sheaves of Bonjedburgh, worth 5 chald. paie said earl 28 lib. Teynd sheaves of Hyndhousefield, worth 40 bolls, paie said earl 20 lib. The Earl of Lothian, for the teynd sheaves of Nisbitts, worth 8 chald. vict. payes the minister of Crailling- 3 chald. His lordship's teynd sheaves of the Spittel, worth 3 chald. free rent. His lordship, for the tack duties before and after specified, paid to him, extends to 25 chald. 3 bolls vict. and £138 of money. Earl of Buccleuch, for the teynd sheaves of Casseltown,* worth 1133 lib. 6sh. 8d. payes to the minister 466 lib. 13sh. 4d. Earl of NithisdaiU, for his teynds of Wauchopedaill, worth 400 merks, payes said earl 40 merks. Countess of Bothwellj for the teynds of Heikfield, Gremishlaw,t and' Maynes, worth 8 chald. payes Earl of Lothian 2 chald. William Mowt of Mowmayns, for the teynd sheaves thereof, worth 2 chalders, free rent. The said Countess of Bothwell, for the tejad sheaves of Haugh-heid, worth 12 bolls, payes the minister of Jedburgh 8 bolls. The Earl of Roxburgh, for the teynd sheaves of Cavertoun and Ormistoun, worth 12 chald. vict. payes to the minister of Eckford 5 chald. and to the Earl of Lothian 3 chald. 12 bolls. Rutherford, his teynd sheaves of Hownam, worth 10 bolls, payes said earl 4 bolls. Bessie Ker, Lady Mow, for her part of the teynd sheaves of Hownam, 10 bolls, payes the minister of Hownam 6 bolls. * Castleton in Liddesdale. f Graemslaw. | Molle. I 66 HISTORY OF Pringle of Hownam, his teynd sheaves thereof, worth 10 bolls, payes said minister 4 bolls. Teynd sheaves of Nether Chatt, worth 8 bolls, paid said Earl of Lothian. Teynd sheaves of Beirop and Fillogare, worth 10 bolls, paie said earl 5 bolls. Teynd sheaves of Over Whitsum, § worth 10 bolls, paid to the minister of Hownam. Ker of Chatto, his teyndsheaves of Chatto and Cuishop, worth 20 bolls, payes the minister of Hownam 16 bolls. Teynd sheaves of Swynsyde, worth 30 bolls, paid to the Earl of Lothian. Teynd sheaves of Newbigging and Sheills, worth 12 bolls, paye to the Earl of Lothian 8 bolls. Teynd sheaves of Newtoun Dolphistoun and Fala, worth 24 bolls, paie said earl 24 bolls. Teynd sheaves of Overtoun, worth 16 bolls, paie said earl 12 bolls. The Earl of Roxburgh, for the teynd sheaves of Plenderleith and Middleknow, worth 8 bolls, payes the Earl of Lothian 20 lib. Stewart of Traquair, for the teind sheaves of WoUis, worth 10 bolls, payes the minister of Hopkirk 4 bolls. TurnbuU, for his teynd sheaves of BuUerwall, worth 12 bolls, payes to said earl 8 bolls. TurnbuU, for his teynd sheaves of Gledstanes, worth 5 bolls, payes to said earl 2 bolls. Lord Cranstoun, for the teynd sheaves of Stennalege, Wauchope, Langhauch, and Herwoodtoun, worth 2 chald. vict. payes the minister of Hopkirk 22 bolls. Teynd sheaves of Harwood, Applesyde, and half of Hawthornside, worth 17 bolls, paye to said minister of Hopkirk 16 bolls. Teynd sheaves of Over Halthornside, worth 8 bolls, paye the Earl of Lothian 20 lib. Tfeynd sheaves of Unthank, worth 1 boll, paid to said earl. Davidson, for the teynd sheaves of Myre, half quarter of Belshes, worth 16 bolls, payes said earl 4 lib. Scott of Heidshaw, for the teynd sheaves of the Peill halfe quarter, worth 24 bolls, payes to the said earle 12 bolls. * Whitton. THE ABBEY OF JEDBURGH. 67 Teynd sheaves of Pinnacle, worth 16 bolls vict. paid to said ear la. Teynd sheaves of Ryflatt and Ryknow, worth 8 bolls, paie said earl 4 lib. Cairncross, for the teynd sheaves of the Milnerig quarter of Belshes, worth 12 bolls, payes said earl 10 lib. The few maills and duties particularly afore-mentioned, payed yearly to the said Lord Binning, extends to 468 lib. 12sh. ; whereof payes of blensh duty to the king 380 lib. ; and payes to Andrew, master of Jedburgh, hereditary baillie of the said lordship, for his baillie fee, 50 lib. ; so rests 38 lib. 12sh. free rent. The said Thomas Lord Binning, his teynds of the parochin of Dummenie, worth 20 chald. of victuall, whereof payes to the minister 2 chalders and 400 merks. Rests of free rent, at 8 lib. per chalder, 11 73 lib. 6sh. 8d. Taxt to 41 lib. lOsh. r^ H '4 e . "1 S ,t -1 ^^^; ^ HI =;' bj f-J s ■£ S i£ 3 m ^ •^ ^J iloJuisricAnmi/s , Y ' TivL Ttiali ' F/.!fr -^ EBgl-avyA ijy WTIIizars Dratm "l^'fl-'HI-izai iTKBIBiniECS'ISl AUIBIST. ^iMiy^u'dby WBLLzars '£dmturah IS31. Mon/isHc Jn/mls jfnvuit^J^ Drawn "byTViBlLizars Je.dtur(jh Al.'bi'v . Eii^ared byWHUzare Fubli^hedly WELtzars Edm-burQii IS32 . Jdbnasuc -^jmais of Tivwrdiih' riat^, TV. Ihsmbir Gacsge &mi^ Jrch* imam, asbix Ground Plan. ^-^dshed bf W.KL-kars.ItlvtturjkBSJ HISTORY OF THE TOWN AND ABBEY OF KELSO. MONASTIC ANNALS OF TEVIOTDALE. HISTORY OF THE TOWN AND ABBEY OF KELSO. The Town of Kelso is situated in the parish of the same name, in Roxburghshire, on the north bank of the river Tweed, opposite its junction with the Teviot, about twenty-three miles from Berwick, where that river flows into the sea. Its name is evidently derived from Chalkheugh, * the name of a remarkable cliff overhanging the Tweed, on the summit of which part of the town is built. This cliff is so called from its containing veins of gypsum, and other calcareous earths, which were visible in its sides before the year 1810, when the river, in its impetuous floods, threatening to undermine it, it was cut down into terraces and sloping gardens, and defended from the stream by a strong wall. This etymology may be distinctly traced in the various forms in which the 'name appears in ancient records, where it is written Kalkhow, Kelquou, Calco, Calchou, Calcheowe, and Kellesowe. The earliest mention of it is at the time of the founding of its monastery, in 1128, when it appears, from the charter of the royal founder, that there was then a church called " the church of the blessed Virgin Mary, on the bank of the river Tuede, in the place which is called Calkou." * Locally pronounced " Cawkheuch." Cakh, in the ancient British language, and Ceak, in the Anglo-Saxon, like the Latin Calx, signify Chalk. Bow, in Anglo-Saxon and old Scots, and Heugh, in modern Scots, « a hill, or heiffht." -^Chalmers's Cahdmia, 72 HISTORY OF The beauty of this town and its environs has always been justly admired. The confluence of two broad and rapid rivers, hanging woods, rocks, and verdant declivities, ancient ruins, elegant modern buildings, distant hills and mountains, form a diversified and lovely scene, in which the works of man serve to heighten and embellish the most comely features of nature. The following poetical description of it occurs in Leyden's Scenes of Infancy : — Bosom'd in woods, where mighty rivers run, Kelso's fair vale expands before the sun ; Its rising downs in vernal beauty swell. And, fringed with hazel, winds each flowery dell. Green spangled plains to dimpling lawns succeed, And Temp6 rises on the banks of Tweed ; Blue o'er the river Kelso's shadow lies, And copse-clad isles amid the waters rise. One of the most approved points of view, in which this enchanting landscape is seen, is from the bridge — itself a noble and perfect work of architecture. On the right, looking westward, is the town, gaily extended along the swelling bank of the river, in the bosom of which is the " copse- clad" islet, locally called the Awna ; nearer, is the beautiful villa of Ednam House, and, beyond it, the lofty ruins of the Abbey, which give an air of ancient grandeur and historical interest to the place. In front, the winding of the river brings into view the magnificent ducal mansion of Heurs, with a sylvan lawn in the foreground, and deep woods behind. On the left, are the woods and mansion of Springwood Park, with the elegant bridge of the Teviot ; the site of the ancient town of Roxburgh, formerly one of the four principal burghs of Scotland, but now long subjected to the plough. Beyond this, encircling the summit of an elevated mound, shaded with trees, are seen massy fragments of the walls of Roxburgh castle — the Marchmond of remote antiquity, — the favourite abode of ancient kings, — the stronghold, alternately, of the Scotish and English wardens of the border, and the object of hostile force and stratagem for many ages. The back ground discovers the castle of Home, the hills of Stitchell and Mellerstain, the three picturesque summits of the Eildon Hills, Penielheugh, and a more distant and loftier range of remote mountains. THE TOWN AND ABBEY OT KELSO. 73 Pennant, the celebrated tourist, who visited Kelso in 177^, describes it as " a neat place, built much after the manner of a Flemish town, with a square, and town-house." The houses are chiefly built of excellent freestone, and slated. The four principal streets, with others of smaller consequence, meet in the square, where the weekly market is held ; on the east side of which is the town-house, which, with many other parts of the town, has been rebuilt since Pennant's time. It is a handsome building, of two stories, with a pediment in front, supported by four elegant Ionic columns, and a dome springing from the centre of the roof, which is flat, and surrounded with an ornamental stone balustrade. The lower story consists of an arcade for the accommodation of the market people ; and over this is a spacious room, where the incorporated trades, and municipal authorities, hold their meetings ; and where courts are occasionally held by the Justices of the Peace for the trial of petty offences ; and also their monthly courts, for the hearing, and final decision, of small debt cases. The churchyard of this town is of remarkable extent. The parish church is a plain octagonal building, eighty-two feet in diameter, and of a singularly inelegant exterior. It is built of rough freestone, and covered with an immense roof of blue slate, supported by a circle of eight pillars within the building, at the distance of sixteen feet from the walls. This " mis-shapen pile," which a lively and ingenious writer * has compared to a " mustard pot of immense size," was erected in 1773. The most striking object in Kelso is the ruined church of the abbey, which is a noble specimen of the solid and majestic style of architecture, called the Saxon, or early Norman. (See Plates V. and VI.) It is described by Pennant as " built in the form of a Greek cross," in which all the four limbs are of equal length ; but this is a mistake, into which that intelligent writer appears to have fallen, from his neglecting to observe, that, contrary to the general practice, the head of this cross, which is of the usual form, is turned toward the west, so that the eastern limb, of which only two arches are now standing, had, when entire, the longer dimensions commonly given in the Latin cross, to its opposite part. (See Plate VIII.) This, though a singular, was doubtless an economical plan of construction, by which a large and spacious choir was obtained for the celebration of divine worship, * See The Border jTowr, published at Edinburgh, in 1826. K 74 . HISTORY OF without the necessity of extending the nave, used chiefly for pompous ceremonies and processions, to a proportionate length, and at a much greater expense. The Scotish reformers are guiltless of stirring up the multitude to the demolition of this church ; for, being occupied as a place of defence by the town's people during the Earl of Hertford's invasion in 1545, it was destroyed by the enemy, sixteen years before " the lords of the secreit counsaill maid ane act, that all places and monumentis of idolatry sould be destroyed."* From the state of the ruin, it may be inferred, that the cannon employed in battering it down, were directed against it from the northeast. The two arches already mentioned, with their superstructure, are all that remain of the choir. They spring from massive Saxon piers, having slender circular half-pillars attached to three sides of the same ; and these have moulded capitals, forming imposts for the springing of the arches. These two arches are in the south side of the choir next the cross, and support a part of the wall which upheld the main roof. Within the thickness of this wall are two galleries, one over the other, open to the interior by an arcade of small round arches, springing from slender stone shafts. (See Plate VI.) Narrow passages within the thickness of the walls, communicating with these galleries, and with the stairs and other avenues, run round the whole building at different heights, opening at intervals to the interior. The choir had two side aisles, with two rows of strong piers, or columns, supporting the arches and their superstructure. The transept and western division of the church have no side aisles. The walls of the north and south transept are still nearly entire ; and more than half of the western part, or head of the cross, also remains, containing a segment of a most magnificent archway, enriched with a profusion of grotesque carvings, which, though much worn away and defaced, still display considerable elegance, both of design and execution. The north entrance remains entire ; and the numerous mouldings of its deep arch exhibit the dancette, or zigzag, the billet, and other decorations of the Ssixon style. The walls, both within and without, are adorned with a course of blank semicircular arches, interlaced with each other, and some of them richly, and some sparingly, relieved with ornaments. Over the intersection of the cross in the centre * Knox's History of the Reformation. Edinburgh, 1732, page 274. THE TQWN AND ABBEY OF KELSO. 73 of the building, rose a lofty square tower, or lantern, upon four spacious arches, in the pointed style, with six windows in each of its sides, and open galleries within. Only the south and west sides remain, which are the grandest and most striking parts of the ruin. At each of the exterior angles of the cross, the building projects a little, and forms a square tower, which contains a narrow winding stair, and finishes in a round turret at the top, except at the north angle of the west end of the fabric, which terminates in an octagonal turret. The corresponding south-west angle is demolished. There is no appearance of buttresses in any part of the building, the walls of Saxon edifices being constructed with such strength and solidity as not to require supports of this kind. The windows, which are numerous, are almost all long, narrow, and circular headed, without any appearance of tracery. One in front of the north transept forms a complete circle, and two in each side of the central tower are quatrefoils, set in circles. With regard to the other buildings of this monastery, the cloister occupied a large square on the south side of the choir. There was a chapel of the Virgin, in which were curiously carved stalls, and which was probably contiguous to the east end of the church ; a dormitory with separate cells ; an abbot's hall of suitable splendour ; and a gate housci But these, and all the other offices, have been entirely swept away, and nothing is left to indicate their probable site but the remains of the church, of the principal parts of which the following are the dimensions : — Length of the transept, within the walls, 71 feet. Breadth of the same, 23 feet. Height of the central tower, 91 feet. Breadth of the same, 23 feet. Thickness of the walls of the same, 5 feet 6 inches. Height of the pointed arches under the tower, 45 feet. Width of the same, 17 feet. Diameter of the columns in the choir, 7 feet. 76 HISTORY OF HISTORY OF THE ABBEY OF KELSO. The monks of Kelso were of a reformed class of the Benedictine order, first established at Tiron in France, in the year 1109, and hence called Tironenses. The elder St Bernard,* their founder, and first abbot, was born at Abbeville, in the same country, in 1046 ; and, at the age of twenty, embraced the monastic life in the Benedictine convent of St Cyprian at Poictiers. At thirty, he was chosen prior of the monastery of St Savin, and held that office with credit twenty years, but returned to St Cyprian upon his being elected abbot in 1096. Some time afterwards, having adopted the principles of a sect who were endeavouring to effect what was called a revival of religion, and a reformation of the monastic discipline, he quitted his abbey, and joined the society of the zealous itinerant Robert d'Arbricelle, archdeacon of Rennes, and founder of the monastic order of Fontevraud, who, followed by a multitude of people, was then preaching in the province of Normandy. The zeal of this ecclesiastic is reported to have been not according to sound knowledge, for he is accused of habitually exposing himself to the strongest temptations, in order to prove his virtue ; for which a satirical eulogist has compared him to a salamander, which endures the fire without burning, t Bernard, desirous of retirement, and probably disapproving of such fanatical practices, withdrew from his society with a few companions ; when, after trying several places of retreat, and meeting with various interruptions, they finally settled in the woods of Tiron, in the county of Ponthieu, in Picardy, where they formed themselves into a religious fraternity under Bernard's direction, who caused them strictly to observe the rules of monastic life instituted by St Benedict, and added new * This monk raust be distinguished from Bernard, abbot of Clairvaux, who is frequently styled the Great St Bernard, and is justly esteemed one of the most eloquent theological writers of his age. He died in 1153. f NouveUe Hist, des Ordres Monastiques, tom. II. p. 224. THE ABBEY OF KELSO. 77 regulations of his own, which required that each of the brethren should practise within the convent whatever mechanical art he knew, both to preserve them from the corrupting power of idleness, and to provide, by useful industry, for the maintenance of the community, poor at its com- mencement. Accordingly, the monks of Tiron, and the other monasteries of this order, consisted of , painters, carvers, carpenters, smiths, masons, vine-dressers, and husbandmen, who were under the direction of an elder ; and the profits of their work were applied to the common use. Their dress at first was of gray cloth, but they afterwards wore a black habit.* Independently of the religious considerations which, in that age, operated with peculiar force in behalf of monastic institutions, a society thus con- stituted must have appeared highly advantageous in a civil point of view, as tending directly to the encouragement of industry, and the cultivation of many useful and ornamental arts, which, doubtless, contributed much to obtain for the monks of this order that patronage and encouragement under which they quickly increased in number and in wealth. David, Earl of Huntingdon and Northumberland, a wise, politic, and . religious prince, brother and successor to the King of Scots, was one of their early benefactors ; and it is reported, that he even went to France to visit Bernard, who happened to die before his arrival. This prince had already introduced the Tironensians into Scotland, having sent for thirteen monks from the original monastery, and settled them near his castle at Selkirk, in the year lllSjt when he made a suitable provision for their support, and appointed their abbot to be his chaplain. This appointment he confirmed after his accession to the throne, and the removal of the convent to Kelso ; when he ordained that the abbots of Kelso should be chaplains to him and his successors. * Odericus ViTALis, lib. 8, p. 715. Helyot Hist, des Ordres Monastiques, torn. VI. p. 118 — 120. The Tironensian order in France was suppressed before the year 1629, and the chief monastery, Tiron, was united to the congregation of St Maur ; but a few monasteries continued still to observe their own rules. + The year 1113 is the date assigned by Simeon of Durham, (apud X Scriptores a Twysden, col. 236,) who adds, that the monks continued fifteen years at Selkirk, which corresponds with the date of their removal to Kelso, in 1128. Fordun places them at Selkirk in 1109, the year in which Bernard first established the order at Tiron; and he dates their removal to Kelso in 1126, although he agrees with the Melros Chronicle in saying, that the church at Kelso was founded in 1128. 78 HISTORY OF I. Ralph, the first abbot, had presided at Selkirk four years, wheuj being chosen abbot of Tiron, upon the death of Bernard in 1117, he ' returned to France. * II. William, the second abbot, was likewise called to rule the parent monastery, upon the death of his predecessor Ralph, in 1119. t III. Herbert was the next abbot of Selkirk, and continued at the same time to hold the distinguished office of chancellor of the kingdom, to which he was appointed in the reign of Alexander 1.1: It appears that the principal residence of the kings of Scotland, at this period, was the castle of Roxburgh, a large and strong fortress, situated on a lofty eminence over- hanging the river Teviot on one side, and having the Twefed at a small distance on the other, with the fortified town of Roxburgh on the adjacent rising ground, nearer the confluence of the two rivers. When David received the Scotish crown, after the death of his brother, in 1124, he bethought him of removing the convent to the vicinity of this seat of royalty, from which Selkirk is sixteen miles distant ; wherefore, with the consent and advice of John, bishop of Glasgow, the diocesan, and other counsellors, he chose a delightful situation for them at Kelso, on the bank of the Tweed, opposite the town of Roxburgh, within view of his royjil castle, and distant from it about a mile.§ The foundation of the church, * Fordun places this event in 1115; Helyot says, that Bernard died in 1116 ; but accord- ing to the history of the abbey of Tiron, in Gallia Christiana, (torn, viii.) he died ii) 1117, where, however, his successor's name is not Ralph but Hugh. f Mel. Chron. Gallia Christiana, torn. viii. ± Ckawford's Lives of the Officers of the Crown and State of Scotland, p. 4. § In almost all the accounts of Kelso hitherto published, it has been erroneously asserted, that the convent was removed first to Roxburgh, and afterwards to this place. This mistake has evidently arisen from a careless examination of the words of the foundation charter, in which King David distinctly says, that he has " removed the monastery from Selechirche to Roxburg, to the church of the Virgin Mary, which is situated on the banh of the river Twede, in the place which is called Calkou," i. e. Kelso, which is here clearly spoken of as a part,' or suburb, of Roxburgh, probably because it was at that time a very inconsiderable place,- and chiefly known on account of its vicinity to that important town. This sufficiently accounts for the superior of the convent being at first sometimes styled abbot of Roxburgh ; as we find in a charter to the priory of Coldingham in 1139, among the witnesses to which is " Hereberto, abbate de Rochesburc ;" and also, at a later period, in the cohtJtauation of Sim. Sist. Eccks.Dun. cap.iii. although in a different MS. of the same work, {Bihl. Cotton. Titus, A. II.) he is styled in the same passage abbot, of Kelkdwe. See in the vario.us readings. THE ABBEY OF KELSO. 79 the magnificent remains of which still arrest the eye, and give additional interest to the peculiarly beautiful and romantic scenery around, was laid on the 3d of May, 1128. When finished, it was dedicated to God, under the invocation of the Virgin Mary, and the holy evangelist John, in regard to a circumstance of our Saviour's life, related in the 26th and 27th verses of the xixth chapter of St John's Gospel : " When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple standing by whom he loved, he saith unto his mother. Woman, behold thy son I Then saith he to the disciple. Behold thy mother ! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home." Kelso being situated in the diocese of St Andrews, Robert, the bishop of that see, granted the abbot and convent perpetual exemption from all episcopal dues and restrictions, permitting them to receive ordination, and the other sacraments of the church, and likewise their consecrated oil and chrism, used in sacred offices, from whatever bishop they pleased in Scot- land, or in Cumbria. * He also gave them the church of the Virgin Mary, which already stood on the banks of the Tweed at Kelso, when the abbey was founded. In 1144, the king established a priory of the same order at Lesmachut, or Lesmahago, in Clydesdale, so called from its having been at an early period the residence of Machutus, a missionary and reputed saint, believed to have been a native of Scotland, and to whom the church of this place was dedicated. He is sometimes called Machlou or Malou ; whence St Maloes in France, of which he was the first bishop, derives its name. He was a disciple of St Brendan, who flourished in the middle of the fifth century, and was the companion of his marvellous and romantic voyage to •page 335 of the excellent edition of this work, published in 1732, by Thomas Bedford, from ^ very ancient MS. in the episcopal library at l3urham. ♦ In Cumbria was comprehended part of the northwest of England and the southwest of Scotland. It was one of the provinces of the ancient Scoto-British nation, which included also the Galweienses and Strath-Clyde Britons, who, after the Saxon invaders had settled in the eastern part of their territory, withstood them in the west, and formed there an independent kingdom, that subsisted for some centuries. They were at last conquered and made subject to the crown of Scotland, by King Gregory, who, according to Wyntown and the Melros Chronick, reigned from 879 till 897 ; but, continuing to enjoy some degree of independence, and retaining their ancient language and manners for more than two centuries afterwards, they were looked upon as a separate people, like the Welsh at this day. 80 HISTORY OF the happy isles of the north.* King David gave Lesmahago the privilege of being an asylum, or sanctuary, into which those who fled for refuge front their enemies or avengers should obtain peace and protection from the king, in honour of God and of St Machlou, as soon as they came within the four crosses erected within the limits of the priory.t The monks were taken from the society at Kelso, and Lesmahago became a cell, or subject priory, under the government of the abbots of Kelso, in which state of dependence it continued until the suppression of monachism in Scotland, in 1559. The monasteries of Aberb'rothoc, Lindores, and Kilwinning, were likewise planted from Kelso ; but the abbot John granted a charter in 1178, in which he quits all claim to the subjection and obedience of the abbot of Aberbrothoc ; and it is probable that the convents of Lindores and Kilwinning obtained a similar exemption, as there is no mention of their being subject to the parent monastery. Herbert, the abbot of Kelso, being promoted to the see of Glasgow in 1147, resigned his abbey, and was consecrated bishop, on the 24th of August, the same year, by Pope Eugenius III, at Auxerre in Burgundy. He died in 1164. He was the author of a book giving an account of the rebellion of Somerled, thane of Argyle, and his punishment. :]: IV. Ernald, the next abbot, presided thirteen years. In his time, the monks, in common with the whole country, had to lament the death of their munificent patron. King David, and of his only son, Henry Earl of Huntingdon and Northumberland, a prince no less beloved for the mild and gentle virtues of his character, than admired for his manly spirit and valour. He died on the 12th of June, 1153, and his remains were interred in Kelso abbey. The king expired at Carlisle on the 24th of May, the following year, and was buried at Dunfermline. The purity of his life, his great piety and charity, the zeal and Jiberality with which he founded and endowed institutions for diffusing the knowledge and the influence of religion among his subjects, joined with every patriotic and princely virtue, were more than sufficient, in that age, to invest him with the reputation of sanctity ; and the credulity of an affectionate and * Legend of St Machutus, in the British Museum, Bibl. Reg. 13, A. X, In the same collection are three legends of Brendan, Bibl. Reg. 8, E. xvii. in Latin prose; Vespasian, D. ix. in Leonine verse; and Vespasian, B. x. in Norman French verse. \ Chartulary of Kelso, folio 10, v. \ Dempsteei Hist. Eccles, gentis Scotorum, THE ABBEY OF KELSO. 81 grateful people, easily discovered miraculous proofs of it, even in the common appearances of nature. John, the prior of Hexham, relates, that "when those to whom that care "was committed, were conveying his body from Carlisle to the place of sepulture, and came to the shore of the Firth of Forth, at Queensferry, they found the sea in so boisterous and agitated a state, that they "were afraid to venture upon it ; -but no sooner had they placed the royal corpse in the boat, than the storm abated, so that they reached the opposite shore "without difficulty, Vhen immediately the tempest began again to rage "with redoubled fury. * Malcolm IV, the son of Earl Henry, like his father and grandfather, seeking to instruct and civilize his subjects through the influence of the monks and clergy, made several donations to the convent at Kelso, and, in 1159, gave them a general charter of confirmation, ratifying to them all the grants of land, and other property, made to them by former benefactors up to that period, t Upon the death of Robert, bishop of St Andrews, in 1160, the vacant see having been offered to Waltheof, abbot of Melros, and refused, it was afterwards accepted by the abbot of Kelso. He was consecrated by William bishop of Moray, legate of the Roman see for Scotland, in presence of the king and a numerous assemblage of the Scotish nobility. Ernald began to build the cathedral church of his diocese the same year, the king and his court assisting at the ceremony of laying the first stone. He died Sep- tember the 13th, ll62.t Spotswood, in his History of the Scotish Church, says, that the bishop of Moray, being at Rome in 1159, when he returned, " carried himself as legate to the pope ; which power he resigned to Ernald after his consecration, as he was enjoined by Eugenius HI, who then held the chair." He also informs us, that, " in a convention of the estates, kept the same year, Ernald did earnestly insist vrith the king to make choice of a wife, for assuring the royal succession, and to that effect made a long speech in the hearing of the estates ; but the king had taken a resolution to live single, and would not be diverted. § The abbot also wrote a treatise On the Right Government of a Kingdom, and addressed it to the king. || * Decern Seriptores, Col. 282. f See a translation of King Malcolm's charter, infra. J Scotichronicon, vi. 35. , § Lib. ii. p. 36. II Dempsteki Hist. Eccl. gentis Scotorum.^ L 82 HISTORY OF V. John, the precentor of the monastery, was chosen abbot on the 29th of November, II60, and received the episcopal benediction from Herbert, bishop of Glasgow, on the 6th of January following.* Walter, who was prior about this time, was a person of distinguished merit, and much considered on account of his learning. He wrote a book On the Freedom of the Scotish Church ; An Appeal to the Court of Rome, probably on the same subject ; and A Collection of Letters, addressed to divers Persons, f He opposed with spirit the ambitious claim of Roger, archbishop of York, to the primacy of the Scotish Church. This prelate, the rival of the celebrated Thomas a Becket, then archbishop of Canterbury, having, as a step to his meditated usurpation, got himself appointed, by intrigue, legate of the Roman see for Scotland, which he probably represented as included in his archiepiscopal province, sent a haughty summons to the Scotish clergy to meet him, in his legatine capacity, at the castle of Norham. But they, aware of his designs against the independence of their national church, and having usually enjoyed the privilege of having the papal representative chosen from among themselves, unanimously agreed to deny the legitimacy of his authority, and sent Ingelram, the bishop elect of Glasgow, with other select deputies, well escorted, to convey to him their determination. Among these, were Solomon, dean of Glasgow, and Walter, the prior of Kelso, who are said to have debated, in defence of their privileges, with eloquence and ability, although they did not prevail upon the archbishop to lay aside his pretensions. The matter was afterwards settled by an appeal to the papal court, when Pope Alexander III. decided, that the Scotish church was independent of any other, save that of Rome.t The same pontiff conferred a mark of great distinction upon the abbot of Kelso and his successors, when he granted them permission to wear a mitre, upon fit occasions, during the celebration of mass in the church, in processions in the cloister, and when assisting at the pope's councils. § The Abbot John, * Scotichronicon. vi. 35. t Dempsteri Hist. Eccl. gentis Scotorum. X Scotichronicon, viii. 15. S From the pope's bull upon this occasion, which follows, it appears, that the monastery, being free from subjection to any other ecclesiastical authority, was considered as in immediate dependence on the see of Rome. « Alexander episcopus, servus servorum Dei, dilecto filio Johanni, Abbati de Calkou, salutem etapostolicambenedictionem : Devotionis tueesinceritatem, et quem circa nos et ecclesiam Dei geris affectum, diligenti studio attendentes, et quod ecclesia THE ABBEY OF KELSO. 83 who had gone to solicit this honour in person, returned from Rome, having obtained it, in 1165.* The possession of wealth naturally excites the desire, as it facilitates the acquisition^ of power, honours, and distinction. Only half a century had elapsed from the time of the original foundation of the monastery at Selkirk, yet, by the liberality of its numerous benefactors, and, probably, by the skilful management and improvement of its property by the intelligent monks, it had already reached a high degree of riches and splendour. The abbot claimed the precedence of all the other superiors of religious houses in the kingdom : this, however, was disputed by the prior of St Andrews, upon the plea of the greater antiquity of his monastery, and its being under the protection of the patron saint of Scotland, and its church that of the metropolitan see. The time when this controversy commenced is not ascertained ; but, after it had been long agitated, it was finally decided by King James I, about the year 1420, in favour of the prior of St Andrews, t Another dispute, which began in the time of the Abbot John, between him and Walter, abbot of Tiron, concerning which of them should have authority over the other, marks still more strongly the grandeur and high pretensions of the monks of Kelso ; since it was generally considered as an unquestionable rule, that religious houses, unless specially exempted, should continue under a certain degree of subjection to the society from which they sprung, and all of them to the original, or parent convent of the order. 1: There is no account of the termination of this controversy. The Abbot John died in 1180, when he had presided twenty years. § VI. OsBERT, who was prior of Lesmahago, next received the mitre and crosier from the monks of Kelso. || About this time. King William having had the spirit to resist the interference of the pope, in the appointing a bishop to the diocese of St Andrews, after all other means which were employed to bring him to submission had failed, he was excommunicated, tuae gubernationi commissa Romana ecclesiajilia specialis exisfit, nihilominus, considerantes honorem et gratiam tibi, et eidem ecclesiae tuae in quibus cum Deo possumus libentius exhibemus, et prompto animo quantum honestas perraiserit honoramus. Inde eiquidem est, quod ad postulationem tuam, usum mitrae tibi et successoribus tuis duximus indulgendum, auctoritate apostolica statuentes ut ad honorem Dei et ecclesiae tuae decorem, in solemniis missarum ea congruis teraporibus utendi in ecclesia tua, et in processionibus in claust.ro tuo, et in concilio Romani pontificis facultatem liberam habeatis."— (7ar«. de Kelchou, fol. 170. v. * Chron. de Mailros. t Scotichronicon, vi. 49. % ^^»^- ^i"- 25. § Ibid. viii. 29. || Chron. de Mailros. 84 HISTORY OF and the kingdom was interdicted, or prohibited the use of the sacraments and public offices of religion, by Alexander III, a short while before the death of that able and imperious pontiff,* His successor, Lucius III, being a man of more temper and moderation, and less firmly seated in the papal chair, William set on foot a negotiation with him, which was conducted by Josceline, bishop of Glasgow, who was sent upon an embassy to Rome, attended by the Abbot Osbert, Ernald, Abbot of Melros, and other persons of honourable rank. By this means a reconciliation was effected, and the pontifical curses were taken off ; a compromise being made whereby the pope's pretensions were saved, while the king obtained his immediate object, which was the appointment of his chaplain, Hugh, to the metropolitan see, and the exclusion of another candidate, an Englishman, who had been supported by papal influence. When the ambassadors took leave of the pope, on the eve of their return home, he sent by them his paternal blessing to the king, together with a rose of gold, curiously wrought, upon a golden twig, in the form of a sceptre.t This was a frequent present of the Roman pontiffs to kingSjt being considered as an emblem of Christ, according to the generally received interpretation of the words, " I am the rose of Sharoii, and the lily of the valley." The cavity of this mystic rose was usually filled with balm, which was another sacred emblem. The same pontiff conferred upon the convent at Kelso, the privilege that no sentence of excommunication should have any force against them, unless it proceeded * It required not only great firmness of mind, but an understanding in an extraordinary degree enlightened, to despise the papal censures in that age. The usual form of excom- munication was, at least, sufficiently awful to strike terror into any one who believed in the lawfulness of that authority so impiously assumed by the popes. It was done by taking lighted torches, throwing them on the ground, and trampling them out to the ringing of bells, after pronouncing the following words: — "By the authority of Almighty God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and the blessed Mary, the mother of God, and all the saints, I excom- municate, anathematize, and put out of the confines of the holy mother church, A. B. that evil doer, with his abettors, and accomplices ; and, unless they repent and niake satisfaction, thus may their light be put out before Him that liveth for ever, and ever; So be it. Amen, Amen, Amen." ■f Chroti. de Mailros. J In later times, the gift of the pope to kings was, not unfrequently, a sword, with a rich scabbard and belt, signifying to them their duty to fight in defence of the church. Such a present, together with a diadem, was sent by pope Julius II. to James IV. of Scotland, in 1507 ; and is still to be seen among the other royal ornaments preserved in the castle of Edinburgh. § Canticles, ii. I. THE ABBEY OF KELSO. 85 directly from the apostolic see.* Innocent III. confirmed this and their other privileges and immunities, about the year 1201, declaring, that no archbishop, nor bishop, nor any person not specially commanded by the apostolic see, should have power to lay the monastery under an excom- munication or interdict ; and that though the whole kingdom were interdicted, they might celebrate divine offices in their church, in a low voice, with the doors closed, and without i-inging of bells. In token of their immediate dependence upon the Roman see, they were to pay a mark of silver yearly ; although, as an acknowledgment for their other privileges, they paid, annually, a piece of gold, or two pieces of silver, t The Abbot Osbert died in 1203, when he had ruled the convent twenty- three years, t VII. Geoffrey, the prior, was now raised to the higher dignity of abbot ; but, farther than this, nothing is recorded of him. § About this time. Innocent III. wrote two pontifical epistles in behalf of the monastery. The one was to the chapter of the convent itself, directing that the emoluments of the benefices annexed to their house should be. applied, as was originally designed, to the maintenance of the brethren, hospitality to strangers, and the relief of the poor, instead of being conferred on individuals, as had been done lately by some of the abbots. The other epistle was addressed to the bishops, and other ecclesiastics of rank and authority in Scotland, prohibiting them from injuring the monastery. || From this, it is probable that the immunities of the convent had been disputed. The same pontiff confirmed, by his authority, all their privileges, * Cart, de Kelehou, 170, r. t •^«<^- 16^, v, t Scotichronicon, viii. 64. § Ibid. viii. 64. II « Dilecto namque filio nostro H. monacho vestro referents, accepimus quod abbates qui pro tempore in vestro monasterio adrainistrant ecclesias quae illi monasterio ad sustentationem fratrum, et hospitum susceptionem ac pauperum concessae sunt canonice, et collatae in dispen- dium vestrum, quibusdam personis conferunt et assignant, pro quibus illarum proventus sustentationi fratrum et pauperum indebite subtrahuntur. Unde, quoniam indignum est admodum et absurdum, ut fratrum et pauperum stipendia per aliquorum praesumptionem eis illicite subtrahi debeant, quorum sunt usibus deputata, ad exemplar felicis recordationis Lucii, Papae, praedecessoris nostri, prajsentium authoritate statuimus, et firraiter prohi- bemu's, ut nullus, de cetero, ecclesias vestras aliquibus conferre praesumat, per quos ipsorum proventus ad alium usum transferri debeant, nisi ad eum pro quo piis desideriis ac devotione laudabile vestro monasterio sunt concessae, &c. Dat. Laterani, 3° Kal. Dec" Hay's Scotia Sacra, MS. 86 HISTORY OF among which was that of complete exemption from all episcopal juris- diction, save that of the holy see. VIII. RiCHAKD DE Cane was elected by the convent, on the 29th of March, 1206. The same year, John, prior of Kelso, was preferred to the episcopal see of Aberdeen. * He died the following year. The Abbot Richard died in 1208. t His successor, IX. Henry, the prior, was preferred by the choice of the convent, on the 17th of June, 1208. t This abbot assisted at the general council, held at Rome, in November, 1215,§ for the purpose of concerting measures, and raising money to be employed in renewing the persecution against those Christian churches, generally known by the names of Waldenses and Albi- genses, who, untainted by the errors and superstitions which had grown upon religion in the rest of Europe, had long preserved, in their remote habitations, in the wilds of the western Alps, the pure and scriptural knowledge of Christianity, which, for the last fifty years, had been spreading from them into the south of France, and into Spain and Italy, with a rapidity and success, that, but for the atrocious and cruel means employed to suppress it, might have speedily effected the overthrow of the papal tyranny. There were present at this assembly, twelve hundred and eighty- three prelates, of whom six hundred and seventy-three were bishops. Among the latter were the bishops of St Andrews, Glasgow, and Moray. The rest of the Scotish prelates sent deputies. The council sat fifteen days, at the end of which the abbot of Kelso, and Brice, bishop of Moray, returned home. The bishop of Glasgow did not return till the third year, and the bishop of St Andrews not until the fourth year thereafter. The Abbot Henry died October 5, 1218, having governed the abbey ten years. || X. Richard, the prior, obtained the abbot's office, on the 19th of the same month, and held it till his death, which happened on the 2d of August, 1221.^ XI. Herbert Maunsel, the secretary of the convent, was the next abbot. When he had presided fifteen years, he solemnly resigned his charge on the 8th of September, 1236, depositing his crosier, or pastoral staff, and mitre, upon the high altar of the church. ** * Boethii Aherdon. Episc. VitcB. + Chron. de Mailros. J Scotichronicon, viii. 68. § This was the twelfth general council, and the fourth of the Lateran. II Scotichronicon, ix. 33. ^ Chron. de Mailros. ** Ibid. THE ABBEY OF KELSO. 87 XII. Hugh de * * * * one of the monks, was raised to the dignity of abbot, on the resignation of his predecessor.* Three years afterwards, Cardinal Otho, legate of Pope Gregory IX, being at Melros on the eve of St Dennis, in the month of October, compelled Herbert to resume the government of Kelso abbey, which he is stated to have indiscreetly laid down. Upon this, Hugh, who is described as a man of advanced age, and most exemplary life, willingly retired from the office.t After this, however, there is no farther mention of the Abbot Herbert ; and there is evidence, in the chartulary of the monastery, that Hugh exercised the authority of abbot of Kelso, in 1240 and 1241.1: It is likewise recorded in the Melros Chronicle, that Hugh, abbot of Kelso, died in 1248. About this period, the abbot and convent received authority from the papal see, which was to continue to them and their successors in future, whereby they might excommunicate by name known thieves, and invaders of their estates and property, and whosoever were guilty of doing evil to their church. The sentence of excommunication was to be solemnly pronounced, with lighted candles and ringing of bells, on a Sunday, or holiday, and they were empowered to repeat it every year, on the Thursday before Easter, the feast of the assumption of the blessed Virgin, and other solemn occasions ; and the bishops within whose dioceses such malefactors might happen to live, were commanded to ratify and confirm it, and to avoid, and cause others to avoid, having any intercourse with them, till they made satisfaction. The pope's legate having written to the bishop of St Andrews for this purpose, he issued an injunction, on the 1st of July, 1247, to all the arch- deacons, officials, deans, parsons, vicars, and chaplains, in his diocese, requiring them to give effect to such sentences of excommunication. § XIII. Robert de Smalhame, a monk of Kelso, was made abbot in 1248, and died in 1258. || * Chron. de Mailros. t -'**'^- \ Cart, de Kelckmi, 91, r. and 94, r. § Cart, de Kelchau, 159, v. 11 David de Bernham, bishop of St Andrews, and chamberlain to the king, died in 1253, at the village of Nenthorn, and in compliance with his own request, but contrary to the wishes of the clergy of his cathedral, he was buried in Kelso abbey. Notwithstanding their desire that his mortal remains should be deposited in their church, it does not appear that this bishop was in reality a favourite with the clergy of St Andrews, whom he is 88 HISTORY OF XIV. Patrick, another of the monks, was the next abbot, and held the office two years, when he was removed, without any just reason being assigned, but, as was believed, through the intrigues and influence of his successor .at the papal court. XV. Henry de Lambeden, the chamberlain of the monastery, having been at Rome, returned to Kelso in 1260, and brought with him an order from Pope Alexander IV. to the Abbot Patrick, by which he was commanded to resign his charge immediately into the hands of the bearer. So completely was the despotism of the Roman see at this time established, that although this imperious mandate was understood to have been obtained by corrupt means, which called forth much censure, yet no resistance was offered to it, nor does it appear to have excited any doubts respecting, the right of a foreign bishop to exercise such authority. The submissive abbot laid down his mitre, and other pontifical ornaments, upon the grand altar of the church ; and Henry immediately invested himself in them, and assumed the government of the convent on the very day of his arrival. He presided fifteen years with little credit ; -for the ungenerous and irregular means by which he supplanted his predecessor, and obtained the office, could not easily be forgotten. His death, in 1275, was sudden, and appears to have been caused by apoplexy. It occurred as he sat at table, and was just beginning his repast. The monks, it is said, considered this as a special interposition of Heaven, to punish him for his wicked ambition ; and they refused to pay him the respect of watching his corpse ; but buried him the same day on which he died.t XVI. Richard was abbot of Kelso in 1 285, as appears from the chartu- lary of the abbey, in which he is mentioned as holding a court at Redden understood to have harassed with various exactions, Chron. de Mailros. Wyntown thus speaks of him, — The Byschope Davy of Bernhame Past off this warld to his lang hame ; As he dyd here, sk fand he there ; Of him I byd* to spek na mare : He chesyd his layre in-til Kelsevife, Noucht in the kyrke of Seynt Andre we, * Byd — pught,must, ■)■ Chron. de Mailros THE ABBEY OF KELSO. 89 on the 15th of May, when Hugh de Reveden, son and heir of John, son of Hugh de Reveden, resigned for a sum of money, to his lords the abbot and monks of Kelso, all the land which he and his ancestors had, at any time, held in the territories of Reveden and Home.* After the death of Alexander III. and his grand-daughter, the Princess of Norway, when Edward I. of England, Robert the Bruce, and John Baliol, each appointed forty commissioners, who should assemble together at Berwick, on the 3d of August, 1291, in order to examine the claims of the several competitors for the crown, the abbot of Kelso was one of those chosen by Baliol. t The Abbot Richard, and the convent, took an oath of fealty to the English monarch at Berwick, on the 20th of August, 1 296, when their estates, forfeited by their previous hostility to his ambitious designs against the independence of the country, were restored to them. King Edward's letters, commanding this restitution, were addressed to the sheriffs of Berwick and Roxburgh, and dated September 2.1 The miseries of the war between the two countries, which soon after ensued, fell heavily upon the monks. The monastery, which, being situated so near the limits of the kingdom, had been a scene of daily hospitality and charity to the wayfaring and poor of both countries, was now exposed to the incessant attacks of military freebooters, who, converting the war into an opportunity and licence to commit every sort of disorder^ returned the monks evil for their good, and made their peacefjil halls and cloisters a theatre of rapine, extortion, and bloodshed. In the end, the monastery was laid waste by fire, and the monks and lay brethren were reduced to the necessity of subsisting by the alms of the other religious houses in Scotland, until they recovered their estates by the expulsion of the ehemy. § XVII. Walran was abbot at this period. His name occurs in charters dated 1307, and 1311.11 XVIII, Thomas de Durham, an Englishman, who probably owed his preferment to the military success of his countrymen, is mentioned in a charter as having borne the name and office of abbot of Kelso by usurpation, some time previous to the year 1315.^ He had also been prior of # Cart, de Kelchmi, 88, v. f Rymer. % Ibid, § Cart, de Kekhou, 119, v. 1| Ihid. 22, r. 81, r. l[ Ibid. 76, v, M 90 HISTORY OF Lesmahago at the same time, and is accused of having- wastefuUy spent or embezzled the goods of both the monasteries during his rule, which probably terminated with the battle of Bannockburn, in 1314. XIX. William de Alyncrom was abbot of Kelso after this. In 1316, he exchanged, with William de Lamberton, bishop of St Andrews, the parish church of Cranston, in Mid-Lothian, the patronage of which belonged to the convent, for the church of Naythansthirn, and the chapel of Little Newton. * This abbot summoned the burgesses of the town of Wester Kelcowt into his court, held there in 1323, to answer to his complaint of their having, of their own authority, made new burgesses, licensed brewers, and committed other acts of the same kind, without his consent, contrary to his rights and privileges as their feudal lord. The burgesses, by their prolocutor, Mr Hugh of Chirnside, clerk, made an apology, admitting that they had no right to act as they had done, but disclaiming any intention to offend their lord the abbot. The name of William, abbot of Kelso, occurs in 1326. t XX. William of Dalgernock, preceptor to David IT, the young king of Scots, was abbot of Kelso in 1329. § When the King of England sent an army to invade Scotland, in 1333, upon the pretence of supporting the claims of Edward Baliol, but in reality to prepare the way for his own usurpation of the Scotish crown, David retired with his tutor to France, where they resided nine years, at Chateau Gaillard, on the Seine, in Normandy. || In the mean time, the abbey was under the care of Thomas * Cart, de Kelchou, 120, r. f Easter Kelso and Wester Kelso are both mentioned in the rent-roll of the abbey, prefixed to the chartulary. J Cart de Kelchou, 177. v. § Ibid. 204. v. II Wyntown's Cronykil, MS. Harleian, 6909. It is to be observed, that of the five MSS. consulted by Macpherson, the editor of Wyntown, the passage in which the abbot is mentioned as the king's tutor, is found only in the Harleian copy ; but as it appears from internal evidence, [see preface, page xxxvii.] that this MS. vras « copied from one written in the abbey of Kelso," there is no reason to doubt the correctness of the information con- tained in the passage which follows : Dene William of Dalgernow, That tyme abbot of Kelsou, Wes his techor all this tyme, Keepit in a castell fyne That stands into Normandy, Castell Galliard callit suthly. THE ABBEY OF KELSO. 91 de Hassynden, who was styled warden of the monastery of Kelso; Edward III. gave a letter of protection to the monks on the 26th of July, 1333.* The priory at Lesmahago was more unfortunate. It was cruelly burned in the beginning of the war by John of Eltham, brother to the English king, with a number of people within it, who, probably trusting to the inviolability of its privileges as a sanctuary, had taken refuge there from the sword of the enemy, t Baliol, in return for the support afforded him, made over to Edward the counties of Roxburgh, Berwick, Dumfries, Selkirk, Haddington, Edinburgh, and Linlithgow, in June, 1334, to be annexed to England for ever.t While things remained in this situation, it is probable that Kelso, and the other monasteries in this part of the kingdom, did not suffer much from the war, which was continued, with little intermission, till the king's return, in 1342. But, in the struggle which now took place, by which he was reinstated in his dominions, it appears that the convent was more unfortunate ; for, in 1344, David granted permission " to the abbey of Kelcow, being burnt by England, to cut wood in Selkirk and Jedwart forests for reparation." § Besides what they suffered from the public enemy, their exposed situation on the frontiers of the kingdom laid the property of the monks open to the predatory attacks of the disorderly marchmen of either country, who were habituated to plunder, and paid little regard to law or truce. To shield themselves, if possible, from marauders of this description, they usually obtained, in times of general truce, letters of protection from the King of England, in which punishment was threatened to any of his subjects who should injure or molest them, or their dependents, lands, property, or revenues. It may serve to shew to what distress this part of Scotland was reduced by the war, that, upon such occasions, permission was likewise commonly granted them to buy provisions in England, and to * Rotuli Scotia. On the 4th of March, 1334, King Edward restored to the convent certain revenues belonging to it in the town of Berwick, viz.: — The 7th part of the milns; 40 shilUngs out of the firm of the town ; 26sh. from two messuages in Southgate ; 9d. from a messuage in le Bocherie ; 6sh. from a messuage in Briggate; 9sh. lid. from four messuages in Uddyngate ; 4sh. from a messuage in the corner of Waldefgate ; 6sh. 8d. from another in the same street ; and 2sh. from one in Seintmariegate. f Keith's Catalogue of Bishops and Religious Houses. % Rotuli Scbtice. § Robertson's Index of Charters. 92 HISTORY OF convey tliem, when purchased, to their monastery, without molestation. * The name of William, abbot of Kelso, without any other designation, is found in charters dated in 1342 and 1354. t XXI. William de Bolden was abbot of Kelso in 1370, He is styled, in a charter, " The reverend lord, William de Bolden, by the grace of God, abbot of the monastery of Calkow." In a charter, dated in 1372, is found the name of " William, by divine mercy, abbot of Calkow.":f XXII. Patrick, who is sometimes styled, " by divine permission, abbot of Kelso," is mentioned in various charters, from the year 1398 till 1406. In 1398, we find him granting to one of the monks, who is stated to be in priest's orders, and in the full exercise of that office, licence to study, for the space of two years, at either of the English universities, any liberal science or art which might be lawfully permitted him ; and to choose foy himself a suitable confessor to absolve him of his sins.§ At this period, a new impulse towards learning had been given to the minds of men, and greater interest was felt in its studies and inquiries, The long night of comparative ignorance and superstition was giving way to the rising dawn of knowledge and truth, and its light had already exposed many of the errors of the papal theology, and was marshalling the way to that removal of its abuses which took place at the Reformation of religion. Many of the clergy, and even monks and friars, in England, had embraced the opinions of the proto-reformer, John Wiclif. The far greater body of those who were averse to reform, and, for conscience sake, or private interest, were .attached to the papal system, had taken the alarm. Persecution was begun, and its denunciations had already, in 1 402, been heard in the monastery at Kelso ; not, indeed, against any of its own members, but against three English ecclesiastics, who, it may be inferred, had fied into Scotland, and, perhaps, were supposed to have found an asylum among them. This is, at least, a reasonable conjecture to account for the insertion in the chartulary of two injunctions of Walter Skirlaw, bishop of Durham, to the archdeacon of "Northumberland, and his official; the one dated February 8, 1402, directing « Rotuli Scotice, annis 1368, 1369, &c. t Cart, de Aberbroth. 5. v. Cart, de Kelchou, 195, r. X Cart, de Kelchou, 176, v. 177, r. J Ibid. 173, r. THE ABBEY OF KELSO. ?q them to apprehend, or, if that cannot be done, to cite jbefore him, on the 23d pf the same month, in the great chaipel at Auckland, James Notyngham and Robert de Roxburgh, priests, suspected of unsoundness in the faith, and denounced to him as teE|.chers of perverse and erroneous doctrine ; thq other, dated April 6th, the same year, to the same effect, against Johrt Wythby and James Notyngham, priests.* XXIII, William, abbot of Kelso, having represented to Pope Martin V, in the ninth year of his pontificate, 1428, that a perpetual chantry or chapellany, the presentation to which belonged to him and hi§ successors, had been founded in the parish church of St James's at Roxburgh, by a certain layman, Roger de Auldton, for the celebration of mass at certain times of the year, for the safety of his soul, and that of his wife and their other friends, which had been duly performed for a long time, but was then discontinued, on account of the destruction of the said church and its property in the late wars ; the pope gave him permission, with the consent of the rector of the church, and the heirs of the said founder, to trainsfer the service of the chapellany to some convenient chapel in his abbey, until the said parish church should be repaired, and the income of the chapellany restored to its former value, vrhich was, in the mean time, to be fully enjoyed by the officiating priest. When Thomas, abbot of Dryburgh, was commissioned by the bishop of St Andrews, ,in 1434, to see the above conditions executed, William is mentioned as the late abbot of Kelso, t XXIV. William was abbot of Kelso in 1435, and continued to hold that office on November l6th, 1444.1: At Kelso, on the 30th of May, 1435, John Trewnot, a monk of the abbey, with consent of William, the Jord abbot, and convent, constituted the noble and discreet men, John de St Michael, Robert de B. and Robert de Fergushyl, legal procurators and factors of the monastery at the courts of Edinburgh and , elsewhere, to defend them against the complaints of the Lord David de B. or other persons, before the provost and bailies, judges, justiciaries, &c.§ * Cart, de Kelchou, 174, r. 175, r. The first person who suffered in Scotland for anti- papistry, appears to have been John Resby, an English priest, who was found guilty in a council of the Scotish clergy, in 1408, of forty heretical opinions, for which he was burned to death. Scotichronicon, xv. 20. + Cart, de Kelchou, 178, r. \ List of charters of Melros Abbey, in possession of Thomas Thomson, Esq. deputy register. § Cart, de Kekhou, 190, v. 94 HISTORY OF It must have been a favourable occurrence for the monks, when, in 1460, the castle of Roxburgh was taken from the English, who had held and garrisoned it ever since the time of Edward Baliol, in 1356, to the great annoyance and oppression of the neighbourhood. But the death of King James II, who was killed by the bursting of a cannon during the siege, was an event deeply lamented by all. The spot where he fell is pointed out by a flat stone at the foot of a large holly bush, enclosed by a rail, in the lawn in front of the Duke of Roxburghe's mansion of Fleurs. After his death the address and courage of the queen contributed greatly to the success of the siege^ and when the place was yielded, the young King, James III, then only seven years of age, was crowned, and received the homage and oaths of allegiance of the nobles and chiefs of the army in Kelso abbey. XXV. Alan was abbot of Kelso in 1464, 1465, and 1466. * XXVI. Robert, abbot of Kelso, was one of the persons commissioned by the King of Scots, in 1473, to treat with commissioners appointed by the King of England, about redress of grievances on the Borders, and the punishment of those lawless individuals of either nation, who had been guilty of offences against the truce then subsisting, t The name of this abbot occurs also in 1475.$ At this period, a monk of Kelso called James, is mentioned by Dempster among the most celebrated Scotish authors, as a man of incomparable judgment, and a most skilful mathematician. He wrote, 1 . Breviarium Astrologicum ; 2. Canones Directionem ; 3. Super Errores Veterum ; 4. Defensionem udstrologicp, Libri II. [mentioned in a list of the books of the monastery by Richard Brown ;] 5. Commentarios in qucedam Archimedis ; 6. Poemata Sacra. § XXVII. George, abbot of Kelso, witnessed a charter of King James III. to the church of Glasgow in 1476*11 In 1490, King Henry the Seventh, " for certain causes moving him thereto," granted a writ of protection for seven years to the monastery of Kelso, the abbot and monks of the same, and their towns of Kelso, Redden, Sprowston, Wester Softlawe, the barony of Bolden, and all their lands, possessions, tenements, servants, corn, cattle, and goods, moveable and immoveable. At the same time he granted licence to one or two monks of the said abbey to go with their servants and goods into England, there to * Cart, de Kel. 181, v. 183, r. 184, r. -f Rymeh. % Cart, de Kel. 188, v. § Hist. Eccks. gentis Scotorum. \\ Acts of the Parliament of Scotland, vol. ii. J91. THE ABBEY OF KELSO. 93 buy, and carry thence into Scotland lead, wax, wine, and other merchan- dise, for the use of their convent ; and likewise to go, attended by one or two servants, to the wardens, or lieutenants, or other officers, to seek restitution of their goods, if any thing should be stolen from them by Englishmen. * XXVIII. Robert, abbot of Kelso, was appointed, by the three estates of the Scotish Parliament, in 1493, one of the auditors of causes and complaints. Henry, who was prior of Kelso at this time, is said to have been well versed in Latin and Greek literature. He was an intimate friend of the elegant Italian poet, Angelo Poliziano, and of the distinguished philosopher and theologian, Marsilio Ficino, and was the author of a number of literary works himself, namely, 1. A Greek poem on the Virgin Mary, which he published and inscribed to Lorenzo de' Medici. 2. A translation of the twelve books of Palladius Rutilius on Rural Economy, into Scotish verse. 3. A Botanical Synopsis, or book on herbs. 4. Excerpts from Varro, and Columella, a copy of which was preserved in the Dominican convent at Bologna. 5. A collection of his letters, which were deposited in the Laurentian library at Florence, and are, perhaps, still there. The name of the Abbot Robert occurs in charters dated in 1495, and several of the intermediate years, till 1505. t XXIX. Andrew Stewart, bishop of Caithness, had the abbey of Kelso granted him to hold in commendam, in the year 1511, when he was appointed lord high treasurer of Scotland. He was also commendator of Ferne abbey, in Ross-shire. He died June VJ, 1518.1: The privilege of electing their own superiors, originally enjjpyed by all the monastic communities, had now fallen generally, or rather universally, into disuse, and was become a mere form j the power itself being virtually exercised by the king, who, when an abbey or priory became vacant, found little difficulty in obtaining a mandate from the pope, directing the monks to choose the individual whom he nominated or recommended. This began to grow into use about the year 1474j wh&ij the king presented to the vacant abbeys of Dunfermline and Paisley. § It soon led to the more * Rotuli Scotits. + Dempst. Hist. Eccl. gerUis Scotarum. Cart, de Kekhou, 185, r. &C. ± Crawford's Lives. Keith's Scotish Bishops. § Balfour's Historical Works, I. p. 198. 96 HISTORY OF corrupt practice of granting the superiority and revenues of religious houses to bishops and secular priests, who, not having taken the monastic vows, were not duly qualified to preside in a monastery. Out of this grew the still greater abuse of committing charges of this nature to laymen, and even to infants. All these things were done with the- sanction of the papal authority ; and the monasteries, thus disposed of, were said to be held in commendam, or in trust. Until it should be found convenient to appoint a I'egular superior. It is recorded, that, on the night after the disastrous battle of Flodden, which was September 9> 1513, Andrew Ker of Ferniherst, commonly called Dand Ker, an active and powerful adherent of the Lord Home, one of the greatest noblemen in Scotland at that time, broke into the abbey of Kelso, and, having turned the superior out of doors, forcibly kept possession of it.* This violence must have been perpetrated in behalf of his brother ThomSfe, the next abbot. The abbey being at that time, as we have seen, held in commendam, might perhaps have been considered as in some measure open to the pretensions of candidates ; and the disorders of the government likely to ensue upon the death of the king, who Was slain in the battle, might tempt this warlike chieftain to commit an act of usurpation, which, perhaps, he was afterwards able to maintain, although liot without difficulty, as it appears, that, in August 1515, the abbot of Kelso, and other friends of Lord Home, were imprisoned at Dunfermline by the Duke of Albany, then regent of Scotland.! It is certain, that Bishop Stewart, when employed in negotiating with England, in 1515 and 1516, still enjoyed the title, if not the revenues, of commendator of Kelso abbey, arid probably did so until the event of his death, in 1518. XXX. Thomas Ker, abbot of Kelso, was principally concerned in carrying on the negotiations of truce with "England in 1519, and in several succeeding years. By these annual treaties, peace had generally been maintained ever since the year following the fatal overthrow at Flodden : but in 1522, the conditions proposed to the Scots being such as they could not honourably agree to, the, two countries were agaia placed in a state of active hostility. In the end of July, the Earl of Shrewsbury led a numerous army into Scotland, and made great havock in Teviotdale, but was at last * Cotton MS. Calig. B. vi. 37. Lesljeus, de Rebus gestis Scotorum. f Cotton MS. Calig. B. iii. 133. THE ABBEY OF KELSO. 97 driven back by the Scots. In this expedition Kelso felt the severity of two of his captains, the Lords Ross and Dacre, who, having pillaged it, burnt one half of the town, but do not appear to have injured the monastery.* ■This was only " scotching the snake, not killing it ; " and the Earl of Northumberland, unwilling that such a work should be left imperfect, determined to complete it, although there is no evidence to shew that he executed his purpose, which he communicated to King Henry VIII. in a letter dated at Warkworth, October 22, the same year, in which he says, — "I, by the advice of my brother ClyfForthe, have devysed, that, within this iij nyghts, Godde wylling, Kelsey shal be brent, with all the corn in the said town, and then they shall have noo place to lye any garryson in nygh unto the borders. And for this burnyng of Kelsey, is devysed to be doiie secretly, by Tynsdaill and Ryddisdale."t The conduct of the war, on the part of England, was soon afterwards intrusted to the more powerful hands of the Earl of Surrey ; and the Scots had reason to expect a formidable invasion the following spring. The abbot of Kelso, afraid of the impending storm, endeavoured to find shelter in the favour of Margaret, the queen dowager, sister to King Henry VIII, and prevailed upon that princess to intercede for him with the English com- mander that he would spare the abbey and town. With this view she wrote him a letter on St Katherine's eve, [January 6th,] 1523, of which the following is an extract : " Also, my lord, the abat of Kelsoo hath prayed me to vryt to you to be hys good lord, and that for my sake ze wol not let na ewel to bi don to that place, the whiche I wyl pray you to do, and that he may find hym the bettir for my request ; with your answar agayn for that bebalfe." t This application, however, proved altogether fruitless ; for, on the SOth of June the same year, Kelso was sacked, burned, and destroyed by a body of the enemy led by Thomas, Lord Dacre ; when they demolished and reduced to ashes the abbot's house, with the buildings around it, and the chapel of the blessed Virgin, in which were stalls, or seats of elegant workmanship. They likewise burnt all the cells of the dormitory, and unroofed every part of the monastery, carrying away the lead which covered it ; in consequence of which the interior and walls were, * See page 26. + Cotton MS. Califf. B. vii. 179. Inserted in the notes to the Zay of the Last Minstrel, Canto IV. J Cotton MS. Califf. B. i. 257. N 98 HISTORY OF a long while after, thoroughly exposed to the injuries of the weather ; and all religious services were interrupted. During this period the monks retired into one of the nearest villages, and celebrated the rites of their religion in the greatest want and poverty. * A circumstantial account of this expedition is given in the following letter from Lord Dacre to the Earl of Surrey, written at Harbottle, on the first of July, 1523. " My lord, in my moost humble wise I recommend me unto your good lordship, certifying you upon Monday last I assembled the king's garrison, and the moost parte of the inhabitants of this towne, to Howtill Swyre, at iiij-of the clok aftir noone. And so, when I had viewed the nombre of our company, and appointed the vanguard and the rereward, we removed that night unto Twedeside, where the vanguard lay at Carham, and the rere- ward with th'ordynance in the haughe betwixt the said Carham and Warke, And then in the morne, in the breaking of the day, whiche was yesterday, we set forward, and wente to Kelsoo, where nott onely we brent and destroyed all the hole towne that wold burn by any labour, but alsoo cast downe the gate hous of th'abbey. And then we proceeded to a great towre called Synlawes, iij miles within Kelsoo, and kist it downe. And frothens to a fayre towre called Ormeston, one myle and an halfe within the said Synlawes, and kist it downe. And then we retorned, bornying all the townes and steds in our waye, to the Moss Towre apperteynyng to the Lord of Buccleughe, and 'kist it downe. And so came homewards the high waye by the castell of Sesforth, and entered this realme at Shotton chappell, in suertie, lovings t to God." t Hostilities were suspended in the autumn of 1524 by a short truce, which was renewed from time to time till 1526, when peace was made for three years. The abbot of Kelso was concerned in settling the conditions of this treaty, as we learn from the following communication of Dr Magnus to Wolsey, dated at Berwick, March. 20th, 1526 : " The confirmation of peace on the part of the Scots, was brought hider by th'abbot of Kelsoo, the bedesman of the Carres of Tevidaill, well accompanied with honest men to the nomber of xl persons, to whom I made suche chere as I couth that day at dyner, and fiirthwith after we examined our commissions, and made coUacion of other our greater writings. And soe, ayenste night we * Lesl^us de Bebus gestis Scotorum. f " Lovings," praises. Fr. louanges. X Cotton MS. Calig. B. vi. 324. THE ABBEY OF KELSO. 99 departed, and kept our lodgings. And bycause the companyons coming ■with the said abbot were borderers, I bid them to be well accompanied, and good chere to be made unto theym. The said abbot being a right sadde and wise man, brother to Danne Carre of Farnehirste." * The name of this abbot occurs again in 1528. t XXXI. James Stewart, a natural son of King James V, by Elizabeth Shaw, of, the family of Sauchie, was made commendator of the abbeys of Kelso and Melros in his childhood ; and the king, obtained the papal sanction to this appointment, and to that of John Stewart, another of his illegitimate sons, to the priory of Coldingham, in 1541.1: The king appropriated to his own use the profits of these benefices, during the minority of his children. This abbot, who was a pupil of the celebrated Buchanan, died in his youth, in 1558. || When the storm of war burst forth again in 1542, it fell with great severity on the town and abbey of Kelso, both of which were given to the flames by the army under the Duke of Norfolk, who, when Earl of Surrey, had burned the same nineteen years before. The year 1544 was memorable for the invasion of Scotland by the Earl of Hertford, who, ' in consequence of the refusal of the Scots to marry their infant queen to Prince Edward of England, landed a numerous army on the shores of Lothian, in May, and ravaged all the country between Edinburgh and Berwick. From this time began a series of most destructive hostilities, which were carried on for more than two years, by the garrisons of the towns and castles on the * Cotton MS. Cdlig. B. ii. 59. f Cart, de Kekhou, 186, v. if In soliciting the sanction of the pope to these appointments, " the king proposed that, in order to augment the revenues of these monasteries, the pope should empower the adminis- trators for his sons, to let the tithes belonging to them for nineteen years, and their lands either in leases to that extent, or in perpetual feus. Writing to one of the cardinals, James describes them as small monasteries (monasteriola) situated on the borders of the kingdom, adjacent to some of the strongest places of the English, from which incursions used to be made into the Scotish borders, and where heretical sermons being frequently preached, the contagion of these, by the sameness of the language, was easily spread. For checking both which evils, the king demanded these monasteries to be intrusted to his natural sons. The governor Arran [in the minority of Queen Mary] asked the revenues of them to be employed for the service of the public, and particularly for the defence of the kingdom against the English, and that for that end he might have the administration of them, all needful expenses being first allowed out of them, for the support of the boys, and other necessary burdens," RiDPATH, from Epist. Regi/im Scotorum. vol. ii. {{ Irving's Life of Buchanan, Scotia Sacra, MS. 100 HISTORY OF English frontier, in conjunction with the warlike inhabitants of the neighbourhood, who made almost daily inroads into the southern districts of Scotland, when they pillaged and burnt the towns, villages, churches, and monasteries ; destroyed the fruits of the earth ; and slew the inhabitants, or carried them away prisoners into England, in order to obtain money for their ransom, or to exchange them afterwards with their captive countrymen. These incursions were, for the most part, directed or conducted by William Lord Eure, governor of Berwick, and warden of the east marches ; Sir Ralph Eure, his eldest son, warden of the middle marches ; and the Lord Wharton, warden of the west marches of England. The chief captains who acted under Lord Eure were his son Henry Eure, master of the ordinance of Berwick ; Sir Richard Bowes, captain of Norham ; his son. Sir George Bowes ; Sir Thomas Grey of Horton ; Sir Brian Layton ; Sir John EUerker ; John Horsley, captain of Bamburgh ; Gilbert Swynhoe, captain of Cornhill ; and John Carr, captain of Wark Castle. The field of their exploits being principally in the Mers, and the eastern parts of Teviot dale, Kelso and the places in its vicinity were more peculiarly exposed to the attacks of these spoilers. It is difficult to conceive how, in such insecure times, the buildings of the town could have been restored since it was destroyed by the Duke of Norfolk in 1542 ; yet we are assured that it was plundered and again burned on the 28th of June, 1544, by the garrisons of Wark, Cornhill, Bamburgh, Fenton, and Ford, who, marching with secrecy and despatch, came upon the inhabitants by surprise, when they slew forty of them, and took some prisoners ; together with an hundred oxen, fifty horses, and a quantity of malt and corn. * It appears that the ruinous castle of Roxburgh was at this time used as a fold for cattle ; since we read that on " the xxix of August the horsemen of Wark rode into Scotland, and lay in the cornfields beside Old Roxburgh, to the nomber of xl men, or thereabouts, and the rest kept their horses, so they seized the Lord of Cesforth's goods, that cam forth of the castell, and forth of the byres beside the castell, to the riomber of u^^ kye and oxen, xij horses and mares." t On the 5th of September, 1200 men of the English garrisons came into Teviotdale by Crookham muir, and dividing themselves into two parties, one of them " burned Littleden hall and stables, and all other houses about the same, but only the stone house which they could not get, it was so mured with * Cotton MS. Ca%. B. v. f JH^, THE ABBEY OF KELSO. 101 earth, and they burned Rutherforth such-like, with many bastell houses in the same : while the other party went and assaulted Dawcoye, and shot such ordinance as they had, and set fire to the gates of it, and sundry were hurt and slayn within, with half haikes, and handguns ; and so they gave over the house to Thomas Gower, who took ix prisoners, and burned and spoiled the house, and brought much insight geir ; and this done, in their marching homewards, the Scots assembled with the laird of Bucclowgh, the laird of Cessforth, Dand Carr of Littleden, Cowdenknowes, and such company as came forth of Ettryke forest, to the nomber of iij hundreth men, who followed and pricked at the hinder end of the Englishmen, who returned towards the Scots, and the Scots fled, and they made a chase of them ij myle, but the lairds and those that were well horsed got away : Notwithstanding, they took fifty of them prisoners, and slew v or sex ; and hurt Mark Carre, who got straitly away ; and two Englishmen taken ; and so they got at "this journey x score nolte, certain horse and sheep, and insight geir ; and burned such steads as was in their way homewards." * Although the defeat of the collected forces of the English borderers at Ancrum muir, in February, 1545, was a severe check to them, yet the predatory warfare was still continued, with various succesSj on both sides. " On the xvi of April, John Carr of Wark, and his garrison, ran a forray to Old Roxburgh, and there burnt the barns of the laird of Cesforth, with much corn in them, threshen and unthreshen. In returning, they met a party of Scots who had gone into England to burn and steal, of whom thdy slew two and took three." t One of the most active captains on the Scotish side at this period was Andrew Ker, brother to Sir Walter Ker of Cesford. Being stationed with a garrison at Kelso, for the defence of the town and neighbourhood, he and his' followers made frequent and successful inroads into England, till it chanced, that, as they were returning homewards, on the 7th of May, 1545, with certain spoils they had taken at Wark, they were hotly pursued by several companies of Englishmen, and being overtaken at Frogdean, he was made prisoner, with thirty of his men. 1: In September, the same year, the Mers and Teviotdale were again overrun by an English army of twelve thousand men, commanded by the Earl of Hertford. Whatever had been overlooked or spared in former • Cotton MS. Calig. B. v. t I^<^- t ^'^' 102 HISTORY OF incursions, was now utterly laid waste. In their progress from Coldingham to Jedburgh, by Dunse, Eccles, Kelso, Dryburgh, and Melros, separate parties of the enemy were sent off in different directions to destroy the villages and farm steads ; and, in the course of a few days, two hundred and eighty-seven places, including the four great monasteries, the seats of religion and learning, and the pride and ornament of the country, were sacked, pillaged, and dilapidated. The inhabitants, unable to oppose so great a force, made no resistance, except at Kelso, where three hundred men, who endea- voured to defend the abbey, were all either slain during the assault, or made prisoners when the place was taken. It is uncertain whether it was upon this occasion, or in 1560, that the east and north sides of the tower were thrown down, and the choir almost entirely demolished, which was probably effected by a battery of cannon directed against it from the northeast. The town was now in so ruinous a plight, that the weekly market could not be conveniently held in it, and it was, therefore, transferred to the village of Home, where it continued to be held for some time. * We find, however, that the shattered walls of the abbey church were still occasionally resorted to as a place of shelter and defence from the sudden incursions of the enemy. One of these occasions is thus recorded in the report of Lord Eure to King Henry VIII : — " Item the xiijth of Aprill, [1546.] John Carr of Warke, with his garryson there, and Ix gonners of the same, with Gilbert Swynho of Cornell, and his garryson, and John Wiclife, with the garryson of Norham, to the nomber, in all, of iijc men, well horsed, mett all at Warke, at one of the clokke, after mydnyghte, and concludett, by th' adwise of Richerd Carr, and others of the garrysons, to ron to Neanthorne with a c men, and the rest to lye in a bushement t at the Spittle, above Kelsoo, and that the gonners should lie nygh to Kelso in the brome there. In aventour, yf the Scotts wold persewe our forray, that they shuld com between them and the bushement. And our forray braike, and seased and brought away the goodes before them. And som Scotts, well horsed, skoredt them to the.entres§ where the bushement lay, and so the * On the 6th of March, 1646, "John Carre of Warke, with hys garrison, rode into Scot- land, and rode about Hwm, wher the markytt is kepte since the burnynge of Kelsoo, and there gott xvi head of nolte, that was tylling in the feildes, and brought them unto Warke." Calig. B. v. \ Ambush. \ Chaced, scared. J Entry, in the border dialect, a lane^ or shady avenue, near a town or village. THE ABBEY OF KELSO. 103 bushement brake at the Scotts, and slew of them, fotemen and others, to the nomber of an c men and x. And taken up * two bowses beyond "Ednam, and the laird of Myllestayn's t sone with them ; and there was taken x horsemen of the Scotts, and Ix fotemen, and wan two bastell bowses, and the churche of Kelso, wherein was xxxti Jbtemen, and so com home in savetie, thanked be Gode. Scotts slayn ex, prisoners Ixx." t In June, the same year, when another inroad was made by the same enterprising garrison of Wark, the ruins afforded an insufficient protection to sixteen men, who " had beilditt them a strength in the old walles of the steple."§ Nevertheless, it appears that some part of the church continued to be used as a place of religious worship till after the Reformation, and the conventual buildings still afforded shelter to a remnant of the monks ; for, in one of the tumults which took place in 1560, when the monks had been expelled, the church drew the attention of the excited populace, who, in their head- long zeal, not content with having defaced the images, and burned the reliques upon the steps of the high altar, demolished also whatever else remained of its internal furniture and ornaments, and destroyed still farther the already ruinous fabric. || Lesmahago was dealt with in a similar manner ; the reliques of the martyrs were burned, and the church and monastic buildings pulled down, the same year.^ Upon the death of the abbot James Stewart, in 1558, Mary of Lorraine, the dOwager queen-regent, gave the commendatorship of both Kelso and Melros to her brother. Cardinal Guise, who had not yet reaped any advantage from this preferment, when, upon the establishment of the reformed religion, in 1559, the revenues and property of the monasteries were taken possession of by the Lords of the Congregation, in the name of the crown. Though the spiritual office of abbot must have virtually ceased when the Roman Catholic form of religion was abolished, and its worship and ceremonies were forbidden as idolatrous, yet the title still continued, for a long time, to be used as a temporal distinction, to designate such persons as were charged with the management of the confiscated property of the abbeys, or had obtained grants of them from the crown. One of the Kers of Cesford enjoyed the title of abbot of Kelso not long after the Reformation. We are told by Birrell, in his curious diary of the transac- * Pillaged. f Mellerstain's. J Cotton MS. Califf. B. v. § Jbid. II Lesl^us, de Rebus gestis Scotorum. f Keith. 104 HISTORY OF tions of this period, that, in August 1566, " the abbot of Kelso, of the name of Ker, was slaine by the laird of Cesford, the younger, his awen kinsman,, and hes frendes." This abbot seems likewise to have acted as superior of the surviving monks, and to have had power, in conjunction with them,, to give leases of certain lands and tithes, being probably the portion set apart for their maintenance out of the ample possessions of the abbey. We learn, from a MS. collection of notes out of the Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, that, on the 13th September, 1566, " Ker of Corbet, Mo we of that ilk, and certane others callit befoir the counsell, and, according to the charge produceand themselves, ane tak of certaine landis and teindis pf Kelso being examined be the saids lords, confessed that the convent had subscryvit the sam, audit or ten days efter the deceiss of the last abbot."* . The main part of the estates of this rich abbey were held in commendam by Sir John Maitland,t who, before the 8th of March, 15Q5-Q, exchanged the commendatorship of Kelso with Francis Stewart, X afterwards Earl of Bothwell, for the priory of Coldingham. Both well was commendator in 1584, and had an interview at Kelso with the lords who had been concerned in the Gowrie conspiracy, as they passed through that town on their way to England, where they took refuge from the king's displeasure.§ None of the unhappy monks were left alive in July, 1587, as we learn from' the following act of the Scotish parliament then made, from which it also appears, that Sir John Maitland was again commendator of Kelso : — " Forsameikle as the haill monkis of the abbay of Kelso ar decessit, sua that presentlie there is na convent thairof, quhairby the tennents and taksmen of the said abbey ar uncertane in quhat manner thai sail provide thair securities anent thair takkis, fewis, and rentallis, quhilk thai have tane, or may tak heirafter, of the said place and abbay of Kelso : Thairfoir, dur soverane lord, and thre estaitis of this present parliament, presentlie declairis , Sir Johne Maitland of Thirlstane, knight, his hienes secretair, and present commendatair of Kelso, to half had full rycht, in his * Harleian MS. 4631, vol. ii. t Sir John Maitland was the second son of Sir Richard Maitland of Ledington, keeper of the privy seal to Queen Mary. He was created Lord Thirlestane, and his son, John, was the first Earl of Lauderdale. X Wood's Peerage, ii. 68. Francis Stewart was son to John Stewart, prior of Coldingham, a natural son of King James V. J RiDPATH, p. 659. THE ABBEY OF KELSO. 105 persoun, of setting of all fewls, takkis, and rentallis, sen his provisioun thairto, and deceis of the saidis monkis, and convent, of lands and teyndis belanging" to the said abbay and patrimony thairof ; and that the takkis and fewis sett be him sen the deceis of the saids monkis is and salbe als valide and sufficient, under his subscriptioun and commoun seill of the said abbay, as gif the samyn had bene set with consent of the convent, and subscrivit be thame. And likewayes declairis the. said commendatair to have ful richt, in time coming, to sett takkis of the teyndis of the said abbay for schort space or lang, als frelie as gif the haill convent wer zit only ve, and the samyn sett with thair consent, as onie uther abbot or convent may sett within this realme."* Maitland was raised, the same year, to the dignity of lord high chancellor of Scotland ; and shortly after we find the Earl of Bothwell in possession of both Kelso and Coldingham. This nobleman, for his repeated treasons, was attainted in 1592, and both his abbey and priory were then annexed to the crown ; t and though he was afterwards pardoned, it does not appear that these possessions were restored to him. If they were, he did not enjoy them long, for in 1594, being again frustrated in a treasonable design, he fled to the Continent, and after some years spent in an unsettled state of life in France, Spain, and Italy, he died in wretchedness at Naples. The lands and possessions of Kelso abbey were finally conferred upon Sir Robert Ker of Cesford, one of the bravest and most active men of his time, who by his talents, courage, and vigilance, in the office of warden of the east marches, had obtained great favour at court, and was created a peer in 1599, with the title of Lord Roxburghe. On the 3d of August, 1602, he obtained a charter granting the lands of Haliden to him and his heirs for ever. On the 5th of the same month, he had a like grant of the town of Kelso. These and the other estates of the monastery, except the patronage of twenty of the churches belonging to it, which he gave up to the king in 1639, are still enjoyed by his descendant, the Duke of Roxburghe. The shattered remains of the monastery are said to have been still farther dilapidated by the blind frenzy of the bigoted populace in 1580. It wag probably after this period that certain buildings, in a clumsy and barbarous style of masonry, were constructed on the ruins of the ancient church. A protestant place of worship being wanted for the parish, a low, gloomy vault was thrown over the transept for this purpose, forming a dark, cavern. * Acts of the Parliament of Scotland, vol. lii. p. 454. f lUd, vol. iii. p. 561. O 106 HISTORY OF THE ABBEY OF ^ELSO. like retreat, which must have appeared a dismal contrast to those, if any were yet alive, who had seen the lofty elegance and grandeur of the original edifice. Over this was built another similar vault, to serve the purpose of a prison. This was called the outer prison, and communicated by a door with a smaller vaulted chamber, called the inner prison,* built in the head of the cross over another vault, which formed a kind of wing, or aisle, to the parish church, and had a corresponding opposite wing erected in the ruins of the choir. It may be conjectured that other parts of the ruins were demolished to furnish materials for the construction of those tasteless additions ; by which much of the beauty of the ancient structure was hidden and disfigured. It continued to be used as the parish church till 1771, when, one Sunday during divine service, a fragment of cement happening to fall from the roof, the congregation, which was crowded, believing that the vault over their heads was giving way, hurried out, impressed with such terror and consternation, that, though the alarm proved false, they could never afterwards be brought to assemble in the old church, which from that time remained deserted ; their fears having been long kept alive by the remembrance of an ancient prophecy attributed to Thomas of Ercildoune, otherwise called True Thomas, or The Rymer, " which bore that this kirk should fall when at the fullest." -)- The ruins were partly disencumbered of the rude modern masonry by the good taste of William, Duke of Roxburghe, in 1805. His successor, the late kind-hearted and liberal Duke James, caused the remaining encumbrances to be cleared away in 1816. By this means, not only the beauties of the fabric were disclosed to view, but the useful, though unpleasant, discovery was made, that some of its parts were verging to decay, ahd threatening to fall. To prevent so great a misfortune, the noblemen and gentlemen of the county met together in January, 1823, and employed an architect to survey the ruin ; upon whose recommendation the decayed parts were strengthened and repaired, the crevices filled up, and the top of the walls covered with a coating of Roman cement, at the expense of several hundred pounds, raised by subscription. * Sir Walter Scott, who, in his boyhood, frequently resided at Kelso, has made this prison the scene of an event described in the Antiquary. There are many persons alive who can bear witness to the correctness of the picture there so admirably drawn. f Minstrelsy of the Scotish Border, vol. iii. page 210. RUINS OF. KELSO ABBEY CHURCH. 107 DESCRIPTION OF THE RUINS OF KELSO ABBEY CHURCH, BY GEORGE SMITH, ESQ. ARCHITECT. This ancient sacred edifice has been frequently referred to by antiquarians as one of the oldest specimens of ecclesiastical architecture to be found in Scotland. Kelso abbey was one of the munificent foundations of David the First ; but no vestige is now left of any part but the ruins of the church, and of it the choir is nearly gone ; but the walls of the transepts, centre tower, and west end remain. On referring to the ground plan, (Plate VIII.) it will be observed, that, like some others of the old Saxon and early Norman churches, there is no nave, unless the compartment at the western entrance, which is merely a porch of twenty-three feet square, may be called a nave. The choir has had, when entire, three divisions, a centre and side aisles ; but the two piers, shaded black, with the arches and superstructure over, are all that remain of this part of the church. These arches spring from massive Saxon piers, having slender circular pillars attached, with bold projecting capitals, forming imposts for the springing of the arches. The walls are thick and firmly built, and, like most other ancient churches, have narrow passages within their thickness. The exterior character of this church is very imposing, and it is, undoubtedly, the finest remains in Scotland of Saxon architecture. The deep splayed circular arch, and its characteristic enrichments, the zigzag mouldings, the nail-head, the chevron, and the diagonal ornaments, and many more well known Saxon mouldings, are to be found in the north and west fronts. There is evidently part of the superstructure of this church of the Norman style : The blank ranges of intersecting arches, placed round the walls, both 108 HUINS OF KELSO ABBEY CHURCH. within and without, the double arcade of small circular arches supported by slender shafts, that had, when entire, run round the walls of the choir, over the massive Saxon arches : these belong to the Norman style. There are likewise some fragments of early English in the centre tower. Kelso abbey exhibits as perfect an example of interlacing arches as is to be found in the kingdom : thus, it is believed by many learned authors, that the Gothic, or pointed style, took its rise from the intermediate form of interlacing arches. (See Plate VII.) They were first used by the Norman architects as mere ornaments, carried round to relieve the dead walls of their churches ; and, soon after, the circular headed windows were abandoned, and long narrow pointed windows were substituted, which gradually merged into what is called the early English Gothic. }09 POSSESSIONS AND REVENUES OF KELSO ABBEY. The earliest possessions of Kelso Abbey were the lands bestowed upon it by King David I. at Selkirk, the original site of this monastery. The chartulary of Kelso speaks of the churches of two Selkirks, the one called King's, and the other Abbot's Selkirk. The first was probably the chapel of the royal castle, and was granted by David on condition that the abbot and his successors should be chaplains to the king, his sons, and their successors within the same.* The other church was originally the chapel of the abbot and monks, which continued to be a place of worship after their removal tp Kelso. At King's Selkirk they had a property of 16 acres, called Bridge-land, t on both sides of the bridge over the Ettrick, with pasture in Minchmoor attached to it, granted by King Alexander II, on condition that out of the profits thereof the bridge should be kept in perpetual repair, t They had also the town of Abbot's Selkirk, their possessions in which were a ploughgate of land, the rent of which, in the time of King Robert the Bruce, was ten marks per annum ; fifteen husband lands, each containing an oxgang rented at three shillings per annum, and ten days' work in autumn, and two of them furnished a cart, and other two a horse, to carry peats from the morass to the abbey. The tenant of each was likewise obliged to go one journey in the year with a horse and cart to Berwick, upon the business of the monastery. They enjoyed the rectorial revenues of the two churches ; King's Selkirk being valued at £20, and Abbot's Selkirk at £40, per annum. * Chartulary of Kelso, fol. 150, r. f Ancient Rent Roll prefixed to the Chartulary of Kelso. X Chartulary of Kelso, fol. 147, r. 110 HISTORY OF Kelso, when granted by King David, in 1128, was probably a small village, although it grew soon afterwards into a considerable town, and, in the time of King Robert I, consisted of two parts, eastern and western Kelso. The bishop of St Andrews, at the same time, granted the church of this place, with half a ploughgate of land belonging to it. And as this land consisted of separate portions, of less value from being scattered, King Malcolm IV. gave in exchange for it another half ploughgate, lying together, beside the road which led to Nenthorn. * King William, brother and successor to Malcolm, gave licence to the men of the monastery, residing in Kelso, to buy in that town, every day of the week, except the day of the statute fair of Roxburgh, fuel, timber, and provisions ; and that persons passing through the town with such wares might sell to them. The abbot's men had licence also to expose for sale in their windows, bread, ale, flesh, and fish, brought with their own horses or carts. But carts belonging to any other place, passing through the town, were not to unload or sell there, but to proceed to the king's fair. On the fair day, the inhabitants were forbidden to purchase any thing in the town, but at the fair, in common with the burgesses of Roxburgh.! Arnald, the son of Peter of Kelso, in the time of King William, gave to the monks the messuage in Kelso, which had been his father's, and some land with toft and croft, and three shillings of annualrent, to be paid by Ralph, the provost of Kelso, and his heirs, out of a certain messuage in the town. He gave also a piece of ground in the town which had been the property of Walter the son of Hecke, and of Ingebald.t Andrew Maunsel,§ with consent of his son Walter, gave them liberty to make a wear, or dam-head, for their miln at Kelso, upon a part of his ground in the Halech, || on the east side of the town of Roxburgh. Andrew the son of William, the dyer of Kelso, resigned, in 1237, a portion of ground which he inherited in Kelso, for two marks of silver, which were * Chart. Kel. 151, v, f lUd. 153, v. % lUd. 136, v. § Ibid. 218, r. The name of the vicar of St James's church at Roxburgh, in 1226, was Andrew Maunsel. y This is the damhead, or cauld, which was vulgarly believed to have been constructed by the wizard Michael Scott, through the agency of an infernal spirit. See the Lay of the Last Minstrel, canto II. 13, Halech, a word frequently met with in ancient charters, is the same with Hough, — flat alluvial ground on the banks of a river. THE ABBEY OF KELSO. ill paid him by the lord abbot. The whole of eastern Kelso belonged to the monastery, with an annualrent of £9, l6s. 9^d. out of the town and burgh of western Kelso, with certain duties paid By the freeholders there. They had as much arable land as required seven ploughs to till it ; and they possessed the mill, which brought them in £ 20 a-year. They had a fishing in the Tweed, extending from Brokesmouth down to the water of Eden. * William de Moreville, and Muriel his wife, in the time of Malcolm IV, gave the monks six oxgangs of land, with toft and croft, in the territory of Brokesinuthe. This gift was confirmed after his death, by Muriel and her husband, Robert de Landeles.t In 1399, Patrick, by divuie permission, abbot of Kelso, granted to his beloved and faithful Thomas de Vicaria, a tenement in Kelso, for lOd. yearly, and other services, t In Roxburgh, King David gave the monks 40 shillings a-year out of the revenues of the burgh, and 20 chalders, half meal, half wheat, out of the milns.§ These revenues were afterwards exchanged for a miln at Ednam. He gave them all the churches and schools of the burgh, with the property belonging to them. || The churches appear to have been three : one situated in King's Street, in the town, called the church of the Holy Sepulchre,^ or the church of Old Roxburgh, which was attached to a prebendal stall in Glasgow cathedral ; the church of St John within the castle ; and St James's church without the walls. There was a chantry in St James's church, founded in the reign of King Robert the Bruce by Roger de Auldton, for procuring mass to be said at certain times in the year, for ever, at the high altar of the church, for the soul of the founder and his relations and benefactors. It was endowed with revenues to the value of £ 20 sterling, arising from lands and tenements at Auldton, Heton, and Wester Softlaw, and from six burgages in the town of Roxburgh. This chantry was under the patronage of the abbot and convent of Kelso, who were enjoined, upon the peril of their souls, at the death of the chantry priest, to present a successor within two months. If they failed, it lapsed to the archdeacon of Teviotdale, who was to present within six weeks; and, upon his neglect, the aldermam and * Rent Rail. Brokesmouth was a tenement on the Tweed, and it appears to have been situated somewhere between Makerston and Fleurs. ^ Chart. Kel. 124, v. % Ibid, 173, v. J Ibid. 9, r. || lUd. ^ Chartulary of Dryburgh. 112 HISTORY OF corporation of Roxburgh were to appoint a chaplain within six -N^eeks. * When the church of St James was brought into so ruinous a condition by the war, that divine service could no longer be performed there, the abbot of Kelso obtained, in 1426, the consent of the pope, and of the rector of St James's, that the service of this chantry should be celebrated in some fit chapel of the abbey, until the church of St James should be repaired, and the income of the said chantry or chapelry restored to its former value. -|- King David had given the monks a right to the tithe of his cows and swine, and kane cheese of Nithsdale and Tweeddale, and to the half of the hides and tallow of the cattle slaughtered for his kitchen, on the south side of the Firth of Forth, with all the skins of the sheep and lambs, and the tenth of the deer-skins. The collecting of these perquisites was probably found too troublesome, and Alexander II. gave in exchange for them an annualrent of 100 shillings, to be paid by his bailiffs, out of the revenues of Roxburgh, t About the year 1300, the temporal income, which the convent derived from Roxburgh, was 100 shillings from the king's revenue, and £ 8, 2s. 9f d. arising out of divers tenements there. They derived from the church an annual pension of £ 13, 6s. 8d.§ In the fifteenth century, Walter Ker of Cesford, baron of Auld Roxburgh, founded a chantry at St Catherine's altar, in Kelso, and granted an annualrent of twenty marks out of his lands of Auld Roxburgh for its support. The presentation of the chaplain was to belong to him and his heirs, and to the abbot of Kelso if they failed to present after forty days. 1| In the reign of David II, John Spottiswood of Spottiswood, founded an altarage, or chantry, in St Janies's church at Roxburgh. % Ednam. David I. granted the convent a yearly income of twelve chalders of malt from the miln at Edinham. King William gave them the miln itself in exchange for this, and for the 20 chalders of meal and wheat which they had from the milns of Roxburgh, and the forty shillings from # Chart. Kel. 194, r. In 1346, William, bishop of Glasgow, threatened with excom- munication all those persons who unjustly occupied and kept possession of the lands and liberties of the chantry founded by Roger de Auldton, if, within fifteen days, they did not make restitution. Jbid. 212, r. t lUd. 178, r. . X Ibid. 15, V. . § Rent RoU. II List of Charters, MSS. Harleian, 4134. ^ Douglas's Baronage, 446. THE ABBEY OF KELSO. 113 the customs of the same ; and they had power to hinder the erection of any other miln within the parish, and a right to the same services from the inhabitants, which the latter were bound to yield to the proprietors of the miln. * They had liberty to dig turf for fuel from a certain part of the inuir. Paganus de Bosseville gave them an oxgang in Edenham, consisting of fourteen acres, t King William also granted them a ploiighgate in Ednam, which had been held by Henry and his nephew Randolph ; and the land which had been Roger Clerk's, and David's, the son of Thruct, or Tructe, and four oxgangs which Elzi and Alfred held in farm. These lands, which were in all three ploughgates, were delivered to them by Erkinbald, abbot of Dunfermline, at the command of the king ; viz. two ploughgates and a half near the limits of their land of Kelso, on the north side of the petary of Ednam, reaching thence along the boundary of the parishes to the southern bounds of Newton, and thence along the said bounds to the river Eden, and along the Eden to the bridge on the west side of Ednam, and thence to the road leading to the hospital, at the forking of the road which comes from the north side of the petary, and thence along the road to the place first mentioned ; with the pasturage of a piece of ground between the petary and the bounds of Kelso. The other half ploughgate lay on the east side of the quarry belonging to the abbey, between the 14 acres of Pagan de Bosseville, the hospital land, the petary, and the road leading to Sprouston ford. He gave them also a fishing in the Tweed which belonged to Ednam, extending from the bounds of Kelso to those of Brigham.:f Redden. King David gave them the domain of Revedene, or Redden, with right of water, pastures and petary, as fully as he possessed the same himself, only excepting a ploughgate of land which he gave to the hospital of Roxburgh. He added the land of Osulf, the son of Wictburg, which was to fall to the abbey after the death of the said Osulf. § Bernard de Hauden resigned his claim to the miln and miln-pool of Reveden, in favour of the monks of Kelso ; and also to the piece of meadow land lying on the north side of their half ploughgate near the brook, which was the ancient boundary between Hauden and Reveden. II Hugh de Reveden gave up * Chart. Kel. 151, v. f I^^- 11» v- 1 1^^' ^^> ''• %Jbid.lbO,T. \\ Ibid. Q7,r. P 114 HISTORY OF his claim to some land called Floris, in the territory of Reveden, of which he and his ancestors had long kept possession, contrary to justice, and the will of the abbot. He resigned it in the abbot's court, at the bridge of Etterick, in the year 1258.* His grandson, Hugh, the son of John de Reveden, resigned, for a sum of money, to his lords the abbot and convent of Kelso, in the court of the Abbot Richard, in 1285, all the land which he and his ancestors had at any time held in the territories of Reveden and Home.t About 1300, their property in Redden was as follows : — The grange, which they tilled with five ploughs, and where they had pasture for fourteen score of ewes, besides oxen ; half a ploughgate, which was let to Richard of the Holm ; eight husbandlands, and one oxgang, for each of which certain bond services were performed by the tenant at stated times, — namely, every week in summer, a journey to Berwick with one horse, which was to carry three bolls of corn, and return either with two bolls of salt, or one boll and a ferloch of coals, and, on the next day after every such journey, one day's work of whatever kind might be wanted. When not required to go to Berwick, they wrought two days in summer, and three in autumn. To stock his little farm, each husbandman received two oxen and a horse ; three chalders of oats, six bolls of barley, and three of wheat. The Abbot Richard afterwards commuted these services for money, when they gave back their stock, and each paid eighteen shillings per annum for his land. Nineteen cottages, eighteen of which were let for twelvepence a-year, and six days' work in autumn, during which they were found in food, which they were also when they assisted in washing and shearing the sheep; the nineteenth cottage paid eighteenpence a-year, and nine days' work. They had also two brewhouses which paid two marks a-year, and a miln which paid nine marks, t Hauden, or Hadden. The monks were in possession of a ploughgatCj or half a ploughgate, in Hauden, previously to the grant of that manor by King WilUam to Bernard, the son of Brien, who added to it a toft adjacent, with easements, and exempted the occupier of the same from customs and services. He gave them also ten acres on the west side of the village* His nephew, Bernard de Hauden, who was sheriff of Roxburgh in the time of Alexander II, confirmed these gifts in the reign of King William, and * Chart. Kel. 88, r. f Bid. 88, v. :|: Emt Roll. THE ABBEY OF KELSO. 115 added eight acres and a rood, lying- contigxious to their property, on the east side of Hauden, on both sides of the road to Carram, between Blinde- welle, and another spring next the acre called Croc. In return for this bounty, the abbot and convent granted him permission to have a private chapel in his mansion, where he and his guests might hear divine service all the days of the year, except on Christmas-day, Easter-day, and the Feast of Saint Michael, when they were bound to go to the parish church at Sprouston. His chaplain was to swear fealty to the abbot, and the offerings made in the chapel were to belong to the parish church. * In the Rent Roll, their property in Hauden is stated to be one ploughgate, which they kept in their own occupation. Sprouston. King David I. with the consent of John, bishop of Glasgow, gave them the church of Sprouston ; also a ploughgate and ten acres of arable land, with buildings, and three acres of meadow, f King Malcolm IV. gave two oxgangs near Prestre-bridge, in Sprouston, in exchange for two oxgangs at Berwick. J Ralph de Veir, or Weir, in the time of King William, gave an oxgang.§ Serlo, the king's clerk, gave half a ploughgate. Sir Eustace de Vesci, who, in 1193, married Margaret, the illegitimate daughter of the king, by a daughter of Sir Adam Hutcheson, had the manor «f Sprouston granted to him by a royal charter ; and, in 1207, he obtained permission from the abbot and monks to have a private chapel at his mansion, the usual rights of the parish church being reserved. || He was slain by an arrow in 1216, when he was reconnoitring Castle Bernard, in company with Alexander 11.^ About 1300, they had in Sprouston two ploughgates, with a right to common pasture for twelve oxen, four work horses, and 300 yearold lambs ; an oxgang which let at ten shillings a-year ; six cottages, one of which, situated near the vicarage, had a brewhouse and six * Chart. Kel. 86, v. During the minority of James I. John de Hawdene had a grant of the lands of Hawdene and Zethame, in the sheriffdom of Roxburgh, and of Brochton, in Peebles-shire, from the Regent Duke of Albany, on the resignation of William de Hawdene his father. Robertson's Index, 164. f Chart. Kel. 16, v. % Ibid. 150, v. f Ibid. 87, v. II Chart. Kel. 85, r. Sir Eustace compounded for the tithes of the miln of Sprouston by a yearly payment of twenty shillings to light Kelso abbey, and the monks gave him letters of fraternity, and absolved the souls of his father and mother, and all his ancestors and successors. ^ Lord Hailes's Annals, i. 144. 116 HISTORY OF acres of ground with it, and was let at six shillings a-year. The other five,,, situated at the other extremity of the village, which is called Latham, had each an acre and a half, and were let severally for three shillings, and six days' work.* The rectory of Sprouston was valued at £40 per annum. Maxwel. The church of the village of Maxwel,t near the confluence of the Tweed and the Teviot, dedicated to St Michael, was granted by Herbert de Maxwell, or Maccuswel, who lived in the reigns of David I. and Malcolm IV. To this was appended the gift of the chapel of St Thomas at Harlaw, near the head of Wooden Burn, about a mile from Maxwel, which was founded by the same Herbert, who gave it a toft. J In the Rent Roll, the rectory of Maxwel is valued at £11, l6s. 8d. per annum. Heton. In the reign of Malcolm IV. Galfrid de Perci gave the monks a ploughgate containing five score and four acres in Heton, next to the land belonging to the hospital of Roxburgh. § Crailing, called in the ancient charters Treverlin, was granted by David I, with the crag of the same vill, and easements in the adjoining strother, called Came-ri, in exchange for lands at Hardingesthorn, near Northampton, valued at £ 10. || Jedburgh. They had an annualrent of eightpence from a possession in Castlegate in this town. ^ In 1464, Alan, abbot of Kelso, granted to John Rutherford of Hundolee, and his wife Elizabeth, and their male heirs, giving the preference to George, their second son, and his heirs, twQ * Rent Roll. f Maccus, the son of Unwin, from whom the family of Maxwel of Terraughty is directly descended, obtained from David I. some lands on the Tweed, which got the name of Maccusville ; whence Maxwel. X Chart. Kel. 154, v. In 1361, Edward III. gave the chapel of St Thomas, at Maxwel, to Sampson Hauberger, his beloved clerk ; and the 5th of October the following year, he granted the same to Thomas de Middleton. In 1491, John Lord Maxwel, and Agnes Stewart, his spouse, had a charter in conjunct fee of the lands of Wooden, extending yearly to £10, of old extent, of the five merk land called St Thomas's Chapel lands, in the barony of Maxwel, &c. MSS. Harl. 4134. On the spot which is supposed to have been the cemetery of the chapel. Stone coffins have been found. The house of the Earl of Morton, at Maxwelheugh, in Tevidaill, is mentioned in a list of the houses of the nobility of Scotland, apparently drawn up for the information of some English statesman in the reign of Elizabeth, MSS. Harl. 289, fol. 179. § Chart. Kel. 137, v. || Chnrt. Kel. 95, r. ^ Rent Roll. THE ABBEY OF KELSO. 117 contiguous lands in Gedworth, on the north side of Castlegate, for one mark yearly. It was stipulated that the said John, or George, or their heirs, should lodge the abbot or monks in the houses to be built upon the said ground, in preference to any other persons, whenever he or they should come to Gedworth, at a time when the town was crowded with strangers. They were, however, to live at their own expense. * Shotton and Colpinhopes. Robert de Schottun, or Scottoun, in the time of Alexander II, gave five acres in Schottun in Northumberland, on the west side of the road, beside the burn which divides England and Scotland, near Yetholm. t Colpinhopes, within the English border, was granted by Walter Corbet, laird of Makerston. William, the son of Patrick, Earl of Dunbar, with the consent of his wife. Christian, the daughter and heiress of Walter Corbet, confirmed the grant of Colpinhopes, with the miln. The boundaries extended from Edredsete to Grengare, under Edredsete, and to the bridge at the head of the brook, which divides England from Scotland, and down this brook, towards the chapel of St Edeldrida the virgin, to another brook which runs down by Homeldun, and then up this brook to a glen, where the brook comes to Homeldun, across the way which comes from Jetam, and along this way to the two great stones. They had also common pasture and fuel, and a right to grind without paying multure at the miln of Schottun. Likewise, pasture for 40 sheep, and 40 cows in Schottun, every where except in the corn-fields and meadows. Nobody was to plough, or do any thing on the west side of Homeldun, that might impede free entrance to these pastures, t According to the Rent Roll, they had two acres in Scottoun, and pasture for 400 sheep, with fuel. Formerly, they kept a man in the miln to grind their corn of Colpinhopes ; but, since they got liberty to have a miln at Colpinhopes to grind their own corn, they gave annually half a mark to the miln at Scottoun. They laboured their grange of Colpinhopes in winter with two ploughs, and they had there pasture for 20 oxen, 20 cows, 500 ewes, and 200 othier sheep. Yetholm. Ralph Nanus granted three acres in Yetham. They had also common pasture there, which was occupied by the miller of Colpinhppes", William de Hawdene, laird of Kyrkyethame, gave the monks the advowson * Chart. Kel. 181, v. t Ibid. 140, r. % Ibid. 138, r. 118 HISTORY OF of the church of Kyrkyethame in Teviotdale, when he imprecated the curse of Almighty God upon whomsoever of his heirs should dispute their right to it j and bound himself and them, if he or they molested the church of Kelso and its rights, to pay £20 towards the fabric of the church of Glasgow, and the same to the fabric of the church of St Laurence at Mer- botyl, for each offence.* They had at Yetham a safe receptacle for storing up their goods of Colpinhopes, when they apprehended danger from any quarter. + MoLLE. Uctred of MoUe, the son of Liolf, granted, for the good of the souls of King David and Earl Henry, the church of MoUe, with land adjacent, within the boundaries which he and Aldred the dean had peram- bulated. " Scil. ab Hulaueshou usque ad rivum ejus, et a rivo per Hulaueshou usque ad vadum Bolebent, t contra ecclesiam, et a vado illo, sursum versus, usque ad Hulaueshou, et inde per viam usque ad Hunedune, et inde usque ad capud rivi Hulaueshou." § Anselm of MoUe, in the time of King Malcolm IV, gave the land, meadow, and wood in MoUe, on the east side of Ernbrandesdene, extending from the limits of the property of the monks of Melros, in a straight direction, to Ernbrandesdene, and thence along the same to the ford of the Bolbent, and the boundaries of the land of MoUe church, and up towards Hunedune to the boundaries of the land belonging to Melros ; with the whole of Huletheshow in wood and cleared land, except one acre, which he gave to William Cementar. || Instead of an indefinite right of pasture in MoUe, and the tithes of the miln, Anselm gave them pasture, in Berehope and MoUehope, for 7OO sheep and 100 cattle.^ Richard Scot, the son of Anselm of MoUe, gave eight acres and a rood of arable land in Lathlade, in MoUe.** This grant was confirmed by Richard de Lincoln, who obtained part of MoUe by his marriage with Matildis, Anselm's daughter. Isolda, or Isoude, another daughter of Anselm of MoUe, and her husband, Alexander, gave to the monks an oxgang, which she held of Richard de Nichole. After the death of Agnes, the wife of her father Anselm, when Richard de Nichole gave her a ploughgate in MoUehopes, she gave the monks an oxgang there, in * Chart. Kel. 175, v. f Rmt Roll. % Now called Bowmont. § Chart. Kel 72, r. || Ibid. 61, v. f Ibid. ** Ibid. 65, v. THE ABBEY OF KELSO. 119 exchange for the former oxgang.* Richard de Nichole granted a part of his land in MoUe, called Temple-acre, on the west of Hyllokishow, opposite the hall of Gilbert Avenel.t He gave also an acre at Thewles, between his meadow and the land which Richard Scot gave the monks. His son, Richard de Nichole, gave them a lease for ten years, beginning at Whitsunday 1255, of twenty acres of arable land and meadow in MoUe- hope, which had previously been let to the abbot and convent of Jeddeword, with pasture for 60 sheep and 4 cows. For this they gave him ten marks j and it was agreed, that if they should be disturbed in the enjoyment of this land and pasture, by the power of the king, or feudal lord, they were to remain tenants so much longer than the fixed term of their lease, as would be equivalent to their loss.t Matildis, the widow of Richard de Lincoln, laird of MoUe, granted to the convent, in 1260, the thirds of the land let to them by her late husband, and apportioned to her as dowry, upon condition of her son being boarded in the abbey, along with the scholars of the first quality entertained there. § Eschina de Londoniis, the wife of Henry of Molle, gave a confirmatory charter to the convent, in 1185, of the church of Molle, its lands and liberties. || She likewise granted, for the good of the soul of her lord, Walter, the son of Alan, and the soul of her daughter, buried at Kelso, common pasture and fuel, and other easements in wood and plain, for the use of the chaplain, and the men of the monastery, residing at Molle : also part of a meadow between Edride- sete and Ruhope-burn, as far as the water of Blakepol, and a piece of land on the Bolbent, over against Blakepol, and a croft on the north side of William Forestar's house, under Hogham.^ Henry and his wife, Eschina, # Chart. Kel. 65, v. f I^>^- ^4, v. % i^^- 65, r. § Ibid. 71, r. II " Hi sunt termini de Hethou quam domina Eschina dedit in elemosinam ecclesiae de Kalchou, per has divisas, sicut aqua descendit de fonte per Bradestrother inter Hethou et Fawesyde, et usque in rivulum qui descendit de Westerhehodene, et ita per ilium rivulum usque ad transitum vadi superioris ejusdem rivuli proximi juxta Cracgam, et sic in transversum Hachod versus orientem, sicut cruces positae sunt, et fossae factae, et sulcus tractus est, et lapides in terra positi sunt, usque ad rivulum de Esterhachou, et a vado ejusdem rivuli ascendendo sicut boscus et terra arabilis junguntur super Halreberghe, et ita versus orientem usque Grenelle, juxta lapidem album, usque ad caput fontis praenominati de Brathestrother. Et praeterea, quandam partem terrae ultra rivulum de Hethou versus occidentem, usque Blyndewell, sicut pratum et terra arabiiis junguntur, descendendo usque ad praenominatum rivulum de Hethow. Chart. Kel. 71, 6. Hf Chart. Kel. 56, v. 120 HISTORY OF questioned the right of the monks to the pasture land which they claimed in MoUe. When the case was tried, it was found, that they had a right to pasture for 700 sheep and 120 cattle, with easements, and that the vicar and their men had a right to common pasture. * Cecilia, the daughter of Eschina of Molle, who was the wife of Symon Maulevezer, and the mother of Gilbert Avenel, made numerous grants to the convent of arable land and pasture, viz. a toft and croft in the muirs, " juxta exitum versus Wyte- lawe ; " twenty acres in Hauacres ; nine and a half near Auldtuneburne ; one acre near the way to Persouth ; two at Persouth-side j one on the west of Benelaun ; nine and a perch in Dederig ; three and a perch, with her part of Hoga, and half an acre in Kidlawecroft ; eight acres of meadow in Hau- strother ; and thirteen acres of arable land in her own domains, viz. her part of MoUestele, consisting of four acres and a half; and her part of the land which lies near the burn that runs down from Brademedu to the Bolbent ; and half an acre called Crokecroft ; and two acres and a half near the way to Persouth ; and three acres of arable near Persouth, with all her part of Brademedwe, and pasture for three hundred sheep, ten cattle, and four horses, in her own pastures and domains. She gave them likewise her JBercariaf at Aldetuneburne, with free ingress and egress between their lands and pastures, and a right to take materials from Persouth to make their ploughs and their wallurast for ever. § The monks of Melros had likewise possessions in Molle, for which they paid tithes to Kelso abbey ; but, conceiving that they had a right to be exempted from such payment^ they were sued at law by the abbot and convent of Kelso for arrears, amounting to £300 in value ; and it was adjudged, in the year 1269, that the convent of Melros should pay to the value of two hundred and sixty marks for arrears due, and £ 20 for expenses. 1| It was then agreed, that the monks of Melros should give annually thirteen chalders of good oatmeal for the whole, great and small, tithes of their lands in Molle. In 1273, both parties agreed to commute this into a payment of fifteen marks yearly, each mark being of the value of 13s. 4d.^ Their property at Molle is enumerate in the ancient rent roll, viz. four acres of arable and meadow land at Altonburn, with pasture for three hundred sheep, ten oxen, and four horses, and stac andjlac from the wood of Scrogges to repair their * Chart. Kel. 67, v. f Bercaria, sheep-cote, or sheep-walk. -^ Hurdles ? § Chart. Kel. 57, r. || Ibid. 73, r. ^ Ibid. 70, r. THE ABBEY OF KELSO. 121 houses and ploughs ; and other four acres, with pasture, occupied by their shepherd, who was permitted to have a brewhouse. In the village of Molle, fourteen cottages, each of which was let at two shillings a-year, and six days' work, with easements, and pasture along with the laird's cattle. Also a brewhouse, which let at half a mark yearly. They had at Sehegidside seven acres, and pasture in Berehope for seven hundred sheep. At Stapelaw four acres, the gift of Adam de Roule, and Jeneta, his wife. At Lathlade four acres. The grange of Hethow, consisting of two ploughgates, with pasture for forty cattle and four hundred and fifty sheep. They had at Clifton seven acres, granted by the patron of the church of Molle for providing consecrated bread. * Primside. Gaufrid Ridel, in the time of King William, gave two oxgangs, with toft and croft, free from multure ; and pasture for a thousand sheep, in two or three flocks, and for twenty-four cows and eight oxen, in his vill of Pranwrsete ; also, part of a meadow on the east side of the vill, for the good of the soul of Earl Henry, by whom this vill was granted to his father, and for the soul of his father, and the safety of his lord, King William. Part of the two oxgangs were in Cruchoh, near the boundaries of Clifton, and the remainder next the village, t He made another grant of " totum halech de territorio de Pronewessete, sicut jacet juxta aquam de Bolbent, juxta divisas de Cliftun, ab occidental i parti viae quae tendit de Cliftun ad Pronewessete, scil. per viam quae tendit ab aqua de Cliftun usque ad proximam costeriam versus Molle, quae claudit totum halech inter se et aquam ."t The rent roll mentions seven acres at Pjiovisbt, with right of common for three hundred sheep ; let at half a mark. BowDEN, or BoLDEN. David I. made the convent the munificent grant of the barony of Bolden, containing the villages and lands of Bowden, Haliden, Middleham, Lilliesleaf, Clarilaw, Fawdon, Whitmer, Whitelaw, and Newton. At Bolden, they had, in the reign of Robert I, twenty-eight husbandlands, each of which paid annually 6sh. 8d, and four days' work in harvest, and one in winter ; and each husbandman was obliged to furnish a cart to carry peats from the moss at Gordon to the abbey, and to go once a-year to " * Panis benedictus." Rent Roll. In France, pain benit is any kind of bread dedicate4 by prayers in the church, and afterwards distributed, with certain ceremonies, to the poor, ■}■ Chart. Kel. 140, v. % Ibid. 141, r. 122 HISTORY OF Berwick with one horse ; to plough every year an acre and a half in the grange at Newton ; to harrow one day with one horse ; to find a man to assist in the washing, and another in the shearing, of the sheep ; to carry corn one day in autumn, and wool, from the barony to the abbey ; and to find themselves carriages beyond the muir towards Lesraahago. Abbot Richard commuted this service into a payment of money, by the assessment of brother William de Alincromb, who was then his chamberlain. They had likewise, at Bolden, thirty-six cottages, with an acre and a half, and half a rood to each cottage, and the rents of the whole amounted to about 55 sh. 8d. annually, with nine days' harvest work, and assistance in washing and shearing the sheep : also, four brewhouses, each of which let at ten shillings, and was bound to sell the abbot a lagen and a half of ale for a penny ; and every house furnished him with a h^n, before Christmas, for a halfpenny. They had likewise a miln at Bolden, which paid them eight marks per annum.* The ploughgate of Priestfield, in Bolden, was let to four husbandmen, who were bound to find a man-at-arms to be the leader of the thirty archers raised in the barony to serve in the king's army. " Et divisse dictse carucatse terree de Prestfleld, incipiunt ad crucem dudum positam ante ostium tenementi illius terrae, et ab ilia cruce, prosequendo viam ducentem apud Denrygpottes, procedendo versus occi- dentem extra terram cultam, usque viam illam quae tendit de Midleham, usque ad murum de Qwitlaw, et ab illo muro, transeundo versus austrum, usque quendam rivulum currentem ad Prestdenheued. Deinde descendendo per ilium rivulum usque Holdenheued. Deinde ascendendo versus occi- dentem usque Harilauden. Deinde redeundo ad crucem supradictam. Et sciendum est quod quicunque tenens dictam terram ad firmam, ultra dictas divisas non poterit communicare ; sed homines de Midleham, infra dictas divisas, cum animalibus suis, possunt communicare, praeterquam infra stipulam."t The grange of Haliden contained three ploughgates, with pasture for eighty cows, and two hundred and sixty sheep. Midleham contained twenty-nine husbandlands, of which twenty-seven paid half a mark, with bondservices, as the men of Bolden. The other two paid twelve shillings of rent, and thirteen days' work. The services were commuted for money by Abbot Richard, each husbandland being assessed • Rent Roll. f Chart. Kel. 171, r. THE ABBEY OF KELSO. 123 at eleven shillings. There were also eleven cottages, with nine acres of land amongst them, each of which paid 18d. Also a brewhouse, which paid half a mark, with services ; and a miln, which, together with the miln of Bolden, paid twenty-one marks.* In 1260, Alan de Sarcino yielded up to the convent his right to two oxgangs, and whatever other lands he held of them in Mydilham, by hereditary tenure. In ISyO, William of the Hylle of Myddilham yielded, in like manner, his land to the monks. The Abbot John gave half a ploughgate in Midleham to his man Hosbern, and his heirs, for which he became the vassal of the convent, and was bound to pay eight shillings yearly, with bondservices. In 1398, the Abbot Patrick gave an annual pension of two marks out of the farms of Midelham, to Richard de Hanggandsid, for his faithful counsel and aid given, and in future to be given, t LiLLiESCLiF, or LiLLiESLEAF, Contained thirty acres, lying between the Aln and the burn which was the boundary between Lilliesleaf and Middleham. Herbert, bishop of Glasgow, made this land tithe-free : they had also the tithes of the miln. In the reign of King William, there was a dispute between the monks and the rector of Lilliesleaf, about some lands in Roxburgh and Kelso, and some tithes which he claimed as due to his church. The pope deputed John, bishop of Dunkeld, Hugh, abbot of Newbottle, and Symon, archdeacon of Glasgow, to settle the controversy, by whose advice the rector resigned his claim. -^ They had a tenement at Whitslade, let for six shillings a-year. ' At Clarilaw they had twenty-one cottages, with three acres wanting a rood attached to each, and pasture for two cows. The rent of each was two bolls of meal, with services. § The grange of Faudoun, with twenty-one cottages, used to produce £10 per annum. || " Istse sunt marchiae et divisse antiquse inter villam de Bolden, et villam de Faudon. Incipiendo apud le Blaklouch, et prosequendo quendara murum ibidem ad partem occidentalem del Mergrew, et sic procedendo per ilium murum, ascendendo versus austrum, usque supra le Qwytfeld, et sic versus orientem procedendo inter moram et le Qwytfeld, usque ad siculum qui ascendit ad partem occidentalem de Qwytfeld. * Bent Roll. f Chart. Kel. 135, r. 135, v. 136, r. % Ibid. 160, V. § Rent Roll. \\ Ibid. 124 HISTORY OF Novae marchiae factae de gratia domini Andreae Fraser : Incipiendo ad siculum praedictum et procedendo versus bornam usque ad le Crokedsaulch, et sic directe descendendo usque ad murum qui dicitur Swtercroftdyks." * The grange of Whitmer, consisting of two ploughgates, was valued at ten marks yearly. The vill, or town of Whitmer, contained ten husband- lands, each of which paid six shillings yearly, with bondservices ; and seven cottages, with an acre of ground to each, three of which paid six' shillings per annum ; three paid 4sh. 6d. ; and the remaining one l6d. There was also another cottage, without land, which paid 6d. t The grange of Whitelaw contained three ploughgates, with pasture for two flocks of sheep, and five young horses, t The grange of Newton was cultivated with seven ploughs, and main- tained four score of oxen, and six cows in summer, and sixty in winter at forage ; also 1000 ewes, 60 hogs, and work-horses as many as were wanted for the ploughs. § Sir Robert de Hullecestre gave the monks all his land, with the building and croft in the vill of Newton, for ninepence yearly. || Makerston. Walter Corbet, laird of Makerston, gave to the convent, before 1159, the church of Malkaruston, with the tithes thereof, and a piece of land lying on the Tweed at Brockesford, which he had given to that church at the time of its dedication. This land they afterwards exchanged with him, and as he gave them one of inferior value, he added to it another called Gretrigesmedow. He made another grant of half a ploughgate, with toft and croft ; and he confirmed a grant of two acres on the north side of the road from Langtune to Roxburgh, by Michael of Malcarvistun, with the consent of Christiana his wife. When Patrick, Earl of Dunbar, obtained the lands of Malcarveston by his marriage with Christiana Corbet, Hugh, the abbot of Kelso, and the convent, in 1241, gave him permission to have a private chapel at his residence, the mother church reserving her right to certain fees and oblations. % When the Rent Roll was written, there belonged to the monks two ploughgates at Malcarveston, with pasture for four hundred lambs, which was worth forty shillings a-year. Also twelve cottages, with a toft and half acre to each, and pasturage for two cows in the common. Four of these cottages paid each four shillings a-year, and * Chart. Kel. 171, r. \ Rent Roll. % Ibid. 5 Ibid. II Chart. Kel. 135, r. t Ibid, 93, v. 94, r. THE ABBEY OF KELSO. 125 nine days' work ; and each of the others eighteenpence and nine days. They had also a brewhouse with an acre of land, which paid five shillings a-year. * Hermitage, in Liddisdale. William de Bolebech granted to God, and St Mary, and brother William of Mercheleye, and all his successors, the Hermitage called Merchingleye, founded in his waste beside the Merching- burn, with the church of St Mary there, and all belonging to it. His son Walter, confirmed the same to William and Roger, monks of the order of Kelso, and ordered that the hermitage should be, thenceforth, always held by two of the monks of Kelso, and by none other. Eustace de Baliol endowed this Hermitage with twenty-six acres of land beside Heleychestres.t Berwick. From David I. the convent obtained two ploughgates at Berwick, with two dwelling-houses, forty shillings yearly out of the revenues of the burgh, half of the profits of the milns. t This last gift was afterwards yielded to the mayor and community by an agreement with the monks. § Prince Henry gave them a toft in Berwick, called Dodin's land. II This land was afterwards claimed by one Lambert as his inheri- tance, and the bishops of St Andrews and Glasgow were deputed, in 1177* to examine into and settle the controversy. They found that Lambert could not prove his right ; yet to cut the matter short, they prevailed on the abbot and convent to give him the land in Roxburgh which Gilbert del Halach gave them, and twenty shillings towards erecting buildings ; and as that land was then occupied by a woman who could not immediately be removed, it was agreed that, during her tenancy, she was to pay to Lambert the two shillings yearly, which she used to pay to the abbot, and the abbot was to add half a mark until he was put in possession of the land, after which he was to receive no more from the abbot, but to pay to him twelve pence yearly, f Marjory, the wife of William Forgrund, sold them an annualrent of two marks, which she derived from a house in Berwick. They obtained some land in Berwick from Ralph de Berneville.** Adam, the son of Huddings, in 1227, gave them half hi§, land in Huddingate, in Berwick.ft Thomas de Ravinisher sold them his land in Waldefgate in 1290 ; and Thomas Batayle sold them his land in * Sent Roll. f Chart. Kel. 106, v. 107, r. % Ibid. 17, r. J lUd. 21, r. II Ibid. 17, v. 1^ Ibid. 163. r. ** Ibid. 20, V. ft Ibid. 23, v. 126 HISTORY OF the same street. * Richard Gwalen gave them his land, with his oven, &c.f Bernard Baliol in the time of David I, gave them the fishery of Wood- hornstele ; and Robert de Pesale gave them the fishery of Redhouth, between the Pool fishery of Orde and Blackwell. Jordan of Flanders gave half a ploughgate in the lower town of Orde ; and John de Huntedun, rector of the church of Durisdeer, gave a fishery called Folestream. t Alexander de Riparia, yielded to them his claim to a toft and an acre at Tweedmouth. § Arnald, the son of Peter of Kelso, on condition that they should say mass for the good of his soul, gave them the land in Berwick which he bought from Matilda Sufaze, and her grand-daughter, situated between the land of Arnald the Frenchman, and that of William de Bernahme ; also a messuage with meadow, &c. to be held of the convent by his son-in-law, John of Newton, and his heirs, for the payment of one mark yearly. || Their possessions in Berwick are enumerated in the Rent Roll, viz. a fishing worth £ 20 per annum ; forty shillings out of the customs at the Tolbooth ; a dwelling near the Bridge-house, which they kept for their own use ; rents, amounting to £ 10, 3s. 6^d. in Briggate, Waldefgate, and elsewhere ; a dwelling-house with three shops in Uddin-. gate, let to John Hall at ten marks per annum ; the fishing of Woodhorne, which produced thirteen marks yearly ; the fishing of North-yare, which yielded two marks. A building with a well, and three acres of ground at Tweedmouth, which produced twenty shillings a-year. Two ploughgates and two tofts at Bondington, near the church of St Lawrence ; a toft near the church of St Mary, and a bank below the church for herbage. In 1334, when King Edward III. restored to the monks their confiscated property in Berwick, it was as follows : The seventh part of the milns ; forty shillings out of the firm of the town ; twenty-six shillings from two messuages in Southgate ; ninepence from a messuage in Le Bocherie ; six shillings from a messuage in Briggate ; two shillings and threepence, two shillings and sixpence, two shillings and sixpence, and two shillings and eightpence, from four messuages in Uddyngate ; six shillings and eightpence, from a messuage in Waldefgate ; and four shillings from a messuage in the corner of the same street ; and two shillings from a messuage in Seintemarie-gate.^ * Chart. Kel. 22, r. -j- Jbid. 24, v. X Ibid. 17, V. David de Howburne yielded the Pool fishery of Orde, and the fishery of Blackwell to the monks. 26, r. § Ibid. 20, V, II Ibid. 136, V. 1 Rotuli Scotia. THE ABBEY OF KELSO. 127 HoRNDEAN. Sir William de Veteriponte, or Vipont, gave the monks, with consent of his -wife Marjory, two acres in the meadow called HoUan* medu, in his lordship of Horverden, lying between the cultivated fields of HoUans and Brewlands. * He gave also certain eschalingas, [shealings, or upland pastures,^ called Diveringdounes [Deryngton] in Lammermuir, which belonged to Hworvorden, f He gave them likewise the church of Horndean ; and David, bishop of St Andrews, in 1251, gave them permis- sion to apply the revenues of the said church to their own use, on condition of their maintaining a chaplain duly to celebrate divine service in the same4 Robert Byseth, lord of Upsetlington, gave the convent the Hospital of St Leonard, in Upsetlington on Tweedside, opposite to Horwerden. They were to have no common without the bounds of the Hospital land, but might build and fish within its limits. The abbot and convent, and their successors, were to provide a chaplain to celebrate divine offices for the faithful there, and to maintain two poor persons. § In the time of Robert I. they had at Horndean half a ploughgate, with pasture for a hundred ewes, six oxen, two cows, and two horses, along with the laird's cattle ; also a toft and a meadow called HoUanmedu ; and the Hospital, with sixteen acres, and a fishery in the Tweed, with pertinents ; and they were to provide a chaplain and to maintain two poor persons. At Dun- rigdon they had an annualrent of 5sh. with ward and relief. 1 1 Symprinc. Hye of Symprinc, in presence, and with consent, of his son Peter, in the reign of Malcolm IV, gave the church of Symprinc to the monks, with toft and croft, and eighteen acres of land, reserving the right of Thor, archdeacon of Lothian, to enjoy the revenues of the church during his life. In 1251, David, bishop of St Andrews, gave them permission to serve the church of Symprinc, not by a vicar, but by a chaplain, and to apply the whole fruits of the said church to their own use, to help them to assist the poor, and to shew strangers hospitality.^ In the Rent Roll, they are stated to have at Symprinc two oxgangs, which brought them one mark per annum ; and the * Chart. Kel. 124, r. f Ibid. :|; JJerf. 153, v. 154, v. ^ Ibid. 94, v. II Rent Roll. Derringtoii is in the parish of Longformacus. William, abbot of Kelso, granted to Alexander de Redpeth, and his heirs, for services rendered and to be rendered, the half of the lands of Deryngton, in Berwickshire, which Joneta Schaw, the nearest heir of the late William de Deryngton, resigned ; for thirty pence yearly, to be paid by the said Alexander to the abbot and convent. Chart. Kel. 213, r. f Chart. Kel. 109, r. v. 128 HISTORY OF church for their own use, which produced ten pounds per annum. Sym- princ is in the parish of Swinton. Fogg. This church was conferred on the monastery by Earl Gospatric in the reign of Malcolm IV, together with a ploughgate of land, and the land and pasture of Bothkilscheles, " Per istas divisas, viz. de sursa fontis de Kaldwelle, usque in vacellum in quo rivulus praedicti fontis descendit, et ab illo vacello sicut rivulus ille cadit in Bothkil ; et inde sicut Bothkil cadit in Witheddre, et post de Witheddre usque adviam magnam quae vadit ultra Spertildoun, et per eandem viam usque in prsedictum fontem de Kaldwelle ; et communem pasturam inter eos et scalingas hominum meorum de Pinkerdun."* William, the son of Patrick, Earl of Dunbar, confirmed the gift of his ancestor, and gave also the dwelling-house which John the Dean possessed, a croft adjacent, and some land contiguous, " tendente versus austrum usque ad Grenrig, et ex transverse Grenrig per quandam antiquam semitam usque ad pratum meum quae jacet inter Grenrig et Aldefoghou et ab illo prato in occidentem usque ad lapides positos pro divisa inter terram eorundem monachorum et terram hominum villae, et de lapidibus usque ad quendam rivulum descendentem de Blyndewelle. Et quandam aliam terram in orientali parte villae de Foghou cum toftis et croftis et domibus supra^ positis. Dedi etiam terram quam Johannes Decanus tenuit per istas divisas, viz. a quandam spina quae sita est inter terram eorundem monachorum descendendo per quandam sicam versus aquilonem usque in Blak Eder, et sic in descendendo per Blakeder versus orientem, cum pratis, pasturis, et halhes et hogis adjacentibus usque ad Ricardesflat; et sic ascendendo in directum versus austrum per quandam fontem usque in Estbutterstrothir, ascendendo versus occidentem per quandam sicam usque in Westbutter* strother, versus occidentem per quendam rivulum usque ad predictam spinam. Praeterea dedi eisdem monachis quatuor acras terrae contiguas terras eorundem monachorum, ex orientali parte jacerites, ex utraque parte viae quae tendit versus Berewic, quae vocantur Ricardflat, juxta Blakeder. Testibus, domino P. fratre meo. Waltero de Lindeseii vicecomite de Berewic ; Ada de Poulword ; Bernard de Hauden et aliis.f At a later period, Patrick Corbet, laird of Foghou, confirmed to the monks the possession of the chapel of Foghou, with the miln, and other possessions conferred by his father William, and his brother Nicholas.:]: In the time * Chart. Kel. 29, T. \ Ibid. 116, m. %Ibid.m,w. THE ABBEY OF KELSO. 129 of King Robert the Bruce, they had at Fogo a ploughgate, with easements, which brought them four marks yearly : and a chapel with two plough- gates and a miln, from which they derived ten marks per annum.* Greenlaw, Lambden, and Haliburton. The church of Greenlaw, with the chapel of Lambden, and land adjacent, were granted by Earl Gospatrick, in 1 1 47.* Patrick, the son and heir of Patrick, Earl of Dunbar, gave the convent a ploughgate of land in Bothkilsheales. He gave them also a letter of protection, in which he engages " quod non impediet com- modum religiosofum virorum abbatis et conventus de Kalchou, sed fovebit et mantenebit eos et bona eorum, eorum tenentes, firmarios, servientes, et eorum fratres et conversos, prsesentes et futuros."t William, the son of Patrick, gave two oxgangs, with the toft and croft which Adam Cassin Once held of him in Grenelaw : and he engaged that the mother church of Grenelaw should suflfer no loss from his having built a chapel in his curia at Grenelaw. He gave also " ilium toftum in Grenelawe quem Lyolfus equicius tenuit subtus ecclesiam, ita longum versus occidentem sicut cimeterium se extendit. Et praeterea in eadem villa quinque acras terrse et unam rodam circa Cauchesterlawe."t John de Lambdene, the son of W. de Strivelyn, gave a toft and croft in Lambdene, next that which Nigel held ; also eight acres of land, four of which were in Morilaw, and the Gther four in Arthurs-croft. David, the son of Tructe, in the time of David I, gave to the mother church of Grenelaw, and to the monks of Kelso, the chapel of liis vill of Haliburton, with a toft and croft, and two dxgangs of land. This was confirmed by his son Walter, in presence of Earl Patrick, Eustace de Vescy, John, Sheriff of Roxburgh, Bernard de Hauden, and others. In 1261, Philip de Haliburton resigned all right over the said chapel. § The abbot and monks granted permission to Roland of Grenelaw to have a chapel within the court of his mansion, on condition that no loss should accrue to the church of St Mary, at Kelso, nor to the parish church of Grenelaw. The chaplain of the parish church was to serve the said chapel three days in the week when Roland was at home, and no other chaplain without his consent, and Roland and his family were * Chart. Kel. 29, r. 31, r. R. bishop of St Andrews, gave Gualter de Strivelyn permission to have a church in his village of Lambden, upon the petition and concession of Earl Gospatric. f Ibid. 31, V. t Ibid. 80, r. 31, v. § Ibid. 114, v. 107, v. 108, r, R 130 HISTORY OF to hear service in the parish church on the great festivals.* William de Lamberton, bishop of St Andrews, about the beginning of the reign of King Robert the Bruce, granted them permission to apply the revenues of the church of Greenlaw, with its chapels of Haliburton and Lambden, to their own use, in consideration of the great poverty to which they were reduced, by the plundering and burning of their monastery, and the destruction of their property by war, and upon condition of their presenting a vicar to the said church whenever it should be vacant, and assigning him a stipend of a hundred shillings per annum, and providing as usual for divine service in said chapels, t About this time they had in Greenlaw half a ploughgate, worth two marks annually, which was usually held by the vicar, and another half ploughgate held by Alan, son of Matthew. Also two oxgangs, with toft and croft near the church ; and five acres in another quarter, held for a mark and a half per annum. At Lambden they had an annualrent of a pound of pepper from the estate of William de Lambden. The rectory of Grenelaw was valued at £26, ISs. 4d. per annum, t Langton. In the time of King David I, or of Malcolm IV, Roger de Ou, or How, in the presence of Hugh and Thomas de Ou, and for the soul of his lord Earl Henry, gave the monks the church of Langton, as held by Henry, the parson thereof. § William de Veteriponte, in the reign of King William, confirmed to them the same church, with its tithes and land granted by his father. The boundary went along the road on the east side of the church to Wedderburn, and thence to Humpulles and Langlands, where, passing between the laird's property and that of the church, it went on to Wedderburn northward, and to the toft of Henry, the former parson. To make a full ploughgate, he added the land called Gretryg, bounded by ditches from Holeburn to Stocfiatcluh, and from thence to Fulstrother by the syke, and eastward to the limits of the arable land and meadow of Ful- strother, and thence to the syke which runs between Gretryg and Stamkilchestre, and down the syke to the path which goes to Holeburn, on the west of Chimbelawe, and up Holeburn to the above named ditches. He gave also a portion of land in Langton, called Coleman's-flat, which had formerly belonged to the church. || In 1240, David, bishop of St Andrews, * Chart. Kel. 56, r. f Ibid. 1 19, v. :|: Rent Roll. 5 Chart. Kel. 53, r. || Ibid. 53, v. THE ABBEY OF KELSO. 131 gave them power to appropriate to their own use the great tithes of this parish, reserving for the vicar the glebe and altarages,* In the Rent Roll, the rectory is valued at £20 per annum, and they had a toft for gathering in their tithes. Ulfkilston, or Oxton. Alan, son to Roland of Galwey, constable of Scotland, gave them five ploughgates in Ulfkilston, in Lauderdale, with easements, as a composition for certain revenues which they had in Galwey, in the time of his ancestors. Those revenues, which appear to have been the tithes of the cattle and swine, and kain cheese granted by King David, and confirmed by King Malcolm IV, the monks renounced, with arrears and every claim on Galwey, in exchange for this land, the boundaries of which, beginning at the head of Holdene-burn, went down the same to Derestrete, and along Derestrete, northward, to Fuleford, and along the Ledre, by the south road, up to Derestrete, then southward to a cross, and westward to the road which leads back to the head of Holdene-burn. t He gave them likewise an annualrent of eight shillings, to be paid out of certain lands in Ulfkilston, in consideration of their relinquishing their claim to a ploughgate called Fulwidnes, which he had given in alms to the Hospital of Soltre.t In the time of King Robert I, they were in possession of half the village of Ulfkilston, from which they derived rents to the amount of ten marks yearly. § Home. Earl Gospatric, with consent of his sons, Gospatric, Edward, and Edgar, granted to the church of St Nicholas, in Home, a ploughgate of land, with parochial rights over that village, and the half of Gordon. || He afterwards conferred the same church, with two ploughgates and a meadow called Harastrodar, upon the monastery of Kelso. ^ Ada, the wife of William de Courtenay, and daughter of Patrick, Earl of Dunbar, gave a portion of her land, with buildings, in the territory of Home, called PuUys, * Chart. Kel. 153, r. In 1203, William de Veteriponte relinquished every claim he had against the abbot and monks, (except the dispute concerning the multure of the scalings of Derrington, which was referred to arbitration,) in consideration of their services in bringing his father's bones out of England, and burying them in their cemetery. At the same time the monks forgave him a debt of thirty shillings, and gave him forty shillings, while they granted his petition that his father's name should be expressly recited among the special benefactors of the monastery whenever prayers and masses were said for the benefit of their souls for ever. — lUd. 55, v. f Ibid. 98, r. % ^^- ^8, v. § Eent Roll. II Chart. Kel. 112, r. % Ibid. 29, r. 132 HISTORY OF or PuUes, situated on the banks of the Eden, where that river formed the boundary between Home and Nenthorn.* A dispute concerning this property arose between the convent and William de Home, who, in 1268, executed a deed, acknowledging that he had unjustly harassed. and provoked the monks, and that he has sworn upon the holy gospek to respect and protect their rights in future, binding himself to pay a hundred shillings for damages and expenses, and granting pledges till the same be paid. Because his own seal was not sufficiently known, he caused this deed to be sealed with the seals of the archdeacon of Lothian, and the dean of the Mers.t It is probable that this concession was made under the influence of impressions produced by the prospect of approaching death, for, in 1269> William, laird of Home, son of William, the late laird, became bound to sign a charter confirming the grant of the church of Home, and the land called PuUys, to Kelso, as soon as he shall assume military arms, and change his seal.1: Sir Patrick, son of Lord Walter de Laynale, gave to the convent all the land, tofts, messuages, &c. in Home, which Robert, the son of Adam Long, conferred on him, and which the said Robert and Adam held of the monks, for the payment of ten shillings yearly. § In 1270, Gamelin, bishop of St Andrews, gave them power to convert the revenues of the church of Home to their own use.il Their value, at the commencement of the fourteenth century, was £20 per annum. At this period, their property, at Home consisted of a ploughgate and four tofts, with easements, which let at six marks ; two oxgangs belonging to the church, with a toft and easements ; a meadow of twenty acres, called Harestrother ; an annual- rent of two shillings and sixpence, with two hundred eggs, and four days' work, from the land of William de Bosseville ; ground for building ,a house, and a receptacle for their fuel, at the PuUes ; seven acres, with a toft, easements, and pasture for three hundred sheep at Wedderley ; where they had also an annualrent of two shillings and sixpence, and four days' labour, from the land of Geoffrey of Home.^ Gilbert, the son of Adam of Home, resisted their claim to tithes and other ecclesiastical dues from Wedderley, but at last allowed it ; and the abbot and convent gave him and his heirs a right to have a chapel there, upon the usual condition^. * Chart. Kel. 49, v. f Ibid. 51, r. J Ibid. 112, v. § Ibid. 112, r. II Ibid. 156, V. ^ Rent Roll, THE ABBEY OF KELSO. 133 On this cliapel he conferred ten acres of land, with pasture for a hundred sheep, and forty horned cattle. * Gordon. Richard de Gordon granted to the monastery the church of St Michael, at Gordon, and the land with which he had endowed it, viz. " totam terram illam a cimeterio usque ad Lippestan sacerdotis, et inde usque ad acram sacerdotis, et ad fossam quandam per croftam Roberti Rikeloc, usque ad Gateyeth, et ad viam quae venit de Gordon, et per viam illam sursum usque ad Navidhic, et de Navidhic versus austrum usque ad unum magnum lapidem, et sic ad fossas repletas lapidibus, et ad extremi- tatem curiae Alexandri, et sic per curiam ejus, et sic ascendendo usque ad cimeterium." He gave likewise an acre on Toddelawe, and an acre of meadow in Hundeistrower. t His grandson, Thomas de Gordon, made a grant of land, situated on the road-side near Fairford. He gave also a part of the petary called Brun-mos, extending from Todholes south- ward to Blakeburn, which runs between Faunes, Melocstan, and Gordon. He likewise gave eight perches of land, with liberty to make a bridge to the petary, and to take timber out of his woods to make it and keep it in repair, and also to strengthen and keep in perpetual repair their miln-dam at Kelso, t His daughter Alicia, who, in the reign of Alexander III, married Sir Adam Gordon of Haddo, confirmed the gifts of her ancestors, and especially that piece of land given by her father, situated between the road to Spottiswode aud the domain of Dedrig, in breadth ; and between the road to Hunteley and Huplongsflath, in length. § Her son, Adam de Gordon, made a grant of land extending from Bradeford northward along the side of the river Eden, with pasture in his marsh at Westruther for 30 cows or oxen. || Andrew Fraser, son to Sir Gilbert Fraser, gave the monks .a ploughgate in West Gordon, between Fairford, Deadrig, Cothlandisforde, Swarthbrandknuc, Robertslaw-ditch, Harewell, Berestede, and the Red Quarry ; also, fifteen acres, with two tofts and crofts, and three acres of meadow in the domain of Gordon. He gave them likewise his bondser- .vant Adam, the son of Henry " del Hoga," with all his family, and pasture for forty horses and two hundred sheep.^ A dispute having arisen between the monks and Sir Adam de Gordon, concerning some claim which he had * Chart. Kel. 115, v. f ^*''^- 43> r. % Ibid. 4A, v. J Ibid. 44, r. II Ibid. 43, r, f Ibid. 47, v. 134 HISTORY OF to the ploughgate given by Sir Andrew Fraser, a meeting of their mutual friends was held in Kelso church, after the feast of St Peter in Cathedra, in the year 1308, when the convent agreed to pay him two marks annually for the ploughgate, and to permit him to have an oratory, wherever he chose, in the parish of Gordon, saving the rights of the church.* The Rent Roll enumerates, at Gordon, the half ploughgate belonging to the church, with pasture in the laird's land for five score young horses, and 400 wedders ; the ploughgate which had been Andrew Fraser's, for which they paid to the laird of Gordon two marks per annum ; six cottages, to each of which belonged an acre and a half of land, with easements, of which each of the tenants was bound to deliver annually thirty cart-loads of dry peats at the cloister, and to perform six days' labour, of whatever kind might be required : also, a toft whereon to build a house for the chaplain ; and two petaries. The church of Gordon, of which they enjoyed the full tithes, is valued at £20 per annum. Melocstan, or Mellerstaines. David de Graham, brother to Richard de Faunes, granted to the convent two tofts in Melocstan, one of which, consisting of two acres, was situated where the old hall stood, and the other on the south side of Melocstan ; also twenty-one acres in Wytefeld and Kingissete, and thirty-five acres next the Eden, nearer Faunes. These possessions were held of Patrick, Earl of Dunbar, who confirmed the grant. Richard conferred them on his brother, who, before he granted them to the convent, had given their mother, Amable, her liferent of them for twelve pence yearly, to be paid at Hexham at the time of Corbridge fair.t William de Hatteley, son and heir of Robert de Hatteley, gave the monks liberty to make a bridge over the rivulet Blakeburn, in his ground of Melocstan, and to have a road through his land to their petary. Philip de Haliburton, knight, and Christian, his spouse, about the year 1261, confirmed the grants of David de Graham in Melocstan, and the right of pontage and waynage over Blackburn. I Their possessions in Melocstan, enumerated in the Rent Roll, are a ploughgate which paid one mark annually, four acres, and a brewhouse, which paid five shillings, and a tene- ment, with easements. In 1465, Alan, abbot of Kelso, and the convent, let all their property in Mellostanys and Fawnys to Alexander Purves of. * Chart. Kd. 48, r. f Ihid. 51, v. 52, r. % Ibid. 52, r. v. THE ABBEY OF KELSO. 135 Mellostanys, and Hugh, his brother-german, conjunctly and separately, for the period of nineteen years, at the rent of forty shillings per annum.* Nenthorn, anciently called Naithansthirn. By an agreement entered into on the the 6th of March, 1316, the convent obtained the church of Nenthorn, and the chapel of Little Newton, from William de Lamberton^ bishop of St Andrews, in exchange for the church of Cranston, and the land of Preston, in Mid-Lothian, which lay contiguous to the bishop's property, as the other did to Kelso. But as the said church and chapel were destroyed, and greatly reduced in value by the war, and the income of the church of Cranston amounted to twenty-five marks a-year, the bishop bound himself and his successors for ten years, beginning at the feast of Pentecost, 1317» to pay annually to the convent the sum of twenty- five marks, deducting the salary of the chaplain of the said church, unless the revenues of Nenthorn and Newton should any year amount to the value of twenty-five marks, in which case the bishop was not bound to pay. Whatever the monks should derive from the tithes and fruits of the said church and chapel, beyond the amount of the chaplain's salary, was to be placed to the account of the bishop or his successors, as payment of part of the said sum ; and they were to be exempted from the obligation to pay, if^ at any time during the ten years, the church of Cranston, and land of Preston, should, in like manner, be destroyed by war. If the destruction were partial, the damage was to be duly estimated, and a just proportion of the payment was to be remitted. At the end of ten years, these pay- ments and remissions were to cease entirely, t To facilitate this exchange, William de Eglisham, archdeacon of Lothian, engaged for himself and successors to exact no procuration money from Nenthorn and Newton, but to bear his own charges when he should come to visit them, t Richard de Hanggandsyd, to engage the monks to pray for the souls of William and James, Earls of Douglas, and for the safety of his lord, Archibald, Earl of Douglas, § granted them the land called Camflat, in the territory of Little Newton, bounded by the parish of Kelso on the south, and on the north by the morass of Kanmuir, through which the causeway and highway runs; with some other portions of land and meadow adjoining. !!> * Chart. Kel. 183, r. f- ^^id. 121, r. t Ibid. 122, v. § This was Archibald, surnamed the Grim, eighth Earl of Douglas, who died in 1401. II Ibid. 182, V. 136 HISTORY OF Cranston was granted by Hugh Ridel, for the souls of King David and Earl Henry. The profits, except the corn tithes, were to be enjoyed by the secretary of the convent. He gave also the vill and tenement of East Kranston, otherwise called Preston, or Presteton, reserving to himself and his heirs an annualrent of twenty shillings sterling, in lieu of the multure, of every kind, which might be exacted from the land thus granted, and restraining the monks from erecting a miln upon the Tyne to his prejudice. * The boundaries of this grant are thus minutely described : " Incipiendo ad aquam de Tyne, subtus Craneston a parte orientali, ex opposito Hoge, et sic versus aquilonem descendendo secundum antiquum cursum dictse aquae de Tyne, seorsim usque ad pratum quod vocatur abbotismedue ; et sic de inceptione dicti prati, per veterem cursum dictse aquse, circa dictum pratum, quousque alias per eundem anticum cursum venerit in aquam de Tyne ; et sic ex transverso dictse aquae usque in terram de Grmiston, et per divisas inter Preston et Ormeston, incipiendo ad unam vallem versus austrum, ascendendo sursura per syketum usque ad anti- quam balcam, quae est antiqua marchia ad pedem del Whitelawe ; et sic asciendendo per dictam balcam directe usque ad crucem quae stat in marchia inter Preston et Ormeston, in via quae tendit versus Hadington ; et a cruce versus austrum orientis usque ad Peth-hevid ; et sic descendendo in rivulum qui vocatur Wreke ; et ascendendo per dictum rivulum quosque veniat ad sycum qui venit de New Craneston ; et ascendendo per ilium syketum inter terram arabilem de Preston et de Ormeston, qui syketus antiqua est marchiaj quousque veniat ad syketum qui venit extra le Fareny-acre-dene ; per extre- mitatem terrae del Morehuses quousque pervenerit ad finem de Kenelmore Denum ; per orientalem partem dictae More versus austrum ; per balcam lapideam juxta terram arabilem del Morehuses, sursum usque ad caput illius balcae ad quandam congeriem lapidum; et sic versus orientem usque ad quendam lapidem ad inferiorem partem de Rennechestre ; et sursum versus austrum per quandam balcam latam ex parte orientali de Rynchestre, usque ad quendam syketum a parte boreali de Tyh Witemore; et per syke- tum, versus orientem, inter extremitates terrae, usque in quoddam antiquum fossatum, et sursum per illud fossatum versus austrum usque ad le Hares- tane ex parte orientali de Bertinbote ; et deinde sursum a parte boreali * Chart. Eel. 123, r. THE ABBEY OF KELSO. 137 sjketi qui vocatur Schanke, per lapides positos in antiqua marcliia usque in caput del Schanke ; et deinde usque ad quendam lapidem ex parte orientali rivi cujusdam fontis, et de illo lapide versus, austrum orientis usque ad extremitatem borealem del Youles ; et deinde versus boream orientis, per quendam syketum descendendo in alium syketum, et per ilium syketum versus austrum usque ad quendam lapidem jacentem in costa illius syketi ; et sic per quandam balcam versus orientem inter terram de Ormston et terram quae vocatur Thewles, usque ad quendam lapidem in fine balcae ; et sic in austrum per aliam balcam inter Theules et Ormeston, usque in rivulum qui vocatur Paynesburn in marchia de Paseton ; et sursum per ilium rivulum usque yenerit de Neucranston ; et ascendendo per ilium rivulum usque ad le Brademedue ; et de illo rivulo versus occidentem per quandam balcam usque ad lapidem ex parte boreali del Brademedue, et versus boream usque ad caput fontis qui vocatur Youleswell ; et ab illo fonte versus boream per quandam antiquam balcam qui est marchia usque in le Redystrother ; et per mediam illius Redystrother per quandam balcam sursum usque ad le Tyh Witemore ; et per eandem balcam ultra dictam moram usque ad extremitatem terrse arabills de Neucranston ; et versus boream pei" illam balcam quousque venerit seorsim in le Orchi- diardstrother, et ex transverso illius strother per quoddam fossatum usque in syketum ; et per syketum versus occidentem usque ad petariam, et per costam petarise in occidentem usque le Oxinfalde ; et deinde per culturam quae vocatur Crossflat seorsum per extremitates terrae de Preston, usque in viam quae venit de Neucraneston ; et per illam viam seorsum per pedeni conclivi usque in veterem cursum de Tyne, quousque venerit per eundem cursum in aquam de Tyne, contra molendinum de Wester Cranestun subtus Hogam."* In the Rent Roll, the rectory of Craneston is valued at £10, and the vill of Preston at £ 20, per annum, vi^hence it appears, that the Rent Roll was written before 1316, when Cranston ceased to belong to the monastery.t DuDDiNGSTON. Tlie mouks were in possession of the church of Dudding» ston, and the lands of East and West Duddingston, at an early period, but the chartulary does not say from whom they acquired them. The abbot Herbert granted the lands of Ester and Wester Duddingston to Reginald * Chart. Kel. 96, v. f It must have been written after 1296, as it speaks of the time of Richard, who was then abbot, as past. S 138 HISTORY OF de Bosco for an annualrent of ten marks, to be paid by him and his heirs for ever. His successor, Hugh, who died in 1248, granted to Emma, the wife of Thomas, the son of Reginald de Bosco, or her assign, the wardship of her son and heir during his minority, for which she paid the abbot £20. * The abbot Alan, in 1466, granted in fee, for four marks annually, to Cudbert Knytheson, burgess of Edinburgh, " illam peciam terrae in baronia de Dodingston, prout jacet ex ambabus partibus viae regiae inter le Fegot Myrhede, et quandam congregationem lapidum ibidem depositorum ex parte orientali, ex parte una ; et descendendo ab oriente prout quaedam fossa ex antique constructa, et metae in eadem depositee se extendunt usque ad merchias terrarum villae de Wester Dodynston ex parte occidentalij ex parte altera ; et deinde a le Fegot, prout aqua currit in mare, et ad pedem unius Leth ex parte boreali ; et sic a pede de le Leth per merchias, metas, et divisas, ascendendo usque ad dictum le Fegot Myrhede et dictum congre- gationem lapidum ex parte orientali," &c.t In the time of King Robert I. the Abbot William granted the half of Wester Doddingston, " salvo statu rectoris, ecclesiae et vicariae," to Sir William de Frischelai, and his heirs, for ever, for the yearly payment of twelve marks of silver, with homage, &c. t At this period Easter Duddingston produced ten marks, and Wester Duddingston twenty-four marks, yearly. The rectory was worth £20 per annum. Edinburgh. The Abbot John granted to Lawrence, the son of Edmund of Edinburgh, a toft, situated between the AVest Port and the Castle, on the left of the entrance into the city.§ The Rent Roll mentions a tene- ment in Edinburgh which paid the convent sixteen pence per annum rent. The abbey of Holyrood paid them a mark annually, as a composition for the tithes of Slaperfelde, and the abbey of Newbotil paid six shillings and eightpence annually, for the tithes of their salt work of the Cars.|| Caldour, anciently called Caldour Clere. Ralph de Clere gave the monks the church of St Cuthbert of Caledoure, or Kaledofre, with the tithes of the miln, reserving to himself the right of having a private chapel within the court of his mansion, without detriment to the mother church. David, bishop of St Andrews, allowed them to appropriate the tithes to * Chart. Kel. 164, v. 165, v. + Jbid. 184, r. J lUd. 218, v. § Ibid. 7, r. II Rent RoU. THE ABBEY OF KELSO. l@i^ their own use, upon condition of paying ten marks annually to the vicar. * This rectory was worth £26, 13s. 4d. in the time of King Robert I. Pencaithland. Everard de Pencathlan conferred the church of Pen- cathlan upon the monks of Kelso, to engage them to pray for the safety of King William, his lord, who confirmed the grant. + This church is not enumerated in the Rent Roll. Keith, or Hundeby Keith, now called Humbie. This church was given to the convent, by Simon Fraser, in the time of King Malcolm IV. " Cum tota ilia terra, et toto nemore ab australi parte rivuli qui currit juxta ecclesiam ; scilicet, per predictum rivulum usque ad Kyrckeburn ; et inde usque ad viam quae vadit ad Hadyngton ; et inde usque ad Kyrnestrother, et de Kyrnestroder usque in Reavedene, et de R. usque ad prsefatum rivulum qui currit juxta ecclesiam ; et illam terram ex orientali parte vise juxta ecclesiam usque ad supercilium montis, usque ad quercum quae est super rivulum." t John de Keth, the mareschal, quitted his claim to a portion of land lying between the monk's wood, and the burn which runs down from the church ; concerning the right to which there had been a dispute between him and the convent. The monks gave up their pretensions to the church of Keith Hervey, which they had claimed as a chapel to the other church of Keith, which, by way of distinction, was called Hundebi Keth. Joscelin^, bishop of Glasgow, and the prior of Paisley, having been delegated by the Pope to settle this controversy, the mareschal settled upon the convent an annual pension of twenty shillings out of the living, and engaged, that should he give the church to any religious house, he would give it to none in preference to Kelso, Therje arose another dispute between the lords of Keith and the monks, the latter having erected a miln, and made a miln pond, thereby depriving the former of their right to the multure of the corn grown on the lands of Hundeby Keth, belonging to the latter. They had also made a road over his land of Laysiniston. Lord Robert de Keth gave them liberty both to have their miln, and to traverse his ground with carts and ploughs to their fields. § In the Rent Roll the vill of Hundeby Keth is valued at ten marks, and the rectory at £20, per annum. * Chart. Kd. 134, v. 157, r. 1 1^^- 141, v. X Ibid. 32, V, &c. § Ibid. 35, v. 37, r. 140 HISTORY OF A toft, in Haddington, with some land adjacent, belonged to the monastery as early as the reign of King William. * In the Rent Roll, the tenement in Haddington is valued at tenpence annually. Innerwick. In 1190, Robert de Kent, Robert Hunaud, Robert Avenel, and Roland of Innerwick, let, severally, to the monks of Kelso, for twenty- three years, for sums amounting to twenty shillings per annum, their portions of forest and pasture land in Innerwick, which lay near the land that already belonged to the convent, and was thus bounded : " Sicut rivulus de Edwardescloth cadit in Bothkil juxta Elzieshaleth ; et ita sicut Bothkil descendit ad Buccam de Fulhope, in transversum per divisas de Ellum usque ad Mammet ; et per M. usque ad acquilonarem partem de Witslede ; et ab W. in transversum usque in Edwardescloth ubi cadit in Bothkil." This agreement was ratified by Walter, the king's steward, the son of Alan ; and the same proprietors, or their heirs, afterwards converted the lease into a perpetual grant, t Walter, the king's steward, granted to the convent the whole of his land in Innerwic, thus bounded, viz. " a Bothkil, ascendendo per rivulum qui cadit a Scoulande, usque ad Scoulandesheved, ubi sulcus trahitur ; et per ilium sulcum usque ad viam quae tendit de Risilbrig versus Innerwic ; et sic ab ilia via versus orientem, usque ad quandam fossam ; et sic descendendo usque ad Meldrescloes-heved ; et sic per rivulum de Meldrescloes-heved, semper descendendo, usque in Mammet ; et sic usque ad Buccam de Estfulhope ; et sic ascendendo versus occidentem juxta divisas de Ellum et de Risilbrig, usque in Westfulhope, et in Withedre, et in Bothkil, et usque in prsedictum rivulum qui cadit de Scouland."1: The monks, having, in a short time, by their skill and industry, brought part of the waste land of this grant into cultivation, claimed to have it exempted from tithes ; and this being opposed by Sir Alan Montgomery, the pope's legate appointed the abbot of Dryburgh, the prior of Coldingham, and the archdeacon of St Andrews, to judge between them. They held a chapter of the deanery of the Merse at Ednam, in 1221, on the Friday next after the Sunday on which the "Letare Jerusalem" is chanted, when the matter terminated in favour of the monks. § Innerwick is not mentioned in the Rent Roll ; but their grange of Spertildon, in the same neighbourhood, consisted of two ploughgates, with pasture for 1000 sheep, * Chart. Kel. 12, r. , f Ibid. 101, v. &c. :|: Ibid. 99, v. ^Ibid. 105, v. THE ABBEY OF KELSO. 141 400 wedders, 60 horses, and as many swine as they might have occasion for. They had sixteen or more cottages for their shepherds and serfs, and a brewhouse, which let at five shillings a-year. Peebles. King William confirmed to the monks the possession of th^ chapel of the castle of Peebles, with a ploiighgate belonging to it, and ten shillings a-year, granted by his grandfather King David out of the revenues of the burgh, to found a chapel in which to say mass for the soul of his son, Earl Henry.* Innerleithen. This church was granted by King David, to which Malcolm IV. added a toft ; and because the body of his son rested here the first night after his death, he ordained that this church and its territory should thenceforth be a place of refuge or sanctuary, possessing the same privileges as Wedale or Tyningham.t In the Rent Roll, the rectory of Innerleithen is valued at £26, 13s. 4d. yearly ; besides which they had a pension out of the vicarage, and twelve pence a-year from an acre adjacent to the church. Hopekelcow, alias Hopecalzie, where they had three shillings of annualrent from three acres of ground, appears to have been a chapel in this parish. Linton, anciently called Lynton Rutheric. In a charter of Herbert, bishop of Glasgow, this church is said to have been granted by Dodin, in his presence. There is another grant of it by Richard Cumyn, for the souls of Earl Henry, and his own son John, both of whom were buried in Kelso abbey. 1; In the Rent Roll, this rectory is valued at twenty marks yearly. Cambusnethan, in Clydesdale. King William confirmed the grant of this church by William Finemund. There is another grant of it by Ralph de Clere, together with the tithes of the profits of his milns.§ It is not mentioned in the Rent Roll. Dunsyre church, with its lands and tithes, was granted by Helias, the brother of Josceline, bishop of Glasgow, in presence of John, dean of Teviotdale, and Osbert, the chaplain of Kelso ; but in King William's confirmatory charter, it, with its chapels, is said to be the gift of Fergus Mackabard.il In the Rent Roll, it is valued at £5, 6s. 8d. Wiston. In the time of Malcolm IV, Wicius gave the church of his # Chart. Kel. ,12, v. f ^*'«^- 1^, r. 16, v. % I^id. 109, r. f Ibid. 11, V. 183, V. 11 Ibid. 12, r. 137, r. 142 HISTORY OF vill, Wicestun, with its two chapels, viz. the chapel of the vill of Robert, the brother of Lambin, [Roberton,] and the chapel of the vill of John, the stepson of Baldwin. * The church was served by a vicar, and the convent enjoyed the rectorial tithes, which are valued in the Rent Roll at £6, 13s. 4d. per annum. RoBERTON, now forming part of the parish of Wiston, was originally a chapel belonging to it, and afterwards a parish church, served by a per- petual vicar, while the rectorial tithes, valued in the Rent Roll at £6, 13s. 4d. yearly, were enjoyed by the monks of Kelso. One of the vicars, named Walter, objecting to this appropriation, in 1279> seized and detained the corn tithes as his just due ; but, when the matter was tried by the authorities of the church, judgment was given in favour of the convent, t Symington. Symon Lochard claimed the patronage of the chapel of his vill, called Symon-Loccardstown, in opposition to the monks of Kelso, who claimed it as a dependency of their church of Wicestun. Josceline, bishop of Glasgow, being deputed by the pope to settle the dispute, persuaded both parties to an amicable agreement, when Symon withdrew his claim, and the convent consented that the chaplain appointed by him should hold it of them during his life. His descendant. Sir Symon Loccard, not only revived this claim to the patronage of the living, but kept back tithes to the amount of forty chalders of meal. The authority of the bishop, however, compelled him to relinquish his pretensions, to make restitution, and to bind himself by an oath never again to molest the monks under pain of excomunication. The convent consented to receive seven chalders, instead of the forty which were due to them.1: In the Rent Roll, the rectory of Simondeston is valued at £10 per annum. Thankerton. The church of Tancard's-tun, otherwise called Wode Kyrch, was conferred by Anneis de Brus, and the grant was confirmed by Bishop Josceline, and Symon Loccard. § Thankerton is now contained in the parish of Covington. Robert de Londoniis granted a part of his land of Kadihu, " in vasto suo, scilicet, de Roshanan, viz. a quadam quercu, cruce signata, quae stat ad caput cujusdam sici ; et sic per sicum ilium descendendo, usque in * Chart. Kel. 130, r. \ JMd. 133, v. X lUd. 128, V. 129, V. § iiyia. 109, r. 130, v. 152, r. THE ABBEY OF KELSO. 143 proximum rivulum, et sic usque in Clude ; et per alteram partem de preedicta quercu descendendo usque in Clud in directum, ex opposite terras Tliomae filii Thancard." He gave also pasture for ten cows and ten oxen. King Alexander confirmed the grant of his brother Robert de Londoniis.* The convent had an annual pension of forty shillings from the church of Tyntou ; and they had the church of Crawfordjohn, the rectorial tithes of which produced them £6, 13s. 4d.t The church of Eglismalesoks, in Clydesdale, was granted or con- firmed to them by Robert I, in 1321. In 1324, John Lindsay, bishop of Glasgow, considering that the monastery of Calchou is situated on the borders of the kingdom, and that it had always been a place of free hospitality, where the poor and indigent found ready succour, but was now, by the hostile inroads and long continued wars between the two eountries, impoverished, spoiled of its goods, and in a state almost desolate ; and considering also that the said monastery is the true patron of the church of Eglismalesoks, he, for the safety of the soul of Robert, King of Scots, grants and confirms the said church to the convent of Kelso, by his pontifical authority, and, with the consent of his chapter, in pure alms, as soon as the present rector, Dominus Nigellus de Cunningham, resigns or dies, reserving to himself the collation of the vicar to serve the said church, and twenty marks yearly for' his sustenance, t The church of Carluke belonged to the convent at the time of the Reformation. § They had a toft and a fishing in Renfrew and tofts in Rutherglen, Lanark, Inverkeithing, and Stirling. || Campsie. This church was granted by David, Earl of Huntingdon, for the safety of his brother. King William, and the grant was confirmed by Maldouen, Earl of Lennox. In 1221, a controversy between the bishop of Glasgow and the abbot of Kelso, concerning the church of Campsie, was settled in the chapel of Roxburgh Castle, in the presence of an assembly of churchmen and nobles, when the abbot and convent resigned to the bishop and his successors their right to the said church, on condition that whoever * Chart. Kd. 75, v. R. de Londoniis was the eldest of the illegitimate children of King William. \ Rent Roll. % ^^«^'' -^«^- ^^^> ^^ § Harl. MSS. 4623, vol. ii. II Chart. Eel. 16, v. 9, r. 150, v. 144 HISTORY OF holds the living should pay them an annual pension of ten marks. This pension afterwards hecame a subject of litigation, in which the convent prevailed in 1266, and, in 1322, King Robert commanded the church of Glasgow duly to pay the same. * The church of Altercummin, in Lennox, was likewise granted by David, Earl of Huntington, t The church of Culter was confirmed to the- convent by King William. Walter Byseth, founder of the house of the knights templars at Culter, engaged, in presence of the abbot and monks of Kelso, assembled in full chapter, that he and his heirs would observe all the liberties of the said church, and that it should lose none of its rights in consequence of the house of the templars being erected within its limits. But afterwards a complaint was brought by the abbot and convent against the master and brothers of the Temple of Jerusalem, because they had, without permission, rebuilt their chapel in the parish of Culter, and had kept the great and small tithes, and offerings of their lands and other goods in the parish, which justly belonged to the parish church. The master and brothers pleaded, that their order enjoyed a general exemption from paying tithes, and that they had a right to build chapels and make cemeteries in the waste lands conferred on them ; also that the parish church of Culter, standing on the other side of a great river, on which there was no bridge, was seldom accessible to them without great danger, &c. The cause being heard by commissioners duly appointed, it was decided, that the knights templars should retain possession of their chapel, tithes, cemetery, baptistry, &c. but should pay yearly to the monks, eight and a half marks, in the house of the Temple at Blantrodoc. This was agreed to at Lauder in November, 1287.t In the Rent Roll the value of the rectory of Culter, together with the pension of the templars, is stated at £18, 13s. 4d. In 1240, the corn tithes were let to the chaplain, Alan de Soltre, for 18 marks. § BiRNiE. Brice Douglas, who, about the beginning of the thirteenth century, was promoted from being a monk at Kelso, to be prior of Lesma- hago, and afterwards bishop of Moray, gave, with consent of his diocese, the church of Brennath to the convent, to be fully enjoy ied by them, without dues or burdens. || * Chart. Kel. 91, r. v. 92, r. v. f Ibid. 91, r, % Ibid. 93, r. 89, v. § Ibid. 91, r, II Ibid. 141, V. THE ABBEY OF KELSO. 145 King David gave them a right to the kain, or tribute, due to him from one of the ships belonging to Perth. This was afterwards commuted for the payment of three marks yearly. * Dumfries. King William gave them the church of Dumfries, and the chapel of St Thomas at the same place, with the lands, tofts, and tithes, belonging to them, to which he added five acres. Ralph, the dean of Dumfries, soon after the beginning of the thirteenth century, disputed the right of the convent to this patronage, and presented his nephew, Martin, styled Clerk, to the livings ; but when the case was tried, he was obliged to renounce his pretensions, and the monks, " intuitu misericordise," consen- ted that his nephew should continue to hold both the church and the chapels of the burgh, and castle, during his life, upon condition of paying twenty marks annually to the convent, except when the land of Dumfries should be laid waste by war ; in which case due remission would be granted.t Koland of Galwey, the constable of Scotland, son to Uctred, gave them a salt work at Lochkendeloch on the Solway, with pasture for four cows and a horse, and easements from his wood, sufficient to serve the pans, t Morton. Eadgar, the son of Dufenald of Strathnith, gave the monks the church of Morton, in presence of Killecrist, judge of Strethnith. In King William's confirmatory charter, this church, together with a plough- gate, is said to have been granted by Hugo, sine manicis. § In the Rent Roll, it is valued at £10 per annum. KiLLOsBERN, or Closeburn. Eadgar, the son of Dovenald, in presence of his son Gylconell, gave the convent this church, for the safety of King William, and Alexander, his son. The right of the monks was afterwards ineffectually disputed by Sir Adam de Kirkpatrick. || They enjoyed its entire revenues, which are valued in the Rent Roll at £ 26, 6s. 8d. Traverflat, or Trailflatt, and Drumeryoch, or Drumgrey. These churches were granted by Walcherius de Carnoto, [Cairns,] for the soul of his brother Robert. % In the Rent Roll, the value of Trailflat is £6, 6s. 8d, and of Drumgrey, ISs. 4d. Stapilgorton. William de Cuniggeburc gave the monks the patronage of this church, with the land and fishery belonging to it, for the soul of his uncle, Gaufrid. King William confirmed the gift of William de * Chart. Kel. 47, v, t Ihid. 125, r. 127, v. % ^^»^- 102, v. § Ibid. 149, r. II Ibid. 131, v. 132, r. ^f Ibid. 133, r. T 146 HISTORY OF Kunygburgh, of the said church and chapels. * This rectory is valued at £13, 6s. 8d. in the Rent Roll, where it is stated that they have in the tenement of Stapilgorton a ploughgate at Anglenne, worth five marks yearly. The church of Wilbaldington, with the property belonging to it, was granted by Adam de Port, in the time of King William, in presence of Robert, chaplain of Roxburgh, and William, chaplain of Kelso, t Pope Innocent III. confirmed the grant of the patronage of the church of Lesingibi, in Cumberland, to the convent at Kelso. | King David gave them a salt work in Karsach. King Malcolm gave them a right to half of the fat of the craspies, or whales, that might be stranded on either of the shores of the Firth of Forth. King David granted them a right to half of the skins and fat of the beasts slaughtered for his use, on the south side of the Forth, with all the skins of the rams and lambs, the tenth of the deer skins, and the tenth of the cheeses he received from his estates in Tweeddale, and of the cattle, swine, and cheese, he received from Galwey. This was afterwards partly commuted by Alexander II. for 100 shillings yearly out of the feu-duties and customs of Roxburgh. § Alexander II. commanded that his subjects should not pound, or distrain, the cattle or property of the abbot and convent. || LESMAHAGO. In 1144, the King, with consent of the bishop of Glasgow and his clergy, granted the church and barony of Lesmahago, for the honour of God and of Saint Machutus, to the monks of Kelso, that they might found there a religious house for the maintenance of as many monks of their own order as the means provided would support, and for the hospitable reception of poor travellers ; and, also, that it might be a place of refuge and pro- tection for those who, in danger of life or limb, should flee to it, or come within the four crosses standing around it.^ The monks, in course of time, granted leases, or fee farms, of parts of this land to various individuals, who held them upon condition of the payment of certain sums annually. KiLMAURS. Robert, son to Wernebald, gave the church of Kilmaurs to * Chart. Kel. 185, r. f Ibid. 137, r. + Ibid. 166, v. § Ibid. 150, V. 151, r. See page 131. |1 Ibid. 146, v. ^ Ibid. 10, v. THE ABBEY OF KELSO. 147 the monks of Kelso, who granted him the privilege of fraternity. He promised, that, if ever he changed his life, it should be with their advice, and that he would leave them two parts of his substance at his death. * In 1245, William, bishop of Glasgow, confirmed the grant of this church to the priory of Lesmahago. In 1505, the Abbot Robert granted the whole of the church lands of Kilmaurs, called the Girnale Croft, to William Conynghame of Craganis, and Mariote, his wife, and their heirs, for the yearly payment of six shillings and eightpence. f John, who was chosen abbot in 1160, granted the town of Little Draffan to Robert, the son of Warnebol, for half a mark yearly. J Ernald, who became abbot in 1147, granted, with consent of the con- vent, to Theobald the Fleming, for two marks annually, certain lands belonging to them on the river Duglas, — " Scil. de surso de Polnele ultra le latum mos ad longum Fau, de illuc ad Hirdelaw, de illuc ad Thevisford in Mosmenin El Corroc, et sic ad longum nigrum ford, et ita ut via jacet usque Crossford. § He likewise granted to Lambin Asa the lands of Draifane and Dardarach for two marks and a half yearly, " in liberum et firmum feudum scil. sicut Wascellus cadit a mussa de Carnegogyl, descendit in aquam quse vocatur Candover, et ita, Candover ascendendo, usque ad rivulum qui vocatur Smalbec, et ita, ilium rivulum ascendendo, usque ad rectam transversam de rivulo illo usque ad Wascellum sub Culnegray, et ita sicut Wascellus ille descendit in Naythane, et ita sicut Naythane descendit in Clude." || Osbert, who became abbot in 1180, granted the vill of Do wane to Constantine, the son of Gilbert Presbiter of Lesmahago, for twenty shillings a-year.^ In 1294, Adam de Dowane resigned his land in the barony of Lesmahago for a sum of money.** In 1301, Adam de Dowane, junior, resigned his hereditary claim to the land of Dowane, in exchange for Auchtiferdale, granted by the abbot and convent to him and his heirs.ft In 1311, Adam de Dowane, senior, resigned his land of Greenrig to the convent, for which they engaged to provide for the maintenance of him and of one servant in their house of Lesmahago.ft In 1326, the Abbot William granted to John, son and heir of Adam de Dowane, junior, the land of Aghtyferdale, &c. and appointed that the said John and his heirs * Chart. Kel ] 11, r. t Ibid. 185, v. % Ibid. 38, v. § Ibid. 39, r. II Ibid. 37, V. f Ibid. 38, r. ** Ibid. 79, v. ff Ibid. 80, r. %% Ibid. 81, v. 148 HISTORY OF should be hereditary porters at the gate of the priory of Lesmahago, and, if they performed the office by a deputy, that they should be accountable for his conduct.* In 1370, Adam de Auchinlek resigned Greenrigs, &c. to the convent, who, in 1372, renewed the grant of the same for the annual payment of eight shillings and ninepence. t Osbert granted a part of Glenane, for half a mark yearly, to Ralph, one of the servants of the priory, t Richard Burd gave his whole land, called Little Kyp, to Lesmahago before 1222.§ The Abbot John, who was elected in 1160, granted to his man, Waltheof, the son of Bodin, and his heirs, the third part of Auchinlek, and part of Culter Segle. He gave him also the eighth part of Curroc. || He gave a part of Fincurroks to Gilmagu for twenty shillings yearly. *[f In 1269, William de Folkard, to avoid the pain of excommunication, and to deliver the soul of his father from the same, quitted claim to the land called PoUenelle, which his father had unjustly detained.** The convent recovered Folkardiston from the same person in 1295 .ft King Robert I. granted ten marks yearly, from the rents of the milns of Maldisley, to purchase eight wax lights, of one pound weight each, to burn at the tomb of St Machutus every Sunday and holiday, as was customary in the cathedrals and collegiate churches of Scotland.^ The Abbot Patrick granted to Rothald Wer the half of Blackwodd and Dermounyston, with the whole of Mossmynyne.§§ In 1497> the Abbot Robert granted Rogerhill and Brownhill to Robert Weyr, for services rendered. 1||| In 1528, the Abbot Thomas sold and alienated to his dear brother, Ralph Ker, and his heirs, the lands of Blackhyll, with the mark land of Hoilhous, in the barony of Lesmahago, William Weir of Stanebires having resigned them for a sum of money.^^ The diflferent lands a,nd manors that belonged to the convent formed a regality, or jurisdiction, over which the abbot exercised the power and authority of a baron in times of feudal government, When hereditary * Chart. Kel. 177, v. f Ibid. 177, r. :j: Ibid. 40, r. § Ibid. 74, v. II Ibid. 40, V. f Ibid. 41, v. «* Ibid. 77, r. f f Ibid. 83, v. XX Ibid. 84, r. §§ Ibid. 7, v. || || Ibid. 185, r. ^f Ibid. 186, v. THE ABBEY OF KELSO. 149 jurisdictions were abolished, by act of parliament, in 1747, the Duke of Roxburghe received £ 1300 in compensation for the regality of Kelso. At the Reformation of religion in Scotland, when the monasteries were dissolved, the revenues of Kelso abbey, according to an account taken by the government, were as follows : — £3716, Is. 2d. Scots money. 9 chalders of wheat. 106 chald. 12 bolls of bear. 4 chald. 11 bolls of oats. 112 chald. 12 bolls, 3 firlots of meal.* By the act of assumption of church revenues, in December 1561, the Scotish parliament ordained, that the fourth part of the teinds of the whole benefices within the kingdom should be levied yearly, and applied to the support of the ministers of the reformed religion, and other purposes relating to the state of the realme ; and if a fourth should be found insufficient, that a third should be taken, and so on, until a sufficient provision were niade for the ends proposed ; the clergy, and others in possession, retaining the remainder. In consequence of this order, the revenues of all the churches and convents were inquired into and valued, when the following report was made of the yearly income of the abbey of Kelso, with the cell of Lesmahago annexed to it : — £2495, lis. Scots money. 9 chalders of wheat. 91 chald. 4 bolls of bear. 91 chald. 4 bolls of meal. This was "payed out of the town and lands of Kelso, Sproustone, Humbie, Lawsone, Greinheid, Fauldonsyde, Lyndene, Clarilaw, Haliden, Howdans, Bowdane, Mellerstaines, &c. And for the teynds of the kirks thereof, viz. Selkirk, Dumfries, Closeburne, St James's kirk, Innerle- thane, with Hopcalzoe, Lyntoun, Wistoun, Carlouk, Mortoun, Traillflat, Drumgrie, Kilmawers, Calderclier, Humbie, Duddingstone, Petercoulter, * Caledonia. 150 HISTORY OF kirk of Maxwell, Nenthorne, Kelso, Horndene, Sproustoune, M'Cairstoune, Gordoun, Langtoune, Sympren, Mow, Home, Greinlaw, Fogo, Bowden, and Lynden." " Cell of Lesmahagow. £104, 6s. 8d. Scots money. 12 chalders, 1 boll, 2 firlots of bear. 28 chalders, 1 boll, 5 firlots of meal. " The kirks of Dumfries, Closeburne, and the rest above rehearsed in Nithsdale and the West, belonged to this cell ; with the teynds of Aven- daill, Corehous, Stone-Byres, Blackwood," &c.* A new order was issued, in 1587, to collect the king^s thirds of the benefices ; and it appears by the Rent Roll, that Kelso, with Lesmahago, was to pay to the king £533, 6s. 8d. In 1594i, the revenues of Kelso, with Lesmahago, were valued at £1983, 17s. 8d. 3 chald. wheat. 30 chald. 11 bolls, 2 firlots bear. 57 chald. 14 bolls oats. 8 bolls meal. * Harl. MSS. 4623, vol. ii. THE ABBEY OF KELSO. 151 CHARTA FUNDATIONIS ABBACIE APUD SCHELECHYRCH.* David comes, filius Malcolmi Regis Scottorum, omnibus amicis suis Francis, at Ang-lis, et Scottis, cunctisque Sancte Dei ecclesie filiis, saliitem continuam. Notum sit, omnibus presentibus atque futuris, me fundasse quoddam Monasterium in Scelechyrca, scilicet, ad abbatliiam in honorem Sancte Marie, et Sancti Joannis Evangeliste, pro salute anime mee, et Patris, et Matris mee, Fratrum et Sororum meorum, omniumque succes- sorum. Hujus vero ecclesie Monachis, in Elymosinam perpetuam, donavi terram de Selechyrche, sicut rivulus descendens a montibus currit in Gierua, usque ad rivulum ilium qui descendens de Crossi nemore,f currit in Twoda, et ultra eundem rivulum qui cadit in Gierua, quandam particulam terre inter viam que vadit de Castello ad abbatliiam, et Gieruam, viz. versus veterem villam. Et hec omnia ita donavi sicut melius habui, in Bosco, et in Piano, et in Aquis ; et villam de Middleham ; et Bothendenam ; et Aldonam, sicut melius habui, in Terris, et in Aquis, et in Bosco, et in Piano ; et totum Dominium meum de Mailross, per medium vicum, et per medium fontem, usque ad fossam ; et sicut fossa dividit, cadens in Twoda, similiter, in Terris, et in Aquis, et in Bosco, et in Piano ; et in Spi*ostona unam carrucatam Terre et decem acras ; et unam maisuram carrucate pertinentem ; et in Berwyc unam carrucatam, et unam maisuram sub ecclesia, usque in Twoda : et dimidium unius piscaturae, et septimam partem molendini, et quadraginta solidos de censu de Burgo per unumquemque annum ; et in Burgo de Rokesburg unam maisuram, et septimam molendini, et quadraginta solidos de censu, septimam • Printed in Dalrymple's Collections cotwerning Scotish History, page 403. f Aliter, ut in Carta proximo sequent!, " Crossansmer." 152 HISTORY OF partem piscature, et decimam caseorum de Can, scilicet de Galweia ; et dimidietatem coriorum coquine mee, et de omnibus occisionibus de quibns alteram partem habeo ; et similiter de unctis et de sepis, sicut de coriis ; et omnes pelles multonum et agnorum, et decimam coriorum cervorum et cervarum quos veltrarii mei capient. Et aquas meas circa Selechirche, communes ad piscandum suis propriis piscatoribus, ut meis ; et pasturas meas, communes hominibus suis, ut meis ; et boscos meos, domibus faciendis, et ad ardendum, ut mihi. Et in Anglia, Hardinghestorp, quatuor viginti acras de terra in Dominio, scilicet, cum pratis ad illud Dominium perti- nentibus, et unam maisuram Dominio pertinentem, et duos bovarios, scilicet, quisque habet decem acras, et, in ultro, sex virgatas et dimidiam de terra ; et sex maisuras versus pontem'de Northamptune, et quandam insulam prati juxta pontem, et molendinum ejusdem villae. Et haec omnia, supradicti monasterii monachis, ita libere et pacifice, jure perpetuo, possi- denda confirmavi, ut mihi succedentium nuUus, nihil omnino nisi solas orationes, ad anime salutem, exigere presumat. Hoc factum est Henrico rege regnante in Anglia, et Alexandro rege in Scotia, et Johanne Episcopo ' in Glasguensi Ecclesia, et Herberto abbate in eadem abbathia, et hiis testibus ; superadicto Johanne, episcopo ; Matilde Commitissa ; Henrico filio comitis ; Evalthelino, capellano ; Osberto, capellano ; Albino, capellano ; Willielmo, nepote comitis ; Roberto de Bruis ; Rob. de Umfravilla ; Gualtero de Bolebec ; Rob. de Panitona ; Gospatricio, fratre Dolfino ; Hugone de Morvilla ; Pagano de Braiosa ; Rob. Corbet Reginaldo Muscamps ; Galtero de Lindeseia ; Rob. de Burnetvilla Gospatricio, vicecomite ; Gospatricio, filio Alden ; Uchtredo, filio Scot Macchus ; Colbanus ; Gilimichel ; Odardo, vicecomite de Babenburch Lyulf, filio Uchtred ; Radulfo Anglico ; Aimaro Galleio ; Rogero de Lerecestria ; Adam Camerario, THE ABBEY OF KELSO. .153 •CARTA REGIS DAVID DE PRIMA FUNDACIONE DE KALCHOU.* David Dei gratia rex illustris Scottorum,- omnibus sanctae matris ecclesiae filiis et fidelibus, salutem. Notum sit omnibus presentibus et futuris, me iundasse, dum fui comes, quoddam monasterium in Selechirche ad abbathiam, in honorem sanctae Mariae virginis et sancti Johannis Evange- listae, pro salute mea, et omnium antecessorum et successorum meorum : Sed postquam, divina dementia, post obitum fratris mei, regis Alexandri, successi in regnum, consilio et ammonicione venerabilis memoriae Johannis episcopi Glasguensis,aliorumqueprocerum meorum, predictum monasterium, quod locus non erat conveniens abbathiae, apud Roxburgum transtuli, in ecclesiam beatae Mariae Virginis, quae sita est super ripam fluminus Twede, in loco qui dicitur Calkou ; quam ecclesiam Robertus Sancti Andreae epis- copus, in cujus erat episcopatu, pro Dei amore et meo, concessit mihi et ejusdem loci abbati et monachis, solutam et quietam, et ab omni subjectione et exactione liberam ; ita, scilicet, ut abbas et monachi supradictae ecclesiae a quocunque episcopo voluerint, in Scotia vel in Cumbria, crisma suum, et oleum, et ordinationem ipsius abbatis et monachorum, et cetera ecclesiae sacramenta accipiant. Ego, vero, huic ecclesiae, in eleemosinam perpetuam, donavi villam de Kelchou, cum suis rectis divisis, in terris et in aquis, solutam, et quietam, et ab omni exactione liberam. Et quotiescunque in eadem ecclesia, in solempnitatibus vel in aliis diebus, servicium Dei audiero, omnes offerendas meas, et omnium qui mecum erunt, perpetuam dedi in eleemosinam: Et in Edinham, de molendino, xij celdras de brasio quolibet anno : Et de mora de Edynham, ad fodiendum cespites, ad faciendum ignem, a quodam fossato quod descendit de quadam alia mora, transeundo recto tramite illaoi * From the Chartulary of Kelso, fol. 9, r, V 154 HISTORY OF moram, usque ad tres magnos lapides ex altera parte existentes. Et in burgo de Roxburgh, xl solidos de censu unoquoque anno ; et omnes ecclesias et scolas ejusdem burgi, cum omnibus earum pertinenciis ; et unum toftum juxta ecclesiam sancti Jacobi, et alterum in novo burgo ; et terram quae fuit Gualteri Cymentarii ; et in molendinis, xx celdras inter farinam et frumentum ; et septinam partem piscaturae : Et in Sprouston, unam carru- catam terrae et decern acras, et maisuras carrucatae pertinentes, et tres acras de prato, et ecclesiam ejusdem villae et terram ecclesiae pertinentem, domino Johanne, episcopo Glasguensi, simul dante et episcopali auctoritate confir- mante : Et villam Ravendene, sicut unquam in. meo dominio eam melius habui, in terris et aquis, in pasturis de Sprouiston, et moram ad fodiendum turvas, communes bominibus de Ravendene sicut hominibus de Sproviston : Et in Berewyc, unam carrucatam terrae, et unam maisuram carrucatae pertinentem, juxta ecclesiam Sancti Laurentii, et alteram maisuram in burgo, et xl solidos de censu ejusdem burgi unoquoque anno ; et dimidiam partem unius piscaturae quae vocatur Berewycstreem, et septimam partem molen- dinorum. Et villam de Mydilham ; et Bouldene, sicut unquam melius habui, in terris, et in bosco, in aquis et piano. Et xxx acras terrae de territorio Lyllesclef, inter Alnam et rivulum qui dividit terram de Myddilham et de Lyllescleve ; et decimam molendini ejusdem villae, scil. Lyllescleve : Et Withelawe, cum suis rectis divisis, sicut earn melius habui in meo dominio. Et terram de Selkyrke, sicut rivulus descendens a montibus currit in Gierwa, usque ad rivulum ilium qui descendens de Crossansmer currit in Twede ; et ultra eundem rivulum qui cadit in Gierwam, quandam particulam terrae inter viam quae venit de castello, et super veterem abbathiam cadit in eundem rivulum, et Gierwam ; et veterem villam, sicut unquam melius habui, in terris et in bosco, in aquis et in piano : Et aquas meas circa Selekirke, communes ad piscandum suis propriis piscatoribus ut meis ; et pasturas meas, communes suis hominibus ut meis ; et boscos meos domibus suis faciendis, et ad arden- dum, ut mihi. Et Traverlen, cum suis rectis divisis, sicut Vineth eam melius et plenius tenuit et habuit : Et craggam ejusdem villae, sicut domini abbas Alfwynus Sanctae Crucis, et Arnoldus abbas de Kalchou se ad invicem concordaverunt de quadam calumpnia, quae fuit inter eos, de ipsa cragga, coram hiis testibus : R. abbate de Newbotill et aliis. Hanc autem Traver- lin dedi predictae ecclesiae de Kelchou, in excambium x libratarum terrae, quam habuerunt in Hardingesthorn, juxta Northamtoun, quam mihi THE ABBEY OF KELSO. 155 accomodaverunt, ad meum magnum negotium : Et in Renfru, unum toftum, et unam navini, et piscaturam unius retis, solutam et quietam et ab omni exactione liberam. Et decimam animalium et porcorum et caseorum de can, de quatuor cadrez de ilia Galweia quam, vivente rege Alexandre, habui, per unumquemque annum ; et decimam caseorum de Tweddal similiter, per unumquemque annum : Et medietatem \j:oriorum~\ coquinae, et de omnibus occisionibus meis, omniumque successorum meorum, ita ut ubicunque unum corium babuero, habeant monachi et alterum : Et similiter de unctis et sepis, sicut de coriis : Et omnes pelles arietum et agnorum : Et decimam coriorum cervorum et cervarum quos veltrarii mei capient : Hos autem reditus coquinae meae, et occisionem mearum, dedi eis pro ilia tei'ra tantum quam vivente rege Alexandre habui : Et in Karsah unam salinam : Et omnia, supradicti monasterii abbati et monachis, ita libere et pacifice jure perpetuo possidenda confirmavi, ut mihi succidentium nuUus nichil omnino, nisi solas orationes ad animse salutem, de supradicta ecclesia exigere presumat : Hiis testibus : Henrico filio regis, et aliis. Et preterea ecclesiam de Selkirke, liberam et quietam, sicut eleemosina debet dari et concedi ; ita, scil. quod predicti abbates sint capellani mei, et filii mei, et successorum meorum de predicta ecclesia. 156 HISTORY OF CHARTER OF CONFIRMATION, GRANTED TO THE MONKS OF KELSO BY KING MALCOLM IV. translated fkom a fac-simile of the original, * published in Anderson's diplomata scoti^e. Malcolm, by the grace of God, King of Scots, to all his friends, French, English, and Scots, and to all the sons of God's holy church, wisheth perpetual health. Know all men, now and hereafter, that David, King of Scots, my grandfather, of pious memory, whilst he was earl, founded an abbey at Seleschirche, in honour of the holy Virgin Mary, mother of God, and Saint John the evangelist ; for the health of his own soul, and the souls of his father and mother, his brothers and sisters, and all his ancestors and successors. But when, by Divine Mercy, after the death of his brother Alexander, he succeeded him in the kingdom, by the counsel and advice of John, of revered memory, bishop of Glasgow, and his nobles, men who feared God, he removed the aforesaid abbey, because the former place was not a convenient situation for a monastery, to Roxburg, to the church of the blessed Virgin Mary, which is situated on the bank of the river Tuede, in the place which is called Kelcho. Which church, Robert, bishop of St Andrews, in whose diocese it was, from love to God, and of his own free will, granted that it should be free from all episcopal authority, insomuch, that the abbot and monks might receive their consecrated ointment and oil, t and the ordination of the abbot himself, and the monks, from whatsoever bishop they pleased, in Scotland or Cumbria. 1: This privilege, with the other privileges and possessions which they enjoy * Preserved in the archives of the Duke of Roxburghe. f Used in religious ceremonies. J See page 81, Note. THE ABBEY OF KELSO. 157 through the liberality of my grandfather, King David, my father, Earl Henry, or my own, I concede to them, as far as my right extends, for ever, and by my royal power confirm to them for perpetual alms : viz. the town of Kelcho, with its due bounds in land and water, discharged, quit, and free from every burden ; also the land which Gerold gave me near the confines of the said town, which land comes down to the road that goes to Neithansthyrn. * And whenever I hear the service of God in that church on holidays, or other days, I confirm to the same all my oflFerings, and the oflFerings of all those who shall be with me. Also from the miln of Edenham, twelve chalders of malt every year ; and liberty to dig peats in the muir of Edenham, from the ditch that comes down from the other muir, crossing that muir in a straight direction, to the three large stones on the other side. Also forty shillings a-year from the revenue of the burgh of Rokesburg, and a toft beside the church of St James, and another in the new town, and the land which was Walter Cementars. Also the churches of the same burgh, with their land, as freely and fully as ever Acelline, the archdeacon, possessed them. Also the half toft which was Acculf's ; and twenty chalders, half meal, half wheat, at the milns ; and the seventh part of a fishing. Also in Sproston, a ploughgate of land and ten acres, with the buildings belonging to the ploughgate ; and three acres of meadow ; and the church of the same village, with the land belonging to the church : and two oxgangs of land beside Presterhridge^ which I gave them in exchange for two oxgangs, with which the monks accommodated me, of the land of the church of St Laurence, at Berewic. Also the village of Itavendene,\ in land and water ; and the pastures of Sproston, and the muirs for digging turfs, common as well to the inhabi- tants of Ravendene as to those of Sproston. Also, in Berewich, a ploughgate of land, and a dwelling belonging to the same, beside the, church of St Laurence ; and another dwelling in the burgh, and forty shillings out of the revenue of the same burgh yearly ; and the half of a fishing, which is called Berewicstrem. Also the seventh part of the milns, and the land of Dodin, in the same town, and the land of Waltheof, the son of Ernobold. Also the village of Middleham, and Botheldene,t with * Nenthorn. t Redden. % Bowden. 158 HISTORY OF their due bounds in lands and waters, in woods and cleared ground. Also thirty acres of land in the domains of Lillesclive, * between the Alna and the brook that divides the grounds of Middleham and Lillesclive; and the tithes of the miln of the same village, viz. Lillesclive. Also TVhitelaw and TVhitemere, with their due bounds ; and the land of Seleschirche, with its due bounds, in lands and waters, in woods and cleared ground ; and my waters about Seleschirche, as free to them to fish in with their fishermen, as to me with mine ; and my pastures, as free to their people as to mine ; and my woods for building their houses and for fuel, as free to them as to me. Also the church of the other Seleschirche, with half a ploughgate of land ; and the church and land of Lesmahagu, with its due bounds ; and Traverlin, t with its due bounds, as Vineth fully and freely possessed and enjoyed it, with all the easements of the adjoining strother,1: which is called Cameri ; and the crag of the same village, [^as the Lord Alfwin, abbot of Halyrude, and Ernald, abbot of Kelso, came to a mutual agreement concerning a dispute which was between them about that same crag — before these witnesses, Ralph, abbot of Newbottle ; William, abbot of Strevelin ; Osbert, prior of Jeddeword ; Richard, the clerk ; Machbet.] For my grandfather gave this Traverlin to the foresaid church of Kelcho, in exchange for the ten-pounds-land which they had in Hardiggasthorn, near Northamtun. Also, in Rinffiv, a toft and one net, exempted, quit, and free from all customs ; and, in Edinhurg, a toft ; and in Pebbles a toft ; and in Lannarch a toft ; and the church of Keth; § and half of the fat of the craspies \\ that shall have been stranded in the Forth. Also the tenth of the beasts, and swine, and kain^ cheese of that part of Galwey, which my grandfather had during the lifetime of King Alexander ; and the tenth of the cheeses of Tuedale, in like manner annually ; and the half of the hides of all the beasts slaughtered for my kitchen, so that whenever I, or any of my successors, have one hide, the monks may have another. And they shall have a like share of the suet * LilHesleaf. f Crailing. % Strother, a marsh. § Keitli, near Haddington, granted by Simon Fraser, ancestor of the Frasers of Cowie. II Craspie, Lat. Craspesia, qu. crassus piscis ; a whale or grampus. ^ Kain is rent paid in produce, generally of the dairy, or poultry-yard. THE ABBEY OF KELSO. 159 and tallow as of the hides ; and all the skins of the rams and lambs ; and the tenth of the skins of the deer taken by my huntsmen. These products of my kitchen, and my slain beasts, the monks shall have over all that territory only which my grandfather possessed when King Alexander was alive. Also a salt work in Karsach. Likewise, as far as it depends upon me, I grant and confirm to the said church, by the gift of Earl Gospatric, the church of Horn, with two ploughgates of land and a meadow, in the precincts of the same village ; also the church of Fogho, with a ploughgate of land ; the church of Macchuswel, * by the gift of Herbert de Macchus- well ; the church of Simprig, by the gift of Hye, and his son Peter ; the church of St Laurence of Berewic, by the gift of Robert, the son of William ; the church of Malcarvaston, t with a ploughgate of land, by the gift of Walter Corbeth ; the church of Molla,t with the adjacent land, by the gift of Uctred of MoUa ; the church of TVitha 's-town, § by the gift of Witha ; the church of Cambusneithan, § by the gift of William Finemund ; and the church of Lintonrutheric, by the gift of Richard Cumin. All the above-named lands and possessions, therefore, I grant to the church of the blessed Virgin Mary of Kelcho, and to the monks serving God there ; to be freely and peaceably enjoyed by perpetual right ; and by this my charter I confirm the same to them, as perpetual alms ; so that none of my suc- cessors shall presume to demand any thing of the foresaid church, or any of its possessions, but only prayers for the good of their souls. And this charter is confirmed in the year one thousand one hundred and fifty-nine after the incarnation of the Lord ; the following persons being witnesses : Herbert, bishop of Glasgow j William, bishop of Moray ; Gregory, bishop * The vestiges of the ancient church of Maxwel are still visible in the field called Bridge- end-park, at the junction of the Tweed and Teviot, opposite Kelso. This parish, with that of St James's of Roxburgh, was united to the parish of Kelso after the Reformation. The foundations of St James's church, also, can still be traced on the banks of the Tweed opposite Fleurs. In 1232, the bishop of Glasgow confirmed to the monks of Kelso the church of Maxwel, and the chapel of Harlaw, in the same parish. This chapel, which was founded by Herbert de Maccuswel, and dedicated to St Thomas, was situated near Wooden burn, in the field still called Chapel. f Makerston. j Mowkirk, on the river Beaumont, now in ruins. § Wistoun, and Cambusnethan, in Clydesdale. 160 HISTORY OF of Dunkeld ; William, and David, my brothers, and Ada, my mother ; Gaufrid, abbot of Dunfermlin ; Osbert, abbot of Jeddewrd ; Amfred, abbot of Neobotle ; Alured, abbot of Strevelin j Walter, the chancellor ; Robert, prior of St Andrews ; Matthew, archdeacon of St Andrews ; Tor, archdeacon of Lothian ; Herbert, the chamberlain ; Nicholas, the clerk ; Richard, the chaplain j Master Andrew ; Master Arthur ; Walter, clerk to the chancellor ; John, the nephew of Bishop Robert ; Serle, the clerk ; Solomon, chaplain to Bishop Herbert j and Helias, clerk to the same bishop ; Godfrey, Idng of the isles ; Earl Gospatric ; Earl Ferteth ; Gillebride, earl of Anagus ; Uctred, the son of Fergus ; Gillebert de Umframvill ; William de Sumervill ; Richard de Morvill ; Ranulph de Sulas ; David Olifard ; Richard Cumin ; Robert Avenel ; William de Morvill ; William Finemund ; Walter Corbet j Asketer de Ridale ; Henry de Percy ; Liolph, the son of Maccus ; Orm, the son of Hailaph— and many other clerks and laymen. At Rokesburg. THE ABBEY OF KELSO. lei ROTULUS REDITUUM MONASTERII DE KALKOW, TAM DE TEMPORALIBUS, VIDELICET DE ANTIQUIS FIRMIS TERRA- RUM SUARUM IN BURGIS ET EXTRA BURGA, DE ANTIQUIS EXITIBUS GRANGIARUM ET DOMINICORUM SUORUM, QUAM DE SPIRITUALIBUS, SCILICET DE PENSIONIBUS DEBITIS IN ' ECCLESIIS SUIS, ET DE ANTIQUA ASSEDACIONE DECIMARUM SUARUM UBICUMQUE, SUB COMPENDIO FACTUS.* DE TEMPORALIBUS. Habent monachi dicti monasterii, in vicecomitatu de Rokisburg-, in temporalibus, grangiam de Reveden cum villa in puram elemosinam, ubi habent dominicum, in quo colebant per quinque carucas, et ubi possint habere unum gregem ovium matricum, circa xiiij'^^, et pasturam ad boves suos. Habent ibi octo terras husbandorum, et unam bovatam terrae, quarum quaelibet fecit talia servicia aliquo tempore, viz. qualibet septimana in * The original MS. of this curious document is written in the same manner, and bound in the same volume, with the Charluktry of Kelso, in the Advocates' Library in Edinburgh. At the end of Macfarlane's transcript of the same, there is the following remark: " 'Tis pretty evident, at least very probable, that this rentall of the abbacy of Kelso has been written before anno 1316. For the church of Cranston is mentioned therein as belonging then to the abbacy of Kelso, to which it appears they had no manner of title after the year 1316, for then they excambed it with William Lamberton, bishop of St Andrews, for the church of Nenthorn, which church would have been mentioned in this rentall, if it had been written after the excambion." To this may be added, that, as it does not mention the church of Eglisraalesoks, in Clydesdale, which was granted to the convent by King Robert I, in 1309, it must have been written before that period. See Robertson's Index of Charters, page 3, X 162 HISTORY OF i aestate, unum carriagium cum uno equo apud Berwicum ; et portavit equus tres boUas bladi, vel duas boUas salis, unam bollam et ferloch carbonum, et qualibet septimana anni quum venerint de Berwic fecit quaelibet terra unam dietam de opere sibi injuncto. Item, quum non venerunt apud Berwic, coluerunt qualibet septimana per duos dies, et in autumno quum non venerunt apud Berwic, fecerunt tres dietas et tunc quilibet husbandus cepit cum terra sua stuht.* scil. duos boves, unum equum, tres celdras avenae, sex bollas ordei, et tres boUas frumenti. Et postmodum, quum abbas Ricardus mutavit illud servicium in argentum, reddiderunt sursum suum stuht, et dedit quilibet, pro terra sua, per annum xviij solidos. Habent ibi dimidiam carucatam terrae quae fuit Hugonis de Reveden, quam Ricardus del Holm tenuit ad firmam. Habent ibi decern et novem cotagia, quorum octodecim quodlibet reddit per annum xij d. et sex dietas in autumno, recipiendo cibos suos ; et adjuva- bant circa lotionem et tonsionem bidentium pro cibis suis ; et decimum nonum cotagium reddit xviij d. et novem dietas. Item solebant ibi duae braccinae esse, quae reddebant duas marcas per annum. Habent ibi molendinum, quod solebat reddere per annum novem marcas. Habent apud Hawden unam carrucatam terrae, quam semper habuerant in manu sua. Habent apud Sprouston,. duas carucatas terrae, in dominio, ubi solebant colere cum duabus carucis, cum communi pastura dictae villae ad xij boves, iv afros, et iii c. hoggats. Habent ibi unam bovatam terrae, quam Hugo Cay tenuit, quae solebat reddere per annum decern solidos. Habent ibi sex cotagia, quorum unum, quod est propinquum domui vicarii, habet sex acras terrae sibi pertinentes, cum bracina, quae solebat reddere per annum sex solidos. Et alia v cotagia jacent in alia extremitate villae quae vocatur Latham, quorum quodlibet unam terrae et dimidiam acram continet, et reddit per annum tres solidos et sex dietas. Apud Scottouii habent duas acras terrae, et communem pasturam pro iiij c. multonibus, et habent licehciam fodiendi focale quantum voluerint in ilia communia et solebant habere unum hominem in molendino ibidem, et * Or staht? The word seems to mean stock. THE ABBEY OF KELSO. 163 unum porcum ; et ibi solebant molere bladum suum de Colpinhopis, sed nunc quod habent licenciam habendi molendinum apud Colpinhopis, et molere bladum suum ad proprium molendinum, dabunt annuatim molendino de Schottoun dimidiam marcam. Habent in tenemento de Yetham, juxta molendinum de Colpinhopis, tres acras terrae cum communi pastura de Yetham, quas molendinarius de Colpinhopis solebat tenere, et ibi solebant monachi habere et facere recep- taculum bonorum suorum de Colpinhopis, quum viderint aliquod periculum ex altera parte. Apud Clifton habent septem acras terrae, quas dominus ecclesiae de MoUe dedit pro pane benedicto inveniendo. Habent unam grangiam quae vocatur Colpinhopis, ultra marchiam, ubi possint colere cum duabus carucis, pro tempore hyemali, et habere pasturam ad XX boves et xx vaccas, et post annum deponere sequelam suam, et v c. oves matrices et ij c. alios bidentes.^ Apud MoUe, habent apud Altonburn iiij acras terrae arabilis et prati, cum pastura ad iij c. bidentes, cum libero introitu et exitu, et ad decem boves, et ad iiij afros ; et habebunt in bosco ad del Scrogges, stac et flac pro omni- bus suis firmandis, et virgas pro reparatione carucarum suarum. Habent ibidem, juxta terram Thomae. Palmer, iv acras terrae, quas pastor suus tenere solebat, cum pastura pro averiis suis, et potest habere ibi unam braccinam. Habent in villa de MoUe xiiij cotagia, quorum quodlibet solebat reddere per annum ij solidos et vj dietas, et habebunt communia aysiamenta dictae villae, et ire cum catallis suis ubicumque homines domini vadunt cum catallis suis, et habent ibi unam bracinam quae reddit per annum dimidiam marcam. Habent apud Hinigidside, in dicto tenemento, vij acras terrae ad pastorem suum inhabitandum. Et pasturam in Berehope ad vij c. multones, qui per quindenam ante Nativitatem Beati Johannis Baptistae, et per quindenam post, removebuntur de illo loco ; et dominus tenementi inveniet eis pasturam per illud tempus, ubi propria animalia sua depascunt. Habent apud le Stapelaw iiij acras terrae, quas Adam de Roule et Jeneta sponsa sua dederunt eis. Item habent iiij acras terrae apud Lathelade, in quibus possunt faldas suas ponere, et claudere bidentes suas, quum fuerint extra Berehope. 164 HISTORY OF Habent unam grangiam, in eodem tenemento, quae vocatur Heshow, ubi possunt colere cum duabus carucis, et habere ibi in pastura ad xx boves, XX vaccas ij c. et dimidium centum oves matrices, et ij c. oves steriles. Habent apud Proviset vij acras terrae, et communiam pro iij c. bidentibus, quae solebant reddere ad firmara dimidiam marcam. Habent in burgo de Jedward viij denarios annui reditus in Castelgate, in terra quae fuit magistri Ricardi Fossard. Habent in tenemento de Stapilgortoun unam carucatam terrae, apud Anglenne, quae solebat reddere per annum v marcas. Habent in tenemento de Killosbern quadraginta acras terrae, pertinentes ad ecclesiam suam de Killosbern, cum bracina et ceteris communibus aysia- mentis, quae solebant assedari pro duabus marcis. Habent apud Hopekelcow iij acras terrae, quae solebant reddere per annum tres solidos. Habent juxta ecclesiam Innirlethan unam acram terrae, quae solebat reddere per annum xij d. Habent in tenemento de Selkirk Regis terram quae vocatur terra pontis, et continet xvj acras ; et habent pasturam in Minchemor. Habent baroniam de Bolden, cum dominicis, grangiis, villis, husband, molendinis, et caeteris pertinentibus per tales particulas. Habent ibidem grangiam de Faudon, cum xxj cotagiis, quae solebant reddere per annum x libras. Habent unam grangiam apud Wittemer, quae solebat valere ad assed- andum ad firmam decem marcas, ubi potuerunt colere cum duabus carucis. Habent ibi villam de Wittemer, ubi sunt decem terrae husbandorum, quarum quaelibet solebat reddere per annum sex solidos, fasciendo idem servicium quod husbandi de Boulden faciunt. Sunt ibi vij cotagia, et quodlibet continet unam acram terrae, quorum tria reddunt per annum sex solidos, et alia tria solebant reddere per annum iiij sol. et vi d. Et septimum reddit xvj d. faciendo similiter idem servicium quod cotagia de Boulden faciunt. Item est ibi unum cotagium sine terra, quod solebat reddere per annum vj denarios. Habent in dicta baronia unam grangiam apud Witelaw, ubi solebant colere cum tribus carucis, et habere in pastura duos greges multonum, et v'^ averias juvenes. Est ibi una carucata terrae quam Willielmus Gudeal tehuit, quke THE ABBEY GF KELSO. 165 solebat valere per annum xl solidos. Sunt ibidem xviij cotagia, quorum quatuor quodlibet per annum reddit ij solidos, et quodlibet de aliis reddit xviij denar. et quorum quodlibet facit sex dietas. Habent ibi unam bracinam, quae reddidit per annum v solidos. Habent in dicta baronia grangiam de Haliden, ubi solebant colere cum tribus carucis, ubi potuerunt habere quater viginti vaccas, Ix pecudes steriles, et ducentas oves matrices. Habent villam de Bolden, in qua sunt xx octo terrae husbandorum, quarum quaelibet solebat reddere per annum vj sol. et viij . denar. ad pentecosten et Sancti Martini, et faciendo talia servicia, scil. metendo in autumpno per quatuor dies, cum tota familia sua, quilibet husbandus et uxor, et faciet similiter quintam dietam in autumpno, cum duobus hominibus. Et. quilibet cariabit per unum plaustrum petas de Gordon versus le pullis, per unum diem, et quilibet cariabit unum plaustrum petarum del pullis usque ad abbathiam in aestate, et non plus. Et quilibet husbandus faciet carriagium per unum equum de Berwic una vice per annum, et habebunt victum suum de monasterio quum faciunt hujusmodi servicium ; et quilibet eorum solebat colere quolibet anno ad grangiam de Neuton unam acram terrae et dimidiam acram, et herciabit cum uno equo per unum diem, et quilibet inveniet unum hominem in lotione bidentum, et alium hominem in tonsione, sine victu, et respondebunt sibi de forinseco servicio et de aliis serviciis, et cariabunt bladum in autumpno cum uno plaustro per unum diem ; et cariabunt lanam abbatis de baronia usque ad abbathiam ; et invenient sibi cariagia ultra moram versus Lessemahagu. Abbas Ricardus mutavit illud servicium in denar. per assedationem fratris Willielmi de Alincromb, tunc camerarii sui. Habent ibi triginta sex cotagia, quae continent xij acras, dimidiam acram, et dimidiam rodam terrae, quae solebant reddere annuatim Iv sol. viij denar. aliquando majus-aliquando minus, et quodlibet cotagium faciet in autumpno novem dietas per unum hominem, et inveniet semper unum hominem ad lotionem bidentium et ad tonsionem. Fuerunt ibi iv bracinae, quarum quaelibet solebat reddere per annum x sol. et reddebatur domino una lagena cervisiae cum dimidio, pro uno denario. Dominus abbas capiet de qualibet domo, ante natalem, unam gallinam, pro obolo. Habent ibi unum molendinum, quod solebat reddere per annum viij marcas. 166 HISTORY OF Habent ibidem villam de Selkirk-abbatis, ubi habent in dominico unam carucatam terrae, quae solebat reddere per annum decem marcas. Habent ibi quindecem terras husbandorum, quarum quaelibet continet unam bovatam terrae, quae solebat reddere per annum iiij sol. faciendo per annum domino novem dietas in autumpno, et duo husbandi faciebant unum plaustrum ad cariandum petas del puUes usque ad abbathiam, et duo eorum faciebant similiter unum equum pro carriagio faciendo de Berwic ad abba- thiam, sicut husbandi de Bolden fecerunt. Sunt ibi sexdecem cotagia quae continent x acras terrae, quorum quindecim solebant reddere per annum xij denar. et unum ij sol. per annum, faciendo idem servicium quod cotagia de Boulden faciunt. Habent ibi tres braccinas, quarum quaelibet solebat reddere per annum sex sol. et viij denar. Habent ibi unum molendinum ad bladum quod solebat reddere per annum v marcas. Sunt ibi terrae extra dominicum, separatim per se xxx acrae terrae, quae solebant reddere per annum v sol. Sunt ibi iiij acrae terrae quae vocatur terra Ricardi Cute, quae solebat reddere per annum sex solidos. Habent in dicta baronia villam de Midilham, et sunt ibi viginti novem terrae husbandorum, de quibus xxvij terrae solebant reddere per annum dimidiam marcam, cum omni servicio quod husbandi de Boulden faciunt ; et ij terrae residuae sunt liberae, quae sunt Bernardi filii Gervasii, reddendo per annum pro eisdem xij solidos, et colendo cum domino per tres dies anni, et faciendo in autumpno xij dietas. Ista servicia mutata fuerunt in argentum per abbatem Ricardum, sicut de villa de Boulden, videlicet, quaelibet terra husbandorum fuit assedata pro xj sol. Sunt ibi xj cotagia quae continent novem acras terrae, quorum quodlibet solebat reddere per annum xviij denarios. Habent ibi unam bracinam, quae solebat reddere per annum dimidiam marcam, et faciendo idem servicium quod cotagia de Boulden faciunt. 'Habent ibi unum molendinum, quod solebat reddere, una cum molendino de Boulden, xxj marcas. Habent ibidem grangiam de Neuton, ubi solebant colere cum septem carucis, ubi possunt habere iiij ^* boves vj vaccas in aestate, et sexaginta in hieme ad foragium, M. oves matrices Ix porcos, affros sufEcientes ad tot carucas. Cetera plaustra feni. THE ABBEY OF KELSO. 167 Habent apud Clarilaw xxj cotagia, quorum quodlibet habet tres acras terrae, una roda minus, et quodlibet reddit per annum duas boUas farinae, et serclabunt totum bladum grangiae de Neuton, et quodlibet habebit ibi in pastura duas vaccas, et in fine anni removebunt exitus vaccarum suarum. Habent apud Malcarveston duas carucatas terrae et pasturam ad iij c. agnos, et in fine anni removebuntur, et alii agni introducentur, et solebant valere per annum xl solidos. Item sunt apud Malcarveston xij cotagia, et quodlibet eorum habet unum toftum et dimidiam acram terrae, et habebit duas vaccas in communi pastura, quorum quatuor quodlibet reddit per annum iiij solidos et novem dietas, et quodlibet reliquorum reddit xviij denar. et ix dietas. Et est ibi una bracina quae habebit unam acram terrae et dabit per annum v solidos. Habent apud Melokestan unam carucatam terrae, quae reddebat per annum marcam, et habent amnia aysiamenta in Faunes, et tenementum de Melokestan. Habent ibidem, ex alia parte, quatuor acras terrae cum bracina, quae ^olebat reddere per annum v solidos. Habent apud Gordon dimidiam carucatam terrae pertinentem ad eccle- siam, cum pastura ad v^'' juvenes averias et iiij c. multones ubicunque animalia domlni depascunt, extra prata et blada. Habent ibidem unam carucatam terrae quae fuit Andreae Fraser, quae habet communia aysiamenta villae, per quae reddunt per annum duas marcas domino de Gordon, et valet * * * Habent ibi sex cotagia, et quodlibet habet unam acram terrae cum dimidia, quae habent communia aysiamenta villae, et quodlibet reddit per annum xxx plaustra petarum siccarum ad claustrum, et faciet novem dietas pro opere, quod voluerint. Habent ibi toftum ad faciendum domum capellani. Habent ibi duas petarias ad fodiendum petas. Habent apud le Pulles unam placiam ubi possuat, habere domum et receptaculum ad focale suum receptandum. Habent apud Home unam carucatam terrae, quae habet iiij tofta quae habent communia aysiamentae villae, quae solebat assedari per annum pro sex marcis. Habent ibi duas bovatas terrae pertinentes ad ecclesiam, cum tofto cum communibus avsiamentis. 168 HISTORY OF Habent ibi unum pratum quod vocatur Harestrother, quod continet viginti acras. Habent ibi annum redditum in terra Willielmi de Boseville, ij sol. vi denar. cc**- ova et iiij dietas. Habent apud Wedirley vij acras terrae cum tofto, cum communibus aysiamentis, et cum pastura ad iij c. multones. Habent ibi annuum redditum in terra Galfridi de Home, ij sol. vi den. iiij dietas. Habent in terra Willielmi de Dunrigdon annuum redditum v solidorum, cum warda et relievio. Habent grangiam de Spertildon, ubi possunt colere cum duabus carucis, et habere in pastura mille oves et iiij c. multones in mora conjunctim, et Ix averias \^et^ affros, et porcos prout indigent. Et habebant ibi sexdecem sive plura cotagia, ad pastores suos et ad familiam suam, et habebant bracinam quae solebat reddere per annum v solidos. Habent apud Grenelaw dimidiam carucatam terrae, quam vicarius solebat tenere, et quae solebat valere per annum ij marcas. Habent ibidem aliam medietatem carucatae terrae, quam Alanus filius Matthei tenet, quae solebat per annum valere * * * * Habent ibi duas bovatas terrae cum tofto et crofto, juxta ecclesiam, et V acras terrae ex alia parte campi, cum tofto quam Richi de Grenelaw tenuit, reddendo per annum unam marcam et dimidiam. Habent apud Lambeden unum annuum redditum unius librae piperis, in terra Willielmi de Lambeden. Habent apud Foggou unam carucatam terrae cum communibus aysia- mentis, quae solebat reddere per annum iiij marcas. Habent ibidem quandam capellam cum ij carucatis terrae, et cum molendino, quae solebant valere per annum x marcas. Habent apud Langtoun unum toftum ad colligendum decimas suas. Habent apud Symprig duas bovatas terrae, quae solebant reddere per annum unam marcam. Habent apud Hornden dimidiam carrucatam terrae et pasturam ad c. oves matrices, vi boves et duas vacas, et ad duas equos, ubi equi domini vadunt, et unum toftum. Habent ibi pratum quod vocatur Hollanmedu. Habent ibi quoddam hospitale cum xvi acras terrae, et cum quadam THE ABBEY OF KELSO. 169 piscaria super Twede cum pertinen. in tenemento de Upsetlinton ; Inve- niendo pro eadem unum capellanum celebraturum ibidem in cftpella, et sustentacionem ij pauperibus. Habent apud Bondington juxta ecclesiam Sancte Laurencii, duas caru- catas terrse cum duobus toftis, quae solebant reddere per annum, vi marcas. Habent ibi unum toftum juxta ecclesiam Sanctae Marise, et quandam bancam subtus ecclesiam ad herbagium. Habent apud Tweedmou quoddam edificium cum fonte et cum iij acris terrse, quae solebant reddere per annum xx solidos. Habent ibi piscariam de Wodehorne, quae solebat reddere per annum xiiij marcas. Habent ibi piscariam de Northiaru, quae solebat reddere per annum ij marcas. Habent apud Berwic, piscariam de Berwic, quae solebat reddere per annum xxlib. Habent in villa Berwici in le tolleboth annuum censum, xl solidorum. Habent ibidem unam mansionem juxta domum pontis, in proprios usus. Habent in Briggat, et Waldegat, et alibi, annuum redditum x lib. iij sol. vi denar. et obol. Habent in Uddingat unam mansionem, ubi sunt tres scopse, quam Johannes de Aula tenet, quae solebat reddere per annum x marcas. Habent de firmis villae Sancti Johannis, ultra mare Scoticum, xl solidos annui census. Habent in villa de Strivelyn, in quodam tenemento, xx denar. annui redditus. Habent in villa de Ranfru, in quodam tenemento, xl denar. annui redditus. Habent in villa de Rotherglen, in tenemento quod fuit David de Laudonia, hostellagium, focale, lichtin, et candelam. Habent in villa de Edinburg quoddam tenementum, quod solebat reddere per annum xvi denar. Habent in Westirdodingston, xxiiij marcas annui redditus. Habent in Estirdodingston, x marcas annui redditus. Habent villam de Preston, quae solebat reddere, per annum xxlib. Habent villam de Hundebiketh, quae solebat reddere per annum x marcas. y 170 HISTORY OF Habent in villa de Hadingtoun, in quodam tenemento, xij denar. annui redditus. Habent in valle de Lawedir villam dimidiam de Ulkillestoun, quae solebat reddere per annum xx marcas. Habent in tenemento de Witteslade sex solidos annui redditus. Habent in tenemento de Brokesmou ***** quae fuit in manu domini Thomae Ranulphi, et solebat reddere per annum xl solidos. Habent in terra Ede de Brokesmou, quae habet in tenemento predicto xxxj acras terrae, octo solidos annui redditus. Habent de firmis domini regis in villa de Rokesburg, annuum censum c. solid. Habent de annuo redditu in villa de Rokesburg, in diversis tenementis ibidem, octo libras, ij solid, ix denar. obolum, et quadr. Habent in villa et burgo de Wester Kalkou, de annuo redditu, ix lib. xvj sol. ix denar. obolum. Habent villam de Esterkalkou in proprios usus, cujus summa firmarum est per annum * * * * Habent de firmis liberetenentium ibidem * * * * Habent ibi dominicum, in quo solebant colere cum vij carucis, et habere in pastura ****** Habent ibi molendina, quae solebant valere per annum xxlibr. Habent ibi piscariam super Twedam, de tenemento de Brokesmou usque aquam de Eden. Habent ecclesiam de Sprouston in Rectoria, quae solebat valere per annum xl lib. Habent ecclesiam de Molle in proprios usus, quee solebat valere per annum xxvj lib. vj sol. viij denar. Habent, infra dictam parochiam, per quandam annuam compositionem inter ipsos et monasterium de Melros pro decimis garbarum de Ugginges, X lib. viij solid. Habent ecclesiam de Makeswele, in Rectoria, quae solebat valere per annum xjlib. xvj sol. viij denar. Habent in ecclesia de Rokesburg annuam pensionera xiij lib. vj sol. viij den. Habent ecclesiam de Boulden in Rectoria, quae solebat valere per annum x lib. xiij sol. iiij denar. THE ABBEY OF KELSO. 171 Habent ecclesiam de Selkirk-regis in Rectoria, quse solebat valere per annum xx lib. Habent ecclesiam de Selkirk-abbatis in Rectoria, quae solebat valere per annum xl solid. Habent ecclesiam de Stapilgorton in Rectoria, quse solebat valere per annum xiij lib. vj sol. viij denar. Habent ecclesiam de Dumfres in Rectoria, quae solebat valere per annum xx lib. Habent ecclesiam de Dongray ; xiij sol. iiij denar. Habent ecclesiam de Traverflat in Rectoria, quae solebat valere per annum vj lib. vj Bol. viij denar. Habent ecclesiam ke Killosbern in proprios usus, quae solebat valere per annum xxvj lib. vj sol. viij denar. Habent ecclesiam de Morton in Rectoria, quae solebat redder e per annum x libr. Habent ecclesiam de Crawfordjohne in Rectoria, quae solebat valere per annum vj lib. xiij sol. iiij denar. Habent ecclesiam de Roberdeston in Rectoria, quae solebat valere per annum vj lib. xiij sol. iiij den. Habent ecclesiam de Wistoun in Rectoria, quae solebat reddere per annum vj lib. xiij sol. iiij den. Habent ecclesiam de Tyntou in Rectoria, in qua habent annuam pen- sionem xl sol. Habent ecclesiam de Simondeston in Rectoria, quae solebat valere per annum x lib. Habent ecclesiam de Dunsier in Rectoria, in qua habent annuam pensionem cvj sol. viij den. Habent ecclesiam de Kilmaures in Rectoria, quae solebat valere per annum xl lib. Habent ecclesiam de Innirletham in Rectoria, quae solebat valere per annum xxvj lib. xiij sol. iiij den. et habent annuam pensionem in vicaria. Habent ecclesiam de Lyntonrotherigs in Rectoria, quae solebat valere per annum xx marcas. Habent, ultra mare Scoticanum, ecclesiam de Cultir in Rectoria, quae ■solebat valere per annum, cum pensione Templariorum, xviij lib. xiij sol. iiij den. 172 HISTORY OF Habent ecclesiam de Caldor in Rectoria, quae solebat valere per annum xxyj lib. xiij sol. iiij den. Habent ecclesiam de Dodingeston in Rectoria, quae solebat valere per annum xx^i lib. Habent ecclesiam de Granestoun in Rectoria, quae solebat valere per annum x lib. Habent ecclesiam de Hundebyketh in Rectoria, quae solebat valere per annum xx*' lib. Habent ecclesiam de Gordon in proprios usus, quae solebat valere per annum xxti lib. Habent ecclesiam de Home in proprios usus, quae solebat valere per annum xx*^ lib. Habent ecclesiam de Grenelaw in Rectoria, quae solebat valere per annum xxyj lib. xiij sol. iiij den. Habent ecclesiam de Malkarveston in Rectoria, quae solebat valere per annum xxt' marcas. Habent ecclesiam de Langton in Rectoria, quae solebat valere per annum xxti lib. Habent ecclesiam de Sympring in proprios usus, quae solebat valere per annum x lib. Habent ecclesiam de Hornden in proprios usus, quae solebat valere per annum x marcas. Habent de monasterio Sanctae Crucis de Hedenburg unam marcam annuae pensionis, pro decima garbarum de Slaperfelde, per quandam com- positionem. Habent de monasterio de Neubotill vj sol. viij den. annuae pensionis, pro decima salinae suae del Cars. Summa antiquae assedacionis dictarum ecclesiarum v^xlj lib. xj sol. iiij denar. THE ABBEY OF KELSO. 173 TAXT ROLL OF THE ABBACY OF KELSO, GIVEN UP BY THE EARLE OF ROXBURGH, IN 1630, FOR HIS RELIEFFE OF iei377, I3s. 6d. ONE POUND LAND TAXED TO 6^(1. The said Earle of Roxburgh, his lands of half of the Midtowne and Mayns of Sprouston, is holden to the prior of Charterhouse, and taxt : the other half was of old holden of the abbots of Kelso, and is sett yearly for the thrid sheave, the teynd being first drawn ; worth in stock and teynds, 11 chald. 4 bolls victuall. His lordship's lands of Haliden, Huntliewood, Bowdoun, Clarilaw, and lands of Midlam mylne, &c. and Aldonne, and teynds ; worth as foUowes, viz. Haliden, and Huntliewood, £1000; Clarilaw, 12 chald. 8 bolls: the service lands thereof sett for 600 merks : Bowdoun, 5 chald. : Midlam mylne, 4 chald. 14 bolls ; Auldtoune, 200 merks, extending to 33 chald. 10 bolls, and £1533, 6s. 8d. of money : payes to the minister of Sproustoun furth thereof, as a pairt of his stipend, 4 chald. 12 bolls : to the minister of Selkrig, 5 chald. : to the minister of Bowdoun, as a pairt of his stipend, 3 chald. and £ 80 : to the minister of Langton, 3 chald. ; to the minister of Simpren, 2 chald. ; to the minister of Fogo, 14 bolls, as pairt of the stipend: to the reader of Kelso, £30. Rests of free rent, the victuall compted at £80 per chalder, £2623, 6s. 8d. The said earle, for his free rent payed by the fewars of the said abbacy, as underwritten, £643, 17s. Id. : whereof payes of blensh duty, £266, l3s. 4d. To the Lords of Session, £56. Rests free, £321. The silver duty payed by the tacksmen of Kelso, and teynds of the lordship of Kelso, £119. Twenty-seven fewars of the lands in the town and territory of Kelso, paye of feu-duty, £68, 6s. 8d, comprehending 20sh. for Angreflatt. 174 HISTORY OF Twenty-one fewars of Willands and crofts in Kelso, pays of few, L. 2, lis. 4d. Fewars of husbandlands in Bowdoun, Midlam, and Redden, paye L. 90. Kirklands of Mellerstaines, paye of few 40sh. Nether Howden payes L.15. Over Howden, pertaining to Sir John Hamilton, of Strabrock, payes L.ll, 13s. 4d. worth 600 merks. Harkeirs, pertaining to Ormiston, worth 200 merks, L. 24 of few. Kirklands of Todrig, paye 40sh. Thomson, for Easter and Wester Duddingston, worth 30 chald. victuall, payes L.75, assigned to the minister as a pairt of his stipend. Lawson of Humbie, for Humbie, worth 8 chald. payes L.IO, and for his lands of Duddingston, worth 1 chald, 8 bolls, payes * * * * Ker, for Duddingston, &c. payes 16 merks, and 6sh. 8d. for another pairt. Ker, for North Preston, worth L.240, payes L.5. South Preston, and ******* 40sh. Langsyde pays 4 merks of few : worth 24 bolls. For the kirklands of Kilmaures, by Cunningham e of Robertland, 40sh. Note. This is beside the lands of the abbacy, for which the Earle of Rox- burgh compts for in the exchequer. THE TEMPORAL LANDS OF THE BARONY OF LESMAHAGO, A CELL OF KELSO, WHICH ARE HALDEN IN FEW. The marquis of Hamilton for his L.lOO land of the barony of Lesmahago, worth L.2360, payes to the Earle. of Roxburgh L.lOO. Tweddell of Bankhead, for his 23sh. 4d. land of******* worth L.40, payes said earle 23sh. 4d, Steills, their lands of Fellyhill, worth L.40, paye 26sh. 8d. Lenn, for his lands of the mayns of Lesmahago, worth 8 bolls, payes ISsh. 4d. Brown, for his lands thereof, worth 20 merks, payes 8sh. Peitt, for his lands thereof, worth 20 merks, payes 8sh. Wilson, for his lands thereof, worth L.10, payes 6sh. 8d. THE ABBEY OF KELSO. 175 Weir, for his lands thereof, worth 20 merks, payes ISsh. 4d. Rodger, for his lands thereof, worth 20 merks, payes ISsh. 4d. Stevin, for his lands thereof, worth 20 merks, payes ISsh. 4d. Watson, for his lands thereof, worth L.lO, payes 6sh. 8d. Vicars, for his lands thereof, worth 20 merks, payes 13sh. 4d. Fairservice, for his lands thereof, worth L.lO, payes 6sh. 8d. Whyte, for his lands thereof, worth 20 merks, payes l6sh. 8d. Weirs, for their lands thereof, worth L.20, paye 26sh. 8d. John Weir, for his lands thereof, worth 20 merks, payes 25sh. Why tall, for his lands thereof, worth L.4, payes 5sh. Langrig, for his lands thereof, worth L.lO, payes lOsh. Durham of Dunterby, for his lands there, worth L.lOO, payes 5 merks. Idem for Dumbrekisheill, a pairt of the mayns, worth L.lOO, payes l6sh. Hamilton of Raploch, for Cummerheid, a pairt of the mayns, worth 200 merks, payes 40sh. Hamilton of Letham, for Little Kype, worth L.lOO, payes 5sh. Hamilton, for St Boyd's chapel, worth L.20, payes ISsh. 4d. Hamiltons of Kips, for Langkip, worth L.20, paye ISsh. 4d. Whytford of Milnton, for Clydismylne, worth L.lO, payes 6sh. 8d. Durham of Dunterby, for Woodheid, worth 8 bolls, payes ISsh. 4d. Idem, for the milns and multures of Lesmahago, worth 7 chald. victuall. Weir of Kirkton, for Kirkton, worth L.40, payes 40sh. TEMPORAL LANDS OF LESMAHAGO HOLDING WARD. Weir of Blackwood, for his lands of the barony of Lesmahago, worth 21 chald. 14 bolls victuall. Weir of Stanebyres, for his lands in the said barony, worth 21 chald. 8 bolls vict. Bannatyne of Corehouse, for his lands in the said barony, worth 12 chald. 8 bolls. Meinzies of Castlehill, for Fockarton in the said barony, 7 chald. 8 bolls vict. Weir of Achtifardell, for Rogerhill, and Achtefardell, worth L.200. M'Quharrie of Auchintule, for his lands in the said barony, worth 100 merks. . 176 HISTORY OF Weir of Halkisland, for his lands in the said barony, worth 8 bolls. "Wilson, for his lands in the said barony, worth 2 bolls vict. Hamilton of Preston, for his lands in the said barony, worth 100 merks. Weir of Muredaills, for Muredaills, worth 20 merks. SPIRITUALITY OF THE ABBACY OF KELSO, COMPREHENDING LESMAHAGO. The Earle of Roxburgh, for his teynds of the kirk of Dunsyre, confest worth 7 chald. 1 boll, 3 firlots, victuall, payes 1 chald. to the minister, and 400 merks. Rests of free rent L.222, Is. 8d. The Earle of Buccleugh, for his teynds of the "kirk of Maxwell, confest worth 6 chald. 14 bolls, payes to the minister of Sprouston 2 chald. 4 bolls, and to the minister of Bowdoun 1 chald. victuall. The Earle of Roxburgh, for his pairt of the teynds of the kirk of Sprouston, besyde the halfe of the Midtoun and mayns, sett down before, worth free 9 chald. and 1000 merks, payes to the minister 1 chald. 4 bolls. The said Earle, for his teynds of the kirk of Kelso, worth L.1200, payes to the minister 5 chald. vict. and 100 merks. The said Earle, for his part of the teynds of the kirk of Linden, worth L.40, payes to the minister 4 bolls. Idem, for his pairt of the teynds of the kirk of Caldercleir, worth 6 chald., payes to the minister 200 merks. Rests L.346, 13s, 4d. The said Earle of Roxburgh, for his teynds of the lands of Blackdean and Crabe, a pairt of the kirk of Mow, worth 8 bolls, payes to the minister L.lOO, which is supplyed with the laird of Mow his tack duty. Mow of that ilk, and Burn of EUiesheuch, for their pairt of the teynds of Mowkirk, worth 4 chald,, payes of tack duty L, 55 to the said Earle. The said Earle, for his half of the teynds of Nenthorn, worth 7 chald. 8 bolls, payes to the minister L,40 and 2 chald. Rests free, L,400, Andrew, Lord Jedburgh, for the other half of the teynds of the said kirk, worth 7 chald. 8 bolls, whereof defrayed by him of tack duty, which my Lord Roxburgh gives to the minister, viz, L,40 and 2 chald. Rests free, L.400, Ker of Linton, for his pairt of the teynds of Linden, worth '2 chald, 8 bolls, payes to the minister 4 bolls. THE ABBEY OF KELSO. 177 Ker of Yair, for his pairt of the teynds of the said kirk, worth 8 bolls, payes 4 bolls to the minister. Johnston of Elphiston, and Preston of Whytehill, for his pairt of the teynds of the said kirk, worth 2 chald. payes 9 bolls to the minister. Elphiston, for his pairt of the said kirk teynds, worth 12 bolls, payes 5 bolls. Hog of Dowcat, for his teynds of the kirk of St James, worth 4 bolls vict. William Cunningham of Craigenie, and David Cunningham of Robert- land, taxmen of the teynds of the kirk of Kilmawers, worth 22 chald., paye to the minister 4 chald. and 200 merks. Rests, L. 1306, ISs. 4d. Sir James Maxwell of Calderwood, taxman of the teynds of Carlouke, worth 1000 merks, and 10 chald. • vict., payes 400 merks and 2 chald. to the minister, and L.40 for elements. So rests of free rent, L.1800. Archibald Stewart, taxman of the kirk of Seymington, worth 8 chald. vict., payes to the minister 510 merks. Rests, L.300. Carmichael of Meadowflatt, taxman of the teynds of the kirk of Roberton, worth 7 chald. 8 bolls, payes to the minister 500 merks, and L.IO for elements. Rests, 385 merks. James Winrahame, portioner of Sauchtonhall, taxman of the teynds of the kirk of Wistoun, worth 7 chald. 9 bolls, payes to the minister L.210, and 8 bolls vict. Rests free, L.355. Lord Blantyre, for his teynds of Calderhall, being a pairt of the kirk of Caldercleir, worth 20 bolls, payes of tack duty to the Lord Roxburgh, L. 14. Ker of Greenheid, for his teynds of the lands of Midlam, being a pairt of the teynds of the kirk of Bowdoun, worth one chald. vict. \^Note. — That the rest of the teynds of the kirk of Bowdoun pertaines to the Earle of Roxburgh, Ker of Yair, Ker of Newhall, and Douglas of South Prestouu, and included with their lands.J Charters of Hempsfield, his rents of the teynds of Dungrie and Traill- flatt, extending to 60 bolls, given wholly to the minister. Ker of Linton, his pairt of the teynds of the kirk of Sprowston, worth L.353, 6s. 8d. Sir Thomas Kilpatrick of Closburn, taxman of the teynds thereof, worth 4 chald. 14 bolls, payes to the minister 200 merks. Rests, L. 256, 13s. 4d, 178 HISTORY OF William Douglas of Drumlanrig, taxman of the teynds of the kirk of Morton, worth 4 chald., payes 2 chald. 8 bolls, and 270 merks to the minister. Eark of Nithsdale, taxman of the teynds of the kirk of Dumfries, worth L.150, and ****** payes to the minister 4 chald, and L.263, 6s. 8d. Taxt to L. 6, l6s. The said Earle of Nithsdale, taxman of the teynds of Staple-Gordon, worth 12 chald., payes to the minister 320 merks. Rests free, 680 merks. James Stewart, son to Sir Robert Stewart, taxman of the teynds of the kirk of Hopcailzie, worth 2 chald. 10 bolls, ***** Rests free, L. 200. Earle of Morton, taxman of the teynds of the kirk of Linton, worth 6 chald. 12 bolls, 2 firlots, payes to the minister 3 chald. 8 bolls. Rests, L. 262, 10s. Lord Jedburgh, taxman of the teynds of the kirk of Innerleithame, worth 10 chald. 6 bolls, 2 furlots, payes the minister, in pairt, 3 chald. and 220 merks. Rests free, L.445, l6s. 8d. M«Dougall of M*Cairston, for the teynds of the kirk of M'Cairston, worth 14 chald. 12 bolls, payes to the minister 4 chald. 8 bolls, and 50 merks of vicarage. Rests free, L.786, 13s. 4d. Home of Renton, taxman of ike kirk of Hornden, worth 800 merks, payes the minister, in pairt, L.lOO, Rests, L.433, 6s. 8d. The said Earle of Roxburgh, for the teynds of the kirks of Langton and Simprem, worth 24 chald., payes to the minister of Simprem one chald., and to the minister of Langton 2 chald., and to Sir James Durhame in pension, 5 chald. Rests, 16 chald. Home of Coldenknowes, taxman of the teynds of the kirk of Greenlaw, worth 2200 merks, payes to the minister 200 merks and 2 chald. heir. So rests I6l0 merks. Earle of Home, taxman of the teynds of the kirk of Home, worth 8 chald. 12 bolls, payes to the minister 20 bolls, and L.50. Rests L. 550 free. The said Earle, taxman of the teynds of the kirk of Fog©, worth 10 chald. 12 bolls, 2 firlots, payes to the minister 4 b©Ils. Rests, L.842, lOe. The victuall compted at L. 80 per chalder. The said Earle of Home, for his teynds of the barony of Broxfield, being a pairt of the kirk of Kelso, worth 700 merks, payes to the minister one chald. THE ABBEY OF KELSO. 179 Geo. Home of Bassenden, taxman of the teynds of the kirk of Gordon, worth 20 chald., payes of tack duty to my Lord Roxburgh L.40. ******* for file teynds of the kirk of Selkrig, worth 20 chald. victuall. Durham, his pairt of the teynds of Lesmahago, worth 41 chald. 12 bolls,, payes to the minister L.200, and 4 chald. Marquis of Hamilton, for his pairt of the teynds of the said kirk, worth 12 chald. The Earle of Dumfermline, and ***** Cummin of Calder, for the teynds of the lands of Petercoulter, called Gumming, worth 4 chald. 12 bolls, 3 furlots, payes of tack duty 10 merks, which is assigned to the minister. Rests, L.377> Is. 8d. Irvine of Drum, for his teynds of Milnton of Drum, Ediestons, Angastons, Over and Nether Badie, Leuchar, Lyne, Over and Nether Walkmilne of Craigton, being a pairt of the kirk of Peter Culter, worth 3 chald., payes to the minister L. 136, 9s. 8d. Gordon of Abergeldie, for his teynds of the lands of Glasterberry, being a pairt of the said kirk, worth 10 bolls, payes to the minister L.5, 8s. Rests, L.44, 12s. Leith, for the teynds of Counterwalls, being a pairt of the said kirk, worth 1 chald. 6 bolls, payes to the minister L.58, 2s. 6d. Thomson of Duddingston, for the teynds of the kirk of Duddingston, worth 15 chald., payes to the minister 1 chald. 8 bolls bear, 2 chald. 3 bolls, 3 furlots, Ij pecks meal, and L. 66, ISs. 4d. of money. So rests L.259, 17s. 6d. free. Lawson of Humby, for his pairt of the kirk of Humby, worth 4 chald., payes to the minister 5 bolls, 5^ pecks, and 100 merks. Rests, L.519, l6s. Sd. Durham of Duntarby, his pension of 5 chald. furth of the teynds of the kirks of Langton and Simprem. Subt. by 16 persons. M(masUc Jnnals of Tfi'i^tdiile PlaXe V. Drawn, "by W^ SLizar s Engraved bv^V'R. lobars From lAe East Fu^lis/wd h)' niLi^ars /IV/yiJv/r^/i ISL^J ^ 4 t3 Moruisdc jimt^s ofTixiotdaL''. Part Of' tJu- \wst ,hh'r pr' A'clst' . -//Vvi Ciifittd /If' <'n<- .>r thr J'iNui.s- ,■/'///<■. \hv.' ,.'/^ A<'M<' Abhe r" s^j^V^ Iff* , - t- ^ t* % ^ rr ifS •' ^ " X4 t- ^IVS^ i " #., Inl^-rliicin/i . 'Li-ihi:^ in the . \brlh Tra)hsept nf KIIsli .ibbey akl I 1 I \ Capi.tal i>r one of the fH/'ir-' Z^ raw irh Ui^ ■A'ltve or /f-v.i". I0t.'e\ I 11/ 111 1)1 1 I'll! ill ll'l' y Druwc LvWB-Lizar: 'mmL^(Q) aBllilFlBiffm©M fiUiLslufd h\'W.llLi7. and successfully employed by him both in religious and civil affairs. * St Gail- bald, or Gowibald, the first bishop of Ratisbon, is said to have been a missionary from the convent at Melros, and distinguished for his eloquence as a preacher, and his knowledge of the Scriptures, abdut the year 780. t The monastery was burned, in 839, by Kenneth II. King of Scots, who, after he had subdued the Pictish kingdom, invaded the country of the Saxons six dififerent times, t During the frequent wars with the Danish invaders, which subsequently afflicted this part of the island, it is probable that the monks did not find it easy or expedient to rebuild their cells. The commentator, or interpolator of Nennius, the British historian, speaks of the monastery at Melros as having been formerly great and renowned. Nicolson, in his English Historical Library, makes it appear probable that Nennius wrote in 828. But it is uncertain when these interpolations were added, although their reputed author, Samuel Beulanius, is said by Dempster, who places him in the year 640, to have spent the latter part of his life in the monastery at Melros. § The buildings were probably restored and inhabited before 875, as in that year it became one of the resting-places of the body of St Cuthbert, when it was removed from its sepulchre at Lindisfarne, on account of the invasion of the Danes ; and being, it was said, uncorrupted, was transferred from place to place, by seven of the monks, for safety, during seven years. It was at last suffered to rest some time at Chester-le-Street, whence it was afterwards removed to the cathedral at Durham, where it continued to be regarded with superstitious veneration, and miracles were believed to have been wrought by means of it, until the period of the Reformation of religion, when it appears to have been buried in the cathedral. Il The manner of its removal * Camerarius, p. 177. t Dempster.'. ± Innes's Critical Essay on the Ancient Inhabitants of Scotland. § Sir James Dalrymple conjectures, with much probability, that the interpolations were written in the eleventh century. Collections, p. 47. II A tradition was long current among the more credulous of the Roman Catholics of Northtimberland, that, at the Reformation, Cuthbert's body having been secretly removed from its shrine by three priests, was by them deposited in a place of concealment in the 192 HISTORY OF from Melros is sufficiently wonderful, for it is traditionally reported to have floated in a stone coffin down the Tweed to Tillmouth, where it stopped of itself. The ruins of a chapel may still be traced on the bank of the river where it was landed, and the alleged stone coffin was to be seen there till a recent period.* Wjlmam Douglas was abbot of Melros in the beginning of the eleventh century, if we may believe Dempster, who states it on the authority of a fragment of a catalogue of the abbots of this monastery, which he had probably seen. He is said to have been a favourite of St Fothad, bishop of St Andrews, who died in 962 ; and of Grime, King of Scots, who died in 1003. The cloister of his monastery was built by him, at his own expense. He became confessor to Malcolm II, who succeeded King Grime, and he was still alive, in 1011. He is said to have written De Proelio ad Achnabart, Lib. I. Pro Malcolmo Rege, Lib. 1. 1 In the time of Bishop Eadmond, who was preferred to the see of Durham, in 1020, one of the priests of the cathedral, named ^Ifrid, a man no less remarkable for his moral virtues, than for his religious zeal, and his superstitious belief in the efficacy of relics ; being, as he thought, directed by a vision to collect the bones of divers holy persons buried in the ancient and ruined churches of Northumberland, paid a visit of research to Melros, and, having taken up the remains of St Boisil, he carried them away, and placed them in a shrine, near that of St Cuthbert, at Durham, t cathedral, so artfully contrived as to elude the most diligent and scrutinizing search. There it was believed to remain uncorrupted, to be again enshrined and venerated when the papal form of religion should be restored. The secret of its hiding place was supposed to be still preserved by three priests of that persuasion ; and when one of the number died, the sur- vivors chose another in his stead, to whom to confide it. It appears, however, that the important secret is now divulged. The following account of its accidental discovery was published in the Durham Advertiser, May 1827. — " In carrying into effect certain alterations at the eastern end of the cathedral here, and in that part known as the chapel of the nine altars, an old oaken coffin was found, containing the remains of some distinguished personage, believed to be no other than the patron saint, St Cuthbert. The skeleton was found to be remarkably perfect, and enclosed in the remains of robes richly worked with gold. A large and bright gold ring, having a crucifix, apparently of silver, appended, was found lying on the breast ; and below it the remains of a book : a large comb was also found in the coflSn. The wood of which the coffin was composed, was about three inches in thickness, and strongly clamped with bars of iron." * Hutchinson's Hist, of Durham, vol. i. 55. View of Northumberland, vol. ii. p. 23. f Hist. Eccles, gentis Scotorum. X Sim. Dun. iii. 7. THE MONASTERY OF MELROS. 193 Melros was a desolate and ruined place in 1073, about which time it became again, for a short period, the retreat of a few monks, among whom was Turgot, the historian, afterwards bishop of St Andrews. They were under the conduct of Aldwine, prior of Wincelcombey in Gloucestershire, who, with two associates brought from that monastery, had instituted a peculiarly strict rule of discipline at Girwy, now called Jarrow, in the county of Durham, before they removed to Melros, Here, being required by King Malcolm III. to swear allegiance to him, they refused, upon the ground that they could not do so consistently with their obligation to observe the precept of the gospel ; whence it may be conjectured, that they understood the words of our Saviour, Matt. v. 34, 37, in the same sense in which they are taken by the Society of Friends in the present day. In consequence of this refusal, they received from the king such proofs of his displeasure, that they considered themselves unjustly aggrieved and persecuted. In the meanwhile, Bishop Walcher having sent, at different times, to entreat and command them to return to Durham, and now threatening them with excommunication if they did not obey him, they reluctantly quitted Melros, in 1075, and were soon after settled by the bishop at Monkwearmouth, when, with his assistance, they restored the ancient monastery there from the ruinous state in which it had been left by the Danish invaders. * The few occasional notices that are met with concerning the religious foundation at Old Melros, subsequently to this period, speak of it only as a chapel, dedicated in honour of St Cuthbert, and much resorted to by devout pilgrims. Tradition formerly spoke of a sacred way, called the Girthgate, having the privilege of a sanctuary, leading to it from the more populous parts of the kingdom towards the north, traces of which are said to be still visible, t Before 1136, St Cuthbert's chapel was a dependency of the priory of Coldingham, on which it was probably conferred by King Edgar, when he rebuilt that monastery, in the year 1098. King David recovered it from Coldingham, in 1136, by giving the church at Berwick in exchange for it, when he annexed it to the new monastery of Melros, * Sim. Dun. iii. 21, 22. f Communicated to the author by the late Rev. Dr Douglas, minister of Galashiels, and author of the Agricultural Survey of Roxburghshire and Selkirkshire. 2b 194 HISTORY OF which he founded about two miles higher up the river Tweed. It appears, from the Chartulary of Melros Abbey, that Petrus de Haga, laird of Bemerside, who died in the reign of King Alexander III, engaged to pay to the chapel of St Cuthbert, at Old Melros, on St Cuthbert's day, annually, half a stone of wax, or thirty pence instead thereof, to light the said chapel, as a composition for certain trespasses committed by him, and persons belonging to him, against the convent. This payment was in commutation of five fresh and five dried salmon, which he had previously been obliged to pay to the convent yearly, for the same trespasses. Among the witnesses to this engagement are Oliver, abbot of Dryburgh ; Thomas Rymor of Ercildoun ; and Hugh de Perisby, sheriff of Roxburgh.* This chapel was destroyed by the English in the reign of Robert I. In 1321, Symon, bishop of Galloway, published an indulgence of forty days' remission of the penance enjoined them, to all persons who should, with the consent of their ordinary, make a devout pilgrimage to the chapel of St Cuthbert, at Old Melros, or should contribute of their substance to rebuild the same, which had lately been burned by the English, t Pope Martin V, who held the Roman see from 1417 till 1431, granted to all persons who should make a pilgrimage to the said chapel, and should contribute by their alms towards its support, a similar remission of penance on all the festivals of St Cuthbert, and certain other holidays, for seven years, and as many Lents, t * Cartularium de Mailros, in Bill. Harl. MS. 3960. folio 108. f Ihid. 109. \ " Istae sunt gratiae et indulgentiae, datae per sanctissimum in Christo patretn Mertinum papain quintura ; concessae etiam vivae vocis oraculo omnibus et singulis, Christi fidelibus, qui capellam Sancti Cuthberti de Aldmelros, Glasguensi diocesi, quae devota et notabilis existit, devote visitaverint, et pias elemosinas inibi largiti fuerint, et ad eandem manus porrexerint adjutrices. Videlicet, in Sancti Cuthberti diebus, in cujus honore fundata existit, et in singulis Domini nostri Jesu Christi, ac Beatae Marias Virginis festivitatibus ; etiam nativitatis Johannis Baptistae ; Apostolorum Petri et Pauli; ac aliis diebus et festivi- tatibus per cancellariam apostolicam dari consuetis. Necnon celebritate omnium sanctorum : et per octavas dictarum festivitatum, octavas habentium, septem annos et totidem quadragenas indulgentiarum de injunctis eis penitenciis, in Domino, misericorditer relaxare valeant." " Memorandum. That the effect of this perdoun is vij zeir and vij Lentrynis ; that is to say, xxj zeir of perdoun at the forenemit festis, as beforwrytyn, procurit be dene Jhone of Cavertoun, mounk of Melros, at our haly fader, paip Mertine the V, the zeir of our Lord M.ccccxxxvii zeirs." Ihid. fol. 111. THE MONASTERY OF MELROS. 195 The estate of Old Melros was long possessed by a family of the name of Ormestoun. * It is now the property of William Elliot Lockhart, Esq. who has a house there, delightfully situated. The ancient convent was secured by a wall drawn across the narrowest part of the peninsula. The foundations of this wall were still visible in the lifetime of the Rev. Adam Milne, who published, in 1743, an account of the parish of Melros, of which he was minister. The entrance to the monastery was about the middle of the wall, where had been a house, called the Red house, apparently the dwelling of the porter. Other memorials of its ancient state are found ih the names of certain spots. The place where St Cuthbert's chapel stood, is still called " the chapel knoll ; " and there are places in the Tweed called "the haly wheel," and " the monk's ford."+ * Inquisitiones Speeiales. t Milne. 196 HISTORY OF HISTORY OF THE ABBEY OF MELROS. Melros is situated on the south side of the Tweed, about eighteen miles above the point where that river begins to form the boundary between North and South Britain. The vale of the Tweed is every where fertile and beautiful ; and here grandeur is combined with beauty and fertility. The eye is presented with a wide range of pleasing and impressive scenery — of villages and hamlets ; the river, winding rapidly among smiling fields and orchards ; the town, with its groves, and gardens, and neat rural church ; wooded acclivities, and steep pastoral slopes, crowned with the shapely summits of majestic hills, — forming a richly diversified and striking panorama ; not to speak of the elegant and graceful remains of the ancient abbey, the sight of which conveys a deep interest to the mind, carries it back through ages and events long past, and leads to sober reflections on the vicissitude of human affairs, and the instability of human institutions. Towards the north, the valley is bounded by a hilly tract lying between the rivers Leader and Gala, and intersected by the Allan. The name of Wedale, or, as it has been interpreted, the Vale of Woe,* was anciently * Vallis dohris, Nennii, Hist. Britonum, cap. Ixiii. apud Gale, Scriptores Iter. Angl. vol. i. Nennius speaks of a cross, made at Jerusalem, after the likeness of the real cross of Christ, which King Arthur carried on his shoulders when he defeated the Pagans at Castle Gunnion. The interpolator, who seems to have written marginal notes, which were afterwards admitted into the text by the transcribers, says, that a fragment of this cross was still preserved with great veneration in Wedale. THE ABBEY OF MELROS. 197 given to this district, though it seems originally to have belonged only to the little valley of the Allan : perhaps, a battle, fought there at some remote period, may have given rise to the appellation. It was, in ancient times, a royal forest, in which the monks of Melros, and the bishop of St Andrews, had extensive, but imperfectly defined, privileges and possessions, which gave occasion to frequent disputes, and were even the cause of tumult and bloodshed, between their herdsmen and servants. It now forms a large division of the parish of Melros. On the south, the vale is bounded by the Eildon Hills, rising from one extensive base into three finely shaped summits, 1330 feet in height. At their northern base, lies the small town of Melros, the streets of which diverge in the form of a St Andrew's cross ; on the side of which, next the river, and about a furlong from its banks, are the gray ruins of the abbey. When King David I. laid the foundations of this abbey, in the year 1136, the ground on which the town of Melros now stands was occupied by a village, called Fordel. * It may be conjectured that the king at first intended to restore the religious house of Melros to its original site, two miles farther down the Tweed ; and that, when he afterwards saw reason to prefer the present situation, he named it after the ancient monastery. The monks were of the reformed class, called Cistertians, from their having established their first and chief monastery at Cisteaux, in France, in the year 1098, when they revived the strict observance of the rules for the monastic life, instituted by St Benedict, at Monte Cassino, in Itaily, above five centuries before. According to those rules, which had fallen into general neglect and disuse, they were obliged to perform their devotions together, seven times every four and twenty hours. " The Nocturnal, the first of these services, was performed at two o'clock in the morning ; 2." 'Matins, or Prime, at six o'clock ; 3. Tierce, at nine o'clock ; 4. The Sexte, at twelve o'clock ; 5. The None, at three in the afternoon ; 6. Vespers, at six o'clock in the evening ; and, 7. The Compline, which was said after seven. As the monks went to bed at eight, they had six hours to sleep before the nocturnal service began. If they betook themselves again to rest after that service, it was not reckoned a fault ; but after matins, they * Milne. 198 HISTORY OF were not allowed that liberty. At the tolling of the bell for prayers, they were immediately to leave off whatever business they happened to be engaged in ; and even those who copied books, or were employed in any kind of writing, if they had begun a text letter, were not allowed to finish it. They were to fast every day in Lent till six in the evening. During meals, the Scriptures were read to them by one of the brethren, who performed this, and certain other offices, by weekly turns. After the compline, they were not allowed to talk, but went to bed immediately. They all slept in the same dormitory, which was a long room, not divided into separate cells ; and each monk had a bed to himself, furnished with a mat, blanket, coverlet, and pillow, which was prescribed to be only a foot and a half long. When any of them went abroad, they were obliged always to go two together, to guard and witness each other's conduct, and to prompt each other to good thoughts." * At a general chapter of the Cistertian order held in the year 1134, it was resolved, that the rules of St Benedict, with regard to food, clothing, morals, and divine service, should continue to be observed ; and at the same time many new regulations, which afterwards proved ineffectual, were added, with a view to suppress and prevent luxury. It was directed that their monasteries should be situated in the most retired and solitary places. The monks were to live by the labour of their hands in cultivating the earth and keeping cattle. They might therefore possess lands, water, woods, vineyards, and meadows ; with sheep, oxen, horses, and other domestic animals ; but they were not allowed to have deer, bears, or such other animals as are kept for mere amusement.t They were forbidden to possess tithes, the advowsons and revenues of churches, dues of ovens or milns, bondservants, or even rents of land. The reason for this was, that they might not live by the labour of others ; yet upon the pretext of enabling the monks to live in greater retirement and abstraction from the world, they were allowed to admit into their community a certain number of lay brethren, sometimes called converts, whose office consisted in mana- ging the secular business of the convent, including the cultivation of their land, in which they might also be assisted by hired servants. These lay * Hutchison's Hist, of Durham, ii. 67. f Annahs Ciitertienses. THE ABBEY OF MELROS. 199 brethren did not take the monastic vow; but in every other respect they were treated exactly like the monks. The dress of the Cistertians was a white cassock, with a narrow scapulary, over which they wore a black gowii when they went abroad, but a white one when they went to church. They also wore hoods of plain cloth, fustian, or linen. The sumptuary regulations extended even to the ornaments of their churches and the vest- ments of the ministers. The altar cloth, the alb, and the amice, were to be of plain linen. The stole and maniple, which at first were of cloth, were afterwards allowed to be of silk. Palls, capes, dalmatics, and tunics, were forbidden. The crosses were to be of wood, painted ; and it was forbidden to have them of carved work, or silver, or gold. The cruets for the service of the altar were not to be of gold or silver. The chalice and fistula might be of silver gilt, the candlesticks were to be of iron, and the censers of iron or copper. Pictures and painted glass were not to be allowed in their churches. All the churches in monasteries of this order were dedicated to God, under the invocation of the Virgin Mary. * With respect to their food, variety of dishes was forbidden. Flesh was allowed only to the sick. Even fish, eggs, milk, butter, and cheese, were not to be used on common days, but were only allowed on particular occasions, as pittances, or dainties. None but their guests, and the sick, were allowed any other than brown bread. They might use the common herbs of the country ; but pepper and other foreign spices were forbidden.t No convent was permitted to send forth a colony to found a new monastery, unless the community consisted of at least sixty monks, and unless licence was also obtained, both from the general chapter, and from the archbishop or bishop. The monastery was to consist of at least twelve monks and their superior. Before they could be brought to their new residence, the buildings required for their immediate accommodation were to be provided ; namely, an oratory, a refectory, a dormitory, a stranger's cell, and a porter's lodge. The books required in divine service were also to be got ready. The superior of the new establishment was bound to pay a visit to the parent monastery once a-year ; and the abbots of all the * Annales Cisteriienses. f Ibid. 200 HISTORY OF monasteries of the Cistertian order were obliged to attend the general chapter held annually at Cisteaux ; except those who were excused on account of sickness or distance. Abbots in Scotland, Ireland, and Sicily, were obliged to be present only every fourth year. In some cases it was even allowed to send delegates. * No person desirous of becoming a monk was suffered to enter upon his noviciate under fifteen years of age. The candidate having made his petition to be admitted, was, after four days, brought before the abbot and a select number of the monks, in the chapter-house, where he threw him- self down with his face to the ground. Being asked by the abbot what he wanted, he replied, " The mercy of God, and yours." Upon this the abbot made him stand up, and explained to him the strictness of the rules, and the self-denial required in keeping them ; after which he asked him if he was willing to submit to the restraints they imposed. Upon his replying in the affirmative, the abbot again admonished him, and when he concluded with these words, " May God finish the good work that he hath begun in thee ! " all the rest who were present said Amen, and the candidate bowed, and retired to the guest chamber. A similar ceremony was observed when he was again introduced into the chapter -house the next day, after having read the rules of the order. On the third day he was admitted into the cell of the novices, and began the year of his probation ; during which he was instructed, and prepared for taking the vows, by a person called the Master of the novices, who was usually one of the oldest, and taost learned of the monks. At the conclusion of the year, when it was considered that he had had a sufficient trial of their discipline and manner of life, he was again formally interrogatad ; and, if he persisted in his request, he was then allowed to make his profession, and became a regular member of the order.f * Annales Cistertienses. f Ibid. The following formulary appears to have been used in some convent in England. « Thefyrstpetydon in the colloquium. Syr, I besyche yow and alle the convent for the lufFe of God, owr Lady Sanct Marye, Sanct John of Baptiste, and alle the hoyle cowrte of hevyne, that ye wolde resave me, to lyve and dye here emongs yow, in the state of a monke, or prebendarye, and servant unto alle, to the honor of God, solace to the companye, prouffet to the place, and helth unto my sawle. Ttie answer unto the examinacyon. Syr, I tryste, through the helpe of God, and your good prayers, to kepe alle these thyngs whiche ye have now heyr rehersede. The fyrst petycion before the profession. Syr, I have beyn heyr now this twell THE ABBEY OF MELROS. 201 : The Cistertians took considerable pains to cultivate and promote learning". The transcribing of books was one of the principal occupations in all their monasteries. A certain number of the brethren were constantly employed in the Scriptorium, or writing room, in making copies of the most esteemed works, to furnish and augment the common library. None, however, were permitted to write new books without first obtaining a licence to that effect from the general chapter. In the principal monasteries a chronicle was kept, in which the monks recorded, in the Latin language, the most remark- able events, both of general and local interest, that occurred within their knowledge. The Chronicle of Melros abbey, or rather a considerable part of it, was fortunately preserved from that destruction to which so many of the books found in monasteries were consigned at the Reformation, and is considered as one of the most authentic sources of Scotish history ; but it is written in a barbarous style, and with too great brevity, except towards the end. It commences with the year 735, and breaks off abruptly in 1270. The early part of it is said to have been compiled by an abbot of Dun- drainan. * It is probable that when he wrote it he was a monk of Melros, and that he was afterwards appointed to preside in the abbey of Dundrainan, in Galloway, which was founded in 1142, and colonized with monks from Melros. Sylvanus, the first abbot, who was afterwards abbot of Rievalle in Yorkshire, appears to have been the writer, as the events which it records previous to his time belong rather to general history, and are entirely gathered from other monkish writers ; while the succeeding portion has evidently been written from original information, and gives some account of local affairs. The Cistertian order soon acquired great celebrity, and had monasteries in every country in Europe, all of which had the privilege of being independent of the bishops within whose dioceses they were situated. They were introduced into England in 1128, and had their first settlement month nere hand, and lovyde be God, me lykes ryght well both the ordour and the companye. Wherapon I besyche yow, and alle the companye, for the luffe of God, owr Ladye Sanct Marye, Sanct John of Baptiste, and alle the hoyle companye of hevyn, that ye wyll resave me unto my profession, at my twell month day, acccordyng to my petycion whych I made when I was fyrst resaved heyr emongs yow," &c. Sibl. Cotton. Nero. A. iii. 131. * Nicolson's English Historical Library/. 2 C 202 HISTORY OF at Waverley, in Surrey. The monks of Melros were broug-ht from the abbey of Rievalle, in the North Riding of Yorkshire, and were the first of this order who came into Scotland. The king-, by a charter, which was confirmed by his son. Prince Henry, granted them the lands of Melros, Eildon, Dernwick, and Gattonside, with the right of fishing in the Tweed, and of pasturage and timber in the forests of Selkirk and Traquair, and the , pasturage of the land that lies between the Gala and the Leader, on the north side of the Tweed. The nobles of David's court also, following his example, vied with each other in their gifts to this monastery, which, in a short time, became possessed of very ample revenues. ABBOTS OF MELROS. I. Richard, the first abbot, is said to have been a man of strict piety and integrity ; greatly esteemed at court on account of his learning, eloquence, and other good qualities j but little beloved by his convent, on account of the warmth of his temper, and the harshness with which he exercised his authority. For the faults which sprung from this defect in his character, he was removed from his office, by William, abbot of Rievalle, * in 1148, after he had ruled the abbey twelve years. Upon this, he retired to the abbey of Clairvaux, in France, where he died the following year. He opposed, without efiect, the appointment of William Cumin, chancellor of Scotland, to the episcopal see of Durham, having discovered, by means of one of Cumin's agents, that the letters he produced as from the pope, confirming his election, were artfully forged, t The church of Melros, which was ten years in building, was finished in 1146, and dedicated, under the invocation of the Virgin Mary, with great pomp and solemnity, on Sunday, the 28th of July.f II. Waltheof, or Waldeve, who, after his death, was canonized and honoured as a saint, was the second abbot. He was the younger son of * Annates Cistertiemes. f Chronica de Mailros, THE ABBEY OF MELROS. 203 Simon de St Liz, Earl of Northampton, by his wife Matilda, daughter to Waltheof, Earl of Northumberland, who inherited the earldom of Hunting- don from her mother, Judith, niece to William the Conqueror, who had it for her dower. The Earl Simon happening to fall under the displeasure of his sovereign, Henry I, in consequence of which his lands were forfeited, he assumed the cross, and went to the wars in Palestine, where he soon after died, leaving two sons, Simon and Waltheof, the former of whom obtained the earldom of Northampton. The Countess Matilda was after- wards married to David, Prince of Cumberland, brother and successor to Alexander, King of Scotland, who then resided chiefly at the English court, his sister, Matilda, being Henry the First's queen.* A life of Waltheof, containing many marvellous stories, was written, about fifty years after his decease, in a continued strain of eulogy, by Josceline, a monk of Furness abbey, in Lancashire. It does not appear whether this work is yet extant any where, in a complete state, either in print or in manuscript ; but there are large extracts from it inserted in the Scotichronicon, and in the Annals of the Cistertian Order, by Angelo Manriquez, in four volumes, in folio. From these sources we learn, that, from a child, Waltheof was remarkable for his meekness, humility, and other saintlike qualities ; and that, while the favourite amusement of his brother Simon, and the rest of his playfellows, was to imitate the attack and defence of castles, which they constructed of such materials as they could, he shewed a predilection for the diversion of building baby churches. His stepfather, by whom he was much beloved, took him to Scotland in 1124, when, upon the death of his brother, he ascended the throne of that kingdom. He there completed his education along with his friend Ailred,f afterwards abbot of Rievalle, who became the recorder of the virtues of the king, his patron. David, thinking to gratify his youthful favourites, often took them with him to the chase ; but Waltheof had no taste for this sport, and commonly strayed from his companions in the woods, where, taking a book from his bosom, he sat down on some pleasant shady bank to read or meditate, till it was time to rejoin the hunters on their way home from the chase. Upon one occasion, the king happened to surprise him in his , sylvan retreat ; and having long remarked his fondness for study, and his ♦ Scotichron. vi. 3 — 6. t Sometimes called Baldred. Ibid. v. 41. 204 HISTORY OF habitual piety, began to form the design of promoting him, in due time, to some high office in the church.* But Waltheof had other views, and decKned to accept of any ecclesiastical dignity. Instead of becoming a secular priest, according to the wishes of his friends, he resolved to embrace the monastic life, entertaining the opinion so common in that age, that the seclusion and austerities of the cloister were a safer road to heaven than a Hfe spent in the active duties of the world, but proportionably exposed to its temptations. A circumstance which might have been expected to overcome his resolution, served only to confirm and hasten it. This was his happening to fall in love with a beautiful young lady at court, who felt an equally tender passion for him. Unconscious at first of the state of his affections, some expressions used by her on presenting him with a ring, and the remarks of others on seeing him wear it, awakened him to a sense of what he considered to be his danger. Looking upon this as a warning, that he should withdraw at once from the world, he immediately retired to the convent of St Oswald's, at Nosthill, near Ponte- fract, in Yorkshire, where he was admitted into the order of canons regular of St Augustine. While he held the office of sacristan in this monastery, he was called, by the unanimous voice of the canons regular of Kirkham,t to be their prior. This invitation he reluctantly accepted, in obedience to the injunctions of the abbot of St Oswald's ; but his diligence in the discharge of his duties, and the meekness and humility with which he bore himself, won the hearts of all the brethren at Kirkham, although, by the reforms which he introduced, he considerably increased the strictness and severity of their discipline. It is at this period of Waltheof's history that the legend begins to be * Scotichron. vi. 6, 7. f Kirkham is on the western bank of the Derwent, not far from Malton, in Yorkshire, where the ruins of the priory still remain. It was founded, in 1122, by Sir Walter Espec, lord of Werk, one of the most powerful barons of his time, who endowed it with various possessions in Northumberland, among which were the village and church of Carham, the church of Newton, in Glendale, the church of Uderton, &c. He also founded and endowed two other monasteries, viz. Rievalle, in Yorkshire, in 1131, and Wardon, in Bedfordshire, m 1 136, to the end, it is said, that masses might be always celebrated in them for the soul of his only son, who was unhappily killed by a fall from his horse. Sir Walter himself took the monastic habit in Rievalle, about two years before his death, which happened in 1133. Dugdale's Monasticm, i. 728. THE ABBEY OF MELROS. 205 fruitful in those absurd stories of visions and miracles, which abound in almost all ancient accounts of Roman Catholic saints, but which are generally softened or suppressed by modern compilers of their lives, although they are not more extravagant than many of the legendary stories still retained in the Roman breviary. They are introduced here as illustrative of the habits of monastic life, and the state of religious belief at the period, at least, when they were written. On Christmas day, as Waltheof was celebrating mass alone in the church at Kirkham, and was in the act of elevating the host, he beheld the conse- crated bread changed into the likeness of an infant, more beautiful than the sons of men, crowned with a diadem of gold and jewels, who, with a look of ineffable sweetness, embraced him, kissed his lips, gently touched his face and head with his hands, and then, making the sign of the cross over him, suddenly disappeared.* Upon another occasion, during mass in the same church, a spider happened to fall into the holy chalice ; and as this insect was accounted poisonous, the officiating priest, afraid to drink the consecrated wine, signified to the prior, by his gestures, his need of advice. Waltheof, having approached the altar, uttered a short prayer, and then commanded him to drink without fear. The priest obeyed, and, in doing so, felt no inconvenience from it at the time ; but a few hours after- wards, as he sat in the cloister with the rest of the brethren after dinner, one of his fingers itching, he scratched it, and felt a little swelling on the spot, which soon increased, and burst, when, to the amazement of all present, the same unfortunate spider came out of it alive, and was, by the prior's order, committed to the flames.t The excellent order and discipline maintained at Kirkham, caused that monastery to be enriched with many noble gifts, and brought the virtues of Waltheof's character so much into notice, that, when the see of York happened to become vacant, the clergy would have elected him archbishop, if they had not been prevented by King Stephen. That monarch objected to him on account of his affiqity to the King of Scotland, who supported the claims of the Empress Matilda, and her son Henry II, to the English crown, t While this matter was in agitation, he was himself so far from desiring worldly rank, that, thinking the life of a canon regular not * Scotichron. vi. 8. f Annales Cistertienses, 1143, v. 7. J Scotichron. vi. 28, 206 HISTORY OF sufficiently austere, lie resigned his priorate, and, retiring into the Cistertian convent at Wardon, in Bedfordshire, began his noviciate in that order j greatly to the displeasure of his brother Simon, Earl of Northampton, who regarding it as little better than folly, endeavoured, at first by persuasion and afterwards by threats and violence, to deter him from it. That the monks of Wardon might not suffer on his account, Waltheof removed to the monastery at Rievalle, to which his brother's influence did not reach. During the remainder of his noviciate, he was himself often perplexed with not unreasonable doubts as to the utility of the lengthened vigils and psalm- singing, and the excessive severity of the discipline of the Cistertians ; and he began even to entertain thoughts of returning to his former condition. On the other hand he felt a suspicion that these doubts might be the secret whisperings of the arch-enemy of mankind, and he often prayed for divine counsel to direct him. One day, we are told, when he threw himself on the ground, on the threshold of his cell, and poured forth his fervent desires to that effect, he found himself transported, in a moment, without knowing how, to his place of study within. * This was too significant a miracle to be mistaken ; and from that hour his resolution was fixed. He was at once reconciled to the insipid food, the coarse garments, manual drudgery, long fasts, and other harsh and mortifying institutions of the first Cister- tians ; and as soon as the year of his probation was expired, he took the vows, and soon became a bright example of monastic virtue, by the unfeigned cheerfulness with which he submitted to every self-denying ordinance. He continued at Rievalle, devoted to this ascetic life, till the year 1148, when he was elected abbot of Melros ; the monks, in their choice, being influenced both by regard to his excellent qualities, and a desire to conciliate the king, who was displeased with their conduct in deposing the late abbot Richard. Waltheof was no less unwilling now, than he had been upon a similar occasion before, to exchange the quiet and tranquillity of a private station, for a condition of greater dignity, but of greater care and anxiety ; nor was his consent obtained till the abbot of Rievalle interposed his authority to that effect, t In the more elevated rank to which he was now advanced, as the virtues of his character could less easily be concealed, he * ScoUchron. vi. 31. ^ Ihid. THE ABBEY OF MELROS. 207 was more than ever venerated and beloved. His beneficence and kindness to the poor and the sick, and the paternal mildness of his rebuke when any of the monks had committed a fault, were the surest proofs of the genuine- ness of his piety ; which was likewise evinced by the strictness and impar- tiality with which he examined and corrected himself. Not even a vain or idle thought ever intruded itself into his mind for which he did not express his contrition by confession and penance. At that period the religious were accustomed to confess with their backs bare, in token of their willing- ness to submit to whatever stripes their spiritual director might think fit to inflict upon them, before he gave them absolution. Waltheof 's confessor was his constant friend St Everhard,,who, being a canon regular at Kirk- ham, embraced the Cistertian order along with him at Wardon, and removed with him to Rievalle and Melros. He afterwards became the first abbot of Holm-Cultram in Cumberland, which was founded by King David in 1 150. * Dempster mentions Thomas Rubettus, another of the monks who enjoyed the friendship of the abbot, and is said to have written his life, and a separate work concerning his miracles } also a book called Decreta Synodalia. t To the increased number of his other merits, of a less questionable nature, the legendary writers add the greater frequency of Waltheof's miracles after his removal to Melros abbey. It appears that in times of scarcity, which, owing to the low state of agriculture and commerce in that rude age, were of frequent occurrence, the destitute and famished poor of the neighbourhood often found alleviating succour in the charity of the monks. Upon one occasion, we are told, during a severe famine, four thousand starving people resorted to the monastery in hopes of obtaining food, many of whom, for want of other lodging, built huts for themselves in the fields and woods adjacent. The charity of the benevolent monks was never so Severely tried ; for unfortunately, upon this occasion, their stock of corn was barely sufficient for their own subsistence till harvest. They had, indeed, another resource in their cattle ; but to kill them, as was proposed * Everhard is reported to have written the life of Waltheof; the life of Adamnan, abbot of I-colra-kil ; the life of St Cumeneus Albus ; and other works. Dempsteri Hist. Eccles. f Hist. Eccl. Gen. Scot, 208 HISTORY OF by Tyna, the kind-hearted cellarer, * would be ruinous to their tillage and hopes of future increase. When the convent assembled to deliberate upon this alternative, and were at a loss what to resolve upon, Waltheof stood up, and desiring Tyna to accompany him, they proceeded to the farm at Eildon, where the abbot stuck his staff into a heap of wheat which lay in the granary, and prayed for a blessing upon it. This done, they bent their steps to the other farm belonging to the abbey, at Gattonside, where having in like manner blessed a heap of rye, designed for bread to their servants, he commanded that daily rations of grain should be dealt out to the starving multitude. They were thus fed continually for three months from the stores the abbot had blessed, which lasted till the corn in the fields was ready for the sickle, t Upon a similar occasion, when the monks, by Waltheof's suggestion, agreed to share their daily portions of bread with the hungry, the loaves were no sooner cut in two, than each half was converted into a whole loaf, t The monastic rule which enjoined the exercise of hospitality, was no where better observed than at Melros, where wayfaring men, and strangers of every condition, from the king to the peasant, found a welcome, and such cheer as the monastery afforded. One day when some guests had arrived, and Walter the hospitaller, whose office was to provide for their accommodation and entertainment, had set food before them, it happened that some other newly arrived strangers were ushered in, and placed also at table. Although the viands were not more than might suffice for the original number of guests, yet when all had partaken of them they appeared undiminished, and only began to decrease when one of the company, in the middle of the repast, called the attention of the rest to the miraculous circumstance. § * Tyna was the author of a life of Waltheof; of a treatise on Alms-giving; and of a series of Sermons for Lent. Jbid. ■J- Scotiehron. vi. 34. The cellarer stated, that the convent at this time possessed great store of oxen at pasture, as well as sheep, wedders, and well fed pigs, with plenty of cheese and butter. This, in a time of general scarcity, conveys a most favourable idea of the good husbandry and skilful management of the venerable fraternity, and of the benefit which the country must have derived from their influence and example, in the cultivation of their lands. :j; Annates Cistertienses. § Ibid. THE ABBEY OF MELROS. 209 One evening, three strangers knocked at the abbey gate, and being admitted to lodge there for the night, they were immediately conducted into the church, as the rule of St Benedict, upon such occasions, directs. When they had finished their devotions, they were led back to the guest chamber, and taken care of by brother Walter. By the time they had washed their feet, they were summoned to supper in the refectory ; but had scarcely sat down, when it was discovered that one of the strangers was missing, and his place empty. The hospitaller asked the other two what had become of their companion, when, with surprise, they affirmed that no third person had been in their company. The friar insisted that he had placed three of them at table. The porter, and another monk, who had received them at the gate, declared that they had let in three persons. Nobody had been observed to goout, yet the third stranger could nowhere be found. The following night, however, a person of an angelic appearance shewed himself to the hospitaller, in a dream, and said, " Dost thou know me, brother Walter ? I am the stranger, whose sudden disappearing from amongst you yesterday, nobody could account for. The Lord has appointed me to watch over this monastery ; and I am come to certify you, that the alms and prayers of the community, and especially of your abbot, are accepted, and ascend unto heaven like the odours of sweet incense." * On the eve of the Epiphany, when the abbot and monks were singing the praises of God, in the choir, the abbot had a vision of the Virgin Mary, with the infant Jesus on her knee, and the three kings, or wise men of the East, coming, preceded by a bright star, to offer him mystic gifts. On Easter day, at early matins, he had a vision of the sufferings, death, and resurrection of Christ, t Waltheof had not only spiritual, but personal contests with Satan. One evening, we are told, after the singing of the compline, when all the monks had retired from the church, save the abbot, who, according to his usual practice, remained behind, to pray alone, the malignant fiend, for no other purpose, as it seemed, than to disturb his devotions, appeared to him successively in a variety of antic shapes, and, after playing an infinite number of provoking tricks, at last declared open war, assuming the terrific form of a gigantic soldier in complete armour, brandishing a spear, • Annaks Cisfertienses, 1154, iv. 2, 3, 4. f Ibid. Sootichronipon, vi. 8, 2d 210 HISTORY OF and breathing fire. The saint, who already essayed, but without effect, to drive him away by making the sign of the cross, now armed himself with the pix, which contained the consecrated wafer, and, making the hallowed sign with this, advanced intrepidly against the adversary, exclaiming, " Behold, thou wicked soldier, thou base hireling, here is thy judge, who shall quickly send thee to the bottomless pit I Wait for him if thou darest ! " It is hardly necessary to say, that, at these words, the foul fiend, baffled and confounded, vanished away in a cloud of smoke. * The author of the legend remarks, that Waltheof's piety grew more fervent, and his miracles more frequent, as his bodily strength declined, and the burden of his old age and infirmities increased. By his blessing and touch, he healed three of the brethren who lay dangerously ill in the infirmary, and who earnestly solicited him to use this means of restoring them ; each of them having been warned, the preceding night, in a dream, that it would prove effectual.t Upon the death of Robert, bishop of St Andrews, in 1159, Waltheof was unanimously fixed upon to succeed him ; and the clergy of the cathedral came to Melros, accompanied by many of the principal noblemen of Scotland, to announce his election, and conduct him with honour to the episcopal city. But he who, in the days of youth and strength, was never attracted by the love of worldly distinction, shrunk from it now, in the season of age and feebleness ; nor could he be entreated to undertake an office the duties of which he felt himself no longer able to fulfil. When the abbot of Rievalle, who was present, endeavoured to persuade him, he pointed with his finger to the ground at the entrance of the chapter-house, where he had fixed upon a spot for his grave ; and, in allusion to his having laid aside all earthly cares, to prepare for death, recited these words of Scripture : " I have put off my coat ; how shall I put it on ? I have washed my feet ; • how shall I defile them ? " Thus Waltheof kept his resolution, and continued to exercise his functions, at Melros, till the day of his death, an event which he joyfully anticipated, and often prayed for. The legend, in one of the most extravagant of its marvellous tales, informs us, that he received from heaven a written assurance that his prayer would be granted. The peace of the convent, * AnnaJes Cistertiemes, 1154, iv. 6. | Ibid. 1160, iii. 1, 2. THE ABBEY OF MELROS. 211 we are told, had often been disturbed by the rude behaviour of one of the lay brethren, named Simon, a man of great muscular strength, and a skilful artificer, but of an arrogant disposition, which made him treat his fellow labourers with contempt. This person, having fallen asleep, during the hour of rest, at noon, dreamed that a being of gigantic form and terrific aspect, armed with a scythe, stood before him, and, in a voice that made him tremble, reproached him with his wicked life ; after which, hewing him in pieces, he put the severed limbs into a basket which he carried, and was preparing to depart, when a being of a glorious appearance came suddenly and drove him away, after he had compelled him to fit again all the dissevered pieces to each other. Then, the angelic being, having restored Simon to life, and exhorted him to repentance and amendment, put into his hands a written roll, charging him to deliver it faithfully to his abbot, to whom it was sent from God and the Holy Mary. The lay brother awaking, found the roll lying upon his breast, and did with it as he was directed, giving, at the same time, an account of his vision. Waltheof, with reverence, unfolded the epistle, and, kneeling down, read it with tears of thankfulness. The words were these : " Jesus Christ, and Mary his mother, greet their beloved Waltheof. Know that thy prayer is heard ; and, between the two feasts of John the Baptist, * thou shalt come to us to live for ever : prepare thyself. Farewell." t Agreeably to this revelation, we are told, that, on the feast of the nativity of John the Baptist, he was seized with a mortal sickness, which continued till the 1st of August, when, feeling himself worse, he received the sacraments of the Lord's Supper and extreme unction, and, after blessing his assembled friends, bade them farewell. He continued, however, says his biographer, " to suffer in the body two days longer, that his soul might depart altogether stainless, and that he might not be confounded when he should speak with his enemies in the gates of death." On the 3d of the month, at the hour of tierce, the convent was summoned to witness his departure ; when he was laid upon a haircloth, as the custom was, while they stood around, and sung the psalms and litanies proper for the occasion. He lived, however, till the hour of sext, when, the monks * The nativity of John the Baptist is commemorated on the 24th of June ; his beheading, on the 29th of August. + Annaks Cislertienses. 212 HISTORY OF being re-assembled, and singing as before, he expired. Having, according to custom, washed his body, it was proposed, in honour of his saintly character, to bury him in his sacerdotal robes ; but some objecting to this, for what reason is not mentioned, they clothed him in his monk's habit and hood, wrapped him in a wax cloth, and laid him out in the church till the time of bis funeral obsequies, which were performed bythe bishop of Glasgow, attended by four abbots, and a great number of religious men of different orders. The bishop, and many other persons, were for burying him within the church ; but Galfrid, abbot of Newbottle, persuaded them to comply with the request he had so distinctly expressed before his death, and he was accordingly buried on the spot he had himself pointed out, in the chapter-house.* The literary works attributed to Waltheof are, 1. De Claustri Sono / 2. Evangeliorum Flores ; 3. Sanctorum Plurium T^itce ; 4. Com- mentarium in Regulam Ecclesiasticam.-\ Certain pretended prophecies, in rhyme, evidently written four hundred years after his time, pass under his name, in a well known collection of predictions, ascribed to Merlin, Thomas of Ercildoun, Bede, and other ancient sages, originally published at Edinburgh, by Andro Hart, in I6l3. He is there called Waldhave ; and it may be remarked, that Fordun calls him Walthevus ; other chroniclers Wallevus ; and by an erroneous reading, Wallenus. On Tweedside, he is still known, by tradition, as St Waudie. III. William, one of the monks, was the next abbot of Melros, being elected by his brethren, on the 27th of November, 1159, in a chapter held, according to the Cistertian rules, by Ailred, Waltheof's friend, who now presided in the parent monastery of Rievalle. William soon became unpopular, and was looked upon by the monks as an austere and harsh superior, who took more pains to make himself feared than loved, t The real cause of their dislike appears rather to have been his supposed incredulity, as to the frequent miracles said to have been wrought at Waltheof's tomb, and his endeavouring to put a stop to the superstitious practices founded on them. The late abbot was no sooner dead, than reports began to be circulated of miraculous visions, seen by different • Annales Cistertienses. Scotichronicon, vi. 35. -)- Hist, Eccl. gen. Scot, X Chron, de Mailros. An, Cist, 1160, iv. 8 ; 1172, ii. 10, THE ABBEY OF MELROS. 213 persons, which, if true, made it not doubtful that he had been immediately admitted into the state of blessedness. The day before he died, Nicolas, the king's chancellor, who was then at Rome, upon business of state, had a vision of paradise, and, among other things, saw the holy abbot conducted by an angel to the gate, where they stood singing, and requesting to be admitted. A voice within demanded who they were, and the angel replied, " Waltheof of Melros is here." The keeper of the gate answered, " He cannot enter to-day : let him come to-morrow, when he shall have put off his earthly spoils." * Walter, a lay brother, who was confined to his bed in the infirmary by sickness, was wonderfully restored to health by the abbot, who appeared to him, in a vision, and informed him that he was now a partaker of the joys of paradise, t Henry, another of the lay brethren, beheld his late superior, with St Benedict, and St Bernard of Clairvaux, borne through the air, each in a splendid litter ; and was informed, by a miraculous voice, that they were on their way to the abbey of Kinloss, to rescue from the power of besetting fiends, the soul of Robert, one of the monks, who was to die on the morrow, t As these marvellous tales fell in with many of the popular superstitions which a barbarous age, and a credulous or an interested clergy, had ingrafted on religion, they were quickly circulated, and readily believed, without the convent, and perhaps within it. The beatification of the late abbot was an easy inference ; and now diseased and infirm persons were brought to his tomb, supplicating him to intercede in behalf of their prayers for health. Those who imagined, or hoped, that their prayers were granted, gave to the monastery wax tapers, lamps, and other gifts, which they had vowed. Bernoul, a rich inhabitant of Rothbury, in particular, was restored, from sickness to health and strength, by watching one night beside the venerated tomb. Josceline, the recorder of this legend, con- versed with Bernoul's son, who became a monk at Melros. With whatever kind of evidence these alleged miracles were supported, the abbot William does not seem to have been satisfied with it ; and he was too honest to lend his countenance to what he thought a scandal to the monastery, and to religion. We are not, indeed, informed that he avowed his disbelief ; but it is difiicult, on any other supposition, to account ♦ Annates CistertienseSf + Ibid. % Ibidt 214 HISTORY OF for his shutting up the chapter-house, and refusing access to the crowds of people who came daily to perform their devotions at Waltheof's grave. His enemies were less willing to impute it to his desire to maintain the quiet and seclusion of the convent, which was disturbed by the concourse of so many visitors, than to an invidious feeling towards his predecessor. " Is it not a presumptuous thing," said they, " in a mortal man to attempt to shut up the fountain of mercy, and to cover with the turf of silence, that which is glorified by heavenly grace, and manifested to the world by miracles ?"* The abbot, however, continuing inflexible, the discontented monks, with Josceline, the prior, at their head, accused him of harshness in the exercise of his authority ; and Sylvanus, abbot of Rievalle, who gave credit to their complaints, having enjoined him to rule with less severity, he, perhaps disgusted at the injustice with which he thought himself treated, resigned his office on the 23d of April, 1170,t and retired to the abbey of Rievalle, where he died fifteen years afterwards. He is said to have written, 1. In Cantica Salomonis ; 2. Z>e Officio Monachi ; 3. Ad Joannem Cardinalem, Scotice et Hibernice Legatum, The brethren of the convent most distinguished in his time, were, Ralph, who, in 1171> was made abbot of Cupar ; and Simon de Tonei, or Thondi, who became abbot of Coggeshall, in Essex, where he continued some years, but returning to Melros, resumed his station as a private monk, till, in 1171, he was elected bishop of Moray, in which situation he died in 1184. The works ascribed to him are, 1 . Reformatio Cleri ; 2. De Regia 8. Malcolmi Successione ; 3. In Epistolas Pauli, Lib. vi.l IV. Josceline, the prior, was preferred to the abbot's seat the same day on which William retired from it. The zeal with which he had defended the opinion of Waltheof's beatification having mainly conduced to his advancement, one of the first cares that now engaged him, was an endeavour to justify the part he had acted, by proving that opinion to be well grounded. The belief that the bodies of those holy persons who at their death were immediately admitted into glory, were not subject to decay and corruption like the bodies of other men, was in that age universally prevalent. By this criterion, therefore, Josceline resolved to try the saintship of his * An. Cist. 1172, ii. 8. + Chron. de Mailros. Annates Cist. :f Ibid. Hist. Eccl. gen. Scot^ THE ABBEY OF MELROS. 215 deceased patron and friend. Having prepared a new slab of polished marble to replace the stone covering of the tomb, he invited a goodly company of grave and religious men to see it laid. On the 2d of May, 1171, Ingelram, bishop of Glasgow, four abbots, a considerable number of monks of different orders, and all the brethren of Melros, being assembled in the chapter-house, the grave was uncovered in their presence, when, to the admiration of all, not only the body, but also the garments in which, it had been buried twelve years before, appeared to have suffered no decay. * By some accident, it happened that the body had been wrapped in a wax- cloth ; although this was prohibited by the rules of the Cistertian order. The wonder was increased, therefore, when it was observed that the for- bidden cerement was completely reduced to dust. Bishop Ingelram, stooping down, touched the garments and different parts of the body, at first gently, and then with a stronger pressure of his hand, to assure himself that every joint and limb was flexible and sound. But Peter, the chanter, who was among the bystanders, doubting the propriety of so accurate a scrutiny, could not help saying, " In sooth, my lord bishop, saving your reverence, methinks you handle the body of the holy man somewhat roughly." When some of the rest murmured their approbation of this remark, the bishop thus addressed them, " Be not offended, my dear chilr dren, that I have scrupulously examined into this matter, but rather praise God, since I have thereby clearly ascertained and made manifest, that this is indeed a miracle, which proves that you have now another saint belonging to you, and that your venerated father Waltheof, is become a companion to the holy Cuthbert, who also was once a monk of Melros." At these words many of the brethren shed tears of joy ; every body present uttered some expression of thankfulness, and at the suggestion of the abbot of Kelso, Te Deum was solemnly chanted. It was then consulted whether they ought to remove the body to a more honourable place of sepulture, and lay it in a stately tomb within the church. Why should they hide in the earth this precious talent which God had given them ? Was it not opposing the divine will, which had so honoured Waltheof, and manifested that he was now a partaker of glory in the heavens ? Their deliberations, however, ended in resolving to leave the precious deposit where it was, for the present, and until the sanction of the general chapter of the order at • Chron. de Mailros. 216 HISTORY OF Cisteaux, confirmed by the pope, could be obtained for its enshrinement.* Whether any efforts were made to this effect, is not known, but it is recorded that Waltheof's remains were never removed from the spot in which they were first laid ; and although he continued to be honoured as a saint, and many pilgrimages were made to his tomb, before which a wax candle was kept constantly burning, yet it may be doubted whether he was ever regularly canonized. Josceline, notwithstanding the zeal he displayed for his memory, as above related, is blamed by the monk of Furness for neglecting to procure him this distinction at the court of Rome, when having been made bishop of Glasgow in 1174, he went, in 1182, with Ernald, abbot of Melros, and other honourable persons, upon an embassy to the pope. He established, however, a house of hospitality on the banks of the "Teviot, at Hassendean, for the entertainment of strangers and pilgrims coming to Melros, and, with the consent of King William, he gave for its support the patronage of the church of Hassendean, with all its lands, tithes, and possessions, t This abbot is praised for the kindness and urbanity of his manners, and his elevation to the episcopal dignity is said to have given universal satisfaction. He began to rebuild and enlarge the cathedral church of Glasgow" in 1180, which was finished in a magnificent style in 1196, three years before his death, t Josceline is reported to have been the author of a treatise, De Trans- latione Augustini, Anglorum Apostoli. One of his contemporaries at Melros, was St Nervus, the patron usually invoked by travellers, in conse- quence of a miracle believed to have been done by him. Two pilgrims, it is said, having been found murdered on their way to visit the holy places in Scotland, this devout monk restored them to life for a short space, that they might confess their sins, and receive the sacrament of the eucharist. In 1174, he became abbot of Kinloss, where he rebuilt the cloister, and secured it with a high wall. A work entitled In Leges Claustrales, is attributed to him. § V. Laurence, one of the monks, was elected abbot, on the 14th May, • An. Cist. 1173, v. 2, 4. &c. f Cart, de Mailros, fol. 45, v. :|: Chron, de Mailros. - § Hist. Eccl, gentis Scot. He is not mentioned by Fererius in his account of the abbots of Kinloss. Sist. Kinloss, apud Martene et Durand, torn. vi. Fordun calls him Nehius. Scotichron. viii. 24. THE ABBEY OF MELROS. 217 1175, and received the accustomed episcopal benediction, in the church of the abbey, the next day, from his predecessor, Josceline, who had himself been recently consecrated bishop, and probably retained his office at Melros till that ceremony was over. Laurence had previously been abbot of a monastery in the Orkneys, and he is said to have been deeply skilled in theological learning. He died in II78. * VI. Ernald, the next abbot, received the benediction from Bishop Josceline, on the day of the Epiphany, 1179. About this time there existed a dispute, between the convent and Richard de Morville, concerning their respective rights of forest and pasture in the district of Wedale, situated between the rivers Leader and Gala. The matter was referred to King William, who, assisted by several persons of distinction, both secular and ecclesiastic, having examined and inquired into the merits of the case, at Haddington, in 1180, gave a decision in favour of the monks, f Another dispute between the monks and the men of Wedale, about their rights of pasture in the same forest, was settled by the king, upon the testimony of Richard de Morville, constable of the kingdom, and twelve other jurors, who, after they had perambulated the boundaries, being sworn upon the * Chron. de Mailros. \ The charter which William gave the convent in confirmation of his decision, is curiously- minute in its description of the boundaries of the disputed territory, and shews the antiquity of the names of several of the places mentioned in it: — "Sciatis me pacem fecisse inter monachos de Melros et Ricardum de Moravilla, de foresta inter Galou et Ledir per has divisas: Scilicit, 'Per flumen Galue versus monachos ab oriental! parte ejusdem fluminis sursum usque ad terminos de Wedale, et item per rectas divisas terrae Ricardi de Morevillis, soil, de sico Mereburne [ubi] cadit in Ledir usque ad sursum ejusdem Mereburne, et inde per sicum qui exit de Mereburne usque ubi sicus ille cadit in rivulum de Standen, et inde usque ad Pot, et de Pot usque ad Standanstan, et sic deinceps usque ad viam regiam ubi ilia intrat nemus, et dividit nemus de Standen, et de Threpwude, et sic per eandem regiam viam usque ad Fairforde, et postea per illam viam quae vadit in dextram usque ad predictos terminos de Wedale, et sic per rectos terminos de Wedale usque in Galou, R. de Morevillis et Willielmus haeres ejus clamaverunt quietem de se et haeredibus suis Deo et sanctae ecclesiae de Melros, &c. quidquid juris habuerunt de bosco et pastura infra praenominatas divisas versus austrum, ab ilia via quae dividit Threpwude et nemus de Standen, excepto quod R. de M. et ejus haeredes habebunt illud nemus quod vocatur Threpwude, sive pastura, quod eis monachi quietem clamaverunt, per has divisas, scil. de Fairforde deorsum per Aloent usque ad mussam quae est inter Threpwude et Cumbesley CnoU, et sic per eandem mussam usque ad praedictum Pot. Monachi habebunt totum reliquum nemus inter Galou ct Ledir," &c. Cart, de Mailros, fol. 33. 2 E 218 HISTORY OF holy relics preserved at Melros, attested that the royal forest extended to the highway leading to the westward of the church of Wedale, and that the right of pasture belonged to Melros as far as the marches of Wedale, and the rivulet called Fasseburn. The Abbot Ernald was distinguished for his prudence and discretion, and his great knowledge of the holy Scriptures.* He was one of the chief persons in the embassy sent to Rome, in 1182, by means of which the sentence of exconimunication pronounced against King William was recalled, and the kingdom freed from the papal interdict. He was chosen abbot of Rievalle, on the 2d of March, 1 189, upon the resignation of his predecessor, Sylvanus. f Vn. Reiner, abbot of Kinloss, originally a monk of Melros, succeeded Ernald on the 23d of the same month. He resigned his charge of Melros abbey into the hands of the abbot of Rievalle, on the 17th of September, 1194, and again became abbot of Kinloss, where he died, in the year 1219, One of the monks, named Reginald, who lived about this time, is mentioned by Dempster as a distinguished person, who became bishop of Ross, and a cardinal, and wrote, 1. PrcBcepta Salutaria ad Fratres ; 2. Collectiones Synodales. From the same authority, we learn that Gilbert, another monk of Melros, who became abbot of Holy Island, and died in 1200, was the author of eight most delectable and elegant sermons upon the Song of Solomon. Ralph, another abbot of Kinloss, succeeded Reiner, at Melros, two days after his resignation. A dispute respecting their boundaries having arisen between the monks and their brethren of Kelso abbey, whose lands of Bowden lay contiguous to their domains of Eildon and Dernwick ; the pope's legate, John de Salerno, after holding a general council at Perth, in 1201, for the reformation of the clergy, came to Melros, to inquire into and settle this difference. But after he had enjoyed the hospitality of the monks almost two months, and cajoled both parties with hopes of a decision in their favour, whereby he drew from them considerable presents of money and horses, leaving the matter undetermined, he went to Ireland, and took with him Ralph, the abbot of Melros, whom he made bishop of Down, in that country. Ralph was at Melros in 1211, and there gave the episcopal * An. Cist. 1177, vii. 10. t Chron. de Mailros. THE ABBEY OF MELROS. 219 blessing to three abbots, viz. of Fountain's abbey, Furness, and Caldeia, on St Lucia's day. He died in 1233; and was said to have written, 1. Acta Concilia Perthani ; 2. Ad suos Melrosienses ; Epistola ad Joannem legatum.* IX. William, who had been master of the novices at Melros, and was made abbot of Cupar, in 1200, was brought back by the votes of his former brethren, and succeeded the Abbot Ralph in 1202. When he died, in 1206, the opinion of his sanctity was such, that it was agreed to bury him near his sainted predecessor, Waltheof. While the grave was making, curiosity impelled some of the monks to look at the remains of the saint ; and one of them, brother Robert, who was a mason, began, with religious dread, to raise the cover of the tomb suflSciently to allow them to look into it, which was not accomplished before a most sweet and fragrant odour issued from the cavity, as if it had been filled with odoriferous drugs and spices. It being the dusk of the evening, a lighted taper was brought, and the whole company, consisting of six monks, and as many lay brethren, looked in, and saw the body of the holy man as it lay uncorrupted, and clothed in garments apparently fresh and beautiful. X. Patrick, the subprior was elected abbot, on the 8th of June, 1206, and died the following year. XI. Adam, the prior of Melros, was chosen abbot in 1207- Next year, the differences between the monks of Melros and those of Kelso, which had been referred by Pope Celestine to the arbitration of King William, were finally adjusted. One of the matters in dispute was a piece of ground at the foot of the Eildon Hills. This was adjudged to the monks of Kelso, who, at the same time, were obliged to make over to Melros abbey, two oxgangs of land, and two acres of meadow, in Primside, with pasture for four hundred sheep, in the common of that village. To prevent quarrels in future, the boundaries between the grounds of Eildon and Bowden were minutely described, in a writing drawn up by both parties, and attested by the abbots of Jedworth, Dryburgh, Newbottil, and Cupar. From this document, which is preserved in the Chartulary of Melros,t we learn, that the line of separation, beginning at Bowden burn, proceeded to a cross erected between Witherig and Harcarleche; then to a white thorn tree, in Witherig ; * Hist. Ecclg^is Scot. + Harldan MS. 3960, fol. 41, r. 220 HISTORY OF and so northwards to Akeden ; and up to another cross, beside a green dike ; and along this dike to a third cross, above Sprouisden ; then up to a spring, beside a white thorn, by the side of the brook that flows from the same spring ; and so along Ferneley, to the willows, and crosses, and ditches, in the middle hill, up to the summit, where King David caused the ditches to be made ; and so westward down to the place called Derebley ; and through the divided wood ; * and by the crosses and ditches, to the oaks marked with crosses, as far as the lake beneath Blakelaw ; and from thence to another lake ; and so on to Bowden ; and down the rivulet of Bowden, to the river Tweed. The Abbot Adam was elected bishop of Caithness on the 5th of August, 1213, but appears not to have vacated his office at Melros until the time of his consecration, the 11th of May, 1214, as his successor was not appointed till after that period. In the ninth year of his episcopate, his days were cut short by a catastrophe which marks the barbarousness of the people of his diocese in that age, as well as the imperfections of a system which, however venerable in its origin, however just, however beneficial, as providing the means of religious instruction to the public, without expense to any individual, and however unexceptionably useful it might be rendered by wise and just modifications, yet still continues to be the occasional source of serious evils to religion and society, by bringing into collision the rights and interests of two classes of men, which, of all others, ought to be prevented from conflicting ; namely, those of the Christian pastor and his flock. Unfortunately for the bishop, his flock had been accustomed, in time past, to pay what he considered a very inadequate composition for the tithes appointed for his maintenance. He therefore thought it right to insist upon a more equitable payment ; and when they refused, perhaps with some circumstances of aggravation, it is said, that, in the heat of his resentment, he excommunicated them, — a terrible infliction in those days, when it was believed that no person who died under that curse could escape eternal punishment. This harsh and cruel measure, instead of subduing their obstinacy, served only to infuriate them ; so that they bent * " Scissum nemus." King David divided the wood, and the side of the mountain, between the two monasteries, and marked out the boundaries by ditches, &c. Harleian MS. fol. 40, v. Sir Walter Scott informed the author, that a part of the limits above described forms the boundary of his estate of Abbotsford, and that the ditches are still in good preservation. THE ABBEY OF MELROS. 221 their thoughts towards revenge. At last, on the 11th of September, 1222, a tumultuous body of them, amounting to three hundred, having weapons in their hands, and with avowed hostility, surrounded his house at Hawkirk, at an untimely hour in the morning. Some of his domestics ran to John, Earl of Orkney and Caithness, who lived near, and besought his assistance. But he who, from his conduct, was afterwards suspected to hav% instigated the people to this act, evasively answered, " Is the bishop afraid ? let him come to me." Meanwhile, the mob broke into the bishop's house, and having dragged him out of his chamber, and slain a monk of Metros, named Serlo, who was his companion, and also a servant who was with him, they bound him, and beat him with sticks and stones ; and then, shutting him up in his kitchen, set fire to the house, where he was burned to death.* When the flames were extinguished, his body was found under a heap of stones, unconsumed, and was buried in the parish church ; but the clergy, viewing him as a martyr who had died in defence of the rights of their order, disinterred his remains, in 1239, and removed them to a more honourable tomb, in the cathedral church of the diocese, where no small number of miracles were said to have been wrought by virtue of his bones. When intelligence of this outrage was brought to King Alexander, who was then at Jedburgh preparing for a journey into England, he immediately postponed every other concern, and, proceeding to the spot, punished the murderers with death,t and confiscated the lands of the Earl of Caithness, for which he afterwards received a letter of thanks and commendation from Pope Celestine IV. The Earl subsequently recovered part of his estates, by paying a considerable fine ; but the monastic historians are careful to inform us, that, in 1231, he was cut off by a deed of violence, which bore some resemblance to that which proved so fatal to the bishop ; being murdered by his servant, who, to conceal his guilt, burnt the house in which lay his mangled body.t It were to be wished that some of the literary works attributed to the Bishop Adam, if indeed they ever had * Scotichronicon, ix. 37. Wyntoun, viii. 7. The monk, Serlo, was a reputed saint, and the author of several books, among which was one On Tithes. •j- The King is said to have also mutilated their children : « filiis eorum exsectis," an act of cruelty which Dempster, in the true persecuting spirit of his time, calls " a memorable instance of his piety ; " but as Alexander II. appears nowhere else to have been of a cruel disposition, it may be presumed, with Lord Hailes, (Annals of Scotland, i. 148.) that " there may be some exaggeration in this part of the story." J Scotichronicon, ix. 38, 48. 222 HISTORY OF existence,* could now be discovered. They are, 1. A History of Scotland, in three books ; 2. Letters to the King against the Earl of Caithness ; 3. Biblical Extracts ; 4. Descriptions of the Isles. He is also stated to have been the author of Letters to Pope Alexander IV, which must be an error, as that pontiff did not obtain the chair of St Peter till the 25th December, 1259. - XII. Hugh de Clippeston, one of the monks, was raised to the office of abbot of Melros, in May, 1214, but resigned it the next year, at a general chapter of the Cistertian order, t XIII. William de Curcy, abbot of Holm-Cultram, in Cumberland, succeeded Hugh on the l6th of November, 1215. He was translated to Rievalle, by the monks of that abbey, who chose him for their superior, on the 30th of August, 1216.1: XIV. Ralph, the cellarer of Melros, was elected to the abbot's office on the 14th of September, 1216, which he held till the 1st of June, 1219, when he died.§ The King of Scotland had not been an uninterested observer of the contests between King John and his barons, which, in the issue, secured the foimdations of the liberty of Englishmen. On the 11th of January, 1216, Alexander met and conferred with the chief men of Yorkshire, and the northern counties, in the chapter-house of Melros abbey, where they swore fealty to him, and engaged to put him in possession of Northumber- land, and the city of Carlisle, upon his agreeing to take them under his protection, and to assist them in the assertion of their rights. John having, in the mean time, destroyed their lands and castles, invaded Scotland with an army of foreign mercenaries, and laid waste the country between Roxburgh, Dunbar, and Berwick. The Scotish King retaliated, by two destructive incursions into England the same year ; and, on the lyth of October, John died, leaving his kingdom to the protection of the pope, *Itis not intended to accuse Dempster of the intentional error of swelling hislist of Scotish writers with the names of imaginary authors, and their works. He drew his information from sources which, to us, are unfortunately lost, by the more complete dispersion and destruction of the libraries of the monasteries since his time ; and much of that which appears improbable in his writings, may, nevertheless, be true. But he has evidently been very negligent in the examining of dates, and other corroborative testimony, and he certainly had too much credulity, as well as national and religious partiality. t Chron. Mail. % Ibid. § Ibid. THE ABBEY OF MELROS. 223 upon which. Cardinal Gualo, the legate, excommunicated all his enemies, among whom were the King and people of Scotland. The churches were, therefore, shut up, religious services were discontinued, and all the clergy ceased from exercising their functions, except the monks of the Cistertian order, who held themselves exempted from the curse, by virtue of their privileges. Gualo took offence at this, and, in the beginning of the year 1218, when he thought proper to absolve the Scotish church and people, he continued the interdict against all the Cistertian convents, and likewise against the bishops and more opulent of the clergy, intending to make them pay well for their absolution. He, therefore, directed his commissioners, William, the prior of Durham, and Walter de Wisbech, archdeacon of the East Riding of Yorkshire, to summon them to meet him at Northallerton about Easter. At this meeting, many of the clergy complied with the avaricious demands of the legate, and were absolved ; but the abbots of Melros, Newbottle, Cupar, Kinloss, and Lochleven, pleaded the privileges of their order, and refused to pay, or to obey the interdict, professing their determination rather to appeal to the pope. At last the matter was com- promised, by the monks consenting to abstain from every act of religious worship, and from entering any church until the decision of the pope should be known to them. Soon aftewards, Gualo commissioned the bishop of St Andrews to give them absolution. In the mean time, a general chapter of the order was held at Cisteaux, at which were present almost all the abbots of their body in England, Scotland, and Wales ; and, in consequence of their deliberations, the abbots of Cisteaux and Clairvalle, with six others, went to Rome to complain of the infraction of their privileges, and made the justice of their cause so evident, that the legate was immediately recalled, and the order was confirmed in the possession of all its former rights.* XV. Adam de Harkaris, abbot of Newbottle, a relation of Patrick, Earl of March, was translated to Melros abbey on the 6th of August, 1 219, and governed the monks twenty-six years, during which the community increased greatly in wealth and importance. From the high estimation in which they were held, many of the members were, at different times, raised to the episcopal office, or chosen to preside over other monasteries. Many * Scotichron. xi. 31, 32, 33. 224 HISTORY OF persons of distinction, in their old age, got themselves admitted into the abbey as novices, with a view to pass the remainder of their days in the edifying conversation of the brethren, and, with their help, to prepare themselves for death. In such cases, they contributed to the wealth of the community, by making them donations and bequests. Even the habit of the monks itself was believed to possess a miraculous efficacy, and was worn by the dying as a passport to heaven. Patrick, Earl of Dunbar and March, when near dying, assembled his friends and neighbours in his castle, at Christmas, in the year 1231, and, having kept the festival with them with great cheerfulness and hospitality during four days, he sent for his friend, the abbot of Melros, who gave him extreme unction, and invested him with the Cistertian habit on the 30th of December, when he affectionately bade his guests farewell, and died the next day. " Never," observes a modern historian, " did superstition appear in a more pleasing form."* This superstition arose from a story, that the Virgin Mary changed the black habit, originally worn by the Cistertians, into white, upon the person of Alberic, the second abbot of Cisteaux ; t and that she afterwards presented one of the monks of that abbey with a girdle, to bind up his scapulary, which incommoded him while at work in the fields. $ The possessions of Melros were considerably augmented, in the year 1235, by a grant from King Alexander II. of the lands of Etterick Forest. With increasing wealth, the community rose in public influence and importance ; and the abbots, invested with the privileges and state of barons, no longer confined their attention to the concerns of religion, but likewise engaged in secular and political affairs, acting as counsellors of the realm, officers of state, and ambassadors. The Abbot Adam, with Gilbert, bishop of White- hern, who had formerly been master of the novices at Melros, attended the Earl of March on a warlike expedition, in 1234, against the people of Galloway, who, upon the death of their late lord, supported the claims of an unlawful heir, and were in arms against the king's authority. In later times, dignitaries of the church were not unfrequently seen exercising military command in the field of battle ; but, upon the present occasion, it is more likely that these ecclesiastics went as mediators of peace, since, by their counsels, they procured the submission and pardon of the rebels. § * Hailes's Annals, i. 302. f Annates Cist. An. 1103, c. 1. n. 1. X Idem. An. 1134, c. 5. n. 4. § Scotichron. ix. 49. THE ABBEY OF MELROS. 225 In the year 1240, the remains of all the abbots who were buried at the entrance of the chapter-house of Melros, except the remains of St Waltheof, were disinterred, and removed to a place prepared for them in the east side of the same building. Waltheof 's tomb was opened, and, when it was found that his body was now reduced to bones and dust, it was covered up again, the persons who wei|e present having first selected some of the small bones, to keep as holy relics. William, son to the Earl of Dunbar, obtained a tooth, by which, as he afterwards affirmed, many sick persons were cured.* The Abbot Adam de Harkaris, died in 1245. XVI. Matthew, the cellarer of Melros, was elected abbot, on the 19th of April, 1246. He retired from this office in July, 1261, and delivered the seal of the abbey into the custody of the prior. Bodily infirmity is stated as the cause of his resigning ; but, according to another account, he did it by order of the abbot of Rievalle, who was displeased with him for some reason which he did not divulge, t The monks were attached to him, and regretted his removal, on account of his kind attention to their welfare. He was indulgent to them with regard to food, allowing them a finer sort of bread, called pittance bread, on Fridays in Lent, when they were obliged to live upon bread and water only. He had been the means of obtaining some desirable gifts to the community, and had increased their comfort by erecting convenient buildings and offices. One of his works was a magni- ficent hall which he built on the bank of the river, for himself and his successors, t In 1249, Alexander II. died, and was buried at Melros, as he had directed, in a very elegant chapel, on the right side of the great nave.§ XVII. Adam de Maxton, abbot of Newbottle, who had formerly been cellarer of Melros, was elected abbot, on the 1st of August, 1261. He was deposed, in 1267, by a general chapter of the Cistertian order, on account of his pride and obstinacy, which he had manifested in deposing Henry, abbot of Holm-Cultram, by his own private authority, when he ought first to have consulted his brethren at the general chapter. The abbot of Holm- Cultram was, at the same time, restored. || In 1265, the western isles of Scotland, which had long been in the possession of the Norwegians, were yielded to Scotland by a treaty, whereby King Alexander III. engaged to pay to the King of Norway four thousand » Chron. Mailros, 205. f Ibid. 225, :|: Ibid, § Scotia Sacra, MS. || Ibid. Scotiehronicon, x. 21. 2 F 226 HISTORY OF merks, within four years from the date of the treaty, and one hundred merks a-year ever after. The negotiations, on the part of Scotland, were conducted by a monk of Melros, called Reginald of Roxburgh, who was sent as ambassador to the court of Norway. * XVIII. John de Ederham, master of the novices, was the next abbot. He was excommunicated, together with many of the monks, by a sentence of the Scotish clergy, at a provincial council, held at Perth, in 1268, when it was ' proved that they had broken the peace of the district of Wedale, by violently entering the houses belonging to the bishop of St Andrews, where they killed one ecclesiastic, and wounded many others. He ceased from being abbot the same year, having probably been deposed for the same misdeeds.t XIX. Robert de Keldeleth, after he had been subject to various turns of fortune, was made abbot of Melros, in 1268. Originally a Bene- dictine monk at Dunfermline, he was elected abbot of that monastery in 1240, and was afterwards chancellor of Scotland. In 1251, he was charged with having conspired with Alan Durward, the chief justiciary, who had married an illegitimate sister of the king, to procure the legitimation of that lady at the court of Rome, that, in the event of the king's death, she might succeed to the throne. His accusers, Walter Comyn, Earl of Menteith, and William, Earl of Mar, alleged that he had solicited the people to that effect, with letters and gifts, and had even used the great seal of the kingdom to forward the design. Henry III. of England, to whom the charges had been privately communicated, laid them before King Alexander, and the barons of Scotland, when assembled at York to celebrate the nuptials of the young king with Henry's daughter, the chancellor himself being present, who, immediately upon his return to Scotland, resigned the seals and retired to his abbey. But a quarrel arising between him and the monks, who accused him of pride and obstinacy, perhaps thinking themselves at liberty to treat him disrespectfully after his disgrace at court, he, in a few weeks, quitted the abbey entirely, and, for protection from his enemies, the counsellors and guardians of the young king, withdrew into the Cistertian monastery of Newbottle, where he became a private monk. It is probable that the charges brought against him as chancellor were afterwards * Chron. Mail. •j- FoRDUN, lib. X. cap. 25. The Melros Chronicle makes no mention of this transaction, and merely notices tlie abbot's retiring from his office. THE ABBEY OF MELROS. 227 discredited ; for we find Comyn and his party removed from power, and Alan, the justiciary, in favour both with the English and Scotish king. Robert de Keldeleth died in 1273, having been abbot of Melros five years. According to Dempster, he wrote De Successione Abbatum de Melros, lib. i. Florilegium Spiritaale, lib. i. * XX. Patrick de Selkirke, one of the monks, was now raised to the abbot's office. How long he continued in it is uncertain, as our only constant guide, the Melros Chronicle, goes with us no farther ; nor do the other historians, who occasionally mention the afikirs of the monasteries, afford us means of ascertaining the regular succession of the abbots from this period. In the year 1291, Edward I, acting upon his usurped authority as feudal lord of Scotland, granted a letter of protection for one year to the abbot and convent of Melros ; and he renewed to them this assurance annually for several years. But, in 1296, when King John Baliol, encouraged, it is said, by the advice of the abbot of Melros, and others, f attempted to resist his encroachments, the English monarch, pretending that the lands, and every thing belonging to Scotsmen, were forfeited to him by the rebellion of their king against his feudal sovereign, seized, with the property of other com- munities and individuals, the lands and possessions of the abbey of Melros, which, however, he soon restored to the proprietors, upon their consenting to do him homage as their liege lord. The monks of Melros, with Patrick, their abbot, swore fealty to the conqueror at Berwick, on the 20th of August 5 and they obtained his letters, commanding the restitution of their property, dated at the same place, on the 2d of September, X addressed to the sheriffs of Berwick, Ayr, Jedworth, Peebles, Edinburgh, Rokesburgh, Dumfries, Northumberland, and Cumberland, in each of which districts, some part of the possessions of this wealthy monastery was situated, Hugh Audley, who attended the English king in his expedition against Scotlaind, in 1303, being lodged at Melros abbey, with sixty men at arms under his command, was attacked in the night by Comyn, the regent of Scotland, who forced the abbey gates, and killed several of the English. Sir Thomas * Chran. de Mailros. Scotichronieon, x. 4, 26. Hist. Eccl, geritis Scot, f Knyghton, apud X Scriptores Col. 2476. X Rymer's Foedera, 228 HISTORY OF Grey fled over the bridge, and defended himself in a house until it was in flames over his head, when he came out, and yield-ed himself prisoner. * King Edward's letters of protection, renewed from year to year, did not efiectually shield the monastery from the ravages of war, during this period of fierce hostility. The monks complained of the losses and damage they had sufi«red ; and, for their better security, obtained from the king the confirmation of their charters, and permission to cut down timber to the amount of forty oaks, in the forest of Selkirk, in order to repair their houses, which were burned and demolished in the war.f They also besought the monarch to take into his consideration that they had never received payment for fifty-five sacks of wool, purchased from them on his account by Sir Hugh de Cressingham, when he was treasurer of Scotland ; and for fourteen sacks of wool, and one last of leather, purchased from them, on the same account, by Sir Osbert de Spaldington, sherifi" of Berwick. For the settlement of these debts, Edward, in his reply, referred them to his chamberlain of Scotland, t The abbot of Melros was one of the ten commissioners appointed by the national council of Scotland, who met at Westminster, in September, 1305, with twenty commissioners from the English parliament, and settled a plan of government and police for Scotland, as a dependent state under the English sovereignty. § William de Foghou was abbot in 1310 ; 1| and the name of William, abbot of Melros, is found among the witnesses to various charters until the year 1329.^ In 1313 he had a letter of protection from Edward II ; and, on the 6th of October, 1316, that king being at York, gave him a letter of safe-conduct, that he might come to him unmolested.** At the desire of the convent of Holm-Cultram, Edward again granted a letter of safe-conduct, on the 12th of August, 1318, to the abbot of Meuros, with two of the monks, and their necessary attendants, to pass to Holm-Cultram, * Seala Chronica, in Lei. Col. i. 541. f These wei'e probably their cottages and farm houses. :|; Rolls of Parliament, vol. i. 473. § RiDPATH, 223. 11 List of Charters of Melros Abbey, in possession of Thomas Thomson, Esq. deputy register. f Cart. Neubottil, 49. CaH. Kel. 77, r. 120, r. CaH. Aberbroth. 268, 280, ** Rotuli Scotice, THE ABBEY OF MELROS. 229 there to preside at the election of an abbot, the monks being forbidden, by their rules, to choose their superior, except in the presence of the said abbot of Meuros, their maternal house.* It may reasonably be conjectured, that the Abbot William, in his several interviews with the King of England, endeavoured to cultivate his good will, with a view to the safety of his monastery in times of invasion. Edward gave him another letter of safe-conduct, on the 20th of July, 1319,t to enable him to come and confer with him when he was in the north, preparing to enter Scotland with a hostile army, a design which he found himself unable at that time to execute, otherwise than by laying siege to Berwick, without effect. He succeeded little better when he invaded Scotland with a great force in the autumn of 1822, and advanced as far as Edinburgh ; for, being baffled by the prudence and caution of his enemies, he was obliged to retire, after his army had suffered greatly from want of provisions, the Scots having removed their corn and cattle, and adverse winds having disappointed him of his supplies by sea. In his retreat, he did as much mischief as he could, and spoiled several religious houses, beginning with the abbey of Holyrood.t Intending to lodge at Melros, he sent forward three hundred men-at-arms to prepare for his reception ; but the Lord Douglas, who lay in the neighbouring forest with a party of his followers, having intelligence of their movements, got unobservedly to the abbey before them, and waited till they came up, when, rushing out suddenly, he attacked and killed a considerable number of the three hundred, the remainder having fled to rejoin the main army. The signal was given by a sturdy friar on horseback, armed with a spear, who, being set to watch the enemy's approach, began the fray himself with great intrepidity, as soon as they reached the abbey wall. § This ill-timed exploit could not but kindle the resentment of Edward • Rymer. The abbey of Holm-Cultram, in Cumberland, was founded by David I. in 1150, arid colonized with monks from Melros. f Rofuli ScoticB. X Scotichron. xii. 4. § Barbour, xviii. 291. This event is not related by Fordun ; and Barbour takes no notice of the consequent destruction of the abbeys. Wyntoun omits this expedition of Edward II. altogether. Knyghton says, that when the king with his army drew near to the abbey of Meuros, a company of Scots, rushing down suddenly and unexpectedly from the hills, slew more than three hundred of the English, and then speedily withdrew, before the rest of the army came up. X Scriptores Col. 2542. 230 HISTORY OF and his army, already exasperated by their severe losses and privations. Therefore, when they came up, they shewed no mercy ; but, entering the dormitory, they slew there the prior, William de Peblis, with an infirm monk, and two lay brothers who were blind, and inflicted deadly wounds on many of the other monks. They likewise pillaged and destroyed the monastery, reducing it to a state of ruin and desolation. Among the plunder, they sacrilegiously carried away the silver pix from the church, when they had taken out of it, and profanely cast on the high altar, the host, or consecrated wafer, which their religion taught them to consider as the real body of Christ. From Melros, the army proceeded to the neigh- bouring monastery, at Dryburgh, which they burnt to ashes ; and, on their way homewards, did the like damage to many other religious places of smaller consequence.* When the successive renewal of truces between the two nations, and the increasing firmness of the state of Scotland under the good government of King Robert I, afforded the encouraging prospect of continuing peace and security, the convent of Melros began to think of restoring their church and monastery, which lay in ruins. In this undertaking they were liberally assisted by the munificence of the king, who, to enable them to rebuild their church with a suitable degree of splendour, granted them, in the year 1326, two thousand pounds sterling, a sum equal, in intrinsic value, to six thousand pounds, which, in proportional or exchangeable value, was then equal to fifty thousand pounds of the money of the present day.f This sum, which was to be paid out of the fines, forfeited lands, and other revenues of the crown, within the sheriffdom of Roxburgh, was raised chiefly from the baronies of Cesford and Eckford, forfeited by Sir Roger de Mowbi-ay, and the lands of Nesbit, Langnewton, Maxton, and Caverton, forfeited by William Lord Soulis. 1: The present beautiful fabric, which is still the object # Scotichron. xii. 4. Tradition says, that the enemy at first left the abbeys unhurt ; but on hearing the bells ring a merry peal, as they were retreating over Ancrum Muir, they, thinking it was done to insult them, returned and burnt the monasteries. Antiquities of Dry- burgh, by D. E. f Compare the diflPerent tables in Ruddiman's Introduction to AndersmCs Diplcmata Scotia. X Robertson's /wrfea; of Charters, 88. Milne's Description of Melros. William de Soules, or Soulis, Lord of Liddisdale, succeeded, in 1318, to the extensive possessions of hie THE ABBEY OF MELROS. 231 of general admiration in its ruins, was then raised, in a style of graceful magnificence, that entitles it to be classed among the most perfect works of the best age of that description of ecclesiastical architecture to which it belongs. The interests of the monks were not forgotten in the treaty of peace, and final settlement of the disputes between England and Scotland, in 1328, when it was stipulated, on both sides, that the lands and pensions belonging to religious houses, in either country, should be restored to them.* King Robert augmented the revenues of the abbey with other consider- able gifts ; and, in 1329, a few weeks before his death, to confirm and secure his benefactions to the same, he addressed a letter to his son, and his other successors in the kingdom, earnestly recommending to their favour the monastery of Melros, where he appointed that his heart should be entombed, and entreating them to shew such kindness to the monks as might encourage them to. pray for him with greater fervour after his death. He also earnestly enjoined them to permit the said monks to enjoy the rents he had assigned them for rebuilding their church, increasing them, if necessary, rather than diminishing them, and to defend them against their enemies.t The king died on the 7th of June ; and having directed that his brother, John de Soulis, who fell fighting gallantly under Edward the Bruce, in.the battle of Dundalk, in Ireland. In 1320, William engaged in a conspiracy with many persons of rank, whose object was to raise him to the throne of Scotland ; but, the plot being discovered, his lands were forfeited, and he was confined in Dunbarton Castle till he died. Sir Roger de Mowbray was engaged in the same design, but died about the time of its discovery, when his estates were forfeited, and his dead body was suspended on a gallows, and afterwards beheaded. Minst. of Scot. Border, iii. 254. Scotichron. xiii. 1. * Rymer's Fcedera. -(- Cart. Mailros. 104, v. As this document is interesting, as well as curious, it is thought that the readers of this work will be pleased to see the original, which follows : — " Robertus, Dei gratia rex Scottorum, David praecordialissimo filio suo, ac ceteris successoribus suis salutem, et sic ejus praecepta tenere, ut cum sua benedictione possint regnare. Fili karissime, digne censetur videri filius qui paternos, in bonis, mores imitans, piam ejus nititur exequi voluntatem, nee proprie sibi sumit nomen haredis qui salubribus praedecessoris afFectibus non adhmret. Cupientes, igitur, ut piam affectionem, et sinceram dilectionem quam erga monas- terium de Melros, ubi cor nostrum, ex speciali devotione, disposuimus tumulandum, et erga religiosos ibidem Deo servientes, ipsorum vita sanctissima nos ad hoc excitante, concepimus. 232 HISTORY OF heart should be deposited, not, according to his former intention, at Melros, but in the church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem, James Lord Douglas, faithful in his attachment to his beloved sovereign and friend, undertook to execute his last request. The next year, therefore, that gallant nobleman, with a numerous retinue, set out for Palestine, bearing the king's heart enclosed in a silver casket ; but, in passing through Spain, happening to find King Alphonso at war with the Saracens, he could not avoid indulging at once his martial spirit, and his religious antipathy, by taking an active part against those enemies of Christendom ; and, after exhibiting prodigies of valour, he fell in battle. Sir William Sinclair, Sir Robert Logan, and many other Scotish noblemen, also fell, upon which the rest of the party returned to Scotland ; and the heart of King Robert, being brought back by Sir William Keith, was, in the end, entombed at Melros, his body having been magnificently interred under the grand altar of the church of Dunfermline abbey.* The monks were probably still engaged in rebuilding their monastery, when the country was again involved in war, by the attempt of Edward Baliol, in 1332, to seat himself on the throne of Scotland. When he agreed to hold his crown as a vassal of England, in return for the interested support he received from Edward III, and all persons of rank and con- sideration in the country were required, under the penalty of forfeiture, to swear fealty and do homage to that monarch, the abbot and convent of tu, caeterique successores nostri, pia sanctitate prosequamini, ut ex vestrae dllectionis affectu, dictis religiosis post mortem nostram ostenso, ipsi pro nobis ad orandum ferventius et fortius animentur. Vobis praecipinius, et quantum possumus instanter supplicamus, et ex toto corde injungimus, quatenus assignationibus quas eisdem viris religiosis, pro fabrica ecclesiae suae, de novo tecimus, ac etiam omnibus aliis dooationibus nostris, ipsis libere guadere permittatis, easdem potius si necesse fuerit, augmentantes quam diminuentes, ipsorum petitiones auribus benevolis admittentes, ac ipsos contra suos invasores et aemulos, pia devotione, protegentes. Hanc autem exhortationem, supplicationem, et praeceptum, tu fili, caeterique successores nostri, praestanti animo complere curetis, si nostram benedictionem habere velitis, una cum benedictione Filii Summi Regis, qui filios docuit patrum voluntates, in bono, perficere ; asserens in mundum se venisse, non ut suam voluntatem faceret, sed paternam. In testi- monium autem nostrae devotionis erga locum praedictum, sic a nobis dilectum et electum, conceptae, praesentem literam religiosis praedictis dimittimus, nostris successoribus, in posterum, ostendendum. Datum apud Cardros, undecimo die Mail, anno regni nostri xxiiij, * Scotiehron, xiii. 20. 14. Froissart, THE ABBEY OF MELROS. 233 Melros were among those who complied, and were allowed to retain possession of their estates ; for which purpose, he gave them letters of protection, dated at Berwick, July 26, 1333.* Thomas de Soltre may have been abbot of Melros at this time, as his name occurs, so designated, in a grant to the abbey of Dryburgh, which appears to have been made in 1338, by Sir William de Feltoun, sheriff of Roxburgh, t who held that office in 1336, and several following years. During this stormy period, when the King of Scotland was a minor, residing for safety in a foreign country, and the nation distracted with war, faction, and usurpation, there is no account of any injury or disturbance having been suffered by the convent, although living in a disputed territory, the field of the most frequent conflicts, in consequence of the cession of Teviotdale, and six more of the southern counties of Scotland, by Edward Baliol, in 1334, to the King of England, to be annexed to his dominions for ever. It was no doubt the most prudent course for the monks, and the most suitable to their profession, to confine their attention to their religious and charitable offices, and, by timely yielding to the necessity of their circumstances in paying the contributions that might be required of them, to endeavour to give no offence to any party ; and to this conduct, it may be presumed, they owed their safety. It is recorded, that Edward III, being at Melros, in warlike array, in 1338, Sir William Douglas intercepted a supply of provisions that were bringing to him on Christmas eve, and therewith victualled the castle of Hermitage, which he had taken from the English a little while before.:]: But as King Edward was at this time in Flanders, there must be some error, either in the date or the circumstances of this transaction. We are also informed, that the winter after the siege of Tournay, 1340, the King of England went to Melros during a truce, whence he made an excursion into the forest of Ettrick, in very stormy weather, and, returning again to Melros, celebrated the festival of Christmas there, and held a tournament, which was attended by Sir William Douglas, and three other Scotish knights ; when Douglas justed, in the king's presence, with Henry of Lancaster, Earl of Derby, who, having heard of his numerous deeds of * Eotuli Scotice. t <^«''^- '^ Driburg. ± Scotichron. xiii. 44. Wyntoun places the taking of Hermitage Castle after this exploit, Cronyhil, viii. 36. Ridpath arranges the events in the same order. Bovd. His^, 3SJ8, 2 G 234 HISTORY OF valour, greatly desired his acquaintance, and had challenged hira to this chivalrous sport. * The tilting appears to have been at Roxburgh, where Derby, who was the king's lieutenant, lay with his forces.! In the first course, Douglas's spear broke, and a splinter of it hurt his hand ; whereupon the Earl of Derby, who was one of the most courteous, as well as most brave and generous men in England at that time, would not suffer him to just any longer. This gave occasion to another tilting match at Berwick, on the following Easter, between twenty English and twenty Scotish knights, which lasted three days, when two English knights, and a knight and a squire of Scotland, were slain. 1: William is the name of the next abbot of Melros, of whose existence there is any evidence. He is mentioned in charters dated 1342, 1343, 1354, and 1369- § About this time lived Peter Fenton, one of the monks, who wrote A Metrical History of the Life of King Robert the Bruce. It is not known whether any copy of this work be yet in existence. From an imperfect copy of it, Patrick Gordon drew some of the materials of his poetical history of the same king, composed in stanzas of eight lines, and printed at Dort in l6l5. In the preface he says, " My friend, Donald Farquharson, brought me a book of virgin parchment, which he had found among the rest of his books. It was old and torn, almost illegible, in many" places wanting leaves, yet it had the beginning, and had been set down by a monk, in the abbey of Melros, called Peter Fenton, in the year of God 1369. It was in old rhyme, like to Chaucer, and had many remarkable tales, worthy to be noted, and also probable, agreeing with the truth of the history." || The Scots, by their well directed efforts and persevering courage, had delivered the whole of their country from the dominion of their enemies, in 1342, when David II. returned from France, and assumed the reins of government. But after their fatal overthrow, and the capture of their king, in the battle of Neville's Cross, near Durham, in 1346, the southern * Rcala Chronica, in Lei. CoU i. Scotickron. xiii. 43. Wyntoun, viii. 35. f Knyghton, ap. X Scrip, Col. 2580. J Scotickron. Wyntoun, &c. ut supra. § Charter of Mel. Ahbey. Regist. Mag. Sigilli. Cart. Kel. 199, r. Simpson's MS. Collections, Bibl. Hurl. 4707. II Gordon's History of the Valiant Bruce. THE ABBEY OF MELROS. 235 counties were again occcupied by the English, and the inhabitants reduced to that state of partial and hated subjection, which they had hitherto borne so impatiently, and which now lasted almost forty years. During this period, the monks of Melros, in common with their neighbours, felt the inconveniencies and vexations incident to such an unhappy state. In 1365, they were accused of selling wool and victuals to their countrymen, and of traitorously defrauding the King of England of his customs or dues. In IS75, Edward gave them liberty to purchase, in Norfolk or Suffolk, two hundred quarters of barley, or malt, for the use of the convent, for prompt payment, and to carry it by sea from the port of Lynn to Berwick, and thence by land to the abbey. They had letters of protection, with a similar permission to buy victual in England, in 1377-* The Scotish frontiers were at last, by the persevering exertions of the Earl of Douglas, wrested from the enemy in 1384, and the inhabitants again became formidable to their late oppressors. To punish and repel their aggressions, Richard II. entered Scotland with a great army, in 1385, and wasted the country on all sides, as he marched through Teviotdale to Edinburgh, being exasperated by the difficulties he experienced from want of provisions, the Scots having removed their corn and cattle to inaccessible parts of the country. He lodged one night in the abbey at Melros, and caused it to be burned the next morning. Dryburgh, Newbottle, and other religious houses and churches, met with similar treatment, t It is •asserted, that he intended at first to spare the monasteries and churches, and, as a token of peace and protection, caused his banners to be fixed on the gates of the abbeys of Melros and Newbottle ; but that some Englishmen •who remained behind after the army had advanced, having been killed there, he, in his anger and revenge, commanded that they should be burned and destroyed, t Richard perhaps felt some compunction for the sacrilegious acts thus committed under his authority ; for, when a truce was concluded, in October, 1389, he granted the monks of Melros a reduction of two shillings of the duty upon each sack of wool of Scotish growth, to the number of a thousand sacks, which they should send to be exported from Berwick. He gave them and their servants, likewise, within the bounds of their abbey, a protection from pillagers or plunderers, with licence to buy and sell i» • Jiotuli Scotia. f Scotichron. xiv. 50. Wvntoun, ix. 7. | Knyghton, 8675. 236 HISTORY OP Northumberland and Cumberland. * To protect them from the licentious among their own countrymen, Robert III. gave them, on the 4th of April, 1400, a letter, addressed to his subjects in general, forbidding them to injure or molest the abbot or convent, or their servants, cattle, or goods, and ordering that the half of every fine incurred by the infraction of this mandate should be paid to the said abbot and convent. I David Benyn, or Binning, is the next abbot whose name has been found on record. He had permission from Henry IV, December 2, 14)09, to go, with twelve servants in his company, to Canterbury, abide there, and return again to Scotland, within a year, without hurt or molestation. 1: In 1422, he excommunicated John Haig of Bemerside, and his servants, for certain alleged trespasses and oppressions committed by them upon the servants and cattle of the convent, on their land at Redpath. § John Fogg, a monk of Melros, and doctor of divinity, was abbot in 1425, when he was sent to Rome, with other prelates, on an embassy from King James I. He was the king's confessor, and appears to have been a man of learning and ability. He had previously distinguished himself as an active partizan of Pope Martin V, in opposition to the adherents of the antipope, Benedict XIII. || He endeavoured, both with argument and authority, to stop the progress of the opinions, now beginning to be diffused in Scotland, respecting the errors and corruptions of the papal system ; and is said to have had a principal hand in the condemnation of Paul Crawar, the Bohemian, who was burned at St Andrews in 1433, for preaching the doctrines taught by the reformers, Wiclif and Huss. ^ Crawar came into Scotland as a physician, well recommended, and he embraced with zeal and success the opportunities his profession afforded him of inculcating his opinions, which he was able to confirm by his readiness and accuracy in quoting from the Holy Scriptures. His bitterest opponent was Laurence of Lindores, the pope's inquisitor, who condemned him.** The abbot himself took a different side from the inquisitor, in a question which was then agitated concerning the obligation of the King of Scots, by treaty, not to make peace with the King, of England without the * Hotuli Scotia. f Cart. Mailros, 108, r. :j: Rotuli Scotiee. § Harl. MS. 7394. Four years afterwards, John Haig ordered his " bayly, Hugh Hage, to infeft the abbot and convent in two oxgangs of land in Bimersyd." Ibid. II t'coiiehron. xv. 24. f Hist. heel. Gen. Scot. ** Scotichron, xvi. 20. THE ABBEY OF MELROS. 237 consent of the French king. The abbot maintained that such an engage- ment could not be binding, since it was contrary to the divine precepts respecting peace ; but he afterwards yielded to the arguments of his opponent. * He attended the general council at Basil, in 1433 ; after which period his name has not been met with. He wrote, 1. Pauli Crau Bohemi Examen ; 2. JDe Erroribus Wiclefitarum atque Hussitarum ; 3. De Confessione Auriculari. Richard Lundy is mentioned in the Chartulary as a monk in 1428, and as abbot in 1440 and 1442. t Andrew Hunter, abbot of Melros, and confessor to James II, was much employed in affairs of state. He was sent to France on an embassy in 1448, with the chancellor and the bishop of Dunkeld ; and was concerned in all the negotiations with England, from that time till 1460. He held the office of lord high treasurer of Scotland, from 1449 till 1453.t His armorial bearings are carved on one of the buttresses of the church : they are two crosiers, or pastoral staves in saltier, and two hunting horns, with a rose in chief, and a mallet in base ; a device signifying the name of the abbey, mallet being in the Scotish dialect mell. The initials ^» |i^» are on the right and left of the shield, which is supported by two mermaids. In 1452, Alexander Geddes, one of the monks, a licentiate in theology, was admitted regent, or teacher of philosophy, in the lately established university of Glasgow. § William was the next abbot. He was a commissioner of truce in June, 1460.11 Richard, abbot of Melros, was a commissioner of truce in 1473 ; and his name occurs as a witness to a charter of James III. to the church of Glasgow, in 1476. ^ John Frazer, abbot of Melros, was descended from a good family of the same name in Tweeddale, and was respected for his worth and hospitality. He was promoted to the episcopal see of Ross in 1485, where he completed the building of the cathedral church. He was a privy counsellor and lord of session. He died in 1507, aged 78. ** Bernard was the name of the abbot of Melros in 1490, and until 1499.+t * Scotichron. xvi. 23, 24. f List of Charters. % Crawford's Lives, § M'Crie's Life of Melville, I 68. \\ Rotuli Scotia. t^ Ibid. ** Keith's Catalogue of Bishops. ff Original Charters of Melro§ Abbey, 238 HISTORY OF In the course of the century, which was now drawing to a close, it appears that the discipline of the cloister had fallen into great neglect and disuse throughout Europe. That renunciation of property, abstinence and simplicity in food and clothing, and other artificial virtues, strictly enjoined by the monastic rules, were now rarely practised. Not only the abbots and other superiors kept luxurious tables, dwelt in magnificent halls, wore costly garments, and were attended by youths of good families as pages, in rich liveries, but the private monks also spurned the sober fare, homely garb, and devout retirement of their predecessors. They kept horses, and, upon various pretences, were continually going about in public ; they lived separately, upon portions allowed them out of the common stock ; they bought their own clothes, which were of the finest materials that could be procured ; and the common dormitory in which they slept was now partitioned off into separate chambers. That many of them greatly erred in " weightier matters " than these, was, for no slight reasons, commonly asserted and believed ; but these were the principal grounds on which the visitors, who, from time to time, were sent by the chief authorities to examine into the conduct of the brethren of their respective orders, rested their complaints. * In the time of Innocent VIII, who wielded the papal sceptre from 1484 till 1492, the general chapter at Cisteaux, by his injunction, commissioned John Schanwell, abbot of Cupar, to visit and reform the Cistertian monasteries in Scotland ; when, from some cause of this nature, not specifically recorded, he deposed the abbots of Melros, Dundrainan, and Sweetheart abbey, f As there is no precise date to this transaction, in the record where it is incidentally mentioned, and the names of the deposed are not given, we are left to conjecture who this abbot of Melros may have been ; but if he was the Abbot Bernard, he must have been speedily restored. William, the next abbot, appears to have been a son of Sir Walter Scott of Howpasly. His name occurs in 1504 and 1506. t RoBEET was abbot in 1310. § Some years after this, there is reason to think that a nephew of James Beaton, archbishop of St Andrews, was abbot. Pitscottie states, that the * Henry, Hist. Eccles. Liv. xciv. 47. -f Harl. MS. 2363. X Original Charters of Melros Abbey. ^«r/. MS. 4134. Douglas's Peerage. } Harl. MS. 4134. THE ABBEY OF MELROS. 239 " abbacy of Melrose, with many other benefices," were given to James Beaton, who was bishop of Glasgow till 1522, when he was removed to St Andrews. This probably means that he had the disposal of them ; and Dr Magnus, in a letter, informs Cardinal Wolsey, that "the abbots of Melros and Dunfermline, both brethren, and nephews to the archbishop, be slain." * This letter is dated 13th September, 1526, which must be wrong, as there is undoubted evidence that the abbey was vacant for some time in 1524 and 1525, when there was an active competition for it, which ended in the appointment of Andrew Durie. The Earl of Angus was desirous to obtain it for his brother, and besought Cardinal Wolsey to use his influence with the court of Rome to that efl'ect, in a letter, dated 27th November, 1524, where he says, " Also, it will pies your grace to remember that I wrat to you for the byshopryk of Moray, and for the abbay of Melros, whilkis are baith vacant. I beseik zour grace for the buUis of thaim, an or baithe, as zour grace thinks expedient, and I sail redownd zour grais all costs and expensis ye make yair upon." t He wrote again to the same effect, on the 29th March, 1525.1: In the meantime, Margaret, the queen dowager, Angus's wife, was endeavouring to procure this rich benefice for John Maxwell, abbot of Dundrainan, brother to the Lord Maxwell, an agreement having been made, that an annual pension of a thousand pounds Scots money should be secured to her out of the revenues of the abbey, if she procured his appointment. For this end, she caused letters to be written in the name of her son James V, then under age, and likewise urgently solicited both her brother Henry VIII. and Wolsey to forward the same, by their interest at the papal court. She did not conceal her own selfish views in this transaction, but urged them as a motive to greater diligence in the cause. On the 23d of January, 1525, she thus writes to King Henry : — ." Item, gif it plese your grace to remember that I have written of before, for th6 expeditioune of the buUis of Melrose, for quhilk I will have sped to me ane pensioune of £ M. yerlie, quhilk will help me in sum part, richt humilie beseking your grace to help me to the furthering of that promotioune to my Lord Maxwel's bruder, for quhill§ the said promotioune be sped, I will not get the said pensioune. Tharfore, I desire hartlie that your * Cotton MS. Calig. ii. 107. t ■^*«^- B. i. 94. X Ibid. B. vi. 431. J Until. 240 HISTORY OF grace ger answer Maister Johne Lauder, my servand, being with the ambassator now in London, of the somme of iiij= Li. Scottis money, for the expeditione of the said pensioune."* On the 12th May, she thus addresses Wolsey : " My Lord Cardynal, I comend me hartly to you, and wold be glad to here fro you, and of your good helth. My lord, I trust zo remember that I dyd vryt to the kyng's grace, my brothar, for the expedycyon of Mellorz, and accordyng to his gracys reqwest it is spedj whareof I thank his grace humbly, and you, my lord, for your part, prayeng you hartly that ze desyr the kyng's grace, my brothar, to vryte to the pape that no uuthar be sped in the cause, for and it be, it wyl dysaven- tache me a thowsand pound that I suld have yerly." t The friends of the princess, and the regent, however, did not second their views with sufficient zeal and ability to prevent the appointment of Andrew Durie, a member of an ancient family of that name in Fife, who, being recommended by a letter, written likewise in. the name of the King of Scots, to the pope, appears to have obtained the abbacy through his commendation. But the effect of this was annulled by an act of parliament, on the 14th of June, 1526, in which the king, who was still a minor, under the guardianship of Angus, is made to disavow any knowledge of the letter in favour of Durie, and to confirm his former recommendation of Maxwell. :|: Although this was followed, November 17, 1526, by a farther ratification of all the acts and statutes before made in favour of " Dene Johnne Maxwell, abbot of Melros, anent the abbacy of Melros, contrair Mr Andro Dury," yet the appointment of the latter was finally allowed and confirmed, at least as early as September 24, 1527. § The general chapter at Cisteaux made a new effort to restore their ancient discipline in 1533 ; and a commissioner was sent to visit and reform the monasteries of that order in Scotland. The faults which particularly called forth his animadversion, were infringements of the rule which forbade the brethren to possess any private property, but to have all things in common. It was found that many of the monks, especially in the abbeys of Melros, Newbottle, and Balmerino, had not only portions and pensions allowed them for their food and clothing, but that each monk * Calig. B. i. 215. t lUd. B. i. 203. \ Acts of the Pari, of Scot, § Keith's Catalogue of Scotish Sishops^ THE ABBEY OF MELROS. 241 had also a garden appropriated to his own particular use and pleasure. The visitor, therefore, in his visitation roll, specified these things as illicit indulgences, which he enjoined them forthwith to relinquish. The monks in general murmured at this, and some of them excused themselves by saying, that it would be time enough for them to enter upon such a reform when the convent at Melros, which was the chief house of their order in Scotland, had set them the example. Next year, therefore, the general chapter gave authority to Donald, abbot of Cupar, and Walter, abbot of Glenluce, to charge Andrew, abbot of Melros, upon pain of deposition, to carry the said reformation into immediate effect, and to punish with excommunication the monks who, after twenty days' warning, should prove refractory. The reluctant monks, who evidently regarded the proposed reform as a useless and needless retrenchment of their comforts, met at Edinburgh, probably by delegates, and addressed the commissioners in a petition and remon- strance. They denied that they could justly be charged with possessing property, since they had nothing but what the abbot allowed them, and which they were willing to resign when required by him ; and they begged to be permitted to retain the harmless indulgences which their predecessors,; for a hundred years past, had enjoyed, alleging, that to deprive them of these, implied a severe and harsh censure, at which their consciences revolted, against those grave and holy men whom they had always been taught to look up to as of more wisdom, prudence, and learning, and better acquainted with the rules of pious living than themselves. In conclusion, they prayed that farther proceedings might be delayed, until they should have an opportunity of appealing to the general chapter. The commissioners assented to their request, with certain restrictions, viz. 1. They might retain their private gardens, provided no monk had a larger one than- another, and that a common way was made through all the gardens, by opening a passage from one to another ; the productions of the whole being made a common stock, and applied to the use of the convent. 2. They might enjoy their separate portions ; but double portions were forbidden,* and they were not to have the disposal of what might be left, which was to be dispensed to the domestics and others, by a proper officer appointed * In Lyndsay's Satire of the Three Estaitis, the abbot says: — " My prior is ane man of gret devotioun, Tharfor, daylie, he gettis ane double portioun." 2h 242 HISTORY OF by the community. 3. They might receive from the bursar only as much money as would purchase what was immediately wanted, until the abbot, or a person officially charged, should provide a stock of the necessary articles of clothing. The abbot of Melros was to expend immediately 200 marks ; the abbot of Newbottle £ 100 ; and the abbot of Balmerino, 100 marks, Scots money, for this purpose.* Efforts, such as these, to revive the obsolete and useless practices, and factitious virtues, of more ancient times, responded but feebly to the public voice, which began to call more loudly for a complete and effectual reform of the real and scandalous abuses of religion, which were now the subject of general animadversion and satire. But the Scotish clergy, both regular and secular, with the exception of a few individuals, saw not the necessity of correcting either their personal errors or those of their system. They appear to have felt little alarm for the safety of their institutions, and probably regarded the call for reformation as a temporary clamour, arising from the excitement of passing events ; because, though the opinion of its necessity had long been gaining ground, recent events, and the example of other countries, had indeed given encouragement to the open and general expression of that opinion. They felt a degree of security also in the support they received from the king, who, although he is said to have warmly recommended to the clergy to amend their lives, t yet continued firm in his adherence to the doctrines and institutions of popery ; being encouraged thereto by the prelates, among whom, in preference to the nobility, he chose his counsellors and chief ministers, on account of their superior learning and ability, and who took prudent care not to offend him by objecting to his cupidity when he appropriated to himself the profits of some of the richest benefices of the church. We find him, in 1535, invested with the administration of the revenues of Melros abbey, in the character of bailie, or seneschal of the monastery ; t and he obtained more complete possession * ffarleian MS. 2363. f When Lyndsay's satirical play was acted before the court at Linlithgow in January, 1540, at its conclusion, " The King of Scotts did call upon the busshope of Glascoe, being chancellor, and divers other busshops, exorting thaym to reform their facions and maners of lyving, saying, that oneles thay soe did, he wold send sex of the proudeste of thaym unto his uncle of England, and as thoes wer ordered, soe he wold ordre all the reste that wold not amend." Letter of Sir William JEure to Lord Cromwell, MS. Bihl. Reg. 7. G. xvi. X Robektson's Hist. Scot. p. 3. note. THE ABBEY OF MELROS. 243 of the benefice in 1541, when he procured the resignation of the abbot, that he might confer it upon his infant son, and reap the fruits of it in his name. * Out of these, Durie, on his retiring, had an annual pension of a thousand marks granted him, and was, at the same time, made bishop of Galloway. He died in 1558. t James Stewart, an illegitimate son of King James V, by Elizabeth Shaw, was appointed abbot, or commendator, of the abbeys both of Melros and Kelso, in 1541, being then in his infancy. He died in 1558. Melros received a hostile visit, in 1544, from some of the parties of Englishmen, under the command of Sir Ralph Eure, and Sir Brian Laiton, when they did much damage to the abbey, and barbarously defaced the tombs of the Douglasses therein, — an insult which was avenged the following year by the signal defeat of the same enemies on Ancrum Muir.t On the night before this battle, they came suddenly from Jedburgh, where they had stationed themselves, expecting to surprise the little army of Scots, with the Earl of Arran, who lay at Melros ; but not finding them, they ravaged and burned the town, and were returning to Jedburgh with the spoils, when they were overtaken and defeated by the Scots, who had now been reinforced. § In September, the same year, the abbey of Melros, with the other border monasteries that were not already destroyed, were burned and demolished by the army commanded by the Earl of Hertford, which laid waste the whole of the Mers and Teviotdale. It is probable, that on account of the progress of the Reformation, and other events, the abbey was never restored from the state of ruin to which it was now reduced. Cardinal Guise became commendator of Melros abbey, upon the death of James Stewart, in 1558, being appointed by his sister, Mary of Lorrain, the queen dowager, who was then regent. He enjoyed the benefice a very short time, and perhaps never participated of its fruits, as the revenues of this and the other monasteries were seized by the lords of the reformed party, in the name of the government, in 1559, and committed, in trust, to the Earl of Arran. The property of this and other religious houses, was annexed to the crown, in 1560, by a statute, which provided that the sovereign should not have power to alienate it ; but this article was rendered • Ridpath's Bord. Hist. t Keith's Scotish Bishops, X Hayne's State Papers. § See page 37, supra. 244 HISTORY OF nugatory by various subsequent acts of parliament, authorizing grants of different portions of this property to individuals, favoured by the court, on account of their public services, or for other reasons. When the revenues of all the great benefices were valued, in 1561, the rent of the abbey of Melros was stated as follows : — Scots money, £ 1758. Wheat, 14 chalders, 9 bolls. Bear, [barley,] 56 chald. 5 bolls. Meal, 78 chald. 13 bolls, 1 firlot. Oats, 44 chald. 10 bolls. Capons, 84. Poultry, e-^O. Butter, 105 stone. Salt, 8 chalders. Paid out of Prestonpans. Peats, 340 load. Carriages, 500. Out of this income an allowance was granted to eleven monks, and three portioners, of twenty marks a-year to each, with the addition of four bolls of wheat, one chalder of barley, and two chalders of meal to the monks. The dean of the chapter, John Watson, embraced the reformed religion. * There is no account of what became of the rest of the monks ; but it may reasonably be conjectured, that their number would be much reduced some time previous to the Reformation, in order that the revenue, paid to government in the name of the abbot, James Stewart, during his minority, might be increased. The number seems to have varied, at different periods, from sixty to a hundred monks, with nearly an equal number of lay brethren. In the year 1520, there were eighty monks ; in 1540, there were seventy, and sixty lay brethren ; and, in 1542, according to a visitation roll inspected by Mr Hay, the number of monks was one hundred, t In another document preserved by the same industrious collector, they are stated to have been two hundred, the lay brethren apparently being * Milne's Description of the Parish of Melros. -j- Scotia Sacra, MS. THE ABBEY OF MELROS. 245 included in this number.* They received annually, for their consumption, sixty bolls [modia] of wheat, and three hundred casks of ale. For the service of the mass they received eighteen casks of wine ; and for the entertainment of strangers, thirty bolls of wheat, forty casks of ale, and twenty casks of wine. For the nourishment of the sick, they were allowed four thousand livres Tournois ; and the barber, who was also surgeon to the community, received a salary of a hundred livres. f In 1564, there was a commendator of Melros, named Michael, J who was also summoned to parliament in each of the three years immediately following. But the estates of the abbey were granted by Queen Mary, in 1566, to James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, by whose forfeiture, in 1567, they reverted again to the crown ; and the usufruct, with the title of commendator, was conferred, the following year, upon James Douglas, second son to Sir William Douglas of Lochleven. § He made a collection of all the original evidences of the rights and property of the monastery, which were preserved, until a recent period, in the archives of the Earls of Morton, of whose family his father. Sir William, became the representative, in 1588, by inheritance. In 1587, Francis, Earl of Bothwell, petitioned in parliament for the inheritance of the forfeited James, Earl of Bothwell, which was granted as far as it respected the original heritage ; the lands held of other superiors being excepted, and likewise " the abbacie of Melros perteining in property to James Douglas, the commendatour." || In 1591, King James VI. granted to Archibald Douglas, son to the commendator, a pension for life, of " sex- moulds portionis furth of the abbay of Melros, and of the superplus of the third thereof, in consideratioun of the guid, trew, and thankfuU service done to his hieness be his weilbelovit James, com- mendator of the said abbay." % • Diplomata Veterum, quoted in Mr Grahame Dalyell's Fragments of Scotish History, p. 28. f Scotia Sacra, MS. :|: Milne's Desc. of Melros. § IMd. The appointment was doubtless owing to the affection of the regent, Earl of Moray, who was an illegitimate son of James V, by the commendator's mother. II Acts of the Parliament of Scotland, iii. 596. ^ Ibid. Mr Milne thinks it probable that Couglas disposed of this pension to Mr John Hamilton, since, " by the grant afterwards made to Thomas, Earl of Melros, he purchases a demission from Mr John Hamilton, commendator of Melros, for demitting the said abbey." Milne's Description of Melros. 246 HISTORY OF Sir John Ramsay, who had been created Viscount Haddington, for his services in preserving the king from the treasonable attempt of the Earl of Gowrie and his brother, Alexander Riithven, had a chartered grant, on the 28th of August, 1609, of all the lands and baronies which belonged to the abbey of Melros, with certain exceptions specified in the same grant, united into a lordship, to be called the lordship of Melros ; and, at the same time, a handsome allowance was settled upon James Douglas, the commendator, during his liffe. Viscount Haddington was created Lord Ramsay of Melros, on the 25th of August, l6l5 ; but he afterwards resigned this title in favour of his brother. Sir George, Ramsay of Dalhousie, who, not being satisfied with it, obtained the king's consent, on the 5th of January, 1619, to change it for the title of Lord Ramsay of Dalhousie. * Lord Haddington, who was afterwards created Earl of Holderness, in England, appears to have disposed of the possessions belonging to the lordship of Melros, when he resigned the title to his brother ; since we find that all the lands and baronies which belonged to the abbey of Melros were granted, by charter, on the 30th of September, I6l8, to Sir Thomas Hamilton of Priestfield, who had already been raised to the peerage, in I6l3, by the title of Lord Binning and Byres, and was likewise created Earl of Melros, on the 20th of March, I6l9. The title of Viscount Haddington becoming extinct, by the death of the Earl of Holderness, in 1625, without issue, the Earl of Melros obtained a patent, suppressing his own title, and creating him Earl of Haddington, on the 27th of August, I627. This eminent person, who held successively the offices of king's advocate, lord clerk register, secretary of state, lord president of the Court of Session, and keeper of the privy seal, died in 1637, in his 74th year. In his charter of the lordship of Melros, there are many additional exceptions of lands, the property or the feudal superiority of which was transferred to other individuals. Walter Scot, Earl of Buccleuch, whose forefathers had been hereditary bailies of the regality of Melros, under the abbots, had a con- siderable grant of lands, together with the advowson of the parish churches of Melros, Hassendean, and Cavers. His descendants, about the beginning of the eighteenth century, acquired, by purchase, the remainder of the abbey lands included in the lordship 6f Melros, which still form a part of * Wood's Peerage. THE ABBEY OF MELROS. 247 the extensive possessions of the same noble family. When feudal jurisdictions were abolished in Scotland, by act of Parliament, in 1747> the Lady Isabella Scott was allowed the sum of twelve hundred pounds sterling, as a com- pensation for her right to this bailiery. The unfortunate monks, who, at the Reformation, saw their community dispersed and their possessions alienated, beheld also their beautiful church in ruins, and their ancient halls and cloisters, if any thing of them had escaped destruction during the wars, or had been since restored, now completely demolished. The tumultuary violence of the populace, who in 1559 and 1560, in their zeal against popery, destroyed the monasteries and religious edifices throughout the kingdom, is thought to have been instigated and encouraged by such of the nobility, and others, as coveted, or had already been enriched by the plunder of the church. Apprehensive of the disappointment of their cupidity, if the ancient form of religion should be revived, they were naturally anxious that its abolition should be as complete as possible ; and they might justly calculate, that it would be the interest of all those who had been instrumental in destroying monastic buildings, to promote the same end. It appears probable, from the pieces of burnt oak and melted lead, that have often been found by digging upon the site of the monastery, that its buildings were destroyed by fire. Afterwards,' for more than a century, the ruins were repeatedly subjected to farther dilapidation, and the materials taken to construct other buildings. Douglas, the commendator, took down some part of the walls, and used the stones to build a house for himself, which is still standing, and has the date, 1590, with his own and his lady's name over one of the windows.* In I6l8, a vault of rude masonry was thrown over part of the nave of the church, from which the ancient roof had fallen, and it was then fitted up as a place of worship for the parish, the stones used in its construction being taken from other parts of the ruins. At a subsequent period, they furnished materials for building a tolbooth, or prison, in the town, and for repairing the mills and sluices.t A great number of the stone images of saints, that stood in the numerous richly carved niches which adorn the walls, buttresses, and pinnacles of the church, escaped destruction till the year 1649, when they were almost all thrown down and demolished, but • Milhe's Description of the Parish of Metros. f Ibid. 248 HISTORY OF by whose authority, or on what occasion, has not been ascertained. The remains of a lofty building of excellent masonry, supposed to have been the bakehouse of the monastery, were taken down about 1695. It contained several well constructed ovens, one over another, in the different stories. A vaulted passage, or drain, of such dimensions, that two or three persons might easily walk in it abreast, went under ground from this place to several other parts of the convent. * The cloisters, offices, and other buildings of the monastery, were situated on the north side of the church, towards the river Tweed, and appear to have been of considerable extent. The Reverend Adam Milne, minister of Melros, whose account of his parish, published in 1730, has frequently been referred to in these pages, says, that " the buildings within the convent, for the residence and service of the abbot and monks, with gardens, and other conveniencies, were once enclosed within an high wall, about a mile in circuit." Some traces of a building, with the bases of pillars, were still visible on the northeast side of the church, in Mr Milne's time, which he supposed to have been a large chapel, but which may rather be conjectured to have been the remains of the chapter-house, where the abbot and monks usually assembled to consult about their common affairs, and where the superiors and dignitaries of the community were elected. In monasteries, this edifice, it is well known, was generally built and ornamented with no less richness and elegance than the church itself. Adjoining to this were the foundations of another building, probably the house of the abbot ; on the north side of which were the vestiges of a curious oratory, or private chapel, in which was discovered a large stone cistern, with a leaden pipe, for conveying water into it. " In ditching any place within the convent," continues Mr Milne, " particularly near the church, the foundations of houses have been discovered. Not only the monks had their houses there, but several gentlemen, that retired from the world, built themselves convenient lodgings ; the ruins of one of these is only to be seen, called Chisholm's Tower." * Milne's Description of the Parish of Melros, THE ABBEY OF MELROS. 249 DESCRIPTION OF THE RUINS. The other buildings being completely erased, the ruined church alone remains to indicate the ancient magnificence of this celebrated monastery. It is in the usual form of a Latin cross, with a square tower in the centre, eighty-four feet in height, of which only the west side is standing, raised upon a lofty pointed arch, and terminating on the summit, in a stone ballustrade, the rails of which form quatrefoils, and have immediately under them a frieze of roses in basso relievo. The nave, extending westward from the central tower, consists of a middle avenue, and two narrow side aisles, there being a range of pointed arches on each side of the middle avenue, over which are windows, immediately under the eaves of the main roof, and above the roof of the side aisles. The pillars are all clustered, and the corbells, or capitals, from which the arches spring, and also the keystones of the vaults, are elegantly and grotesquely carved, with the likeness of fruit, flowers, vegetables, masks, historical figures, and religious emblems. Eight small square chapels, of uniform dimensions, corresponding with the breadth of the opposite arches of the interior, and separated from each other by thin partition walls of stone, run along the south side of the nave, and form an addition which contributes much to its lightness and roominess.* Each chapel is lighted by a pointed window, sixteen feet in height, and eight in breadth, having upright bars, or muUions, of stone, with rich tracery, varying in the different windows. The west end of the nave, and five of the chapels included in it, are now roofless. The end next the central tower is arched over, the side aisles and chapels with their original Gothic roof, * One of the private chapels in this church was dedicated to St Stephen, and another to St Bridget. Before^ the altar of St Bridget's chapel was buried Sir William Douglas, the knight of Lothian. Chart. Mel. IQ\, • and caused inquiry to be made, whether Maxpofiyl, Hevisyde, Camayston, and lUeffiston, belonged to. the. same. Laurence de Abernethy gave them his whole land of Makyspofiil, about the year 1320. t James Fraser of Ferendrath gave them the, whole of his land of Cambeston, in 1402, for the annual payment of three pounds of the usual money of the realm. This was not to be exacted when the said land was laid waste by the war. t . LiLLiESLEAF. Patrick Ridale, in the time of King William, gave the convent a portion of his lands of Lillesclive, § with pasture for twelve oxen, ten cows, five horses, and a hundred sheep ; Margaret de Vesci con- firmed this gift ; and his son Walter added to it Cotemedwe, Meremedwe, the meadow at the head of Kingesflat, the meadow at Laidholfueslend, and Pounemedwe in Caveris. To this he added another donation, || which made the gifts of his family to the monks of Melros, in Lilliesclive, amount to • Chart. Mel. 24—30. -f- Ibid. 30, v. 31. % -^*'<^- 102. § The boundary ran from the ford of Curlewudeburn, on the west side of Caldlawe, along the road from Selkirk to Jedworth, as far as the Alne ; then down the Alne, which divided his lands from those of the bishop of Glasgow, to the place which was the boundary between him and the abbot of Kelso ; and along the same boundary to Curlewudeburn ; and up the said burn to the foresaid ford. Chart. Mel. 43. The " terra defensabilis," and Warmsden, are mentioned as conterminous. Ibid. 44. II « Scil. totam terram quam Matilda Corbet tenuit in duariam in lintedikes et benelandis, et brunerig, in duobus locis, et in kaveris, et ch'ngifflat, et pratum de Stobbimedwe, et 5 acras, et unam percatam de dominico meo subtus harekambe." ChaH. Mel. 44. Matilda Corbet was the wife of his brother, William Ridel. Douglas's Baronage. 2T2 HISTORY OF eleven oxg-angs. He also confirmed to them the possession of Clerkislande, in West Lillescleve, consisting of land in Todholside and Standestanrig, which they purchased from Adam, the son of Adam of Durham, for twenty shillings sterling. * Hassendean. There was a dispute between King William and Josceline, bishop of Glasgow, concerning the patronage of the church of Hastanden, which they both claimed ; and as it could not be otherwise satisfactorily settled, they agreed that the revenues and property of the said church should be devoted to some work of charity. The bishop, therefore, with the consent of the king, conferred the patronage thereof, with its lands, tithes, and dues, upon the convent at Melros, to be expended in founding and maintaining a house of hospitality at Hastanden, for the reception and entertainment of the wayfaring poor, and pilgrims journeying to Melros abbey. A pension of twenty shillings yearly was reserved to the church of Glasgow. The monks had pasturage in the common for two hundred ewes, sixteen oxen, and four cows, f The hospital which they founded, and where some of them always resided to take care of the pilgrims, and perform the duties of this and the neighbouring parish of Cavers, was afterwards called Monk's Tower, and their lands are still called Monk's Croft. 1: Cavers. The advowson of the church of Great Cavers was given to the monks by William, first Earl of Douglas, in 1358. James, the second Earl, renewed this grant of the church, with the glebe and the chapel, reserving to himself the right of one presentation to the rectory of the said church. § Earl William gave also Penangushope and Caldecleuch, in the barony of Cavers, for masses to be said, especially for the soul of Sir William Douglas of Lothian, who was buried before St Bridget's altar in Melros. II * Chart. Mel. 45, v. t lUd. 46. :|: Hassendean ceased from being a separate parish in 1682, when it was divided among the adjoining parishes of Roberton, Wilton, and Minto. The ruins of its fine old Saxon church, with nearly all the churchyard, in the margin of the Teviot, were carried away by a flood in 1796. There is an etching of the ruins in De Cardonnel's Picturesque Antiquities of Scotland, published in 1788. § Chart. Mel. 48, 49. || Ibid. 101, v. THE ABBEY OF MELROS. 273 RiNGWUDE, upon the Alwent and Teviot, was given to the monks by Osulf, in the time of Malcolm IV. * Ettrick. Alexander II. gave them a large tract of waste land and pasture in Ettrick forest ; f and exempted the abbey and four granges lying round it from his forest laws. In 1415, they obtained the lands of Winzehop, or Glenkerry, on the south side of the rivulet Temay, between their land of Midgehope and the lands of Ettrick and Dalglese, with twelve acres of meadow, from Robert Scot, laird of Rankilburne, in exchange for the lands of Bellynden. t EsKDALE. Robert de Avenel, in the reign of Malcolm IV, gave the monks his land in Eskdale, consisting of two parts, viz. Tumloher and Weidkerroc, between the Black and the White Eske, extending from their junction to the forest of Thimei and the mountains. He reserved to himself the right of hunting the wild boar, the deer, and the stag, with other manorial and feudal rights, which he afterwards partly resigned. He reserved also an annualrent of five marks, one of which he subsequently remitted for the maintenance of a light to burn perpetually before the altar of the blessed Virgin ; and afterwards, upon the death of his wife Sibilla, he resigned the other four marks, which were to be expended upon four pittances for the monks, every year at appointed seasons. He retired into * " Per has divisas, sci!. ab ex loco quo Alewent cadit in Teviot, et inde sursum usque ad Blachapol ; et ita ad Bollinesburn ; et sic inde ad Crumbirche ; et inde recta in transversum usque Pennango ; et a Pennango recte in transversum usque ad Alwent ; et inde sursum ad Brunemore super Dod ; et sic usque ad Blackaburne ; et inde ubi ilia burna cadit in Alwent." Chart. Mel. 51. . f " Totum vastum nostrum infra divisas subscriptas, scil. de ^uvio Ettric, ascendendo per rivulum de Timeye, usque ad divisas Ingilli de Herise, et sic ascendendo sicut descensus aquarum dividit inter Ethric et Glenkerry, usque ad divisas de Eskedale ; et sic ascendendo versus occidentem, sicut aquae dividunt inter Eskedale et Ethric, usque ad montem qui vocatur Unkend ; et inde versus orientem, sicut descensus aquarum dividunt inter vallem de Anandia et forestam, usque ad capud de Rodan'och ; et sic versus orientem sicut aquae dividunt inter forestam et terram The. de Haya, usque ad capud de Copthraweres-clouth ; et sic descen- dendo in majorem lacum; et ascendendo usque ad capud ejusdem lacus ; et inde versus austrum usque ad rivulum de Whythops, et ad Thirlestangate, et per eandem viam usque ad capud de Wulf hope ; et sic per sicum descendendo usque in rivulum de Thirlestan majori ; et per eundem rivulum descendendo usque in fluvium de Ethric ; et per eundem fluvium ascendendo usque ad Tymeymuth." Ibid. 52, v. X Ibid. 100, v. Bellenden is on the banks of the Alemuir loch in the same n eighbourhopc^. The Scotts of Rankilbum and Murdiestone were the ancestors of the Buccleuch familjr. 274 HISTORY OF the monastery in his old ag-e, and died there in 1185 ; " cujus beata anima," says the writer of the Melros Chronicle, " semper vivat in gloria." His son, Gervas Avenel, confirmed his father's grant, and gave the monks liberty to build huts wherever they pleased in the same territory ; but Roger Avenel, the son of Gervas, disputed their right to the property, and sent his cattle into their grounds, and caused his servants to pull down their houses, and level their fences. Both parties met to settle their disputes, in the presence of the king, at Liston, in 1235, when it was agreed that the pasture belonged to the monks, but they were not to hunt there with packs of hounds, nor bring others to hunt ; nor were they to set any traps, except for wolves ; and they were not to cut down the trees whereon hawks and falcons built their nests.* Robert I. gave them part of the barony of Westerker in Eskdale, forfeited by Lord Soulis. f Reikpatrick. William de Brus, in the time of Alexander II, gave the convent a fishing near the church of Reinpatrick, in Annandale, with an acre of land, and pasture for four cows and six oxen, t Brunscath, Auchencrief, and Dergavel. These lands were conferred on the monastery by Thomas de Annoy. § DuNSCORE. AflFrica, the daughter of Edgar, gave a 2>art of her land at Dunscoir, in Nithsdale, for the safety of Alexander II, and his queen Joanna, and upon condition that the monks were to have a pittance out of the profits thereof, every year, on St Andrews day. In 1257, it was settled that they should not pay tithes for their possessions in Dunscor, and that the church of that parish should belong to the abbot and convent of Dercongal. ll Barmuir and Godonec. Richard Wales gave the monks the land called Godonec, in Galwey, at the head of the burn called Polcarn. He gave them also the land called Barmor, extending from the mouth of the burn of Hastnewethne up to its source. ^ Turnberry and Maybole. Duncan, Earl of Carrick, gave them two salt-works in his property of Tornebiri, with eight acres of arable land, and pasture for their horses. Duncan, the son of Gilbert, son of Fergus, gave them the lands of Meibothelbeg, and of Beacchoc. In 1236, Duncan, Earl • Chart. Mel. 53. + Robertson's Index of Charters. i Chart. Mel. 67. § Ibid. |[ Ibid. 58. ^ Ibid. 63, V. THE ABBEY OF MELROS. 275 of Carrick, freed them from the annual payment of three marks for their land of Beacchoc. In 1212, the parson of Maibotil complained that the abbot and convent had wronged him of his tithes. Pope Innocent III. appointed commissioners to inquire into the matter, who settled that the monks should pay ten shillings annually for the tithes of Maibothilbech and Largys. * Greenan. Roger de Scalebroc gave them a fishing upon the beach at the mouth of the river Doon, with a salt- work, and some land and tofts, in the territory of Grenan. Before 1199, he gave them the lands of Drumteismene, Alesburc, and Auchnephure.f OcHiLTKEE. The patronage of the church of Ouchyltre was given to the convent, in 1316, by Eustachia de Colville, the widow of Reginald le Chene. t Tarbolton. They obtained the patronage of this church from Robert Graeme, laird of Welston, before 1369- § Dalsangan and Bangour. The monks had a dispute concerning their right to these lands, in 1205, with Peter de Curri, who, afterwards becoming a brother of the convent, quitted his claim to them, by a charter which he oflfered upon the high altar of the church. |1 Mauchline. Walter, son of Alan, the Steward, who became an inmate of the monastery, and died there in 1177, gave the monks the whole lands of Mauchlyn ; and a fishing on the water of Ayr, and one of three nets at the mouth of the same river. He gave them also the whole pasture of his forest, extending to the mountain of Cairntable on the limits of upper Clydesdale, and to Glengyle, and the boundaries of Douglas, and Lesmahago, with easements in the wood, and one ploughgate, which they might till ; reserving to himself only the birds and the beasts of chase in the said forest. The monks were to pay him five marks annually, and neither they, nor the lay brethren, nor any other, were to hunt or hawk in the forest. They were afterwards freed from the pension of the five marks ; and, in 1266, Alexander the Steward exempted them from the jurisdiction of his baronial court, and gave them liberty to buy and sell in whatever market they chose, without opposition by any of his servants or bailies j and to hold their own courts at Karentable, Mauchlyn, or * Chart. Mel. 66, v. 67, 70. t Ib^^ 66, v. % I^d. 64, 65 § Simpson's MS. Collections, Bibl. Harl 4707. || Cluirt. Mel. 62, v. 276 HISTORY OF Barmoor, with the like privileges wherewith he and his heirs could hold their courts at Prestwick. The monks were to have a pittance every year, on St James's day, out of the profits of those pastures. * The priory at Mauchline was a cell of Melros. WoLFCLYDE. Sir David Menyheis, laird of one half of the barony of Culter, in Lanarkshire, gave the whole of his part of the same, called Wolchclyde, to the convent, in 1431. t After the Reformation, this land came into the possession of Sir William Menzies of Gladstanes. j KiNGLEDOORs and HoPECARTON. In the reign of Robert the Bruce, Simon Fraser gave the monks the land of South Kingildor, with the chapel of St Cuthbert, and the lands of Hopcarton, with certain rights of pasture, in the parish of Drumelzier in Tweeddale. § Peebles. Sir William de Durem gave them all the lands or burgages, with messuages, &c. which he had in the town of Peblis. They were to pay what was due to the king. He also acknowledged having received fourteen marks of good sterling money, in full payment for a burgage in the same town, which he had sold them. || Perth. Malcolm de Lyn, a burgess of Perth, gave them a land in South Street for six shillings yearly. % Kinross. Robert I. gave them a toft and croft in the town of Kinros, in the corner beside the road to Perth, and freed them from the payment of forty pence yearly, due to him for the same. ** Edinburgh. Margaret Bronhill sold the monks, in 1408, a tenement in the south side of the town, which had been previously mortgaged to them by her late brother, Adam Tore. In 1428, John Vernour gave a land near the town of Edinburgh, on the south side of the same, in the street called Cowgate, to Richard Londy, a monk of Melros, for twenty shillings yearly. He, or his heirs, were to have the refusal of it, if it were sold. In 1440, William Vernoure granted the same to Richard Londy, abbot of Melros, without reserve, for thirteen shillings and fourpence yearly. In 1433, Patrick, by divine permission, abbot of Holyrood, confirmed the * Chart. Mel. 59, 60, 61, 63. ffarl. MS. 4707. Convicted thieves were to be given up to his bailie to be punished according to the sentence, restitution being made of the stolen goods. And if a duel should take place for the discovery of theft, the goods and chattels of the slain should go to the abbot's bailie. f Chart. Mel. 71. J Milne. § Chart. Mel. 72. II Ibid. 95. 5f Ibid. 99, v. ** Ibid. 99, v. THE ABBEY OF MELROS. 277 monks of Melros in the possession of their land called Holyrood acre, between the common vennel and another acre which they had beside the highway from the Cowgate, for six shillings and eightpence yearly.* In 1414, Robert Logan of Lastalrik gave them a tenement in the town of Leyth. t Prestonpans. Roland, the son of Uctred, gave them a salt-work in Preston, with pasture for six cows, six oxen, and a horse, a toft and croft on which to build a dwelling-house, and easements from his wood of Preston to supply the pans. In 1460, Robert de Hamylton of Fyngalton gave them, in his territory of Saltpreston, " illas tres rupes patenarum, sive patellarum salis, sive salini, et unum granarium jacens inter praedictas rupes." t Inveewick. Walter, the son of Alan, confirmed to them the possession of certain lands in the territory of Innerwick, with pasturage in the common of the same town, granted them by Roger, the son of Glay, and others of his vassals. § Heartside and Spot. Earl Gospatric, in the time of David I, gave them the lands of Hertisheued and Spot. Patrick de Whitsum, a part of his land in Spot, called Lochaneshalech. || Peatcox. Philip de Petcox ga,ve them the land which lay between their land of Hartesheued and the rivulet called Prestumnethburn, with ten acres in the tilled grounds of Beleside. He gave them also liberty to change the course of Presmunen burn, which was the boundary between him and them, because it frequently injured their meadows and cornfields.f Painshiel. John, the son of Michael of Meckil, gave the convent the whole land of Paneschelys, upon condition that three marks of silver should be given every year at Pentecost to the prior, to be expended in furnishing a pittance for the monks upon Trinity Sunday. He gave also the land which Aldred, the smith, and his son Oliver, held on the east side of the brook Fastenei. Henry de Beltun, in 1231, gave them the whole of his land called Kingissete, in the territory of Panschelis, lying between Calneburn, Kingeburn, and Witeddre, for the annual rent of two marks to him and his • Chart. Mel. 97, 98. + Ibid. 97. t Ibid. 95, v. § Ibid. 85. II Ibid. 82, 83, 84. f Ibid. 81, 82, v." 278 HISTORY OF heirs. John of North Berwic released them of the obligation to pay him thirty shillings for Kingisset. * Yestek. John GiiFarde gave them a toft and croft in Yhester, with pasture for six cows, sixty sheep, and two horses. He made them free of multure at his miln. t Fishings in the Tweed. David I. gave them liberty to fish in the Tweed, where it bounded their property at Dernwick, Melros, Eildon, and Gattonside ; as well on his own side of the river as theirs. Malcolm IV. gave them the fishing at Yhare, called Selkirk fishing, and seven acres of land, with buildings, a meadow, pasture for eight oxen, and eight cows, in Wauhop, and timber in the forest, for keeping in repair their wear in the same fishery. In 1263, Nicolas Corbet, laird of Mackerston, granted them all his fisheries adjacent to his land of Malcarviston, between the limits of Dalcove and Brokismouth, upon the condition that the whole produce of their fisliing should be faithfully applied by the sub-cellarer to the proper use of the convent. The monks and lay brethren, and tlieir servants, might land with their cobells and nets upon any part of his ground, and have free ingress and egress through it, and might even build a house upon it for the convenience of their fishing. Moreover, he undertook, in the king's presence, in the refectory of the abbey, to be answerable to him for all services due to him by the monks for the same fisheiies. David I. gave them the fishing of old Roxburgh, extending to the Brockestrem. Malcolm IV. gave them one of the two nets fishings, which he had in Brockestrem ; and Robert de Bernham gave them another, which he got from Ralph Hauvil, King Alexander's falconer, t Nes. the son of Nes. de Walent, gave them ten acres of arable land in Lyverlngham, to find the convent in white bread on Easter day. § Philip, Count of Flanders, before 1185, gave the monks a free passage through his dominions, and exempted them from paying taxes and dues therein. II Alexander II. gave them the privilege, when passing through the country with carriages, of stopping one night wherever they chose, and * CJiart Mel. 77, v. 78. The monks of the Isle of May had some property on the south side of the Caleburn ; and the place is still called Mayshiel. t Ibid. 106. :j: Ibid. 31, v. 94, v. 105, v. 94. § Ibid. 105. || Ibid. 108, v. THE ABBEY OF MELROS. 279 pasturing their beasts on the commons, so that they kept them out of corn- fields and meadows.* John, the brother of the Steward of Scotland, granted, at Christmas 1296, two pounds of wax yearly, on St James's fair day at Roxburgh, for a wax candle, to burn at the tomb of St Waltheof. t SUMMA ANIMALIUM MONASTERII DE MELROS, TEMPORIBUS ANTIQUIS. Imprimis summa equorum dominicorum. 104( equarum dominicarum. 54 sylvestrium. ^^5 — puUorum trium annorum, 39 puUorum 2 annorum utriusque sexus. 150 stagrorum, .... . 270 bovum jugalium, . 1167 vaccarum, .... . 3544 taurorum, 87 ^^ stottorum 4 annorum, . 407 stottorum 3 annorum. 637 colonidarum, ... . 1376 stircorum, 1125 vitulorum, .... . 11963 ovium, . . . • 8215 vervecum, .... . 344 multonum. 8044 hoggorum, . ; . • . 5900 ovium tondentium. 22520$ * Chart. Mel. 107, v. \ Hay's MS. Coll. of Charters, vol. i, 471. t fib/-/. MS. 4707. Advocates' Library, Edinburgh. 280 HISTORY OF CARTA REGIS DAVID DE ABBATIA DE MELROS. David, Dei gratia, Rex Scottorum, episcopis, abbatibus, comitibus, baronibus, et probis hominibus suis, et omnibus fidelibus suis totius regni sui, Francis, et Anglicis, et Scotis, et Galwensibus, salutem : Sciatis me, pro anima mea, et animabus patris et matris mese, et fratris mei jEdgari, et aliorum fratrum et sororum mearum, et uxoris meae Matildse, et etiam pro anima Henrici filii mei et hseredis, et antecessorum et successorum meorum, concessisse et dedisse Deo et Sanctse Mariae de Melros, et monachis ibidem Deo servientibus, Cystertiensis ordinis de Rievallis, et suis successoribus, annuente et concedente Henrico, filio meo et hserede, et per cartam suam confirmante, in perpetuam eleemosinam, totam, scilicet, terram de Melros, et totam terram de Eldune, et totam terram de Dernewic, per terminos et rectas divisas suas, in bosco et piano, in pratis et aquis, in pasturis et moris, in viis et semitis, et in omnibus aliis rebus, liberas, et quietas, et solutas ab omni terreno servitio et exactione seculari, perpetuo tenore possidere. Insuper, autem, sciatis me dedisse praedictis monachis, et hac mea carta confirmasse, in terra mea et in forestis meis, scilicet de Seleschirche, et de Trauequair, omnia aisiamenta sua ; pasturam, scilicet ad averia sua, et ligna, et materiem, et pasnagium ubique ad suos proprios usus, sicut ego ipse melius habeo ad opus meum, et nominatum intra Galche et Leder. Praeterea, in aquis de Tweda infra terminos eorum, piscaturam, tam ex mea parte fluminis quam ex eorum parte ubique. Praeter, vero, omnia supradicta, dedi et confirmavi eis, ad incrementum, Galtuneshalech, et totam terram et boscum de Galtunesside, sicut ego ipse, et Henricus THE ABBEY OF MELROS. 281 filius meus, et abbas Ricardus ejusdem ecclesise, perivimus et circumivimus, die veneris crastino ascensionis Domini ; anno, scilicet, secundo q\io Stephanus Rex Anglise captus est. Testibus ad hoc praesens donum, Johanne, episcopo ; Willielmo, nepote regis ; Hugone de Moreyilla ; Willielmo de Sumervilla ; Henrico, filio Swani ; Gervasio Ridel. Volo itaque ut ipsi omnes has predictas terras et res suas ita libere et quiete teneant et possideant, sicut aliqua elemosina liberius et quietius, perpetuo tenore, teneri potest et possideri. Teste, Henrico, filio meo ; Johanne, episcopo ; Willielmo, nepote meo ; Willielmo, cancellario ; Madd. comite ; Roberto, de Humframvilla ; Hugone de Morevilla ; Waltero filio Alani ; Hugone Britone ; Osberto de , Ardene ; Gervasio Ridel ; Willielmo de Sumervilla ; Ricardo Gernim ; Ricardo Anglico ; Willielmo de Lindas. Accelino, archidiacono ; Jordane, clerico ; Estmundo, elemosinario ; Praeterea, hominibus de eadem terra ; Gospatricio, comite, Ulfchillo, filio Ethestan ; Osolfo, filio Huctred ; Macco, filio Unwain ; Huctredo, filio Sioth ; Huctredo, filio Gospatricii ; Orm, filio Eilaf ; Eilaf, filio Gospa- tricii ; Eduso, filio Norman ; Osolfo, filio Edine ; Osolfo, filio Elfstan ; Roberto Brus, Meschin ; Radulfo, filio Turstani ; Rogero, nepote episcopi. Apud Ercheldon. In Junio, 2 N 282 HISTORY OF TAXT ROLL OF THE ABBACY OF MELROSS, FOR RELIEF OF THOMAS, EARLE OF HADDINGTON, OF 1240 LIB. TERMLY, FOR THE HAILL ABBACY, LAYD ON IN 1630. EVERY POUND OF FREE RENT TAXED TO 6d. SCOTS. The said Earle of Haddington, his proper lands, milns, &c. of the lord- ship of Melros, viz. Drygrange, Sorilsfield, Clerkmae, Eistside of Housbyre, Craikisfuird, and Melross ; Meirbank, Sutercroft, and Cartleyes ; Abbay- yards, and Prior-woods, with the teynds of Camiestoun and Plewland ; the milns of Melross and Ridpath ; the teynds of Appletreeleives ; halfe of Newtoun ; the lands pertaining to him in Lammermuir, with the lands of Grangemuir ; confest by his lordship proved to be worth 3320 lib. Item, the few and tax duties afterwritten, payed to him, extending to 5048 lib. 6sh. 8d. whereof payes to the minister of Melrosse L.500. To the king's majesty of blensh duty, L.65, 6s. Sd. So rests free, 7803 lib. Earle of Roxburgh, his lands of Uggins, Falsat, Trow, Cocklaw, Caplen- trig, Devinshaw, Rushners, Sourhope, Raeshaw, Gattshaw, Hownam- grange, milne thereof, Southcoat, Cliftoncoat; worth L. 1598, 6s. 8d. payes to the said Earle of Haddington, L.88, 6s. 8d. Lord Tester, his lands of Rodyns, viz. Langbank, Whytehope, Littlehope, Meiklehope, and seven aikers in the Floors ; worth L. 1268, 6s. 8d. payes &c. L.44, 13s. 4d. Earle of Buccleugh, his lands of Dumfelding, called Eskdaill Moore, worth L.3000. Ringwoodfield worth L.7OO, the teynds of Hassenden paroch, and of that pairt of the parochin of Cavers, pertaining to the said Earle, 'called THE ABBEY OF MELROS. 283 Dennen,* worth L.70O ; whereof payes of blensh duty for Eskdaill Moore L.66, 13s. 4d. ; for Ringwoodfield L.50, and to the minister of Hassinden, fiirth of the said teynds, 500 merks, and 20 merks for elements. Earle of Wigtoun, his lands of Kingledoors ; worth L.300, payes to the king L.8. Pringle of Gallowshiel, for Sellarishauch, worth L.20, payes L.3. Douglas of Spot, for Hartsyde, worth L.960, payes 200 merks to said Earle of Haddington. Murray of Elibank, for Langshaw and Mosshouse, worth L.966, 13s. 4d. the teynds of Blainsley, worth L.533, 6s. 8d. whereof payes of few duty to the king's majestie for Langshaw and Mosshouss L.6I, 13s. 9d. and for the teynds to his majestie L.36, 13s. 4d. Scott of Harden for Thirlstaine, Ramscleugh, Stokescleugh, Meghill and Kirkhope, his lands of Espinhope, Brokhope, and Langhope, and lands of Elliestoun, worth L.3210, 15s. 8d., whereof payes to the Earle L.76. The teynds of the saids lands, worth, free rent, L. 250, forbye tack duty. M^dowall of M^carstoun, his lands and teynds of Danielstoune, worth 1000 merks, payes of few duty L.40. Scott for the teynds of Meghope and Fawhope, worth, free, L. 100, for- bye, &c. Scott of Satchells, his halfe lands of Cringells, worth L.123, 10s. payes to the said Earle 50sh. of few. Riddell of that ilk, his half of Cringells, worth L.123, 10s. payes, &c. 50sh. Belshes of Tofts, for Pittisheuch, worth L.507j Ts- payes, &c. L.7> 5sh. Rutherford, for Monksmeadow and Monksclosse, worth L.40, payes 40sh. Ker of Yair, for Friercroft, worth L. 30, payes 5 merks. Pringle of Torwoodlie, and Cairncrow of Colnslie, west side of Langlie, AUanshaws and Wooplaw, worth L. 1533, 6s, 8d. payes L. 11, 6s. 8d. The said Cairncrow, and Mitchell, for east syde of Langlye, worth 500 merks, paye L.5. Pringle, his lands and teynds of Buckholm, worth L.6II, 6s. 8d. payes L.11, 6s. 8d. Cairncrow of Hensbyre, for Westsyde thereof, and milne of Newtoun, worth L.568, payes L. 14, 3s. 4d. * Denholm. 284 HISTORY OF Pring-le of Buckliolme, for Williamlaw, and teynds, worth L.512, 3s. 4id. payes L. 12, 3s. 4d. for few and tack duty. Murray of Halmyre, for Hopcarton, worth L. 300, payes 5 marks. Scott of Tussielaw, for Glenkeirie and Midgehope, worth L.800, payes, &c. Tennent of Cairns, for Hairhope, worth L.500, payes L.50. Haliburton, for Muirhouselaw, worth L.512, 6s. 8d. payes L. 12, 6s. 8d. Dickson, for Overmayns, worth 400 merks, payes lu.^. Is. lOd. Hunter, for his lands and teynds of Hackburri, Whytly, and Whytliedykes, worth L.679j. 15s. payes of few and tack duty 20 merks. Cairncrow, for Calfhill, Ladopmuir, Makspopill, and teynds, worth L.591, 6s. 8d. payes L.31, 6s. 8d. Douglas, for Frierslaw, worth L.400, payes 30 merks. Scott of Whitslead for Ettrickhouse, worth L.506, 13s.4d. payes 10 merks. Herr teynds of Ettrickhouse and Dalgleiss, worth, free rent, L. 140, by and attour. Murray of Oakwood, his lands and teynds of Colmsliehill, worth L.311, payes L. 10, lis. 8d. Scott, for Carfauld, worth L.30, 3s. 4d. payes L.3, 4s. Home, his croft in Hassington, called Clerkscroft, worth L.20, 3s. 4d. payes 2s. 3d. Dickson, his lands of Harlaw, worth 50 merks, payes L.3, Is. lOd. Cossar, his lands in Hassingtoun, worth L. 15, lis. 4d. payes lis. 3d. Cranstoun of Morriestoun, for Morriestoun, worth L. 116, 13s. 4d. payes L.3, 13s. 4d. Home of Polwart, for Cuirtleyes, worth L.41, payes 20s. TurnbuU, for Hornshiell, worth L.40, payes 14s. Scott, for his lands of Clarielaw, worth L.20, 8s. 8d. payes 8s. 8d. TurnbuU, for his lands, worth L.40, 13s. 4d. payes 13s. 4d. Kers, their lands of Hownam Grange, worth L. 200, paye 50 merkis. Douglas of Cavers, for Cruiks, worth L.160, payes L.4, 3s. 4d. Idem, for his teynds of the paroch of Cavers, worth L.430, payes to the minister 40 merkis. Idem and TurnbuU, for the merk land of Hassil, worth 50 merkis, paye 148. Hay, for Mountonhall, worth L.41, 10s. payes 30s. Scott, for the toft and croft in Selkirk, worth L.21, 6s. 8d., payes 26s. 8d. Darling, for Appletreeleives, worth L.600, payes L.30. THE ABBEY OF MELROS. 285 The fewars of the 31 husbandlands of Lessudden, worth L. 2056 paye L.5o. ' The fev^ars of the toun and lands of Newtoun, being 20 husbandlands, worth 10 chalders ; bushell at 8 bolls. Every husbandland paves of few duty LAob, 13s. 4d. The fewars of the town and lands of Eildoun, and teynds, extending- to 20 husbandlands, at 6 bolls for every husbandland, qu. e. 7 chald. 8 bolls paye of few duty L. 400. ' The fewars of the town and lands of Newstead, worth L. 800, paye L.400. The fewars of the toun and lands of Gattonside, worth L. 1726, 13s. 4d. paye of few duty to the said Earle, L.1066, 13s. 4d. The fewars of the toun, lands, and teynds of Dernick and Bridgend, worth L.I766, 13s. 4d. paye L.IO66, 13s. 4d. The fewars of Threipwude and Newhouses, and teynds, worth 400 merks, paye L.36. The fewars of toun and lands of Blainslies, and Braidwood sheill, worth L.1645, paye of few E. 45. The fewars of the lands called Annecy of Melross, worth L. 720 paye L.480. The fewars of the tenements and houses in the toune of Melrosse, worth L. 300, paye L. 100. The fewars of the town and lands of Ridpeth, worth 6 chald. 6 bolls, paye L.18, 19s. 8d. The fewars of Craighouse, worth L.lOO, paye L.60 of few to the said Earle. Christian Paterson, her teynds of the aikers and wardis of Melrosse, estimat 12 bolls, payes of tack duty to the said Earle L.4. LANDS WITHIN AYRSHIRE. Earle of Cassills, for his 20 merkland of Monkland, worth 6 chald. ^ chald. payes to said Earle L.20. Kennedy of Ardmillan, his L. 20 land of Monkland, with the teynds of Grange and Monkwood, worth L. 1880, payes 4 merks. 286 HISTORY OF THE ABBEY OF MELROS. Davidson of Penniglen, his 40 sh. land of Nether Smithstoun, worth L.200, payes 4 merks. Chalmers, for Sauchrie, Craigskean, and Donaldsmott, worth L. 320, payes 4 merks. Rickhart, for Clownye and Knockshort, worth L. 24, payes 4 merks 3sh. 4d. Currie, for his 5 merkland of Fishertoun, worth L.240, payes L.4, Item, for his 5 merkland of Brockloch, worth L. 100, payes L.4. Kennedye of Garriehorn, for the same, and Little Knockdon, worth 2 chald. \, payes 5 merks. Kennedye of Knockdaw, for Knockfenton and Corriefenton, worth L. 80, payes 24 sh. Cunninghame of Caprington, his teynds of the kirk of Ochiltry, worth 33 chald. payes to the minister thereof L.500, to the reader L. 100. Earl of Loudoun, his lands of Kylesmuir, and Barnmoor, and kirk of Mauchlane, worth L. 10,400 of free rent. LANDS WITHIN DUMFRIESE SHYRE. The 61 petty fewars of lands there, extending (being compted) to a L. 33, 12s. lOd. worth of free rent * * * # paye of few duty to the said Earle L.52. John Kilpatrick and Maxwell, the 6 merkland that estimat worth L.520, payes of few duty L. 120. Grierson, his 3 merkland, worth L.245, payes L. 5 of few duty. HISTORY OF THE MONASTERY OF DRYBURGH. , yiTUZstic .'l--maL<: ^f Tr/u r.-f^ HBBiHl^lHB ^wC ui ce-Ui/iii vr rLzvti iagr.«-od b\-U'"KLisaa: I'roni Melrose- Abbey Mi^nastfc -dnfuds of Tevwtdah' FLiisMH. EiigTstvBdlT7''W3 Jd7 ar s R6Stared/Ele/\/edion/of &ast^ end/of Ohoir. Monastic jj/mals of Tevwtdiji^'- EngTiivBcl b? WH-l.iKars Campuis and PedcstaJs of Vic^es ic MoTieukic Annals oF Try'MfdaJr,. Srstnt^br Geanj; Smiiii Arch? WM)UimWE AHIBIET. A/./J.S/,.:/ H fi:/y. //.:.//;., /-../m/;,,;,/! MV. MONASTIC ANNALS OP TEVIOTDALE. HISTORY OF THE MONASTERY OF DRYBURGH. The river Tweed, after sweeping round Old Melros, continues to lengthen its course by winding, as if reluctant to quit the sequestered and lovely scenes through which it flows ; and, about a mile below, fetching a bold compass, it embraces the grounds of Dryburgh, where, among fruit trees and flowering shrubs, on the verge of a wood, stand the picturesque remains of the ancient abbey, and, at a short distance, the neat mansion of Sir David Erskine, the proprietor. As Dryburgh is on the north side of the river, and within the limits of Berwickshire, between which and the county of Roxburgh the Tweed is here the boundary, it is not, strictly speaking, in Teviotdale ; but it may fairly be so placed when that name is used in its ancient, and less restricted signification, which, for convenience, has been thought proper to be adopted in the present work. The ruins, on whatever side they are approached, are seen mingled with the surrounding trees, and have a reddish appearance, from the colour of the stone, which is of an excellent and very durable quality. There are indications, from which it has reasonably been inferred, that Dryburgh was originally a place of Druidical worship. Its name is supposed to have come from the Celtic Darach-Bruach, " the bank of the ^ 290 HISTORY OF sacred grove of oaks, or, the settlement of the Druids." * On a neigh- bouring mound, called the Bass Hill, which appears to have been a burial place, vestiges of Pagan worship have been discovered, and, among them, an instrument used for killing the victims in sacrifice, which was in the possession of the late Earl of Buchan. When the Pagan superstitions gave way to the religion of the Gospel, Dryburgh became the abode of a society of Christian missionaries, of whom Modan, who, after his death, was revered in the Scotish church as a saint, was elected abbot, or bishop, in the year 522. Of this holy man, the legends inform us, that he was a bright example of piety and humility, devoting six or seven hours every day to meditation and prayer, and seeking to subdue the affections of the body by mortifying austerities. Zealous and active in the duties of his sacred function, he made frequent excursions into the remoter parts of the province in which he had under- taken to minister, especially to the banks of the Forth and the Clyde, and preached to the rude inhabitants with touching and powerful eloquence. At times he retired to a lonely place, near Alcluyd,t where he was wont to meditate thirty or forty days in solitude ; and, in this retreat, he spent the latter days of his life. His reliques were long preseyved in the church dedicated to him at Roseneath.t He was likewise the patron saint of the high church at Stirling, where, and at Dunbarton and Falkirk, his name was long honoured, and is said to be even yet traditionally remembered. Of this early Christian establishment at Dryburgh no farther account has been traced. It was probably destroyed by the ferocipus Saxon invaders, under Ida, the Flame-bearer, who landed on the Yorkshire coast in 547? and, after subduing Northumberland, added this part of Scotland to his dominions, by his victory over the Scoto-Britons at Cattraeth. The elegant ruins, which now adorn the landscape at Dryburgh, are the remains of * Grose's Antiquities of Scotland. This name would apply to the hill behind Dryburgh, on the brow of which the late Earl of Buchan, with patriotic taste, erected a colossal statue of Wallace, which will remind those who have travelled in Italy of the magnificent bronze statue of that eminently virtuous prelate, Carlo Borromeo, archbishop of Milan, which stands in a commanding situation on the banks of the Lago Maggiore, near Arona. The statue of the Scotish hero was cut by a native artist, of reddish stone, taken from the same quarry which supplied materials for the abbey. f The ancient British name of Dunbarton. \ Camerarius, De Scotorum Fortitudine, 8fc. THE MONASTERY OF DRYBURGH. 291 another monastery, founded on the same spot, in 1150; but it is thought, that, at that period, there were still some buildings left of the more ancient fabric, as fragments of an earlier style of architecture, supposed to have been part of it, still exist in the substructure of the present ruin. David I. is usually considered as the founder of Dryburgh abbey ; but it has been thought probable, that he only contributed to this work, by adding some gifts, when he sanctioned the donations of Hugh de Morville, constable of Scotland, and Beatrix Beauchamp, his wife, who are also mentioned as the founders, and were, indeed, among the first and greatest benefactors of this religious house.* Lord Hailes conjectures, that when the king, in his charter, spoke of himself as the founder, he meant only that he had laid the foundation stone ; f but this seems less probable than that he considered that as his own deed, which was done by his vassals, with his aid, consent, and authority. The convent were canons of the Premonstratensian order ; and were brought from the abbey recently founded at Alnwick, t This order was instituted in 1120, by Norbert, archbishop of Magdeburgh, who was canonized after his death. The rules they followed, were the same with those composed by St Agustine, bishop of Hippo, for his disciples ; whence they are sometimes called Augustinians, or canons of St Augustine. It was believed that those rules, written in a book, curiously bound in gold, were presented to Norbert in a dream by Augustine himself, vho said to him, " Take these rules which I have written ; if thy brethren observe them faithfully, they, like my other children, need fear nothing in the day of judgment." Norbert built his first convent in a meadow, near Laon, in Picardie. § The site is said to have been previously shewn to him by an angel ; whence it was called Premontr6, in Latin PrcBmonstratus, and the religious men PrcBmonstratenses. In Britain they were usually styled White Canons, from the colour of their dress. This was a white cassock, with a rochet and cape over it, a long white cloak, and a square hat, or bonnet, of white felt. They likewise wore breeches and shoes, but no * Scotia Sacra, MS. Note by Pinkerton to Barbour's Brvee, xviii. 339. The uncle of Hugh de Moreville was one of the murderers of Thomas k Becket. f Annals, i. 97, note %. J Sibliotfieca Pramonstratensis. § Helyot. Hist, des Ordres Monastiques, tom. ii. 292 HISTORY OF shirt. The abbot wore red shoes, and a short cloak, and had a pastoral staff, like a shepherd's crook. At first they were poor, and lived by their labour ; but their piety soon gained them benefactors, and they became rich. Their possessions were exempted from paying tithes ; they were not subject to the bishop's jurisdiction; and they could -not be cited before a secular tribunal. Their time was divided between their religious exercises, the cultivation of their fields, their household ofiices, copying books, and reading. Their devotions, which were performed seven times a-day, began at a very early hour with Matins. They were awaked by the bell of the dor- mitory, which was rung as long a time as would be required to say the seven penitential psalms ; during which they dressed themselves, and said their private prayers, till, upon a sign from the prior, they proceeded regularly into the church, each individual kneeling in the middle of the choir, and bowing reverently toward the altar, before he went to his seat. The matu-: tinal service being finished, they went to bed again, and reposed till the hour of Prime, or six o' clock, when they were summoned to attend during the celebration of the ordinary mass, and the private masses, which, on particular days, might happen to be said at any of the side altars at the same hour. After this, they were accustomed to remain some time in private prayer in the church ; and some of them went to confession, in the chapter-house. Such exercises occupied the time, until the bell rang for holding the daily meeting of the chapter ; when they all assembled in the cloister, before proceeding into the chapter-house ; the copiers of books, and those at work out of doors, hastening in to be present with the rest. Every one, as he entered, bowed towards the place of dignity ; and the abbot, when they were all assembled, invoked a blessing upon them. Suitable prayers havihg been said, a lesson was then read fi*om the rules of the order ; and the names of those appointed to any particular services were read from the register ; every one, on his name being pronounced, bowing reverently, in token of obedience. Next, the deaths, and other events to be commemorated, were given out from the calendar. Then the abbot, standing in his place, pro- nounced the absolution of the souls of the dead. Those who had been convicted of any fault, were accustomed, at this time, to prostrate themselves on the ground, and, making a humble confession, entreat forgiveness. Penance was enjoined, and, if it was judged fit, punishment was sometimes THE MONASTERY OF DRYBURGH. 298 inflicted on the spot, by the prior, or his deputy. Accusations were likewise heard by the abbot, openly, in the chapter, against any one under his jurisdiction or authority. The business being concluded, they united in saying the cxxx psalm, " De profundis," unless it happened to be a high festival. Then the abbot, or president, said, " Our help is in the name of the Lord," and the rest added, " Who made heaven and earth." In winter, the hour of Tierce, or nine o'clock, immediately followed the chapter ; and the " Salve Regina" having been given out by the precentor, they proceeded into the church, two by two, singing this hymn. In summer, there was an interval before Tierce, during which they went about their usual employments. High mass was sung at Tierce in summer ; but at Sexte, or twelve o'clock, in winter.* The community dined in the great hall, or refectory, at one o'clock ; and the abbot, if present, said the blessing. During this, and their other meals, one standing at a desk in the side of the hall, read to them out of the Holy Scriptures, or some other edifying book ; and they took this office by weekly turns. They also waited on each other at table, in the same rotation ; having taken their meal previously, along with the reader. They all stood in their places till blessing was pronounced, after which the reader, having mounted to his desk, began to read, and the rest to eat. Only two dishes were allowed, except on particular occasions, when another, called a pittance, usually consisting of some sweet, or more delicate food, was added. It was brought in after the Second dish, and presented to the abbot, or him who presided in the abbot's place, who caused it to be distributed. Much civility and politeness were practised. They were attentive to each other's wants, and indicated them to the cellarer, or to the brother who served. They bowed to each other on presenting, or receiving any thing. He to whom the abbot, or president, sent any thing, first bowed to the servant who brought it, and then, rising up a little, to the superior who sent it. They who came into the hall too late, and without a good excuse for their delay, said a Paternoster and an Ave Maria, byway of penance, sat down at the bottom of the least frequented table, and were not entitled to any ale or wine, with- out the special permission of the abbot, or president. After dinner some went to repose, others kept up a conversation till the hour of Nones, or # Bill. Preemon. 294 HISTORY OF three o'clock, when there was another service in the church, at the end of which they washed their hands, and sat down together in the cloister, till, a signal being given, they entered the refectory, for a few minutes, to drink. At six o'clock they attended at Vespers, or evening service. The CoMPLETORiUM, or CoMPLiNE, was Said or sung in church after seven ; and then taking a light supper, called Collatio, they went to bed. Sheets were not allowed, nor any linen, except in sickness ; and they all slept in the same room, called the dormitory, but in separate beds, in their usual clothes. Not content with the forty days' abstinence appointed by the church, they kept a fast from Holyrood, [September 14,] till Easter ; taking no food till after Nones, and abstaining entirely from flesh. They began, however, to relax somewhat of their strict observance of this rule before the year 1245; and in 1460, Pope Pius 11. gave them power to dispense with it.* In time of hay-making and harvest, they went to work early in the morning, and sometimes did not return home till after Vespers ; but were bound to recite their prayers in the fields at the canonical hours. On festivals they did no work, but read during the time usually appropriated to work. There were to be no schools in monasteries of this order ;t but no one ignorant of Latin could be admitted into it. The lay brethren were taught to recite the Creed, the Paternoster, Ave Maria, and other prayers, but were not allowed books. The collected rules and regulations of this religious order, including the additions made at different times, and documents relating to them, are contained in aponderous folio volume, entitled BibliothecaPrcemonstratensis. The history, like the fabric of Dryburgh abbey, presents only a few disjoined fragments, that have escaped the destroying hands of time and change. The monastery was founded in 1150 ; and the same year, on St Martin's day, the cemetery was consecrated, that no demons might haunt it. J The convent came to reside at Dryburgh on the 13th December, 1152; the buildings for their accommodation being then, probably, completed. * Bibl. PrcBmon. Fosbrooke's British Monachism. f Ibid. Notwithstanding this rule, there appears to have been a school in the monastery at Dryburgh. See page 297 of this work. :|; Chron. de Mailros. THE MONASTERY OF DRYBURGH. 295 Roger was the first abbot. He resigned his charge in 1177,* and was succeeded by Gerard, the prior, who is described as a person of much gravity, full of days, of fragrant renown, and a most devout worshipper of the blessed Virgin.t In 1183, Pope Lucius III. granted permission to the canons of Dryburgh, whenever the kingdom should be under a general interdict, to celebrate divine service in their church, in a low voice, with the doors shut, and without ringing of bells — all excommunicated and interdicted persons being shut out. Richard was abbot in 1190 ;1: and Alan in 1196.§ Galfrid resigned the abbacy in 1208, when he accepted the same office in the abbey at Alnwick. || William, the prior, was his successor at Dryburgh. The same year, a new cemetery was consecrated there, by William Malvoisin, bishop of St Andrews.^ Hugh was the name of the abbot in 1221, and 1228.** Walter, abbot of Dryburgh, resigned his office in 1240. John was his immediate successor.ff Oliver was abbot in 1269.tt In the course of this century, two societies of canons from this monastery were planted in Ireland ; one of them in the abbey of Druin-la-croix, or Drumcross, in Armagh, and the other in the priory of Woodburn, in the county of Antrim. §§ William the abbot, and the canons of Dryburgh, submitted to the usurped dominion of Edward I. of England, by taking an oath of fidelity to him at Berwick, on the 2d of September, 1296, when they obtained restitution of their property, which he had unjustly declared to be forfeited. The letters commanding this restitution were addressed to the sheriffs of Fife, Berwick, Roxburgh, and Edinburgh. |||| The name of the abbot William occurs in 13l6,f IT The general privilege of exemption from episcopal authority granted to monasteries of this order, appears not to have been acknowledged in Scotland, since we find that the abbots of Dryburgh were obliged to attend the synodal meetings at Haddington, held under the authority of the bishop of * Chron. de Mailros. f 1^^^- X Chart. Kel. 99, v. § Chartulary of Dryburgh, MS. Advocates' Library, Edinburgh. II Chron. de Mailros. % Ibid. ** Chart. Kel. 105, r. Chart. Dry. ft Chron. de Mailros. X% Ibid. §§ Caledonia. Scotia Sacra, MS, nil Rymer. ff Chart. Kel. 119, y. 296 HISTORY OF St Andrews. From this obligation they were released by William de Lamberton, who was bishop from 1298 till 1328.* Roger, abbot of. Dry burgh, occurs as witness to a charter along with the same Bishop William.t The convent received a destructive visit in 1322 from Edward II. and his army, who in their retreat from an unsuccessful invasion of Scotland, encamped on the grounds of Dryburgh, and, setting fire *to the monastery, burnt it to the ground.l They had suffered much from famine in their expedi- tion, and they must have been greatly exasperated, if, as is probable, they came expecting to find provisions at the abbey, and were disappointed. Tradition says the English were provoked by the imprudent triumph of the convent in jo}'fully ringing the church bells at their departure ; the sound of which made them return and burn the abbey, in revenge. King Robert I. contri- buted liberally towards its repair ; but it has been doubted whether it was ever fully restored to its original magnificence. Patrick, one of the canons, who was reckoned among the first men of his age as a philosopher, divine, orator, and poet, lived at this period, and wrote a poem upon the destruction of his monastery, which he addressed to the king and the superiors of religious houses. § David was the name of the abbot in 1324 and 1338. Andrew ruled the monastery in 1354.^ Certain flagrant disorders, which were found to have occurred in the community, but of which the date is not mentioned, may with probability be referred to a period not many years subsequent to this. It was found that strife and debate had existed ; and blows had been dealt, not only among themselves, but to other religious persons, and secular clerks. Some of the brethren had infringed the rule which forbade the possession of private property ; some had obtained admission into the convent by simony ; and others, who lay under censures, had been admitted to holy orders, and had even exercised the sacred function in that unhallowed state. For these offences they had been cut off from the communion of the churchy and could not, upon submission, be lawfully restored without appearing personally at the apostolical see. But the observance of this obligation was inconvenient, and involved consequences perilous to their souls ; for, in so long a journey, during which they were necessarily removed from observation * Chai-mers's Caledonia. f Chart. Mel. 56. 1^ Scotkhron. xii. 4. § Dempst. Hist. Eccks. \\ Chart. Kel, 193, r. 208, v. Chart. NevboUh, 65. f Chart. Kel. 195, r. THE MONASTERY OF DRYBURGH. 297 and control, they were apt to fall into irregularities, to wander about at their ease, and to contract vagabond habits of life. These things being represented to Pope Gregory, * he, in the second year of his pontificate,^ gave the abbot power, according to his discretion, to absolve the least guilty, upon due penance done ; but more enormous oifenders were still to be sent to receive correction and absolution at the papal court, t About this time lived Ralph Strode, a distinguished poet and philosopher ; who, in the early part of his career, devoted himself to literary pursuits, in the monastery of Dryburgh ; whence he was sent, at the expense of the King of Scots, to study at Merton College, Oxford, of which society he became a fellow, t He was a friend of Geoffrey Chaucer, who, at the conclusion of his Troilus and Cresseide, inscribes that poem to " the moral Gower," and to " the philosophical Strode." He travelled through France and Germany, into Italy ; perhaps in company with that celebrated poet, who was at Milan in 1368, where he became personally acquainted with Petrarca. Strode travelled also to the Holy Land, and wrote an account of his journey. By some writers he is represented as a follower, and by others an opponent, of his contemporary, John Wiclif. The title of one of his works, and Wiclif 's answer to it,§ prove the latter to be the fact, which would have been sufficiently apparent, from his having long continued a tutor at Merton College, where Lewis Chaucer, the son of his friend, was among his pupils. II His literary works, according to Dempster, were these : — l.Fabulce Lepid(B,versu. ^.GonsequentiarumFormulce. 3. Sophismatum StrophcB. 4. Itinerarium Terrce Sanctce. 5. Panegyrici, versu patrio. 6. SummulcBLogicales. 7. Phantasma Radulphi. 8. Positiones, et xviii ar- gumenta, contra Wicleffum Hcereticum. 9- Opuscula.% From Fabricius, we learn that he belonged to the order of Preaching Friars, and was poet laureate at Oxford.** * Gregory XL sat in the papal chair from 1370 till 1377. f Chart. Dry. 96, v. J Dempst. Hist. Eccles. Fabricii, Bibl. Lat. Med. § « Responsiones ad xiv argumenta Radulphi Strodi." MS. in the library of the imperial palace at Vienna. See Baber's Life of Wiclif, prefixed to his edition of the translation of the New Testament. Lond. 1810. II Life of Chaucer prefixed to Urry's edition of his works. Lond. 1721. ^ Hist. Eccles. Gentis Scot. •* « Radulphus Strodes, non Anglus, sed Scotus, in monasterio Dryburgh, provinciae Teviotdale, educatus, Ord. Fratrum Praedicatorum, poeta laureatus, Oxonii diu studuit, socius 2p 298 HISTORY OF The abbey was again destroyed and burned, by King Richard II. and his army, on their retreat from Scotland, in 1385 ; when they burned also the "abbeys of Melros and Newbottle.* John was the name of the abbot of Dryburgh, in 1404. t Thomas, in 1434. t James, in 1444. § Andrew Forman, the next superior of Dryburgh, whose name has been found on record, was a person of some consequence. He was actively concerned in the principal affairs both of the church and state of Scotland, in the reigns of James IV. and James V, and shewed considerable talents and address in bringing them to a successful issue. He took an effectual part in the negotiations for the marriage of the first of these princes with Margaret the daughter of Henry VI t, in 1501. In 1512, he was employed in an embassy to the court of France, and was chiefly instrumental in concluding a treaty of mutual assistance, upon the footing of the ancient league, between the French an,d Scots. || In 1498, he was the pope's protonotary, and was afterwards his legate a latere.^ The number of his eccle- siastical benefices is remarkable. The monks of the Isle of May acknowleged him as their prior, in 1498. He was appointed to the bishoprick of Moray in 1501, and held at the same time the priories of Coldingham and Pittenweem ; to which was added, before 1512, the commendatorship of Dryburgh. ** Through the favour of Louis XII, he was made archbishop of Bourges, in France, in 1513 ; ft but he had scarcely done homage for this preferment, when, having received intelligence .that the archbishop of St Andrews had fallen in the field of Flodden, he hastened away to Rome, to solicit the vacant see. Leo X, out of his affection, as he professed, for the Scotish CoUegii Mertonensis, Galliam peragravit et Italiam, Syriatn item et Terrain Sanctam, contra Wiclefi dogmata acriter disputans, circa a. c. 1370. Musices quoque fuit studiosus. Scripsit fabulas ; panegyricos ; consequentiarum formulas; (Ven. 1517, 4to impressas) sum- mulas logicales ; sophismatum strophas ; phantasma, carmen elegiacum ; itinerarium Terrse Sanctse ; positiones et xiv argumenta contra Wiclefum ; Opuscula." Fabricii, Bib. Med. Lot. Lib. xvii. * Scotiehron. xiv. 50. Wyntoun, ix. 7. f See his seal, plate XIX. X Chart. Kel. 195, r. j List of Charters of Melros Abbey, MS. II Ridpath, Pitscottik. ^ Rotuli ScoticB. Sadoleti, Epistolce Pontificice, xxxv. ** Keith's Scotish Bishops. f f Gallia Christiana, torn. ii. 94. THE MONASTERY OF DRYBURGH. 299 nation, and to bind closer the ties of kindness between him and them, had already given the see, in commendam, to his nephew, Cardinal Cibo ; but, having been given to understand, that it was repugnant to the feelings of the Scots, that the highest ecclesiastical office in their land should be held by a foreigner, he cancelled that appointment, and nominated Forman to this, and all the other benefices enjoyed by the late archbishop,* among which were the abbeys of Dunfermline and Aberbrothoc. After much opposition, from the influence of rival candidates, one of whom was Gavin Douglas, the translator of Virgil's ..lEneis, he wae enthroned in the cathedral of St Andrews, in 1514 ; when he resigned the sees of Moray and Bourges, and the priory of Coldingham, When the Duke of Albany came from France, and assumed the regency in 1516, Forman resigned into his hands, as the laws of Scotland required, all the benefices which he had hitherto enjoyed only by the pope's nomination, and was reappointed only to the see of St Andrews, and the abbey of Dunfermline.t He died in 1522. His family was of Hatton, in Berwickshire ; and his brother. Sir John Forman of Dalvenie, married Helen Rutherford, one of the two coheiresses of Ruther- ford of that ilk, in Teviotdale. t Andrew Forman is said to have written, 1. Contra Lutherum. %. De Stoica Philosophia. 8. Collectanea Decre- talium. § * Sadoleti, Epist. Pont. xxxv. t Life of Gavin Douglas. % Keith. § Dempster. Pitscottie attributes the Archbishop's favour at the courts of Rome and France to his having had the address to bring about a peace between Pope Julius II. and Lewis XII, when they were in the field, at the head of their respective armies, ready to give each other battle. This agrees ill with the acknowledged truth of history ; and the following curious account of a banquet, given by Forman to the pope and cardinals, appears equally absurd and inaccurate: "When the dinner came, the pope and his cardinals placed, and sat down, according to their estate ; then the use and custom was, that, at the beginning of meat, he that aught the house, and made the banquet, should say the grace, and bless the meat. And so they required the holy bishop to say the grace, who was not a good scholar, and had not good Latin, but began rudely in the Scotish fashion, in this manner, saying, ' Benedicite ; ' believing that they should have answered ' Dominus.' But they answered ' Dans,' in the Italian fashion, which put this noble bishop by his intendiment, that he wist not how to proceed forward ; but happened out, in good Scotish, in this manner, the which they understood not, saying, « To the devil I give you all, false carles, in nomine Patris, Filii, et Spiritus Sancti.' ' Amen,' quoth they. Then the bishop and his men leugh. And the bishop shewed the pope the manner, that he was not a good clerk, and his cardinals had put him by his intendiment, and, there- fore, he gave them all to the devil in good Scotish ; and then the pope leugh among the rest." Pitscottie, Hist, of Scotland, p. 166. 300 HISTORY OF James Ogilvie, rector of Kinkell, a son of Sir James Og-ilvie of Deskford, in Banffshire, was appointed abbot or commendator of Dryburg-h, by the Duke of Albany, in 1516. Like his predecessor, and other able churchmen of that period, he was much employed in affairs of state. He conducted from France, in 1512, two ships, laden with artillery, military storesj and wines, which were a present from Anne, the Queen of France, to the King of Scots. He was sent again to France, in 1514, by the council of Scotland, in company with the Lord Fleming, to request the Duke of Albany to come and assume the regency. He was the first professor of civil law in King's College, Aberdeen ; and was an unsuccessful candidate for the office of bishop of that see, in 1515.* David Hamilton, bishop of Argyle, a natural son of James Lord Hamilton, father of the Earl of Arran, held the abbeys of Dryburgh and Glenluce in commendam. He died in 1523.t James Stewart, a canon of Glasgow cathedral, was the next abbot. In a letter, written December 13, 1523, without a signature, but apparently by the Duke of Albany, to Cardinal Accolti, the agent, or cardinal protector of Scotland at the court of Rome, it was stated, that the abbey of Dryburgh, now vacant by the death of the late commendator, David, bishop of Argyle, being situated on the borders of the kingdom, its buildings and the produce of its lands were miserably wasted and destroyed by the English, who, making continual inroads, spared neither churches, monasteries, nor any other sacred place, nor people of any age or sex ; wherefore, the monks needed such a superior as would give his whole attention to the affairs of the said abbey, repair its buildings, and restore the worship of God therein. For these reasons, the writer adds, he has nominated James Stewart to rule the said abbey ; whom he humbly recommends to the pope, and entreats that he would confirm the appointment, the said James Stewart assuming the habit of the Prsemonstratensian order ; and there being reserved an annual pension of a hundred pounds Scots to Andrew Hume, out of the revenues of the monastery. In conclusion, the cardinal is solicited to use his influence in behalf of the same, t Between this abbot and the family of Haliburton of Mertoun, there was a feud respecting their right to hold * Grose's Antiq. of Scot. Spotswood's Hist, of the Ch. of Scot. Ann. of Dryburgh, by D. E. t Keith's Catalogm of Scotish Bishops. \ Cotton, MSS. Calig. b. i. fol. 137. THE MONASTERY OF DRYBURGH. 301 some of the abbey lands, which they claimed. After some years, it was settled, in 1535, by the king's arbitration, that the Haliburtons should enjoy the lands, and be " good servants to the abbot, like as they and their predecessors were to him and his predecessors, and he a good master to them." The pacification was not, however, effectual till the following year, when it was sealed by the marriage of Elizabeth Stewart, the abbot's daughter, to Walter, the eldest son of David Haliburton. " The offspring of this marriage was an only daughter, named Elizabeth Haliburton. As this young lady was her father's heir, the Haliburtons resolved that she should marry one of her cousins, to keep her property in the clan. But as this did not suit the views of the abbot, he carried off by force the intended bride, and married her to Alexander Erskine, a brother of the laird of Balgony, a relation and follower of his own. From this marriage sprang the Erskines of Shielfield. This exploit of the abbot revived the feud betwixt him and the Haliburtons, which ended only with the dissolution of the abbey." * Dryburgh was the object of one of the hostile incursions of the English forces on the borders, in 1544, of which the following account is given by Lord Eure: — "Upon Friday the vii of November, at iiij of the cloke at afternoon. Sir Geo. Bowes and his company. Sir Brian Layton and his company, Herry Ewry, Liell Gray, porter, and the garrison of Barwick ; John Carre, captain of Wark, and his company ; Thomas Beamond, Geo. Sowlby, Launcelot Carleton, and their companies, to the number of vii hundreth men, rode into Scotland, upon the water of Tweide, to a town called Drybrough, with an abbay in the same, which was a pratty town, and well buylded ; t and they burnte the same town and abbay, savyng the churche, with a great substance of corne, and gote very moche spoylage and insight geire, and brought away an hundreth nolte, Ix naggs, a hundreth sheipe. And they gave to certane Scotshmen of Tyvidale, laitlie comen in and laid their pledges to serve the king's majestie, who met them at Kelso in their home comynge, xxx*" or xl*" nolte ; and they tarried so longe at the said burnynge and spolaige, that it was Satterday at viii of the cloke at nycht or they com home." t • Hist of the Scot Bard. vol. i. xcii. note, ed. 1821. t In the report printed in Haynks's State Pavers, Lord Eure calls Dryburgh " a market town." t Cotton MSS. Caligi. B. v. 302 HISTORY OF Next year, September 15th, we find the abbot of Dryburgh acting as a feudal chief, and, in company with other chieftains, at the head of their followers, crossing the Tweed into Northumberland, where, having burned the village of Horncliff, with the corn in it, and attempting to do similar damage to other places, they were repulsed with loss by the garrisons of Norham and Berwick, assisted by the warlike inhabitants. * John Stewart was commendator in 1555, as appears by a lease granted by him to Thomas Haliburton and his wife. He was brother to Matthew, Earl of Lennox, and uncle to Lord Darnley, who married Queen Mary. His arms are engraven in the cloister of the abbey, t David Erskine, a natural son of Robert, Lord Erskine, was the next commendator, and is described as " ane exceeding, modest, honest, and shamefast man." t His name appears in the list of the nobility and gentry of Scotland who were associated together, in 1567, to support the government of the regent Earl of Moray. § He and his brother, Adam Erskine, abbot of Cambuskenneth, and prior of Inchmahome, were sub-preceptors, under George Buchanan, to the young King of Scots, in 1570. || Their father, who was killed in the battle of Pinkie-field, in 1547, was the eldest son of John, Earl of Mar, and brother to John, Earl of Mar, who was appointed regent of Scotland in 1571. The lands and revenues of the abbey were annexed to the property of the crown of Scotland in 1587- David Erskine, however, continued to style himself perpetual commendator of Dryburgh in 1580. ^ James VI. granted this abbey, with the abbey of Cambuskenneth, and the priory of Inchmahome, to the lord treasurer, John, Earl of Mar, in 1604, to enable him the better to provide for his six younger sons.** The king afterwards erected Dryburgh into a temporal lordship and peerage, with the title of Lord Cardross, to the same Earl, who made it over to his m * Cotton MSS. Califf. B. v. See above, page 39. ■|- Annals and Antiquities of Dryburgh, by D. E., F. A. S. and R. A. Ed. In Anderson's Life of Smollet, p. 12. Edin. 1806, mention is made of Robert Erskine, commendator of Dryburgh and Inchmahome, in 1531 ; and Chalmers, in his Caledonia, vol. ii. states, that James Stewart, abbot of Dryburgh, was succeeded, in 1541, by Thomas Erskine, who was succeeded by David Erskine. J Hay's Scotia Sacra, MS. § Crawfokd's Lives. II Irving's Life of Buchanan, ^ Caledonia. Annals of Dryburgh, by D. E. *# Crawford, p. 104. THE MONASTERY OF DRYBURGH. 303 third son Henry, ancestor of the Earl of Buchan. The abbey was afterwards sold to John Haliburton of Mertoun, who built a house for himself on the brow of the hill above Dryburgh, which he called Newmains ; whence his family were called Haliburtons of Newmains. From them it was purchased by Colonel Todd, whose heirs sold it to the late David Stewart Erskine, Earl of Buchan, in I786. The Earl, at his death, in 1829, left it to his son. Sir David Erskine, the present proprietor. In a history of Dryburgh abbey, it would be improper to omit the following story, and it would be foolish to attempt to give it in any other than the words of Sir Walter Scott : — Soon after the failure of the last attempt of the house of Stewart to recover the throne of Britain, " an unfortunate female wanderer took up her residence in al dark vault among the ruins of Dryburgh abbey, which, during the day, she never quitted. When night fell, she issued from this miserable habitation, and went to the house of Mr Haliburton of Newmains,* or to that of Mr Erskine of Shielfield, two gentlemen of the neighbourhood. From their charity she obtained such necessaries as she could be prevailed on to accept. At twelve each night, she lighted her candle, and returned to her vault, assuring her friendly neighbours that, during her absence, her habitation was arranged by a spirit, to whom she gave the uncouth name of Fatlips ; describing him as a little man, wearing heavy iron shoes, with which he trampled the clay floor of the vault, to dispel the damps. This circumstance caused her to be regarded, by the well-informed, with compassion, as deranged in her understanding ; and by the vulgar with some degree of terror. The cause of her adopting this extraordinary mode of life she would never explain. It was, however, believed to have been occasioned by a vow, that, during the absence of a man to whom she was attached, she would never look upon the sun. Her lover never returned. He fell during the Civil War of 1745-6, and she never more would behold the light of day. " The vault, or rather dungeon, in which this unfortunate woman lived and died, passes still by the name of the ipupernatural being with which its gloom was tenanted by her disturbed imagination, and few of the neigh- bouring peasants dare enter it." + * The great-grandfather of Sir Walter Scott. t Minst. of the Scot. Bord. vol. iii. 248. 304 HISTORY OF POSSESSIONS AND REVENUES OF DRYBURGH ABBEY. * Dryburgh. King David, by his charter, confirmed to the canons the grant of the church of St Mary at Dryburghe, with the chapels, tithes, offerings, and whatever belonged to it. Bemerside. Peter de Haga, in the time of Alexander II, gave them two oxgangs in Bemerside, with a messuage and garden, and pasture for three cows and twenty sheep ; also, a part of his forest of Flatwood, viz. " Quae incipit ad crucem lapideam sitam in capite dicti nemoris, descendendo per viam quae vocatur Horsmangate, usque ad Mukeforde de Twede, et de Mukeford ascendendo juxta fossam adhaerentem terrae de Driburgh, usque ad magnam viam existentem inter Flatwode et Trepewode, et sic totam illam viam usque ad caput de Horsmangate j cum libero intruitu et exitu cum caritagiis et rebus suis, exceptis terris seminatis, et pratis non falcatis." Mertoun church belonged to the canons before 1221, when it was confirmed to them by Pope Honorius III. Roger de Quinci, Earl of Winchester, in England, and great constable of Scotland, who died in 1200, gave them the whole fishing of the lake of Mertoun. Alexander de Baliol, laird of Cavers, granted them, in 1271, half of the wood of Gladiswood, in the same parish, with half of the woodhead, in feu or copyhold, for forty shillings annually. Brotherstane. Helias gave them some land at his village of Brother- stansyde, extending on the north to the foss called Wattridike, with pasture for a hundred sheep, eight oxen, four cows, and two horses ; also six acres * Compiled chiefly from the MS. Chartulary, called Liber Sanctee Maries de Dryburg, in the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh. THE MONASTERY OF DRYBURGH. 305 of arable land, between Witerig marsh and Blakeburn. Thomas of Brother- stane gave six acres, -with pasture for eighty sheep, four oxen, and one horse. Simon deWardrope, who married the daughter of Helias of Brotherstanesyde, gave eighteen acres which Helias gave him at his marriage. Alan, the son of Helen, sister of Thomas of Brotherstanesyde, gave a toft and croft, and four acres of arable land ; also, ten acres beneath, and other ten above the way leading to Rokesburg. Smalholm. David Olifard gave the canons a ploughgate, and pasture for three hundred sheep in Smalham. Walter de Moray, in 1278, exempted them from multure for their corn grown on the above land, and on their ground at Smalham miln. Nenthorn miln was the gift of Beatrix de Beauchamp. For the tithes thereof the canons paid half a mark yearly to the parish minister. They had also an acre of land in Nenthorn. Ednam. King Malcolm IV. gave them half a ploughgate in Edinham, and two marks annual rent there. They granted this land to the master and congregation of the hospital of St Leonard at Edinham for half a mark and a pound of incense yearly. This rent they afterwards exchanged for some land at Petcorthyn. EccLES. The nuns of Eccles were bound to pay the canons half a mark annually, for a pittance at Christmas, out of the feus due to Thomas of Lessedewyn and his heirs, for the land of Huntrodes, granted to the same nuns. Berwick. They had some land on the south side of the cemetery of the Holy Trinity at Berwick, and five shillings yearly out of some land in Revenysden, near the town. In 1390, when Robert III. suppressed the Cistertian nunnery of South Berwick, on account of the dissolute lives of the nuns, whose number were in future to be reduced to two, he gave their property to the convent at Dryburgh. In 1410, Walter Haliburton of Dirlton consented that the lands in his barony, formerly belonging to the same nuns, should be annexed to the said abbey. Fauns. Patrick, Earl of Dunbar, gave the convent a meadow in Fauns. Adam of Fauns gave them a petary on the southwest side of Kingswell. Sir Adam of Gordon gave another petary. Richard, son to Nicolas of Fauns, gave an acre next the common, on the west side of Southbuttes ; and his sister Ede gave half an acre adjoining. He gave also a turbary and pasture. Earlston. Patrick, Earl of Dunbar, gave them two oxgangs in Ercildon, 2q 306 HISTORY OF with a toft and croft near the way which led up to the cross on the west side of the town, and common pasture for a hundred sheep, twelve oxen, twelve swine, and two horses, with easements ; also Hunter's-land, with common pasture for three hundred sheep, four oxen, and four cows. Alexander, son to Alan Purways, gave a messuage, with toft and croft, in the northeast part of Ercildon ; a husband-land in the same, viz. one oxgang in Hwytfyld, and another in Bromsyde, and, in augmentation, three acres in Quhytlaw, an acre in Pottermeadow, near the Redfurd, and common pasture, &c. Patrick, Earl of March, confirmed this gift of thirty acres in 1333. Elwinesley. Earl Patrick of Dunbar gave Elvinesley, bounded by the hedge which reached up to Duneden, and to Resbrygge, whence it was limited by Malcolmsrode to Styrkerden, and by Styrkerden to the Ledre. He gave them also two and a half acres in Dunbar. Caddisley, with pasture in the forest, was the gift of David I. Walter, the son of Alan, gave the adjacent land of Herdesley. The chapel at Caddisley, and the chapel of St Leonard, both on the west side of the Leder, belonged to the convent. They had one mark yearly out of Birkynside, from Patrick, son to the Earl of Dunbar. Lauder. John Baliol, and Devorgilla his wife, gave them the church of Lauder, upon condition of their maintaining six chaplains to pray for them, and their ancestors and successors. They had an acre in Lauder, called Alrichesscroftys, and an acre of meadow. Thirlstane. Richard Mautaland gave them Houbenthousyde, in Thirlstane, and the land which had been Walter Gilling's, with pasture for four hundred sheep, sixty cows, and twenty horses. They had also the tithes of Thirlstane miln j the lands which had been Simon de Smerdale's ; Oswin's land, with tofts and crofts, and twenty acres in Briggislet ; the land called Croukes, with the two meadows called Langlethes ; and Brumcrok, situated between Croukes and the same meadows. Snawdoun was confirmed to them by John, the son and heir of Robert Mautland. * * It was thus bounded, viz. « Incipiendo sicut Buckslad cadit in rivulum Houbenthow, et sic ascendendo per medium Buckslad versus occidentem, usque ad Rauphysrohd, et transverse versus borealem, inter terras husbandorum de Thirlstane et Clottysyde ; et sic ad Haldford, quod jacet ad occidentalem partem de Clottyside ; et sic de Haldford ascendendo per le Grynegheat, inter Flexwellys et Fauside, et sic ascendendo per illud Grynegheat, quod ducit versus Egrohp, usque ad Stanlaw, apud le Halsakirkheuedis ; et ex transverso versus orientem usque ad Knolestruyth3a- ; et sic per Knolestruythyr usque ad Ryhardheued ; et sic THE MONASTERY OF DRYBURGH. 307 Samsonschelis. Henry, the son of Samson de Logis, gave them a toft and croft in this village, with arable land and meadow by the side of the brook which divided his land from Pilemuir, extending from the stone cross on its margin northwards to Derestrete ; and also the land by the side of the foss, extending from the same stone cross to the road leading to Wenesheud, and thence to Broade Scropirburne, and to the Leder, with pasture for three hundred sheep, sixty cattle, and easements. They had another grant of two crofts and a toft in Samsonchel, with the meadow between Morelaw and Kaldewell ; and the arable land and muir between Morelaw, Kaldewell, Standandstane, and the Leder. William de Burn- castell gave them a meadow called Flayillis in Logis Samson, and a muir, and Lousilawe, and four acres in Flokesflate, for which they were to pay fourpence annually, or a pound of pepper, at Roxburgh fair. OxTON. In 1273, Sir William de Abernethy gave an annualrent of two marks, to be paid out of the miln of Ulkilston, to buy wax for candles to be used in the celebration of mass at Dry burgh. He afterwards gave them the miln itself, with all its profits. Channelkiek. This church was given to the canons by Hugh de Morville. When Henry de Mundevilla built the chapel of Glengelt, in the parish of Childenchirch, he guaranteed the rights and dues of the parish church, and gave the canons of Dryburgh three acres contiguous to the seven acres which they had from his ancestor, Ivo de Veteriponte. John de Sauncler engaged that the rights of the same church should be faithfully preserved when he built a chapel at Carfrae, and another at Herdmanston ; and he gave the canons two acres in Herdmanston, adjacent to their land in Saulton. The hospital at Soltre had a ploughgate, called Futhewetheris, at Wedale ford, in Childenchirch, for the tithes of which the canons agreed to accept a pound of pepper, and a pound of cumin, annually, at Roxburgh fair, as long as it should be cultivated for the proper use of the hospital. Saulton. Hugh de Morville gave them the church of Sawelton. John of Saulton, and A^es his spouse, gave to the church of St Michael at Saulton, and the canons of Dryburgh, its rectors, five acres near the east side of the cross. John Burgulum gave four acres on the north side of Langlees, with common pasture and easements. Henry Stylle gave per Ryhardheued, usque ad altam viara quae ducit de Egroph usque ad Snawdoun ; et sic de alta via ilia per Houbenthouside usque ad Standandstane ; et sic descendendo usque in rivulum de Houbenthow, et sic ad Buckslad ubi cadit in Houbenthow." 308 HISTORY OF them an acre and four rodfalls. William de Abernethy, the laird of Saulton, gave them a messuage, a brewery, seven acres of arable land, pasture for twelve cattle, and fuel in the muir sufficient for one husbandman. John GifFard, laird of Yester, gave them half a mark yearly, out of the town of Bothans. Alexander de St Martin gave them Langlaw. Pencaithland. The patronage of this church was granted by Lady Catherine Stewart of Cardross, before 1376. DiRLETON. Sir William de Wallibus * gave them the church of Golyn,t upon the condition of their finding two canons to say mass for the soul of his lord, King William, in the chauntry of St Nicholas, in the isle of Elbottle. He gave them also Stanyaere, consisting of twenty acres and a half on the northeast side of the old castle of Elbottle, with pasture for three hundred sheep, and twenty-two cattle, and easements in common with the villagers of Elbottle and Dirleton. John de Wallibus, laird of Dirleton, gave the convent two crofts in Golyn, and a meadow. For the privilege of having a chapel at Dirleton, he paid a stone of wax yearly to the mother church of Golyn, to which the said chapel paid also a pound of frankincense yearly. The nuns of South Berwick resigned their claim to the patronage of Golyn church to the canons, in 1221. Alexander de Vallibus, in consideration of the danger of the times, released them from their obligation to say mass at Elbotle, on condition of their causing the same service to be performed for ever by one canon at Stodfald, and another at Dryburgh, for the souls of his ancestors and successors. Crail, in Fife. King David gave them a habitation in his burgh of Caruile, with three roods of ground. KiLRENNY. The Countess Ada, mother of Malcolm IV. and King William, gave the canons the church of Kilrenny. The canons claimed half of the dues paid by persons fishing in boats in the river which divided Kilrenny from the parish of Anstruther, belonging to the monastery in the isle of May. The monks of May disputed this right ; and it was settled, in 1225, that they should pay the canons one mark yearly for the same. Margaret of Ardrosse, the wife of Hugh de Perisby, gave them the land of Innergelly in 1281. * The old Latin form of the names Vaux and Wallace. f Now called Gulan, or Goolan. THE MONASTERY OF DRYBURGH. 309 Anstruther. Henry, laird of Aynestruther, gave them three shops* in the east side of this town, with a messuage and garden, and some pasture. Roxburgh. King David confirmed to them a toft without the west gate of this town, and some ground within the wall of the same, with freedom from taxes and customs therein. King William gave them twenty shillings yearly out of the revenues of the same burgh. Beatrix de Beauchamp gave them some land there. Robert de Boneire gave the canons half of the land which was Edolph's, the miller, in Heuedegate, t for which they were to pay to the nuns of Redesdale fivepence yearly. They had seven shillings and sixpence yearly out of a burgage in the north side of King Street, opposite the church of the Holy Sepulchre, between the Blachall, on the east, and the property of Peter of Old Roxburgh, on the west. Sir William Felton, sheriff of Roxburgh, gave them this burgage entirely, in 1338. Hetoun. Philip de Colville gave them two oxgangs of land in Hetoun. Maxton. In 1200, the canons yielded the claim they had to the church of Maxton to Sir Hugh de Normanville, for which he gave them half a ploughgate of land in Newtoun, on the west side of Derestrete. Walter, the steward of Scotland, father of Robert II, granted them the same church, with the glebe, to which he added four acres in Lonecrofts. They were to pay the vicar ten pounds yearly, according to the statute of the council of Scotland. Lessudden. The church of Lessedwyne was granted by Richard de Loudonia, with tofts, an orchard land, and a meadow. In 1252, the convent of Melros agreed to pay the canons half a mark yearly at Roxburgh fair, instead of the tithes of their land in this parish. Ellistown. John, the son of Yliff, gave them ten acres in Ylistoun, viz. two on the east side of the brook which ran under his garden, five in Rokflat, and three in Greenrig. He made them another grant of a toft and two acres, and an acre in Greenside, on the east of Hairstanes. They acquired also some land in Ylistoun by purchase. Newtoun. Ada, the daughter of Hugh de Morville, give them the tenths of the miln of Newtoun. Isabella de Merlintoun, the wife of * « Bothas." f i. e. Headgate. The above appears to be the true reading of the name which Chalmers, in his valuable work, calls Senedegate. 310 HISTORY OF William de Bosvill, gave them an acre in Brokislawe, in the same territory. They had the chapel of Newtoun, hut it was claimed by the canons of Jedburgh, and afterwards yielded to them. Etterick. They had the patronage of the church of St Mary, in Etterick forest, in the time of David II. Lanark. David I. granted to the convent the church of St Kentigern of Lanark, with the chapel of Glegern,* which he annexed thereto. He gave them, likewise, the chapel of Pedynane,t the grange of Imbirston, or Inglebriston, the whole parish of Nemphlar and Carteland, with the tithes of all his cattle in the same villages. Alexander, the rector of Cowanistoun, t gave up to them his right to the tithes of Clouburn. GiFFEN, in Ayrshire. Alexander de Nenham gave the canons that half ploughgate of land at Triern, in the territory of Giffyn, in Cunningham, upon which the chapel of St Bridget was situated, and which lay along the side of the brook which runs down from Starwele to Triernburn, and is bounded also by the brook which runs down from St Bridget's well, with pasture and easements, in exchange for four oxgangs, given them by his father William, and his brother Richard. Alan, the son of Roland, the constable of Scotland, confirmed this agreement. The convent granted this land to Alan's chaplain for four shillings yearly, to be paid at Roxburgh fair, and to his heirs and assigns for half a mark yearly. SoRBY, in Wigtonshire. The church, and the land Lesser of Sowerby, was the gift of Robert de Veteriponte. In 1280, the prior and convent of Candida Casa,§ agreed to pay twenty marks for the fruits, revenues, and dues of the churches of Sowrby and Kirkfolan, of which the abbot and convent of Dryburgh had appointed them procurators. Hugh de Morville gave them the church of Woegis, || in Galwey ; and his wife Beatrix gave them the church of Bosjeth. Walter, bishop of Galloway, who died in 1335, gave the convent the church of Sembry ; and Bishop Gilbert, his successor, gave them the church of Vogrie. ^ King David exempted them from paying toll and customs, and gave * Cleghom. f Pettinain, — in the confirmatory charter of King David, it is called a church. X Covington. § Whitehorn. II Borgue, in Kirkcudbrightshire. ^ Keith's Catahgvie of Scotish Bishops. THE MONASTERY OF DRYBURGH. 311 them a right to take timber from his woods, for their buildings, and other uses. In 124)2, the bishop of St Andrews, in consideration of the charity of the canons, and the debts they had incurred in building their monastery, and other expenses, gave them permission to enjoy the revenues of the churches under their patronage, within his diocese, one of their number, approved by him, performing the office of a vicar in each parish. In 1561, the revenues of Dryburgh abbey were estimated as follows : — Money, £912, 3s. 4d. Wheat, 2 chalders. Bear, 21 chald. 8 bolls. Meal, 25 chald. 12 bolls. Oats, 4 chald. " This was paid out of the temporal lands of Dryburgh town and milns ; Gleddiswood ; St John's chapel at Caddislee j Fouldane ; the lands of Ynglisberry grange, belonging to the Lord Somerville ; Smailholme Spital, &c. The kirks of Smailholme, Mertoun, Maxtoune, Lawder, Chennilkirk, Lessudden, Saltoune, Pencaithland, Kilrennie, Lanerk, and Gulane, with the teynds of Pitcairnie, East Fentoune, and Kingstoune." * In 1 567, a new order was issued from the crown, commanding the pay- ment of the third part of the revenues of all ecclesiastical benefices within the kingdom, for the maintenance of the ministers of the reformed church.f The third of the abbey of Dryburgh, in 1576, amounted to,— Money, £304. Wheat, 10^ bolls. Bear, 8 chald. 2^ bolls. Meal, 7 chald. 10^ bolls. Oats, 1 chald. 5^ bolls, t In 1587, the king's third of this abbey was £266, 13s. 4d.1: * MS. Harl. 4623. vol. ii. t ^'^^ ^f*^ Parliament of Scotland. X MS. ^aW. 4612. 312 HISTORY OF CARTA DAVIDIS REGIS DE DOTATIONE COENOBII DE DRYBRUGHE. David, Rex Scottorum, Episcopis, Abbatibus, Comitibus, Justiciariis, Baronibus, Vicecomitibus, Ministris, et omnibus hominibus totius terrae suae, Francis, Anglis, et Scottis, et Gallowidensibus, salutem : Sciant tam posteri quam prsesentes, me concessisse, et dedisse, et hac mea carta con- firmasse ecclesiae S. Mariae de Drybrughe, quam fundavi, et fratribus canonicis ibidem Deo servientibus, pro salute animae meae, et pro salute animarum praedecessorum et successorum meorum, ad tenendum de me et haeredibus meis, in liberam et perpetuam elemosinam, Ecclesiam de Dry- brughe, cum capellis, decimis, oblationibus, et omnimodis pertinentiis suis ; Ecclesiam de Lanark, cum terris et decimis, et omnibus rebus ad illam juste pertinentibus : Et Ecclesiam de Pedynane, cum omnibus suis perti- nentiis : Et in eadem villa illam carucatam terrae quam Nicholaus, Clericus mens, de me habuit et tenuit ; ita quietas, et liberas ab omni seculari exactione et consuetudine, eisdem fratribus perpetuo possidendas, sicut aliqua alia Ecclesia vel Ecclesiae terrae meae Elemosinas suas melius et quietius tenent et possident ; ita tamen quod in Ecclesiis illis officium divinum honeste fiat. Dedi iis insuper landam illam qui vocatur Caddys- LEYA, cum pastura infra forestam meam, pro salute animae Henrici filii mei, in liberam et perpetuam elemosinam ; et unam maneriam in burgo meo de Caruile iis dedi, cum tribus rudis terrae ad illam pertinentibus. Dedi dictis fratribus, et eis confirmavi, illam terram, et omnia ad eam pertinentia, quam Beatrix de Bello Campo de Rogero Janitore emit, et iis in liberam et perpetuam elemosinam dedit. Et illud etiam toftum extra portam occiden- talem de Rogesbrughe, quod Johannis Capellani fuit, ita liberum et quietum eis concede, sicut carta Henrici Comitis, filii mei, iis donatum et confirma- tum [^concessit.] Concedo etiam et confirmo iis, illam terram quae est THE MONASTERY OF DRYBURGH. 313 intra murum ejusdem portse, quam Ada Capellanus meus iis concessit, et in liberam et perpetuam elemosinam dedit, cum eadem libertate quam eidem Adse concesseram ; scil. ut nuUus, super plenarium forisfactum meum, de ilia terra censum, aut aliquam omnino consuetudinem, quando in burgo advenerit, praesumat exigere. Preeterea, praefatis fratribus con- cede ut liceat iis in nemoribus meis accipere ea quae necessaria habuerint in usibus suis et aedificiis, ita ut nuUus eos injuste disturbet ; et ut sint liberi et quieti in omni regno meo de Teloneo, et omnibus secularibus exactionibus et consuetudinibus, sicut aliqui viri religiosi in tota terra mea liberiores inveniuntur ; viz. quantum ad se, et propria catalla sua. Volo itaque et praecipio, ut prsedicta domus prsenominatas elemosinas, dona- tiones, et libertates, ita libere, quiete, et honorifice, teneat et possideat, sicut aliqua ecclesia in omni regno meo liberius et quietius tenet et possidet. Testibus ; Henrico Comite, filio meo ; Ada, Comitissa sua ; Valtero, Cancellario ; Duncano, Comite ; Hugone de Morvilla ; Valtero de Lindesei ; Roberto Avenell ; Waltero Ridell ; Herberto, Camerario ; Nicholao, Clerico ; Aluino, filio Arkill ; Even, Mariscallo ; Gillecolme ; Mackthum pethin ; Mackbeth ; Macktorphrin ; Mevin, filio Colbani. 4- Ego Robertus, S. Andrese Episcopus, confirmo. H- Ego Gregorius, Dunkeldensis Episcopus, confirmo. + Ego Andreas, Katenensis Episcopus, confirmo. 2 R 314 HISTORY OF TAXT ROLL OF THE ABBACY OF DRYBURGH. In ane court holden at Dryburgh be the Earle of Home, heritable, baillie of the said lordship, anno 1630, John Earle of Marr lord of the erection. Each pound land of free rent being taxed to 5d. 1 farthing- and ^ farthing for relieffe of the L.688, 17s. 9d. laid on the haill abbacy. Dame Margaret Bannatyne, for the convent yards, worth L.20, free rent. Earle of Marr, for Inglisberrie grange, worth L. 224, free. The said Dame Margaret Bannatyne, for the free rent paid by the fewars and tacksmen of the teynds of the said lordship, worth 1 chald. 12 bolls wheat ; 9 chald. 8 bolls bear ; 13 chald. 8 bolls meall ; 3 chald. 8 bolls oats. Whereof defeased for the minister's stipend, 3 chald. bear, 6 chald. meall. So rests at L.80 per chalder, L.1540. Whereof defeased forblensh duty to the king's majestie, L.150. Of contribution to the lords of session, L.39, 10s. So rests of free rent, L.1350, 10s. Haliburton, for his kirklands of Mertoun and Bausthacott, worth L.466, 13s. 4d. free. Haliburton, for ane husbandland in Mertoun, worth L.60, free. Erskin, for his lands of Dryburgh and Nether Sheiffield, worth L.200, free. Haliburton, for his lands and milne of Dryburgh, worth 700 merks, free. Wilson, for his aikers and yards in Dryburgh, worth 250 merks, free- Home, Kirkton, and others, for their lands in Dryburgh, with the Cobill, and fishing on the Tweed, worth, free, 700 merks. Hog, for his aikers and yards in Dryburgh, worth, free, L.66, 13s. 4d. Haliburton, for his lands in Mertoun, worth L.40, free. Leckie, for his lands, worth L.40, free. Milne, for his lands, worth L.30, free. Greinfield, for his lands, worth L.14, 13s. 4d. THE MONASTERY OF DRYBURGH. 315 Gladstains and Rutherford, for ane husband land in Smaillholme, worth L.45, 13s. 4d, Burne, in Ersiltoun, for Lidderdale's husband-land in Ersiltoun, worth L.20, free. Harte, advocat, for St John's chappel, worth L. 400, free. Hart, for Coldslie, worth L.80, free. Riddel, for Langtoun, worth L.66, 13s. 4d. Wright, for his lands of Gledswood, worth L.333, 6s. 8d. Sudden, for his aikers and lands in Dryburgh, worth L. 20. Home and others, for their kirklands in Lawder, worth L.400. Earle of Haddington, for Banglaw, worth L.189, 17s- 6d. Elphingston, for Brangeswalls, worth L.190. Nasmith, for Broderstanes, and Constable meadow, worth 100 merks. Cairncrose of Colmslie, for Smaillholme Spittel, worth 500 merks. Ker, lady Greinheid, for Doggerflatt, worth 100 merks. Douglas of Ively, for Iv^ely, worth L. 300. Ramsay, for his lands of Nunland, worth 100 merks. Hardy and others, for the two quarters of Caidsley and Haggs, worth L.160. Cranston of Morieston, for ane quarter of the saids lands, worth L.80. Home, for over Sheiffield, worth 10 merks. Bothwell, for the kirklands of Lessudden, and the teynds thereof, worth L.200. Riddell, of St Boswell, for ane pairt of the saids kirklands, worth L. 100. David, master of Cardross, &c. for a pairt of the kirk of Lessudden, worth L.40. Idem, for the kirkland of Maxton with the teynds, worth L.153, 6s. 8d. Idem, for his pairt of the kirklands of Maxton, worth L.53, 6s. 8d. Tod, wryter, his aikers in Dirlton, called MoUesburn, worth 100 merks. Hepburn, for his lands in Kingston, worth 400 merks. Home, for his viccar lands in Gulan, worth 1 chalder victuall. Congilton, in Dirlton, for ane aiker and ane house there, worth 2 bolls vict. Home of Law, for his lands of Elbottle, worth L.IOO. Sir Michael Preston, for Ms lands of Fenton-Barns, worth 5 chald. 10 bolls vict. 316 HISTORY OF Sir John Scott of Scotistarvett, for his twa pairt of the lands of Pitcorthie, worth 2 chald. 5 bolls \ victuall. Sir John Preston of Airdrie, for the 4)th pairt of Innergelly, worth 5 chald. vict. Lindsay of Covington, for 2 merks land in the tounheid of Inglisberry, worth L.40. Traill, for Anstruther, for 3 aikers, worth L.40. Lawson of Humbie, for his kirkland of Ginglekirk, worth 200 raerks. SPIRITUALITY. Lockhart of Lee, for his teynds of Lee, worth 5 chald. 3 bolls victuall. Earle of Marr, for his pairt of the teynds of the outkirk of Lanerk, forby Lee, worth of free rent 5 chald. 9 bolls and 1 peck victuall. Blair, for his teynds of Braxfield, worth 15 bolls. Kennedy, his teynds of Auchinglen, and pairt of the outkirk, worth * * * Lockhart, for the teynds of ane 25 sh. land of West Nymphar, worth 6 bolls 2 furlots. Allan, for the teynds of another 25 sh. land there, and 1 merk land of Corsfuird, worth 9 bolls, 3 furlots, 1 peck. Cunninghame of Cunninghame, held tacksman of the teynd sheaves of East Nymphar, worth 3 chald. 4 bolls, 1 furlot victual. Carmichael of Westraw, his teynd sheaves of Beat-houss, Beat-houss-milne, Beat-haugh, Overcorsfuird, Birk-hill, and Byre-hill, worth 2 chald. 1 boll, 2 furlots, 2 pecks vict. Dick, his teynd sheaves of ane 50 sh. land in West Nymphar, worth 13 bolls. Earle of Angus, for his teynds of the In-kirk of Lanerk, worth 8 chald. free. Cockburn of Ormistoun, for the teynds of Paistoun, worth 6 chald. M'Gill of Cranston Riddel, for the teynd sheaves of Nisbitt, worth 3 chald. Sinclair, for his teynds of West-lee Pencaithland, worth 6 chald. vict. Belshes of that ilk, for the teynds of Belshes, worth 12 bolls vict. THE MONASTERY OF DRYBURGH. 317 Richardson, for his teynds of Pencaithland, worth 6 chald. vict. Forbes of Graigivar, for his haill teynds of the kirk of Saltoun, worth 13 chald. vict. free. Pringle, wryter, for the kirklands of Pencaithland, worth 12 bolls. Maxwell, for the teynds of the kirk of GuUan, comprehending the teynds of nine husband-lands in Middle-Fenton, and Congilton, Eist-Fenton, (except that pairt called the Mayns) Barns, Kingston, worth 40 chald. vict. free. Thomas, Earle of Haddington, for his teynd sheaves of Lessudden. The tack duty equal therewith. Earle of Lauderdale, for the personadgie teynds of the haill kirk of Lauder, worth, free rent, 3300 merks. Master of Cardross, for his viccarage teynds of the haill kirk of Lauder, L.766, 13s. 4d. Note, 3 pairts of this viccarage belongs to the Earl of Lauderdale. Sir John Preston of Airdrie, for his teynds of Kilrynnie kirk, worth 43 chald. vict. payes to the minister, L.400. Communion eleme.nts, L.6O. Rests free, L.2953, 6s. 8d. at L.80 per chald. Mr John Cheisley, for his teynds of the kirke of Pettinain, worth 4 chald. free. Cranston of Morieston, for his teynds of the half of Ginglekirk, worth L.500, free. Earl of Marr, for his teynds of the other half, worth L.633, 15s. 8d. Lord Traquhair, for his teynds of Rutherfuird, worth, free, L.583, 6s. 8d. Dame Margaret Bannatyne, for the teynd sheaves of Maxton, and Littledene, which pertained before to Sir John Ker, of Jedburgh, worth 4 chald. vict. free. Earl of Haddington, for the teynd sheaves of Keamston, and temple-lands of Lessudden, worth 100 merks, free. Laird of Greinheid, for the teynds of Iliestoun, worth L.lOO, free. Pringle of Fairns, for his teynds of Southside of Newtoun, worth L.40, free. Earle of Marr, and Ker of Dalcove, for the teynd sheaves of Dalcove, worth 200 merks, free. Earle of Marr, and Haig, for the teynd sheaves of Bemersyde, worth L.lOO. 318 HISTORY OF THE MONASTERY OF DRYBURGH. Earle of Marr, and Kerr of Siddes, for the teynd sheaves of Broderstains, worth L. 100, free. Home of Hirsell, and Mitchelson, for the teynds of the lands of Smaill- bolme, worth 100 merks, free. Hunter, for the teynds of Wrangholme, L.40, free. Earle of Haddington, for his teynds pease and beanes of Lessudden, worth L. 100, free. Dame Margaret Bannatyne, for the teynds pease and beans of Maxton, Littledean, and Rutherfuird, worth L.166, ISs. 4d. free. Earle of Marr, and Haliburton, for the teynd pease and beans of Mertoun, worth L.53, 6s.. 8d. Dickson in Dryburgh, for his teynd sheaves of Mertoun, worth L. 100, free. Naesmith of Posso, for his teynds of Whytrig, worth 40 merks, free. Home, in Redpeth, &c. for their teynd pease and beans of Eliestoun, Camestoun, Mosspople, and Southsyde of Newtoun, worth L.48. HOSPITALS, AND OTHER RELIGIOUS HOUSES. Besides the four greater monasteries, there were, in the district of Teviotdale, in ancient times, several hospitals, friaries, and other religious houses of minor importance. The friary of Observantines at Jedburgh, and the hospitals at Rutherford and Hassendean have already been noticed. * Roxburgh Friary. On the banks of the Teviot, under the walls of Roxburgh, stood a monastery of Franciscans, usually called Gray Friars, from their dress, or Minor Friars, from their affected humility. Their church, an arch of which was standing within the memory of persons yet alive, was dedicated in honour of St Peter ; and their cemetery was dedicated, on the 4th of May, 1235, by William de Bondington, bishop of Glasgow, in presence of Herbert, abbot of Kelso, and Martin, warden of the Minor Friars in Scotland. It was stipulated, that none should be buried there but persons belonging to their order ; to protect the rights and dues of the monks of Kelso, the ground between the ditches of Roxburgh, and the rivers Tweed and Teviot, being under the spiritual jurisdiction of the abbey.t This house was subject to the friary at Newcastle, and was probably the first of the kind in the country, as we are informed, by the Melros Chronicle, that the Minor Friars came first into Scotland in 1231. Adam Blunt, the warden, or superior, of this house, was sent by John Baliol, on the 4th of April, 1296, to Edward I. at Berwick, to hear his complaints of that monarch's unjust encroachments upon the liberties of Scotland, and to renounce his supe- riority. We learn that this warden was a celebrated lecturer on theology, * Pages 20, 53, and 218. 't Cha^- Kel. 152, v. 320 HOSPITALS, AND OTHER and that he wrote, 1. Pro rege Joanne. 2. Summarium Sententiarum. 3. Condones et Lecturce* King Edward lodged at this friary, on Monday, the 14th of May, 1296, and the next day Roxburgh castle was yielded to him, where he abode fourteen days.t This house was frequently a place of meeting for the ambassadors of the two countries. In 1367, the negotiations begun at Morehouslaw on the first of September, were carried on and concluded here on the three following days. J The religious of this order were not allowed to possess any property, except the ground on which their house stood ; but we find they had a pension from the town of Roxburgh, and fishings in the river. § " The Freers near Kelso," was one of the numerous places burned by the English during the Earl of Hertford's invasion, in September, 1545. || After the Reformation, the buildings and site of this convent were granted to the Earl of Roxburghe, who, from that time, made it his occasional residence ; and here the Earl of Lauderdale, the king's high commissioner, was entertained, on the 8th of October, 1669, on his progress to Edinburgh to hold the parliament. He was attended to this place by the noblemen and gentlemen of Teviotdale and the Mers, with their followers, computed to amount to the number of two thousand horsemen.^ There is now only a small farm-house on the site. Maison-Dieu. In a retired spot, on the opposite side of the river, about a mile from Kelso, is the small hamlet of Maison-Dieu, where, from an early period, there existed a hospital, or asylum, for pilgrims, and for the diseased and poor. On the spot, which was once its garden, daffodils and primroses still continue to spring up annually. David I. gave a ploughgate. of land, in Ravendene, to the hospital of Rochesburg. In 1296, Nicol, the chaplain of the Maison-Dieu of Roxburgh, took the oath of allegiance to Edward I, and had the property of the hospital restored. In 1319, Edward II. gave the wardenship of the hospital of St Mary Magdalene of Rokes- burg to John de Oxonia. Robert II. gave the chaplaincy of the same * Dempst, Hist. Eccl. Gen. Sco. f Cotton MSS. Ve^. c. xvi. fol. 90. X Rymer. 5 Rotvli Scotia, 1296-7, Feb. 7. Harl. MSS. 4134. II Haynes's State Papers. f London Gazette, Oct. 14, 1669. RELIGIOUS HOUSES. 321 to Robert Archebald in 1388. James IV. gave the patronage of the same Maison-Dieu to Walter Ker of Cesford in 1488.* There was also a hospital, called Maison-dieu, at Jedburgh, the master of which submitted to Edward I. in 1296. Nesbit Spital, in the parish of Crailing, was the site of an hospital ; and at each of the places named Spital, in the parishes of Smalholm, Ednam, and Cavers, houses of charity, of this kind, were situated. In the parish of Ancrum, some vestiges of ruins, called the Maltan Walls, mark the site of a hospital, or preceptory, of the Knights of St John of Jerusalem. At Newstead, near Melros, is a place called the Red Abbey Stead, which is supposed by Milne t to have been the site of a house belonging to the Knights Templars ; but of this there is no evidence. Charterhouse, in the parish of Mackerston, appears to have been the abode of a small society of Carthusians, who were governed by a prioir. They possessed half of the Midtown and Mains of Sprouston. t * Statist. Ace. of Scotland, vol. x. Haig's Hist, of Kelso. Chart. Kel. 150, r. Rymer. Reg. Mag. Sig. Harl. MSS. 4134. ■j- Desc. of Melros. X See above, page 173. The old house and grounds of Charterhouse were the habitation and property of the author's forefathers till about the end of the seventeenth centurjf. 2 S 338 DESCRIPTION OF THE RUINS OF DESCRIPTION OF THE RUINS OF DRYBURGH ABBEY, BY GEORGE SMITH, ARCHITECT. These venerable ruins stand on the north bank of the Tweed, by which they are almost surrounded, and are backed by hills covered with woods of the richest foliage. The abbey, as well as the modern mansion-house of the proprietor, is completely embosomed in wood. Around this sylvan spot the Tweed winds in a beautiful crescent form ; and the scene is interesting to a degree, embracing both wood and water, mountain and rock scenery, by which the picturesque ruins of the abbey are surrounded. The variety of the forms is very striking, and the whole scene gives rise to the most pleasing sentiments of religious tranquillity. The ruins of Dryburgh abbey are so overgrown by foliage, that it was with great difficulty we could take accurate dimensions of them. Every where you behold the usurpation of nature over art. In one roofless apartment a fine spruce and holly are to be seen flourishing in the rubbish ; in others the walls are completely covered with ivy ; and even on the top of some of the arches, trees have sprung up to a considerable growth, and there clustering with the aspiring pinnacles, add character to the Gothic pile. These aged trees on the summit of the walls, are the surest records we have of the antiquity of its destruction. The beauty of this ruined abbey is not, like those of Kelso and Jedburgh, injured by being in part surrounded by common dwellings. It is placed in an open lawn, environed with plantations of fruit and forest trees, which throw a rural simplicity around it. The ruins, as they now stand, are carefiiUy preserved from wanton destruction by the present proprietor, Sir David Erskine. DRYBURGH ABBEY. 323 This abbey is said to have been founded in the year 1150, being in the Norman era of British architecture, by Hugh de Morville, Lord of Lauderdale, a powerful Norman baron, who obtained a royal charter from David I, who likewise contributed to the monastery. From a minute inspection of the ruins, we are led to believe, that there are portions of the work of a much earlier date ; the arch being the distinctive feature of all structures of the middle ages, as the column was of those of classic antiquity j and among these ruins we observed no fewer than four distinct styles of arches, — namely, the massive Roman arch, with its square sides; the imposing deep splayed Saxon ; the pillared and intersected Norman ; and last, the early English Gothic arch. These not only differ in design, but in the quality of the materials, and in the execution. The chapter-house, and abbot's parlour, with the contiguous domestic dwellings of the monks, we consider are of much greater antiquity than the church. From an inspection of the ruins of the church, we suspect it had never been wholly repaired after its destruction in 1322 ; and Sir David Erskine informed us, that, in clearing out the rubbish, masses of melted lead and vitrified glass were found in the area of the church. From the 'remains of the church, (see plate XVIII.) it will be seen that it was in the form of a cross, divided, in the breadth, into three parts, by two colonnaded arcades ; the cross, or transepts, and choir, had all been short ; a part of the north transept, still standing, is called St Mary's aisle ; it is of beautiful early English Gothic work ; but the western door to the church is a fine Norman arch, highly enriched with the characteristic mouldings of that style. The stone is of a gray pinkish colour ; it is a very hard sandstone, and the mouldings are still very sharp. Their having stood for centuries without decomposing, is a sure proof that, even in such remote times, the quality of the building material had been attended to, by the architects of these monkish piles. There is a singular diversity of levels in this monastery, which is not to be found in either of the others. The church, the cloisters, and the chapter-house, and other apartments in the south side, are all on different levels. The church, which lies along the north side, is on the highest level ; it requires ten steps to get down to the level of the cloisters, and as many more to get down to the level of the chapter-house. 324 RUINS OF DRYBURGH ABBEY. This monastery is a complete ruin. Nothing is now entire but the chapter-house, St Moden's Chapel, and the adjoining passages ; these have all vaulted roofs, as denoted by the crossed lines in the plan. The chapter-house is forty-seven feet long, by twenty-three broad, and twenty high. At the east end there are five early English Gothic windows, and at the west end, there is a large circular-headed centre window, and a small one at each side of it. The inside of the hall is ornamented by a series of intersected arches. To illustrate the styles of ancient architecture displayed in the abbeys of Teviotdale, it is absolutely necessary to compare the one with the other, from the varieties of which the student will derive much useful information. Monastic^ Aruuzls of Tevwtkia/e Fl^te^ J2Z. Seal, of tke Momstery of Kdso 1292 \{ c tJi^'^ S>M of aV Monastery of Drybjjr^h 1404 Seal of Re<7inald of Melrose 1392 Seal of the Abbot of Pryhurok 1290 Seal of John Morel Abbot of Jedburgh 1292 Seal of tJte Monastery of Kelso 1223 SeM of rM Abbot of Drybw^h Seal of the. Abbot of Kdso JS ®ir ffMl SfflAJLS