Columbia ©nitJeisftp intl)e€itp0f35mig0rk THE LIBRARIES -^. <^^ t( t,^^ Ci^Wt..^ \^K BOEDER MEMOEIES. BORDER MEMORIES; OR, SKETCHES OF PEOMINENT MEN AND WOMEN OF THE BORDER. BY THE LATE AVALTER RIDDELL CARRE, Esq. OF CAVERS CARKE. Edited by JAMES TAIT, OF THE "KELSO CHROXirLE." EDINBURGH : JAMES THIN, SOUTH BRIDGE. LONDON : SIMPKIN, MARSHALL & CO. 1 8 7 G. .7 ■' •., NOC" PREFACE, Previous to his decease in 1874, the late Mr Walter Eiddell Carre had acquired a high reputation for his knowledge of Border men and women who had any claim to historical notice. During a succession of winters his lectures were heard with interest and appreciation in many Border towns and villages, as well as occasionally in Edinburgh. In the newspapers, instead of the brief paragraph usually accorded to popular lectures, the productions of Mr Eiddell Carre were always reported more or less fully, and the reports were perused with pleasure by a wide circle of readers. His speeches delivered at meetings of the Edinburgh Border Counties Association were always carefully prepared, and in them, as well as in communications to newspapers, he was often bringing to light some new information regarding Border celebrities of a past generation. With him it was a labour of love to collect from scattered sources, and place in a compact form before a poj^ular audi- ence, whatever was most characteristic of old Border worthies ; and in these pleasant avocations he was engaged when suddenly the strong frame was prostrated with disease, and death ensued after a very short and painful illness. VI PREFACE. A desire was very generally expressed to have the lectures of Mr Riddell Carre, or the substance of them, in a permanent form; and, as they were, in general, fully -written, it was easy to gratify the wishes of his many friends. In preparing the lectures for the press, considerable changes have been made, while the general style and structure of the com- position has, as far as possible, been retained. Colloquial expressions have been partly expunged, but it was considered desirable to retain in some measure the lecture form, and not altogether to exclude the free-and-easy mode of expression which is more adapted to spoken than to written discourse. Alterations in style have been made occasionally where it could be done with obvious advantage, but these changes have been made only to a limited extent, as it was thought desirable to present the author's works as nearly as possible in the form given them by himself. Though it has been a general rule to interfere as little as possible with the text, it has in some parts been condensed, and in others expanded. The portion regarding Wat of Harden, and the Mertoun Scotts has been considerably extended, and other parts have been re-written ; but gene- rally, what additional matter was considered desirable, has been put in the form of foot-notes. "When one person has been noticed in different lectures, only one of the references has been retained, but supplemented from the others where that seemed to be needful. When one individual has been sketched under more than one heading, the different portions have generally been conjoined, as that seemed to give the subject greater unity. PREFACE. Vll The field traversed is extensive, and the notices are conse- quently brief in each individual instance ; but there will^lje found a great amount of information collected from many different sources, and relating to families who have long held a prominent position in the Border land. HiGHRiDGE Hall, Kelso, September 1876. CONTENTS. THE DOUGLAS FAMILY, Page 1 Its ancient ancestry — Chalmers' opinion of its origin — Theobald its founder — Hume of Godscroft's theory as to the lineage — Sholto the Douglas — His services rewarded by King Solvatius of the Scots — Sholto's descendants — William of Douglas and Sir William Wallace — William succeeds his brother Hugh, and becomes the ancestor of the Douglases of Dalkeith, Maines, and Lochleven — Uncertainty as to the correct theory of the lineage— Sir James, the founder. of the family's greatness — Edward I. deprives him of his estate — Douglas recovers his property while in the service of King Robert the Bruce — Sir James' capture of Roxburgh and Berwick^The Douglas Tragedy — Bruce's commission to Douglas — The latter's journey with the casquet and the heart — Douglas' death — The armorial bearings of the Douglas — The gi'ave of the Douglas — The story of Castle Dangerous — The succession of Hugh and Archibald— Death of Archibald, Regent of Scotland — Sir William, the Flower of Chivalry — His imprisonment in England — His release and subsequent success in defeating the English, recovering Teviotdale, and recapturing Edinburgh Castle— Sir William's barbarous treatment of Su' Alexander Ramsay — The Black Douglas (Sir William) natural son of Archibald, Lord of GaUoway — The Earls of Douglas — Archibald, son of the second Earl, ancestor of the Douglases of Cavers — The Douglases of Springwood Park — The Douglases of Adderston, descendants of Cavers — William, founder of the House of Queensberry — Ai'chibald, the Grim, son of William the third Earl — Murder of the prospective sixth Earl by his brother David — The eighth Earl and his brother raised to the peerage — Ai'chibald made Earl Murray, Hugh Earl Ormond, and John Lord Balveny — The for- feiture of the Douglas estates — Grants of the forfeited estates to the Earl of Angus, to Sir Walter Scott of Buccleuch, and to his son David. — The Earls of Angus — The succession from George, son of the first Earl — The Marquises of Douglas —The assumption of the title of Douglas by Mr Stewart in 1771 — The ancestors ;of the present Countess of Home — The four Baron Douglases. — The Queensberry Branch — William the founder of this branch — -lames the second Earl and first Duke of Queens ■ berry — His second son created Earl of ]\Iarch — The lineage — Marquisatc CONTENTS. of Queensberry — The Morton Branch — Sir James Douglas of London, originator of this branch — The first Earl of Morton created in 1457, also Lord of Dalkeith — The Morton succession — Di^dnes of note among the Douglases — Noted Douglas Ladies. THE SCOTT FAMILY, Page 46 Uchtred Filius Scoti, founder of the House of Scott — Sui^jjosed origin of the Scott of Balwearie branch — Sir Michael Scott and his succession — ilichard, lineal descendant of Uchtred, called Richard Scott of Murde- ston — The Scotts of Murdeston^ Rankleburn, and Kii-kurd — Sir Walter Scott of Buccleuch — David successor to Sir Walter Scott — His descend- ants — Sir Walter of Branxholm and Buccleuch — The Betons — Sir Walter Scott afterwards Lord Scott of Buccleuch — Mary Countess of Buccleuch, wife of Lord Tarras (Walter Scott of High Chesters) — Countess Anne, wife of the Duke of Monmouth, who was created Duke of Buccleuch, Earl of Dalkeith, and Lord Scott— Lady Isabella Scott — Lord Dalkeith (James) — Henry Scott, Earl of Deloraine and Viscount Hermitage — Francis 11. , Duke of Buccleuch — Succeeding Dukes. — Other Branches OK THE Scott Family- Marjory Scott— General Scott, M.P. — The Harden Scotts— William Scott, first of Harden—" Auld Wat "—Walter Scott — Sir Walter Scott of Harden and Mertoun — Hugh of Deuchar — Admiral Sir George Scott — The descendants of the second Earl of Tarras —The succession to the Barony of Polwarth — Hugh Scott, eighth Lord Polwarth — Henry Francis — Sir William Scott and his descendants — Gideon Scott of High Chesters — Walter Scott, first of Raeburn, ancestor of Sir W^alter Scott the novelist — " Beardie Scott "—Robert Scott — The Scotts of Synton — Scotts of the House of Woll — Scots of Howpasley — Gamescleugh and Thirlestane — The Scotts of Tushelaw — Scotts of Has- seadean— The Wauchop branch — Scotts of Whitehaugh, &c. — ^Dr John Scott — Dr William Hemy Scott — Other noted Scotch Scotts — English Scotts. THE KER FAMILY, Page 95 The origin of the Ker Family — Its Anglo-Norman lineage — John, ancestor of the Kers of Cessford- -Ralph, ancestor of the Kers of Fernieherst.— The Kers op Cessford — The succession — Andrew, the fifth — Walter, the sixth, the first possessor of Roxburgh Castle — Robert and Mark Ker, sons of Walter — Habbie Ker — Sir Andi'ew Ker — George Ker of Fawdon- side, and Sir Andrew his son — The descendants of Sir Andi'ew— William Ker — Sh Robert Ker, first Earl of Roxburgh — Hon. William Drummond assumed the name of Ker and became second Earl— John, fifth Earl and CONTENTS. XI first Duke of Roxburgh — Robert, second Duke — John, third Duke — William, fourth Duke— James, fifth Duke. — The Kers of Fernieherst Ralph, first laird, and his descendants to the sixth laird— The Kers of Yair — Andrew and Thomas, the seventh and eighth lairds— Ralph Carre, first of Cavers — Change in the orthography of the name — The Barons of Fernieherst and Oxnam — James of Crailing — Thomas of Oxnam — Robert, the favourite of James VI., and created Earl of Somerset — Robert, third Lord Jedburgh — Kers of Ancrum. — The House of Lothiax — Mark, second son of Sir Andrew Ker of Cessford — His succession in the Earl- dom of Lothian — The Countess of Lothian — Lords John and Mark Kerr — The Marquises of Lothian. THE ELLIOT FAMILY, Page 132 Opinions regarding the ancestry of the Elliot Family — Sir John Eliot, author of the " Monarchy of Man " — John Eliot, the missionary — Eliot's Bible — Thomas Elyot, diplomatist in the Court of Henry VIII. — His literary works— Other English Elliots— The Elliots of Liddesdale— William EUiot of Stobbs — Robert of Redheugh, the first known Border Elliot ancestor — His descendants. — The Elliots of Stobbs, representatives of the Border clan — The Elliots of Midlem Hill, the ancestors of the Family of Minto — Gilbert, founder of the House of Minto, created Lord Minto in 1705 — The Minto succession down to Sir Gilbert Elliott, the first Earl, who died in 1814 — The lineage from that date.— Other Branches of THE Elliot Families — The Selkirk Elliots — Individual members of the Elliot family — ^Conclusion, and tables showing the pedigTee of the fami- lies of Redheugh and Lauriston. THE HOUSE OF RIDDELL, .... Page 181 Monsieur Ridel, founder of the Family, and companion of William the Con- queror — Propei'ty in England bestowed on Ridel by the King — Cele- brated descendants of Ridel — Gervasius appointed High Sheriff of Roxburgh by David I. in lilt) — Sir Auskittel Ridel— Subsequent knights and baronets — Riddells of Glenriddell and Granton — Some cadets of the old Riddell stock — The Muselee branch — Imprisonment of the Rev . Archibald Riddell in Jedburgh, Edinburgh, and on the Bass Rock as a Covenanter, and his subsequent imprisonment in France as a captive of Avar — His release, and departure to America — His return from that country, and appointment to the pastorate of Trinity Church, Edin- burgh — Rev. James Riddell of Baliol College, representative of the Granton Riddells — Other celebrated members of the House of Riddell. Xll CONTENTS. EMINENT KOXBURGH MEN, .... Pa^e 206 Legal Celebrities. — The Constitution of the Court of Session — Richard Bothwell, a judge appointed in 1532— William Durie — Mark Ker and his son, commendators of Newbattle — David Maegill, appointed Lord Advocate in 1582 — Sir Walter Pringle of Nev? hall— John Pringle (Lord Hanning)- -Robert Pringle of Edgefield, a Lord of Session — Andrew Pringle (Lord Alemore) — Sir Patrick Scott of Ancruni — Walter Pringle of Graycrook, W.S. — Lord Chancellor Campbell, remarkable for his legal knowledge ; made Lord Chancellor of Ireland and Lord Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench, and raised to the Woolsack in 1859. — Divines — Gavin Douglas — John Rutherford — William Fowler — Thomas Forrester, third Protestant minister of Meh'ose — David Calderwood, famous for his vigorous opposition to the Parliamentary jurisdiction of bishops, and the other Episcopal elements introduced into the govern- ment of the Reformed Church by James VI. in 1603, and subsequent years — George Johnson — Samuel Rutherford, author of the book en- titled "Lex Rex" — John Livingstone — Gabriel Semple — Archibald Riddell — Alexander Orrock, minister of Hawick — William Crawford, author of "Dying Thoughts and Sermons" — Adam Milne — William Hunter — James Ramsay, minister of Kelso, remarkable for his great natural gifts, his shrewdness, and humour — Robert Riccalton, minister of Hobbkeith, author of several sermons, essays, and poems, and the friend of James Thomson, author of " The Seasons "—George Redpath — John Home — Joseph Leek — David Clerk — Stephen Oliver — Dr James Macknight, author of " The Harmony of the Gospels " — Dr Thomas Somerville — Thomas Elliot — Thomas Dyce — Dr Samuel Charters — William Campbell — John Scade, minister of St Boswells — Dr Thomson, minister of Sprouston — Dr Chalmers, minister of Cavers — Robert Story. — Divines AMONG THE DiSSENTERS — John Hunter — James Scott, son-in-law of the Rev. Ebenezer Erskine — Thomas Boston of Ettrick, and minister at Jedburgh — Alexander Shanks — Dr John Young — Dr Alexander Waugh — Robert Hall of Kelso, author of " The State of the Heathen World Disclosed" — John Pitcairn — Dr Alexander Pringle. — Medical Men — Dr Scott of Thii'lstane — Dr Thomas Wilson — Sir John Pringle, Professor of Moral Philosophy at Edinburgh— Dr John Armstrong — Dr William Buchan, author of "Domestic Medicine" — Dr Richard Hall — Dr John Leyden, the poet — Dr Thomas Trotter — Dr William Turner, a distin- guished naval surgeon.— Naval and Military Men — Sir Thomas Mac. Dougall Brisbane of Makerston — Sir Adam Fergusson, an army captain — Sir James Douglas of Springwood Park, a naval hero — Admiral James Douglas — Admiral William Dickson of Sydenham — Admiral Archibald Dickson — Admiral Archibald Collingwood Dickson — Admiral Sir William George Fairfax — Admiral Robert Elliot of the Harwood family — Admiral Lord Mark Robert Kerr — Admiral John Macpherson Ferguson— Admiral Robert Riddell Carre of Cavers — Captain Robert Campbell. — POETS — CONTENTS. Xlll James Thomson, author of " The Seasons " — Sir Walter Scott — Thomas Pringle of Blakelaw — William Knox, noted for his songs and anecdotes — Eobert Davidson of Morebattle — William Laidlaw — Miss Jane Elliot, authoress of "The Flowers of the Forest"— Elizabeth Rutherfurd of Capehope — Andrew Scott, the self-taught bard of Bowden — George Scott — John Younger of St Boswells — Alexander Hume, a native of Kelso— William B. C. Riddell, author of "The Lament of Wallace"— Robert Bower — James Telfer, author of ''Tales and Sketches" — Jean Gordon (Meg Merilees) — Andrew Gemmell. EMINENT SELKIRKSHIRE MEN, . . . Page 283 The Warriors of the Forest — Colonel William Russell— General Sii* James Russell. — The N.vpier Fajiilt — John Napier of Merchiston, the in- ventor of Logarithms — His descendants— Lord Napier — Sir Charles Napier, distinguished military officer — General Sir George Thomas Napier — General Sir William Francis Patrick Napier.- -Naval Heroes — John Boston — Sir George Scott — Sir Charles Napier — James Pringle of Torwoodlee — William John, Lord Napier. — Divines — John Welch, minister of Selkii'k —Interesting history of Mr Welch — Thomas Boston, author of "The Fourfold State," "The Crook in the Lot," and other works — Henry Davidson of Galashiels — Dr Robert Douglas — Dr Robert. Russell of Yarrow — Thomas Robertson, minister of Selkii'k — John Campbell — Dr John Lee, Professor of Church History at St Andrews, and of Moral Philosophy at Aberdeen — Andrew Moir — George Lawson. — Legal Celebrities — Sir Gideon Murray of Elibank, a Lord of Session — Sir Archibald Napier, a Lord of Session — Sir Alexander Napier — James Murray — John Murray (Lord Bowhill) — The Pringle family — John Pringle (Lord Haiuing) — Andrew Pringle (Lord Alemoor) — Andrew Plummer— Sir Walter Scott. — Medical Celebrities — Dr John Ruther- ford — Dr Andrew Plummer — Mungo Park, the African traveller — Dr Daniel Ruthei-ford, famous for his chemical knowledge — Dr Ebenezer Clarkson of Selkirk — Dr John Scott of Singlee— William Henry Scott. — Poets — Mrs Alison Cockbum — James Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd — WilHam Laidlaw. — Historians — Alexander Cunningham — William Russell, author of the "History of Modern Europe," &c. — Sketch of the life and travels of Mungo Park.— Miscellaneous Not-vbles — John Riddell of Haining, Sheriff -Principal and M.P. for the County — Sir Gilbert Elliot — John Murray of Phihphaugh, John Pringle of Clifton, and Sir John B. Riddell, Parliamentary representatives of the burgh of Selkirk — The Murrays of Deuchar — Mr Inglis — Jock Gray of Gillmans- cleugh. XIV CONTENTS. MISCELLANEOUS CELEBRITIES, . . . Page 34^ David Robertson — Rev. Henry Francis Lyte, author of several hymns, among- them " Abide with Me " — James Wilson of Hawick — John, thu'd Duke of Roxburghe, a great patron of literature — James Gray, the erudite Rector — James Sibbald — James Hooper Dawson, editor of the Kelso Chronicle, author of several works, including " The Legitimate Consequences of Reform" — Agricultural Improvers, Henry Duke of Buccleuch, Lord Somerville, Sir .John Riddell, Dr Rutherford of Meh'ose, Dr Mercer of Selku'k, Mr Dawson of Frogdean, and others — Merchants, and trades- men, and mechanics belonging to the Borders — Wits and humorous characters. PECULIAR CELEBRITIES, .... Page 366 Archie Armstrong — John of Giluockie — Kinmont Willie — ''Jock o' the Syde " —Christie's Will— Jock Gray of Gilmanscleugh. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. Walter Riddell Carre was born at Edinburgh on the 4th August 1807. He was the second son of Thomas Riddell of Camieston, and belonged to the old family of Riddell of Rid- dell, in the county of Roxburgh, which Scott has immortalised in the "Lay of the Last Minstrel," as connected with "Ancient Riddell's fair domains." At the High School he acquired the painstaking and industrious habits which made him in after- years always a worker. Deprived of his father, he had his way to make in the world betimes. Unlike his brothers, who embraced the Naval and Military professions, his turn was for sedentary pursuits, and in 1825 he entered the house of Messrs Fletcher, Alexander & Co., one of the most eminent mercantile establishments of the time. The temptations which beset a young man thrown in early years (his own master) on a great city like London, had no dangers for him. His habit of mind was serious and thoughtful, and he was strongly imbued with religious principles ; none was more frequent than he as a listener to the sermons of the Rev. Henry Melville, then the most famous preacher of the day. Later on he took a warm interest in benevolent and religious societies, acting as secretary to local associations, advocating their cause on the platform, and lending his methodical and business-hke capacities to their financial management. During the twenty years he was in London he married a lady distantly connected with himself, his beloved companion, counsellor, and comfort, for thirty-nine years of married life. XVI BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. In 1848 changes in the firm with which he was connected, led to Mr E-iddelFs retiring from business life, and taking up his residence in Hertfordshire. In his retirement he was much in want of an object to employ his time and exercise his abilities, and this was at length attained when, on removing to Scotland, he succeeded to the estate of Cavers Carre, the remains of what had once been a hirge and wealthy property. He had been selected by his uncle, the late respected Admiral Robert Eiddell Carre, to inherit this estate, from his confidence and belief that he would, like his predecessor, promote the good of those among whom Providence had placed him. This ho23e was not disappointed. He now assumed the additional surname and arms of Carre. Part of the bequest consisted in a well furnished library of ancient and modern authors, espe- cially rich in books of a historical and antiquarian character. Amongst these Mr Carre found himself quite at home, and he had an ample field opened to him for the pursuit he so dearly loved, research into family and county records, and the bio- graphy of Scottish worthies, more especially those connected with the Border land. To these studies he quickly devoted himself, and caring little for politics or local business, he had full leisure to gratify his favourite tastes. The opportunity to utilize his stores and materials for the benefit of others now ofi'ered itself by the establishment of popular lectures. These lectures were in full force when Mr Carre came to reside in Roxburghshire. He was requested to give a lecture in his own parish, the subject chosen being " Border Worthies." This theme was quite congenial to him, and the result of his carefully compiled sketch w^as completely successful. The lecture was called for in other places round, and fresh demands Avere made on him for similar eff'orts in successive winters. Although the range of his studies was wide, and he might have ventured on "fresh fields and pastures new" in the choice of his subject, his predilections kept him chiefly to themes connected with the Borders, that romantic land, the home of his forefathers, ground trodden in old time by the BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. XVll moss-troopers and the freebooters, associated with many a wild foray and daring melee, in days when men carried out " The good old rule, the simple plan. That they should take who had the power, And they should keep who can." A land, too, haunted by legends of fairies and wizards, vocal with minstrelsy and song, and above all made classical by the harp of the greatest of Border minstrels. Researches into family history always occupied much of Mr Carre's time. Naturally proud of the ancient lineage from which he sprang, both as a " Carre " and a " Riddele," he had made himself thoroughly acquainted with the genealogical trees of these families in all their branches ; as well as the Elliots, the Scotts, the Douglas and others. To the local and other newspapers he was a frequent contributor, as well as to the useful and popular English periodical, " Notes and Queries." Mr Carre was a great favourite Avith those of humble rank. He liked to chat with them on the road, and drop into their cottages and enquire kindly after their welfare. Mr Carre may be said to have died at his post. It was, humanly speaking, owing to a cold caught in going to lecture at Coldstream that his death illness seized him. God has called him away in his own good time. He will be missed by many, by friends, neighbours, and acquaintances, in the homes of the poor who loved him, and at the winter gather- ings for edification and improvement. But he has not lived in vain. He has left behind him the well-earned respect and esteem due to one who " did what he could," and used the particular talent given him, and the resources at his command for the benefit of his poorer neighbours, an examj^le and encouragement to those similarly situated to "go and do likewise," not to hoard selfishly their stores of knowledge, but cheerfully and kindly to devote them to the pleasure and im- provement of their fellow men. The following particulars are taken from the "Kelso Chronicle," of December 4, 1874 : — XVlll BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. " On the evening of Tuesday last Walter Eiddell .Carre, Esq. of Cavers Carre, was to have lectured in the Town Hall, Kelso, but on that very day he ceased to be an inhabitant of the earth. A fortnight previously he was in Kelso on his way to Coldstream, where he lectured in public for the last time. He was then suffering from a severe cold, and on the way home, when he again remained in the town for a short time, he had become worse. Serious symptoms set in soon after he reached home, and an intimation from his son, Captain Riddell Carre, was read after the lecture last week, to the effect that his father was sufferins; from a severe rheumatic attack, and would not be able to fulfil his engagement. On his arrival from Cold- stream he complained of rheumatism ; next day he was almost unable to move, and gradually he became quite helpless. The remedies applied gave him some relief, but the poisoned blood found its way to the head. Dr Begbie arrived from Edin- burgh, and reported almost hopefully, but the same night the patient grew worse, and became very incoherent in his speech. Afterwards he became more feverish, and latterly quite un- conscious. It was thought he did not suffer much, but his laborious breathing was very distressing to his loving rela- tives, by whom every want was most assiduously supplied. He got gradually worse, and on Tuesday evening, 1st Decem- ber, breathed his last. ''He was twice married — first in 1830, to Elizabeth Mac- lauchlan, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Maclauchlan of the 10th Eegiment, by whom he has one son. Captain Thomas Alexander, who now succeeds to the estate; and second in 1871, to Mary Falconer Currie, daughter of the late William Currie of Linthill, who survives him. " Mr Carre was a Justice of the Peace and Commissioner of Supply for the county of Eoxburgh. In politics he was a moderate conservative, but he disliked the turmoil of political strife, and preferred the quiet paths of literature. " The decease of Mr Eiddell Carre leaves a blank in the Border counties which will not easily be supplied. His BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. XIX acquaintance with the genealogical histories of the Border families was very extensive and accurate ; and his delight was to impart his knowledge through the press and in the form of lectures, and in social conversation. It is believed that he has left a great store of valuable information in manuscript at Cavers Carre, which it is to be hoped may some day be pub- lished. He was an excellent lecturer, entering into his subject with much enthusiasm, and his elocution was characterised by grace and animation. In various Border societies he took a very lively interest. Of the Border Counties Association he was a steady supporter, and at most of their meetings he took a prominent part. His speeches on these occasions were always well prepared, and were so full of erudite and accurate information that they were listened to with interest and the reports read with pleasure. The mention of a Border name in any newspaper often called forth a note from Mr Riddell Carre, giving out of his abundant treasures some additional and valuable information, . He was a gentleman of large and genial sympathies, and nothing seemed to afford him greater pleasure than to be doing good in whatever form it presented itself. Though advanced in years, and latterly not robust, his frame was so vigorous that a life prolonged for many years might have been reasonably expected. But he was always prepared for the great change, which came, alas, too soon ; and amid his many engrossing pursuits, he was never neglect- ful of the great concerns of the future, on which he has entered. The universal testimony will be that he was a good man. He was good in every sense of the word. He had a cultured mind, a genial and kindly heart, and he was, we have every reason to believe, a genuine Christian." The mortal remains of Mr Riddell Carre were interred at Bowden on Monday the 7th of December 1874. THE DOUGLAS FAMILY. There can be little doubt that the family of Douglas is one of the most ancient and illustrious in the history of Scotland. George Chalmers says, that the ancestor of that noble House came from the Netherlands * about the middle of the tvfelfth century, and obtained from the Abbacy of Kelso a grant of land called Douglas. He was named Theobald, but his son and successor William, assumed the surname of Douglas from the property so acquired, as was very frec^uently done in those early times. On the other hand, Hume of Godscroft — no mean authority — reports that the family of Douglas existed as far back as the eighth century, when Sholto the Douglas appeared, and came to the assistance of Solvatius, King of the Scots, against Donald Bane, who had pressed His Majesty sorely, and with the help of Douglas, the king obtained at length a most complete victory.! Solvatius, it is further stated by Godscroft, rewarded his service and merits by the grant of land in Lanarkshire, called Douglas. This Sholto had a son and other descendants, one being William, who, about tht^ middle of the eleventh century, was made a Baron of the Par- liament at Forfar, as we learn from Godscroft. He left at least two sons, Sir John, of Douglas Burn, Ettrick Forest, and Sir William, of Glendinning, Dumfriesshire, the latter being the supposed ancestor of the Douglases, of Pumpherston, of Pitten- * Others assert that the name is of Spanish origin, and that the noble family of Douglas is still lineally represented among the " blue blood " of Spain. t The alleged origin of this name is as follows : — When King Solvatius asked to whom this vmexpected assistance was due, the attendants pointing to the stranger, said in Gaelic, " Sholto Dhu Glas," — See that dark man. A -^ BOEDER IMEMORIES. cireigli, and other brandies. Isot long after him came another William, who assisted Sir "William Wallace in some of his war- like exploits, and left a son, Hugh, whose marriage with a noble house, strengthened their connection "svitli Galloway. Hugh, whom his foes never found sleeping, left no family, and was succeeded by his brother William, the gallant defender and governor of Berwick, surnamed the Hardy, from whom descend the Douglases of Dalkeith, Maines and Lochleven. Though I am unable to say which account is correct, or that either story is free of fable, still it can be with truth asserted that the family is one of great antiquity, and connected "wdth the best blood in Britain, and even in France, and that its members have generally been distinguished by the courage, stalwart frame, and swarthy complexion of their alleged pro- genitor, Sholto Dhu Glas, Sir James Douglas was the first eminent member of the family, and undoubtedly laid the foundation of its greatness. He was a person of the most polished education, and of the highest accomplishments, considering the time in which he lived. He was educated at Paris, as Blind Harry the minstrel states, and no doubt spoke Latin as well as French with facility. Their speech they do govern and do as well rule, As they'd, been taught at Julius Caesar's school. His fathei-'s opposition to Edward I., made that king inexor- able, and he declined to restore to Sir James his patrimonial estates which had been seized and bestowed on Lord Clifford. But entering the service of King Eobert Bruce, opportunities for the display of his valour and patriotism were soon afforded him, and it may be truly said that he established the fame of his family, and at the same time he recovered the property. It was in his time that the Douglas slogan — "A Douglas" — was adopted. Douglas commanded one wing of the army at Bannockburn, and he was, on that occasion, made a Knight Banneret under the royal standard, a very high honour, and one immortalised THE DOUGLAS FAMILY. 6 by Shakespeare, vrho s^^eaks of "a soldier by the honour- giving hand of Coeur-de-Lion knighted on the field." Sir James took a prominent part in all the struggles of that 2)eriod in our border lands. He captured Eoxburgh and Berwick, of which latter place his father is stated to have been governor. Ettrick Forest and adjacent country was also captured from the English by Douglas, who obtained a grant of the same from King Robert Bruce, which the family held till the forfeiture of their estates in 1453. But Douglas Burn property had previously been in their possession, according to Godscroft, and the solitary glen there, was the retreat of Sir James when recruiting for his sovereign and friend. In this wild tract of country, too, tradition has placed the scene of the "Douglas Tragedy," and seven large stones in the neighbourhood are shown, as marking the spot where the seven brethren were killed.* Sir James Douglas was one of the representatives of the king, at the nuptials of Prince David (afterwards David II.), and Joan, sister of Edward II., which were celebrated at Berwick in 1328. The Princess was called Make-Peace, and carried with her the Eagman Poll, and all records which had been seized by her grandfather, Edward I., to be again deposited * The Douglas Tragedy. The farm of Blackhouse in Selkirkshire, is said to have been the scene of this melancholy event. There are the remains of a very ancient tower, adjacent to the farm-house, in a v?ild and solitary glen, through which flows the torrent called Douglas Bum, a tributary of the Yarrow. It is now part of the Traquair estate, but anciently was the seat of the family of Douglas. From this tower, Lady Margaret was carried under cloud of night by her lover ; but they were speedily pursued by Lord Douglas and his seven sons. The lovers lighted down from their steed, and while Lord William faced the whole eight pursuers, " She held his steed in her milk-white hand, And never shed ane tear, Until that she saw her seven brethren fa'. And her father hard fighting, who loved her so dear." The father was left wounded, and the lovers rode away, but Lord William also had been wounded, and died before morning, Lady Margaret committing suicide. They were buried side by side at St Mary's Church, and out of their graves grew a rose and a briar which intertwined, till the Black Douglas plucked up the briar and threw it into St Mary's Loch. 4 BOEDER MEMORIES. in Scotland. Robert the Bruce at the time of his son's marriage in 1328, was infirm, and drawing near his end. His death taking place soon after, and before the young king had reached his majority, the Regency was assumed by Randolph, Earl of Moray ; but the young king was crowned at Scone in 1331. King Robert, before his death, sent for Douglas, whom he commissioned to proceed with his heart to Palestine, for the purpose of depositing it in the Holy Sepulchre. He accordingly lost no time after the king's death, in starting on his mission with the precious relic, but unfortunately lost his life on his journey, having halted in Spain, and joined the Christian forces against the Moors in a battle, the seventieth he had been in, and of these he had gained fifty-seven. His last fight took place on the 25th August 1330, and after signalising himself with his usual gallantry, he fell, but ere he breathed his last, he had the happiness of knowing the Christians were victorious. When surrounded by the enemies of the cross, he took the casquet containing his sovereign's heart, and threw it before him, exclaiming, "Now pass onward gallant heart as thou wert wont, and Douglas will follow thee, or die." These were the last words of the great and good Douglas, and after his death the precious relic was taken care of by his friend. Sir Simon Locard, who brought it back to Scotland, and it was deposited in Melrose Abbey, which had been restored and enriched with many donations by Bruce. The king's body had been buried at Dunferm- line, where it was discovered in 1818, when workmen were digging for the foundation of the parish church. The family of Sir James Douglas received as an addition to their armorial bearings, a heart ensigned with an imperial crown, which continues their special cognisance; and Sir Simon Locard, the bearer of Bruce's heart from Spain, assumed the name of hockJiart, and got an addition to his arms of a heart within a fetter lock, with the motto Corda serrata pando, " I lay open locked hearts." It is this family who possess the ''Lee penny," upon which is founded the romance of the THE DOUGLAS FAMILY. 5- "Talisman/' by Sir Walter Scott. The body of Sir James was brought home, and buried in the aisle of St Bride's Church, Douglas.'^ Sir James Douglas never having married, so far as I have been able to trace, was immediately succeeded by his brother Hugh, a man of no great repute, who became Lord of Douglas,, but who soon demitted in favour of his younger brother, Archibald, Eegent of Scotland, and brother-in-law of John Balliol, the king, and afterwards in favour of Archibald's son, Sir William Douglas, nephew of the Good Sir James. Archibald, the Eegent, who was Lord of Galloway, fell at * Douglas Castle was three times taken by the English, but as often re- taken by Douglas, who had made a vow that he would be revenged on any one who should dare take possession of it, and so terrified had the English become, that the fortress came to be known as Castle Dangerous, and hardly any Englishman would undertake to keep it in possession. In these circum- stances, a rich and beautiful young lady who had many suitors, said she would give her hand only to a knight who should manifest his courage and valour by holding the perilous Castle of Douglas for a year and a day. This was undertaken by Sir John Wilton, who held the fortress for a while, but at length it was taken by stratagem, and he was slain. A letter from the lady was found in his pocket, a discovery which so affected Douglas, that he spared all the prisoners, and for this act he obtained an appellation of ''The Good Sir James." The name of Douglas, however, had become so formidable, that it was used by women to frighten their children ; and the following- rhyme seems to be well authenticated : — '^ Hush ye, hush ye, little pettie. Hush ye, hush ye, do not fret ye, And the Black Douglas shall not get ye." Of the Good Sir James, the following portrait is given by Barbour : — "■ In visage he was some deal gray, And had black hau-, as I heard say ; But, then, of limbs he was well made, With bones great, and shoulders braid ; His body well made and lenzie, As they that saw him said to me. When he was blj^th he was lovely, And meik and sweet in company ; But who in battle might him see, Another countenance had he ; And in his speech he lisp't some deal, But that set him right wonder well.'" t) BOEDER MEMORIES. Halidon Hill, near Berwick, on the 22cl of July 1333. In this battle the English archers did terrific execution, for it has been said the "Arrows flew thick as motes in the sunbeam," and that " the Scots fell to the ground by thousands." Two other members of the race who lived at the same period were men of renown, — Sir William Douglas, knight, the Lord of Liddesdale, popularly called the Flower of Chivalry, and Sir Willia^i Douglas, the Lord of Nithsdale, whose soubric[uet was " the Black," Sir William Douglas, called the Flower of Chivalry, supposed to have been a natural son of the Good Sir James, possessed the lands of Liddesdale, including Hermitage Castle and other extensive domains. He was a man of great valour, saw much service, and took a prominent part in the expulsion of Edward Balliol, who disputed possession of the Scottish throne with David II., after the battle of Halidon Hill. He was, however, taken prisoner after being defeated at Lochmaben, and kept in confinement for two years in England. After being released, he returned to Scotland, and uniting himself to his fellow-countrymen, who were striving to maintain their rights in our border land, succeeded in defeating the English and recovering from them Teviotdale and other districts, besides recapturing the Castle of Edinburgh. The Flower of Chivalry, however, tarnished his fame by the barbarous manner in which he treated Sir Alexander Ramsay, who for taking Roxburgh Castle, which he did gallantly by escalade, was made Sheriff of Teviotdale, instead of Douglas. In 1342, Douglas dragged him from the seat of justice"^ at Hawick, and confined him in * Sir Alexander Ramsay had succeeded in taking the Castle of Roxburgh from the English on the 20th March 1342, an enterprize in which Douglas had failed. On the 20th of June following, Ramsay was holding a court in the Church at Hawick, when Douglas appeared, and the sheriff was so unsuspecting as to ask his former companion-in-arms to take a seat on the bench beside him. But the purpose of Douglas was speedily disclosed, and the gallant knight was overpowered, carried over the hills to Hermitage, and let down into the dungeon, which may still be seen in the ruined pile of the Castle. There was probably no intention to prolong Ramsay's life by allowing the corn to trickle down : but such is traditionally said to have been the fact. THE DOUGLAS FA^IILY. 7 Hermitage Castle, where he allowed him to die of famine in an aggravated form, for it is said that above the dungeon there was a supply of corn, some particles of which found their way through the floor, which enabled Ramsay to sustain a miserable existence for seventeen days. About sixty years ago a bridle bit and some bones were found in the dungeon. The dungeon as now visible is about twelve feet deep, in the solid wall of the castle, and with no aperture except one about two feet square at the top. Escape was hardly possible even had the entrance not been closed ; but with any heavy lid covering the opening, it was one of the most horribly hopeless dungeons that the human mind could imagine. The Castle of Hermitage, now owned by the Duke of Buccleuch, stands in the centre of a desolate expanse close to the Hermitage "Water, four miles from its con- fluence with the Liddel, and to this day it has the eerie look of a place which might still be haunted by evil spirits. It is believed to have been built by Lord William Soulis, grandson of Nicolas de Soulis, who claimed the crown of Scotland in right of his gi-andmother, daughter of Alexander II. ; and who, could his legitimacy have been ascertained, must have ex- cluded all other competitors. Lord William jDOssessed the whole of Liddes- dale, with Westerkirk and Kii'kandrews in Dumfriesshire, and the rich baronies of Nisbet, Longnewton, Caverton, Maxton, and Mertoun in Eox- burghshire. In 1320 the estates of Lord William Soulis were all forfeited, and he himself confined in the Castle of Dumbai-ton, because he with others had conspired against KingEobert Bruce, with the object, according to Barbour, of elevating Lord Soulis to the Scottish throne. Subsequent to that date the family makes no figure in our annals. Such seem to be the historical facts about a chief whose name has been handed down by district tradition to popular execration. The traditional Lord Soulis is represented as vmiting every quality which would render strength formidable, and cruelty detest- able. Combining prodigious bodily strength with cruelty, avarice, dissinnila- tion, and treachery, he was regarded as under the control and guidance of a demon, by whose help he practised the arts of sorcery, and was proof against the ordinary means of taking his life. Like the Flower of Chivalry, his successor in Hei-mitage, Lord Soulis could brook no rival near his throne, and by treachery he murdered Armstrong, laird of Mangei-ton, and the chief of Keildar, to the former of whom Lord Soulis himself had formerly owed his life. To obtain materials to fortify Hermitage Castle he compelled his vassals to work like beasts of burden. Tradition says that the King of Scotland, irritated by the repeated complaints against him, peevishly ex- claimed, " Boil him if you please, but let me hear no more of him." Accord- ingly he was wrapped in a sheet of lead, carried to the Nine Stane Big, a mile from the castle, and at a spot still marked by a small circle of upright stones, he was boiled to death. The cauldron is said to have been long preserved at SkelfhiU in upper Teviotdale, but is not now in existence. 8 BORDER MEMORIES. where it is supposed Eamsay was buried, and the former having been given to Sir Walter Scott, that ilhistrious man handed it to George Eamsay, ninth Earl of Dalhousie, the de- scendant of the chivalric but unfortunate knight. But frightful though the crime of Douglas was. King David restored him to the Sheriffship and his lands, conferring indeed upon him further distinction, and he is afterwards found at the battle of Durham, fighting with his sovereign. Both were then taken prisoners, when the Scotch army sustained a great defeat, and a heavy loss — amounting to about 15,000. Sir William Douglas, the Flower of Chivalry, was induced, as an author states, " to purchase his liberty at the expense of his honour, by entering into a secret treaty with the English king." After the return of Douglas to Scotland he was waylaid and killed while hunting in Ettrick forest at AVilliam's Hope, called so from his name, by his kinsman William Earl of Douglas, who may have wished to avenge his act of treason, although I suspect it is more likely to have been caused by domestic jealousy, for according to an old song : — " The Countess of Douglas, out of her bowere she came, And loudly there that she did call ; It is for the Lord of Liddesdale That I let all these teares downe fall." Thus terminated, about seven or eight years after the battle of Durham, the life of the Flower of Chivalry, who, it is said, only left one daughter. His remains were deposited in Melrose Abbey. The other Sir William Douglas, the Black, was the natural son of Archibald, Lord of Galloway. Sir William was an honour to his race, notwithstanding the circumstance of his birth. He was a man of graceful person and high valour,"^ and what is better, he possessed a noble heart. His good * T}^tler says, " This young knight appears to have been the Scottish Pala- din of those days of Chivalry, His form and strength were almost gigantic, and what gave a peculiar charm to his warlike prowess was the extreme gentleness of his manners ; sweet, brave, and generous, he was as faithful to his friends as he was terrible to his enemies. " THE DOUGLAS FAMILY. \f qualities attracted the notice of royalty, and he won the affections and gained the hand of Egidia Bruce, youngest daughter of Eobert II., by his first wife Elizabeth Mure — whom the King of France mshed to wed. His Majesty having fallen in love with her from a picture which he had sent an artist to paint, on hearing of her loveliness. Douglas, however, fore- stalled the king — and acquired with his royal wife the lord- ship of Nithsdale. This Douglas well maintained the martial character of the family, and performed many heroic exploits against the Eng- lish. He also punished most severely a band of Irish pirates who did much mischief in Galloway, by proceeding against them in their own country. This he did with signal ven- geance, for he ravaged and demolished the town of Carling- ford, to which the pirates belonged, and actually loaded fifteen vessels with his spoils. On his way back to Galloway he \isited the Isle of Man, and brought away more booty from thence, so that on his return to Lochryan he found himself a much richer man than when he departed. His knowledge of naval tactics must have been considerable, for he was after- wards appointed Admiral of the Fleet. He is next found at Dantzic, whither he went to aid in subduing the Infidels, and was created Prince of Dantzic and Duke of Spruce for his gal- lantry, as is shown by a monument to his daughter Giles, who married Henry Sinclair, second Earl of Orkney. Lord Clifford challenged Douglas to combat, but fearing to meet him when the time came, hired assassins, who took the life of Douglas, in the year 1390, on the bridge of Dantzic, where there was a gate on which his coat of arms was cut, as a memorial of his melancholy end. THE EARLS OF DOUGLAS. I now return to the main stem of the Douglas tree, and to its representative at this period, viz., AYiLLiA^i DE Douglas, created the First Earl of Douglas by King David II., in 10 BORDER MEMORIES. 1357. Our hero was the nephew of Good Sir James, the first of the Douglas name who acquired possessions in our border land. These he obtained partly from his friend and sovereign Robert Bruce, though a portion had been captured by himself, and therefore dearly earned. The Earl did good service in these districts by again getting rid of the English troops, who after the battle of Durham re-invaded the Border districts of Scotland. He also recovered his own territory of Douglas- dale. But the chief scene of his prowess was Poictiers. Being at the time Ambassador for Scotland at the French Court, he fought on the side of France against the English, under the Black Prince, and, as usual, displayed the valour of his race. France, however, lost this battle, and the French King — John II, — was taken prisoner, while Douglas had a narrow escape. The first Earl of Douglas died in 1 384, and Avas interred in Melrose Abbey, according to Wynton, the monk and historian. James, the Second Earl Douglas, who succeeded his father in 1384, was the Scottish hero of Otterburn or Chevy Chase, fought between the English under Sir Henry Percy, the renowned Hotspur, and the Scots under Douglas. The battle took place on the 10th August 1388, only four years after Douglas had succeeded to his honors. Previous to the engage- ment he made an excursion to the Tyne, where he encountered and overthrew in single combat his gallant foe Hotspur, who, however, pursued Douglas on his way back to Scotland, giving him battle at Otterburn, where Douglas was killed and Hotspur and his brother were both taken prisoners. It was one of the hardest fought battles of the time, and though the Scots were at one period very hard pressed, their dauntless leader rallied them with his slogan of " Douglas," and though he fell he had turned the fight in favour of his country, which led to the capture of the Percys. When Douglas fell his priest Lundie protected him from further torture by his battle-axe, and on being asked how he felt, the dying hero exclaimed, " Indifi'er- ently, but blessed be God my ancestors have died in fields of battle, not on down beds. I sink fast, but let them still raise my THE DOUGLAS FAMILY. 11 war-cry, and conceal my death from my followers. There was a tradition in oiu- family that a dead Douglas should win a field, and I trust it will be this day accomplished." The followers of Douglas attended to their leader's djing orders, and did great execution among the English, none of note escaping death or capti^-ity, giying truth to the lines respecting the name of Douglas, '' Hosts have been known at that dread sound to j'ield, And Douglas dead, his name hath won the field." "When dying, he desired his banner to be raised,* which was done by Archibald DoroLAS, his son, not recognised as legiti- mate. He was the ancestor of the Douglases of Cayers, a family well known and highly respected, and among their archiyes there are still preseryed a banner of Douglas and Percy's pennon. The Cayers-Douglas race, now represented by the amiable and earnest-minded James Douglas, the twentieth in descent from the hero of Otterburn, exliibit a pedi- gree highly honourable and extremely well allied. They haye intermarried with the Kers of Cessford and Fernieherst, the * A graphic account of the battle is given by the historian Froissart, and it has been made the subject of three ballads, of one of which Sir Philip Sidney said, he " never could hear the song of Douglas and Percy without having his heart stu-red as with the sound of a timmpet." It is impossible not to agree with Froissart, that there never was a more chivalrous battle fought than that of Otterburn ; the singular circumstances under which it was fought, in a fine moonlight autumn night after a very hot day : the heroic death of Douglas, the name of Hotspiu-, and the cause of the battle, to regain Percy's pennon, which Douglas had said he would plant on his castle at Dalkeith, all these circumstances give the battle an air of singu- larly romantic chivalry. But it was a battle of chivalry and nothing more, with no great prmciple at stake, as in the battles of Stii'ling and Bannock- bum. The Douglas banner displayed at Otterburn is still preserved at Cavers House, and measiu-es thu-teen feet in length. The Percy reUcs, com- monly called " Percy's pennon " by historians, ai"e also at Cavers House, but instead of a pennon they consist of a pair of gauntlets bearing the white lion of the Percys embroidered in pearls and fringed with filigree-work of silver. These g-auntlets, obriously the work of a lady, were attached to the handle of Percy's lance, and ^\-ith it were captm-ed by Douglas, in single combat, under the walls of Xewcastle. No wonder that Hotspur was bent on recovering the trophy which had been the pledge of his lady's love. 12 BORDER MEMORIES. Eigs of Airdrie, and latterly with the noble houses of Moray and Southesk. Katherine Eig, the wife of Sir AVilliam Douglas, eleventh of Cavers, was an eminent lady of the Covenant, and her life and sufferings are patent to all who are acquainted with church history. From the Cavers family, — who were heredi- tary Sheriffs of Eoxburghshire till 1745, when the office wa& abolished, — descend the Douglases of Springwood Park, repre- sented by Sir George Douglas, whose first ancestor from the parent tree was Andrew Douglas of Friarshaw, Lilliesleaf, from whom have sprung several distingushed men, both sailors and soldiers, who have done honour to the name — the family baronetcy having^Deen granted for eminent naval achievements. The Douglases of Adderston also descend from Cavers, the last of whom was the well known and once popular Archibald Douglas, who married Miss Pringle, the heiress of entail of the beautiful estate of Haining, the life-rent of which is now enjoyed by her daughter Mrs Pattison. The hero of Otterburn had another son, born under similar circumstances, Willia:m, who was the founder of the noble house of Queensberry. By his wife, who was a daughter of Eobert II., he had no family, and was succeeded in his title by Archibald the Grim, sup^^osed by some to have been a son of the first Earl by his second wife, while others have considered him a son of Good Sir James, who had succeeded by some special entail. At all events he became Third Earl, and was one of the most powerful men in the kingdom, being noted for his valour and sagacity. He was, like the first Earl, Ambassador in France, in which position he acquitted himself with honour and success. He added greatly to his possessions by marrying the heiress of Bothwell, which brought the said lordship to the illustrious house of Douglas. He de- fended Edinburgh Castle against Henry IV., in 1400, and died soon after, in 1401, being succeeded by his son Archibald, the Fourth Earl, who, like his forefathers, was a great warrior, though less fortunate than some of them. He suffered a defeat at Homildon Hill in a battle fought THE DOUGLAS FAMILY. 13 on Holyrood Day (l-ith September) 1402, with Hotspur, who was victorious — Douglas having been taken prisoner after being wounded, and with the loss of an eye. This battle, the design being to avenge a victory gained by the English under the Earl March at Xisbet muir, was provoked by Douglas, who had invaded England and done great mischief, having carried off a large amount of spoil. Hotspur pursued Douglas on his return, gave him battle, and gained the day, chiefly owing to the bad ground the Scots took up, which highly favoured the English, whose arrows again did fearful execu- tion. Sir John Swinton, a valiant knight, disappointed with the arrangements made by Douglas, determined not to stand on the hillside to be shot " like a stas;." rushed down with his men and made great havoc among the enemy, but they were overpowered and cut to pieces. The loss sustained by the Scotch was immense, and the battle must have been sanguinary, as the field on which it was fought is called "Eedriggs." Douglas was taken prisoner, but was soon libe- rated by Hotspur, who persuaded liim to join him against Henry lY. at the battle of Shrewsbury. It was the earnest desire of Douglas to overthrow King Henry, and at this battle he tried hard to pick him out ; but His Majesty being well surrounded, he found it a most difficult matter to accom- plish his deadly design. In his endeavour he slew three of the king's champions, dressed like royalty, one after another, and when he encountered Henry himself, Douglas called out, " Where the devil do all these king-s come from?" Falling? upon him with great fury, he overthrew the royal banner, despatched a gallant aide-de-camp who bore it, and was about to slay the king, when several valiant knights, and espe- cially Henry Prince of Wales (afterwards Henry V.), the reno^^Tied hero of Agincourt, came to the sovereign's relief, and saved his life. At this point Hotspur was kiUed, which decided the battle in favour of King Henry -, and on Douglas retreating, he was wounded and captured. On being released he returned to his native country, but ill-fortune accompanied 14 BORDER MEMORIES. him, for he was so unsuccessful in an attempt to besiege Koxburgh Castle, that it was called the " Foul Kaid," or dis- graceful expedition.* But better fortune attended him at Poictiers, whither he went to assist the French, then in danger of being conquered by Henry V. Fortunately for Douglas and his fellow Scots, the French, commanded by the Dauphin, were victorious, and the English sustained a heavy loss. The Duke of Clarence, their commander, was slain, having been unhorsed by Sir John Swinton's lance, and finally killed by the Earl of Buchan. This Sir John Swinton was the son of the gallant knight killed at Homildon. The battle of Bauore was the first battle that turned the tide of success against the English. Douglas, for his gallantry, received many honours from Charles VII., including the Dukedom of Tourin and the Marshalship of France ; and in the next battle, viz., that of Verneuil in 1421, he had a high command. The English, however, recovered in that action the prestige they lost at Bauge, but it was no fault of Earl Douglas that they were victorious, for he was overruled by the French General, whose policy lost the battle, and enabled the English archers to do such fearful execution. As Sir Walter Scott has said : " Douglas and Buchan stood their ground, fought desperately, and died nobly." The body of Douglas was recovered and buried at Tours. As Pinkerton says, " He was honourably interred in the capital of his short-lived duchy." Thus termi- nated the life of one who, though it was true '' that no man was less fortunate, it is no less true that no man was more valorous." The noble Smnton, with the flower of Scottish chivalry then serving as auxiliaries in France, together with two thousand common soldiers, fell in this battle, the hero of * T]-iis designation was not applied to the raid of Douglas alone, but to an enterprise undertaken against England by the Earl in conjunction with the Governor of Scotland, who besieged Berwick while Douglas made an effort against Roxburgh. Both enterprises failed, and the Scots, who had always been accustomed in one way or another to j)rofit by expeditions into England, called them in ridicule " The Dirtin' Raid." THE DOUGLAS FAMILY. 15 which was John Duke of Bedford, nicknamed by Douglas " John with the leaden sword." Douglas married Margaret, second daughter of Eobert III., and by her had two sons and two daughters. The eldest son, Archibald, the Fifth Earl, was a man of great accomplish- ments. He was sent to France to treat for the redemp- tion of James I. of Scotland, the first king of that name, and the only one of the Jameses that possessed endowments, which had been highly cultivated by the excellent education he received from Henry IV. James I. was the younger brother of the Duke of Eothesay (married to Marjory Douglas), who was starved to death. This Earl of Douglas was at the battle of Verneuil, where he performed many valorous deeds, and returning soon after, died at Eestalrig of fever, and was buried at Douglas, being the first Earl interred there. He left two sons and a daugh- ter, the latter being called the Fair Maid of Galloway, to be referred to hereafter. The Earl's widow married the first Lord Hamilton, whose house became in later'times the chief of the Douglases by the marriage of Anne, Duchess of Hamil- ton, with Lord William Douglas. William, the eldest son of Archibald, became Sixth Earl of Douglas. He was very young when he inherited his vast domains, and resided quietly at his castle, acting, however, with all the magnificence of a prince. Crichton, the chancel- lor in the reigns of James I. and II., was jealous of the power of Douglas, and desirous of crushing it. He and his associate Livingston, the guardian of James II., divided the sway during that sovereign's minority ; and the young Earl Douglas took no part in their alternate contests and reconciliations. They were determined, however, to bring this powerful noble- man to pay a willing submission to royal authority, or to humble his pride. The latter course was their chief aim, and under the pretence of not being able to conduct the public business without the presence and assistance of the represen- 16 BORDER MEMORIES. tative of such an illustrious house, they invited him to attend the Parliament they had summoned to meet at Edin- burgh, which Douglas agreed to do. Accordingly he set out for the city with his brother David and his faithful friend M. Fleming of Cumbernauld, attended by a princely retinue ; and on Crichton being informed of his approach, he went some miles to meet the cavalcade, and to invite Douglas to visit Crichton Castle on his way to Edinburgh. The wily Crichton's invitation having been accepted, and his pretended kindness not having been suspected, the whole party, after a visit of two days, proceeded to Edinburgh, pro- fessedly to attend the Parliament ; but that was only a ruse, for when they arrived there, Douglas was immediately invited to the Castle, along with his brother and Malcolm Fleming, their companion, to attend a royal feast. The invitation was unhesitatingly accepted by the young Earl for the three, though reminded that his father never wished his sons to place themselves in any jeopardy together. From the apparent hospitality and kindness, no plot was suspected, but it was soon unfolded by the production at the banquet of a Bull's head (the certain token in those times of an approaching slaughter), which was placed before Douglas. Becoming now conscious of their danger, they both started up and tried to escape, but armed men rushing in upon them, when they were entirely defence- less, their own retinue not having been admitted to the castle, they were secured and carried out to almost instant execution, Fleming sharing the same fate. This barbarous proceeding, says Sir Walter Scott, was as unwise as it was unjust. It did not reduce the power of the illustrious race, but only raised general detestation against those who managed the affairs of James II., who interceded in vain with Chancel- lor Crichton to save the lives of the two brothers. The fol- lowing old lines give expression to the pojjular indignation at the deed : — " Edinburgh Castle toun and tower, God grant you sink for sin ; And that even for the black dinnour Earl Douglas got therein." THE DOUGLAS FAMILY. IT An easy peaceable man, very unlike some of liis race, succeeded the young Earl, viz., his grand-uncle. He married a daughter of the Earl of Orkney, by whom he had six sons, who all died without posterity, two of them being the eighth and ninth Earls of Douglas. He was, after a short incumbency, succeeded by his son William as Eighth Earl, perhaps the most wealthy, powerful, and imperious of all the Douglas race, — wielding at times, as Lieutenant-General of the kingdom, an uncontrolled influence over the king, and at other times openly scorning the royal authority. He succeeded in getting three of his brothers raised to the Peerage. Archibald was made Earl Murray, Hugh, Earl Ormond, and John, Lord Balveny. Bishop Kennedy, a kinsman of James II., and one of his most faithful friends and advisers, tried to control Douglas, but was not very successful, and the king, fearful of the tremendous power he had acquired, deemed it prudent to deprive him of his military office of Lieutenant-Governor, though he permitted him to retain the wardenship of the middle and western marches. The Earl's turbulence was no doubt increased by his desire to revenge the murder of his kinsmen, the sixth Earl and his brother, and being fired with the martial spirit of his race, as well as animated with the belief that he was a greater, or at any rate as great, a man as his Sovereign, committed all manner of daring exploits, thinking no one had a right to challenge or control him. He committed either personally or by his vassals some cold-blooded murders, the first being that of Sir E. Colville of Ochiltree, who had in some way injured Sir John Auchinleck, one of Douglas' supporters. Colville's castle was immediately stormed, and the whole garrison, with the knight himself, massacred. He attempted the life of Chancellor Crichton, who was concerned in the sixth earl's murder, but he failed in the attempt. Sir John Herries of Terreagles did not come off so well, for he, as also Sir John Sandilands of Calder (kinsman of the first earl), and M'Lellan, B 18 BORDER MEMORIES. ancestor of Lord Kirkcudbright, were put to death ; the murder of the latter being a most cruel affair. Douglas was so enraged at M'Lellan's refusing to join him against the king, and to acknowledge his pre-eminence over the barons and gentlemen of Galloway, that he at once seized and be- headed him at his Castle of Thrieve, the scene of many a foul deed. James II. interceded through Sir Patrick Gray, M'Lellan's uncle, but Douglas foreseeing the Sovereign's application, previously murdered his prisoner, and on Sir Patrick Gray remonstrating with the earl, he nearly shared the same fate for his interference, though done with the sanction and at the instance of his royal master. In addition to these frightful deeds Douglas showed most plainly in other ways his contempt for all authority, and how determined he was to continue his hostility to the king. He joined Earl Crawford, whose soubriquet was Lord Beardie or the Tiger Earl, and Lord Eoss, the Ocean Prince, with that view, but the king feeling that Douglas' ambition and insub- ordination passed all bounds, now determined at all risks to get rid of him. Accordingly he invited him to a conference at Stirling, which the earl agreed to attend, but not without first receiving from James a deed of protection under his hand and seal. Notwithstanding this promise, the king, after a short altercation with Douglas, deliberately stabbed him, and being assisted by Sir Patrick Gray, M'Lellan's uncle, and others, no less than twenty-six w^ounds were inflicted on the earl's body, which was ignominiously ejected from the castle. Ages afterwards a skeleton was found buried near the spot, which was supposed to be the remains of Douglas. This assassination was a great blot upon the character of King James, who was a man of strong passions. Though hand- some he had a red spot on his face, which gained him the name of " James with the fiery face." Sir Walter Scott says they might have called him James with the fiery temper, for with very good qualities he had a hot and impetuous disposi- tion. THE DOUGLAS FAMILY. 19 William, the earl now under review, married in 1440 his cousin Margaret, the fair maid of Galloway, the only sister of William the sixth Earl, and his brother, and heir of their properties, which were alienated at their death, but which this marriage brought back, and centred in the Earldom though only to be again lost, for this turbulent and ambitious earl contributed largely to the downfall of this once powerful family, which his brother and successor James, the Ninth and Last Earl, consummated. No doubt he took up arms and tried to revenge his brother's assassination, and at one time alarmed James so much, that it was a question whether he should fly and leave the throne to Douglas. The King was in a sad state of despondency as to the probable result of the crime he had committed, for the Douglas clan rose en riuisse, and, headed by the present Earl, treated most contemptuously the King's deed of protection, which they dragged through the public streets of Stirling tied to the tail of an old horse. James, in his extremity, threw himself upon his old and tried counsellor, Bishop Kennedy, and by degrees succeeded, by the administration of bribes, in win- ing over many of the late Earl's friends. Amongst them were Beardie, Earl Crawford, who in a humiliating manner, appearing in poor attire, bareheaded and barefooted, supplicated forgive- ness ; Sir John Douglas of Dalkeith ; Earl Angus, also a Douglas, and representative of the younger branch of that house. Huntly also seceded from the Douglas party, but not without punishment, for the Earl of Murray, the murdered Earl's brother, attacked him ; and it was jeeringly said of Huntly — " Where did you leave your men, Thou Gordon so gay ? In the bog of Dunkinty Mowing the hay." Douglas, notwithstanding these defections, did not lose heart, but, keeping together the friends that remained, he made some desperate efforts to maintain his position, though 20 BORDER MEMORIES. the royal army were meanwhile engaged destroying the estates of Douglas and Hamilton, and also besieging Abercorn. His prospects were very gloomy, and a further secession taking place, damped his ardour for a time. Hamilton, his kinsman, at last deserted him, having been persuaded by Bishop Kennedy, who in this case was guilty of gross intrigue ; for he told Hamilton if he renounced his support of Douglas, and went over to the royal side, the King would pardon his rebellion and show him favour, which he did by giving him large grants of land, and his elder daughter Mary in marriage. Hamilton pretended that Douglas was not sincere in his policy, or courageous enough in following it up ; but Douglas told him " that if he was afraid to stay, he was welcome to go home." After this, and some further defections, Douglas's, army encountered the Borderers at Arkinholme on the 1st May 1455, with diminished numbers, which caused him to be defeated. He there lost one brother — Archibald, Earl Murray — who was killed, his head being cut off and sent to James, who received it with thanks. Hugh, Earl Ormond, was in the battle also, but was only wounded, though, being taken prisoner, he was afterwards executed. The third brother, John, Lord Balveny, escaped and fled to England to join the Earl, who had already gone thither. Douglas, however, soon re- turned, and uniting with Lord Eoss, the Lord of the Isles, made an attempt to subdue the western coast, including some of the islands, wreaking their vengeance upon Lauder, Bishop of Lismore, for supporting the King. These rebellious chiefs were, however, frustrated in their proceedings, and obliged to fly, Douglas finding again an asylum in England, where he was welcomed by the Duke of York, the Kegent, and granted a pension of £500, " to be continued to him until he should be restored to his possessions, or to the greater part of them, by the person who then called himself the King of the Scots," to Avhom the Yorkist party had the greatest antipathy. James received this information with indignation, and com- plained that the English nation encouraged the convicted THE DOUGLAS FAMILY. 21 traitor Douglas, a step which was calculated to disturb the relations of the two States, which it did, for there was a speedy renewal of hostilities. Douglas having been in England for some time, determined once more to make an effort to conquer James, and sallying north, was joined by the Earl of Northumberland, when with a considerable army they crossed the borders and invaded the Merse in 1459, but they were encountered by the Earl of Angus and completely routed. Angus was rewarded with large grants of the forfeited Douglas estates, which, however, proved the beginning of fresh troubles, as it raised Angus, the Red Douglas, to immense power and wealth, and made him nearly as formidable as the Black. Douglas again retreated to England, where he remained for some years. In the meantime James II. died, his death having been caused by the bursting of an old overcharged Flemish gun at Roxburgh Castle which he wished to rescue from the English, who had held it since the battle of Durham in 1490. The same gun wounded the Earl of Angus very severely. Among the recipients of the Douglas estates forfeited in 1455 was Sir Walter Scott of Buccleuch and Kirkurd, and his son David, who obtained part of Branxholm, to be held blench for the payment of a red rose, for their brave and faithful exertions in favour of the King against the house of Douglas. They likewise got part of the barony of Langholm. This Sir Walter first established the principal residence of the Buccleuch family at Branxholm, where he probably died not many years after his sovereign, who made the grants. Douglas emerged from his last banishment in England some twenty-four years after the death of James, and, not contented with his many defeats, joined Albany, son of James II., regent to his nephew the young king, in his treasonable proceedings. They gave battle at Lochmaben, where, after a severe conflict, the rebels were defeated and Douglas taken prisoner by Kirkpatrick of Kirkmichael, one of his old vassals. Kirkpatrick, out of love for his old chief, offered to 22 BORDER MEMORIES. fly with him to England, instead of surrendering him ; but Douglas declined going again into exile, and James TIL, taking compassion on him on account of his age and infirmities, ordered him to be sent to the monastery of Lindores, which he much preferred, saying, " He that cannot do better must be a monk." He died on the 15th April 1488, the very year James III. was murdered. The last Earl Douglas married, under dispensation from the Pope, Margaret, the widow of his brother the eighth earl, who was murdered at Stirling, and sister of the sixth earl murdered at Edinburgh, but many years before his death, and during one of the periods of his exile, she petitioned the Scottish Court for mercy, complaining of the wretchedness she had suffered from her unnatural and forced marriage with the brother of her first husband. James II., struck with her l)eauty, and moved by her misfortunes, gladly welcomed, and sympathised with her, offering her for a husband his half- brother. Sir John Stewart, the son of Sir James Stewart, called the Black Knight of Lorn, by Jane his wdfe, the grand- daughter of John o' Gaunt, the father of Henry lY. of England, and widow of James I. Sir John Stewart was created Earl of Athol, and distinguished himself highly by his valour and patriotism. He had one daughter by Margaret Douglas, the fair maid of Galloway.* * The title of Earl of Douglas existed for ninety-eight years, giving an average of eleven years to each possessor. During that period, the House of Douglas rose to a degree of power scarcely inferior to that of the king, and it became a saying that '^ nae man was safe in the country, unless he were either a Douglas or a Douglas man." The earls kept a kind of court, and had a retinue of two thousand men, and created knights. Eleven times dui-ing its history did the House of Douglas measm-e its forces with the Royalty of Scotland, and once, under the Angus Branch, with that of Eng- land. The Angus Branch assisted so greatly to overthrow the parent house, that it became a proverb, in allusion to the comj^lexion of the two houses, that "the Red Douglas had put down the Black." THE DOUGLAS FAMILY. 25 THE EARLS OF ANGUS. The Angus branch, known as the Red Douglas, though not so great a family as the elder race whom they followed and represented, nevertheless were noted for loyalty and military achievements, and for extensive possessions. George Douglas, son of the first Earl of Douglas, by his. third wife Margaret Stewart, daughter and heir of Thomas Stewart, was created the first Earl Angus of the Douglas race, upon his mother's resignation of the honour in 1389. He married in 1397, Mary Stewart, elder daughter of King Robert in., by whom he had two sons and one daughter, who married an ancestor of the Marquis of Tweeddale. The sons William and George became in turn the second and the fourth Earls of Angus. The first earl no doubt possessed the military ardour of the family, though little has come down respecting him, except that he was at the battle of Homildon, where he was taken prisoner along with his kinsman, Archibald, Earl of Douglas. It is uncertain when the Earl of Angus died, but he is said to have died in England of the plague in 1402. At all events it must have been when he was in the prime of life, as there is evidence of his son being early called to the earl- dom, and besides his widow married thrice afterwards, viz. — First, Sir James Kennedy, by whom she had James Kennedy, Bishop of St Andrews, the adviser of James II., and Secondly, Sir William Graham, by whom she had a son Patrick, who also became Bishop of St Andrews, and Thirdly, Sir William Edmonstone of Duntreath, by whom she had issue. William the Second Earl of Angus, maintained the character of his race for valour. Rymer reports that he was sent to England in 1423, as one of the negotiators for the ransom of James I., his uncle, at whose coronation he was knighted. Some time afterwards, he was made warden of the ]\Iiddle Marches, and had special grants of a considerable portion of the property, which had been possessed by his ^4 BORDER MEMORIES. ancestors. In September 1435, he was sent against Henry- Percy the second Earl of Northumberland, whom he defeated at Piperden below the Cheviot Eange. Angus married a daughter of an ancestor of the Marquis of Tweeddale, accord- ing to a dispensation granted by the Bishop of Glasgow in 1425, and, like his father, died in his prime, leaving at any rate, one son who succeeded in 1437, the year of his father's death. James, Third Earl Angus. Rymer mentions that this earl was a Conservator of the Peace with England in the second year of the reign of James II., which commenced in 1437, and that a truce between the two kingdoms was then con- cluded. He married Joanna or Jane, third daughter of James I., but died in early life without issue. The third Earl Angus, who was succeeded by his uncle George as fourth •earl, is described in a bond as Lord of Liddesdale and Jed- wood Forest, including Hermitage Castle. George, Fourth Earl Angus, was warden of the Eastern and Middle Marches, and commanded the Royal forces during the Douglas rebellion of 1455, and upon the attainder of the Earl, he got a charter to the Lordship of Douglas in 1455. There appears, says Sir Walter ♦Scott, " some doubt whether in this division, the Earl of Angus received more than his natural right. If Archibald the Grim intruded into the earldom of Douglas, without being a legitimate son of that family, it follows that the House of Angus were kept out of their just rights for more than a century, being only restored to them after the battle of Arkin- holme. Perhaps this may help to account for the eager interest taken by the Earl of Angus against his kinsman." This earl did honour to the name of Douglas, and was much esteemed for his wisdom, loyalty, and valoar. He took the side of the Lancaster party in England, during the reign of Henry VL, while his kinsman the ninth Earl of Douglas, took the side of the Yorkists. On the return of Angus to Scotland, he, when on the way, boldly relieved and carried off a French garrison then shut up THE DOUGLAS FAMILY. 25 in Alnwick Castle, in the sight of the English army com- manded by Edward IV., who, on the departure of Henry VI., became king, and Angus brought the French troops to Scot- land in safety. This took place in 1462, and he died on the 14th November, the same year, well advanced in life, and was buried among his ancestors at Abernethy, in the beautiful vale of Strathearn. His wife was Elizabeth Sibbald, of Fife- shire, and by her he had one son, Archibald, his successor. He had a son George, supposed to be illegitimate, who ac- quired Bonjedward, and his descendants held that property for a very long period. Archibald, Fifth (commonly known as the great) Earl of Angus, the next in order, made a figure in the reigns of James III. and IV. He took an active part with the rebels against the former monarch, and had a chief command at Sauchie, where the third James was killed, or rather assassinated after the battle, by a man representing himself to be a priest, though it has been said he was pursued by Lord Grey and Stirling of Keir, as well as the priest, by one of whom it is supposed he was killed. Sir Walter Scott states that it was not known how the king's body was disposed of, but antiquarians have discovered that it was interred in Cambuskenneth Abbey, near Sauchie, and the Board of Works lately erected a tomb, commemorative of James and his queen, Margaret of Denmark. Angus felt the king lowered himself by taking inferior persons into his counsels, excluding his nobles, and he was one of the chief actors in the siezure of Cochran and other minions of the king at Lauder, where some of them were hung, as a ditty says, *' on Lauder's dreary flat." * In James IV. 's time, Angus was placed in high position, * I mean that Douglas, fifth of yore. Who coronet of Angus bore, And when his blood and heart were high Did the third James in court defy, And all his minions led to die In Lauder's dreary flat. It was on this occasion Angus got the soubriquet of Bell the Cat. 26 BORDER MEMORIES. and finally made Lord High Chancellor, but he was removed from that office to make way for Huntly, and resented the unfairness with which he was treated, by retiring to Eng- land. There he was suspected of collusion with Henry VH., father-in-law of James IV. ; and on his return, was shut up in his own Castle of Tantallon, where he had again to submit to a diminution of his importance. The energy of James had a favourable influence upon him, and made him much more pacific in his views. He took great pains to divert the king from his mad project of invading England, an expedition which ended in the battle of Flodden, where the king lost his life, and the lives of two of the earl's sons, and some two hundred of the name of Douglas were also sacrificed. The king was so enraged at Angus' remonstrance, tliat "he told him he miglit go home, if he was afraid," and bursting into tears, the earl immediately left the camp, soon finding his fears as to the result of the battle more than realised. He was a man of Herculean strength, and being offended with one of James's favourites, who spoke disparagingly of him, he challenged him to single combat, and at one blow cut asunder his adversary's thigh bone, " as woodknife lops the sapling sprig." He did not long survive the fatal battle of Flodden, " Where shivered was fair Scotland's spear, And broken was her shield. " He died at Whithorn Priory, Galloway, where he lived in seclusion, passing his time in acts of devotion and charity, and on his death, which happened in 1514, his body was opened and his heart removed and buried at Douglas, while the rest of his remains were interred in the Conventual Church at Whithorn. He had three sons by his first wife, two of whom, George Master of Angus, and William of Glenbervie, were killed at Flodden, and Gavin, the celebrated Bishop of Dun- keld, previously Rector of Hawick. By his second wife he had a son, Archibald, father of Sir Archibald of Kilspindie, a favourite of James Y., who called him his Grey Steil. He was also his treasurer, but was afterwards attainted and went THE DOUGLAS FAMILY. 27 into exile. The king behaved very harshly to his old favourite, so much so that even the tyrannical Henry VIII. commented on it, and said that a king's face should give grace. His son and heir, Archibald Douglas of Kilspindie, to whom the estates were restored, was twice Lord Provost of Edinburgh, and it was in his provostship the town was first lighted with lanterns. The Master of Angus, killed at Flodden with his brother Sir William of Glenbervie, left two sons, the eldest succeeding his grandfather as sixth Earl of Angus, while the second. Sir George, of Pittendreich, killed at Pinkie, left two sons, one becoming, as we shall see, seventh Earl, and the other fourth Earl of Morton. Archibald succeeded his grandfather as Sixth Earl of Angus in 1514. He was handsome and highly accomplished, but the lust of power, the failing of the family, was strongly implanted in him. He travelled a great deal, and was well received everywhere, particularly by Henry II. of France, who conferred the honour of knighthood upon him. He returned home soon after James IV.'s death, when he pro- posed to the King's widow, Margaret, daughter of Henry VII. though, as he had just lost his first wife, a grand-daughter of the first Earl of Bothwell, it was considered too precipitate if not indecent. They however were married, and though Angus expected the Regency in consequence, he did not get it, much to his disgust, and not making a good husband to the Queen, they were divorced. They had one daughter, Margaret, who married the Earl of Lennox, father of Lord Darnley, and grandfather of James VI. of Scotland and first of England. He had a third wife and a son, and it is said he had illegiti- mate children besides, which no doubt caused the bad feeling which existed between himself and the Queen, his second wife, though she was capricious and given to flirtation also. After the divorce took place, the royal lady married Henry Stewart, Lord Methven, quite a youth. Angus retired to England for a time, but on his return he renewed his former course, and having obtained the Chancellor- ship, he exercised great power, which seemed to threaten the 28 BOEDER MEMORIES. independence of the crown and the liberties of the people. At length James V. succeeded in releasing himself from the grasp of the Douglas some little time after the battle of Melrose, which, however, went in favour of Angus, though he lost his heroic friend and'supporter, Andrew Ker of Cessford, who was killed, it has been said, by an Elliot, one of the followers of Buccleuch. It is recorded the King of England had promised Evers and Latoun a feudal grant of Teviotdale, which so roused Angus's blood that he is said to have sworn to write the deed of in- vestiture upon their skins with sharp pens and bloody ink, in resentment for their having defaced the tombs of his ancestors at Melrose. On the King hearing that Evers was killed, he vowed vengeance against Angus, Avhose answer however, was worthy of a Douglas. " Is our brother-in-law offended that I, as a good Scotchman, have avenged my ravaged country and the defaced tombs of my ancestry upon Evers ? They were better men than he, and I was bound to do no less ; and will he take my life for that? Little knows King Henry that in the skirts of Cairntable I can keep myself against all his English host." An amazonian Scottish woman was said to have fought at Ancrum Moor, and to have distinguished herself in the same manner as Squire Witherington, who foiight, like her, without his legs. Angus concluded his remaining years very quietly at Tantallon, where he died in 1556. David, nephew of the preceding Earl, being son of Sir George Douglas, killed at Pinkie, by his kinswoman Elizabeth Douglas, the heiress of Pittendreich, succeeded as Seventh Earl of Angus. He was unlike most of his race, being inactive in his habits and of a delicate constitution, and did not live long, for it is recorded he enjoyed the honours and estates barely two years. His wife was a daughter of Sir John Hamilton of Clydesdale, and by her he left a son, Archi- bald, and two daughters, one of whom married Sir Walter Scott of Buccleuch, the faithful adherent of Mary Queen of Scots and grandson of the first and great Sir Walter, who was cele- THE DOUGLAS FAIVIILY. 29 brated for his deeds of valour during the minority of James y. This Archibald succeeded as Eighth Earl of Angus, when an infant. The Angus earldom having vested in Mar- garet Douglas, the mother of Darnley, as the only child and heir of the sixth Earl, she now renounced her claim in favour of Earl Archibald, the heir-male, which renunciation was con- firmed by Parliament, who now restricted the succession to the male line. As a youth he lived in obscurity, and lurked about under the soubriquet of " James the Grieve," but his education and morals must have been carefully attended to, for he was surnamed the " Good Earl." He was appointed a Warden of the Marches and afterwards Lieutenant of the Borders. He executed his duties with great reputation. On the fall of his uncle, the Earl of Morton, who made a memor- able figure in the annals of Scottish history, in connection with the murder of Darnley, he succeeded, by virtue of an entail, to that peerage. Believing the proceedings against Morton arose from an enmity between the Stuarts and his family, and that a conspiracy existed to destroy the whole race of Douglas, he resented the indignity heaped upon Mor- ton. This obliged him to retire, and he went to England for a time, returning, however, in 1582, when he took part in the Eaid of Ruthven. Subsequently he was attainted for opposing Arran, one of the King's favourites, but he after- wards obtained a revocation of his forfeiture, and died not long after, his death being attributed to sorcery. This Earl left behind him a character for sincere and unaffected piety, as well as a good reputation for learning, and the Latin epi- taph on his tomb at Abernethy, where he was buried — the Angus family's last resting place — is highly honourable to him. It has been translated as follows : — " Angus, by cruel death lies here, The good man's hope, the wicked's fear, The praise and sorrow of the most Religious, who, as having lost A father, mourn ; most men are known To find a woe if they have none. 30 BORDER MEMORIES. Envy, accustomed to wrong His guiltless life, employs her tongue. Now a loud trumpet of his fame, And weeps, if not for grief, for shame, Enforc'd to give herself the lie, O power of truth ! victory ! By which more honour is obtain'd, Than is in greatest triumphs gain'd." Though thrice married, he left one daughter only by his third wife, but she died unmarried, Angus being succeeded by his cousin and heir-male WiLLiAiM AS Ninth Earl of Angus. — James the Sixth of Scotland, and First of England, however, claimed the earldom as heir of line, but after contesting it at law was non-suited, and William of Glenbervie was confirmed in the title. All the ancient privileges of the Douglases — viz., the first vote in Council or Parliament, the appointment of the King's heredi- tary lieutenant, and the leading of the van of the army in the day of battle, were also confirmed to him. The first of the Glenbervie family was killed at Flodden, together with his brother the Master of Angus. He had married the heiress of Sir John Auchinleck of Auchinleck. The ninth Earl espoused in early life the interests of Queen Mary, and was a partisan of hers at the battle of Corrichie, but he afterwards became a Protestant, and supported James VI. He married at eighteen Miss Graham of Morphie, with whom he lived happily forty years, and by whom he had eight children, and when he died he was barely sixty. His eldest son, William, succeeded as Tenth Earl of Angus ; while his second, Eobert, got Glen- bervie. His descendants, one of whom was the celebrated author of the " Peerage and Baronetage of Scotland," are still in possession of the property, though in the female line. The tenth Earl of Angus was a literary man, and well up in antiquities and history, especially that branch relating to the origin of families. He wrote a Chronicle of the Douglases. He became a Romanist, and getting into disfavour in conse- I THE DOUGLAS F.iMILY. 31 quence of attempting to destroy the Protestant religion, he suffered imprisonment, but was finally allowed to retire to France, where he remained till his death in 1616. He was succeeded by his eldest son, William ; his second son, James, being created by Charles I., with whom he was a favourite, Baron Mordington, a title now extinct. WiLLiAAi, Eleventh Earl Angus, was created Marquis of Douglas on 17th June 1633. The Marquis was noted for the splendour of his hospitality at Douglas Castle, and died at an advanced age for a Douglas, having completed his seven- tieth year. He was married twice, and had twelve children. His eldest son, Archibald, Lord Angus, died before him, leaving two sons — viz., James, who succeeded his grand- father as second Marquis Douglas ; and Archibald, who was Earl Forfar, a title now extinct. But the Marquis had other sons besides Lords Angus and Forfar, one being William, created Earl Selkirk, who married Anne, Duchess of Hamilton, and was created Duke, resigning the Earldom of Selkirk, which was conferred on his two younger sons primogenitarily. With the exception of the late Earl, who tried to form a settlement in Prince Edward's Island, which was not success- ful, none of the family have left any footprints behind them. The present Duke of Hamilton descends from this marriage, being through it the male heir of the great house of Douglas. A younger son was created Earl Dumbarton, and became a famous soldier, but that title is extinct; while a daughter married the first Duke of Queensberry. JA3IES, Second Marquis of Douglas, was a Privy Coun- cillor to three kings, whom he served thirty years in aU. He was rather loose in his habits, and got entangled with the daughter of one Widow Jack who kept a tavern, but after- Avards married Lady Barbara Erskine, though the marriage proved an unfortunate one. They were separated after the birth of an only son, the gallant Angus, who raised when a youth in one day 1800 men composing the " Cameronians," still one of our crack regiments ; and being appointed colonel. 32 BORDER MEMORIES. he led tbem with great bravery, and fell at Steinkirk, aged only twenty-one. The sorrows of his mother were described in a ballad of the day, some lines of which I quote : — *' wherefore should I busk my head, Or wherefore should I kame my hair ? Twice my true love has me forsook, And says he'd never love me mair. Now Arthur's Seat shall be my bed, The sheets shall ne'er be pressed by me ; St Anton's well shall be my drink Since my true love's forsaken me. Martinmas wind, when wilt thou blaw, And shake the green leaf off the tree ? gentle death, when wilt thou come And take a life that wearies me ? " Having mentioned that Lady Barbara Erskine's son Angus raised the Cameronians, or 26th Foot, it may be interesting to notice that her brother, the tenth Earl Mar, raised the Scots Fusileers, the 21st Regiment. The Marquis Douglas married, secondly. Lady Mary Kerr, of the house of Lothian, by whom he had two children — Archibald, who became the heir ; and Lady Jane, who married Sir John Stewart of Grandtully at the age of forty-eight, and had twins at fifty-one, which many thought were surreptitious. Archibald succeeded as third Marquis in 1700, aged only six, and in consideration of his illustrious descent was created by Queen Anne, when he was but nine, Duke of Douglas, with limitation to the heirs of his body. Personally he had no claim to ducal honours, for he was almost a nonentity, being celebrated for no particular acquire- ment but that of fencing, which produced in him a taste for duelling. He used to practise fencing -with Captain John Kerr, a natural son of his brother-in-law who visited at Douglas. Kerr was a first-rate fencer, being able to remove a button from his adversary's coat without cutting the garment. The Duke was jealous of his friend's superior fencing ; but besides this, seeing his Grace's taste for inferior company, he took the liberty of cautioning him against it. This no doubt increased THE DOUGLAS FAMILY. 33 his feeling against Kerr, and when he suspected the young man of making up to his sister, Lady Jane, the Duke's displeasure knew no bounds, and he determined on shooting him, which he did when Kerr was asleep in his bed. The Duke of course fled, but the matter was soon hushed up, and his Grace returned. Human life was not so much thought of at that time, and human law not so justly dealt out as now. The Duke afterwards married, at the age of sixty-two, a lady of the same name — Miss Douglas of Maines — who was well advanced in years also, or at anyrate in the meridian of life. There was no issue, and though the Duke had pre- viously made a settlement in favour of the house of Hamilton, excluding his sister, to whom he behaved very ill, he was induced, probably under the influence of the Duchess, who must have felt for the treatment Lady Jane had received from her husband, though she was dead before the marriage, to alter his arrangements, and to substitute his nephew, Lady Jane's son, whom he appointed his heir. This no doubt dis- pleased the Hamiltons, and caused the litigation which did not finally succeed, — though the Scotch Courts decided in theii' favour j for the House of Lords reversed the decision, deter- mining in favour of Mr Stewart in 1771, several years after the Duke's death, the law-suit costing an immense sum of money. Mr Stewart accordingly assumed the name of Douglas. and took possession of the estates, said to be worth £60,000 a year, and some time after was created Lord Douglas. After enjoying the title and property many years, and marrying daughters of theDukes of Montrose andBuccleuch in succession, he died at the advanced age of seventy-nine, leaving several sons and daughters. Three sons inherited in turn, but none of them left issue, and at length the property passed to the child of a sister of the last Lord Douglas, the present Countess of Home. The four Baron Douglases were quiet, good men, leaving no particular marks behind them. The first used to entertain, and, like David Hume, preferred port, which he placed before his guests after dinner. A story is told of Lord Justice-Clerk C 34 BORDER MEMORIES. M' Queen, an excellent judge, though an eccentric man, one day dining with his friend Lord Douglas, who only produced port, which was not the judge's favourite wine. He accord- ingly asked the noble Lord if there was no claret in the cellar, the host said there was, but his butler told him it was not good. The judge, however, wished to sit in judgment on the claret, and said in his Scotch dialect, " Let's pree it." On its being produced it was pronounced excellent; so that the butler and his Lordship, who probably did not wish to part with it, were in a fix. The judge appealed to the parish minister, who was of the party at dinner, to absolve the fama clamosa against the claret, but the reverend divine, who no doubt liked it as well as the judge, said he could not do that according to ecclesiastical law till after three several appearances, which secured to the lovers of claret at least two additional bottles. The Duchess of Douglas deserves further notice before closing the account of the old race. She enjoyed, according to Dr Carlyle, a traditional reputation for much freedom of speech and action. She, Carlyle, and others, were on one occasion in company at Hamilton, when they were joined by Mr Thomas Clelland, a clergjmian of the neighbourhood, whom the Duchess, then Miss Peggy Douglas, rated on being an old fusty bachelor. After bearing patiently all the effects of her wit, Mr Clelland said to her, " Margaret, you know that I am master of the parish register where your age is recorded, and that I know when you must justly be called an old maid, in spite of your juvenile airs." " What care I now," said she, "for I have for some time renounced your worthless sex, I have sworn to be Duchess of Douglas, or never to mount a marriage-bed." This took place in 1745, when the lady was about thirty, but still beautiful and witty ; and though she made good her prediction, it was about thirteen years after before she succeeded in securing the Duke, who only lived three or four years after the marriage. She visited Paris in 1762, and was advised to take the privilege of the tabouret at Court, but she declined, as one of her friends said, on account THE DOUGLAS FAMILY. 35 of the disproportioned size of the seat for the co-relative part of her figure. The great Dt Johnson met her Grace some time after she be- came a widow, at Boswell's, I believe; but the Doctor, who, as we know, was not over complimentary, said she talked broad Scotch with a paralytic voice, and was scarcely intelligible. The Duchess might have received a little more favour from Johnson, as he had himself married an old lady, whose fortune enabled him to make his first start in life. THE QUEENSBERRY BRANCH. This branch sprang from an illegitimate son of the hero of Otterburn, William, who got a grant of the Baronies of Drumlanrig and Hawick from James I. when a captive in England, and it has been said the charter was written on vellum, holograph of the king, dated at Croyden 1412. Several of his early descendants well maintained the fame of their martial ancestors, and Sir James, the seventh baron, assisted Buccleuch in his attempt to rescue James V. from the grasp of Angus, and was afterwards actively engaged on the king's side in other battles, dying in 1578, after having been prisoner for some time in Edinburgh Castle. His son also assisted the king at the battle of Langside,* while his * The eighth. Baron of Drumlanrig was in possession on the perj^etration of that fiendish act of revenge by those strong-minded women, Lady Howpaslot and her friend Jean Scott of Satchells, which is recorded in various places. Drumlanrig, who was a zealous magistrate for the suppression of Border disturbances, somehow or other became possessed of Howpaslot, probably by legal diligence, but which he did not hold long. The idea of a Douglas encroaching on the domains of her ancestors roused the Scott blood in Lady Howpaslot's veins to such a degree that she summoned a council of war in Hawick, the very town in which Drumlanrig was superior, which was presided over by Dame Satchells, and attended by all the bullies of the clan, the result being that Drumlanrig's sheep put upon the lands were cruelly and barbarously killed. Drumlanrig died soon after, but his son brought the miscreants to trial, and three at any rate of the baud— all Scots— were ordered to be hanged and theii' goods to be escheated. S6 BORDER MEMORIES. grandson or successor was most active in putting down the rebellious borderers. The feudal baronship gave place to a Peerage in 1628, when William Douglas was created Viscount Drumlanrig, and in 1633 Earl of Queensbeny. His Lordship married a daughter of the first Earl Lothian, and grand- daughter of Sir Andrew Ker of Cessford, by whom he had two sons, — James his heir, and Sir William Douglas of Kilhead created a baronet, whose descendant Sir Charles became fifth Marquis of Queensberry. James the Second Earl was a great royalist, and an in- tense sufferer in the cause, having been heavily fined; but his son and successor, William, was abundantly rewarded for all his father's losses, having been appointed to high ofiices of state, and received no end of additional honours, a dukedom into the bargain. His second son was made Earl March, from whom the fourth Duke, old Q., derived. The first Duke would not assist in relieving the Roman Catholics of their disability, and got his conge from James IL when he retired to Dumfries- shire, and raised the magnificent Castle of Drumlanrig. His son James the Second Duke had a further Peerage distinc- tion conferred upon him, having been created Duke of Dover. He was a staunch supporter of the Union, having like his father previously concurred in the revolution of 1688. He got the Dukedom of Queensberry extended to heirs female as well as male, while the Marc[uisate remained untouched. It has been said His Grace's defence of the Union was conducted with the most consummate ability. His third son Charles became the Third Duke, while his daughter Jean married the second Duke of Buccleuch whose grandson became fifth Duke of Queensberry. He married Lady Katherine Hyde, and had two sons. The elder was accidentally killed by one of his own pistols ; while the second died unmarried, having while at Lisbon during the well-known earthquake with difficulty escaped. His wife was a person of great beauty and wit, and was commemorated by the leading poets of the day. She was a great admirer of Gay, and she and the Duke THE DOUGLAS FAMILY. 37 erected a monument to him in Poet's Corner ; Pope -^Titing the epitapL Prior called the Duchess : — " Kitty beautiftil and young, And wild as colt untamed." In 1772 at the Princess Dowager of Wales' funeral she walked as one of the mourners to Westminster Abbey, when her Royal Highness was buried, on which occasion these lines were penned by H. Walpole : — "■ To many a Kitty Love his ear Would for a day engage ; But Prior's Kitty, ever fair, Obtaia'd it for an age." The Duke and Duchess died within a year of one another,, after living together in the bonds of matrimony more than fifty- seven years. The Duke's cousin, William, third Earl March, now became fourth Duke, familiarly known as old Q., a man of immense possessions and great eccentricities. As third Earl March he was descended from the first Duke, whose second son William became the first Earl and acquired Neidpath, that fine old estate, which he improved so much that it became quite the beau ideal of a place. The second Earl continued to reside at and to keep it up, but he had not the brains of his father. He had a town house in Peebles which he used for winter quarters, and was quite hand in glove -with the citizens. On his riding to Edinburgh on one occasion, one of the old women fond of knowing everybody's business asked the Earl when he would be back. His reply was, "Gane Friday, Eff'y;" but alas on that very Friday he was brought home a corpse. His son was the third Earl and fourth Duke of Queensberry of whose wealth and eccentricities I have spoken. He lived in England, and allowed Neidpath to go to ruin, and besides he cut down all the fine old timber, leaving it in the language of Words- worth, " Beggared and outraged." He never married, and at his death his landed estates went in different directions, the Duke of Buccleuch getting Drum- 38 BORDER jMEMORIES. lanrig, as heir of line. His moveable property amounted to about a million, and was also divided, Lord Yarmouth being his residuary legatee. It is worth noticing that the fourth and fifth Dukes of Queensberry possessed that ducal honour between them for ninety-nine years. The male line of the Queensberry enjoys the Marquisate which is in the descendants of Sir William of Killiead already mentioned. THE MORTON BRANCH. This branch sprung from Sir James Douglas of Loudon, a cousin of the Good Sir James, his second son being. Sir John Douglas of Dalkeith. That property was acquired by the Douglas through marriage with Miss Graham its heiress, whose family had possessed it for about two hundred years. The Grahams of Dalkeith lived in great splendour, and were noted warriors, for u^) to a late period the family were still known as the gallant Grahams. Although Froissart, the chivalric historian, mentions having met James Douglas, afterwards of Otterburn fame, at Dalkeith when a boy of about twelve, the old Douglas line never possessed it. The first Earl Morton, created 1457, was Lord of Dalkeith. He married a daughter of James I., widow of the third Earl Angus. John the second earl was honoured with a visit at Dalkeith of James IV. and his royal bride-elect, when on their way to Holyrood to be married, their nuptials being cele- brated by Dunbar in his famous poem the "Thistle and Rose." The third earl was accused of writing some treasonable papers, but was acquitted. In his time the plague broke out in Edin- burgh, and James V. then a boy, was removed to Dalkeith Castle for fear of infection, and he and his court remained there for some little time. This earl was in favour of Henry VIII. 's attempt to obtain Mary for his son Edward VI., to enforce which scheme the battle of Pinkie was fought, and Dalkeith, which contained a vast amount of property, deposited there for safety, was attacked and surrendered. THE DOUGLAS FAMILY. 39 The third earl having no male issue, got the honours and estate transferred to his son-in-law, James Douglas of Pitten- dreich, who became fourth earl, and was an important historic l^ersonage. He filled several high offices, and finally became regent, but being accused of acquiescing in the assassination of Eizzio, and of being accessory to the murder of Darnley ; he was arraigned on the latter charge, found guilty, and next day beheaded by the machine he caused to be introduced into Scotland — the maiden. Sir James Douglas of Pathhead, a relative of Morton, revenged himself on Stewart Earl of Arran, the profligate favourite of James YI., and the usurper of the principal offices of the government, for his persecution of the Eegent, by killing him on the spot as he was riding in the neigh- bourhood of Douglas. The Earl of Arran was at that time stripped of his honours, and living as a private gentleman, but Douglas, although fifteen years had elapsed since the Earl of Morton's execution, did not forget Arran's share in the Ee- gent's conviction and death, and took the earliest opportunity he had of showing his resentment by murdering him, and causing his head to be exhibited through the country. Douglas, how- ever, suffered for this act of vengeance, for I find he was killed in Edinburgh, in the High Street, by a relative of Arran's, who pierced him through the body, to revenge his friend's death. Morton in early life lived in great obscurity. Owing to the attainder of his father and uncle the sixth Earl Angus, he was forced to live as he could, and adopted the feigned name of ^'Innes," under which he acted as a gentleman's factor. But on the attainder being cancelled, at James V.'s death, he returned home, threw ofi" his disguise, and in due time married the heiress of Morton, adopting till he succeeded to the earldom, the title of Master of Morton. He had no family by his wife, and on his execution or decapitation, the estates and honours were forfeited, though after a time they, were restored and given to the Eegent' s heir and nephew, the eighth Earl Angus, who, however, died childless, Avhen they were inherited by William Douglas of Lochleven, the custodier 40 BORDER MEMORIES. of Queen Mary, and descendant of Sir John Douglas, who gallantly defended the castle in the minority of David 11. , against the English, but was afterwards assassinated. William Douglas' son and heir was drowned, and his grandson became eighth Earl of Morton, a man of very considerable talents and accomplishments, and the possessor of a large property, but espousing the royal cause when the Civil War broke out, he was involved in pecuniary difficulties, having made large ad- vances of money to Charles I. In 1642 he was forced to sell the estate of Dalkeith, when the representative of Francis Earl of Buccleuch purchased it. The Earl of Morton got an assignment of the Islands of Orkney and Shetland for his re- imbursement, and he retired to the Orkneys, where he died in 1648. His son only lived about a year after him, when his grandson became tenth earl, and obtained a fresh grant from the crown of the Northern Islands, though they were again taken away, but when the eleventh earl succeeded, being a zealous supporter of the Union, he obtained an Act of Parlia- ment, vesting the islands in himself and heirs, which remained with the famity till sold by the eleventh earl to Sir Laurence Dundas, ancestor of Lord Zetland, the present proprietor. The fourteenth earl was a man of great sagacity as well as of pre- eminent abilities. He had the honour of being elected Presi- dent of the Royal Society, and was also made one of the Trustees of the British Museum. His grandson, Hamilton Douglas, second son of the fifteenth earl, was a most noted naval officer who perished at New York in 1783, in his twenty- first year, in the performance of a very bold and hazardous duty, which he, with others under his command volunteered, all being officers on board Sir Charles Douglas' man-of-war "Assistance." A monument at Sandyhook commemorates the loss of the gaUant Douglas, who had assumed the name of Halyburton, and his comrades. A very ancient cadet of the Douglas Burn Douglases, was the House of Pumpherston, a well-known and rather distinguished family in Linlithgowshire, a j^roperty which is now 2)ossessed THE DOUGLAS FAMILY. 41 by Mr M'Lagan, member for that County. One of the last of them was Sir Joseph Douglas, and one of his family married Andrew Eiddell, Baron of Pdddell. The fate of Sir Joseph was melancholy. He was one of the passengers in the Glou- cester Frigate, which was wrecked in 1652, on her passage from London to Edinburgh, on the Yarmouth Sands. Besides Douglas one hundred and forty-nine other persons were drowned, many being notables. Among them was Eobert third earl of Eoxburgh. Sylvester Douglas was created a Peer by Lord North, pro- bably owing to his having married his daughter, who thus became Lady Glenbervie, the title of her husband. Glenbervie^s history is a little pecuhar. Educated at Aber- deen, where he was a distinguished scholar, he became a Doctor or at any rate a student of medicine, which he afterwards renounced to go to the London Bar, but he acquired no fame as a barrister, except as a reporter of Lord Mansfield's legal decisions. This employment induced him to take for his motto ]per varios casus, which Lord Campbell, the Chancellor, remarked, was rather better than one adopted by a legal friend of his own, on launching his carriage, viz., causes j)ro- duce effects, being much in the same style as " quack, quack," for the doctor whose crest Avas a duck. Sheridan wrote a pasquinade on Glenbervie. " Glenbervie, Glenbervie, What 's good for the scurvy ? For ne'er be your old trade forgot — In your arms rather quarter A pestle and mortar, And your crest be a spruce gallipot, Your crest be a spruce gallipot. Glenbervie, Glenbervie, The world's topsy-turvey ! Of this truth you're the fittest attestor ; For who can deny That the low become high, When the King makes a Lord of Sylvester, When the King makes a Lord of Sylvester. Lord Glenber^de had a son an M.P., who published an essay 42 BORDER MEMORIES. on several points of resemblance between the ancient and modern Greeks, but he is long since dead and the title extinct. I have alluded to Sir Charles Douglas, captain of the man- of-war in which the noble and gallant Hamilton Douglas, of the Morton family, from which Sir Charles was descended, was an ofi&cer ; and T must now say a little about the eminent commander himself, who was greatly distinguished during the American war, and particularly at Quebec, which he re- lieved when sorely pressed by the enemy. This officer, for his gallant exploits, which were numerous, obtained a baro- netcy, and was succeeded by his son, also a distinguished naval officer ; who again was succeeded by his brother. Sir How- ard Douglas, a renowned soldier. Sir Charles Douglas was an accomplished linguist, having been able to speak six European languages. DIVINES OF NOTE AMONG THE DOUGLASES. The first in order is Gavin, son of the fifth Earl Angus, as already mentioned. He was a very eminent scholar and poet, and, as a brother bard says, he was — " More pleased, that in a barbarous age, He gave rvicle Scotland Virgil's page, Than that beneath his rule he held The bishoprick of fair Dunkeld." He died of the plague in London, and is buried in the now beautiful church of the Savoy. Sir Robert Douglas, son of the ninth Earl Angus, is interred there also. The Savoy abounds with the remains of celebrities, amongst whom I may mention George, third Earl of Cumberland, one of Elizabeth's famous admirals, and father of the great Countess of Dorset, who, when Charles II. 's secretary recommended to her a candidate for Appleby, replied — " I have been bullied by an usurper, neglected by a court, and will not be dictated to by a subject. Your man shan't stand." THE DOUGLAS FAIVIILY. 43 Then Robert Douglas, of the Glenbervie family, was bishop of Dunblane, but retired at the Revolution. I also mention John Douglas, Bishop of Salisbury, who was a man of ability and author of several literary works, that on " Miracles" being most noted, and a standard book. He was the son of a mer- chant at Pittenweem, in Fife, though descended from a branch of the old Douglases, and his grandfather was an eminent Episcopal Minister in Scotland, and the immediate successor of Bishop Burnet at Saltoun, East Lothian, from which living he was ejected at the Revolution, when Presbyterianism was established here. Bishop Douglas was a member of the cele- brated club of which Dr Johnson, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Mr Burke, Mr Boswell, and Dr Goldsmith were members. He died at Windsor Castle in 1807, aged 86. He was tutor in Lord Bath's family, and was a warm and constant friend of his lordship. Lord Bath left him his library, but General Pulteney, not wishing to have it removed, gave the Bishop £1000 for it. On the General's death, it was again bequeathed to him, and he again relinquished it to another member of the Bath family for the same sum. Very good legacies for the prelate. There was another Robert Douglas, said by some to be descended from royalty, an eminent Presbyterian minister, who was offered the Bishoprick of Edinburgh on the establish- ment of Episcopacy at the Restoration, but who refused it, and was afterwards deprived for non-conformity, though he was restored, and made minister of Pencaitland, where the famous Calderwood was before him. Then, in later times, nearer our own day, there was the well-known Robert Douglas of Galashiels, the founder, as it were, of that prosperous town, the friend of Sir Walter Scott, and the proprietor of Abbotsford before Sir Walter, though under a less euphonious name. There were also several other Douglases, ministers of the Kirk, too numerous to name. One was appointed to Ancrum, Hector, who on being examined on the rudiments of religion, 44 BORDER MEMORIES. was found rude thereon, which the clerical examiners must have intended for more than a piece of wit, for poor Hector was very rudely treated, being deprived of his appoint- ment. An Archibald Douglas, minister at Glasgow, a cousin of Morton's, was supposed to be concerned in Darnley's murder. He fled after the occurrence, but on his return was tried, though acquitted. The jury who sat upon him was packed, as it was thought he might be able to advance the king's pros- pects in England. You may remember that Bothwellhaugh^ the murderer of the Eegent Murray at Linlithgow, was let off, though an assassin, the King observing, " that if Murray had not been shot he would never have been king." In connection with the Eegent Morton, I may state that very different justice was dealt out to Andrew Douglas, minis- ter of Douglas, who was actually tortured and then hanged for publicly rebuking Morton for some illicit amour. Among the noted Douglas ladies not already mentioned were — Lady Eleanor Douglas, who wrote " The Day of Judgment's Model," in 1646. Mrs Douglas of Ednam House, who published early this century " The Life of Gellert," an eminent German poet and writer, with a course of " Moral Lessons," taken from a French translation of the original German ; and Margaret Douglas. The latter was more noted for being the mother of that great philosopher, Adam Smith, who having lost his father soon after his birth, was watched over and fondly cared for by his excellent mother, whose kindness and love he repaid with the most filial affection, during the lengthened period of sixty years, her life having been long spared, while he only survived her a few years. She had the delight of seeing her son patronised by the wise and great — one of the highest compliments to him being shown at a dinner where Mr Pitt and other members of Government THE DOUGLAS FAMILY. 45 were guests. Adam Smith arrived late, and the company had sat down to dinner, but the moment he arrived, modestly apologising for being late, they all rose to receive him. He begged them to be seated, but they declined to do so till he took his chair, ''because they were all his scholars." THE SCOTT FAMILY. I GIVE precedence to the Scotts over tlie Ker and other families, as I think they were first established in Scotland. Indeed they are indigenous, whereas the Kers are of Anglo- Norman lineage, having crossed the Border and domiciled themselves here in the thirteenth century. The derivation of the name of Scott is not very well-known — indeed that of Scotland is itself involved in obscurity. Originally it was, according to the Eomans, Caledonia, which name it retained during the early centuries of the Christian era, after which it was called Scotia, from, as it has been said, Scota, wife of the chief of a tribe from Ireland who invaded the country, while it has also been called Scoty, and the people Scots, which it has been alleged was given by their enemies the Picts, the early occupants of the Lowlands, or rather the lands lying between the Tay and the Tyne, because they made great use of the strongbow, from Schotton, calling themselves Schots or Scots. But, however this may be, the country was finally named Scotland when Kenneth defeated the Picts, and estab- lished himself as Monarch of the united races. I have also seen it stated that Scot signifies in Gaelic, "Wanderer," an appellation probably showing attachment to a hunting and warlike life of which this Border family was, at one time, par- ticularly fond. The founder of the great Border House of Scott was Uchtred, Filius Scoti, or Fitz-Scott, son of a Scotchman, probably to distinguish him from others of the same name. Mr Seton in his beautiful book on "Heraldry" is quite clear on the connection, adding that the same arms are carried with THE SCOTT FAMILY. 47 various suitable differences by most of the existing branches of the House of Scott, and Sir Bernard Burke in his "Heraldic Encyclopedia," says, the arms of the Murdistons were a bend between two crescents, one estoile ; while others, I believe, hold that the Border Scotts never bore the three lions' heads as their paternal ensign. Uchtred was witness to the founda- tion charter of the Abbeys of Holyrood and Selkirk by David II., in 1128 and 1130.^=- From Uchtred also derived according to some accounts, though the history of the Border family is silent on the sub- ject, as a younger branch, the well-known race of Scott of Balwearie, of whom was the extraordinary magician, " The wondrous Michael Scott," who, Sir "Walter Scott says, ^' was a man of much learning chiefly acquired in foreign countries," adding that he wrote a commentary upon '^ Aristotle," and several treatises upon natural philosophy, from which he appears to have been addicted to the abstract studies of astrology, alchemy, phy- siognomy, chiromancy, passing for a skilful magician. Dante mentions him as a renowned wizard in his lines thus rendered by his accomplished translator Carey : " That other, round the loins So slender of his shape, was Michael Scott, Practised in every sleight of magic wile. " " Quell altro chi ne fianchi e cosi poco Michele Scoto fu, chi verameute Delle magiche frode seppe il gioco." and many popular stories are told of him to this day, of his commerce with evil spirits, and of the wonders which he achieved through their agency, even to the severing of the Eildon Hills from a single cone into three. He is also said to have been a prophet, and among other events to have foretold * It is, however, believed that from the days of Kenneth III., the barony of Scotstown in Peeblesshire had been possessed by the ancestors of Uchtred, the first representatives of the family having come from Galloway, Some interesting memorials of Scotstown will be found in the " Historj' of Peebles- shire," by William Chambers, pp. 475-6. 48 BORDER MEMORIES. the union of Scotland and England. But such was the estima- tion in which he was held, that he was selected by the States of the country, as one of the two ambassadors sent to Norway to bring home Queen Margaret, the maid of Norway, grand- daughter and heiress of Alexander III., who unfortunately died at Orkney on her way to Scotland. Sir Michael Scott succeeded to the lands of Balwearie, in right of his mother, who was the daughter and heiress of Sir Richard Balwearie of that ilk, and dying not long after his return from his mission to Norway, was buried at Mel- rose Abbey. To his grave, according to the "Lay of the Last Minstrel," the aged Monk led William of Deloraine. Some authorities, including old Satchells, the Chronicler of the Scots, assert that the magician was buried in Cumberland, of which Sir Walter makes mention in his notes to the Lay. Other individuals soon arose, assuming the name of Scott, among whom were two Bishops and a Chancellor — all three mentioned by Douglas and Nisbet as parties to ancient charters. There was also the celebrated Duns Scotus, the subtle Doctor and learned Oxford Professor, a well-known borderer, though both sides claim him, Berwickshire, however, having, it is believed, the best right to consider him her son. Among the pictures at Windsor Castle there is one called Duns Scotus in the catalogue, in the Presence Chamber, said to have been executed by a Spanish painter^ but Walpole considers it ideal.* Long previously to Duns Scotus, there was another learned Scotchman called Scotus, though some have called him Irish, * John Duns Scotus was bom about 1264, probably at Dunse, and studied at Merton College, Oxford, where he became so distinguished in scholastic theology, civil law, logic, and mathematics, that in 1301 he was appointed Professor of Divinity. He belonged to the Franciscan Order of Friars, and was the first to propound the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, which he defended in a public disputation, and having refuted two hundred objections, acquu-ed the name of the most Subtle Doctor. He founded the sect of the Scotists, who divided the theological woi'ld in the middle ages with the Thomists, or followers of Thomas Aquinas. He died of apoplexy at Cologne in November 1308. THE SCOTT FA5IILY. 49 who gloried in the name of Johannes Scotus Erigena.* He translated the works of Dionysius the Areopagite into Latin at the request of Charles the Bald, King of France, whose love of learning made his Court the great resort of the scholars of Europe, and where Erigena resided, but having incurred the displeasure of the Pope Nicholas I. by his translation, he deemed it prudent to come to England, where, it is said, he assisted Alfred the Great in restoring learning at Oxford, though biographers differ on this point. Whatever was the fate of this good and learned man, after incurring his Holi- ness' displeasure, it seems clear he retreated from the Court of Charles. A complete edition of his works was published in Paris in 1533. But I return to the old Border house of Scott, the head no doubt of the Scott family generally, com- mencing with Uchtred's lineal descendant EiCHARD,! who really took the surname of Scott, and who married, as is well established, the daughter and heiress of Murdiston of that Ilk, taking the arms of his wife, a star between two crescents on a bend azure, and laying aside the lions' heads, which some say were his own cognizance, as they were of the Balwearie Scotts, and continue to be the arms of their representative. Sir WilHam Scott of Ancrum. It is curious that an early ancestor of this latter family acquired Balwearie, as already mentioned, by marriage, as Eichard Scott did Murdiston. Eichard subscribed the Eagman Eoll in 1296 with other celebrated Scotchmen, who thereby swore * Some say he was a native of Ireland, some of Engine, on the borders of Wales, but generally received opinion points to AjTshire as the place of his birth. He was one of the most eminent scholars of his day, and besides original works showing great erudition, he translated from Greek into Latin certain theological treatises attributed to Dionysius the Areopagite, who was supposed to have been the first Christian preacher in France. His death occurred between 876 and 886, and is said to have been caused by his students in the Abbey of Malmesbury, who resented his strict discipline so strongly, as to stab him to death with the iron styles or bodkins used in writing. + Between Uchtred and Sir Richard, who married the heiress of Murthock- stone, there intervened two Richards and a William, about whom nothing particular is recorded. D 50 BORDER MEMORIES. allegiance to Edward I. of England. He died in 1320. The next member of the Border house was Michael, the Christian name of the first Balwearie Scott, and he is men- tioned by Dalrymple in his "Annals." He was present at the battle of Halidon Hill on the 18th July 1333, when Edward III. defeated the Scotch forces. Michael Scott served under Archibald Douglas, the regent for King David Bruce, and made a marvellous escape, considering the great slaughter, especially among the notables. Michael Scott was not so fortunate at the battle of Durham in 1346, where he fell fighting for his country and his sove- reign David II., who was present, and sustained a defeat, with a hea^'y loss of some 15,000 or 20,000 men. The next supposed representative of the Scott family was Eobert Scott,* but of him little is known. Walter of Murdiston in Lanarkshire, Eankleburn in Selkirkshire, and Kirkurd in Peeblesshire — the latter being confirmed in a charter by King Eobert II. in 1389, comes next in order. The bravery of Michael, probably his grandfather, was fully sustained by Walter, who did good service on the Borders. He was at the battle of Homildon, near Wooler, where he showed his courage, and where some say he was kiUed, though others say he was alive in 1413, and on the 30th July of that year gave sasine to Andrew Ker of Auldtoune Burn of the lands of Lurdenlaw. This battle was fought on Holyrood Day, 14th September 1402. Eobert, described as of Murdiston and Eankleburn, his successor, was apparently a pious and peaceful man, though little is related of him except that he granted some property to the monks of Melrose for the repose of his soul.f * Sir Michael Scott left two sons, of whom Robert, the elder, continued the main line of the family, while John became ancestor of the Scotts of Harden. t Robert exchanged, in 1415, Glenkerry for Bellenden, and in the excam- bion was called Lord of Eankleburn. He likewise obtained from John Inglis of Manir half the lands of Branxholm, and the charter is dated at Manir Kirk on the last of January 1420. This was the first acquisition of Branxholm, which became for ages the family seat. Robert died in 1426. THE SCOTT FASIILY. 51 AValter, styled of Kirkiircl, his successor, was a person of a very different mould, inheriting more of his grandfather's martial character, though he had not the same opportunity of showing it. His services, however, on the Borders, under the then Earl Douglas, one of whose supporters he was, and who rewarded Scott with the lands of Lempitlaw in 1426, were of a very marked character, and on the fall of the Black Douglas, a noble house which he aided in suppressing, he rose to great eminence, obtaining from his sovereign James II. the honour of knighthood, and a grant of various lands, including Buccleugh and the remaining half of Branx- holm, in exchange for which he gave Sir Robert Inglis of Manir the lands of Murdiston. It has been said that Inghs A7as unable to brook the insults, or to j^rotect himself against the plundering propensities, of the English Border thieves whom Scott found himself quite able to manage. Indeed, he coolly remarked that Cumberland cattle were as good as those of Teviotdale, and as coolly commenced his rieving habits. He had now obtained complete possession of- Branxholm, where he established himself, making it the chief seat of the family, which it continued to be down to the middle of the seventeenth century."^ I have mentioned that Sir Walter Scott acquired and was styled of Buccleugh. His son David, whom we shall next treat of, obtained a charter from James III. erecting into a free barony many of his lands, for payment of a red rose as blanche- ferme on the festival of the nativity of St John. From that time till the reign of James VI. the titles of Kirkurd, Branx- holm, and Buccleugh were used indifferently, but ultimately * He obtained also the lands of Eckford from King James II. on 3d May 1437, besides the lands of Abbington, Phareholm, and Glendonanrig in 1458, as well as part of the barony of Langholm. Sir Walter died between 1467 and 1470, possessed of a great part of those pastoral lands in the counties of Roxburgh and Selkirk which still form a portion of the family estates. He had married Margaret, daughter of Cockburn of Henderland, the daring freebooter who was beheaded by James V. during his raid into Ettrick Forest. 52 BORDER MEMORIES. Buccleugh was established. There is a tradition, as given by the old chronicler Satchells, that two brothers came to Ettrick Forest, and when one of the kings came to hunt there, that liis Majesty pursued a buck from Ettrick Heuch to the glen now called Buccleugh, about two miles above the junction of Rankleburn with the Eiver Ettrick. Here the stag stood at bay, when one of the two brothers seized the animal by the horns, and, being a man of great power, carried the stag to the sovereign, who was a little way off.-^ The successor of Sir Walter was his son David, who also aided materially in the suppression of the Douglas re- bellion, and otherwise rendered important services to his sovereign James III., receiving in return additional lands, as well as the honour of knighthood — a mark of distinction which was frequently given to the heads of important families in ancient times. The title of Buccleugh seems now to have been generally adopted. Sir David, in a record dated 1487, being described as Dominus de Buccleugh when sitting in the Parliament of that year. He enlarged and strengthened the castle of Branx- holm, but in March 1492, he died, leaving by his wife, a daughter of Thomas, Lord Somerville, one of the ambassadors to England to treat for the ransom of King James I. of Scot- land, three sons and two daughters. He had a brother, Alexander, who fought and fell at Sauchieburn in 1488, where James III. was defeated by an army raised by the supi3orters of the Duke of Albany, and headed involuntarily by his own son, the Duke of Rothesay, afterwards James IV. Sir David's eldest son, already referred to, died in the lifetime of his father, and the succession devolved on his * The king- was on the top of a steep bank at a place called Cacra Cross. The king then exclaimed — " And for the buck thou stoutly brought To us up that steep heuch, Thy designation ever shall Be John Scott in Buckscleuch." THE SCOTT FAMILY. 5^ grandson, who also bore the name of Walter, and who was served heir in 1492. Walter, who also was knighted, according to the Foedera, was a witness to the infeft- nient of Margaret, daughter of Henry VII., and wife of James IV. That monarch, according to general belief, fell at Flodden^ whither he was accompanied by Sir Walter Scott of Buccleugh and a vast number of nobles, gentry, and citizens, in fact the bravest of Scotland's sons, in his foolhardy attempt of their king to subdue the English. Sir AValter Scott though in the thickest of the fight and quite close to his sovereign, escaped with his life, but was taken prisoner. He died in 1516, leaving a son by his wiie, Elizabeth, daughter of Walter Ker of Cessford and widow of Philip Eutherfurd, younger of that ilk, Avho succeeded him, viz. : — Sir Walter of Branxholm and Buccleugh, served heir to his father in 1517. He was a brave and powerful Borderer, and was in great favour with James V., whom he aided in his endeavours to escape from the thraldom of his step-father, Angus. When the king was on a Border tour in 1526, he sum- moned to his councils the Laird of Buccleugh, who accordingly appeared near Melrose, accompanied by one thousand of his clan, James being determined then and there to strike a blow at the iron rule of Angus. A fierce conflict took place, when the party of Angus prevailed, though only for a time, for not long afterwards the king escaped from the bondage in which he was held. The contest near Melrose was the cause of a deadly feud between the Scotts and Kers, in consequence of Sir Andrew Ker, who supported Angus, having been killed by one of Buccleugh's retainers — an Elliot — it was supposed, but not clearly ascertained. Buccleugh was nearly related to Cessford, being first cousin, a fact which augmented the melancholy nature of the occurrence which was the cause of much blood being spilt on the Borders for a long time. An endeavour was made between the two clans to stop the feuds by a bond dated in 1529 ; but in spite of all the attempts to 54 BORDER MEMORIES. Ileal the rupture, the animosity continued, and in the end Sir Walter Scott himself fell in a nocturnal broil in Edinburgh some twenty years afterwards, the son of Cessford, who was killed at Melrose, being with other Kers concerned in the slaughter. This occurred on 4th October 1552. After the battle at Melrose and a subsequent one at Lin- lithgow, where Sir Walter Scott was present, he was prosecuted for treason, but the prosecution was quashed on the king's getting out of Angus' grasp, and he was rewarded by his Sovereign with a grant of some of the confiscated property of this member of the Red Douglas family. Sir Walter Scott was, however, too impetuous, and afterwards incurred the displeasure of the king, notwithstanding his faithful ser\dces and many acts of devotion and gallantry. But his conduct had been misunderstood, and eventually he was restored to the full enjoyment of his property and honours, though the king was then dead, but had previously to his death ordered Buc- cleugh's restoration.* * Previous to the king's death, viz.. in October 1533, the Earl of Northum- berland had, at the instigation of King Henry VITI. of England, invaded Buccleuch's country, plundered his lands, and burned Branxholm Castle, but failed in his chief object, which was to kill the chieftain himself or take him pi-isoner. Buccleuch retaliated by leading 3000 men into England, who ravaged Northumberland, retm-ning home with a great booty. In 1529, only three years after the battle of Melrose, and one year after the king had escaped from the power of Angus, his Majesty undertook the memorable ex- pedition to the Borders with intent, as he said, to ''make the rush-bush keep the cow." Before setting out, the king imprisoned some of the principal Border chiefs who were known to afford protection to the marauders. The Earl of Bothwell was arrested, and confined in Edinburgh Castle, The Lords of Home and Maxwell, the Lairds of Buccleuch, Fernieherst, and Johnston, with many others, were shut up in prison. The king at the head of 10,000 men came suddenly into Ettrick Forest, where Cockburn of Henderland, and Adam Scott of Tushielaw, ''the King of Border Thieves," were publicly executed. The king then advanced to Carlenrig in Upper Teviotdale, where Johnie Armstrong, Laird of Gilnockie was induced to meet him, at the head of thu'ty-six horsemen, arrayed in all the splendour of Border chivalry. The king looked sternly at the hero, and said to his attendants, " what wants that knave that a king should have ? " and ordered him and his followers off to immediate execution. Armstrong made great THE SCOTT FAMILY. 55 Buccleugh was married twice or thrice, first to Elizabeth Carmichael, and lastly to Janet Betoun of Creich, the "Ladye" of the Poet's Lay, a woman of masculine spirit, as evinced by her riding in the front of her son's clan, after her hus- band's murder. '' Of noble race the Ladye came ; Her father was a clerk of fame, Of Bethune's line of Picardie." This family were of French descent, and derived their name from a small town in Artois. I have already said that Sir Walter was slaughtered at Edinburgh in a nocturnal broil with his relative, through his hereditary enemy. Sir Walter Ker of Cessford, which was a sad termination of a life of activity and offers to the king. He would sustain himself, with forty gentlemen, ever ready at his service, on their owai cost, without doing wrong to any Scotchman ; and would pledge himself to bring any subject in England, duke, earl, or baron, dead or alive, to the king within a certain day. Seeing no hope, he said proudly, '' It is folly to seek grace at a graceless face ; but had I known this I should have lived upon the Borders in despite of King Harry and you both ; for I know that King Hai-ry would down-weigh my best horse with gold to know that 1 were condemned to die this day." Johnie and all his men were accordingly hanged upon growing trees at a place called Carleni'ig Chapel, ten miles up the Teviot from Hawick, near the high road to Langholm. They were buried in a deserted churchyard, where their graves are still shown. The country people believe that, to manifest the injustice of the execution, the trees withered away. The tradition is vex'sified as follows by Leyden : — " Where rising Teviot joins the frosty lee. Stand the huge trunks of many a leafless tree. No verdant woodbine wreaths their age adorn ; Bare are the boughs, the gnarled roots uptorn, Here shone no sunbeam, fell no summer dew. Nor ever grass beneath the branches grew. Since that bold chief who Henry's power defied, Tn;e to his country, as a traitor died." Buccleuch was liberated shortly after the king's return from the Bordex'S ; but was again imprisoned for a short time in 1535, because of alleged assistance given to the English in burning Cavers aixd Denholm. This accusatioxi pro- bably had its ox-igin in the feuds between the Scots axid the Kers which had conti)iued since the battle of Melx'ose in 1526. 56 BORDER MEMORIES. vigour. The event is referred to as follows in the " Lay of the Last Minstrel : " — " Bards long- shall tell How Lord Walter fell ! When startled Burghers fled, afar, The furies of the Border war ; When the streets of high Dunedin Saw lances gleam and falchions redden, And heard the slogan's deadly yell — Then the chief of Branksome fell." His second, but eldest surviving son by his first wife, was WlLLlA]M, who died before him, ' having married Grizzel Betoun, sister of his step-mother, through whom the line was carried on, for their son Walter succeeded his grand-father, and his widowed mother, Grizzel, married Andrew Murray of Blackbarony, becoming the ancestrix of several eminent families, and moreover the grand-mother of Margaret Murray, "Mucklemouthed Meg," who married William Scott, son of auld Wat of Harden, and his wife Mary Scott the " Flower of Yarrow." The Betouns were of the same family as the persecuting Cardinal. There has been some uncertainty about two pre- vious marriages that Janet, the heroine, is supposed to have made before Avedding Buccleugh, but at all events one seems to have been authenticated, viz., that to Sir Simon Preston of Craigmillar, from whom she parted before marrying Sir Walter Scott. Her son David, by Buccleugh, was a distin- guished soldier, and had a high and important command at ]\Iagdeburg in Prussia, a place which suffered much during the religious wars in Germany, and which afterwards, though of great strength, was taken and sacked by Tilley, the Jesuit and celebrated general, when the most frightful atrocities were committed. David Scott must have died long before Tilley's assault; but he settled abroad, having occupied the im- portant position of President of the Court of Justice at the Hague, and left issue, a grandson. I must, however, return to Sir Walter, who was served heir to his grandfather in 1535, THE SCOTT FAMILY. 57 at a very early age. Melville describes him as abounding with the highest qualities. Though at first he agreed to support James VI., then an infant, he afterwards adhered to Queen Mary, continuing his devoted attachment to her in her misfortunes, and in company with his brother-in-law, Sir Thomas Kerr of Fernieherst, — Avho married the eldest daughter of William Scott and Grizzel Betoun, also one of Queen Mary's trusty and personal friends, — invaded England, after the murder of the Eegent Moray at Linlithgow in 1570, in the hope of advancing the interests of their unfortunate mistress. That invasion, during which Scott and Kerr plundered and destroyed the country most ex- tensively, was followed by retaliatory measures on the part of Queen Elizabeth against the two Border Barons, for she did not think the Scottish nation generally concerned in their invasion. She accordingly despatched a force under Sussex and Scrope, who invaded our border-land and destroyed the Castles of Branx- holm and Fernieherst. Buccleugh and Kerr still continued hostile to the king's party, and the latter making himself particularly conspicuous, was obliged to fly, and sniffer for- feiture, while Buccleugh, surrendering himself to the new regent, was speedily released, for we find he very soon set about rebuilding Eranxholm, according to the inscription upon it."^ This, however, he did not live to finish, the completion being accomplished by his widow Margaret Douglas, daughter of Sir David Douglas of Pittendreich, who became seventh * The following is the inscription upon a stone bearing the arms of the famDy, — " Sir Walter Scott of Branxheim, Knyt, yoe of Sii' William Scott of Kirkurd, Knyt., began ye wark ixpon ye 24 March, 1571 zeir, quha de- parted at God's pleisonr ye 17 April 1574. Dame Margaret Douglas, his spous, completed the fores ud wark in October 1575.'" Over the arched door- way at Branxholm are the following lines : — " In . Varld . is . nocht . Natur . hes . vrought . yt . sal . last . ay . Thairf or . serve . God . keip . veil . ye . rod . thy . fame . sal . nocht . dekay . Shir . Valter . Scot . of . Branxholme . Kuyght . Margaret. Douglas, 1571." 58 BORDER MEMORIES. Earl Angus of the Red race, so tliat the relict of Buccleugh was niece of the Eegent Morton. The rebuilding of Branxholm was commenced in 1571, and completed in 1576, Sir Walter dying in 1574, during its progress. Though his widow seemed to respect his memory, she did not long mourn his loss, but soon lost her heart, and that to a comparative boy, Francis Stewart, Earl Bothwell, who was probably little more than fourteen when Lady Scott married him. He was the son of the Prior of Coldingham, natural son of James V., and cousin of the notorious James Hepburn, fourth Earl Bothwell, who married Queen Mary. The nearness of Stewart, Earl Both- well to royalty, no doubt was his ruin, and having contem- plated the treasonable design of seizing James VI., in his own Palace of Holyrood, he was forfeited, though most of his property was made over to his step-son. Sir Walter Scott of Buccleugh, who must have mourned his mother's unfortunate marriage. Though she lived to have six children to Both- well, she had the misery of being connected with a man who not only conspired against his sovereign, but who exhibited the most dissolute conduct. As I have already said, most of Bothwell's property was made over to Sir Walter Scott, his grandson, the second Earl Buccleugh being confirmed in it, but it appears by public records the latter had to give up the whole, except the Liddesdale estate, to Bothwell's son, who got a rehabilitation, though he soon squandered all; and with his son, who was a trooper during the Civil Wars, the family became extinct, or at any rate sunk into oblivion. Sir Walter Scott, son of Sir Walter and Margaret Dou- glas, and step-son of Bothwell, succeeded his father in 1574, when very young. Probably he was not much more than twenty when he was appointed Warden of the West Marches, showing at that early age all the courage of his race, and winning the title of the '' Bold Buccleugh," by the subsequent gallantry and bravery he displayed, and finally a coronet, which he did not wear long, for he died in 1611, about five years after receiving the honour of the Peerage. Buccleugh THE SCOTT FAMILY. 59 iMarried Mary Ker of Cessford, sister of Robert, well known as Habbie Ker, the valiant and resolute Warden of the Borders, who was created a Peer much about the same time as his brother-in-law. Buccleugh's wife was great-grand-daughter of Cessford who was killed at Melrose in 1526, when Buc- cleugh's great-grandfather fought against Cessford, whose son either murdered, or was accessory to the slaughter of Buccleugh in Edinburgh, in 1552, as before noticed. But I go on with the history of Lord Scott of Buccleugh, whose valiant conduct made a wonderful impression upon Queen Elizabeth, though she did not relish his acts. It is recorded T\dth reference to his raid into England to rescue Kinmont AVillie, that she asked him how he dared to undertake such a hazardous and bold enterprise, when he replied, " \Vhat is there, madam, that a man dare not do ? " This ansAver so impressed Her Majesty, that she exclaimed, "This is a man indeed ! With ten thousand such men our brother of Scotland might shake the firmest throne in Europe." This occurred during the con- cluding part of Elizabeth's reign, between October 1597 and February 1598, at which latter period our hero was in Eng- land; and even after King James' accession to the British throne in 1603, the Borderers, so long accustomed to rapine, were most difficult to be brought under authority, and in order to wean them from their predatory habits, Scott carried over a regiment of the bravest and most desperate of them to Holland, to aid Prince Maurice of Nassau, Governor of the Low Countries, in driving out the Spaniards. This being done, and other operations of the Prince who was the Wellington of his time, being accomplished, the Bold Buccleugh returned with great ecldt to his native land, receiving a royal letter recognising the value and importance of his military services, which were more substantially rewarded l)y a further accession of land. But one of the most daring acts of this great chief, was the release of Kinmont Willie, who was imprisoned in Carlisle Castle in breach of a truce then existing. Buc- cleugh summoned his men to meet him at a spot close to the 60 RORDER MEMORIES. Borders, and ten or twelve miles from Carlisle. The party was composed of Scotts, the only exception being Gilbert Elliot of Stobs, as the ballad says — " He call'd him forty marchmen bauld I trow they were of his ain name, Except Sir Gilbert Elliot, call'd The Laird of Stobs, I mean the same." The Elliots were supporters or retainers of the Buccleughs, but Sir Gilbert having married one of the clan, the daughter of Wat Scott of Harden, of Border fame, this gave him a double claim to go to the rescue, especially as old Harden, his father-in-law, would be sure to be one of the band. They were successful in their mission, and so the ballad goes on — " We crept on knees, and held our breath. Till we placed the ladders against the wa'; And very ready was Euccleugh himsell To moiint the first before us a'. He has ta'en the watchman by the throat, And flung- him doun vij)on the head — Had there not been peace between our land. Upon the other side thou wad'st gaed ; Now sound out trumpets ! quo' Buccleugh, Let's waken Lord Scroop right merrilie ; Then loud the warden's trumpet blew— wha dar meddle wi' me. Then speedilye to work we gaed, And raised the slogan ane and a'* And cut a hole thro' a sheet of lead. And so we wan to the castle ha'; Wi' coulters, and wi' forehammers We garr'd the bars bang memlie, Until we cam' to the inner prison, Where Willie o' Kinmont he did lie — Then shoulder high, with shout and cry. We bore him doun the ladder lang ; At every stride, Red Rowan made • I wot the Kinmont's airms played clang. We scarce had won the Straueshaw bank When a' the Carlisle bells were rung, And a thousand men in horse and foot * Bellenden, the war-cry of Buccleugh, because Bellenden wa.s their usual place of rendezvous. THE SCOTT FAMILY. 61 Cam' \vi' the keen Lord Scroop alang. Buccleugh has turned to Eden Water, Even when it flowed frae bank to brim ; And he has plunged in wi' a' his band And safely swam them thro' the stream. He turned him on the other side, And at Lord Scroop his glove flung he — If ye like na my visit in merrie England, In fair Scotland come visit me." The Bold Buccleugh, who was raised to the Peerage of Scot- land, with the title of Lord Scott of Buccleugh, on the 16th March 1606, with the secondary title of Lord Scott of AVhit- chester and Eskdale, finished his active and distinguished earthly career on the 5th December 1611, having been longer lived than several of his predecessors. His son Walter, who also served with great distinction in Holland, where he had the command of a regiment under the States, — against the Spaniards who were conquered, and obliged to abandon the Low Countries, — married Lady Mary Hay, fourth daughter of the ninth Earl of Errol, and died in 1633. He was a great favourite of King James I. of England, who advanced him to an earldom in 1619. No doubt there was an impression that his father's valour and magnanimity had not been sufficiently requited, for in addition to the earldom, he was endowed with other lands, and the patent of his Peer- age was extended to liQiv^-female, the direct heirs-male of this and the previous generation being few. Indeed the eaid and his father the Bold Buccleugh had only one son each, and the son and successor of the earl had but two daughters. He died of apoplexy in Loudon, November 21, 1633. Erancis, Second Earl, succeeded his father at about the early age of seven, and died when only twenty- four.* There * It is thought by some writers that there must be some mistake about the age of Earl Francis, seeing that the dates of his first public appearances, the position he then at once took, and the number and ages of his children, seem hardly consistent with so youthful a career. He lost all the Bothwell estates which were restored to that family, except the extensive domain of L iddes- dale, but he acquired, besides Dalkeith, the large territory of Eskdale, and on the 7th of April 16i3, had a charter of the barony of Langholm. At first 62 BORDER MEMORIES. was therefore little time for tlie development of those rare qualities which were inherent in him. He was devotedly attached to Charles I., and in about two years after Buccleugh's death, which happened in 1651 very suddenly, the Protector imj^osed a heavy fine upon his property for his loyalty to his unfortunate sovereign. The fine was the largest made, being about equal to ,£200,000, according to the present value of money. No doubt he had large possessions, which had been much increased during his short incumbency, for he acquired the baronies of Dalkeith and Langholm — the former from the Morton family, whose princi2:)al seat it had been for centuries. Earl Douglas, during the reign of James II. of Scotland, tried to take it from his kinsman, in consecjuence of his having es- poused the cause of the Monarch in opposition to that of the Douglases, the rivals of the throne, but did not succeed. It was the principal residence of the Eegent Morton, in whose time it was called the "Lion's Den." But the old residence, formerly a fortress, gave way to the present magnificent palace, which was erected early last century, or at any rate then repaired and improved, Avhen it Avas made one of the chief residences of the ducal family, as it has ever since been. The widow of Earl Francis, a daughter of Lord Chan- cellor Eothes, and relict of Lord Balveny, became the third wife of David, second Earl Wemyss, by whom she had a daughter who became Countess of Wemyss ; and her son, who he took part with the Covenanters, in the Civil War, and in 1643, when he could be only seventeen years of age, he sat in the Governing Conamittee of Estates. In 1644 his regiment went with the Earl of Leven into England, where they took part in the battle of Marston Moor, In all public events of the period he acted a prominent part, on the side of the Covenanters, except that, under date 9th March 1649, Sir James Balfour says, "The Parliament of Scotland passed a most strange acte this monthe, abolishing the patronages of kirkes, which pertained to laymen, since ever Christianity was planted in Scotland ; Francis, Earl of Buccleuche, and some others, protested against this acte as wrangous, and altogether derogatory to the just rights of the nobility and gentry of the kingdom of Scotland, and so departed the Parlia- ment House." The withdrawal must have been only temporary, as he con- tinued to be one of the most trusted of the Presbyterian leaders, and was very active in bringing home the young King Charles II. THE SCOTT FAMILY. 63 was the third Earl Wemyss, and Lord High- Admiral at the time of the Union, married Lady Anne Douglas, daughter of the first Duke of Queensberry, whose descendant, the ninth earl, succeeded, as heir-male of Lady Anne, to the large estates of Neidpath in 1810, on the death of the fourth Duke, called Old Q. The Earl Buccleugh had two daughters, Mary and Anne, who severally, in succession, inherited the honours and extensive property. The first was Mary, born 1648, who succeeded as Countess of Buccleugh. Her grandmother Margaret Douglas, married a very young man, Francis Stewart Earl Bothwell, for her second husband, but Countess Mary wedded a young lad of only thirteen or fourteen, Walter Scott of Highchester, afterwards Lord Tarras, but she, unlike her ancestrix, was only eleven. This marriage, which was brought about by her mother, who, as already stated, became Countess of Wemyss, was no doubt prompted by the fear of abduction on account of the immense wealth of the young heiress. The miuister of Wemyss married them by licence, without banns, the latter form being no great security, for a proclamation, though three Sundays are by law required for its performance, may, by custom, be reduced to one — so that a marriage by banns in Scotland, if qualified by residence, may be arranged and com- pleted within twenty-five hours, or at the most forty hours, only a few persons knowing of it, for the precentor, if well paid, can get the proclamation published before the congrega- tion assembles, for the first, second, and third time in one breath. This farcical proceeding. Lord Campbell thought might have been improved by publication on the smiddij door. The license under which Countess Mary was married, seems to have afforded little better security. The ceremony was per- formed in secret, and the Presbytery from which the license was obtained, was accused of irregularity for granting it, but on an appeal to a higher Court, absolution was given under an Act of Assembly, which it appears, allowed such marriages to be celebrated, on the ground of necessity, in the fear of rape. 64 BORDER MEMORIES. Whether Walter Scott, the happy youth and bridegroom, was the nearest heir male of the family, I know not, as Scott of Scotstarvit claimed the honour, and considered the " liasance " lowering to Countess Mary's dignity, which he evidently thought would have been better consulted had she married into his family. After a good deal of opposition and discussion, the marriage was allowed to stand good, and as the Restoration had just taken place, the Countess Wemyss — her mother — took the young couple to London to be intro- duced at Court, soon after which the husband was created Earl Tarras * and Baron Alemore for life. But the youthful Countess was not destined to enjoy her Estates, or her marriage, for she died in the following year — 1661, without issue, being only twelve years old, or as generally stated in her thirteenth year, her husband being but fifteen, or in his sixteenth year. Lord Tarras survived his young wife's death some thirty years, or more. He was accused of being implicated in the rebellion of Monmouth, who became the husband of his sister-in-law. Countess Anne, the successor of her sister in the honours and estates of Buccleugh, and was convicted and condemned, his titles and estates being forfeited — Lord Tarras was also a witness in the trial of his uncle, Robert Baillie of Jerviswood, in 1684, who Avas executed, but Lord Tarras escaped with his life, his forfeiture being also annulled, and he lived to see the Revolution accomplished, and to engage in it. His Lordship during his troubles, after being the widower of Countess Mary of Buccleugh, several years, married a second wife — another heiress. Miss Hepburn of Humbie, and by her had, with other children, a son Gideon, who succeeded to Highchester, but not of course to the titles, which were only for his Hfe. * From a stream which flows into the Esk, the name of which is com- memorated — with reference to its rocky bed and precipitous falls in the following rhyme : — " Was ne'er ane droim'd in Tarras, nor yet in doubt_, For ere the head can win doun, the hams are out. THE SCOTT FAMILY. 65 The second daughter, Countess Anne, was born in 1651 at Dundee, a town at one time second only to Edinburgh, and which afforded shelter to many during the Commonwealth, but which was taken by Monk and plundered, having been a few years previously much injured by Montrose. It has again become one of the most important and wealthy towns of Scotland, and the British Association held its meeting there some years since, and was ably presided over by Countess Anne's great-great-great-grandson, the present much beloved and respected Duke of Buccleugh. Anne succeeded her sister Mary when only ten years old, and she married in less than two years the Duke of IMonmouth, who was but fourteen. They had six children, the first being born about nine years after their marriage, when the Duchess was twenty. Never did a handsomer couple appear at Hymen's altar, and their extreme youth added interest to the scene. Monmouth was the son of Charles II. and Lucy Walters, a Welsh girl of great personal attractions, whom the king met with when a wanderer in Holland. Macaulay says that the lady had several admirers, and was not supposed to be cruel to any. The handsome Henry Sidney, First Earl Eomney, who was in attendance upon the exiled Prince, was supposed, as says the National Portrait Catalogue, to have been the favoured lover of Lucy, and Father of Monmouth, both having had a mole on the lip. However that may be, he was the reputed son of Charles II., who, on His Majesty's restoration, treated him with the affection of a fond parent. Indeed it has been said, and some think truly, that Charles was privately married to Lucy Walters. The Duke of York did not of course favour this rumour, though when His Royal Highness became a Romanist, the story became impor- tant. A certain black box was said to contain the contract of marriage, but the deed never was forthcoming, and the king, no doubt pressed by his brother, declared to the Council that Monmouth had no claims to legitimacy, which of course E 6(j BORDER MEMORIES. settled the question. Had it been otherwise, there was no Royal Marriage Act in those times to have prevented his being king, which the people would have hailed, for though a libertine, he had acquired great popularity with them by the possession of qualities always dear to a nation — generosity and courage, united to a handsome person, and affable and courteous manners. Queen Henrietta, who was fond of him, brought him to London in 1G62, after which he was created Duke of Monmouth, and in the following year married the Countess of Buccleugh, one of the richest and finest women of her time. On his marriage he assumed the name of Scott, and was created Duke of Buccleugh, Earl Dalkeith, and Lord Scott. He had other high dignities conferred upon him, as well as an important military command, but he had a sad end, which the mistaken kindness of his friends helped to bring about, for it was folly, after Charles's solemn asseveration, to support the Duke in his foolish and rash enterprise, which was sure to cost him his life, as it did in 1685. Such was the devotion of the people to their hero, that many, after he was beheaded, believed he was living, that a person like him had paid the penalty for their Protestant Duke, and that his Grace would soon appear as Monarch. A knave took advantage of this and collected a large sum of money. Sundry ballads repre- sented Monmouth as alive; and predicted his return — one being as follows : — Though this is a dismal story Of the fall of my design, Yet I'll come again in glory, If I live till eighty-nine ; For I'll have a stronger army, And of ammunition store. The Duchess of Buccleugh, Anne Scott, bore mth extra- ordinary firmness, and composure, the tragical fate of her husband, but her youngest daughter and namesake, felt her father's sad end so keenly, though only a child of ten, that she pined and died a few weeks after him. Monmouth, or rather THE SCOTT FA3IILY. 67 Euccleugh, had not lived with his Duchess for some years, but he professed the greatest attachment to her Grace, who, he declared, was opposed to his designs and irregularities. For she had known adversity Tho' born in such a high degree ; In pride of power, in beauty's bloom, Had wept o'er Monmouth's bloody tomb. The interview with his family before his death was touch- ing in the extreme, though all, except the daughter referred to, went through it with wonderful composure, but the harrowing accounts of the bungling manner in which the executioner (really called John Ketch) performed his duty, added keenness to their sorrow, as well as excited general disgust. The king generously and feelingly gave the Duchess a gift of all the personal and real estates of the Duke, which had been forfeited ; and after a time — say in about three years — she married Lord Cornwallis, ancestor of the great Marquis oi imperishable fame, but the marriage was dissolved in about ten years, by the death of the noble Lord, to whom she had three children, one of whom — Lachj Isabella Scott, succeeded to the Melrose iorcMzp, — her only brother having died, — includ- ing the Bailiery and Patronage of the Church, and, under the jurisdiction act of 1747, she got £1200 for her rights, instead however of £5000 being her full claim. She died very soon after the arrangement was made. Her mother, the Duchess, survived her second husband some thirty years, residing occasionally at Dalkeith, where she lived in great splendour, conscious of her princely connection, and indeed Dr Johnson mentions that she was remarkable for inflexible perseverance in her demand to be treated as a princess.* * In 1675, twelve years after his marriage, Monmouth, in oi'der to stock the lands of Buccleuch on the Borders, got licence to import 4800 nolt of a year old, and 200 horses from Ireland, which was not then allowable by law. The Sheriff Depute of Roxburghshire, W. Scott of Minto, was cautioner that the number should not be exceeded, but as some of the oxen were more than. 68 BORDER MEMORIES. Dalkeith -was occupied by Prince Charles in 1745 for two (lays when Edinburgh was taken by the Prince, whom the then Duke of Buccleugh opposed, and it has been honoured with more welcome visits from George IV., and our present gracious Queen, in 1822 and 1842 respectively. The Duchess died in 1732, aged eighty, and was interred at Dalkeith. Her eldest son died young, but her second, James, Lord Dalkeith, grew to man's estate, and married Lady Henrietta Hyde, though he also died before his mother, the Duchess. He served in Flanders after the Eevolution, but returned to Scotland, where he discharged the duties of his station with much credit, leaving a son Francis who succeeded his grandmother, as Second Duke of Buccleugh. But before saying anything about Francis, I must refer to liis uncle, Henry Scott, third son of Monmouth and Duchess Anne, who was created Earl of Deloraine and Viscount Hermit- asfe in 1706, which titles became extinct one hundred and one years afterwards, by the failure of issue on the part of the fourth a year old, the Sheriff was fined £200 sterling. This importation of stock had become necessary to make up the loss sustained by the district in "the thirteen drifty days of March," which occurred in 1674. Another event of this kind is believed to have happened in 1620. The ground was covered with frozen snow when it began, and for thirteen days and nights, the drift never ceased, nor did the sheep break their fast. The cold was intense to a degree never before remembered. About the fifth and sixth days of the storm, the young sheep began to fall into a torpid state, and all that were so affected in the evening died over night. The intensity of the frost would often cut them off when in that state quite instantaneously. About the ninth and tenth days, the shepherds began to build up huge semi-circular walls of their dead, in order to afford some shelter for the remainder of the li^-ing ; but they availed little, for about the same time they were seen frequently tearing at each other's wool with their teeth. When the diift ceased, there was, on many a high-lying farm, not a living sheep to be seen ; and about nine-tenths of all the sheep in the sovith of Scotland were destroyed. In Eskdale Moor, which sustains 20,000 sheep, only forty young wedders were left on one farm, and five old ewes on another. The farm of Phawhope. remained twenty years without a tenant, after which it was let at the annual rent of a grey coat and a pair of hose. On Bowerhope, a farm pertaining to Sir Patrick Scott of Thirlstane, all that remained of 900 sheep was one black ewe, which some idle dogs chased into St Mai-y's Loch, where it was drowned. THE SCOTT FAMILY. 69 Earl. The first Peer, Henry, occupied a distinguished posi- tion in the army, and otherwise, and was so noted for his polished manners that Dr Young in describing a conceited person says : — He only thinks himself, so far from vain ! Stanhope in wit, in breeding Deloraine. The last Earl of Deloraine, on the other hand, dissipated the family estates, and latterly subsisted on an annuity saved from the wreck of his property ; his wife, by whom he had nc» issue, having been long separated from him, and dying in a Convent in France. I now revert to Francis, second Duke, whose amiable qualities, as well as zeal for the Protestant succession, are described on the occasion of his being restored, in 1743, to two of the forfeited honours of his grandfather, viz., the Earldom of Doncaster, and Barony of Tynedale, which enabled him at once to obtain a Seat in the House of Lords as a British Peer. This noble Duke married Lady Jane Douglas, daughter of James, second Duke of Queensberry, through whom the Buccleugh family succeeded, on the death of the fourth Duke, to Drumlanrig and other property in Dumfries-shire, as heir-of-line, and in virtue of an entail by the second Duke, and also to the Dukedom of Queensberry, the Marquisate and lesser titles, by the renewed patent of 1706, which extended the remaindership to the heirs male, or female, descended from the first Earl of Queensberry, going to his male kinsman, and heir-at-law, Charles Douglas of Kilhead, whose grand-nephew is now incumbent of the Marquisate. Francis II., Duke of Buccleugh, was succeeded, 1751, by his grandson, Henry, the son of Francis, Earl Dalkeith, by Lady Caroline Campbell, eldest daughter and co-heiress of John, Duke of Argyll and Greenwich, who died vita patris. Their grandson, Henry, third Duke of Buccleugh, was distinguished for his agricultural knowledge and pursuits. He was the intimate 70 BORDER MEMORIES. friend of Dr Adam Smith, the philosopher and political econo- mist, whose acquaintance and principles he valued ; but what is better, he was the friend of the poor, who, notwithstanding his exalted rank, had easy access to him ; and he was, more- over, always ready to take an active part in any scheme of benevolence and humanity which his princely income enabled him substantially to assist. He held various offices of trust and high position, and in the performance of the duties attached to them always showed the greatest attention and most courteous manners.* The Duke married the only daughter of the last Duke of * Henry, the tliii'd Duke of Biiccleuch, was bom on the 13th of September 1746, and succeeded to the title and estates at the age of six years, on the death of his grandfather in 1752. In 1755, the widow of Lord Dalkeith, and mother of the young Duke, married Charles Townshend, who interested himself greatly in the education of his stepson. The youthful Duke was first sent to Eton, and is mentioned with distinction by the Earl of Carlisle, who has left notes of his schoolfellows there. In March 1764, the Duke set (jut to travel on the Continent with Dr Adam Smith, of whom he afterwards thus kindly wrote : — " Having spent near three years together, without the slightest disagreement or coolness on my part, with every advantage that could be expected from the society of such a man, we continued to live in fellowship till the hour of his death; and I shall always remain with the impression of having lost a friend whom I loved and respected, not only for his great talents, but for every private virtue." On the 2d of May 1767, when he was twenty-one years of age, the young Duke married Lady Eliza- T)eth Montagu, three years his senior, only daughter of George, Duke of ]\Iontagu ; and in autumn of the same year the Duke and Duchess, with Lady Frances Scott, sister of his Grace, came to Dalkeith Palace, which the Duke had been prevented by Charles Townshend from visiting previously, lest he should become too fond of Scotland. The Duke's stepfather died just at the time, after an illness of only a few days, which tended to mar the festivities ; but still there were great demonstrations of welcome all over the Buccleuch estates, which had been fifteen years without a resident owner. Dr Carlyle of Inveresk had traversed the route from Hawick to Langholm at the time when Eskdale and Liddesdale were all excitement over the coming ducal visit, and had written a copy of verses for the Scots Magazine as a kind of poetic welcome. The lines appeared anonymously, but Dr Gregory suspected the authorship, and it was admitted by Dr Carlyle. The poem is entitled, " Verses on his Grace the Duke of Buccleuch's Birthday, September 1767." Old Father Tweed is represented as hearing a great dis- turbance, on which he viplifts his watezy head and asks what is the matter, THE SCOTT FABIILY. 71 Montagu,* and tlieir second son, Henry James, succeeded to the barony of Montagu wliicli was revived, and to the pro- perty of the family on the death of his Grace of Montagu. In consequence of the Baron dying without male issue, the title became extinct, while the property, which was large, went to the eldest daughter, who married the Earl of Home, and who has since succeeded to the immense estates of the house of Douglas (so fiercely contested about a hundred years ago) in right of her mother, who was sister to the three last Lords Douglas, none of whom left male issue. Thus this branch of the Buccleugh family, and the main stem itself, have acquired large Douglas possessions. Charles William, Earl Dalkeith, succeeded as fourth Duke of Buccleugh on the death of his father in 1812. This nobleman suffered from delicate health, and having sur\dved his father only about seven years, had little opportunity of distinguishing himself in the dukedom. There is, there- fore, no occasion to dwell further on this amiable Duke, except to state that he married a daughter of Thomas Town- send, Viscount Sydney, and that by her he had three sons and six daughters. His eldest son, George Henry, a youth of much promise, died at Eton College in his eleventh year, in 1808. when his sons Yarrow, Ettrick, Esk, and Liddel, make reply. Yarrow is the first to speak and narrates his joyful tale in th6 following rhapsody : — '' A Scott ! a noble Scott ! again appears, The wished-for blessing of thy hoary years ! Hark how the impetuous Esk in thunder roars ! Hark how the foaming Liddel beats his shores ! A Scott ! a Scott ! triumphantly they cry ; A Scott ! a Scott ! a thousand hills reply ; The night is passed, again the day 's at hand To light this dark and long-deserted land. Be glad ye hills, rejoice each living spring ! Ye muses wake, and every valley sing ! " * Dean Ramsay says she was remarkable for her dignity and affability. She was present at a dinner to the tenantry, and good-humouredly remarked to one of the guests, who was eating boiled beef without cabbao-e that boiled beef and greens seemed naturally to go together, and wondered why he did not take it. The farmer, however, objected, remarking that yotir Grace "maun alloo it's a verra windy vegetable." 72 BORDER MEMORIES. The Duchess was a lovely, intellectual, graceful, and benevo- lent woman. Sir Walter Scott bore enthusiastic testimony to her graces and merits, and all who came in contact with her spoke of her benevolence, which an author has stated gave more the idea of an angelic visitor than of an earthly being. She was, indeed, the prototype of Allan Cunningham's " Lady Anne." This peerless woman died a few years before her husband. Scott, in one of his letters to Miss Seward, ob- serves that if requested by the Countess of Dalkeith (she had not then become Duchess) he would write a poem on a broom- stick. Little did he think he would write her epitaph. His second, Walter Francis, became Earl Dalkeith, and at his Grace's death in 1819 succeeded as Fifth Duke of Buccleugh, being a nobleman devoted to his country's weal, and whose footprints bid fair to be left on the sands of time. He holds the second oldest dukedom in Scot- land, but he ought to have been created a British duke long ere this, his high position and his singularly good and patriotic life entitling him to the highest place of honoui^ in the country. He sits in the house of Lords as Earl Doncaster. I have now done with what may be called the main or principal line of the great border family of Scott, and though it failed in the male side upon the death of Earl Francis in 1652, still his daughters, to whom the estates and titles could and did descend, as we have seen, became the representatives, and the issue of Countess Anne, the younger, who married, carried on the line, and having adopted the old family sur- name, the name of Scott will, it is to be hoped, long be per- petuated as the ducal house of Buccleugh. Other Branches of the Scott FMnLY. I do not mean to go into the question of chieftainship since the failure, in 1652, of the male representation in the family of Buccleugh about which, according to a note in Sir Walter Scott's Life, there is great dispute among heraldic writers. THE SCOTT FAMILY. 73 I shall only refer to some of the leading branches of the older Border Scott tree, the principal probably being that of Harden, descended through Sinton, but the Scotts of Ancrum, represented by Sir William, descend from Michael, the younger brother of Eichard, the first of the old Buccleugh stock, as some writers have it — though here again there are differences of opinion — in the latter part of the thirteenth century; and several of that branch were distinguished. I should also mention that the Scotts of Scotstarvet, in Fife- shire, like the Balwearies, the original descendants of Michael, and ancestor of the Ancrums, came off later — say in the six- teenth century — from the Buccleugh stem, springing from David of Allanhaugh and Whitchester, who was the second son of Sir David of Buccleugh, the eleventh baron. Some of this branch — I mean the Scotstarvets — were celebrated ; and there was also a noted woman of the race named Marjory, who married Lord Stomiont. It is supposed she took with her the ability of her house, as she produced an illustrious Chief- Justice called the Silver-tongued Murray, who, on the Stor- mont side, sprung from an ordinary Scotch peer's family — the eleventh of a brood of fourteen children raised on oatmeal porridge — as it has been said. Marjory was the daughter of David Scott of Scotstarvet, a man of great sagacity and prudence, and great-granddaughter of that eminent patron of literature, Sir John Scott, the author of the curious but sarcastically clever book called " The Stagger- ing State of Scotch Statesmen." Another was General Scott, M.P. for Fife, last male of the Scotstarvets, upon whose death his daughter, the Duchess of Portland, wife of the fourth Duke, succeeded to the repre- sentation and estates of the family, assuming the name of Scott, which that ducal house also took and perpetuates. But I revert to the early Harden Scotts, descended from Buccleugh through the Scotts of Sinton — the latter's ancestor being, it has been thought, son or grandson of Michael ; and though, by a note 74 BORDER MEMORIES. of Sir \Y. Scott's, the original stock of Sintons continued for some time, they ended in George Scott, who had no heirs. William Scott, first of Harden, was a younger brother of Walter of Sinton, from whom Harden was acquired, the supe- rior being George, third Lord Home, who confirmed the grant in 1535. He died in 1563, and was succeeded by that re- nowned and jolly freebooter, AuLD Wat, of whom so many traditional anecdotes are extant. This old marauder married Mary Scott, the flower of Yarrow, remarkable for her beauty. Walter Scott, commonly designated " Auld Wat," succeeded his father as Baron of Harden in the year 1563. The situa- tion of his castle was one of the best on the Borders, and was immeasurably superior to either Branxholm or Hermitage. The high ground on the east side of BorthT\dck Water is broken up into promontories by the numerous streams which carry off* the sui'plus water from an extensive moorland between the valleys of the Borthwick and the Ale. One of the deepest and darkest glens seems to have been so frequented by hares as to have acquired the name of Hare-dean, afterwards con- tracted into Harden. At the present day it is a darksome and eerie glen, with banks so steep as to be almost precipi- tous, which are overgrown with sturdy old trees and tangled underwood. Another glen of equal depth converges so as to form a tongue of high land on which is situated the house of Harden, so close to the edge of the precipice that one looks from the windows to a depth of probably two hundred feet. Just beneath the castle, the glen facing toward the south opened its capacious jaws to admit the cattle which Auld Wat and his followers were in the habit of driving from Cumber- land. From the castle turrets, also, the old reiver could survey the hiUs as far southward as the English Border, so that when beacons were lighted, the lords of Harden were among the first to see, and were always foremost in the fray. Though the house of Harden occupies the old situation, it is difficult to trace any remnant of Auld Wat's fortress ; for THE SCOTT FAMILY. 75 though it is in the castellated style, and is of various ages, the oldest date about the building is 1671, more than forty years after the old hero was in his grave. Xor have we any por- trait of the old warrior whose name has been the theme of so much ballad literature, and about whom his kinsman. Sir Walter, collected so many characteristic stories. In possession of Lord Polwarth at Mertoun House is a pair of gilt spurs, apparently more for ornament than use, which may have been the identical pair that the lady of the mansion was in the habit of serving up when it was necessary that her lord should ride for fresh provisions ; and Lord Polwarth has likewise a huge horn which may have served as a bugle, though it looks more like a ponderous powder-horn, with a wooden stopper, now crumbling away with age. It used to be said that one of Auld Wat's spurs was used as a knocker for the door at Harden, and there certainly was an old knocker somewhat in the form of a spur, which is now at Mertoun House, but its peculiar form had only been due to a freak of the laird or the artist, as it had really never been used as a spur. It was in the year 1563 that Walter Scott succeeded his father, William Scott, as Laird of Harden. In 1567 he married Mary Scott, the Flower of Yarrow, daughter of John, or, as others say, Philip Scott of Dryhope, near St Mary's Loch. By their marriage-contract the father-in-law was bound to find Scott of Harden in horse- meat and man's-meat at his tower of Dryhope for a year and a day; but five barons pledged themselves that at the expiry of that period the son- in-law should remove without attempting to continue in pos- session by force. A notary-pubUc signed for all the parties to the bond, as not one of them could sign his name. Harden, on his part, agreed to give Dryhope the profits of the first Michaelmas moon — a curious illustration of the unsettled character of the age. By the Flower of Yarrow Auld Wat had six daughters and four sons, of whom the second was killed in a fray by one of the Scotts of Newhouse, or Gilmans- cleuch. Harden's sons prepared to avenge their brother's 76 BORDER ]\IEMORIES. death, but, according to tradition, the father confined them all in a dungeon of his tower, then hasted to Edinburgh, obtained a grant of the lands from the king, returned home, liberated his sons, and showed them the charter. Then he cried, ^' To horse, lads ! and let us take possession. The lands of Gilmanscleuch are well worth a dead son." The lands of Harden were extensive, but were not calcu- lated to produce grain, or afford much wealth of any kind. " But what the niggard ground of wealth denied, From fields more bless'd his fearless arms supplied." AVhen the harvest moon shone clear and bright, the clang of the warder's horn was heard, and the men sallied forth to provide their winter stores. It is narrated that when the last bullock brought from English pastures had been con- sumed, the Flower of Yarrow placed on the table a pair of clean spurs, to indicate that her lord and his retainers must ride for their next meal. A characteristic trait of the old freebooter is mentioned by Sir Walter, in a note to the " Border Minstrelsy." On one occasion when the cows of the little settlement were driven out, the chieftain heard the cow-herd call on some one to let out Harden's cow. " Har- den's cowl" echoed the affronted chief; "Is it come to that pass ? By my faith, they shall soon say Harden's kye." The horn was sounded, and out sallied the raiders, who soon brought home a bow of kye and a bassened bull. When re- turning with his booty, the chief passed a large haystack, which he thought would be very useful for winter forage, but as no means of transport were at hand, he left it with the address, " By my saul, had ye but four feet, ye should not stand long there." Auld W^at was prominent in several border frays. Some- where about 1582, as narrated in a ballad in the "Border Minstrelsy," the captain of Bewcastle, in Cumberland, had ventured into Teviotdale " to drive a prey," and had carried off the kye of Jamie Telfer o' the Fair Dod Head, who com- plained to '' auld Buccleuch " at Branxholm. Orders were THE SCOTT FAMILY. 77 forthwith issued to raise the clan, who were placed in com- mand of AYillie Scott, supposed to have been an illegitimate son of Buccleuch ; and among other orders, they are told to " Warn Wat o' Harden and his sous, With them will Boi'thwick water ride. " Harden seems to have been second in command ; for, when the reivers had been overtaken and attacked, and Willie Scott had been " stricken ower the head, and through the knapscap the sword has gane,^' it is added — " And Harden grat for very rage When WilHe on the grund lay slain ; But he's ta'en off his g-ude steel cap, And thi'ice he waved it in the aii*. The Dinlay snaw was ne'er mair white, Nor the lyart locks of Harden's hair ; ' Revenge ! revenge ! ' Auld Wat 'gan cry ; ' Fye, lads, lay on them cruellie ! We'll ne'er see Teviotdale again Or Willie's death avenged sail be.' " He was one on whom Buccleuch chiefly relied in his famous raid into England to rescue Kinmont Willie from Carlisle Castle in 1596. The adventure seemed so desj)erate that the laird of Buccleuch desired to employ only the younger sons and brothers of the clan, but exceptions were made in the case of the lairds of Harden and Commonside, and Sir Gilbert Elliott of Stobbs. Previous to this date, however, in 1592, Auld Wat took part with Bothwell in the attempt to seize the King at Falkland, which w^as unsuccessful ; and authority was given by the King and the Priv}^ Council to Walter Scott of Goldielands and Gideon Murray of Elibank to demolish the houses and fortalices of Harden and Dryhope, belonging to Walter Scott of Harden. This order seems to have been effectually carried out : and though Auld AVat lived thirty- seven years afterwards, there is no evidence that he rebuilt the castle, though he probably did so in some shape. In 1603, when King James ascended the English throne, raids into England became less common, but for some time there 78 BORDER MEMORIES. were disputes on both sides of the Border. In 1611, for example, a fray took place between the Scotts of Harden and the followers of Sir Gideon Murray of Elibank, when the retainers of Harden were overpowered, and the heir-apparent, ^Yillianl Scott, was carried a prisoner to Elibank Castle, on the banks of the Tweed. Close to the tower stood the doom- tree, on which it was decided that Willie Scott should be hanged till he was dead ; but the lady of Sir Gideon considerately suggested that the culprit was handsome, was unmarried, and was the heir to a fine estate, and that they had three unmarried daughters not conspicuous for their good looks. The hint was approved, and it was agreed that young Harden's life should be spared on condition that he married the jDlainest of the three, who was conspicuous for her '' muckle mouth," only her name was not " Meg," as is commonly believed, but Agnes. After some hesitation the young laird consented to link his fate with that of the lady, and the marriage-contract was instantly executed on the parchment of a drum. The marriage took place in 1611, and the offspring of it included four sons and three daughters. Auld Wat had married as his second wife, in 1598, Margaret, daughter of Edgar of Wedder- lie, and relict of William. SjDottiswood of that ilk, by whom he had a daughter, Margaret, married to David Pringle, younger of Galashiels, and afterwards to Sir William Mac- dougall of Makerstoun. The veteran warrior was received with favour by King James VI., from whom he obtained several charters, dated 1603, 1607, and 1608. He lived to a great age, and died about the year 1629, twenty-six years after the accession of James to the English throne, having consequently outlived the time when raids into England were considered respectable. Of his surviving sons AVilliam was his successor at Harden, Hugh was progenitor of the Scotts of Gala, and Francis married Isabel, sister of Sir Walter Scott of Whitslaid, from whom are descended the modern family of the Scotts of Sinton. The eldest son of the old Freebooter was William, wJio THE SCOTT FAMILY. 79 was knighted by King James during the life-time of his father, and who acquired Mertoun, sometime about the middle of the seventeenth century from the Hetlies, the latter family having got it from the Haliburtons, Barons of Mertoun and pro- prietors of Dryburgh.* The first Sir William of Harden and Mertoun had a younger brother Hugh of Deuchar, who married the eldest daughter and heiress of Sir James Pringle of Galashiels and Smailholm, by whom he acquired the Gala property (the other being sold) which continues in his family, the present proprietor of Gala being his great-great-grandson. In right of their succession to the Pringle estate, the Gala family are the heirs-of-line of the oldest and main line of the House of Pringle, and while I refer to the Scotts of Gala, it is right I should mention that it produced a celebrated Admiral, Sir George Scott. The two elder lines of the family having expired, the descendants of the second Earl of Tarras became, and are now the representa- tives. They acquired the barony of Polwarth, the original but minor title of the Marchmont family by the marriage of Walter Scott of Harden, grandson of Lord Tarras, with Lady Diana Hume, third daughter of the third and last Earl March- mont, which earldom is in abeyance. This alliance opened the succession to the barony of Polwarth, to the Hardens, and Hugh the only son of Walter and Lady Diana, after consider- able difficulty, which was at one time thought to be insur- mountable, obtained the title by an award of the House of Lords, while the earldom of Marchmont aAvaits the claim of the nearest male-heir, and the property went in another direction in consequence, it has been said, of a political af- front having been offered by the Laird of Harden to the then * During the Civil War he continued faithful to the King, and in 1654 he was fined £3,000 by Oliver Cromwell, His sons were Sir William, his heii', Sir Gideon Scott of Highchester, Walter, ancestor of the Scotts of Rae- bura, James, ancestor of the Scotts of Thirlstane, and John, progenitor of the Scotts of Wool. He died in 1655 at an advanced age, leaving to all his sons considerable estates, and to his daughters handsome portions. 80 BORDER MEMORIES. Earl Marchmont.-^ Hugh Scott, who became eighth Lord Polwarth, died soon after obtaining it, and was succeeded by his eldest son Henry Francis, the lately deceased Peer, well known and deeply regretted by the counties of Roxburgh and Selkirk, in whose affairs he took a most important part. The first Sir William Scott of Harden was succeeded by his son, also Sir William, who had the honour of knighthood con- ferred on him by King Charles II., immediately after the Eestoration, He had two charters under the Great Seal, to Sir William Scott of Harden, knight, of the lands and baronies of Harden, Mertoun, Kirkwood, &c., and had an annuity of six hundred merks yearly out of the lands of Makerstoun; and he seems to have transferred his residence to Mertoun on the banks of the Tweed. He died in 1680, and was succeeded by a third Sir William, who was engaged in Argyle's rebellion but obtained a remission from King James in December 1685. He died without issue in 1707, and was succeeded by his brother, who also died without issue in 1710, after which the honours and estates went to Walter of Highchester, second heir-male, and a lineal descendant of Sir Gideon, second son of the first Sir William Scott of Harden. Gideon Scott had inherited from his father the estate of Highchester, and being a man of parts and merit, he was appointed by King Charles I., Sheriff-Principal of Roxburgh- shire. He married Margaret, daughter of Sir Thomas Hamil- ton of Preston, by whom he had several children, the eldest son being Walter, afterwards created by King Charles I., Earl of Tarras for life, but his honours did not descend to his posterity. It was he who, at thirteen years of age, married Mary, Countess of Buccleuch, elder daughter of Francis, second * Lady Diana Scott who lived to a great age, appreciated the mighty minstrel of the clan, Sir Walter Scott, surviving till he reached the summit of his fame. She was a great treasure in Sir Walter's eyes, for having con- versed in her early days with the brightest ornaments of the cycle of Queen Anne, and preserved rich stores of anecdotes, she would relate to the great gratification of Sir Walter, much that was deeply interesting to him. She was the only pei*son who could give him personal reminiscences of Pope. THE SCOTT FAMILY. 81 Earl of Buccleuch, then only eleven years of age ; and in possession of Lord Polwarth at Mertoun House are a number of letters that passed between the youthful couple. The marriage took place in 1659, but the countess died without children very shortly afterwards. Had she lived, Walter Scott, Earl of Tarras, would have become Earl of Buccleuch, and proprietor of all the large domains of the Lords of Buc- cleuch, but those honours were reserved for James, Duke of Monmouth, who married Anne, younger and only sister of the Countess Mary, when she was only twelve years of age. In 1677 Walter, Earl of Tarras, married Helen, daughter of Thomas Hepburn of Humbie, by whom he had several child- ren, but he died in 1693, at a comparatively early age. His place of residence was Harden, which he seems to have to a great extent rebuilt. The oldest date observable on the pre- sent edifice is 1671, and the next is 1680, when the Earl of Tarras would be thirty-four years of age, and had been three years married to Helen Hepburn of Humbie. All the old parts of the house bear marks of the Earl and Countess of Tarras. One of the bed-rooms is still known as Lady Tarras's room, and over the fire-place it bears a coronet, with the letters H.T. for Helen Tarras; outside the window of this room is a stone bearing the date 1680. This is on the second floor, and immediately below, in the same position, is the coronet, with the letters W.E.T,, Walter, Earl Tarras. Out- side the same room is a window recess, with a circular top, in which is a stone elaborately carved ; on the face of it are the letters — E. C. W. T. H. T. 1691. On the lower part of the stone are carved a large star, with the sun embraced within a crescent of the moon. The date is only two years before the death of Earl Tarras, and it is the latest on the building, which seems immediately afterwards to have been deserted for some other place of residence. Sir F 82 BORDER MEMORIES. Walter Scott paid a yearly visit to this historic place, and had obtained the consent of his kinsman, Mr Scott of Harden and Mertoun, to have it repaired and made habitable as a sum- mer residence, but the building of Abbotsford otherwise absorbed his time and means. The late Lord Polwarth at different times made repairs and added conveniences, so as to make it habitable, somewhat in the style in which it was left by Earl Tarras, and in this condition it now remains. Walter, Earl of Tarras, was succeeded by his eldest son, Gideon Scott, and he by his son Walter, who died without issue, and was succeeded by his brother John, who died in 1734 without male-heirs, after which the estates devolved on Walter Scott, second son of the Earl of Tarras. He was four times married, and of his second wife Anne, only daughter of John Scott of Gorranberry, were born two sons and three daughters. In 1746 he died, leaving as his heir, Walter his eldest son, the fourteenth generation in a direct male line from the first Walter Scott of Sinton. He was elected Member of Parlia- ment for the county of Roxburgh in the year 1747, and con- tinued to sit in all the Parliaments till the year 1765, when he was appointed General Receiver or Cashier of Excise in Scot- land, He married Lady Diana Hume, daughter of Hugh, third Earl of Marchmont, a lady who had sprung from a noble stock, and was herself worthy of her parentage. The first Earl of Marchmont was Patrick Hume, laird of Polwarth, who suffered persecution in the reign of Charles II., but was of great service to the Prince of Orange, afterwards King William III. After the Revolution a brilliant career was opened up for him. He was created a Peer by the title of Lord Polwarth, and was afterwards created Earl of Marchmont, Vis- count of Blassonbury, Lord Polwarth, Redbraes, and Greenlaw, to him and his heirs-male, whatsoever. The great reputation of the first Lord Marchmont was sustained by his son, Alexander Hume, the second Lord Marchmont; and not less notable was Hugh Campbell Hume, the third and last Lord Marchmont. They were all devoted supporters of the House of Hanover. THE SCOTT FAMILY. 83 The third Lord Marchmont married Miss Western of London, by whom he had one son who died young, and three daughters, of whom Lady Diana, the youngest, was married to Walter Scott of Harden. With the son Hugh and his wife, Lady Diana lived at Mertoun till 1827, when she died at the age of ninety-four. With this venerable lady, her daughter-in- law, and her son, Walter Scott, afterwards Sir Walter of Abbotsford, lived on terms of great intimacy, and from them he received unspeakable benefits, in the way of acquiring in- formation and cultivating his style. It was in the autumn of 1799, when residing at Mertoun House that Walter Scott composed the ballad of " The Eve of St John." There are no fewer than four ancient towers or castles on Lord Polwarth's estate, all of them tolerably entire. These are Harden, Oak- wood, Littledean, and Smailholm. The last-named is situated on the northern boundary of Koxburghshire, among the cluster of wild rocks known as Sandyknowe Crags. While residing at Mertoun in 1799, Walter Scott called the attention of his kinsman to some dilapidations in the tower, and suggested certain repairs. Harden playfully requested as the price of compliance that Scott should compose a ballad, having Smail- holm Tower for its subject, and in response he composed " The Eve of St John." Eeverting to the family of Sir William and Mucklemouthed Meg, it may be mentioned that their third son was Walter Scott, first of Eaeburn, ancestor of the greatest man who ever bore the name of Scott, and moreover one of the most celebrated Scotchmen that ever lived. Sir Walter Scott of Abbotsford. The representative of the first Eaeburn, who, with his wife, were Quakers, is Eobert Scott of Lessudden House and Eaeburn, while the Abbotsford family, now represented by an only great-granddaughter of the great novelist, descended from a second son of the Quaker Eaeburn, viz., Walter, who was a singular character, being known as " Beardie " from a vow he had made not to shave till the restoration of the Stuarts. Beardie Scott's hirsute appendage would be more hi BORDER MEMORIES. marked in that generation than our own, for as the pictures in the late Portrait Exhibition at Kensington prove to us, it was the universal custom in that age to have the chin entirely smooth. Though Quakerism did not convert Beardie, there was an- other link besides Raeburn, which connected Sir Walter with the society of friends in the person of his grandmother, Jean Swinton, great-granddaughter of John Swinton of Swinton, who had assumed the Quaker faith and garb. These Quaker connections made the illustrious Scott cherish a feeling of veneration for the body, and in his characters of Joshua Geddes and his sister, he has pictured the benevolence of the sect. Another of the name of John Scott of Leith became a Quaker, making himself notorious for brewing on Sunday, for Avhich he was fined very heavily on the evidence of the Bailie and minister, with whom he was very angry, protesting that he might as well brew on the Sunday as the minister might take money for going up to a desk and talking, and throwing water in a bairn's face. He appealed in vain to the Privy Council. But to return to Beardie, who, though he did not turn Quaker, like his father, was a keen Jacobite, and more- over the friend of the great and witty Dr Pitcairn, a well- known Scotchman and partisan of the exiled family. Sir Walter. Scott, who was Beardie's great-grandson, says, "It would have been well if his Jacobite zeal had stopped with his letting his beard grow, but he took to political intrigue, and lost all he had except his person and his beard," which were also nearly being annihilated, for he would probably have been hanged had it not been for the interference of Anne, Duchess of Buccleugh, who was the means of saving his life, and after this he subsisted chiefly on the fortune of his wife. Miss Campbell of Silvercraigs. Beardie's second son, Robert, Sir Walter's grandfather, was intended for a sailor, but an early shipwreck weaned him from a seafaring life, when he took to farming, getting from the laird of Mertoun, liis distant kinsman, a lease of Sandyknowe, near Smail- ]iolm, in which farm he made a considerable sum of THE SCOTT FAMILY. 85 money. He commenced with .£30 of capital borrowed from his shepherd, named Hogg, but he spent it all at Wooler fair, in buying a horse instead of sheep. His eminent grandson was fond of the neighbourhood of Wooler, not on account of its fair, but because it was situated amidst places renowned for the feats of former days, each hill being crowned with a tower, or camp, or cairn ; and in no situation can one see more fields of battle — Flodden, Otterburn, Ford, Chillingham and Copeland castles, and many other scenes of blood are within the compass of a forenoon's ride. He had many other enjoyments in that to him, charming country, to describe which, such was the simplicity of the house he lodged in, that no pen could be found, and to enable our great Borderer to communicate with his friends, he had to shoot a poor crow to procure a quill. As Eobert Scott, Sir Walter's grandfather, amassed a considerable sum by agricultural pursuits, he must have found other capital besides the £30 he invested in a horse to start with. He married a Haliburton of Newmains, a branch of the old baronial House of Mertoun, by whom he would get some tocher, and in consequence of that connection, Sir Walter chose their place of sepulture, at Dryburgh Abbey, as his last resting-place.-^^- But before quitting the Raeburn branch of the Scotts, I must not forget the painful incident which occurred in the family early last century. Walter Scott the third laird fought a duel with Mark Pringle of Crichton, * Sir Walter has furnished a picture of Sandyknowe farm-house as it existed about 1776, showing "old Mrs Scott sitting with her spinning-wheel at the one side of the fire, in a clean clean parlour," the grandfather a good deal failed, in his elbow-chau* opposite ; and the little boy, afterwards the great magician, lying on the carpet, at the old man's feet, listening to the Bible, or whatever good book Miss Jenny was reading to them. This family circle was often joined by Sir George Hay Makdougall of Makerstoun, who took special interest in little Walter Scott, who was then at Sandyknowe on account of delicate health. Some one had suggested that whenever a sheep was killed, little Walter, who was weak and lame, should be wrapped in the warm skin. Clothed in this Tartar-like habiliment, he was laid on the floor of the little parlour at Sandyknowe, when Sir George Hay Makdougall was wont to kneel on the floor, dragging his watch before the little lam iter, to induce him to crawl after it. 86 BORDER MEMORIES. in a field at Selkirk, 3d October 1707, the scene of which has since been known as Raeburn's Meadow. The parties quarrelled the day before at a County Court, and they determined to settle the quarrel by a hostile meeting, which accordingly took place, vrhen Pringle's sword caused Scott's death. Pringle, who was the youngest son of Andrew Pringle of 'Clifton, immediately after, went abroad, and became a mer- <3hant in Spain, where he made a fortune, though he under- went many hardships and adventures during the early part of his expatriation, having been taken prisoner by the Moors, and kept in slavery. After the lapse of years he returned to his native country, and bought the estate of Crichton in Mid- lothian, surviving his purchase some thirteen years, and the duel with Raeburn about forty-four years. His grandson and namesake, Mark Pringle, M.P. for Selkirkshire, not only succeeded to Crichton and Fernielee (the latter being his mother's property), but to Haining and Clifton also, owing to the decease of all his original Clifton kinsmen. Mark's two sons, John a,nd Robert, both of whom followed him, in turn, in the M.P.- ship, died sine jyole, when their sister Mrs Douglas succeeded, on the death of the latter, to the family property in Selkirk- shire, while Clifton, the largest estate, strictly entailed, passed to a kinsman, Mr Elliot, of Harwood, descended from Robert Pringle of Clifton, who lived early in the eighteenth century, and Avho no doubt made the entail. But I must not in giving an account of the homicide and his family, forget the unfor- tunate man Raeburn, who, though only twenty-four, had been some time laird, and who left three children by his wife, who was a daughter of Scott of Gala, and granddaughter of my ancestor. Sir Thomas Ker of Cavers, and who afterwards married Macdougall of Makerston and Hume of Eccles. I ought to mention that, independent of the male relation- ship between the Raeburns and the illustrious Sir Walter Scott, there was a nearer tie of affinity, through the Halibur- tons which made him and the late laird of Raeburn, long called THE SCOTT fa:mily. 87 Maxpoffle, which he owned and where he once resided, first cousins. Three predecessors of the Harden Scotts, the original Scotts of Sinton, married ladies of the House of Riddell of Eid- dell, while James the fourth son of Sir William Scott of Harden and Mertoun, by Mucklemouthed Meg, married Agnes, daugh- ter of Sir AValter Riddell my ancestor. Another cadet of the old Sinton tree not to be forgotten, was the House of Satchells in Lilliesleaf Parish, whose ancestor was James, third son of Walter the sixth of Sinton, by his second wife, a daughter of James Riddell of that ilk, from whom descended the well-known Chronicler of the Scott family, AValter Scott of Satchells, who calls himself " Captain W^alter Scott, an old Souldier and no SchoUer, " And one that can write nane, But just the letters of his name." One of the Satchell ladies, Jean Scott, was a sort of heroine. She went to the assistance of the ivldow of a clansman of her husband, Scott of Howpaslot (ancestor of the Thirlestanes), who owed a grudge at James Douglas of Drumlanrig (ancestor of the Dukes of Queensberry), who had acquired Howpaslot, probably by purchase, on the death of her lord. Desperate on being turned out of the property and her old home, the widow determined on wreaking her vengeance upon Drumlanrig. The ladies met at Hawick, and arranged with several parties of the name of Scott in that town to proceed to Howpaslot to punish the new proprietor, which they did by killing forty of his sheep and mutilating some twenty more. The three parties who committed the slaughter, for one of them relented after getting to the place, were hanged, and the fourth, who had turned king's evidence, was afterwards hanged for sheep- steal- ing. William Scott of Satchells was of the party, but seemed to escape punishment, which the heroine, probably his wife, no doubt secured. We may ask, however, why the ladies them- selves did not suffer punishment I 88 BORDER MEMORIES. Another cadet of Harden was the House of Woll, founded by John Scott, who was fined, like his brother of Harden, for his wife's non-conformity. The only member of the family I will specially notice is the late William Scott of Teviotbank (which he purchased and his son sold), who was an ornament of the Scott family generally, and had his son, the late John Scott of Rodono, been spared, a history of the whole clan would probably have been published in course of time. William Scott was well known, not only as a legal practitioner in Edinburgh, but as a writer on Phreno- logy and on Scripture Historj'-. An engraved portrait of him, Dr Rogers says, might be accepted as that of the author of " Waverley." I now proceed to another branch, either of Harden or the main line, perhaps not yet fully ascertained, I mean the ScoTTS of HowPASLEY, Gamescleugh, and Thirlestane, from whom the house of Dryhope (which produced the beauti- ful Mary, the Flower of Yarrow), Mount Benger, and Eowhill (not the ducal family now possessors of it) descend. The Scotts of HoM^asley, or Thirlestane as I shall call them, pro- duced several warriors, one of whom was the valued and faithful attendant of James V., who, for his loyal and gallant conduct, granted him an augmentation to his arms, with the motto, " Ready, aye Ready." John Scott was the only chief willing to follow James V. in his invasion of England, when the rest of the Scottish nobles, encamped at Fala, refused to accompany their sovereign in his expedition. In memory of Scott's fidelity, the augmentation in question was granted by charter. A subsequent member of the Thirlestane family was an able public servant and M.P., and was created a baronet in 1660, as Sir Francis Scott, while his only surviving son, Sir William, was a poet. Sir William had no son, and his daughter Elizabeth, by his first marriage, carried the estate of Thirlestane to her son, the fifth Baron Napier, in whose family the representation rests. THE SCOTT FA3»riLY. 89 There were also the Scotts of Tushielaw, of whom was Adam, the King of Thieves or Monarch of the Border. James V. was determined that Adam should be no longer sovereign, and he was accordingly deposed, captured, and executed along with his partner in crime, Cockburn of Henderland. It has been said there was an old ash-tree near Tushielaw Tower, on which Adam was suspended, and that on the same tree King Adam had previously lianged many a wight, but Pit- cairn says that Adam was tried, convicted, and beheaded at Edinburgh on 18th May 1530, with his brother reiver Cock- burn of Henderland, and adds, that the " heids" of both were fixed on the Tolbooth of Edinburgh. Adam had previously agreed to assist the Earl of Angus to stanch theft, reiff, and slaughter, but he was so habituated to crime that he was unable to abide by his resolution, and accordingly forfeited his life. There was another noted member of the Tushielaw family, John Scott, who married a sister of his neighbour Eobert of Thirlestane, of which family we have spoken. The two lairds fought a duel, in which Thirlestane was slain. The alleged cause of dispute between the parties was the settlement on the occasion of the marriage of Miss Scott, a subject which often causes disputes even in our times, without, however, terminating in duels. Tushielaw conceived Thirlestane had not made good the endowment promised on his becoming his brother-in-law. The duel was fought near to Yarrow Kirk, opposite a pass in the hills from Ettrick, and two prominent unhewn stones, standing about one hundred yards from each other, commemorate the fatal affair. There were also the Scotts of Hassindean (off from Buc- cleugli in time of Sir \Y. of Kirkurd), an ancient brancli, par- ticularly mentioned by Old Satchells, and one of whose chiefs was summarily disposed of by Elliot of Horsliehill, previously a Scott property, as it afterwards again became. Verily luiman life was not much thought of or valued in olden times. Another respectable branch of the great Scott family is 90 BORDER MEMORIES. Wauchope, descended from Howcleugh and Crumhaugh, of whom there are memorials at Hawick. Old Walter Scott of Wauchope and his wife, Miss Kutherfurd of Fernielie, were friends and patrons of the great poet Burns, who visited them at Wauchope, and whom he graphically describes in his jour- nal thus, in 1787 — "Mr Scott exactly the figure and face commonly given to Sancho Panza ; very shrewd in his family matters, and not unfrequently stumbles on what may be called a strong rather than a good thing. Mrs Scott, all the sense, taste, intrepidity of face and bold critical decision, which usu- ally distinguish female authors." Then there were the Scotts of Whitehaugh, represented by Mr Chisholm of Stirches — the Scotts of Burnhead and Craw- hill, of whom was Mrs Charters, the wife of Dr Charters of Wilton — the Scotts of Burnfoot, one of whose early members being lame, was sent to Glasgow to be educated, not being considered fit for border reiving, though a descendent of this student was, from his fellness and activity, called Watt the Rattan. This Rattan acquired Headshaw by marriage. Then there were the Scotts of Middlestead (before the Plum- mers, who are not so old a family), of Kirkhouse, Huntly, Whitslade, and Todrig. The last of the Whitslades was a Dr Robert Scott, described by an author as " a gentlemanlike- looking person in ruin, tall and meagre, the countenance of hunger and despondency." One of the Scots of Todrig, sold in 1748, cut, in 1622, his arms in wood on the family pew in the old church of Ashkirk, and the last member of the race was Thomas Scott, who probably was a marine, for he is some- where described as a brave warrior both by sea and land. Ashkirk parish was at one time nearly wholly in the pos- session of families of the name of Scott, and Old Satchells has minutely described them in his well known chronicle. Other highly respectable families no doubt exist, who have sprung from some of the foregoing, but there are two men of the name, from whatever branch or source derived, who have shed lustre on the great family, whom I must commemorate. THE SCOTT FAMILY. 91 ♦They are Drs John and William Scott of Singlee, Ettrick, father and son. Dr John Scott, who was a distinguished Edinburgh phy- sician, was well known and highly valued, and specially mourned in the Forest and in Tweedside, his skill, time, and means being always ready for any of the suffering natives of these districts. Dr Scott was singularly gifted as a discoverer and healer of disease. He seemed by a sort of instinct to get at the root of the mischief, and pointed to the cause as a j^ointer does to game — more than this, he was both pointer and shot. He was a most sagacious and successful practitioner, and one of the tenderest-hearted and most unselfish of men. His extreme modesty was the only thing in the way of his becoming the greatest physician of his time, and he was not only a doctor but a man of true literary faculty. He was a keen and reten- tive reader, and was alive to everything that could improve his fellows in mind, body, or estate. Dr William Henry Scott, his son, was also an Edin- burgh physician, but died at the early age of twenty-four, a short time after his father. This young man was a pro- digy of knowledge, and his memory was almost miraculous. Indeed, he used to say, he did not know how to forget. But in addition to William Scott's vast general knowledge, he concentrated himself in numismatics, and also in the study of history and of languages. In the department of numismatics, he took high rank for so young a man, having made some primary discoveries. When a stripling of eighteen, he was the habitual correspondent of the chief savans of Europe, in their own languages ; and when this marvellous youth died, letters came from all parts of the world full of amazement at his age. He had been thought a man of fifty from his accom- plishments and scholarship. His knowledge of languages was quite as wonderful as his memory, and if his life had been spared he might have rivalled Scaliger or Milton. In addition to the two Dr Scotts just sketched, and Dr Robert of Hawick, previously mentioned, there was another 92 BORDER MEMORIES. well known physician in Hawick, last century, named Dr William Scott, who wrote on several medical subjects. Then there was a distinguished soldier, named Scott of Hawick, whose name will ever rank among the heroes of Quebec. Among others of the name are : George Lewis Scott, F.E. and A.S.S., a gentleman of con- siderable talents and general learning, born at Hanover of Scotch parents, died in 1780. His wife, Mrs Scott, sister to the late Mrs Montagu, died in 1795 ; a lady of great acquire- ments, who published many works, all anonymous, the first of which was a novel called " Cornelia." John Scott, the early printer at St Andrew? and Edinburgh, who printed in 1561 the "Protestant Confession of Faith." William Scott, schoolmaster, many useful class books, and " Beauties of Eminent Writers." Andrew Scott of Bowden, and George of Lilliesleaf, poets. I have now closed my brief but imperfect history of the families of Scott, bringing forward the salient points in the characters of those particularly distinguished. I have confined my history chiefly to the Scottish border house, and its branches, and borderers generally bearing the name, but before closing the chapter, I would mention some leading men of the name in other parts of Scotland, and then cross the Border to bring before you briefly our English friends of note who have gloried in the name. Of the other noted Scotch Scotts there were in olden times a couple of Bishops, already referred to as witnesses to Charters — then there were several Professors, also John Scott the Hermit and miraculous faster — also Alexander Scott who flourished in the reign of Queen Mary, to whom he addressed a Poem, in which he styles himself — " her simple servant ; Saunders Scott." In Ramsay's " Evergreen " and other collections, his poetry is to be found — it was thought so good in past times he was called, " The Anacreon of Scotland." Then in later times, there was David a painter of ability, and a poet as well — another David, an historian, who suff'ered imprison- THE SCOTT FMIILY. 93 TQent for his attacliment to the Stuarts — Michael the well- known author of " Tom Cringle's Log," and John, a Miscel- laneous Writer, who fought and fell in a duel at Chalk Farm in 1821, his antagonist being a Mr Christie, and the cause a literary quarrel. Then crossing the Border, and landing you in England, I have quite an array of celebrated English Scotts to present to you. There were several eminent Divines, the chief of whom was Thomas the Commentator, and in earlier times, Thomas Scott of Eotherham, who was Archbishop of York and Lord Chancellor in the 1 5th century. He was a munificent Prelate. There was also the well-known author of the " Christian Life," John Scott, whom the notorious Judge Jeffreys sent for on his deathbed to aid him in suing for mercy in heaven, which he so often denied on earth ; then there was Samuel Scott, the Marine Painter, who is represented in the National Gallery ; also Eeginald the writer on Witchcraft whose opinions James the First in his demonology tried to refute ; and John Scott the Poet of Amwell, who, like our friend Eaeburn, was a Quaker ; also a Col. Scott with a woman's name, Caroline, viz., Col. Caroline Scott. It has been said he was one of Hawley's officers, sent to put down the Scotch rebellion in 1746, when great cruelty was practised, but Scott's character was anything but cruel, for though brave and spirited, he showed the greatest gentleness of manners. He died moreover in India, in the Company's Service in 1755, which is rather against his having been at Culloden unless he had been on furlough and volunteered. I shall only mention two other celebrated English Scotts, and I am happy to say they may be called Borderers, though English ones. William, Lord Stowell, and John, Lord Eldon. WilUam the elder brother was Judge of the High Court of Admiralty. He was an excellent scholar and profound reasoner, as well as a zealous supporter of the great Institutions of his country. It has been said his knowledge of international law, was unexcelled in Britain, and that he took rank with Grotius and other 94 BORDER MEMORIES. immortal Jurists. John Scott the younger brother, created Lord Eklon, was a distinguished statesman, as well as able lawyer. He attained the summit of the legal profession by reaching the Woolsack, where he sat for about twenty-six years as Lord Chancellor, the longest period the Great Seal was ever held by one individual. He was said to be slow, but in his day there were no assistant justices, and he evinced great anxiety to do justice in his judgments. Romilly said no man ever presided in Chancery who possessed more deep and various learning, and exhibited more humane attention to the suiters. Lord Eldon could relax in vacation time, when he participated in and enjoyed the sports of the field. On one occasion he was accosted as old Bags's keeper, but he told the man who accosted him, whom the Chancellor challenged for poaching, that he was " old Bags himself." There is an office in Chancery called the Bag office from which the nick- name is probably derived. THE KEE FAMILY. The Family of Ker, a word which I believe signifies Strength, is of Anglo-Norman lineage, and the name stands in the earliest record of the Normans in this Country — the roll of Battle Abbey ; an edifice founded by William I. to com- memorate the victory which he gained over Harold 11. on the 14th October 10G6 (eight hundred years ago). The name of Ker, or according to the Norman orthography, Karre, stands conspicuous on this roll of fame, as corroborated by the celebrated chroniclers Hollinshed and Duchesne. It has been said that the family was a noble and illustrious one in France before the Conquest, and that William's companion was one of its members who became the progenitor of the English and Scotch Kers, the former being no doubt the parent stock, which probably was settled at Kershall in Lancashire. Several of the name are mentioned by Prynne, and others appear on the Eagman Roll — that ancient docu- ment which contains a list of those who swore fealty to Edward I., 1272-1307. Two members of the family of Ker probably springing from the Lancashire stock came to Scot- land about the close of the 14:th century, where they settled in Roxburghshire, founding the two great families of Cessford and Fernieherst, or Kershaugh, or Kersheugh, as Fernieherst was first called. It is not known whether the two Anglo-Normans were brothers, but they were probably nearly related. Their names were John and Ralph — the former being the ancestor of the Kers of Cessford, originally styled of Auldtounburn, and the Forest of Selkirk — the latter being 96 BORDER MEMORIES. the progenitor of the Kers of Ferniehirst, first styled Kersheugh. Both families were supporters of the great house of Douglas, at that time paramount on the Scottish Border. But a more ancient family than either, of the same name, whose original derivation probably is from the same Anglo-Norman race, existed in the West of Scotland at least 130 years before the two Border chieftains rose up. They no doubt, like the Fernie- hersts, and also the Lancashire stock, called the property they acquired after themselves, for it was named Kersland, and to their honour and credit, they held it for at least a period of five hundred years, though during that time it twice went in the female line, through the failure of males, the name and title of Kersland being however continued by assumption, but owing to the improvidence and folly of the last John Ker, ironically called, honest Kersland, in that well-known Jacobite song called the " Awkward Squad," it was wasted. Kersland was supposed to have acted a double part in the politics of the time, as he and David Baillie were accused of revealing to the Government all the secret proceedings of the Jacobites, whom they pretended to favour. At his death in 1726, the property of Kersland was judicially sold, and his widow and daughters were left in poverty. But before leaving this the most ancient of the Scottish family of Ker, of which some cadets still exist in the west, I think it right to mention that there were some conspicuous and worthy members of the main Kersland line, who figured in the history of the Kefor- mation, and of the Covenant — one of them was Daniel Ker, a staunch adherent of Presbytery, who was killed at Steinkirk in Flanders in 1697, leaving behind him, according to his descendant John Ker, the character of a great soldier, a fine gentleman, and to crown all a good Christian. He carried his opinions against Popery, however, too far. For instance he joined a party who went to Traquair House from which they took a number of Komish wares and books^ and burnt them at the Cross of Peebles. Amongst the books were no doubt many valuable missals, which would have been much prized THE KER FAMILY. 97 now as works of antiquity and art. In this raid David, I think, tarnished his high character a little. The arms of this ancient Kersland race, as exemplified on the Church of Dairy, the cradle of these Kers, are the same as the Border Kers, a Cheveron charged with three Stars or Mollets, the motto being, " Peace with God." The memoirs of John Ker of Kersland were published about one hundred and forty years ago. I now proceed with the two great Border houses of Cessford and Ferniehirst, and, at the outset, I beg to state that the noble house of Lothian is derived from both — as Lothians they are of the Cessford stock, and being also Earls of Ancrum, they derive from and represent the Ferniehirsts through their Ancrum ancestor. In treating of the two great houses of Cessford and Ferniehirst, I give priority to the former, their chief being a duke — the Duke of Roxburghe — although during the warfare that so long existed between them, neither would concede the suj)eriority to the other. I rather think, however, the Ferniehirst race can show the oldest charter, or at any rate they possess evidence of having the most ancient holding. A learned writer considers the Ferniehirsts the elder, because they carried the same arms with the Kers in England and France, without any difference of tincture or change. THE KERS OF CESSFORD. I have already said their first designation was Auldtoun- burn, which is situated on the banks of the Bowmont, about five miles from Yetholm ; their charter of that place being granted in 1357, and afterwards confirmed by the superior, Archibald Earl Doudas. Their first charter of Cessford was obtained in 1446, having been granted by the same Earl of Douglas, afterwards Duke of Turenne. I begin with Andrew,* * The first notable personage of the family was " John Ker, of the Forest of Selkirk," who, in 1357, obtained from John de Copeland, an English wai-- den, '' all the lands and tenements in Auldtounbuni, with their pertinents, G 98 BORDER MEMORIES. the fourth probably of the family, who had now acquired a considerable property, including Cessford, which was long the family fortress. He was esquire to the Earl of Douglas just mentioned, and died about the middle of the fifteenth century, leaving three sons — Andrew, his heir; James, of Linton ; and Thomas, of Gateshaw. The descendants of the latter in the female line exist to this day, and possess Gateshaw. The Linton Kers have long since died out. There is a record of a quarrel in which one of the family was killed, and of a bond being taken in consequence from T. Ker, of Mersington ; T. Ker, of Yair ; A. Ker, of Newhall ; and T. Ker, of Whitmuirhall, and others. Andrew, the heir, and whom we shall call the Fifth, was infeft in other lands by William Earl Douglas — the forfeited Earl — who, after the decline of his power, went to Rome on an imposing expedition to the jubilee there, accompanied by a train of one hundred knights and magnates — Andrew Ker, or Karre, as I have seen him described, being one of the party. After our hero's return which formerly belonged to Adam of Beale," and next year received from William of Blackdeane, "part of the lands of Mow and Auldtounburn" for himself and Mariote, his spouse. The designation Mow or MoUe signifies a conical hill, and the territory of that name, which is still represented in the name of Mowhaugh, extended to the English border at the summit of the Cheviots. At that early date the territory supplied tribute to the monks of Kelso, Melrose, and Paisley, and the canons of Paisley. The monks of Kelso alone had land in the territory of Molle, at a very early period, sufl&cient to pasture four hundred sheep, sixteen nolt, two work-horses, and twelve swine, and latterly they had a good deal more. The " town" of Molle was of con- siderable size, and contained, as all towns did in those days, a " pele," with many fair houses around it. The monks of Kelso had fourteen cottages, each of which rented at two shillings a year, with six days' work, besides "the common easements of the town, and liberty to pasture cattle wherever the laird's cattle grazed." On the summit of a rising ground on the right bank of the Bowmont stood the church, close to which was the residence of the vicar ; and the township had likewise those essential requisites of civili- sation, a malt kiln and a mill. Further up the valley is a pass into North- umberland, the entrance to which was barred by the Cocklaw Tower, v/hich had a standing garrison of trusty warriors. There appears to have been some wood in the district, as the tenants stipulated for wood to make their ploughs and to construct folds for their flocks. THE KER FAIHILY. 99 from Italy, which he survived many years, he got a charter of Old Eoxburgh, say in 1451, and became a man of mark, being conservator of truces with England, but he was forfeited, owing to his having been concerned with the Boyds in carrying off James III. from Linlithgow. Parliament, how- ever, granted a remission, which he survived some years. He was twice married; having by his first wife, a daughter of Douglas of Cavers, several sons and a daughter, who married, as her second husband, William, third Earl of Errol, one of whose successors was James Lord Boyd, a descendant of the Boyds whom her father assisted in carrying off James HI. Andrew's eldest son and heir was AValter the Sixth, sometimes called '• Wat Carre," who also got further possessions, including Caverton, which had been one of the possessions of the ancient family of Soulis. In 1488, Wat Carre got Eoxburgh Castle, and the Maisons Dieu of Roxburgh and Jedburgh, from James IV., to whom he was esquire. The Castle of Roxburgh stands very beautifully on a prominent knoll of an oblong form, rising out of the plain, near to the junction of Tweed and Teviot. Judging from its outworks and massive fragments, it was doubtless a place of great strength. It was the scene of many a siege, and frequently changed proprietors. The good Sir James Douglas, " trustie and trew," the friend of Bruce, who sometimes held a Court at Roxburgh, took the Castle in 1313, but he did not hold it long, though it is on record that both castle and town were in possession of a descendant, who afterwards lost both. In 1460, James II. took the town and besieged the castle, which was then in possession of the English ; and while the King was observing the effects of his guns, then rude contrivances like Mons Meg, one of them called the Lion burst, and a fragment striking His Majesty on the leg, caused his death. His followers and supporters, however, encouraged, it has been said, by the Queen, went on with the siege, and razed the castle to the ground. James IV. gave the castle to Walter Ker, but it again got into the hands of the English, who repaired it, after loo BORDER MEjMORIES. which it was restored to the Cessford family by James V. ; but by virtue of a treaty of peace with England, it was again demolished, and has since remained a ruin. Walter Ker, who like his father and grandfather, was a commissioner for settling Border disputes, appears to have been a religious man, for it is recorded that he built a chapel at Caverton pro salute corporis et animse nostrse et pro salute animse dicti Walter nuper defuncti. His death occurred in 1501. Walter Ker was twice married, first to Helen Ker, of whose derivation I am ignorant ; indeed in some books where her name might be expected to appear, it is not given, but I have learnt it from the papers of the lamented and famous anti- quary, John Eiddell, who possessed a charter written on vellum by the abbot and convent of Kelso, in favour of Ellen, spouse of that honourable man, Walter Ker of Cessford, and Robert, their son and apparent heir of the lands of Haly- den and Heathwood, in the barony of Bowden. The charter is dated 2d July 1481, and is signed by Robert, the abbot of the abbey, immediately before Thomas Ker, who will hereafter be mentioned. Walter Ker's second wife, by whom he had no family, was a daughter of Lord Chancellor Crichton, and widow of the second Lord Glammis. His children were by his first wife, Ellen Ker, and Robert, the eldest son, who was killed shortly before his father's decease ; but by his wife Christian Rutherford, daughter of James Rutherford of that ilk, he had two sons, Robert had a brother, Mark of Dolphinston, ancestor of the Kers of Littledean, and a sister Elizabeth, who was married to Philip Rutherford, brother of her brother Robert's wife, and her daughter, as heir- of-line, carried the chief part of the Rutherford property to the family of Traquair, one of whose chiefs (killed at Elodden) she married. Great feuds took place between the Ruther- fords, Traquairs, and Roxburghs, in consequence of the Rutherford property being carried away by the heir-of-line. Elizabeth Ker of Cessford, after losing her husband Philip THE KER FAMILY. 101 Rutherford, married Sir Walter Scott of Buccleuch, and was mother of the lamented Baron killed at Melrose. T have said that Robert Ker, who was described as of Caverton, predeceased his father. He was a most distin- guished man, and a great favourite of his sovereign James IV., whose chief cup-bearer he was. He was also Master of the Ordnance, and Warden of one of the Marches, in the execution of which latter office he was killed at Gamel's Path, about the year 1500, by three Englishmen named Heron, Lilburn and Starhead ; and I presume it was in consequence of his slaughter and gallant resistance against the banditti, the family got a grant of fresh armorial bearings. The Cessfords previously had the field of their arms, gules or red, but in consequence of Robert Ker being killed in a green field, it was ordered that the bearings should in future be vert, and the livery also, in remembrance of the occasion. At the same time they got the Unicorn's head as a crest, being part of the royal arms and ensign, supported by two savages, with laurel leaves round the middle, holding batons over the shoulder, with the motto, omne solum forti — every soil for the brave. One of the banditti who killed the gallant Ker was de- livered up to the Scots. This was Lilburn, who died in prison ; Heron, another, escaped ; but Sir Andrew Ker, son of the murdered hero, captured, through the medium of some of his vassals, the third, Starhead, whom they decapitated, bringing his head in triumph to their master, who caused it to be exposed at the Cross in Edinburgh. There is a tradition in Bowden that Habbie Ker struck the priest of that place, for which he atoned by giving his reverence a field north of the lade (burn), which was added to the glebe, the whole of which is on the south side of the stream, which would seem to favour the legend. It could not have well been Lord Roxburgh, the famous Habbie Ker, as he lived after the Reformation, and the occurrence taking place in Romish times, it must have been Sir Robert, who seems to have enjoyed the same soubriquet. 102 BORDER MEMORIES. Sir Andrew Ker, son of Sir Eobert, in consequence of his father's early and sad death, succeeded his grandfather, to whom he was served heir at his majority in 1511. He was then married, having wedded, at about eighteen, Agnes Crichton, daughter of Robert the second Lord of Sanquhar. This baron was very distinguished, but did not live long, having while in the Earl of Angus' army at Melrose, been killed by a follower of his brother-in-law, Buccleuch. His death was deeply lamented on both sides, and was the cause of a long and deadly feud, which ended in the murder of Buccleucli in Edinburgh. I must now revert to Sir Andrew Ker's brother George of Fawdonside, whose descendants were conspicuous and survived for about a century, and had they continued would have been themale representatives after the Kers of Littledeannow extinct. George had a son. Sir Andrew Ker of Fawdonside, who is somewhere described as "a tall, thin-made savage look- ing man, his look and bearing being those of a Border free- booter." He was concerned with Ruthven and Douglas in Rizzio's murder, and is reported to have acted most barbar- ously to Queen Mary. This Sir Andrew had a son, who married the widow of the great John Knox, Margaret Stewart, daughter of the second Lord Ochiltree. She fell in love Avitli the Reformer when he was nearly sixty, she being probably little more than twenty, and they had three daughters, one of whom married John Welch, at one time minister of Selkirk. John^Knox had been a widower about three years, and his first wife, Marjory Bower, was of good family also, probably of the same stock as Mary Bower who married the ninth Earl Strathmore. By his first wife the Reformer had two sons, who were both graduates of Cambridge, and died unmarried, so that there are no inale descendants of his body, though he had several nephews, who were, probably from Fawdonside connection, appointed to the benefices of Melrose and Bowden. The last of the Fawdonsides died in very indigent circumstances in the seventeenth century. THE KER FAMILY. 103 Sir Andrew Ker married Miss Cricliton, and had five child- ren, viz., three sons and two daughters. Sir Walter, Mark, Commendator of Newbottle, who was father of the first Earl Lothian, Andrew, who left no male descendants. One of the daughters, Catherine, married Sir John Ker of Ferniehirst, and the other, Margaret, Sir John Home of Cowdenknowes. Sir Walter, the son and heir, married Isabel Kerr of Fernie- hirst, his brother-in-law's sister. I conchide the Cessford family, in Sir AValter's time, lived occasionally at Halydene, for Dame Isabel Ker is commemorated by an inscription on a stone, now a lintel over the door of a small house there, viz., " Feer God — Flee from sin — Mak for the lyfe everlasting to the end. Dem Isabel Ker 1530." * On the north side of the farm-steading of Halydene there was, it is understood, a chapel and a burjdng-ground. There are no remains of either now, though from time to time handles of coffins and human bones have been dug up. Whether the family buried at Halydene or Cessford, before the vault at Bowden Church was first used as the place of sepulture, some time early in the seventeenth century, I do not know. Sir Walter was served heir to his father in 1528, and had charters of various lands granted to him and his heirs, with * In the centre of the Bowden Barony stood the ancient Castle of Halydean, a baronial residence of considerable splendour. There was a great deer park of about five hundred acres, surrounded by a dry stone dyke, six or seven feet high with copestones. The wall is said to have stood four hundred years, and part of it still forms a tolerable fence. The court-yard of the castle contained about three-quarters of an acre, and was surrounded by a strong stone and lime wall, four feet thick and sixteen feet high, with slanting holes about thirty feet apart, from which an arrow or a musket could be pointed in different directions. Upon an arched gateway in front there was a strong iron gate. Within the court stood two strong toWers, the one three and the other five storeys high, consisting of eight or ten habitable rooms, besides porters' lodges, servants' hall, vaulted cellars, bake-houses, &c. The roofs and flooring were all of the strongest oak, and might have stood for a long time, but during the minority of John Duke of Roxburghe, the greater part of the edifice was pulled down to furnish materials for building a farm-house. 104 BORDER IVIEMORIES. remainder to various members of the clan, which included Mark of Newbattle, Mark of Dolphinston or Littledean, and Andrew of Fawdonside. He with his brother-in-law of Fernie- hirst had a remission for being art and part in the murder of Sir AYalter Scott of Buccleugh in Edinburgh. He espoused the cause of Jame^ VL, and promoted the Eeformation, dying in or about 1584, when he must have attained a con- siderable age, having been married upwards of fifty years. His eldest son Andrew died unmarried, in his father's life- time, and he was succeeded by his only surviving one WiLLlAlvi Ker, who was warden of the middle marches, but did not live long. His sisters respectively married Edmonstone of that Ilk, and the first Earl Home, while he himself wedded Janet Douglas, daughter of Drumlanrig and widow of Tweedie of Drummelzier, who bore him two sons and two daughters, viz., Sir Robert first Earl Eoxburgh and Mark of Ormiston, who died without issue. One of his daughters, Mary, married the Bold Buccleuch, created Lord Scott, and the other Sir James Bellenden, whose son was created Lord Bellenden in 1661. The second Habbie, Sir Robert Ker of Cessford, got fresh charters of the family estates, and acquired further property, and was one of the most celebrated men, as well as one of the ablest of the family. In 1585, when he was but fifteen years of age, he joined the army in driving the Earl of Arran from the councils of James VI. , and in five years afterwards was concerned with others in the assassination of William Ker of Ancrum — a quarrel having arisen out of disputes about the seniority of the houses of Ferniehirst and Cessford ; but for this he obtained a remission under the great seal in 1591, the year after the murder. He was a Commissioner for the Scottish Borders, and his English antagonist seeing his value, characterises him " as a brave, active young man — mse and valiant, but somewhat haughty and resolute." For not delivering his prisoners. Sir Robert was made prisoner him- self in England, but was soon released, and afterwards created a baron, but the patent has been lost, and the date cannot THE KER FAMILY. 105 exactly be established. He accompanied King James to England in 1603, and was appointed by Parliament one of the Commissioners for a Union with England. In 1616, he was advanced to the Peerage, having been created Earl of Eoxburghe and Lord Ker, to himself and heirs-male. He was made Privy Seal of Scotland, but was deprived of the office on joining " the engagement " for the rescue of Charles I. He was now getting old, and turned his attention to the settle- ment of his own affairs, his second, but last surviving son, Harry, Lord Ker, dying about this time, leaving tliree daughters and no son. The Earl accordingly got fresh charters enlarging his entail so as to admit his own nomina- tion of heirs. By his first marriage with Miss M. Maitland of Lethington he had, besides a son who died early, a daughter Jean, married to James, third Earl of Perth, who had several sons, and upon the fifth son, the Honourable William Drum- mond, the Earl settled his titles and estates on condition of his marrying the eldest daughter of his son Harry, Lord Ker, by his second marriage with the sister of his son-in-law the second Earl Perth. This he accordingly did, the fresh entail including Harry, Lord Ker's other two daughters, and their descendants, before "heirs-male whatsoever," and from the younger of those two daughters, viz., Margaret, who married Sir James Innes, third Baronet of Innes, the present Duke descends. Such were his arrangements, which he probably made after seeing he was not likely to have issue by his third marriage, which he entered into, probably about the age of seventy-five, with a daughter of the seventh Earl Morton, who, after the Earl of Roxburghe's death, married the second Marquis of Montrose, who was no less than sixty years younger than her first husband, and by whom she had a son, the third Marquis.-^ * Sir Robert, better kuown as Habbie or Hobbie Ker, occupies a j^lace in the Roxburghe lineage somewhat similar to that of " Auld Wat " among the Scotts of Harden. He was the most renowned of all the Cessford Barons, one of the most powerful men of his time, and was the last noble occupant of 106 BORDER ^rEMORIES. The Earl of Eoxburglie's second wife, Miss Drummond, was a person of great abilities, and was appointed governess to the children of James YI., and was besides one of the ladies of the bed-chamber to Her Majesty, and there is a record by which it appears the sum of .£3000 was given to her by the king, in consideration of long and faithful service done to the queen. Cessford Castle, having lived till 1650, long after all Border feuds had come to an end. He was bom at Cessford Castle in 1570, and his mother was a daughter of Sir William Douglas of Drumlanrig. He was Warden of the Marches, as deputy to his father, at a very early age ; and was the first to com- municate to King James VI. the information received through a trusty messenger that Queen Mary had been executed. As Scottish Warden, Habbie Ker had for his opponent on the English side Sir Robert Carey, who was no match for the active and sagacious laird of Cessford, whose men made continuous raids into England during the winter nights, driving off the cattle into Scotland. Carey said, " so powerful and awful was this Sir Robert Ker and his favourites, that there was not a gentleman in all the east march dared offend them." At length in 1597 a meeting of Scotch and English com- missioners was held at Carlisle, when it was agreed that the wardens should deliver up certain dffenders within their jurisdiction, failing which they were to surrender themselves. Against this arrangement Cessford and Buccleugh struggled hard ; but were over-ruled, Sif Robert Ker, having failed to give up some others, surrendered himself to Carey, who writes : — '' I lodged him as well as I could, and took order for his diet, and men to attend on him, and sent him word that (although by his harsh carriage toward me, ever since I had that charge, he could not expect any favour yet), bearing so much goodness of him, that he never broke his word, he would have no guard set upon him," and after mutual explanations the two wardens became so friendly that Cessford dined and supped daily, and went hunting thrice a-week with Carey, Sir Robert lived for some time in England, where he seems to have learned a good deal, and ever afterwards he was no less energetic in promoting peace between the two kingdoms, than he had been formerly in riding at the head of marauding expeditions. With him Cess- ford Castle ceased to be a residence of the barons, but it was habitable for some time afterwards ; and within its walls Henry Hall of Haughhead and other covenanters were imprisoned in 1666, The Earl of Roxburghe spent much of his time in London, but when in Scotland his residence was at Floors. This part of the estate, with an old house thereon, had belonged to the Abbots of Kelso, and after 1587 was held by Sir John Maitland of Thu'lstane, as commendator for King James VI., after which they came into possession of Sir Robert Ker. The earliest name of the place was " Flooris," and the old house remained till 1718, when it was removed, and a noble re- sidence was built by the first Duke of Roxburghe, which has since been greatly extended and beautified. THE KER FAMILY. 107 The First Earl of Roxburghe died in 1650, aged 80. His cofl&n with his remains, is to be seen at Bowden, and there is a picture of him at Floors. His grandson, maternally, the Hon. William Drummond, was immediately served heir, took the name of Ker, and by his wife, Jean Ker, his first Cousin, he had four sons and one daughter. Before he became se'cond Earl of Eoxburghe he had acquired the reputation of being a brave man and gallant officer, having in his early life served in Holland. During the Civil War he joined the Eoyahsts, and was heavily fined by Cromwell. He got a ratification from Parliament of the first Earl's entail, and an approval from Ker of Fawdonside, who was the male heir at the time, and died in 1675, when he was succeeded by his eldest son ; his fourth son John becoming second Baron Bellenden. Robert, third Earl of Eoxburghe, did not very long enjoy the honours and estates, for he was lost with other Privy Councillors of Charles II., on coming down from London, with the Duke of York, afterwards James IL, in the Gloucester Frigate. The melancholy accident happened near Yarmouth on the 4th May 1682. Several noblemen besides the Earl of Eoxburghe perished, but the Eoyal Duke and Colonel Churchhill, afterwards Duke of Marlborough, made a narrow escape. By his wife, Lady Margaret Hay, a daughter of the first Marquis Tweeddale, he had three sons, two of whom were in turn Earls of Eoxburghe, the third, the Hon. William Ker being a distinguished soldier, and attaining high rank and several important positions, being three times a member of Par- liament. The Countess, the mother of the three sons, survived her husband more than seventy years, having died at Broom - lands, near Kelso, in 1753, at the advanced age of ninety-five.* * The Gloucester frigate, when proceeding from London to Edinburgh, with the Duke of York and his friends, was attended by some smaller vessels, and was wrecked on Yarmouth Sands, through a blunder of the pilot, one Aird of Borrowstouness, who had gone to sleep, and given wrong directions. A signal-gun brought boats from the other vessels to the rescue of the distressed party, by means of which the Duke of York and some others were saved. A 108 BORDER MEMORIES. Her eldest son Robert, became fourth Earl of Eoxburghe, but he died under age at Brussels, when on a Continental tour, unmarried — being succeeded by his next brother John, who became fifth Earl of Eoxburghe. This Peer was a person of great learning and high accomplishments. An author states he knew " all the ancient languages thoroughly, and speaks most of the modern perfectly well — without pedantry — is a fine gentleman, and lives up to his quality. Hath a good estate, is handsome, brown complexioned, about twenty-five years old." He was appointed a Secretary of State in 1704, and having aided the Union, and favoured the Protestant cause, was made Duke of Eoxburghe, with four subordinate titles in 1707, being the last creation in the Peerage of Scotland. The Duke continued to fill important ofilces till the Cabal against Walpole, in which he joined, which cost him his Secretaryship.* He was Lord Lieutenant of the Counties of Eoxburgh and Selkirk, and on the occurrence of the rebellion in 1715, distinguished himself greatly as a volunteer at the battle of SherrifFmuir. The Duke married Lady Mary Finch, only child of the sixth Earl of Winchelsea, an heiress, being the first Englishwoman married into the family. She had only one son by the Duke, viz. : EoBERT, who succeeded as SECOND Duke, and who was created before he was twenty, in his father's time, a British Peer by the title of Earl Ker. He only survived his father fourteen years, and died at Bath in 1755. In this Duke's hundred and fifty persons^ among whom were the Earl of Roxburghe, the Laird of Hopetoun, and Sir Joseph Douglas of Pumpherston, were drowned. The Earl of Roxburghe was heard crying for a boat, and offering twenty thousand gfuineas for one. His servant in the water took the Earl on his back, and was swimming with him to a boat, when a drowning person clutched at them, which caused the xmfortunate Earl to fall off, and he was drowned. His servant escaped for the moment, but died an hour afterwards. The pilot was condemned to perpetual imprisonment. * About the year 1720, the Duke, then resident in London, was in the habit of receiving one hundred pounds monthly by the waggon from Scotland for the maintenance of the ducal family in the Metropolis. THE KER FAMILY. 109 time, the Act abolishing Heritable Jurisdictions was passed, and his Grace got for the bailiary of Kelso .£1300, and for his other bailiaries £800 ; in all .£2100. He married his cousin. Lady Essex Finch, and by her Grace had two sons and eight daughters, one dying in infancy. The two sons were John, who became third Duke, the famous Book Collector ; and Eobert who was in the army, and who made an unsuccessful attempt to become M.P. for Roxburghshire in 1780. The two surviving daughters were Lady Essex and Lady Mary Ker, who were both bridesmaids to Queen Charlotte on her marriage in 1761, and Lady Essex, the elder sister, was a claimant of the Dukedom and Estates on the death of her kinsman William, the fourth Duke, in 1806. John, the third Duke of Eoxburghe, the great Book Collector, succeeded his father on the 23d August 1755, at the age of fifteen, having been born in London in 1740. This Peer was highly esteemed by George III., in whose Court he held high appointments, and by whom he was invested with the great distinctions of the Garter and the Thistle, the joint orders never having been conferred before on one individual since the reign of Queen Anne. His Grace possessed a remarkably fine physique and rare mental accomplishments. From his " Bibliotheca," the Eoxburghe Club took its rise. The Duke was an extensive Book Collector, and his Town Library, which was sold off after his death, contained some very rare and valuable works.* Sir Walter Scott who had made great use of the splendid coUect- tion of books and documents, and who was disaj^pointed he * The library contained nearly ten thousand books, which were all sold by auction, and brought enormous prices. A copy of the first edition of the " Decameron " of Boccacio, printed at Venice by Valderfar in 1471, was bought by the Marquis of Blandford, afterwards Duke of Marlborough, for £2,260 sterling ; a copy of the first work printed by Caxton, with a date, " Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye," (1461, folio), was sold for one thousand guineas, and a copy of the first edition of Shakespeare (1623, folio), for one hundred guineas. In commemoration of the event, the Eoxburghe Club was founded for the collection of rare books, the preservation of curious manuscripts, and the reprint of scarce and curious tracts for the use of members of the Club. 110 BORDER MEMORIES. had not the means of buying, says : — " The Eoxburghe sale sets my teeth on edge, but if I can trust my eyes there are now twelve masons at work on a cottage and offices at this little farm which I purchased last year (the beginning of Abbotsford), then I have planted thirty acres, and am in the act of walling a garden — then I have a wife and four bairns crying as the old song has it. Porridge ever mair — so on the whole my teeth must get off edge as those of the fox and the grapes in the fable." His Grace never married, it was said from etiquette not permitting him to wed the sister of his queen to whom he was devotedly attached, as she was to him, and they both resolved therefore to die celibates. At Duke John's death in 1804, which was caused by inflammation of the liver, the English titles expired, while the Scotch one and the Estates went to the heir of entail, William, seventh Lord Bellenden, a far off cousin, who had descended from John, second Lord Bellenden, second son of the second Earl of Eoxburghe. His other property, amount- ing to upwards of £100,000, he left to three parties, one being the father of Mr William Scott, first, however, giving his two sisters the liferent over it. One of the sisters, however, was not satisfied with the liferent, wishing the fee as well, for she disputed the settlement, which was a death-bed one. It has been stated one of the witnesses who signed the Deed, gave up a Legacy of <£1000 to give evidence, and the will was not only confirmed by the Law Courts, but by the House of Lords, to whom an appeal was made. The sisters survived their brother the Duke some fourteen years, and both died unmarried — one in 1818, and the other in 1819. The death scene of "Elspeth Mucklebackit " in "The Antiquary," in which Edie Ochiltree appears, is said to have had a precedent in a striking incident which occurred at Duke John's funeral in 1804. An old and valued domestic named Archie, who had the charge of his Grace's Library, was himself, at that time, in the last stage of a liver complaint, of which the Duke died. He nevertheless determined on THE KER FAMILY. Ill accompanying the Duke's remains to Floors, but was so exliausted on arriving, that for some days he was in a state of collapse. On the morning of the funeral, before it started for Bowden, a particular hand-bell used for summoning Archie to the Library was heard to ring — how it could not be found out, and the well-known sound having roused Archie from his stupor he called out in broken accents, " My Lord Duke, I will wait on you immediately," and with these words he fell back and expired. As formerly stated, William Lord Bellenden became fourth Duke of Eoxburghe. He was poor before inheriting the Dukedom, and on his getting the Barony of Bellenden, got a grant from the Crown of £250 as the salary of Usher of the Exchequer, which two previous Lord Bellenden's enjoyed. He was twice married, but left no surviving issue. His second wife and widow married, the year after the Duke's death, the Hon. John Tollemache. At Duke William's death the male line of William, second Earl Roxburghe became extinct, also the title of Lord Bellenden; and the Scotch Peerages were competed for by Lady Essex Ker as heir of line, by Sir James Innes as heir-male of Margaret, daughter of Harry Lord Ker, by General AValter Ker of Littledean, as heir-male of Habbie Ker, first Earl Roxburghe, and by Sir William Drummond as heir- male of the second Earl Roxburghe, each of whom petitioned the King, w^hile the estates were respectively claimed byLady Essex Ker, General Ker of Littledean, Sir James Innes, and Mr Ker Bellenden, the latter claiming, under Duke John, the fourth Duke's entail, which was set aside, as beyond His Grace's power to make. Lady Essex Ker's claim was also quashed, and the contest lay between Sir James Innes and General Ker. After a great and severe struggle, Avhicli lasted for some years, the case was decided in favour of the former, who accordingly succeeded to all the Estates and Scottish honours, except the original Barony of Roxburghe, which could not pass beyond the first Baron or heirs-male of his body, and in 1812 he accordingly became the fifth Duke of Roxburghe. 112 BORDER MEMORIES. James, fifth Duke, who assumed the name of Ker, was, as Sir James Innes, descended from a long line of ancestry, the first of whom had a rather remarkable Charter in the time of Malcolm Canmore, 1154. But it is impossible to go into the history, interesting though it undoubtedly is, and of great antiquity. Suffice it to say that Sir James was the sixth Baronet of the title, which was one of the earliest created in 1625, and that soon after succeeding, he sold the Estate of Innes in Elgin, and w^ent to reside at Innes in Devonshire till the lapse of the Dukedom brought him out. His was the twenty-second generation of the family in a direct male line, and according to a tradition, they were, in the long course of their succession, fortunate in three things. First, that their inheritance never went to a woman ; next, that none of them ever married an ill mfe ; and thirdly, that no friend ever suffered for their debt. The Roxburghe inheritance, fortunately for the Inneses, did go to a woman, or at anyrate to her grandson in her right, and it is to be hoped it may long continue in the present line. Sir James Innes Ker, fifth Duke of Roxburghe, who was a fine old gentleman, died at an advanced age in 1823, leaving an only son, James Henry, sixth and present Duke, whom God preserve. I have been told that Duke James wished to make a bargain with General Ker, that whoever gained the suit, should pay all expenses. General Ker objected, and his wife was indignant, saying she w^ould be Duchess or nothing. Not- withstanding, the Duke maintained the General, who was ruined by the suit, Littledean being sold, and the family scattered.* The Kerrs of Ferniehirst, formerly Kershaugh. Having given, in introducing to you the Kers of Cessford, * The wife of General Ker was the youngest daughter of Mr Forster of Bolton. She was alive in 1837, and it was said of her then, that " the loss of what the world most regards had in no degree lessened the sweetness of her spirit or the gaiety of her iunocent mirth." THE KER FAJkllLY. 113 an account of the rise and domiciliation on the Borders of the two families generally, I now proceed to give details of this illustrious house from the time of its progenitor, Ealph's settlement on the banks of the Jed, which is supposed to have taken place somewhere about 1330, when he got pos- session of the lands now called Ferniehirst, called originally, by him, Kersheugh, and previously, before Ealph's day, called Scraesburgh, probably by the Earls of Douglas, who were the superiors. It is supposed that Ealph lived, after acquiring the lands in question, some twenty years, and that he acquired Crailing from the Humes, and marrying, according to the Somervill History, a daughter of Mr Thomas of Carnwath, had two sons — Andrew, his heir, and John, who settled at Aberdeen, where he got some property, for which he obtained a charter from King David Bruce. Thomas's son and heir, Andrew, succeeded as third of Kersheugh, and was the first of the family introduced to court circles, when he obtained the appointment of cup-bearer to Eobert HI. Mackenzie states that he married a daughter of the then Edmonston of that ilk, by whom he had a son, Thomas, who succeeded as fourth laird, and marrying Elizabeth Hume, daughter of Sir Thomas Hume of that ilk, had three sons — Andrew, his heir ; Thomas, noticed in a public document dated 1452 ; and James, also so noticed. Thomas died about 1430, and was succeeded by his eldest son Andrew, fifth incumbent, who was one of Earl Douglas's party in his imposing expedition to Rome, already referred to in the account of the Cessfords, whose chief was also one of the magnates forming the expedition. Eymer mentions Andrew Ker of Kersheugh with other notables, and Mackenzie reports his marriage to Jane Crichton, by whom he had a son and successor, Ralph, sixth laird, who married Mary, daughter of Toms of Innerleith, and dying about 1460, left by her two sons — ■ Andrew, his successor ; and Robert of Yair. H 114 BORDER I^IEMORIES. I have found several notices of the Kers of Yair and of Sunderland Hall, and also of Fernilie, all probably of the Yair stock. Thomas of Yair was a juror, with John Eiddell of that ilk, on the retour of service of Walter Ker as heir of his father, Andrew of Cessford, in 1528 ; and again, Andrew Ker of Yair was party to a bond made at Melrose on the occasion of the quarrel, when Ker of Linton was killed in 1582. Then again I have notices of William and Andrew of Yair in 1633 — father and son — the latter then coming into possession. How long after that the family held Yair I cannot say, though I apprehend but a short time, as James Pringle had acquired it some years before his death, which happened in 1667. Sunderland Hall, on the other hand, continued with the Kers till a later period, and did not leave the family, though failing in the male line — a daughter, the heiress, carrying it to her husband, Andrew Plummer of Middlestead, in whose family it continued till the death of the last Miss Plummer in the present century, when it went to a member of the Scott of WoU family. The Kers of Yair are commemorated in a simple but striking form in Melrose Abbey, where there is a stone dedi- cated to them thus — " Here lyes the race of the House of Yair,* " or Yare. Another old family connected with the Yair one is that of Kippielaw, represented by the Rev. John Seton Karr. The elder brother of the Yair ancestor was Andrew, the seventh laird, who married the Honourable Mary Herries, by whom he had two sons — Thomas, his heir ; and John, ancestor of the Kers of Greenhead, from whom the Kerrs of Chatto and Sunlaws are descended. Sir Andrew Ker of Greenhead was created a baronet in 1637, but dying sine p'ole in 1667, it became extinct. On Andrew, the seventh laird's death, he was succeeded by his eldest son Thomas, eighth laird, the first designated of Ferniehirst, * This simple epitaph deeply impressed Washington Irving when he visited Melrose. THE KER FAJMILY. 115 in place of Kersheugh, This laird or baron built the present residence, or castle, as it was called, say about 1490. He was a man of great consideration, and took an important part in the forays and wars of the Border. He got a new charter of his lands from Archibald, Earl Angus, the superior, which was confirmed to his son Andrew. He married Catherine, daughter of Robert Colvill of Ochil- tree, a man of name and fame, who fell at Flodden, and by his wife had only one daughter, who married a Ker of Smail- holm, son of Cessford, and they had three sons — Andrew, his heir ; Ralph of Cavers ; and Thomas, Abbot of Kelso, 1507, died 1528; and another son, William. Ralph Carre, the orthography adopted by the latter Fernie- hirsts, as we shall see, was the first of Cavers, and the con- necting male link between them and the old Border sept. A subsequent connection afterwards took place, through a mar- riage with a daughter of the second Lord Jedburgh, by which the Cavers family are the only descendants extant of the Lords Jedburgh, the Ferniehirsts proper. I shall not go into the genealogy of the house of Cavers-Carre further than to say that it has produced men who have served their country as politicians, one having been M.P. for the county of Roxburgh ; as soldiers and sailors, several having been in these noble professions ; and as lawyers, one having reached the bench ; and in all the varied relations of public and private life, the representatives of that house have been honoured and respected. The third brother, Thomas, was abbot of Kelso for about twelve years, during which time he had important duties of a diplomatic as well as a spiritual character to perform. He died, as far as I can make out, a peaceful death, though another abbot of the Cessford family is stated to have been killed by his own kinsman. This latter officer, who must have been in charge of the abbey after the Reformation, and whose name was William Ker, could not have acted in an ecclesiastical, but only in a temporal capacity. I return to the 116 BORDER MEMORIES. father of Ralph of Cavers and Abbot Thomas, who died in 1499, when he was succeeded by his eldest son Andrew as ninth baron. He was a man of remarkable talent, great tact, and unbounded courage, and made a con- spicuous figure in the reign of the Fourth and Fifth Jameses, when he was warden of the whole three marches — east, west, and middle — as well as one of the Commissioners appointed to treat for peace with the English, which they happily accom- plished for a time in 1528. He was rewarded with the barony of Oxnam, and got fresh charters of Ferniehirst from James V., the former superior, Earl Angus, being forfeited, when the supe- riority reverted to the Crown. He also got the bailiery of Jed- burgh Forest in 1542. He married Janet, daughter of Sir Patrick Hume, father of the first Earl of Marchmont, and had three sons and one daughter. The eldest son, Thomas, predeceased his father without issue ; his third, Robert, acquired Ancrum, whose descendants, after the death of the last direct Fernie- hirst — viz., Robert, third Lord Jedburgh, succeeded to the representation and estates, as we shall show at a subsequent period. The eldest surviving son, John, became the tenth baron. He was a valiant knight of the Borders, and did great service against the English, and well restrained their incursions. He married Catherine, daughter of Sir Andrew Ker of Cessford, killed at Melrose, and had three sons — Thomas, his heir, Andrew and William, of whom no issue survived. William was a great loyalist, and adhered firmly to the interest of Queen Mary, as his elder brother Thomas did, as we shall see, and in reward for his services William got a pension from James VI. Sir John Ker died in 1562, as stated by Douglas, but on a tomb- stone at Jedburgh the date is 1559. He was succeeded by his eldest son Thomas, also a knight, and eleventh baron. He was a man of commanding talents, and of sterling probity and honour. Like his brother William, he was a devoted friend and ser- vant of Queen Mary, and in her greatest distress he never THE KER FAMILY. 117 deserted her interest. He and Sir Walter Scott of Buccleucli — his brother-in-law — entered England with fire and sword, hoping, by sowing dissension and creating disturbances there, they might do service to their unfortunate Queen, of whom it is said that no person ever looked upon her beauty without admiration, or heard of her sorrows without pity. Ferniehirst was, it is said, concerned in the attack on the Parliament at Stirling, for which he was exiled, and forfeited. An author states : — " He was accused of crime, and was committed to Dundee. He was a tall, stout, able warrior, ready for any great attempt and undertaking, and of an immovable fidelity to the Queen of Scots, and the King her son ; having been once or twice turned out of all his lands and fortunes, and banished the sight of his country and children, which yet he endured patiently, and, after so many crosses falling upon him together, perished unshaken, and always like himself." King James being perfectly sensible that the only crime alleged against him arose from his loyalty and devotion to Queen Mary, restored to him all his estates, and gave him a full and ample remission under the Great Seal in 1583. Soon after this, in acting on the Borders, an affray took place with the English, in wdiich a son of the Earl of Bedford lost his life, and this exasperated Elizabeth so much that nothing would satisfy her but Ferniehirst's capture. He was committed to Aberdeen, where he ended a life of great exertion and sufferinu' in 1586. Sir Thomas married twice ; first Janet, daughter of Sir William Kirkaldy, another devoted friend of Queen Mary's, by whom he had one son Andrew, and two daughters (one married to Sir P. Hume of Polwarth) ; and second, Janet, sister of Sir Walter Scott of Buccleuch, by Avhom he had three sons — James of Crailing, Thomas of Oxnam, and Robert, the favourite of James VI ., created Earl of Somerset. As we shall speak of Andrew and James of Crailing as suc- cessors to their father in turn, I shall take up Thomas of 118 BORDER MEMORIES. Oxnam, and Robert the King's favourite. Thomas is easily disposed of, for he fell in a riot at Jedburgh, on Rood-day Fair, 1601, as set forth in Pitcairn, and as corroborated by Mr Jeffrey in his second volume ; though in the fourth he makes Thomas Ker of Cavers the murdered man, forgetting what he said in his previous volume, ichich is correct. Thomas Ker of Cavers long survived the Rood-day Fair battle, as I know from family documents. I now come to Robert the youngest son, the favourite of James I. of England, who became so notorious, though in my humble opinion the foolish conduct of the king towards him, and the de- signs of a profligate woman, caused his fall. It was said James, who was fond of handsome men, and took a fancy to Robert Carre (the new orthography which he adopted), appointed him to a situation in his Court, and afterwards raised him to ex- ceedingly high positions, conferring a peerage — finally the Earldom of Somerset — upon him, and decorating him with the high honour of the Garter. The divorced Countess of Essex set her cap at Somerset, and he was weak enough to listen to her importunities, and to yield to her solicitations. A serious imputation rested upon them by the death of Sir Thomas Overbury, who advised Somerset not to marry Lady Essex. They had one daughter. Lady Anne Carre, who married the fifth Earl of Bedford, afterwards created Duke, and who, considering her mother's character and conduct, was a pattern of her sex. Though Somerset never again appeared at Court, he was not altogether deserted by his sovereign, who saw him in private ; but after James' death, he lived in complete retire- ment, and died in or near London, in 1645, and was buried at Covent Garden, where his son-in-law, the Duke of Bedford, had property (still in the family), and probably a vault, though the superb mausoleum of the Russells is at Chenies. In the exhibition of pictures in 1866 there was a portrait of Robert Carre, lent by the Duke of Devonshire, whose ancestor no doubt bought it with Chiswick House, which belonged to THE KER FAMILY. 119 Somerset, and which he sold in order to provide a suitable fortune for his daughter, Lady Anne. The eldest son of Sir Thomas, Sir Andrew, the twelfth baron, was a baron in every sense of the word, being created, in 1622, Lord Jedburgh, by King James, to mark his sense of his talents and usefulness, and no doubt of his father's devo- tion to his royal mother's cause. He got several charters of lands, with the Bailiery of Jedburgh, which had been held by his predecessors for three generations, and having married Anne, daughter of the Master of Ochiltree, left one son. Sir Andrew, who wedded Margaret Ker (Lady Yester), whose works of benevolence and charity are well known both in Roxburghshire and Edinburgh, in which city a church was built by her munificence, which bears her name. Sir Andrew was an Extraordinary Judge of Session and a Privy Coun- cillor, but died in the prime of life, in 1628 ; his widow, who was daughter of the first Earl of Lothian, and relict of the seventh Lord Yester. surviving him many years. Sir Andrew also predeceased his father. Lord Jedburgh, at whose death, in 1631, without surviving male issue, he was succeeded by his half-brother James of Crailing, second Lord Jedburgh, the son of the same father. Sir Thomas of Ferniehirst, by his second wife Janet Scott, sister of Buccleuch. The circumstances of the family were now much reduced, and James was not ambitious about adopting the title. He, however, recruited the finances of the old house by marrying Marie Rutherfurd, heiress of Hundalee, and though living in retirement he Avell maintained the honour of the family. He died in 1645, and was buried in Jedburgh Abbey. He left one son and one daughter, the mother of John Carre of Cavers who died 1724. The Son Robert became the Third Lord Jedburgh, and married Juliana Hamilton, widow of his cousin Sir Patrick Hume of Polwarth, but had no family by her, who, however, was the mother by her first husband of the Earl of Marchmont so distinguished in the annals of his country, especially at the 120 BORDER MEMORIES. revolution. There are no memorials of Robert, Lord Jedburgh, worth relating, and having no children, he got an extended patent to include the nearest male line, descended from his great-grand-uncle, Robert Ker of Ancrum, youngest son of the ninth Baron of Ferniehirst. My first Cavers ancestor was only one degree more remote in the male line, having been the son of the eighth baron, but his descendant John Carre the sixth of Cavers was nephew and heir-of-line of the third Lord Jedburgh, being the son of his lordship's only sister, the Honourable Jane Carre. Though Hundalee went to this nephew and his heirs under certain restrictions, it also fol- lowed, though in recent times, the same course as the Jed- burgh title, by going to the representative of the male Ferniehirst line, who was at the time the third Marquis of Lothian, a remote cousin, while a sister of my grand-uncle, the last Cavers proprietor of Hundalee, survived him, but he felt he had not the power of altering the old entail. I have noticed the change of the name to Carre in a late generation, and shall now more minutely explain the subject of the orthography. At the outset of the family history, I stated that the Nor- man name was Karre, and that when their descendants arrived in Scotland, they came as Ker, being the Anglo-Nor- man version of it, which still continues in one or more branches, though in various documents relative to the Scottish Border families, its metamorphosis to " Carre " * is frequently met with. But early in the seventeenth century the chiefs of the Ferniehirst Baronial house, beginning with the first Lord Jedburgh, usually adopted this new orthography, and I have seen a fac- simile of the signature of his only son, Sir Andrew Carre, Master of Jedburgh, and husband of Lady Yester, which was written in a strong, bold hand, with a K instead of a C as the initial letter, and the left limb of the K curled back both at top and bottom. * An e was added to Carr, which accords with the universal spelling in old English, just as star was written starve, and bar harre. THE KER FAMILY. 121 The oldest Ferniehirst male line terminated in Egbert, third Lord Jedburgh, and their successors of the House of Ancrum, did not adopt the new orthography, but continued the Anglo- Norman spelling, with the addition of an r, making the name Kerr, no doubt to distinguish the family from that of Cessford, from whom they descend as Lothians, who adopted Ker. As already noticed, the male representatives of the House of Ferniehirst and Jedburgh, whose original line closed with Robert, third Lord Jedburgh, were the Kerrs of Ancrum, descended from Robert Ker, third son of the eighth Baron of Ferniehirst, and nephew of Ralph of Cavers Carre. The real heir was the great-great-great-grandson of this said Robert Ker of Ancrum, who was great-grand-uncle of the third Lord Jed- burgh, which made the cousinship very remote, and was a great contrast to the Cavers Carre connexion, which was that of maternal nephew, of the said Lord Jedburgh, in addition to the previous male relationship. I must now carry on the male line through the Ancrums, which will finally bring us to the Lothians, and first : Robert Ker of Ancrum, before adverted to, was apparently a quiet, inoff'ensive character, who acquired a good deal of pro- perty, which he shared with his wife, Margaret Home of Wedderburn, by whom he had a son, who succeeded, viz. : AViLLiAM Ker of Ancrum, who was assassinated when the disputes about the chieftainship of the two Houses of Ker ran high, in 1590. He was much lamented, and Archbishop Spottiswood remarks upon it : "A hateful fact it was ; for the manner in which it was done, and the loss the country sustained by his death, for he was a man generally well given, wise, of great courage, and expert beyond others in the laws and customs of the borders." He married Miss Margaret Dundas of Fingask, and had children, two sons being particularly mentioned, viz., Robert, his heir, and William Kerr of Linton, the latter a man of great courage, who did good service on the Borders, and was very properly rewarded for his acts by the grant of a pension. 122 BORDER MEMORIES. He was in the household of both James and Charles, and was married, leaving only one daughter. The eldest son and heir was Robert, the third Laird, who, like his courageous and dis- tinguished younger brother, was a great favourite at Court, having had many good qualities of head and heart to recom- mend him. He was a fair poet as well. But a sad circum- stance arose which made it necessary for him to withdraw not only from his position at court, but from his native country. He accepted a challenge from Mr Maxwell arising out of a quarrel between the Maxwells and Johnstones, connected with the wardenship of the Western Marches, in which our hero was involved, slew his adversary in the duel which ensued, and though he was tried and acquitted, he was forced to conceal himself for a time. Being, however, recalled from the Continent, he was restored to his position at Court, and when Charles the First ascended the throne, he made him a Lord of the Bedchamber, and in a few years after, created him a Peer, by the titles of Earl Ancrum, and Lord Ker of Nisbet Longnewton and Dolphinston, with remainder to the issue male of his second marriage, failing which to his other heirs male. His son, by his first marriage, wedded the heiress of the House of Lothian, when he was created Earl. This explained the reason of his son by the second marriage getting the title of Ancrum, but little was eventually left to sustain that fine old place, and Ancrum was eventually sold to Sir John Scott of Kirkstyle, ancestor of Sir William Scott. The Earl of Ancrum sacrificed all his proj^erty for the sake of his royal master, Charles the First, to whom he was a firm and attached friend, throughout all His Majesty's troubles. On the king's death, the Earl retired to Holland, where he concluded his life in solitude and poverty, and his end was not a little embittered by the conspicuous part his eldest son, Lord Lothian, took against the king. He was noted for his correct taste in literature and the fine arts, but his poetry was not conspicuous, except for its plaintive character, which corre- THE KER FAMILY. 123 sponded with his life, though he bore with fortitude and piety the misfortunes which accompanied his latter years. The Earl of Ancrum married first Miss Elizabeth Murray, daughter of Sir John Murray of Blackbarony, and sister of the wife of Sir John Eiddell of Eiddell, and he married secondly. Lady Anne Stanley, only daughter of the sixth Earl of Derby, not the ancestor of the present Earl, though, of course, of the same family. Lord Ancrum's younger son by the second marriage, suc- ceeded him, as Charles, second Earl Ancrum, in terms of the patent, but dying without issue, it eventually merged in his brother. Lord Lothian's family. The second Lord Ancrum was a parliamentary speaker of note, having been long in the House of Commons, but he had little, beyond a pension he was allowed, to maintain his position and rank. HOUSE OF LOTHIAN. The first of this house was Mark, second son of Sir Andrew Ker of Cessford, who was Commendator of Newbattle after the Reformation, when he became a Protestant. He had pre- viously been abbot, and was spiritual head of the abbey when the relii^rious house was disestablished. He treated the monks with little commiseration, for he turned them out, when they complained that he would not give them a penny to live on. He was one of the few dignitaries of the Eomish Church that espoused the doctrines of the Reformation. I suspect that Mark, though an abbot, had been an easy-going one, for he must have married while exercising his spiritual functions, which was asrainst all rule. His marriasre must have been before the o o Reformation, as his son in 1577 received a public appointment. He had two other sons and a daughter who married Wm. Maxwell, Lord Herries. The Commendator was one of the three Commissioners or Judges on the south side of the Forth connected with the troublous times, and sided against Morton in 1578. He was also employed after the Raid of Ruthven, to 124 BORDER MEMORIES. propose terms to the conspirators, from which no good result followed. He died soon after, in 1584, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Mark, who got an appointment in 1577, and was made an extraordinary Lord of Session at his father's death, and in his room, his qualifications being thus stated : " The King is persuaded of the literature and good qualities with the quhilk he is endowit, and of the gude will and affec- tion he bears to the furtherance of our service." He got a charter of Newbattle Barony, including Preston- grange, in 1587, and in 1591 was made a Lord of Parliament by the title of Lord NeAvbattle, holding other high appoint- ments afterwards, all culminating in the Earldom of Lothian, which he obtained in 1606, but he only survived this latter Peerage honour about three years. He married his cousin, Margaret Maxwell, daughter of John, Lord Herries, by whom Scotstarvit says he had thirty-one children, though ten only are given in Douglas. Sir John Scott adds that Lady Lothian was addicted to the black art, and that this proved fatal to the Earl. The Countess being afflicted with a cancer, implored the help of a notable warlock called " Playfair," who condescended to heal her, but on the condition that the sore should fall on the person she loved best, whereunto, she agreeing, did conva- lesce, but the Earl, her husband, found the boil in his throat, of which he died shortly thereafter, on the 8th of April 1609. The Earl's eldest daughter. Lady Jane, married Robert, Master of Boyd, w^hose family once possessed great power and wealth, and one of whom, Mark Alex. Boyd, was a remark- able genius, and also an extraordinary person, for he was born with teeth. The eldest son of Mark, the first Earl of Lothian, viz., Robert, succeeded as second Earl, but little is said respecting his life, though a melancholy account is given in a history of the Kirk of Scotland, by Calderwood, as follows : " Upon Saturday the 6th of March 1624, Sir Robert Kerr, Earl Lothian, went up early in the morning to a cham- ber in the Place of Newbattle, pretending he was gone to lay THE KER FAMILY, 125 accounts and write missives, and commanded that none come towards him for an houre. He barreth the chamber doore, and cutted his own throat with a knife, after he had given himself sundrie wounds with his dagger. Some imputed this desperate course to the great debtts which were lying in his hands, others to consulting with magicians and witches." This unfortunate Earl married Annabella Campbell, daughter of the seventh Earl of Argyll, and by her he had two daughters only. Being therefore without male issue, he devised his titles and estates, with the king's permission, to his elder daughter, Lady Anne Kerr and her heirs, and at her father's death in 1624, she accordingly succeeded as Countess of Lothian. Her father's next brother. Sir William Kerr, disputing the arrangement, claimed the title of Earl Lothian, and continued to use it till interdicted in 1632, about eight years after the second Earl's death. Lady Anne was now fairly installed, and having married William Ker, elder son of Eobert, the first Earl of Ancrum, he was created Earl of Lothian, which, of course, made him independent of Sir William Kerr's pretentions, and through him the junction of the Houses of Lothian and Ferniehirst took place. He may be called the third Earl of Lothian. He joined the Covenan- ters in 1638, and was actively engaged in behalf of their cause for some years. He was President of the Commission despatched by Parlia- ment to the King in 1646, with their final proposition, which was refused. He protested against the " engagement," and when it was declared unlawful, was appointed Secretary of State in room of Lord Lanark, then deprived of office, and was one of the Scottish Commissioners sent to avert the blow then impending over the King, for which they were arrested, but afterwards released, and finally he and Lord Cassillis were despatched to invite Charles the Second to Scotland, which was the last public act of his life, for though he lived about twenty-five years afterwards, he made no further prominent appearance. The Earl and Lady Anne, the Countess, had 126 BORDER MEMORIES. fourteen children. The eldest son was Robert, and he had another, Charles, ancestor of the Kerrs of Abbotrule, now extinct. The last of the Kerrs of Abbotrule — who was called the Abbot — was a great friend and admirer of Sir Walter Scott, anticipating for Sir Walter, when called to the bar, a splendid career, which, of course, he had, though not as a lawyer. One of the daughters. Lady Mary, who was married to Brodie of Brodie, was a zealous Covenanter. On her marriage ''she subscribed her covenant to and with God, and became his, and gave herself up to him." Another daughter, Lady Henrietta, married in 1673 Francis Scott of Thirle- staine, and died at Edinburgh 1741, aged 90. Her grandson became Lord Napier. EoBERT, the eldest son of the Earl and Countess, succeeded as fourth Earl. He served in Holland as a volunteer, with great credit, was a warm supporter of the Revolution, and of King William, who appointed him a member of the Privy Council. He held other appointments, and got extended patents, being finally advanced to the dignity of a Marquis. He married his kinswoman, Jean, daughter of the Marquis of Argjdl, with whom his father served against Montrose in 1644, and by her had ten children, of whom I select the following for particular notice, vi2. : William, the eldest ; Lord Charles ; Lord Mark, and one daughter. Lady Mary Kerr, who married James, Marquis of Douglas, and was mother of the rather foolish Duke of Douglas and Lady Jane, who was the subject of so much talk about the middle of last century, on account of the twins she had at the age of fifty-two, one of whom was finally found, not by the Court of Session, but by the House of Lords, to be the heir of the great Douglas estates. Lady Mary, the Marchioness of Douglas, was buried at Holy- rood, where her ill-fated daughter. Lady Jane, was afterwards interred also. Lord Charles, the second son, had numerous descendants. Two well-known citizens of Edinburgh — James Kerr of Bugh- trig, M.P. for Edinburgh, convener of the trades there ; and THE KER FAMILY. 127 Alexander Kincaid, Lord Provost of Edinburgh, and author of a history of that city, published 1787 — married two of his daughters. Lord John Kerr, the second son, was a gallant soldier, and died, a little above middle age, in command of the 31st Regiment. Lord Mark, the third son, was also a distinguished son of Mars, and died at the ripe age of seventy-six, both being buried at Kensington. Lord Mark entered the army at seven- teen, and served in various regiments, finally attaining the command of the 11th Dragoons in 1732, which he held for twenty years, dying in the command in 1752. He was a gallant officer, and saw a good deal of active ser- vice in early life, as our military generally did during the reign of Queen Anne. He took part at the battle of Almanza between the Confederate army of English, Portuguese, and Dutch against the forces of France and Spain. Owing to the cowardly behaviour of the Portuguese, who deserted, the British were defeated with great loss, and Lord Mark Kerr was wounded. It has been commented on as singular that the Confederate army was commanded by a Frenchman, while the French were led by an English general — the Duke of Berwick. Lord Mark Kerr was also at the capture of Vigo by Lord Cob- ham, who carried off a large quantity of ordnance and other stores, and also a number of slave sloops. Our hero, who lived in single blessedness, was a person of most peculiar and eccentric habits. He carried etiquette and punctiliousness to such an excess as gave an air of frivolity to his manners. But withal, he was a man of soldier-like ap- pearance and high breeding. From his hastiness of temper, which he could not always restrain, he was frequently tempted to call out those who annoyed him or meddled with his peculiarities, and it has been said he fought several duels. In his time duelling was very common, and one of the most noted was the duel between the Duke of Hamilton and Lord Mohun, with swords, both being killed — the latter on the 128 BORDER MEMORIES. spot. This duel took place on a Sunday in Hyde Park, 15tli November 1712. Lord Mark held several important military appointments, and in 1745 had the command at Berwick, for he is men- tioned in the Jacobite song of Johnie Cope, the English general who, after being defeated at Prestonpans, fled thither, as it is said — Sir John then into Berwick rode, Just as the deil had been his gnide ; Gi'en him the world^ he wadna staid. I have foughten the boys in the morning — Said the Berwickers unto Sir John, " what's become of all your men ? " " In faith," says he, " I dinna ken ; " I left them a' this morning." Says Lord INIark Kerr — " Ye are na blate, To bring us the news o' your ain defeat, I think you deserve the back o' the gate ; Get out o' my sight this morning." Hey Johnie Cope, etc. Robert, the First Marquis of Lothian, dying in 1703, was succeeded by his eldest son William, the Second Marquis, who had succeeded pre- viously to the Jedburgh Barony. He was a steady friend to the Eevolution settlement, and a military man of note and rank, serving in the 7th Dragoons and Foot Guards in turn ; though owing to some offence he had given to the Tory Government he' was obliged to retire from the latter corps. That w^as in 1713. Latterly, however, he had been restored, and held a high command in Scotland, but returning to Lon- don, died there in 1722. His funeral obsequies were per- formed with great pomp, and his burial place was in West- minster Abbey. He married his cousin. Lady Jane Campbell, from a principle of honour, feeling for the forlorn and poverty- stricken state of the Argyll family, owing to the forfeiture of the Ninth Earl (who was beheaded, as his father had been also), which the Marquis of Lothian thought undeserved. They had five children — one son, William, and four daughters. THE KER FAMILY. 129 All the latter married well, but there is no feature calling for special notice respecting their marriages, and I pass to their only brother William, after giving a rather curious extract from JMackay's "Memoirs," on the character of William the Second Marquis of Lothian. " He hath abundance of fire, and may prove himself a man of business when he applies himself that way ; laughs at all revealed religion, yet sets up for a pillar of Presbytery, and proves the truest card in the pack, being very zealous, though not devout. He is brave in his person, loves his country and his bottle ; a thorough libertine ; very handsome, black, with a fine eye. Forty-five years old." He must have lived fifteen years after MrMackay made these observations, as he was sixty when he died in 1722. His only son, William, who succeeded as Third ]\Iarquis, in his father's lifetime, acquired from the last of the old Ferniehirst line the Barony of Jedburgh, which he adopted. When he succeeded to the Marquisate, he was elected, on the death of Henry Scott, Earl of Deloraine (son of Monmouth and the Duchess of Buccleuch), a Eepresentative Peer, and was frequently chosen at subsequent elections, till he had completed a service in Parliament of upwards of a quarter of a century. He was for about six years Lord High Commissioner of the General Assembly of the Kirk of Scotland, and also held the office of Lord Clerk Register, so that his public services were im- portant. He married twice : first, Miss Nicolson, by whom he had two sons and one daughter; secondly, his cousin Miss Kerr, daughter of Lord Charles Kerr, by whom he had no family. She survived him many years. The two sons were both distinguished soldiers. The second, Lord Robert, joined the 11th Dragoons (the regiment of his celebrated grand-uncle the duellist). He fell at Culloden, the scene of the young Pretender's defeat, in 174G. The Duke of Cumberland commanded the Royal troops, and though he lost very few compared Avith the slaughter in the Pretenders I 130 BORDER MEMORIES. army, Lord Eobert was one. He died as a true soldier at the head of a company he commanded in Burell's Division. His elder brother, William Henry, who succeeded as Fourth Mar- quis of Lothian, was also a gallant soldier, and served under Cumberland at the bloody battle of Fontenoy in 1745, when the French, after a severe struggle, beat the allies. He served again under the Duke, at Culloden, being then Lieutenant-Colonel of the 11th Dragoons, and also in com- mand of one wing of the cavalry. He had the pain of seeing his gallant brother fall ; but being spared himself, though wounded at Fontenoy, he was enabled to give his active and efficient services on many future occasions, both in the field and in the Senate, and was rewarded with the Order of the Thistle. He died full Colonel of the brave Lord Mark, his granduncle's, 11th Dragoons, a regiment which maybe called an heir-loom of the house of Lothian. The Marquis, when he entered the army, and married, took the title of the Earl of Ancrum, the eldest son's courtesy title which he was the first to assume. His wife was a descendant of the illustrious Duke of Schomberg, who was accidentally shot at the battle of the Boyne by the French refugees of his own regiment, and by her he had one son and two daughters. From one of the latter descends the present Duke of Richmond. The son, William John, succeeded in 1775, at his father's death, as Fifth Marquis. He entered the army as a cornet in the heir- loom regiment, and finally got the colonelcy, though he served in several other corps besides, making his entire military ser- vice extend over the astonishingly long period of about sixty years. He married Miss Fortescue, a cousin of the Duke of Wellington, but she died early, and the Marquis survived her about thirty-five years, and continued a widower. They had five daughters, and four sons — three in the army, and one in the Navy — the latter. Lord Mark, being at the taking of the Island of Minorca in 1798, where he did good service. The two younger sons in the army acquitted themselves well and THE KER FAMILY. 131 honourably, and the elder, William, Earl Ancrum, who suc- ceeded as Sixth Marquis, saw a good deal of service in Ireland during the rebellion. He had the honour of com- manding the Midlothian Cavalry Fencibles, who volun- teered to go there, and afterwards to any part of Europe. His services were requited, though rather tardily, with a British peerage by the title of Lord Ker, and I believe he ordered the patent to be made out with one r, viz., Ker, the old Anglo-Norman spelling, though the family name has still the two r's. By his first wife, who died in 1805, he had the late Mar- quis, Lord Hay, and one daughter, and marrying secondly in 1806, an aunt of the present Duke of Buccleuch, he left a number of children by her ladyship, who died in 1833, the Marquis himself dying in 1824.* His eldest son, John William Egbert, succeeded as Seventh Marquis, and died in the prime of life in 1841, being succeeded by his eldest son, William S. Robert, the Eighth Marquis. He was a dis- tinguished scholar at Oxford, and gave promise of public usefulness, but lost his health, while yet a young man, died early, and was succeeded by his brother, Lord Schomberg Kerr, the present Marquis. I have mentioned in the general histories of the great houses of Ker several branches, viz. : Fawdonside, Littledean, Greenhead and Chatto, Cavers Carre, Yair, Sunderlandhall, Fernielie, Linton, Abbotrule, and I may add the Kers of Graden, one of whose members was a brave soldier, as witness his riding under fire in front of the king's troops at Preston- pans, when engaged in reconnoitring for the Pretender, whom he served. * Sir Walter Scott said of the late Marquis, in reply to a friend, to whom his Lordship had done a kindness, " Ay, Lord Lothian is a good man — he is a man from whom one may receive a favour, and that's saying a good deal for any man in these days." THE ELLIOT EAIILY. The families of Douglas, Scott, and Kerr are three of the most distinguished, but not the most ancient, on the Scottish Borders, for in that respect the Soulises, Eiddells, Corbetts, and others, bear away the palm for antiquity. I now take up the Elliots, who may be said to stand fourth on the historical roll. As far as I can ascertain, they came to Liddesdale towards the close of the fourteenth century. Their origin or derivation is uncertain. It is alleged by some that they, as well as the English Eliots — for the name is not confined to Scotland — are descended from one of William the Conqueror's band, viz., Monsieur Allot, a distinguished soldier of the great Norman. A traditionary story is told that this warrior was with the Con- queror when he fell at his disembarkation, and exclaimed that the fall was a happy omen, as William had embraced the land he was to become monarch of, declaring with drawn sword that he would maintain the right of his Lord to the territory he had so embraced. After the conquest, it is further alleged that he added to Aliot's Arms a batten gules to a bend or on a field azure, and for a crest, an arm and sword, with the motto : Over rocks, > „ . -^ ... , , > Bravely and through fires. | ^^^ ^^^^^ P^^ 'S^^'- ^^^^^^^^ ^* ^^^^^- | honourably. Some antiquarians think that the Scotch Elliots first settled in Forfarshire, on the river Eliot or Elot, in the parish now called Arbirlot, a contraction of Aber-Eliot, which refers to the circumstance of the stream passing through the parish and entering the sea, as it does, on its eastern side, and that from the river the family derive their name. Another authority thinks they came from Elliotston, in Renfrewshire, a place THE ELLIOT FAMILY. 133 which I find belonged to Lord Semple's ancestors long before the period he mentions, and nearly two hundred years before the Elliots came to the Border, which seems against his view, as possessors at any rate of that place. The same authority states they were first called Ellwood in Liddesdale, which is also against their supposed EUiotston derivation. Ellwood is an English as well as an Irish name, and to an English Ellwood, the friend of the great Milton, we owe the immortal poem of Paradise Eegained, which he suggested to the poet as a rider to Paradise lost. The late distinguished English physician, Dr John EUiotston, to whom the medical profession owes much for his scientific researches, is very likely, I think, to have had his derivation from Renfrewshire, but London claims him for her son, by birth, whatever may have been his descent. It must be recollected that in early times the name of Eliot was distiuQ-uished in En2;land, thouo;h with a different ortho- graphy. Willis states that early in the thirteenth century, Elliots were seated in Devonshire, and that from them several families descended, and one in particular which settled in Cornwall, in the sixteenth century, calling the place they acquired Port Eliot, after themselves — its previous designation being St Germans, the site of an old priory. This family produced some men of mark, the chief of whom was Sir John Eliot, noted for his opposition to Charles the First, and his Court, and who suffered imprisonment for his conduct. After a time he was offered his freedom, but he preferred remaining in durance vile, which he did for some time, dying in 1632 in the Tower, where he was buried, the king refusing the petition of his son, to bury his father in his own county. Sir John Eliot was one of the most eloquent and popular of his party, and in Parliament he boldly stood up for the liberty of the subject, and though hot and impetu- ous in his temper, was a man of unimpeachable integrity. He was styled by a great writer Hallam, " the most illustrious confessor in the cause of liberty whom that time produced," 134 BORDER MEMORIES. To show Sir John Eliot's style I now give his summing up on the impeachment of George Villiers, Duke of Bucking- ham, one of the favourites of James the First : " I observe a wonder in policy and in nature, so dangerous to the state in his immense greatness^ is able to subsist of himself and keep in being. To this I answer that the Duke hath used the help of art to prop him up. It is apparent that by his skill he hath raised a party in the court, a party in the coun- try, and a main party in the chief places of government in the kingdom ; so that all the most deserving offices, which require abilities to discharge them, are fixed upon the Duke, his allies and kindred, and thus hath he drawn to himself, his family, and dependents, the power of justice, the power of honour, and the power of command ; and in effect the whole p)oiver of the king- dom, both for peace and war, to strengthen his allies ; and in setting himself up, hath set upon the kingdom's revenues, the foun- tain of supply, and the nerves of the land. He intercepts, consumes and exhausts the revenues of the crown, not only to satisfy his oion lustful desires, but the luxury of others ; and by emptying the veins, in which the blood should run, he hath cast the body of the kingdom into a high consumption." — (See Rushworth's Collection, Anno IQl'o, p. 350, or No. 1 Scot's Mag. 0/1739;. During his long imprisonment. Sir John Eliot wrote the '' Monarchy of Man," which a biographer declares, contains " specimens of thought and style, worthy of the best prose writers of that age." I saw a picture of Eliot, painted in 1G28 by Van Somer, in the National Portrait Exhibition at Kensington in 1866. He is there represented with " wide ruff, small peaked dark beard and moustache, with hair hanging down." When the picture, which belongs to the Earl of St Germains, his representative, was painted. Sir John would be under forty. Before passing from Eliot, I would mention a curious scene which took place in the House of Commons, when he protested against the Tonnage and Poundage Bill of 1628. The THE ELLIOT FAMILY. 135 Speaker refused to put Sir John Eliot's resolution to the vote, when a violent outbreak of feeling was manifested. The door was barred, and the speaker held down by force in his chair, while Lord Hollis, another Cornish member, as well as a leader of the popular party, read the resolution to the House, amidst the most tumultuous applause. Then as-ain, branches of the ancient Devonshire Eliot tree were planted and took root in the East of England, and we all know that Essex gave birth to the celebrated John Eliot, the missionary, born in 1604, it is supposed at Nazing. He has been deservedly called the apostle to the American Indians. Educated at Cambridge University, he afterwards took orders and became a famous preacher, and having derived his religious impressions from the great Richard Hooker, called the judicious Hooker, he was, no doubt, well skilled in theology. He, however, embraced Puritanism, and being fired with strong missionary principles, he embarked for America in order to devote himself to the conversion of the native Indians, among whom he laboured with success, obtain- ing much influence over the several tribes, and translating the Holy Scriptures, as well as other works, into their language. Richard Baxter, the celebrated Nonconformist, knew and appreciated Eliot. Indeed, he said, " there was no man on earth he honoured or loved more than him." A copy of John Eliot's Bible was not long ago sold in New York, and purchased for a private library at the price of 1130 dollars, or say £282, 10s. Eliot's was the first Bible ever printed in any language in America. It took about three years to print, and when it appeared, it was dedicated to Charles the Second. The Bible in question is the only monument of a tribe that no longer exists, and of a language no longer spoken. The apostle laboured for nearly sixty years in America, having arrived there in 1630 ; and he died in 1690, aged eighty-five. I have said his Bible was the first printed in America, and he himself was the first protestant minister who diff'used the 136 BORDER MEMORIES. beams of evangelical truth among the benighted American Indians, and while labouring to enlighten their souls, he did all he could to improve their bodily and social condition. Through his means no less than fourteen different towns or settlements were established, to all of which he gave his un- wearied attention, and in his journeyings, especially when engaged in his missionary work, he exposed himself to danger, as well as toil. But like a brave soldier, he fought the good fight of faith, bearing any suffering with cheerfulness, and any pain with resignation. In one of his letters he stated that he had not been dry for several days together, and on stopping for the night he just pulled off his boots, and wrung his stockings, and in the morning put them on again, continuing his journey. At the end of one of his books, he added, " Prayers and pains through faith in Jesus Christ will do anything ; " and his laborious and successful life proved the truth of the saying. He out- lived his wife and almost all his children, among whom were four sons, three having been in the ministry, and one of them his own colleague, on whose early death it was said by some one, " The father, having laid up in a better world a rich in- heritance for his children, sent a son before to take possession of it." I must add that Eliot's charity was unbounded, but in the distribution of alms he was profuse. He has been known to give away all his salary, and on one occasion the Treasurer of the bank, who paid him, tied up his money in his handker- chief, in order to prevent his using it before he reached home ; but visiting a poor family on his way, he gave them the hand- kerchief and its contents, so that the treasurer's kind inten- tions were defeated. A biographer states that benevolence was a " brilliant star in the constellation of his virtues, and the rays of it were various and extensive." That excellent Christian and great philosopher, Robert Boyle, was a dear friend of John Eliot's, and he was the means of getting for him an annual grant from one of the societies in this country, THE ELLIOT FAMILY. 137 which aided the apostle in his benevolent schemes for the good of the poor Indians ; and though, when near the close of his long and useful life, he found his understanding leaving and his memory failing him, he thanked God his charity still held out. Some of John Eliot's descendants in America have been distinguished, and one was noted for his skill in Natural Philosophy, being the first botanist in New England. Dr John Eliot, probably another descendant, compiled an interesting Biographical Dictionary of New Englanders — men honoured in their generation, and who were the glory of their times. Previously, however, to the apostolic Eliot, upon whom I have been descanting, there lived in England Thomas Elyot, who flourished in the sixteenth century, and who was held in high estimation by Henry YIII. on ac- count of his learning, as well as his diplomatic talents. He was a moralist likewise. His writings are extensive and various. Some, however, are rather ludicrous, while others are profound. His dictionary, called the " Bibliothecie Elyotse," was, as Fuller says, "the stock on wdiich the learned Thomas Cooper, schoolmaster at Oxford, and afterwards Bishop of Lincoln, grafted his ' Thesaurus ; ' and if not the first, was the best of the kind in that age." He also wrote a defence or apology for good women, which, as a sarcastic biographer very ungallantly and unfairly remarks, "are hardly found and easily defended." The first edition of Sir Thomas Elyot's book " The Governor," published in 1531, is a very scarce work, and so is the " Bibliothecae Elyotse," which appeared in 1533. Lowndes, an accoucheur of litera- ture, pronounces the latter " a work of considerable ability, and deservedly held in high estimation as one of the earliest and best attempts in the promotion of lexicographical litera- ture." A new edition of the learned knight's first work, "The Governor," was published in 1834: by Mr A. T. Eliot, New- castle, and even that is scarce. There are descendants of Sir Thomas Elyot, though with a 1 38 BOEDER MEMORIES. different orthography, and some have been noted. One ac- companied Sir Thomas Drake in his famous voyage round the world ; and another is supposed to have had granted to him a chapel in Godalming, Surrey, called the Old Mynster, which does not now exist, though lately some excavations were made which show^ed the foundations of the old building, skeletons being found, denoting where the burying-ground was. In olden times there were two other Eliots of whom I have notes. One published a French grammar which, he said, " teacheth to speake truly, speedily, and volubly the French tongue ; " the other, a book of satires, epigrams, &c. Then there was an anonymous poem, composed by nobody knows who, to be had everybody knows where, and for somebody knows what. I think, however, the name of John Eliot crops out somewhere in connection with this facetious announcement. In later times, there have been other English Elliots who have added lustre to the name. Among these was an en- graver, William Elliot, who reproduced some of the works of the old masters about the middle of last century, and obtained from the Society of Arts a prize for a print of his own, which gained him considerable ^dat. Then there was George Elliot, who wrote a " Life of the Duke of Wellington," from his first achievements in India to the Peace of 1814. And there lived comparatively lately two Henry Elliots — one a civil servant of the late East India Com- pany, and the other a clergyman of the Church of England. Henry Elliot, the Indian civilian, was an eminent public man, having obtained high rank in the Diplomatic Department of the Company's service — the treaty annexing the Punjaub to our Indian territory having been negotiated by him, for which he was honoured v/ith the Knighthood of the Bath. He was also a distinguished literary man, espe- cially in connection with Eastern lore ; and when his health failed him, he had not completed a work connected with the ancient histories of India, which was looked forward to with much interest. THE ELLIOT FAMILY. 139 The other Henry Elliot was Henry Venn Elliot, the founder of St Mary's Hall or School for clergymen's daughters, and the respected pastor of the church in connection with that esta- blishment for many years. Mr Elliot was a faithful and diligent servant of his Lord and Master ; and if he did not make his talent ten, he certainly did not wrap it up in a napkin. He had varied intellectual gifts, and took high university honours. Mr Elliot had a charming wife, who was a poetess of no mean order. It is alleged the Elliots came to Liddesdale to join the Douglases when their power was on the wane, but this cannot be vouched for. They were not a large body at first, but they soon multiplied, and became a considerable clan ; and on the decline of the Douglases, they appear to have given their support to the Scotts. During the engagement near IMelrose in July 1526, an Elliot got the credit of killing Andrew Ker of Cessford. It could not, however, have been an Elliot of Stobs, as often stated, because that family did not issue from Larriston or Redheugh for some time afterwards, and had not then acquired Stobs. "^ It might have been a Larriston, which property had been acquired by the Elliots sometime before the battle of Melrose. I have already stated that the Eedheugh or Larriston family was unquestionably the principal or chief one of the border sept. But the direct male line soon failing, the repre- sentation devolved upon William Elliot of Stobbs, whose younger brother James, however, married the heiress. Much of the family history has, it is to be regretted, been lost by the burning of the various writs and documents by a great fire which took place at Stobs about the middle of the last century. * Elliot of Redheugh appears to have been the Chief of the Clan during the sixteenth century, as the name frequently appears in historical docu- ments in that capacity, Robert Elliot, last male heir of Redheugh, married Lady Jean Stewart, daughter of Francis Stewart, Earl of Bothwell, by Margaret Douglas, widow of Sir Walter Scott of Buccleuch, and daughter of David, seventh Earl of Angus, and niece of Regent Morton. 140 BORDER MEMORIES. There were heroes among them, and the following verses, in imitation of an ancient ballad, from the pen of a learned and honoured friend of mine, the Eev. James Grey of Dumfries and Edinburgh, who became a clergyman and missionary of the Church of England in India, depicts one of the Larriston chieftains in a spirited manner. Another authority states the author was the Ettrick Shepherd : — " Lock the door Lairiston, Lion of Liddesdale, Lock the door Larriston, Lowther comes on ; The Armstrongs are flying, The widows are crying, The Castleton's burning, and Oliver's gone. Lock the door Larriston ; high in the weather gleam, See how the Saxon plumes bob in the sky ; Yeoman and carbineer, Billman and halberdier. Fierce is the foray, and far is the cry. Bewcastle brandishing high his proud scymitar, Ridley is riding his fleet-footed grey ; Hedley and Howard, there, Wandale and Windermere, Lock the door Larriston, hold them at bay. Why dost thou smile, noble Elliot of Larriston ? Why does the joy-candle gleam in thine eye ? Thou bold Border ranger Beware of this danger, Thy foes are relentless, determin'd and nigh. Jock Elliot raised up his steel bonnet and lookit. His hand grasp'd the sword with a nervous embrace ; Ah, welcome, brave foemen. On earth there are no men More gallant to meet in the fray or chase ! Little know'st thou of the hearts I have hidden here, Little know'st thou of our mosstroopers' might ; Linhope and Sorby true, Sundope and Mill burn too, Gentle in manner, but lions in fight ! I've Mangerton, Gorranberry, Raeburn, and Netherby, Old Sim of Whitram, and all his array ; Come all Northumberland, Teesdale and Cumberland, Here at the Breaken Tower, end shall the fray. Scowl'd the broad sun o'er the links of green Liddesdale, Red as the beacon light tipt he the wold ; Many a bold martial eye, Mirror'd that morning sky, Never more op'd on his orbit of gold. THE ELLIOT FAMILY. 141 Shrill was the bugle's note, dreadful the warrior shout, Lances and halberts in splinters were borne ; Helmet and hauberk, then, Brav'd the claymore in vain, Buckler and armlet in shivers were shorn. See how they wane the proud files of the Windermere ! Howard, ah ! woe to thy hopes of the day ; Hear the wide welkin rend, While the Scots shouts ascend, Elliot of Larriston ! Elliot for aye ! " * Then the old chronicler Satchells, alluding to a Larriston, says : — " Coiild my unpractised pen advance thy name, Thou should be mounted on the wings of fame, Thy ancestors they were of good renown. They being all the Lairds of Larriston." In Satchells' time, probably towards the close of the seven- teenth century, the Elliots must have suffered an eclipse. For he adds : — " The Elliots brave and worthy men Have been as much oppressed as any name I ken. For in my time I have seen so much odds No Elliot, any heritage but Dinlabyre, Falnash, and Stobbs, Stobbs being sine qua non and obedient to the truth, A beloved sister's son to the family of Buccleuch." * In the collected edition of the songs of the Ettrick Sheperd, published by Blackwood in 1831, appears the following note by Hogg : — " This border song was published in my own weekly paper, the Spy, March 30th, 1811, and found its way into the London papers, and partially thi-ough Britain, as the composition of my friend Mr Grey, now in India. I never contradicted it, thinking that anybody might have known that no one could have written the song but myself. However, it has appeared in every collection of songs with Mr Grey's name. Although I look upon it as having no merit whatever, excepting a jingle of names, which Sir Walter's good taste rendered popular, and which in every other person's hand has been ludicrous, yet I hereby claim the song as one of my own early productions — mine only, mine solely, and mine for ever." Mr W. Scott, schoolmaster at Burnmouth in Liddesdale, printed the ballad in the "Border Exploits," published in 1832, giving it as "from the forcible and energetic pen of Mr Grey, Master of the High School of Edinburgh." Thomas Grey, Esq., Melrose, nephew of Mr James Grey, has no doubt Hogg was the author, and says the ballad is utterly unlike anything ever written by his uncle. The ballad has been set to music by T. S. Gleadhill, with symphonies and accompaniment for the pianoforte, and published by Kerr and Richardson, 89 Queen Street, Glasgow. 142 BORDER MEMORIES. This last line refers doubtless to William Elliot of Larriston's marriage with Mary Scott the sister of the " Bold " Buccleuch, their son being Gilbert Elliot, third of Stobbs, commonly called " Gibbie wi' the Gowden Garters." The first known Border Elliot ancestor was Eobert, who flour- ished at the end of the fifteenth and beginning of the sixteenth century, and was designed of Redheugh. It has been supposed he fell at Flodden. It is believed he had two sons, Robert and William, designed of Redheugh and Larriston respectively, but there seems to be a considerable hiatus in the subsequent pedigree, though William of Larriston had descendants who were William of Redheugh and Gilbert of Stobbs severally. The latter had only one male successor, Gavin ; and the former carried on both lines, through his eldest son Robert, called of Redheugh, and through his second, William, designed of Larriston ; and from the latter descend the present family of Stobbs and various other branches. From the former de- scended Robert of Redheugh and Larriston, who had no son, thus terminating the male representation of the elder branch which was transferred to his cousin Gilbert of Stobbs, his daughter, however, succeeding to the estates, and marrying James Elliot, a younger brother of Stobbs, and her cousin. William Elliot of Larriston married Mary Scott, daughter of Sir Walter Scott of Buccleuch, by his wife Lady Margaret Douglas, daughter of the seventh Earl of Angus, and their son was Gilbert, third of Stobbs (and of "Garter" celebrity), while Robert Elliot of Redheugh married Lady Jean Stewart, daughter of Lady Margaret Douglas, Avidow of Buccleuch, by her second husband, that good-for-nothing man Francis Stewart, Earl of Bothwell, whose mother was a sister of the more notorious Bothwell, the husband of Queen Mary. Buccleuch, the first husband of Lady Margaret Douglas, died early, leaving a son, the " Bold " Buccleuch, who inherited in 1574, when his father died, and by a date on Branxholm House, I conclude his widow had not then remarried, but probably her second marriage with Bothwell took place soon THE ELLIOT FAMILY. 143 after. There was a considerable disparity in age between Buccleuch's widow and her second husband, who was only about eleven when her first husband died. Lady Jean Elliot and her children suffered much. Her husband, Eobert Elliot, was suspected of being concerned in cattle-stealing with his servant Adam Usher, who was tried, condemned, and executed at Edinburgh, in 1624, for sundry acts of theft. Usher's son, a lad of tender years, was sus- pected, as well as the laird, of being an accomplice, but after several months' confinement in the thieves' hole, as the prison was called, he was let off with banishment, not, however, to return without licence. Mr Elliot, who is described as of Redheugh, suffered imprisonment likewise, on suspicipn of being implicated in Adam Usher's delinquencies, but after a time was released without expatriation, for in November of the same year, when about to quit Edinburgh, on account of some infectious epidemic that prevailed, the Privy Council passed an order to relieve Lady Jean and children, who had been reduced to the greatest distress and wretchedness during her husband's incarceration ; her ladyship having been actually compelled to sell part of her wearing apparel to supply her husband with some necessaries when in jirison. The extent of the relief granted by the Council only amounted to 1 00 merks, with the addition of an allowance of about one shilling a-day in our money " during pleasure." Robert Elliot and Lady Jean having no son, the property descended to his daughter and heiress, Mary, who married, as before mentioned, her cousin James Elliot, but they had no son either, and I presume after their deaths it was sold, as I can trace no successor to them. A long time afterwards, Larriston was acquired by a Colonel Elliot, whose birth was obscure, though it was supposed he was descended from the old stock, and who in early life served in a menial capacity, but going to India and getting into the army, he rose to dis- tinction and affluence."^ * Of Colonel Elliot the traditional account is that he was the son of a young Elliot of Larriston, by a daughter of one of his father's retainers. 144 BORDER MEMORIES. S T B B S. The Elliots of Stobbs spell their name with one 1 and two t's. They probably acquired Stobbs some time before the close of the sixteenth century, though no doubt after the Reformation. They were in possession of it before 1596, for Gilbert Elliot of Stobbs, according to the famous ballad of Kinmont Willie, was at his rescue, by the bold Buccleuch, in that year. The ballad runs thus : — " He has called him forty marchmen bauld, T trow they were of his ain name. Except Sir Gilbert Elliot, call'd The Laird of Stobs, I mean the same." It has been thought by some that Elliot of Stobbs was too young to have been at the rescue, and that it might have been a Larriston — perhaps William of Larriston, who shared in that glorious enterprise. I have said the Elliots of Stobbs now represent the Border Clan, and the late Baronet, Sir William Francis Elliott, was authoritatively established as Chief, and in addition to the Arms of his ancestor, the first Baronet, Gules on a bend en- Elliot had fallen in love with a young woman named Helen Kid, who lived with her father on the south side of the Liddel, directly opposite the present school-house of Saughtree, and consequently quite near the mansion of Larriston. The two were hand-fasted, and before the lapse of a year Helen presented her lover with a son. The young laird was more than ever resolved to wed the young woman, but his resolution was strenuously opposed by his kindred, and notably by young ladies of the Elliot connection who had aspired to the position which it now seemed likely that Helen Kid was to occupy. Remonstrances and entreaties were without effect ; and it is said they then changed their tactics, pretended great kindness for the prospective lady of the manor, invited her to a feast, and poisoned her. The son, who had been previously bom, grew up and served in a menial capacity, having been stable- boy with his relative, Elliot of Stobbs. His master, who knew the connection, was in the habit of saying, as he mounted his steed, " Better he that holds the stirrup than he that rides. " The young man entered the army, served with distinction in India, and, returning home a man of independent means, purchased his ancestral possessions. It is said that Robert Elliot of Larriston could travel from Larriston to Hawick, a distance of eighteen miles, on his own lands, with the exception of a narrow strip in one place. THE ELLIOT FAMILY. 1 45 grailed, or a bend azure, he got an augmentation of the Arms granted by the Crown to his celebrated kinsman, Lord Heath- field, applicable to his victory at Gibraltar. The first of the family I begin with — having no precise in- formation about the two first of Stobbs of the old line, so to speak — is Gilbert, second son of William Elliot of Larriston, and nephew of the bold Buccleuch, popularly known as "Gibbiewith the gowden garters," * who married Margaret Scott, commonly called Maggie Fendy, daughter of Auld Wat Scott of Harden, the celebrated freebooter, and by her he had six sons, the fourth being Gavin, who acquired Midlem Mill in the early part of the seventeenth century, and was ancestor of the Minto Elliots. From William, the eldest son — afterwards Laird of Stobbs, who married Elizabeth Douglas of Cavers — descended Gilbert, who was distinguished as a soldier during the Civil wars, and was honoured for his bravery, first with a Knight Baronetcy, and afterwards with a Baronetcy — the patent of the latter being dated in 1666. He married first Isabella Cranston, sister of the third Lord Qranston, whose family had, at an early period, large possessions in Roxburghshire, in- cluding Stobbs, her mother having been a daughter of Francis Earl Bothwell, by the widow of Buccleuch, and by this lady Sir Gilbert had one son, William, his heir. By a second wife, Magdalene Nicolson, Sir Gilbert had several children ; one daughter, Magdalene, marrying Sir John Pringle of Stichill, and was the mother of Sir John Pringle of medical and scientific fame, which procured him a Baronetcy. Sir William Elliot, the second of Stobbs, was married first to Miss Scott of Ancrum, and then to Miss Murray — the latter being the mother of his children. The eldest son was Gilbert second, who in 1699, at his father's death, succeeded as third baronet. He had a long incum- bency — upwards of sixty-five years. Sir Gilbert married * No record or tradition exists to account for the epithets bestowed on Sir Gilbert and his wife. K 146 BORDER MEMORIES. Miss Elliot of Wells, a property which, after the death, in 1818, of the Eight Honourable William Elliot, was inherited by the Stobbs family, or rather its then chief, Sir William F. Elliot, in consequence of his kinsman, the second Lord Heathfield, who was before him in the entail, having died prior to Mr Elliot, unmarried. Sir Gilbert had a large family, being blessed with eight sons, the youngest, George Augustus, becoming most distinguished. Indeed, his career was brilliant, entitling him to be called the Wellington of our Border Land. He entered the army in early life, and saw much service, always making himself famous ; but his great and crowning success was his defence of Gibraltar, in the memorable siege which lasted from 1777 to 1782, and which preserved to this country that most important key to the Mediterranean. For his gallantry and generalship, George Augustus Elliot was created a Peer, by the titles of Lord Heathfield and Baron Gibraltar, which descended to his son, also a gallant soldier, at whose death, in 1813, the Peerage became extinct, though the property was inherited by his sister, Anne Elliot. She married Mr Fuller, a Sussex squire, who was created a baronet, an honour well bestowed, in recog- nition of his wife's descent from the gallant borderer, and also from the renowned navigator and warrior, Sir Francis Drake, both of whom the Fuller family represent, in right of Anne Elliot. Lord Heathfield was no ordinary soldier and general ; one of his marked traits was his humanity to his enemies when vanquished, and his resistance to indiscriminate plunder on the part of his troops. To his own men he was most con- siderate, maintaining at the same time the highest disci- pline ; and when he received his several honours and distinc- tions, the pleasure of receiving the thanks of the two Houses of Parliament was enhanced by the fact that his heroic band was included. Like a true soldier, he was the faithful friend of his men, whose cheerful submission to the greatest hard- ships, as well as the matchless gallantry they exhibited during THE ELLIOT FAMILY. 147 the long and arduous siege, made a deep and lasting impres- sion upon him. He died on the 6th of July 1790, at the age of seventy-three. My father-in-law, when a young man, and a lieutenant in the 73d Highlanders, was one of the heroic band of the gallant Elliot. The well-kno^yn picture of Lord Heathfield by Sir Joshua Reynolds, representing the hero as holding the key of the fortress, is to be seen in the National Gallery, London. I return for a little to the General's father Sir Gilbert, Bart., who was well known both in Edinburgh and this county. He had a house in Trunk's Close, Canongate, a popular situa- tion at the time, which he acquired from Sir John Scott of Ancrum, and where he resided a good deal in the early part of last century, no doubt for the education of his large family of sons. In Sir Gilbert's day it was usual for country gentlemen, when dressed in fashionable costume, to wear a sword, and on the occasion of a public dinner after an election at Jedburgh in 1726, when he and Mr Scott, younger of Ancrum, were candidates, a fracas took place, which terminated in the death of Colonel Stewart of Stewartfield, now and previously called Hartrigge. Sir Gilbert was displeased that the Colonel had not voted for him, and expressing himself strongly, the latter was provoked, and taking up a glass full of wine, threw it in Sir Gilbert's face, upon which the baronet drew his sword and plunged it into Colonel Stewart's stomach, while he was sit- ting at the table. The Colonel then rose, drew his sword, and struck Sir Gilbert over the head once or twice, which wounded him, but friends interfering took the swords from the combat- ants, who however continued to struggle. Sir Gilbert losing his wig in the mele6. The result was, that Stewart died of his wound, and in a few days after, viz., 12th August 1726, the magistrates, consisting of the following country gentle- men, viz.. Lord Minto, afterwards Justice-Clerk, Sir William Ker of Greenhead, Sir Walter Riddell of Riddell, called by mistake Sir John, Sir William Bennet of Grubbet, John Scott, 148 BORDER MEMORIES. younger of Ancrum, Archibald Douglas of Cavers, and Dr John Haliburton of Howcleugh, and others, met at Jedburgh, when, after hearing evidence, they ordered a copy of the pre- cognition taken to be sent to the Lord Advocate, for a warrant to be issued for the apprehension of Sir Gilbert Elliot. He escaped to Holland, and remained there pending the enquiry, which ended in his pardon and return, and he survived the unfortunate event nearly forty years. Drs Andrew Ruther- ford. William Cranston, John Abernethy, and Mr James Rutherford were the medical men who examined Colonel Stewart, and gave evidence. About the same time, and under somewhat similar circum- stances, another melancholy occurrence took place near to Ancrum, Mr Haliburton of Muirhouselaw being stabbed by, it was supposed, Mr Rutherfurd of Fairnington. They had left Jedburgh together the previous evening, both under excitement caused by wine, and they were overheard disputing by the way. Earlier in the century, in 1707, a Pringle of Clifton killed Walter Scott of Raeburn in the vicinity of Selkirk, a quarrel having taken place at a county meeting, which ended in a duel, with swords, resulting in Raeburn's death. Sir Gilbert Elliot of Stobbs died in 1764, and was succeeded by his eldest son Sir John, who only enjoyed the title and estates about three years, his death occurring in 1767, or very early in 1768. He left two sons. Sir Francis, his successor; and John, who entered the army, and be- came a captain of the 20th Dragoons, but dying early had not sufficient time to show whether he possessed any of the heroic qualities of his uncle, the gallant defender of Gibraltar. Sir William was the next incumbent of the Baronetcy, and held it and the estates for a long time, dying suddenly in 1812, and leaving a large family, whereof the eldest son was Sir William Francis, who succeeded. He married a daughter of the late Sir Alexander Boswell, who was shot in a duel by Mr Stewart of Dunearn. Boswell was the son of the celebrated biographer of Dr Johnson. The eldest son of this THE ELLIOT FAIVIILY. 149 marriage is Sir AYilliam Francis Augustus Elliot, eighth Baronet of Stobbs. MINTO. ^ We come now to the Elliots of Midlem Mill, from whom the noble family of Minto are descended. The first of the Midlem Mill Elliots was Gavin, fourth son of Gilbert of Stobbs, who probably acquired the estate in the early part of the seven- teenth century, and whose descendants continued to hold it till about the middle of the eighteenth century, when it was sold by Robert Elliot, who was for some time chamberlain at Branxholm to the Duke of Buccleuch. The property was purchased by the Hunters of Union Hall, though I am un- certain whether there was not an interim proprietor for a few years in the person of Professor Stuart of Edinburgh, who at any rate lived for a short time at Midlem Mill. The Hunters, however, very soon acquired it, and as their estate of Union Hall was only separated from Midlem Mill by the river Ale, they took down their old mansion, which stood near to the present garden of Linthill, built a bridge and enlarged the house of Midlem Mill, which in the days of the Elliots had, I have understood, a thatched roof, calling the united properties Linthill, and there the Hunters resided, till the death of the last member of the family, the well known and justly popular Colonel Edgar Hunter, who was killed by a fall from his horse at Clarilaw Burn in 1807. Having died intestate, he was succeeded by his cousin and heir, William Riddell, whose father had married a sister of the Colonel's father. The Mill formerly stood near to the residence on the west side, close to the water and to a very large Ash tree, and was only removed to Toft Barns at the beginning of this century, some of the old stones with the Elliot initials and dates being preserved and inserted near to the large wheel in the present Mill. The following are the supposed letters and years on the stones : — 1601. 1677. 1730. G. E. R. E. R. E. and K. E. 150 BORDER MEMORIES. Gavin was the first of the Midlem Mill Elliots, as has been already stated, and he had two sons, Gavin and Gilbert. The former carried on the line of the family, the last of whom in possession of the estate was Eobert, who sold it as before mentioned. There are descendants of this gentleman in England, and he had a daughter Margaret, a maiden lady, who resided in Litchfield Street, London, and died there in 1804. She was well known and highly respected by the gentlemen of the Borders, some of whom put up at her house, when they visited the metropolis. Miss Elliot's finances being such as to make it desirable for her to supplement her slender means by letting apartments. Dr Somerville states that David Hume, the historian, always lodged at Miss Elliot's when he visited London. The Doctor was a particular friend of Eobert Elliot's, and when they lived at Branxholm, at the time of his birth, which took place at Hawick in 1741, his father being parish minister. Miss Elliot carried him to church to be baptised. Gilbert, the younger son, was founder of the now ennobled House of Minto. Gilbert had to push his own way in the world, and well and successfully he did so.* He embraced the legal profession, first becoming a writer and then an advocate. He had a large business, and accumulated a good fortune, which enabled him to buy first Headshaw and Shielswood, and afterwards Minto. He espoused, with great ardour, the cause of the Eev. William Veitch, the celebrated Covenanter, and was the means of obtaining a commutation of the sen- * Lady Minto writes — " Gilbert Elliot of Minto was the first of the name who betook himself to the Law as a profession. That he did so with the true Border energy may be presumed from the fact of his having risen to its highest honours. His portrait at Minto gives the idea of a vigorous character. The strongly marked features, the bold open eye, and long upper lip bear a stamp of determination that might have become the leader of a foray as well as the Lord President of the Judges' Bench ; and in the course of his career he found more frequent occasion for the exercise of qualities, such as had been exhibited by his forefathers, than a lawyer's life is apt to furnish." THE ELLIOT FAMILY. 151 tence of death which had been passed upon him for his par- ticipation in the rising at Pentland.* He was accused, besides acting forVeitch, of assisting Argyll, and of furthering Monmouth's designs, and though he escaped for a time, he was at length caught and brought to trial, being condemned and forfeited, though afterwards obtaining a re- mission of his sentence. In 1685, when he was found guilty of treason, he was described in the process as a Writer in Edin- burgh ; but he soon determined on entering the higher branch of the profession, though difficulties seem to have interposed, for he was not called to the Bar till 1688. He was very suc- cessful as a counsel, and finally when he reached the Bench, his conduct as a Judge was marked by the strictest integrity. Soon after being called to the Bar he was appointed Clerk of the Privy Council, and received the honour of knighthood, which was followed — about ten years afterwards — by a Baronetcy; and in 1705, he was raised to the Bench under the courtesy title of Lord Minto — the estate of Minto having at that time previously been purchased by Sir Gilbert. But * This he did by going to London, where he was successful in enlisting, on behalf of his client, the ardent support and co-operation of Shaftesbury, Monmouth, and other leaders of the Whig party, by whom an amount of pressure was brought to bear on the Government, under which, ultimately, its obduracy gave way. A royal order to stop all further proceedings against Veitch was forwarded through the Earl of Stair to Gilbert Elliot ; and his success, which was contrary to all expectation, raised him to a high place in the estimation of the Whig leaders on both sides of the Borders. So marked an epoch in his history was that event that it has been made the subject of a humorous dialogue between Elliot and Veitch, when, subsequent to the Ke volution, the one was Minister of Dumfries, and the other a Lord of Session, under the designation of Lord Minto. In a facetious manner, the Lord of Session had been heard to say, " Ah Willie, Willie, had it no been for me, the pyets had been picking your pate on the Nether-Bow Port ; " to which Willie Veitch replied, " Ah Gibbie ! Gibbie ! had it no been for me ye would hae been yet writing papers for a plack a page ! " Gibbie and Veitch had become acquainted while they were both young men, for Veitch was in 1660 tutor to a family in Roxburghshire, and a frequent visitor at Stobbs, along with John Livingstone and other eminent Covenanters. Young Gilbert is said to have passed much of his time at Stobbs under the roof of his grand-parents, Gibbie wi' the gouden garters and Maggie Fendy, when those eminent preachers were present. 152 BORDER MEMORIES. his services as a Judge barely extended to thirteen years, his death taking place on the 1st of May 1718, when he was suc- ceeded on the Bench by an eminent borderer and lawyer, Sir AA'^alter Pringle, of the house of Stichill, uncle to Sir John Pringle, Bart., who married Magdalene Elliot of Stobbs. Sir Gilbert was strongly recommended for a Judgeship on the death of Lord Mersington, in 1700, by the celebrated Sir James Stewart of Goodtrees, the Lord Advocate, and though he also had the interest of Patrick Hume, Earl Marchmont, married to Grizzel Carre, the half-aunt of Lord Minto's second wife Jean Carre — who knew him well, and who spoke of him " as true, honest, just, and bold, of which he had given proof" — he did not then succeed, the President, Dalrymple, favouring another candidate, Sir Eobert Stewart of Tillicoultrie, but his talents and services were soon after rewarded with a double gown. Sir Gilbert Elliot married first Miss Stevenson, daughter of Dr Stevenson, by whom he had one daughter, married to Sir J. Elphinston of Logic ; and secondly, Jean Carre, daughter of Sir Andrew Carre, yr. of Cavers, by whom he had his son and successor. Sir Gilbert, and other children. From the close proximity of Midlem Mill (now Linthill) to Cavers, the families of Carre and Elliot were on intimate terms, and Gilbert, on re-visiting his paternal roof, after his many adven- tures, renewed his acquaintance with the Carres, the friends of his youth, and selected the fourth daughter, Jean, for his wife. He had become a most successful man by the time he married a second time, and there was a tradition in my boy- hood that he had the " siller " and his wife the " bluid." But Gilbert had bluid also ; for though his father was the miller of Midlem Mill, he was nevertheless the laird, and as a cadet of Stobbs, well allied. I have two amusing anecdotes to relate relative to the elder brother of Lord Minto, and of his lordship himself, when he was Clerk of the Privy Council. The first is that Gavin, the elder brother, and laird of Midlem Mill, one day came to Jed- THE ELLIOT FAMILY. 153 burgh when his brother was sitting as the Circuit Judge, and elbowing his way through the crowded court, some one called out, make way, make way for Lord Minto's brother, when Gavin replied, " Na, Na, Gibbie's my brother," thus proving that the Laird would not allow it to be forgotten that he was the senior. The other story is that when Mr D. Douglas was one day preaching, he made some remarks touching the Clerks of the Council, exclaiming, " There is one Gibbie Elliot, Sirs, that has no charity nor discretion, for if we were all made up of dollars, he would swallow us up. Pray God to keep our purses from that false Lord Elliot." The second Baronet of Minto, also Sir Gilbert, was born in 1693. He well maintained the reputation of his sire, whose profession he followed, rising almost to its highest pinnacle. He was admitted advocate in 1715, and in a little more than ten years was elevated to the Bench, in succession to Lord Cullen, who was called a living library. Sir Gilbert, like his father, took the judicial title of Lord Minto, though during the last three years of his life it merged in the higher title of Lord Justice-Clerk, to which office he was raised in 1763, holding it till 16th April 1766, when he died at Minto rather suddenly, aged seventy-three. Previously to his being raised to the Bench, he was a Member of Parliament for a short time, and was a warm supporter of John the famous Duke of Argyll, who had great sway in Scotland, and who was thus immortalised by Pope, — " Ar^ll the States' whole thunder bom to wield, Aud shake alike the Senate and the field." Lord Justice-Clerk Elliot made considerable improvements at Minto, and laid the foundation of its extensive library. He also contributed to the improvements in Edinburgh, which in his time were considerable, a number of important build- ings being planned or erected ; and he was the author of a pamphlet of proposals for carrying on certain public works in that city. The Justice-Clerk and his eldest son, Mr Gilbert 154 BORDER MEMORIES. Elliot, were both on the committee for the improvements, and George Drummond, six times Lord Provost, founder of the Infirmary, was a member of it also, being perhaps the great mainspring of the movement. The Justice Clerk was a great enemy of the Jacobites, and when they traversed the country he had to hide in Minto Crags to escape their fury, and his daughter, Miss Jean Elliot * (to be noticed hereafter), was, like Lady Grizzel Hume, the means of saving her father from being captured. To his other accomplishments, the Justice Clerk added a taste for music, in which he excelled ; and it has been said he introduced the German flute. I give a sonnet he composed in Italian, to be sung to the tune of '' The Yellow Hair'd Laddie," to which I add a translation : — " Veduto in prato II mio pastor, II crin coronato, D' un serto di fior. II sole negli occhi, La Fide nel sen' Ah ! dove s' asconde ? II caro mio ben' ! Al Bosco, al monte, La cereo in van, E, presso al Fonte, Non trove ch' '11 can ; Ah ! Cane Fedele Deh ! dimmi perche, II mio crudele S' asconde di me ? " * Lady Minto says Miss Jean received the unwelcome guests with cour- teous hospitality. She detained them within the house while her father found time to reach the refuge of some neighbouring craigs, and there ha lay concealed among boulders, ivy, and brushwood, till the troopers had taken their departure across the Teviot. Though a kind father, he was very strict, as was the custom in those days. Hearing his son Andrew (afterwards Governor of New York) object to eat boiled mutton at dinner, the Lord Justice-Clerk turned to the servant who stood beside him, saying, " Let Mr Andrew have boiled mutton for breakfast, boiled mutton for dinner, and boiled mutton for supper, until he has learnt to like it." He did learn to like it, at least so he said to his children. — Life of the First Earl of Minto. THE ELLIOT FAMILY. 155 Translation of Sonnet. * * In the meadows I saw him, My shepherd, my own. He wore on his forehead, Of sweet flowers a crown. In his eyes was the sunshine. Faith's home was his breast. Ah ! where is he hiding ? My loved one ! my best ! By stream, grove, and mountain, I sought him in vain. I found his dog Fido ! I found not my swain. Ah Fido ! dear Fido ! Come tell me I pray Why my cruel one shuns me, What keeps him away." The Justice-Clerk has left but few footprints on the sands of time, not having, like his friend, Lord Karnes, been fond of publishing. One day, when complaining to Kames that he understood very little in a particular branch of political economy, expressing a wish at the same time for information, his learned brother told him the best way to understand it, was to go and write a hook upon it. Kames was fond of writing, or as he said, " of spreading his sails on a wide ocean, not without hopes of importing precious merchandise." Lord Kames was a great favourite of Lord Minto's, and when engaged as counsel (for though not much younger than Lord Minto, he did not get on the bench for about twenty-five years after him), in a cause in which he had written a paper of very considerable merit, Lord Minto, after hearing the arguments, came down from the bench, and shaking Kames, then Henry Home, by the hand, congratulated him upon his paper, observing that he had, like an able mathematician, thrown out all the useless quantities, and given only the equa- tions. I have another anecdote to mention in connexion with Kames, who, when a depute-advocate, used, of course, to go the circuit, and when proceeding from Jedburgh to Dumfries, on one occasion, with Lord Minto, they stopped, as his Lord- 156 BORDER MEMORIES. ship was wont to do, at the house of Mr Armstrong of Sorbie. Armstrong, or Sorbie, as he was called, was always ready to welcome and receive his lordship with cordiality and hospi- tality, but was a little put out on the occasion referred to. Enquiring of Lord Minto " wha that lang, black, dour-looking chiel " was, whom he had " wi' him," and on being told that he was a man come to hang a' the Armstrong's, he retorted, " Then it's time the Elliot's were ridin' ! " Sorbie and the Justice- Clerk used to rate one another about the propensities of their respective clans of old. Sorbie con- fessed that as long as thieving was a virtue, the Armstrongs pursued the calling with uncommon vigilance, but as soon as it became a vice, they gave it up to the Elliots, whereby many of them were hanged for it. Sir Gilbert Elliot, Lord Justice-Clerk, married Miss Helen Stewart of Allanbank, daughter of Sir Robert Stewart, and his wife, Miss Cockburn, of Langton, an ancestrix of the present Lord Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench, Sir Alexander Cock- burn. By Helen Stewart, who, by the way, was of the royal Stuarts, notwithstanding the different orthography of her name, the Justice-Clerk had several children, of whom were Gilbert, Andrew, John, and Archibald ; Anne, Eleanor, and Jean. Gilbert, the eldest, became Sir Gilbert, and will be taken up in his proper place hereafter. His brothers, Andrew, John, and Archibald, were dis- tinguished men. The first, named after his maternal grand- father. Sir Andrew Carre, was Lieutenant-Governor of New York before the American Independence, which took place in 1783, and while in that office was a staunch defender of Brit- ish interests. He has been described as a man of strong sense, sterling loyalty, and high respectability. On returning to this country, Andrew Elliot settled at Greenwells, in Bowden parish, which, including Eildon Hall estate, which had then no mansion upon it, he purchased, and devoted him- self to the improvement of his property, where, and in George Square, Edinburgh, he alternately resided. After his death. THE ELLIOT FAMILY. 157 Greenwells was sold to Mr Mein, and after passing through other hands, it was finally bought by the Duke of Buccleuch, who has rebuilt and extended the residence at Eildon Hall, first erected by Mr Mein, in supercession of the house at Green- wells, where Governor Elliot resided. Andrew Elliot married twice, his second wife being Miss Plumstead, an American, lady of beauty, whose hand had been previously sought by the celebrated AVashington. By this lady he had several chil- dren, his daughters being very beautiful, and making good alliances. One of them. Lady Carnegy, lived till 1860, when she died in the ninety-seventh year of her age, and fifty-fifth of her widowhood. She was spared to see the restoration of the attainted titles of Earl Southesk and Lord Carnegy to her grandson, in 1855. John and Archibald became flag officers of the Eoyal Navy, and the former was particularly distinguished, as the conqueror of Thurot. Thurot was an Irishman, his real name being O'Farrel, but in fighting under the French flag, he adopted his mother's name of Thurot, her family having been one of distinction in France. His object was to invade Ireland, and though before falling in with the gallant Elliot's fleet, he had landed at Carrickfergus and plundered the town, he could proceed no further, and was returning to France for additional help, when he was overtaken by Elliot, who engaged him, near the Isle of Man, capturing his fleet, which was also the terror of the British Merchant Service, and killing Thurot. This happened on the 28th February 1760, and for long the gallant Borderer's victory was commemorated by a ballad well- known and constantly sung throughout this district, though now it is nearly forgotten. The following is a copy of the ballad, copied from the "Genuine and Curious Memoirs of the Famous Captain Thurot. London, 1760." Reprinted for the Percy Society, 1847 : " The twenty-first of February, as I've heard the people say, Three French ships of war came and anchored in our bay ; They hoisted English colours, and landed at Kilroot, And marched their men for Carrick, without further dispute. 158 BORDER MEMORIES. *' Colonel Jennings being there, at that pretty little town, His heart it was a breaking, while the enemy came down ; He could not defend it for the want of powder and ball, And aloud to his enemies for * quarter ' he did call. " As Thurot in his cabin lay, he dreamed a dream, That his grandsire's voice came to him, and called him by his name ; Saying, Thurot, you're to blame for lying so long here, For the English will be in this night, the wind it bloweth fair. *' Then Thurot started up, and said unto his men, ' Weigh your anchors, my brave lads, and let us begone ; We'll go off this very night, make all the haste you can, And we'll steer south and south-east, straight for the Isle of Man. ' *' Upon the next day, the wind it blew north-west, And Elliot's gallant seamen, they sorely were oppressed ; They could not get in that night, the wind it blew so high ; And as for Monsieur Thurot, he was forced for to lie by. *' Early the next morning, as daylight did appear, Brave Elliot he espied them, which gave to him great cheer, It gave to him great cheer, and he to his men did say, ' Boys, yonder's Monsieur Thurot, we'll show him warm play.' *' The first ship that came up was the Brilliant, without doubt, She gave to them a broadside, and then she wheeled about ; The other two then followed her, and fired another round, * Oh, oh, my lads,' says Thurot, ' this is not Carrick town.' " Then out cried Monsieur Thurot, with his visage pale and wan, 'Strike, strike your colours, brave boys, or they'll sink us every man, Their weighty shot comes in so hot, on both the weather and the lee, Strike your colours, my brave boys, or they'll sink us in the sea. ' *' Before they got their colours struck, great slaughter was made. And many a gallant Frenchman, on Thurot's deck lay dead. They came tumbling down the shrouds, upon his deck they lay, While our brave Irish heroes cut their booms and yards away. And as for Monsieur Thurot, as I've heard people say. He was taken up by Elliot's men, and buried in Ramsey Bay. Here two lines are awanting in the origfinal ballad. THE ELLIOT FAMILY. 159 '' Now for to conclude, and put an end to my song, To drink a health to Elliot, I hope it is not wrong ; And may all French invaders be served the same way, Let the English beat the French by land, our Irish boys on sea." * Admiral Elliot was made Director of the Mint in Scotland, no doubt in recognition of his gallant services, and he died at Mount Teviot, which he rented, on the 20th September 1807. Two of his sisters married into good families — one of them was wife of John Rutherfurd, of Edgerston, a gallant soldier of the Independent Army at New York, who fell in battle in 1758. The third, Jean Elliot, never married. She was the constant companion of her father, and was no less distinguished for her heroism than her accomplishments, and was the authoress of one of the ballads of the Flowers of the Forest, which she composed about the middle of last century. It was published anonymously at first, and the authoress long re- mained unknown, but she was at length discovered, and Sir Walter Scott inserted it in the " Minstrelsy of the Border," his note upon it giving it high rank as a fine piece of elegiac poetry. It began as follows : *' I've heard them lilting at the ewe milking, Lasses a lilting before the dawn of day ; But now they are moaning on ilka green loaning, The flowers of the forest are a wede away." * " Thiirot behaved with the greatest bravery imaginable ; had lost one of his arms near an hour, and received his death wound above half an hour before he quitted the deck, " While he lived, he insisted on the ship being fought ; but as soon as the breath was out of his body, the whole squadron struck. " Nothing could equal the courage of Captain Elliot, his Majesty's com- mander, but his humanity ; he would not suffer anything to be touched in Thurot's ship, made saci-ed by his dead body ; Alexander himself did not more bewail the death of Darius than Captain Elliot did the loss of Thurot. " As soon as the shattered ships got to the Isle of Man, Thurot's body was taken on shore, and embalmed, after which he was buried with all those mili- tary honours which his courage and conduct so well deserved ; and Captain Elliot gave all his officers liberty to attend his funeral, himself walking in the procession." — " Genuine and Curious Memoirs of the Famous Captain Thurot. London, 1760." Reprinted for the Percy Society, 1847. 160 BORDER MEMORIES. There is a similar composition by another Border lady of ability — I mean Alicia Rutherfurd of Fernilee, who married Mr Cockburn ; and doubtless both ladies took as their text an old ballad called by the same name, a fragment of which only survives. Miss Elliot was a woman of general sagacity, and was a great and retentive reader. She was especially fond of French literature, but disliked the modern political principles of that nation. As regards her person, she is described as possessing " a sensible face — a slender, well-shaped figure. In manner grave and reserved to strangers. In her conversa- tion she made no attempts at wit, and though possessed of imagination, she never allowed it to entice her from the strictest rules of veracity. She had high aristocratic notions, which she took no pains to conceal." Such is the description given of Miss Elliot by one who knew her in the latter period of her life. For many years she lived in Brown Square, Edin- burgh, not very far from Minto House, the then town residence of the family ; and in her lobby she kept her own Sedan chair, the last private one in Edinburgh. Shortly before her death, which happened in 1805, she re- moved to the residence of her brother. Admiral John Elliot, at Mount Teviot, where she died. Sir Gilbert, third baronet, carried on the line of the Minto family. Like his father and grandfather, he went to the Bar, and passed advocate in 1743. He did not follow up the pro- fession, preferring to devote himself to politics, in which he was as successful as his predecessors were in jurisprudence. Sir Gilbert first represented Selkirkshire, and was afterwards elected for Roxburghshire — his Parliamentary career continu- ing for about twenty-three years, when his health broke down, and he died at the comparatively early age of fifty-four. Sir Gilbert held several important appointments, and was a Privy Councillor, standing very high in general estimation. He had good literary taste, and was an accomplished speaker. He was also a good writer of verses, having commenced versifying at fourteen. Several songs are attributed to him, among them THE ELLIOT FA3IILY. 161 the very good pastoral one beginning " My sheep I neglected," &c. Sir Gilbert had the honour of holding several important appointments, and he was a member of the '' Poker" Club, as well known then as the New Club is now. It was instituted in 1762, and continued for several years, being supported by some of Scotland's brightest stars, then brilliantly shining, such as David Hume, Adam Smith, and Adam Fergusson, who, I believe, invented its name, enigmatical to the public, though it had something to do with the militia question, the poker being an instrument for stirring up. The third Sir Gilbert Elliot married in 1746, at the age of twenty-four, Agnes Murray Kynningmund, heiress of Melgund and Kynynmound, by whom he had several sons and daughters. The eldest. Sir Gilbert, fourth baronet, who more than sustained the reputation of his sires, will be referred to hereafter, while I now take up other members of the family, commencing with Hugh, the second son, who was the "joy of his mother's life and the friend of her heart," and became a most distin- guished man. He held several high diplomatic appointments, and finally became Governor of the important Presidency of Madras, about the time his elder brother concluded his service as Governor-General of India. The life of Hugh Elliot has been fully and pleasantly written by his grand-daughter, the Countess of Minto. Mr Elliot was twice married, and two of his sons, the Dean of Bristol and Admiral Sir Charles Elliot, are distinguished men ; and his daughter Isabella married General Sir Thomas Hislop, the conqueror of the great Indian chief Holkar, who, for his brilliant achievements in India, obtained a Baronetcy and received the thanks of Parliament. Lady Minto is the daughter of Sir Thomas and Lady Hislop, and is consequently an Elliot maternally as well as by marriage. Hugh's younger brothers were Alexander and Egbert. The former was a noted member of the East India Company's Civil Service, and at his death Burke, the statesman, paid a high compliment to his memory. L Robert was an English clergyman, and inherited the poetical genius of his ancestors. One of their sisters married the first Lord Monkland, and her son, the second Peer, became Gover- nor-General of India some time after Lord Minto, the fourth Sir Gilbert Elliot, who was raised to an Earldom after his service in the high office of Governor- General of India terminated. Lord Minto entered public life soon after the death of his father in 1777, and became a mem- ber of Parliament. Previously, however, he made a tour of the Continent, visiting Paris, in the brilliant assemblies of which city he mixed. He was a marked favourite of the once beautiful, but ever witty and accomplished Madame du DefFand, a leading member of the literary fashionable circles of that city, and the friend of our best English letter-writer, Horace Walpole, with whom Madame maintained a close and interest- ing correspondence. After Sir Gilbert Elliot's return from the Continent he got into Parliament, having been elected at the age of twenty-three for Morpeth, and shortly after he was chosen for Koxburghshire without a contest. Lord Robert Ker, brother of John, Duke of Roxburghe, withdrawing in his favour. He was much esteemed in the House of Commons, and nearly carried the Speakership on one occasion. After a time he was sent to Toulon as Commissioner for the protection of the Royalists, and in the following year was despatched to Corsica, the people of that island having applied for British protection, and as Viceroy there Sir Gilbert showed so much judgment and prudence as to call forth the highest encomiums. Though an insurrection broke out, it was quelled before the island, which declared for the French, was delivered up. As a reward for his services, Sir Gilbert was made a Baronet of Great Britain in 1797, and at the same time got an augmen- tation of his armorial bearings of a Moor's head couped in profile, being the arms of the Island of Corsica. After returning to this country he was not long inactive, for he was soon appointed Envoy at Vienna, in which office he continued two years, and then joined the All Talents Ministry m 1806, which was soon dissolved by the death oi rox. JLord Minto was then appointed Governor-General of India, whither he went to practise the doctrine of non-interference ; but he very soon found, though he had joined in condemning " War- ren Hastings' aggrandising and annexing tendencies," that the security of our Empire, as an author states, " depended upon the actual superiority of our power, upon the sense the natives entertained of that power, and upon the submissiveness of our neighbours." Still Lord Minto's rule in India was pacific, the great Mahratta War being over before he reached Calcutta ; but in the Indian seas he had much work, and his conquests there were considerable, requiring an extensive force and large means to carry them on. The Mauritius was conquered in 1810, and in 1811 Java was taken, the island capitulating to the British. Borneo, that nest of pirates, was subdued soon afterwards, our troops having made a successful attack upon it ; and its recent history is well known under the Governorship of that devoted and patriotic man, the late Rajah Brooke. Lord Minto went in person to Java with the expedition, and among the number of brave hearts which it included there was none more gallant or true than John Leyden of Denholm, who was in his ardour the first to land, and he was probably the first to die, for, owing to rash exposure, he was attacked by fever, which carried him off in three days, just on the eve of the battle that caused the capitulation of the island. It has been already said that Lord Minto got two steps in the peerage for his services as governor-general, and he also received the thanks of Parliament, always a high honour to a public man. After an absence of about seven years, he returned to England ; but though the mansion house at Minto was com- pleted and ready for his reception, he was not permitted to see it, having died on his way to Scotland on the 21st June 1814, aged sixty-three. He married in 1777 Miss Amyand, daughter of Sir George Amyand (whose ancestors were Huguenots or French Protestants), by whom he had several sons and daughters. 164 BORDER MEMORIES. The sons were Gilbert, George, John Edmund, and William, the three first being well known to many in the county now alive. Gilbert, the second Earl, will be afterwards noticed, and I now proceed with George, who was a dis- tinguished naval officer. He was one of the heroes of Copen- hagen in 1801, and accompanied his father, the governor- general, in his expedition against Java, and aided in its re- duction. He also did good service against the pirates at Borneo. He obtained flag rank in 1837, and was for some time a Lord of the Admiralty ; but went to sea again, com- manding as Admiral on the African coast and at the Cape station. Admiral Elliot was made a K.C.B., and was elected the first member for Roxburghshire, after the passing of the Reform Bill of 1832, continuing to represent the county till 1835. John Edmund, the third son, was long in the East India Company's Bengal Civil Service, in which he had a successful career, and some time after returning home he became member for Roxburghshire, retaining the honourable position for several years and discharging his duties to the satisfaction of his constituents generally. He was a genial, loveable man, and a universal favourite, full of anecdote and pleasantry. I have read an account of a party of notables assembled to- gether on one occasion, John Elliot being of the number, and as usual the very life and soul of the meeting, at which per- sonations were given, stories told, and a good deal of mimicry indulged in. One of Mr Elliot's neighbours at table was a certain old Scotch lady of eccentric ways. The conversation turned on the Minto estate of Melgund, which she told Mr Elliot was once the residence of Cardinal Beaton. He enquired if she knew it well. She said she did — and " Kenned a' the land thereabout frae the sooth side o' Seidlaw to the north o' the Grampians ; " and she told him how a living lobster had fallen out of a cadger's creel up about the parish of Lintrathen, and how a Highlandman had picked it up and carried it to the minister, and how the minister had put on his spectacles to THE ELLIOT FAMILY. 165 see what kind of a beast it was, " and after long examination, and mony a reference to the Bible, he pronounced it to be either an elephant or a turtle dove" Mr Elliot in his turn related how a seafaring friend of his, in giving an order for provisioning the ship said, "I am re- solved to have a cow, for I am very fond of new laid eggs.^^ He then told her that a young lady had taken his purse the night before, and he would refer to her ladyship what punish- ment should be awarded. She said she would give the same judgment that the bellman of Arbroath did on a like occasion, when he happened to be the finder : — " John Elliot's lost his purse, And his money which is worse ; Them that's found it let them keep it, Them that's lost it let them seek it. John Elliot, who married Miss Cassmagil of Madras, had the pain of losing his eldest son, when commanding the 70th Regiment at Varna, during the Crimean War, the gallant officer's widow having had a son soon after her lamented hus- band's death. The fourth son William was also an officer in the Royal Navy, and died so far back as 1812, on his passage from India, being third lieutenant of the frigate "Fox." Two of the Earl's daughters married respectively Sir Rufane Donkin, a gallant warrior, and Sir John Boileau, whose great-grand-father emigrated from France at the revo- cation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, when many Protestants left France and came to England, and was no doubt a Huguenot like the ancestors of the Amyands. I now return to the eldest brother Gilbert, second Earl of Minto, who suc- ceeded his father in 1814. Born in 1781, he was about thirty- two when he came to his dignities and estates, and living till 1858 he enjoyed them about forty-four years, attaining the age of seventy-seven. Before succeeding to the peerage, Lord Minto had been in the House of Commons as member for Ashburton, and like his father and grand-father, took a warm 166 BORDER MEMORIES. interest in i^olitical affairs. He held some important appoint- ments, and became a Cabinet Minister in 1835, as first Lord of the Admiralty, and retiring in 1841 he remained out of office till 1846, when he became Lord Privy Seal with a seat in the Cabinet, which he held till 1852, when he retired into private life. He married in 1806 the elder daughter of Patrick Brydon, the traveller and author, son of the Kev. Kobert Brydon, minister of Coldingham. She was a grand- daughter of Dr Eobertson, the historian, which connected Lady Minto with Lord Brougham, who was a grand-nephew of the historian. Eobert Burns and Sir Walter Scott were friends of Mr Brydon, who is described in " Marmion " as the Pilgrim of Lennel. OTHER BRANCHES OF THE ELLIOT FAMILIES. An old cadet of the Elliot tree is the Brugh branch which merged in that of Wells. The only noted member of the latter house was the Right Honourable William Elliot, who had settled his property first on Lord Heathfield, and failing him, upon the Stobbs family, who, in consequence of Lord Heath- field's death without male heirs, succeeded on the death of Mr Elliot in 1818. This gentleman, though born and educated in England, became the inheritor of Wells. He was long in Parliament and in office, having been Secretary for Ireland and a Privy Councillor. He was respected by Burke and Windham, but with him that bright brotherhood became ex- tinct. His physique was peculiar, and he was almost like a living skeleton. He died at Minto House on the 26th October 1818, where there is a picture of him. Among the old Elliot houses were the Horsliehills, Dinlay- byi-es, Falnashs, and Whitehaughs who have all disappeared. Then there are the Wolfelees and Borthwickbraes still in full vigour and well represented ; but the Wolfelees descend from Stobbs two generations after the Mintos, and are now repre- THE ELLIOT FAMILY. 167 sented by Sir Walter Elliot, whose father had an elder brother who died in early life. I have no particulars of the old members of the family, and the first I have to notice is Cornelius, who was long at the head of the Eoxburghshire Freeholders and also of the Writers to the Signet in Edin- burgh. One of his daughters married first Sir John Gibson Carmichael, by whom she had an only daughter ; and secondly, the first Lord Elphinston, by whom, curiously enough, she had an only son, the late Lord Elphinston, governor of Madras, and subsequently of Bombay, where his rule, especi- ally during the mutiny in 1857, was characterized by much ability, and in reward for his services he was made a British Peer, but died early. Cornelius Elliot had a brother, Thomas, a Scotch physician, who married Miss Elphinston of Logie, a family already re- ferred to, but he only survived his marriage three weeks, and such was the inconsolable sorrow of his widow for his loss, that she never saw the sun for two years, till she yielded to the entreaties of her spiritual adviser, the eminent Hugh Blair, and once more emerged into Society, though she never recovered her former cheerfulness. She also had a narrow escape from being buried alive in a vault at Megginch Castle, when searching for old papers deposited there. The Borthwickbrae Elliots, connected now by marriage with the Wolfelees, deserve notice next. They also descend from the old Elliot tree, through the Bewlie and Horsliehill branches. The Borthwickbraes are well allied, intermarr3dng with ancient Scotts, and the House of Cleghorn, which existed in the fifteenth century. One of the ladies of the family mar- ried Mr Simpson of Knowe, and was mother of General Sir James Simpson, for some time commander-in-chief during the Crimean War. The father of the present head of the family, Mr Elliot Lockhart, Lord-Lieutenant of Selkirkshire, was Member of Parliament for that county for nearly a quarter of a century. He had an elder brother who fell at Waterloo. The Peebles and Selkirk lines were of the old stock, and one 168 BORDER MEMORIES. or both may have been of the Horsliehill branch. William Elliot was Provost of Peebles early in the seventeenth century. His son, Hairie, was minister of Bedrule. He died in the prime of life, leaving a widow and seven children. Dr Scott mentions that she petitioned Parliament in 1662, showing that Mr Elliot " suffered so much persecution and affliction for defending His Majesty's interests and preroga- tives in the pulpit both at home and abroad, publicly praying for His Majesty at the expedition of 1648, that he was driven from his charge, and lived in a most dejected, miserable, sad, and downcast condition, and that had it not been for the charity of some faithful, loyal, and well-wishing Christians, they had quite famished, and never been able to have subsisted." Parliament allowed the petition by granting £100 sterling out of the vacant stipends. SELKIRK ELLIOTS. About the same time, or shortly after, there lived Eobert Elliot, minister of Lessudden, who, I suppose, was likewise from the Peebles stock. He was also cited before the Privy Council for dissuading the Magistrates of that town from taking the test, and was deposed for contumacy in 1690. In the following century there flourished a celebrated man of the Peebles line. Sir John Elliot, who became an eminent London physician. He began in a very small way, and became surgeon to a Privateer, in which he obtained prize money, which enabled him to. take out his diploma and embark, not in another Privateer, but as physician in the great metropolis, where he had as competitors Buchan of Ancrum and Armstrong of Castleton. All three did well in the pro- fession, especially Buchan and Elliot. The latter was employed by families of rank and even royalty, and such were his fame, talents, and influence, he obtained a Baronetcy in 1778, but he did not survive his honours many years, for he died sud- denly in 1786. When advanced in years, he made an unfor- THE ELLIOT FAMILY. 169 tunate marriage with the notorious Grace Dalrymple, who got into some intrigue, which made Sir John divorce her, when I believe she entered a convent. No family resulting from this marriage. Sir John Elliot died without an heir to the Baronetcy, which consequently became extinct at his demise. Previously to Sir John Elliot, there were two well-known doctors of the name of Elliot in Edinburgh, who may also have come from Peebles, though I have not ascertained their derivation. Their names were Gideon and Robert, both members of the early Medical School of Edinburgh, and there is a picture of Gideon in the College of Surgeons. There was another Dr "Eobert Elliot, who died at Bilboa, at a very advanced age, early in this century. INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS OF THE ELLIOT FAMILY. I come now to notice individual Elliots, whom I cannot identify with any of the preceding families. The first is a very historical name, John Elliot, of the Park, Bothwell's adversary. He lived in the middle of the sixteenth century and later, and was a desperate Freebooter. Quean Mary in 1566 appointed the notorious Bothwell, Warden of the Marches, which had been much disturbed by the feuds of the Liddesdale clans especially, and shortly afterwards, the Queen, accompanied by her Officers of State and Justice, visited Jedburgh for the purpose of hold- ing a Court there. Bothwell in the exercise of his office as warden, made an attempt to capture Jock Elliot, whom he shot through the thigh, upon which the Mosstrooper assailed and nearly killed Bothwell, He was carried to Hermitage Castle, and it was upon this occasion Queen Mary visited him, having ridden from Jedburgh, a distance of nearly fifty miles there and back, exposed to danger from the fierce Borderers, besides being nearly lost in a morass, still called the Queen's Mire. An author states that the Queen was so much 170 BORDER MEMORIES. grieved in heart at Bothwell's accident, that she could take no rest till she saw the wounded Earl, and Lord Scrope states that she remained two hours at Hermitage, to Bothwell's great pleasure and contentment. This fatiguing ride and her dis- tress of mind, another writer states, threw her into a severe illness, which detained her in Jedburgh for some time, in a house which still stands in Queen Street. Darnley was some time in visiting Mary, owing, as Birrell states, to his being long in getting intelligence, but when he did come, he only remained one night with her. But to return to Jock Elliot, who was the cause of Bothwell's illness, and indirectly of that of the Queen, I think he must be the person to whom the Border tune, which has been called the " Gathering of the Elliots," applies, and of which John Leyden was so passion- ately fond. It will be recollected that, when upon a sick bed in India, Leyden heard of the march of the volunteers to Hawick early this century, on the occasion of the then threatened invasion, to this lively air of " Wha daur meddle wi' me," he sprang from his couch, and with a strange melody, and still stranger gesticulations, sang aloud : " Wlia daur meddle wi' me, And wha daur meddle wi' me, " Very little is known of this Slogan, or its origin, but as the following verses point to or fit the adversary of Bothwell, their quotation here is justifiable, and may be interesting : " I vanquisli'd the Queen's Lieutenant, And gard his fierce troopers flee, My name it is little Jock Elliot, And wha daur meddle wi' me. I ride on my fleet-futted gray, My sword hanging doon by my knee, I ne'er was afraid o' a foe, And wha daur meddle wi' me." The following verses, from Ayton's ballad, "Bothwell," relate to the Border Mosstroopers, and especially John of Park : " Saint Andrew ! 'twas no easy task To hunt an Armstrong down, Or make a Johnston yield his sword, At summons from the Crown ! THE ELLIOT FAMILY. 171 *' Yet, ere a week had passed away, One half my work was done, And safe within my castle lay, Whitehaugh and Mangerton. ** I had them all, but only one, John Elliot, of the Park, As stalwart and as bold a man. As ever rode by dark. " I sought him far, I sought him near. He baffled all my men ; At last I met him, face to face. Within the Billhope glen. " What parley passed between us twain ? ' Thou art the warden ! ' ' Ay ! ' ' Thou Elliot of the Park ! ' ' I am,' ' Wilt yield thee ? ' ' Come and try. ' " We lighted down from off our steeds, We tied them to a tree. The sun was shining in the west, And all alone were we. " Out flew the steel, and then began A sharp and desperate strife ; For Elliot fought to 'scape the cord, I fought for fame and Hfe. " Ha ! ha ! were he alive again, And on this dungeon floor, What joy, with such a man as that. To cross the sword once more ! *' The blows he fetched were stark and strong. And so were mine, I ween, Until 1 cleft his head-piece through. And stretched him on the green. " ' Wilt yield thee now ! ' ' I will not yield. But an ye promise grace ; ' ' That must you ask upon your knee. Before our Sovereign's face.' " Blinded with blood, he struggled up — * Lord Earl,' he said, ' beware ! No man shall take me living yet ; Now follow, if you dare.' ] 72 BORDER MEMORIES. " I slipped upon the broken moss ; And in the sheugh * we rolled, Death-grappling, silent, heaving each, Within the other's hold. " He passed above me, and I felt — Once — twice— his dagger drive, But mine went deeper through his breast, I rose, but half alive ! " All spun around me, trees and hills, A mist appeared to rise ; Yet one thing saw I clearly yet, Before my fading eyes ; " Not half a rood beyond the burn, A man lay stiff and stark ; I knew it was my stubborn foe, John Elliot of the Park. *• I strove in vain to sound my horn, No further thought had I ; And reeling on that lonely glen, I fell, but not to die." I now take up this hero's prototype, John Elliot of Cop- shaw, who was quite as daring a freebooter. In 1568, he and his accomplices made a desperate raid on Torwoodlee, in Sel- kirkshire, killing the laird, George Pringle, when in bed ; also destroying a great deal of property, and stealing a large amount of money. This Pringle of Torwood had been at the battle of Pinkie, and was ancestor of George, the distinguished adherent of the Royal cause during the Civil war, which en- tailed upon him great personal suffering — injuring his estate very seriously, though in a different manner to the raid on the first George by John Elliot of Copshaw, whose punish- ment was simply that of being put to the horn, and having his movables escheated. Early last century there lived Henry Elliot of Dead- water — a farm which belonged to the Duke of Northumber- * BuiTow or trench. THE ELLIOT FAMILY. 173 land — who was a shrewd but eccentric man. At a court held at Alnwick one May-day, the tenants being summoned to pay their rents, Elliot of course attended with the rest. It was after a very bad season, when many of their flocks had perished, and the tenantry were unanimous, except Henry of Deadwater, in pleading for a return, or an abatement of rent, in consequence of their heavy losses. Elliot told the agents he did not mean to whinge or cringe to them, and added, "Had I followed the plan of my neighbours, I cannot tell what the consequences might have been, for they no sooner saw a sheep dead than they skinned it ; but I took another method, and ordered my shepherds not to skin one of them till the warm weather came, when to my great joy the most part of them came to life again." This double entendre excited much laughter, and Elliot got as large a reduction as any of the other tenants. In the latter part of last century, there lived Charles Elliot, from Liddesdale, one of the most enterprising pub- lishers in Edinburgh. He was, in fact, the John Murray or Blackwood of his time. He trained James Sibbald of White- law, also a native of this county, who, like Elliot, had a great taste for literature, and who became as famous as his old master, for he was not only a great Book-seller, but a book writer. Thomas Elliot, Minister of Cavers from 1763 to 1809, deserves notice in the Elliot history. He was a man of in- tense modesty and gentleness, while he possessed considerable abilities as a mathematician and astronomer, of which he made little display. He wrote an essay on astronomy, which appeared in the " Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh ; " and also the old statistical account of his parish. Mr Elliot had the honour of giving the celebrated Thomas Chalmers his first employment as a preacher, having appointed him his assistant about seventy years ago ; and though his stay was but short, his ministry in our Border land is not forgotten. Chalmers 174 BORDER MEMORIES. was delighted with the beauty of Teviotdale, and his heart was quite won, as his biographer tells us, by the frank and intelligent cordiality of its families. Although the Elliots were not much in record on the Bor- ders before the sixteenth century, they distinguished them- selves in their desperate calling — a calling of which an early Scottish poet says — " Of Liddisdale the common theifis Sa peartlie stellis now, and reifs That nane may keip Horse, nolt, nor scheip, Nor yett dar sleip For their mischiefis." There was, however, neighbourly feeling in the hearts of some of the freebooters, for it is recorded of "Auld Buc- cleuch " that, when Jamie Telfer of the Fair Dodhead lost his cattle by an inroad of the English reivers, he sent Wat o' Harden and others to the help of Telfer, and had the honour of recovering his cattle that had been carried off. Jamie Telfer had paid black mail, or protection money, to Gilbert Elliot of Stobbs, and claimed his help before making applica- tion to Buccleuch at Branksome, but '* Auld Gibbie Elliot " refused any assistance. In his great emergency Telfer applied to the Scotts, who, headed by Harden, came to his succour, and recovered his cattle. Tlie story is well told in the ballad, of which a part is subjoined : — " It fell about the Martinmas tyde, When our border steeds get corn and hay, The Captain of Bewcastle hath bound him to ryde, And he 's ower to Tividale to drive a prey. And when they cam to the Fair Dodhead, Right hastily they clam the peel ; They loos'd the kye out, ane and a', And ranshackled the house right weel. Now Jamie Telfer's heart was sair, The tear aye rowing in his e'e ; He pled wi' the Captain to hae his gear, Or else revenged he wad be. THE ELLIOT FAMILY. 175 The Captain turned him round and leugh ; Said — 'Man, ther 's naething in thy house But ae auld sword without a sheath. That hardly now wad fell a mouse.' The sun was na up, but the moon was doon, It was the gryming * of a new-fa 'n snaw ; Jamie Telf er has run ten myles a-foot, Between the Dodhead and the Stobbs' ha'. And when he cam to the fair tower yett, He shouted loud, and cried weel hie, Till out bespak Auld Gibbie EUiot— ' Whae 's this, that brings the fraye to me ? ' ' It 's I, Jamie Telfer o' the Fair Dodhead, And a harried man I think I be ! Ther 's naething left at the Fair Dodhead But a waefu' wife and bairnies three.' ' Gae seek your succour at Branxsome Ha', For succour ye 'se get nane frae me ! Gae seek your succour where ye paid black mail. For man ! ye ne'er paid mony to me.' Jamie has turned him round about — I wat the tear blinded his e'e, — I'll ne'er pay mail to Elliot again. And the Fair Dodhead I'll never see !' "' Telfer, in his difficulty, applies to Jock Grieve, his wife's brother-in-law, who lived at Coultart Cleugh, on the Teviot. *' Then up bespak him Auld Jock Grieve — ' Whae 's this that brings the fraye to me ? ' ' It 's I Jamie Telfer o' the Fair Dodhead, A harried man I trow I be. Ther's naething left in the Fair Dodhead But a greeting wife and bairnies three, And sax puir ca'as"!" stand in the sta' A' routing loud for their minnie.' " X Though Jock Grieve pitied Telfer, he could do little for him, but, aided by another friend. ** He 's set his twa sons on coal-black steeds, Himsel' upon a freckled grey, And they are on wi' Jamie Telfer To Branxsome Ha' to tak the fraye. Sprinkling. + Calves. % Mother. 176 BORDER MEMORIES. And when they cam to Branxsome Ha*, They shouted a' baith loud and hie, Till up and spak him auld Buccleuch, Said — ' Whae 's this brings the fraye to me ? ' * It 's I, Jamie Telfer o' the Fair Dodhead, And a harried man I be ! Ther 's nought left in the Fair Dodhead But a greeting wife and bairnies three.' * Alack for wae ! ' quoth the gude auld Lord, ' And ever my heart is wae for thee ! But fye, gar cry on Willie,* my son, And see that he come to me speedilie ! Gar warn the water, braid and wide ; Gar warn it soon and hastily ! They that winna ride for Telfer's kye. Let them never look in the face o' me. Warn Wat o' Harden and his sons, Wi' them will Borthwick water ride ; Warn Goudielands and Allanhaugh, And Gilmanscleuch and Commonside.' " Buccleucli's supposed son was most active in the pursuit, and lost his life on the occasion. " But Willie was stricken our the head, And through the knapscap the sword has gane. And Harden grat for very rage, When Willie on the grund lay slane. ' Revenge ! Revenge ! ' auld Wat 'gan cry, ' Fye, lads, lay on them cruellie ! . We '11 ne'er see Tiviotside again, Or Willie's death revenged sail be.' " It was, indeed, revenged by the overthrow and death of up- wards of thirty of the English reivers. The cattle were recovered, and " Whan they cam to the Fair Dodhead, They were a wellcum sight to see ! For instead of his ain ten milk kye, Jamie Telfer has gotten thirty and three." I must here observe that Sir Walter Scott intimates the sup- position that there had been another ballad in which the same * Supposed to be a natural son of Buccleuch's. THE ELLIOT FAMILY. 177 incidents are related, except that the merit of recovering Jamie Telfer's kye is ascribed to the Elliots, commanded by a friend of the Regent Murray, Martin Elliot of the Preahin Tower, whose son Simon is said to have lost his life in the fray. Sir Walter, however, suggests the possibility that both Scotts and Elliots might have been concerned in the rescue ; and if so, all honour to both clans. CONCLUSION. I have thus given you an imperfect sketch of the most dis- tinguished of the Elliot name in various walks of life, on both sides of the Border. Those who have followed me in its details will agree, with respect to the Scotch Elliots, that few of the Border clans, as our Highland neighbours would call them, have contributed more useful or devoted citizens to the public weal. Like the Douglases, Scotts, and Kers, whose histories I have previously given, the Elliots long ago have sowed and reaped, and got rid of their wild oats, and have a goodly crop of faithful and disinterested labours to show as the credentials of their patriotism. They have exchanged " Wha daur meddle wi' me ? " for a much more noble motto, " Wha daur meddle with our country ? " Amongst the men of mark who have borne the name of Elliot stands conspicuous George Augustus, the hero of Gibraltar. The defence of this key to the Mediterranean — which may England ever retain — would of itself have been enough to have won for this Border sept lasting honour, had no other members of it been famed for public services; but when I have shown you that this is very far from being the case, the house of Minto especially having produced a number of distinguished men, abroad and at home, as governors of dependencies, as lawyers or members of the Senate, or last, M 178 BORDER MEMORIES. not least, as country gentlemen living on tlieir estates, they have played their part well. This, in conclusion, I may remark of them, as well as other families of our nobility or titled gentry : possessors of broad lands, or inheritors of honoured names, they have not been contented to rest solely on the prestige of ancestral distinction, but have felt that such advantages involve a responsibility to call out fresh exertions on their own part, acting on the French motto, " Noblesse oblige," which might be freely rendered, " We are noblemen ; we cannot help acting nobly." Such has been the conduct especially of the Minto family, some of whose good deeds I have brought before you. Such, with some few excep- tions, is the case with the re23resentatives of many a lordly name in this country still, and particularly with our Border Peers. While this spirit continues there will be little fear of levellers and ultra-republicans shouldering out our nobles and landed gentry. The people will look on them with respect and affection, and feel they claim their right of honour by services faithfully rendered, and achievements gallantly per- formed, for the country they love and which loves them. We give on the next two pages a pedigree of the families of Eedheugh and Larriston, furnished to the author by the Hon. George Elliot, brother to the Earl of Minto. THE ELLlUi J?iu>iiiJi. J25 O H Ul i-t P5 < 1-5 P 3.S g ^ <1 W of B ythe" n Hi led at w °^'"!3 p Ell ned the -e »= ai P5 ^^g2 fe 5B a 2 o Ul H O 1— 1 1-5 h^l w 3 — 2S — o I — O ^-^r a 53 tc on s=^ C fi"^ rj- T3^ ^ o 1-5 oi r c .a O 2 -n w° d o a -^o ' ' A ^ ^-« ?,o o o J-" ^ = t SJ gi S 5 ^ 3 S2 3 H X ^ »^ o ^ o a cii-i ^ N . S K a o S. c ^■e teg S g s-g h-1 O. 3 ^"§"3 • r3 < 2 o s o C ^ ^ s 03 ■.;^ o O m c 1-! J=. .t3T3T3 * i fl •C5§ eS c ^ 9.5 § °|26 S g -^ Ik^H o-d °C o C3 E^ = 3 s s «! i.n Ct3 f .= S !^ 1 c3-^ >-. O OS OJ 1 — ,^ o ci .»:. J M d ri m eJ o -3 to <: a 0) ; o O) 'ji; S o: oT-S i5 5"^;3^ i:^ 3^:3 25*" "ts'?* "'■SI 0, lliot r to Ste 11, tti and rt E d he Jean thwe husb 0, o >^o Si ^-ap?- — < SS.3-SS .si v« ut c