William Lithgow was born in Lanark about 1582. The actual date of his
birth is uncertain, but he states (page 377) that he was thirty-three
in 1615, and in 'The present Surveigh of London' 'past threescore
years' in April, 1643. He was the eldest son of James Lithgow,
Burgess of Lanark, and Alison Grahame, his wife. He was educated at
Lanark Grammar School, and, according to Sir Walter Scott, [1] was
'bred a tailor.' Scott does not, however, give his authority for
this statement. Lithgow seems to have started his travels at a very
early age, having 'a large infusion of the wandering spirit common
to his country-men.' [2] He says himself that 'neither ambition,
too much curiosity, nor any reputation I ever sought did expose
me to such long peregrinations and dangerous adventures past'--but
'that undeserved Dalida wrong.' What this mysterious 'Dalida wrong'
was is unknown, but family tradition has it that the four brothers,
'foure blood-shedding wolves,' of a certain Miss Lockhart, finding
their sister with Lithgow, set upon him and cut off his ears, and
from this arose his local nickname of '"Cutlugged" or "Lugless"
Will.' Be this as it may, by 1609, Lithgow had made 'two voyages
to the Orcadian and Zetlandian Isles, in the stripling age of mine
adolescency, and there after surveighing all Germany, Bohemia,
Helvetia, and the Low-Countreys from end to end; I visited Paris,
where I remained ten moneths.'
From Paris, on March 7th, 1609, Lithgow set out on the first of the
three journeys of which he gives an account in his 'Totall Discourse,'
where he claims that his 'paynefull feet traced over (beside my
passages of Seas and Rivers) thirty-six thousand and odde miles,
which draweth neare to twice the circumference of the whole Earth.'
It was on the third of these journeys, when passing through Spain
with the intention of seeing 'Great Prester Jehan and his Empire,'
that he was thrown into prison in Malaga as a spy and severely
tortured. He was released by the intervention of the English Consul
there and the English Ambassador at Madrid, backed by a division of
King James' Navy which, under the command of Sir Robert Maunsell,
happened opportunely to be lying in Malaga Roads, on its return from
the expedition against Algiers.
On his arrival at Dartford, fifty days after leaving Malaga, Lithgow
was carried to the Court at Theobalds, and exhibited his 'martyrd
anatomy' to the whole Court, 'even from the King to the Kitchin.' At
the King's expense he was sent twice to Bath, where he recovered his
health, although his left arm and crushed bones were incurable. Early
in 1622 he was sent to the Marshalsea prison for a long period [3] for
assaulting, in the presence chamber, the Spanish Ambassador Gondomar,
whose empty promises of redress for his sufferings at Malaga had
exasperated Lithgow beyond endurance.
In 1624 Lithgow preferred a Bill of Grievance to the House of Lords,
which he daily followed for seventeen weeks, but 'the house breaking
up abruptly their order for my suite could take none effect as then,
nor yet since, in regard it was no Session Parliament.' In the spring
of 1627 he left the Court for Scotland; he traversed the Western
Isles, and was 'kindly intertayned' in Brodick Castle by James,
Marquess of Hamilton.
In 1632 Lithgow published the first collected edition [4] of his
Travels, under the title of 'The Totall Discourse Of the Rare
Aduentures and painefull Peregrinations of long nineteene Yeares
Trauayles, from Scotland, to the most Famous Kingdomes in Europe,
Asia, and Affrica.... Imprinted at London by Nicholas Okes.' The
publication seems to have got him immediately into trouble, probably
owing to the Spanish influence at Court, as there is a petition extant
[5] from him in which he states that he 'had no satisfaction for his
grievous torments sustained in Malaga, and having in the description
of his foreign travels succinctly avouched the woeful memory of such
disastrous accidents, had been this long time committed close prisoner
to the Gatehouse, when he had contracted great sickness to the danger
of his life. The printer in whom only the reprehension was, is long ago
"decarcerat," but he is retained in severe punishment.' He protests
that he will never 'meddle any more with the Spaniard however his
lamentable wrongs remain unrepaired.'
On the 16th May, 1637, Lithgow, mounted on a 'Gallowegian nagge,'
left Scotland, where he had been the guest of the Earl of Galloway,
intending to embark at London for Russia, but shipping failing,
and summer being over, he resolved to go instead to Breda, and on
his return published 'A True and Experimentall Discourse, upon the
beginning, proceeding and Victorious event of this last Siege of
Breda ... London: Printed by J. Okes for J. Rothwel ... 1637.'
On 24th August, 1643, Lithgow again left Scotland, embarking at
Prestonpans for London, 'In all which deserted way, betweene Forth and
Gravesend, wee found onely three ships, two Scotsmen and a Noruegian,
and one of the royall whelps lying at anker in Aermouth road, which
made the sea resemble a wildernesse.' As the result of this visit,
he published 'The present Surveigh of London and England's State
... London, Printed by J. O. 1643.' In this book Lithgow gives an
interesting account of the fortifications raised by the citizens for
defence against the Royalist army. The last work known to have been
published by him is 'An Experimental and Exact Relation upon that
famous and renowned Siege of Newcastle ... Edinburgh, printed by
Robert Bryson 1645.' From this date all trace of him is lost; the
date of his death and the place of his burial are unknown, though
there is a tradition that he died in Lanark, and lies buried in the
churchyard of St. Kentigern there.
Editions of 'The Totall Discourse' were published in London in 1640
and 1682, and in Edinburgh in 1770 and 1814, while a volume of the
'Poetical Remains of William Lithgow,' containing valuable 'Prefatory
Remarks,' was collected and published by Dr. James Maidment in
Edinburgh in 1863.
The text of 'The Totall Discourse' now published is a reprint of
the editio princeps of 1632. References to the pages of the original
edition are given in the margin. The letters i, j, u, and v have been
altered to conform to modern usage, and obvious printers' errors
both of spelling and punctuation have been corrected. The index of
the original text has been replaced by a fuller one in this edition.
Glasgow,
September, 1906.
THE TOTALL DISCOURSE
of the
Rare Adventures and Painefull Peregrinations
of long Nineteene Yeares Travayles
from Scotland to the most famous
Kingdomes in Europe, Asia
and Affrica
To the High and mighty Monarch,
CHARLES,
By the Grace of GOD, King of Great Britaine,
France, and Ireland, &c.