The communion was administered in Edinburgh, and as it was near Easter,
the few remaining Catholics met at mass. The reformed clergy were on
the alert, and seized the priest, Sir James Carvet, as he was coming
from the house where he had officiated. Knox tells us with what an
absurd degree of leniency the offender was treated. They ‘conveyed
him,’ says he, ‘together with the master of the house, and one or two
more of the assistants, to the Tolbooth, and immediately revested
him with all his garments upon him, and so carried him to the Market
Cross, where they set him on high, binding the chalice in his hand, and
himself tied fast to the said Cross, where he tarried the space of one
hour; during which time _the boys served him with his Easter eggs_.
‘The next day, Carvet with his assistants were accused and convinced
by an assize, according to the act of parliament; and, albeit for the
same offence he deserved death, yet, for all punishment, he was set
upon the Market Cross for the space of three or four hours, the hangman
standing by and keeping him, [while] the boys and others were busy with
eggs-casting.’
The queen sent an angry letter to the magistrates about this business;
from which ‘may be perceived how grievously the queen’s majesty would
have been offended if the mess-monger had been handled according to his
demerit’--that is, hanged.--_Knox._
* * * * *
[Sidenote: APR.]
A discovery of antique remains was made at Inveresk, near Musselburgh,
revealing the long-forgotten fact of the Romans once having had a
settlement on that fine spot. Randolph, the English resident at
Mary’s court, communicated some account of the discovery to the
Earl of Bedford. ‘April 7, For certain there is found a cave beside
Musselburgh, standing upon a number of pillars, made of tile-stones
curiously wrought, signifying great antiquity, and strange monuments
found in the same. This cometh to my knowledge, besides the common
report, by th’ assurance of Alexander Clerk, who was there to see
it, which I will myself do within three or four days, and write unto
your lordship the more certainty thereof, for I will leave nothing
of it unseen.’ ‘April 18, The cave found beside Musselburgh, seemeth
to be some monument of the Romans, by a stone which was found, with
these words graven upon him, APPOLLONI GRANNO Q. L. SABINIANUS PROC.
AUG. Divers short pillars set upright upon the ground, covered with
tile-stones, large and thick, torning into divers angles, and certain
places like unto chynes [chimneys] to avoid smoke. This is all I can
gather thereof.’[35]
[Sidenote: 1565.]
The reader will be amused at the difficulty which Randolph seems to
have felt in visiting a spot scarcely six miles from Edinburgh. He
will, however, be equally gratified to know that the queen herself
became interested in the preservation of the remains found on this
occasion. Her treasurer’s accounts contain an entry of twelvepence,
paid to ‘ane boy passand of Edinburgh, with ane charge of the queen’s
grace, direct to the bailies of Musselburgh, charging them to tak
diligent heed and attendance, that the monument of grit antiquity, new
fundin, be nocht demolishit nor broken down.’
The monument here spoken of was, in reality, an altar dedicated to
Apollo Grannicus, the Long-haired Apollo, by Sabinianus, proconsul
of Augustus, while the cave with pillars was the hypocaust or
heating-chamber of a bath, connected with a villa, of which further
remains were discovered in January 1783. The spot where the
antiquities were discovered in 1565 is occupied by the lawn in front
of Inveresk House. Camden reports the following as an accurate copy
of the inscription, made by Sir Peter Young, preceptor to King James
VI.--‘APPOLLINI GRANNO Q. LUSIUS SABINIANUS PROC. AUG. VSSLVM.’--which
is thus extended and translated by the ingenious Robert Stuart in
his _Caledonia Romana_ (1845): ‘Appollini Grannico Quintus Lusius
Sabinianus Proconsul Augusti, votum susceptum solvit lubens volens
merito;’ that is, ‘To Appollo Granicus, Quintus Lusius Sabinianus, the
Proconsul of Augustus [dedicates this], a self-imposed vow, cheerfully
performed.’
Napier alludes to the Inveresk altar in his Commentary on the
Apocalypse, and it appears to have attracted the attention of Ben
Jonson, when he was in Scotland in 1618. We last hear of it from Sir
Robert Sibbald, who died in 1711. In Gordon’s _Itinerarium_, published
a few years later, it is not noticed; wherefore it may be conjectured
that this interesting relic of antiquity was lost sight of or destroyed
about the beginning of the eighteenth century.