‘James Young, player at cards and dice, was slain in the kirk [St
Giles] by ane boy of sixteen years of age, called Lawrence Man.
This Lawrence was beheaded on the Castle Hill, the last day of
Januar.’--_Bir._
* * * * *
[Sidenote: MAY 2.]
[Sidenote: 1605.]
A curious case was considered by the Privy Council. James Blackadder
of Tulliallan had been charged by Sir Michael Balfour of Burleigh, to
address himself to Perth, and there buy from him and his factor John
Jamieson three stands of horsemen’s arms, under pain of rebellion if
he failed to do so before a particular day. James represented to the
lords that long before Sir Michael had brought home these arms, he had
provided himself otherwise with ‘twa good corslets of proof for his
awn person, besides a number of jacks for his servants, with certain
muskets, hagbuts, pikes, spears, and all other sort of arms sufficient
for aucht persons,’ although not bound by his rent to provide arms for
more than two. He wholly resisted the demand of Sir Michael, inferring
an outlay of sixty pounds, on the ground that his estate did not extend
beyond twenty-four chalders of victual, out of which he had diverse
sums of interest to pay--inferring that he was not liable to have more
than one stand of horsemen’s arms. The lords decreed that James was
in the right, and that Sir Michael’s proceedings against him should
cease.--_P. C. R._
* * * * *
[Sidenote: JUNE 17.]
‘Ane combat or tulyie [was] foughten at the Salt Tron of Edinburgh,
betwixt the Laird of Ogle [Edzell], younger, and his complices, and the
young Laird of Pitarrow, Wishart. The faught lasted frae 9 hours till
11 at night, twa hours. There were sundry hurt on both sides, and ane
Guthrie slain, which was Pitarrow’s man, ane very pretty young man. The
18th, they were accusit before the Council, and wardit.’--_Bir._
The Lairds of Edzell and Pitarrow were committed to ward, for not
having confined their sons, as the chancellor had commanded. Edzell,
foreseeing troubles to himself and his son from the death of Guthrie,
sent a surgeon to examine the corpse, with a view to establishing that
the young man had not died of the wounds he received in the tulyie, but
had been ‘smoored in the throng.’
Edzell was in his way a remarkable man. Possessing a degree of taste
uncommon in that age, he had built for himself at Edzell on the Esk in
Forfarshire, a mansion of singular elegance, possessing in particular a
screen-wall, ornamented with allegorical figures, the remains of which
even at this day excite the surprise of the passing traveller. His
latter days were clouded by the consequences of the violent passions
of his eldest son, one of the principals in the above combat. We shall
presently hear more of both him and his son.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: 1605.]
A man called Alister Mac William Mor, a servant of Hugh Mackay of Far,
happening to go into Caithness on some business, was there entrapped
by emissaries of the Earl of Caithness, who bore him a grudge for his
conduct in a former feud. The earl caused Alister to be beheaded before
his eyes next day. The subsequent proceedings are curious. Mackay
prosecuted Lord Caithness before the Justiciary Court at Edinburgh; but
the Marquis of Huntly brought them together at Elgin; and ‘the Earl of
Caithness acknowledged his offence before the friends there present;
whereupon they were finally agreed, and all past injuries were again
forgiven by either party.’ Not a word of the general claim of justice
on behalf of the public!--_G. H. S._
* * * * *
[Sidenote: JULY.]
At the end of this month, the pest broke out in Edinburgh, Leith,
St Andrews, and other parts of the kingdom. Among the first houses
infected in Edinburgh was that of the Chancellor Dunfermline. James
Melville, looking to the recent proceedings of this statesman against
the more zealous ministers, considered him as overtaken by ‘the penalty
pronounced by Joshua upon the building up of Jericho.... His eldest and
only son died, and a young damosel his niece, so that he was compelled
to dissolve his family, and go with his wife alone, as in hermitage,
with great fear of the death of his daughter also, on whom the boils
brake forth. This was marked and talked of by the people.’
* * * * *
The Fife adventurers who had been obliged to leave the Lewis in 1601 on
a promise never to return, made a new attempt at this time to complete
their unhappy undertaking. Attended with considerable forces, led
partly by one William Mac Williams, chieftain of the Clan Gunn, they
landed in the island, and ‘sent a message unto Tormod Macleod, shewing
that if he would yield unto them, in name and behalf of the king [now
a more formidable name than it had been], they should transport him
safely to London, where his majesty then was; and being arrived there,
they would not only obtein his pardon, but also suffer him, without
let or hindrance, to deal by his friends for his majesty’s favour,
and for some means whereby he might live. Whereunto Tormod Macleod
condescended, and would not adventure the hazard of his fortune against
so great forces as he perceived ready there to assail him. This did
Tormod Macleod against the opinion and advice of his brother, Niel
Macleod, who stood out and would not yield.
[Sidenote: 1605.]
‘So the adventurers sent Tormod Macleod to London, where he caused
his majesty to be rightly informed of the case; how the Lewis was his
just inheritance; how his majesty was sinistrously informed by the
undertakers, who had abused his majesty in making him believe that
the same was at his disposition, whereupon proceeded much unnecessary
trouble and great bloodshed; and thereupon he humbly entreated
his majesty to do him justice, and to restore him to his own. The
adventurers, understanding that his majesty began to hearken to the
complaint of Tormod Macleod, used all their credit at court to cross
him. In end, they prevailed so far--some of them being the king’s
domestic servants--that they procured him to be taken and sent home
prisoner into Scotland, where he remained captive at Edinburgh, until
the month of March 1615 years, that the king gave him liberty to pass
into Holland, to Maurice, Prince of Orange, where Tormod ended his
days.’--_G. H. S._
Tormod being thus put out of the way, ‘the enterprise of the Lewis was
again set on foot by Robert Lumsden of Airdrie and Sir George Hay of
Netherliffe, to whom some of the first undertakers had made over their
right. In August they took journey thither, and by the assistance of
Mackay Mackenzie and Donald Gorm, forced the inhabitants to remove
forth of the isle, and give surety not to return.
‘Airdrie and his co-partners, thinking all made sure, returned south
about Martinmas, leaving some companies to maintain their possession,
which they made good all that winter, though now and then they were
assaulted by the islesmen. In the spring, Airdrie went back, taking
with him fresh provision, and fell to building and manuring the lands.
But this continued not long; for, money failing, the workmen went away,
and the companies diminishing daily, the islesmen made a new invasion
about the end of harvest, and by continual incursions so outwearied the
new possessors, as they gave over their enterprise, and were contented
for a little sum of money to make away their rights to the Laird of
Mackenzie [Mackenzie of Kintail]. This turned to the ruin of divers
of the undertakers, who were exhausted in means before they took the
enterprise in hand, and had not the power which was required in a
business of that importance.’--_Spot._
It will be found that there was a third attempt to plant the Lewis. See
under 1609.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: AUG.]
[Sidenote: 1605.]
Mr Gilbert Brown, called Abbot of New Abbey, had for many years escaped
the law while exercising his functions as a priest in the neighbourhood
of Dumfries. The Presbyterian historians stigmatise him as ‘a famous
excommunicat, forfaulted, perverting papist,’ who ‘kept in ignorance
almost the haill south-west parts of Scotland,’ and was ‘continually
occupied in practising against the religion.’ He was now taken prisoner
by Lord Cranston, ‘not without peril from the country people, who rose
to rescue him out of his hands.’ He was brought to Blackness, where,
for a night, he was the fellow-prisoner of the recusant Presbyterian
brethren. It is to be feared that community of misfortune did not bring
the two parties into any greater harmony or charity with each other
than they had hitherto been. When the government thus ‘took order’
with a papist priest, the only feeling of the zealous people on the
other side was a jealous curiosity to see whether it was in earnest
or not. The government, on its part, felt that it was on its good
behaviour, and dreaded to be too lenient. Abbot Brown, being taken
to Edinburgh Castle, was for some time entertained with an unpopular
degree of mildness and liberality, his food being furnished at the
king’s expense, and his friends being allowed to see him, while the
Presbyterian captives were obliged to live at their own charges.
Finally, the ‘excommunicat papist’ was allowed to quit the country with
all his priestly furnishings, not without some suspicion of having been
allowed to say mass in private before his departure.--_Cal._
It is probable that this leniency was found to have been attended with
the effect of exciting a troublesome degree of suspicion against the
government, for another ‘priest, who had been a certain time in ward
in the Tolbooth of Edinburgh, was (September 27, 1607) brought down on
the mercat-day to the Mercat Cross, with all his mess clothes upon him,
wherewith he was taken, with his chalice in his hand. He stayed at the
Cross from ten hours till twelve. Then all his mess clothes and chalice
were burned in a fire beside the Cross, and himself carried back to
ward.’--_Cal._
* * * * *
[Sidenote: OCT. 3.]
[Sidenote: 1605.]
The Privy Council, sitting at Perth, dealt with a complaint from Mr
Alexander Ireland, minister of Kincleven, against Sir John Crichton
of Innernytie, who has already been introduced to our notice as a
professor of the ancient faith. It appeared that the minister had had
to adopt measures of discipline with Sir John ‘for halding of profane
plays on the Sabbath-day, resetting of seminary priests, and divers
other offences condemned by the word of God.’ The knight, rebelling
against an authority which he bore in no reverence, had resented the
interference with his personal freedom by going with an armed party to
Ireland’s house and committing sundry outrages, even to the beating of
his wife, though she was not far from her confinement. Owing to an
imperfection of the record, the end of the affair is unknown.--_P. C.
R._
* * * * *
[Sidenote: NOV. 5.]
On the evening of this day, when the Gunpowder Plot was to have taken
effect, a high wind produced some effects in the north of Scotland,
which seemed in harmony with that wild affair. ‘All the inner stone
pillars of the north side of the cathedral church at Dornoch (lacking
the roof before), were blown from the very roots and foundation, quite
and clean over the outer walls of the church; which walls did remain
nevertheless standing, to the great astonishment of all such as have
seen the same. These great winds did even then prognosticate and
foreshew some great treason to be at hand; and as the devil was busy
then to trouble the air, so was he busy, by these his firebrands, to
trouble the estate of Great Britain.’--_G. H. S._
The Privy Council issued sundry proclamations ‘anent the Poulder
Treason,’ one for the apprehension of Percy, the prime conspirator.
There was a general joy in Scotland at the detection of the plot. In
Aberdeen, the people repaired to the church to give formal thanks for
the deliverance of the royal family and nobility. Bonfires were lighted
on the public ways, and the people went about for an afternoon, singing
psalms of thankfulness. The magistrates and others had also a public
banquet at the market-cross, where glasses were ‘drunk and cassen,’ in
token of their rejoicing for the said merciful delivery.--_Ab. C. R._
* * * * *
[Sidenote: 1606.