In Edit. 1594, 1620, and 1648, this is _Baird_, apparently the ancestor
of the Bairds of Newbyth, descended from Baird of Auchmedden, a very
ancient family. To this family, as proprietors in Lanarkshire, Fergus,
John, and Robert _Bard_, mentioned in Ragman Roll, are supposed to have
belonged. V. Nisbet’s Rem. p. 42. 46. Robert de _Boyd_ was ancestor of
the family of Kilmarnock.
_At the_ Roddis _thai mak full mony ane,_
_Quhilk worthy ar, thocht landis haiff thai nane._--V. 403.
This refers to the knights of St. John then made at Rhodes.
_In all the warld na grettar payne mycht be,_
_Than thai with in,_ insufferit _sor to duell_, &c.--V. 442.
This, if not from O. Fr. _ensuairé_, wound up, lapt in, may be
equivalent to _ensured_; as the Minstrel uses _sufferance_ for
_souerance_ or _assurance_.
_Till_ Crage Vuyn _with thre hundir he yeid._--V. 649.
To _Craghumyre_, Edit. 1594, 1620, 1648, and 1673. _Cragunyn_, 1714;
_Crage Vyum_, Edit. Perth. As this is connected with Lochow, it may be
_Crage Ewan_ in Lochdochart, as laid down in Bleau’s Atlas.
_Fast vpon_ Aviss _that was bathe depe and braid._--V. 654.
This is obviously the word in MS. But I suspect that it is an error
for _Awfe_, which occurs in Edit. 1594, 1620, 1648, and 1673. It is
undoubtedly the river _Awe_ that is meant, whence the name of _Lochawe_
or Lochow.
_Dunkan off Lorn his_ leyff _at Wallace ast;_
_On Makfadyane with worthi men he past._--V. 861.
In MS. it is _lyff_, apparently denoting _life_, which would render the
passage self-contradictory. In Edit. 1594 and 1620, _leiue_; 1648,
_leave_. The meaning is; “Duncan asked permission of Wallace to pursue
Macfadyane.”
_Of nobill blud, and alss haill_ ancestré.--V. 893.
The term is not _ancestré_ in MS. but may be read _imcrasé_, _imtrasé_,
_uncrasé_, or _untrasé_. But as neither of these give any known sense,
I have retained the word which occurs in all the editions. The only
word that seems to have any resemblance is O. Fr. _entraisser_ (_s’_,)
s’animer, s’exciter; Gl. Roquefort.
_Tharfor I will bot lychtly ryn that_ cace.--V. 918.
Edit. 1594, _rais_; i.e. as in Edit. 1648, _race_; which is a more
natural mode of expression.
_A trew squier, quhilk_ Rwan _hecht be nayme._--V. 1009.
_Ruthuen_, Edit. 1594, i. e. Ruthven, the ancestor of the unfortunate
family of Gowrie. As it is said that Wallace made him captain and
hereditary sheriff of Perth, it deserves observation that his
descendants for several generations seem almost exclusively to have
possessed authority in that town. V. Cant’s Hist. Perth, vol. II.
_At_ Crummadé _feill Inglissmen thai slew._--V. 1085.
This is _Cromartie_, Edit. 1594, &c.
Hew Kertyngayme _the wantgard ledis he,_
_With twenty thousand off likly men to se._--V. 1171.
This refers to the battle of Stirling-bridge. He is called
_Kirkinghame_ in editions. But the person meant was _Cressingham_, an
ecclesiastic, who was the king’s treasurer, “a pompous and haughty
man,” says Hemingford, who hurried on the battle in opposition to the
counsel of Lundie and others. Hist. p. 118. 127. 129.
_In_ Jedwort _wod for saiffgard he had beyne._--
Jedwort _thai tuk; and Ruwan lewit he,_
_At Wallace will captane off it to be._--V. 1277. 1289.
It is _Iedbrugh_ in Edit. 1594 and 1620. The name of this place assumes
a great variety of forms; Gedword, Geddeworde, Gedewrde, Geddewerde,
Gedworth, Gedeworth, Gedewurth, Gedewrze; Jedworth, Jedwurth, Jedword,
Jedwort, Jedewrth, Jedwod, Jeddeburch. V. Macpherson’s Geogr. Illustr.
The latter is merely the modern name. The vulgar, and indeed almost
universal, pronunciation, q. _Jethart_, points out what was the
original designation. Here were two monasteries, one of them founded so
late as A. 1513; the other was established in the year 1147. Another
place, not far distant, retains the name of _Auld Jedworth_. According
to Simeon of Durham, these two Jedworths were built by Ecgred, bishop
of Lindisfarn, about the year 840. Dec. Script. 13. 28. 119. 121.
Simeon writes it _Geddeword_.
The name, it has been conjectured, might be traced to the _Gadeni_,
a tribe who anciently inhabited the whole tract of country that lies
between Northumberland and the river Tiviot. Stat. Acc. I. 1. But the
Gadeni have been placed, with far more probability, in Dunbartonshire.
V. Pinkerton’s Enquiry, I. p. 35. 224. 320. It is obvious, that the
name of the place is formed from that of the stream, which probably
claims a British origin. _Gwyth_ signifies a channel or drain. But
whatever might be the origin of _Ged_, or _Jed_, Ecgred having chosen
this river as the seat of his mansion, had given it a name by adding
the Saxon term _weorth_, or _worth_, denoting a possession, or hamlet;
Fundus, praedium; vicus; Lye. In the same manner the names of many
places in England have been formed; as _Worth_am, _Worth_ington,
Wandes_worth_, Kenel_worth_, &c. Old German _wart_, and Alemannic
_werts_, signify locus.