After cruising three months, a large ship is sighted. Nevill_The English and Scottish popular ballads, volume 3 (of 5)

Markenfield to council. The latter, who knows every banner that is

borne, knows whether any man that he has once laid eyes on is friend or

foe, knows every language that is spoken, and who has besides (st. 39) a

gift of prophecy. By the serpent and the serpent’s head and the mole in

the midst, Markenfield is able to say that the ship is Don John of

Austria’s, and he advises flight. This counsel (which would have lost

Neville much glory and a hundred pounds a day) does not please the earl;

he orders his own standard of the Dun Bull to be displayed. Don John

sends a pinnace, with a herald, to fetch the name of the master of the

ship he has met. Neville refuses to give up his name until he knows the

master of the other vessel; the herald informs him that it is Duke John

of Austria, who lives in Seville; then says the Briton, Charles Neville

is my name, and in England I was Earl of Westmoreland. The herald makes

his report, and is sent back to invite the nobleman to Don John’s ship;

for Don John had read in the ‘Book of Mable’ that a Briton, Charles

Neville, ‘with a child’s voice,’ should come over the sea. Neville is

courteously received; Don John desires to see his men; it is but a small

company, says the earl, and calls in Markenfield the prophet, Dacres,

Master Norton and four sons, and John of Carnabye. These are all my

company, says Neville; when we were in England, our prince and we could

not agree. The duke says Norton and his sons shall go to France, and

also Dacres, who shall be a captain; Neville and Markenfield shall go to

Seville, and the two others (there is but one other, John of Carnabye)

are to go with Dacres. Neville will not part with men who have known him

in weal and woe, and the duke says that, seeing he has so much manhood,

he shall part with none of them. Both ships land at Seville, where the

duke recommends Neville to the queen as one who wished to serve her as

captain. The queen, first acquainting herself with his name, makes

Neville captain over forty thousand men, to keep watch and ward in

Seville, and to war against the heathen soldan. The soldan, learning in

Barbary that a venturesome man is in Seville, sends him, through the

queen, a challenge to single combat, both lands to be joined in one

according to the issue of the fight. The queen declines this particular

challenge, but promises the soldan a fight every day for three weeks, if

he wishes it. Neville overhears all this and offers the queen to fight

the soldan; she thinks it great pity that Neville should die, though he

is a banished man. Don John informs the queen that he has read in the

Book of Mable that a Briton was to come over the sea, Charles Neville by

name, with a child’s voice, and that this man there present hath heart

and hand. (62 is corrupted.) The queen’s council put their heads

together, and it is determined that Neville shall fight with the soldan.

The battle is to come off at the Headless Cross. Neville wishes to see

the queen’s ensign. In the ensign is a broken sword, with bloody hands

and a headless cross. The all-knowing Markenfield pronounces that these

are a token that the prince has suffered a sore overthrow. Neville

orders his Dun Bull to be set up and trumpets to blow, makes Markenfield

captain over his host during his absence, and rides to the headless

cross, where he finds the soldan, a foul man to see. The soldan cries

out, Is it some kitchen-boy that comes to fight with me? Neville replies

with a commonplace: thou makest[270] so little of God’s might, the less

I care for thee. After a fierce but indecisive fight of an hour, the

soldan, with a glance at his antagonist, says, No man shall overcome me

except it be Charles Neville. Neville, without avowing his name, waxes

bold, and presently strikes off the soldan’s head. The queen comes out

of the city with a procession, takes the crown from her head, and wishes

to make him king on the spot, but Neville informs her that he has a wife

in England. So the queen calls for a penman and writes Neville down for

a hundred pound a day, for which he returns thanks, and proffers his

services as champion if ever her Grace shall stand in need.

4. Martinfield is Thomas Markenfield of York, one of the most active

promoters of the rising. He had been long a voluntary exile on account

of religion, but returned to England the year before the rebellion. He

fled to the continent with Westmoreland and the Nortons, and had a

pension of thirty-six florins a month from Spain.

By Lord Dakers should be meant Edward, son of William, Lord Dacre, for

he is in the list of fugitive rebels demanded of the Regent Murray by

Lord Sussex. He fled to Flanders. But Leonard Dacre may be intended,

who, though he did not take part with the earls, engaged in a rebellion

of his own in February, 1570, fought and lost a battle, and like the

rest fled to Flanders.

5. Only two of Richard Norton’s sons went to the Low Countries with

their father, Francis and Sampson. John Carnaby of Langley is in a list

of persons indicted for rebellion. (Sharp, p. 230.) No reason appears

why he should be distinguished.

11. Captain Reed, one of the captains of Berwick, was suspected of

having to do with the rebels, and on one occasion was observed to be in

company with some of the Nortons, in arms. He was committed to ward, but

Lord Hunsdon stood his friend and brought him through safely. Sharp, p.

15 f.

21 ff. Don John’s sole connection with the rebels seems to have been the

paying of their pensions for the short time during which he was governor

of the Netherlands, 1576–78. Westmoreland’s pension was two hundred

florins a month. (Sharp, p. 223, note.)

‘How long shall fortune faile me now,

And keepe me heare in deadlye dreade?

How long shall I in bale abide,

In misery my life to leade?

‘To ffall from my rose, it was my chance;

Such was the Queene of England free;

I tooke a lake, and turned my backe,

On Bramaball More shee caused me flye.

‘One gentle Armstrong _tha_t I doe ken,

Alas, w_i_th thee I dare not mocke!

Thou dwellest soe far on the west border,

Thy name is called the Lo_rd_ Iocke.’

Now hath Armstrong taken noble Nevill,

And as one Martinfield did p_ro_fecye;

He hath taken the Lo_rd_ Dakers,

A lords sonne of great degree.

He hath taken old M_aster_ Nortton,

And sonnes four in his companye;

Hee hath taken another gentleman,

Called Iohn of Carnabie.

Then bespake him Charles Nevill;

To all his men, I wott, sayd hee,

Sayes, I must into Scottland fare;

Soe nie the borders is noe biding for me.

When he came to Humes Castle,

And all his noble companye;

The Lo_rd_ Hume halched them right soone,

Saying, Banished men, welcome to mee!

They had not beene in Humes Castle

Not a month and dayes three,

But the regent of Scottland and he got witt

_Tha_t banished men there shold be.

‘I’le write a letter,’ sayd the regent then,

‘And send to Humes Castle hastilye,

To see whether Lo_rd_ Hume wilbe soe good

To bring the banished men vnto mee.

‘_Tha_t lord and I haue beene att deadlye fuyde,

And hee and I cold neu_er_ agree;

Writting a letter, _tha_t will not serue;

The banished men must not speake w_i_th me.

‘But I will send for the garrison of Barwicke,

_Tha_t they will come all w_i_th speede,

And w_i_th them will come a noble captaine,

W_hi_c_h_ is called Capt_ain_ Reade.’

Then the Lo_rd_ Hume he got witt

They wold seeke vnto Nevill, where he did lye;

He tooke them out of the castle of Hume,

And brought them into the castle of Camelye.

Then bespake him Charles Nevill,

To all his men, I wott, spoke hee,

Sayes, I must goe take a noble shippe,

And wee’le be marriners vpon the sea.

I’le seeke out fortune where it doth lye;

In Scottland there is noe byding for mee;

Then the tooke leaue w_i_th fayre Scottland,

For they are sealing vpon the sea.

They had not sayled vpon the sea

Not one day and monthes three,

But they were ware of a Noble shippe,

_Tha_t fiue topps bare all soe hye.

Then Nevill called to Martinfeeld,

Sayd, Martinffeeld, come hither to mee;

Some good councell, Martinfeeld,

I pray thee giue it vnto mee.

Thou told me when I was in England fayre,

Before _tha_t I did take the sea,

Thou neu_er_ sawst noe banner borne

But thou wold ken it w_i_th thine eye.

Thou neu_er_ saw noe man in the face,

Iff thou had seene before w_i_th thine eye,

[But] thou coldest haue kend thy freind by thy foe,

And then haue told it vnto mee.

Thou neu_er_ heard noe speeche spoken,

Neither in Greeke nor Hebrewe,

[But] thou coldest haue answered them in any language,

And then haue told it vnto mee.

‘M_aster_, m_aster_, see you yonder faire ancyent?

Yonder is the serpent and the serpents head,

The mould-warpe in the middest of itt,

And itt all shines w_i_th gold soe redde.

‘Yonder is Duke Iohn of Austria,

A noble warryour on the sea,

Whose dwelling is in Ciuill land,

And many men, God wot, hath hee.’

Then bespake him Martinfeelde,

To all his fellowes, I wot, said hee,

Turne our noble shipp about,

And _tha_t’s a token _tha_t wee will flee.

‘Thy councell is not good, Martinfeeld;

Itt falleth not out fitting for mee;

I rue the last time I turnd my backe;

I did displease my prince and the countrye.’

Then bespake him noble Nevill,

To all his men, I wott, sayd hee,

Sett me vp my faire Dun Bull,

W_i_th gilden hornes hee beares all soe hye.

And I will passe yonder noble Duke,

By the leaue of mild Marye;

For yonder is the Duke of Austria,

_Tha_t trauells now vpon the sea.

And then bespake this noble Duke,

Vnto his men then sayd hee,

Yonder is sure some nobleman,

Or else some youth _tha_t will not flee.

I will put out a pinace fayre,

A harold of armes vpon the sea,

And goe thy way to yonder noble shippe,

And bring the m_aste_rs name to mee.

When the herald of armes came before noble Nevill,

He fell downe low vpon his knee:

‘You must tell me true what is yo_u_r name,

And in what countrye yo_u_r dwelling may bee.’

‘_Tha_t will I not doe,’ sayd noble Nevill,

‘By Mary mild, _tha_t mayden ffree,

Except I first know thy m_aste_rs name,

And in what country his dwelling may bee.’

Then bespake the herald of armes,

O _tha_t he spoke soe curteouslye!

Duke Iohn of Austria is my m_aste_rs name,

He will neuer lene it vpon the sea.

He hath beene in the citye of Rome,

His dwelling is in Ciuillee:

‘Then wee are poore Brittons,’ the Nevill can say,

‘Where wee trauell vpon the sea.

‘And Charles Nevill itt is my name,

I will neu_er_ lene it vpon the sea;

When I was att home in England faire,

I was the Erle of Westmoreland,’ sayd hee.

Then backe is gone this herald of armes

Whereas this noble duke did lye;

‘Loe, yonder are poore Brittons,’ can he say,

‘Where the trauell vpon the sea.

‘And Charles Nevill is their m_aste_rs name,

He will neuer lene it vpon the sea;

When he was at home in England fayre,

He was the Erle of Westmoreland, said hee.’

Then bespake this noble duke,

And euer he spake soe hastilye,

And said, Goe backe to yonder noble-man,

And bid him come and speake w_i_th me.

For I haue read in the Booke of Mable,

There shold a Brittaine come ou_er_ the sea,

Charles Nevill w_i_th a childs voice:

I pray God _tha_t it may be hee.

When these two nobles they didden meete,

They halched eche other right curteouslye;

Yett Nevill halched Iohn the sooner

Because a banished man, alas! was hee.

‘Call in yo_u_r men,’ sayd this noble duke,

‘Faine yo_u_r men _tha_t I wold see;’

‘Euer alas!’ said noble Nevill,

‘They are but a litle small companye.’

First he called in Martinfield,

_Tha_t Martinffeeld _tha_t cold p_ro_phecye;

He call[ed] in then Lo_rd_ Dakers,

A lords sonne of high degree.

Then called he in old M_aster_ Nortton,

And sonnes four in his companye;

He called in one other gentleman,

Called Iohn of Carnabye.

‘Loe! these be all my men,’ said noble Nevill,

‘And all _tha_t’s in my companye;

When we were att home in England fayre,

Our prince and wee cold not agree.’

Then bespake this noble duke:

To try yo_u_r manhood on the sea,

Old M_aster_ Nortton shall goe ou_er_ into France,

And his sonnes four in his companye.

And my lo_rd_ Dakers shall goe over into Ffrance,

There a captaine ffor to bee;

And those two other gentlemen wold goe w_i_th him,

And for to fare in his companye.

And you yo_u_r-selfe shall goe into Ciuill land,

And Marttinffeild _tha_t can p_ro_phecye;

‘_Tha_t will I not doe,’ sayd noble Nevill,

‘By Mary mild, _tha_t mayden free.

‘For the haue knowen me in wele and woe,

In neede, scar[s]nesse and pouertye;

Before I’le p_ar_t w_i_th the worst of them,

I’le rather p_ar_t w_i_th my liffe,’ sayd hee.

And then bespake this noble duke,

And euer he spake soe curteouslye;

Sayes, You shall p_ar_t w_i_th none of them,

There is soe much manhood in y_ou_r bodye.

Then these two noblemen labored together,

Pleasantlye vpon the sea;

Their landing was in Ciuill land,

In Ciuilee that ffaire citye.

Three nights att this dukes Nevill did lye,

And serued like a nobleman was hee;

Then the duke made a supplication,

And sent it to the queene of Ciuilee.

Saying, Such a man is yo_u_r citye w_i_thin,

I mett him pleasantlye vpon the sea;

He seemes to be a noble man,

And captaine to yo_u_r Grace he faine wold bee.

Then the queene sent for [these] noble men

For to come into her companye;

When Nevill came before the queene,

Hee kneeled downe vpon his knee.

Shee tooke him vp by the lilly-white hand,

Said, Welcome, my lo_r_d, hither to me;

You must first tell me yo_u_r name,

And in what countrye thy dwelling may bee.

He said, Charles Nevill is my name;

I will neu_er_ lene it in noe countrye;

When I was att home in England fayre,

I was the Erle of Westmorland trulye.

The queene made him captaine ou_er_ forty thousand,

Watch and ward w_i_thin Ciuill land to keepe,

And for to warr against the heathen soldan,

And for to helpe her in her neede.

When the heathen soldan he gott witt,

In Barbarye where he did lye,

Sainge, Such a man is in yonder citye w_i_thin,

And a bold venturer by sea is hee.

Then the heathen soldan made a letter,

And sent it to the queene instantlye,

And all that heard this letter reade

Where it was rehersed in Ciuillee.

Saying, Haue you any man yo_u_r land w_i_thin

Man to man dare fight w_i_th mee?

And both our lands shalbe ioyned in one,

And cristened lands they both shalbe.

Shee said, I haue noe man my land w_i_thin

Man to man dare fight w_i_th thee;

But euery day thou shalt haue a battell,

If it be for these weekes three.

All beheard him Charles Nevill,

In his bedd where he did lye,

And when he came the queene before,

He fell downe low vpon his knee.

‘Grant me a boone, my noble dame,

For Chrissts loue _tha_t dyed on tree;

Ffor I will goe fight w_i_th yond heathen soldan,

If you will bestowe the manhood on mee.’

Then bespake this curteous queene,

And eu_er_ shee spoke soe curteouslye:

Though you be a banished man out of yo_u_r realme,

It is great pitye _tha_t thou shold dye.

Then bespake this noble duke,

As hee stood hard by the queenes knee:

As I haue read in the Booke of Mable,

There shall a Brittone come ou_er_ the sea,

And Charles Nevill shold be his name;

But a childs voyce, I wott, hath hee,

And if he be in Christendome;

For hart and hand this man hath hee.

Then the queenes councell cast their heads together,

. . . . . . .

_Tha_t Nevill shold fight w_i_th the heathen soldan

_Tha_t dwelt in the citye of Barbarye.

The battell and place appointed was

In a fayre greene, hard by the sea,

And they shood meete att the Headless Crosse,

And there to fight right manfullye.

Then Nevill cald for the queenes ancient,

And faine _tha_t ancient he wold see;

The brought him forth the broken sword,

W_i_th bloodye hands therein trulye.

The brought him forth the headless crosse,

In _tha_t ancyent it was seene;

‘O this is a token,’ sayd Martinfeeld,

‘_Tha_t sore ouerthrowen this prince hath beene.

‘O sett me vp my fayre Dun Bull,

And trumpetts blow me farr and nee,

Vntill I come w_i_thin a mile of the Headlesse Crosse,

_Tha_t the Headlesse Crosse I may see.’

Then lighted downe noble Nevill,

And sayd, Marttinffeeld, come hither to me;

Heere I make thee choice cap_tain_ over my host

Vntill againe I may thee see.

Then Nevill rode to the Headless Crosse,

W_hi_ch stands soe fayre vpon the sea;

There was he ware of the heathen soldan,

Both fowle and vglye for to see.

Then the soldan began for to call;

Twise he called lowd and hye,

And sayd, What is this? Some kitchin boy

_Tha_t comes hither to fight w_i_th mee?

Then bespake him Charles Nevill,

But a childs voice, I wott, had hee:

‘Thou spekest soe litle of Gods might,

Much more lesse I doe care for thee.’

Att the first meeting _tha_t these two mett,

The heathen soldan and the christen man,

The broke their speares quite in sunder,

And after _tha_t on foote did stand.

The next meeting _tha_t these two mett,

The swapt together w_i_th swords soe fine;

The fought together till they both swett,

Of blowes _tha_t were both derf and dire.

They fought an houre in battell strong;

The soldan marke[d] Nevill w_i_th his eye;

‘There shall neuer man me ouercome

Except it be Charles Nevill,’ sayd hee.

Then Nevill he waxed bold,

And cunning in fight, I wott, was hee;

Euen att the gorgett of the soldans iacke

He stroke his head of p_re_sentlye.

Then kneeled downe noble Nevill,

And thanked God for his great grace,

_Tha_t he shold come soe farr into a strang[e] land,

To ouercome the soldan in place.

Hee tooke the head vpon his sword-poynt,

And carryed it amongst his host soe fayre;

When the saw the soldans head,

They thanked God on their knees there.

Seuen miles from the citye the queene him mett,

W_i_th p_ro_cession _tha_t was soe fayre;

Shee tooke the crowne beside her heade,

And wold haue crowned him k_ing_ there.

‘Now nay! Now nay! my noble dame,

For soe, I wott, itt cannott bee;

I haue a ladye in England fayre,

And wedded againe I wold not bee.’

The queene shee called for her penman,

I wot shee called him lowd and hye,

Saying, Write him downe a hundred pound a day,

To keepe his men more merrylye.

‘I thanke yo_u_r Grace,’ sayd noble Nevill,

‘For this worthy gift you haue giuen to me;

If euer yo_u_r Grace doe stand in neede,

Champion to yo_u_r Highnesse again I’le bee.’

* * * * *

1^1. feare _for_ dreade.

2^2. fayre _for_ free.

2^4. my _for_ me.

5^2, 40^2, 42^4. 4.

5^4. Carnakie: _cf._ 40^4.

8^2, 15^2, 48^1, 57^4. 3.

8^3. he & god.

14^1. fortume.

15^4. 5.

20^3. middest ffitt.

35. The Second Part.

37^1, 43^3, 47^1, 72^1, 73^1. 2.

48^4. Ciuilee. _In this and the like names following, the_ u _has

only one stroke in the MS., as often happens. The letter is not

meant for_ c, _clearly, as it has not the accent or beak of a_

c. _Furnivall._

53^1. 40000.

55^3. all they? all these?

62^3. ben.

70^2. 2[se :].

78^1. 7.

80^2. 100[li :].

And _for_ & _always_.

178

CAPTAIN CAR, OR, EDOM O GORDON

#A.# Cotton MS. Vespasian, A. xxv, No 67, fol. 187, of the last

quarter of the 16th century,[271] British Museum; Ritson’s Ancient

Songs, 1790, p. 137; Böddeker, in Jahrbuch für romanische und

englische Sprache und Literatur, XV, 126, 1876 (very incorrectly);

Transactions of the New Shakspere Society, 1880–86, Appendix, p.

52[B], edited by F. J. Furnivall.

#B.# Percy MS., p. 34; Hales and Furnivall, I, 79.

#C.# Percy Papers, from a servant of Rev. Robert Lambe’s, 1766.

#D.# ‘Edom of Gordon,’ an ancient Scottish Poem. Never before printed.

Glasgow, printed and sold by Robert and Andrew Foulis, 1755, small

4º, 12 pages. Ritson, Scotish Songs, II, 17.

#E.# ‘Edom o Gordon,’ Kinloch MSS, V, 384.

#F.# The New Statistical Account of Scotland, V, 846, 1845; ‘Loudoun

Castle,’ The Ballads and Songs of Ayrshire, J. Paterson and C. Gray,

1st Series, p. 74, Ayr, 1846.

#G.# ‘The Burning o Loudon Castle,’ Motherwell’s MS., p. 543.

First printed by the Foulises, Glasgow, 1755, after a copy furnished by

Sir David Dalrymple, “who gave it as it was preserved in the memory of a

lady.” This information we derive from Percy, who inserted the Dalrymple

ballad in his Reliques, 1765, I, 99, “improved, and enlarged with

several fine stanzas recovered from a fragment ... in the Editor’s folio

MS.” Seven stanzas of the enlarged copy were adopted from this MS., with

changes; 16^{2,4}, 30, 35, 36, are Percy’s own; the last three of the

Glasgow edition are dropped. Herd’s copy, The Ancient and Modern Scots

Songs, 1769, p. 234, is from Percy’s Reliques; so is Pinkerton’s,

Scottish Tragic Ballads, 1781, p. 43, with the omission of the seventh

stanza and many alterations. Ritson, Scotish Songs, 1794, II, 17,

repeats the Glasgow copy; so the Campbell MSS, I, 155, and Finlay, I,

85. The copy in Buchan’s Gleanings, p. 180, is Percy’s, with one stanza

from Ritson. Of twelve stanzas given in Burton’s History of Scotland, V,

70 f., 3–6 are from Percy’s Reliques (modified by #E#, a fragment

obtained by Burton), the rest from #D#,

During the three wretched and bloody years which followed the

assassination of the regent Murray, the Catholic Earl of Huntly, George

Gordon, was one of the most eminent and active of the partisans of the

queen. Mary created him her lieutenant-governor, and his brother, Adam

Gordon, a remarkably gallant and able soldier, whether so created or

not, is sometimes called the queen’s deputy-lieutenant in the north. Our

ballad is concerned with a minor incident of the hostilities in

Aberdeenshire between the Gordons and the Forbeses, a rival but much

less powerful clan, who supported the Reformed faith and the regency or

king’s party.[272]

“The queen’s lieutenant-deputy in the north, called Sir Adam Gordon of

Auchindown, knight, was very vigilant in his function; for suppressing

of whom the Master of Forbes was directed, with the regent’s commission.

But the first encounter, which was upon the ninth day of October [1571],

Auchindown obtained such victory that he slew of the Forbeses a hundred

and twenty persons, and lost very few of his own.” This was the battle

of Tulliangus, on the northern slope of the hills of Coreen, some thirty

miles northwest of Aberdeen. Both parties having been reinforced, an

issue was tried again on the twentieth of November at Crabstane, in the

vicinity of Aberdeen, where Adam Gordon inflicted a severe defeat on the

Forbeses.[273]

“But what glory and renown,” says the contemporary History of King James

the Sixth, “he [Gordon] obtained of these two victories was all cast

down by the infamy of his next attempt; for immediately after this last

conflict he directed his soldiers to the castle of Towie, desiring the

house to be rendered to him in the queen’s name; which was obstinately

refused by the lady, and she burst forth with certain injurious words.

And the soldiers being impatient, by command of their leader, Captain

Ker, fire was put to the house, wherein she and the number of

twenty-seven persons were cruelly burnt to the death.”

Another account, reported by a contemporary who lived in Edinburgh, is

that “Adam Gordon sent Captain Ker to the place of Toway, requiring the

lady thereof to render the place of Carrigill to him in the queen’s

name, which she would noways do; whereof the said Adam having knowledge,

moved in ire towards her, caused raise fire thereintill, wherein she,

her daughters, and other persons were destroyed, to the number of

twenty-seven or thereby.”[274] This was in November, 1571.

We have a third report of this outrage from Richard Bannatyne, also a

contemporary, a man, it may be observed, bitterly hostile to the queen’s

party. “Adam of Gordon ... went to the house of Towie, which he burnt

and twenty four persons in the same, never one escaping but one woman

that came through the corns and hather which was cast to the

house-sides, whereby they were smothered. This was done under assurance;

for the laird of Towie’s wife, being sister to the lady Crawfurd (and

also died within the house), sent a boy to the laird in time of the

truce (which was for the space of twelve hours) to see on what

conditions they should render the house. In the mean time, Adam Gordon’s

men laid the corns and timbers and hather about the house, and set all

on fire.”[275]

Buchanan puts the incident which mainly concerns us between the fights

of Tulliangus and Crabstone; so does Archbishop Spottiswood. “Not long

after” the former, says the archbishop, who was a child of six when the

affair occurred, Adam Gordon “sent to summon the house of Tavoy,

pertaining to Alexander Forbes. The lady refusing to yield without

direction from her husband, he put fire unto it and burnt her therein

with children and servants, being twenty-seven persons in all. This

inhuman and barbarous cruelty made his name odious, and stained all his

former doings; otherwise he was held both active and fortunate in his

enterprises.”[276]

Buchanan dispatches the burning of the house in a line: Domus Alexandri

Forbosii, cum uxore pregnante, liberis et ministris, cremata. Ed. 1582,

fol. 248 b.

Towie was a place of no particular importance; judging both by the

square keep that remains, which is described as insignificant, and by

the number of people that the house contained, it must have been a small

place. It is therefore more probable that Captain Ker burnt Towie while

executing a general commission to harry the Forbeses than that this

house should have been made a special object. But whether this were so

or not, it is evident from the terms in which the transaction is spoken

of by contemporaries, who were familiarized to a ferocious kind of

warfare,[277] that there must have been something quite beyond the

common in Captain Ker’s proceedings on this occasion, for they are

denounced even in those days as infamous, inhuman, and barbarously

cruel, and the name of Adam Gordon is said to have been made odious by

them.

After cruising three months, a large ship is sighted. Neville calls