The two principal causes of the loss of these records are, the
abstraction of them by Edward I. in 1292, and the destruction of a great
many others by the reformers in their religious zeal. It so happens that
up to the time of King Robert Bruce, the history is not much to be
depended on. A great many valuable papers connected with the ancient
ecclesiastical state of Scotland were carried off to the Continent by
the members of the ancient hierarchy, who retired there after the
Reformation. Many have, no doubt, been destroyed by time, and in the
destruction of their depositories by revolutions and otherwise. That a
great many are yet in existence abroad, as well as at home, which would
throw great light on Scottish history, and which have not yet been
discovered, there is no doubt, notwithstanding the unceremonious manner
in which many of them were treated. At the time when the _literati_ were
engaged in investigating the authenticity of Ossian's _Poems_ (to go no
farther back), it was stated that there was in the library of the Scotch
College at Douay a Gaelic MS. of several of the poems of great
antiquity, and which, if produced, would have set the question at rest.
On farther inquiry, however, it was stated that it had been torn up,
along with others, and used by the students for the purpose of kindling
the fires. It is gratifying to the antiquary that discoveries are from
time to time being made, of great importance: it was announced lately
that there had been discovered at the Treasury a series of papers
relating to the rebellion of 1715-16, consisting chiefly of informations
of persons said to have taken part in the rising; and an important mass
of papers relative to the rebellion of 1745-46. There has also been
discovered at the Chapter House at Westminster, the correspondence
between Edward I., Edward II., and their lieutenants in Scotland, Aymer
de Valance, Earl of Pembroke, John, Earl of Warren, and Hugh
Cressingham. The letters patent have also been found, by which, in 1304,
William Lamberton, Bishop of St. Andrew's, testified his having come
into the peace of the king of England, and {406}found himself to answer
for the temporalities of his bishopric to the English king. Stray
discoveries are now and then made in the charter-rooms of royal burghs,
as sometime ago there was found in the Town-house of Aberdeen a charter
and several confirmations by King Robert Bruce. The ecclesiastical
records of Scotland also suffered in our own day; the original charters
of the assembly from 1560 to 1616 were presented to the library of Sion
College, London Wall, London, in 1737, by the Honorable Archibald
Campbell (who had been chosen by the Presbyters as Bishop of Aberdeen in
1721), under such conditions as might effectually prevent them again
becoming the property of the Kirk of Scotland. Their production having
been requested by a committee of the House of Commons, the records were
produced and laid on the table of the committee-room on the 5th of May,
1834. They were consumed in the fire which destroyed the houses of
parliament on the 16th of October of the same year. It was only after
1746, and on the breaking up of the feudal system, when men's minds
began to calm down, that any attention was paid to Scottish antiquities.
Indeed, previous to that period, had any one asked permission to examine
the charter chests of our most ancient families, purely for a literary
purpose, he would have been suspected of maturing evidence for the
purpose of depriving them of their estates. No such objection now
exists, and every facility is afforded both the publishing clubs and
private individuals in their researches. Much has been done by the
Abbotsford, Bannatyne, Maitland, Roxburgh, Spalding, and other clubs, in
elucidating Scottish history and antiquities, but much remains to be
done. "If it were done, when 'tis done, then 'twere well it were done
quickly," as every day lost renders the attainment of the object more
difficult; and it is to be hoped that these clubs will be supported as
they deserve.[1]
The student of Scottish history will find much useful and important
information in Robertson's _Index of Charters_; Sir Joseph Ayloffe's
_Calendars of Ancient Charters_; _Documents and Records illustrative of
the History Of Scotland_, edited by Sir Francis Palgrave, 1837;
Jamieson's _History of the Culdees_; Toland's _History of the Druids_;
Balfour's _History of the Picts_; Chalmers' _Caledonia_; Stuart's
_Caledonia Romana_; _History of the House and Clan Mackay_; _The
Genealogical Account of the Barclays of Ury for upwards of 700 Years_;
Gordon's _History of the House of Sutherland_; M'Nicol's _Remarks on
Johnson's Journey to the Western Isles_; Kennedy's _Annals of Aberdeen_;
Dalrymple's _Annals_, &c. &c.