LAMBERTON,
a surname derived from the lands of that name in Berwickshire, now the
property of a family of the name of Renton. In Carr’s History of
Coldingham Priory (page 144) it is stated that a Saxon named Lambert
is supposed to have settled here with his followers, and so gave rise
to the tun or village, either before the conquest or within
thirty years subsequent to it, as two places adjoining each other bore
this name in 1098, when King Edgar bestowed them on the monks of
Durham. The manorial tenant, who held a part of these lands of the
prior of Durham, assumed from them the name of Lamberton. In the reign
of David I., William de Lamberton was witness to a charter of Earl
Henry, son of that monarch, confirming Cospatrick’s gift of the
villages of Edrom and Nesbit to St. Cuthbert’s monks. Henry de
Lamberton was one of the barons appointed in 1292, to examine the
claims which Robert Bruce advanced to the Scottish crown, and on 28th
August, 1296, he swore fealty to Edward I. at Berwick. Robert de
Lamberton also swore fealty to the same monarch, within the chapel of
Berwick castle, in June of the same year. From this ancient family,
which has been long extinct, probably sprung the famous William
Lamberton, bishop of St. Andrews, the most distinguished person of the
name, by whose advice and assistance the immortal Bruce was encouraged
in his efforts to deliver Scotland from the English yoke.
He was
previously parson of Campsie and chancellor of the diocese of Glasgow,
and was consecrated, in 1298, bishop of St. Andrews. On his election
he had a dispute with the Culdees, who pretended a right, from old
times, to elect the bishop of St. Andrews, but the Pope decided the
matter against them. Bishop Lamberton’s name appears in many ancient
writs. He was one of the regents for Baliol, when the latter was the
prisoner of Edward I. in England. After Sir William Wallace had, by
the jealousy of the nobles, been forced to relinquish the government,
Bishop Lamberton, Robert Bruce, earl of Carrick, and John Comyn the
younger, were appointed guardians of the kingdom, in name and place of
Baliol. They immediately besieged Stirling castle, then held for the
English, and it shortly after capitulated.
In 1305,
after the judicial murder of Wallace, a parliament was held at London,
in which the Scottish nation was represented by ten commissioners,
Bishop Lamberton being one of them. To his keeping, the English king
committed the eldest son of the steward of Scotland, who had been
given to him as a hostage. When Edward heard of the assassination of
Comyn at Dumfries, he demanded back the youth, but instead of
restoring his charge, the bishop delivered him over to Bruce. He had
entered into a secret league with the latter to support his cause, and
he place the crown on his head, on his first coronation at Scone, 27th
March 1306. He had enabled Sir James Douglas, then one of his pages,
to join the patriot king, as related in his life.
After the
defeat of Bruce at Methven, and the dispersion of his followers, the
bishop of St. Andrews was taken prisoner. Being found clad in armour,
he was carried in chains to England, imprisoned in the castle of
Winchester, and only saved from the gallows by the sacred character of
his office. The allowance made to a prisoner of his rank shows the
value of money in those days. He received daily, for his own expenses,
sixpence; for a man-servant to attend him, three-pence; for his
footboy, a halfpenny; and for a chaplain, three halfpence. On the
death of Edward I. in 1307, having made submission to Edward II., and
sworn fealty to him, he was allowed to return to Scotland. He has been
accused of unsteadiness and vacillation in his political conduct, but
he lived in turbulent and difficult times, and he certainly exerted
all his influence and power, which, as the head of the national
church, were very great, to place Bruce upon the throne. By his
support of the claims of that heroic monarch, the latter, even when
his fortunes were at the worst, secured the favour of the Scottish
clergy, and was, in consequence, enabled to set the excommunication of
the Pope at defiance.
After the
victory of Bannockburn, Bishop Lamberton devoted himself to his
ecclesiastical duties with great zeal, and munificently expended his
revenues in promoting the prosperity of the church. Besides repairing
and enlarging the castle of St. Andrews, he built the houses of
Monimail, Torry, Dairsie, Inchmurtach, Muckhart, Kettins, Linton,
Monymusk, and Stow. He built also ten churches, in his diocese, and
finished and consecrated the cathedral in 1318. He adorned the chapter
house with curious seats and ceiling, furnished the canons with
vestments for their service, and their library with books. He also
built a palace for the bishop in St. Andrews. He purchased from the
abbot and monks of Reading in Yorkshire, and bestowed on the canons
regular of his own cathedral, the island of May in the mouth of the
firth of Forth, which King David I. had given to the said monks, and
built a cell upon it for them. He died in 1328, and was buried at the
north side of the great altar of the High church of St. Andrews.
