When James VI. became King
of England; in 1603, it was of the first importance that the clans on the
frontier should be quelled, lest their incursions upon his new kingdom
should make him unpopular with the English. He appointed Johnstone of
Graitney and two colleagues to survey the debateable land and surrounding
parts, with the view of placing them under large and responsible
landholders; and in the State accounts for that year is a sum of £66 3s.
4d for Johnstone’s expenses. A warrant, dated Westminster, January 27,
1608, also directs the Treasurer "to pay to John Johnstone of Gretna,
Scotland, £100 as a free gift and reward." The Grahames were obliged to
emigrate to Ireland, and a special Commission was convened, which sat for
nearly eighteen years, from 1604 till 1621, to try Border causes. In 1605
James VI. wrote to the Governor of York, telling him to furnish the Laird
of Johnstone with fifty more horsemen to aid in pacifying the Borders. If
he had not got the money for them he was "to beg or borrow it." The result
of the special Commission seems to have been that the King’s favourites
obtained places on it, and the greater part of the confiscated estates. In
some instances they also gratified private malice. Many outlaws who well
deserved it were summarily hung, but others whose crimes had been equally
flagrant were spared, and even rewarded, because they had friends among
the Commissioners. One of these was Robert Gordon, the heir of Lochinvar,
who in 1602, in revenge for the death of a relative killed in a skirmish,
made a foray through Annandale, Wamphray, Lockerbie, Reidhall, Langrigs,
&c.; and killed Richard Irving of Graitney in his own house. A party of
soldiers was sent to arrest him, but he took them all prisoners, and
compelled the officer who commanded them to eat the King’s warrant for
apprehending him. He was outlawed, and a description of his personal
appearance, as well as that of Lord Crichton of Sanquhar, outlawed at the
same time, was sent to Carlisle and Dumfries for their apprehension. Yet
only three years afterwards Gordon was made a gentleman of the King’s
Bedchamber, and received a gift of some confiscated estates, and in 1621
he was created a baronet. Wm. Maxwell of Kirkhouse was a similar
character. In 1602 he attacked Wilkin Johnstone of Elsiechellis and John
Johnstone of Husliebray, and burned their houses; and burned James
Johnstone of Briggis alive in his residence. Yet in 1607 the King
presented him with the Kirk lands of Kirkpatrick-Fleming, and ten years
later obliged two Johnstones to sell to this Maxwell their father’s land
in Kirkpatrick-Fleming and Castlemilk. His brother was created Earl of
Dirleton.
Douglas of Drumlanrig was
made Earl of Queensberry, and Douglas of Angus was restored to his ancient
honours. He was created a Marquis in 1633, and recovered some of the
family estates forfeited as early as the fifteenth century.
Even the most peaceable of
the smaller landed proprietors were obliged to sell, particularly if they
were minors, that their estates might swell the heritage of a richer man.
But though great complaints have been made of these arbitrary proceedings,
it is allowed that they were effectual, and as the old poet, Scot of
Satchells, sang—
On that Border was the Armstrongs
able men,
Somewhat unruly, and very ill to tame.
* * * *
But since King James the Sixth to
England went;
There has been no cause of grief;
And he that hath transgressed since then,
Is no freebooter, but a thief.
* * * *
Adieu! my brother Annan thieves,
That helpit me in my mischievs.
Adieu! Grossars, Nickson, and Bells;
Oft have we fair owrthreuch the fells.
Adieu! Robsons, Howis, and Pylis,
That in our craft has mony wilis;
Littlis, Trumbells, and Armstrongs.
Adieu! all thieves that we belongs,
Bailies, Irwynes, and Elwoods (Elliots),
Speedy of flight and slight of hands;
The Scots of Eskdale and the Grames,
I have no time to tell your names.
In 1612 bonds were drawn up
and signed by the different clans protesting their loyalty, lamenting over
the blood shed in times past, and the loss of life they had sustained from
thieves and murderers within the Highlands and Borders; and promising for
the future to pledge themselves for the good conduct of the Borders, as
they would at once arrest and execute any such offenders. A deed preserved
at Abbotsford is signed by James H. Lenox, Huntlie, Montrose, Cancellarius,
Angus, Herries, Caithness, Traquair, Lochnivar, Johnstone, Drumlanrig,
David Scot of Stobneil. At Jedburgh, 29th March, 1612. Walter Scot of
Goldielands, Walter Scot of Tuschelaw, and others are signed for, being
unable to write.
The Laird of Buccleuch, who
was ennobled in 1606, collected a large number of those mosstroopers and
cattle drivers in the middle Marches, who, to quote Camden, knew no
measure of law, but the length of their swords, and sent them to Holland
for the military service of the Prince of Orange, who paid him for it; and
in Berwickshire there was a demand for agricultural labour, but Annandale
permanently lost much of its population, who were now bereft of their
employment. The long sea coast and good anchorage between the Esk and
Dumfries produced hardy fishermen at Annan, Redkirk, Locharwood, Newbie,
and Saltcoats; and these were turned to account by some of the landowners
in a brisk trade which grew up during the 17th century between the West of
Scotland and the Isle of Man, Holland, and the West Indies. A Government
vessel was kept at Dumfries, but appears to have been far from vigilant;
so when high duties were put upon foreign and colonial goods, this trade
degenerated into smuggling, which was extended across the Esk into
England, and continued a source of great profit till comparatively recent
times.
In 1600 a decree of the
Lords in Council charged these chiefs with the care of the Borders:—Lord
Howe, Sir James Johnstone of Dunskellie, James Johnstone of Westraw (his
brother-in-law), John Johnstone of Newbie, Grierson of Lag, Kirkpatrick of
Closeburn, Robert Gordon, apparent of Lochinvar, John Johnstone of
Graitney, Hamilton, various Maxwells, and Scot of Buccleuch. But before
the special Commission was dissolved in 1621, Newbie and Graitney had
disappeared as separate baronies; the first being absorbed in the estates
of Johnstone of that ilk, which joined them, and the last having returned
to the barony of Comlongan and Cockpool, to which it seems to have
originally belonged. John Johnstone, the young Laird of Newbie, was
Provost of Annan in 1604, and obtained its recognition as a burgh from the
Convention of Royal Burghs which assembled that year at Perth, and to
which he sent John Galloway (uncle to the first Lord Dunkeld), and Robert
Loch, bailies of Annan, as his representatives. He had already borrowed
various sums of money from a relative, Edward Johnstone, a merchant in
Edinburgh, when he was outlawed at the instance of his wife’s uncle, Sir
James Douglas of Drumlanrig, for a debt to him of 2500 marks, and in 1605
he died at Carlisle. He left seven daughters as his co-heiresses, but had
settled his estate on the second, Barbara, who was married to Sir William
Maxwell of Gribton, a nephew of Sir James Johnstone’s wife. As the barony
of Newbie was entailed on male heirs, it was claimed by the Laird of
Newbie’s male heir, his uncle Robert of Brigholme, who established himself
in the Castle, while a lawsuit commenced on both sides. The matter was cut
short by William Maxwell riding with a troop of horsemen and one or two
Johnstones, including Robert’s nephew, Robert Johnstone of Brume, to the
Castle, where, as was stated on the trial, Robert "lay fast in bed deadly
sick," and the intruders were admitted by Maxwell’s wife, Barbara
Johnstone, and her mother, Elizabeth Stewart, Lady Newbie, who were also
residing there, into the lower hall, whence they ascended into the Laird’s
bedroom. Robert’s brother, Edward Johnstone of Ryehill, attempted to
defend him, but was shot through the body; a servant and relation, Arthur
Johnstone, was wounded in the face, and they were all "thrust out of the
Castle with their hands tied behind their backs." Robert Birrell alludes
to the affair, March 19th, 1605. "The Maxwells came to the house of
Newbies and tuick the house. In taiking of the house sundrie were wounded
and hurt. They keipit the house till the gaird and heralds caused them to
surrender."
William Maxwell, his wife,
and his mother-in-law, were summoned to Edinburgh for trial on the 21st
June, 1605, at the instance of Robert Johnstone, Edward Johnstone, his
brother, and Arthur Johnstone, on whose part Sir Thomas Hamilton, the
King’s advocate, appeared, while on Maxwell’s side his wife’s uncle, Sir
Alexander Stewart of Garlies, the Laird of Amisfield (Charteris), and
Andrew Ker of Fenton were called as witnesses for the defence. The record
of the trial is headed, "Besieging the Tower of Newbie, Shooting Pistolets,
Taking Captive, &c.," and begins, "Forasmuch as albeit by divers Acts of
Parliament our Sovereign Lord has prohibited the wearing of pistols and
hagbuts, under certain pains, notwithstanding it is of truth that such is
the wicked disposition of some persons which, preferring their own revenge
to the due reverence and obedience of his Highness’s laws, they and their
domestic servants daily and continually bear and wear pistols, swords, and
hagbuts as their ordinary and accustomed weapons. . . . As viz., the said
William Maxwell of Gribton, Barbara Johnstone his spouse, and Elizabeth
Stewart her mother, having this long time borne a secret and hidden malice
against the said Robert Johnstone of Newbie, in respect of the depending
of certain acts before the Lords and Sessioners of Council," &c. The trial
continued a week, and was then prorogued till the third of July, when the
defendants were bound, under pain of 200 marks, to come up for judgment
within fifteen days. Robert Johnstone returned to Newbie, when his land
was overrun by some of Maxwell’s people; on which Lord Herries, at the
instance of John Johnstone, advocate, summoned Maxwell to appear (October,
1605), and Sir James Johnstone of Dunskellie and Robert of Newbie at the
same time prosecuted Elizabeth Stewart, Lady Newbie, and her second
husband, Samuel Kirkpatrick of Hoddam, who on their non-appearance before
the Court were outlawed. Lady Newbie appealed against this decision, and
Robert Johnstone died the following December, leaving two sons, William
and Edward, both minors. Various suits were carried on by young William’s
guardian, his uncle, Edward Johnstone of Ryehill, which extended through
the year 1606; when William having also died, Sir James Johnstone of
Dunskellie bought from Barbara Johnstone her own and her husband’s right
to the Newbie barony.
The compact was signed at
Dornoch, Jan. 23, 1607; and Sir James agreed to pay 25,000 marks, and to
bring up Barbara’s six sisters—Janet, Mary, Agnes, Christina, Elizabeth,
and Jeanette—in his own house, charging himself with their education and
ultimate marriage, "as befits ladies of their degree." Their mother
appears once more with her husband, Kirkpatrick, in an action against
James Murray of Cockpool, in 1610, for "non-payment of certain dues."
Among the list of Border
proprietors in 1624, "Edward Johnstone of Newbie" is recorded, for though
Newbie at that time belonged to the Laird of Johnstone, he and his
relatives continued for the rest of their lives to be called either of
Newbie or of the parts of the estate where they were settled as kinsmen
without legal agreements, but with a "kyndlie" right; as Abraham Johnstone
of Milnebie and Brume, and his sons Robert, John, William, and Thomas of
Brume; Edward Johnstone of Ryehill Castle, living in Mylnefield, and his
son and grandson, both John Johnstones of Mylnefield; and David Johnstone
of Robgill.
In 1573 the Laird of
Johnstone was fined £2000 and outlawed for not producing John Johnstone of
Graitney, who had been summoned by the Privy Council to make compensation
"for all attempts committed by himself, his bairns, and servants in time
past;" and the laird had acted as his pledge; but, like so many penalties
adjudged to Border chiefs, it was probably never enforced, as the two
families seem to have continued good friends. In 1602 John Johnstone of
Graitney made a complaint to the Privy Council that having sent "his three
sons, with nine of his servants, with carriage and provision, to the
hunting at Liddell in England, having obtained licence so to do, for some
venison for the banquet made by his chief, the Laird of Johnstone, at the
late baptism of his son. It is of verity that Thomas Trumble of Mynto,
Hector Trumble of Barnhill, and Mack Trumble of Bewbie," attacked and
robbed them; the carriage, bedding, and victuals being worth £240.
In 1612, Graitney was
confirmed by Crown charter in the possession of this John Johnstone, and
allusion is made in the charter to the burning, slaughter, and devastation
of these parts. Nisbet in a heraldry, compiled by order of the British
Government in 1722, speaks of Johnstone of Graitney as "another cadet of
Johnstone of that ilk. On an old stone on the front of the house of
Graitney, of the date 1598, is the shield of arms of Johnstone of that
ilk, with the addition of two mullets." In 1606 this John of Graitney
gained a suit which had lasted several years over the sons of the murdered
Richard Irving, who had obtained the lands of Sarkbrig and Conheath, in
Graitney, on mortgage from John’s grandfather, William Johnston of Newbie,
and were now obliged to give them up. But in 1618 he, by royal command,
sold the whole Graitney estate with the consent of his son William, and of
his relatives, Edward of Ryehill and David of Robgill, to Sir John Murray
of Cockpool, who had married the daughter of Gilbert Johnstone, a merchant
in Edinburgh.
The Kirk land of
Kirkpatrick-Fleming which had belonged to Robert Johnstone of Newbie was
conferred on William Maxwell of Kirkhouse by a royal charter dated
Whitehall, Jan. 10, 1607; and Brigholme and Northfield, the property of
the same Laird, were sold by his son Robert, in 1610, to Mr Patrick Howat,
one of the King’s chaplains, afterwards a Scotch Bishop.
Sir William Maxwell of
Gribton died in l621, leaving an eldest son John. His branch of the family
were still Romanists, and his youngest son, Alexander, appears on the list
of Scotch students at the Douay College in France in 1622; Barbara
Johnstone, Lady Gribton, being at that time resident in Paris. She had
been put to the horn— i.e., proclaimed an outlaw — for "holding
Papistical opinions," as the Act states, in 1616; as well as two of her
sisters, Agnes Johnstone, spouse of William Lawrie, and Janet, married to
John Browne in Lochhill. Lady Gribton appears to have returned to Scotland
in 1628, for in August of that year James Johnstone of that ilk appeared
in person, and became security for Dame Barbara Johnstone, Lady Gribton,
that "the said Dame Barbara, within the space of one month after this
date, shall depart and pass forth of the kingdom, and that within 22 days
thereafter she shall pass forth of the bounds of Great Britain, and that
she shall not return again without his Majesty’s licence under the pain of
5000 marks; and the said Dame Barbara appearing personally, acted herself
that during her remaining within this kingdom she shall not receive Jesuit
seminary priests, nor trafficking Papists, nor shall travel about the
country under the pain of 5000 marks, Sir James and his heirs becoming her
cautioners."
By the acquisition of
Newbie and Stapleton, Sir James Johnstone connected his lands, for he had
previously been obliged to pass through Newbie’s property to reach some of
his own estates. Two years earlier he became possessed of the barony of
Corry, and in 1599 he had turned the Johnstones of Lockerbie, out of their
lands in Garwald, and annexed them, although one of these relations,
Cuthbert Johnstone, was ninety years old. Lord Maxwell, the son of his
rival, who had fallen at Dryfe Sands, frequently threatened him, but as
Lady Johnstone was in favour with the Court, the King intervened, and
ordered Maxwell to retire to Clydesdale; and when he returned without
permission in 1601, avowedly to revenge himself on Johnstone, he was
imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle. Thence he escaped, but was shortly
afterwards induced to sign a bond "for himself and taking burden for all
others concerned," by which "he forgave and remitted all hatred, rancour,
&c., against Sir James Johnstone for the slaughter of John Lord Maxwell,
his father, and all other slaughters and insolences which followed
thereon." As he continued in disgrace, his cousin, Sir Robert Maxwell of
Orchardstone, Johnstone’s brother-in-law, arranged a meeting between the
two chiefs—though it was to be as secret as possible—in which Maxwell was
to ask for Johnstone’s intercession with the King, and all old grudges
were to be wiped away. Sir James took his servant, a relation, William
Johnstone, and Maxwell brought Charles Maxwell of Kirkhouse—a circumstance
which made Johnstone place reliance on his good faith, as he was a nephew
of John Murray of Cockpool, whose brother Charles was married to a
Johnstone of Newbie. They met on horseback in a secluded spot near Tinwald
(April 6, 1608), and while the two Lairds were conversing with apparent
amity, Charles Maxwell entered into a warm discussion with William
Johnstone and suddenly fired his pistol at him. William tried to return
it, but his pistol missed fire. He shouted treason, and Sir James turning
round was shot in the back by Maxwell, who at once rode away, and said he
had done enough, when his second advised him not to leave William
Johnstone alive. Sir James was propped up on his horse, but had only
strength to say "Lord have mercy on me—Christ have mercy on me—I am
deceived," before he expired. Maxwell fled to the Continent, and the case
was tried in Edinburgh, June 24, 1609, by a special Parliament, which
found him guilty of high treason for slaying the Warden of the Marches,
and all his goods were to be confiscated. He remained abroad till 1612,
when he ventured to land in Caithness, but he was treacherously seized and
delivered up by his cousin’s husband, Lord Caithness, and sent a prisoner
to Edinburgh Castle.
By the King’s order, the
Laird of Johnstone, his guardian (Robert Johnstone of Raecleuch, his
second cousin), his mother, and his grandmother, "the auld Lady Johnstone,
were asked if they persisted in the pursuit of their petition, craving
justice to be executed upon the forfeited Lord Maxwell for the slaughter
of the late Lord of Johnstone;" and they said that they did. Lord
Maxwell’s brother presented this appeal to their mercy—"Offers of
submission made by me, sumtyme Lord Maxwell, for myself, and in name of my
kin and friends to. . . now Laird Johnstone, and his tutors and curators,
Dame Sara Maxwell, Lady Johnstone younger for the time, his mother; Dame
Margaret Scot, Lady Johnstone elder, his gudedame, and to their kin and
friends, for the unhappy slaughter of the late Sir James Johnstone of that
Ilk, knight, by me." After asking forgiveness of the Almighty and of the
King, he proceeded to offer his bond and sworn faith that he will forgive
the slaughter of his own father by the late Laird of Johnstone and his
accomplices, and that it shall never be brought up against any of them
again. He then proposes "to marry . . . Johnstone, daughter of the late
Sir James, as owing to the sudden and unhappy slaughter of her father, she
is left unprovided with a sufficient dower," and that he would require
none (Lady Maxwell had died during his exile); and for the better avoiding
of all future enmity between the houses of Maxwell and Johnstone "he
desires the Laird of Johnstone may be married to Dame Maxwell, eldest
daughter to Lord Herries, and sister’s daughter to me, a person of like
age with the Laird of Johnstone," and he would pay her twenty thousand
Scotch merks as dower; and that, "for the further satisfaction of the
house of Johnstone," he would consent to be exiled for another seven
years, and longer if it was the Laird’s pleasure.
Maxwell seems not only to
have been ignorant of the Christian name of the young lady whom he offered
to marry, and of her brother the Laird, but also of that of his own niece,
from the blanks left in the MS. His petition was disregarded, and he was
condemned to lose his head at the Market Cross of Edinburgh on May 20th,
1613. He refused to avail himself of the services of a minister, being a
Roman Catholic, but met his death heroically. Four years later his
attainder was reversed, and as he only left a daughter Janet, married to
John Corsane (Provost of Dumfries in 1621), his title went to his brother
Robert, who, in 1620, was created Earl of Nithsdale.
John Corsane was reputed,
to be the richest commoner in Scotland. He was the twelfth generation of a
family long settled at Dumfries, and of which the chiefs for eighteen
generations in succession all bore the name of John. The male line became
extinct in 1777.
The Johnstones of Westraw
begin to reappear in Dumfriesshire affairs early in the 17th century. The
Laird of Westraw married a sister of Sir James Johnstone of Dunskellie, by
which he probably obtained some land in the county, as in 1600 he is among
those charged with the care of the Borders. In 1608 his name was joined
with that of his nephew, the young Laird of Johnstone, Agnes and
Elizabeth, daughters, and Robert of Raecleuch, executor of the late Sir
James, in the petition for vengeance on Lord Maxwell, and in 1617 with
that of Edward Johnstone of Ryehill and several Murrays as curator to the
young Laird. In 1624 Westraw sold his estates in Lanarkshire to Sir James
Carmichael, afterwards Lord Hyndford, and purchased the lands of
Glendinning in Dumfriesshire, to which he gave the name of Westerhall from
his former estate. His great-grandson, John Johnstone, was made a baronet
of Nova Scotia, April 25, 1700, with a destination to his heirs male; so
as he left only one daughter, Philadelphia, the title descended to his
brother William, the ancestor of the present Sir Frederick Johnstone, of
the Johnstones of Alva, [John, fourth son of Sir J. Johnstone, third Bart.
of Weaterhall born 1734) entered H.E.I.C.S. and commanded the Artillery at
the Battle of Plassey. He bought Alva and Hangingshawe. His son James
Raymond Johnstone (died 1830), left eight sons and seven daughters. James,
his heir (died 1887). John, his second son, went down with half his
regiment between Madras and Rangoon. John A. Johnstone now of Alva (born
1847).] and of Lord Derwent.
The son of the murdered
Laird of Johnstone was raised to the peerage in 1628, by the title of Lord
Johnstone of Lochwood, and was created Earl of Hartfell in 1643 by Charles
I. He adhered to the Royal cause during the Civil War, and was imprisoned
and his estates sequestered; but on the accession of Charles II., his son
James was restored to his lands and honours; and on the death of Murray,
Earl of Annandale, without direct heirs, exchanged his title of Hartfell
for that of Annandale, and obtained a grant of the hereditary Stewardship
of Annandale and the office of hereditary Constable of the Castle of
Lochmaben. In 1701 William Johnstone, second Earl of Annandale and third
of Hartfell, was created Marquis of Annandale by letters patent to him and
to his heirs male whatsoever, a title which has been in abeyance since
1792, when his last son, George, third Marquis of Annandale, died
childless. It is now claimed by Mr Hope-Johnstone, the descendant of
Charles, Earl of Hopetoun, who married the sister of the last Marquis, by
Colonel Sir James Johnstone, the representative of the Johnstones of
Newbie Castle, and by Sir Frederick Johnstone of Westerhall.
In 1609 an Act of
Parliament was passed at Edinburgh, stating that "our Sovereign Lord, King
James, for the support of the Town of Annan, which is miserably
impoverished so as not to be able to build a kirk to themselves, has
granted and disponed to the said town and parochin the house called the
Castle of Annan, the hall and tower thereof, to serve for a kirk and place
of convening to the hearing of the word and ministration of the
Sacraments."
The Johnstones of Wamphray
died out in the male line in 1657, and their estate was ultimately bought
by Dr John Rogerson, a native of the place, who at an early age went to
Russia as chief physician to the Empress Catherine II., whom he attended
on her deathbed. He remained attached to the Russian Court till 1816, when
he returned to Dumfriesshire, and died in 1823, being buried in Wamphray
churchyard. He had been preceded in his post by two Dumfriesshire men, Dr
Halliday and Dr Mounsay; and a member of the Crichton family, Sir
Alexander Crichton, succeeded him as physician to the Emperor Alexander
I., and went through the Russo-French campaign of 1812-13-14.
On the marriage of the late
Emperor Nicolas with a Princess of Prussia in 1817 he was appointed
physician to the future Empress, but a member of her own family at last
interfered when she had been in bad health for many months, on the ground
that he was old-fashioned in his practice and too fond of the lancet. He
therefore resigned his Court appointment, but continued for some time at
St. Petersburg. He died in Kent in 1856.
In 1610 the Justices of the
Peace for Dumfriesshire and the Stewartry of Annandale were John, Earl of
Wigtown (who married the widow of Sir J. Johnstone, killed by Maxwell),
Robert Lord Crichton, Alexander, Laird of Garlies, William Lord Cranstoun,
Sir James Douglas of Drumlanrig, Sir John Charteris of Amisfield, Grier of
Lag, Robert Douglas of Cassogill, Sir Thomas Kirkpatrick of Closeburn,
Wemyss of Cassogill, Murray of Cockpool, Robert Johnstone of Raecleuch,
tutor of Johnstone, Carruthers of Holmains, Mr John Johnstone, John
Johnstone of Graitney, Sir Robert Dalzell of Knock, and Edward Johnstone
of Ryehill Castle.
The eldest son of Sir
William Maxwell of Gribton appears in 1628 as taking out letters of slain
against Johnstone of Willis, who had murdered William Johnstone (he was
natural son to the last John Johnstone, baron of Newbie) in the town of
Johnstone, near Lochwood. John Maxwell, the pursuer, is called his
sister’s son, and nearest of kin to the deceased. The case shows what an
imperative duty this action was on behalf of a murdered man, and also that
this kind of connection was legally recognised as a relation in Scotland,
though it never was in England.