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Preface
I have commenced the
History of Scotland at the accession of Alexander the Third, because it is
at this period that our national annals become particularly interesting to
the general reader. During the reign of this monarch, England first began
to entertain serious thoughts of the reduction of her sister country. The
dark cloud of misfortune which gathered over Scotland immediately after
the death of Alexander, suggested to Edward the First his schemes of
ambition and conquest; and perhaps, in the history of
Liberty, there is no more memorable war than that which commenced under
Wallace in 1297, and terminated in the final establishment of Scottish
independence by Robert Bruce, in 1328.
In the composition of the present volume, which embraces this period, I
have anxiously endeavoured to examine the most authentic sources of
information, and to convey a true picture of the times without
prepossession or partiality. To have done so, partakes more of the nature
of a grave duty than of a merit; and even after this has been
accomplished, there will remain ample room for many imperfections. If, in
the execution of my plan, I have been obliged to differ on some points of
importance from authors of established celebrity, I have fully stated the
grounds of my opinion in the Notes and Illustrations, which are printed at
the end of the volume; and I trust that I shall not be blamed for the
freedom of my remarks, until the historical authorities upon which they
are founded have been examined and compared.
Contents
Volume I
(Complete Volume)
Volume II
(Complete Volume)
Preface
It may not be improper to state, that the
greater part of this Second Volume is founded upon documents which have
not been examined by any writer of Scottish History. Of these, some have
been published considerably subsequent to the date of the composition of
any other history. Other most valuable records have been consulted, which,
although transcribed and partly printed, are not yet communicated to the
public. To the first class belongs the great national work printed, in the
years 1814 and 1819, at the expense of Government, by command of his late
Majesty, entitled "Rotuli Scotić," the publication of which was originally
suggested by the present learned Deputy-Clerk-Register, Mr Thompson, and
committed to the superintendence of Mr David Macpherson, the able Editor
of Winton's Chronicle. It consists of two very large folio volumes,
embracing a collection of historical records, relative to the political
transactions between England and Scotland, from the nineteenth year of the
reign of Edward the First to the eighth of Henry the Eighth. These records
consist of rolls, which are preserved in the Tower and the Chapter-House
at Westminster; and, although the series is not quite complete, and, owing
to their being exclusively written in Latin or in Norman French, the work
is uninviting to the general reader, it is not too much to say, that,
considered as materials for authentic history, the "Rotuli Scotić" is one
of the most valuable presents which could have been made to the country.
To the second class of documents, those printed but not published, belongs
the folio volume which has been quoted in this work, under the title of
"Robertson's Parliamentary Records," also printed by direction of
Government in 1804, but cancelled and withdrawn, owing to some defects in
the arrangement; and the voluminous and valuable work, the " Accounts of
the Great Chamberlains of Scotland," of which a more full notice is given
in the Appendix. From
the materials furnished by these records, as well as from other sources,
to which it is unnecessary here to allude, I have endeavoured to give
clearness and consistency to a portion of history hitherto in many places
obscure — the reign of David the Second, which immediately preceded the
accession of the House of Stewart to the throne. It was during this period
that Edward the Third attempted to make himself master of Scotland, both
by force of arms and by political intrigue; and that the country, although
four times invaded by this able and victorious prince in person, deserted
by a part of its nobility, and betrayed by its king, contrived
successfully to maintain its liberty. I have been accused of injustice in
delineating the character of Edward the First, and of being actuated by a
national bias; and, although anxious to weigh with scrupulous impartiality
the characters of the principal actors in the scenes which I have
described, it is possible I may have been unable wholly to divest myself
of individual feelings. Yet, in writing the history of a brave people,
resolutely struggling for their independence under circumstances of
peculiar discouragement, it is difficult to be a friend of freedom and not
to sympathize with their sufferings, — not to feel indignation at unjust
aggression, and satisfaction when the attempt is met with disappointment
and defeat. And surely, if the circumstance, that it was an English
Monarch who was misled, by the spirit of ambition and conquest, into a
glaring disregard of the most sacred rights and sanctions, had induced the
historian to dilute his censure, or to assume a tone of palliation and
apology, there would have been room for a severer, because a more merited,
impeachment, in which every man who has tasted the sweetness of freedom,
or felt the insolence of conquest, would have risen in witness against
him. I am far from being blind to the great qualities of Edward the First;
but it is with this king in his transactions with Scotland that a
historian of Scotland has to do, and not with his character as an English
King. In the "Enquiry
into the State of Ancient Scotland," it was my object to communicate
authentic information upon the general appearance of the country; its
ancient feudal constitution; the manners and amusements, the superstitions
and character, of its people; its progress in agriculture, commerce, and
manufactures; and its advancement in the arts which add comfort or
ornament to life. I have attempted to direct the spirit of antiquarian
research, which is too often applied in the investigation of questions of
inferior moment, to the elucidation of subjects of general interest and
importance: But the task has not been one of easy execution; and I have
only to hope, that all who are acquainted with the difficulty of procuring
information where the period is so remote, and the materials are to be
derived from such various and scattered sources, will, on this ground,
make allowance for the errors into which I may have fallen, and the
imperfections which accompany such an investigation.
Melville Street,
28th March, 1829.
Historical Enquiry into
the Ancient State of Scotland embracing principally the period from the
Accession of Alexander the Third to the Death of David the Second.
Having brought this work
down to the great era of the accession of the house of Stewart, in the
occupation of the throne by Robert the Second, I propose to pause for a
short time, in order to cast our eye over the wide field through which we
have travelled, and to mark, as fully as our imperfect materials will
permit, the progress of the nation in some of those great subjects which
form the body of its civil history. The general features and appearance of
the country; its agriculture, commerce, and manufactures; the manners and
amusements, the superstitions and character, of the people; the system of
feudal government under which they lived; their progress in the arts,
which add comfort, or security, or ornament to life; the character of
their literature; are subjects upon which our curiosity is naturally
active and eager for information; but it is unfortunate that the writers,
who can alone be considered as authentic, have regarded such
investigations as either uninteresting, or beneath the dignity of the
works in which they had engaged. Some lights, however, are to be found
scattered through their works, or reflected from the public muniments and
records of the times; and it is to the guidance of these, however feeble
and imperfect, that the historian can alone commit himself. It must
necessarily happen that, in an attempt of this kind, owing to the paucity
of materials, and to the extreme remoteness of the period, any thing like
a full account of the country is unattainable; and that it is exceedingly
difficult to throw together, under any system of lucid arrangement, the
insulated facts which have been collected. I have adopted that order which
appears the most natural.
- Section I - General
Appearance of the Country (Pages 197 - 224)
- Section II - Distinct
Races in Scotland (Pages 225 - 260)
- Section III - Ancient
Parliament of Scotland (Pages 261 - 282)
- Section IV - Early
Commerce and Navigation (Pages 283 - 336)
- Section V - State of the
Early Scottish Church (Pages 337 - 398)
- Section VI - Sports and
Amusements of Ancient Scotland (Pages 399 - 435)
- Notes and Illustrations
(Pages 436 - 486)
Volume III
(Complete Volume)
Volume IV
(Complete Volume)
The period which embraces
the reigns of James the Second and James the Third, has been justly
considered one of the most obscure portions of Scottish history. Even in
Pinker-ton, the latest, and certainly not the least acute of our
historians, the narrative, from the want of access to authentic and then
undiscovered materials, is often meagre, abrupt, and contradictory.
Sensible of this, Mr Thomson, Depute-Clerk Register for Scotland, began,
many years ago, to collect all the original muniments, and fragments of
contemporary history which related to the reign of James the Second, with
the laudable design of giving them to the public. This intention he
afterwards abandoned, but not before he had printed the valuable Chronicle
quoted so frequently in the following volume, under the title of the
Auchinleck Chronicle. To this circumstance, and to the liberal
communication of several other manuscript papers which he had collected,
the following volume owes not a few of its facts and illustrations. I have
yet another obligation to acknowledge. The Bannatyne Club, an institution
which has already done much for Scottish history and antiquities,
determined, some time ago, to print, from the most ancient manuscripts, a
new edition of Lindsay of Pitscottie's Chronicle of Scotland. As this
author, however, although one of the most amusing of our early writers,
did not enjoy a high character for authenticity, it was resolved to
correct and illustrate his text by notes and chronological tables, drawn
up from original sources. This task was committed to the Reverend Mr
Macgregor Stirling, a gentleman, whose talents for abstruse and accurate
research had already been exercised on similar subjects. He enjoyed also
the advantage of Mr Thomson's superintendence, and the result has been a
voluminous and valuable collection of notes and extracts from original
documents, drawn up by Mr Stirling in chronological order, and compiled
principally from manuscript sources. To these, which are still in
manuscript, I have had unlimited access during the composition of this
part of the history. They have facilitated my labour, and often alleviated
the irksomeness of minute research; whilst from their materials I have
frequently been enabled to derive a gleam of light, or to supply a link in
the narrative, which, but for such assistance, must have remained as
obscure and as defective as before.
Melville Street, 6th June,
1831.
Volume V
(Complete Volume)
In the present volume, the
History of Scotland is brought down from the year 1497, where the fourth
volume concluded, to the year 1546, a period embracing the greater part of
the reign of James the Fourth, the regency of Albany, the whole of the
reign of James the Fifth, and a portion of the minority of Mary. In
various parts of this volume, but more particularly in the view given of
the regency of the Duke of Albany, the author has differed essentially
from Pinkerton, one of the latest and most acute of our historians, and to
whose previous researches, in the unpublished treasures of the British
Museum, he has been much indebted. The reasons for this difference are
fully stated in the text; and it is certainly curious, that while
Pinkerton has frequently opened new ground, he should have failed to
perceive the contradiction which was given by the tenor of his narrative
to those loose assertions of Buchanan and other historians, which he has
not hesitated to repeat.
It is, however, in the
latter portion of this volume, which embodies the regency of the Earl of
Arran, and the first rise of the Reformation, that the author trusts the
historical student will be most interested. It is written almost
exclusively from original letters and public muniments preserved in His
Majesty's State Paper Office. These rich materials have lain unexamined by
any of our general historians for a period of nearly three centuries; and
it is not too much to say, that they throw a clear and useful light on a
period of our annals hitherto very dark and contradictory. To demonstrate
their value, it is only necessary to point out the elucidations which they
afford of the conduct and motives of some individuals of the Scottish
aristocracy who were in the interest of England; the manner in which they
illustrate the violent and often unprincipled policy of Henry the Eighth,
and the extraordinary and revolting views which they open into the
conspiracy for the assassination of Cardinal Beaton. On these, and on many
other subjects, the materials preserved in the State Paper Office
contribute information, which is new in the history of the country; and
if, in the course of this volume, the author has spoken with severity of
the conduct of various members of the Scottish nobility, who have been
eulogized by other historians, it is to be remembered, that the
proceedings upon which he animadverts are proved under their own hand, and
that the motives held up to reprobation are taken from their own lips.
The exposure of such
transactions is a grave, though not a grateful duty—and, undoubtedly, the
prevailing feeling ought to be, satisfaction at the complete, though
tardy, discovery of the truth. In the volume of Scottish correspondence
during the reign of Henry the Eighth, which is soon to be published by
Government, those original letters and public papers, from which extracts
have been given in this part of the work, will appear in their entire
state; and the author begs to express his obligation to Lord Melbourne,
for the liberality which allowed him the use of these most valuable
documents previous to their publication; and to Mr. Hobhouse, for the
courtesy with which the order was carried into effect. But most of all are
his thanks due to his friend, Mr. Lemon, Deputy-keeper of the State Paper
Office,—a gentleman to whose exertions the country mainly owes that
admirable arrangement which now distinguishes this great repository of our
national muniments; and from whose intimate acquaintance with ancient
manuscripts and records he has repeatedly derived assistance.
London, April 11, 1834.
Volume VI
(Complete Volume)
The Volume of the History
of Scotland, now published, comprehends the period from the assassination
of Cardinal Beaton in 1546, to the marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots, with
Henry, Lord Darnley, in 1565, an interval, brief, indeed, in point of
time, but prolific in events, and most momentous in their consequences. In
proof of this, it is enough to say, that it embraces the history of the
Reformation in Scotland: it includes the outbreak, the progress, and the
establishment of that wonderful revolution, of which, in a former volume,
the Author has marked the faint approaches, but which now, with all its
conflicting principles, its mingled feelings, and stern features, comes
prominently before us.
Preceding this great event,
occurs the violent and impolitic invasion of the Protector Somerset, and
the English war with the united forces of France and Scotland. In more
immediate connexion with it, the Author has traced, with greater detail
than former writers, the history of the Regency of Mary of Lorraine, the
crafty and unscrupulous policy of Elizabeth and Cecil, the plots of the
Guises, and the selfishness, venality, and restless intrigues, of the
Scottish nobles, as well Protestant as Romish.
Upon these subjects he has
had access to a large mass of valuable manuscript materials, of which the
greater part has been hitherto unprinted and unexamined. These materials
consist chiefly of the original letters of Knox, Cecil, Elizabeth, Mary,
Murray, Randolph, Secretary Lethington, Throckmorton, and many other
actors in these dark and troubled times; and the historical student, who
is familiar with the earlier and able labours of preceding writers, will
discover that an examination of this correspondence has enabled him to
throw new light upon this division of the work, and to recover from the
waste of conjecture and obscurity, some portions of Scottish history which
were lost.
In addition to these
letters which are preserved in his Majesty's State Paper Office, the
Author has had access to a transcript of the unprinted Privy Council Books
of Edward the Sixth. [These volumes were politely communicated to me by
James Chalmers, Esq. They formed part of the collection of the well known
and indefatigable Author of "Caledonia"—Mr. George Chalmers.] He has also
consulted various volumes of transcripts of the unprinted Privy Council
Books of Scotland, which have been carefully collated with the originals
in the General Register House, at Edinburgh. [Kindly communicated to me by
Thomas Thomson, Esq. Deputy Clerk Register.]
Besides these sources, he
has occasionally derived assistance from two manuscript volumes of
Selections from the accounts of the Lord High Treasurer, and the Register
of the Privy Seal of Scotland. [These volumes were obligingly lent me by
their Compiler, Mr. Pitcairn, the Author of that laborious and useful
work, "The Ancient Criminal Trials."] Lastly, he has consulted an
unpublished volume, entitled "Illustrations of the Reign of Queen Mary,"
consisting principally of Letters from the Talbot Correspondence,
preserved in the Library of the College of Arms. [This valuable volume
will soon be presented to the Maitland Club by Mr. Kirkman Finlay. We owe
its compilation to Mr. Stevenson, Sub-Commissioner of the Public Records,
whose learning and enthusiasm have done so much for the remoter periods of
Scottish History.]
In the examination of these
materials, with a view to impart the condensed historical result to the
reader, the only merit to which the Author ventures to lay claim, is an
earnest desire to discover the truth; a task so difficult, that in looking
back upon the wide field over which he has travelled, he can sincerely
say, that each succeeding volume has more fully convinced him of the
imperfection of its predecessor, and impressed upon his mind the necessity
of increased labour if he hopes to produce any thing which is worthy to
live.
This volume was nearly
finished printing, when Mr. Van Raumer presented to the world his work,
entitled "Contributions to Modern History," from the British Museum and
the State Paper Office, embracing Illustrations of the Reign of Mary Queen
of Scots, and of the character and conduct of Elizabeth. It is to be
regretted that this lively and ingenious writer, should have fallen into
the singular mistake of printing as new materials, what has been long
familiar to the critical readers of Scottish and English history. The
letters, or rather the extracts from letters, which he has given as
illustrating the first part of the reign of Mary, from 1561 to 1565, had
(with a few slight exceptions) been published from the originals by Keith,
in his elaborate work, entitled, "The History of the Affairs of Church and
State in Scotland." (Edinburgh, 1734.) This volume of Keith, was the great
mine from which Robertson drew his stores, and it formed the chief basis
of Hume for the Scottish portion of his history. Its letters have been
repeatedly quoted by succeeding writers, and it is still of the greatest
utility to every reader who is anxious to derive his knowledge from
authentic sources. To repeat these letters was superfluous, to mutilate
and misunderstand them, was unfortunate —but, the climax of error was to
give them as new matter. [This fact, of the previous publication of these
letters by Keith, has been stated in an able article of the British and
Foreign Quarterly Review, No. 7.] The Author mentions this to show that
English and Scottish historians are not so utterly neglectful of the
manuscript riches of England, as has been supposed, and that the "new
lights," which some of the periodical critics have hailed, as proceeding
from Prussia, may indeed be new to that country, but have been burning for
upwards of a century in England. Mr. V. Raumer, whose continental
reputation is firmly established, will, it is hoped, receive these remarks
as they are meant to be given—in the spirit of necessary, but not
unfriendly criticism.
London, March 2d, 1837.
- Contents
- Chapter 1 (Pages 1 - 68)
Mary from 1545 to 1554 (1545)
- Chapter 2 (Pages 69 -
134)
Mary from 1554 to 1561 (1554)
- Chapter 3 (Pages 135 -
191)
Mary from 1559 - 1561 (1559)
- Chapter 4 (Pages 193 -
274)
Mary from 1560 - 1561 (1560)
- Chapter 5 (Pages 275 -
346)
Mary from 1561 - 1565 Part A (1561)
- Chapter 5 (Pages 347 -
418)
Mary from 1561 - 1565 Part B (1564)
- Proofs and Illustration
(Pages 421 - 474)
From Manuscripts chiefly in His Majesty's State Paper Office hitherto
unprinted.
Volume VII
(Complete Volume)
The volume of the History
of Scotland now published embraces the eventful period between the
marriage of Mary to Darnley, and the conclusion of the civil war, in 1572,
a portion of our national annals which has been so deformed by
controversy, that there is scarcely a single event in it of any
importance, which has not been questioned, or distorted to suit the
peculiar views of the antagonists or defenders of the Queen of Scots.
Under these circumstances,
the Author, without adopting any preconceived notions, or espousing any
favorite theory, has endeavoured to separate the truth from the tissue of
fiction, passion, and prejudice with which it has been obscured, and to
put the reader in possession of a clear and authentic narrative of the
facts. To attain this, he has examined with much care and labour, the
Scottish, Domestic, and Foreign, correspondence, in the State Paper
Office; and the authorities upon which this volume is founded are derived
almost exclusively from the original letters of Elizabeth and Mary, of
Burghley, Randolph, Leicester, Knox, Murray, Morton, and other actors in
those dark and troubled times, which are preserved in that great national
depository. At the same time he has consulted the rich original stores of
the British Museum, and has availed himself of some valuable letters,
preserved at Florence amongst the private archives of the House of Medici,
in possession of the Grand Duke of Tuscany. These, which form part of the
interesting manuscript collections of Prince Labanoff relating to the life
of Mary Queen of Scots, were most liberally and politely communicated to
the Author by that nobleman.
An access to such materials
has enabled the Author to add many new facts to this portion of Scottish
history—as well as to throw new light upon the proper inferences derivable
from what had been already established.. In proof of this he may refer to
the elucidation of the conspiracy for the murder of Riccio, and the clear
implication of Elizabeth, Cecil, and the leaders of the protestants, in
that deed, to the new details upon the death of Darnley, to the escape of
Mary from Lochleven, one of those rare cases in which truth is found to
assume the brilliant colours of romance, to the assassination of Murray
and Lennox, to the plot of Elizabeth, Mar, and Morton, for having Mary put
secretly to death in Scotland, and to other parts of the volume.
But whilst he ventures to
point out this, and to express a hope that in this and in the succeeding
volume, which will terminate his labours, there is a nearer approach to
truth than has yet been made, the Author is desirous of expressing his
high respect for the labours of the eminent men who have preceded him,
whose works, considering the imperfect materials they possessed are worthy
of the highest praise.
Hampstead,
July 23rd, 1840.
Volume VIII
(Complete Volume)
The principal sources from
which this Volume of the History of Scotland has been written, are the
same as those indicated in the Preface to Volume Seventh; but the Author
has also had the advantage of consulting a valuable collection of original
letters and papers, illustrating the reign of James the Sixth, which has
been most liberally communicated to him by the Right Honourable Sir George
Warrender, Bart. These letters have contributed some important facts to
this Volume; and promise to be of still greater service to the next, in
the lights which they throw on the concluding portion of this History.
Amongst them are several
secret and confidential letters of Queen Elizabeth to James the Sixth,
which contain much that is characteristic of this extraordinary woman, and
are written wholly in her own hand. The Volumes containing these materials
are quoted in the text as the Warrender MSS., and were consulted by Dr
Robertson, who has described them, in his Preface to the History of
Scotland, "as a very valuable collection of Original Papers, in two large
Volumes, communicated by Sir Alexander Dick."
The Author has also to acknowledge the kindness of his friend, Sir
Cuthbert Sharp, in placing in his hands three folio Volumes, containing
chiefly the Original Letters of Sir Robert Bowes, who acted so prominent a
part in the history of this period, and to whose vigorous and graphic
details frequent reference has been made in this Volume.
London,
April 8, 1842.
Volume IX
(Complete Volume)
The letters of Queen
Elizabeth given in the Appendix to this Volume, and now printed for the
first time, are taken from originals written entirely in the Queen's own
hand, or from contemporary copies of such originals. They were her private
and confidential letters; a circumstance which renders them highly
valuable, both as throwing light on the personal character and
peculiarities of this famous Queen, and on the secret history of the
times.
The letters of Elizabeth,
which have hitherto been given to the world, have been almost exclusively
letters of State, written by Lord Burghley, or some other of her
Councillors, and signed by the Queen. It is scarcely necessary to point
out the difference between the generality of these last, which are indeed
public papers, and the individuality of the letters printed in this
Volume, which were strictly sealed, and meant only for the eye of the
Prince to whom they were addressed.
Of these latter, some of
the most curious are preserved in the MS. Collections of the Right Hon.
Sir George Warrender, already alluded to in the Preface to Volume Eighth
of this History; and of which his liberality has, for the last two years,
permitted the Author the fullest use.
Devonshire Place,
December 4, 1843.
Volume 10
- Index (Complete Volume) |
