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IN the twelfth century, the
Flemings were perhaps the most active and enterprising people in Europe.
Finding their own territories in Flanders too limited for their ambitious
aspirations they emigrated in considerable numbers to England, during the
reigns of William Rufus and Henry I.; and, some years afterwards, took an
active part in the civil war waged by Stephen to obtain the English throne.
Henry II. having, in the end, vanquished his opponent Stephen, the Flemings
were consequently banished the kingdom; and numbers of them taking refuge in
Scotland, entered into the service of David L, then on the Scottish throne.
Many other Flemings are understood to have come, about the same time,
directly from their native regions to Scotland. These strangers, settling in
towns and rural situations, contributed greatly, by their skill in
agriculture and other industrial art#, to the improvement of the country.
One of these Flemish leaders,
it is said, obtained a grant of the lands of Biggar from David I., and
settled there with his followers; and thus became the founder of a family
that for several centuries reigned as lords superior in that parish. We
propose to give a brief account of the most notable incidents in the history
of this family, and particularly of the battles and warlike expeditions in
which the successive members of it took part. These are entitled to special
notice in a work on Biggar. The Flemings of Biggar, in addition to their
anxiety to support and advance any cause to which they might be attached,
were bound by the feudal law, not merely to appear in the field themselves,
at the call of their sovereign, but to bring with them a certain number of
their retainers. These retainers, or vassals, were in their turn bound, in
consideration of occupying their farms and feus, to give their superior suit
and service, both in his court and in the field, as often as these should be
required. It is, then, a matter almost of certainty, that in all the battles
in which the Flemings fought, they were attended by a portion of the
inhabitants of Biggar. In fact, some of the charters by which the Scottish
kings conferred honours or rewards on the Flemings, make express reference
to the services of their retainers on the battle-field. For instance, in the
commission of Chancellorship to James, Lord Fleming, granted under the Great
Seal on the 12th of November 155S, during the minority of Queen Mary, it is
stated that this honourable office was conferred on Lord Fleming, specially
in consideration of ‘the good, faithful, and gratuitous service to our late
most noble father, of happy memory, whose soul may God benefit, and to us,
by our late well-beloved cousin, Malcolm, Lord Fleming, our Great
Chancellor, who, under our banner, with diverse of his relatives, servants,
and friends, was slain in the camp of Pinkey Cleugh.’ In the warlike
proceedings in which the Flemings took part, the men of Biggar, no doubt,
then, fought by their side, and sometimes lost their liberties or their
lives in contending with them to revenge a wrong, to repel invasion, or
maintain the independence of their country.
The first proprietor of
Biggar, of whom we know anything, was Baldwin, who at first was styled
Baldwin Flamingus, but who afterwards, as was the usual custom of the
period, took also from his lands the title of Biggar. He was appointed by
Malcolm IV., the grandson and successor of David I., to the office of
Sheriff of Lanarkshire—the shire of Lanark, at that period, including also
the territory now forming the county of Renfrew. He, along with his stepson
John, who settled at Duneaton, and gave his name to Crawfordjohn, between
1147 and 1160 witnessed a charter of Arnald, Abbot of Kelso, granting the
lands of Douglas Water to Theobald, also a Fleming, and said by some
writers, though perhaps without sufficient authority, to be the founder of
the distinguished House of Douglas. He was also a witness of a charter of
Walter, son of Allan, the Steward of Scotland, to the monks of Paisley,
between 1165 and 1174; and he himself granted to Hugh de Padenan the lands
of Kilpeter in Stragrife. In the Register of the Monastery of Paisley a
charter still exists, setting forth that Baldwin, Sheriff of Lanark, gave
and granted to God, and the Church of St Mirin of Paisley, and the monks
serving God there, the Church of Innerkyp, with all the lands lying near the
river where the church is founded, with the entire parish and its pertinents,
to be held in free and perpetual gift.
Baldwin was succeeded by his
son Valdeve, who, most likely, was also appointed to the office of Sheriff
of Lanarkshire, as this office seems to have continued in the Biggar family
for several generations. The most remarkable incident in his life, that has
been preserved, is his capture by the English, along with William I.,
sumamed the Lion, at the siege of Alnwick Castle, in 1174. It may be stated,
that the kings, of Scotland, sometime previous to this period, held
considerable possessions in the north of England, and had been deprived of
them by the superior power of the English. William the Lion made a demand
for the restoration of these provinces, but Henry, the English king, refused
to comply. William, therefore, proclaimed war against Henry; and, during the
year 1173, inroads were made, on both sides, into the territories of each
other; and though much property was destroyed, and many lives lost, yet no
decisive advantage was gained. Next year, William levied a numerous but
undisciplined host, consisting of Scots, Flemings, and Gallowaymen, and
invaded England. He laid siege to Alnwick Castle; but on tbe 13th of July
1174, with a lamentable want of prudence and caution, he separated himself
from the main body of his army, and, attended by Valdeve of Biggar and about
sixty horsemen, rode to some distance. The day was dark and misty, and,
before they were aware, a body of horsemen had approached within a few
hundred yards of them. The King at first took them to be a detachment of his
own army; but they soon turned out to be a party of four hundred Englishmen,
headed by several gallant Yorkshire barons, who had mustered this force, and
were hasting to the assistance of their countrymen. When the King perceived
his mistake, he disdained to flee, but cried out, ‘ Let it now appear who
among you are good knights,’ and instantly charged against the foe. The King
and his followers fought desperately, but, in the end, were overpowered by
superiority of numbers; and the king, Valdeve of Biggar, and others, were
taken prisoners. They were conducted to Newcastle, and then to the town of
Northampton, where William, and most lively his fellow-captives of note,
were presented before King Henry, with their legs tied under their horses’
bellies, as if they had been the most ignominious felons. The Scottish King
was kept a prisoner for some time in the Castle of Richmond, and then sent
to Falaise in Normandy, that continental sovereigns might behold an instance
of the successful achievements of the English. Whether any of the other
captives accompanied the King to the Continent, history has not declared;
but he was not himself released till the 8th December, when the Scottish
nation had to submit to the deep mortification and disgrace of giving up to
England the Castles of Edinburgh, Berwick, Roxburgh, Jedburgh, and Stirling,
and seeing the King do homage, not merely for his lands in England, but for
the whole kingdom of -Scotland.
For several generations,
nothing very remarkable regarding the family of Biggar is known. Their
names, however, appear very frequently as witnesses of important charters
granted by the Scottish kings and barons, and the abbots of religious
houses. For instance, William Flandrensis, most likely a son of Valdeve of
Biggar, along with Hugo Cancellarius, who died in 1199, witnessed a deed of
William I. to the monks of Kelso, and also a charter of the same monarch
confirming the teinds of Linlithgow to the nuns of Manuel. He was also a
witness of a donation of Richard le Bard to the monastery of Kelso, which
was confirmed by Alexander n. in 1228. Hugh of Biggar, a grandson of Valdeve
by his son Robert, as patron of the Church of Strathaven, granted, on the
14th February 1228, to St Machute’s of Lesmahagow, and the monks there, in
pure and perpetual gift, all the tithe land of Richard le Bard lying on the
south part of the river Avon, the great Kyp, the lesser Kyp, Glengenel,
Polnebo, and Louchere. The names of the witnesses to this charter are
interesting, is showing some of the principal men then holding possessions
in the neighbourhood of Biggar. They were, William Fleamang, probably the
unde of the donor, Malcolm Loccard, most likely of Symington, Robert of
Robertstun, Radulph of Cormaoeston, and Richard, parson of Coulter. Peter of
Biggar is mentioned in a charter of Anneis de Brus, granting the Church of
Wodekyirch, or Thankerton, to the monks of Kelso; but, as is commonly the
case in very old charters, the precise date is not given. In 1232, Symon of
Biggar is a witness of a charter of the Archbishop of Glasgow, transferring
the Churches of Roberton, Wiston, Symington, Dunsyre, etc., to the monks of
Kelso. Sir Malcolm Fleming, most likely a son of William formerly mentioned,
witnessed the donation of the Church of Largs to the monastery of Paisley,
by Walter, the High Steward, who died in 1246. In a charter of Malcolm, Earl
of Lennox, of which he was a witness, he is styled, ‘ Vice Comes de
Dunbarton,* which shows that during the reign of Alexander III. he had been
appointed to the office of Sheriff of that county. Nicholas of Biggar,
Knight, is mentioned in a deed dated at Lesmahagow in the year 1269, and he
appears to have been Sheriff of Lanarkshire in 1273. He died previous to
1292, when the marriage of his wife Mary, and the ward and marriage of his
daughters Marjory and Ada, were granted by Edward I. of England to Robert,
Bishop of Glasgow. It has been asserted by some writers, that the Lairds of
Biggar to whom we have already referred, were a different family from the
Flemings who afterwards were proprietors and superiors of this barony. A
Fleming, they say, married one of the daughters of Sir Malcolm de Biggar
just referred to, and receiving with her the lands of Biggar, became the
progenitor of the family who possessed the Biggar estate for some centuries.
So far, however, as we can ascertain, this assertion is based entirely on
conjecture.
Robert Fleming, who probably
was the son of Malcolm, attended the assembly of bishops, earls, abbots,
priors, and barons, which took place at Brigham, 12th March 1289-90, to
consider the proposal made by Edward I. of England, to marry his son Edward
to the Maid of Norway, heiress to the Scottish throne, and thus to unite
both kingdoms under one sovereign. Robert Fleming, along with the others
present, agreed to this proposal, and appended his name to a letter
addressed to the English monarch, in which it is stated that they were
overjoyed to hear the good news that the ‘ Apostle ’ had granted a
dispensation for the marriage of Margaret, their dear lady and Queen, to
Prince Edward; and requested to be furnished with early intelligence
regarding the steps taken to forward this important measure, with assurance
of their full and ready concurrence, provided certain reasonable conditions
were agreed to, which would be specified by commissioners, who were to
attend in London at the meeting of the Parliament in Easter. This scheme,
after all, was defeated by
the early death of tbe Maid
of Norway, in September 1290. Robert Fleming, previous to the year 1305,
appears to have thrown off his allegiance to Edward of England, sad to have
joined the patriots who fought for their country’s freedom. According to
Holinshed, he was in the Castle of Lochmaben when Robert Bruce, escaping
from the murderous fangs of the English king, arrived, in the February of
that year, at the stronghold of his forefathers. At that time, the
Justiciars, Roger de Kirkpatrick and Walter Burgheton, held their courts ait
Dumfries; and Bruce, as a freeholder in Annandaie, was, no doubt, summoned
to give suit and service for his lands, by appearing in the retinue of these
dignitaries. He, at all events, set out to that town, attended by his
brother Edward, and Robert Fleming; and during their journey, it is said,
they met a servant of the distinguished Sir John Comyn, who had been
Governor of Scotland, and who, as a sister’s son of Baliol, was also one of
the -claimants of the Scottish throne. This Servant was bearing despatches
from his master to the English king; and as Bruce had began to suspect that
Comyn was a traitor to his country, and faithless to certain engagements
into which he had entered with himself, he felt no scruple in attacking the
servant, and depriving him of the documents with which he had been
entrusted. In these he found that Comyn strongly urged Edward to lose no
time in putting Bruce to death, alleging as his principal reason for giving
this advice, that so long as he continued to live, it would be difficult to
suppress the efforts of the Scots to throw off the yoke of England. At
Dumfries, Bruce met with a number of the barons and freeholders of the
southern districts of Scotland, and among others with Comyn, Roger
Kirkpatrick, and James Lindsay. It is said that Bruce embraced this
opportunity to convene a meeting of his countrymen, at which he urged them
to make a stand once more in defence of their liberty and independence, and
ended by advancing his own claims to the Scottish throne, and expressing his
determination to assert ;and maintain them at all hazards. Many of the
gentlemen present signified their intention of giving him support; but Comyn,
as was to be expected, opposed his pretensions and designs, and attempted to
show that he had a preferable claim to the Scottish throne, as the heir of
Baliol, and for the services which he <had already rendered to his country.
The meeting appears to have
broken up without coming to any deaided resolution; and Bruce shortly
afterwards met Comyn in the Church of the Greyfriars, and taxed him with his
duplicity. A -warm altercation ensued, and in ihe heat of the moment Bruce
so far forgot himself, and the sacred place in which he stood, that he drew
his poniard, and smote Comyn to the ground. Struck with horror at committing
so atrocious a deed, he instantly rushed to the door, and there met Fleming,
Kirkpatrick, and other friends. Seeing him pale sand trembling, they asked
the cause. ‘ I doubt,’ said Bruce, 'I have slain Comyn.’ ‘Doubt!* said
Kirkpatrick; ‘ then Til mak sicker;’ and along with the others hurried into
the Church. They were resolutely opposed by Robert Comyn, who defended the
body of his brother; but they very soon despatched him, and then plunged
their weapons into the breast of the dying baron. On their return, Bruce
inquired if Comyn was dead. Fleming, holding up his bloody sword, exclaimed,
‘ Let the deed shaw;’ and it is said that henceforth this expression was
adopted as the motto on the crest of the Flemings of Biggar. Robert Fleming
continued to be a strenuous supporter of Robert Bruce, and, no doubt, so
long as he lived, fought in his battles and shared in his varied fortunes.
Robert Fleming died previous
to 1314, and thus was not destined to take a part in the glorious and
decisive battle of Bannockburn. He left two sons, Malcolm and Patrick.
Patrick is usually styled Lord of Biggar, and he may have received the
barony of Biggar for his patrimony. He married one of the daughters and
heiresses of Sir Simon Fraser of Oliver Castle; and thus the Flemings
obtained considerable possessions in Tweeddale, and also a right to add the
arms of the Frasers—viz., second and third azure, and three cinquefoils
argent —to their escutcheon. It was, no doubt, in consequence of obtaining
these possessions that he was appointed to the office of Sheriff of
Peeblesshire. We see no reason to credit the statement given by Crawford,
and repeated by many subsequent writers, that Patrick Fleming received the
barony of Biggar as part of his wife’s heritage. We can, in fact, find no
proof whatever that her father, Sir Simon Fraser, was ever proprietor of the
lands of Biggar. The documents in the charter chest of the Fleming family
throw no decided light on this subject. The oldest family document in which
the Flemings of Biggar are mentioned, is dated 1857. This is a charter
granted by Malcolm, Earl of Wigton, to his kinsman, Malcolm Fleming, Laird
of Biggar, of all his lands of Auchmoir, etc., with their pertinents, wadset
to him by Sir Thomas Morham, Knight, for 200 merks. There is, indeed, an old
paper in the chest referred to, entitled, ‘ Catalogue of the knights, lords,
and earls of the house of flemyng, as they ar recorded in their Charters,’
and evidently written during the seventeenth century, in which it is stated
that a Sir Malcolm Fleming of Biggar lived in the reign of David I. This
statement was made, perhaps, on the authority of a charter, though it cannot
now be found; but, if it rested on nothing better than tradition, it at
least shows that the family, two or three centuries ago, entertained the
opinion that the Flemings of Biggar were as old as the days of that monarch.
Malcolm, the elder son,
appears to have given a warm support to the cause of Robert Bruce. He was,
no doubt, present with his retainers at the battle of Bannockburn. Robert
Bruce, in consideration of his eminent services, conferred upon him die
charters of several lands. We give a translation of one of them as a
specimen.
‘Robert, King of Scotland. Be
it known that we have given, and by this our present charter confirmed, to
Malcolm Fleming, our well-beloved and faithful soldier, for his homage and
service, the whole barony of Kirkintilloch, with its pertinents, which
formerly belonged to John Comyn, Knight, holding and to be held by the said
Malcolm and his heirs from us and our heirs, by all its proper boundaries
and divisions, and with all its liberties, commodities, easements, and just
pertinents, as freely, quietly, fully, and honourably as the said John held
or possessed, for some time, the said barony and its pertinents; the said
Malcolm and his heirs rendering to us and our heirs the service of a knight
in our army, and suit in the court of the Sheriffdom of Dumbarton.’ He also
received from Bruce charters of the lands of Achyndonan and their pertinents
in the Lennox, which had been resigned by Malcolm de Drummond, and of the
lands of Poltown in the county of Wigton. Bruce also appointed him to the
offices of Sheriff of Dumbarton, and Governor of the castle of that name;
and Walter, the High Steward, on the Feast of St Dunstan, 19th May 1321,
rewarded him with an annuity out of the revenues of the Abbey and Convent of
Holyrood, drawn from the barony of Cars.
Sir Walter Scott, as is well
known, makes Malcolm Fleming a leading character in his last published
novel, ‘ Castle Dangerous.' He is described in that work as fighting at the
capture of Douglas Castle, the Castle Dangerous of the novel, and there
vanquishing in single combat Sir Aymer de Vallence, on Palm Sunday, 19th
March 1306-7. He has, of course, a sweetheart, whose name was Margaret de
Hautlieu. Her father was a Norman baron, who, in quest of adventures, came
to the Scottish court, and in the war for independence took the side of
Baliol. His daughter Margaret, in course of the story, says, ‘Among those
soldiers of the soil, Malcolm Fleming of Biggar was one of the most
distinguished by his noble birth, his high acquirements, and his fame in
chivalry. 1 saw him, and fell in love with the handsomest youth in
Scotland.’ Her father had designed to wed her to a youth, bred at the
English court, and, therefore, was utterly opposed to her union with Malcolm
Fleming, a keen partisan of the opposite faction of Bruce. Fleming, who was
inspired by a similar passion, resolved not to be thwarted by any ordinary
obstacle, and therefore, along with Sir William Wallace, concerted a plan to
carry her off by force. They assailed the house in which she lived, and a
combat ensuing, Wallace attempted in the midst of the confusion to carry her
down a ladder; but this being overturned, they were both precipitated to the
ground, and the form of the fair Margaret was seriously injured and
disfigured. On recovering from her wounds and bruises, she became a nun at
Douglas, and during the contentions of the period, was carried off by a band
of marauders to the borders. She was, however, rescued; and the last
sentence that Scott published as a novelist, is as follows:—'In a short time
it was made generally known throughout Scotland, that Sir Malcolm Fleming
and the lady Margaret de Hautlieu were to be united at the court of the good
King Robert, and the husband invested with the honours of Biggar and
Cumbernauld, an earldom so long known in the family of Fleming.’
Previous to completing the
novel of 'Castle Dangerous,' Sir Walter paid a visit to the scene in which
it is laid. Having been subjected to several attacks of apoplexy, his health
was at the time in a precarious condition; and a few weeks previously, he
had been assailed with a strong burst of popular indignation at Jedburgh, in
making an attempt to oppose the movement for Parliamentary Reform.
Accompanied by Mr John Gibson Lockhart, his son-in-law, he left Abbotsford
on the morning of the 18th July 1831, and, travelling through many scenes
hallowed by his magic pen, he arrived at Biggar in the afternoon, where he
was detained for some time, in consequence of the horses belonging to the
chief inn being engaged elsewhere. A report spread rapidly through the town
that the great minstrel of Scotland had arrived; and instantly the weavers
left their looms, the smiths their forges, the shoemakers their stalls, and
the merchants their shops, and hastened forth to obtain a sight of a man who
had afforded them so .much delight, and who had conferred so great fame and
honour on his country. In general, Scott was annoyed when he was made the
object of vulgar gaze and attention; but, on this occasion, Lockhart says
that he appeared gratified by the respectful notice of the people of Biggar,
jmd he accounts for it by saying, 'Jedburgh, no doubt, hung on his mind, and
he might be pleased to find that political differences did not interfere
everywhere with his reception among his countrymen.’
It is to be regretted that
the temper of our great novelist, in the enfeebled state in which he was at
the time, was ruffled by an incident which occurred a few minutes after he
left the town of Biggar. It is thus related by Lockhart:—‘ About a mile from
Biggar we overtook a parcel of carters, one of whom was maltreating his
horse; and Sir Walter called to him from the carriage-window with great
indignation. The man looked and spoke insolently; and, as we drove on, he
used some strong expressions about what he would have done had this happened
within the bounds of his sheriffship. As he continued moved in an uncommon
degree, I said, jokingly, that I wondered his porridge diet had left his
blood so warm, and quoted Prior’s
'Was ever Tartar fierce or
cruel Upon a mess of w&ter-gruel?”
He smiled graciously, and
extemporized this variation on the next eouplet,
“Yet who shall stand the
Sheriff’s force If Selkirk carter beats his horse?”
Malcolm Fleming was succeeded
by his son Malcolm, who remained stedfast in his attachment to David, the
youthful son of Bruce, whom that monarch left to inherit his perilous and
unstable throne. Fleming, therefore, threw in his lot with the Earl of Mar,
the Douglases, Sir Andrew Murray and others, who, after the Battle of
Dupplin in 1333 refused to coneur in the usurpation of the Scottish throne
by Edward BaiioL Having succeeded his father as Governor of Dumbarton
Castle, he was able to afford a refuge in that fortress to David during the
disastrous state of his affairs that ensued from the loss of that battle,
line party with whom Fleming acted, having attacked Baliol and his adherents
at Annan, drove them across the border. Edward III. of England, who favoured
Baliol in consequence of having received from him an acknowledgment as his
lord superior, proclaimed war against the friends of Bruce, and having
levied a large army, laid siege to Berwick. This town was gallantly defended
by the Earl of March and Sir Alexander Seton. A stipulation was entered into
with Edward, that the Scots would deliver Berwick into his hands unless they
were able, before the 19th day of July 1333, to throw 200 men into the town,
or defeat the English in a pitched battle. The adherents of David Bruce
immediately raised an army, and marched to the relief of the beleaguered
town. The Governor representing that the inhabitants were reduced to the
last extremity, the Scots resolved to hazard a battle, and, crossing the
Tweed, took up their position at a place called Dunse Park. On this
movement, Edward withdrew his army to an eminence on the west of Berwick,
called Halidonhill, and both sides prepared for the oombat. The English were
drawn up in four battalions, flanked by those terrible archers who often
contributed so much to gain the battles of the English. The Scots were also
arrayed in four battalions; and their principal leaders were, Lord Archibald
Douglas of Galloway, Regent of the kingdom; the Steward of Scotland, a youth
of seventeen years of age; the Earls of Ross and Moray; and James and Simon
Fraser. Fleming and his retainers were placed in the first •division of the
second battalion. A morass intervened between the two armies, and the Scots,
with their national impetuosity, resolved to cross it and attack the
English. The morass, as might be expected, retarded their advanoe, and threw
them into confusion. ‘ And then,’ as an old author states, ‘ the Englische
myn-stnelles beten ther tabers, and blowen ther trompes, and papers pipden
loude, and mad a grete schoute uppon the Skottes, and then hadde the
Englische bachefers eche of them 11 wingis of archers, whiche, at that
meeting, miohtly drewen ther bowes, and made arrowes flee as thik as motes
in the sonne beme, and so thai smote the Skottes that thai fell to the
grounde by many thousands.’ A considerable body of the Scots, led on by the
more intrepid of the nobility, succeeded in clearing the marsh, and pressing
up the hill on which the English army stood. They fought, however, under
great disadvantages^. Their ranks were disordered; they bad to ascend a
rising ground, and to encounter a body of men greatly superior in numbers,
drawn up in close array, and occupying a commanding position. They renewed
tbe charge several times, but they were ultimately driven back, and the
whole Scottish army was completely broken and scattered in irretrievable
confusion. Fourteen thousand warriors, including a number of the nobility,
were laid lifeless on the field. Fleming was fortunate enough to escape, and
fled to his strong Castle of Dumbarton. Edward overran the country,
appointed sheriffs, garrisoned castles, and managed all matters as if
Scotland had been thoroughly and irretrievably subdued, and had become an
integral part of England. Fleming, therefore, began to suspect that
Dumbarton might not be strong enough to protect the King and Queen; and on
this account he privately conveyed them to France, where they remained for
eight years. They returned to Scotland on the 4th of May 1341, when their
interests in Scotland had begun to be again in the ascendant.
David, whatever may have been
his defects in other respects, was fully alive to the great and notable
services which had been rendered to him by Malcolm Fleming. At the town of
Ayr, on the 9th of November, about six months after his return from France,
he conferred on him a charter, by which he was raised to the dignity of Earl
of Wigton, and obtained very important rights and privileges. The following
may be given as the substance of this charter, from the original
Latin:—David, by the grace of God, King of Scotland. Be it known to all good
men on the face of the earth, lay or clerical, that we have given, granted,
and, by this our charter, confirmed to Malcolm Fleming, our well-beloved and
faithful Knight, for his homages and laudable service paid and to be paid to
us, all our lands of Faryes and the Rynnes, and the whole of our burgh of
Wigton, with all their pertinents, and all my lands of the whole Sheriffship
of Wigton, by their proper boundaries and divisions, viz., along the Water
of Cree to the sea, and along the sea-coast to Molereunysuage, and from that
point to the bounds of Carrick, and from these bounds to the head of the
Water of Cree. All these lands are to be held by Malcolm and the heirs-male,
lawfully begotten, or to be begotten, of his body, from us and our heirs, in
feu and heritage, by the bounds and divisions described, in free Earldom,
with homages and services of the said lands, with feus and forfeitures, with
courts and escheats, with pit and gallows, with sok and sak, thol and theam,
with infang-thief, with multures, mills, and their sequels, with fowlings,
fishings, and huntings, with all other liberties, commodities, easememts,
and just pertinents, that may belong to the free Earldom at present, or at
any future time, named as well as not named; together with the advowson of
churches, and the right of patronage of the monasteries and abbacies
existing in the Earldom, reserving only to us and our heirs the patronage of
the episcopal seat of Whithorn, and continuing to the burgesses of Wigton
the same liberties which they justly possessed in the times of our
predecessors. And because the place of Wigton is held to be the principal
manor of the whole Sheriffdom, we ordain and perpetually confirm that
Malcolm and his heirs take hence the title of Earl and Earls of Wigton; and
because the said Malcolm has always conducted himself faithfully and
laudably towards us, in times both of prosperity and adversity, we add, as a
perpetual memorial of such service, to the grant of the said Earldom, that
he and his heirs hold it in free regality, and have power to judge, in its
courts, in the four pleas of the Crown,—the said Malcolm and his heirs
rendering to us and our heirs the service of five knights in our army.
The alliance which for
centuries existed between France and Scotland, was often the cause of great
disasters to the Scots. It repeatedly involved them in war with England,
during which their country was invaded and their armies defeated. David II.
had been hospitably entertained in France during the eight years that he
resided in it; and Philip, the French king, had aided his adherents in
Scotland with contributions of arms and money. When war broke out between
France and England in 1346, the French naturally desired that David would
make a diversion in their favour by invading England. The Scottish king,
therefore, summoned his subjects to repair to his standard at Perth; and
thither accordingly went Malcolm Fleming, now Earl of Wigton, his cousin,
Sir Malcolm Fleming of Biggar, and their relatives and retainers, to devote
their energies and their lives to the service of their sovereign. The Scots,
under the command of the King himself, marched to the borders; and rashly
supposing that, as Edward HI. was in person carrying on the war in France,
the English would be incapable of making any defence, they crossed the
border, and ravaged the country as far as Durham. Had David possessed any
forethought, or been amenable to advice, he would have lost no time in
retreating, and securing his booty in the less accessible places of his own
country; but he allowed time for the English to assemble an army of 30,000
men, under the command of Ralph Nevil, Lords Henry Percy, Musgrove, Scrope,
Hastings, etc. The English very soon advanced to meet the Scots, who were
encamped at Bear Park, near the town of Durham. Their position was ill
chosen. It consisted of an undulating common, intersected with hedges and
ditches, which prevented the different divisions from readily supporting
each other. David drew up his army in three divisions. He led the centre
himself, while the right wing was commanded by the Earl of Moray and the
Knight of Liddesdale, and the left by the High Steward and the Earl of
March. When the English bowmen advanced, they began, as usual, to discharge
a shower of arrows, which did considerable execution; and this caused Sir
John Graham to hasten to the King,
These pleas were robbery,
rape, murder, and anon.and request a detachment of cavalry to disperse them;
but though this was the movement that decided the Battle of Bannockburn, the
King infatuatedly turned a deaf ear to the request, and Graham, stung with
disappointment, rallied such followers as he could command, and rushed on
the foe. His heroism was unavailing. The deadly shower of arrows laid
numbers prostrate in the dust; and when his own horse was shot down, it was
with difficulty that he made his way back to the main body.
The whole forces of the
English were now in sight, and the number of gorgeous banners and crucifixes
carried by the warriors of the Church made an imposing display. Moray’s
division having been galled by the archers, and attacked by the men at arms,
was put into disorder; and the English cavalry improving the advantage,
rushed on the broken ranks with irresistible fury and impetuosity. Moray
himself was slain, and his division nearly cut to pieces. The force of the
English attack was now directed to the centre of the Soots, under the
command of the young King. It was assailed on the flank by 10,000 bowmen,
but it bravely stood its ground, and, for three hours, carried on the fray
with great vigour. The King would not flinch a foot. His nobles fell thick
around him. Hay, the Great Constable, Keith, the Great Marshall, Charters,
the Chancellor, and Peebles, the Lord Chamberlain, were all cut down; and
two arrows penetrated the King’s person, but he would neither surrender nor
flee from the field. Copland, an English knight, at last broke in upon him,
and engaged him in a hand-to-hand encounter, in the course of which the King
drove out two of Copland’s teeth with his dagger; but in the end he was
overpowered, and taken prisoner. The High Steward and the Earl of March,
thinking that opposition was now hopeless, withdrew their division, and
sustained little loss. It is estimated that 15,000 of the Scots were slain
in this battle; and among the prisoners taken, besides the King, were the
Earls of Wigton, Fife, Monteith, and Sutherland, Douglas, Knight of
Liddeedale, send about fifty other barons and knights, including Sir Malcolm
Fleming of Biggar. They were conducted under a strong escort to London,
paraded along the streets with great ostentation, and then lodged in the
Tower. The Earl of Wigton, and his cousin^ Sir Malcolm Fleming of Biggar,
were captured by a person named Robert Bertram, and it appears that they
were afterwards committed to his charge. This individual either set them at
liberty, or allowed them to escape; and far this oonduot, was denounced an
enemy to his king, and punished with imprisonment in the Tower, and the
confiscation of his lands and goods.
The English, taking advantage
of the defenceless and disordered state of Scotland after the Battle of
Durham, overran the Merse, Ettrick, Annandale, and Galloway. Considering
that these districts had all been thoroughly and irretrievably subdued, they
fixed on a new boundary between the two kingdoms, which was to extend from
Gockburnspath to Soultra, and from Carlops to Crosscryne. As Wyntoun in his
‘ Cronykill ’ says,
'At Karlinlippis and at
Corscryne,
Thare thai made the marches syne.’
The Earl of Wigton was
present at the Parliament held at Edinburgh, 26tih September 1357, and gave
his consent to the appointment of a commission to conclude a treaty for the
ransom of David II. This negotiation was completed at Berwick in October
following, and the Scots agreed to pay 100,000 merks, and to give a number
of persons connected with the chief families, as hostages for the faithful
performance of their part of the treaty. The Earl of Wigton appended his
seal to the documents in this case, and gave his grandson Thomas as one of
the hostages, his son John having died about the year 1351. The Earl, who
seems to have had very extensive possessions, conveyed the lands of
Kilmaronock in Dumbartonshire, and the island of Inch-cailloch in Lochlomond,
to his son-in-law, John Danielson; the lands of Kyllynsith in Dumbartonshire,
to Robert de la Vail; the lands of Hallys and Letbemald, to Robert Dunbarton,
Clerk of Register; and he gave a donation to the Monastery of Newbattle, in
the beginning of 1346, to say ’prayers for the safety of his soul. He
himself obtained a charter of the five merk land of Garmnole and
Knockiebirvan. He died about the year 1362, and was succeeded by his
grandson Thomas.
Thomas, the second Earl of
Wigton, was a hostage for David II. when he was permitted to visit his
dominions, 4th September 1351; andr as we have already stated, he was one of
the hostages for the fulfilment of the treaty that net David at liberty, 3d
July 1354. David conferred on him a new charter of the Earldom of Wigton,
dated at' Perth, 25th January 1365; but he withheld the right of regality,
out of deference, it is' supposed, to the wishes of Archibald Douglas, Lord
of Galloway, who was grievously dissatisfied that another person should
exercise such a jurisdiction in a territory with which he was connected. The
right of regality was of great importance. By it the possessor was made
absolute in his own domains. He held his own courts; was supreme judge in
all cases, civil or criminal; had the power of death or imprisonment in his
own dungeon; and could reclaim any of his vassals from the court even of the
High Justiciar himself. A quarrel at length arose between the Earl and the
native population of Wigtonshire, most likely originated and fomented by the
same Archibald Douglas; and this rendered his position so disagreeable, that
he was induced to dispose of his lands, privileges, and title in Wigtonshire
to that nobleman. A copy of the deed conveying these still exists; and as
the transaction is one of very rare occurrence in Scottish history, we give
the following translation ‘ Know ye that I, Thomas Fleming) not by force or
fear induced, nor by error misled, but of my pure free will, firmly
resolved, in my great, urgent, and inexorable necessity, and especially
because of great and grievous discords and deadly animosities lately arisen
between me and the natives of the Earldom of Wigton, have sold, and by title
of sale for ever granted, to the noble and potent Sir Archibald of Douglas,
Knight, Lord of Galloway, on the east side of the Water of Cree, my whole
foresaid Earldom; and have purely, simply, absolutely, and for ever
transferred to the said Archibald all right and claim competent in future to
me, my heirs and assignees, in the said Earldom, with its pertinents, for a
certain considerable sum of money paid to me in my foresaid great and urgent
necessity, to be holden by the foresaid Archibald, his heirs and assignees,
in fee and heritage, by all its bounds and marches, in meadows, grazings,
moors, marshes, roads, paths, waters, pools, mills, multures, with servants,
thralls, and their progeny, with fowlings, huntings, and fishings, with pit
and gallows, sok and sak, toll and teme, infangthief and outfang-thief, with
fees, forfeitures, and escheats, wards, reliefs, and marriages, tenandries
and services of free tenants; as also, all and whole the other liberties,
commodities, easements, just pertinents, and free customs, belonging, or
that can by any right or title whatsoever belong, to the said Earldom, as
freely, quietly, fully, and honourably, and entirely in all and through all,
as I, the foresaid Thomas, or any of my predecessors, held and possessed the
same Earldom. In testimony whereof, I have appended my seal to these
presents. Given at Edinburgh, the 8th day of February, in the year of our
Lord 1871.’
This sale was confirmed by
Robert II. on the 7th of October 1372. The sum which Thomas Fleming obtained
for the Earldom, with all its important rights and possessions, was L.500.
One of the most noticeable things connected with this transaction, is that a
sale was made, not merely of the lands and their privileges, but also of the
title. In a royal charter granted by Robert II. in 1375, Fleming is styled
Thomas Fleming of Fulwood, formerly Earl of Wigton. The family of Douglas,
however, did not assume the title till a considerable time after the sale
took place.
Thomas Fleming, having no
children, appears to have alienated most of his estates during his life. In
1371 he granted an annuity of twelve merks to William Boyd; on the 20th June
1372, he gave in pledge the barony of Lenzie for the sum of L.80; and he
gifted the town of Kirkintilloch to Sir Gilbert - Kennedy, which was
confirmed 18th May 1373.
The successor of Thomas
Fleming was Sir Malcolm Fleming of Biggar, a son of Sir Patrick, who married
the daughter of Sir Simon Fraser. As formerly stated, he was taken prisoner
at the Battle of Durham; and afterwards received from David II. charters of
the barony of Dalliel, and of the lands of Rinns of Wigton, and Sthboger
The lands of Fulwood lie on
the banks of the Greif in Renfrewshire. in the barony of Lenzie. His cousin,
Malcolm, Earl of Wigton, gave him a grant of the lands of Achmoir and
Seymoir in 1357, as already stated; and his predecessor Thomas, previous to
his death, conferred on him the barony of Lenzie, and this gift was
confirmed by Robert II on the 20th September 1382. He was appointed Sheriff
of Dumbarton in 1364, and had an assignment of the pledge made of the barony
of Lenzie by Thomas Fleming to William Boyd for L.80. He had a charter from
Robert H. of a tenement in Cramond, resigned by Marjory Fleming, 16th
January 1380.
Sir Malcolm left two sons,
David and Patrick. Patrick, in April 1369, exchanged his lands of Dalnoter
and Gartscandane, in the Earldom of Lennox, for the lands of Bord, Tweoures,
Croy, etc., in the barony of* Leygneh,’ belonging to Sir Robert Erskine, and
became the progenitor of the Flemings of Bord.
David Fleming of Biggar
played a distinguished part in the public transactions of his time. In 1362
he received from David IL a charter of certain annual rents; on the 20th of
May 1365 he obtained a safe conduct to visit England; and in 1388
accompanied Douglas in the expedition to England which terminated in the
Battle of Otter bum, so much celebrated in our annals, as one of the most
chivalrous encounters that ever took place between the inhabitants of the
two kingdoms. The Scots, on this occasion, numbering about 5000 men,
penetrated into the mountainous district of England on the eastern frontier,
and then emerged into the flat and richly cultivated country, burning,
plundering, and slaying wherever they went The Percies of Northumberland
lost no time in levying an army, and throwing themselves into Newcastle. In
the course of a sally which they made from the town, Douglas captured the
spear of Henry Percy, commonly called Hotspur, and bragged that he would
carry it as a trophy into Scotland. Hotspur, indignant at the thought of
this disgrace, resolved to make every effort to prevent the design from
being carried into effect. In the meantime, the Scots, having accomplished
the object of their expedition, retreated up the vale of the little river
Reid, and on the 19th of August pitched their tents at Otterbum, about
twenty miles from the Scottish border. They were closely but stealthily
followed by the English, who were much superior in point of numbers, and
who, during the night, approached within a short distance of their camp,
with the design of making an attack on its flank.
As soon as the alarm was
given, Douglas drofr up his men on a piece of ground still more
advantageously situated for an engagement than that occupied by the
encampment. The English supposed that the Scots by this movement had beat a
retreat, and, therefore, were surprised when, by the light of the moon, they
discovered them drawn up in battle array, and awaiting the encounter. The
combat instantly commenced, and raged with great fury, both sides being
inflamed with national animosity, and putting implicit confidence in the
skill and bravery of their leaders. The Scots, oppressed with numbers, were
on the point of giving way, when Douglas ordered his banner to be advanced,
and, attended by his best knights, rushed forward, shouting his usual
war-cry, *A Douglas! a Douglas!* and smote all down before him with his
battle-axe. He at length fell, pierced by three mortal wounds; but he urged
those around him to conceal his disaster, and to carry on the combat with
redoubled fury. This was done; and in a short time the English were entirely
routed, and all the chief men of Durham and Northumberland were either
killed or taken prisoners, and among the latter were the Percies themselves.
Froissart, who obtained his information from persons on both sides who had
taken part in the battle, says in his Chronicles:—'Of all the battles which
I have made mention of heretofore in this history, this of Otterbum was the
bravest and the best contested; for there was neither knight nor squire but
acquitted himself nobly, doing well his duty, and fighting hand to hand
without either stay or faint-heartedness.’
Sir David Fleming, or, as the
monks of Holyrood used to call him, 'Davie Fleming of Biggar,’ came out of
the encounter at Otterbum with no small reputation for bravery and martial
prowess. It was most likely as a reward for his gallant services that he
obtained from Robert II. grants of various lands and sums of money. On the
14th March 1390, he received from that monarch a charter of annual rents of
the value of L.50 sterling, due to the Crown by the abbot and monks of
Holyrood from the lands of Cars in Stirlingshire; and charters of the lands
of Auchlan, in the barony of Kinnedward, —of Barbethe, Caslis, Galnethe, and
Glentall, in the parish of Straiton in Ayrshire,—of Cambusbarron and
Blaregis, in Stirlingshire,—of the chapels of Kirkintilloch, the lands of
Drumtablay, in Dumbartonshire, —the lands of Wodland and Meiklgall, in the
barony of Monycabow, and the lands of Cavers and the Sheriffship of Roxburgh.
With the consent of his son
and heir Malcolm, he, in his turn, gave the lands of Mureton to the
Monastery of Cambuskenneth, in order that the monks of that establishment
might constantly pray for the welfare of the souls of Malcolm, his father,
of Christian, his mother, of himself, and his wife Isabella. At that period,
he seems to have been in a very generous and pious turn of mind; for in a
few days after, viz., on the 25th of the same month, he granted a charter *
to the abbot and monks of Holyrood, which was drawn up at Stirling, and
confirmed by Robert III. A copy of it still exists in the char-tulary of the
Monastery of Holyrood, and, strange enough, is written in the contracted
vernacular Scotch of the period, and not, as was usual, in Latin. ‘ It
oontenis and bearis witness that ye said Davi Lord of Bigare and Lenzie has
giffen in pure and perpetuale almous to ye said religious men, twenty marks
of annuale rent to pay a channon stngsnd perpetually at ye altare of St
Nicholas, in ye said Abbay, quare ye said Davi has ordanit his sepulture.
Item the said Davi has giffen five marks of annuale rent in pure and
perpetual almous for the repair of St Nicholas altare, both within and
without, with glass windows, and his arms on them. Finally, he has giffen
ten pound of annuale rent for the offering up of continual prayer for his
own soul and the souls of his relatives.’ It further provides, that David
Fleming or his heirs might redeem these animal offerings by paying down to
the abbot and monks, on the high altar of Holyrood, the sum of one hundred
pounds. He also mortified his whole lands of Drumtablay, with a portion of
the miln thereof, to the Chapel of the Blessed Virgin in Kirkintilloch, to
say masses for the salvation of his own soul, the soul of his wife, his
parents, and others. This mortification was confirmed by Robert III. in
1379.
Robert III, though possessed
of a mild and generous disposition, was a weak and indolent monarch. He had
been injured in boyhood by a kick from a horse, and was thus prevented from
engaging in those martial and violent exercises in which the nobles took
delight, and which they thought indispensable in a king. The Duke of Albany,
the King’s brother, was a far more spirited and energetic individual, and
took the chief management of public affairs. The Duke of Rothesay, the
King’s eldest son, gave great uneasiness to his father by his riotous and
irregular behaviour; and, with the view of reclaiming him to more settled
habits, it was proposed to unite him in: marriage with a daughter of one of
the nobles. Albany, in carrying out this arrangement, made it a condition,
that the daughter of that nobleman would be preferred who would pay down the
largest sum of money. The Earl of March at first proposed to give the
largest sum, and his daughter and the Prince were betrothed. The Earl of
Douglas afterwards offered a still larger Bum; and Albany, with great
injustice, broke faith with the Earl of March, and united the Prince, to
Margery Douglas. This marriage was exceedingly unhappy.. The Prince
continued his irregularities; and two ruffians, at the instigation, it is
said, of Albany and Douglas, seized the unhappy young; man, and’ immured him
in the dungeon of Falkland Castle, where he was starved to death.
The Earl of March, filled
with indignation at the dishonourable treatment which he had received in
this matrimonial transaction, fled to England, and at the head of an English
force committed great havoc on the Scottish border. The Earl of Douglas, to
revenge this inroad, levied an army, and marched into England; but he was
routed at Homildon by an English force under die command of the Percies, and
taken prisoner. A short time afterwards* the Percies, in conjunction with
other discontented nobles, broke out in rebellion, and in the war which they
waged against their sovereign Henry IV., received the assistance of Douglas,
whom they had set at liberty. At the Battle of Shrewsbury, Douglas fought
with great bravery, but his horse stumbling, he was wounded and taken
prisoner; while the Earl of Northumberland and Lord Rardolph, escaping from
the field, took refuge in Scotland. Henry IV., addressing himself to the
Duke of Albany, proposed to set at liberty Murdoch, the Duke’s son, the Earl
of Douglas, and other Scottish prisoners in England, on condition that the
English refugees were immediately put to death. Albany entered into this
base project; but Sir David Fleming of Biggar having discovered it before it
was ripe for execution, apprised his friend, the Earl of Northumberland, of
the fate intended for him, and advised him to seek safety in flight By this
means the English exiles escaped the bloody fangs of the Duke of Albany,
greatly to the mortification of the Douglases, who resolved to embrace the
earliest opportunity of taking vengeance on Fleming.
Robert III., being well aware
of the ambitious and unscrupulous character of his brother, the Duke of
Albany, was careful to have his second son, James, Earl of Carrick, brought
up in a place of security. He was, therefore, educated in the Castle of St
Andrews, under the superintendence of Henry Wardlaw, then Bishop of that
See. The death of his brother in the Castle of Falkland, and the unsettled
state of the country, made the King apprehensive that there was no place in
Scotland beyond the reach of violence, and therefore he resolved to send his
son to France to complete his education. A vessel was prepared for the
voyage, and stationed at the Bass; and a strong body of armed men, under the
command of Sir David Fleming and the Earl of Orkney, were ordered to escort
the Prince from St Andrews to Edinburgh, and then to North Berwick. These
barons performed the duty assigned them with great promptness and fidelity,
and the Prince, with the Earl of Orkney and a small suit, were safely put
aboard the vessel They were, however, not destined to reach the shores of
France; for, on passing Flamborough Head, they were captured by an armed
English vessel, carried to London, and thrown into the Tower, in direct
violation of a truce, which, at the time, existed between the two kingdoms.
The Duke of Albany and the
Douglases being full of indignation against David Fleming, both on account
of the escape of the English refugees and the departure of the young Prince,
collected a number of their retainers, and placed them under the command of
Sir James Douglas of Balveny and Alexander Seton. These individuals fell
upon Fleming and his party at Longherdmanston, on their way from North
Berwick; and, after an obstinate encounter, Fleming and a number of his
followers were slain. The body of Fleming was conveyed to the Abbey of
Holyrood, and there, according to his own arrangement, was interred under
the altar of St Nicholas, the patron saint of the old Parish Kirk of Biggar.
Wyntoun thus speaks of his prowess as a warrior; and the esteem in which he
was held by the King:—
'Schire Davy Flemyng of
Cumbirnald Lord,—
A knycht stout and bald,
Trowit and luvit wel wyth ye King,
Our Prynce resavit in Ids keiping.’
Of his death and burial the
same poet says:—
'Fra this, Schire Davy thare
wee dayne,
Der Lords all passit hame agane,
And ye con wee on ye mome
Throuch Edinbruch wyth honoure borne
Til Halyrudhouse, yare he lyes,
His spirite intil Paradys.’
Sir David Fleming was twice
married. His first wife was Jean, daughter of Sir David Barclay of Brechin;
and by her he had a daughter, Marion, who became the wife of Sir William
Maule of Panmure. By his second wife, Isabel, heiress of the Baron of
Monycabow, he had two sons, Malcolm and David. David was the founder of a
respectable branch of the Fleming family, who settled at a place in
Renfrewshire which was called BoghalL1 The elder
son, Malcolm, succeeded to the family estates of Biggar and Cumbernauld. He
married Elizabeth, daughter of the Duke of Albany, niece of Robert HI., and
thus was closely connected with the royal family of Scotland. He was
knighted by that monarch, and received from his father-in-law a charter of
the lands of Torwood, most likely as the dowry of his wife. He, of course,
inherited the lands in the parish of Drummelzier, acquired by the Flemings
from their marriage with the family of Sir Simon Fraser. The father of Sir
Simon, who died in 1291, had bestowed a portion of the lands of Kingledoors
on the monks of Melrose. These lands, in ancient times, were divided into
Craw Kingledoors and Chapel Kingledoors; Chapel Kingledoors being so called
from a chapel which stood on it, dedicated to St Cuthbert. A dispute arose
between the monks of Melrose and the Lairds of Biggar, regarding the party
on whom devolved the burden of repairing and upholding the chapel, and had
the right of appointing a priest to officiate at its altar. Malcolm Fleming,
of whom we are now treating, put an end to this long and keenly controverted
point, by renouncing, in 1417, 'all right and claim in the chapel and its
priest had, or to be had, from the beginning of the world to the end of
tune.'
The Earl of Carrick, whom we
mentioned as having been conveyed by Sir David Fleming to the Bass, and as
having been captured and imprisoned by the English, became, on the death of
his father, in 1406, James L; but for eighteen years was detained a prisoner
in England. He was allowed to visit his dominions in May 1421, and Malcolm
Fleming was one of the hostages for his return to captivity. A war breaking
out between France and England, in 1419, many of the most bold and
adventurous Scots embarked for France, and took part in the contest against
the English in that country. The English carried the Scottish king to
France, in order that he might exert his authority to prevent his subjects
from taking any further part in the war; but they refused to obey his orders
so long as he was not a free agent; and this circumstance made the English
more readily disposed to listen to proposals to set him at liberty. A treaty
was at length concluded at London on the 4th December 1423, by which it was
stipulated that the Scots should pay L.40,000, as a compensation for the
expense which the English had incurred in the maintenance and education of
James, and also give a number of the principal barons as hostages for the
due fulfilment of the terms of this treaty. The names of the hostages, and
the yearly income of each, are given in ‘ Ryiuer’s Fcedera.’ ‘Malcolmus,
Dominus de Bygare,’ was one of the hostages; and his yearly income is set
down at 600 merks, which, if the value of a rnerk at that time was equal to
L.10 of our present currency, would amount to L.6000.
James I. was no sooner
established on his throne than he began to administer justice with a
severity that, in a short time, cost him his life. Among other persons whom
he brought to trial, was Murdoch, Duke of Albany, his cousin, who had
succeeded his father as Regent of the kingdom during the confinement of the
King in England; and both he and his two sons were condemned for abusing the
Bang’s authority, and beheaded at Stirling, in May 1425. Sir Malcolm Fleming
of Biggar, being the brother-in-law of Murdoch, was apprehended it the same
time; but, as most likely no satisfactory plea could be advanced against
him, he was soon set at liberty.
In those days of feud and
faction, very strange and unexpected alliances were often formed. It would
naturally be supposed that Malcolm Fleming, having lost his father by the
craft and malignity of the Duke of Albany and the family of Douglas, would
hold them in deadly enmity; but, instead of this, he married the daughter of
the one, and became the intimate friend and counsellor of the other. At that
time no noblemen were more powerful, or comported themselves with a more
haughty and imperious bearing, than the Earls of Douglas, of whom it was
nothing uncommon to hear, that they were marching through the country with a
band of several thousand armed men in their train. In fact, their power and
authority became dangerous to the Stewart dynasty, more especially as, by
marriage with the royal family, they had acquired some hopes of succeeding
to the throne. Archibald, the fifth Earl of Douglas, died on the 26th of
June 1439, and left two sons, William and David. William, who at his
father’s death was only seventeen years of age, was a youth of good
abilities, gallant demeanour, and generous disposition; and, had his lot
been cast in more peaceful and settled times, he might have been one of the
most distinguished members of his illustrious House. Malcolm Fleming of
Biggar was his near neighbour, and his age and experience might point him
out as a most proper friend and adviser. At all events,, the recent feud
between the two Hotoses was forgotten, arid a great intimacy springing up
between them; Douglas sent him arid Allan Lauder of the Bass to France* to
carry his oath of allegiance to the French king, and to receive investiture
in the Dukedom of Tou-raine, which had been bestowed on the grandfather of
Douglas, for Us gallant services to the French nation. Charles VII., then
King of France, gave Fleming and'Lauder a very kind reception, and, as we
are told by Lindsay of Pitscottie* ‘grantit glaidlie to thair requeisit and
message, and gave to him (Douglas) and his procutatouris the haill landis
and rentis in Franee, quhilkis hid guid&chir had a befoir.’ At the period of
which we are now speaking, Scotland was in a very miserable condition; James
I. had been cruelly murdered at Perth, and his son and successor was only a
few years old. No single person possessed # sufficient power and authority
to exercise, with effect, the administration of public affairs, to cause the
laws to be respected and obeyed, to overawe the factious, turbulent, and
bloodthirsty barons, and promote the peaceful arts of industry and commerce.
The two noblemen who clainted and excercised the largest share of power were
Alexander Livingston of Callender, who held the office of Governor; and
William Crichton of Crichton, who was Chancellor of the kingdom. These
barons carried on a constant rivalry1 with one another, each of them being
resolutely bent oh obtaining the • superiority, and equally industrious in
issuing edicts, calling on the people to give him exclusive obedience. The
minds of the population were thus distracted; the adherents of one party
perpetrated every species of enormity on the other; the lands remained
uncultivated; and famine, with all its dire concomitants, was the result.
The young Earl of Douglas, amid these unhappy dissensions and calamities, is
alleged to have conducted himself in a very imperious and lawless manner,
riding up and down at the* head of several hundred armed troopers, and
burning, slaughtering, and pillaging wherever he went. The Governor and
Chancellor having, at length, effected s reconciliation, came to a
resolution to crush, by dissimulation and violence, the exorbitant power of
Douglas A letter was Written to hiin, representing that the affairs of State
could not be conducted without his aid, and requesting him to repair without
delay to Edinburgh. It is stated that other inducements Were given to draw
him into the snare, such as holding out a prospect of advancing him, or his
under Malise, Earl of Strathern, to the supreme power, in preference to the
son of James I.; but the fact is, that the reasons which they adduced are
not certainly known. Whatever they were, they were sufficient to puff up the
vain young man with very confident and exalted notions, and made him deaf to
all the entreaties and remonstrances of his friends to keep aloof from the
society of Crichton and Livingston, whose hasty reconciliation made them
apprehensive of impending danger. Accompanied by his brother David, his
friend Malcolm Fleming, and a small escort, he set out towards Edinburgh,
and by the way was met by Crichton, the Chancellor, who conducted him and
his attendants to the Castle of Crichton, and* there splendidly entertained
them for several days. They at length left Crichton’s festive halls, and
proceeded to the Castle of Edinburgh, where they were seemingly welcomed
with the greatest cordiality. Lesley, Pits-cottie, and perhaps some other of
our older historians, state that they were here entertained at a sumptuous
dinner, and that, in the course of it, a bull’s head was placed on the
table, which was a sign of condemnation to death. This, it is said, gave
rise to the popular rhyme,—
'Edinburgh Castle, town, and
tower,
God grant ye sink for ee'n;
And that even for the black dinnour
Earl Douglas gat therein.'
Tytler, in opposition to the
statements of the old historians, rejects the story of the bull’s head as a
mere fiction; but his opinion rests on nothing better than supposition. It
is certain, at least, that Douglas and his principal attendants were
immediately accused of treason and placed under restraint The Earl and his
brother were subjected to the forms of a mock trial, and condemned to be
taken to the Castle-hill and beheaded. This sentence was accordingly carried
into execution, in presence of the young monarch, on the eve of the Festival
of St Katherine, viz., the 24th November 1440.
It has been generally
asserted, that the trial and execution of Sir Malcolm Fleming took place at
the same time with the Douglases. This is a mistake. It has been ascertained
that he was not tried and executed till the fourth day after his friends had
been deprived of life. After a form of trial, as illegal as it was
insulting, he was brought to the Castlehill, the usual place of execution at
the time, and there his head was struck from his body by the axe of the
headsman; thus ignominiously losing his life for no other crime that history
has left on record than that he was a friend to the youthful Douglas, and
obnoxious to men inflamed with mad ambition, and ready to make a cruel and
unwarrantable use of the power that had fallen into their hands.
Malcolm, by his wife
Elizabeth Stewart, who in old writs is termed Lady Biggar, had two sons,
Malcolm and Robert Malcolm was one of the hostages for James 1., and appears
to have been released from this duty on the 20th January 1432. He
predeceased his father, and therefore his brother Robert succeeded to the
estates. One of Robert’s first acts was to make several public protests
against the sentence of death and forfeiture which had been pronounced
against his father. Copies of several of these instruments are still
preserved. We may refer to one of them, written partly in Latin and partly
in the vernacular Scotch of the time, which was made at the Cross of
Linlithgow. It commences by invoking the name of the Deity, and wishes all
men to know by this public instrument, that on the 7th day of January, in
the year of our Lord 1440, and the 14th year of the Pontificate of the most
holy Father in Christ, Lord Eugenius, by Divine Providence Pope, and in
presence of the witnesses whose names are subscribed— Walter Buchanan and
Thomas Muirhead, Esquires, and procurators of Robert Fleming, son and heir
of the late Malcolm Fleming, Lord of Biggar, having power and sufficient
instructions, as is shown by legal documents, went to the Market Cross of
the burgh of Linlithgow, and there, before William Houston, Sheriff-depute,
and in name of the said Robert, falsified a certain sentence pronounced, or
violently carried out, upon Malcolm Fleming, father of the said Robert, on
the Castle Hill of Edinburgh; all this being done according to due mode and
form, and for the reasons written below, the tenor of which follows in the
vulgar:—
‘We, Waltyr of Buchquwane,
and Thomas of Murhede, special procuratoris and actourneis, conjunctly and
severally, to Robert Flemyng, son and ayr to Malcolm Flemyng, sumtyme Lord
of Bigar, sayis to thee John of Blayr, Dempstar, that the Doyme gyffin out
of thy mouth on Malcolm Flemyng in a said court haldyn befor our soverane
Lord ye King, on the Castle-hill of Edynburch on Mononday the acht and
twenty day of the moneth of November, the yere of our Lord Mmoc,c,c,cmo and
fourty zeris sayande, “that he had forfat land, lyff, and gud aschete to the
King, and that yow gave for doyme,” that doyme forsaid giffen out of thy
mouth is evyl, fals, and rotten in itself; and here, We the fors* Walter and
Thomas, procuratoris to the said Robert, for hym, and in his name, fals it,
adnul it, and again cancel it, in thy hand William of Howston, deput to the
Sherray of Lithgow, and tharto a borch in thy hand; and for this cause the
courte was unlachful, the doyme unlachful, unorderly giffen, and agane our
statut; for had he been a common thef takyn redhand, and haldyn twa sonys,
he sulde haff had his law dayis, he askande them, as he did befoir our
soverane Lord the King, and be this resoune the doyme is evyll giffyn, and
weil agane said; and here we, the forsaid Walter and Thomas, procuratoris to
the forsaid Robert, protests for ma resounys to be giffen up be the said
Robert, or be his procuratoris, quhan he acht in lawful tyme.’
The said sentence, as thus
set forth, being false and void, the procurators of Robert Fleming took a
pledge to pursue the adnulification and falsification of the said sentence,
in the hands of Robert Nicholson, serjeant of our Lord the King, who
received the same pledge.
The procurators afterwards
offered a falsification and adnulification of the sentence, under the seal
of Robert Fleming, to William Houston, Sheriff-depute, who refused to
receive it, alleging that the reception of such a document pertained to the
Justiciar and not to the Sheriff; and thereupon the agents publicly
protested against this refusal being the cause of any prejudice to the said
Robert in time to come. Upon each and all of these points the procurators
took public instruments in the hands of a notary public, at the Cross of
Linlithgow, at ten o’clock of the day already stated, and before a number of
competent witnesses.
On the 16th of August 1443,
Sir Alexander Livingstone, as is shown by a document still preserved, in
presence of Robert Fleming and four bishops, solemnly purged himself, upon
oath, of having given any counsel, assistance, or consent to the slaughter
of Sir Malcolm Fleming. It would thus seem that the death of Sir Malcolm is
to be ascribed solely to the vindictive feelings or ambitious aspirations of
Crichton the Chancellor.
When James II. arrived at the
age of maturity, he became convinced that great injustice had been done in
putting Malcolm Fleming to death, and forfeiting his estate.. He therefore
caused precepts to be addressed to the sheriffs of the different counties in
which Fleming’s estates were situated, ordering them to infeft Robert
Fleming of Biggar as the heir and successor of his father, who had been
proved, by the testimony of several persons, to have died at the faith and
peace of his sovereign. He also, on the 6th of June 1451, bestowed on him a
charter of the twenty-four merk lands of Petkenny, Culevenny, and Balrody,
and their pertinents, lying in the barony of Kinghorn, to be held of the
King by rendering the usual services. On the following day, viz., the 7th of
June, he conferred on him a charter of all and whole the lands of
Auchtermony and their pertinents, lying in the Earldom of Lennox, to be held
of the King by rendering a silver penny Scots if sought It was, no doubt,
James also who raised Fleming to the peerage, though the date at which this
took place is not exactly known. But the favour received by him from the
King, which possesses the greatest interest to the people of Biggar, is the
erection of Biggar into a free burgh of barony, as we have elsewhere stated.
The lands of Boghall, on the
death of their proprietor, John Fleming, in 1581, came into the hands of
John, Lord Fleming, who disponed them to his second son, James, in 1598. In
course of time they went out of the hands of the Flemings, and became the
property of the Earls of Dundonald. |
