|
IN the chapter on the
Covenanters in this volume, we have referred to various movements on the
part of John, second Earl of Wigton, and his son John Lord Fleming. They
attached themselves at first to the cause of the Covenant, but influenced by
the solicitations of their relative Montrose, and by the blandishments of
Charles IE., they turned their backs on that movement, and lent their
support to the measures of the King. After the Battle of Philiphaugh, they
do not s6em, however, to have taken a very active part in the public
transactions of the time. The overthrow and the execution of Montrose, and
the losses and injuries which they them-selves sustained, most likely
disposed them to withdraw from public life, and to spend the remainder of
their days in retirement and peace. The Earl died at Cumbernauld on the 7th
of May 1650, and was succeeded in his titles and estates by his son John.
This Earl married Jane Drummond, a daughter of the Earl of Perth, by whom he
had five sons and three daughters, and died in February 1665.
The Earl’s second daughter,
named Lillias, fell in love with one of her father’s servants called Richard
Storry, and having eloped with him, succeeded in forming with him a
matrimonial union. She, with consent of her husband, in October 1673,
resigned her portion, consisting of the five merk land of Smythson and
others, lying in the barony of Lenzie, to her brother, Lieutenant-Colonel
Fleming, and received from him a legal acknowledgment that the same would be
redeemable in the manner there described. The family afterwards obtained for
Storry a situation in the Custom-House. The marriage pf this pair made a
great noise at the time, and gave rise to a ballad, which has been preserved
in some publications, and of which the following is a copy:—
'The Erie o’ Wigtoun had three
doughters,
O braw wallie they were bonnie;
The youngest o’ them, and the bonniest too,
Has fa’en in love wi’ Richie Storrie.
'Here’s a letter for ye,
Madame,
Here’s a letter for ye, Madame,
The Erie o’ Home wad fain presume,
To be a suitor to ye, Madame.
'HI hae nane o1 your letter,
Richie,
I’ll hae nane o’ your letter, Richie;
For I hae made a vow, and Til keep it true,
That I*ll hae nane but you, Richie.
'O do not say bo, Madame,
O do not say ao, Madame;
For I hae neither land nor rent,
For to maintain yon Madame.
'Ribands ye maun wear, Madame,
Ribands ye maun wear, Madame,
Wi' bands about your bonnie neck
O' the goud that shines sae clear, Madame.
'I’ll lie ayont a dyke,
Richie,
I’ll lie ayont a dyke, Richie,
And I'll be aye at your command,
And biding when ye like, Richie.'
'Fair Powmoodie is a’ my ain,
And goud and pearlins too, Richie;
Gin ye'll consent to be my ain,
I’ll gie them a’ to you, Richie,
'O he’s gane on the braid
braid road,
And she’s gane through the broom so bonnie,
Her sillar robes doun to her heels,
And she’s awa wi' Richie Stome.
'The lady gaed up the
Parliament Stain,
Wi' pendles in her lug sae bonnie;
Mony a lord lifted his hat,
But little wist they she was Richie’s lady.
'Up then spak the Erie of
Home’s lady,—
Wasna ye richt sorrie, Lillie,
To leave the lands o’ bonnie Cumbernald,
And follow Richie Storrie, Lillie?
'O what need I be sorrie,
Madame,
O what need I be sorrie, Madame?
For I’ve got them that I like best,
And war ordaned for me, Madame.
'Cumbernald is mine, Annie,
Cumbernald is mine, Annie,
And a’ that’s mine it shall be thine,
And we will sit at wine, Annie.’
The subject of this ballad
fortned the groundwork of a tale which appeared in the first and second
numbers of * Chambers’ Edinburgh Journal' in 1832.
John Fleming, the eldest son
of the last Earl, succeeded to the tide and estates. Of his history very
little is known. He married Anna, daughter of Henry Lord Ker, by whom he had
a daughter, Jane, who became the wife of George Maule, Lord Panmure. He had
only inherited the estates a period of three years, when he died, in 1668,
and leaving no male issue, was succeeded by his brother William, who had
entered the army the year previous, his commission as an ensign in General
Thomas Dalziel’s own company of foot being dated 26th July 1667. The
following is a translation of the terms in which William, on the 5th of
August of that year, was retoured heir of the Biggar estate to Chancery
William, Earl of Wigtoun, Lord Fleming of Cumbernauld, heir-male of John,
Earl of Wigtoun, his brother-german, in the lands of Spittai, Easter
Toft-Combes, Middle and Wester Toft-Combes, lands of Whinbusb, Telfer’s
Oxengate, and Gildie Oxengate,—the lands of Heavyside,—the lands of Stane
and Chamberlane Oxengate, Mossyde Oxengate and Staneheid, four oxgates of
land at Billhead,—the town and burgh of Biggar, comprehending twenty-four
burgh lands and two cotlands, with mill of Biggar,— lands of Westraw of
Biggar, comprehending thirty oxgates,—two oxgates of lands of Westerraw of
Biggar,—the three pound lands of the lordship of Boghall,—a part of the
barony of Biggar,—the demesne lands of Iindsielands, the lands of Over and
Nether Yoltis, part of the barony of Biggar, two oxgates of the temple lands
in the Westerraw of Biggar within the said barony and said burgh of Biggar,
ancient extent L.36, new extent L.144, acris of land of the said burgh of
Biggar lying round in the lands and barony of Biggar, the six merk lands of
ancient extent of Glentoers within the barony of Monkland, with the
patronages of the Churches of Stobo, Drummelzier, Dawick, and Broughton
ancient extent L.4, new extent L.8; the burghs of barony of Kirkintilloch
and Biggar, all erected into the Earldom of Wigtoun.'
The Earl resigned his lands
and honours to Charles II., and obtained a signature under the hand of the
King, on the 18th of August 1669, authorizing a charter or regrant to pass
the Great Seal of the dignities of Earl of Wigton, Lord Fleming and
Cumbernauld, and also of his estates, in favour of himself and the
heirs-male of his body, containing remainders also to Charles Fleming, his
brother-german; Sir William Fleming, Chamberlain of the Household to the
King, and son of John, second Earl of Wigton; to Lieutenant-Colonel Fleming,
son of Malcolm Fleming, and grandson of John, first Earl; and to Jane
Fleming, only daughter of John, fourth Earl, and afterwards wife of George,
Earl of Panmure; to the heirs-male of their bodies seriatim, each and all of
them, with an ultimate substitution, without division, to the eldest
heir-female of the body of the disponee. It is a very singular circumstance
that this regrant was never completed; that, in the course of a few years,
it became unknown to the family, and remained in oblivion until it was
accidentally discovered some time after the middle of last century. By the
above resignation of the Earldom, which was gratuitous and not onerous, and
by the failure to carry into effect the new warrant obtained, the Earl may
be legally held to have denuded himself of the honours conferred on the
Fleming family by James VI., and perhaps also of his estates.
The Earl was appointed by
Charles II. Sheriff of Dumbartonshire, and Governor of Dumbarton Castle, and
also a member of the Privy Council. His name, however, does not appear in
connection with any of the arbitrary and discreditable transactions with
which the Privy Council during his time was so very largely engaged. He
appears to have lived a good deal in retirement, for his name seldom occurs
in any public document. From the numerous papers connected with the
management of his estates still preserved, it is evident that he was a
careful and methodical man of business. He seems to have exacted from his
factors a full and satisfactory statement of all their transactions. Earl
William died on the 8th of April 1681, and was succeeded by his son John.
This Earl, the sixth who bore
the title since its revival by James VI., was a decided Royalist, and of
course had no sympathy with the /efforts made by the worthies of the
Covenant to thwart the designs of the men of power, and overturn the Stewart
dynasty. When William, Prince of Orange, landed in England, he took no part
in the general rejoicing, but remained sulkily at his house of Cumbernauld.
As might be expected, he lent no assistance to raise the Upper Ward
Regiment, the 26th Cameronians, that was embodied at Douglas in 1687, for
the purpose of supporting the principles of the Covenant, and the designs of
King William. After James VH. had abandoned the throne, and settled in
France, the Earl went over to the Continent, and remained for some time at
the royal residence to console his fallen master. He returned to Scotland,
and joined the party who were resolutely opposed to a union of the two
kingdoms of Scotland and England. When the measure for effecting this union
was brought before the Scottish Parliament, he voted against every one of
the articles. This measure, as is well known, was highly obnoxious to all
ranks in Scotland;—the noble, the divine, the merchant, the craftsman, and
the peasant, could see nothing in it but ruin to their respective orders,
and, of course, misery and degradation to their country. The inhabitants of
the Biggar district were in a perfect flame during the whole time that the
Union Parliament, as it was called, carried on its discussions. During the
month of November 1706, addresses or petitions against the Union were
presented to this Parliament from tbe parishioners of Covington, Symington,
Libberton, Quothquan, Dunsyre, Crawford, and Crawfordjohn. The address from
the parish of Biggar was presented on Friday, the 15th of that month, and
was no doubt gratifying to the Earl, who was present at this sederunt. A
design was entertained to bring some thousands of the men of Clydesdale to
Edinburgh, to dissolve the Parliament by force. Cunningham of Eckatt was
entrusted with the task of carrying this design into execution; but as he
was in reality a Government spy, and as the Duke of Hamilton, who possessed
great influence in Clydesdale, and pretended to be a resolute opponent of
the scheme of Union, was, at bottom, fainthearted, if not insincere, the
whole affair, in the end, came to nothing. The Government thus got a pretext
to repeal the Act of Security, the effect of which was, that any person
afterwards assuming arms without authority, was held to be guilty of
rebellion. The Articles of Union, after calling forth some creditable
displays of forensic eloquence and patriotic feeling in Parliament, and the
grief and resentment of nearly the entire nation, were, one after another,
passed into a law; and Scotland saw the majority of her senators, for the
most paltry bribes, barter away her independence, and sacrifice their own
dignity and power.
The first effects of the
Union were disastrous to Scotland. The abiding sense of humiliation and
tarnished honour, the removal of many of the nobles and gentry to London,
the ignominious treatment of the representatives of Scotland by the English
senators, the improper interference with Scottish commerce, the imposition
of new and odious taxes, and the dispersion over the country of a swarm of
English revenue officers of dissolute habits and imperious dispositions, all
contributed to keep the minds of the people in a state of intense
irritation, and to attach them more and more to the exiled House of Stewart.
Accordingly, when John, Earl of Mar, was repulsed from the presence of
George I. in 1715, then newly landed on the English shores, when the address
of loyalty and attachment from the chiefs of clans, which he wished to
present, was rejected, and the office of Secretary of State, which he had
held under Queen Anne, was taken from him, he set up the standard of
rebellion, and called on all true patriots to rally to the rescue of their
country.
No sooner was the note of
rebellion sounded, than the Government, in virtue of a statute, commonly
called the Clan Act, summoned upwards of fifty Scotsmen of note, and, among
others, the Earl of Wigton, to appear at Edinburgh in order to give bail for
their orderly and loyal behaviour. Only two persons, Sir Patrick Murray and
Sir Alexander Erskine, thought fit to comply. The consequence was, that the
others were declared rebels, and put to the horn. On a warrant issued by
Major-General Williams, the Earl of Wigton was accordingly apprehended on
the 20th August 1715, and placed in confinement in Edinburgh Castle. The
Earl, by an instrument dated 19th June 1716, demanded that the Governor of
Edinburgh Castle should set him at
2 x
liberty; but the Governor,in
reply, said, that as he had been committed to prison in the time of war, he
could not be released without a warrant from the King, or those acting under
his authority. The Court of Justiciary, however, in the course of a few
days, ordered the Governor to free him from his bonds; and accordingly he
was immediately 9et at large, after he had been kept in ward for ten months.
Many of the gentlemen of the
Upper Ward at that time belonged to the opposite side of politics from the
Earl, and therefore made a stand in favour of the House of Hanover. Captain
Daniel Weir of Stonebyres, the Laird of Corehouse, Sir James Carmichael of
Botmiton, Sir James Lockhart of Lee, Baillie of Lamington, Alexander Menzies
of Coulterallers, and others, assembled all their vaasals, and had them
regularly drilled and ready to take the field in support of the movements of
the Duke of Argyle, Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Forces. The Duke of
Douglas raised a regiment of 800 men, completely officered and trained. The
first detachment, consisting of 100 men, commenced their march to the
Royalist camp at Stirling on the 27th September 1715, and got the length of
Carluke, when intelligence arrived that they were not to advance farther, in
consequence of a scarcity of provisions in the camp. They consequently
returned to Douglas; but the Duke himself, Baillie of Lamington, Sir James
Carmichael, etc., proceeded onwards, and arrived at Stirling on the 29th.
They were very likely present at the Battle of Sherriffinuir, which took
place about a fortnight afterwards.
It was the Earl of whom we
are now speaking, that in 1739 carried on a series of litigations with his
vassals and feuars at Biggar regarding their respective rights to the
Common, This was most likely done preparatory to his effecting the new
entail of his estates in 1741. As already stated, he seems to have been
altogether unaware of the regrant by Charles EL in 1669.
By the new deed of entail, he
became bound to resign his estates and titles in favour of heirs-male
lawfully procreated of his own body; but failing these, in favour of Charles
Fleming, his brother-german, and his heirs-male lawfully begotten; and
failing all these, in favour of heirs-female. One of the special objects of
the Earl was, that as his brother was unmarried, and as his only daughter
Clementina had in 1735 married Charles Elphinstone, son of Charles, ninth
Lord Elphinstone, the peerage of Wigton should not be merged in or
identified with any other title. It was therefore expressly stated, that the
heir to succeed should be bound and obliged to assume and bear the title,
name, arms, and designation of Lord or Baron Fleming, and no other. He
therefore provided, that when any heir other than the heir-male of himself
or his brother should succeed, or have a right to succeed, to the estates of
Biggar and Cumbernauld, and should also succeed, or have a right to succeed,
to the title and dignity of another peerage, then, in that case, and so soon
as it should happen, he was bound to denude himself of the estates, and that
they should go to the next heir, who should assume the name of Fleming.
The Earl died on the 10th of
February 1742, in the 71st year of his age, and was interred in the Church
of Biggar. He was three times married. His first wife was Margaret, a
daughter of Colin Lindsay, third Earl of Balcarras; and by her he had a
daughter, who appears to have died in early life. His second wife was Mary
Keith, daughter of William, ninth Earl Marischall; and by her he had an only
daughter, Clementina. His third wife was Miss Lockhart, daughter of the
celebrated Sir George Lockhart of Camwath; but by her he had no issue.
The Earl was succeeded by his
brother Charles, of whom nothing of importance is known. He died unmarried
in 1747, and the estates went to his niece Lady Clementina, and the title
became extinct. Charles Ross Fleming, M.D., Dublin, claimed the title, and
voted at some of the elections of Scottish Peers; but the House of Lords, in
1762, decided that his claim was without proper foundation. After the death
of this gentleman in 1769, his son renewed the claim, but with no better
success; so that the title of the Earl of Wigton has for more, than a
century been dropped from the roll of the Scottish nobility.
Lady Clementina Fleming, only
child of John, sixth Earl of Wigton, in 1735 married Charles, second son of
Charles, ninth Lord Elphin-stone. On the death of. her uncle Charles,
seventh Earl of Wigton, as already stated, she became possessor of the
estates of Biggar and Cumbernauld, and she was also, through her mother,
heiress-of-line of William, ninth Earl Marischal. Her husband, on the death
of his father in 1757, became Lord Elphinstone, his elder brother John
having died some time previously.. Her Ladyship by this union had four sons
—John, Charles, William, and George Keith—and several daughters. Charles and
George devoted themselves to the i\aval service, and rose to distinction.
Charles perished at sea, on board the ‘Prince George,’ 90 gun ship, when she
was destroyed by fire on the 18th of April 1758, during a voyage from
England to Gibraltar. William, who was for many years an East India Company
Director, married the eldest daughter of William Fullerton, Esq. of
Carstairs; and < from this couple, William, the present Lord Elphinstone, is
directly descended. In the year 1773, Lady Clementina 4 did for certain
causes and considerations sell, alienate, and, in feu farm, dispone to and
in favour of Sir Michael Bruce of Stenhouse, Bart., his heirs and assignees,
those parts of the lands of the barony of Biggar and Boghall which she
inherited from her father and uncle. In the year following, Sir Michael
Bruce, by disposition and deed of entail, sold, alienated, and disponed the
same lands to and in favour of Lady Clementina, and the heirs what-somever
of her body, and failing them, to the heirs-feanale of her uncle Charles if
any existed, to the heirs->male or female, of Jean Fleming or Maule, relict
of George Lord Ramsay, or to the heirs-male of the deceased William Fleming
of Borochan, etc. This disposition and deed of entail was, however, not
recorded in the Register of Tailzies.
John, Lady Clementina’s
eldest son, was bom in 1739. He was an officer in the army, and served under
the distinguished General Wolfe in Canada, where, at the Heights of
Montmorenci, he was wounded in the neck by a musket-ball. He received the
command of a company of invalids in 1760, and at a subsequent period was
appointed Governor of Edinburgh Castle. He succeeded his father as eleventh
Lord Elphinstone in 1781, and was several times chosen a representative peer
for Scotland. He married Anne, daughter of Lord Ruthven; and by her he had
four sons—John, Charles, James Ruthven, and Mount-stuart. He died at
Cumbernauld House on the 19th of August 1794. His mother, the venerable
Clementina, outlived him upwards of four years, and died at Cavendish
Square, London, on the 1st of January 1799, in the 80th year of her age,
and, as formerly stated, was interred in Biggar Kirk. The last of the
Flemings was thus appropriately laid in the tomb of her forefathers; and
many ages, in all likelihood, will roll by before it is again opened.
With the death of Lady
Clementina, the connection of the direct line of the Flemings with Biggar
terminated. For four or five centuries at least this family reigned superior
in the parish. Nay, we are strongly disposed to believe that they held
uninterrupted possession of it from the time of the first David. The
opinions opposed to this view rest merely on conjecture, while a probability
at least exists in its favour. So soon as we obtain distinct and
satisfactory evidence of the existence of the Fleming family, we find them
in possession of Biggar parish; and, therefore, we are inclined to conclude
that the family of de Bigris and the family of Fleming were the same. This
evidently, at all events, was the opinion of some members of the Fleming
family two centuries ago.
Biggar, no doubt, reaped very
considerable advantages from its connection with this old and distinguished
family. The presence of a chief who often resided at court, who fought in
his country’s battles, who went on important embassies to foreign kingdoms,
and who took a prominent part in the great public movements of the age, must
have inspired the inhabitants with pride and confidence, while his vigilant
eye would rouse them up to industry and self-respect, causing them to
cultivate their fields with care, maintain their dwellings in a state of
comfort, and cultivate habits of decency and order. No evidence exists to
show that they were ever harsh and tyrannical landlords or superiors, but
much, on the contrary, to prove that they treated their tenants and vassals
with leniency, and conferred on them many favours. It was through their
influence that Biggar was erected into a free burgh of barony. They bestowed
on the burgesses very ample possessions, and, with the exception of
appointing a head bailie, they appear to have left them very much to manage
their own affairs. The inhabitants of Biggar parish, no doubt, sustained
occasional losses from their connection with the Flemings. In the days of
feud and foray, revenge for the offences of a lord-superior was too often
exercised on his unoffending vassals. The Flemings were at times obnoxious
to men in power, or having at least the means of inflicting injuries; and
hence their poor tenants were assailed, and their property destroyed or
carried off. Murray, Lennox, and Cromwell made Biggar successively a scene
of desolation.
The Flemings, as we have
seen, were bountiful patrons of religious houses and the Romish faith. The
altars in many a religious establishment received their benefactions, and
many a mass must have been said for the salvation of their souls. The
erection of the Collegiate Church of St Mary at Biggar, and its magnificent
endowment, must ever keep their nameB fresh in the memory of the people of
Biggar.
John, Lady Clementina’s
grandson, who became twelfth Lord Elphinstone, was an officer in the army,
and served in different corps. He attained the rank of Major-General, and,
on the 23d of April 1806, was appointed Colonel of the 26th or Cameronian
Regiment. His brother Charles, who was born in 1774, entered the naval
service, and attained the rank of Captain in 1794. He commanded the ‘Tartar
’ frigate in April 1797, when she was lost by striking on a rock, while
engaged in cutting out some valuable merchantmen from a French battery at St
Domingo; but the crew were all saved. He afterwards commanded the ‘Bulwark,’
a 74 gun ship, and was stationed for some time in the Mediterranean. He rose
to the rank of Admiral; and in the latter part of his life, held the
important office of Governor of Greenwich HospitaL In virtue of the entail
executed in 1741 by John, Earl of Wigton, to which we formerly referred, he
laid claim to the estates of Biggar and Cumbernauld, the ancient
inheritances of the Flemings; and as this was resisted by his elder brother,
Lord Elphinstone, a litigation took place, in the early part of the present
century, to settle the dispute. The Court of Session, on the 19th of January
1804, decerned in favour of Charles, the second brother; and this decision
was afterwards confirmed by the House of Lords, and he consequently assumed
the name of Fleming, and took possession of the estates. The Admiral for
some time represented the county* of Stirling in the Imperial Parliament. In
1816 he married Donna Catalina Paulina Alessandro, a Spanish lady, and by
her he had one son and three daughters. Having fallen into pecuniary
difficulties, his liabilities amounting to fully L.41,000, he obtained an
Act of Parliament in 1826, empowering the Judges of the Court of Session to
sell certain parts of the lands and barony of Biggar and lands and barony of
Boghall, and to apply the price in payment of his debts. Three of the ten
heirs next in succession being at the time of the passing of the Act in
foreign countries, three years were allowed to obtain their consent to the
sale; and this having been procured, nearly the whole of the ancient
possessions of the Flemings in the parish of Biggar were, about the year
1830, brought to the hammer, and, as formerly stated, fell into the hands of
five or six different proprietors. The Admiral died on the 30th of October
1840, and was succeeded by his only son John, who was born on the 11th of
December 1819.
John Elphinstone Fleming
entered the army, and served for some time in the 17th Lancers. At the close
of his active military career, some five or six years ago, he was in command
of the 2d Light Dragoons of the German Legion, and held the rank of
Lieutenant-Colonel. On the 19th of July 1860, he succeeded his cousin John
as 14th Lord Elphinstone; but dying at Bournemouth on the 13th of January
following, he enjoyed his elevation to the peerage only a few months. The
estate of Cumbernauld, and such fragments of the estate of Biggar as still
remain in the hands of the family, are now the possession of Viscountess
Hawarden, eldest daughter of Admiral Fleming, and sister of the late John
Lord Elphinstone.
We close these brief and
imperfect sketches of the Fleming family with a cut, representing such
fragments of their once spacious seat of Boghall as still remain—a fitting
emblem of the power and glory now departed, that in former ages attached to
their name in the district of Biggar.
 |
