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THE MAXWELLS.
page 18
The appointment of Sir James Johnstone in April, 1596, to the office of
Warden of the Western Marches in the room of Lord Herries, served, as
might have been expected, to increase the disturbances in the district;
and it speedily became necessary to replace the chief of the Johnstone
clan by Lord Stewart of
Ochiltree.
THE HEPBURNS.
page 267
The Earl, however, had warm friends at Court, particularly Lennox, Athole,
and
Ochiltree—nobles of the Stewart
family; and encouraged by their support, he returned to Scotland in 1593,
and on the 23rd of July was brought secretly to Edinburgh, accompanied by
John Colville, brother of the Lord
of Castle Wemyss, and was lodged for the night in a house adjoining the
palace, belonging to the Countess of Gowrie, Athole's mother-in-law. Early
next morning the Countess of Athole, taking Bothwell and Colville along
with her, entered the palace by a private passage which communicated with
Lady Gowrie's house, and conducting them into an anteroom opening into the
King's bedchamber, hid them behind the arras. She then stealthily
displaced the arms of the guard, and, having locked the door of the
Queen's bedchamber, to prevent the escape of the King, retired with her
attendants. In a short time Bothwell, emerging from his hiding-place,
knocked loudly at the King's chamber door, which was immediately opened by
the Earl of Athole. James, who happened to be at the instant in a closet
opening into the apartment, hearing a noise, rushed out in a state of
dishabille, and seeing Bothwell and Colville standing with drawn swords,
attempted to escape by the Queen's bedchamber, but finding the door locked
he called out, 'Treason treason' At that moment the Duke of Lennox, Athole,
Ochiltree, and others of Bothwell's friends,
entered the room, and James, finding that he was completely in their
power, threw himself into a chair, and with unwonted courage faced the
danger which he could not avoid. Bothwell and Colville threw themselves on
their knees before him, but James called out, 'Come on, Francis You seek
my life, and I know I am wholly in your power. Strike, and end thy work'
But Bothwell, with unexpected moderation, only stipulated for the
remission of his forfeiture. He declared his willingness to submit to
trial on the charges of witchcraft, and of seeking the King's life
directly or indirectly, and offered that, after he had been tried and
acquitted, he would leave the country, if it should be his Majesty's
pleasure, and go to any place he should be pleased to appoint. James
yielded to Bothwell's entreaties, and subscribed a document, promising
him, on condition of his peaceable behaviour, a fair trial, and in the
event of his acquittal, restoration to his rank and estates. It was
further stipulated that he should in the meantime retire from the Court;
and Bothwell having readily acquiesced, his peace was next day proclaimed
by the heralds at the Cross of Edinburgh.
THE LAUDERDALE
MAlTLANDS.
INTRODUCTION.
page 351
Maitland took a leading part in negotiating the Treaty of Berwick between
Elizabeth and the Lords of the Congregation, by which a body of English
troops was despatched to their assistance. He was chosen 'harangue-maker,'
or Speaker, of the Parliament which, in 1560, abolished the jurisdiction
of the Pope in Scotland, and adopted the Confession of Faith as the
national creed. On the return of Queen Mary from France, Lethington
ingratiated himself into her favour, was confirmed in his office of
Secretary, and was repeatedly intrusted by her with important missions to
the English Court. In 1561 he was appointed an Extraordinary Lord, and in
1566 an Ordinary Lord of Session. He strongly opposed the ratification of
the Book of Discipline by the Queen, and when this was proposed he asked,
with a sneer, 'How many of those who had subscribed it would be subject to
it?' 'All the godly,' was the reply. 'Will the Duke (Chatelherault)?' said
Maitland. 'If he will not,' said Lord
Ochiltree,
'I wish he were scraped out, not only out of that book, but also out of
our number and companie, for to what purpose shall travail be taken to set
the Church in order, if it be not kept, or to what end shall men
subscribe, if they never mean to perform?' Maitland answered, 'Many
subscribed them in fide parentum, as the bairns are baptised.' The astute
Secretary knew the men to whom he referred, and was well aware that they
opposed the ratification of the Book of Discipline mainly on account of
the proposal which it contained, that the patrimony of the Romish Church,
which they intended to appropriate to their own use, should be devoted to
the maintenance of the ministry, the education of the young, and the
support of the poor. Maitland himself sympathised with the policy of the
order to which he belonged. He scoffed at the scheme as 'a devout
imagination,' and declared that if the ministers got their will, 'the
Queen would not have enough to buy herself a pair of new shoes.'
THE HOMES.
INTRODUCTION.
page 379
ALEXANDER, his elder son, fifth Baron, was a true representative of his
family both in its strength and its weakness. He was personally brave, and
fought with great distinction against the English invaders in the campaign
of 1548 and 1549. Unlike a large body of the nobles, he steadfastly
supported the independence of the country, and was proof against the
bribes and threats of the Protector Somerset and his agents. He recovered
Home Castle from the enemy in a very daring manner. A small band of his
retainers, who were on the watch for an opportunity of surprising it,
perceiving on a certain night that the guards had relaxed their vigilance,
boldly scaled the precipitous rock on which the fortress was built, and,
killing the sentinel, obtained possession of the castle without
difficulty. Fast Castle, another fortalice of the family, was retaken in a
manner equally adventurous. A number of armed men concealed themselves in
the waggons which were bringing a supply of provisions for the garrison.
Suddenly starting out of their hiding-place, the Scots seized the castle
gates and admitted a strong body of their countrymen, who were waiting
their signal in the immediate vicinity of the fort. The garrison being
taken unawares, were easily overpowered, and the place secured. Lord Home
was appointed to the office of Warden of the Eastern Marches, so often
held by his ancestors, and was one of the commissioners who negotiated the
treaty between England and Scotland at Norham in 1559. He supported the
Reformation, and sat in the Parliament which abolished Popery and
established the Protestant Church in 1560; but in 1565 he attached himself
to the party of Mary and Darnley, who in the following year, with a
splendid retinue, visited the family castles of Home, Wedderburn, and
Langton. He seemed to stand so high in the favour of the Queen at this
time that it was expected that the ancient title of Earl of March would be
revived in his favour. He was one of the nobles who signed the
discreditable bond in favour of the Queen's marriage to Bothwell, but only
a few weeks later he joined the association for the defence of the infant
King, her son, and along with the Earls of Morton, Mar, Glencairn, and
Athole, Lords Lindsay, Ruthven, Graham, and Ochiltree,
he subscribed the order for Mary's imprisonment in Lochleven Castle. After
the Queen's escape from that fortalice, Home brought a body of six hundred
spearmen to the assistance of the Regent Moray at the battle of Langside,
where he was wounded both in the face and the leg; but the fierce charge
of the Border spearmen contributed not a little to the defeat of the
Queen's army. In 1569, however, he once more changed sides, and joined
Queen Mary's party. He assisted Kirkaldy of Grange and Maitland of
Lethington in holding out the castle of Edinburgh to the last against
Regent Morton; but on its surrender in May, 1573, he was more fortunate
than his associates, for though he was brought to trial before the
Parliament and convicted of treason, he was pardoned, and obtained the
restoration of his estates. He died 11th August, 1575.
THE MARCHMONT HUMES.
INTRODUCTION.
page 392
The estates which afterwards formed the patrimony of this family anciently
belonged to the St. Clairs, and as far back as the fifteenth century fell
into the possession of two co-heiresses. In these 'auld times o' rugging
and riving through the hale country,' as Edie
Ochiltree
said, 'when nae man wanted property if he had strength to take it, or had
it langer than he had power to keep it,' the abduction of a wealthy
heiress was an event as common in Scotland as it was in Ireland at the
close of last century. The young ladies in question were courted by as
many lovers as was the renowned Tibby Fowler, who had 'two-and-forty
wooing at her, suing at her.' But an uncle who was anxious to keep them
unmarried, in order that he might inherit their large estates, carried
them off from Polwarth, the family seat, and immured them in his own
castle in East Lothian. The ladies, however, had singled out from the
crowd of suitors the stalwart sons of their powerful neighbour, David Home
of Wedderburn, and had lent a favourable ear to their addresses. In spite
of the jealous precautions of their uncle, they contrived by means of a
female beggar to transmit information to their lovers of the place of
their confinement, and they were soon gratified by the appearance of the
two youths, accompanied by a band of stout Merse men, before the gates of
the castle. In spite of the remonstrances and resistance of the uncle, the
ladies were forcibly released, and carried off in triumph to Polwarth,
where their nuptials were immediately celebrated. The marriage festivities
terminated with a merry dance round a thorn-tree which grew in the centre
of the village green. In commemoration of this event, it became the
practice for marriage parties in Polwarth to dance round this thorn; and
the custom, which continued for well-nigh four hundred years, was only
given up about fifty years ago, on the fall of the original tree, which
was blown down in a fierce gale of wind. There is a well-known tune called
'Polwarth on the Green,' to which several songs have been successively
adapted. The first stanza of one of these productions of the Scottish muse
thus refers to this old custom:—
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