The Works of John Knox Volume I Part 52

[554] Cramond, a village on the south side of the Frith of Forth, five or six miles higher up than Leith.

[555] In October 1547, a messenger was directed "to charge the maister capitane, quarter maisterris, and skippares of the schip callit the Schallop, chargeing thame to prepair and mak hir reddye for the recovering of Sanct Colmys Inche."--(Treasurer's Accounts.) St. Colme's Inch is a small island in the Frith of Forth, within two miles of the sh.o.r.e from Aberdour. There are still some remains of fortifications of a recent date. The island of Inch-Colme is chiefly remarkable for the ruins of an Abbey founded by King Alexander the First, about the year 1123, and dedicated to St. Columba. The inmates were Canon-Regulars of St. Augustine.

[556] Although the name is apparently "De Arfe" in the MS., it might be read "De Aese." But the name "De Arfe" is found in Vautr. edit., and in MSS. A, E, I, and W. MS. L 2, has "De Anfe." In the MS. as originally written it stood, "That wynter remaned _Monsieur de Termes_ in Scotland," &c. This name was afterwards deleted, and that of "De Arfe"

interlined; and it so appears in the copies above specified. But in MS.

G, the original words are retained, thus indicating that the intermediate MS. from which MS. G was transcribed, may have been made previously to the correction of the name.--On the 12th June 1548, 4.

10s. was paid by the Treasurer "to Alexander Ross, pursevante, to attend upoun Monsieur Da.r.s.e and the Frenche bande." The name, however, should be _Mons. de Desse_, who continued in command of the French troops in Scotland, during 1548. Mons. de Termes arrived at Dumbarton with reinforcements, early in 1549, when Desse returned to France.--(Beaugue, Histoire, fol. 107, 119.)

[557] In Vautr. edit. "scarcenesse."

[558] Niddry's Wynd, is now called Niddry Street, its former character of a wynd or close having been changed, when the houses at the top of it were removed in 1785, and the street called South Bridge was built, which connects the Old Town of Edinburgh with the Southern districts.

[559] The Nether bow Port or gate was a large building, with houses on each side, dividing or forming a barrier between the High Street of Edinburgh, and the street in continuation still known as the Canongate, where the French troops were quartered during the Winter 1548-9. The building alluded to was removed as an obstruction to the street, in the year 1764.

[560] In MS. G, and Vautr. edit., "violentlie repulsit him."

[561] James Hamilton, Laird of Stenhouse, already alluded to at page 124, was Provost of the City as well as Captain of the Castle. Bishop Lesley says the occurrence which led to his death, took place early in October 1548. It must have been on or before the first of that month, as Sir William Hamilton of Sanquhar was on that day appointed Captain of the Castle of Edinburgh, with the salary of 533, 6s. 8d.--(Treasurer's Accounts.)

[562] James Hamilton was his father's deputy as Captain of the Castle; and was also Director of the Chancery.

[563] In MS. G, "Mr. Walter Stewart."

[564] The town of Haddington was strongly garrisoned by Lord Grey of Wilton and the English forces, in April 1548; and was soon after besieged by the French auxiliaries, and likewise in the following year, but on both occasions without success. The Friar Kirk belonged to the Franciscan or Gray Friars; the choir of which, from its beautiful structure, was called _Lucerna Laudoniae_, (the Lamp of Lothian.) Notwithstanding all the changes this church has undergone in the course of five or six centuries, it still exhibits the outlines of an imposing building, about 210 feet long, surmounted by a handsome square tower. No traces are now preserved of St. Catherine's Chapel.

[565] According to Beaugue, this was a French soldier "corrupted by the enemy," who had served them as a spy.

[566] In other copies, "aneughe,"--"enough."

[567] See note 524.--Bishop Lesley says, the Castle, which had been left in charge of Sir Edward Dudley, was recovered on St. Stephen's night, (26th December,) 1548.--(Hist. pp. 201, 222.)

[568] The Laird of Raith was Sir John Melville, Knight. Charters of the lands of Murdocairney, in Fife, were granted to him and his wife Helen Napier, in 1536 and 1542. James the Fifth, who conferred on him the honour of knighthood, appointed him Captain of the Castle of Dunbar. He was accused of heresy by Cardinal Beaton; but was not convicted. It may have been in reference to this charge that he obtained from the King a remission "for all crimes, excepting treason," which he may have committed prior to the 15th August 1538.--(Pitcairn's Crim. Trials, vol.

i. p. 250*.) Subsequently being in favour of the English alliance, when all correspondence with England had been interdicted, an intercepted letter, addressed by Sir John Melville to his son, was laid hold of, and formed the ground of accusation for treason. On the 3d December 1548, writings were sent from Edinburgh "to all the lairdis and gentilmen of Fyfe to be heir Dec. 5^to. upoun the Laird of Rathis a.s.sise;" and on that day, the Treasurer paid 34s. "to Adame M'Cullo, pursewant, send agane to Fyfe to summond ane a.s.siss to the Laird of Raith; and to execute summoundis of tressoun upoun the Laird of Petmille, and Maister Henry Balnavis, to the xxj day of Februar [1548-9.]" He was accordingly tried and executed in 1548-9, and his forfeited estates were bestowed on David Hamilton, youngest son of the Governor.--(Buchan. Hist. lib. xv.

c. 65.) The forfeited estates, however, were restored by Queen Mary to his eldest son John Melville, by a special gift dated 12th Feb.

1562-3.--(Criminal Trials, vol. i. p. 341*.) He survived till the 13th July 1583.

[569] In Vautr. edit. "prankes."

[570] Ninian c.o.c.kburn, called Captain Ringan. In Vautr. edit.

"Reingzein," and "Rengzeane," being a common or vulgar p.r.o.nunciation of the name Ninian.

[571] In order not to crowd the pages unnecessarily, some further particulars respecting Norman Lesley are reserved for the Appendix, No.

XI.

[572] Monypenny of Pitmilly, in the parish of Kingsbarns, in Fife, is a family of old standing. The mother of Cardinal Beaton was Isabell Monypenny of Pitmilly. David Monypenny, heir apparent of Petmillie, had a charter under the Great Seal, dated 30th March 1549. It is noticed at note 568, that summons of treason upon the Laird of Petmille, to the 21st February 1548-9, had been served on the 5th December 1548. But one of his daughters, as well as the "Laird," was implicated in countenancing the conspirators. On the last of November 1546, "a messinger was sent with ane letter direct to summound Jonet Monypenie, douchtor to the Laird of Petmylle, for hir remanyng in the Castell of Sanctandrois, and intercommonyng and a.s.sistance gevin be hir to Normound Leslie and his complices, slaares of my Lord Cardinall."--(Treasurer's Accounts.)

[573] Sherisburg, is evidently Cherburg or Cherbourg, a well known sea-port in France, in Lower Normandy, (near Cape La Hogue.)

[574] Henry Balnaves of Halhill raised himself to distinction by his talents and application. After pursuing his studies abroad for several years, he returned to Scotland, and was admitted an Advocate in November 1537. In July 1538, he was appointed a Lord of Session; and survived till the year 1570. A more minute account of his history will be given in Vol. III., in connexion with extracts from the Treatise mentioned in the following note, to which Knox prefixed an Epistle, in the year 1548.

[575] This treatise on Justification, of which Knox, we are informed, had expressed an earnest desire, _as almost nothing more_, that it should be diligently sought after, and preserved from peris.h.i.+ng, was discovered in MS. at Ormiston, subsequently to the death both of Knox and the Author. Yet David Buchanan, instead of these words, makes Knox to say, "which is extant to this day." It was first published under the following t.i.tle:--

"The Confession of Faith, conteining how the troubled man should seeke refuge at his G.o.d, thereto led by Faith: with the Declaration of the article of Justification at length, &c. Compiled by M. Henry Balnaves of Halhill, and one of the Lords of Session and Counsell of Scotland, being a prisoner within the old Pallaice of Roane: In the year of our Lord 1548. Imprinted at Edinburgh, by Thomas Vautrollier. 1584." Small 8vo.

[576] In Vautr. edit. the words, "the Messe was said in the gallay, or ellis heard upoun the sch.o.a.r, in," are omitted by the printer, at the foot of page 181. The words are likewise omitted in MSS. L2 and 1.

[577] The City of Nantes: see note 514.

[578] MS. G reads correctly, "such an _idolle_;" but Vautr. edit. has, "such a _jewell_ is accursed;" and this blunder is retained in MSS. A, E, I, ("javel,") L2, and W.--Although no name is given in regard to the incident alluded to, this "merry fact" evidently happened to Knox himself.

[579] Official of Lothian: see notes 496 and 603.

[580] In MS. G, "a kape."

[581] Probably in June 1548.

[582] Mont St. Michel is a Benedictine Abbey, with a village strongly fortified, on a rocky island, surrounded with quicksands, and only accessible at low water. It is sixteen miles S.W. of Avranches, in Normandy. Its situation is highly picturesque; and many chivalrous a.s.sociations are connected with the place; which, during the fifteenth century, had often been besieged, but unsuccessfully, by the English.

From its strong and isolated position, it had probably been chosen for that purpose, and it still continues to be used for a State prison.

[583] In MS. G, "eyes."

[584] See note 202.

[585] The King's Even, is evidently meant for the Eve of Epiphany, and the King of the Bean: see footnote to page 51. David Buchanan, aware of this allusion, from his long residence in France, has this marginal ill.u.s.tration: "_Le jour de Roys au soir, quand ils crient 'Le Roy boit.'_" The mention of this _fete_ may show, that Kirkaldy and his companions had made their escape on the 5th of January, and in the year 1549-50.

[586] Sir John Masone, Amba.s.sador for England at the French Court, on the 14th June 1550, says, "Touching the Scots at St. Andrews, he (the Constable of France) told me that the Lord Grange and his brother are flown he wist not whither, and two others were already set at liberty; and that the rest, at the King (Edward VI.) my master's contentation, should out of hand be put at large."--(Tytler's Edward VI., &c., vol. i.

p. 295.)

[587] In Vautr. edit. "they purposed."

[588] The names of these brethren are very much overlooked by the different Peerage writers of Scotland, in their pedigrees of the Rothes family. The first marriage of George Earl of Rothes with Margaret Crichton, daughter of William Lord Crichton, was declared before 1524 to be uncanonical. But by this lady, "his affidate spouse," he had four sons: the eldest was George, who died unmarried; the others were Norman, William, and Robert. The reader may be referred to the Appendix of Nisbet's Heraldry, vol. ii. p. 141, to explain the grounds upon which the two latter, as heirs-male, were pa.s.sed over in the succession, at their father's death, in 1558, when Andrew Lesley, the eldest son by subsequent marriage, and who had married a niece of the Governor the Earl of Arran, became Earl of Rothes. Of these two brethren, William is styled in Macfarlane's Genealogical Collections, "Laird of Cairnie, and, (it is added,) as some say, he died without succession." Bishop Lesley, in noticing the death of Norman Lesley in France, in 1554, says, "The King of France, for recompence of his service, received _his eldest brodir William_ in favour, and maid him gentill man of his chalmer."--(History, p. 249.) Knox's words in the text imply that he was alive in 1566. The other brother Robert, is perhaps the same who was admitted an Advocate in the Court of Session, in May 1537. He settled in Morays.h.i.+re, in the parish of Spynie, and became founder of the Fendra.s.sie family. He married Janet Elphingstone, a daughter of Robert Lord Elphingstone, and left three sons and two daughters. An inscription, in Latin verse, in the Cathedral Church of Elgin, while it commemorates their virtues and attachment, records that he and his wife were interred in the same grave.--(Monteith's Theatre of Mortality, p.

222, Edinb., 1713, 8vo.)

[589] Le Conquet, a small town of Britanny, with a good harbour, opposite the island of Ushant, sixteen miles west of Brest.

[590] He was probably the same person with Alexander Clark of Balbirnie, who became Lord Provost of Edinburgh from 1579 to 1583 inclusive.

[591] In this paragraph Knox sums up briefly his own history between February 1548-9, when he was delivered from the French galley, and his first return to Scotland, in the end of harvest 1555.

[592] Edward died on the 6th July 1553.

[593] The word "English" is omitted in Vautr. edit.

[594] Knox has abstained from entering upon any statement of the disputes which took place in the English congregation at Francfort, in 1554, in consequence of the introduction, by Dr. c.o.xe and others, of the Book of Common Prayer, and the use of various ceremonies. A short paper by Knox himself, connected with the charge brought against him before the Magistrates of Francfort, has been preserved by Calderwood, (Hist., vol. i. p. 120,) and will naturally fall to be included in Vol. III. of the present work. But a detailed account of the transactions at that time was drawn up and published anonymously, three years after Knox's death, by one of the Nonconformists. It is ent.i.tled, "A Brieff Discours off the Troubles begunne at Franckford in Germany, Anno Domini 1554.

Abowte the booke off Common Prayer and Ceremonies, and continued by the Englishe men theyre, to thame off Q. Maries Reigne," and was originally published (at Geneva) in 1575, 4to. There is an accurate reprint of it at London, by John Petheram, 1846, 8vo, in which it is suggested, by the Rev. Thomas M'Crie, with great probability, the author may have been Dr.

William Whittingham.

[595] There were two editions of Knox's Admonition printed in 1554, within a few months of each other, under a fict.i.tious imprint, and both of them abroad, as will be fully described in Vol. III.

[596] In printing these names, Vautr. edit. is very incorrect; instead of John Sibbald, John Gray, William Guthrie, &c., it has "John _Sibbard_, John Gray, _within gathered_, and Stevin Bell." Yet this unintelligible nonsense is literally copied in MSS. L 2 and 1. MSS. A, W, and E, have "Sibbard," but give Guthry's name correctly. In the summons of treason against the conspirators, John Sibbald is called "brother of the Laird of Cukiston;" and Auchinleck is styled Sir John Auchinleck, chaplain. For mention of Guthrey, in connexion with an indignity offered to the Cardinal's body, the reader may be referred to Pitscottie. In the Treasurer's Accounts, we find 10s. was paid to a messenger, sent on the 3d of December 1547, with "Letters to serche and seik the gudes of Maister Jhonne Gray, persoun of Sanct Nycholace Kirk, beside Cowper, quhilkis pertenis to our Souerane Lady be resoun of eschete, throu the said Maister Jhonnis being fugitive fra the lawes for art and part of the slauchter of the Cardinall."--Gray's name, however, is not included in the list of persons forfeited by the Parliament on the 14th August 1546.