NOTES ON WALLACE. (continued 2)

On the estate of Gladswood, parish of Mertoun, Berwickshire, are still pointed out what are called the Camp-braes, where, according to the harmonious voice of popular tradition, Wallace had his camp before one of his battles. It has had two ditches with ramparts; and being situate on the neck of land at the confluence of Leader with the Tweed, might have been rendered almost unassailable, in that age, by a line of communication between the two rivers.

“On the west side of Clatto-moor, are the traces of a camp. It is generally believed to have been occupied by a part of Agricola’s army, and afterwards by Alpin, Wallace, and Monk. Tradition reports that ‘Wallace pitched his camp on Clatto-hill, and ground his corn at Philaw’s mill,’ which is about half a mile from the place where the traces of the camp are seen.” P. Strathmartin, Forfarshire, Stat. Acc. XIII. 99.

“Tradition says, that the Figget Whins, formerly a forest, afforded shelter and a place of rendezvous to Sir William Wallace and his myrmidons, when they were preparing to attack Berwick.” P. Duddingstone, county of Edinburgh, Stat. Acc. XVIII. 877.

“On the face of the hill” of Kinnoul, “there is a cave in a steep part of the rock, which, it is said, will contain about a dozen of men. It is called the Dragon-hole. There is a tradition among the common people, that Sir William Wallace hid himself in this hole of the rock, when he absconded for some time.” P. Kinnoul, Perthshire, Stat. Acc. XVIII. 560.

The same useful work contains an anecdote, which, at least from the circumstances, is worthy of insertion here. The article was written A. 1795 or 1796.

“There is a very respectable man in Longforgan, [Perthshire,] of the name of Smith, a weaver, and the farmer of a few acres of land, who has in his possession a stone, which is called Wallace’s Stone. It is what was formerly called in this country a bear stone, hollow like a large mortar, and was made use of to unhusk the bear or barley, as a preparation for the pot, with a large wooden mell, long before barley-mills were known. Its station was on one side of the door, and covered with a flat stone for a seat, when not otherwise employed. Upon this stone Wallace sat on his way from Dundee, when he fled, after killing the governor’s son, and was fed with bread and milk by the goodwife of the house, from whom the man, who now lives there, and is proprietor of the stone, is lineally descended, and here his forbeers (ancestors) have lived ever since, in nearly the same station and circumstances, for about 500 years.” Stat. Acc. XIX. 561, 562. This refers to what is related in Book I. 257, &c.

In the castle of Dunbarton they pretend to shew the mail, and, if I mistake not, also the sword of Wallace. If he was confined in that fortress by Menteith, before being sent into England, as some have supposed, it is not improbable that his armour might be left there. The popular belief on this head, however, is very strong; of which I recollect a singular proof, which took place many years ago, and of which I was an eye-witness. In the procession of King Crispin, at Glasgow, his majesty was always preceded by one on horseback, appearing in armour, as his champion. In former times, this champion of the awl thought it enough to wear a leathern jerkin, formed like one of mail. One fellow, however, was appointed, of a more aspiring genius than his predecessors, who was determined to appear in real mail; and who, having sent to Dunbarton castle, and hired the use of Wallace’s armour for a day, made his perambulations with it through the streets of Glasgow. I can never forget the ghastly appearance of this poor man, who was so chilled and overburdened by the armour, that, as the procession went on, he was under the necessity of frequently supporting himself with a cordial. It was said that he took to bed immediately after the termination of this procession, and never rose from it. From that time forward, his successors in office were content to wear the proper badge of their profession.

It is generally admitted that our hero was the son of Sir Malcolm Wallace of Ellerslie in Renfrewshire, by the daughter of Sir Ranald Crawfurd, High Sheriff of Ayr, of whom the Minstrel says;

It appears that the metre, corresponding with the modern pronunciation, requires that this word should have been accented as above.

Ellerslie, also written Elderslee, is about three miles to the south-west of Paisley, Renfrewshire. The old house, called by Crawfurd, “the castle,” is still habitable. Near it is a tree, which, according to the account I received on the spot, was planted by Wallace himself: but this, like most other traditions, assumes a very different aspect, according to Semple’s narration. “The large oak-tree,” he says, “called Wallace’s Tree, is still growing, standing alone in a little enclosure, a few yards south from the great road between Paisley and Kilbarchan, being on the east side of Elderslee rivulet, the manour of Elderslee being a few yards distant from the rivulet. They say that Sir William Wallace and 300 of his men hid themselves upon that tree among the branches (the tree being then in full blossom) from the English. The tree, indeed, is very large, and well spread in the branches, the trunk being about twelve feet in circumference.” Crawfurd’s Renfrewshire, p. 260.

About the year 1769, Ellerslie was sold to Alexander Speirs, Esq., who took his designation from it, by Archibald Campbell, Esq., W.S., who had married Helen Wallace, a lady lineally descended from a collateral branch of the family of Wallace.

Auchinbothé is in some old writings called Auchinbothie-Wallace, as distinguished from the lands of Auchinbothie-Blair. Thus, in an old Valuation Book, made A. 1654, in the time of Cromwell, we have the following account:—“The 5 mark (land) of Auchinbothie-Wallace subdivydit as s^d is, Mastar [the proprietor]

33 lib. 6sh. 8d. Feuars 366 lib. 13sh. 4d.40000

The 5 m^k land of Auchinbothie-Blair38368”

It is supposed that Auchinbothie-Blair belonged to Blair, the companion of Wallace, who was of the Blairs of that ilk in Renfrewshire. The lands of Thornley, in the same county, are said to be designed, in some old writs, the lands of Thornley-Blair, alias Thornley-Wallace; and it has been also supposed that these lands had been given by Wallace to his companion of this name. But the latter is undoubtedly a mistake; for in our records Thornylé or Thornley, as it is also written, appears as the property of the Wallaces till the time of Robert III., when it was given, by John Wallace of Craigie, to the Abbey of Paisley. Ind. Chart. 142, 80. V. also 97, 324.—131, 25.

The Valuation Book above quoted also mentions Wallace of Neilstonside, Wallace of Dungraine, Wallace of Bardraine, &c. I am informed that there is now no proprietor of this name in the county of Renfrew, excepting Wallace of Kelly, in the parish of Innerkip, whose ancestors resided in that of Neilston.

In the Edinburgh Evening Courant of May 19, 1817, it is said that “the statue of Sir William Wallace, erected by the Earl of Buchan at Dryburgh, was designed exactly from the authentic portrait of him, painted in water-colours during his residence in France, which was purchased by the father of the late Sir Philip Ainslie of Pilton, knight. The hero is represented in the ancient Scottish dress and armour, with a shield hanging from his left hand, and leaning lightly on his spear with his right.”

I shall conclude these miscellaneous notices with the just and beautiful reflection made by a statistical writer. After remarking that the principle cascade, in one of the rivulets in the parish of Greenock, “bears the name of Wallace, our brave and disinterested patriot,” he subjoins: “How many monuments, far more durable than statues or columns, has grateful posterity bestowed throughout Scotland on this distinguished friend of liberty! In this part of the country, steep precipices, high falls of water, huge rocks, and Roman stations and encampments, not unfrequently bear his name.” Stat. Acc. V. 566.

The editor takes the liberty of subjoining, as a slender tribute to the memory of one to whom our country owes so much, a few verses written a considerable number of years ago, in consequence of a visit to a place in the vicinity of Lanark, which has acquired celebrity from having afforded Wallace a temporary shelter from the fury of his enemies.

ADDRESS TO CARTLANE CRAIGS.

ADDITIONAL NOTE TO BOOK FIFTH.

It bears the name of Gilbanke in Edit. 1594 and 1648. In the Sixth Book, v. 226, the same person is designed Awchinlek off Gilbank.

Macpherson mentions Gilbank, in his Geographical Illustrations, referring to Blind Harry; but he marks it as a place “the exact position” of which “is not known.”

But there is a property, distant only about half a mile from the Fall of Stonebyres, below Lanark, which still bears the name of Gillbank, as it is designed in Forrest’s Map of Lanarkshire. There is another place called Gill, belonging to Lockhart of Lee, on the north side of the Mouse, opposite to Jerviswood, about half a mile above Cartlane Craigs. Here are the remains of a very old castle, the walls of which are very thick. It is seated on a promontory betwixt two gullies. It has been suggested, that this might be the place referred to, as there are no vestiges of ancient building at Gillbank. But the claim undoubtedly belongs to the latter; as it not only retains the name, but in our old deeds, although with a change of orthography, is conjoined with a place called Auchinleck.—Terrae de Stanebyres, Auchinlek, Greinrig, Teathes, et Kilbank. Inquis. Retornat. Com. Lanark, (149,) A. 1625. It is given as the property of the Marquis of Hamilton. The same places are mentioned, with the addition of Over Auchinlek, ibid. (239.)

This place had been honoured to be the head-quarters of our hero, while he resided in this part of the country, at least before his open attacks on the English. For it is said;

“Yong Auchinlek” could be eyme or uncle to Wallace, only on the supposition that his father had married Wallace’s maternal grandmother, the widow of Sir Reginald (or Hugh) Crauford. His chief property was in Ayrshire. The heirs male failing, James IV. gave the lands of Auchinleck to a younger son of Boswell of Balmuto. Thus the family of Boswell of Auchinleck is lineally descended from Auchinleck of that ilk. V. Nisbet, I. 60.

So late as the year 1617, there was a gentleman of this name who held half of the property of Tweedie, in the barony of Stonehouse, distant only a few miles from Gillbank.—Jacobus Auchinleck, haeres Jacobi Auchinleck de Twedie, avi,—in baronia de Stanchous. Inquis. ut sup. (117.) It is probable, from the vicinity, Stonehouse being only about six miles from Gillbank, that he might be a descendant from that Auchinleck who is celebrated by the Minstrel. Gillbank is now the property of a gentleman of the name of Thomson.

ADDITIONAL NOTE TO BOOK SIXTH.

The tradition at Biggar is, that it was in the old church there that Wallace was chosen Guardian of Scotland. But this seems to be a mistake. For we have no proof of the erection of a church there till the year 1545, when the college of this place was founded by Malcolm Lord Fleming. Spottiswood’s Relig. Houses, c. 19.

The opinion that by the Forest kyrk we are to understand Selkirk, has far greater probability. Thomas Crawford, in his MS. History of the House of Douglas, says that this meeting was held “at the Forest Kirk in the sheriffdom of Selkirk.” Comment. in Relat. A. Blair, p. 22. Keith, in his List of Parishes, thus mentions Selkirk: “Vulg. Selkrig, alias the Forrest.” Catalogue of Bishops, p. 223.

In a deed of David, the son of Malcolm, (while he was yet Earl of Huntington) founding an abbey here, which was afterwards translated to Kelso, it is called Scelechyrca and Selechyrche. Sir J. Dalrymple’s Collect. p. 403. The name, it is said, in Celtic, “signifies the kirk in the wood or forest; expressing thus, in one word, the situation of the place itself, and the state of the surrounding country.” Statist. Acc. II. 434. But there seems to be no authority for this etymon. The last part of the word is undoubtedly from Anglo-Saxon circ, circe, cyrc, cyric, church. Mr Chalmers’s derivation is highly probable. “As the occasion of the church in the forest,” he observes, “arose from the circumstance of the king’s having a hunting-seat here, the place of his worship may have been called Sele-chyrc, from the Saxon Sele, a hall, a prince’s court.” This idea receives a considerable degree of confirmation from what follows: “When a second church was built, nearly on the same site, after the establishment of the monastery at this hunting-seat, the prior place was distinguished by the name of Selkirk-Regis, while the village of the monks was called Selkirk-Abbatis.” Caledonia, II. 963.

ADDITIONAL NOTE TO BOOK NINTH.

I can find no place in Guienne, bearing any nominal resemblance. Henry’s geography, of France especially, could not be expected to be very accurate. He had most probably heard of Chinon, a village in Touraine, near Saumur, which was indeed held by the English, and which might be viewed as on the way from Paris to Guienne. Here Henry II. of England died; and here, also, that singular writer Rabelais was born.

EXPLANATION OF THE VIGNETTE IN THE TITLE-PAGE OF THIS VOLUME.

As the cruel and unmerited fate, which terminated the bright career of Wallace, appeared to that ingenious gentleman who furnished me with this design, to be the object on which the mind especially rests in contemplating the history of his life, he has given to the block the principal place here. To this melancholy symbol, the crown of laurel, which, as we learn from the English chroniclers, was contemptuously put on the head of the hero during his trial at Westminster, is with great propriety transferred. Before it appears the fatal axe; also, the target of Wallace, together with the sword of his faithful friend Longueville, exactly copied from that preserved under this name in the house of Kinfauns. The headless body appears from behind. In the back-ground, rays of light are seen to dart forth, giving ground of hope that the dark clouds, which envelope this dismal scene, should be dispelled; and intimating, according to the sense of the inscription, that this cruel act of the tyrannical Edward, by which he hoped to extinguish the spirit of liberty in our native land, should only excite it anew,—the fall of Wallace being immediately succeeded by the intrepid appearance of Bruce, as asserting his claim to independent royalty.

By some of my learned friends, who are acquainted with the manuscripts of the preceding poems, I may be censured, perhaps, because I have rendered the contraction by ss, instead of making it to denote is. I have not done so unadvisedly; and I could not have acted otherwise without sacrificing my own conviction. I preferred this mode for several reasons.

Another well known contraction, totally different in form, is used throughout these manuscripts, where there can be no doubt that is is meant. Had I adopted a different plan, I would have been laid under the necessity of rendering the contraction in a variety of modes. I must frequently have viewed it as signifying se. But here, in many places, I met with an obstacle that seemed insurmountable;—a different contraction being employed for denoting a word of this form, sometimes in the same verse, as in The Bruce, B. VIII. 353.

Here both contractions occur. If I did not give to the sign so ambulatory and indefinite a character, I must often have used a double i, where it could not be supposed that the writer meant to introduce it. Thus I must have given maiss, makes, in the form of maiis; raiss, arose, as raiis; cheiss, choose, as cheiis; pass, a strait and steep passage, as pais; and leiss, loss, as leiis, &c. &c.

The rhythm, as well as the sense, would also, in different instances, have materially suffered. Thus, in B. IX. 259, where we read;

It would have been,

In reading these poems, it must be observed, that, although is, the mark of the plural, is more generally to be viewed as a distinct syllable, this rule does not apply universally. Scottis, for example, is sometimes to be read Scott-is; at other times, when the rhythm requires an abbreviation, as if Scots. Even monosyllables are occasionally to be lengthened; as armes, denoting armour, must at times be pronounced armés. The same liberty seems to have been taken by Chaucer and other old English poets.

In the following Glossary, I do not pretend to explain all the words that may stumble a reader who is not well acquainted with our ancient language; for this would have almost required a volume. But I have not overlooked a single term that seemed to demand attention. For further elucidation, and for the explanation of some words that may have been overlooked here, I beg leave to refer to my Dictionary of the Scottish Language. It will greatly aid the reader of these works, if he recollect that many common words appear here under a disguised orthography, especially by the frequent use of w for v.