many presumptions of the same. It escaped me, in the former passages, what John Muirhead (whom I have often mentioned) told me, that when he came from Ireland to Galloway, he was at family-worship, and giving some notes upon the Scripture read, when a very ill-looking man came, and sat down within the door, at the back of the hallan [partition of the cottage]: immediately he halted and said, There is some unhappy body just now come into this house. I charge him to go out, and not stop my mouth!' The person went out, and he insisted, [went on,] yet he saw him neither come in nor go out."-"The Life and Prophecies of Mr. Alex"ander Peden, late Minister of the Gospel at New "Glenluce, in Galloway, part ii. § 26. A friendly correspondent remarks, "that the incapacity of proceeding in the performance of a religious duty, when a contaminated person is present, is of much higher antiquity than the era of the Reverend Mr. Alexander Peden."-Vide Hygini Fabulas, cap. 26. Medea Corintho exul, Athenas, ad Ægeum "Pandionis filium devenit in hospitium, eique nupsit. "Postea sacerdos Dianæ Medeam exagitare 66 cœpit, regique negabat sacra caste facere posse, eo 66 quod in ea civitate esset mulier venefica et scelerata; tunc exulatur." 66 THE GRAY BROTHER. The Pope he was saying the high, high mass, With the power to him given, by the saints in heaven, The Pope he was saying the blessed mass, And from each man's soul his sins did pass, And all, among the crowded throng, At the holiest word he quiver'd for fear, And, when he would the chalice rear, "The breath of one of evil deed Pollutes our sacred day; He has no portion in our creed, "A being, whom no blessed word The barony of Pennycnick, the property of Sir George Clerk, Bart., is held by a singular tenure; the proprietor being bound to sit upon a large rocky fragment, called the Buckstane, and wind three blasts of a horn, when the King shall come to hunt on the Borough Muir, near Edinburgh. Hence, the family have adopted, as their crest, a demi-forester proper, winding a horn, with the motto, Free for a Blast. The beautiful mansion-house of Penny And lords to meet the pilgrim came, And vassals bent the knee; And boldly for his country, still, Her noblest pour'd their blood. Sweet are the paths, O passing sweet! There the rapt poet's step may rove, And yield the muse the day; There Beauty, led by timid Love, May shun the tell-tale ray; From that fair dome, where suit is paid, By blast of bugle free,' To Auchendinny's hazel glade,' And haunted Woodhouselee. 3 cuick is much admired, both on account of the architecture and surrounding scenery. Auchendinny, situated upon the Eske, below Pennycuick, the present residence of the ingenious H. Mackenzie, Esq., author of the Man of Feeling, etc.-Edition 1803. 3 For the traditions connected with this ruinous mansion, see Ballad of Cadyow Castle, p. 270. Who knows not Melville's beechy grove, 1 Yet never a path, from day to day, The pilgrim's footsteps range, Save but the solitary way To Burndale's ruin'd grange. A woful place was that, I ween, As sorrow could desire; 3 For nodding to the fall was each crumbling wall, And the roof was scathed with fire. It fell upon a summer's eve, While, on Carnethy's head, The last faint gleams of the sun's low beams And the convent bell did vespers tell, Newbattle's oaks among, And mingled with the solemn knell The heavy knell, the choir's faint swell, And on the pilgrim's ear they fell, Deep sunk in thought, I ween, he was, Nor ever raised his eye, Until he came to that dreary place, Which did all in ruins lie. He gazed on the walls, so scathed with fire, And there was aware of a Gray Friar, Resting him on a stone. "Now, Christ thee save!" said the Gray Brother; "Some pilgrim thou seemest to be." But in sore amaze did Lord Albert gaze, Nor answer again made he. "O come ye from east, or come ye from west, Or bring reliques from over the sea; Melville Castle, the seat of the Right Honourable Lord Melville, to whom it gives the title of Viscount, is delightfully situated upon the Eske, near Lasswade. a The ruins of Roslin Castle, the baronial residence of the ancient family of St. Clair. The Gothic chapel, which is still in beautiful preservation, with the romantic and woody dell in which they are situated, belong to the Right Honourable the Earl of Rosslyn, the representative of the former Lords of Roslin. 3 The village and castle of Dalkeith belonged, of old, to the famous Earl of Morton, but is now the residence of the noble family of Buccleuch. The park extends along the Eske, which is there joined by its sister stream, of the same name. 4 Hawthornden, the residence of the poet Drummond. A house, of more modern date, is enclosed, as it were, by the ruins of the ancient castle, and overhangs a tremendous precipice, upon the banks of the Eske, perforated by winding caves, which, in former times, were a refuge to the oppressed patriots of Scotland. Here Drummond received Ben Jonson, who journeyed from London, on foot, in order to visit him. The beauty of this striking scene has been much injured, of late years, by the indiscriminate use of the axe. The traveller now looks in vain for the leafy bower, "And who art thou, thou Gray Brother, That I should shrive to thee, When He, to whom are given the keys of earth and Has no power to pardon me?"- When on his neck an ice-cold hand WAR-SONG OF THE [heaven, ROYAL EDINBURGH LIGHT DRAGOONS. BY WALTER SCOTT. "Nennius. Is not peace the end of arms? Caratach. Not where the cause implies a general conquest. Had we a difference with some petty isle, Or with our neighbours, Britons, for our landmarks, Or making head against a slight commotion, The gods we worship, and, next these, our honours, "Where Jonson sat in Drummond's social shade." Upon the whole, tracing the Eske from its source, till it joins the sea at Musselburgh, no stream in Scotland can boast such a varied succession of the most interesting objects, as well as of the most romantic and beautiful scenery. 1803. ...-The beautiful scenery of Hawthornden has, since the above note was written, recovered all its proper ornament of wood. 1834. 5 [The contemporary criticism on this noble ballad was all feeble, but laudatory, with the exception of the following remark: -"The painter is justly blamed, whose figures do not correspond with his landscape-who assembles banditti in an Elysium, or bathing loves in a lake of storm. The same adaptation of parts is expedient in the poet. The stanzas— to Sweet are thy paths, O passing sweet!' And classic Hawthornden,' disagreeably contrast with the mysterious gloomy character of the ballad. Were these omitted, it would merit high rank for the terrific expectation it excites by the majestic introduction, and the awful close."-Critical Review, November 4803.-ED.] And, with those, swords that know no end of battleThose men, beside themselves, allow no neighbour, Those minds, that, where the day is, claim inheritance, And, where the sun makes ripe the fruit, their harvest, And, where they march, but measure out more ground To add to Rome-- It must not be-No! as they are our foes, Let's use the peace of honour-that's fair dealing; Bonduca. The following War-Song was written during the apprehension of an invasion. The corps of volunteers to which it was addressed, was raised in 1797, consisting of gentlemen, mounted and armed at their own expense. It still subsists, as the Right Troop of the Royal Mid-Lothian Light Cavalry, commanded by the Honourable Lieutenant-Colonel Dundas. The noble and constitutional measure of arming freemen in defence of their own rights, was nowhere more successful than in Edinburgh, which furnished a force of 3000 armed and disciplined volunteers, including a regiment of cavalry, from the city and county, and two corps of artillery, each capable of serving twelve guns. To such a force, above all others, might, in similar circumstances, be applied the exhortation of our ancient Galgacus: "Proinde ituri in aciem, et majores vestros et posteros cogitate." -1812. I WAR-SONG OP THE ROYAL EDINBURGH LIGHT DRAGOONS. To horse! to horse! the standard flies, The Gallic navy stems the seas, From high Dunedin's towers we come, A band of brothers true; Our casques the leopard's spoils surround, Though tamely crouch to Gallia's frown Their ravish'd toys though Romans mourn : Oh! had they mark'd the avenging call 4 [The song originally appeared in the Scots Magazine for 1802. -ED.] 2 Now Viscount Melville.-1831. 3 The royal colours. 4 The allusion is to the massacre of the Swiss Guards, on the fatal 10th August, 1792. It is painful, but not useless, to remark, that the passive temper with which the Swiss regarded the death of their bravest countrymen, mercilessly slaughtered in discharge Nor patriot valour, desperate grown, Shall we, too, bend the stubborn head, Or brook a victor's scorn? The sun, that sees our falling day, And set that night in blood. If ever breath of British gale Shall fan the tri-color, Then farewell home! and farewell friends! Resolved, we mingle in the tide, To horse! to horse! the sabres gleam; LORD SOULIS. BY JOHN LEYDEN. The subject of the following ballad is a popular tale of the Scottish Borders. It refers to transactions of a period so important, as to have left an indelible impression on the popular mind, and almost to have effaced the traditions of earlier times. The fame of Arthur, and the Knights of the Round Table, always more illustrious among the Scottish Borderers, from their Welsh origin, than Fin Maccoul, and Gow Macmorne, who seem not, however, to have been totally unknown, yielded gradually to the renown of Wallace, Bruce, Douglas, and the other patriots, who so nobly asserted the liberty of their country. Beyond that period, numerous, but obscure of their duty, encouraged and authorized the progressive injustice, by which the Alps, once the seat of the most virtuous and free people upon the continent, have, at length, been converted into the citadel of a foreign and military despot. A state degraded is half enslaved.-1812. 5 [Sir Walter Scott was, at the time when he wrote this song, Quartermaster of the Edinburgh Light Cavalry. See one of the Epistles Introductory to Marmion.-ED.] and varying legends, refer to the marvellous Merlin, | Charter to John Soullis, of the lands of Kirkanders-ab eodem or Myrrdin the Wild, and Michael Scott, both magicians of notorious fame. In this instance the enchanters have triumphed over the true man. But the charge of magic was transferred from the ancient sorcerers to the objects of popular resentment of every age; and the partisans of the Baliols, the abetters of the English faction, and the enemies of the Protestant and of the Presbyterian reformation, have been indiscriminately stigmatized as necromancers and warlocks. Thus, Lord Soulis, Archbishop Sharp, Grierson of Lagg, and Graham of Claverhouse, Viscount Dundee, receive from tradition the same supernatural attributes. According to Dalrymple,' the family of Soulis seems to have been powerful during the contest between Bruce and Baliol; for adhering to the latter of whom they incurred forfeiture. Their power extended over the South and West Marches; and near Deadrigs,' in the parish of Eccles, in the East Marches, their family-bearings still appear on an obelisk. William de Soulis, Justiciarius Laodoniæ, in 1281, subscribed the famous obligation, by which the nobility of Scotland bound themselves to acknowledge the sovereignty of the Maid of Norway and her descendants: (RYMER, tom. ii. pp. 266, 279 :)—and, in 1291, Nicholas de Soulis appears as a competitor for the crown of Scotland, which he claimed as the heir of Margery, a bastard daughter of Alexander II., and wife of Allan Durward, or Chuissier.-CARTE, p. 177. DALRYMPLE'S Annals, vol. i. p. 203. Dumfries. -To John Soullis, of the barony of Kirkanders-quæ fuit -To Robert Stewart, the son and heir of Walter Stewart, -To Robert Bruce, of the lands of Liddesdale, whilk -To Robert Bruce, son to the King, the lands of Liddes- -To Archibald Douglas, of the baronie of Kirkanders, of Liddell,) the barony of Langnewton and Maxtoun, --To William Lord Donglas, of the lands of Lycdal, whilkis -To James Lord Douglas, of the barony of Westerker, The hero of tradition seems to be William Lord Soulis, whose name occurs so frequently in the foregoing list of forfeitures; by which he appears to have But their power was not confined to the Marches; for the barony of Saltoun, in the shire of Hadding-possessed the whole district of Liddesdale, with ton, derived its name from the family; being designed Soulistoun, in a charter to the predecessors of Nevoy of that Ilk, seen by Dalrymple; and the name frequently appears among those of the benefactors and witnesses in the chartularies of abbeys, particularly in that of Newbottle. Ranulphus de Soulis occurs as a witness, in a charter, granted by King David, of the teinds of Stirling; and he, or one of his successors, had afterwards the appellation of Pincerna Regis. The following notices of the family and its decline, are extracted from Robertson's Index of Lost Charters. Various repetitions occur, as the index is copied from different rolls, which appear to have never been accurately arranged. Westerkirk and Kirkandrews, in Dumfries-shire, the 3 Index of many records of charters granted between 1309 and 1443, published by W. Robertson, Esq. a conspiracy against Robert the Bruce, in which many is supposed to have partly sunk beneath the ground; persons of rank were engaged. The object, according and its ruins are still regarded by the peasants with to Barbour, was to elevate Lord Soulis to the Scot- peculiar aversion and terror. The door of the chamtish throne. The plot was discovered by the Coun-ber, where Lord Soulis is said to have held his contess of Strathern. Lord Soulis was seized at Ber-ferences with the evil spirits, is supposed to be opened wick, although he was attended, says Barbour, by once in seven years, by that demon, to which, when three hundred and sixty squires, besides many gallant he left the castle never to return, he committed the knights. Having confessed his guilt in full Parlia- keys, by throwing them over his left shoulder, and ment, his life was spared by the King; but his dodesiring it to keep them till his return. Into this mains were forfeited, and he himself confined in the chamber, which is really the dungeon of the castle, castle of Dumbarton, where he died. Many of his the peasant is afraid to look; for such is the active accomplices were executed; among others, the gal- malignity of its inmate, that a willow inserted at lant David de Brechin, nephew to the King, whose the chinks of the door, is found peeled, or stripped sole crime was having concealed the treason, in which of its bark, when drawn back. The Nine-stane Rig, he disdained to participate.' The Parliament, in where Lord Soulis was boiled, is a declivity about which so much noble blood was shed, was long re- one mile in breadth, and four in length, descending membered by the name of the Black Parliament. It upon the Water of Hermitage, from the range of was held in the year 1320. hills which separate Liddesdale and Teviotdale. It derives its name from one of those circles of large stones which are termed Druidical, nine of which remained to a late period. Five of these stones are still visible; and two are particularly pointed out, as those which supported the iron bar, upon which the fatal cauldron was suspended. From this period, the family of Soulis make no figure in our annals. Local tradition however, more faithful to the popular sentiment than history, has recorded the character of their chief, and attributed to him many actions which seem to correspond with that character. His portrait is by no means flattering; uniting every quality which could render strength formidable, and cruelty detestable. Combining prodigious bodily strength with cruelty, avarice, dissimulation, and treachery, is it surprising that a people, who attributed every event of life, in a great measure, to the interference of good or evil spirits, should have added to such a character the mystical horrors of sorcery? Thus, he is represented as a cruel tyrant and sorcerer; constantly employed in oppressing his vassals, harassing his neighbours, and fortifying his Castle of Hermitage against the King of Scotland; for which purpose he employed all means, human and infernal; invoking the fiends by his incantations, and forcing his vassals to drag materials, like beasts of burden. Tradition proceeds to relate, that the Scottish King, irritated by reiterated complaints, peevishly exclaimed to the petitioners, "Boil him if you please, but let me hear no more of him." Satisfied with this answer, they proceeded with the utmost haste to execute the commission; which they accomplished by boiling him alive on the Nine-stane Rig, in a cauldron, said to have been long preserved at Skelf-hill, a hamlet betwixt Hawick and the Hermitage. Messengers, it is said, were immediately despatched by the King, to prevent the effects of such a hasty declaration; but they only arrived in time to witness the conclusion of the ceremony. The Castle of Hermitage, unable to support the load of iniquity which had been long accumulating within its walls, The formation of ropes of sand, according to popular tradition, was a work of such difficulty, that it was assigned by Michael Scott to a number of spirits, for which it was necessary for him to find some interminable employment. Upon discovering the futility of their attempts to accomplish the work assigned, they petitioned their taskmaster to be allowed to mingle a few handfuls of barley-chaff with the sand. On his refusal, they were forced to leave untwisted the ropes which they had shaped. Such is the traditionary hypothesis of the vermicular ridges of the sand on the shore of the sea. Redcap is a popular appellation of that class of spirits which haunt old castles. Every ruined tower in the south of Scotland is supposed to have an inhabitant of this species. LORD SOULIS. Lord Soulis he sat in Hermitage Castle, "While thou shalt bear a charmed life, As the people thronged to the execution of the gallant youth, they were bitterly rebuked by Sir Ingram de Umfraville, an Eng. lish or Norman knight, then a favourite follower of Robert Bruce. "Why press you," said he, "to see the dismal catastrophe of so generous a knight? I have seen ye throng as eagerly around him to share his bounty, as now to behold his death." With these words he turned from the scene of blood, and repairing to the King, craved leave to sell his Scottish possessions, and to retire from the country. "My heart," said Umfraville, “will not, for the wealth of the world, permit me to dwell any longer, where I have seen such a knight die by the hands of the executioner.* With the King's leave, he interred the body of David de Brechin, sold his lands, and left Scotland for ever. The story is beautifully told by Barbour, book 49th. |