DA !?73 S431r 1864 Scott Description of the Regalia of Scotland THE LIBRARY-- OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES IN MEMORY OF James J. McBride PRESENTED BY Margaret McBride DESCRIPTION THE REGALIA OF SCOTLAND. SIR WALTER SCOTT, BART. -" The steep and iron-belted rock, Where trusted lies the Monarchy's last gems, The Sceptre, Sword, and Crown that graced the brows, Since Father Fergus, of an hundred Kings." ALBANIA, a Poem. EDINBURGH : PRINTED BY ROBERT ANDERSON, HIGH-STREET. MDCCCLXIV. Object* or Interest in or near i: 4 ; admission, 6d, icuIRfrnUijuieum, George IV. Bridge open daih 'rom 10 to 3, free. id Stewart's, and Martyrs', on nHiil; Duke of Wellington'*, in front of Register Office; Melville's and Earl of Hopetoun's, St Andrew Square; George I\, and Pitt, George Street; Charles II.. Parliament Square ; Duke of York, Castle Ksplanade. Moray House, now Free Chuich Ni . Canongate It was erected by Mary. Countess of Home, in the reign of Chants 1. Oliver Cromwell took up his residence here on his first visit to Kdinburgh. Music Hall and Assembly Rooms. George Street, for public meetings, &c. The Music Hall which is 108 feet long, and Jtl bioad, contains a splendid organ. National Gallery Mound, Tuc.-day.-,. \Vviliii-rdays, and Saturdays, free, from 10 to 4 Thursdays, and Fridays, 10 to -1 , admission, Gd Parliament House, at the south-west corner of Parliament Square In it are sta- tues of Lord Melville, Lord Presidents: Forbes, Blair, and Boyle, Chief Baron Dun- das, Lord Jeffrey, and Lord Coi-kburn. Phrenological Museum. High School Yards -Open every Saturday, free, from 1 V * fi ' Pleasure tf'allc* Round Meadows, C'alton Hill, Arthur Seat, East and West Prin- .'tis, and Corstorphine. See past 3 of Cover. DESCRIPTION OF THE REGALIA OF SCOTLAND BY Sm WALTER .SCOTT, BART. " The steep and iron-belted rock, Where trusted lies the Monarchy's last gems, The Sceptre, Sword, and Crown that graced the brows, Sinco Father Fergus, of an hundred Kings." ALBANIA, a Poem. EDINBURGH : PRINTED BY EGBERT ANDERSON, HIGH-STREET. 1864. DA 173 DESCRIPTION OKTHB REGALIA OF SCOTLAND. THB REGALIA OF SCOTLAND, after having been se- cluded from public view since the year 1707, being at length opened to the inspection of the curious, and to the veneration of those who see in them the symbols of the ancient independence of Scotland, a short description of them, and some account of their history, so far PS it can be traced, may be found in- teresting. The Regalia, properly so called, consist of three articles, the CROWN, the SCEPTRE, and SWORD OP STATE, with which was found, in the same chest, a silver Rod or Mace, now ascertained to be the Badge of the Lord Treasurer of Scotland. The form of the Crown is remarkably elegant. The lower part consists of two circles, the under- most much broader than that which rises over it, both are composed of the purest gold, and the uppermost is surmounted or relieved by a range of FLEURS-DE-LIS, interchanged with CROSSES FLEUREES, 3463 nnd with knobs or pinnacles of gold, topped with large pearls, which produces a very rich effect. The under and broader circle is adorned with twenty-two precious stones, betwixt each of which is interposed an oriental pearl : the stones are topazes, amethysts, emeralds, rubies, and jacinths : they are not pol- ished by the lapidary, or cut into faucets, according to the more modern fashion, but are set plain, in the ancient style of jewellers' work. The smaller circle, which surmounts this under one, is adorned with small diamonds and sapphires alternately, and its upper verge terminates in the range of the crosses, FLEURS-DE-LIS, and knobs topped with pearls, which we have described. These two circles, thus ornamented, seem to have formed the original Diadem or Crown of Scotland, until the reign of James V., who added two imperial arches, rising from the circle, and crossing each other, and clos- ing at the top in a mound of gold, which again is surmounted by a large cross PATEE, ornamented with pearls, and bearing the characters of J. R. V. These additional arches are attached to the original Crown by tacks of gold, and there is some inferiority in the quality of the metal. The bonnet or tiara worn under the Crown was anciently of purple, but is now of crimson velvet, turned up with ermine a change first adopted in the year 1695. The tiara is adorned with four su- perb pearls set in gold, and fastened in the velvet which appear between the arches. The Crown measures about nine inches in diameter, twenty- seven inches in circumference, and about six inches and a half in height from the bottom of the lower circle to the top of the cross. The whole appear- ance of this ancient type of sovereignty does great credit to the skill and taste of the age in which it was formed. Of its antiquity (meaning that of the original Diadem) we can produce no precise evidence ; but many circumstances induce us to refer it to the glorious reign of Robert the Bruce. The Scots, indeed, like other nations in Europe, are known to have employed a Crown as the ap- propriate badge of sovereignty at a much earlier period. After the memorable revolution in which Macbeth was dethroned, and Malcolm Ceanmor was placed on the throne, the new monarch was crowned in the abbey of Scone on St Mark's day, 1057, and among the boons granted to requite the services of Macduff, Thane of Fife, that nobleman and his descendents obtained the privilege of con- ducting the King of Scotland to the royal seat on the day of his coronation a ceremony which, of course, implied the use of a Crown. But although such was the case, there is little doubt that the Scottish Crown which was used in these ancient times must have fallen into the hands of Edward I. when, in the year 1296, he dethroned John Baliol, and took with him to England every monument of Scottish independence. The invader, who carried off the celebrated stone called Jacob's Pillar, was not likely to leave behind the Crown of Scotland, an emblem of supremacy so much more portable, and so much more valuable. Indeed, if we are to understand the following passage literally, it would imply that the regal ornaments were stripped from the very person of John Baliol, at the time when he surrendered his kingdom to Edward I. after the disastrous battle of Dunbar, in 1296. This dis- graceful ceremony took place in the castle of Mon- trose, or, according to other authorities, in that of Brechin. To save unnecessary difficulty, we have modernized the orthography of the passage, as it occurs in the Prior of Lochleven's Chronicle : " This John the Baliol on purpose, He took and brought him till Muntros, And in the castle of that town, That then was famous in renown, This John the Baliol despoiled he Of all his robes of royalty ; The PEUTRE, 1 they took off his tabart, (Toom-tabart* he was called afterwards), And all other inseygnys That fell to Kings on ony wise, 1 Fur or ermine. ' Empty douNet. Baith SCEPTRH, SWORD, CROWN, and RING, Fra tiiis John that he made king, Halyly fra him he took thare, And made him of the kynryk bare. WINTOUN'S Cronykill, vol. i. p. 88. The royal emblems of Scotland having thus passed into the hands of Edward, it followed, that when Robert the Bruce asserted the independence of Scotland in the year 1306, the ancient Crown of Scotland was not used at his coronation. Accord- ingly we find that there was a circlet or ring of gold (the Latin coronelld) hastily prepared for the occa- sion, and which temporary Diadem, after Bruce's defeat at Methven, also fell into the hands of the English monarch. This curious fact is established by a pardon afterwards issued by Edward I., upon the intercession, as he states, " of his beloved Queen Margaret, to Galfredus de Coigniers, who is therein stated to have concealed and kept up a certain coro- nel of gold, with which Robert the Bruce, enemy and rebel of the king, had caused himself to be crowned in our kingdom of Scotland f which guilty concealment, nevertheless, the king pardons to the said Galfredus de Coigniers, by a deed executed at Carlisle, 20th March 1307.* From this instru- ment it is plain, first, That the ancient Crown of Scotland was not in Bruce's power when he went * Rymer's Fcedera, vol. i. p. 1012, Edit. 1816. 8 through the ceremony of coronation in 1 306 ; secondly. That the temporary circle of gold which he used upon the occasion fell into the hands of Edward in the subsequent year; and consequently that the Crown which we have now described must have been made at a later period. The present Diadem cannot therefore bear an earlier date thon Bruce's quiet establishment in the full and undis- puted sovereignty of Scotland, after the victory of Bannockburn in 1314. The question remains, whether it ought to be assigned to a later reign than that of the Scottish deliverer, and several reasons incline us to decide in the negative. It is not likely that Robert the Bruce, highly valuing that independence which his own valour had pro- cured for Scotland, would suffer her long to remain without the emblem of royalty proper to a free state, especially without a Crown, which* in all countries of Europe, was regarded as the most inalienable mark of regal dignity. His successful wars in Eng- land, and the confiscation of the estates of the faction of the Baliols at home, as it rendered it easy for the victorious monarch to repair Melrose and other churches which had suffered during the Civil War, put it also in his power, with more convenience than most of his successors, to expend a considerable sum in replacing the regal ornaments of the kingdom. It may indeed occur as a question, why, in the course of Bruce's triumphant negociations with England, he did not demand restitution of the an- cient regalia carried off by Edward in 1306, as we know that, by the treaty of Northampton, he stipu- lated the restoration of the stone called Jacob's Pil- lar, used at the coronation, and of various docu- ments which had relation to the independence of the kingdom of Scotland. We are left in considerable uncertainty on this subject, as there is no copy in existence of the treaty of Northampton. Neverthe- less, as none of the historians who mention its import makes any special allusion to the ancient Crown of Scotland as falling under the stipulated restitution, we may conjecture that it was no longer in exist- ence, having been probably destroyed for the sake of the precious materials of which it was formed. But, could we even shew evidence that the ancient badge of royalty was among the articles, the re- storation whereof was stipulated by the treaty of Northampton, it would not greatly alter the state of the argument, as those conditions were never complied with ; and the Crown, consequently, with Jacob's Pillar, and other articles pillaged by Ed- ward, must have still remained in England. The style of the present Crown, particularly of the setting of the stones, is said to correspond with the state of the jeweller's art in the early part of the fourteenth century, and to strengthen the belief we 42 10 have ventured to express, that the present Diadem was framed by the command of Robert the Bruce, as a symbol of his own sovereignty, and of the independence which his prudence and valour had secured to his country. According to this hypothesis, the present Crown was worn by David II., son of Robert the Bruce. His coronation took place in 1329, with unwonted solemnity ; for, by special direction of the Papal bull, he received the royal unction from the hand of the Archbishop of Saint Andrews, which had been no part of the ceremonial upon preceding oc- casions. This additional sign of inauguration did not prevent the brief usurpation of Edward Baliol, who was crowned at Scone in 1332. How the re- galia was protected during the stormy times which followed does not appear. Probably, as memorials dear to popular feeling, they were respected by both parties. At any rate, it seems almost certain that the Crown was not again destroyed or violated, because the Scottish historians, who clamorously exaggerate the injuries (in themselves sufficiently deep) inflicted by the English and the faction of Baliol, would not have omitted to mention an affront so sensible. After this crisis, notwithstanding the various convulsions both of foreign and domestic war with which Scotland was harrassed, there oc- curs no instance of the regalia of the kingdom hav- 11 ing been in possession of an enemy or usurper ; and it may therefore be conjectured that the present CROWN remained the same and unaltered since the days of Bruce, until the example of other sovereign princes induced James V. in some degree to alter its appearance, by closing it at the top with the arches which we have described. Diadems or open crowns, like that of Scotland in its original state, were so generally assumed by in- ferior and feudatory princes, and differed so little in appearance from the coronets of the nobility, that most of the monarchs of Europe, desirous of giving the regal badge a form of marked and pre-eminent distinction, began, in the end of the fifteenth and beginning of the sixteenth century to use Crowns arched over, or closed at the top, like those which were formerly called imperial. From this custom arose the saying, that a prince wished to " close his Crown," when he was supposed to aim at shaking off his dependence on a liege lord or superior. Charles VIII. of France adopted a close or imperial Crown in 1495, and Edward V. of England in 1483. The kings of Scotland were not so long in assuming the same mark of dignity. Both James III. and James IV. appear on their coins with close Crowns, although the arches were not actually added to the ancient open Diadem until the reign of James V., as appears from the characters inscribed on the arches. 12 At the same time that he altered the form of the Crown, James V. caused the present SCEPTRE to be made. It is a slender and elegant rod of silver, about thirty-nine inches in length, the stalk being of a hexagon form, divided by three ornamented rings, and surrounded by an antique capital of embossed leaves, supporting three small figures representing the Virgin Mary, Saint Andrew, and Saint James. The ornamented niches, in which these small figures are placed, are again surmounted by a crystal globe of two inches and a quarter in diameter, and yet again by a small oval globe topped with an oriental pearl. Under the figures are placed the characters J. R. V. It is probable that James V. had the Sceptre made, as well as the Crown altered, when he was in France in 1536; at least the workmanship greatly excels what we should have expected in Scotland during that period. The SWORD OF STATE had been presented a good many years before to James IV. of Scotland, by Pope Julius II., along with a purple Hat, flowered with gold. The workmanship of the Sword is of a fanciful and elegant description, resembling the style of Benvenuto Cellini, and belongs to the period when the art of sculpture was reviving in Rome. The whole Sword is about five feet long, of which the handle and pummel occupy fifteen inches. They are formed of silver gilded, highly carved and orna- 13 mented. The Cross of the Sword is represented by two dolphins, whose heads join at the handle. The scabbard is of a crimson velvet, covered with fil- ligree work, and silver; the prevailing ornament being oak-leaves and acorns, which was the emblem of Julius II. It may be here observed, that James V. received another sword and hat from the Pope upon the 22d February 1536, consecrated upon the night of the nativity, in order that it might breed a terror in a neighbouring wicked prince (Henry VIII.) against whom the legate declared his holy weapon was sharpened. Accordingly, in subsequent lists of King James's Regalia we find two swords of honour repeatedly mentioned,* but only the sword pre- sented by Pope Julius in 1536 is now in exist- ence. Such are the regalia of Scotland. The royal robes were of purple velvet, lined with ermine, with a kirtle of the same materials and trimming. The Crown was worn by the King upon solemn occa- sions, and on others placed before him upon a cushion. When laws were passed in the Scottish Parliament, they were presented by the Chancellor to the King, who ratified them by touching them with the Sceptre, in token of the royal assent. This * Seo Collection of Inventories, &c., of the Royal Wardrolx &nd Jowcl-House, Edinburgh, 1815, pp. 48-76. 11 ceremony, after tlie accession of James to the English Crown, was performed by a Lord High Commissioner, invested for that purpose with the delegated state of a Viceroy. During the troubles of Queen Mary's time, there was scandalous dilapidation made upon the Crown Jewels and other treasure in Scotland belonging to the Sovereign. The Regalia, however, escaped the general plunder. They appear at this time to have been preserved in Stirling castle, where James VI. was crowned by Adam Bishop of Orkney, upon the 29th July 1567, when, as appears from the records of the Privy Council, the Bishop delivered into his hands the Sword and Sceptre, and put the Crown Royal upon his head, with all due reverence, cere- monies, and circumstances used and accustomed. Upon the accession of Charles I. to the Scottish Crown, the new monarch is said to have expressed his desire that the Regalia of Scotland should be sent up to London for the purpose of his being there inaugurated. As this was esteemed contrary to the independent rights of his native kingdom, the King found it necessary to visit Scotland in person, when, upon the 18th June 1633, he was invested with the Royal Robes, Sword, Sceptre, and Crown, after the accustomed manner.* ' Uushworth's Collections, vol. ii. p 181. 15 Charles II. was crowned at Scone, under no very favourable auspices, on the 1st of January 1651 ; but the events which followed were fraught with so much danger to the existence of royalty and all its emblems, that we shortly after find the Estates of Parliament taking measures for the preservation of the Regalia from a foreign enemy. It had been for a length of time the custom, that while the Scottish Parliament was not sitting, the Honours oftheCrown were committed to the charge of the Lord High Treasurer, or, when that office was in commission, to those Commissioners by whom the duty thereof was discharged. Accord- ingly, when the officers of the Treasury, upon the sitting down of a Parliament, delivered the Regalia to the Earl Mareschal, they took instruments in evidence that they had done so; and in like man- ner, upon the prorogation or dissolution of a Par- liament, the Earl Mareschal took instruments in evidence that the Regalia were safely delivered to the Treasurer. But upon the last day of the Par- liament 1651, the rapid advance of the English arms rendered it necessary that tbe Regalia should be transported to some remote place of strength and security, more free from the chances of war than the royal castles of which Edinburgh, the strong- est, was already in the invaders's hands. Dunnottar, a strong and baronial castle, built on an insulated 16 rock which projects into the German Ocean, and belonging in property to the Earl Mareschal, was the place selected for the purpose. The order of the Parliament is in the following words (June 6, 1651): " Instrumentis taken be the Erie Mareschal upoun the production of the honouris, with his dessyre represented to the Par- liament, that the same might be putt in sum pairt of securitie ; his Majesty and Parliament ordanes the said Erie of Mareschal to cause transport the saidis honouris to the hous of Dunnottar, thair to be keepit by him till further ordouris." For the protection of the castle of Dunnottar, a garrison was placed there upon the 8th July 1651, under the immediate command of George Ogilvy of Barras, an experienced soldier, who held a com- mission from the Earl Mareschal to be Lieutenant- Governor of the castle. Some royal artillery was furnished at the same time ; for the large cannon, called Mons Meg, was transferred thither. The large embrazure in which this piece of ordnance lay is still pointed out upon one of the batteries of the castle ; and a shot from her is said by tradition to have dismasted an English vessel as she was about to enter the harbour of Stonehaven, at a mile and a halPs distance. It became, however, too obvious, from the daily successes of the English, that sooner or later Dun- 17 nottar must be surrendered ; and Ogilvy was press- ed by the Committee of Estates to deliver up the Regalia, in order that they might be sent to some distant castle in the Highlands. The Lieutenant- Governor did not conceive these instructions to be so worded as to authorise his compliance, or relieve him of the responsibility which this important charge had already imposed on him. He therefore refused compliance, and applied to the Earl of Loudoun, Lord High Chancellor of Scotland, for instructions in so pressing an emergency. The reply of the Lord Chancellor was in these terms : " I conceive that the trust committed to you, and the safe custody of the thingis under your charge, did require that victual, a competent number of honest and stout sojers, and all other necessaries, should have been provided and put in the castle before you had been in any hazard ; and if you be in good condition, or that you can timely supply yourself with all necessaries, and that the place be tenable against all attempts of the enemie, I doubt not but you will hold out. But if you want provi- sions, sojers, and ammunition, and cannot hold out at the assaults of the enemie, which is feared and thought you cannot doe if you be hardlye persued, I know no better expedient than that the Honours of the Crowne be speedilye and saiflie transported to some remote and strong castle or hold in the B 2 18 Highlands; and I wish you had delivered them to the Lord Balcarras, as was desired by the Com- mittee of Estates; nor doe I know any better way for preservation of these thingis, and your exonera- tion ; and it will be an irreparable loss and shame if these thingis shall bo taken by the enemie, and verie dishonourable for yourself. So having given you the best advice I can at present, I trust you will, with all care and faithfulness, be answerable according to the trust committed to you." The danger became soon more imminent, and the castle having been repeatedly summoned by the enemy, Ogilvy, the Lieutenant-Governor, wrote a letter to King Charles, dated the 20th of November 1651, stating the emergency, and requesting that a light vessel might he sent to Dunnottar, with a per- son properly authorised to receive the Regalia, and transport them beyond seas. The circumstances of Charles II. prevented his sending sucli a ship, and it now became highly probable that these sacred badges of ancient sovereignty were destined to fall into the hands of the republicans and regicides of England. On 3d January 1652, Lambert again summoned the castle of Dunnottar to surrender upon honour- able conditions, which were again rejected by the Lieutenant-Governor ; and, after this period, the castle was subjected to a close blockade In this 19 emergency female ingenuity discovered a remedy, where masculine valour and prudence might totally have failed. The Gountess-dowager Mareschal, by birth daughter to John Earl of Mar, was probably the planner of this successful scheme. The imme- diate agent was Christian Fletcher, wife of the Rev. James Granger, minister of Kinneff, a small parish church within four or five miles of the castle of Dunnottar, who obtained from the English general permission to pa}' a visit to the Governor's lady. Mrs Ogilvy acted in concert with the Lady Mare- schal, but it was agreed that her husband should not be admitted into the secret, in order that, upon the surrender of the castle, an event now considered as inevitable, he might be enabled to declare with truth that he knew neither when, how, nor to what place, the Regalia had been removed. In compliance with the scheme adopted, Mrs Granger took the Crown in her lap ; and, on her re- turn, the English general himself helped her to her horse, which she had left in the camp, as the castle cannot be approached on horseback. Her maid fol- lowed her on foot, bearing the Sword and Sceptre concealed in HARDS, as they are called, that is, bun- dles of lint, which Mrs Granger pretended werr to be spun into thread. They passed through the English blockading army without being discovered. From thence she transported them to Kinneff, and 20 put them under the charge of her husband James Granger, who granted to the Countess Mareschal the following authentic account of their secret cle- positation, dated the 31st of March 1652:" I, Mr James Granger, minister at KinnefF, grunt me to have in my custody the Honours of the kingdom, viz. the Crown, Sceptre, and Sword. For the Crown and Sceptre, I raised the pavement-stone just before the pulpit, in the night tyme, and digged under it ane hole, and put them in there, and filled up the hole, and layed down the stone just as it was before, and removed the mould that remained, that none would have discerned the stone to have been raised at all ; the Sword, again, at the west end of the church, amongst some common seits that stand there, I digged down in the ground betwixt the two foremost of these seits, and layed it down within the case of it, and covered it up, as that removing the superfluous mould it could not be discerned by any body ; and if it shall please God to call me by death before they be called for, your Ladyship will find them in that place." The Regalia were transferred to the care of Mr Granger sometime in the month of March, and in the following month of May 1652, Ogilvy was un- der the necessity of surrendering Dunnottar castle, by capitulation, to the republican General Dean. He obtained honourable articles of capitulation, by 21 which it was particularly stipulated that he should himself enjoy personal freedom. But when it was found that he could give no account of the Regalia, which the conquerors had reckoned their secure booty, the Lieutenant-governor and his lady were treated with extreme severity, dragged from one place of confinement to another, and subjected to fines, sequestration, and imprisonment, in order to extort from them this important secret. The lady's health gave way under these inflictions, and she died within two years after the surrender of the castle, still keeping the important secret, and with her last breath exhorting her husband to maintain his trust inviolable. Tradition says that the minister and his wife also fell under suspicion of the ruling powers, and that they were severally examined, and even subjected to the torture without its being found possible to extract from them the desired informa- tion. The address of the Dowager Countess Mareschal at length put the enemy upon a false scent. She caused a report to be spread abroad that the Regalia, upon their being secretly removed from Dunnottar, were put into the hands of her youngest son, the Honourable Sir John Keith, who went abroad at that time, and whom she adroitly caused to write letters to his friends in Scotland, congratulating himself on having safely conveyed the Crown, Seep- 22 tre, and Sword of State, out of that kingdom. Sir John Keith returning shortly afterwards, was exa- mined closely on the fate of the Regalia. At every risk to himself, he persisted in the patriotic false- hood, that he had himself carried them to Paris to Charles II., and was exposed to some severe treat- ment on that account. See Wood's Peerage on the article Kintore. This feint having fortunately succeeded, the Re- galia of Scotland remained safe in their obscure place of concealment, visited from time to time by the faithful clergyman and his wife, for the purpose of renewing the cloths in which they were wrapt, to save them from damp and other injury, in which pious care they appear to have been successful. It is worth while to observe, that when the Honours were committed to the charge of Mrs Granger, the belt belonging to the Sword of State remained in the possession of Lieutenant-governor Ogilvy, being perhaps retained by him as an article of evidence of the share which he had in the custody and pre- servation of these articles. This relique was found by one of his descendants, carefully wrapped up, and concealed in one of the walls of his house ol Barras ; and there can be no doubt of its authenti- city, as it bears the emblems and insignia of Julius II., executed in the same style as on the scabbard of the Sword. The belt is now in the possession of 23 Sir George Ogilvy of Barras, Bart., the lineal des- cendant of the gallant defender of Dunnottar. At the Restoration, the Countess Mareschal on the one hand, and Lieutenant-governor Ogilvy on the other, hastened to make the discovery to Charles II.; and some unpleasant discussions arose betwixt the families concerning the share of merit to which each was entitled in this important piece of public service. It is unnecessary to revive the controversy in the present clay, as we have carefully extracted, from the facts admitted by both parties, enough to shew the real history of the transaction. Without the gallant defence of Ogilvy, the ingenuity of the Lady Mareschal must have been totally unavailing ; as on the other hand, his prolonged resistance could not ultimately have saved the Regalia, but for the scheme so ably concerted by the Countess, and so boldly and faithfully executed by Mrs Granger. Rewartls and honours were distributed to all con- cerned. John Keith, the youngest son of the Coun- tess Mareschal, was created Earl of Kintore, and Knight-Mareschal of Scotland. Lieutenant-gover- nor Ogilvy was made a Baronet ; he obtained also a grant from the Crown, converting his feudal tenure of his lands of Barras from wardholding to blanch, in respect of his high services, and in particular, as the charter states, " In that he wes instrumentall in the preservatione of his Highness's Crown, Sceptre, 24 and Sword, the ancient Honours of this his king- dom of Scotland, and of the damadge sustained be the same Sir George Ogilvy theirthrow from the beginning of the usurpatione; during which tyme, notwithstanding of all temptationes and threaten- ings used against him by the usurperis, he carryed himself with so much integrity, that his Majestic wes graciously pleased to conceave he deserved ane marke of his Highnes favour putt upon him and his family." It is with pleasure we record, that while the ser- vices of these per-sons of note concerned in the safety of the Regalia were thus suitably rewarded, the effi- cient services of the minister of Kinneffand his wife were not forgotten. The following are the words of an Act of Parliament after the Restoration, dated the llth of January 1661, in favour of Christian Fletcher : " For as much as the Estates of Parlia- ment doe understand that Christian Fletcher, spouse to Mr James Granger, minister of Kenneth, wes most active in conveying the royal honours, his Majestie's Crown, Sword, and Sceptre, out of the castle of Dunnottar, immediately before it wes ren- dered to the English usurpers, and that be the care of the same wes hid and preserved : Thairfore the king's Majestie, with advice of his estates in Par- liament, doe appoint TWO THOUSAND MERKS Scots to be forthwith paid unto her be his Maiestie's thres- 25 aurer, out of the readiest of his Majestie's rents, as a testimony of their sense of her service." The Regalia of Scotland being thus fortunately preserved and restored to the public, continued to be produced in public as formerly during the sit- tings of the Scottish Parliament down to the Union. At this period, when every effort was used by the Opposition to exasperate the minds of the people against the proposed treaty, a report was circulated, which made a strong impression on the public mind, especially among the lower orders, that the Crown, Sceptre, and Sword, the visible emblems of Scottish sovereignty, were to be removed to London, as a token of the surrender of the national independence. A topic so popular did not escape Lord Belhaven, in his animated tirade against the Union. He called on the Parliament of Scotland to unite as in an hour of common danger, when their all was at stake, " Hannibal," he exclaimed, " is come within our gates ; Hannibal is come the length of this table; he is at the foot of this throne ; he will demolish this throne; he will seize upon these Re- galia ; he will take them as his S.POLIA OPIMA, and whip us out of this house, never to return again." It was under the apprehensions, real or affected, that such a national affront was in meditation, that the party who opposed the Union proposed an ad- dition to the twenty-fourth article of the treaty, 26 by which it should be enacted, that " the Crown, Sceptre, and Sword of State, Records of Parlia- ment, &c., continue to be kept as they are in that part of the United kingdom now called Scotland, and that they shall remain so in all time coming, notwithstanding of this Union." This stipulation was received without criticism or objection, and adopted by the ministerial party, who indeed could have no motive for rejecting it; and it now makes part of the Treaty of Union. Yet notwithstanding the special clause in this great national treaty, appointing the Regalia still To be preserved in Scotland, it appears that govern- ment judged these emblems, connected with so many galling and hostile recollections of past events, could be no safe spectacle for the public eye, while men's minds were agitated by the supposed degra- dation of Scotland beneath her ancient enemy. When the Parliament of Scotland was finally dis- solved, the Earl Mareschal was called upon as formerly to surrender the custody of the Regalia to the Commissioners of the Treasury, which he exe- cuted with the natural reluctance of a high officer of state, who foresaw that he would probably never be again called upon to discharge his hereditary functions. He declined appearing in person on what he considered as a humiliating occasion ; but by a commission to William Wilson, one of the 27 under clerks of Session, directed him to deliver the Crown, Sceptre, and Sword of State, to the Com- missioners of the Treasury, to be by them lodged in the Crown-room in the castle of Edinburgh. This ceremony took place 26th March v 1707, when the regalia were deposited in the chest, which was their usual receptacle, and secured by three strong locks. Upon this occasion William Wilson, as pro- curator for the Earl Mareschal, took a long protest, minutely describing the various articles of the re- galia, and protesting that they should remain within the said Crown-room, and should not be removed from thence without due intimation to the Earl Mareschal. A copy of the description and protest was also deposited in the chest with the honours. The Crown-room, in which the regalia were thus deposited, is a strong vaulted apartment, its chim- ney and wirfdows well secured by iron stanchels, and the entrance protected by two doors, one of oak, and one formed of iron bars, both fastened with bolts, bars, and locks, of great strength. Where the keys of this room, or those of the large chest containing the regalia were deposited, does not appear, nor have they as yet been recovered. The Regalia of Scotland being again secluded from public view, the Jacobite party availed them- selves of the circumstance to circulate a report, that notwithstanding the special cause to the contrary. 23 the English government had secretly caused these royal emblems to be transported to London. It is true, no good reason could be alleged for offering so useless an insult to national feeling; but, from some circumstance, altogether unexplained, a crown is shown in the Tower of London, said to be that of Scotland, which appeared to confirm the report so industriously circulated. Mr Arnot, in his History of Edinburgh, after censuring the secrecy with which the regalia were kept, mentions in plain terms the general surmise of their removal, and in- fers, that " if the Officers of State and Governor of Edinburgh castle will not make personal inquiry, \\hethcr the regalia of Scotland be still in the cas- tle, the public will be entitled to conclude THAT THBT ARE NO LONGER THERE, and that they have been car- ried off by private orders from the Court." Such was the doubt which continued to hang upon the existence of those national emblems so late as the year 1788, when Arnot's work was published. On the 23d of December 1794* the Crown-room was opened by special warrant from his Majesty, in order to search for certain records of the kingdom of Scotland, which were missing from the General Register Office at Edinburgh. No such records were found in the Crown-room, which indeed con- tained no article whatever, excepting the chest wherein the regalia were deposited, and which the 29 Commissioners did not think themselves authorised to open. The Crown-room was again shut and secured, and the proceedings of the Commissioners reported to his Majesty. In October 1817 his royal highness the Prince- Regent, considering that all political reasons for withdrawing from the people of Scotland the sight of the ancient symbols of her independence had long ceased to exist, was pleased to give directions for re- moving the mystery which had so long hung upon the existence of the Scottish regalia. A commis- sion was accordingly issued to the Officers of State in Scotland, and other persons in public situations, directing them to open the Crown room and chest, and to report the state in which the regalia of Scot- land should be found. In virtue of this warrant, the gentlemen under- named, being a quorum of the Commissioners, as- sembled on the 4th of February 1818, for the pur- pose of carrying it into execution, viz. The LORD PRESIDENT. The LORD JUSTICE- CLERK. The LORD CHIEF COMMISSIONER of the Jury Court. Major-General JOHN HOPE. The SOLICITOR-GENERAL. The LORD PROVOST of Edinburgh. WALTER SCOTT, Esq. WILLIAM CLERK, Esq. HENRY JARDINE, Esq.. THOMAS THOMSON. Es^ 30 The Commissioners, having read their warrant, proceeded to enter the Crown-room, and to force open the lid of the great chest, no keys to which had been anywhere found. To the great joy of all pre- sent the Regalia were discovered lying in the chest, in the very state in which they had been deposited there in 1707. With the Sword of State and Scep- tre was found another rod or mace of silver, with a globe at the top, which proves to be the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland's mace of office. Upon the discovery of the regalia the royal flag was hoisted upon the castle, and greeted by the shouts of a numerous crowd assembled on the hill, who took a deep interest in the success of the researches which had been instituted concerning the existence and safety of these venerable memorials. The Commissioners having reported the success- ful result of their proceedings to the Prince- Regent, his royal highness was pleased to give directions at once for the safe custody of the regalia, and for gra- tifying the laudable curiosity of the Scottish public, who might desire to see the external symbols of that sovereignty under which their fathers had so fre- quently distinguished themselves. The custody of the regalia was therefore, on the 8th of July 1818, committed to the Officers of State, by a warrant under the Great Seal, with power to them to appoint a Deputy-keeper ar * Yeomen-keepers of the rega- 31 lia, and to establish regulations, under which, with suitable precautions for their safety, the regalia might be exhibited to the public. Accordingly, on the 8th of December, Captain Adam Ferguson, be- ing named, by a commission from the Officers of State, to the office of Deputy-keeper of the regalia, entered into a bond for the faithful discharge of his duty, his Grace the Duke of Buccleugh and Queens- berry and the Right. Hon. the Lord Chief Commis- sioner of the Jury Court, being his sureties to that effect. The Crown-room has been handsomely fitted up for the exhibition of the regalia, which were opened for public inspection on Wednesday the 26th day of May 1819, and the Yeoman-keepers give attend- ance upon visitors in the dress used by the Body- guards of the ancient Kings of Scotland, as rep-e- sented in an ancient painting, representing the Dowager Queen Margaret and John Duke of Al- bany attended by a Yeoman of the Scottish Guards, which formerly belonged to the Earl ef Scarborough, and is now preserved at the Marquis of Bute's seat of Luton, and has been engraved in Mr Pinkertons' ICONOGRAPHIA. The dress resembles that of the En- glish Yeoman of the Guard, but the colours are scarlet, faced with black. It only remains to observe, that the Regalia of Scotland have suffered very little injury, consider- 32 ing the extraordinary vicissitudes to which they were subjected. Two or three sockets of the Crown, which had once been filled with precious stones like those to which they correspond, are now empty* and three counterfeit stones or doublets may be re- marked among those which remain in the setting- The head of the Sceptre has been bent a little to one side, and seems to have been broken and awk- wardly mended at some early period. The handle and scabbard of the Sword of State, of which the work is very fragile and delicate, are also somewhat broken and damaged. But it is remarkable that these very imperfections in the Crown, Sceptre, and Sword, are articulately noticed in an Act of the Privy Council, dated so early as 10th July 1621, when the regalia were narrowly examined, for the purpose of discharging the heir of Sir Gideon Mur- ray of Elibank of the keeping of the said Honours, which had been in his father's possession as Deputy Treasurer of Scotland. The description is very precise, and deserves to be quoted at length. It bears, " that thay (the Lords of the Privy Council) sighted the vsaidis honnouris, and remarkit the same verie narrowlie, and fund that the Crowne had in the neder circle thairof nine gra- nittis, four jasientis, three counterfute emeraulds, four amatystis, and twenty-twa pearle ; abone the neder circle, sax small thine triangle diamonds, ten 33 small triangle challoms, filled with blue amalyne in- steade of stones, twa small emptie challoms, haveing nothing in thame hot the blak tent, and twa chal- loms with twa flatt quhyte stones with the boddum upmost; next abone the small challoms nyntene grit and small ray pearle, and within th? Roise, betwix the Flour-de-Luce, thretty-five pearle, sum less sum more, with ten quhyte stonL in the middis thairof. In the four quarteris of the bonnett of the Crowne, four pearle sett in four pecis of garni- seene of gold enamaled, and in the croce abone the Crowne, ane amatist and aught pearle ; and that the Sceptour was in three pecis, haveing ane pearle in the top, and ane crystell globe benethe, the heade quhairof hes beene brokin, and mendit with wyre ; and that the Swerd had the plumbett birsit and brokine, with ane voyde place in every side thairof, and the scabart thairof riven birsit and brokine, wanting some pecis out of it" The Officers of State, in appointing these royal emblems to be cleaned and furbished, have, with the taste and judgment which were to have been ex- pected, abstained from ordering any repairs or other alterations to be made, by which their form could in the slightest degree be changed from that which they presented upon their being first discovered. So that the Scottish public may be assured that the honours of the Scottish kingdom are now presented 34 to their inspection in the very same state in which they have existed for several centuries. The feel- ings with which we now view these venerable na- tional reliques are of a nature less agitating than these of our forefathers, to whom they conveyed the remembrance that Scotland had lost her place among the independent states of Europe, and that her national consequence had merged in the wealth and power cf an ancient rival. We, who now reap the slow but well-ripened fruits of the painful sacri- fice made at the Union, can compare with calmer judgment, the certain blessings of equality of laws and rights, extended commerce, improved agricul- ture, individual safety, and domestic peace, with the vain though generous boast of a precarious national independence, subject to all the evils of domestic faction and delegated oppression. With such feel- ings we look upon the Regalia of Scotland, vene- rating at once the gallantry of our forefathers, who, with unequal means, but with unsubdued courage, maintained the liberties and independence of Scot- land through ten centuries of almost ceaseless war ; and blessing the wise decrees of Providence, which, after a thousand years of bloodshed, have at length indissolubly united two nations, who, speaking the same language, professing the same religion, and united by the same interests, seem formed by God and nature to compose one people- ADDITIONAL JEWELS Deposited in the Crown-Room of the Castle of Edinburgh, by order of His Majesty William IV., December 18, 1830. The late Cardinal York, the last male descendant of King James VII., bequeathed to his Majesty George IV., four ancient Jewels that had always remained in the possession of his family ; and soon after the accession of his present Majesty (William IV.) these Jewels were, in His Majesty's presence, delivered to Sir Adam Ferguson, Knight, Deputy-keeper of the Regalia of Scotland, with an injunction that these interesting reliques of Scottish Royalty should, under the direction of the Officers of State in Scotland, be forthwith deposited in the Crown- Room. These Jewels were accordingly deposited in pre- sence of certain Officers of State, on the 18th December 1830, and are as follow: 1. A Golden Collar of the Order of the Garter, being that presented by Queen Elizabeth to King James VI. of Scotland, on his being created a Knight of the Garter. 2. " The St. George," or Badge of the Order of the Garter, of Gold, richly enamelled, and set with diamonds, being probably that worn by King James VI., appendant to the Collar. 3. The St. Andrew, having on one side the image of the Patron Saint finely cut on an onyx, set round with diamonds on the other, the Badge of the Thistle, with a secret opening, under which is placed a fine miniature of Queen Anne of Denmark. 4>. A Ruby Ring, set round with diamonds, being the Coronation Ring of King Charles I, Olyicts of Intcnsf Continued. Reg'uter House. Princes Street Open from 10 to 4. Royal College of Surgeons, Nicolson Street Open everyday, except Monday, from 11 to 4; order from a member. Royal Observatory, Caltcn Hill-It was built from a design by Playfair, and is In the form of across, in the Grecian style, with four porticoes, and surmounted by a dome in the centre. Roslin About one mile from Hawthornden, and seven from Edinburgh. It is famed for its magnificent chapel and delightful scenery. Signet Library north-west corner of Parliament Square, and extending from St Giles' to County Hall Open daily from 10 to I, free. Experimental Oardent, Inverleith Row, Open daily. Admission by order from a member; Saturday, free. Heriofi Hospital, Lauriston Open daily, from 12 to 3, except Saturday. Order from 12 Royal Exchange. John Knotfi House, Nether-Bow Open Wednesdays and Saturdays- admission 6d. St Anthony's O/apelThe ancient hermitage and Chapel of St Anthony the ruins of which occupy a sight of singular beauty, underneath the overhanging crags of Arthur Seat. Holyrood Palace and Chapel, Foot of Canongate Saturdays, free ; other days, 6d. Leith Eastern Pier About one mile Ions. The Western Pier runs parallel with th> Eastern, and may be reached by a small ferry-boat at the end of the Piers, or by the docks AMUSEMENTS. Royal Princest's Theatre -Nicolson Street. Open each Evening at Seven. BATHS. Alshorn's, 89 Princes Street.- Turkish. Public Baths, Nicolson Square Hot, Cold, Shower, Vapour, and Douche. Laurie's Sciennes Hill. Cold, Vapour, Hot, Medicated Turkish. Ecktird's, TrinitySea Water, Cold, Hot, Vapour, Douche Fnri-ytKt, Portobello. Hot and Cold Salt-water. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 107n-9,'66(G5925s4) GAYLAMOUNT PAMPHLET BINDER "SUSZ Syracuse, N.Y. 1 Stockton, Calif. DA 773 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY A 000 993 491 o