Library · The History of the Reformation in Scotland (Works, vol. 1)
Part 85
The History of the Reformation in Scotland (Works, vol. 1) · John Knox
[677] Andrew Durie: see subsequent note to page 261.
[678] James, son of Robert Chalmer of Gadgirth, by Margaret, daughter of Sir Hugh Campbell of Loudoun. He had several charters under the Great Seal in 1548, of parts of his estate in the shires of Ayr and Wigtoun. He married Annabella, daughter of John Cunninghame of Caprintoun, in Ayrshire. (Nisbet's Heraldry, App. *20, vol. i. p. 4.)
[679] This use of "Me," instead of "I," or "We," occurs in all the copies.
[680] This Appellation, according to some payments made by authority of the Town Council, was not later than February 1557-8.
[681] St. Giles's day was the 1st of September. In the Appendix, No. XIII., some contemporary notices will be given of the disturbances which were occasioned in September 1558, by this idolatrous procession.
[682] James Carmichael was for many years one of the Magistrates of Edinburgh. He filled the office of Dean of Guild from October 1552 to 1553, again, from 1555 to 1556, and from 1557 to 1559. In his official capacity, he had the charge of the "Kirk werk," that is of looking after the preservation of St. Giles's Church, and taking charge of the jewels, the gold and silver candlesticks, eucharists, chalices, and other precious things belonging to that Church; but these were all ruthlessly disposed of, by order of the Council, (including the arm-bane of Sanct Geill, or rather the ring with "ane dyamant stane, quhilk wes on the fingar of the forsaid arme of Sanct Geill,") in October 1560. See Appendix, No. XIII.
[683] In MS. G, "the comone Crose."--Probably the Girth Cross, at the foot of the Canongate, near Holyrood. But Arnot also makes mention of St. John's Cross, and of a third, near the Tolbooth in that street.--(Hist. of Edinburgh, p. 304.)
[684] Between the Bowes, must mean the West-Bow and the Nether-Bow; or the two principal gates of the Old Town.
[685] David Forress: see note 1, page 137.
[686] See pages 209-213.
[687] Andrew Durie, Bishop of Galloway, was brother of George Durie, Abbot of Dunfermline, (note 463,) and was born before the year 1500. His name, "Andreas Durie," occurs in the Registers of both Colleges, as having been Incorporated at St. Andrews, in the year 1511; and at Glasgow, in 1513. He probably completed his studies abroad. Upon a vacancy in the Abbacy of Melrose, he had sufficient interest to procure the King's letters of commendation to the Pope, in the year 1526, and notwithstanding powerful rival claims, he succeeded in the following year in obtaining the benefice. Andrew, Abbot of Melrose, was present at the trial of Sir John Borthwick, in 1540; and he appears as an Extraordinary Lord of Session on the 2d of July 1541. On the following day, he was recommended to be successor to Henry Wemyss as Bishop of Galloway, conjoined with the Deanery of the Chapel Royal, and the Abbacy of Tungland upon his resigning that of Melrose, but retaining a pension of 1000 marks, and some other emoluments. In the Provincial Council at Edinburgh, 1549, his name is enrolled as "Andreas Episcopus Candidae Casae et Capellae Regiae Strivilingensis."--He was the bearer of a letter from Queen Mary, in France, to her Mother, in June 1554.--(Lettres de Marie Stuart, vol. i. p. 24.) Bishop Durie died at Edinburgh, in September 1558. His name occurs in the list of Scottish Poets; but none of his writings are known to be preserved, although his sayings recorded by Knox, indicate a rhyming propensity. John Rolland of Dalkeith, in the prologue of his "Seven Sages," a kind of poetical romance, alludes to the poets who flourished at the Scotish Court, and after naming Lyndsay, Bellenden, and William Stewart, who he says,
To mak in Scottis, richt weill he knew that art,
he immediately adds,
BISHOP DURIE, sum tyme of Galloway, For his pleasure sum tymes wald tak thair part.
[688] This has an evident allusion to the name of Mons. de Ruby, one of the Frenchmen patronized at this time by the Queen Dowager. Bishop Lesley, in noticing the several appointments made by the Queen Regent, in 1554, says, there was "Ane callit Monsieur Rubie, Frenchman, a procutour of Paris, appointit to keip the Greit Seill, and to be as Vice-Chancelar and assistar to the Erle of Huntlie, then Chancelar."--(History, p. 250.) He was Controller of her Household, in 1557: see subsequent note, page 292.
[689] David Panter, or Panyter, who held several Church livings, was much employed in public negotiations abroad. His uncle Patrick Panter, Abbot of Cambuskenneth, and David Panter, were successively Secretaries of State in the reigns of James the Fourth and Fifth, and "being admirably versed in the Latin tongue," their names are honourably distinguished by the series of Letters of our Kings, addressed to Foreign Princes, which Ruddiman published under the title of "Epistolae Regum Scotorum," &c., in the years 1722 and 1724, in 2 vols. 8vo. In the Treasurer's Accounts, 1544, we find this entry,--
"Item, the thrid day of Aprile, gevin for vj^c. (600) crownis of the Sonn, of fynance deliverit in France to Maister David Panyter, Secretar Ambassatour thair, the sowme of viij^c. x lib." (L810.)
On the same day, a similar payment of 400 crowns (or L540) was delivered to Sir John Campbell of Lundy, Ambassador in France. Panter was promoted to the See of Ross in the latter part of 1545. Sir James Balfour, in his Annals, calls him "a notable adulterer."--(Annals, vol. i. p. 312.) He died, says Holinshed, of a lingering illness, at Stirling, on the 1st of October 1558.--(Keith's Catal. of Bishops, p. 192.)
[690] Bishop Lesley, in noticing the return of the Commissioners from the Queen's marriage, says, "they came to Deip about the ende of (August,) quhair suddantlie all the principall Nobillmen and Prelatis became seik. But shortlie thairefter, the most of thame, being of the wysest and most valyeant of the realme of Scotland, deceissit their, to the gret hurt of the commoun weill of the realme."--(Hist. p. 266.) The dates of their death are, however, not accurately given, either by Lesley or more recent historians. The Commissioners who were appointed on the 25th and 26th of June 1558, were James Beaton, Archbishop of Glasgow; Lord James Stewart, Prior of St. Andrews; George Lord Seaton, Provost of Edinburgh; and John Erskine of Dun, Provost of Montrose; along with Robert Reid, Bishop of Orkney; George Earl of Rothes; Gilbert Earl of Cassillis, Lord Treasurer; and James Lord Flemyng, Great Chamberlain. The first four being present in the Parliament held at Edinburgh 29th November 1558, to report their proceedings, it was then mentioned, that the Bishop of Orkney was "deceissit, and the Earls of Rothes, Cassillis, and the Lord Flemyng yit remannand in the partis of France."--(Acta Parl. Scot. vol. ii. p. 505.) This shows that no tidings of their death had then reached this country: see the three following notes.
[691] Gilbert Kennedy, third Earl of Cassilis, as already noticed at page 16, completed his studies under George Buchanan at Paris. In 1554, he was appointed High Treasurer; and was one of the eight Commissioners sent from Scotland as representatives of the Scottish nation, at the marriage of Mary and the Dauphin of France. He died on his return, at Dieppe, on the 28th November 1558.
[692] George Lesley, third Earl of Rothes, the father of Norman Lesley, was tried before the Governor for his accession to the murder of Cardinal Beaton, but wan unanimously acquitted. He was the son of William Lesley and Margaret daughter of Sir Michael Balfour of Mountquhannie; and this relationship may have induced James Balfour and his brothers to join their cousin, Norman Lesley, in the Castlo of St. Andrews. The Earl of Rothes had been appointed one of the Lords of Council and Session 11th November 1532; and he attended James the Fifth, in his journey to France in 1536. He was employed in various public commissions; and was sent as Ambassador to Denmark in 1550. He died at Dieppe on the 28th November 1558. His son Andrew succeeded to the title as fourth Earl of Rothes, and was served heir of his father, 20th February 1558-9.--(Burgh Court-Book of Dundee, marked Vol. iv.)
[693] James Lord Flemyng, hereditary Great Chamberlain of Scotland, was the third of his family in succession who held that office, having succeeded his father, Malcolm, Lord Flemyng, who was slain at Pinkie, in 1547. James, as mentioned above, was one of the Commissioners who were seized with illness at Dieppe. On the 8th November, he made his testament; and having returned to Paris for the benefit of medical aid, he lingered there till he died on the 15th December 1558, aged 24.--(Crawfurd's Officers of State, p. 329.)
[694] Robert Reid, although accused by Knox of avarice, applied at least his wealth to laudable purposes; and in the words of Keith, was "a man of great learning, and a most accomplished politician." He entered St. Salvator's College, St. Andrews, in 1511, and took his Master's degree in 1515; and then proceeded to Paris. On his return to Scotland, he became successively Sub-Dean and Official of Moray; Abbot of Kinloss, in 1526; Commendator of Beaulieu, in 1530; one of the Lords of Council and Session, in 1532; Bishop of Orkney, in 1540; and Lord President of the Court of Session, about the end of 1548. During all this time, he was frequently employed in foreign embassies, and other diplomatic affairs. A variety of liberal benefactions on his part have been recorded, such as the foundation of bursaries, the adornment of the buildings at Kinloss, which he enriched with what was considered an ample library, and the endowment of a school at Kirkwall. He also erected an addition to the Bishop's Palace in Kirkwall; and the Cathedral Church of St. Magnus, in that town, still exhibits the fine porch and some additional pillars erected at his expense; and had he survived for a few years, he no doubt would have put a finishing hand to this venerable edifice; the choir or chancel of which serves for the parish Church, (fitted up as usual in defiance of all good taste.) Bishop Reid's munificence was not limited to his own diocese, as a bequest of 8000 merks towards founding a College for the education of youth in Edinburgh, enabled the Magistrates, in 1581, to purchase from the Provost of the Kirk of Field, (St. Mary's in the Fields,) the ground on which were erected the buildings of our University. Lesley styles Bishop Reid a man "of singular wit, judgment, guid learning, and lyve, with lang experience," (Hist. p. 267;) and says he died at Dieppe on the 6th, but according to other authorities, it was the 15th September 1558.--(Keith's Catal. pp. 223-226; Senators of the College of Justice, pp. 14-19.)
[695] In MS. G, "lickit of the same buist."
[696] To this marginal note there was added, "INSIGNIA QUIDEM ELOGIUM;" but those words are deleted.
[697] John Sinclair was the fourth son of Sir Oliver Sinclair of Roslin, and a younger brother of Henry Sinclair, Bishop of Ross. He was admitted one of the Lords of Council and Session, under the title of Rector of Snaw, 27th April 1510. In 1549, he sat in the Provincial Council at Edinburgh, as Dean of Restalrig. In 1565, he was promoted to the See of Brechin. His brother Henry, Bishop of Ross and President of the Court of Session, having died in 1564-5, the Bishop of Brechin was, on the 13th November, advanced to the Presidentship of the Session. But he did not long enjoy his judicial and prelatic dignities, as he was seized with fever, and died in the month of April 1566. This we learn from Ferrerius, the Continuator of Hector Boethius, who, mentioning that Henry Sinclair, Bishop of Ross, had collected materials for writing a History of Scotland, which were in the hands of John Sinclair, Bishop of Brechin, says, "Sed idem (Praesul) quoque pauculos post menses in febrem peracutam decidit, ex qua derepente o virorum in terris numero exemptus est."--(H. Boethii Hist. App. p. 384, Paris, 1574, folio.)
[698] See note 689.
[699] That is, 10th of March 1556-7.
[700] Sym and Barron were citizen burgesses of Edinburgh, and zealous friends of the Reformer. As here intimated, James Sym, in whose house Knox resided, on his return to Scotland, had died before 1566. At page 245, Knox has given an account of the death of Elizabeth Adamson, Barron's wife, in 1566. James Barron was one of the Magistrates of Edinburgh, and filled the office of Dean of Guild from Michaelmas 1555, to the same term in 1556; and again in 1560 and 1561. At the first General Assembly, held at Edinburgh 20th December 1560, James Barron and Edward Hope were the commissioners appointed for the town, along with John Knox, as minister. His name also occurs in the proceedings of the Assemblies in the years 1562, 1565, and 1569--(Booke of the Universall Kirk, pp. 3, 13, 60, 145.)
[701] In MS. G, "afflictioun;" Vautr. edit. has "affection."