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THE  HEREDITARY 


SHEEIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY 


THEIR  "  FOREBEAES  "  AND  FRIENDS 
THEIR  COURTS  AND  CUSTOMS  OF  THEIR  TIMES 


WITH  NOTES  OF  THE  EARLY  HISTORY,  ECCLESIASTICAL 

LEGENDS,  THE  BARONAGE  AND  PLACE- 

NAMES  OF  THE  PROVINCE 


BT  THE  LATE 

Sir  ANDREW  AGNEW,  Babt. 

OF   LOCHNAW 


VOL.  I. 


EDINBURGH 
DAVID  DOUGLAS,  10  CASTLE  STEEET 

1893 


AU  rightt  remrved 


v./ 


£s  e»  I V  \ 


EDITOK'S   NOTE 

When  my  Father  died  a  few  months  ago,  this  second  and 
enlarged  edition  of  the  Sheriffs  of  Galloway  was  practically 
finished.  The  whole  of  the  MS.  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
printer,  and  some  of  the  early  proofs  had  already  been  returned 
for  correction.  Under  the  circumstances,  his  family  were 
anxious  that  a  work  in  which  he  had  taken  such  a  deep  interest,, 
and  to  which  he  had  devoted  so  much  labour,  should,  if  possible,, 
be  brought  to  completion.  The  warm  encouragement  and 
advice  of  Mr.  David  Douglas  has  made  this  an  easy  task. 

As  it  was  mainly  a  question  of  revising  the  proof-sheets,, 
and  as  I  had  written  out  the  whole  of  the  MS.  at  my  Father's 
dictation,  it  was  thought  that  the  work  had  better  be  done  by 
me.  I  have  done  my  best  to  keep  the  book  free  from  slips, 
whether  in  the  printing  or  in  the  sense  ;  and  with  the  valuable 
help  of  Mr.  George  Stronach,  one  of  the  assistant  librarians  in 
the  Advocates'  Library,  who  kindly  undertook  to  verify  the 
quotations  from  old  records,  whether  French  or  Latin,  I  trust 
all  preventable  mistakes  have  been  avoided. 

It  can  scarcely  be  hoped  that  in  a  work  of  this  kind, 
especially  in  one  which  deals  so  largely  with  the  etymology  of 
local  names,  some  errors  should  not  have  crept  in,  which  only 
the  special  knowledge  of  the  Author  could  have  detected.  Had 
he  lived  to  see  the  proofs,  these  errors  would  no  doubt  have 


VI  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY 

been  observed  and  rectified.  If  any  such,  therefore,  are  dis- 
covered, I  trust  they  will  be  attributed,  not  to  the  Author,  but 
to  the  fact  that  the  book  has  had  to  be  published  without 
his  personal  supervision,  which  alone  could  have  ensured  its 

absolute  accuracy. 

CONSTANCE  AGNEW. 


LooHKAW,  November  1892. 


PBEFACE 

"  Inquire,  I  pray  thee,  of  the  former  age,  and  pre^jare  thyself  to  the  search  of 
their  fathers ;  for  we  are  bat  of  yesterday,  and  know  nothing." — Job  viii.  8,  9. 

Having  rushed  prematurely  into  print  many  years  ago,  as  a 
natural  result  the  volume  abounded  with  errors  of  omission  and 
commission. 

Happily  the  very  extravagance  of  some  of  the  mistakes 
induced  gratuitous  assistance  for  their  correction.  As,  for 
example,  a  statement  hazarded  that  'Hhe  Agneaux,  once 
numerous,  were  now  entirely  extinct  in  the  country  which  was 
the  cradle  of  their  race,"  led  to  a  mild  remonstrance  from  the 
Bocages  of  Normandy,  to  which  the  volume  had  found  its  way, 
that  their  Scottish  representative  had  not  only  ignored  but 
annihilated  them. 

Correspondence  led  to  explanations  and  an  exchange  of 
visits,  as  agreeable  as  they  proved  fertile  in  results.  The 
charter-chest  of  the  Ghllteau  Isle  Marie  and  the  departmental 
archives  of  St.  Lo  yielded  documents  innumerable,  from  which 
not  only  details  were  to  be  gathered  as  to  the  family  in  France, 
but  particidars  as  to  their  settlements  in  England. 

The  clue  thus  found,  the  identification  of  the  Norman 
branches  in  their  English  domiciles  was  an  easy  matter.  In  the 
English  State  Paper  Office,  exchequer  rolls  from  Parliamentary 
writs,  commissions,  summonses,  etc.,  afforded  abundantly  the  in- 
formation we  required  ;  and  now  knowing  in  what  direction  to 


vm  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY 

look,  many  further  particulars  were  to  be  gathered  from  the 
exhaustive  works  of  our  English  county  historians,  and  of  these 
more  especially  Bloomfield  and  Chauncey. 

In  our  former  publication  many  family  papers  and  ofiBcial 
notices  were  overlooked,  and  many  sources  of  information  which 
were  really  open  to  us  were  either  unknown  or  unthought  of. 
Prominent  among  these  were  : — 

1.  Notes  Historiques  sur  la  Seigneurie,  le  ChMeau  et  la 
Paroisse  cPAgneau,  Francois  Nicolas  de  Bosque,  St.  Lo,  1857. 

2.  NobUiere  de  Normandie,  2  vols.,  royal  quarto,  R  de 
Magny,  1862. 

3.  The  Pipe  Bolls,  Parliamentary  writs,  etc.,  all  accessible 
in  the  State  Paper  Office,  though  few  then  had  been  published. 

Whilst  since  that  date  official  publication  has  been  made  of 
the  Lord  Chamberlain's  and  Lord  High  Treasurer's  accounts  in 
Scotland,  as  well  as  of  the  Great  Seal  Begister. 

And  the  Chronicles  of  the  Picts  and  Scots,  ably  edited  by  Mr. 
W.  F.  Skene,  have  been  officially  issued  from  the  Begister  House. 

Previous  also  to  our  publication,  Chauncey's  History  and 
Antiquities  of  Hertfordshire,  folio ;  and  Bloomfield's  History  of 
Norfolk,  five  vols.,  folio,  had  been  published  in  last  century,  and 
these  have  been  largely  quoted. 

Since  our  publication  there  have  appeared  M'Dowall's 
History  of  Dumfries,  1867 ;  Fordun's  History,  Notes  by  Skene, 
1871-72;  Wyntoun's  Ckronicles,  Notes  by  Laing,  three  vols., 
1872-79 ;  Lives  of  St.  Ninian  and  St.  ITentigem,  Bishop  Forbes, 
1874;  Annals  of  Viscount  and  1st  and  2nd  Earls  of  Stair, 
Murray  Graham,  1875;  Skene's  Celtic  Scotland,  three  vols., 
published  between  1876-80.  Correspondence  of  Sir  Patrick 
Waus  (a  model  of  good  editing),  Mr.  Vans  Agnew,  1882  ; 
Chronicles  of  Lindvden,  M*Dowall,  1886. 

Of  older  works,  I  have  found  extremely  useful  the  AnncUs 


PREFACE  IX 

of  Scotland,  by  Sir  David  Dalrymple,  Lord  Hailes,  as  much 
for  its  intrinsic  merit  as  the  accuracy  of  its  reference  to  the 
older  chroniclers  facilitating  closer  examination.  The  edition 
quoted  was  in  three  vols,  octavo,  1797. 

The  early  history  of  Galloway  being  inseparable  from  that 
of  Ayrshire,  not  only  in  family  notices  but  as  respects  the 
names  of  places,  we  have  treated  of  Galloway  in  its  largest 
extent,  and  have  looked  for  examples  as  far  north  as  the  Water 
of  Irvine. 

As  for  place-names,  this  subject  alone  is  approached  with 
diffidence,  well  knowing  how  tentative  many  attempted  explana- 
tions necessarily  must  be ;  protesting,  however,  against  the  appli- 
cation of  the  sneer  laid  against  oracles  of  old  to  those  interested 
in  this  branch  of  philology — Mdvri^  apiaro^  oari<:  eUd^ei 
Ka\£^  (the  best  guesser  is  the  best  prophet).  Any  one  attempt- 
ing to  explain  the  names  of  a  district  of  which  he  knows 
nothing,  by  mere  guessing  from  the  sound,  will  soon  find  himself 
in  a  mess.  Personal  inspection,  if  possible,  with  local  and 
historical  knowledge,  are  indispensable  to  anything  like  an 
approach  to  correctness. 

My  thanks  are  due  for  the  many  useful  suggestions  made 
from  time  to  time  by  the  Bishop  of  Down  and  Connor ;  as  well 
as  to  Dr.  Joyce  for  his  extreme  courtesy,  although  we  are 
personally  strangers,  in  so  fully  and  kindly  answering  the 
many  troublesome  queries  in  the  long  correspondence  I  inflicted 
upon  him. 

For  the  actual  force  of  many  of  the  roots  I  am  much 
indebted  to  the  late  Dr.  Thomas  M'Lauchlan,  who  over  and 
over  again  revised  my  notebook. 

As  also  to  my  much  lamented  friend  John  Campbell  of 
Islay,  who  was  much  interested  in  Celtic  research ;  Rev.  George 
Wilson,  Glenluce ;  Rev.  Andrew  Urquhart,  B.D. 


X  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS  OP  GALLOWAY 

Besides  which  an  historical  account  of  the  Kennedies  from 
charters  at  Onlzean,  privately  printed,  was  kindly  given  to  the 
author  by  Lord  David  Kennedy,  and  a  MS.  collection  of 
notices  of  the  Agnews  in  Ireland  was  sent  for  perusal  by  the 
Eev.  Classen  Porter. 

Adamnan's  Coluniba  being  considered  especially  valuable,  as 
weU  as  those  given  by  Mr.  Skene  in  his  Celtic  Scotland,  Dr. 
Joyce's  Names  of  Places  in  Ireland,  Sir  Herbert  Maxwell's 
Studies  in  the  Topography  of  Oallotvay ;  and  certain  suggestions 
have  been  obtained  from  Bannister's  Names  of  Places  in  Com- 
tvall,  Ferguson's  Northman  in  Cumberland,  and  Miss  Yonge's 
Christian  Names,  The  dictionaries  principally  relied  upon  are 
O'Eeilly's,  with  Supplement  by  Dr.  O'Donovan,  1864  (Irish) ; 
Armstrong's  Gaelic  Dictionary,  1825;  M'Leod  and  Dewar^s, 
1831 :  for  pronunciation,  Neil  M'Alpine's,  sixth  edition,  1872  ; 
Owen's  Welsh  Dictionary,  1826  ;  and  William  SpurreH's,  third 
edition,  1872. 

The  name  of  Galloway,  although  so  constantly  in  the 
mouths  of  its  inhabitants,  is  so  entirely  ignored  by  map-makers 
that  we  may  state  that,  although  in  early  times  its  bounds 
extended  to  the  river  Irvine  northward,  as  weU  as  eastward  of 
the  Nith,  for  many  centuries  its  limits  have  been  confined  to 
the  counties  of  Wigtown  and  Elirkcudbright.  From  before 
the  wars  of  succession  Wigtown  has  been  a  sheriffdom  ;  while 
Kirkcudbright,  from  the  days  of  the  Douglasses  to  very  recent 
times,  was  under  the  jurisdiction  of  a  steward  (whose  duties 
were  identical  with  those  of  a  sheriff).  Hence  the  true  Gallo- 
vidian  rarely  names  "  Wigtown  "  or  "  Kirkcudbright,"  but  calls 
the  whole  district  "Galloway,"  distinguishing  the  former  as 
"  the  Shire,"  and  the  latter  as  "  the  Stewartry." 

We  are  weU  aware  that  the  circle  is  a  most  limited  one  to 
which  a  History  of  the  Sheriffs  of  Galloway  can  be  of  any 


PREFACE  XI 

interest  whatever ;  but,  in  accordance  with  the  homely  proverb 
that  "  what  it  is  worth  doing  at  all,  it  is  worth  doing  well,"  I 
have  spared  no  pains  to  make  the  record  of  Galloway  events, 
as  well  as  the  doings  of  the  family  of  its  Sheriffs,  during  the 
period  they  presided  in  its  Courts,  as  complete  and  as  accurate 
as  possible,  and  as  such  to  offer  it  as  a  legacy  to  my  descendants, 
who,  a  century  or  two  hence,  may  give  a  kindly  thought  to  the 
compiler. 


LocHKAW,  NvmnJbvr  1891. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  I 

A.D.  79  to  794 


PAOB 


From   ths  Adtancs   of  Aoricola   to   th£   Retreat   of   the 

Northumbrian  Saxons     .....         1 


CHAPTER   n 

A.D.  794  to  1124 

The  Norsemen  to  Accession  of  David  I.       .  .24 


CHAPTER   m 

A.D.  1124  to  1161 

Feroub,  Lord  of  Galloway    .  .44 


CHAPTER   IV 

A.D.  1161  to  1234 
Lords  of  the  Line  of  Fergus  .65 


CHAPTER  V 

A.D.  1234  to  1360 

Alan's  Heirs  to  the  Brucian  Settlement  .81 


XIV  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY 


CHAPTER  VI 

PAGE 

The  Raoman  Roll  .107 


CHAPTER  VII 
Place-names  iLLUSTRATmo  Old  Qalloway  Pursuits    .  .113 


CHAPTER  Vm 

A.D.  1000  to  1460 

The  Aoneaux  in  France  .180 


CHAPTER   IX 

A.D.  1084  to  1360 
The  Aonews  in  England  .194 


CHAPTER  X 

A.D.  1865 
The  Agnews  in  Ireland  .....     207 


CHAPTER  XI 

A.D.  1365  to  1866 
The  Kinq*8  Castle  of  Lochnaw  .  .213 


CHAPTER  XII 

A.D.  1866  to  1424 

The  Douglas  at  Lochnaw  .225 


CONTENTS  XV 


CHAPTER  XIII 

A.D.  1424  to  1440 

PAOB 

The  Duchsss  of  Tourains      .....     240 


CHAPTER  XIV 

A.D.  1440  to  1455 

The  First  Hbreditart  Shbripf  ....     253 


CHAPTER   XV 

A.D.'  1455  to  1484 

The  Second  Hereditart  Sheriff  .271 


CHAPTER   XVI 

A.D.  1484  to  1498 

Third  Hereditart  Sheriff     .....     287 


CHAPTER   XVII 

A.D.  1498  to  1506 
Baronial  Banquetingb  .....     307 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

A.D.  1506  to  1510 
The  Forest  of  Buchan  .....     319 


XVI  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY 


CHAPTER  XIX 

A.D.  1510  to  1527 

PAGB 

Flodden  .......     331 


CHAPTER  XX 

A.D.  1528  to  1545 

Thb  Dawn  of  the  Reformation         ....     343 


*    CHAPTER   XXI 

A.D.  1544  to  1547 
PiNKBY   ClEUOH  .  .    •  .  .       357 


CHAPTER   XXII 

A.D.  1548  to  1559 

Sixth  Hereditaby  Sheriff      .....     369 


CHAPTER   XXIII 

A.P.  1559  to  1570 
The  Kino  of  Carri6K  .....     382 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

A.D.  1570  to  1584 
Suppression  of  Pilgrimaoes    .  .  .401 


CONTENTS  XVU 


CHAPTER  XXV 

A.D.  1584  to  1598 

PAOB 

The  Armada    .......     418 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

A.D.  1598  to  1616 

Thb  Feuds  of  the  Kennedys  ....     435 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

A.D.  1616  to  1630 

The  Kino's  Bailie  of  Leswalt  ....     453 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


VOL.  I. 


LocHNAW  Castle,  from  ths  Loch   . 
Vignette — Panel  from  Lochnaw  Cabtle,  1666 
ChIteau  D'Agneaux,  Normandie  . 

SsAiA  of — 

1.  Heli6  D'Agneaux,  1190      . 

2.  Andrieu  L'Aignell,  end  of  13th  century 

3.  Herbert  D'Aignbaux,  Seigneur  db  Togque- 

VILLE,  1224        .... 

4.  Richard  de  Agnellis,  1269 

Armobial  Shields  of — 

1.  algneaux  en  normandie   . 

2.  Agnew  of  Lochnaw — Scotland 

3.  Agneaux  de  L'Isle 

4.  Agneaux  en  Bourgogne 
6.  Agneaux  en  Provence 

6.  Agneaux  (early  English),  date  1298 

7.  Sir  John  Atgnell,  Hertfordshire 

Tawer  of  Craigoch 

Seal  of  Quentin  Agnew,  1487 

Seal  of  Patrick  Agnew,  1575 


Frontiipiece 

Title-page 

facing  page  1 


fadng  page  180 


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facing  page  194 


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II 


page  217 
306 


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II 


400 


rw^^^mm^^^r^^'t^'^t- 


CHAPTER    I 

FROM  THE  ADVANCE   OF  AGRICOLA  TO  THE   RETREAT  OF 

THE  NORTHUMBRIAN   SAXONS 

A.D.  79  to  794 

Three  forward  bands  of  Novant 

Three  kings  wearing  golden  torques. — Taliebsix. 

Ad  terram  Pictorum  qui  Niduari  vocantur. 

Bede,  Vit.  Sane  Cuth,  c.  11. 

Picti  qui  vulgo  Galweienses  dicuntur. 

Richard  of  Hexham. 

The  word  Galloway  is  derived  from  "  Gallgaidheal "  (d  mute), 
the  Celtic  name  for  its  people.^  The  Cymric  equivalent  of  this 
was  Galwyddel  (the  dd  pronounced  th),  whence  the  Latin 
Gallwethia  applied  to  the  province,  softened  to  Gallovidia,  and 
anglicised  Galloway.  But  though  the  term  Galwyddel  is  that 
usually  applied  to  Galwegians  by  the  British  bards  of  the  sixth 
century,  the  name  by  which  they  are  best  known  in  current 
history  is  "Novantse"  (Greek  Novaj/rat),  meaning  the  Nith 
men, — the  Celtic  "Nydd"  on  Eoman  lips  changing  to  "Novius," — 
whilst  in  low  Latin  the  Cymric  equivalent  for  the  Pictish 
"  Xyddwyr  "  was  represented  by  "  Niduari."  ^ 

^  Dr.  ReeTes,  Bishop  of  Down  and  Connor,  once  wrote  to  the  author :  "  Your 
Galloway  is  a  compound  word  which  is  found  in  the  Irish  annals  and  implies 
something  like  '  stranger  Gaol '  '  stranger '  not  implying  the  Gael  in  a  strange 
land,  but  a  hybrid  race." 

^  ^*  Ptolemy  terms  the  Nith,  Novius :  as  the  name  Nith  is  the  equivalent 

VOL.   I.  B 


2  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY        [A.D.  79 

The  so-called  Welsh  bards  (who  were  mostly  Strath- 
clyde  Britons),  the  nearest  neighbours  of  the  Galloway 
Picts,  call  them  synonymously  "  Peithwyr,"  "  Galwyddel,"  and 
"  Novant." 

Mr.  Skene,  with  a  stroke  of  his  pen,  scatters  to  the  winds  the 
cobwebs  which  had  long  darkened  the  threshold  of  Galloway 
history,  and  exposes  the  mistakes  which,  made  when  philology 
was  young,  have  been  reproduced  and  even  aggravated  by  later 
authors.     Of  these,  the  most  opposed  to  fact  are : 

1st,  That  the  Novantae  were  Britons  (Cymri),  not  Picts. 

2d,  That  the  Galloway  Picts,  known  to  medieval  history, 
were  not  descendants  of  the  Novantae  found  there  by  the 
Bomans,  but  Irish  Dalaradians  or  Cruithne,  who  swarmed  across 
the  Channel  in  the  eighth  and  ninth  centuries,  dispossessed, 
exterminated,  or  absorbed  the  Novantae,  and  changed  their 
place-names.  Whereas,  on  the  contrary,  the  race  encountered 
by  the  Bomans  were  undoubtedly  Picts,  written  of  as  such 
("  Peithwyr  "  and  "  Novant ")  by  Cymric  bards,  within  a  century 
of  the  Boman  occupation ;  and  there  is  no  authority  whatever  for 
saying  that  they  were  ever  subdued,  or  even  invaded  in  force, 
by  any  Irish  tribe ;  stni  less  that  they  disappeared.^  In  short, 
our  paradox  is  this,  that  the  Galloway  Picts  generated  the  wild 
Scots  of  Gralloway ! 

Chalmers  gives  two  reasons  for  believing  in  this  early 
annihilation  of  the  Novantae :  the  one  inconclusive,  even  were 

of  Ptolemy*B  Noyius,  so  6ede*8  Niduari  is  the  exact  equivalent  of  Ptolemy's 
Novantffi,  both  meaning  the  'gens'  of  the  Nith." — Celtic  Scotland^  i.  132. 

Nydd  is  a  common  riyer  name,  meaning  spinning  or  whirling  in  eddies. 

'  ''Chalmers  states  dogmatically  that  Galloway  was  colonised  in  the  eighth 
century  by  Cruithnigh  from  Ireland,  followed  by  fresh  swarms  from  the  Irish  hive 
during  the  ninth  and  tenth  ;  and  this  statement  has  been  accepted  by  all  sub- 
sequent writers  as  if  there  were  no  doubt  about  it.  There  is  not  a  vestige  of 
avUhorUy  for  it.  The  only  authorities  referred  to  by  Chalmers  consist  of  an 
entire  misrepresentation  of  passages  from  the  Ulster  Annals:  '682,  Bellum 
Rathamoire  Muigeline  contra  Britones ;  *  '  702,  Bellum  campi  Cuilinn  in  Airdo.' 
Now  both  these  battles  were  fought  in  Ulster.  Rathmore  or  great  fort  of 
Muigeline,  which  Chalmers  supposes  to  be  Mauchline,  was  the  chief  seat  of 
the  Cruithnigh  in  Dalaradia,  and  is  now  Moylinny ;  and  these  events  were 
attacks  by  the  Britons  upon  the  Cruithnigh  of  Ulster,  not  attacks  by  the  latter 
on  the  British  inhabitants  of  Ayrshire," — Celtie  Scotland,  i.  132. 


to  794]     AGRICOLA   TO   THE   NORTHUMBRIAN   SAXONS  3 

there  no  evidence  to  the  contrary ;  the  other  depending  on  an 
entire  misconception.  The  first  being,  That  the  Irish  topography 
corresponds  more  directly  with  that  of  Galloway  than  that  of 
Scotland  proper.  The  second,  That  Irish  annals  represent  the 
Irish  Picts  obtaining  a  great  victory  over  the  Britons  at 
Maigiline,  which  he  renders  Mauchline.  Now  the  correspond- 
ence of  names  on  the  two  sides  of  the  Channel  is  simply 
accounted  for  by  the  circumstance  that  the  Dalaradians  who 
inhabited  the  land  opposite  Galloway  were  Picts  as  well.  Again, 
while  a  victory  of  Irish  Picts  over  the  Damnii  at  Mauchline 
would  have  little  concerned  the  Novantse  in  any  case,  the 
argument  derived  from  it  is  at  once  disposed  of  by  the  dis- 
covery that  the  scene  of  the  battle  was  Moylinny  in  Antrim, 
not  Mauchline  in  Ayrshire.  Britons  were  invading  Ireland, 
not  the  Irish  Scotland,-^  the  Galloway  men  having  no  part  in 
the  fray. 

Accepting  the  dates  which  Mr.  Skene  assigns  to  the  move- 
ments of  Agricola,  as  related  by  Tacitus,  it  was  in  the  year  of 
our  Lord  79  that  his  legions  "surrounded  the  estuaries,  and 
explored  the  lands  and  forests  north  of  the  Solway."  When 
crossing  the  Nith  they  encountered  a  new  race,  diifering  from 
those  (the  Selgovae  and  Brigantes)  they  had  left  behind,  whom 
they  wrote  down  Novantse.* 

From  the  valley  of  the  Nith  the  Eomans  marched  westward 
through  the  territory  of  this  same  people,  which  they  foimd 
extended  continuously  to  the  Irish  Sea.  Meeting  with  little 
opposition,  and  masking  the  native  strongholds  by  fortified 
camps,  they  pushed  forward  to  the  "  Doon  of  Kildonan,"  whence 
the  legionaries  gazed  with  wonder  at  the  serrated  outline  of 
the  Moume  Mountains,  which,  like  giant's  fingers,  seemed  to 
beckon  them  onwards  to  new  worlds  across  the  stormy  waters. 

^  Scotland  is  here  used  in  its  modem  sense :  the  Scots  of  that  day  were  Irish- 
men, a  colony  of  whom,  known  as  the  Dalriad  Scots,  colonised  Argyle. 

'  No  doubt  adapted  from  a  native  word.  The  "Nydd**  becoming  Novius. 
So  the  SelgoYse  were  the  hunters,  from  Celtic  "Seilg,"  the  BrigantsB  (Cumber- 
land and  Lake  district),  hillmen,  from  Celtic  ''Bre,"  whence  the  vernacular 
''brae."    The  Selgove  and  Brigantes  were  British,  the  Novantse  Picts. 


4       HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY    [A.D.  79 

Fragments  of  rectangular  parapets,  as  well  as  place-names,  point 
unmistakably  to  Boman  stations  established  in  this  advance:^ 
such  as  the  Moat  of  Urr,*  Castlecreavie,  Bomby,  Sypland, 
Dunrod,  Dromore  Castle  on  the  Dee,  Castramont,  Longcaster,^ 
Bispain,  and  Kildonan  just  mentioned. 

This  Doon  and  its  surroundings  deserve  a  moment's  notice. 
The  discovery  of  the  rectangular  outline  (one-half  of  which  has 
been  levelled  by  the  plough),  which  proves  its  Boman  origin,  is 
due  to  the  intelligent  research  of  the  Bev.  Andrew  Urquhart. 
This  ascertained,  it  is  curious  to  note  how  the  surrounding 
place-names,  the  meaning  of  which  had  been  long  as  much 
unsuspected  as  the  existence  of  the  fort,  seem  to  fill  in  the  story 
of  its  construction.  Above  it,  we  find  mapped  Kirklauchlane,  and 
short  scrutiny  is  required  to  convince  us  that  "  Kirk  "  is  here  the 
not  unusual  corruption  of  Caer,  and  that  this  was  a  stronghold 
commanding  a  harbour  and  a  town ;  the  name  of  the  former  being 
" Portespittal*'  (Spideal,  suggesting  here  rather  a  place  of 
entertainment  for  travellers  than  a  refuge  for  the  sick) ; — 
and  the  latter  represented  by  "Nashantee"  (na  scan  teach), 
the  old  houses — old  perhaps  a  thousand  years  ago !  whilst  the 
Boman  fort  or  "Doon"  has  for  centuries  been  known  as 
Kildonan,"  that  is,  a  dedication  to  St.  Donan,  whose  date  is  l7th 
April  616  in  the  kalendars,  suggesting  that  this  was  once  a 
centre  of  population — although  port,  tower,  camp,  church,  and 
hospice  have  long  alike  lain  silent. 

Ptolemy's  British  place-names  are  doubtless  those  supplied 
by  Agricola's  officers,  and  their  Celtic  roots  are  easily  recognis- 

^  ''He  surrounded  the  subjugated  tribes  with  forts  and  garrisons;  and  the 
remains  of  numerous  Roman  camps  stiU  to  be  seen  in  Dumfries,  Kirkcudbright, 
and  Wigtown,  attest  the  extent  to  which  he  had  penetrated  the  country.  The 
position  of  these  iUustrates  in  a  remarkable  manner  the  expression  of  Tacitus : 
"  Praeaidiis  castellisque  circumdats." — Celtic  ScoUand,  i.  48. 

^  Thirty  years  ago  outworks,  seemingly  erected  by  the  Romans,  remained 
near  the  Moat  of  Urr.  Three  silver  coins  were  found  there — one  of  Hadrian,  one 
of  Commodus,  and  several  legionary  spears. — Old  Stat,  Ace.  xi.  69. 

'  "  Castra  and  Chester  always  indicate  Roman  occupation.  On  a  Monreith 
estate  map  of  1777,  a  rectangular  outline  on  the  hill  of  Drumtrodden  is  marked 
'Roman  camp,'  all  traces  of  which  have  disappeared  under  the  plough." — Max- 
well's Tapo.  of  Oallotffay  (Camford). 


to  794]     AGRICOLA   TO   THE   NORTHUMBRIAN   SAXONS  5 

able  through  their  Greek  or  Latin  dress.  The  Ehynns  and  Mull 
of  Gralloway  being  mapped  by  them  Novantum  Chersonesus  and 
Novantum  Promontorium,  proves  beyond  doubt  that  these  men 
of  the  Nith  occupied  the  whole  of  modem  Galloway.^ 

Other  names  are  Eerigonium,  evidently  the  same  as  the  Caer 
Eheon  (Cathair  Eiaghan)  of  the  bards,  and  Eerigonium  Sinus  is 
their  Llwch  Eheon.  In  the  suffix  of  Vanduara  we  have  Ayr ; 
Clota  is  the  Clyde ;  Abravannus,  the  confluence  (Aber  or 
Inbher)  of  the  rivers,  seems  to  be  that  of  the  Luce  and  Piltanton  in 
the  Bay  of  Luce ;  Lucopibia  is  the  Isle  of  Whithorn  (though  it 
is  an  extraordinary  confusion  of  ideas  to  suppose  that  Ptolemy 
was  thinking  of  Ninian's  white  house)  ;^  Fines  -^stus  is  the 
estuary  of  the  Cree;^  Deva,  the  Dee,  the  black  stream ;  Carbant- 
origum  or  Carbantium,  possibly  Kirkbean ;  Novius,  the  Nith ; 
Corda,  Caer,  the  fort,  with  Sean  prefixed,  now  Sanquhar  (scan 
caer),  the  old  fort ;  Ituna,  the  Solway,  from  "  Tonn,"  a  tidal 
wave. 

The  neighbours  of  the  Novantae  are  respectively  mapped  as 
the  Selgovae,  or  hunters  (Seilg) ;  the  Brigantes,  or  hill-men  (Bre) ; 
and  the  Damnii  or  Damnonii  (damh,  an  ox),  the  cattle-breeders. 

Whilst  mapping  the  province,  the  Eomans  seem  to  have 
brought  civilising  influences  to  bear.*    This  is  proved  by  well 

^  One  of  the  most  perverse  of  the  popular  errors  current  in  Galloway  history 
is  that  the  Novantie  were  bounded  eastward  by  the  Dee  ;  this,  as  well  as  that 
as  to  their  nationality,  arising  from  a  neglect  of  finding  the  true  root  of  the  words. 
Thus  Camden,  suggesting  that  Kovantse  was  abridged  from  the  Welsh  ''nant," 
low  in  a  vale  {Brit,  i.  363),  those  who  followed  him  assumed  they  were  Welsh, 
that  is  British,  and  entirely  overlooking  the  Kovius  or  Nydd,  they  failed  to  per- 
ceive that  Novantffi  and  **  Niduari'*  must  alike  hail  from  the  Nith. 

'  And  was  not  able  to  spell  it  properly  if  he  did  !  if  so,  it  should  be  Luco 
kidia. 

•  In  the  so-called  Ptolemy's  Atlas ;  reproduced  "  lenee  iEstuarium  "  (Wigtown 
Bay) ;  but  Mr.  Skene  asserts  that  earlier  editions  have  ''Fines  ^stus"  {Celtic 
Seotla-nd,  i.  66).  If  so,  the  Fines  is  a  translation  of  Cree  (crioch,  a  boundary) ; 
a  similar  translation  is  "Longns"  in  Argyle  for  the  ''Add  "  (Abhuinn  fhada),  the 
broad  stream. 

*  "The  following  winter  (i.e.  79-80)  was  devoted  to  reducing  the  turbulent 
character  of  the  natives  to  quiet  submission." — Celtic  Scotland,  i.  44. 

Mr.  Skene  connects  with  this  date  the  description  of  Tacitus :  "Having  spread  a 
general  terror  through  the  country,  he  suspended  his  operations  that  the  barbarians 
might  taste  the  sweets  of  peace:  a  fierce  people  running  wild  in  the  woods  would 
be  ever  addicted  to  warfare.     Agricola  encouraged  the  natives  to  build  temples. 


6  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY        [A.D.  79 

authenticated  facts  of  doings  of  St.  Ninian,  at  a  date  prior 
to  their  final  departure.  Their  appreciation  of  the  Christian 
religion,  their  reception  of  strangers,  their  desire  for  instruction, 
and  the  security  to  person  and  property  evidenced  by  the  com- 
pletion and  endurance  of  Ninian's  works,  prove  the  Novantae  of 
the  fourth  century  to  have  been  under  the  reign  of  law.  The 
greatest  of  St.  Ninian's  works  not  being  the  little  church  built  of 
stone  ("  more  insolito  Britonibxis  "),  but  the  conventual  establish- 
ment, humbler  in  material  (a  closely  packed  cluster  of  wattled 
huts) — the  mother,  nevertheless,  and  model  of  the  sixth  century 
monasteries  of  the  Scoto-Irish  Church.  Here  a  seminary, 
known  variously  as  Candida  Casa,  Magnum  Monasterium, 
Futema,  the  House  of  Martin,  Alba,  and  Bosnat,  attracted 
youths  of  high  birth  from  far  beyond  the  bounds  of  the  pro- 
vince; and  during  the  following  two  centuries  it  was  the 
resort  of  those  leaders  of  thought — of  almost  European  reputa- 
tion—  known  as  "Secondary  Saints."  Among  these  were 
Tighemach,  Eugenius,  Malidh,  and  almost  certainly  his  uncle 
Patrick,  Mancennxis,  Medana,  Ciaran,  Nennius,  and  Finian 
of  Moville.  There  cannot  be  a  doubt  that  of  the  original 
Candida  Casa,  the  Isle  of  Whithorn  was  the  site;  its  penin- 
sular position,  as  described  by  Ailred,^  as  well  as  the  very  name, 
Bos-nat  (nocht),  "  the  bare  point,"  being  wholly  inapplicable  to 
the  inland  priory  and  cathedral  church  ; — built  by  Fergus,  and 
not  before  the  twelfth  century. 

Another  work  proving  the  existence  of  a  central  authority, 
and  requiring  organisation  and  skill  for  its  execution,  was  the  vast 
rampart,  the  ruins  of  which  bear  variously  at  different  points, 
the  names  of  the  "  DeU's  Dyke  "  ^  and  "  Picts'  Dyke  "  or  "  Picts' 

courts  of  justice,  and  ooiuiuodious  dwelling-houses,  to  establish  a  plan  of 
education,  and  give  the  sons  of  chiefs  a  tincture  of  letters." — Tac.  Fit.  Affri.  20. 

^  Ailred,  who  frequently  visited  the  place  between  the  year  1140  and  1165, 
writes  of  Kinian  as  "  selecting  for  himself  a  site  in  the  place  now  called  Witerna, 
which,  situated  on  the  shore  of  the  ocean,  and  extending  far  into  the  sea  on  the 
east,  west,  and  south  sides,  is  closed  in  by  the  sea  itself,  while  only  on  the  north 
is  a  way  open  to  those  who  would  enter." —  FiL  Nin.  c.  8. 

'  This  ancient  fence  is  invariably  eight  feet  broad  at  the  base,  with  a  foss  on 
the  north  side.    The  Deil's  Dyke  commences  at  Loch  Ryan,  on  the  farm  of  Beoch, 


to  794]     AGRTCOLA   TO   THE  NORTHUMBRIAN   SAXONS  7 

Wall."  Carried  in  a  right  line,  over  marsh  and  moor,  forest, 
mountain,  and  flood  for  full  fifty  miles  between  Leffnoll,  an  out- 
work of  the  citadel  on  Loch  Eyan,  and  Sanquhar,  the  old 
strength  upon  the  Nith — it  extended,  as  Taliessin  puts  it, 

"  Between  Caer  Ryan  and  Caer  Rywg.**^ 

The  erection  of  this  dyke  was,  as  Mr.  Skene  suggests,  prob- 
ably accomplished  before  the  final  departure  of  the  Bomans  in 
407.  It  was  obviously  reared  as  a  barrier  between  the  Novantse 
and  their  neighbours  the  Damnii — their  southern  and  western 
firontiers  being  defended  by  the  sea,  and  their  eastern  by  the 
Nith.  We  thus  find  their  original  territory  included  the  modem 
shires  of  Wigtown  and  Kirkcudbright;  with  the  parishes  of 
Holywood,  Dunscore,  Keir,  Glencaim,  Tynron,  Penpont,  and 
a  part  of  Durisdeer,  in  that  of  Dumfries. 

As  the  Eomans  seem  to  have  overrun  Galloway  with  little 
bloodshed,  so  they  seem  to  have  maintained  amicable  relations 
with  the  Novantse.  For  two  hundred  years  after  they  retired  we 
glean  notices  of  the  province  from  church  calendars  and  Irish 
chronicles,  giving  us  continuous  lists  of  kinglets,  whose  existence, 
though  open  individually  to  doubt,  yet  in  the  aggregate  may 
be  held  to  be  founded  upon  fact.  And  it  is  remarkable — if  not 
absolutely  conclusive  as  to  their  accuracy — ^that  most  of  the 
so-called  kings  have  impressed  their  names  upon  the  soil.^ 

First  we  have  Sarran,  who,  according  to  the  Book  of  Bally- 
mote,  established  his  power  over  Saxons  and  Picts,  married 

thence  by  Braid  Fell,  Cairazerran,  Kyi  fodder,  by  the  north  end  of  Loch  Mabeny, 
Kirkcalla,  Ochiltree,  Glenvemoch,  (a  hill  fort  of  large  dimensions  here,)  Enock- 
ville,— crosses  the  Cree, — Terregan,  Dranandow,  between  "  the  Thieves  "  and  the 
Nappers,  Auchinlech,  Talnotrie,  Craignelder,  Craigencally,  Garrary,  Enockreoch, 
Auchenshinnoch,  and  passing  Glencaim,  Tyuron,  and  Penpont,  is  nearly  entire 
on  the  farm  of  South  Mains,  opposite  Sanquhar. — ^Train,  App,  to  MackenaU, 

^  Book  of  Tali£S8ii%,  10.  Caer  Ryan  b  Rerigonium,  the  modem  Innermessan  ; 
Caer  Rywg,  Sanquhar,  the  fort  on  the  Crawick. — Four  Ancient  Books  of  WaUSf 
i.  270. 

Leffnoll,  **  halfpenny  land  of  the  wool  **  (Leithpheigan). 

'  Riaghan  or  Rheon,  Lachlane,  Torquil,  Bonachie,  Troet,  Dermot,  are  to  be 
classed  with  those  mighty  men  anterior  to  Agamemnon,  over  whose  memory  has 
closed  an  endless  night — ''carent  quia  vate  sacro."     They  made  their  mark  in 


8  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY        [A.D.  79 

Babona,  daughter  of  Loam,  son  of  Ere,  and  by  her  had,  with 
three  other  sons,  Leurig  and  Caimech ;  and,  after  victory  and 
triumph, "  died  in  the  House  of  Martin."  ^  Leurig  succeeded  him, 
Caimech  being  abbot  of  this  House  of  Martin  or  Monastery  of 
Bpsnat.    The  date  approximately  440. 

Leurig  after  this  extended  his  power  and  forcibly  built  a 
fort  within  the  precincts  of  the  monastery  of  Caimech  his 
brother,  that  is,  the  Isle  of  Whithorn.  Caimech  remonstrated, 
Leurig  scoffed,  whereupon  the  Abbot  incited  his  cousin,  Murcer- 
tach,  son  of  Ere  (afterwards  King  of  Ireland),  to  dethrone  his 
brother,  which  he  did,  and  also  killed  him.^  Caimech  then 
went  to  Ireland,  and  introduced  monachism  there,  on  the  model 
of  Bosnat,  which  had  now  attained  to  great  note.  This  must 
have  occurred  before  478.* 

Murcertach,  or  Murdoch,  whose  name,  "sea -warrior,"  is 
an  appropriate  one  to  the  invader  of  Galloway,  afterwards 
ruled  there.*  The  age  of  Leurig  and  Murdoch  coincides 
with  that  of  the  somewhat  mythic  Medana,  of  St.  Patrick, 
and  of  his  popular  nephew  Malidh  (from  whom  the  stream 

their  day,  and  their  names  are  indelibly  attached  to  places  of  strong  defence, 
as  Caer  Ryan,  Kirklochlane,  Kilquhockadale,  Mordonachie,  Ardtrostan,  Craig- 
dermot 

^  Book  of  BaUymote,  Chron.  of  Piets  and  SeotSj  52.  Mr.  Skene  there  identifies 
the  House  of  Martin  with  Candida  Casa  in  the  Isle  of  Whithorn. 

^  In  the  Irish  Nennins  this  relation  follows  that  of  the  departure  of  the 
Romans,  and  immediately  precedes  the  mention  of  Vortigem's  invitation  to  Hen- 
gist  and  Horsa,  a.d.  449. 

'  To  Caimech  is  attributed  the  introduction  of  monachism  into  Ireland  ;  he  is 
mentioned  as  Bishop  of  the  House  of  Martin,  in  other  words,  of  Candida  Casa. 
From  this  date  we  frequently  find  saints  (of  the  second  order)  resorting  thither  for 
the  purpose  of  being  trained  in  the  monastic  life.  Among  others,  Tighemach  of 
Clones  and  Eugenins  of  Ardstraw,  natives  of  Leinster,  who  had  been  carried  off 
by  pirates  and  brought  to  Britain,  were  sent  by  the  king,  at  the  queen's  inter- 
cession, to  a  holy  man,  Monennus,  and  trained  by  him  at  the  monastery  of  Ros- 
nat,  which  is  also  called  Alba,  or  white. — Celtic  SeoUand^  ii.  46  ;  quoting  Colgan, 
VU,  Tighemach,  etc. 

*  "Then  he  thrust  his  battle  staff  into  the  king's  side,  and  returned  to  the 
cleric  with  his  head,  and  said,  '  Here  is  thy  brother's  head  for  thee,  0  Caimech ' ; 
and  Caimech  said,  '  Leave  me  the  bone,  and  eat  thou  the  marrow. '  Then  he  took 
hostages  and  power  in  the  land  for  seven  years,  as  also  the  sovereignty  of 
Britain  and  Cat  and  Ore  and  Saxony." — Book  of  Ballymote, 

Murcertach,  ''the  sea- warrior,"  is  Murdoch  in  Scotland. 


to  794]  AGRICOLA  TO  THE  NORTHUMBRIAN  SAXONS    9 

which  supplied  his  baptistery  is  named  "the  Water  of 
Malzie ") ;  of  Bridget,  and  St.  Lassair  (mother  of  Finnian  of 
Mo\dIle),  whence  our  numerous  Kilbrides,  and  Killeser.  In 
525  A.D.  we  find  a  King  Drust,  the  loose  doings  of  whose  "  one  per- 
fect daughter,  Dustric,"^  as  a  pupil  of  the  great  monastery,  is  the 
subject  of  a  penitential  hymn  by  St.  Mugint,  which,  as  Bishop 
Forbes  well  remarks,  sheds  a  reTnarhahle  light  on  the  life — half 
monastic,  half  social — at  Whithorn.^  Dr.  Stuart  connects  this 
King  Drust  with  a  vitrified  fort  in  Anwoth,  called  "Trusty 
Knowe."  This  would  give  additional  point  to  the  quatrain  in 
O'Clery's  Calendar  commencing — 

"  Trust,  king  of  the  eastern  confluence  on  the  strand."  ^ 

Contemporary  with  Drust  was  Arthur  of  the  Bound  Table ; 
his  name  is  supposed  to  be  reflected  in  Loch  Arthur,  whence, 
after  fighting  his  twelve  battles,  he  turned  northward.  Talies- 
sin's  line — 

"  Beyond  Caer  Wydyr  they  saw  not  the  prowess  of  Arthur,"  * 

seems  confirmatory  of  this,  and  "  Caer  Wydyr  "  to  point  to  the 
vitrified  fort  of  Castle  Gower  ("  Gwydyr,"  glass,  a  term  ap- 
plicable to  vitrification,  being  easily  convertible  to  Gower). 

We  find  no  notice  of  a  direct  successor  to  Drust,  but  the 
death  of  a  king  Cendaeladh  is  recorded,  a.d.  580,  whose  name 
was  preserved  till  comparatively  recent  times  in  that  of  the 
parish  and  lake  of  Loch  Kendellach.  The  parish  is  now  called 
New  Abbey,  and  his  name  is  almost  unrecognisable  in  that  of 
the  lake  itself,  now  corrupted  to  Loch  Kinder. 

The  years  of  Cendaeladh's  reign,  and  twenty  following, 
are  those  of  the  "  Welsh  Bards,"  whose  heroes  axe  contempo- 

^  O'Olery's  Calendar,  1  November.        "  Introduction  to  Life  of  Ninian,  xll 
'  **Ant-*8aoir"  is  translated  "free  bay"  by  Mr.  Skene,  "the  noble  conflu- 
ence" by  Dr.  Todd.      But  "t*soir"  means  also  "of  the  east"  ;  and  "Trusty 
£nowe  "  overlooks  the  confluence  of  the  Cree  eastward  of  Whithorn. 

*  Arthuret  on  the  Oarwhinelow  has  nothing  to  do  with  Arthur,  the  roots 
apparently  being  '*ard"  and  "rod."  Oarwhinelow  is  a  corruption  of  Caer- 
gwenddolea,  named  from  a  Oymric  prince,  whose  hill-fort  overlooked  it. 


10  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY        [A.D.  79 

rary  princes,  scions  of  two  royal  lines:  namely,  that  of  Coyl 
Hen  (the  old  King  Cole),  whence  the  place-name  Kyle;  — 
and  that  of  Ceredig  (the  Coroticus  of  the  Epistle  of  St. 
Patrick).  The  line  of  Coyl  are  termed  in  church  history 
the  Pagan  faction,  though,  more  correctly,  they  were  simply 
unorthodox.  Of  these  were  Gwenddoleu,  Cymbelyn,  Morcant, 
Urien,  and  Gwallawc,  nephew  of  Caradawg  (from  whom  we 
have  Carrick). 

Of  the  line  of  Ceredig  those  contemporary,  were  Eydderch 
Hael,  Elydyr,  and  Aeddan  Vradog. 

The  two  opposing  factions,  with  such  forces  as  each  could 
muster,  met  in  deadly  combat  at  Ardderyd  (Arthuret),  A.D.  573, 
the  respective  commanders  being  Gwenddoleu  and  Eydderch 
Hael,  Cendaeladh  probably  assisting  the  former. 

The  Christians  were  entirely  victorious.  St.  Kentigem, 
Rydderch's  bishop,  who  had  fled  from  persecution,  was  now 
recalled  to  his  diocese  Glasgow  (the  Penryn-Wleth  of  the 
bards),  called  Gulath  by  Jocelyn ;  whence  soon  after,  "going  forth, 
he  cleansed  from  the  foulness  of  idolatry  and  the  contagion  of 
heresy  the  land  of  the  Picts,  now  called  Galwethia."  ^ 

We  need  not  follow  the  complications  of  the  period, — a  score 
of  kinglets  perpetually  at  war,  constantly  changing  sides,  some- 
times allied  with  the  Novantse,  sometimes  against  them,* — but 
we  may  mention  one  who,  whether  as  enemy  or  ally,  equally 
won  and  retained  the  admiration  of  the  Galwegians — Gwallawc, 
the  hawk  of  battle,^  latinised  Galgacus.  There  was  of  course 
more  than  one  Galgacus,  as  there  was  certainly  more  than  one 

^  Jocelyn's  Life  of  St  Kentigem^  oh.  xxziy.  (a  hill  called  Gulath  by  the  water- 
side near  his  home,  ch.  xiv.) 

'  A  few  years  before,  according  to  Nennias,  there  were  Urien,  Rydderch, 
Gwallawg,  and  Morcant  fighting  against  the  Northumbrian  Saxons. 

'  Black  Book  of  Carmarthen,  82. 

<' Gwallawg,  the  horseman  of  tumult,  would  drive  onward.** — Bed  Book  of 
Hengist, 

**  The  rich  plains  from  Caer-Clud  to  Caer, 
The  support  of  Penprys  and  Gwallawg." — Book  of  Taliessin,  xi. 

The  bards  of  the  Four  Ancient  Books  of  Wales  are  Myrddin  or  Merlin, 
Aneuiin,  Llywarch  (whose  son  is  believed  to  have  built  Caerlaverock, 
Llywarch's  fort),  and  Taliessin,  ("the  bright  browed  bard  of  Urien  and  Owen  "). 


to  794]     AGRICOLA   TO   THE  NORTHUMBRIAN   SAXONS        11 

Caractacus ;  and  Boece,  mixing  truth  with  fiction,  and  with  a 
total  disr^ard  for  dates,  adopting  the  local  tradition  that 
Gwallawc  reposes  beneath  the  standing  stones  of  Torhouse, 
represents  him  to  have  been  the  King  Galdus,  who,  expelling 
the  Bomans  from  Galloway,  reigned  over  a  united  Scotland,  and 
dying  at  Wigtown,  was  interred  with  great  pomp  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood, many  huge  pillars  being  raised  above  his  sepulchre, 
and  by  a  decree  of  Parliament  in  the  year  103,  the  province  was 
named  Galdia, — whence  Galloway, — ^in  his  honour.^  It  is  un- 
necessary to  refute  the  absurdities  of  this  relation.  It  was  a 
thousand  years  later  before  there  was  a  united  Scotland,  or  the 
pretence  of  a  National  Parliament.  As  real  incidents  in  his  life 
we  may  give  a  list  of  battles  fought  by  Gwallawc,  of  which 
Galloway  was  certainly  the  scene,  the  date  being  the  latter  half 
of  the  sixth  century : 

"  A  battle  in  Agathes. 
A  battle  of  trembling  in  Aeron. 
A  battle  in  the  wood  of  Beit. 

A  darting  of  spears — a  battle  in  the  Marsh  of  Terra  ^  with  the 
dawn." 

In  "Agathes"  we  recognise  Cairn  Agathe  in  New  Luce, 
"Gath,"  "a  dart  or  javelin,"  suggestive  of  the  "darting  of 
spears  "  ;  "  Aeron  "  is  Glen-iron ;  the  "  Marsh  of  Terra  "  is  that 
crossed  by  "  the  Stepping  Stones  of  Glenterra ; "  and  "  Beit "  is 
Beoch,  overlooking  Loch  Eyan — the  four  battlefields  all  lying 
to  the  south  of  the  Deil*s  Dyke. 

Following  Cendaeladh  was  Eochaidh  Aingces  (the  cursing  or 

^  **  Galdus  deceissit  fra  the  incarnation  of  God  ciii.  yeres.    Many  huge  pillars 
was  raisit  about  his  sepulture  .  .  .  and  that  his  memory  never  sail  peris,  be  decreit  of 
Parliament^  wes  commanded  that  the  lands  named  afore  Brigance  (!)  sail  bo  in 
time  coming  Galdia — in  our  days  Galvidia — be  corruption  Galloway." — Boece, 
bk.  iv.  ch.  2. 

'  Bock  of  Taliemuj  xL  Almost  by  intuition  Mr.  Skene  recognises  in  the 
"  stepping-stones  "  of  Glen-terra  "  the  marsh  of  Terra."  The  stepping-stones  led 
across  a  marsh  ;  there  are  also  "standing  stones,"  no  doubt,  marking  the  field  of 
battle  (New  Stat,  Wigtoumshire,  article  *Inch').  Terra  is  "Teamhair,"  mean- 
ing a  fortified  enclosure  commanding  an  extensive  view. 


12  HEREDITARY    SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY        [A.D.  79 

fretful),  whose  daughter  married  Eochaidh  Buidhe  (the  yellow- 
haired),  son  and  heir  of  Aldan  Vradog,  king  of  the  Dalriad  Scots. 
This  second  Eochaidh  being  expelled  from  his  own  kingdom  of 
Argyle,  the  Gallovidians  accepted  him  as  their  sovereign,  appar- 
ently in  right  of  his  wife.  His  greatest  recorded  feat  was  lead- 
ing the  Gallovidians  across  the  Channel  to  assist  the  Dalaradians, 
or  Irish  Picts,  against  the  Dalriads,  or  Irish  Scots,  in  which  he 
was  entirely  successful,  though  his  sons  had  come  from  Argyle 
to  help  the  Dalriads,  and  two  were  left  among  the  slain.^  The 
former  Eochaidh's  name  appears  in  Kilauchy,  and  the  latter's  in 
Cragauch,  usually  called  "the  Tawer"  (Teamhair) — an  intrenched 
hill-fort,  a  perfect  example  of  the  meaning  implied  by  this 
Celtic  word,  "an  intrenched  position  commanding  a  distant 
prospect."  *  It  seems  possible  that  Lochnaw  may  rather  mean 
Eochaidh's  Lake  than  the  Lake  of  the  Ford ;  the  name  differs 
little  phonetically  from  Lough  Neagh,  notoriously  named  from 
another  Eochaidh,  and  the  site  was  exactly  such  as  chieftains 
of  his  day  affected  for  their  strongholds. 

Eochaidh  Buidhe's  death  is  chronicled,  629.'  A  son  of  his, 
Donald  Breac  (the  swarthy)  had  succeeded  to  the  throne  of 
Argyle  on  his  brother  Conadh  Cerr's  death  in  battle.  He  had 
another  son,  Donald  Donn  (the  brown  haired),  who  may 
possibly  have  been  a  king  of  Galloway ;  but  whoever  Eochy's 
successor  was,  he  seems  to  have  courted  and  accepted  the 
suzerainty  of  the  Northumbrian  Saxons.* 

'  "Oath  Fedhaeoin,  a.d.  629,"  Tighernach.  "The  battle  of  Fedhaeoin  was 
fought  between  the  Cruithnigh  and  the  Dalriads.  Eochadh  Buidhe  was  here  on  the 
side  of  the  Cruithnigh,  and  opposed  to  two  of  his  own  sous,  one  Gonad  Cerr  being 
king  of  the  Dalriads,  and  two  grandsons  of  Aidan  were  slain."— CfeZ^ic  Scotland, 
i.  241. 

'  0*Donovan.     Cormack's  Glossary, 

'  Annals  of  Ulster. 

*  The  following  names  of  places  retain  those  of  kings  of  Galloway,  and  although 
any  individual  instance  may  be  fairly  open  to  dispute,  their  being  all  recoverable 
can  hardly  be  fortuitous  : 

c.  440  Harran,  Sarran,  Ciaran        .  Chipper  Harran,  corruptly  Chapelhcron 

440  Bobona,  his  Queen  Cairn  Baber. 

440  Luirich        ....  Castle  Larrick. 

476  Murcertach,  or  Murdoch  Murdonachie,  Dunmurchie,  Murchies  Wa's. 

525  Trust,  or  Drust   .  Trusty  Knowe  (a  vitrified  fort),  Ardtrostan. 


to  794]     AGRICOLA   TO   THE   NORTHUMBRIAN   SAXONS        13 

It  was  during  this  reign  that,  a.d.  639,  Sabina,  an  outraged 
maid  of  royal  blood,  crossed  the  channel  from  Ireland,  as  it  is 
said,  upon  a  boulder,  landed  in  the  Rhynns  of  Galloway,  prob- 
ably at  Port  Nessoch,  and  leaving  her  stone  currach  on  the 
shore,  crossed  the  Isthmus,  and  encamped  in  a  wood  near  Loch 
Eyan.  Here,  on  lighting  a  fire,  the  glitter  of  her  bracelets  at- 
tracted the  cupidity  of  robbers  lurking  near,  who,  rushing  upon 
the  party,  were  miraculously  paralysed  by  a  gesture  of  her 
"  holy  boy,"  Cuthbert,  whose  saintship  was  here  first  asserted. 
Next  day  mother  and  son  embarked  in  a  neighbouring  creek, 
on  a  ship  of  ordinary  build,  and  sailed  for  the  north.  ^  Place- 
names  wonderfully  corroborate  the  details  of  the  legend,^ — the 
site  of  the  first  encampment  being  "  Killiemacuddican,"  its 
northern  comer  "  Culchintie,"  and  their  port  of  embarkation 
"  Portencailzie,"  their  first  stopping  place  Kirkcudbright- 
Innertig,  now  Ballantrae,  their  next  Kirkcudbright-Innergarv^an, 
now  Girvan.^ 

c.  580  (died)  Ceodaeladh  .  Loch  Kendelach. 

580  Eochaidh  Aingces  .  Kilauchy,  Craigauch  Castle. 

610  Eochaidh  Buidhe  .  Auchlannochy,^  Tower  of  Craigauch. 

629  Donald  Donn       .  .        .  Castle  Donnell. 

^  "  Miro  modo  in  lapidea  devectiis  uavicula  apud  Galweiam  in  regione  ilia, 
quae  Rennii  vocator  in  Porta  qui  Rintsnoc  dicitur,  applicuit. — Post  haec  curroc 
lapidea  in  Galweia  derelicta,  navim  aliam  subit." — Idbellua  de  Nativitate  Sancti 
CtUhberti. 

>  Given  in  full,  CeUic  Scotland,  ii.  203. 

"  Killiemacuddican  "  (Coile-mo  Cuideach-an)  means  the  **  wood  of  the  saintly 
little  Cuthbert" 

**Culchintie'*  (cul  teinte),  **the  angle  of  the  fires,"  where,  according  to 
tradition,  any  faggots  of  wood  being  thrown  ignited  spontaneously. 

**  Portencailzie "  (Port-na-cailleach),  the  "nun's  port." 

Besides  Kirkcudbright- Innertig,  which  is  now  Ballantrae,  there  was 
Kirkcudbright-Innergarvane,  now  Girvan,  probably  marking  their  camping- 
places  on  the  shore. 

The  incident  of  the  fire  is  placed  in  the  legend  farther  northward,  but  the 
name  *'Culchintie"  seems  decisive. 

^  The  first  stood  at  the  influx  of  the  Tig  into  the  Stincher  ;  in  a  charter  of 
Robert  III,  1404,  it  is  called  **  Sancti  Cuthbertide  Invertig."  At  the  same  date 
Girvan  was  granted  to  the  monks  of  Crossraguel  as  "Ec*^.  de  Sancti  Cuthberti 
de  Invergarvane. " 


I  Each-lann  Ek>chy— Minigaff.     Eochy's  stable.     So  Stable-olane  seems  to  be  anglicised 
Gaelic,  Alan's-stable.    Stabol  is  a  living  word  in  Gaelic  and  Irish. 


14  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY        [AD.  79 

Meanwhile  the  Northumbrian  Saxons  were  extending  their 
power  northward,  Edwin,  their  king,  having  permanently  im- 
printed his  name  on  the  Castle  Eock  of  the  future  capital  of 
Scotland — ''  Edwinesburch,"  as  it  is  written  in  the  foundation 
charter  of  Holjrrood.  Under  Edwin,  the  Saxons  had  driven  the 
Strathclyde  Britons  out  of  all  the  country  between  the  Cheshire 
Dee  and  the  Derwent,  and,  seizing  the  Isles  of  Anglesea  and 
Man,  opened  up  alliance  with  the  Galloway  Picts,  thus 
taking  them  in  flank.  Without  entering  into  the  complications 
of  Saxon  History,  we  need  only  say,  that  though  Edwin  was 
killed,  and  his  throne  seized  by  Eanfrit  in  633,  the  alliance 
between  the  Northumbrians  and  GaUwegians  was  continued 
by  the  new  king;  and  we  have  evidence  of  its  being  in  full 
operation  under  Oswald  (the  saint  who  received  a  Scottish 
education  at  lona),  who  succeeded  him  the  following  year.  It 
was  with  the  assistance  of  the  GaUwegians  that  Oswald  gained 
his  crowning  victory  near  the  Bay  of  Ayr,  the  site  of  which  is 
supposed  to  be  marked  by  the  church  of  St.  Oswald  of 
Tumberry,^  which  gives  name  to  the  parish  of  Kirk  Oswald.* 

The  fraternisation  of  the  Galloway  Picts  with  the  Saxons  is 
the  subject  of  frequent  allusion  by  the  Welsh  bards. 

Taliessin  scornfully  exclaims : 

"  Angles  and  Galwyddel, 
Let  them  make  war." 

And  ventures  a  prophecy,  sadly  belied  by  events : 

"  I  will  predict,  before  the  end, 
The  Brytton  uppermost  of  the  Saxon."  ^ 

From  634,for  one  hundred  and  seventy  years,  the  GaUwegians 
remained  true  to  the  Northumbrian  Saxons,  their  admitted  over- 
lords.   The  tie  being  the  stronger  that  it  was  self-imposed.     The 

1  Caledonia,  iil  632.  «  Old  Stat.  Account,  x.  474. 

'  Book  of  Taliessin,  L  The  Brytton — the  Strathclyde  Britons.  Mr.  Skene 
remarks  that  "there  was  here  a  comhination  of  the  Britons  of  Alclyde  and 
the  Scots  of  Dalriada  against  the  Angles  and  the  Pictish  population  (of  the  west) 
subject  to  them." — Four  Ancient  Books  of  Wales,  i.  284. 


to  794]     AGRICOLA   TO   THE   NORTHUMBRIAN   SAXONS        15 

Galloway  Picts  could  not  hold  their  ground  against  their  more 
powerful  Cymric  neighbours  without  such  an  alliance,  offensive 
and  defensive.  Oswald,  who  by  this  arrangement  waa  practically 
King  of  Galloway,  was  killed  in  642  at  Oswestry,  and  succeeded 
by  his  brother  Oswy,  and  he  in  670  by  his  son  Egfrid.  In  both 
these  reigns  the  Saxons  extended  their  conquest  greatly  over 
the  Picts  of  Lothian  and  Fife ;  and  it  was  these,  and  not  the 
(ralloway  Picts,  who  made  a  determined  attempt,  in  the 
conmiencement  of  Egfrid's  reign,  to  throw  off  the  Saxon  yoke. 
Galloway,  on  the  contrary,  was  over-run  by  the  combined  forces 
of  these  northern  Picts  and  Britons,  and  Dalriad  Scots  firom 
across  the  Channel,  against  whom  the  Gallwegians  made 
common  cause  with  the  Saxons.  The  trustworthy  Bede  ^  tells 
us  that,  to  keep  the  Irish  employed  at  home,  Egfrid  sent  an 
army  into  Ireland  (of  course  through  Galloway),  who  ravaged 
its  eastern  shores ;  and  that,  coming  himself  in  person,  driving, 
as  we  otherwise  learn,  the  British  and  Pictish  kings  Oan  and 
Bridei  out  of  the  south,  he  followed  them  too  far,  and,  becoming 
entangled  in  mountain  passes,  was  defeated  at  Dunnichen, 
near  Perth,  in  the  following  year.^ 

The  untrustworthy  Boece  gives  as  an  episode  a  minute 
account  of  a  battle  on  the  sandhills  beyond  the  confluence  of 
the  Luce  and  Piltanton,  which,  from  its  anachronisms,  has  been 
generally  discarded  as  fabulous.  But  place-names  so  entirely 
agree  with  his  relation,  that  we  are  disposed  to  think  that  one 
of  the  battles  hinted  at  by  Bede  was  really  fought  here,  though 
many  of  the  incidents,  markedly  that  of  King  Egfrid's  death, 
were  fictitious,  and  the  facts  inverted.  It  was  the  aptitude  of 
Boece  for  furbishing  his  story  with  actual  local  traditions,  but 
which  he  used  as  he  chose,  —  utterly  regardless  of  accuracy, 
— that  gave  his  history  such  a  hold  over  all  Scotland  in  an 
uncritical  period ;  ingleside  oracles  accepting  his  spurious  ver- 
sion as  undoubted. 

The  scene  opens  on  Dunskey  Castle,  occupied  by  the  Scots 

^  Bede,  Eccles.  Hist.  iv.  26.  "  Celtic  Scotland,  I  264. 


16  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY        [A.D.  79 

and  Northern  Picts  under  Bridei,  besieged  by  Egfrid  and  the 
Galloway  Picts.  Oan,  king  of  the  Strathclyde  Britons,  advanced 
on  Egfrid's  rear,  obliging  him  to  raise  the  siege.  In  the  words 
of  Boece,  as  rendered  by  Bellenden : 

"Edfred  send  ane  buschement  of  Saxonis  in  the  Scottis 
landes.  ,  .  .  Sone  eafter,  ambassatouris  wer  send  be  Eugenius  to 
Edfred  desiring  redres ;  be  quhom  was  answerit '  That  he  wald 
invade  the  Scottis  with  mair  trubil  than  afore,  but  ony  redres.' 
.  .  .  Eugenius  .  .  .  heirand  that  his  ennimes  wer  to  cum  in 
Galloway,  he  gaderit  ane  gret  power,  to  prevent  thair  cuming. 
Yit,  afore  his  cuming  the  Saxonis  and  Pichtis  wer  lyand  at  the 
seige  of  Donskene,  the  strangest  castel  of  Galloway  in  thay  dayis. 
Edfrid  be  haisty  cuming  of  Scottis,  wes  constranit  to  leif  the 
seige,  and  met  thame  at  the  river  of  Lewis  in  Galloway :  quhilk 
was  that  time,  be  inundation  of  snawis,  boldin  above  the  brayis. 
The  battalis  junit  haistely  with  equale  hatrent.  Edfred  exhortit 
his  men  to  remembir  thair  anciant  virtew,  and  to  vincus  thair 
ennimes  only  be  violent  force.  Siclik,  Eugenius  ceissit  not  to 
pas  about  his  folkis,  exhorting  thame  to  schaw  thair  invincibill 
curage,  that  they  micht  rejose  the  palme  of  victory.  Quhile 
the  Saxonis  and  Scottis  war  fechtand  thus  in  maist  fury,  the 
Pichtis  fled  to  the  nixt  mote.  The  fleing  of  Pichtis  dejeckit 
gretumly  the  curage  of  Saxonis ;  for  thay  dred  that  thir 
Pichtis  suld  cum  on  thair  backis.  Nochtheless,  King  Edfred 
exhortit  his  folkis  to  perseveir  in  ithand  battal.  And  quhen 
he  was  spekand  maist  specialy,  he  rasit  up  his  visour,  to  be 
the  mair  fervent  in  speche;  and  incontinent  he  was  doung 
throw  the  heid  be  ane  ganye  (arrow  or  dart),  quhair  his  face 
was  bair,  and  fel  to  the  ground.  The  Saxonis,  seand  thair  king 
slane,  gaif  backis ;  on  quhom  foUowit  the  Scottis  with  lang 
chace,  and  drave  tham  to  the  river  of  Lewis,  quhare  mony  of 
thame  perist,  and  few  of  thame  tane."  ^ 

Among  the  sandhills  where  the  battle  was  fought,  there 
is  a  "mote"  mapped  Knochencrunze  (cnocan-Cruithne)  "the 

^  Boece,  bk.  ix.  ch.  zxiii. 


^O  794]     AGRICOLA   TO   THE   NORTHUMBRIAN   SAXONS       17 

Picts'  KnoU."  Their  line  of  retreat  lay  across  the  dangerous 
ford  still  called  "  Droch  Dhuil,"  the  devil's  bridge ;  from  there 
up  Ballochjargon,  the  red  or  bloody  pass,  and  the  point  where 
fugitives  thence  would  reach  the  Luce  is  CraigfoUy  (creag- 
na-fola),  the  rock  of  the  blood,  a  name  which  seems  trans- 
lated in  "  Bloody  Wheel,"  a  little  farther  up  the  river.  The 
scene  of  action  among  *he  sandhills  forms  a  part  of  the  farm 
of  Torrs,  and  here  arrow-heads  and  spear -points  are  being 
constantly  discovered.^  The  diiference  between  the  true  and 
spurious  versions  being  that  Boece  reverses  the  issue  of  the 
light;  it  was  Oan  and  Bridei  who  fled,  Egbert  and  his 
Galwegians  who  wielded  the  "  red  pursuing  spear." 

Egfrid  was  succeeded  in  685  by  an  elder  natural  brother, 
Aldfred,  who  had  been  educated  in  Ireland  by  Adamnan,  the 
biographer  of  St.  Columba.  And  on  Aldfred's  succession  he, 
being  then  Abbot  of  lona,  sailed  round  the  Galloway  coast  on 
his  way  to  Bamborough,  to  plead  with  his  former  pupil  for  the 
release  of  Irish  captives  brought  there  by  Egfrid's  General 
Beret.  His  biographer  thus  relates  a  miracle  worked  by  this 
saint  on  the  shores  of  the  Solway, — which  he  terms  "  Tracht 
Romra  "  *  (the  exact  equivalent  of  the  Bardic  "  Tawne  "  and  the 
Roman  "  Ituna  "),  The  Frith  of  the  Sea  Swell. 

"  At  Tracht-Eomra  the  strand  is  long,  the  flood  rapid, — so 
rapid  that  if  the  best  steed  in  Saxon-land  were  to  start  from  the 
edge  of  the  tide  when  the  tide  begins  to  flow,  he  could  only 
bring  his  rider  in  by  swimming.  The  Saxons  in  authority  were 
unwilling  to  permit  Adamnan  to  land.  '  Push  your  currach  on 
shore,'  said  the  saint, '  for  both  land  and  sea  are  obedient  to 
God.*  The  clerics  did  so.  Adamnan  drew  a  circle  with  his 
crozier  round  the  currachs.     God  rendered  the  strand  firm  under 


^  The  arrow-heads,  knives,  spear-points,  and  other  lethal  weapons  described 
as  found  on  the  Farm  of  Torrs,  in  the  ArcfuBologiecU  Collections  of  CkUloway, 
vol.  i  p.  3,  in  an  article  contributed  by  the  Rev.  J.  Wilson  (of  Glenluce),  may 
aU  be  spoils  from  the  battlefield  of  Knockencrnnze. 

«  "Tracht"  is  glossed  **the  sea"  as  well  as  the  shore  (O'Reilly) ;  "Romra," 
"springtide,"  "sweU  of  the  ocean"  (Ibid,)',  "Tonn,"  Gaelic  and  Irish,  *'a 
tidal  wave." 


VOL.  I 


18  HEREDITABY   SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY      [AD.  79 

them,  and  forming  a  high  waU  of  sea  around  them,  the  phuie 
became  an  island.  The  tide  roared  past  them  to  its  limits,  and 
did  them  no  harm."  ^ 

This  description  points  to  a  dangerous  sandbank  opposite 
Colvend,  known  as  "  Bamhourie,"  ^  which  is  completely  covered 
only  at  spring  tides,  and  this  not  being  so  on  this  occasion  may 
be  held  by  the  sceptical  to  explain  the  miracle. 

Aldfred  is  reputed  to  have  been  the  first  literary  prince  of  his 
race,  to  have  ruled  Galloway  with  justice,  and  preserved  peace 
till  705,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Osred. 

In  716  the  crown  was  wrested  from  Osred  by  a  cousin  of 
the  blood-royal,  Conred,  who  held  it  for  two  years,  when  in 
turn  he  was  deposed  by  Osric,  a  brother  of  Osred. 

Osric  dying  in  729,  Ceolwulf,  brother  to  Conred,  seated 
himself  upon  his  throne.  Ceolwulf  has  left  his  mark  in 
Galloway  history  as  the  founder  of  the  bishopric  of  "Hwitem." 

Individuals  of  the  Scoto-Irish  Church  had  often  been  styled 
Bishops  of  Candida  Casa,  which  is  the  equivalent  for  Whithorn, 
but  the  title  referred  rather  to  the  church  and  monastery 
than  to  the  see,  which  was  now  for  the  first  time  constituted 
territorially.  Its  bishop  was  a  sufiragan  of  York,  an  arrange- 
ment which  held  good  till  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century.* 

As  to  the  present  bishop,  Bede  writes :  "  In  the  province 
of  Northumbria,  where  King  Ceolwulf  reigns,  four  bishops 
preside:  Wilfred,  in  the  church  of  York;  Ethelwald,  in 
Lindisfame ;  Acca,  in  Hagulstad  (Hexham) ;  and  Pecthelm,  in 
that  of  Candida  Casa,  which,  from  the  increased  number  of 
believers,  has  lately  become  a  see,  and  has  him  for  its  first 


^  Irish  lAft  of  Adamaum,  Also  Introduction  to  Adamnan's  Coluwha 
(Reeves). 

^  "Odhar,"  genitive  "huidrie,"  brown  or  dun,  is  often  applied  to  legendary 
cows.  The  famous  Leahhor-^uirK'uidre,  the  "Book  of  the  Brown  Cow,"  was  so 
caUed  because  written  on  the  skin  of  the  pet  cow  of  St.  Ciaran.  Many  places 
derive  their  names  from  such  legendary  cows,  and  so^  possibly  may  Bamhourie. 
— See  Joyce,  ii.  280. 

'  "Michael,  who  died  in  1359,  is  the  last  Bishop  of  Whithorn  whose  submis- 
sion to  the  Church  of  York  is  on  record." — Bishop  Forbes,  Preface  to 
Hfe  of  Ninian,  p.  Iv. 


'^] 


to  794]     AGRICOLA   TO   THE  NORTHUMBRIAN   SAXONS        19 

Prelate."^  The  "increased  number  of  believers"  suggests  in- 
creased activity  in  Saxon  colonisation.  The  Galloway  Picts 
had  been  Christians  centuries  before  their  overlords,  but  the 
newer  converts  pretended  now  to  greater  orthodoxy,  that  is  to 
say,  they  looked  to  Eome  rather  than  lona.  The  main  points 
of  contention  between  the  two  churches  being  as  to  the  form 
of  the  tonsure  and  the  calculation  of  Easter ;  the  Galwegians, 
as  members  of  the  Scoto-Irish  Church,  adopted  the  tonsure 
and  accepted  the  Easter  of  the  Eastern  Church ;  and  the  victory 
of  the  Somish  over  the  Scottish  Church  in  Galloway,  as 
dependent  upon  Northumbria,  is  solely  to  be  ascribed  to  St. 
Cuthbert,  its  active  juivocate,  who  had  died  in  the  reign  of 
Aldfred,  A.D.  687,  as  Bishop  of  Lindisfame.  We  need  hardly 
say  that  the  dedication  to  himself  of  "  Cuthbrectes  Cyrc " 
gives  its  name  to  Kirkcudbright,  the  occasion  probably  being 
his  visit  to  the  Niduari  Picts,^  as  recorded  by  Bede. 

With  the  consecration  of  Pecthelm,  Bede  brings  his 
valuable  history  to  a  close:  "The  Picts," ^  he  tells  us,  "are 
at  peace  with  the  English  nation,  and  rejoice  at  being 
united  in  peace  and  truth  with  the  whole  Catholic  Church, 
The  Scots,*  satisfied  with  their  own  territory,  meditate  no  hos- 
tilities against  the  English.  The  Britons,  though  they  from 
innate  hatred  are  adverse  to  the  English,  and  from  wicked 
custom  oppose  the  appointed  Easter  of  the  Catholic  Church,  though 
in  part  their  own  masters,  and  elsewhere  brought  under  subjection 
to  the  English,  can  in  no  way  prevail  as  they  desire.  Such  being 
the  peaceable  disposition  of  the  times,  many  of  the  nobility,  as  well 
as  private  persons,  rather  incline  to  dedicate  both  themselves  and 
their  children  to  the  monastic  vows  than  to  study  martial  arts. 

^  Bede,  Ecdes,  Hist,  bk.  v.  ch.  xxiii. 

'  Bede,  VU,  Oudh,  ch.  iz.  It  was  at  this  time,  when  Prior  of  Melrose 
{eircum  661),  "that  he  went  to  the  land  of  the  Niduari  Picts,  or  Picts  of  Galloway, 
then  under  the  dominion  of  the  Angles.  .  .  .  The  traces  of  this  visit  have  been 
left  in  the  name  of  Kirkcudbright." — Celtic  Scotland,  ii.  208. 

'  Bede,  EccUa.  Hist.  bk.  ▼.  ch.  xxiii.  It  is  to  be  remarked  that  there  were 
Eastern,  t.«.  Lothian  Picts  as  well  as  the  great  northern  nation.  Bede  uses 
the  word  Niduari  to  distinguish  those  of  Galloway. 

*  That  is,  the  Dalriad  Scots  of  Argyle. 


20  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY      [A.D.  79 

This  is  the  present  state  of  Britain,  in  the  731st  year  of  the 
incarnation  of  our  Lord ;  in  whose  reign  may  the  earth  ever 
rejoice  and  the  islands  be  glad." 

In  proof  that  Bede  had  read  aright  the  signs  of  the  times,  it 
is  on  record  that  only  six  years  later  (737)  King  Ceolwulf 
resigned  his  crown  to  his  cousin  Eadbert,  to  end  his  days  as 
a  monk  of  Lindisfame.  During  Eadbert's  reign,  Galloway  was 
invaded  by  a  Celtic  pretender,  Alpyn,  son  of  Echach.^  The 
Galwegians  rose  against  him  en  masse.  He  conquered  the 
greater  part  of  the  country,  till  he  was  confronted  by  Innrech- 
tach,  a  native  chief,  neax  Kelton  on  the  Dee.^  Here  he  was 
completely  routed  and  forced  to  fly.  His  retreat  was,  however, 
carried  out  in  an  orderly  manner,  till,  as  he  was  in  the  act  of 
leaving  the  province,  fording  a  stream  at  the  entrance  of  Glen- 
App,  in  the  midst  of  his  bodyguard,  a  single  man  sprang  upon 
him  and  struck  him  lifeless  from  his  charger.'  The  stone  which 
marks  his  sepulture  still  preserves  his  name.  From  time 
immemorial  it  has  been  named  in  charters  as  a  landmark — 
Laight- Alpyn.  The  pillar-stone  itself  is  the  "Laight,**  whilst 
Alpyn  is  still  recognisable  in  the  name  of  the  beautiful  glen,  near 
which  he  fell.  Saxon  troops  now  came,  though  rather  late  in 
the  day,  to  the  assistance  of  Innrechtach  and  his  Galwegians, 
who,  following  on  Alpyn's  retreating  force,  drove  them  entirely 

^  This  Alpyn  ia  not  to  be  confounded  with  Alpyn,  father  of  Kenneth,  who 
flourished  exactly  a  century  later.  Alpyn,  son  of  the  Scottish  Dalriad  king 
Echach  by  a  Pictish  princess,  became  king  of  the  Korthem  Plcts  in  726. 
Expelled  from  this  throne  in  728,  he  took  refuge  in  Argyle,  and  there  obtained 
the  throne.  Again  expelled  from  Dalriada,  he  seized  upon  the  Pictish  territory 
of  Galloway,  where  he  was  slain  after  having  subdued  it. — Skene,  Preface  to 
Ckron.  of  Picis  and  Scots,  p.  clxxxvi. 

*  Mr.  Skene  suggests  Kirkcormac  as  the  scene  of  this  battle,  which  is  called 
in  the  AnnaU  of  Ulster ,  Drum  Cathmail. — Celtic  SeotlaTid,  i.  29. 

'  Cesty  fust  tue  en  Goloway,  com  il  le  auoit  destruyt,  de  vn  soul  hom  qi  ly 
gayta  en  vn  espesse  boys  en  pendaunt  al  entree  dun  ge  de  vn  lyuere,  com 
cheuaucheoit  entre  sez  gentz. — Chron,  of  Fids  and  Scots,  198. 

"  The  name  of  Laicht  Alpyn  really  belongs  to  the  farms  of  Meikle  and  Little 
Laicht,  on  the  eastern  shore  of  Loch  Ryan.  ...  On  the  very  line  of  separation 
between  the  two  counties  is  a  large  upright  pillar-stone  to  which  the  name  of 
Laicht- Alpin,  the  monument  or  grave  of  Alpin,  is  actually  appropriated." — Ibid, 
clxxzv. 


to  794]     AGRICOLA   TO   THE   NORTHUMBRIAN   SAXONS       21 

out  of  Carrick,^  with  which  as  a  base,  Eadbert  so  well  im- 
proved his  advantage,  that  by  754  he  had  annexed  "  all  Carriek, 
with  the  plain  of  Kyle  ^  and  other  regions,"  to  his  kingdom  of 
Galloway.  Eadbert  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Osulf  in  757, 
but  already  the  power  of  the  Northumbrians  had  culminated. 
Osulf  was  murdered  by  Ethelwold,  who  grasped  Osulf  s  crown, 
only  to  have  it  snatched  from  himself  in  765  by  Alchred.  He 
was  dethroned  by  Ethelred,  a  son  of  Ethelwold,  and  Ethelred 
again  by  Elfwold,  the  brother  of  Alchred,  in  778. 

In  Elfwold's  reign  the  monks  of  Candida  Casa  entertained 
a  distinguished  visitor,  in  the  person  of  Alcuin,'  tutor  of 
Charlemagne,  a  scholar  of  European  celebrity.  Elfwold 
was  murdered  by  his  troops  in  789,  and  was  succeeded,  but 
for  a  year  only,  by  Osred,  his  nephew;  when  Ethelred,  who 
had  been  dethroned  ten  years  before,  reappeared,  killed  the 
two  sons  of  Elfwold,  to  secure  himself  against  a  second  expulsion, 
but  was  himself  murdered  in  794.  Meantime,  whilst  the  royal 
house  of  Northumbria  was  crumbling  to  its  fall,  aspirants  to 
dominions  wider  than  theirs  were  taking  their  departure  fix)m 
the  Sound.  The  horizons  of  the  British  Isles,  east  and  west,  were 
darkened  by  the  sails  of  the  dragon-prowed  war-galleys  of  the 
"  Gentiles,"  as  the  Church  chronicles  styled  the  Norsemen.  A 
cry  went  up  from  the  cloisters  of  lindisfame  in  793,  to  be 
re-echoed  a  few  years  later  from  lona,  and  the  Saxons  withdrew 
from  Galloway  at  their  approach.* 

The  Saxon  colonists  during  these  long  years  have  left  few 
traces  of  their  occupation  in  place-names.  It  is  difl&cult,  no 
doubt,  to  distinguish  Northumbrian  Saxon  from  the  kindred 

'  "  744.  Factum  est  prslinm  inter  Pictos  et  Britones.'*— Simeon  of  Durham. 

^  *'  750.  Eadbertua  campum  Cnil,  cum  aliis  regionibus,  suo  regno  addidit." — 
Cantinuatum  of  Bede» 

'  782.  Alcuin  presents  a  holosericum  for  St.  Ninian's  body.  Ethelbert  was 
then  Bishop  of  Whithorn,  consecrated  at  York  777. — Forbes,  Preface  to  Life  of 
Ninian,  p.  44.     Keith's  Scotch  Bishops, 

*  We  have  thus  followed  fourteen  soTereigns  of  the  days  of  the  heptarchy  : 
Oswald,  Oswi,  Egfred,  Aldfred,  Osred,  Cenred,  Osric,  Ceolwulf,  Eadbert,  Osulf, 
Ethelwolf,  Alchred,  Elfwold,  Osred,  and  Ethelred,  all  acknowledged  as  head 
kings  (Ardrigh)  of  Galloway. 


22  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OP   GALLOWAY      [A.D.  79 

Norse.  But  leaving  to  the  Vikings  such  distLnctiye  roots  as 
by,  garth,  gil,  nes,  oe,  tun,  wark,  seat,  we  may  assume  ton, 
ham,  mearc,  cyrc,  float,  beorg  when  in  the  form  "  berry,"  and 
"  wic  "  when  an  inland  station,  to  be  Saxon  test  words. 

The  Rosnatense  Monasterium,  or  Candida  Casa  of  earlier 
chronicles  of  the  Irish  Church,  had  its  name  permanently 
Saxonised  by  its  Northumberland  overlords  to  Hwitem 
(one  of  the  surest  proofs  of  undisputed  possession),  which  to 
this  day  it  practically  retains. 

Cuthbrectes  Cyrc  was  the  oldest  form  of  Kirkcudbright, 
founded  in  Saxon  times  —  Kilcudbricht  being  its  contem- 
poraneous Celtic  form.^  So,  Eorkdale  is  from  Anglo-Saxon 
"  Cyric-doel "  (not "  dale  "  or  Celtic  "  dol "),  the  church  portion— 
the  glebe.  "  Fleet','  *  or  "  float,"  indicates  a  naval  station,  and  we 
may  presume  that  the  Northumbrians  had  an  arsenal  in  the 
estuary  of  the  Cree,  ever  since  called  the  "  Fleet,"  *  and  another 
on  the  Irish  Channel,  at  Float.*  The  Saxon  form  of  "  wic  "  we 
find  in  Stennoch  (stein-wic),  and  in  Wig  (now  Castlewigg), 
behind  it— Wigtown  being  Norse  (the  tun  or  station  in  the  bay 
of  the  Vikings  or  Creekers;  as  is  the  Wigg,  their  naval  station 
in  Lochryan).  "  Ton  "  tells  its  own  tale  in  Aggiston,  Engleston, 
Ingleston  (Angles'),  Preston  (the  Priests'),  Carlton  (Ceorl,  the 
churls  or  husbandmen),  Gelston  (Gyles),  Levingston  (Leofwine's), 
Myreton  (by  the  mere),  Broughton  ("  broch,"  the  fortified  ton, 
— a  form  peculiarly  Northumbrian),  Orchardtons  (villa  resi- 
dences of  officials,  with  garden  attached).* 

^  Simeon  of  Durham  writes  it  Cathbrectis  Church  ...  in  an  old  Manx  poem 
it  is  Eeelchoobragh. 

'  "  Fleot,"  a  place  where  vessels  *'  float.*'  In  Norse  also  *^  fleot '' ;  in  French 
the  suffix  takes  the  form  of  ''fleur,"  as  Harfleur. 

'  It  is  to  be  remembered  that  the  Strathclyde  Britons  had  successfully 
disputed  the  occupation  of  the  Borders  and  Cumberland  with  the  Saxons,  whose 
communications  with  the  Galwegians  were  therefore  only  by  sea — from  Lancashire, 
Anglesea,  and  the  Isle  of  Man,  to  their  ports  on  the  Irish  Channel  or  the  Solway. 

^  Float  is  preposterously  said  to  be  so  called  from  wreckage  of  the  Armada,  and 
of  a  piece  is  the  tradition  that  the  little  horses  called  Galloways  were  the  produce 
of  a  stallion  which  escaped  from  the  said  vessels.  *'  Flote  "  is  to  be  found  in 
charters  a  century  before  the  Armada  was  built.  Galloways  were  a  native 
breed,  famous  a  thousand  years  before. 

»  "  Ortgeard  "  in  Korthumbrian  Sazon  meant  a  yard  for  orts,  or  wyrts,  i,e. 


to  794]    AGRICOLA   TO   THE  NORTHUMBRIAN   SAXONS        23 

"Ham"  appears  in  Edingham  (Edwine's  home),  Cumiing. 
hame  (Coning's — a  proper  name;  or  possibly  the  king's).  In 
Penninghame  the  "  ing "  might  represent  the  family  of  Penn,^ 
though  it  was  probably  a  "  penny  land."  Botel,  now  Buittle 
(a  mansion),  marked  the  seat  of  a  man  of  importance. 

"  Mark  "  in  later  times  indicates  rates  of  taxation,  as  Three 
Mark,  Half  Mark;  but  the  Saxon  "merk"  meant  a  boundary, 
as  Mark  on  the  Meurches  of  Carrick,  Mark  Bredden,  the  Britons' 
March,  Mark  Broom  (a  broom  bush  doing  duty  for  the 
"  mearc  treow,"  the  march  tree,  so  frequently  named  in  Saxon 
charters). 

"Inks"  is  certainly  taken  from  the  Anglo-Saxon  "inge," 
glossed  "pratum"  and  "pascuum," — a  common  meadow, — but 
in  Gralloway  is  always  applied  to  low  lying  land  on  estuaries, 
within  high- water  mark. 

"  Holt,"  another  test  word,  appears  in  Ghapelshot,  Buittle, 
the  chapel  wood. 

vegetables,  herbs,  or  roots :  an  enclosure  for  apples,  cherries,  or  other  fruits  is  a 
comparatively  modem  meaning  of  the  word. 
^  As  Pennington,  in  Hants  and  Lancashire. 


RELATIVE  POSITION  OF  BACES  AT  THE  PERIOD. 


CHAPTEK    II 

THE  NOBSEHEN  TO  ACCESSION  OF  DAVID  L 

A.I>.  794  to  1124 

"  And  they  bnrned  the  churches,  the  heathen  Dane, 
To  light  their  bands  to  their  boats  again.'* 

ffaroid  the  DauntUsg, 

The  fleets  of  the  Galls  bore  onwards,  tales  of  their  violence 
preceding  their  arrival  They  rounded  the  Mull,  and  had 
soon  enveloped  the  peninsula  of  the  Xovantae  in  its  full 
extent,  from  the  entrance  of  Lochyran  to  the  estuary  of  the 
Nith. 

The  Saxons  had  disappeared.  The  Galwegians  were  utterly 
unable  to  cope  single-handed  with  the  amphibious  w^arriors. 
The  fanes  of  their  saints,  especially  their  Candida  Casa,  the 
centre  of  the  religious  life  of  the  province,  lay  absolutely  at 
their  mercy,  and,  to  human  ken,  seemed  absolutely  doomed 
But  whether  or  no  St.  Ninian's  spirit,  hovering  above  his  ancient 
shrine,  miraculously  interposed,  certain  it  is,  that  the  brand  which 
in  Norse  hands  elsewhere  symbolised  sacrilege  and  slaughter, 
in  Galloway  became  emblematical  of  the  torch  of  Hymen.  No 
bard  has  sung,  no  chronicler  told  the  story  of  this  fraternisa- 
tion; but  whilst  the  Galls,  black  and  white,  overran  other 
districts  "as  fierce  wolves,  killing  not  only  sheep  and  oxen, 
but  choirs  of  monks  and  nuns,"  in  Galloway,  and  there  alone, 
they  entered  into  the  closest  fellowship  with  its  people,  sought 
their  daughters  in  marriage,  and  enrolled  their  sons  in  their 
martial  ranks. 


A.D.  794  to   I  1 24]     NORSEMEN  TO   DAVID   I.  25 

The  Galwegians,  on  their  part,  proved  apt  pupils  in  pillage 
and  piracy.  Irish  annalists  term  them  "  the  foster  children  of 
the  Norseman,"  and  within  a  generation  of  the  unholy  alliance, 
Macferbis  the  Sennachy  describes  the  Galloway  Picts  as  "a 
people  who  had  renounced  their  baptism,  and  had  the  customs 
of  the  Norsemen " ;  and  bad  as  those  Norsemen  had  been,  the 
" GaUgaidhel"  were  worse. ^ 

But  although,  both  before  and  after  their  coming  to  Gallo- 
way, the  Norsemen  were  notoriously  burners  and  robbers  of 
churches,  it  is  an  undoubted  fact  that  they  spared  Whithorn, 
It  seems  generally  to  have  been  taken  for  granted  that  the 
great  monastery  then  disappeared,  to  be  revived  in  the  priory 
built  by  Fergus  farther  inland.  But  there  is  proof  positive 
that  eighty  years  after  the  arrival  of  the  Norsemen  the  identical 
Monastery  of  Rosnat  existed  as  a  religious  house. 

The  Bishop  of  lindisfame,  in  carrying  the  relics  of  St.  Cuth- 
bert,  to  save  them  from  desecration  by  Norsemen  on  the  east 
coast,  embarked  in  870  at  the  Derwent  to  sail  to  Ireland  ;  but 
driven  back  by  a  storm,  he  perforce  took  refuge  at  Whithorn, 
and  was  lodged  along  with  his  precious  burden  by  the  brethren 
there  —  a  statement  strengthened  rather  than  invalidated  by 
the  legendary  addition,  that  during  his  stay  a  copy  of  the 
Gospels  which  he  had  lost  in  the  storm  was  washed  up  un- 
injured on  the  beach. 

The  belief  in  such  a  miracle  was  strictly  conventional,  and 
the  legend  dovetailed  in  good  faith  into  the  story,  substantiates 

^  Fragments  of  Iriali  Annals,  an.  852.     Chron.  of  Picts  and  Scots,  403. 

"Daring  the  latter  years  of  Kenneth's  reign,  a  people  appear  in  close  associa- 
tion with  the  Norwegian  pirates,  who  are  termed  'Gallgaidhel.*  The  name 
was  certainly  first  applied  to  the  people  of  Galloway.  It  seems  to  have  been 
applied  to  them  as  a  Gaelic  race,  under  the  rule  of  ' Gall, '^  or  foreigners." — 
CeUic  Scotland,  I  811. 

But  although  the  word  Gallgaidhel  is  first  used  in  chronicles  at  this  period,  the 
hards  applied  it  to  the  Niduari  Picts  as  early  as  the  sixth  century.  The  Norse 
sagas  change  the  word  to  Gadgeddlu 


1  "Gall"  simply  means  "stranger,**  "foreigner."  The  Norsemen  are  "the  Oalls"  of  the 
chronicles  of  the  period ;  later,  the  Anglo-Normans.  There  were  FingtUs  and  Dogalls :  the 
"  flonn  "  (white,  Ikir-hairedX  Norwegians ;  the  "  dnbh  "  0>laelc,  dark.hairedX  the  Danes. 


26  HEREDITART   SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY     [A.D.  794 

the  geographical  fact  that  the  monastic  house  was  am  the  share, 
and  also  the  historical  <me,  that  the  fraternity  were  still  resi- 
dent there,  enjoying  nnder  Xorse  rale  an  immnnity  denied  to 
monks  by  Norsemen  elsewhere.^ 

Their  role,  indeed,  seems  to  have  been  with  the  hearty 
acquiescence  of  the  (ralwegiana^  the  OTerlords  bearing  them- 
selves rather  as  protectors  than  conquerors,  and  interfering  little 
with  the  internal  government  and  customs  of  the  Picts.  But  if 
they  colonised  little  inland,  they  established  themselves  strongly 
on  the  seaboard,  the  Galloway  cliffs  bristling  with  forts,  its  bays 
guarded  by  carefully  constructed  camps,  which  became  the 
basis  of  operations  against  English  and  Irish,  and  often  against 
their  own  fellow-countrymen. 

A  thousand  years  have  not  obliterated  the  marks  of  their 
busy  spades,  and  the  names  of  many  of  their  haunts  still  remain 
unchanged,  such  as  "  Wigg "  in  the  sense  of  a  naval  station  in 
Lochryan,  formed  by  a  curious  bank  of  gravel,  running  like  a 
natural  breakwater  for  half  a  mile  into  the  sea,  bearing  the  old 
Norse  name  of  Scar,'  in  its  primary  meaning  of  "cutting," 
**  dividing/'  not  the  secondary  one  of  a  sea  clifil 

The  well-known  Sea-King's  Camp  at  Larbrax  is  locally  called 
Kemp's  Walks  («  wark,"  old  Norse  "  verke,"  a  fortress).  They 
had  a  large  station  in  Monreith  Bay,  a  fortress  on  Castle- 
Feather  of  great  extent,  and  a  look-out  post  at  Burrow 
Head. 

Burrow  Head  commands  the  approach  to  the  Isle  of  Whit- 
horn, as  Borgue  to  the  entrance  of  the  Dee ;  both  forts  being 
at  the  extremity  of  the  capes  forming  Wigtown  Bay.  Their 
very  names   have  a  Saxon  ring,  Buruh  being  suggestive  of 

>  "  In  875-883,  Eadwulf,  Bishop  of  Lindisfarne,  and  Eadred,  Abbot  of  Carlisle, 
wandering  vith  St  Cuthbert's  relics,  resolved  to  embark  at  the  month  of  the 
Derwent  and  go  to  Ireland.  They  were  driven  back  by  a  storm  to  Whithorn, 
where  his  book  of  the  Gospels,  lost  in  the  tempest,  is  found  in  safety." — Bishop 
Forbes's  Life  o/SL  Ninian,  p.  xlv. 

'  The  primary  meaning  of  "  vie  *'  in  both  Anglo-Saxon  and  Norse  is  a  station  : 
the  Anglo-Saxon  a  station  or  land,  hence  a  village ;  the  Korse  a  station  for 
ships,  hence  a  bay.— Taylor,  Wards  and  fiaoea, 

"Skera,"  old  Norse,  "to  cut"  or  "divide." 


to  1 1 24]    THE   NORSEMEN   TO  ACCESSION   OF  DAVID   T.      27 

entrenchments,  and  the  Norsemen  seem  to  have  extended  the 
name  of  Beruvik,  to  the  Bay  in  which  the  Isle  (really  the 
presqu'ile)  of  Whithorn^  is  situated. 

At  the  confluence  of  the  Bladenoch  the  Norsemen  had  a 
strongly-fortified  station.  The  old  form  of  its  name  seems  to 
have  been  Wigginton,  or  Wyggeton,  and  its  prefix  seems  rather 
to  be  Viking  than  "  vie ; "  that  is,  the  "  bay-men,"  or  Creekers, 
not  the  "bay"  itself,  a  name  which  would  be  somewhat 
colourless.^ 

Cruggleton  Castle,  one  of  their  most  pretentious  works,  was 
probably  of  a  later  date.  They  impressed  their  own  tongue  on 
the  island  of  Hestan,  equivalent  to  the  Celtic  Auchness  (each 
inis),  and  "the  Horse  Isles,"  translating  both,  is  mapped  on 
the  opposite  shore — Southemess  also,  Southwick  (the  southern 
point  of  the  province),  and  GiU-foot  on  the  strand  of  Troqueer, 
where  their  galleys  rode  on  the  smooth  water  of  the  Nith, 
bear  traces  of  their  occupation. 

The  Norsemen  having  fraternised  with,rather  than  conquered, 
the  Galwegians,  we  find  the  latter  boldly  intervening  in  the 
quarrels  of  their  more  peaceful  neighbours, — British,  Scottish, 
and  Northern  Pictish, — and  this  with  effect,  the  Norsemen  sup- 
porting their  foster-children  both  by  land  and  sea.  Indeed  they 
appear  to  have  turned  the  scale  in  favour  of  Kenneth  when 
he  founded  the  kingdom  which  developed  into  Scotland,  although 
for  the  present  Galloway  formed  no  part  of  it.* 

This  Kenneth  MacAlpine,  who  seems  to  have  had  heredi- 
tary claims  on  both  the  Scottish  Dalriad  and  Northern  Pictish, 
had  undoubtedly  also  Galloway  blood  in  his  veins,  and,  according 


^  Eari  Solmnndson,  when  abi-east  of  Dublin,  puts  about,  "sails  north  to 
Beruwick,  and  fared  up  into  Whitherae." — JVials  Saga. 

*  WoTsaae  condders  Wicklow  to  be  Viking-low. 

A  John  of  Wigginton  (as  also  a  laird  of  Broughton)  was  a  commissioner  for 
Edward  Baliol's  private  estates,  and  for  long  after  this  the  word  was  written 
with  three  syllables,  Wyggeton. 

'  Up  to  the  end  of  the  tenth  century  Scotia  meant  Ireland.  Eenneth'8 
kingdom  was,  correctly  speaking,  Alban,  not  Scotland,  and  when  Scotland 
superseded  Alban,  the  Scottish  kingdom  was  limited  to  the  district  north  of  the 
Firth  of  Forth,  excluding  Caithness  and  Sutherland. 


28  HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY     [A.D.  794 

to  Mr.  Skene,  had  been  resident  there — in  what  position  is  uncer- 
tain— when  he  issued  thence  on  his  career  of  conquest.^  Emerg- 
ing from  Galloway,  well  supported  by  his  Rctish  cousins,  he  had 
within  a  year  regained  his  father  s  (Alpyn)  throne  of  Scottish 
Dalriada ;  while  the  Norseman,  who  revelled  in  scenes  of  battle 
and  plunder,  taking  the  Northern  Kcts  in  the  rear,  opened  his 
way  to  their  easy  conquest  at  Fortrenn,  and  beyond  the  Moimth  ; 
he  was  crowned  king  of  the  united  Picts  and  Scots  at  Scone 
in  844.*  Thence,  with  the  help  of  the  same  allies,  he  extended 
his  conquests  to  the  Tweed.  He  now  cemented  the  alliance 
which  had  proved  so  greatly  to  his  advantage  by  giving  his 
daughter  to  a  Gallgaidhel  or  Norse  chief,  Olaf  or  Amlaiph.^ 

The  services  rendered  by  the  Galwegians  in  this  consolida- 
tion of  the  Scottish  monarchy  seem  to  account  for  the  singular 
privilege  they  claimed  in  after  times  of  leading  the  van  of  the 
Scottish  armies.  No  reason  has  ever  been  advanced  for  their 
enjoyment  of  this  "  hardy  pre-eminence,"  which  moreover  was 
undeniably  admitted,  even  when  its  assertion  was  most  incon- 
venient. We  may  with  some  confidence  suggest  that  the  right 
was  conferred  by  Kenneth ;  and  that  in  especial  consideration 
of  the  assistance  they  then  had  rendered. 

Voluminous  records  exist  of  the  piratical  operations  of  the 

^  Celtic  Scotland^  i.  319.  The  whole  question  of  Kenneth's  parentage,  connec- 
tions and  exploits  discussed. — Ibid,  i.  813-832.  Mr.  Skene  conjectures  him  to 
have  been  at  one  time  a  kinglet  in  Galloway  882-839,  King  of  Dalriada  889, 
King  of  the  Picts  844. 

'  ''We  gather  that  Kenneth  emerged  from  Galloway.  .  .  .  If  the  appearance 
of  the  Norwegians  on  the  scene  had  led  the  people  of  Galloway,  as  well  as  Scots 
from  other  quarters,  to  adopt  the  same  piratical  life  under  the  name  of  Gall- 
gaidhel,  we  can  readily  understand  that  Kenneth,  taking  advantage  of  the 
crushing  blow  inflicted  on  the  Picts  of  Fortrenn  by  the  Danes,  would  be  readily 
joined  by  Scots  from  all  quarters  in  regaining  the  kingdom  of  Dalriada  and 
prosecuting  his  father's  claim  to  the  throne  of  the  Picts." — Ibid,  i.  319. 

^  Pronounced  Aulay.  Kenneth's  daughter  was  his  second  wife.  Olaf  had 
previously  married  a  daughter  of  a  redoubtable  viking,  Caittil  Finn.  Caittil 
Finn  is  no  doubt  the  same  person  as  KetiU  Flatnose.  His  daughter  Audur 
married  Olaf  the  White,  who  became  king  of  Dublin. — Ibid.  i.  812. 

His  wife  Audur  the  Wealthy,  a  son  called  Thorstein  the  red. — Ibid,  i.  826. 

Kenneth  had  three  daughters :  one  married  to  Run,  King  of  Strathclyde ; 
another  to  Olaf,  King  of  Dublin  ;  a  third  to  Aedh  Finnliath,  King  of  Ireland. — 
Ibid.  i.  818.     Pictish  Chron.,  Irish  Ann.,  Annals  of  Ulster. 


to  1 1 24]    THE   NORSEMEN   TO   ACCESSION   OF  DAVID   I.     29 

Norsemen,  along  with  their  Galwegian  confederates,  of  which 
the  shores  of  Gralloway  were  the  base,  the  story  being  much 
complicated  by  the  internecine  warfare  which  soon  broke 
out  between  White  Gall  and  Black.  The  most  remarkable 
feature  in  the  matter  is  the  influence  which  these  Norsemen 
(of  whichever  party)  seem  to  have  acquired  over  the  Gallo- 
way Celts;  this  being  the  only  period  in  their  history  in 
which  they  submitted  to  nautical  discipline,  as  both  before 
and  after,  their  Celtic  distaste  for  salt-water  was  a  matter  of 
notoriety. 

They  profited  by  their  schooling,  as  their  overlords,  while 
teaching  them  the  art  of  living  at  the  expense  of  their  neigh- 
bours, provided  them  also  with  rock-built  citadels,  which  defied 
attempts  at  retaliation. 

The  doings  of  the  Galwegians  during  this  period,  in  which 
the  Norsemen,  while  supreme  on  the  shores,  appeared  to  have 
interfered  little  in  the  interior, — or  meddled  with  the  successions 
of  Pictish  chiefs  or  kinglets, — are  frequently  recorded  in  chroni- 
cles deemed  authentic.^  Along  with  their  overlords,  they  were 
constantly  involved  in  civil  wars,  of  which  it  would  be  tedious 
to  attempt  to  follow  the  fortunes  and  the  changea  And  without 
attempting  to  unravel  the  tangled  skein,  we  shall  simply  glance 
at  the  more  salient  facts,  as  illustrative  of  these  times. 

Thus  in  844,  Olaf  having  married  Kenneth's  daughter 
(presumedly  a  Galloway  lass  both  by  birth  and  kindred),  the 
Gralwegians  assisted  to  elevate  her  to  the  rank  of  Queen  by  aid- 
ing her  husband  to  gain  the  throne  of  Dublin.  Again,  in  852, 
they  invaded  Ulster,  at  first  with  success,  but  being  attacked 
when  retiring  by  the  Irish  king,  they  were  totally  defeated,  and 
stripped  of  their  plunder;  many  prisoners  remainmg  in  the 
hands  of  the  victor,  with  whose  heads  he  formed  a  ghastly 
ornament  for  the  palisades  of  his  stronghold.^ 

^  AuThdls  of  Ulster.  Icelandic  Sagas,  Wars  of  the  Oaedhel  wUh  the  OaiU^ 
Dr.  J.  H.  Todd  ;  published  by  Master  of  the  Rolls  in  Ireland. 

^  852.  A  battle  given  by  Aedh,  King  of  Ailech,  to  the  fleet  of  the  OallgaeL 
They  were  Scots,  and  foster  children  of  the  Northmen.  They  were  defeated  by 
Aedh,  and  many  of  their  heads  carried  off  by  NiaU  with  him  ;  and  the  Irish  were 


30  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY     [A.D.  794 

We  next  find  them  in  Munster,  with  Mailsechnaill  as  their 
chief ;  but  this  time  they  were  taken  in  rear  by  their  former 
leader  Olaf,  who  seems  to  have  considered  Monster  an  appanage 
of  Dublin,  upon  which  they  turned  furiously  upon  him.^  But 
although  Olafs  own  father-in-law  brought  up  reinforcements 
for  the  Gftlwegians,  they  were  forced  to  retire. 

Olaf  now  renounced  all  connexion  with  them,  allyii^  him- 
self with  Ivor  (Imhair),  a  semi-Norse  Galwegian,  against  Ketill 
Flatnose,^  who  came  to  their  support. 

Meanwhile  King  Kenneth  having  died  860,  was  succeeded  by 
his  brother  Aed,  and  he  in  turn  by  Kenneth's  son  Constantine. 

Olaf  and  Imhair,  after  raiding  both  the  Galloway  and  the 
Irish  coasts,  made  a  bold  attempt  to  wrest  the  crown  from 
Constantine.  They  attacked  and  took  Alclyde  (Dumbarton 
Castle),  occupied  all  Pictavia,  "  from  the  Kalends  of  January  to 
the  Feast  of  St.  Patrick";*  retiring  leisurely  with  their  booty, 
they  passed  through  Galloway,  carrying  along  with  them  "a 
great  prey  of  men  as  well  as  cattle,"  and  returned  to  Dublin  in 
triumph.* 

We  here  see  how  little  ties  of  blood  restrained  piratical 
instincts ;  Olaf  unhesitatingly  attacked  his  wife's  nephew 
Constantine,  whilst  his  own  father-in-law,  Ketill,  was  as 
ready  to  attack  him.  Both  he  himself  and  Ivor  were  connected 
with  Galloway,  yet  the  two  conducted  the  only  successful 
raiding  expedition  that  is  on  record  against  the  province.  As 
for  the  Galwegians,  they  had  helped  Olaf  to  conquer  Dublin, 
and  it  seems  possible  that  notwithstanding  their  quarrel  with 

justified  in  committing  this  havoc,  for  these  men  were  wont  to  act  like  Lochlanns. 
—Fragments  of  Irish  Annals  (Macfirbis).     Chron,  of  Fids  and  Scots,  p.  403. 

^  856.  Great  war  between  the  Gentiles  (Norsemen)  and  Mailsechnaill,  with 
the  Galwegians  along  with  him. — Annals  of  Ulster. 

^  857.  Victory  by  Imhair  and  Amlaibh  against  Caittil  Finn,  and  the 
Galwegians  along  with  him. — Ibid. 

'  Mr.  Skene  remarks  on  this  :  '*  His  occupation  of  the  country  may  have  been 
in  connection  with  some  claim  through  his  wife,  daughter  of  Kenneth.  On  this 
occasion  they  attacked  both  the  Picts  of  Galloway  and  the  Angles  of  Bemicia." — 
Celtic  Scotland,  iiL  824. 

*  872.  Amlaidh  and  Imhair  sailed  again  to  Alcliath  (Dublin)  from  Alban  with 
200  ships. 


to   1 1 24]    THE   NORSEMEN  TO  ACCESSION   OP  DAVID  I.       31 

Imhair  thej  yet  assisted  his  son  Sitruic  to  subdue  Deira,  the 
southern  district  of  Northumbria, 

The  Norse  chiefs  extended  their  conquests  in  all  directions, 
each  fighting  for  his  own  hand,  becoming  by  turns  titular 
kings  of  Dublin  and  Bemicia  (of  which  Bamborough  was  the 
capital),  rivals  being  alternately  sovereigns  and  fugitives,  Gallo- 
way furnishing  either  party  with  a  base  for  operations. 

Among  the  most  successful  of  these  leaders,  and  whose  rule 
was  established  on  a  firmer  basis  than  that  of  most  of  his 
competitors,  was  a  certain  Ronald,  variously  styled  Lord  of 
Bamborough, — King  of  Northumbria, — Duke  (rather  military 
leader)  of  the  Galw^ans.^ 

He  has  left  his  name  strongly  impressed  upon  Galloway 
topography,  and  in  conjunction  with  him  we  find  mention  of  a 
younger  Awlay,  son  of  Sitruic,  called,  to  distinguish  him  from 
his  grandfather  Anlaf  the  White,  Anlaf  Cuaran,  that  is,  "  of 
the  brogues."  * 

Bonald,  with  his  Galwegian  legions,  successfully  arrested 
the  advance  of  the  Saxons  under  Edmund  the  Elder.  The 
Saxon  Chronicle  classes  him  as  an  equal  with  the  Kings  of 
Alban  and  Strathclyde,  all  of  the  three  entering  into  treaties 
of  amity  with  Edmund  himself,  a.d.  924.^  By  this  agreement 
Sitruic  was  acknowledged  King  of  Deira;  but  Edmund  bad 
died  A.D.  929,  and  Sitruic  the  year  following.  Whereupon  Athel- 
stane,  who  had  succeeded  his  father  Edmund  the  year  before, 
seized  upon  it,  to  the  exclusion  of  Anlaf  Cuaran.  He  of  the 
brogues  was  not  so  easily  to  be  disposed  of:  hurrying  to  the 
court,  of  Alban,  he  cemented  an  alliance  with  the  greatest 
Scottish  house  by  marrying  King  Constantine's  daughter,  and 
being  consequently  supported  by  the  united  forces  of  Scots, 
Britons,  Galwegians,  and  Norsemen,  made  a  desperate  effort  to 

^  Reginaldua  Bex  Northumbroram  ex  natione  Danoram  et  Dux  Galwsl- 

ensiam. — Flores.  Hist.     Mr.  Skene  suggests  a  connection  with  the  family  of 

Kenneth.— C7e2^ic  Seotlandy  i.  373. 

'  '*  Cuaran,"  a  shoe,  or  brogue  ;  apparently  in  opposition  to  **  barefoot" 
'  924.   This  year  ^mund  was  chosen  for  Father  and  Lord  by  the  King  of  the 

Scots,  and  by  King  Beginald,  and  also  by  the  Strathclyde  Britons. — Saxon 

Chronicle, 


32  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY     [A.D.  794 

expel  the  English  from  his  father's  territory.  They  were  de- 
feated near  the  Humber  at  Brunnanbyric  in  937.^  But  four 
years  later,  another  Edmund  having  succeeded  Athelstane, 
Eonald  and  Anlaf  Cuaran  made  terms  with  him.^  In  A.D.  943 
the  truce  was  broken.  Eonald  and  Anlaf  marched  southward, 
carrying  all  before  them,  "  stormed  Tamworth,  and  the  Danes 
had  the  victory,  and  much  booty  they  led  away  with  them."  ^ 
But  in  944  the  tide  of  war  turned.  Deira  was  retaken  from 
Anlaf,  and  Ilonald  stripped  of  his  Northumbrian  lordships; 
whilst  Cumbria,  taken  from  the  Britons,  was  handed  over  to 
ilalcolm.  King  of  the  Scots,  on  the  sole  condition  of  his 
occupying  it ;  Edmund  wishing  to  make  this  district  a  buffer 
between  his  own  dominions  and  Galloway,  to  which  Bonald 
had  been  driven.* 

Blood,  notwithstanding,  asserted  itself  as  tliicker  than  water. 
Malcolm  proved  unfaithful  to  the  English  king,  and  aided  instead 
of  resisting  Eonald  and  Anlaf  in  recovering  their  possessions. 
In  this  they  would  most  probably  have  been  successful,  had 
they  not  been  taken  in  flank;  and  this  not  by  Edmund's  Saxons, 
but  by  one  of  their  own  race.  This  new  pretender  was  Eric 
Bloody-axe,  who,  swooping  down  from  the  Orkneys  and  enter- 
ing the  Tees,  drove  both  parties  before  him,  appropriating  the 
bone  of  contention  to  himself;  Anlaf  retiring  for  good  and  all 
to  Dublin,  and  Eeginald  to  Galloway.^  The  White  Galls  had 
expelled  the  Black !    Duke  Eonald's  name  is  to  be  traced  in 

^  Celtic  Scotland,  i.  359.  Saxon  Chronicle^  987.  Mr.  Skene  suggests  Aid- 
borough  as  the  battle  site. 

^  941.  King  Edmund  received  King  Anlaf  at  baptism,  and  that  same  year  he 
received  King  Reginald  at  the  bishop's  hands. 

^  943.  Anlaf  stormed  Tamworth,  and  the  Danes  had  the  victory.  After  that 
Anlaf  acquired  King  Edmund's  friendship,  and  after  a  good  long  time  he 
received  King  Reginald. 

944.  This  year  King  Edmund  subdued  all  Northumberland,  and  expelled 
two  kings— Anlaf,  son  of  Sitruic,  and  Reginald,  son  of  Girthferth. — Saxon 
Chronicle. 

*  Saxon  Chronicle,  945. 

^  The  Saxon  Chronicle  gives  the  dates. 

949.  Anlaf  Cuaran  came  to  Korthumberland.  952,  the  Northumbrians 
expelled  King  Anlaf,  and  received  Eric.  954,  the  Northumbrians  expelled  Eric, 
and  Edred  obtained  the  kingdom  of  Northumbria  (henceforward  it  was  English). 


to  I  I  24]     THE   NORSEMEN  TO  ACCESSION   OF  DAVID  I.      33 

contemporary  chronicles  for  over  thirty  years,  924-952,  and 
his  family  maintained  their  position  to  the  end  of  the  century.^ 
We  presume  that  he  was  a  Black  Gall,  but  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  following  century  we  find  that  Sigurd  the  Stout, 
son  of  Thorfinn  the  Skullcleaver,  an  undoubted  White  Gall, 
married  to  a  daughter  of  Malcolm  11.^  acquired  the  overlord- 
ship  of  Galloway,  and  named  Malcolm  (the  Earl  MelkoflF  of  the 
sagas)  as  his  lieutenant.  He  again  was  succeeded  by  his  son, 
another  and  more  mighty  Thorfinn,  who  eventually  possessed 
himself  of  nine  "rikis"  (provinces),  of  which  Galloway  was 
one,  and  there  he  frequently  resided.*  The  somewhat  contra- 
dictory chronicles  of  the  period  are  independently  confirmed 
as  to  this  in  the  Nials  Sagas,  which  state  that  Kari  Solmundson, 
tax-gatherer  to  Sigurd,  on  his  way  to  Ireland  (Sigurd  having 
gone  there  with  an  army  to  assist  the  Danes),  hearing  of  the 
fatal  result  of  the  battle  of  Clontarf  (1014),  made  for  Burrow 
Head  and  *'  fared  up  into  Whitheme,"  where  he  remained  with 
Earl  Melkoff  or  Malcolm  for  the  rest  of  the  winter.* 

An  old  chronicle  of  Man  states:  "Earl  Thorfinn  resided 
long  at  Gaddgedlar,  the  place  where  England  and  Scotland 
meet "  (Gadgedlar  being  the  Norse  for  Galloway,  and  Gadgeddli 
for  its  people),^  Ingibiorg  his  wife  having  seemingly  in  her 
own  blood  some  claims  to  rule  in  Galloway. 

The  next  ruler  we  find  is  Suibhne  MacCinaeda  (Sweeny, 
son  of  Kenneth),  styled  both  by  Tighemach,  and  in  the  Annals 
of  Ulster,  "Kling  of  Galloway";*  the  first   appearance  of  a 

The  Danes  of  Northumberland  were  of  the  Dubh  Gall  branch  or  black  strangers ; 
the  followers  of  Eric  Bloody-axe  were  Norwegians,  Finn  Gall,  white  strangers. — 
CeUic  Scotland,  i.  864. 

1  Ibid,  i.  373. 

'  Ihid,  i.  386.  As  Thorfinn  was  only  five  years  old  when  his  father,  £arl 
Sigard,  was  kiUed  in  1014,  this  places  the  marriage  of  King  Malcolm's  daughter 
in  the  year  1008.— TMcf.  890. 

'  Orkneyana  Saga,  and  CeUic  Scotland,  L  412. 

*  Mr.  Skene  remarks  on  this,  "Whose  name  (Malcolm)  marks  him  out  for  a 
native  chief,"— CeUic  Scotland,  i.  890. 

'  Chronieum  Begum  Mannia,  Munck. 

^  1034.     Suibhne  MacCinaeda  ri  Gallgaidhel  mortuus  est. — Ann,  of  Ulster. 

Sinnyness,  Old  Luce,  is  Svein  or  Sweeny's  point  Kilquhanidy,  Kirkpatrick- 
Durham,  is  Cinaeda  or  Kennedy's  grave. 

VOL.  I  D 


34  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY     [A.D.  794 

Kennedy  in  Galloway.  It  is  probable  he  was  contemporary 
with  Thorfinn,  and  a  Celtic  kinglet  under  him;  as  also  may 
have  been  his  successor,  Dermot  or  Diarmid,  who  lived  to 
1072.^  The  Norsemen  did  not  object  to  the  co-existence  of 
native  chiefs  with  their  own  kings  and  "  jarls/' 

Earl  Thorfinn  had  died  a  few  years  before  this,  and  his 
young  widow  Ingibiorg,  a  fair  Gralwegian  ^  (probably  of  mixed 
blood),  became  Malcolm  Canmore's  queen.  She  bore  him  a 
son,  Dunccm,  whom  she  did  not  long  survive;*  facts  par- 
ticularly to  be  noted,  as  it  was  through  this  marriage  with 
Ingibiorg  (often  strangely  overlooked)  that  Malcolm,  in  accord- 
ance with  Pictish  laws  of  succession,  acquired  claims  to  the 
throne  of  Galloway,  which,  according  also  to  Pictish  custom, 
held  good  in  a  less  degree  to  the  children  of  his  second  wife.* 

The  prestige  of  the  Norsemen,  weakened  by  their  expulsion 
from  Ireland,  as  the  result  of  their  defeat  at  Clontarf,  was  now 
waning  on  British  shores  as  well ;  the  simultaneous  consolida- 
tion of  the  English  and  Scottish  kingdoms  having  much 
narrowed  their  happy  himting  grounds.  Moreover,  their 
own  rival  factions  were  being  gradually  absorbed  into  one 
kingdom,  the  King  of  Norway  being  now  acknowledged  by  all 
as  sovereign,  which  checked  the  individual  action  of  pirate  chiefs. 
As  a  first  result  of  this,  these  Norwegian  monarchs,  anxious 
to  consolidate  their  power,  occupied  in  force  Caithness,  Suther- 
land, and  the  Western  Isles ;  resigning  by  treaty  or  exchange 
with  the  Scottish  kings  their  more  easily  assailable  positions 
in  the  south.     Consequently  their  dragon-prowed  galleys  stood 

^  1072.  Diannait  MacMailnambo  ri  Breatan  et  insi  Gall.  Slain,  and  great 
slaughter  of  the  Galls  and  Leinster  men  with  him. — Ann,  of  Tighemach. 

Craigdermot,  Stoneykirk,  retains  Diarmait's  name. 

'  On  Thorfinn's  death,  Malcolm  appears  to  have  endeavonred  to  conciliate 
the  Norwegian  element  by  making  Ingibiorg  his  wife,  by  whom  he  had  a  son, 
Duncan. — Celtic  Scotland,  i.  414. 

'  The  G^wegians  rose  to  a  man  in  favour  of  Ingibiorg's  grandson,  son  of  her 
son  by  Malcolm  Duncan  by  Alice  de  Bomilly,  known  as  the  Boy  of  Egremont, 
against  Malcolm  the  Maiden. 

*  dre,  1068.  Malcolm  married  Margaret,  sister  of  Edgar  Atheling,  heir  to  the 
Saxon  crown  of  England.  Her  sons  Edgar  and  David  were  in  turn  acknowledged 
king  by  the  Galwegians,  but  Ingibiorg's  grandson  was  preferred  to  hers. 


to   1 1 24]    THE   NORSEMEN   TO  ACCESSION   OF   DAVID  I.      35 

out  one  by  one  to  the  north,  no  more  to  be  seen  in  the  tide- 
ways of  the  Irish  Channel  or  the  Solway. 

Strathclyde,  whose  Cymri  alone  had  been  too  strong  for  the 
Galloway  Picts,  was  now  united  to  the  kingdom  of  Scotland. 
The  Galwegians  therefore  had  now  no  choice  but  to  turn  for  help 
to  the  Saxons,  weakened  by  civil  war,  or  to  become  liegemen 
of  the  Scottish  king.  They  solved  the  dilemma  by  throwing  them- 
selves into  the  arms  of  Malcolm ;  and  he,  as  a  politic  prince, 
seems  to  have  been  careful  that  his  yoke  should  not  be  galling. 

Thus,  as  with  the  Northumbrian  Saxons,  the  supremacy  of 
the  Norsemen  ended  by  a  voluntary  withdrawal ;  not,  however, 
without  their  leaving  some  impression  on  the  soil. 

The  Olaves  are  characteristically  remembered  in  Terally 
Bay,  a  haven  on  the  Bay  of  Luce,  well  fitted  for  a  piratical 
station ;  Tir  (land)  being  suggestive  of  occupation — Macherally, 
adjoining,  was  evidently  a  part  of  the  same  domain.  Kirkcalla 
in  Penninghame  is  01ave*s,  or  Anlafs  "Caer"  (fort),  not  kirk.^ 
Blanivaird  (Blean-a-bhaird),  near  it,  is  the  "Bard's  Creek"; 
the  a  m  all  three  names  pronounced  aw.  Imhair  is  repro- 
duced  in  Emar*s  Isle  near  Corswall  Point.  The  "Bloody 
Bock"  and  "Bloody  Slock,"  mapped  beside  it,  translating 
probably  Sloc-na-folie  and  Craig-folly,  are  points  on  the  Irish 
Channel  known  to  have  been  the  scene  of  Anlafs  and  Imhair's 
sea-fights  and  depredations.  Ketill,  the  first  Anlafs  father-in- 
law,  and  afterwards  his  foe,  may  give  the  prefix  to  Kelton, 
sometimes  written  Kettleton.  Kettleside  in  Cumberland  is 
held  to  have  Ketill  for  its  root. 

Baonul,  Duke  Eonald,  gives  his  name  to  the  barony  of 
Loch  Bonald.  It  is  curious  to  find  the  neighbouring  hills  here 
retaining  the  Norse  "fell,"  whilst  the  Norse  "inge,"  a  coarse 
pasture,  appears  in  "  Ink  Moss."  In  the  uplands  behind 
Loch  Bonald  is  Somerton,  where  his  herds  were  driven  for 
summer  grazing,  a  name  reproduced  in  the  Celtic  Belsavery, 

^  Eren  if  it  should  rather  be  believed  to  be  a  dedication  to  a  saint,  we  find 
in  King's  Ealendar :  30  March,  ''Siole  (Anlaf ),  King  of  Norwege  and  martyr  under 
Henrie  ye  crowkit" 


86  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY     [A.D.  794 

"Baile  Samhraith,"  Summer  Town.  Mailsechnall,^  whose 
name  the  Norsemen  wrote  Malachj,  appears  strangely  cor- 
rupted in  "the  Howe  Hill  of  Haggamalag." ^  "Hauga" 
being  Norse  for  a  barrow,  a  sepulchral  mount,  and  "  howe  "  its 
Saxon  equivalent,  "Howe  Hill  of  Haggamalag  "  is  a  form  doubly 
pleonastic. 

The  Teutonic  Sweyn  or  Svein,  on  Celtic  lips  Suibhne 
(Sweeny),  gives  us  Synniness,  a  headland  on  the  Bay  of  Luce ; 
at  the  entrance  to  which,  moreover,  two  rocks  preserve  the 
exact  old  Norse  form  the  Skares.* 

Of  other  test- words,  byr  appears  in  Corsbie,  the  dwelling  by 
the  cross ;  Sorby,  probably^  from  a  proper  name  rather  than 
sour  ;*  Appleby ;  Busby  (Byskeby) ;  Bomby  (anc.  Bondeby), 
the  husbandmen  or  churls. 

Garth  (gardr),  a  fenced  place,  as  Fairgirth  (faar),^  Cogarth, 
Gadgirth  (the  sheep,  cows,  and  goats  enclosure);  Applegarth, 
MustardgartL  Setr,  a  dwelling,  as  in  Soulseat,  Aldermanseat. 
The  modern  Norwegian  "sseter" — a  pasture  and  dairy  place 
on  the  mountain  side,  a  summer  grazing,  nearly  an  equivalent 
to  Somerton  (Sumar  ton). 

Old  Norse  "oe"  or  "ey,"  primarily  an  island,  signifying 
secondarily  a  green  oasis  in  moorland,  gives  us  in  the  first  sense 
Ramsey  (oflf  the  Isle  of  Whithorn),  and  Ailsa  (Helsa  or  Eliza- 
beth's Island)  ;^  in  the  second,  favoured  spots  innumerable  in  the 
Moora,  often  written  down  "  the  Eyes  "  alone,  or  appearing  in 

^  Mailsechnall,  originaUy  servant  of  Secundinus,  a  pupil  of  St.  Patrick,  rendered 
Malachy  to  suit  weak  Saxon  capacity. — ^Young,  Hist,  of  Christian  Names,  ii.  117. 

'  It  was  the  practice  of  the  Norsemen  to  give  the  name  of  the  departed 
chief  to  the  mound  where  he  was  buried.  ''Hauga,"  from  which  Howe  is 
derived,  is  from  the  verb  **  hauga/'  primary  meaning  **to  heap  up,"  and  the  mean- 
ing of  the  word  is  *'  a  sepulchral  hill." — Ferguson,  Norsemen  in  Cumberland,  56. 

»  Norwegian  "  Skar,"  old  Norse  "  Sker  or  Skjoer."— Worsaae,  262. 

*  So  Sowerby,  Lake  District.  —Norsemen  in  Cumberland,  132. 

^  So  Fair  Isle,  north  of  Orkney,  and  the  Faroe  Islands  (  all  sheep). 

'  Sumar  lidi,  or  summer  soldiers,  was  a  name  early  applied  to  the  Vikings, 
who  as  sea  rovers  usually  marauded  in  summer  time.  Whence  the  name 
Somerled,  Celtic  Somhairle,  familiarly  Sorley. 

7  By  the  Gaelic-speaking  people  of  Arran  Ailsa  is  stiU  called  **  Ealdsaidh  a' 
chuan"  (Elizabeth  of  the  sea). — Communicated  to  the  author  by  the  late  Dr. 
M'Lauchlan  of  St.  Columba's  Free  Church,  Edinburgh. 


to  1 1 24]    THE  NORSEMEN   TO  ACCESSION  OF  DAVID  I.      37 

such  compounds  as  the  "  Eyes  of  Clendry,"  "  Eyes  of  Kylfeddar," 
"  Gleneyes,"  "  Eyes  Hill."  "  Saulsea  "  (Sol,  a  proper  name),  or 
"  Eig  of  the  Eyes,"  in  which  last  we  have  the  Norse  "  hryggr," 
Danish  "  ryg,"  the  equivalent  of  the  Celtic  "  drum "  and  the 
English  "  ridge." 

In  connection  with  pasturage,  the  Norse  and  Celtic  meet 
in  "  cro,"  a  fold  or  hut,  the  word  being  common  to  both  lan- 
guages, the  frequent  "  Crows "  with  English  plurals  are  prob- 
ably Norse,  but  "Alticry,"  the  bum  of  the  cattle  pen,  is  as 
plainly  Celtic.  "  Croys"  probably  indicates  a  group  of  huts,  "cro," 
rather  than  hard  land,  "  cruadh." 

"Gil,"  a  small  ravine,  is  a  sure  Norse  test- word,  as  Physgill 
(anciently  Fischegill),  of  the  fish,  Gilhow,  of  the  sepulchral 
mound  ;  the  Gill  on  the  Cree,  Gillfoot  on  the  Nith,  Gate- 
gill,  Borgue — "  gate,"  here  probably  a  proper  name,  as  a  "  gil " 
often  defined  the  boundary  of  a  property.^ 

"  Stone  "  also  generally  has  the  sense  of  a  landmark,  as  Eaven- 
stone  (Rafii's), — Carlinstone  (Carlinn's), — Gelston  (Giles*),  limit. 

"  Verke,  wark,"  fortification,  appears  in  Kemp's  Wark,  and 
Carlingwark;  "borg"  (glossed  by  "arx")  is  reproduced  in 
Borgue  and  Bomess,  in  modulated  form  in  Burrow  Head. 

"  Tun,"  in  the  Norse  sense  of  a  naval  station,  is  the  sufl&x  of 
Wigtown  (Vikinton),  the  viking's  arsenal. 

"  Nes,  naes,"  the  nose,  a  headland,  gives  Bomess,  Eggemess, 
Almomess,  Gowness,  Synniness,  severally  Edgar's,  Aymer's,  Go's, 
and  Sweyne's.  * 

"  Vagr,"  a  bay,  is  the  affix  of  Solway,  the  prefix  being  "  sulr," 
a  sea  swell  (the  same  root  as  in  Lough  Swilly,  Antrim).  We 
have  it  also  in  Sulbum  or  Solebum,  a  stream  flowing  into  Loch- 
ryan,  entered  daily  by  the  tide,  and  rightly  named  the  bum  of 
the  tidal  bore. 

^  Gftteagill,  Gkitescale,  Qatesgarth,  are  referred  to  Qeit. — Fei^guson,  Norsemen 
in  Ckmberland,  130. 

'  Ancbneas  and  Cardoness  have  nothing  to  do  with  capes,  being  corruptions 
of  £ach-iniB8,  Caer-donas  (the  first  Horse  Isle,  or  pasture ;  the  second  fort  of  bad 
luck,  "donas"). 

Garthknd,  which  seems  Teutonic,  is  a  corruption  of  the  Celtic  Oairach- 
cloyne — Garbh  duain  (rough  meadows),  a  name  frequent  in  Ireland  as  Garradoon. 


38  HEREDITART   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY     [A.D.  794 

Many  proper  names  left  by  Norsemen  in  Cumberland  are 
to  be  traced  on  our  map ;  as  Eigel,  in  Eagle's  Cairn,  Kirk- 
maiden  ;  Gro,  in  Gowness,  Gill  in  CreUstone,  Kott  in  Eadsdale 
(formerly  Kittiadale),  Bafn  in  Bavenstone,  Sol  in  Soidseat,  Geit 
in  Gat^ill,  Thor  in  Torhouse,  Vere  or  Weir  in  Weirston.^  Celtic 
and  Teutonic  both  meet  in  Neill,  their  descendants  in  Gallo- 
way being  synonjrmously  represented  in  M'Neill  and  Neilson. 

After  the  death  of  Sweyne  in  1034  and  of  Diarmait  in 
1072  (kinglets  already  mentioned),  a  hiatus  occurs  of  thirty 
years ;  inasmuch  as  Feigus,  the  next  lord  of  whom  we  read, 
was  probably  not  bom  earlier  than  1080,^  nor  in  power  much 
before  the  death  of  King  Edgar  in  1107.  As  to  this  interval, 
Galloway  history  is  silent,  and,  strangely,  all  clue  to  the  lineage 
of  Fergus  is  lost. 

We  find  Malcolm's  family  established  in  the  suzerainty 
of  Galloway  at  the  close  of  the  eleventh  century,  and  as  no 
force  seems  to  have  been  employed,  we  infer  that  they  ruled 
there  with  the  acquiescence  of  its  peopla'  The  Noiman  con- 
quest of  England  had  indirectly  strengthened  Malcolm's  position. 
He  was  individually  no  match  for  the  Conqueror,  and  had  to 
acknowledge  himself  ''his  man"  for  the  Lothians;  but  this 
done,  WiUiam's  centralised  authority  in  England  had  put  a  stop 
to  private  predatory  incursions,  and  Malcolm's  resources  were 
largely  increased  by  the  immigration  of  Saxon  Lords,and  his  ranks 
were  efficiently  recruited  by  a  stream  of  Anglo-Normans  pouring 
in,  all  eager  for  lands  and  employment,  and  ready  to  support 
the  crown  in  whichever  kingdom  they  could  obtain  a  settlement. 

^  In  Cumberland  in  Eaglesfield,  Goburow,  Gellstone,  Kitt's  Howe,  BaTenside, 
Sonlby,  Thongill,  Weaiy  Hall,  Kdton.  Hound  Hill  Cairn,  Dalmellington, 
probably  derives  its  name  from  a  Norseman  "  Hundi,**  as  in  Hounds  Howe  in  the 
Lake  District. 

*  Fergus  died  very  old,  a.d.  1161,  yet  we  can  hardly  place  his  birth 
before  1080.  Again,  his  daughter  Africa  married  Olave  the  Swarthy,  King  of 
Man,  the  date  unrecorded ;  but  his  reign  of  forty  years  commenced  1102,  and 
her  son,  weU  advanced  in  life  (Godred),  succeeded  his  &ther  1142.  So  that  Fergus's 
marriage  may  be  placed  between  1107  and  1112. 

'  "  In  the  reign  of  Malcolm,  the  Bishop  of  Glasgow  had  several  royal  writs 
for  enforcing  the  payment  of  tithes,  especially  in  GaUoway." — Cosmo  Innes, 
JBarly  Scottish  History,  34. 


to  I  124]    THE  NORSEMEN   TO  ACCESSION  OF  DAVID   I.      39 

A  people  these  of  different  speech,  and  yet  whose  hands, 
if  gloved  in  velvet,  were  as  tenacious  as  those  of  the  retiring 
Vikings,  now  took  their  places, — ^more  polished  in  address,  but 
quite  as  masterful  Though  indeed  it  is  a  mistake  to  term 
them  of  a  different  race,  for  what  was  a  Norman  but  a  Norseman, 
improved  by  centuries  of  cultivation  in  the  sunnier  clime  of 
France! 

Anglo-Normans  did  not  settle  in  Galloway  in  any  appreciable 
numbers  till  many  years  later ;  but  already  their  society  had 
been  sought  and  their  habits  affected  by  the  native  chiefs.  In 
the  first  decade  of  the  twelfth  century  we  find  Fergus  of 
Galloway  a  favoured  guest  at  the  English  court,  and  accepted 
as  a  son-in-law  by  the  English  king ;  implying  early  association 
with  the  ruling  race  and  knowledge  of  their  language. 

On  the  Conqueror's  death  Malcolm,  thinking  to  recover 
the  Cumbrian  province  between  the  Derwent  and  the  Solway, 
took  advantage  of  William  Bufus's  absence  in  Normandy  in 
1091  to  let  his  mixed  hosts  —  Highland,  Lowland,  and  Gal- 
wegian — ^loose  across  the  borders.  Eufus  hurried  back,  order- 
ing an  invasion  of  Scotland  by  land  and  sea ;  but  as  "  almost 
all  his  ships  were  lost  ere  they  reached  Scotland,"  he  was 
glad  to  come  to  terms,  and  "the  kings  separated  in  great 
friendship."^  But  the  following  year,  Bufus  ordering  the  erec- 
tion of  a  fort  at  Carlisle  to  curb  the  inroads  of  the  (M- 
wegians,  Malcokn  considered  this  an  infringement  of  then* 
treaty ;  crossed  the  Tweed,  and  endeavoured  by  a  coup  de  mam 
to  possess  himself  of  the  Castle  of  Alnwick,  to  hold  as  a  pledge 
for  the  discontinuance  of  the  obnoxious  work.  Arrived  before 
it,  he  was  beguiled  to  the  walls  under  pretence  of  a  parley, 
and  slain.^ 

Duncan,  Malcolm's  son  by  Ingibiorg,  succeeded  him,  but  was 
murdered  soon  after,  his  uncle  Donald  Bane  and  half-brother 


^  Saaotm  Chronicle. 

3  This  is  the  Scottish  account  The  Saxon  Ckronide,  1093,  s^ys :  *' Robert, 
Earl  of  Northumberland,  lay  in  wait  for  him,  and  slew  him  ;  he  was  killed  by 
Monel  of  Bamborough,  the  Earl's  steward,  and  King  Malcolm's  own  godfather/' 


I 


40  HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY     [A.D.  794 

Edmond  becoming  joint  kings,  but  both  were  eventually  dis- 
placed by  Edgar,  Edmond*s  younger  brother,  in  1078.* 

Taking  advantage  of  the  disorders  of  the  times,  Magnus 
Barefoot  appeared  on  the  Irish  Channel,  when,  according  to  the 
Chronicles  of  Man,  **  Those  of  Gralloway  were  so  much  awed  by 
him  that  at  his  command  they  cut  down  wood  and  brought  it 
to  the  shore  to  make  his  bulwarks  withaL"  On  this  slender 
foundation  Chalmers  asserts  that  he  erected  the  fortlets  of 
Carghidown  and  Castlefeather,  with  a  view  to  the  permanent 
possession  of  the  country,  adding,  "  Neither  the  chiefs  of  Gallo- 
way nor  the  feeble  Edgar  were  able  to  oppose  such  power  in 
such  hands,"'  all  which  has  been  accepted  as  fact.  But  not 
only  are  the  said  castles  built  of  stone,  not  wood,  but  their 
immense  size  renders  it  impossible  they  could  have  been 
reared  in  a  few  weeks;  and  the  chronicle  quoted  allows  no 
longer  time,  as  it  relates  Magnus's  departure  from  Galloway 
for  Anglesea  and  Man,  various  campaigns  there,  an  expedition 
to  Ireland,  and  return  to  the  Western  Isles,  as  all  occurring 
within  the  season.  Nor  is  Chalmers  happy  in  his  epithet  of 
"  feeble "  as  regards  Edgar's  reign  in  Galloway ;  for  no  sooner 
was  the  accession  of  Edgar  proclaimed  than  Magnus  came 
to  a  treaty  with  him,  agreeing  to  leave  Galloway  and  the 
mainland  of  Scotland  undisturbed,  conditionally  on  his  right 
being  guaranteed  to  all  the  isles  between  which  and  the  shore 
a  helm-carrying  ship  could  pass.^  Indeed,  from  a  comparison 
of  all  the  authorities,  it  is  to  be  gathered  that  the  Galloway 
chiefs  supplied  the  Norsemen  (with  whom,  be  it  remembered. 


^  Malcolm  left  by  Ingibiorg  (supposed  Galloway  born)  Duncan  (eighteen 
years  a  hostage  in  England),  and  Donald,  who  predeceased  him ;  by  Margaret, 
Edmund,  Edgar,  Alexander,  and  David,  Eadgyth  (renamed  Matilda),  Queen  of 
Henry  I.,  and  Mary,  wife  of  Count  Eustace  of  Boulogne.  An  elder  son, 
Edward,  was  slain  at  Alnwick  with  his  father.  On  Malcolm's  death  Rufus 
released  Duncan  to  fight  for  his  own  hand,  who  won  the  crown,  but  was 
murdered  next  year.  Donald  Bane  and  Edmond  were  then  joint  kings  tiU  1098, 
when,  with  the  assistance  of  Edgar  Atheling  and  the  concun'ence  of  Rufus, 
Edgar  was  declared  king  of  aU  Scotland. 

3  Caledofiia,  iiL  867. 

*  Magnus  Barefoot's  Saga.     Celtic  Scotland,  I  442. 


to  1 1 24]    THE  NORSEMEN  TO  ACCESSION  OP   DAVID  I.       41 

they  were  connected  by  blood)  with  such  provisions  as  they 
required,  out  of  friendship,  not  from  fear. 

In  the  year  1100  Edgar  gave  his  beautiful  sister  Eadgyth,  or 
Matilda  (known  to  feme  as  Good  Queen  Mold),  to  Henry  I.,  who 
had  just  succeeded  his  brother  Eufus,  and  she  took  with  her  to 
the  English  court  her  young  brother  David,  where,  in  the  words 
of  William  of  Malmesbury, "  his  manners  were  polished  from 
the  rust  of  Scottish  barbarity,"  a  circumstance  destined  to  have 
no  little  bearing  on  the  fortunes  of  Gralloway. 

For  the  seven  years  following  Prince  David,  whilst  being 
educated  in  a  thoroughly  feudal  atmosphere,  won  the  while,  not 
only  the  brotherly  regard  of  the  king,  but  the  personal  attach- 
ment of  the  flower  of  the  young  Anglo-Norman  nobility.  In  the 
year  1107,Edgar  dying  unexpectedly,  as  unexpectedly  bequeathed 
to  him  the  Saxon  districts  of  Scotland  south  of  the  Forth,  and 
Galloway.  His  elder  brother,  Alexander,  protested  against  this 
dismemberment  of  the  kingdom,^  but  the  playmates  of  David's 
boyhood  rising  to  a  man  to  assist  him,  he  made  a  triumphal 
progress  through  his  newly  acquired  dominions,^  and  Alexander 
perforce  had  to  acqidesce.  By  the  style  of  Earl,  David  kept 
r^al  court  at  Carlisle  for  thirteen  years,  recognising  Fergus  as 
overlord  of  Galloway,  with  whose  entire  acquiescence  he  intro- 
duced the  Anglo-Norman  element  among  the  landowners. 

Thus  at  a  bound  the  new  race,  already  predominating 
in  the  Saxonised  Lothians  and  fertile  valley  of  the  Clyde, 
overleapt  the  barriers,  social  and  physical,  which  had  so  long 
preserved  the  Celtic  character  of  the  land  of  the  Novantae; 
and  within  a  generation  effected  a  total  change  in  the  habits  of 
the  upper  classes,  as  well  as  in  the  laws  of  the  ancient  province. 

^  Alexander  at  first  disputed  the  validity  of  the  donation,  hut,  perceiving  that 
David  had  won  over  the  English  harons  to  his  interests,  acquiesced.  Subse- 
quently Henry  I.  gave  Alexander  one  of  his  natural  daughters  in  marriage. — 
Hailes,  AnncUs,  i.  57. 

^  Thirty  years  later  Bruce  reminds  him  of  this,  when  adjuring  him  not  to 
break  the  peace  with  the  Anglo-Norman  barons  at  the  Battle  of  the  Standard. 
**  Tu  ipse  rex  cum  portionem  regni  quam  idem  tibi  frater  moriens  delegavit,  a 
fratre  Alexandro  reposceres,  nostro  certe  terrore,  quidquid  volueras  sine  sanguine 
impetrastL" — ^Ailred,  Be  Bdlo  Stand. ;  Hist,  of  Scot.  L  445,  Appendix. 


42  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY     [A.D.  794 

It  was  a  duions  feaiure  of  this  peaceable  cooquest  that  it  was 
effected  with  soeh  tact  that  the  nadve  chiefe,  fao-  from  eying 
them  «ftlr^«ft<*,  took  the  bold  intraders  for  their  models,  affected 
their  ways  and  manners,  and  eagerly  competed  for  the  hands 
of  the  dan^ters  of  the  more  acoMnplished  race. 

The  social  ocmditions  of  the  period  can  only  be  gathered 
faj  inference.  We  know  linle  of  Edgar^s  administration  of 
Galloway  beyond  his  treaty  for  its  eracnation  with  King 
Magnus,  and  his  willing  it  away  from  the  natnnd  heir.  Yet, 
how  fiimly  most  his  power  have  been  established  when  his 
dying  wishes  alone  secored  the  alienation  <^  the  province ;  and 
David,  with  an  aUen  bodyguard,  was  allowed  to  perambnlate  its 
difficolt  defiles  without  one  otganised  attempt  at  resistance, 
and  to  take  possession  without  shedding  one  drop  of  blood. 

Xext  comes  the  fact  of  Feipis's  marriage  with  the  Lady 
Elizabeth,  dang^iter  of  Hairy  L,^  whose  sister  Sibilla  be- 
coming Alexander's  queen,  ^  placed  Feigus  in  the  position  of 
brother-in-law  to  the  Scottish  King.  Now,  though  doubtless 
David  promoted  this  union,  either  to  secure,  or  in  reward 
of,  Fergus's  assistance  in  his  own  settlement,  we  may  certainly 
infer  that  Fergus  could  woo  in  French,  as  well  as  take 
his  part  in  the  knightly  sports  of  the  Anglo-Norman  youth, 
and  that  he  had  acquired  some  polish  from  the  association. 
Nor  can  we  suppose  that  the  king's  daughter  would  have 
consented  to  follow  him  to  his  "Palace  Isle"  in  his  distant 
principality,  unless  assured  she  should  have  other  persons 
about  her  with  whom  she  could  converse,  and  an  understanding 
that  her  son  was  to  enjoy  all  the  feudal  privil^es  of  primo- 
geniture. And  if  so,  what  a  change  must  her  arrival  have 
inaugurated  in  the  tone  and  usages  of  Galloway  society  as  well 
as  of  its  jurisprudence. 

^  That  Feigns  was  a  prince  of  note  even  at  the  court  of  Henry  I.  is  certain, 
as  he  took  to  wife  the  natural  daughter  of  Heniy  I.  In  this  transaction  we  see 
the  original  cause  of  the  intimate  connection  between  Darid  I.  and  Fergus. — 
CaUeUniia,  iiL  250  and  367. 

'  It  was  the  policy  of  Henry  I.  to  cultivate  amity  with  Scotiand.  He 
bestowed  his  natnnd  daughter  Sibilla  on  Alexander  I.  Such  an  alliance  was 
not  dbhonourable  in  these  dajrs. — Hailes,  Annais,  L  56. 


to   I  1 24]    THE   NORSEMEN  TO  ACCESSION  OF  DAVID  I.       43 

In  1124  David  succeeded  his  brother  Alexander,  and 
Scotland  again  became  a  united  kingdom,  no  more  to  be  dis- 
membered. His  rule  has  been  chronicled  as  firm  and  bene- 
ficent ;  and  it  is  gratifying  to  find  that  in  assuming  his  honours 
he  justly  esteemed  Galloway  as  a  precious  jewel  in  his  crown ; 
significantly  altering  the  ofiGicial  style  adopted  by  his  immediate 
predecessors  in  their  charters ;  from  "  to  all  our  adherents, — 
Anglo-Norman,  English,  and  Scottish,"  to  "all  good  men  of 
my  whole  kingdom  —  Scottish,  English,  Anglo-Norman,  and 
Grallovidians."  ^ 

On  the  accession  of  David,  the  Galwegians,  of  all  his 
subjects,  alone  retained  the  name  of  Picts,  the  bulk  of  them 
being  directly  descended  from  the  Novantae  of  Agricola.  There 
doubtless  had  been  a  certain  admixture  of  Welsh  or  Strath- 
clyde  Britons,  a  moderate  immigration  (though  not  nearly  on 
such  a  scale  as  represented  by  Chalmers)  from  Ireland,  both 
of  Dalriads  and  Dalaradians ;  a  small  infusion  of  Northumbrian 
Saxons  also,  and  a  much  greater  one  of  Norsemen,  On  these 
somewhat  incongruous  elements  the  Anglo-Norman  "gentlemen" 
now  poured  in,^  the  peculiarity  of  their  invasion  being,  as  ex- 
pressed by  Cosmo  Innes,  that  it  was  "  all  of  what  we  should  call 
the  upper  classes — men  of  the  sword,  above  all  servile  and 
mechanical  employment ;  they  were  fit  for  the  society  of  a 
court,  and  many  became  the  companions  of  our  princes.  The 
old  native  people  gave  way  before  them,  or  took  service  under 
the  strong-handed  strangers."  * 

With  their  introduction  the  racial  element  became  complete, 
and  as  such  practically  subsists  to  the  present  day.  The  wars 
of  the  succession  two  centuries  later  made  sweeping  changes  in 
the  personnel  of  the  proprietors,  through  wholesale  confiscations. 
But  the  proportions  of  the  races  remained  unchanged,  Anglo- 
Norman  blood  largely  preponderating  among  the  landowners. 

1  Cosmo  Innes,  Legal  Antiquities,  30. 

*  A  new  people  was  rapidly  and  steadily  pouring  over  Scotland,  apparently 
with  the  approbation  of  its  rulers,  and  displacing  or  predominating  over  the 
nation  or  old  inhabitants. — Cosmo  Innes,  JSarly  History,  9. 

»  JHrid,  10. 


CHAPTER  III 

FERGUS,  LORD  OF  GALLOWAY 

A.D.  1124  to  1161 

Eireas  a  Fhearghais  ann  'us  deaoas  an  iorghuill. 

Go  now,  rouse  thee  up,  Fergus,  and  mingle  boldly  in  the  fight. 

Dean  of  Lisnufre's  Book,  61. 

Fergus  was  a  ruler  of  great  force  of  character,  and  decidedly  in 
advance  of  his  age ;  he  carried  out  great  changes,  social  and 
political,  all  in  the  direction  of  sound  progress,  with  a  firm 
hand  and  a  princely  liberality  which  well  entitle  him  to  be 
remembered  as  enlightened  and  patriotic  Feudalism,  which 
he  may  be  said  to  have  introduced,  was  much  more  calculated 
to  ensure  strong  and  settled  government  than  the  customs 
of  Tanistry.  His  importation  of  foreign  orders,  which  some 
writers  seem  sentimentally  to  regret,  as  turning  firom  lona 
to  Eome,  was  no  question  of  Protestantism  or  Popery,  but  a 
much  needed  measure  for  the  correction  of  abuses  in  the 
Church,  and  for  the  instruction  of  the  people  at  large,  not 
in  religion  only,  but  in  the  habits  and  rudimentary  arts  of 
civilisation,^ 

The  number,  the  size,  and  the  beauty  of  the  fabrics  which  he 
reared,  are  equally  matters  of  surprise ;  as,  whether  for  grandeur 

^  Marriage,  which  is  vaunted  as  the  privilege  of  the  Early  Scottish  Church, 
had  degenerated  into  the  offices  of  the  church  hecoming  hereditary,  and  was 
leading  to  the  parish  clergy  becoming  a  mere  caste.  Birth — quite  independent 
of  any  course  of  study — ^being  the  only  qualification  for  a  cure. 


A.D.  I  1 24  to  I161]  FERGUS,  LORD  OF  GALLOWAY      45 

of  design  or  chasteness  in  execution,  they  cannot  even  now  be 
surpassed,  scarcely  imitated. 

This  incidentally  raises  the  question  as  to  how  he  met 
the  cost.  Although  he  might  have  been  able  to  command  any 
amount  of  unskilled  labour,  skilled  artisans  had  to  be  looked 
for  beyond  the  province, — material  had  to  be  brought  from  a 
distance, — and  as  it  was  no  question  of  conversion  of  the  people, 
— who  had  long  been  nominally  Christian, — the  men  of  culture 
who  were  induced  to  reside  in  his  newly  reared  abbeys  must  have 
had  it  made  worth  their  while  to  do  so.  A  Galloway  overlord 
could  have  realised  but  little  hard  cash  from  the  export  of 
wool  and  hides  and  the  sale  of  horses,  hence,  to  account 
for  his  being  able  to  find  the  means  of  supporting  such  a 
lavish  expenditiure,  we  must  suppose  him  to  have  been  able 
to  draw  revenues  from  England.  His  descendants. held  largely 
under  English  kings,  and  though  there  is  no  record  as  to  any 
particular  barony  having  been  inherited  from  him,  it  may 
fairly  be  assumed  that  certain  fiefs  were  granted  to  Fergus  by 
Henry  I.  on  his  marriage  with  his  daughter. 

According  to  tradition,  the  Lady  Elizabeth's  favourite  home 
was  the  Palace  Isle  in  Lochfeigus,  and  we  may  well  believe 
that  her  settlement  there  was  an  influence  for  good  in  raising 
the  tone  of  female  society.  The  distinguished  pair  had  other 
castles  when  disposed  to  change  the  air,  such  as  Cruggleton,  Long- 
caster,  and  Botel.  Far  more  palatial,  however,  than  any  of  these 
strong-houses  were  the  edifices  Fergus  reared  for  his  Pr^mon- 
stratensian  and  Cistercian  canons.  His  prentice  hand  was  tried 
on  Soulseat  (Monasterium  Viridis  Stagni),^  to  which  he  brought 
monks  directly  from  Premontr^  in  Burgundy;  next  he  built 
the  Priory  of  Whithorn,  within  a  few  miles  of  the  classic 
Eosnat,  to  which  St.  Ninian's  relics  were  transferred ;  Tungland 
followed,  later  St.  Mary's  Isle  (Sancta  Maria  de  Trayll),  and 
Dundrennan,  his  chef-d!oeuvre,  to  which  the  brotherhood  were 

^  It  stands  on  a  peninsula  of  a  small  lake  which  has  a  greenish  tint  at 
certain  seasons  from  the  spores  of  an  aqnatic  plant,  whence  ''Monasterium 
Viridis  Stagni." 


46  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY     [A.D.   1 1 24 

brought  from  the  Cistercian  Abbey  of  Bievaux  by  Aildred,  its 
abbot,  the  biographer  of  St.  Ninian  and  personal  Mend  of  Fergus.^ 

In  1126,  in  concert  with  the  king.  Fergus  restored  the 
bishopric  of  Whithorn,  Gilla  Aldan  being  the  first  bishop  under 
the  new  regime,^  who  was  sent  to  York  (to  Archbishop  Thurstan) 
for  consecration.  The  fact  of  his  being  so  sent  proves  the 
bishopric  to  have  been  a  revival  of  the  identical  see  founded  by 
the  Saxons  (a.d.  730),  which  had  seemingly  been  always  (if  some- 
what irregularly)  kept  up;  for  it  is  inconceivable  that  David  and 
Fergus  should  have  originated  the  precedent  had  such  a  con- 
nection not  already  existed  beyond  all  memory  of  man.  Strange 
to  say,  this  connection  with  York  remained  in  force  till  1359. 

The  formation  of  parishes  in  Galloway  was  commenced,  and 
in  a  great  measure  carried  out,  under  Fergus;  which  Anglo- 
Norman  habits  and  laws  greatly  facilitated.  An  Anglo-Norman 
considered  a  chapel  as  necessary  an  appendage  to  his  castle  as  his 
brew-house  or  his  mill ;  he  had  been  used  to  pay  tithes  for  its 
minister,  and  continued  cheerfully  to  do  so  when  his  barony  con- 
stituted the  parish,  or  a  part  of  it.  If  he  did  not  find  an  ancient 
"cell "  upon  his  lands  he  built  one.  Many  of  the  native  proprietors 
had  long  habitually  worshipped  in  such  chapels,  and  if  not,  they 
too  followed  the  fashion  of  the  new-comers  and  reared  them. 

Up  to  1130  Fergus's  relations  with  King  David  were  almost 
fraternal,  but  about  this  time  we  read  that  "  Fergus,  Earl  and 
Great  Lord  of  Galloway,  failed  in  his  duty  to  the  King's 
Majesty,  and  incurred  his  serious  displeasure."*  His  crime 
seems  to  have  been  one  rather  of  omission  than  conmussion. 
The  native  lords  throughout  Scotland,  who  had  made  little  objec- 
tion to  the  king's  first  introduction  of  Anglo-Normans  among 
them,  became  jealous  on  finding  what  a  preponderating  influence 

^  Founded  by  Fergus,  Lord  of  Galloway,  in  1142.  The  monks  here  were 
brought  from  Rievault  Sylvanus  was  the  first  abbot  of  this  place. — 
Keith,  255. 

'  Bishop  Forbes*s  Preface  to  Life  of  SL  NiniaUy  xlvii.  CeUic  ScoUandj 
ii.  876. 

'  ''Oontigit  Fergusium,  comitem  et  magnum  dominum  Galwidie,  regie  majestati 
deliquisse  et  gravem  incurrisse  offensam.'* — Service-Book  offfolyrood,  Bannatyne 
Mis,  ii.  19. 


to  I161]      FERGUS,  LORD  OF  GALLOWAY  47 

they  were  acquiring.  And  in  1130  Angus,  Earl  of  Moray,  raised 
his  standard  to  the  cry  of  "  Scottish  land  for  the  Scots."  The 
insurrection  spread,  and  two  circumstances  threw  Fergus  into 
communication  with  its  abettors  :  his  daughter  Afirica  had 
married  Olave,  King  of  Man,  closely  connected  with  Somerled 
of  Argyle  (a  co-conspirator  with  Moray  J;  and  his  Anglo-Norman 
wife  having  died,  he  had  re-married  a  lady  of  Celtic  blood,  the 
mother  of  his  younger  son  Gilbert,  who  sympathised  with  the  mal- 
contents. Thus  circumstanced,  Fergus  had  presumably  a  guilty 
knowledge  of  what  was  going  on,  but  the  rebellion  breaking  out 
prematurely,  was  suppressed,  and  many  slain,  before  he  could 
have  had  time  to  have  taken  part  in  it,  even  had  he  meant  to 
do  so.  He  fell,  nevertheless,  under  suspicions  so  grave  that  he 
found  it  prudent  to  fly  for  safety  to  the  Abbey  of  Holyrood, 
where  he  remained  concealed  until,  by  the  complicity  of  its 
abbot,  he  surreptitiously  obtained  from  King  David  the  "  kiss 
of  peace."    But  this  not  till  after  the  delay  of  many  years. 

Hence  his  absence  froln  Galloway  at  its  invasion  by  Malcolm 
MacEth  a  few  years  later. 

This  adventurer,  whatever  his  origin,  had  been  a  monk  of 
Fumess,  known  there  as  brother  Wymond,  a  man  of  great  energy 
and  ability.  Being  sent  on  a  mission  to  the  Isle  of  Man,  he  so 
charmed  its  people  by  his  fine  presence  and  address  that  they 
sought  to  secure  him  for  their  bishop.^  Their  king  and  queen 
were  Olave  and  Aflfrica  (son-in-law  and  daughter  of  Fergus),  and 
they  interesting  themselves  in  the  matter,  procured  his  conse- 
cration as  such  by  the  Archbishop  of  York. 

Somerled,  Eegulus  of  Argyle,  was  closely  allied  by  blood  to 
Olave,  whence  doubtless  opportunities  were  aflforded  Wymond 
for  intercourse  with  his  family ;  but  however  this  may  have 
been,  he  very  shortly  renounced  his  monastic  name  and  vows 
of  celibacy,  declared  himseK  to  be  the  son  of  Angus  Earl  of 
Moray  (slain  in   1130  at   Strathcathro),  married   Somerled's 

*  "Ita  barbaris  placuit  ut  ab  eis  Episcopum  peteretur."— J^tZZiaw  </ JV<w- 
burgh,  bk.  i.  c.  24. 

MacEth  the  son  of  Aedh  (Hugh)  is  the  eqaivaleut  of  the  Galloway  M'Eie, 
the  Highland  M'Eay. 


48  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY     [A.D.    I  1 24 

daughter/  raised  a  band  of  followers,  and  with  the  direct  assist- 
ance  of  Somerled  and  other  Celtic  chiefs  ravaged  the  whole 
northern  coasts  of  Scotland. 

Bold  men  of  desperate  fortunes  flocking  to  his  standard,  he 
soon  became  a  power  in  the  north,  pillaging  to  his  heart's  con- 
tent ;  if  pressed  by  superior  forces,  leading  them  a  long  chase 
to  remote  shores,  and  then  embarking  in  the  fleet  which  was 
always  at  his  back,  he  would  turn  up  again  at  points  where  he 
was  least  expected. 

For  long  he  met  with  no  check,  until  once,  having  given  the 
go-by  to  David's  army  somewhere  about  the  Moray  Firth,  he 
transported  his  band  to  Wigtown  Bay,  landing  there  in  full 
hope  of  being  able  successfully  to  appeal  to  Celtic  sympathisers ; 
having,  moreover,  Aflrica's  name  to  conjure  with. 

Far,  however,  from  hailing  him  as  a  deliverer,  the  (Jalloway 
Picts  rose  instantly  to  oppose  him  as  a  rebel  to  their  king,  and, 
failing  their  overlord,  followed  their  bishop  to  the  attack. 

This  brave  prelate,  Gilla  Aldan  (termed  by  chroniclers 
"  Simplicissimus,"  to  be  translated  ingenuous,  for  his  conduct 
proves  him  to  have  been  anything  but  weak),  not  content  to 
beat  the  drum  ecclesiastic,  armed  himscK  with  a  hatchet,  the 
only  weapon  he  had  at  command,  and  marched  at  once,  though 
with  a  very  unequal  force,  to  meet  the  invader. 

The  showy  Wymond, — the  mock  bishop  as  they  called  him, 
— if  disappointed  as  to  support,  laughed  to  scorn  the  rabble 
led  against  him  by  a  weaker  "  brother,"  and  was  in  the  act  of 
careering  across  a  stream^  which  divided  them,  when  Gilla 
Aldan,  little  accustomed  as  he  was  to  handling  axms,  hurled  his 

^  Fordun  terms  him  "a  spnrious  bishop,  who  lied  and  said  he  was  the  Earl 
of  Moray's  son  **  (bk.  v.  c.  41).  But  what  is  final  as  to  his  being  actually  a 
bishop,  ''Olave's  letter  (to  the  Archbishop  of  York)  is  preserved  in  the  White 
Book  at  York.  "—Ccfttc  Scotland,  i.  463. 

For  detailed  account  of  his  career  see  Hailes,  Annals,  i.  97  et  seq.  He  is  not  to 
be  confused  with  Malcolm,  a  bastard  son  of  King  Alexander,  and  a  co-adjutor  of 
Moray  in  the  rising  of  1180,  he  claiming  to  be  the  son  and  earl  of  said  Earl 
Angus. 

^  **  The  scene  of  this  battle  is  fixed  by  local  tradition  in  Galloway,  and  a 
stream  which  flows  into  Wigtown  Bay  is  said  to  have  been  crimson  with  blood." 
^Celtic  Scotland,  i  464. 


to  II61]      FERGUS,  LORD  OF  GALLOWAY  49 

axe  with  such  force  and  effect  as  to  bring  the  intruder  to  his 
knees.  Encouraged  by  the  omen,  the  Galwegians  pressed  to  the 
charge,  and  giving  the  foe  no  time  to  rally  from  a  momentary 
panic,  cut  them  down  in  such  numbers  that  the  rivulet  ran  red 
with  blood ;  MacEth  himself  with  difl&culty  escaping  across  the 
fords  of  Cree  ^  with  so  few  followers  that  he  was  shortly  after 
tracked  and  taken  prisoner  by  the  king's  vassals  in  the  east,  and 
lodged  in  the  dungeon  of  Eoxburgh  Castle.  The  scene  of  the 
action  has  ever  since  been  known  as  "  the  Bishop's  Bum." 

In  1138  the  Galwegians  received  a  welcome  summons  to 
take  the  field  on  King  David's  espousing  the  cause  of  his  niece 
Matilda  (Empress  of  Germany)  as  against  Stephen.  The  lord- 
ship being  still,  as  it  were,  in  abeyance,  they  crossed  the  Borders 
under  local  chieftains,*  whom  they  accepted  as  leaders  in  battle, 
though  they  paid  them  little  deference  in  quarters.  The  only 
person  who  could  exercise  any  real  control  over  them,  and  to 
whom  they  yielded  obedience  as  of  inborn  right,  being  William, 
son  of  Duncan  (the  king's  nephew),  and  grandson  of  their  well- 
remembered  Ingibiorg.  This  William  might  have  proved  a 
formidable  competitor  for  the  crown,  with  Galwegians  especially ; 
but  happily  for  the  uncle,  David  had  no  more  loyal  subject  than 
this  favourite  nephew. 

Stephen  being  detained  in  the  south,  the  Scottish  armies 
had  it  their  own  way  in  the  north  country,  and  committed 

^  This  point  on  the  Cree  is  mapped  "  Knockdown  Feny."  An  absurd  idea 
obtains  that  it  is  so  called  because  here  MacEth  was  knocked  down  by  the 
bishop's  hatchet.  Nothing  is  more  obvious  than  that  the  word,  if  Celtic,  is  cnoc 
donn,  "brown  knoll." 

*  Without  a  shadow  of  authority  Mackenzie  thus  writes:  **The  vice- 
sorereignty  of  the  province  passed  to  Ulgrio  and  Dovenald,  probably  brothers,  and 
perhaps  descendants  of  01  wen  Galvus  "  {History  of  Qalloway^  i.  158) ;  and  again, 
"Fergus  succeeded Ulgric  and  Dovenald  in  the  lordship  of  Galloway  "  (xb,  i.  167). 
XJlrick  and  Dovenald  are  but  once  mentioned  (and  doubtless  rightly)  by  Ailred 
as  ''dnomm  eorum  ducibus,"  two  of  their  ''duces,"  or  military  leaders — this  one 
occasion  being  the  onslaught  at  the  Battle  of  the  Standard.  Ailred  in  no  way 
concerned  himself  in  the  provincial  arrangements  of  Galloway ;  and  whilst 
Mackenzie  has  been  accepted  without  further  inquiry,  it  has  not  been  adverted 
to  that  by  all  the  chroniclers  William  son  of  Duncan  is  the  person  mentioned 
as  really  controlling  the  Gallowidiaus,  and  that  constantly y  as  at  Hexham,  Durham, 
Clitherow,  and  the  eve  of  the  Battle  of  the  Standard. 

VOL.  I  E 


50  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY     [A.D.  II 24 

many  excesses  for  which  the  chief  blame  is  thrown  on  the 
Gralwegians,  though  we  much  doubt  whether  the  other  divisions 
of  "this  impious  host"  ("nefandus  exercitus,"  as  Richard  of 
Hexham  styles  it)  were  gentler  in  their  dealings  with  those 
who  lay  at  their  mercy.  With  all  their  savagery,  the  much 
maligned  Picts  seem  to  have  had  purposelike  arrangements 
for  amusement  in  their  camp,  carrying  with  them  a  troop  of 
actors  and  dancing  men  and  women,^  clowns  and  columbines, 
these  implying  the  presence  also  of  musical  performers,  and 
more  appreciation  of  humour  ti.a.  might  have  been  expected. 

A  charge  is  made  against  them  of  ransacking  a  chapel  and 
polluting  the  shrine  of  St.  Michael  at  Hexham,  also  of 
threatening  to  destroy  its  abbey ;  but  the  monk  who  chronicles 
this  naively  prefixes  an  account  of  a  wanton  attack  made  upon 
them,  in  which  a  chieftain  was  dain.  which  others  might  think 
was  quite  sufficient  provocation.^  Tet,  enraged  and  excited  as 
they  were,  William  Fitz-Duncan  easily  allayed  the  tumult  and 
saved  the  clerics  and  terrified  townspeople  from  their  fury. 

Sacrilege,  moreover,  away  from  home,  lay  lightly  on  the 
Galloway  conscience ;  nor  were  sacred  edifices  within  the  Scottish 
Borders  more  respected  by  Englishmen  with  much  greater  pre- 
tentions to  civilisation  at  a  much  later  date. 

The  Scottish  armies  marched  southwards,  plundering  and 
desolating  the  country,  until  when  near  Durham  they  were 
brought  to  a  standstill  by  open  mutiny  in  the  Galwegian  camp. 

The  king  had  interposed  (not  unreasonably,  we  may  be  sure) 
in  favour  of  a  female,  probably  of  rank,  whom  they  had  made 

^  '*  Histriones,  saltatores  et  saltatricea." — Ailred,  De  Bdlo  Stand. 

Lord  Hailes  translates  this:  "Jesters  or  buffoons,  and  dancers  both  nude 
and  female." — AnruiUt  i  825. 

'  David  had  granted  a  protection  to  the  Abbey  of  Hexham.  The  youth  of 
Hexham  rashly  attacked  a  party  of  Scots  and  slew  their  leader.  The  Scots, 
inflamed  with  revenge,  ran  to  destroy  the  Abbey  and  massacre  its  inhabitants. 
William,  the  son  of  Duncan,  interposed  and  stayed  their  fury. — ^Hailes, 
AnnaUf  L  79. 

This  is  abridged  from  John  of  Hexham,  259,  260. 

Lord  Hailes  points  out  that  John  of  Hexham  always  calls  the  Galwegians 
Scots,  and  Richard  of  Hexham  calls  them  Picts ;  adding,  English  historians  call 
these  (same)  men  ''Picti,  Scoti,  Galwenses,  Loenenses. — Annals^  i.  86. 


to  II61]      FERGUS,  LORD  OF  GALLOWAY  51 

captive ;  but  not  only  did  they  absolutely  refuse  to  comply  or 
even  discuss  the  question,  but  on  the  king  going  in  person  to 
enforce  his  desire,  they  roughly  handled  the  members  of  his 
suite  and  even  threatened  his  own  life.^ 

Alarm  and  confusion  were  general  when  William,  attracted 
by  the  noise,  appeared  upon  the  scene  and  instantly  produced  a 
calm. 

A  rumour,  probably  spread  by  himself,  that  the  English 
were  approaching,  caused  all  the  divisions  to  close  their  ranks, 
William  tactfully  detaching  the  Galwegians  from  the  main 
body  of  the  army;  and  when  this  new  alarm  proved  to  be 
groundless,  and  David  moved  to  the  siege  of  Norham,  he,  with 
the  king's  concurrence,  led  them  westward,  finding  them  con- 
genial occupation  in  a  raid  through  Craven.^ 

Advanced  as  far  as  Glitheroe,  which  they  expected  to 
surprise,  they  found  an  English  division  drawn  up  in  battle 
array  beneath  its  walls,  whose  men-at-arms,  from  their  tall 
horses,  smiled  at  the  disorderly  rabble  of  riders  and  walkers 
interspersed. 

But  no  sooner  did  the  wild  Scots  realise  the  position  them, 
disengaging  themselves  from  ponies,  impedimenta,  and  plunder, 
they  assumed  their  normal  fighting  formation  (wedgelike,  much 
like  a  gaggle  of  geese),  and,  filling  the  air  with  cries,  they  threw 
themselves  against  the  hostile  ranks  with  such  force  that  the 
horsemen  falling  into  confusion,  their  formation  was  broken. 

The  ^ile  Picts  gave  them  no  time  to  rally ;  their  victory 
was  complete,  numbers  were  slain,  many  knights  were  made 
prisoners,  and  an  immense  booty  of  every  sort  secured.* 

Purged  of  their  delinquencies,  William  led  back  his  Gal- 
wegians in  high  feather  to  the  royal  headquarters,  now  near 

^  Picti  ipsum  Regem  cum  suia  extinguere  minabantur. — Richard  of  Hexham. 

'  He  laid  siege  to  Norham  with  the  more  orderly  part  of  his  army,  and  sent 
these  barbarianSf  under  the  conduct  of  William,  a  son  of  his  nephew  (brother) 
Duncan,  to  penetrate  into  Yorkshire. — Lord  Lyttelton,  Henry  II,  y  L  268. 

'  Hailes,  Ann,  i.  %\et  seq. :  '*  Multamque  prsedam  et  multitudinem  captivi- 
tatis  adduxit  Hoc  belluin  factum  est  inter  Anglos  Pictos  et  Scotos  apud 
Clitherow  ferift  6t&,  die  zv.  ante  nativitatem  Sancti  Johannis  Baptistse,  an. 
1138.*'— J.  Hagustald,  261. 


52  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY      [A.D.   I  1 24 

Northallerton,  where  the  king  was  only  waiting  their  return  to 
att£U3k  the  English. 

These,  under  Walter  TEspec,  had  erected  their  standard  ^  on 
Cutton  Moor.  Such  English  barons  as  had  feudal  holdings  in 
Scotland  and  declared  for  Stephen  were  now  in  an  uncomfort- 
able position,  as  David  had  a  right  to  claim  their  military 
services,  and  with  all  the  more  grace  when  in  favour  of  the 
daughter  and  chosen  heir  of  their  late  king.  Foremost  among 
these  men  of  double  allegiance  were  Baliol  and  Bruce :  great 
Yorkshire  barons — ^names  well  known  in  Galloway. 

Bruce  sought  out  the  Scottish  camp,  and  in  the  name  of 
both  besought  the  king  to  allow  them  to  make  terms  for  him 
with  Stephen  and  to  end  the  war.  He  expatiated  on  the  services 
and  attatchment  of  his  English  feudatories,  and  implored  him 
not  to  put  a  too  severe  strain  upon  their  allegiance. 

"  Which  expressions,"  we  read,  "  so  wrought  upon  the  king 
that  he  forthwith  broke  out  into  tears,  and  had  condescended  to 
a  peaceable  accord,  but  that  William  his  nepliew  came  in,  and 
in  great  fury  charging  Eobert  de  Brus  with  treachery,  dissuaded 
the  king  from  hearkening  to  him."  ^ 

This  fury  is  partly  to  be  accounted  for  by  the  exaggerated 
language  in  which  Bruce  is  represented  to  have  denounced  the 
Galwegians  as  "  not  men  but  brute  beasts,  devoid  of  every  spark 
of  piety  or  humanity,"  laying  every  outrage  committed  at  their 
door.  Fitz-Duncan  naturally  resented  this,  and  seeing  he  was 
to  gain  the  day,  Bruce  further  sarcastically  taunted  the  king 
with  "his  new-found  confidence  in  these  Galwegians,"  whom 
English  barons  had  helped  him  to  conquer,  and  whom  he  in 
turn  ruled  rather  by  fear  than  love.^ 

He  then  formally  renounced  his  fealty  and  retired  weeping. 
A  grand  oration  is  put  in  his  mouth  by  Ailred,  but  the  dignity 

^  The  standard  was  the  mast  of  a  ship  fitted  on  the  perch  of  a  carriage  ;  from 
it  were  displayed  the  banners  of  St.  Peter  of  York,  St  John  of  Beverley,  and 
St  Wilfrid  of  Ripon  ;  on  the  top  was  a  casket  containing  the  consecrated  host. 

'  Dngdale's  Baronage^  i.  448. 

'  ^'  Nova  est  in  Walensibus  ista  securitas,  qui  eos  hodie  armis  petis  per  quoe  hac- 
tenus  amabilis  Scottis  terribiHs  Galwensibus  imperasti." — Ailred,  DeBello  Stand. 


to  II61]      FERGUS,  LORD  OF  GALLOWAY  63 

of  his  conduct  is  somewhat  impaired  when  we  find  it  elsewhere 
related  that  he  left  a  son,  a  boy  of  sixteen,  in  the  Scottish  camp 
to  perform  the  military  service  which  he  owed  for  Annandale. 

David  now  prepared  for  battle.  The  great  temptation  not 
to  treat  with  Stephen  (which  would  have  been  the  safer  policy) 
was  that  his  army  for  the  moment  was  numerically  superior. 
He  had,  however,  fewer  mounted  men,  and  fewer  archers,  and 
obviously  good  generalship  required  that  he  should  begin  the 
attack  with  his  archers  and  men-at-arms,  and  when  the  enemy's 
ranks  were  broken  or  loosened  then  hurl  in  the  Gallovidian 
phalanx  upon  them.  But  no  sooner  had  he  so  arranged  it  than 
ominous  murmurs  rose  from  the  Galwegian  lines,  and  it  was 
understood  that  they  insisted  on  leading  the  van  as  their  ancient 
and  unalienable  right.  Their  triumph  so  lately  over  mailed 
squadrons  being  notorious,  they  scoffed  at  the  idea  of  its  being 
a  military  necessity  to  keep  them  in  reserve,  and  refused  to 
move  if  their  privilege  was  ignored  —  *' kittle  cowts"  at  all 
tunes  to  deal  with ! 

A  warm  discussion  ensued,  and  though  the  speakers  who 
vigorously  pressed  their  claims  upon  the  king  are  unnamed,  in 
the  closing  sentences  we  seem  unmistakably  to  recognise  the 
tone  of  William,  their  late  leader  in  their  raid. 

"  Be  well  advised,  sire,  and  trust  rather  to  the  iron  breasts 
of  your  Galwegians  than  to  those  whose  trappings,  however 
formidable  they  look  in  the  distance,  are  mere  encumbrances 
at  close  quarters."  ^ 

Nothing  is  more  remarkable  than  that  the  bulk  of  the 
Scottish  army  should  not  have  demurred  at  the  Galwegians 
being  humoured  in  this  matter,  contrary  to  the  judgment  of  the 
king  and  his  councillors ;  but  these  were  principally  Anglo- 
Normans,  and  jealousy  was  probably  the  ruling  influence  of  the 
moment.'' 

^  More  at  length:  ''Nobis  certe  sunt  latera  ferrea,  pectus  aerenin,  mens 
timoris  vacua.  Quid  Oallis  apud  Clithcrou  profuere  loricsB?  Videat  igitur 
prndentia  vestra,  O  rex,  quale  sit  in  his  habere  fiduciam,  quse  in  necessitate 
magifi  sunt  oneri  quam  consolationi" — Ailred,  De  Bello  Stand, 

'  As  to  this  privilege,  we  have  distinctly  stated :  {l)its  assertion — "  Galwenses 


54  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY     [A.D.  1 1 24 

Whilst  the  king  still  hesitated  to  disregard  rales  of  military 
prudence,  Malise,  Earl  of  Strathern,  a  great  magnate  of  the 
North,  darting  looks  of  defiance  at  the  king's  entourage,  ex- 
claimed, ''Whence  this  mighty  confidence  in  these  Normans. 
I  wear  no  armour,  yet  not  one  of  those  here  who  do  will  go 
farther  than  me  amongst  the  enemy  to-day." 

The  hands  of  those  addressed  grasped  instinctively  their 
sword-hilt,  and  the  king,  with  difficulty  repressing  an  out- 
break, acceded  to  the  demands  of  the  Galwegians. 

The  order  of  battle  was  then  formed  as  follows  : — First 
marched  the  Galwegians.  Next  followed  the  men-at-arms  and 
archers  under  Prince  Henry,  and  the  men  of  Cumberland  and 
Teviotdale.  The  third  division  were  from  the  Lothians,  and 
Lennox  with  the  Western  Highlanders.^  The  fourth,  com- 
manded by  the  king  in  person,  consisted  of  the  Scots  proper  of 
the  period,  dwellers  betwixt  the  Forth  and  Spey,  the  men  of 
Moray,  and  a  bodyguard  of  Anglo-Normans. 

Profiting  by  their  experience  at  Clitheroe,  the  English 
men-at-arms  dismounted,  and,  standing  shoulder  to  shoulder, 
presented  a  front  of  solid  steel  to  their  assailants. 

With  terrific  yells  and  shouts  of  "  Albanaid ! "  the  Galwegian 
phalanx  dashed  against  the  iron  barrier,  whence  issued  Saxon 
voices  scornfully  retorting,  "  Yry !  Try ! "  *  Spear  after  spear  was 
uselessly  shattered  on  proof  coats  of  mail,  but  here  and  there  a 
lithe  Pict  forced  an  entrance  through  an  interstice  inside  the 
square,  and  hacked  away  as  determinately  with  his  short  battle- 
sword,  until  gradually  the  dismounted  squadrons  fell  somewhat 
into  disorder.     Their  archers  now  advanced,  riddling  them  with 

dicentes  soi  esse  juris  primam  construere  aciem  "  ;  (2)  t?ieir  insistence,  in  spite  of 
the  commands  of  the  king  and  the  reasons  against  it  by  his  generals — "  Restitere 
Galwenses!"  ''Galwenses  nichilominus  insistebant ; "  (3)  iis  concession,  against 
the  king's  judgment — ^'Rex,  ne  tumultus  nasceretur,  Galwensium  cessit  volun- 
tati."  Yet  for  its  origin  we  are  thrown  back  on  conjecture,  although  their  help- 
ing to  place  Kenneth  on  the  throne  seems  the  probable  cause. — See  p.  28,  ante, 

^  Galwensium  cuneus  more  suo  ter  ululatum  diree  vocis  emittcns. — ^Aiked. 

^  Equivalent  to  Irish.  Lambardi  records  that  at  the  Battle  of  the  Standard, 
when  the  Scots  shouted  <<  Albanaid  !  Albanaid  ! "  the  English  retorted,  "  Y17  ! 
Yry  t "  (Erse),  a  term  of  great  reproach  in  those  days. — Dean  of  lismore's  Book, 
Int.  xiiL 


to  II61]      FERGUS,  LORD  OP  GALLOWAY  55 

arrows.  Two  of  their  leaders,  TJlrick  and  Dovenald,  had  already 
fallen,  the  former  wounded  mortally,  when  Prince  Henry 
charged  and  dispersed  the  mass  of  archers  and  dismounted 
horsemen  "as  if  it  had  been  a  cobweb,"  then  fell  upon  the 
troops  who  were  guarding  the  horses  in  their  rear,  and  followed 
far  (alas  too  far)  in  pursuit.^ 

The  Qalwegians  rallied,  and  prepared  to  renew  the  combat, 
when  an  Englishman,  cutting  off  the  head  of  one  of  the  slain, 
cried,  *'  The  head  of  the  king  of  Scots."  Confusion  ensued ;  the 
Galwegians  looked  for  support  from  the  other  divisions,  but 
these  unaccountably  stood  still. 

The  king  vainly  ran  hither  and  thither  to  prove  he  was  not 
slain ;  panic  seized  upon  the  third  division,  their  hesitation 
proved  fatal,  and  the  Galwegians  were  driven  from  the  field. 

If  the  Galwegians  had  been  perverse  as  to  the  order  of  the 
battle,  stiU  they  were  not  responsible  for  its  loss.  They  had 
gallantly  shown  the  way,  they  had  paid  the  penalty  of  their 
waywardness  in  blood,  but  had  effectually  stormed  the  key  of 
the  position,  and  it  was  entirely  owing  to  the  inertness  of  the 
reserves  that  their  excess  of  spirit  was  proved  to  have  been 
expended  in  vain.  The  disaster  was  intensified  by  its  attendant 
circumstances,  as,  instead  of  holding  closely  together,  the  divi- 
sions separated  with  mutual  recriminations,  suffering  in  their 
retreat  not  only  from  the  hostility  of  the  English  peasantry,  but 
recriminations  leading  to  bloody  collisions  among  themselves. 

At  last  the  Galwegians  reached  Carlisle  with  greatly  dimin- 
ished numbers,  but  yet  (whether  accompanied  by  William  or 
not)  in  tolerable  order ;  for  we  have  it  from  an  English  chronicler 
that  here  they  were  overtaken  by  Alberic,  Bishop  of  Ostia,  the 
Papal  legate,  who  persuaded  them  to  restore  all  the  women 
they  had  driven  into  captivity :  a  fact  as  creditable  to  them- 
selves as  to  the  prelate.^ 

^  ''Videres  ut  herieium  spinia  ita  Galwenaem  sagittis  nndique  circumsep- 
tam,  nichilominos  ribrare  gladium  et  cteca  quadam  amentia  proruentem,  nunc 
hostem  csedere,  nuno  inanem  aerem  cassis  ictibns  verberare." — Ailred,  De  Bella 
Stand. 

'  Hailes,  Annals^  i.  89  et  9eq. — Ailred. 


66  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY     [A.D.   1 1 24 

After  this  David,  satisfying  himself  with  taking  the  castle 
of  Werk,  which  belonged  to  Walter  TEspec,  who  had  com- 
manded at  the  Battle  of  the  Standard,  concluded  peace  with 
Stephen,  whose  wife  was  his  niece  as  well  as  the  Empress 
Matilda. 

A  rather  amusing  story  forms  a  sequel  to  these  dismal  tales 
of  ravaging  and  rout  The  younger  Bruce,  the  hobbledehoy  of 
seventeen  whom  David  had  so  easily  accepted  as  an  equivalent 
for  the  knight's  service  due  to  him  from  Annandale,  was  taken 
prisoner  by  his  own  father  at  the  Battle  of  the  Standard,  by 
whom  he  was  delivered  to  Stephen,  the  elder  Bruce  gravely 
asking  to  what  person  he  would  have  him  committed.  "  Pooh, 
take  him  to  his  nurse,"  ^  the  king  good-humouredly  answered. 

Soon  after  this  Fergus  emerged  from  his  hiding-place.  As 
for  the  necessity  of  his  concealment,  there  must  always  be  some 
mystery,  but  we  have  authentic  details  from  church  histoTy  as 
to  how  he  made  his  peeu^e  with  his  sovereign. 

An  ancient  service-book  of  Hol3nrood  tells  us  that  "  Fergus, 
being  much  devoted  to  God,  and,  notwithstanding  his  accidental 
fault,  always  faithful  to  the  king,  by  various  means  was 
endeavouring  to  regain  the  king's  favour,  and  at  length  in 
most  secret  manner  repaired  to  Alwyn,  Abbot  of  the  Monastery 
of  Holyrood,  the  king's  confessor,  for  advice  and  assistance. 
The  abbot  compassionating  the  aforesaid  penitent.  Lord  Fergus 
prayed  to  God  to  obtain  the  king's  favour ;  and  at  last,  by  the 
ingenuity  of  both  Fergus  and  the  abbot,  it  was  contrived  that 
the  said  Fergus  should  assume  the  cloister  habit  of  a  canon 
regular,  and  thus,  God  directing,  should  obtain  along  with  his 
brethren  the  king's  favour  and  pardon  of  his  oflFence." 

"  Leaving  to  God  their  purpose,  they  wait  for  a  convenient 
hour  and  day."   An  occasion  occurred  thus :  Some  repairs  being 

^  Dugdale  gives  us  a  more  courtly  phrase.  "By  reason  of  Annandale, 
Robert  the  younger  being  liegeman  to  the  King  of  Scotland,  and  war  happening 
between  the  English  and  the  Scots,  it  was  his  fortune  to  be  taken  by  his  father, 
fighting  valiantly  for  that  nation,  and  sent  prisoner  to  the  king  of  England, 
whose  courtesie  was  such,  when  he  had  him  so  in  his  power,  as  that  he  delivered 
him  back  into  the  hands  of  his  mother." — Dugdale,  Barofiagey  i.  448. 


to  II61]  FERGUS,  LORD-OF   GALLOWAY  57 

carried  on,  the  king  came  to  inspect  them.  The  brethren  were 
hastily  summoned  to  the  chapte]>house,  Fergus  among  them. 
And  while  the  king  was  visiting  the  builders  the  abbot  at 
a  seasonable  moment  thus  addresses  him :  "  We,  though  un- 
worthy petitioners,  beg  to  have  the  presence  of  your  highness 
in  chapter."  The  king,  highly  pleased,  enters.  The  abbot  con- 
tinues :  "  Most  gracious  prince,  we,  the  petitioners  of  your  high- 
ness, confessing  our  faults,  that  we  are  faulty  and  transgressors, 
most  humbly  beseech  thee,  in  the  bowels  of  Jesus  Christ,  to  pardon 
us,  aTtd  every  one  of  us,  every  fault  and  offence  committed  against 
your  majesty,  with  a  single  and  unfeigned  heart ;  and  that  in 
token  of  this  gracious  pardon  to  bestow  upon  every  one  of  us 
the  kiss  of  peace." 

The  king,  with  most  placid  countenance,  replied :  "  Dear 
brethren,  1  forgive  you  all — I  commend  myself  to  your  prayers," 
and  rising  and  taking  the  abbot  by  the  hand,  kissed  him. 

Of  the  interview  and  explanations  with  Fergus  that  followed 
no  record  remains ;  indeed,  it  was  hardly  to  be  expected.  The 
relation  is  made  in  connection  with  the  building  of  the  Priory 
of  St  Mary's  Isle  (or  Trayle),  which  was  raised  and  handed  over 
to  the  monastery  of  Holyrood  by  Fergus  as  a  lasting  memorial 
of  his  gratitude  to  God  for  his  restoration  to  the  king's  favour 
and  the  enjoyment  of  his  oflSces,  as  also  in  grateful  recollection 
of  the  hospitality  of  the  convent.^ 

Of  the  entire  cordiality  accompanying  the  reconciliation 
there  can  be  no  doubt,  as  hereafter  we  find  him  in  constant 
attendance  upon  the  king,  his  name  appearing  as  a  frequent 
witness  to  royal  charters.^ 

*  "Hec  est  hystoria  fundacionis  Pkioratus  Insule  de  Trailb  Qt  quo- 
modo  Fergusius  Magnus  Dominus  Galwidie,  fundator  ejusdem,  optinuit  pacem 
Regis." — **  Service- Book  of  Holyrood,"  printed  in  Bannatyne's  Jfisee/Zany,  ii.  19. 

^  In  the  chartalary  of  the  Bishopric  of  Glasgow  are  two  charters,  "Apud 
Castrum  Nostrum  de  Cadhow,"  dated  approximately  1139. 

The  one  a  grant  of  Perdeye  (Partick).  '*  Testibus :  Herbert©,  Abbate  de 
Rochesburc,  Willelmo  cancellario,  WillelmoJUio  VuneeaUf  Malis  comite,  Dunecano 
comite,  Fergusio  de  OcUweia,  Md,  cum  barba,  Malduueni,  MacMurdac,  Malodeni 
de  Scona,  Malodeni  marescal,  Radulpho  filio  Donegal,  Duvenald  frcUre  ^us, 
Uchtred  filio  Fergus,  Hugoni  Britoni,  Herberto  Camerario,  OUiberto  fimboga 
Giliberto  de  Strivelin,  Dufoter  de  Calateria." 


58  HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY     [a.D.  1 1 24 

Within  a  Teiy  short  time  of  his  receiving  the  kiss  of  peace 
we  find  him  in  the  rojal  drcle  aloi^  with  William  Fitz-Doncan, 
who  had  led  his  Cralw^;ian8  in  his  absence ;  Hngh  de  Moieville, 
Constable  of  Scotland,  to  whose  office  and  possessions  his 
descendants  fell  heirs ;  the  gallant  MaUse  of  Stiathem,  who  had 
so  lately  sappoited  the  claims  of  the  Clalwegians  to  the  right  of 
the  line ;  and  DoTenald,  recovered  from  his  wonnds  in  the  late 
battle.  Walter,  the  son  of  Alan,  High  Steward,  ancestor  of  the 
Earls  of  Galloway,  and  his  own  son  Uchtred,  never  arrived  at 
man's  estate. 

A  church  legend  of  the  period  seems  referable  to  the  very 
date  of  the  signature  of  these  charters.  St  Malachi  O'Morgair, 
visiting  King  David  in  a  certain  castle,^  found  Prince  Henry  his 
son  dangerously  ill ;  whereupon,  sprinkling  him  with  holy  water, 
he  assured  him  he  should  recover,  and  next  day  he  was  welL^ 

Thence  going,  probably  accompanying  Fergus,  to  his 
"  country  seat  of  Cruggleton,"^  he  there  miraculously  loosed  the 
tongue  of  a  girl  who  had  been  bom  dumb  ;  whence,  travelling 
westward,  he  arrived  at  last  at  Caimgarroch  (Lapasper),^  where, 
finding  no  vessel  in  port,  retiring  a  little  inland,  he  raised  an 
oratory,  surrounding  it  with  a  rath,  consecrating  also  near  it  a 
burying-ground.  Here  he  watched  for  the  arrival  of  a  ship,  and 
one  coming  in  due  time  he  embarked,  and  a  fair  wind  wafted 
him  to  Bangor.*     Topography  verifies  the  outline  of  the  story. 

In  the  second  DftTid  makes  known  "  omnibus  fidelibos  tarn  Gawenaibns  qnam 
AngliU  et  Scoticis  "  that  he  gives  the  tithe  of  cane,  animals,  and  pigs  of  Benfrew, 
CnnniDgham,  Kyle,  and  Carrick,  to  the  Church  of  St.  Eentigern.  Testibus :  Will. 
Cumino  cancellario,  Hugo  de  Moreville,  Fergus  de  Galweia,  Hugo  Britoni, 
Waltero  fil.  Alane,  Alano  MacArchel,  Sad  fil.  Dunegal,  Duvenald  fire.  sui. 

^  "Quodam  castello  suo."  .  .  .  "Yillam  nomini  Cmgeldum  ad  portum 
Lapasperi"  .  .  .  "Constructor  in  oratorinm,  consnmmatum  circumdedit  yallo." 
.  .  .  "Prospere  navigayit  applicuit  monasterio  sno  Benchorensi." — VUa  S, 
Malachi,  Auctore  Bamardo,  c  S. 

Dr.  Reeves  first  called  the  author's  attention  to  the  identification  of  Rough 
Cairn,  or  Caimgarroch,  with  Lapasper.  There  are  no  less  than  three  Caimgarrochs 
on  the  Galloway  coast.  Bishop  Forbes  rightly  puts  it  '*  Laperasperi  or  Lepasper, 
probably  some  bay  opposite  Ireland,  near  Portpatrick."  He  mistakes  grievously, 
however,  supposing  that  St.  Malachi  went  hence  and  founded  Soulseat,  which 
had  been  built  by  Fergus  twenty  years  before. — See  Keith,  SeoUh  Bishops. 

^  Lord  Hailes  sarcastically  remarks :  *'  It  is  remarkable  that  the  cure  was 
not  instantly  effected." —  Hailes,  Ann.  i.  108. 


to  II61]  FERGUS,  LORD   OF  GALLOWAY  59 

Caimgarroch,  anglified  in  recent  maps  to  Eoughcaim,  overlooks 
Caer  Ochtree  (named  from  Fergus's  son),  at  the  southern 
extremity  of  Larbrax  Bay.  The  saint  has  left  his  name  on 
Taphmalloch,  Malloch's  hillside  (taebh),  whence  Copeland 
Island,  at  the  entrance  of  Belfast  Loch,  just  opposite  the  old 
monastery  of  Bangor,  is  visible  to  the  naked  eye.  The  Ghaists' 
Ha',  Taphmalloch,  preserves  possibly  a  recollection  of  the 
burying-ground. 

In  1142  Fergus's  magnificent  Abbey  of  Dundrennan  being 
finished,  was  peopled  by  a  band  of  Cistercians  from  Eievaux, 
Yorkshire,  with  Sylvanus,  a  man  of  considerable  eminence,^  as 
their  first  abbot. 

Fergus  had  doubtless  been  assisted  by  Ailred  in  recruiting 
for  his  religious  colonies,  the  latter  being  intimate  with  all  the 
magnates  of  David's  court,  where  he  was  a  frequent  and 
honoured  guest,  and  a  visitor  at  that  of  Fergus  as  well  as  his 
son.  His  own  connection  with  Eievaux  suggests  the  proba- 
bility of  his  having  introduced  the  members  of  his  fraternity  to 
Dundrennan  and  taken  part  in  the  dedication  services,  and  we 
may  with  some  confidence  refer  his  first  intercourse  with  the 
Bishop  of  Whithorn  to  this  date,  who  then  and  there  "  imposed 
upon  him,"  as  he  tells  us,  "  the  task  of  bringing  into  the  light 
of  clear  Latin  diction  the  life  of  the  most  renowned  Ninian — told 
already,  truly,  by  those  who  had  gone  before  him,  but  in  too 
barbarous  a  style."  ^ 

This  book  owes  its  value  entirely  to  the  date  at  which  it 
was  written.  The  elegance  of  its  Latin  proves  Ailred  to  have 
been  a  man  of  culture,  but  as  to  historic  facts  it  gives  us  really 
no  more  than  those  already  succinctly  told  by  Bede.     In  the 

^  In  1167  he  became  himself  Abbot  of  Rievaiiz. 

^  Ailred,  or  Ethelred,  was  bom  1109.  In  1183  took  vows  as  a  Cistercian  monk 
at  ^ievaoz ;  1142  was  Abbot  of  Revesby ;  1143  Abbot  of  Rievaux.  Bishop 
Forbes  covjeetures  Ailred's  prologue  to  the  life  of  Ninian  to  be  addressed  to 
Bishop  Christianus  after  1134.  But  a  considerably  earlier  date  is  probable,  no 
date  being  given  in  the  prologue;  Ailred  himself  introducing  the  members  of  his 
fraternity  to  Dundrennan  would  be  a  more  appropriate  occasion  for  a  meeting 
with  the  bishop,  who  must  undoubtedly  have  been  present  at  the  consecration  ; 
their  bishop  being  Gilla  Aldan,  who  was  succeeded  by  Christianus  in  1154. 


60  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY     [A.D.   I  1 24 

relation  of  miracles,  however,  which  in  themselves  are  worthy 
only  of  a  place  in  the  Breviary  of  Aberdeen,  glimpses  of  real 
life  evidently  take  their  colouring  from  the  light  in  which  the 
author  saw  the  province ;  and  such  scenes  as  the  convent 
garden  abounding  in  leeks  and  potherbs  of  every  sort,  the 
sheilings  for  the  flocks,  and  more  especially  the  division  of  the 
whole  land  into  parishes,  if  not  appropriate  to  the  fourth 
century,  yet  £is  not  being  later  than  the  twelfth,  rank  as  the 
earliest  local  sketches  we  possess. 

William  Fitz-Duncan  had  long  previously  married  Alice  de 
Bomellie,  heiress  of  Skipton  and  Craven,  and  by  her  had,  with 
three  daughters,  a  son,  also  William,  generally  known,  from 
being  put  into  possession  of  one  of  his  father's  fiefs,  as  the  Boy 
of  Egremont.^  Owing  to  the  disorders  in  England  his  enjoy- 
ment of  these  lands  seems  to  have  been  interfered  with,  and 
David,  again  letting  loose  the  Galwegians  across  the  borders, 
put  him  forcibly  in  possession.  When  at  Carlisle  the  King 
had  an  interview  with  his  grand-nephew,  son  of  the  Empress 
Matilda,  and  afterwards  Henry  II.,  who  then  receiving  knight- 
hood from  his  father,  swore  solemnly  that  on  receiving  the 
English  Grown  he  would  restore  to  him  Newcastle,  and  cede  to 
him  and  his  heirs  for  ever  the  whole  territory  between  the 
T3aie  and  the  Tweed.  Within  a  year  of  this  William  died,  as 
in  1151  we  find  his  mother  granting  charters  in  her  widow- 
hood.* 

The  year  following  Prince  Henry  died  ;  Malcolm,  his  eldest 
son,  being  a  boy  but  ten  years  old.*  King  David,  too  infirm  to 
accompany  him,  sent  him  on  a  progress  through  the  kingdom. 

^  ^' David  conferred  the  honours  of  Skipton  and  Craven  on  William,  the 
son  of  Duncan,  and  with  an  armed  force  put  him  in  possession  "  (Hailes,  AnnaUf 
i.  102).  William,  however,  had  previously  possessed  these  in  right  of  his  wife. 
''The  Soots  again  pillaged  the  places  sacred  to  religion.  David  bestowed  a  piece 
of  plate  on  every  church  that  had  suffered  from  these  depredations." — lb,  and 
J.  Hazalsted,  279. 

'  In  1151,  among  the  witnesses  to  a  charter  by  Adeliza  de  Rumelli  is  *'  Wil- 
lelmo  filio  meo  de  Egremont " 

*  By  his  wife  Ada,  daughter  of  the  English  Earl  of  Warrenne  and  Surrey, 
Prince  Henry  left  Malcolm  (the  Maiden),  b.  1142  ;  William  (the  Lion),  b.  1148  ; 
David,  afterwards  Earl  of  Huntingdon,  b.  1144. 


to  I161]  FERGUS,  LORD   OF   GALLOWAY  61 

In  Galloway  he  was  received  and  escorted  by  Fergus,  and 
proclaimed  to  the  people  at  large  as  heir  to  the  throne,  and  his 
succession  actually  took  place  24th  May  1153. 

Donald,  a  son  of  Wymond,  or  Macolm  MacEth,  was  set 
forward  as  a  pretender  to  the  throne,  strongly  supported  by 
Somerled  and  other  Celtic  chiefs  ;  but  Fergus  would  not,  either 
by  threats  or  blandishments,  connect  himseK  with  the  insur- 
rection, and  even  refused  to  allow  Donald  to  obtain  an  asylum 
in  his  province  when,  as  a  hunted  rebel,  he  sought  refuge  from 
his  pursuers  at  Whithorn.^ 

Thus  far  Fergus  was  strong  in  his  allegiance  to  the  boy  king ; 
but  Malcolm,  as  he  grew  in  years,  did  little  to  retain  the  affec- 
tion of  his  adherents,  and  in  place  of  leaning  upon  them  for 
council  in  the  art  of  government,  tried  fawningly  to  ingratiate 
himself  with  the  English  king. 

This  was  Henry  II.,  who,  on  succeeding  Stephen  in  1154, 
instead  of  making  the  cession  he  had  promised  to  his  uncle, 
laid  claim  to  all  lands  in  the  northern  counties  held  abso- 
lutely by  Scottish  subjects;  his  only  action  in  the  north 
being  to  bribe  some  of  Malcolm's  ministers,  by  whose 
advice  he  went  to  meet  Henry  at  Chester,  and  there,  with 
no  consultation  with  his  own  great  lords,  surrendered  all 
their  rights. 

Fergus,  with  many  others  of  these,  was  deeply  aggrieved ; 
nor  was  their  displeasure  lessened  when,  utterly  neglecting  his 
home  duties,  Malcolm  was  only  heard  of  as  dancing  attendance 
on  the  King  of  England,  with  a  puerile  desire  for  knighthood, 
which  the  King  dangled  before  him  but  delayed  to  give ;  till 
at  last  Malcolm  crowned  his  folly  by  passing  with  Henry  into 
France,  and  there  (that  nation  being  at  peace  with  the  Scots) 
fighting  under  the  banner  of  Henry,  who  then  contemptuously 

^  He  was  taken  by  FeTga8*8  orders  and  conveyed  to  the  dungeon  of  Rozbui^gh. 
— Chron,  Sax,  Con, ;  Hailes,  Annals,  i.  114. 

Somerled  kept  up  the  civil  war,  but  his  nephew  Donald,  one  of  Malcolm 
MacEth's  sons,  was  taken  prisoner  at  Whiteme  by  King  Malcolm's  friends, 
and  was  imprisoned  in  that  same  keep  of  Marchmont  with  his  father. — Fordun, 
Annals,  i. 


62  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY     [A.D.   II 24 

invested  him  with  the  honours  he  had  won  at  the  expense,  as 
it  proved,  nearly  of  his  crown.^ 

Living  in  a  fool's  paradise,  he  was  roused  from  his  day- 
dreams by  ominous  murmurs  at  last  re-echoing  from  Scotland, 
"  We  will  not  have  Henry  to  reign  over  us."  * 

Hurrying  back,  he  found  himself  all  but  too  late,  his  great 
lords  holding  aloof  from  him,  and  the  Galwegians  irrevocably 
committed  to  a  rising  in  favour  of  William,  great-grandson  of 
Ingibiorg. 

Some  mystery  hangs  over  the  state  of  affairs  at  this  crisis ; 
history  is  not  explicit  aa  to  whether  there  was  any  organised 
insurrection  in  Scotland  generally  in  favour  of  any  individual, 
and  more  especially  as  to  whether  William  himself  was  any  party 
to  it,  or  would  under  any  circumstances  have  accepted  the  position 
Fergus  seems  to  have  wished  to  thrust  upon  him. 

AU  that  we  know  historically  of  this  is  that  Malcolm,  having 
trysted  his  estates  to  meet  him  at  Perth,  they  not  only  failed  to 
appear,  but  six  out  of  seven  of  his  great  earls  closely  besieged 
him  there;  Wyntoun  hinting  that  the  "  Boy  of  Egremont"  was 
among  them,^  and  the  Orkneyan  Sagas  i*elating  as  notorious  that 
all  the  Scots  wished  to  make  him  king.^ 

Next  we  read  that  the  earls  failed  to  take  Malcolm  prisoner, 
and  that  the  clergy  intervening,  restored  them  to  their  allegiance. 
No  reason  is  given  for  the  collapse,  but  modern  research  has 

^  Henry  invested  him  with  the  honours  which  his  military  service  had 
merited  in  an  enterprise  undertaken  against  the  judgment  of  his  nohles. — Hailes, 
Annals f  i.  118. 

'  Nolumus  Anglorum  regem  Henricum  regnare  super  nos. — Fordun,  Annals, 

•  •  • 

111. 

'  A  mayster-man  cald  Fevetawche, 
With  Gyllandrys,  Ergemawche, 
And  other  mayster-men  there  fyve, 
Agayne  the  Eyng  that  ras  belywe 
For  cants  that  he  past  till  Iwlows." 

Wyntoun,  bk.  viL  c  7. 
Fevetawche  is  of  course  Ferquhar,  Earl  of  Stratheme,  but  it  required  Mr. 
Skene's  eagle  eye  to  detect  the  Boy  of  Egremont 

"  Wynton's  barbarous  name  Ergemawche  may  have  been  intended  for  Egre- 
mont*'— Celtic  Scotland,  L  472. 

*  ^*  WiUiam  Fitz-Duncan  was  a  good  man  ;  his  son  was  William  the  Koble, 
whom  all  the  Scots  wished  to  take  for  their  king. " 


to  II61]  FERGUS,  LORD   OF  GALLOWAY  63 

recovered  a  fact  which  goes  far  to  account  for  it.  "William 
the  Noble  "  died  at  this  very  conjuncture,  being  still  under  age. 
Providence  thus  removing  his  rival  (whether  William  was  such 
willingly  or  unwillingly)  from  Malcolm's  path. 

Fergus,  who  had  been  so  slow  to  rise,  now  alone  proved 
irreconcilable ;  and  the  great  moral  power  he  wielded,  and  his 
tactical  skill,  are  evidenced  by  the  fact  that,  although  immedi- 
ately invaded  by  the  whole  royal  forces, — ^backed  by  the  seven 
great  earls  of  the  kingdom, — he  discomfited  them  at  every  point, 
and  drove  them  with  great  loss  out  of  the  province.^ 

Again  a  greatly  superior  army  descended  upon  (Jalloway, 
which  Fergus,  unaided,  drove  back  ignominiously.  But  on 
learning  that  the  king  was  mustering  for  a  third  expedition, 
feeling  that  his  resources  were  inadequate  to  compete  with  those 
of  the  whole  kingdom,  he  made  his  submission,  in  accepting 
which  the  king  made  it  a  significant  condition  ''  that  he  should 
not  be  molested  on  retiring." « 

Almost  immediately  after,  Fergus,  resigning  his  lordship  to 
his  SOD,  entered  the  monastery  of  Holyrood  as  a  canon  regular. 

The  reasons  given  for  his  doing  so  are  somewhat  conflicting. 
One  version,  as  epitomised  by  Chalmers,  being  that  "  Malcolm 
obliged  him  to  retire  to  the  abbey  of  Holyrood  House,  where 
he  died  of  grief  and  disappointment  the  following  year."* 
The  other  that  Fergus  sent  his  son  Uchtred  os  a  hostage,  re- 
taining his  vice-royalty,*  but  that  his  life  being  embittered  by 
family  dissensions,  his  old  friend  Ailred  came  to  his  assistance, 
and  advised  him  to  withdraw  from  the  world  :  advice  which  he 
followed.^     He  certainly  died  as  a  monk  of  Holyrood  in  1161,  at 

^  Lord  Hailes  suggests  that  Fergus's  solitary  defection  was  an  advantage  to 
Malcolm.  "  The  insurrection  in  Galloway  at  this  critical  moment  enabled 
Malcolm  to  employ  his  factious  nobles,  and  to  concentrate  the  affections  of  his 
people  by  personal  valour.  Twice  he  invaded  Galloway,  and  was  twice  repulsed. 
— Hailes,  Annals,  i.  119. 

'  Rex  Malcolmus  duxit  ezercitum  in  Galweiam,  ter  et  ibidem  inimicis  suis 
devictis,  foBderattts  est  ifi  pace,  et  sine  damno  remeavit. — Chron.  S.  Cruets. 

*  CalecUmia,  ill  251,  and  ibid.  368.  *  Fordun,  Annals^  3. 

*  Descendens  in  Galwediam  Alredus  invenit  regulam  terne  illius  contra  filios 
suos  iratum  filios  in  patrem  sffivientes  et  in  se  invicem  fratres.  Alrccdus  patrem 
filiorom  habitum  religionis    suscipere  inflezit,  et  qui  multa  millia  hominum 


64       HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY   [A.D.   I  I  24-6 1 

a  great  age/  having  during  his  long  life  done  much  to  elevate 
the  tone  of  those  he  ruled,  and  leaving  his  native  province 
adorned  with  imperishable  monuments  of  his  beneficence  and 
taste. 

He  has  left  his  name  directly  on  "  Loch  Fergus,"  and  Drum- 
argus  (Fheargus)  Minigafif;  Ben  Ailsa  (ealasaidh),  which  over- 
looks it,  bearing  that  of  his  wife.  Knockeffrick,  near  one  of  his 
residences,  is  supposed  to  be  named  from  his  daughter,  the  Queen 
of  Man ;  and  an  outpost  he  held  beyond  the  Irvine  (in  his  days 
the  boundary  of  Galloway)  is  still  mapped  Fergushill. 

Besides  Affrica,  he  had  another  daughter,  Margaret,  married 
to  Alan,  son  of  Walter,  second  High  Steward  of  Scotland. 

vita  privaverat  vitse  participem  etemae  fieri  docent. — Capgravi,  Nova  Legendoy 
fol.  xii 

^  1161.      Obiit  Fergus,   Princeps  Galwais  quarto  Idus  mail.  —  Chron.  S, 
Cruds. 


I 

UCHTRED, 

murdered,  1174 


Roland, 
d,  1200 


Alan, 

d,  1234 

I 

Deryoroille, 

d.  1189 


John  Baliol, 
6.  1249  ;  klDg,  1292. 


FERGUS 

I 


Gilbert, 
d.  1184 


Duncan, 
aliye,  1244 

! 
I 

Neil, 
Earl  of  Carrick,  d.  1256 

I 
Marjorib, 

m.  Robert  Bruce,  son  of  the 

Competitor,  1271 

I 
Robert  I., 

grandson  of  Competitor,  h,  1274. 


CHAPTER  IV 

LORDS  OF  THE  LINE  OF  FERGUS 
A.D.  1161  to  1234 

Francia  Pepinis  —  Brabantia  milite  signi 
Anglia  Richardo  —  Galwidia  gaudet  Alano. 

Henry  de  Aublay. 
(A  Monk  of  Dundremiian.) 

Fergus  was  succeeded  by  his  eldest  son  Uchtred,  married  to ' 
Greynolda,  daughter  of  Waldeve,  Earl  of  Northumberland,  who 
brought  him  sundry  lands  in  Cumberland  as  her  dower. 

It  has  been  usual  to  designate  Uchtred  and  Gilbert  as  joint- 
heirs  of  Fergus/  but  examination  of  contemporary  writs  prove 
the  lordship  to  have  been  indivisible.  Gilbert's  claims  to 
equality  were  the  mere  mutterings  of  treason,  and  when  he  did 
get  the  better  of  his  brother,  it  was  to  rule  the  province  alone, 
not  to  share  its  government  with  him. 

For  at  least  fourteen  years  after  his  father's  retirement,  we 
find  Uchtred  making  grants  of  land,  and  solely  exercising 
sovereign  powers  at  every  point  of  the  compass  within  the 
province,  Gilbert's  consent  not  being  required,  nor  he  even  pre- 
tending that  it  was  so. 

^  Lord  Hailes  states  this  on  the  authority  of  Roger  de  Hoveden,  who  was 
deceived  by  the  petition  of  Gilbert  to  be  allowed,  jointly  wUh  his  brother,  to  do 
homage  to  the  English  king,  his  brother  having  been  murdered  with  his  con- 
nivance. Mackenzie  intensifies  the  mistake,  *' Fergus  was  succeeded  by  his 
sons  Uchtred  and  Gilbert,"  by  adding  *' between  whom,  according  to  the  ancient 
Celtic  law,  his  dominions  had  been  equally  divided  "  (i.  172).  Galloway  was  then 
not  ander  Celtic  but  under  feudal  law,  of  which  primogeniture  was  the  leading 
feature,  the  feudal  laws  having  been  introduced  by  Fergus  himself. 

VOL.  I  F 


66  HEREDITAKY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY     [A.D.   I161 

Thus,  firom  the  chartulaiy  of  Holyrood,^  we  find  him  con- 
firming to  that  abbey  lands  and  livings  given  by  his  father  in 
various  parts  of  Galloway,  adding,  as  his  own  gift,  the  church 
of  Colmonell. 

To  the  monks  of  Holmcultram,  across  the  Solway,  he 
granted  in  fee-farm  the  lands  of  Kirkgunzean.^ 

He  bestowed  "a  carucate  and  a  croft"  in  Troqueer  upon  the 
hospital  of  St  Peter's  at  York;'  and  (as  every  Galloway 
archaeologist  ought  to  be  aware  of)  **  he  conceded  in  perpetual 
alms  the  church  of  St.  Bride,  in  Eirkmaiden,"  with  "  a  caru- 
cate of  land,  and  all  its  rights  in  fisheries,  wood,  water,  and 
common  pasture,"  "  to  the  church  of  Holyrood  and  the  canons 
there  serving  God,"  for  the  safety  of  the  soul  of  King  David, 
his  son  Henry,  King  Malcolm,  "  and  my  father  Fergus."  * 

These  are  but  a  few  of  his  gifts. 

Further,  we  find  his  position  as  first  subject  in  the  province 
recognised  by  the  sovereign.  Malcolm  addresses  him  as  such  in 
a  letter  granting  protection  to  all  settlers  on  the  lands  of  Dunrod 
(which  Fergus  had  given  to  the  church  of  Holyrood),  with  full 
confirmation  of  Uchtred's  charters,  implying  his  right  to  grant 
them.*  And  Uchtred  himself,  in  attendance  upon  royal  progress- 
ions, led  the  king  near  his  marches. 

^  Munimenta  Sancta  Cruds. — Beg,  Male, 

Uchtredns,  filitis  Fergiui,  grants  "  Eccleaia  de  Calmaneli"  to  God  and  the 
Abbey  and  Convent  of  Holyrood.  Witnesses  —  Macmares  Judioe,  Gillecatfar 
Ck>]Iactaneo  Uchtredi  (foster-brother),  Gilliechrist  MacGillewinine  Mecthenel, 
Daniel  fil.  Erlemine. 

'  Roland  confirmed  his  father's  grant,  and  added  Saltcoats.— Dogdale's  Mon- 
astieon. 

'  Orants  hy  Scottish  Kings  and  Nobles  to  the  Hospital  of  St.  Peter  at  York — 
Troqueer  is  there  written  Creveqner.  Bain's  Calendar,  iL  422. — The  gift  is  in 
"  frank  almonie  for  the  soul  of  King  David,  Fergus  his  father,  his  mother,  and 
all  his  ancestors." 

*  This,  known  as  the  "  Logan  Charter/'  is  published  in  facsimile  in  the  Archae- 
ologuxU  Collections  of  Ayr  and  WigUwn  (vol.  iv.  p.  52).  Witnesses — Robert,  the 
Archdeacon ;  Salomon,  the  Dean ;  Malbec,  the  Dean ;  Helias,  clerk  to  the 
Bishop ;  Ingerannus,  chaplain  to  the  Bishop ;  Ralph,  priest  of  Lertune ;  Gille- 
charfar,  Gilliechrist,  MacGilliwinne  ;  Daniel,  son  of  Herlewine. 

^  Malcolmes  R.,  TJchtredo  filio  Fergus,  et  Gileberto  fratri  ejus,  et  Radulpho 
fiUo  Dunegal,  et  Duvenaldo  fratri  ejus,  universisque  aliis  probis  suis  hominibus 
totius  Galweie,  etc.  "Quam  Fergus  dedit  quam  etiam  Uchtredus  filius  qus 
sua  carta  oonfirmavit,  quorum  etiam  cartas  ego  ipse  carta  mea  confirmavL" 


to  1234]  LORDS   OF   THE   LINE   OF   FERGUS  67 

l^Ialcolm  having  died  in  1165,  we  find  Uchtred  immediately 
after  in  attendance  on  William  the  Lion^  and  witnessing  a 
Crown  charter  in  favour  of  Robert  de  Brus,  sealed  by  William  at 
Lochmaben,  and  addressed  "  to  all  good  men — ^French,  English, 
Scots,  and  Galwegians.*'  ^ 

The  names  we  thus  find  grouped  together  in  the  court  circle 
are  of  genealogical  interest 

Subscribing  first  after  the  bishop  is  Richard  de  Moreville, 
Constable  of  Scotland,  feudal  superior  of  the  whole  of  Cunning- 
hame,  owning  also  wide  tracts  of  forest  on  the  Gala  Water. 

His  daughter  Elena  had  married  Rolland,  Uchtred's  eldest 
son  (whose  signature  we  find  here  for  the  first  time),  and  who 
through  her  eventually  fell  heir  to  his  father-in-law's  offices  and 
estates.^ 

Next  to  the  Constable  signs  Alan,  High  Steward,  and  brother- 
in-law  to  Uchtred,  by  whose  sister  Margaret  he  had  a  fair-haired 
son  Simon,  ancestor  of  the  Earls  of  Kilmarnock ;  ^  Alan  himself 
being  the  progenitor  of  a  long  line  of  kings,  of  the  Dukes  of 
Lennox,  the  Earls  of  Angus,  Atholl,  Buchan,  and  Traquair,  Lords 
Blantyre,  and  (the  title  still  surviving  in  direct  descent)  the 
Earls  of  Galloway. 

William  de  Haia  was  the  common  ancestor  of  the  Earls  of 
Errol  and  Kinnoul,  and  the  Marquises  of  Tweeddale. 

Simon  Locard  held  lands  in  Kyle  under  Alan  the  Steward, 
and  names  the  parish  of  Symington  there,  as  also  another 
Symington  in  Lanark.    He  was  ancestor  of  the  Lockharts  of  Lee. 

^  Witnesses— Engelram,  Bishop  of  Glasgow ;  Christian,  Bishop  of  VHiithom  ; 
Richaid  de  Moreville,  Constable ;  Walter  Fitz-Alan,  dapifer ;  OdeneU  de  Um- 
franville  ;  Huctred,  son  of  Fergus ;  Gilebert,  son  of  Fergus ;  Gilebert,  son  of 
Richard  ;  Rolland,  son  of  Huctred ;  William  de  Hara ;  Simon  Locard ;  Robert 
de  Chartres,  etc.,  at  Locmaben. — National  MSS,  of  Scotland,  voL  L  No.  39. 

'  Hugh  Morvill,  under  David  I.,  became  Constable  of  Scotland,  and  acquired 
a  grant  of  Cunninghame.  Under  him  settled  as  vassals  many  from  England. 
The  progenitor  of  the  Londons  was  a  vassal  of  Morvill's,  the  Cunninghams  also, 
whose  name  was  locaL  The  numerous  family  of  the  Rosses  settled  here  in  a 
MimilAr  manner. — Caledonia^  ilL  457. 

>  By  Margaret,  daughter  of  Fergus,  Lord  of  Galloway,  Alan  had  three  sons 
Walter,  Adam,  and  Simon,  whose  son  is  allowed  to  be  ancestor  of  the  Boyds 
Earla  of  Kilmarnock. — Noble's  Genealogy  of  the  Stuarts,  5. 

Boyd  is  a  hardening  of  the  Celtic  Buidhe,  yellow  or  fair  (haired). 


68     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  I161 

Richard  de  Charteris  (oddly  often  latinised  De  Comoto)  ^  was 
of  Amesfield,  now  represented  in  the  female  line  by  the  Earls  of 
Wemyss. 

Before  Malcolm's  death  Uchtred  had  built  the  comparatively 
small  but  very  beautiful  abbey  of  lincluden,*  and  had  it  not 
been  for  intestine  feuds,  there  is  little  doubt  he  would  have 
followed  further  in  his  father's  footsteps  as  to  church-building. 

This  house,  in  the  first  instance  a  nunnery,  peopled  by  a 
sisterhood  from  Clugny  in  Marmoutier  in  France,  lay  in  a 
sequestered  dell  near  the  junction  of  the  Cluden  with  the  NitL 
Above  it  a  hillock,  artificially  scarped  as  a  mount  of  defence  in 
prehistoric  times,  served  monks  of  a  later  period  for  a  Calvary, 
still  attractive  from  its  fine  views ;  such  of  the  ruins  below  it 
as  are  of  the  original  erection  being  peculiarly  interesting  as 
specimens  of  the  architectural  transition  from  the  severer 
Norman  to  the  Gothic.  Early  English  as  yet  entirely  unde- 
veloped into  the  "  Decorated  "  of  the  two  following  centuries. 

From  his  father's  retreat  until  1174  Uchtred  kept  his 
court  at  the  Palace  Isle.  Kerroughtry,  believed  to  have  been 
a  strong  house  of  his  building,  may  probably  have  been  occupied 
by  his  son ;  and  Holland  Hill,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Cree, 
may  have  been  given  from  some  adventure  of  his  in  the  chase 
or  war.^ 

Church  records  give  us  a  glimpse  of  Galloway  life  of  the 
period  in  a  little  more  than  usual  of  details. 

Ailred,  the  Abbot  of  Rievaux,  appears  to  have  been  on  a 
visit  to  Uchtred  in  1164,  and  at  the  date  of  the  feast  of  St. 
Cuthbert,  the  20th  March,  a  great  gala  day  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  the  saint's  especial  mother  church. 

Services  having  been  celebrated  with  great  pomp,  a  penitent 

^  Sir  Robert  Charteris,  probably  grandson  of  the  above,  gave  to  the  monastery 
of  Kelso  the  patronages  of  the  churches  of  Traverflat  (now  Trailflat)  and  Dimeri.- 
noch,  in  the  shire  of  Dumfries,  in  which  he  is  designed  Robertus  de  Cornoto, 
miles. — Douglas's  Baronage^  i.  150. 

'  Lincluden  was  founded  in  the  reign  of  Malcolm  IV.  by  Uthred,  father  to 
Rolland,  Lord  of  Galloway.— Keith,  280. 

Cludan,  dim.  of  Clud  (Clyde),  Cledfein,  and  Cleddyfein — Sixth  century  barda. 

*  Reginald  of  Durham,  Surtees's  edition,  178. 


to  1234]  LORDS   OF   THE   LINE   OF   FERGUS  69 

was  "  miraculously  freed  from  an  iron  belt "  before  all  the  con- 
gregation ;  without  was  tethered  a  bull,  "  offered  in  oblation  to 
St  Cuthbert,"  by  which  we  understand  intended  as  a  provision 
for  his  votaries,  when  butcher  and  cooks  had  duly  performed 
their  offices. 

But  before  they  had  taken  him  in  hand,  Ailred,  on  leaving 
the  church,  was  greatly  scandalised  at  finding  a  party  of 
"  scologs  "  ^  most  unclerically  engaged  in  baiting  this  bull ;  he 
remonstrated  warmly,  when  one  of  them  "  mocked  the  saint," 
and  was  instantly  gored  by  the  bull. 

The  point  the  monkish  chronicler  seems  principally  intent 
in  making  is  that  the  animal  was  miraculously  impelled  to 
avenge  the  embryo  saint,*  and  instinctively  to  pick  out  the 
principal  offender ;  but  historically  it  is  of  greater  interest  to 
gather  from  the  tenor  of  the  relation  that  there  was  still  proper 
tranquillity  near  Uchtred's  headquarters,  and  that  the  gatherings 
were  for  menymaking  and  fun,  as  there  is  nothing  in  the  narra- 
tive inconsistent  with  the  belief  that  the  saucy  boy  was  more 
frightened  than  hurt 

Indeed  the  general  repose  of  the  province  seems  to  have 
remained  unbroken  until  1173.  In  this  year  the  Scottish  king 
most  unhappily  allowed  himself  to  be  bribed  by  a  promise  of 
the  Earldom  of  Northumberland  to  assist  a  rising  in  England 
against  Henry  II.  in  favour  of  his  own  son. 

The  summons  to  arms  went  forth,  and  being  responded  to 
enthusiastically  by  the  Galwegians,*  they  were  at  once  hurried 
across  the  borders,  and  masking  such  fortresses  as  Werk  and 

^  Scolog,  Lat.  8cholasticu8,  the  lowest  order  of  the  ecclcBiasticol  community  ; 
root,  9gol ;  Celtic,  ysgol,  a  school.  In  early  Colmnban  monasteries  the  Toiseach- 
na-Scolog  (chief  of  the  scologs)  was  an  office.  Scolog  in  Ireland,  scallag  in 
the  Western  Highlands,  is  now  applied  to  tacksmen,  small  crofters,  and  in  a 
contemptuons  sense. 

'  So  early  as  1250  Ailred  was  regarded  as  a  saint,  his  canonisation  foUowing 
his  death  unnsnally  quick.  For  the  legend  see  Reginald  of  Durham,  Surtees's 
edition,  p.  178. 

'  The  King  of  Scotland's  ''army  being  chiefly  composed  of  Gralwegians *' 
(Lord  Lyttelton,  Henry  IL,  book  iv.  vol.  v.  165),  "who  having  no  pay  but 
plunder  could  be  under  no  restraint"  (Ibid.  p.  175,  based  on  Abbas  Benedic 
and  Hoveden). 


70  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY     [A.D.   I  i6i 

Carlisle,  which  they  had  not  means  of  reducing,  they  were  let 
loose  on  the  unguarded  lands  beyond,  and  devastated  the  whole 
countryside  as  far  as  the  Humber. 

Eemorseless  forays  were  continued  uninterruptedly,  saving 
a  few  weeks'  time,  until  the  following  summer,  when,  riding 
in  the  early  morning  (13th  July  1174)  insufficiently  attended, 
William  the  lion  was  surprised  by  a  band  of  horse  under 
Barnard  Baliol,  and  hurried  off  ignominiously  into  captivity. 

Dire  was  the  confusion  in  the  Scottish  camp  as  the  maraud- 
ing bands  dropped  in  one  by  one  with  their  ill-gotten  booty, 
their  rage  and  resentment  venting  itself  perversely  in  murderous 
assaults  on  Anglo-Norman  gentlemen  in  their  own  ranks,  on 
the  pretext  of  their  afiGLnity  to  the  captors  of  their  king. 

Gilbert — whose  name,  be  it  noted,  never  appears  before,  except 
as  an  occasional  witness  in  his  brother's  suite — was  not  slow  to 
turn  the  momentary  madness  to  account,^  and  denouncing  his 
brother  as  a  favourer  of  foreigners,  roused  race  jealousies  to  such 
purpose  that  Uchtred  had  to  fly  from  the  camp,  and  was  after- 
wards driven  from  his  home  ;  and,  wandering  as  a  fugitive,  was 
finally  tracked  to  a  cave  on  the  Leswalt  shores,  dragged  out,  and 
murdered  with  circumstances  of  revolting  barbarity,  Gilbert 
inaugurating  his  succession  by  a  general  massacre  of  Anglo- 
Normans.2 

This  savage  exultation,  however,  was  succeeded  by  some 
alarm  lest  William  the  Lion  should  be  released  and  call  him  to 
account ;  ^  and,  anxious  to  secure  support,  he  sent  ambassadors 
craftily,  in  the  joint  names  of  his  brother  and  himself,  ofiering 

^  Just  after  the  king's  capture,  the  Galwegians,  led  by  Gilbert,  treacherously 
made  a  conspiracy,  separating  themselves  from  Scotland. — Fordun,  Annals,  14. 

'  Abscissis  testiculis  et  oculis  evulsis. — Benedic.  Abbas,  92. 

Ochtred,  who  was  a  true  Scot  and  could  not  be  shaken,  was  taken  prisoner 
by  his  brother  Gilbert  on  the  22d  September,  given  over  unto  bonds,  and  at 
length  his  tongue  was  cut  off,  his  eyes  torn  out,  and  he  was  ruthlessly  murdered. 
— Fordun,  Amials,  14. 

Lord  Hailes  says:  ''Gilbert,  by  the  ministry  of  his  son  Malcolm,  cruelly 
murderad  Uchtred." — Annals,  i.  142. 

'  William  of  Newburgh,  216.  "After  William's  captivity  the  natives  of 
Galloway  murdered  many  subjects  of  Scotland  who  were  settled  in  their  territory, 
and  expelled  the  king's  officers." — Hailes,  Annals,  L  14. 


_  J 


to  1234]  LOBDS   OF   THE   LINE   OF  FERGUS  7X 

to  transfer  their  allegiance  to  England,  trusting  to  be  able  to 
give  his  own  colour  to  the  circumstances  of  his  brother's  death. 
Henry  11.  desired  nothing  better ;  and,  pleased  at  the  idea  that 
consanguinity  should  so  readily  aid  in  the  extension  of  his 
influence,  he  sent  Roger  Hoveden  and  Robert  de  Val  forthwith 
to  accept  the  homage  of  the  two  brothers,^  and  to  assure  XJchtred 
of  his  cousinly  regard. 

On  arriving,  however,  the  envoys  found  but  one  to  treat  with ; 
and  however  Gilbert  may  have  prevaricated  as  to  the  cause, 
the  true  story  leaked  out  in  all  its  ghastly  details,  and  they  left, 
refusing  to  have  any  dealings  with  "  the  murderer  of  the  king's 
cousin.  ^ 

Gilbert,  unabashed,  renewed  negotiations,  offering  to  pay  a 
price  of  2000  marks  of  silver,  a  tribute  in  money,  as  well  as  of 
500  cows  and  500  swine  in  kind.  This  Henry  could  not  so  soon, 
with  any  decency,  accept;  the  more  especially  as  he,  having  given 
William  his  liberty,  but  as  his  vassal,  and  thus  all  Scotland  being 
practically  at  his  feet,  preferred  to  allow  the  Scottish  king  to  be 
the  avenger  of  his  kinsman,  and  so  let  matters  drift. 

William,  as  he  had  expected,  instantly  invaded  Galloway, 
but  soon  found  that  Gilbert  was  too  strong  for  him,  and  was 
fain  to  accept  a  moderate  fine  and  a  nominal  submission,  with  a 
further  promise  to  submit  himself  to  Henry  II.  also. 

The  next  year,  consequently,  Gilbert  accompanying  his  own 
king  to  York,  both  did  homage  to  the  English  king  as  suzerain, 
Gilbert's  delinquency  being  condoned  for  a  fine  of  £1000,* 

'  Ut  allicerent  eos  ad  servitium  suam. — Benedict.  Abbas. 

*  Consangaineam  Henrici  Regis. — Ibid, 

Henry,  being  infonned  of  the  murder  of  his  kinsman,  .  .  .  knowing  too 
that  the  Galwegians  had  murdered  many  English  and  Normans  whom  they  found  in 
the  country,  refused  to  make  any  treaty  with  them. — Lord  Lyttleton,  Henry  II,, 
bk.  iv.  vol.  V.  287. 

'  Henry  made  little  by  this  dishonourable  transaction.  He  had  the  power  of 
punishing  Gilbert,  but  was  put  off  by  the  promise  of  the  gold.  We  find  that  in 
1179  Gilbert,  son  of  Fergus,  accounts  for  £1000  for  ''having  the  king's  benevo* 
lence."  One  payment  into  the  Exchequer  "camera  curie"  of  £80  :  lis.  by  the 
hands  of  Robert  de  Yallebus  is  noted.  He  further  reduced  it  by  the  merest  trifles, 
as  at  his  death  in  1184  £917 :  19s.  remained  unpaid. — Bain's  CcUendarSf  i.  28,  24. 

**  Gilbart,  son  of  Fergus,  charged  £917 :  19s.  for  the  king's  good-will."— Madoz, 
^Eeheqtier,  u  437. 


72  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY     [A.D.   I  i6i 

he  also  giving  up  his  son  Duncan  as  a  hostage  for  his  good 
behaviour. 

Gilbert's  rule,  based  on  the  murder  of  his  brother  and  all  of 
Anglo-Norman  proclivities,  was  ruinous  to  the  province,  and  a 
curse  to  the  shires  bordering  on  it.  A  tyrant  at  home, ''  at  odds 
with  his  neighbours,"  perpetually  engaged  in  raids  conducted 
with  fiendish  slaughter,  it  was  a  general  relief  when  '*thai 
lover  and  wager  of  civil  war  I'  as  Fordun  terms  him,  through  the 
kindness  of  Providence,  was  removed  from  the  scenes  of  his 
crime  in  1185.^ 

Boland  now  appeared  upon  the  scene,  and,  backed  by  his 
father's  friends,  asserted  his  lordship.  A  certain  "  Gilpatrick 
and  Henry  Kennedy  and  Samuel "  rose  in  support  of  Duncan's 
claims  (Gilbert's  son,  a  hostage  in  England) ;  but  in  a  battle, 
"  sare,  scharpe,  and  snell,^  fought  on  "  Thursday,  the  14th  of 
July,"  were  utterly  defeated,  and  themselves  slain.  He  next 
turned  upon  a  robber  chief,  Gilcolm,  who  had  wrested  a  part  of 
the  province,  from  Gilbert,  conquered,  and  slew  him,^  thus  con- 
stituting himself  (and  with  the  king's  good  will)  sole  lord  of 
Galloway. 

But  now  the  difficulties  attendant  on  the  strange  state  of 
double  allegiance  owed  by  Scottish  magnates  began  to  develop. 

Henry  II.  had  not  been  consulted,  and  was  furious  at 
Eoland's  success.  Under  pretext  that  he  was  honourably  bound 
to  defend  Duncan's  rights,  he  ordered  Boland  to  quit  the  field ; 
and  he,  naturally  refusing  to  relinquish  the  advantages  he  had 
just  gained,  refused,  on  which  Henry,  assembling  a  mighty 
army,  advanced  to  the  Borders.  Boland  fortified  his  passes,  but, 
by  William's  mediation,  procuring  a  safe  conduct,  he  presented 
himself  before  the  angry  potentate  at  Carlisle.  Here,  his  own 
king  becoming  answerable  for  him  that  he  would  submit  to 
Henry's  judgment,  it  was  finally  arranged  that  Boland  should 
retain  all  Galloway  in  its  ancient  boundaries  up  to  the  Deil's 
Dyke,  giving  up  Carrick  to  Duncan.* 

^  Fordun,  Annals^  17.  ^  Wyntoun,  bk.  viL  c.  8,  I.  1980. 

*  Hailes,  AnndU,  i.  142.  ^  IhicL  ;  and  Fordun,  AnncUs,  18. 


to  1234]  LORDS   OF   THE   LINE   OF  FERGUS  73 

Duncan  proved  an  amiable  and  able  man ;  the  treaty  was 
honourably  observed  by  both  parties;  friendly  relations  were 
ever  after  maintained  between  the  two  cousins;  and  Boland 
himself  rose  almost  as  high  in  favour  with  Henry  II.  as  with  his 
own  king. 

In  the  year  1187  there  was  a  rising  in  the  north  in  favour 
of  Donald  Bane,  calling  himself  also  MacWilliam,  as  claiming 
to  be  a  son  of  William,  son  of  Duncan.  This  was  almost  certainly 
an  imposture,  as  the  said  William  had  no  legitimate  son  but  the 
Boy  of  Egremont,  long  since  deceased ;  and  King  William  would 
hardly  have  tnisted  a  Galloway  force  alone  to  oppose  even  an 
illegitimate  son  of  their  favourite  chief. 

Boland  was  sent  to  encounter  him,  and  falling  in  with  the 
rebels  on  the  moor  of  Mongarvey,  near  Inverness,  entirely  dis- 
persed them,  and  slew  Donald.^ 

He  was  now  in  such  high  repute  as  a  commander  that  we 
find  him  summoned  by  the  King  of  England  to  quell  an  insur- 
rection on  the  west  marches.  It  was  probably  in  reward  of 
his  services  there  that  Henry  II.  bestowed  upon  him  the  large 
estates  in  Northamptonshire  and  Leicester  which  we  know  him 
to  have  enjoyed.* 

Having  now  more  leisure,  and  his  affairs  prospering,  in  1190 
we  find  him  founding  the  Abbey  of  Glenluce,  peopling  it  with 
Cistercians  from  Melrose.  The  building  in  its  day  must  have 
been  both  beautiful  and  imposing ;  its  ruins  cover  a  full  acre 
of  ground,  and  the  few  arches  of  white  freestone  yet  remaining 
are  artistically  sculptured  in  quaint  designs.  Attached  to  it 
was  a  garden  more  than  fifteen  acres  in  extent,  the  names  still 
mapped  upon  its  site  being  Auchenmanister  and  Balmesh — ^the 
"  field  "  and  "  orchard  "  of  the  monastery.^ 

On  the  death  of  Bichard  de  Moreville  in  1196,  Boland,  in 
right  of  his  wife,  succeeded  him  as  Constable  of  Scotland,  inherit- 

^  Chrcn,  Melrote ;  Hailen,  AnnalSf  i.  144. 

^  1186.  Paid  to  the  army  of  Galloway  at  Chester,  £119  :  10 : 7  (a  very  large 
sum  in  those  days). — Exeheqtier  HoUs. 

*  In  early  charters  always  written  Glenlns  ;  Ins,  a  herb,  plant,  or  leek.  Bal- 
mesh, Baile-meas,  the  townland  of  the  fruit. 


74  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY     [a.D.   I  1 6 1 

ing  also  his  vast  estates,  for  which  he  paid  to  the  Crown,  as  a 
relief,  700  marks. 

A  grant  of  a  salt- work  to  the  monks  of  Kelso  proves  Loch 
Kendelach  to  have  been  still  the  name  of  the  parish  of  New 
Abbey,^  and  the  Viponts  (Veteriponti),  who  had  feudal  holdings 
under  him,  near  Whithorn,  seem  to  have  left  their  name  trans- 
lated in  Auldbrick.^ 

In  1199  Boland,  as  High  Constable  of  Scotland,  accompanied 
King  William  to  Lincoln,  who  there  did  homage  to  Bling  John, 
who  had  just  succeeded,  for  his  earldom  of  Huntingdon.  A  few 
weeks  afterwards  he  died,  apparently  in  his  English  domain,  he 
being  buried  in  the  church  of  St.  Andrew  at  Northampton.  His 
reputation  stands  high  as  a  statesman  and  a  military  com- 
mander, and  in  his  native  province  he  was  esteemed  a  king,  and 
such,  indeed,  he  is  styled  by  contemporary  chroniclers.^  He  left 
Alan,  his  heir ;  Thomas,  who  in  right  of  Isabel  his  wife  became 
Earl  of  Athol;  and  a  daughter,  Ada,  married  to  Sir  Walter 
Bisset 

The  prestige  of  Alan  even  exceeded  that  of  his  father  and 
grandfather,  he  13  styled  by  Chalmers  "one  of  the  greatest 
nobles  of  his  age,"  and  by  Buchanan,  "by  far  the  most 
powerful  of  Scotsmen."  *  In  Scotland  he  was  the  highest  court 
official ;  south  of  the  border  he  was  recognised  as  one  of  the 
guardians  of  the  British  Constitution;  in  Galloway  he  was 
supreme ;  and  his  dealings  with  both  the  sovereigns,  to  whom  he 
owed  fealty,  were  rather  those  of  an  ally  than  of  a  subject ; 
more  especially  in  the  case  of  the  unpopular  King  John,  who 
set  great  store  on  his  support;  whilst  in  1209  his  marriage 
with  Margaret,  daughter  of  the  Earl  of  Huntingdon,  the  king's 
brother,  brought  him  iato  the  most  intimate  social  as  well  as 
official  relations  with  William  the  Lion.* 

^  OharU  KeUo,  258.     Grant  by  Roland  of  Galloway  of  a  salt- work. 

*  Roland  confirms  the  grant  by  Ivo  de  Veteriponti  of  the  church  of  Great 
Sorby. — Chart,  Dryburgh. 

^  1199,  KaL  January.  Rollant,  MacUchtraigh-ri-gallgaidhel,  in  pace,  qui 
»vit. — Annals  of  Ulster. 

^  Scotorum  longe  potentissimus. 

'^  Margaret's  sister,  Isabella,  married  Robert  de  Brus. 


to  1234]  LORDS   OP   THE   LINE   OF   FERGUS  75 

On  Candlemas  Day  1212,  he  was  present  at  Durham  at  a 
meeting  between  the  English  and  Scottish  kings,  at  which  the 
delicate  matter  of  the  latter  doing  homage  for  his  English  estates 
was  compromised  by  arranging  they  should  be  vested  in  Prince 
Alexander,  and  that  he  should  do  the  homage  to  King  John.^ 

Alan  afterwards  accompanied  the  king  to  Norham,  where, 
in  presence  of  the  ministers  of  both  sovereigns,  his  seal  as  High 
Constable  was  attached  to  deeds  professing  to  secure  "  peace  and 
love  "  between  England  and  Scotland  for  ever ;  *  and  "  by  leave 
and  license  of  his  royal  master"  Alan  did  homage  for  himself^ 
for  large  possessions  which  the  English  king  further  heaped 
on  this  Galloway  magnate.  King  John  had  previously  granted 
him  many  lands  in  Ireland  for  services  in  1207,  when  he  had 
assisted  him  with  an  army  and  a  fleet;  and  five  years  later 
he  bestowed  upon  him  in  fee  the  whole  of  Dalriada,^  consisting 
of  one  hundred  and  forty  knights'  fees,  of  which  his  brother 
Thomas,  Earl  of  Athol,  took  seizure  forthwith. 

Alan  succeeded  in  resuscitating  the  buccaneering  tastes  of 
the  Galwegians,  which  had  slumbered  since  the  departure  of 
the  Vikings ;  his  fleets,  under  his  brother  Thomas,  becoming  the 
terror  of  the  whole  countryside,  from  Bangor  to  Irmishowan.^ 
And  although  his  ships  and  men  in  great  force  were  thus 
engaged  plundering  the  Irish,  he  was  able  to  raise  a  second 
army  to  support  King  John  on  the  Welsh  marches.  He  had 
previously  sent  twenty  men-at-arms  with  their  attendants,  but 
these  proved  insufficient,  as  the  following  letter  shows  : 

^  Fordnn,  AnndU^  26. 

'  EalendaTB  in  Record  Office. 

'  "Alan,  Lord  of  Galloway,  Constable  of  Scotland,  did  homage  to  John,  King 
of  England,  by  his  lord's  will  and  leave,  for  some  broad  lands  which  the  latter 
bestowed  upon  him." — Fordnn,  Annals,  27. 

*  Dalriada,  Riada's  portion  or  tribe,  that  part  of  Antrim  extending  from  the 
Ravel  Water  northwards.  Riada,  cormpted  in  Latin  to  Rata,  was  anglified  *'  the 
route." 

^  1212.  Thomas  (grand)8on  of  Uchtred,  came  to  DerryColumdlle  with'seventy- 
slx  ships ;  the  town  was  spoiled  by  them  very  mnch,  and  Inisowen  altogether 
was  spoiled  by  them. 

1218.  Thomas,  son  of  Uchtred,  and  Roderick,  son  of  Ronald  (of  the  Isles), 
plnndered  Deny  altogether,  and  carried  away  the  goods  of  the  men  of  Deny  and 
the  north  of  Erin  ont  of  the  temple  and  the  monastery. — Anndla  of  Ulster, 


76  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY     [A.D.   II6i 

"The  king  to  his  faithful  cousin  Alan  de  Galweia,  and 
requests  him  for  the  great  business  regarding  which  he  lately 
asked  him,  and,  as  he  loves  him,  to  send  1000  of  his  best  and 
most  active  Galwegians  so  as  to  be  at  Chester  on  Sunday  next 
after  the  Assumption  of  the  Blessed  Virgin ;  Alan  to  place  over 
them  a  constable  who  knows  how  to  keep  peace  in  the  king's 
army,  and  to  harass  the  enemy.     The  king  will  provide  their 

pay." 

Thither,  accordingly,  Alan  led  his  men  in  person,  and  so 
efficiently  handled  them  that  a  month  later  we  find  an  entry 
in  the  Exchequer  of  a  largesse  given  in  excess  of  the  stipulated 
pay.^  "At  Nottingham,  16th  August  1212,  To  Alan  of  Gallo- 
way, by  way  of  gift,  500  merks,  to  pay  his  squires,  who  had 
come  with  him  to  the  king's  service  in  the  army  of  Wales." 

Notwithstanding  John's  blandishments,  however,  three  years 
later  Alan  sided  with  the  English  lords,  who  at  the  point  of 
the  sword  demanded  attention  to  their  complaints.  He  appears 
to  have  joined  his  fellow  barons,  of  whom  Saier  de  Quinci  was  a 
leading  spirit,  in  the  spring  of  1215,  their  first  overt  act  of 
rebellion  being  the  siege  of  Northampton,  near  which  Alan 
owned  many  manors.  He  advanceed  in  their  company  to 
London,  and  was  with  them  on  the  memorable  15th  of  June 
1215  at  Eunnymede,  where  the  signing  of  Magna  Charta^ 
verified  their  success  and  John's  discomfitura  Entries  both 
before  and  after  that  date  in  the  English  kalendars  throw  a 
curious  light  on  the  dealings  of  King  John  with  this  great 
Galloway  lord  of  double  allegiance.     Early  in  1215  Alan  not 

^  8th  July  1212.  558.  allowed  for  expenses  of  twenty  horsemen  sent  from 
Galloway. 

15th  July.     Ralf  de  Cambray  going  to  Alan  of  Galloway  with  a  letter. 

At  Nottingham,  16th  August  1212.  To  Alan  of  Galloway,  by  way  of  gift, 
500  merks. — Kcdevdars,  Record  Office. 

1211.  Alan  paid  600  merks  and  6  palfreys  for  recognition  of  his  mother's 
right  to  Whissendine  and  other  lands. 

^  Alan  had  the  honour  of  being  one  of  the  illustrious  barons  to  whom  the 
great  charter  of  King  John  was  addressed.  He  was  one  of  the  Magnates  Scotiae 
who  witnessed  the  marriage  of  Alexander  II.  with  Joanna  (John's  daughter).  He 
was  the  witness  of  many  charters  of  William  and  Alexander  II.,  as  his  rank  and 
office  led  him  to  be  much  at  court. — Caledonia^  iii.  257. 


to  1234]    LORDS  OF  THE  LINE  OF  FERGUS         77 

only  detained  an  English  ship  at  Kirkcudbright,  but  sent  it  to 
Dublin,  there  to  be  laden  with  merchandise  for  himself.  Yet 
on  the  2d  of  April,  when  Alan  was  then  actually  in  the  field 
against  him,  King  John  signed  a  mandate  to  the  Justicier  of 
Ireland  ordering  ''  him  to  permit  Alan  to  traffic,  to  allow  the 
very  ship  he  had  seized  to  go  back  to  Kirkcudbright  The 
case  to  stand  over  for  the  king^s  investigation."  ^ 

On  the  5th  of  May  the  king  signed  orders  for  the  payment 
of  330  merks  respectively  to  Alexander  of  Galloway  and  Thomas 
Galloway,  Earl  of  Athol.  Only  a  fortnight  before  the  king's 
capitulation  at  Bunnymede,  Alan  sends  a  present  of  ''a  fine 
hound  to  the  king,"  receiving  from  his  majesty  in  return  "  two 
geese '' — the  latter  reading  almost  like  a  joke.  And  just  a  fort- 
night after  that  event  John  makes  further  grants  of  Irish  lands 
to  Alan,  and  signs  his  brother  Thomas's  commission  as  Keeper 
of  the  Castle  of  Antrim.^ 

The  previous  December  William  the  Lion  had  died,  and 
the  first  Parliament  of  Alexander  II.  (his  successor,  a  youth 
of  seventeen)  was  held  in  Edinburgh  the  same  year,  in  which 
the  Constableship  of  Scotland  was  ratified  to  Alan.  King 
John  died  l7th  October  1216,  and  so  great  was  the  influence  of 
Alan  supposed  to  be  by  the  English  Council,  that  they  addressed 
a  letter  to  him  in  the  name  of  the  boy  king,  Henry  III., 
entreating  that "  his  councils  may  be  used  in  the  interests  of 
peace,  and  for  the  restoration  to  the  English  of  the  Castle  of 
Carlisle."  Alan  seems  to  have  complied  with  both  requests, 
as  an  order  was  made  forthwith  for  the  delivery  of  the  castle, 
with  all  English  prisoners  therein,  to  Bichard  de  Vetereponte. 
After  this,  Alan  delaying  an  unreasonable  time  to  do  homage 
for  his  English  and  Irish  estates,  a  threat  of  forfeiture  was  made 

^  The  king  commands  the  Archbishop  of  Dublin,  Justicier  of  Ireland,  to 
aUow  the  men  of  Alan  of  GaUowaj  to  come  to  Dublin,  and  to  return  with  the 
ship  that  Alan  took  at  Kirkcudbright,  and  aUow  Alan  to  have  his  merchandise 
in  the  said  ship,  tiU  the  owner  of  the  vessel  shaU  come  over  to  speak  to  the 
king.    At  Lichfield,  2d  April  1215. — Kalendars,  Record  Office. 

'  Grant  of  lands  to  Alan  from  Winchester,  27th  June. 

To  Thomas  of  GaUoway,  Keeper  of  the  Castle  of  Antrim,  30th  June  1215. — 
Kalendars,  Record  Office. 


78     HEREDITAKT  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [a.D.  116i 

in  Eliiig  Henry's  name,  which  occasioned  a  Tolnminons  cone- 
spondence;  and  in  1218  a  safe-condnct  was  offered  him  for 
the  parpose,  but  of  this  he  n^lected  to  avail  himself;  and 
even  nnder  farther  pressorey  only  made  his  sabmisdon  in  writ- 
ing. With  eren  this,  however,  the  En^ish  Council  appear  to 
have  been  satisfied,  writing :  **  The  king  takes  into  consideration 
that  Alan  of  Galloway  is  at  a  distance,  and  nnable,  without  great 
trouble  and  expense,  to  come  and  do  homage  to  the  king,  and 
he  gives  orders  accordingly/' 

The  following  letter  also  passed  as  to  Us  Irish  holdings : 
'^Alan,  son  of  Boland,  Constable  of  Scotland,  to  the  king. — 
He  believes  that  the  king  is  not  ignorant  that  he  and   his 

brother  are  his  relatives  in  the  line  of  consanguinity 

For  the  goods  and  lands  conferred  on  them  by  the  king's 
father,  they  embrace  him  with  warm  affection.  Seeing,  how- 
ever, that  they  have  had  little  use  of  the  lands  granted  them 
in  Ireland,  he  sends  messengers  to  speak  to  the  king  on 
the  writer's  behalf,  who  is  ever  ready  to  go  by  sea  and  land 
on  his  service."  To  which  Henry  IIL,  dating  from  West- 
minster 18th  April  1220,  replies :  "  Harriz  of  Galloway,  clerk, 
having  come  to  the  king  and  council,  seeking  in  Alan's 
behalf  restoration  of  his  lands,  and  assuring  them  of  his 
devotion  to  the  king,  the  king  has  ordered  that  his  lands  in 
Ireland  shall  be  restored.  The  king  is  to  meet  Alexander,  King 
of  Scotland,  at  York  to  discuss  matters  relating  to  their  kingdoms, 
and  he  invites  Alan  to  come  there  and  do  homage  for  his  lands 
in  England."  ^ 

Alan  was  present  at  York  at  this  meeting  of  the  two 
sovereigns,  and  accordingly  shortly  after  assisted  at  the 
marriage  of  King  Henry's  sister  with  the  Scottish  king,  signing 
as  a  witness  to  the  settlements,  by  which  the  young  queen's 
jointure  of  £1000  a  year  was  secured  over  the  lands  of  "  Jedd- 

^  The  letter  furtber  adds :  **  The  Jncticier  of  Ireland  is  also  ordered  to  allow 
Thomas  de  Galweia  to  hold  the  lands  given  him  by  King  John  in  peace." — 
KcUendarSj  Record  Office. 

Thomas  was  now  recognised  as  fifth  Earl  of  Athol  in  right  of  his  wife  Isabel, 
daughter  of  Alan,  fourth  and  last  Earl  of  Athol  of  that  line. 


to  1234]  LORDS  OP   THE   LINE   OP   FERGUS  79 

worth,  Kyngor,  and  Carel."^  Alau  becoming  a  second  time 
a  widower,  crossed  the  Irish  Channel  as  a  wooer,  and  married 
a  daughter  of  Hugh  de  Lacy,  Lord  of  Ulster.  In  returning, 
his  gay  flotilla  was  overtaken  by  a  storm,  many  of  his  vessels 
being  lost,  he  and  his  young  wife  with  diflBculty  effecting  a  land- 
ing in  a  creek,  believed  to  have  been  that  about  a  mile  west- 
ward of  Cruggleton  Castle,  which  bears  the  name  Port  Alan,^ 

On  the  26th  October  1229  a  mandate,  dated  from  London, 
peremptorily  orders  Alan  to  appear  there  personally  "  on  Palm 
Sunday  next,  with  horses  and  arms,  prepared  to  go  abroad  with 
the  king.*'  Whether  this  order  was  a  matter  of  form  or  not,  it 
was  not  obeyed;  we  find  him  otherwise  engaged  at  that  time. 

For  some  years  he  had  been  actively  intervening  in  disputes 
between  two  brothers,  his  distant  relatives,  Beginald  and  Olave, 
for  the  sovereignty  of  Man. 

Eeginald  having  been  worsted,  passed  in  the  winter  of  1224 
to  Alan's  court,  taking  a  daughter  with  him,  who  there  won  the 
heart  of  Thomas,  Alan's  illegitimate  son,  who  married  her,  and 
induced  his  father  to  support  Eeginald.  A  pitiless  war,  its  area 
extending  from  the  Hebrides  to  Anglesea,  dragged  its  desolat- 
ing course  for  years.  Its  results  in  Man  are  thus  described  in 
the  chronicles  of  the  island :  "  In  1228  Alan  Lord  of  Galloway, 
Thomas  Earl  of  Athol  his  brother,  and  King  Beginald,  came 
into  Man  with  a  great  army,  and  wasted  all  the  south  of  the 
island,  and  spoiled  the  churches,  and  put  all  the  people  they 
could  meet  with  to  the  sword  .  .  .  After  this  Alan  returned 
with  his  army,  leaving  his  bailiffs  in  Man  to  collect  the  tribute 
of  the  country.  .  .  .  King  Olave,  coming  on  them  unawares,  put 
them  to  flight  and  recovered  his  kingdom.  But  the  same  year 
King  Beginald  came  by  surprise  in  the  dead  of  night  with  five 
ships  from  Galloway,  and  burned  all  the  ships  that  belonged 
to  his  brother  Olave."  ^    Being  thus  worsted,  Olave  appealed  to 

^  Rymer's  Fcedera.  Jeddworth  (Jedburgh),  Kyngor  (Einghom),  Carol  (Crail). 

'  1228.  This  yeare  Allane,  Earl  of  Galloway,  went  to  Ireland,  and  tbar 
married  the  daughter  of  Henry  de  Lacy,  and  in  his  retume  had  many  of  servanda 
drowned,  himself  and  his  ladey  verey  narrowly  escaping. — Balfour,  i.  46. 

'  ChronieUs  of  Alan, 


80  SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY     [A.D.   I161-1234 

Haco,  King  of  Norway,  who,  styling  himself  Lord  Paramount  of 
the  Western  Isles,  sent  a  message  to  Alan,  desiring  him  at  his 
peril  not  further  to  molest  Olave.  To  this  Alan  with  becoming 
spirit  responded  that  the  voyage  from  Galloway  to  Norway 
was  quite  as  easy  as  that  from  Norway  to  Galloway,  and  if 
Haco  felt  inclined  to  try  issues  he  should  see  whether  Gal- 
wegians  could  not  find  their  way  as  easily  through  the  Qords 
of  Norway  as  his  Norwegians  among  the  creeks  of  the  Solway. 

If  an  Icelandic  legend  may  be  believed,  this  proved  no  idle 
boast.  It  relates  that  Haco  furnished  Olave  with  an  army  and 
a  fleet  of  80  ships,  which,  having  desolated  the  Hebrides, 
Cantyre,  and  Bute,  were  sailing  merrily  southward,  when  they 
learned  that  150  ships  of  the  Lord  of  Galloway  were  lying  in 
ambush  for  them  inside  the  Mull ;  on  hearing  which,  they  put 
about  without  attempting  a  landing  in  Galloway,  and  entirely 
gave  up  their  purpose  of  going  to  the  Isle  of  Man.^ 

In  1234  the  great  Alan  died ;  he  was  buried  in  the  Abbey 
of  Dundrennan,  where  his  tomb  is  still  preserved  He  left  no 
legitimate  son ;  the  Lordship  of  Galloway  by  feudal  law  passing 
jointly  to  his  daughters,  and  the  Constableship  of  Scotland  to 
the  husband  of  the  eldest 

These  ladies  were  all  married  to  Anglo-Norman  barons,holders 
of  English  fiefs ;  the  eldest,  Helena,  to  Boger  de  Quenci,  Earl  of 
Winchester;  the  second  (the  elder  by  his  second  marriage),  Der- 
vorgiUe,  to  John  Baliol  of  Barnard  Castle ;  the  third.  Christian,  to 
William  de  Fortibus,  Earl  of  Albemarle.  To  anticipate  a  few  years, 
we  may  mention  that  Christian  dying  in  1246  without  issue, 
her  Galloway  inheritance  was  shared  by  the  surviving  sisters. 

The  prestige  of  these  joint  Lords  of  Galloway  necessarily 
fell  below  that  of  their  father  and  grandfather ;  Alan  being  the 
last  of  those  rulers  of  Galloway  who  in  contemporary  records 
are  chronicled  as  kings.^ 

^  The  "  Black  King  of  Man."    A  legend,  translated  from  the  Icelandic,  p.  16. 

Alan,  Lord  of  (Calloway,  is  said  to  have  driven  Olave,  King  of  Man,  from  his 
dominions,  having  collected  for  that  purpose  150  vessels  at  the  Rhynns  of 
Galloway. — Macpherson,  Ann,  of  Commerce^  i.  S87. 

3  1234.  Eal.  Jan.  Ailin  MacUchtraigh  Ri  Galgaidhel  mortuus  est. — Annals 
fo  UlsUr, 


CHAPTER  V 


ALAN*S   HEIRS  TO  THE  BRUCIAN   SETTLEMENT 


A.D.  1234  to  1360 

Bot  in  Earryk  John  Keunedy 
Warrayid  Gallwey  sturdely 
He  and  Alane  Stewart  tha  twa 
Oft  dyd  Galluays  mekill  wa 
Yhit  the  BallioU  all  that  qwhill 
In  Gallwa  wes  at  the  Brynt-yle.^ 

Wyntoun,  bk.  3,  c.  xl. 

Female  succession  was  opposed  to  Celtic  customs,  and  this, 
aggravated,  as  in  the  case  of  Alan's  daughters,  by  the  passing 
of  the  province  to  three  alien  overlords,  occasioned  a  strain  on 
the  loyalty  of  its  inhabitants  which  it  could  hardly  bear.  The 
Galloway  Picts  entreated  the  king  to  assume  their  lordship 
himself,  but  Alan's  settlement  was  in  perfect  accord  with  feudal 
law,  and  the  king  "  preferring  justice  to  ambition  "  ^  declined 
the  offer.  They  next  implored  him,  failing  this,  to  allow 
Thomas,  Alan's  illegitimate  son  to  be  their  lord,  but  this  request 
Alexander  absolutely  refused  to  grant,  whereupon  they  rose  as 
one  man  in  favour  of  the  said  Thomas,  receiving  active  support 
from  Gilrodh,  a  native  Irish  chief,  and  Hugh  de  Lacy,  father  of 
Alan's  widow.» 

Alexander  II.  invaded  the  province  to  quell  this  rebellion ; 

'  It  requires  local  knowledge  to  recognise  Botel  in  Brynt-yle  ! 

'  Hailes,  Annals^  167. 

'  Hugh  de  Lacy,  Lord  of  Ulster,  in  anno  1285  entered  Scotland,  endeavour- 
ing to  restore  Galloway  to  the  bastard  son  of  Alan  of  Galloway,  which  country 
the  King  of  Scotland  had  given  to  the  three  daughters  of  Alan  as  their  rightful 
inheritance  ;  but  in  this  attempt  he  prevailed  not. — Dugdale's  Baronage j  i.  98. 

VOL.  I  G 


82  HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY     [A.D.  1 234 

but  his  troops  getting  entangled  in  the  mazes  of  the  forests  and 
"  flows,"  which  the  initiated  alone  could  thread,  became  demor- 
alised, and  were  surrounded  by  the  natives,  who  would  probably 
have  overpowered  them  had  not  the  Earl  of  Boss  burst  unex- 
pectedly "with  furious  might  upon  their  rear,"^  and  restored 
the  fortunes  of  the  king. 

Thomas  fled,  and  next  day  the  chiefs  of  the  Galloway  Picts 
appeared,  and  with  ropes  round  their  necks  humbly  entreated 
for,  and  obtained,  the  king's  pardon. 

The  following  year  Thomas,  having  raised  a  band  of  despera- 
does in  Ireland,  landed  with  them  in  the  Bhynns,  and  burnt  his 
boats,  to  show  his  determination  to  do  or  die.  The  Galwegians, 
however,  kept  entirely  aloof;  and  he,  finding  his  ragged  regiment 
quite  unable  to  cope  with  the  royal  troops,  made  his  own  peace 
with  the  king,  leaving  his  wretched  kerns  to  their  fate.  Few,  if 
any,  succeeded  in  escaping.  The  conduct  of  the  king's  army, 
especially  considering  that  the  native  population  had  declined 
to  rise,  was  disgraceful.  They  not  only  despoiled  the  land,  but 
robbed  the  churches,  the  larger  abbeys  even  being  unable  to  bar 
them  out.  The  Prior  of  Tungland  and  other  ecclesiastics  were 
murdered,  and  a  dying  monk  at  Glenluce  robbed  of  his  covering 
upon  his  death-bed.^ 

^  The  natives  unexpectedly  started  ont  of  the  hills  and  woods,  and  assailed 
the  king  and  his  army,  who  were  resting  in  their  tents ;  for  that  spot,  full  as  it 
was  of  marshes  and  goodly  with  green  grass,  gave  them  no  little  confidence. 
But  Maclntaggart,  Earl  of  Ross,  burst  with  furious  might  upon  the  rear  of  the 
natives,  swept  down  many,  and  forced  many  to  flee. — Fordun,  Annals,  43. 

The  Earl  is  styled  Comes  Rossensis  Maciutaggart  by  Fordun,  Comes  Bossensis 
Mackintagard  by  the  Melrose  Chronicle.  Peerage  writers  give  Ferquard  as  the 
name  of  the  Earl  of  Ross  of  the  name.     Mackintagard  is  "  son  of  the  priest" 

^  Seeing  his  own  men  could  not  withstand  the  king's  majesty,  Thomas,  Alan*s 
bastard  son,  by  the  advice  of  the  Bishop  of  Whithorn,  besought  the  king  for 
peace  ;  so  the  king  kept  him  a  little  while  in  the  Castle  of  the  Maidens,  and  then 
let  him  go.  The  rest  of  the  Irish  were  slaiu  by  the  citizens  of  Glasgow — two 
of  the  chiefs,  however,  the  king  ordered  to  be  torn  by  horses.  At  that  time  the 
Scots  of  the  king's  army  despoiled  the  lands  and  churches  of  Galloway  with  un- 
heard of  cruelty,  so  much  so  that  a  monk  of  Glenluce  who  was  at  his  last  gasp 
was  left  naked  but  for  his  hair  shirt,  and  at  Tongueland  the  prior  and  sacristan 
were  slain  in  the  church. — Fordun,  Annals,  43. 

Particularly  note  that  in  the  original  these  place-names  are  written  ''Glen- 
lusse"  and  "Tungland." 


to  1360]  Alan's  heirs  to  brucian  settlement        83 

The  province  was  now  fonnaUy  divided  between  De  Quenci 
and  Baliol,  the  river  Cree  being  their  march. 

Northward  Carrick  was  still  ruled  by  Duncan,  the  good  son 
of  the  hateful  Gilbert,  who  in  a  green  old  age,  with  energy  and 
taste  worthy  of  a  grandson  of  Fergus,  reared  the  beautiful  Abbey 
of  CrossregaL^  This  was  completed  about  1244,  and  shortly 
after  he  was  succeeded  as  third  Earl  of  Carrick  by  his  son  Neil, 
married  to  Margaret,  daughter  of  Walter,  the  High  Steward  of 
Scotland.^ 

In  1247  De  Quenci  somehow  provoked  a  rising  so  serious 
that  he  had  to  fly  to  his  own  castle,  whence,  finding  his  defences 
likely  to  be  forced,  in  which  case  the  rebels  would  have  allowed 
him  but  short  shrift,  he  made  a  desperate  sally,  and  with  a  few 
men-at-arms  cutting  his  way  through  the  unarmoured  crowd, 
rode  straight  to  the  Court,  and  laid  his  complaint  before  the 
king,  who  re-established  him  in  his  rights.^ 

Before  this  he  had  remarried, — his  second  wife  being  a  Bohun, 
widow  of  Anselme  le  Mareschal,  Earl  of  Pembroke.*  The  re- 
bellion of  the  native  Galwegians,  with  which  he  had  been  hardly 

^  A  Clnniac  monastery  in  Kirkoswald  Parish,  near  Maybole.  Chalmers, 
giving  no  authority,  suggests  its  date  as  before  1240.  Keith  gives  1244,  quoting 
the  Chartulary  of  Paisley. — Keith,  Scotch  BisJujps,  253. 

The  name  is  a  puzzle  to  etymologists.  It  has  been  variously  written  Croce- 
regal,  Crossraguel,  Crossragmid,  and  Crossragwell. 

'  This  was  Walter,  fifth  High  Stewart,  styled  in  genealogies  "  of  Dundonald." 
He  gave  active  assistance  to  Alan*s  heirs  when  hard  pressed  by  Thomas  (the 
Bastard)  and  Gilrodh.  He  is  said  to  be  the  first  of  the  family  who  used  "  Stuart " 
as  a  family  name.  "  His  father  was  styled  Dapifer,  as  were  his  ancestors,  but  he 
changed  it  into  Senechallus,  whence  came  the  surname  Stewart,  Stuart,  or 
Steward,  in  the  same  manner  as  we  have  Boteler  and  Chamberlain." — Noble, 
GeiuaJogy  of  the  Stuarts,  p.  7. 

The  Neilsons  of  Craigcaffie  claimed  descent  from  this  Neil  of  Carrick,  husband 
of  Margaret  Stewart. 

'  In  31  Henry  III.  de  Quenci,  being  in  Galloway,  and  exercising  more 
severity  to  the  people  of  that  country  than  becom'd  him,  he  was  besieged  by 
them  in  a  castle  there,  and  being  apprehensive  of  his  danger,  mounted  hid  horse 
well  armed,  and  with  some  followers  broke  through  them.  Whence  he  came  to 
the  King  of  Scotland,  to  whom  he  made  his  complaint,  who  punished  them  for 
their  rebellious  .insurrection,  and  re-established  him  in  the  possession  of  his 
rights. — Dugdale,  Baronage,  i.  688  ;  Matthew  of  Paris,  496. 

*  Maud,  Countess  of  Pembroke,  was  daughter  of  Humphrey  de  Bohun,  Earl 
of  Hereford.  The  title  becoming  extinct  in  the  head  branch  of  the  Mareschals, 
was  bestowed  upon  the  family  of  Valence. 


84     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  1 234 

able  to  cope,  made  him  doubly  anxious  to  surround  himself  with 
powerful  vassals  on  whom  he  could  rely ;  and  he  availed  himself 
of  this  new  connection  to  induce  a  Mareschal  to  settle  on  the 
important  fief  of  Toskerton  in  the  Ehynns.^  The  Champaignes 
also,  who  had  already  some  holdings  east  of  the  Cree,^  accepted 
other  baronies  under  him  in  the  west  But  by  far  the  most  im- 
portant of  new  comers  to  his  lordship  were  the  Comyns. 

In  1249  King  Alexander  II.  died,  and  was  succeeded  by  a 
third  Alexander,  a  child  of  eight  years  old.  During  the  long 
minority  ensuing,  the  Comyns  gained  a  preponderating  in- 
fluence in  the  regency :  of  their  clan,  Alexander,  Earl  of  Buchan, 
William,  Earl  of  Menteith,  and  their  nephew.  Lord  of  Badenoch, 
held  prominent  offices  in  the  state.^ 

In  1251  the  Earl  of  Buchan  being  Justiciary  of  Scotland,  the 
new  office  of  Justiciary  of  Galloway  was  created  at  his  instance, 
and  John  Comyn  of  Badenoch  named  as  first  holder. 

Very  early  in  the  reign,  Alexander  Comyn  established  inti- 
mate relations  with  De  Quenci,  whose  second  daughter,  Elizabeth,* 
he  eventually  married.  His  frequent  residence  in  Galloway  led 
to  his  acquiring  many  lands  in  addition  to  those  to  which  he 
afterwards  fell  heir  through  his  wife,  among  which  was  that 
lordly  chase  on  the  marches  of  Carrick  which  still  retains  his 
name — ^the  Forest  of  Buchan. 

^  The  Mareschals  of  Toskerton  were  of  direct  descent  from  John,  nephew  of 
William,  Earl  of  Pembroke,  who  in  8.  John  (1208)  obtained  a  grant  in  fee  of  the 
office  of  Marshal  of  Ireland. — Dugdale's  Baronage^  L  599. 

^  In  1253  Sir  Rauf  de  Campania  granted  the  church  of  Wax^  (Borgae)  in 
Frankalmoigne  to  the  Canons  of  Drybui^h. — CharL  of  Dryhtrgh,  f.  22. 

^  *'  At  this  period  the  Comyns  held  the  principal  sway  in  Scotland." — Hailes, 
AnnalSf  i.  181. 

They  were  obnoxious  to  Edward  III.,  to  whose  daughter  the  boy  king  was 
married.     By  his  influence  they  were  removed  from  the  King's  Council  in  1255, 
but  two  years  after  they  overpowered  their  opponents  and  obtained  possession  of 
the  persons  of  the  king  and  queen.     Fordun  tells  us  there  were  thirty-two  knights 
of  the  name  of  Comyn  in  Scotland. 

^  **The  date  of  that  marriage  formed  the  epoch  of  the  connection  of  the 
Comyns  with  Galloway,  where  they  bore  sway  for  many  a  day. — Caledonia^  iii.  262. 

Fordun  writes  of  the  Justiciary  as  "  prone  to  robbery  and  rashness  "  (ad  rapi- 
nam  et  temeritatem  ezpeditus). — AnnaU,  52. 

Notwithstanding,  it  is  a  historic  fact  that  Galloway  flourished  especially  under 
the  rule  of  the  Comyns  and  Baliols. 


to  1360]  Alan's  heirs  to  brucian  settlement        85 

The  Stewarts  also  first  acquired  their  baronial  status  in 
Galloway  in  De  Quenci's  lifetime.  Alexander,  the  sixth 
Steward,  commanded  the  right  wing  of  the  royal  army  at 
the  great  victory  of  "  the  Larkis,"  ^  and  received  in  reward  of 
his  services  the  Barony  of  Garlics. 

About  1250  De  Quenci's  eldest  daughter,  Margaret,  married 
William  de  Ferrers,  Earl  of  Derby,  as  his  second  wife ;  and  after 
this,  as  his  third  wife,  De  Quenci  married  ^  Alianore,  widow  of 
William  de  Vaux,  and  daughter  of  the  said  Earl  of  Derby  by 
his  wife  Sybil,  a  De  Mareschal.  Thus  placing  Margaret  in  the 
amusing  position  of  mother-in-law  to  her  father. 

Ela,  De  Quenci's  third  daughter,  married  Alan  de  la  Zouche ; 
and  he  himself  dying  in  1264,  by  law  and  custom  the  Constable- 
ship  of  Scotland  should  have  passed  to  his  eldest  daughter,  the 
privileges  attached  to  the  overlordship,  as  well  as  his  lands, 
being  equally  divided  among  the  three.  But  these  were  days 
when  might  was  an  essential  factor  in  questions  of  right,  and 
Margaret's  husband  being  dead,  her  claims  were  either  prudently 
resigned  or  set  aside,  and  in  place  of  her  son,  the  young  Earl  of 
Derby,  the  Earl  of  Buchan  was  installed  as  High  Constable  of 
Scotland.  Alan  de  la  Zouche,  moreover,  content  to  draw  the 
revenues  from  his  wife's  portion  of  the  estates,  renounced  all 
claim  to  rule,  and  the  Earl  of  Buchan  assumed  the  overlordship 
undivided  as  it  had  been  enjoyed  by  De  Quenci. 

John  Baliol  and  Alexander  Comyn  were  thus  sole,  and  in  the 
circumstances  irresponsible,  potentates  west  of  the  Nith,  in  right 
of  their  wives,  who  stood  to  each  other  in  the  relation  of  aunt 
and  niece,  the  family  ties  being  further  strengthened  by  the 
marriage  of  Baliol  and  Dervorgille's  only  daughter  Marjory 
with  Buchan's  kinsman,  the  young  lord  of  Badenoch  (the  Black 
Comyn),  son  of  the  Justiciary.  Happily  for  the  people,  the 
heads  of  the  two  families  were  men  of  vigour,  and  of  a  culture 

1  Largs,  fought  2d  October  1268,  Haco'a  fleet  and  army  being  utterly  de- 
feated and  dispersed.  The  gift  of  the  Barony  of  Garlies  is  dated  30th  November 
1263. — Noble,  History  of  the  Stewarts^  9. 

«  William,  Earl  of  Derby,  died  in  1254  ;  William  de  Vallibus  (Vaux),  before 
1153.— Dugdale's  Banmage,  I  258,  526. 


86  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY     [a.D.  1 234 

unusual  at  the  period — ^lovers  of  justice  and  progress,  able  to 
keep  the  peace — and  under  their  paternal  rule  Galloway  enjoyed 
a  period  of  prosperity  for  many  a  long  year  looked  back  to  with 
regret 

Baliol  from  the  first  succeeded  in  gaining  the  affections  of 
the  Galwegians,  the  secret  of  which  seems  to  have  been  that  he 
loved  Galloway  himself;  for  though,  like  Gomyn,  he  had  English 
manorsZ-among  them  such  princely  possessions  as  Barnard 
Castle  and  Fotheringay, — ^his  favourite  residence  is  said  to  have 
been  Botel,  on  the  banks  of  the  Urr,  where  he  liberally  ex- 
pended his  ample  revenues  on  his  estates,  as  Gomyn  did  at 
Cruggleton.^ 

It  was  at  Botel  that  Dervorgille  gave  birth  in  1249  to  the 
future  Competitor.'  Her  husband  died  in  1269,  and  it  was  from 
Botel  that  she  dated  and  signed  the  statutes  of  Baliol  College, 
founded  and  endowed  in  accordance  with  the  wishes  of  her 
husband,^  to  whose  memory  she  reared  at  once  a  splendid 
memorial  and  fitting  resting-place — the  Abbey  of  Sweetheart.^ 

^  From  English  sources  we  gather  that  he  had  manors  in  Hitchen,  county 
Hertford,  Wtghtwicke  in  Leicester,  and  others ;  whilst,  **  having  married  Eliza- 
beth, daughter  of  Roger  de  Quenci,  in  51  Henry  IIL,  he  had  living  of  her 
inheritance ;  whilst  again,  3  Edward  L  (1275),  he  obtained  renewed  living  of  the 
inheritance  of  the  said  Elizabeth,  his  wife,  though  she  could  not  at  the  time 
come  to  the  king  in  person,  being  great  with  child." — Dugdale,  Baronage,  L  685. 

^  Chalmers,  not  much  given  to  eulogy,  thus  writes  of  the  two  Ck>myns  who 
occupied  Cruggleton  for  more  than  half  a  century  :  "Alexander  Comyn,  Earl  of 
Buchan,  acted  a  distinguished  part  in  the  government  of  Scotland  during  half  a 
century ;  he  became  a  councillor  to  the  king  before  1240,  was  made  justiciary 
1251,  obtained  the  office  of  High  Constable  1270,  and  died  full  of  years  and 
honours  1289,  at  the  end  of  a  long  civil  war  which  ended  in  the  ruin  of  his 
illustrious  family.  BUs  son  John  succeeded  him,  and  acted  a  still  more  dis- 
tinguished  part  in  the  busy  scene  of  a  disastrous  period." — Caledonia,  iii.  262. 

*  Dervorgille  had  four  sons.  Hugh,  married  Anne,  daughter  of  William  de 
Valence,  Earl  of  Pembroke,  sister  to  Joan,  who  married  her  grandson  the  Red 
Comyn,  and  died  without  issue  in  1272.  Alan,  died  young.  Alexander,  died 
1279,  and  John,  bom  at  Botel  in  1249.  Her  name  is  variously  written  Devorgilla, 
Domagelle,  Dervorgille.  Edward  I.,  summoning  her  as  a  vassal  to  the  Welsh 
wars,  styles  her  Dervexgoyle  de  Baliol. 

*  She  writes  herself  S.  Dervorguil  de  Baliol  in  the  foundation  grants  dated 
*'Apud  Botel,  1282." 

^  So  called  from  her  husband's  embalmed  heart  in  an  ivory  casket  built  in 
over  the  high  altar,  after  her  death  placed  on  her  bosom  in  her  coffin.    Latinised 
Dulce  Cor,  Suavecordium  ;  French,  Duize-coeur,  Duzquer. 


to  1360]  alan's  heirs  to  bruciak  settlement        87 

With  much  acceptance  she  reigned  as  queen  of  the  hearts 
of  all  her  subjects  for  twenty  years,  devoting  her  energies  to 
the  establishment  and  development  of  the  resources  of  the 
province ;— her  rule  and  her  works  equaUy  evidencing  her  tact, 
her  taste,  and  her  sense  of  responsibility.  In  her  architecture 
beauty  is  happily  combined  with  utility.  She  built  a  bridge  of 
nine  arches  over  the  Nith,  a  model  and  a  marvel  in  its  day,  which 
still  spans  the  stream ;  and  besides  the  splendid  new  Abbey  of 
Sweetheart,  she  built  and  endowed  a  monastery  for  Black  Friars 
at  Wigtown,  and  for  Gray  Friars  at  Dumfries,  another  monastery 
at  Dundee,  and  no  doubt  she  added  largely  to  Botel,  and  accord- 
ing to  tradition  built  Kenmure  Castle,  though  of  her  handiwork 
on  these  houses  no  traces  remain.^ 

She  died  at  Barnard  Castle  in  1289,  but  by  her  desire  her 

remains  were  brought  to  Sweetheart.    Wyntoun,  who  says,  as 

we  may  well  believe,  that  she  was  "  right  pleasand  of  bewt^," 

adds : 

A  hettyr  lady  than  scho  wes  nane 

In  all  the  yle  of  Mare  Britane.^ 

Meanwhile  Neil,  Earl  of  Carrick,  had  died  in  1256,  leaving, 
by  a  daughter  of  Walter  the  Steward,  an  only  daughter 
Margaret,^  who,  when  a  young  widow,  meeting,  returning  from 
the  chase,  Eobert  Bruce,  son  of  the  Lord  of  Annandale  (by 
Isabel,  an  aunt  of  Dervorgille),  forcibly  carried  him  off  to  her 
Castle  of  Tumberry,  and  married  him ;  of  which  abduction  the 
birth  of  Eobert,  future  King  of  Scotland,  was  the  result 

The  death  of  Alexander  III.  in  1285,  followed  by  that  of 
his  infant  grandchild  Margaret,  the  Maid  of  Norway,  plunged 
the  whole  of  Scotland  into  all  the  embarrassments  of  a  disputed 
succession.  Many  claimed  the  crown,  on  pretences  more  or 
less  plausible;  but  eventually  the  competition  was  narrowed 

^  According  to  Eirk,  the  Dominican  Abbey  at  Wigtown  was  boilt  1267 ;  that 
of  the  Cisterciftns  at  Sweetheart  in  1275 ;  and  that  of  the  Franciscans  at  Dumfries 
a  few  years  later.  She  granted  the  monks  the  toll  of  the  bridge  that  she  had  built 
there. 

'  Wyntoun,  b.  viiL  c.  8.  Mare  is  great,  from  Celtic  mor ;  should  be  written 
"mare." 

'  Hor  first  husband  was  Adam  de  Rilconcath,  who,  going  on  a  crusade  in  1268, 
died  in  Palestine  in  1270.    Her  adventure  with  Bruce  occurred  in  1271. 


88  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY     [A.D.   1 2  34 

to  the  descendants  of  David,  Earl  of  Huntingdon,  brother  of 
William  the  Lion,  and  that  again  to  the  heirs  of  his  two  eldest 
daughters :  Margaret,  who  had  married  Alan  of  Galloway,  and 
Isabella,  who  had  married  Eobert  Bruce.  These  were:  John 
Baliol,  son  of  Margaret's  daughter  Dervorgille;  and  Eobert 
Bruce,^  the  son  of  Isabella. 

Baliol  claimed  as  grandson  of  the  eldest  daughter ;  Bruce,  as 
son  of  the  second,  therefore  one  degree  nearer  in  blood  than 
Baliol.  This  latter  plea  was  fairly  overruled  by  Edward  I.,  to 
whose  arbitration  it  was  submitted ;  it  being  absolutely  incon- 
sistent with  feudal  law. 

The  candidates  both  had  a  common  ancestor  in  Fergus,  and 
a  blood  connection  with  all  the  descendants  of  his  line.  There 
was  an  interregnum  of  nearly  two  years  whilst  the  matter  was 
in  abeyance.  The  attitude  of  the  Galwegians  towards  the 
competitors  was  not  for  a  moment  doubtful — Baliol,  the  son 
of  their  own  gracious  Dervorgille,  being  a  favourite  with  them 
as  well  as  their  hereditary  lord. 

Previous  to  acting  as  umpire,  Edward  I.  had  required  that 
all  the  strong  castles  of  the  kingdom  should  be  surrendered  to 
him,  and  had  given  the  keeping  of  those  of  Wigtown  and  Kirk- 
cudbright to  William  de  Boyville  ^  and  Walter  de  Curry,  both 
Galloway  landowners  (De  Curry  was  succeeded  by  Eichard 
Steward),  to  whom  Edward  addressed  a  mandate  in  1292  to 
deliver  both  to  Baliol. 

In  1294  Benimundus  di  Vicci,  sent  by  the  Pope  to  Scotland 
to  ascertain  the  value  of  ecclesiastical  benefices  and  the  inci- 
dence of  tithes,  explored  Galloway  from  end  to  end     The  rent- 

^  The  competitor  was  father  of  Robert  Bruce,  who,  from  his  marriage  with 
Marjorie,  Duncan  of  Galloway's  granddaughter,  became  titular  Earl  of  Garrick.  He 
resigned  his  pretensions,  and  died  at  his  castle  of  Lochmaben  in  1295,  aged  85. 

His  son,  Earl  of  Carrick,  had  by  Migorie,  Robert — eventually  king ;  bom 
1274,  he  himself  dying  1304.  The  famous  Robert  Bruce  was  therefore  the  grand- 
son of  the  original  competitor. 

^15  Aug.  1291.  William  de  Boyville,  keeper  of  the  castles  of  Dumfries, 
Kirkcudbright,  and  Wigtown,  had  1  mark  per  day.  1291.  Sir  Walter  de  Currey 
summoned  to  be  castellan  in  room  of  Boyville  deceased.  24  March  1292.  A 
payment  of  40  marks  to  Richard  Steward,  knight,  as  keeper  of  the  castles  of 
Gidloway  and  Dumfries. 


to  1360]  Alan's  heirs  to  brucian  settlement        89 

roll  by  which  these  dues  were  levied  is  well  known  by  the 
curious  corruption  of  "  Bagimont's  EoU." 

Alexander  Comyn,  dying  in  1289,  was  succeeded  by  his  son 
John,  as  third  Earl  of  Buchan ;  and  it  being  on  record  that  he 
had  licence  from  the  English  king  to  dig  for  lead  in  the  Calf 
of  Man,  to  cover  eight  towers  of  his  Castle  of  Cruggleton,^  we 
may  presume  his  occupation  was  not  interfered  with.  These 
were  difficult  days  for  those  of  divided  allegiance.  When  Baliol 
finally  broke  with  Edward,  he  turned  especially  to  (ralloway 
for  assistance,  and  had  a  willing  response ;  the  Earl  of  Buchan 
heading  "a  mighty  force,"  his  kinsmen  the  Eed  Comyn  and 
Bichard  Si  ward  being  forward  amongst  his  partisans,  and  carried 
the  war  across  the  Borders,  burning  Carlisle  and  sacking  the 
neighbouring  monasteries. 

Nimble  and  daring  as  may  have  been  Baliol's  (Jalloway 
levies,  they  were  no  match  for  the  armed  and  well-appointed 
forces  which  Edward  had  called  out  and  ordered  to  muster  at 
Newcastle-upon-Tyne,  citing  Baliol  also  to  appear  there. 

Baliol  declined  ;  but  soon  30,000  soldiers,  of  whom  4000 
were  horse,  answered  to  Edward's  roll-call,  with  whom  he 
crossed  the  Tweed,  and,  taking  Berwick,  marched  northward  in 
search  of  King  John. 

Fortress  after  fortress  fell  before  him,  and  Baliol  was  fain  to 
implore  mercy  and  resign  his  crown.  Eetuming  southward, 
Edward  held  a  Parliament  at  Berwick,  and  the  Scottish  lords 
and  barons  flocked  in  there  to  make  their  submission.  The 
lists  of  the  clergy  and  laity  who  then  did  homage  constitute 
the  paper  known  as  the  "  Ragman's  Boll,"  useful  as  preserving 
the  names  of  many  of  the  actual  proprietors  of  that  day. 

From  English  writs  we  find  that  in  the  king's  train,  a 
spectator  of  the  pageant,  was  a  John  de  Aignell,  summoned 
to  perform  knight's  service  against  the  Scots  in  virtue  of  an 
English  fief,^  little   aware  how  closely  his  descendants  were 

^  The  words  used  in  the  royal  mandate  are :  ''To  cover  eight  towers  on  his 
Castles  of  Crigelton  and  Galwej  in  Scotland,"  obviously  a  clerical  error  for  Cruggle- 
ton  in  Galloway. — Dagdale's  Baronage^  i.  685. 

-  Johannes  de  AygneU,  returned  by  the  Sheriff  of  Hertford  as  having  been 


90     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  1 234 

soon  to   be  connected  with   the  baronage  of  "Dunt'res   and 
Wyggeton,"  as  they  swept  past  the  royal  presence. 

Of  these  Comyn  now  made  his  peace  with  Edward,  and  the 
earl  remained  unmolested  in  his  forest  of  Buchan.  His  name 
appears  prominently  on  the  "Eagman's  EoU,"  while  that  of 
Thomas  of  Galloway  is  absolutely  wanting.  Just  previous 
to  the  Comyns  making  their  submission,  Thomas  had  tried 
to  profit  by  the  occasion,  and  to  stir  up  an  agitation  in  favour 
of  his  own  claims,  which,  he  hoped,  the  English  king  might  find 
it  politic  to  encourage. 

When  Edward  issued  a  proclamation  addressed  to  the 
"  good  men  of  Galloway,"  setting  forth  his  complaints  against 
Baliol,  Thomas  took  upon  himself  to  answer  for  the  community ; 
suggesting  certain  grievances,  the  redress  of  which  might  incline 
them  to  the  English.  To  which  the  king  at  once  replied  by 
letters  patent,  "that,  at  the  request  of  Thomas  of  Galloway, 
he.  has  granted  to  the  whole  community  of  Galloway  all  their 
liberties  and  customs,  as  they  and  their  ancestors  held  them 
in  the  time  of  King  David,  and  of  Alan,  the  said  Thomas's 
father,!  and  will  consider  as  to  the  relaxation  of  such  amounts 
of  their  rents  as  they  have  asked  by  the  said  Thomas."  But 
the  ink  was  hardly  dry  when  the  king  seems  to  have  realised 
that  Thomas  was  an  impostor,  and  sent  an  order  to  the  Sheriff 
of  Westmoreland  "  to  take  the  said  Thomas  and  keep  him  in 
close  custody  in  the  castle  of  Carlisle."  ^ 

We  hear  no  more  of  Thomas  of  Galloway. 

All  traditions  respecting  Wallace,  and  especially  those  in 
which  Galloway  matrons  are  described  as  rearing  their  children 

summoned  to  perfonn  military  service  in  person  against  the  Scots.  Muster  at 
Newcastle-upon-Tyne,  1  March  24,  Edward  L  Two  years  later  we  find 
Johannes  Aygnel  Knight  of  the  Shire  for  Hertford,  Parliament  of  York,  25 
May,  26  Edward  I.— Pari.  Writs,  p.  276,  No.  7  ;  p.  70,  No.  16. 

^  It  is  impossible  to  conceive  that  the  Thomas  who  was  an  active  warrior 
years  before  Alan's  death  in  1234  could  have  been  an  efficient  commander  in  the 
field  in  1296.     For  "father"  it  seems  evident  we  should  read  "grandfather." 

^  7  March  1296.  The  King  commands  the  Sheriff  of  Westmoreland  to  receive 
Thomas  of  Galloway  from  William  de  Heck,  and  conduct  him  to  the  castle  of 
Carlisle,  and  keep  him  in  safe  custody,  as  Antony,  Bishop  of  Durham,  will 
instruct. — KaUndar  of  StaU  Documents,    Reg.  Edw.  I. 


to  1360]  Alan's  heirs  to  brucian  settlement        91 

in  undying  loyalty  to  Bruce,  must  be  ranked  as  spurious,  being 
opposed  to  the  whole  tenor  of  authentic  history.  In  one  of  these 
Cruggleton  Castle  is  stated  to  have  hereditarily  belonged  to 
Kerl4  Wallace's  lieutenant,  and  to  have  been  taken  from  him 
treacherously  by  Lord  Soulis.  Wallace  thereupon  marched  into 
Galloway,  took  every  strength  from  the  Water  of  Urr  westward, 
the  garrison  of  Wigtown  flying  at  his  approach,  and  Cruggleton, 
which  held  out,  he  demolished.  Trustworthy  records  oppose 
this  stoiy  at  every  point.  Cruggleton  was  not  the  patrimonial 
domain  of  the  Kerl&,  but  of  the  Galloway  petty  kings  and  their 
descendants. 

Comyn,  we  know,  held  Cruggleton  in  1292,  and  continuously 
until  1308,  when  his  lands  were  forfeited  and  given  to  Lord 
Soulis  by  Bruce,  who  in  his  turn  being  forfeited  for  conspiracy, 
the  castle  passed  to  the  monks  of  Whithorn.  The  strengths 
westward  of  the  Water  of  Urr  were  never  taken  by  Wallace, 
but  held  by  English  partisans  till  wrested  from  them  many 
years  later  by  Edward  Bruce. 

Indeed,  it  seems  a  stretch  of  fancy  to  identify  Cruggleton 
Castle  with  a  "  strength  on  the  Water  of  Cree."  The  Bladenoch 
intervenes  between  Cruggleton  and  the  Cree.  Moreover,  on  the 
Water  of  Cree  itself  a  spot  is  still  mapped  "  Wallace's  Camp," 
which,  if  rightly  named,  was  no  doubt  palisaded.  Blind  Harry's 
epithet,  "  built  of  tree,"  is  certainly  more  applicable  to  such  a 
structure  than  to  a  stone  castle  on  the  sea-cliff.^ 

The  incursion  of  Edward  I.  into  the  province  in  the  summer 
of  1300  stands  on  very  different  authority.  The  official  entries 
in  his  accounts  and  state  papers  are  of  the  highest  value  as 
accurate    records    of  the   agricultural   prosperity   which   the 

^  We  cannot  trace  the  tradition  beyond  Captain  Denniston's  introduction  to 
certain  novelettes  styled  Legends  of  Oallotcay,  published  in  1825,  in  which  he 
affects  to  qnote  from  a  certain  Tolume  styled  *^  Buke  of  me  Wanderins  in  the  Weste, 
be  Father  Stewart,  ane  Moncke  o'  Crossraguel,"  "written  partly  in  Latin  and  partly 
in  English,  sometime  about  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century. "  But  besides  the 
obvioos  objection  that  a  mendicant  friar  of  Crossraguel  would  be  little  authority 
for  domestic  matters  in  Wigtownshire,  much  less  for  the  history  of  two  centuries 
earlier, — the  book  is  absolutely  unknown  to  the  learned.  Nor  do  we  believe  that, 
from  the  nature  of  the  context,  Captain  Denniston  intended  his  statement  to  be 
taken  seriously. 


92  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY     [A.D.  1 234 

Galwegians  enjoyed  as  a  result  of  the  mild  role  of  the  Baliols. 
Having  taken  Caerlaverock  on  the  17th  July,  his  queen  riding 
by  his  side,  he  defiled  over  Dervorgille*s  Bridge  across  the  NitL 
Entering  Galloway,  "mountains  and  valleys  seemed  suddenly 
alive  with  sumpter  horses,  wagons  with  provisions,  tents,  and 
pavilions.  Afar  off  was  heard  the  neighing  of  his  horses,  many 
a  beautiful  pennon  fluttering  over  lances,  many  a  banner  dis- 
played ;  and  the  days  being  fine  and  long,  he  rode  leisurely  to 
Kirkcudbright."  ^ 

Here  the  king  occupied  the  old  castle,  requisitioning  pro- 
visions of  all  sorts,  for  which  he  paid,  the  prices  minutely 
entered.  Beans  as  well  as  oats  were  used  for  the  cavalry 
horses,  the  soldiers  being  supplied  with  wheaten  bread  and  peas 
for  the  kitchen,  butcher-meat  in  unlimited  quantities  being 
washed  down  by  strong  ale  and  beer.  Malt  made  from 
both  oats  and  barley  was  bought  in  large  quantities,  and 
wines  of  various  sorts  were  procurable  at  Kirkcudbright  The 
best  (Vinum  Clarum,  whence  claret)  at  30s.  a  hogshead, 
and  Ordinaire  at  Is.  6d.^  What  is  especially  worthy  of 
remark  is  that  the  agricultural  produce  of  this  part  of 
Galloway  sufficed  not  only  to  maintain  an  army  in  the  field 
and  the  royal  retinue,  but  that  Edward  despatched  thence 
supplies  to  another  army  in  the  north,  besides  provisioning  his 
castles  of  Ayr,  Caerlaverock,  Dumfries,  and  Lochmaben. 
Within  a  narrow  radius  from  Kirkcudbright  he  collected  more 
wheat  than  the  mills  of  the  country  could  grind,  and  many 
cargoes  were  shipped  to  ports  in  Cumberland  and  Ireland, 
there  to  be  made  into  flour  and  re-exported  to  his  ganisons.^ 

^  Walter  of  Exeter,  who  accompanied  the  army  and  wrote  a  poem  on  the 
campaign  in  old  Norman  French. 

'  Large  purchases  were  made  at  the  undermentioned  rates : — 

*'  A  whole  ox,  5s.  to  68.  8d. ;  fat  pigs  (bacones),  2s.  2d.  to  Ss.  9d. ;  barley 
malt,  48.  4d.  the  qr. ;  oat  malt,  2s.  9d. ;  wheat  floor,  78. ;  beans,  58. ;  peas, 
28.  9d. ;  salt,  2s.  6d.  to  3s.  2d.;  strong  ale,  18s.,  16s.,  12s.  the  batt;  small 
beer,  Ss. ;  vinam  clamm,  £1 :  lOs.  per  hogshead ;  vinnm  expensabile,  Is.  lOd. ; 
40  hogsheads,  £3:18:  4."—  Wardrobe  Acets.  Edward  I. 

*  Simon  Kingsman,  master  of  the  Margaret^  was  paid  £2 :  9b.  for  carrying 
30  qrs.  of  wheat  from  Kirkcudbright  to  Dublin  to  be  ground,  thence  to  Ayr 
for  the  king's  army.     Wymond  Gegge  of  the  Sauveye,  £1 : 7  :  6  for  carrying  143 


to  1360]    ALAN*S   HEIRS   TO   BRUCIAN   SETTLEMENT  93 

From  Kirkcudbright  the  king  presently  advanced  to  the  Fleet, 
encamping  in  the  glades  of  Cally.^  Here  be  held  courts  for 
the  administration  of  justice,  and  pushed  on  detachments  to 
Wigtown,  whence,  having  there  obtained  the  adhesion  of  the 
MacDowall's,  he  opened  up  communication  with  Ayr.^  He 
then  retraced  his  steps,  and  sleeping  on  the  24th  of  August  at 
the  Abbey  of  Sweetheart,  written  in  his  journals  "  Douzquer," 
he  recrossed  the  Nith. 

Eobert  Bruce,  Earl  of  Carrick,  and  John  Comyn  were  now 
styled  Guardians  of  Scotland,^  and  meanwhile  had  taken  Stirling 
Castle. 

Edward  I.  having  secured  the  ground  behind  him,  advanced 
in  person  against  them,  and  the  capture  of  Stirling  early  in 
1303  left  him  undisputed  master  of  Scotland. 

Galloway  remained  perfectly  quiet,  enjoying  her  "  ale  and 
bread,"  and  continuing  her  superior  cultivation  for  sevei-al  years, 
until  the  impious  if  unpremeditated  murder  of  her  Justiciary, 
the  Eed  Comyn,  in  1386  sent  a  thrill  of  horror  through  the 
province,  and  lighted  up  the  flames  of  war  farther  north.  No 
one  knew  better  than  Bruce  himself  that  he  had  hopelessly 
alienated  the  affections  of  the  Galwegians  by  his  rash  act,  and 
he  gave  a  wide  berth  to  the  province  whilst  reeking  with  the 
blood  of  the  grandchild  of  Dervorgille,  in  connection  with 
which  is  a  strange  episode.  The  Earl  of  Buchan  having  all 
along  been  a  consistent  opponent  of  Bruce,  had  now,  with  all 
his  clan,  a  blood  feud  with  him.     Bruce,  moreover,  driven  to 

qrs.  of  wheat  from  Kirkcudbright  to  Whitehaven  to  be  ground,  thence  to  Ayr, 
etc.  When  retiring,  Edward  paid  to  William  de  Carlisle  £20  for  40  acres  of  oats 
damaged  by  his  army,  adding  two  hogsheads  of  wine  as  a  royal  present. 

A  similar  present  was  made  to  Ada,  widow  of  Robert  de  la  Fierti,  for  iigury 
to  her  crops  at  Dornoch. —  Wardrobe  Accts.  Edward  I. 

^  Heningford  calls  the  Fleet  ''the  Swim,"  catching  the  radical  meaning  of 
the  word.  Near  Cally,  on  the  lands  of  Enrick,  a  spot  is  mapped  *'  Palace  Yard," 
where,  doubtless,  Edward  held  his  courts,  amercing  the  authorities,  among 
other  misdoers,  for  habitually  using  false  weights,  and  Henry  le  Mounier  for 
short  measure  from  his  mill. 

'  Expenses  of  Sir  John  WaUeys  and  two  men-at-arms  and  twenty  foot,  from 
the  toun  of  Are  to  Wygeton  in  Galloway,  dOs. —  Wardrobe  Accts.  Edward  L 

'  Lord  Hailes  remarks  :  "  Bruce,  Guardian  of  Scotland  in  the  name  of  Baliol, 
is  one  of  those  historical  phenomena  which  are  inexplicable." 


*T  IT  i.  *  "^^r^r^nm 


94  HEREDITARY   SHERIFTS   OP   GALLOWAY     [A.D.   1 2  34 

fight,  knowing  that  the  alternative  was  a  scaffold  or  a  throne, 
well  knew  also  that  he  had  to  count  upon  the  deadly  hate  of 
the  Comyns.  Great,  therefore,  must  have  been  the  surprise  and 
rage  of  the  head  of  the  house  on  finding  that  his  ovm  wife  had 
stolen  secretly  away  from  Gruggleton,  and  repairing  to  Scone, 
had  with  her  own  hands  placed  the  Scottish  crown  upon  his 
foe ;  her  pretensions  as  a  descendant  of  Macduff  giving  a  colour 
of  legality  to  the  act.  Though  historians  call  it  high-spirited, 
and  Bruce  proved  worthy  of  the  crown,  thus  to  have  scandal- 
ised at  once  her  father's,  her  husband's,  and  her  adopted  family, 
cannot  be  called  a  wifely  proceeding. 

In  great  wrath  Edward  I.  appointed  Aymer  de  Valence, 
brother-in-law  of  the  murdered  Comyn,  to  be  guardian  of  Scot- 
land ;  and  Isabel,  Countess  of  Buchan,  he  committed  to  close 
confinement  in  the  Castle  of  Berwick.  She  and  her  justly  in- 
censed husband  met  no  more.^ 

So  embittered  were  the  Galwegians  generally,  that  when 
Thomas  and  Alexander  Bruce,  bringing  succours  to  their 
brother,  landed  shortly  after  in  Lochryan,  they  were  pounced 
upon  instinctively  as  enemies  by  the  people,  their  followers 
receiving  no  quarter,  and  they  themselves,  bleeding  from  the 
blows  of  their  captors,  were  led  off  at  once  by  Duncan  Mac- 
Dowall  to  the  King  of  England  at  Carlisle,  who  ordered  them 
to  immediate  execution,  bestowing  the  hand  of  a  wealthy  heir- 
ess upon  MacDowall's  son,  in  reward  of  his  energy.^ 

To  this  period  may  be  referred  that  series  of  Bruce  adventures 
in  woods  and  wilds  on  the  Galloway  marshes  narrated  with 

'  The  second  Earl  of  Buchan  had  married  Isabel,  daughter  of  Duncan,  Earl 
of  Fife.  Her  brother,  also  Duncan,  Earl  of  Fife,  favoured  the  English  interest 
Matthew  of  Westminster  accuses  her  of  a  criminal  partiality  for  Robert  Bruce 
(p.  454).  The  unfortunate  woman  was  confined  in  a  cage  strongly  latticed  and 
barred  in  the  Castle  of  Berwick ;  as  to  this  Hemingford  says,  ''The  Earl  of 
Buchan,  her  husband,  sought  to  kill  her  for  her  treason,  but  Edward  restrained 
him,  and  ordered  her  to  be  confined  in  a  wooden  cage."  She  was  not  released 
until  April  1813,  before  which  her  husband  had  died. — Wood,  i.  268  ;  Hailes, 
Anixals,  ii.  11 ;  Matthew  of  Westminster  ;  Fcsdera, 

^  The  king,  at  the  request  of  Dungall  MacDowyl  senior,  for  the  good  services 
which  he  and  Dungall  his  son  both  have  done,  grants  to  Dungall  junior  the 
marriage  of  the  daughter  and  heir  of  Hugh  de  Ghaumpaigne  deceased.  Dated 
from  Lanercost,  March  1807. 


to  1360]  Alan's  heirs  to  brucian  settlement        95 

poetical  license  by  Barbour,  and  of  such  hairbreadth  escapes  as 
are  quaintly  indicated  by  such  lines  as — 

Quhen  the  Gallowaiss  wyst  suthli 
That  he  was  with  sa  few  nienye 
Thai  maid  a  priw^  assemble 
Off  wele  twa  himdir  men,  and  ma, 
And  slewth  hundis  with  thaim  gan  ta. 

Book  iv.  688. 

A  considemble  English  force,  commanded  by  Aymer  de 
Valence,  Earl  of  Pembroke,  closely  searched  the  borders  of 
Galloway,  determined  to  take  him  dead  or  alive.  No  local  tradi- 
tion is  more  current  than  that  of  Bruce  taking  refuge  with  the 
Dame  of  Craigencally,  and  assisted  by  her  three  sons  with  a 
handful  of  followers  defeating  the  English  with  great  slaughter 
at  Glentrool.  That  the  English  cavalry  fought  at  a  disadvantage 
owing  to  the  nature  of  the  ground,  and  were  obliged  to  retire 
without  inflicting  any  loss  upon  their  nimble  opponents,  is 
probable  enough ;  and  that  Bruce  himself,  seated  on  a  boulder 
at  Moss  Baploch  (still  called  the  King's  Stone),  watched  with 
satisfaction  their  retreat,  is  as  likely ;  but  we  are  as  incredulous 
as  to  the  heavy  losses  inflicted  by  a  handful  of  peasants  upon 
the  men-at-arms,  as  to  the  feats  in  archery  eclipsing  those 
of  William  Tell  ^  which  are  popularly  ascribed  to  the  widow's 
sons.  It  18  preposterous  to  suppose  that  Sir  Aymer  and  his 
veteran  cavalry  were  frightened  out  of  their  wits  by  herds  of 
deer  and  goats  driven  down  upon  them  from  the  heights  by 
the  happy  thought  of  these  striplings ! 

The  simple  fact,  disguised  under  much  embellishment,  is, 
that  Pembroke  gave  up  his  search  as  hopeless,  driven  from  the 
district  by  want  of  subsistence. 

On  the  6th  of  July  1307  Edward  I.  died  ;  his  son  Edward 
11.  advanced  immediately  after  into  Ayrshire,  but  somewhat 

^  Annabel,  his  hostess,  had  had  three  sons  by  different  husbands, — MacEie, 
Murdoch,  and  Maclnrg.  Bruce  expressed  a  wish  to  test  their  skiU  in  archery, 
and  two  accompanied  him  forthwith.  MacEie  called  his  attention  to  two  carrion- 
crows  seated  side  by  side  on  a  rock,  and  drawing  his  bow  its  full  stretch, 
skewered  both  birds  together  through  the  head.  A  raven  croaked  high  above 
them  in  mid-air  ;  Murdoch,  aiming  his  shaft,  struck  it  in  the  very  heart,  and  it 
fell  quivering  at  their  feet. 


1 


96     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  1 234 

ingloriously  retreated  Bruce  thereupon  re-entered  Galloway, 
and  summoned  the  inhabitants  to  his  standard;  but  they  failing 
to  comply,  he  ravaged  the  country  with  fire  and  sword.  Sir 
Aymer  de  Valence  came  to  their  relief,  put  Bruce  to  flight,  who, 
retreating  northward,  was  followed  by  the  Earl  of  Buchan  at  the 
head  of  the  Galwegians.  The  north  country  people  rallying  to 
Bruce,  he  turned  upon  the  Galwegians  and  drove  them  back 
again. 

The  fortunes  of  Bruce  now  began  to  turn.  Being  now 
opposed  to  one  of  the  weakest,  as  formerly  to  one  of  the  strong- 
est of  the  kings  of  England,  his  own  superior  talents  became 
apparent,  and  many  Scotsmen  who  had  sided  with  Edward  I. 
deserted  the  cause  of  Edward  II. 

The  Galwegians,  however,  were  irreconcilable,^  and  the  king's 
brother,  Edward  Bruce,  was  despatched  against  them.  He  de- 
feated them  in  a  sanguinary  battle  near  the  Dee,  where  many 
of  their  chiefs  and  a  "certain  knight  named  Roland"  were 
slain.^  This  was  followed  by  a  series  of  victories  terminating 
in  a  coup  de  Ktmin  at  Kerrouchtree,  near  the  Cree,  in  which  it  is 
asserted  that  Edward,  under  cover  of  a  thick  mist,  with  only 
fifty  horsemen,  surprised  and  almost  annihilated  1500  English- 
men under  John  de  St.  John.  The  result  of  this  campaign  was 
the  reduction  of  thirteen  fortlets  for  his  brother ;  Fordun  pre- 
serving a  rhyming  legend — "Insula  combusta  semper  Scotis 
inimici "  ^ — which  seems  to  point  to  the  fortlet  which  gives  its 
name  to  the  parish  of  Inch.  Botel  was  now  the  only  garrison 
which  held  out  against  King  Eobert,  which  he  took  himself  in 

^  The Fcedera mentions Comyn,  ''Donegal,  etc. ;  et tota communitas majorum 
et  hominum  Galewydise,"  as  being  faithful  to  England. — Fcedera^  t.  iii.  14. 

^  Quondam  militem  nomine  Rolandam  cum  mnltis  nobilibus  Galwidaei  inter- 
fecit,  ac  dictum  Donaldum,  ducem  eorum,  fugientem  comprehendit,  et  post  hsec 
Insulam  combussit — Fordun,  AnnalSj  125. 

'  Quoting  this.  Lord  Hailes  says  :  "By  Insula  I  understand  interior  Gallo- 
way, or  that  part  of  the  country  which  lies  next  to  Ireland. — Hailes,  AnncUs,  231. 

Lord  Hailes  was  probably  unaware  that  Insula  was  the  old  charter  name,  as 
the  Inch  was  the  later  one  for  the  strength  on  Loch  Inch,  which  lies  close  to  Loch- 
ryan,  and  gives  its  name  to  the  parish.  From  its  position  it  was  impregnable  in 
those  days  if  weU  provisioned.  It  afterwards  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Bishops 
of  Galloway. 


to  1360]  Alan's  heirs  to  brucian  settlement        97 

person  in  1312,  thus  completing  the  conquest  of  the  province. 
From  Botel  he  crossed  to  the  Isle  of  Man,  which  he  subdued, 
taking  prisoner  his  inveterate  enemy  Duncan  MacDowall,  the 
governor  of  its  chief  castle.  A  year  later  the  crowning  victory 
of  Bannockbum — ^in  which,  sentiment  notwithstanding,  we 
suspect  as  few  Gallovidians  were  "  led  "  by  Bruce  as  had  "  bled  " 
for  Wallace — enabled  him  to  deal  as  he  chose  with  the  un- 
friendly province :  in  other  words,  to  escheat  its  proprietors 
wholesale,  resettling  their  lands  on  his  own  partisans,  retaining 
a  few  of  the  old  landowners,  who  accepted  such  conditions  as 
he  chose  to  grant  them.^  The  private  property  of  the  old  lords 
was  divided  between  Edward  Bruce  and  Isabele,  Countess  of 
Athol ;  Thomas  Eandolph,  her  husband ;  and  Margaret^  wife  of 
William  Karlo,  his  sister;  whilst  the  disappearance  of  all 
the  Mareschalls,  De  Buskebys,  Champagnes,  Percys,  De  Ferrers, 
De  Soos,  and  other  Anglo-Normans,  left  wide  lands  at  his 
disposal. 

To  the  "good  Sir  James  Douglas"  he  gave  Percy's  Barony 
of  Urr,  to  Lord  Soulis  Comyn's  Castle  of  Cruggleton,  to  Sir  Alan 
Stewart  the  Barony  of  Corswell,  and  to  De  Mande  Vella 
(Mandeville)  the  site  of  the  modem  burgh  of  Stranraer.* 

Edward  Bruce  was  now  titular  Lord  of  Galloway,  but  the 

sphere  was  not  wide  enough  for  his  restless  ambition.     He 

eagerly  accepted  an  oflfer  of  certain  discontented  lords  in  Ulster 

to  make  him  their  king,  and  early  in  1315  sailed  for  Ireland 

with    a    following,    among    whom    we    recognise    Galloway 

barons  in — 

Sir  John  the  Soulie,  ane  guid  knycht, 
And  Schyr  John  Stewart  that  wes  wyght, 
And  Schyr  Alane  Stewart  alsua. 


^  The  third  Earl  of  Bachan  was  probably  the  last  of  his  line  ;  he  left  two 
daughters :  Alice,  who  married  Henry  de  Beaumont,  who  had  in  her  right  the 
manor  of  Whitwicke  in  Leicestershire,  and  assumed  the  title  of  Earl  of  Buchan, 
and  was  one  of  the  descendants  who  rose  in  favour  of  Edward  Baliol ;  and  Margaret, 
who  married  Sir  John,  son  of  the  fourth  Earl  of  Ross,  and  got  eventually  as  her 
tocher  the  half  of  her  father's  lands  allowed  her  by  King  Robert 

'  To  Fergus  de  Mondo  Villa,  the  lands  of  Stranrever  in  vice  de  Wigton — 
Robertson's  Index, 

VOL.  I.  H 


98     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  1 234 

With  these  he  landed  at  Carrickfergus  on  the  25th  of  May  and 
ravaged  mercilessly  the  possessions  of  the  English  settlers  in  the 
north. 

Meeting  with  no  encouragement  in  the  west  or  south,  he  was 
brought  to  a  standstill,  till  King  Robert,  his  brother,  bringing 
him  succours  by  way  of  Loch  Eyan,  the  two  advanced  as  far 
as  Dublin,  which  they  failed  to  take.  Edward  nevertheless 
allowed  himself  to  be  crowned  Eling  of  Ireland  by  his  Ulster 
friends  on  the  2d  of  May  1316,  although  he  hardly  possessed  a 
stronghold  but  Carrickfergus ;  and  on  the  5th  of  October  1318 
he  was  killed  at  the  Battle  of  Fagher,  near  Dundalk,  Lord  Soulis 
and  one  of  the  Stewarts  being  among  the  slain.  Thus  the  rash 
enterprise  collapsed.  On  Edward  Bnice's  death  it  was  enacted 
by  Parliament  that,  if  King  Robert  died  without  male  issue,  the 
succession  should  lie  in  the  son  of  his  daughter  Margaret  by 
Robert  the  Steward.  The  king  did,  however,  leave  an  heir, 
David  IL;  but  he  being  childless,  Margaret's  son  eventually 
succeeded  in  virtue  of  that  Act. 

The  lordship  of  Galloway  was  now  given  to  Edward's 
natural  son,  Alexander. 

In  1320  a  plot  against  the  king  was  discovered,  and  William, 
Lord  Soulis,  heir  presumedly  of  John,  who  had  fallen  at  Fagher, 
forfeited  his  lands  and  liberty,  and  his  Castle  of  Cruggleton 
was  given  to  the  monks  of  Whithorn.^  Sir  Eustace  de  Max- 
well was  tried  for  complicity  in  the  same  plot,  but  had  the 
rare  good  fortune,  for  one  lying  under  such  a  charge,  to  be 
acquitted. 

In  1322  Edward  II.  invaded  the  Lothians,  and  King  Robert 
found  congenial  employment  for  his  Galloway  lieges  by  letting 
them  loose  upon  his  flank.  The  wild  Scots  ravaged  Lancashire 
from  end  to  end,  laying  homesteads  and  abbeys  alike  under 
contribution,  and  having  joined  hands  with  the  column  led  by 
the  king  in  person  at  Stanemore,  near  the  Yorkshire  marches, 

We  identify  Stranrever  with  Stronrawer  in  a  writ  in  the  Lochnaw  charteiv 
chest  dated  1484. 

^  Carta  Candida  Casa,  of  Craigiltoun,  quhilks  pertenit  to  Lord  Soulis. — Robert- 
sou's  Index, 


to  1360]    ALAN'S   HEIRS   TO   BRUCIAN   SETTLEMENT  99 

they  returned  home  in  triumph  with  an  extraordinary  booty, 
liaving  suffered  hardly  any  loss. 

Scottish  historians  wrote  of  this  affair  rather  vaguely,  but 
Knighton,  the  English  contemporary  chronicler,  whom  all  later 
ones  follow,  distinctly  states  that  these  succcessful  raiders  came 
by  way  of  Fumess,  necessitating  the  conclusion  that  the 
Gralwegians  operated  in  a  separate  column,  as  they  evidently 
went  by  sea.  Fumess  was  esusily  accessible  from  Galloway,  and 
a  sea  route  especially  convenient  for  bringing  back  plunder ;  but 
to  suppose  that  the  army  from  Lothian,  Fife,  or  the  eastern 
borders  marched  to  Galloway  to  embark  is  preposterous.^ 

King  Robert  I.,  prematurely  aged  at  fifty-five,  is  believed  to 
have  visited  Whithorn  a  few  months  before  his  death  to  plead 
at  St.  Ninian's  shrine  for  his  recovery.^ 

He,  dying  the  7th  June  1329,  Randolph,  Earl  of  Moray, 
immediately  assumed  the  Regency.  He  made  frequent  pro- 
gresses through  Galloway.  Two  standing-stones  on  the  moor  of 
Dranandow,  mapped  "  The  Thieves,"  are  the  grim  monuments 
of  a  band  of  robbers  who,  daring  to  assault  persons  on  their  way 
to  attend  his  courts,  were  justified  on  the  scene  of  their  mis- 
deeds. 

The  reins  of  government  falling  from  the  strong  hands  of 
Randolph — who  succumbed  to  disease  in  1332 — into  the  feeble 
ones  of  the  Earl  of  Mar,  Edward  Baliol  profited  by  the  occasion 
to  efifect  a  landing  in  the  Forth. 

His  principal  lieutenant  was  Henry  de  Beaumont,  married 
to  the  Earl  of  Buchan's  daughter,  his  leading  partizans  being 
"  disinherited  "  Anglo  -  Normans  and  other  claimants,  quaintly 

^  ''Intraverunt  Scoti  in  Angliam  per  medium  FomeJUet  et  comitatam  Lan- 
castrue  devastayenint  undique,  absque  aliqno  damno  suorum,  coUigentes  immen- 
sam  pnedam  auri  et  argenti,  animalium,  omamentoram  eccleBiasticorum,  lectu- 
aliam,  mensaliam,  abducentes  onustas  carrectas  omnibus  bonis  patrise  ad  suum 
placitum." — Knighton,  p.  2542.  "Fumess,  the  furthest  point  of  Lancashire 
north  of  the  sands,  derived  from  fur  or  fyr,  a  light." — Norsemen  in  Cumberland, 
108. 

"  Furness,  a  Norse  name  indicating  the  antiquity  of  the  lighthouse." — Taylor, 
Words  and  Places, 

'  A  royal  charter  to  the  city  of  Aberdeen  is  dated  from  Galloway  16th  March 
1329. 


100    HEREDITAKY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  1 234 

styled  by  old  -chroniclers  "  Les  Querrelleurs  *'  —  quarrellets 
with  the  Brucian  settlement.  Of  these  connected  with  Gal- 
loway, besides  De  Beaumont,  there  were  John,  son  of  the  Bed 
Comyn ;  Henry  de  Ferrars ;  William  de  la  Zouche ;  Sir  John 
le  Mareschal ;  Henry  de  Percy ;  John  de  Mowbray ;  Thomas 
Bisset,  and  his  younger  brother  Henry  Baliol ;  and  of  native 
Galloway  family  Sir  Patrick  M'Culloch,  and  many  more.^ 

Thus  supported,  Edward  Baliol  joined  issue  with  the  Begent 
Mar  on  Dupplin  Moor,  gained  a  complete  victory,  and  on  the 
29th  September  1332  was  crowned  king  at  Scone,  immediately 
after  which  he  turned  his  footsteps  southward,  eager  apparently 
to  revisit  the  scenes  of  his  youth. 

The  eastern  shires  remained  true  to  David,  but  so  great  was 
the  attachment  to  the  name  of  Baliol  in  the  west  that  the 
Galwegians  rose  en  inasse  to  receive  him;  and,  carried  away 
by  the  general  enthusiasm,  the  first  to  interpret  their  feelings 
and  place  his  own  services  at  Edward's  disposal  was  Alexander 
Bruce,  the  especial  representative  of  the  rival  house. 

Among  the  leaders  of  the  Brucian  party  were  the  Earl  of 
March  and  Archibald  Douglas,  whose  estates  lay  especially 
exposed  to  Baliol's  attack ;  and  they,  despairing  of  immediate 
succour,  and  knowing  that  they  could  not  hold  their  own 
unaided,  asked  and  obtained  from  him  a  truce  until  the  2nd  of 
February  following,  on  the  specious  suggestion  that  before  that 
time  all  controversies  ought  to  be  settled  by  a  national  con- 
vention. 

This  treaty  signed,  Baliol  moved  about  freely,  often  slenderly 
attended ;  this  coming  to  Archibald  Douglas's  ears,  he  raised  a 
a  body  of  horse,  and  on  Christmas  eve  treacherously  attacked 
him  at  Annan,  at  dead  of  night.  Both  Baliols  had  abeady 
retired  to  bed,  and  their  followers  were  indulging  in  noisy 
revelry.  The  king  escaped  to  Carlisle  with  difl&culty,  on  a 
sorry  steed,  literally  in  his  nightdress.    His  brother  Henry  and 

^  Henry  de  Beanmont  claiming  the  earldom  of  Bachan  and  the  Castle  of 
Cruggleton,  Forest  of  Buchan,  and  other  lands ;  guided  by  the  counsels  of  Heniy  de 
Beaumont,  the  disinherited  barons  assembled  400  men-at-arms  and  3000  infantry. 
— Halles,  AnnalSf  ii.  258. 


to  1360]  Alan's  heirs  to  brucian  settlement      101 

Walter  Comyn  offered  a  stout  resistance,  but  both  were  slain, 
and  Alexander  Bruce  was  taken  prisoner.     As  Wyntoun  has 

it— 

Alysawndyre  the  Brws  wes  tane, 
Bot  the  Ballyoll  his  gat  is  gane 
On  a  harme  horse  wyth  legys  bare.^ 

For  this  feat  Archibald  Douglas  was  now  named  Begent, 
but  the  first  effect  of  his  sharp  practice  proved  in  every  way 
disastrous,  as  it  brought  Edward  III.  forthwith  upon  the  scene, 
furnishing  him,  moreover,  with  an  excuse  for  further  claims  on 
the  Scotch  exchequer,  for  settling  its  affairs  against  his  will. 

Baliol  being  soon  rejoined  by  his  followers  at  Carlisle,  re- 
crossed  the  Borders,  and  faced  his  foes,  and  on  the  arrival  of  the 
advanced  guard  of  the  English  gained  a  decisive  victory  in  a 
sanguinary  battle  at  HaUdon,  near  Berwick,  in  which  both  the 
Regent  and  Alexander  Bruce  (who  had  again  changed  sides) 
were  slain. 

But  now,  as  a  serious  drawback  to  his  triumph,  BaUol  had 
to  reckon  with  his  protector,  who  exacted  for  his  assistance  the 
castle  and  town  of  Berwick,  the  Ettrick  Forest,  the  shires  of 
Edinburgh,  Roxburgh,  Peebles,  and  Dumfries,  this  last  including 
the  whole  modem  stewartry  of  Kirkcudbright ;  and  so  deter- 
mined was  the  demand,  and  so  precipitate  the  surrender,  that 
Baliol  found  he  had  inadvertently  signed  away  the  possession 
of  his  private  property,  which  was  only  restored  to  him  as  an 
act  of  grace.* 

Disgraceful  as  this  surrender  may  have  been  considered 
elsewhere,  as  a  matter  of  fact  in  Galloway  it  was  not  unpopular. 
There  all  classes  profited  by  free  intercourse  with  England ;  an 
intercourse  long  established,  and  which  it  was  necessarily  the 
policy  of  all  English  kings  to  encourage,  whilst  it  was  the 

1  Wyntoun,  bk.  8,  c.  26, 1.  8725. 

*  Parliament  at  Edinburgh  made  the  surrender  12th  February  1834,  ratified 
by  Edward  III.  12th  June  and  18th  June  1834.  Asserting  that  he  had  too  much 
reverence  for  G^,  justice,  and  good  faith,  to  allow  the  cession  to  be  prejudicial  to 
Bailors  private  interests,  the  King  of  England  issued  a  declaration  that  the  lands 
of  Botel,  Kirk  Andrewes,  and  Kenmure,  were  Baliol's  private  property,  and  not 
included  in  the  resignation. — Fcedera,  iv.  590-618. 


102         HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY     [A.D.   1 234 

avowed  if  benighted  policy  and  constant  practice  of  Scottish 
kings  and  parliaments  to  prevent. 

The  leading  families  of  the  province  had  been  reared  under 
a  system  of  double  allegiance  tending  to  relax  strong  feelings  of 
nationality,  and  although  the  successes  of  Bruce  had  put  an  end 
to  such  a  state  of  things,  yet  the  very  circumstances  attending 
the  struggle  had  tended  rather  further  to  alienate  the  affections 
of  Galwegians  from  his  family,  and  many  would  have  been  glad 
to  accept  English  protection  if  ensuring  them  free  trade. 

Galloway  was  at  this  moment  completely  isolated  from  the 
rest  of  Scotland.  David  II.  had  command  of  all  the  approaches 
to  the  province,  and  advancing  in  person  to  Ayr,  there  signed, 
9th  November  1342,  a  patent  to  Sir  Malcolm  Fleming  of  the 
Earldom  of  Wigtown,  granting  him  extraordinary  jurisdiction, 
and  all  the  Crown  lands  of  the  shire  on  fee. 

He  thus  practically  threw  down  the  gauntlet  to  Edward  III, 
who  was  not  slow  to  take  it  up,  and  at  once  liberally  supplied 
his  partizans  with  the  sinews  of  war,  such  military  stores  being 
usually  consigned  to  Dugald  MacDowall  as  their  chief. 

MacDowall  was  summoned  to  the  English  Court,  and  there 
renewing  vows  of  allegiance,  received  promises  of  assistance 
which  were  loyally  redeemed ;  and  by  aid  of  the  Rotuli  Scotice, 
in  which  all  such  subsidies  and  presents  are  minutely  accounted 
for,  we  are  able  to  follow  his  fortunes  in  all  their  twists  and 
turnings,  which  we  shortly  glance  at  as  a  typical  illustration  of 
the  vicissitudes  incident  to  the  position  of  a  Galloway  baron 
during  the  quarter  of  a  century  succeeding  1332. 

MacDowall,  originally  a  strong  partisan  of  John  Baliol, 
afterwards  supported  Edward  I.  in  preference  to  Bruce.  After 
Bannockbum  he  made  his  peace  with  King  Robert,  kept 
aloof  from  Edward  Baliol  in  1332,  and  rejected  the  advances 
of  Edward  III.  when  claiming  the  sovereignty  of  Galloway. 
When,  however,  Baliol  took  up  his  residence  at  Botel,  personal 
intercourse  revived  hereditary  leanings  and  overcame  all  scruples. 
An  entry  in  the  rolls  of  August  1339  attests  that  "  Edward  III. 
then  received  the  fealty  of  Duncan  MacDowall,  and  pardoned 


to  1360]  alan's  heirs  to  brucian  settlement      103 

him  for  his  late  adherence  to  the  Scots  and  all  his  political 
crimes."  He  was  now  received  into  that  sovereign's  full  con- 
fidence, summoned  to  a  personal  interview  in  1342,  his  lieutenants 
subsidised,  and  arrangements  made  for  a  campaign.^ 

In  April  Edward  III.  ordered  his  "admiral  to  furnish  a 
large  ship  and  take  MacDowall  to  Galloway,  as  had  been 
agreed  on  by  the  king  and  his  council,"  issuing  at  the  same 
time  a  precept  to  the  Treasurer  of  Ireland,  "to  provide  100 
quarters  of  com  and  18  tons  of  wine  for  the  furnishing 
of  the  said  ship."  He  granted  safe-conducts  "  to  all  merchants 
to  carry  provisions  and  merchandise  to  MacDowall's  fortalice 
in  Galloway  "  ;  and  by  the  king's  command  wines  were  furnished 
to  him  "  gratis  "  from  the  royal  stores  at  Carlisle. 

Mandates  were  addressed  to  De  Lacy,  the  warden  of  the 
marches,  and  to  the  sheri£fs  of  Cumberland,  Westmoreland,  and 
Lancashii'e,  commanding  them  to  give  MacDowall  prompt 
assistance  if  his  fortalice  should  be  besieged,  and  to  "  collect 
provisions  and  furnish  archers  to  be  sent  to  the  sea-board, 
thence  to  be  transported  to  the  Pele  of  MacDowall  in  Gallo- 
way." 2 

Sir  Patrick  Maculloch,  his  son  Patrick,  and  John  Gilbert 
and  Michael  Maculloch,  John  le  Marechal,  and  Thomas  Bisset, 
are  among  the  landowners  mentioned  who  were  largely  sub- 
sidised. And  in  December  of  the  same  year,  1342,  precepts 
were  issued  to  six  merchants  in  Bristol,  commanding  them  to 
convey  10  tons  of  wine,  100  quarters  of  com,  and  2  barrels  of 

^  All  from  Rotuli  Scotia^,  The  followiDg  are  but  a  few  of  the  entries  alluded 
to: — 

Sirs  Patrick  MacGuUocb,  John  le  Mareschal,  and  Thomas  Bisset  each  re- 
ceived £10  for  outfit.    15  August  1341. 

Patrick  MacCuUoch  has  £20  to  account,  and  a  quarter  of  a  year's  wages  for  the 
men  at  arms,  besides  a  yearly  pension  of  £20. 

Patrick,  son  of  Patrick,  John,  and  Michael  MacCulloch,  five  marks  each ; 
Gilbert  MacCulloch,  £4  :  lis.,  a  year's  wages  for  himself  and  a  man-at-arms,  and 
£5  as  a  gift  from  the  wool-money.     June  1342. — Rotuli  Scotice 

Previous  to  this  Edward  III.  had  lent  Baliol  £300  sterling,  and  27th  January 
1386  bestowed  upon  him  a  pension  of  five  marks  a  day.  Given  him  in  three 
sums,  £500  in  1335,  and  6  ten  dolia  (tons  ?)  of  flour,  besides  loose  quantities  of 
wine  and  provisions. — FcederOf  iv.  674-710. 

'  The  passages  within  inverted  commas  are  quotations  from  Rotuli  ScoticB, 


104         HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY     [A.D.   1 234 

salt  to  the  Island  of  Eastholm  (Hestan)  in  Galloway,  in  aid  of 
MacDowall  and  his  men. 

All  this  time,  however,  the  national  party  in  Scotland  were 
increasing  in  strength ;  and  Edward  III.  being  involved  in  war 
with  France,  David  II.  might  have  easily  overcome  Baliol  had 
he  not  imprudently  resolved  to  take  advantage  of  Edward's 
absence  to  reannex  Northumberland  to  Scotland.  He  crossed 
the  Borders  in  the  autumn  of  1346,  and  carried  all  before  him 
to  the  Tyne,  where  the  English,  commanded  by  William  de  la 
Zouche,  Archbishop  of  York,  Metropolitan  of  Galloway,  joined 
issue  with  him  near  Durham,  gained  a  complete  victory,  and 
led  away  both  David  himself  and  the  Earl  of  Wigtown  to 
a  long  captivity,  Baliol  being  thus  left  to  keep  his  little 
court  undisturbed  a  little  longer  on  the  Urr.  Here  he  was 
joined  by  Henry  Percy  and  Sir  Ealph  Nevil  with  a  goodly 
following.* 

An  entry  of  Duncan  MacDowall's  name  in  the  English 
Exchequer  Bolls,  as  a  prisoner  at  Bochester  the  following  year, 
is  somewhat  mysterious.  It  has  been  erroneously  inferred  from 
this  that  his  "Pele"  at  Hestan  had  been  reduced  before  the 
battle,  and  that  he  had  thereupon  transferred  his  allegiance 
to  David  II.,  and  was  one  of  the  Scotch  prisoners  taken  at  the 
battle.  But  for  this  there  is  no  authority  whatever ;  and  though 
the  cause  of  his  detention  is  not  stated,  it  is  further  mentioned 
that  (unlike  the  Scottish  prisoners  taken  at  Durham)  he  was 
released  the  following  year,  having  been  first  conducted  to  York, 
where  his  wife  and  sons  met  him  and  surrendered  themselves 
as  hostages  for  his  good  behaviour,  upon  which  he  returned  to 
Galloway  as  warm  a  partisan  of  Baliol  as  before.  Six  years 
later,  however.  Sir  William  Douglas,  gaining  advantages  over 
the  English,  and  expelling  them  from  Teviotdale  and  the  Ettrick 
Forest,  penetrated  to  Galloway,  and  induced  MacDowall  to 
come  to  a  parley — when,  whether  through  fear  or  persuasion,  he 
persuaded  him  to  detach  himself  from  the  English  party  and 

^  Henry  de  Percy  had  100  men-at-arms  and  100  archers  on  horsehaok  ;  Ralph 
Neyil  80  men-at-arms  and  80  moonted  archers. — Hailes,  AnnalSj  L  243. 


to  1360]  Alan's  heirs  to  brucian  settlement      105 

to  swear  fealty  to  David  II.  in  the  church  of  Cumnock,  an 
oath  which  he  faithfully  observed.^ 

The  defection  of  MacDowall  doubtless  hurried  on  the  clos- 
ing scene  of  Bailors  reign ;  although,  by  the  irony  of  fate,  the 
victory  of  his  own  partisans  at  Durham  had  at  least  an  equal 
share  in  his  final  eclipse. 

He  had  only  been  King  of  Scotland  by  favour  of  Edward, 
and  Edward  having  the  rival  king  of  the  Scots  in  his  power, 
conceived  he  might  best  further  his  own  interests  by  making 
terms  with  David,  the  chosen  king  of  the  nation,  which  the 
Scots  would  readily  endorse  to  effect  his  restoration.  Negotia- 
tions for  his  release  were  entered  upon,  that  he  was  to  be 
acknowledged  by  Edward  as  sole  King  of  Scotland.  Baliol 
protested,  but  in  vain,  the  only  voice  he  was  allowed  to  have 
in  the  matter  being  that  three  of  his  partisans — Patrick 
M'CuUoch,  John  of  Wygginton,  and  William  of  Aldeburgh* 
— ^were  allowed  to  be  present  at  the  conferences  to  protect 
his  private  rights,  the  final  results  of  which  were  that 
Edward  Baliol  surrendered  all  claims,  whether  to  the  throne 
or  his  estates,  to  Edward  III.  for  5000  marks  in  gold,  paid 
down,  in  addition  to  a  pension  of  2000  marks  a  year.  This 
absolute  surrender  having  been  made  by  delivery  of  a  portion 
of  the  earth  of  Scotland,  and  also  by  the  upgiving  of  his  golden 
crown.  On  the  20th  January  1356  Baliol  left  Scotland  never 
to  return,'  and  Edward  III.,  after  some  dallying,  released  David 
from  his  captivity  the  following  year,  and  summoned  a  parlia- 
ment, which  ratified  the  conditions  of  his  release  at  Scone  on 
the  6th  November. 

'  Fordun  seems  to  place  the  event  in  1856,  but  I  have  placed  it  in  1853  on 
the  authority  of  an  instmrnent  in  Fcedera,  v.  759. — Hailes,  Annals,  i.  250. 

'  Aldeborgh,  Saxon  eald  byric,  the  old  fort,  a  strong  position  so  mapped  be- 
tween Port  Alan  and  Port  Yerroch.     The  present  lands  of  Aoldbreck  lie  inland. 

'  The  fate  of  Edward  Baliol  was  singular.  On  his  invasion  of  Scotland  he  dis- 
played a  bold  spirit  of  enterprise  and  a  courage  superior  to  all  difficulties.  By 
the  victory  of  Dnpplin  he  won  a  crown  ;  some  few  weeks  after  he  was  surprised 
at  Annan  and  lost  it.  The  overthrow  of  the  Scots  at  Halidon,  to  which  he 
signally  contributed,  availed  not  to  his  re-establishment  Year  after  year  he 
saw  his  partisans  fall  away.  He  became  the  pensioner  of  Edward  and  the  tool 
of  his  policy.     He  died  childless  in  1368. — Hailes,  Anrials,  i.  255. 


106  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY 

So  undoubted,  however,  were  the  territorial  rights  of  Baliol 
held  to  be,  that  the  Scottish  estates  were  inclined  to  admit  the 
justice,  if  not  the  expediency,  of  recognising  Edward's  III/s 
claim  to  Galloway  estates,  based  on  Baliol's  resignation,  and 
entertained  proposals  for  settling  them  on  the  King  of  England's 
son,  which,  however,  came  to  nothing. 

No  sooner  had  Baliol  and  his  partisans  disappeared  than 
Fleming  asserted  his  chartered  privileges  in  his  Earldom  of 
Wigtown,  whilst  Sir  William  Douglas  (younger  brother  of  the 
"good  Sir  James"),  also  created  an  earl,  exercised  similar 
powers  east  of  Cree.  So  great  did  the  power  of  the  Douglases 
speedily  become,  that  the  person  whom  they  entrusted  with  the 
administration  of  justice  between  the  Nith  and  Cree  (inter 
aquam  de  Creth  et  aquam  de  Nyth),  they  considered  their  own 
personal  officer,  and  designed  him  Steward,  Western  Galloway 
continuing  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  king's  sheriff;  hence, 
until  the  other  day,  it  was  considered  a  lapsus  lingua  to  speak 
of  the  "Shire"  of  Kirkcudbright,  Wigtown  and  Kirkcudbright 
being  popularly  known  as  the  "Shire"  and  "Stewartry"  of 
Galloway, 

Following  the  re-establishment  of  David  II/s  power  came 
the  tale  of  forfeitures,  offices  and  lands  innumerable  falling 
to  the  Crown.  The  lion's  share  fell  to  Fleming  and  Douglas. 
Almost  all  the  descendants  of  Anglo-Normans  introduced  by 
Roland  and  Alan  were  proscribed,  others  of  the  same  race  taking 
their  places,  many  of  whom  took  deep  root  in  the  soil. 

Fleming  soon  ousted  John  of  Wigtown.  William  of  Auld- 
breck,  as  well  as  Henry  de  Beaumont,  were  succeeded  in  their 
lands  by  Sir  Gilbert  Kennedy,  who  had  been  one  of  the  hostages 
for  King  David  on  his  return  in  1353.  Percy's  lands  were  aU 
taken  by  Douglas.  Lauchlan  Adair  (Edzear)  received  Bomby, 
"  qwhilk  was  Lyndsay's."  Fergus  MacDowall,  now  in  favour, 
got  the  barony  of  Borgue,  which  "  Mowbray  forfeited  " ;  and  an 
Aygnell  or  Agnew  was  given  a  share  of  Crown  lands  untenanted 
in  the  Ehynns,  with  the  keeping  of  the  Castle  of  Lochnaw. 


CHAPTER    VI 

THE  RA6MA.N  ROLL 
My  ladyes  and  my  maistresses  echone 

•  •••«* 

Resave  in  gr^  of  my  sympille  persone 
This  roUe  which  withouten  any  drede 
Eynge  Ragman  me  bad  mesoure  in  brede. 

On  a  Ragman  Roll,  \Uh  Century, 

The  word  "  Ragman  Roll/'  which  has  much  mystified  philo- 
logists/ admits  of  the  simplest  explanation,  having  had  its 
origin  in  good-humoured  banter,  and  far  from  being  intended  in 
any  way  to  wound  Scottish  susceptibility,  was  a  merry  allusion 
to  a  favourite  diversion  of  the  Ladies'  Bower. 

Ragman  or  King  Rageman  was  a  game  much  afifected  in 
Anglo-Norman  society  in  the  thirteenth  century.  A  number  of 
characters,  good,  bad,  and  indifferent,  were  written  in  couplets 
consecutively  on  a  sheet  of  parchment.  To  each  character  a 
string  was  attached,  having  a  piece  of  wax  or  metal  at  the  tip. 
This  sheet  when  rolled  up  was  called  a  Ragman  Roll ;  each 
pereon  playing  drew  a  character  by  pulling  a  string,  which  he 
or  she  maintained  for  the  rest  of  the  evening. 

When  the  Scottish  Baronage  swore  fealty  to  Edward  I.  at 
Berwick,  their  names  were  written  down,  and  the  seals  of 
such  as  had  them  attached  to  the  sheet  by  small  strips  of 
parchment.    The  rolls  containing  the  signatures,  when  made  up, 

^  In  Brewer's  Didionary  of  Phrase  and  Fable  (a  really  useful  work)  the 
Ragman  Roll  is  explained  to  be  a  corruption  of  "  Bagimund's  Boll " — an  absurd 
confusion,  Bagimont  (Baimundi's),  which  is  obviously  intended,  being  a  list  of 
benefices  and  church  dues,  and  has  no  connection  whatever  with  the  Bagman 
BolL 


108  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY 

with  a  mass  of  seals  dependent  from  them,  had  each  much  the 
appearance  of  a  huge  roll^  of  this  game  of  Ragman;  and  that 
name  being  jokingly  given  to  it  by  some  of  the  young  courtiers 
in  attendance,  has  stuck  to  this  important  state  paper  ever  since. 
The  roll  for  Wigtownshire  is  drawn  up  separately,  but  that 
of  Kirkcudbright  is  included  in  Dumfries,  with  no  territorial 
arrangement,  and  it  is  impossible  to  decide  what  names,  and 
even  what  holdings,  are  to  be  set  down  exclusively  to  Gralloway. 

DEL   COUNTE   DE   WYGGETON 

Johan  Comyn,  Comte  de  Bouchan.  Joh&n  de  Meynreth. 

Thomas,  Euesqe  de  Candida  Casa.'  William  de  Champaigne. 

Morice,  Priour  de  Whiteme.  Dougal  MacDowjL 

Johan  le  Mareschal  de  Toskerton.^  Rauf  de  Champaigne. 

Thomas  de  Torthorald.  Hectur  Askelot^ 

Fergus  MakDowylt.  Arthur  de  QalbratL 

Roland  MacGaghen.^  Gilbert  de  Hannethe. 

Thomas  MacUlagh.^  Fergus  Askolo. 

William  Polmalot«  Thomas  de  Kithehilt 

Andreu  de  Logan.  William  de  Byskeby. 


^  The  Ragman  Roll,  when  rolled  up  for  use,  would  present  a  confosed  mass  of 
strings  hanging  from  it,  with  bits  of  wax  at  the  end,  from  which  the  drawer  had 
to  select  one.  This  game  possesses  a  peculiar  historical  interest.  When  the 
Scottish  nobles  and  chieftains  acknowledged  theirj  dependence  on  the  English 
crown  in  the  reign  of  Edward  I.,  the  deed  by  which  they  made  this  acknow- 
ledgment, having  aU  their  seals  hung  to  it,  presented  when  rolled  up  much  the 
appearance  of  the  roll  used  in  this  game,  and  hence,  no  doubt,  they  gave  it  in 
derision  the  name  of  Ragman's  Roll.— Wright,  Domestic  Manners  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  233. 

'  Succeeded  **  Henry  "  as  Bishop  before  1296 ;  succeeded  by  Simon  before 
1821.— Keith, 

'  Elsewhere  described  as  Johan  le  Mareschal  de  Toskerton,  Chevalier.  His 
barony  was  also  a  parish,  afterwards  called  Eirkmadrine,  now  absorbed  in  Kirk- 
maiden.  Tuaiscairt  with  the  formative  particle  an :  the  northerly  place,  i,e, 
north  of  Kirkmaiden. 

*  Fergus  MacGachan  (addressed  by  George  Douglas  as  cousin)  is  described  as 
of  "  Corsmagachan  in  Glenluce,"  an.  lA65.—Lochnaw  Charters, 

»  KSheriff  of  Wigtown  1296.— Ryley,  PlacUa. 

'  Now  Polmallet  May  have  its  name  from  a  deep  pool,  once  much  larger 
than  now,  Pol-mallacht  (the  cursed  pool),  whether  as  a  scene  of  massacre 
or  strife,  or  even  a  want  of  fish  !  such  a  meaning  for  the  suffix  being  recognised 
in  Irish  place-names.— Joyce,  ii.  448. 

'  We  find  the  name  elsewhere  written  Ector  Ascelog,  suggestive  of  ap*or-ui 
scolog,  the  son  of  the  scholar  or  crofter. 


THE  RAGMAN  ROLL 


109 


William  MacUlagh. 
Dougal  Qotheriksone. 
Michel  MacUlagh. 
James  Seneschal  Descore. 


Johan   Seneschal    fr^re   mon 

James  Seneschal.^ 
Marie  la  Regne  de  Man.^ 


sire 


DEL    COUNTE    DE    DUNFRES* 


Johan,  Abb^  de  Dou^quer.^ 
Alisaundre,  Abb^  de  Tungeland. 
Wautier,  Abb^  de  Dundrennan. 
Dangald,  Abb^  de  Saint  Boiz.^ 
William,  Prior  de  Canonby. 
Henry  de  MundeawilL 
Thomas  de  ColewilL^ 
Andreau  de  Chartres.*^ 
David  le  Mareschal. 
Umfrey  du  Qardin  (Jardine). 
Mariot  de  Sutton. 
Patrik  de  Botle. 
Dovenald  fiz  Can. 
Wautier  de  Twvnham. 
William  de  la  Chaumbre. 
Johan  de  Qeueleston. 
Wautier  fiz  Richard  de  Twynham. 
Steuene  de  Kilpatrick.^ 
Wautier  Durant. 
Mathew  de  Legh. 
Thomas  de  Eirconnel. 


Thomas  de  Bardonan. 
Robert  de  Moffet. 
Rogier  de  Fauhside.^ 
Dunkan  de  Coningesburgh. 
Gilmyhel  MacEth.^o 
Macrath  ap  Molegan.^^ 
Johan  Murthoe. 
Robert  de  Chartres. 
Alisaundre  de  Eetb. 
Johan  de  Joneston,  Chevalier. 
Johan  le  Blunt  de  Eskeby. 
Henry  de  Graham. 
Johan  de  la  Leyle. 
Johan  de  Seton. 
Piers  de  Graham. 
Beatrice  de  CarleaL 
Adam  de  Holm. 
Eustace  de  Boyuill. 
Tue  le  Messager. 
Richarde  de  Seton. 
James  de  Tortherald. 


^  Sir  James  Stewart,  seventh  High  Steward  of  Scotland ;  his  brother,  Sir  John, 
married  the  daughter  and  heiress  of  Sir  John  de  Bonkil,  and  by  her  was  pro- 
genitor of  the  Damley  or  Lennox  branch. 

*  Widow  of  Malise,  fifth  Earl  of  Stratheme,  "  daughter  of  Eugene  of  Ergadia, '' 
previonsly  "relict  of  the  King  of  Man." — Foedera,  ii.  571 ;  Wood,  ii.  557. 

*  The  following  names  are  in  the  published  edition :  Eufemme  qui  fut  la 
femme,  William  de  Homden  ;  William  de  Weston  ;  Johan  de  Mundeuill,  persons 
de  Moffat ;  William  de  Striulyn  (Stirling) ;  Nicol  de  Swafham,  persone  de  Grant 
Dalton — ^but  not  followed  with  any  indication  of  being  connected  with  "  Wygge- 
ton,"  obviously  out  of  their  proper  place. 

*  New  Abbey — Douzquer  in  the  Wardrobe  Aeeounts. 

'  De  Sacro  Nemoris,  Celtic  Dercongal,  doire  conghbhail,  church  wood ;  not 
St.  Connal  or  Congal. 

*  Ancestor  of  Lords  Colyille  of  Culross,  and  of  Ochiltree. 
^  Of  Amisfield,  represented  by  the  Earl  of  Wemyss. 

*  Eirkpatrick  of  Closebum,  reputed  ancestor  of  Eugenie,  Empress  of  the 
French. 

9  *  *  Faugh, "  a  part  of  the  outfield  never  dunged.  — Jamieson .  * '  Fanners'  faugh 
gars  laiids  laugh" — Proverb ;  whence  name  Fawcett,  and  probably  Forsyth. 

^^  Represents  equally  Mackie,  Macghie,  and  Mackay. 

^  Fergus  Amulligan  acquired  Dempstertown,  Dunscrore ;  his  descendants  are 
Milligans. 


110 


HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY 


Hughe  de  ITrre. 

Johan  de  Seton. 

Nicol  de  Corry. 

Johan  de  Dordof. 

Raof  de  Erington. 

Symond  de  la  Chaunibre. 

Robert  de  Donbretan. 

Robert  Freser.^ 

William  de  Hellebeck. 

Henry  de  Gillonby. 

Gyles  persone  del  Eglise  de  Eggles- 

feyan. 
Robert  de  Perressar.^ 
Johan  de  Kirke  Patrik. 
Thomas  Moffet. 
Maucolum  MacCuffoc. 
Bathelmea  de  Egglesham  Chopelyn. 
Gardein  de  Nouel  leu  de  Seneware.* 
WiUiam  le  Tailleur. 
Patrik  fiz  Mathieu  de  Parton. 
Henry  Vicaire  del  Eglise  de  Laur- 

ineton. 
Robert    de    Tyndale    persone    del 

Eglise  de  Grant  Dal  ton. 
Wautier  Curry. 
Henry  Crak. 
Johan  de  NormanwilL 
Johan  de  Araz.* 
Patrik  de  Bardonan. 
Morice  MacSalny. 
Humfrey  de  Boys,  Chivaler. 
Rogier  de  Kirkepatrick.^ 
Hugh  Manleurer. 
Gilberd  de  Joneston. 
Huue  de  Orre. 


Cuthbert  Makelemwyn.^ 

Gilbert  Makenight. 

Johan  de  Bundeby.^ 

Fergus  le  Mareschal. 

Roulande  le  Mareschal. 

Morice  de  Esttubbille. 

Gilbert  de  Southeyck. 

Gilbert  de  Karlel.s 

Wautier  fiz  Wautier  de  Gummeston. 

Thomas  de  Coleuile. 

Adam  de  Colweune. 

Thomas  de  Southayk  (Southwick). 

Michel  de  Cardelnesse  (Eirkdale). 

Duncan  fiz  Andreu. 

Dougal  fiz  Gothrik. 

Aleyn  de  Rossa. 

Robert  de  Drusquem.® 

William  de  Heriz. 

Thurbrandes  de  Logan. 

Johan  de  Kerdemesse  (Cardoness),^^ 

Piers  de  Jarum,  persone  de  Kelles. 

Johan  Vicaire  de  Urres. 

Sire  Herbert  de  MakeswelL 

Sire  Richard  Freser. 

Wautier  de  Demington,  persone  de 

Parton. 
Mestre  William  de  Goseford  person 

de  Castelmilke. 
Robert  de  Carsan,  persone  de  Kirk- 

andres. 
Alianore  Prioresse  de  Lincluden. 
Johan  de  Hay  ton. 
Wautier,  persone  de 'Morton,  emestre 

de  Caldestreme. 
Gordon  (Adam  de  Miles)  chevalier.^^ 


^  The  Frasers  carried  originally  three  strawberry  leaves  for  arms,  now 
registered  cinquefoils.     In  Galloway  they  were  "  Frisells." 

^  A  clerical  blunder  for  Pennersax,  anciently  a  parish,  now  absorbed  in 
Middlebye. 

*  In  Galloway,  Newall ;  in  England,  Noel.  *  Herries. 

'  Eirkpatrick  made  siccar  the  Red  Comyn's  death. 

^  MacClellan,  MacGille  ;  Fhaolain,  son  of  the  servant  of  St  Fillan. 

'  Bomby. 

^  Father  of  William,  who  married  King  Robert  I.  's  sister ;  ancestor  of 
Lords  Carlyle.  *  Rusco. 

^^  Caerdonas,  Cardoness,  cyrc  dael  (Saxon),  Eirkdale. 

^^  Son  of  Alicia,  heiress  of  Thomas,  son  of  Richard  de  Gordon.  Alicia  married 
her  cousin  Adam,  gi'andson  of  the  foresaid  Richard,  brought  him  the  lands  of 
Gordon  in  Ber^'ickshire,  and  had  a  son  Adam,  the  above,  who  died  the  year  of 


THE   RAGMAN   ROLL  111 

William    de    Soulis    Dominus    de      Gilbert  Maccoignache. 
Lydisdale.  Hwe  de  Deresdere. 

As  the  earldom  of  Carrick  represented  the  portion  of  Gallo- 
way allotted  to  Duncan  (Fergus's  grandson)  in  1186,  we  give 
such  of  the  names  of  Ayrshire  as  have  connection  with  our 
history. 

DEL  COUNTE  DE  ARE 

Renaud  de  Craufurd.^  Gilmor  fiz  Edward.^® 

Andrew  fiz  Godefrei  de  Ros.^  Wautier  de  Lynne.^^ 

Gilbert  fiz  Roland.^  Michel  de  Mohaut,  Chivaler.^* 

Mestre  Neil  CambeL*  Gilchrist  More.^^ 

Johan  de  Knoudolyan.  Alisandre  de  la  Boutelerie. 

Adam  de  Waleys.^  Ingram  de  Umgrauile.^* 

William  de  Kathkerk.^  Rogier  de  Crauford  (and  five  other 

Robert  de  BoynillJ  Craufords). 

Aylmere  le  Huntere,®  Wautier  (James  and  Robert)  de  Ros. 

Thomas  de  Cregayn.®  Johan  fiz  Roland. 

his  signing  the  Ragman  Roll,  Marjory,  his  widow,  having  restitution  of  his 
estates,  3d  September  1296  ;  in  consequence,  his  son  Adam,  by  this  Marjory,  was 
the  common  ancestor  of  the  Dukes  of  Gordon  and  Viscounts  Eenmure. 

^  Sir  Reginald  Crawford  of  Londoun,  Sheriff  of  Ayr,  murdered  there  by 
English  garrison  1297.  His  son,  Sir  Reginald,  was  taken  prisoner  in  Lochryan 
along  with  Thomas  and  Alexander  Blair  in  1307,  sent  to  Carlisle,  and  executed. 
His  only  daughter,  Susannah,  married  Sir  Duncan,  son  of  Sir  Donald,  second 
son  of  Sir  Colin  Campbell  of  Lochow,  ancestor  of  Dukes  of  Arg}'le. 

*  Godfrey  de  Ros  was  appointed  Sheriff  of  Ayr  by  Edward  I,  1805.  He 
was  ancestor  of  the  Lords  Ross  of  Halkhead.  Roos  and  Rose  are  forms  of  same 
name. 

*  Roland  is  held  to  be  Roland  of  Carnek,  and  (Sir)  Gilbert  de  Carrick 
to  have  been  the  person  recorded  as  submitting  a  difference  between  himself 
and  the  nuns  of  North  Berwick  in  1285  to  the  arbitration  of  Robert  Bruce  and 
Robert  (Henry !),  Bishop  of  Galloway.  He  is  believed  to  be  ancestor  of  the  Earls 
of  Cassilis. 

^  Either  Sir  Neil  Campbell  of  Lochow  or  a  near  relative. 

^  Wallace  of  Riccarton — the  name  meaning  the  Welshman  or  Briton. 

^  Ancestor  of  Eari  Cathcart 

^  Boyle  of  Eelburn,  ancestor  of  Elarls  of  Glasgow. 

*  Hunter  of  Amul,  afterwards  of  Hunterston ;  on  an  ancient  boundaiy  charter 
his  neighbour's  lands  are  described  as  marching  *'terris  Normani  venatoris,'* 

^  Craigy  was  carried  by  an  heiress  to  Wallace  of  Riccarton. 
^^  Head  of  the  Cunninghams  of  Kilmaurs,  ancestor  to  the  Earls  of  Glencaim. 
^^  Probably  ancestors  of  Lynnes  of  Larg. 
^'  De  Monte  Alto,  Scotticised  Mouatt 
**  **  Rowallan  Mures,"  Nisbet     Mure  of  Polkelly, 

^*  Appointed  by  Edward  II.  in  1310  to  receive  submission  of  Galloway  men  ; 
an  English  baronet  possessed  of  great  estates  in  Angus  as  well  as  Ayr. 


112 


HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY 


Johan  fiz  Neel  de  Karrik.^ 
Duncan  de  Carleton. 
Nicol  de  Waleys. 
Hawe  of  the  Blare.  ^ 
Richard  de  Boyuill. 
Rauf  de  Eglynton.* 
Neel  fiz  Robert  de  Dullop. 


Rauf  Faireye.* 

Murthauch  de  Montgomery.^ 

Symund  de  Spalding,  persone  del 

EgliflB  Ogheltre  (Ochiltree). 
Renaud  de  la  More  and  Adam. 
Aleyn  le  Barbour. 
Maucolum  Lockare.^ 


^  Believed  to  be  the  ancestor,  and  to  have  given  his  name  to  the  Neilaons  of 
Craigcaffie.  '  Whence  perhaps  Blair  of  Blair. 

'  Eglinton  of  that  ilk.  His  line  ended  in  a  daughter,  married  to  Sir  John 
Montgomery,  ancestor  of  the  Earls  of  Eglinton. 

^  Fairly  of  that  ilk.  Root  of  name  apparently  Norse :  faareye,  *'  sheep 
pastures." — Nisbet,  Remarka  on  Bagman  Itoll,  it  41. 

"  Second  son  of  John  Montgomery,  whose  great-grandson  married  the  daughter 
of  the  Lord  of  Eglinton. 

'  Malcolm  Lockhart  of  Barr. 


CHAPTER   VII 

PLACE-NAMES  ILLUSTRATING  OLD  GALLOWAY  PURSUITS 

^temumque  tenet  per  ssecula  noxnen. 

ViBOiL,  JSnid,  vi.  281. 

The  ancient  language  of  Galloway  is  so  indelibly  impressed 
upon  its  soil,  that  in  default  of  any  Pictish  literature,  its  old 
place-names,  if  read  aright,  may  largely  supplement  the  meagre 
chronicles  of  the  middle  ages. 

They  retain  memories  of  its  mighty  men,  many  mythic, 
"  carent  quia  vate  sacro  " ;  of  its  princes,  of  its  warriors,  of  its 
saints,  of  its  pirate  chiefs,  of  the  callings  of  its  people,  lay  and 
cleric — friar,  artificer,  robber,  herd,  hunter,  or  beadsman  ;  they 
specify  the  very  trees  of  which  the  primeval  forest  was  com- 
posed, they  name  its  denizens,  and  enable  us  in  a  measure  to 
judge  of  the  progress  made  in  arts  and  agriculture  by  its  people 
previous  to  their  speech  being  assimilated  to  that  of  Lowland 
Scotland. 

A  certain  mystery  attaches  to  the  "  Pictish  "  tongue ;  but  for 
our  purposes  it  is  sufficient  to  know  that  "  Pictish  is  a  Gaelic 
dialect  partaking  largely  of  Welsh  forms."  ^  And  this,  qualified 
by  the  fact  that  prior  to  the  fifth  century,  before  which  the 
bulk  of  old  Galloway  place-names  had  been  probably  given, 
the  various  dialects  of  Celtic  dififered  very  much  less  from  one 
another  than  they  do  at  present.    And  whatever  inflections  may 

^  Four  AneieTii  Bocks  of  WaleSt  i.  188.  "There  are  seven  Celtic  dialects — 
Irish,  Scotch-Gaelic,  Manx,  Pictish,  Welsh,  Cornish,  British  or  Armoric. 

**  Cymric  and  Gaelic  had  each  a  high  and  low  variety  ;  Scotch-Gaelic,  Irish, 
and  Manx  are  high ;  Pictish,  low  ;  Cornish  and  Breton,  high  ;  Welsh,  low." 

VOL.  I  I 


114  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY 

have  been  peculiar  to  the  Pictish,  two  broad  facts  are  capable 
of  historic  proofc 

Firsts  That  in  its  application  to  places  the  Pictish  differs 
immaterially  from  names  imposed  by  Dalriad  Scots  or  Strath- 
Clyde  Britons. 

Second,  That  as  to  its  colloquial  use,  the  youth  of  both  sexes 
in  all  the  neighbouring  kingdoms,  as  the  clerics  of  all  the  three 
nationalities,  had  a  common  meeting-place  at  once  for  inter- 
course and  instruction  at  the  *'  Magnum  Monasterium/'  the  great 
Galloway  Pictish  College  at  Rosnat 

As  to  the  first,  just  opposite  Galloway,  lay  Dalaradia  and 
Dalriada,  their  inhabitants  respectively  Picts  and  Scots,  Now, 
not  only  is  there  no  radical  difference  in  the  place-names  of 
these  two  peoples,  but  those  of  both  closely  resemble  those  of 
Galloway.^  Again,  north  and  east  the  Pictish  Novantae  were 
closely  pressed  upon  by  the  powerful  septs  of  British  race, 
known  to  the  Bomans  as  the  Damnii  and  Selgovae.  Yet,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  there  is  no  radical  difference  between  the  old 
Celtic  place-names  of  Dumfriesshire  and  Ayrshire,  and  those  of 
Galloway.  In  the  three  districts  the  great  majority  of  names 
are  alike  to  be  explained  by  Gaelic  and  Irish  dictionaries, 
and  of  the  very  few  referable  to  the  "Welsh,  there  are  as  many 
to  the  south  of  the  Deil's  Dyke  as  to  the  north  of  it. 

Of  such  exceptional  instances  we  may  name  Cumloden, 
Minigaff  (the  cwm  especially  Cymric),  as  also  Ochiltree  (Pen- 
ninghame),  Galtway,  Trayl,  and  Threave.^ 

As  to  the  second,  the  whole  tenor  of  early  Irish  history  and 
its  church  legends  point  to  the  constant  interchange  of  visits 
between  Irish  saints  and  the  brethren  of  Candida  Casa,  Cymric 

^  ''The  Irish  annals  do  not  contain  a  hint  that  the  Dalaradians  spoke  a 
language  different  from  the  rest  of  Scotland." 

''Nor  is  there  the  slightest  hint  of  any  diversity  of  language  between  the 
Cruithne  (the  Dalaradians)  and  the  Scots." — Celtic  Scotland^  i.  198. 

'  Cwm-llydan,  "the  broad  hollow  between  hiUs,"  which  exactly  describes  it. 

Uchel-tre,  "high  house";  Galtway  (pronounced  Gatah),  Gallt-gwy,  "the 
ascent  from  the  water"  ;  Trahel  or  Trayle  (now  St  Mary's  Isle),  Tre-hel,  "  the 
house  and  the  river  holm"  (a  living  Cornish  name);  Threave,  Tref,  "a 
homestead." 


PLACE-NAMES  115 

kinglets  and  chieftains  sending  their  children  to  the  famous 
seminary;^  from  which  the  inference  fairly  to  be  drawn  is  that 
Strathclyde  Britons  could  then  freely  converse  with  Galloway 
Picts,  and  both  races  alike  with  Irish  Dalriads  and  Dalaradians. 

As  a  rule,  all  over  Scotland  names  given  by  the  Picts  are 
indistinguishable  from  those  given  by  the  Scots,  both  having  an 
occasional  mixture  of  what  is  called  the  Cymric  element,  but 
which  may  really  be  an  unrecognised  trace  of  the  ancient 
Pictish.2 

The  intermarriage  of  Pictish  chiefs  with  Anglo -Norman 
ladies  led  to  their  children  learning  to  Usp  in  their  mother's 
tongue.  The  monks  first  introduced  as  the  schoolmasters  of 
the  province  were  mostly  Frenchmen,  and  though  these  were 
followed  by  English-speaking  friars,  few  if  any  of  these  clerics 
attempted  to  acquire,  much  less  to  commit  to  writing,  the 
Pictish  speech,  rather  teaching  Latin  as  the  common  medium 
of  communication.  Consequently,  on  the  accession  of  Alan's 
heirs  a.d.  1234,  French  was  the  language  of  the  "classes," 
Pictish  of  the  "  masses." 

A  great  change  was,  however,  in  the  air.  Saxon  had  been 
adopted,  both  in  the  palace  and  at  the  courts  of  law,  earlier 
in  Scotland  than  in  England ;  in  the  counties  of  Ayr  and  Dum- 
fries it  had  even  then  superseded  the  Cymric.  All  classes  in 
Galloway  soon  found  it  most  convenient  to  adopt  the  language 
of  their  neighbours. 

The  flight  of  Baliol  severed  the  connection  of  the  baronage 
with  the  English  court ;  the  forfeitures  incident  to  the  Brucian 
settlement  largely  introduced  a  Saxon-speaking  proprietary,  even 

^  "  As  a  daughter  of  the  king  of  the  Picts  received  her  secular  education 
here,  so  we  learn  that  the  king  of  the  Britons  also  sent  his  children  to  the 
school." — Forhes,  Life  of  St.  Ninian,  Introduction,  42. 

'  Having  submitted  a  list  of  Galloway  names  to  Dr.  Joyce,  he  made  the 
initiatory  remark,  "  When  I  plunge  into  your  names,  I  fancy  myself  walking 
in  a  quagmire  guided  by  a  rushlight "  ;  and  on  a  subsequent  occasion,  **  In 
dealing  with  your  local  names  I  feel  somewhat  as  we  may  suppose  a  good 
billiard-player  would  feel  if  asked  to  play  a  game  with  cubical  pieces  instead  of 
familiar  balls.  The  Scottish  names  don't  suit  my  hand  at  all."  Why  sot 
Obviously  because  Galloway  names,  though  to  the  uninitiated  resembling  the 
Irish,  have  Pictish  as  their  root 


116      HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY 

of  Anglo -Nonnan  blood,  all  of  whom    brought  with  them 
followers  who  knew  no  Celtic. 

Hence  the  double  change.  The  upper  classes  ceased  to 
speak  French,  whilst  the  lower  classes  gradually  dropped  their 
Pictish,  which,  never  having  been  a  written  language,  was  soon 
absolutely  forgotten,  surviving  only  for  a  while  in  isolated 
hamlets  on  the  moors. 

We  are  therefore  entitled  with  some  confidence  to  assert 
that  all  Celtic  place-names  date  at  latest  before  the  close  of 
the  thirteenth  century :  many  of  them  before  the  Christian  era. 
Genuine  Norse  names  carry  us  back  to  the  ninth  and  tenth 
centuries,  and  Northumbrian  Saxon  two  hundred  years  earlier. 

Of  the  first  the  Moat  of  Innermessan  stands  a  stable  and 
imposing  relic  of  a  station  visited  by  Phoenician  mariners  in 
prehistoric  times.  AR  other  buildings  have  disappeared,  but 
the  bay  in  which  their  galleys  rode  retains  its  name  phonetically 
almost  unaltered,  whether  in  its  Celtic  or  Cymric  form  (Loch- 
riaghan  or  Llwch  Eheon),^  as  known  to  Strabo  or  Pliny.  Whilst 
among  last  of  Celtic  names  we  have  Auchmanister,  Old  Luce, 
which  could  not  have  been  so  named  for  fourteen  centuries 
later,  and  being  so  called  as  the  field  of  the  monastery  founded 
by  Roland  a  little  previous  to  A.D.  1200. 

The  Saxon  and  the  Celtic  name-giving  period  seems  to  over- 
lap on  the  moors  of  Minigaflf,  where  Craigencally  (cailleach, 
old  wife,  witch)  is  so  called  as  the  site  of  the  cothouse  where  an 
old  dame  sheltered  Robert  Bruce  on  the  eve  of  the  battle  of 
Moss  Raploch,  whilst  "  the  King's  Stone  "  near  it  is  the  boulder 
against  which  he  leaned  while  watching  the  issue  of  the  fight. 

No  one  can  carefully  study  place-names  without  observing 
how  old  they  generally  are,  and  that  many  which  seem  modern 

^  Caer  Rheon  (Cymric)  and  Rath  riaghan  were  the  synonyms,  whence  the 
Romish  corruption  Rerigonium. 

Pytheas,  a  Massilian,  reaching  the  Land's  End  (Beleriam)  about  three  centuries 
B.G.,  sailed  northward  through  the  Irish  Channel,  passed  Loch  Ryan,  reaching- 
Orkney,  whence  he  made  a  six  da3rs'  Yoyage  to  Thule  (probably  Shetland),  and 
returning  by  Cantium  (the  North  Foreland),  proved  Britain  to  be  an  island. 
From  him  Strabo,  Diodorus  Siculus,  and  Pliny  derived  their  information  of  the 
British  Isles. — Lempri&re,  art.  "Pytheas;''  Celtic  ScoUarid,  i.  SO. 


PLACE-NAMES  117 

are  merely  translations  of  the  original  Celtic.  A  difficulty  to 
the  inquirer  lies  in  finding  a  genuine  and  if  possible  ancient 
form  of  the  word  with  which  he  has  to  deal.  But  having 
satisfied  himseK as  to  this;  if  Celtic,  he  must  master  certain 
rules  before  he  can  explain  it,  as  the  Celtic  root-words  are  often 
almost  unrecognisable  owing  to  the  disguises  they  assume. 
Consonants  are  changed  in  sound  or  altogether  disappear  by 
aspiration  (expressed  in  writing  by  being  followed  by  an  h) ; 
whilst  one  consonant  often  takes  the  place  of  another  by 
eclipse.  There  are  also  various  recognised  interchanges  of  letters : 
the  addition  of  d  after  /,  n,  and  r,  the  addition  or  attraction 
of  the  article,  the  insertion  of  t  between  8  and  r,  and  various 
others  more  or  less  systematic. 

As  examples,  aspirated  6  becomes  v  in  Culvenna  (bheanan), 
"  back  of  the  peak "  \  w  \tl  Laniwee  (leana  bhuidhe),  "  yellow 
mead"; /in  Dinduflf  (damph),  *'ox  fort";  ch  is  changed  into 
wh  in  Einganwhey  (rinn-an-chaedh),  "  point  of  the  marsh " ; 
e  is  eclipsed  by  g  in  Altygunnoch  (g-cuinneag),  "the  glen  of 
the  chums " ;  6  is  eclipsed  by  m  in  Lignaman  (leac-nambam), 
"  the  witches'  stone  " ;  s  by  ^  in  Baltier  (baile-an-t'saier),  "  car- 
penter's town."  We  have  the  addition  of  d  after  n  in  Land- 
berrick,  "  St.  Berach's  Church "  (lann) ;  and  the  insertion  of 
t  between  s  and  r  in  Stranraer  (sron  reamhar),  "the  bluff 
point." 

A  source  of  error  in  dealing  with  place-names  arises  from 
ignoring  "  the  growth  of  words,"  i.e.  treating  idiomatic  particles 
as  substantive  roots.^  Of  these,  ach,  lach,  trach,  seach,  and  others, 
have  the  simple  force  of  "  abounding  in  "  ;  en,  nat,  can,  gan,  nan, 
og,  etc.,  are  diminutives ;   an,  common  to  both,  is  sometimes 

^  A  good  example  of  such  an  error  exposed  is  the  case  of  Clogher,  Tyrone, 
long  confidently  asserted  to  represent  cloch  oir,  the  golden  stone.  A  tradition 
being  adapted  to  the  translation — namely,  that  *' Clogher  takes  its  name 
from  a  golden  stone,  from  which  in  times  of  paganism  the  devil  used  to  pro- 
nouQce  juggling  answers  like  the  oracles  of  old." 

The  derivation  and  story  Dr.  Reeves  (now  Bishop  of  Down  and  Connor) 
annihilates  in  a  sentence  :  **The  prevalence  of  the  name  of  Clogher  in  various 
parts  of  Ireland  with  the  same  general  meaning  of  *  stony  place'  is  rather 
damaging  to  such  an  etymon." — Joyce,  i.  414. 


■4«" 


118  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY 

merely  ornate  or  formative.  Thus  smeurach  is  not  "  blackberry 
field/'  but  a  place  abounding  in  blackberries.  Brockloch  is  not 
necessarily  a  "  badger's  lake,"  but  a  "  badger  warren."  Bashnock 
has  no  connection  with  cnoc, "  a  hill/'  but  is  a  place  abounding  in 
briars  or  roses.  Toskerton,  the  sufiBx,  is  not  a  diminutive,  but 
primitive  tuaise-art-an,  "  the  northerly  pleuje." 

It  is  the  rule  in  Celtic  names  that  the  qualifying  term  comes 
last,  it  being  the  reverse  in  Teutonic ;  but  there  are  numerous 
exceptions,  as  ShinvoUey,  Kirkcowan,  old  dairy-place  (and 
sean  is  almost  always  prefixed)  ;  Fennart  (feonn  ard),  white 

■ 

height. 

It  is  impossible  here  to  enter  on  the  wide  subject  of  changes 
in  the  names  of  saints  to  which  have  been  prefixed  or  added 
terms  of  reverence  or  endearment,  such  as  Moinean  for  Ninian, 
Maccuddican  for  Cuthbert.^ 

Connected  with  personal  as  apart  from  place-names,  it  seems 
worthy  of  notice  that  four  Galloway  landowners,  presumably  of 
native  stock, — Hannay,  Carson,  Shennan,  and  Milligan, — ^were 
anciently  written,  Ahannay,  Akersane  or  Accarson,  Aschen- 
nan,  and  Amulligan  —  the  latter  Ap  Molegan  in  the  Eag- 
man  EoU,  suggestive  rather  of  the  Cymric  ap  than  the  Irish 
ui,  o'. 

We  shall  now  proceed  to  group  certain  place-names  as 
examples. 

First,  As  to  fortifications;  residences  generally;  hos- 
pitals and  CHURCHES. 

The  terms  we  find  in  use  for  forts  of  any  sort  are  dun, 
cathair  (C.  caer),  caiseal,  mur,  rath,  lios,  aileach,  teamhair, 
longphort.  Northujnbrian  Saxon,  burh  and  byric ;  Norse,  borg 
and  wark  (verke). 

By  far  the  most  common  is  dun,  C.  don,  Latinised  dunurn, 
a  stronghold.  Whence  Dunikellie,  Kirkmaiden  (Ui  Cheallagh), 
O'Kelly's  fort ;  Dunmurchie,  Kirkcolm,  and  Dinmurchie,  Barr, 

^  More  singular  is  it  to  find  si  classed  as  an  equivalent  for  morgue  from  the 
same  cause.  "  Aedh  (Hugh)  is  the  same  name  as  Maedhog  (mo-aedh-og),  my 
little  aedh  ;  though  when  pronounced  they  are  quite  unlike,  aedh  being  ai,  and 
maedhog  morgue." — Joyce,  i.  147. 


PLACE-NAMES  119 

Murcbad's  or  Murdock's;^  Dunorrock,  Kirkmaiden,  Ony's  or 
Eric's ;  *  Dunharberry,  Girtbon,  Cairbre's  or  Carberry's ;  Dun- 
ragit,  Old  Luce,  Bagat's ;  Dunabaskel,  Kirkmaiden,  Macaskill's ; 
DunemiD,  Incb,  and  Dunrod,  Borgue  (din-y-Eun,  din-Ebudd), 
Ehnn  and  Bbudd,  of  Bardic  fame ;  *  Dunottrie,  MinigafiF,  Ucb- 
tred's ;  Dundonald,  Girvan,  Domball's ;  Dinvin,  Portpatrick  and 
Girvan  (as  also  Dinfionn,  Arran),  Fingall's;  Dumfries  (Doun- 
fres),  of  tbe  Frisians. 

Connected  witb  animals  we  find  Dunnanee,  MinigafiT,  fort 
of  tbe  red  deer ;  Dunmuck,  Kirkmaiden  and  Golvend,  and  Duni- 
muck,  Girvan,  of  tbe  wild  swine ;  Dinduff,  Leswalt,  of  tbe  oxen; 
Dunagarrocb  and  Dunanrae,  Stoneykirk,  of  tbe  sbeep  and 
ram ;  Dinveocb,  Kells,  of  tbe  ravens ;  Dunkirk,  Kells,  of  tbe 
moorfowl ;  Dunannane,  Kirkmaiden,  of  tbe  birds ;  Dunman, 
Kirkmaiden,  Gaelic,  pbonetically  Dum-Meadbon,  central  fort — as 
probably  tbe  suffix  is  tbe  Cymric  maen,  stone  fort. 

Connected  witb  bale-fires  we  bave  Dinniebinney,  Kirk- 
maiden; Dindinnie,*  Leswalt;  Dunniecbinie,  Incb  (all  Dunteine), 
fort  of  tbe  fire.  "  Doon  "  alone  occurs  in  Glasserton,  Penning- 
bame,  Mocbrum,  Kirkcowan,  Elirkinner ;  we  have  also  tbe 
Doon  of  May,  tbe  Doon  of  Borland,  and  Doon  Castle  (pleon- 
astic) ;  Baldoon,  Wigtown,  is  tbe  townland  of  tbe  fort;  and 
Dinnan,  Dunan,  and  Dunnanee,  are  diminutives  of  frequent 
occurrence.  Duncow,  Kirkmaboe,  anciently  DuncoU,  in  Eobert- 
son's  Index  Duncole,  is  Coyl's.*  Dunanskail,  Kirkmaiden,  was 
presumedly  baunted  by  some  sea-king's  gbost,  seal  meaning  a 
spectre  or  apparition.® 

^  Muireftdhach,  sea  protector,  whence  the  family  name  of  Murray,  though 
generally  Murdoch  in  Scotland,  Morough  in  Ireland,  Meredith  in  Wales. 

"  Orry  or  Eric,  Danish  King  of  Man  in  the  tenth  century  ( Worsaae,  295),  also 
Eric  Bloody -axe,  a  Norwegian  rover  of  later  date,  harried  the  very  sea-boards. 

'  The  grave  of  Llacher,  son  of  Rhun,  is  in  the  valley  of  the  Ken  (clun  kein). — 
Taliessin.     "  The  grave  of  Rhudd  is  not  covered  with  sods." — Hid. 

There  were  three  Runs :  son  of  Maelgwn,  son  of  Artgal,  and  Rhun  Drum- 
rudd,  son  of  Brychan,  from  whom  Loch  Roan  has  its  name ;  his  sister  was  mother 
of  Llywarch  Hen. 

^  It  might  be  Din  duine,  of  the  men,  but  inspection  proves  it  to  be  a  fire-hill. 

^  There  is  a  Duncow  on  Loch  Doon  more  certainly  connected  with  Coyl  Hen 
— the  old  King  Cole. 

'  A  spectre ;  a  hero  is  a  secondary  meaning  (Joyce,  iL  103).     O'Donovan 


120  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY 

Cathair  or  caer  gives  the  Eoman  Corda,  afterwards  Sean 
Caer  (Sanquhar),  the  old  fort ;  and  is  the  prefix  of  Carbantium, 
probably  Kirkbean,  synonymous  with  Castle  Bann,  white,  that 
is  of  stone.  Cardoness  (the  second  s  corrupt)  is  the  devil's  fort ; 
Cardrine,the  fort  of  the  blackthorn.  Caer  runs  easily  into  kirk, 
as  Kirkmagill  and  Kirklauchlane,  Stoneykirk,  Magilli's  and 
Lauchlann's  forts.  Craigcaffie  (Karcophy,  Pont)  is  a  corruption, 
being  Cathbhodh's  or  Coffey's  fort.^  In  Ireland  Cathair  takes 
the  form  of  Caher. 

Caiseal,  which  in  Ireland  indicates  a  circular  stone  fort,  and 
is  usually  called  a  cashel,  has  in  Galloway  a  more  general 
application  to  any  strong  house  of  stone,  and  pronounced  castle, 
as  Castle  Ayne  (Aine's,  or  of  joy);  Castlecra  vie,  Berwick,  the 
wooded ;  Castlenaught,  Kirkmaiden,  the  bare;  Shancastle,  Parton, 
the  old,  or  Nectan's  ;  Castle  Maddy.  the  wolfs ;  Castle  Feather, 
Peter's,  or  the  piper's  (fhiobaire's) ;  Castle  Shell,  Shell's,  or  of  the 
hunting ;  Castle  Gower,  Buittle,  Guaire's,^  possibly  the  vitrified  ; 
Castle  Donnell,  Penninghame ;  Castle  Larrick,  Inch,  Leurig's  (or 
the  castle  site) ;  ^  Castle  Bann,  Kirkcolm,  the  stone.  As  a 
suffix  we  have  Auchengashel  (Twynham),  Poulnagashel,  Stra- 
gashel,  Craigengashel  (Minigaflf),  the  field,  pool,  river,  holm,  and 
rock  of  the  stone  fort. 

Mur  is  a  rampart,  a  bulwark,  a  fortified  place ;  mothar  {t 
mute),  not  unlike  it  in  pronunciation,  denotes  a  ruined  fort, 
and  in  the  form  of  moher  is  applied  in  Ireland  to  the  remains 
of  any  old  rath  or  castle.    Murdonachie,  New  Luce,  is  Duncan's 

gives  a  hero;  O'Reilly  (besides),  a  noise,  a  rombling,  the  cry  of  a  hound  in 
chase. 

1  **  Obviously  the  great  Celtic*  historical  name  Cathbhadb,  which  in  the 
genitive  form  is  pronounced  Caffie.  The  oldest  form  is  Cathbie  ;  it  has  descended 
to  Coffey." — Dr.  Joyce's  Letter  to  the  Author. 

^  Gwawr,  a  Cymric  name.  Dunguaire  was  the  Celtic  name  for  Bamborough. 
Castle  Gower  is  one  of  our  few  vitrified  forts ;  Caer  Gwydr  is  named  as  if  in 
Galloway  by  Taliessin ;  Gwydr,  Cymric  for  glass,  might  imply  vitrification  ; 
Caer  Gwydr  might  easily  turn  to  Castle  Gower. 

'  Larrack  has  many  meanings :  it  represents  Leath  Rath,  half  rath ;  Lath- 
rach,  a  house  site ;  Larach,  a  mare.  There  was  a  Leurig  kinglet  at  Whithorn 
{Chron.  Picts  and  ScotSf  p.  52).  Laraig,  a  Norse  chieftain,  who  from  Galloway 
plundered  Waterford  a.d.  951. 


PLACE-NAMES  121 

fort;  Monreith  is  corrupted  from  Murrith,  the  gray  tower.  The 
name  has  traveUed  with  the  family  from  their  original  location 
in  Glasserton  to  Mochrum.  The  tower  house  in  which  they  first 
settled  they  called  "  the  mouri,"  built  probably  on  the  site  of,  or 
adjoining,  the  older  gray  moher,  which  gave  its  name  to  their 
lands.^ 

Sath  and  lios,  denoting  circular  entrenchments,  are  terms 
less  used  in  Galloway  than  in  Ireland.  Of  the  former,  we  have 
Kattra,  probably  Bam's  fort,  Borgue ;  Coolraw,  Buittle,  the  back 
or  angle  of  the  rath ;  perhaps  Wraiths,  Elirkbean.  A  well-defined 
camp  gives  its  name,  with  hardly  the  change  of  a  letter,  to  the 
parish  of  Leswalt  (lios  uilt),  the  fort  of  the  glen ;  Lashandarroch, 
the  old  fort  of  the  oaks,  is  in  the  same  parish ;  Garlics,  MinigafT, 
is  the  rough  fort ;  and  Drumlass,  Berwick,  the  ridge  of  the  fort ; 
Airless,  Kirkinner,  the  height  of  the  fort.^  Aileach  (Ailthach, 
literally  stone-house),  indicates  a  stone  fort,  whence  Craigenellie 
in  Crossmichael  and  Balmaghie,  DrumaneUy,  and  CraigneUie  in 
Kirkcolm,  and  Craigenally,  Mochrum  (rock,  townland,  and  ridge 
of  the  stone  tower),  whilst  Eilah  Hill,  New  Luce,  is  a  half  trans- 
lation. 

"Teamhair,"  genitive  "teamhrach,"  pronounced  tawer  and 
tara,  indicates  an  elevated  entrenchment  which  commands 
a  wide  view.  Of  this  a  notable  example  is  the  ''Kirkland 
Tawer,"  as  it  is  generally  termed,  in  Leswalt,  or,  as  Chalmers 
writes  it,  "  the  Tower  of  Craigoch,"  Craigauch,  as  it  should  be 
written,  the  suflSx  representing  King  Eoch  or  Eocheidh,  the 
Norseman.  Glenterra  in  Inch  (the  word  taking  exactly  the  same 
form  as  the  famous  Tara  in  Meath)  is  the  scene  of  one  of 
Gwallauc's  battles,  as  told  by  Taliessin ;  the  standing-stones  of 
Glenterra  being  monuments  of  the  slain. 

Longphort  is  another  term  for  a  fortress,  whence  Drumlam- 
ford,   Colmonell  ;   Dallamford,  Dailly ;   Lamford,   Carsphaim ; 

^  Symson  says:  "The  mower,"  together  with  the  whole  parish  of  Kirkmaiden 
(in  Femes)  belongs  to  Sir  William  MaxweU.  Kirkmaiden  is  absorbed  in 
Glasserton. 

^  Possibly  the  name  is  Dhurlas,  strong  fort.  Thnrles,  Tipperaiy,  is  a  corrap- 
tion  of  Durlas. — Joyce,  i.  273. 


122      HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY 

and  Longford,  New  Luce.  Cannphort  suggestiye  of  a 
chiefs  principal  residence,  gives  us  Camford  on  Loncaster 
Loch.^ 

The  Northumbrian  Saxon  burh  and  byric  appear  in 
Burrowhead  and  Auldbreck  (eald  byric) ;  the  Norse  boig 
and  wark  (verke)  in  Borgue,  Borness ;  Carlingwark  and 
Kemp's  walks  (wark),  Leswalt;  and  Bumswark  beyond  the 
Nith. 

Of  residentiary  structures,  not  necessarily  fortified,  the  most 
imposing  in  name  was  the  grianan,  literally  a  sunny  spot,  con- 
ventionally a  palace,  whatever  meaning  we  may  attach  to  the 
word.^  ''Grennan"  stands  as  a  name  alone  in  Stoneykirk, 
Kirkmaiden,  Glasserton,  and  Old  Luce.  We  have  Argrennan, 
Tongland,  and  Bargrennan,  Penninghame,  both  meaning  the 
palace  height. 

Lucairt,  used  in  the  sense  of  a  palace  in  the  Highlands,  gives 
us  Drumloccart,  Leswalt ;  Barlockhart,  Old  Luce. 

Baile,  the  word  for  dwelUngs  most  in  use,  means  not  merely 
a  town  or  townland,  but  often  a  single  homestead,  like  the 
vernacular  "  farm  toun." 

Celtic  and  Norse  meet  in  suidh,  and  seat,  Sheuchan  (Suid- 
deachan),  Inch,  is  a  diminutive  of  the  former,  and  Sheuchanowre, 
Minigaff,  the  gray  seat ;  Soulseat,  Inch,  and  Aldermanseat, 
Gretna,  are  examples  of  the  latter. 

Teach  and  tigh,  cognate  with  Cymric  tref  and  tre,  mean 
''  house,"  as  Nashantee  (na  sean  teach),  the  old  houses  ;  Tannie- 
laggie  (tynalagach,  Pont),  the  hollow  of  the  house.®  Threave, 
Balmaghie,  and  Penninghame ;  Ochiltree,  Penninghame. 

^  In  a  Monreith  estate  map,  1777,  a  rectangular  fort  is  marked  "Roman  Camp,'* 
aU  traces  of  which  have  disappeared  under  the  plough.  Ceann-phort,  lit.  head- 
fort.  Longphort  has  a  more  general  meaning,  applied  alike  to  circular  raths  and 
entrenched  forts  of  any  sort ;  all  the  Longfords  in  Ireland  (of  which  Joyce  says 
there  are  twenty)  are  Longphorts  .  .  .  '*a  further  softening  is  in  Ath-lunkaid, 
Lemerick,  the  ford  of  encampment." — Joyce,  i.  800. 

'  O'Brien  explains  Grennan  as  *'  a  royal  seat,"  in  which  sense  it  is  used  hy  the 
hest  Irish  writers  ;  and  this  is  unqttesHonably  its  general  meaning  when  U  occurs 
in  topography, — Joyce,  i.  290. 

*  Tamhnach,  a  meadow,  often  confuses  with  ''Tigh  na";  e,g.  Tannie  flux, 
Tamnach  fliuch,  the  wet  meadow,  not  the  house  in  the  swamp. 


PI^CE-NAMES  123 

Arost  appears  frequently  in  airies,  "  the  house."  ^ 

The  Saxon  ton  appears  in  Mjreton  and  Broughton^  the 
dwelling  by  the  lake  and  fort.  We  have  in  Cauldhame  and 
Guningham,  the  cold  and  cuning's  home. 

Botl,  a  house,  is  the  same  in  Norse  and  Saxon,  whence 
Buittle;  and  by  is  a  Norse  test- word,  appearing  in  Appleby, 
Corsbie,  Busby,  Sorbie, 

Oil  is  the  most  frequent  root  for  church,  as  Kilpatrick, 
Kilfillan,  Killantringan  (Ninian's) ;  but  it  is  so  prolific  and  well 
known  that  we  shall  rather  try  to  trace  it  in  its  corruptions. 
Thus  Culcaldie,  Inch,  should  be  (as  written  in  the  curates'  lists 
of  1684)  Kilcaldie,  the  Culdees'  church  (cil  celide) ;  Culmore, 
Stoneykirk,  is  not  the  great  back  or  angle,  but  great  church,  cil 
being  the  head  or  parish  church  of  Clayshant  (clach  seanta, 
holy  stone),  now  absorbed  in  Stoneykirk  ;  so  Culmalzie  is  St. 
Malie's  church,  and  should  be  written  Kilmalzie,  as  in  Argyle  ; 
Gillespie,  Old  Luce,  is  Elillespie,  the  Bishop's  church ;  we 
have  a  pleonasm  in  Kirklebride  (the  Saxon  cyrc  before  the 
Celtic  cil),  St.  Bride's  church  church.^  Lann  (Cymric),  "  land  " 
(old  Irish),  appears  in  its  ecclesiastical  application  in  Land- 
berrick,  Mochrum,  St.  Berach's  church. 

Domhnach,  a  term  of  frequent  application  in  Ireland^  is 
held  to  imply  that  a  church  so-called  had  been  personally 
founded  by  St.  Patrick^ — a  ceremony  he  performed  invariably 
on  a  Sunday. 

In  Ballantrae  we  have  Kildomine,  locally  corrupted  to 
Kirkdamnie,  a  name  which  has  puzzled  philologists,  unaware 
of  the  fact  recognised  by  the  Bishop  of  Down,  and  other  high 
ecclesiastical  authorities. 

Eaglais,  a  Celtic  adaptation  of  the  Latin,  appears  in  Terregles, 

^  Trehel  or  Trayle  (now  St  Mary's  Isle),  Kirkcudbright,  synonymous  with 
Trehal,  Cornwall,  given  by  Bannister  as  house  on  the  saltwater  estuary. 
Dreghom,  Parton,  seems  Celtic  tregwem,  house  on  the  marsh  or  alders.  Ochil- 
tree (Uchel-tre)  is  Welsh  as  spoken,  high  house. 

*  Joyce  estimates  that  2700  names  in  Ireland  are  derived  from  cill ;  700  more 
beginning  with  kel  or  kyle  represent  coill,  a  wood. 

^  Domhnach,  from  Domenica.  *'A11  the  churches  that  have  the  name  of 
Domhnach  were  originally  founded  by  St.  Patrick." — Joyce,  i.  318. 


124  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY 

originally  Traveregles,  the  church  lands ;  Slewnagles  {s  omitted 
in  Ordnance  Survey),  Leswalt,  the  church  hill.  In  Clashmahew, 
Inch,  clash  is  a  clerical  error  for  eaglais,  St.  Machute's  church. 
Caipeal,  from  the  Latin  capella,  appears  in  Chapel  Donan, 
Kirkcolm ;  Chapel  Finian,  Mochrum ;  and  Chapelrossan,  Eark- 
maiden — the  two  former  from  well  known  saints,  the  latter 
the  chapel  of  the  little  point ;  the  said  chapel  being  probably 
the  dedication  to  St.  Lassair,  mother  of  Finian  of  Moville,  whence 
the  lands  of  Killeser  are  named,  her  church  being  a  place  of 
peculiar  sanctity,  overlooked  by  Hermon  Hill  (Tearmann), 
suggesting  the  existence  of  a  sanctuary.^ 

Annoid  means  "a  parent  church"  (a  church  of  a  patron 
saint),  whence  Annat,  Kirkinner ;  Annatland,  New  Abbey ; 
Penhannat,  Barr — the  lands  of  the  Annat 

Spital  (spideal)  in  the  early  times  meant  rather  a  place  for 
entertainment  than  for  cure — a  hospice.  So  Portesspital,  Stoney- 
kirk,  below  the  Roman  camp  of  Kildonan ;  "  Spital "  frequently 
alone,  as  in  Kirkcowan  and  Kirkmabreck ;  and  "  Spital  Crofts  " 
in  various  places ;  many  of  these  were  once  possessed  by  the 
Knights  Hospitallers  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem.^ 

From  very  early  times  there  seem  to  have  been  places  for 
the  isolation  of  lepers ;  such  were  Killielour,  Kirkpatrick-Iron- 
gray,  the  leper's  wood ;  Barlour,  New  Luce,  the  leper's  height. 
Ochtralure,  by  Stranraer ;  Farrenlure,  Inch ;  Craiglure,  Straiton ; 
Carlure,  New  Luce.  This  last  translated  by  "  Liberland " 
near  it* 

Second,  As  to  occupations.     The  oldest  industries  were  the 

^  Termon  and  Tarmon  are  the  names  of  several  places,  indicating  in  every 
case  the  former  existence  of  a  sanctuary. — Joyce,  iL  210. 

^  In  the  Lochnaw  charter  chest  there  is  a  conveyance  of  the  spital  croft  of 
Craichmore,  dated  from  the  Preceptory  of  Torphichen,  the  headquarters  of 
the  Knights  of  St.  John.  The  Hospitallers  fell  heirs  to  the  Knights  Templar 
on  the  suppression  of  that  order,  whose  occupation  is  proved  by  the  existence  of 
various  Templelands  and  Crofts. 

'  Lobar  is  glossed  in  the  oldest  Irish  writings  by  'Mnfurmis  "  and  *'  debilis,'* 
and  was  not  confined  in  its  application  to  leprosy.  Dr.  Reeves  translates 
lobar  by  sick.  The  usual  anglicised  forms  being  lour,  lower,  and  lure. 
' '  Whenever  we  find  a  name  containing  this  word,  we  may  generally  infer  that 
some  kind  of  hospital  or  asylum  was  formerly  established  there.'' — Joyce,  iL  79. 

The  parish  of  Liberton,  Midlothian,  is  supposed  to  take  its  name  from  lepers. 


PLACE-NAMES  125 

pastoral ;  horses,  hides,  and  wool  being  the  principal  exports 
from  which  the  lords  of  the  land  derived  their  revenues  of  old. 

Of  the  structures  required  for  such  purposes,  we  find  the 
Celtic  and  Norse  languages  meeting  in  the  word  "  cro,"  a  cattle 
pen ;  the  former  in  Craigencroy,  Stoneykirk ;  Alticry,  Moch- 
rum ;  Dymagrow  (na-gcroithe)  obsolete.  The  frequent  "  crows  " 
and  "  croys  "  may  be  as  possibly  Norse  as  Celtic,  with  English 
plurals. 

Airidh,  and  its  diminutive  aroch,  a  mountain  booth,  is 
equivalent  to  the  Norwegian  saeter.  In  nomenclature  aroch 
is  hardly  distinguishable  from  earrach,  spring;  but  in  connection 
with  herding  the  terms  are  cognate,  both  alike  indicating  haunts 
resorted  to  in  spring.  Clashnarroch,  Leswalt ;  Knockanarroch, 
Stoneykirk ;  Lochnarroch,  Minigaff,  are  the  hollow,  knoll,  and 
lake  of  spring  sheilings.  Bellsavory  and  Fellsavory,  Inch,  the 
root  of  both  samhraidh,  indicate  summer  grazings.^ 

Of  airidh  itself  we  have  examples  innumerable :  as  Airie- 
glassan,  the  green ;  Shannarie  Urr,  the  old  ;  Savery,  the  summer ; 
Airieguilshie,  among  the  broom;  AirieoUand  (twice),  of  the 
wool ;  Airiequhillart,  of  the  orchard ;  Airiewiggle  (bhuachaile),  ^ 
of  the  herdsmen. 

Mr.  Joyce  does  not  give  a  single  example  of  airidh  in  his 
Irish  Names  of  Places,  Bo  teach,  a  cow-house,  appears  in 
Buyoch,  Whithorn ;  and  aspirated,  Wayoch,  in  Mochrum.  Tra- 
boyach,  Barr,  is  the  three  byres ;  ^  Craigwoughie,  Stoneykirk,  is 
a  corruption  of  bho  tigh,  and  we  find  "  bo  "  impressed  into  the 

^  Bellsavory  is  baile  sambradh,  exactly  translated  by  Somerton  in  Norse 
form  across  the  Tarf.  Fellsavory,  Inch,  translated  by  Sommerhill  in  Balma- 
clellan,  Balmaghie,  and  Holywood.  All  these  indicate  summer  pasturages  ; 
whilst,  on  the  contrary,  Minigaff  (gauf,  Gaelic  ;  gauaf,  Cjrmric),  means  the  wintry 
moorland. 

Ceitein  is  another  Qaelic  word  for  spring,  whence  Qlenkitten,  New  Luce,  the 
glen  of  springtime  ;  whilst  Samaria,  Mochrum,  if  a  genuine  name,  is  the  summer 
sheiling.     Aroch  is  glossed  by  O'Reilly  as  '* a  hamlet,  a  little  aheilding." 

*  Bhuachaile  (Cymric,  bugail ;  Cornish,  bigel). 

'  Other  numerical  combinations  are  Traloddan,  Barr,  three  pools ;  Tryach,  New 
Luce,  three  fields  ;  Tregallan,  Troqueer,  three  pillar-stones ;  Trolane  (lann)  Dairy ^ 
three  enclosures  or  churches  ;  Lanedripple,  Inch  stream  of  the  three  pools ;  Tro- 
queer,  is  perhaps  three  forts. 


126  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY 

vernacular  in  Akebusbowhouse,  Terregles,  the  byre  by  the 
pollard  oak. 

Badhun,  pronounced  bawn,  is  a  cow  fort,  whence  Drumbawn, 
Stoneykirk ;  Millbawn,  Portpatrick ;  Knockbawn,  Stoneykirk  ; 
it  is  aspirated  in  Drumawan,  Kirkcowan.  BuaiUe  (anglicised 
in  Ireland,  booley)  is  a  dairy-place,  whence  Shanvoley,  Kirk- 
cowan  ;  Altivolie,  Stoneykirk ;  Craigenvolie,  Balmaclellan;  Craig- 
envolie,  Garsphairn,  the  old  dairy  place,  and  the  booley  of  the 
glen  and  rock.  The  Ox-fort,  Dinduflf  or  Dundafif,  has  been 
already  mentioned. 

Cuinneag,  Cymric  cunnoch  and  cunnog,  a  milk-pail  or 
chum,  is  equally  suggestive  of  a  dairy-place.  Cunninghame, 
"Canawon"  of  the  Bards,  was  the  churn  country,^  abounding 
in  butter  and  cheese.  Drumcunnoch,  Minigaff ;  Altigunnoch, 
Ballantrae ;  Glengunnoch,  Parton ;  Knockcunnoch,  Carsphaim, 
are  the  ridge,  stream,  glen,  and  knoll  of  the  milk-pails  or 
chums,  the  c  being  eclipsed  in  the  three  latter  by  g,^ 

Eachlann  and  stabuU  ^  stand  for  stable,  whence  Auchlane, 
Kelton,  long  celebrated  for  its  breeding  studs  and  horse  fair ; 
Auchlannochy,  Minigaff  (Eochy's  stable) ;  Drumstable,  Penning- 
hame ;  and  Stable  Alan,  Kirkmaiden  *  (Alan's). 

Turning  to  the  animals  themselves,  the  cow  is  bo,  plural 
ba,  Cymric  bewch,  whence  playfully  Bilnavoe  (beul),  the  cow's 
snout,  a  rock  in  Kirkmaiden ;  Slocknaba  and  Sloganaba,  the 
cow's  gullies  (on  the  sea  coast),  Drumawa,  New  Luce,  and  Kirk- 
cowan  ;  bo  is  eclipsed  in  Damemow,*  New  Luce,  and  Bingimow, 
Kirkmabreck,  the  oak  wood  and  point  of  the  cows. 

A  milking  cow  with  a  year  old  calf  (in  Ireland  a  stripper) 
was  gamnach  (gaunie),  whence  Pulgawny,  Kirkcowan,  and 
Elnockagawny,  Kirkmaiden,  the  stripper's  pool  and  knoll. 

^  Canningham,  topographised  by  Pont,  SI. 

^  Joyce,  ii.  186. 

'  Auchland,  near  Wigtown,  properly  Aucbleand,  is  the  broad  field  (leathan). 
Auchland  in  England  means  Oakland. 

*  Stable  appears  in  the  Cornish  as  weU  as  the  Irish  and  Gaelic  dictionary. 
In  ComwaU  we  find  Park  and  Stable  as  a  place-name,  the  Gaelic  and  Irish  form 
is  StabuL 

'  Daire-nam-bho. 


I 


PLACE-NAMES  127 

Odhar,  genitive  huidrie,  dun,  in  old  legends  is  applied  in  a 
substantive  sense  to  dun  cows.  The  famous  "  Lebor-na-huidre/' 
book  of  the  dun  cow,  was  made  from  the  hide  of  St  Kieran's 
favourite  dun  cow.  Bamhourie,  a  dangerous  sandbank  in  the 
Solway,  and  Glenowrie,  Minigaif,  may  derive  their  names  from 
dun  cows,  real  or  legendary.^ 

Earc  is  glossed  by  O'Beilly  and  Armstrong  as  "  a  beast  of 
the  cow  kind,"  whence  Dimeark ;  but  as  they  add  that  it  also 
signifies  honey,  a  salmon,  a  bee,  a  tax,  heaven,  speckled,  and 
red,  the  ejtplanation  is  somewhat  vague. 

Damh  is  an  ox,  its  force  in  names  variously  daw,  daif, 
dttflf,*  and  dam.  Thus  Knockdaw,  Girvan,  knoll  of  the  ox; 
Daffin,  Berwick,  a  place  of  oxen ;  DindufiT,  Leswalt,  the  ox  fort ; 
Damlach,  New  Luce,  abounding  in  oxen.  The  ancient  name  for 
the  site  of  the  town  of  Ayr  was  Monadamdarg,  moss  of  the 
red  ox ;  and  for  its  people,  Damnii,  the  breeders  of  oxen. 

A  bull  is  tarbh.  Clontarf,  Kirkcowan,  is  the  meadow  of  the 
Water  of  Tarf ;  the  stream  being  so  named  from  a  belief  in  its  being 
haunted  by  a  bull  spirit,  the  mate  of  the  Highlanders' ''  water 
cow,"  the  l^endary  "  Tarroo  ushley  "  of  the  Manxmen.  Cairn- 
harrow,  Anwoth ;  Barharrow,  Borgue ;  Lochharrow  and  Pul- 
harrow,  Kells,  are  the  hill,  lake,  and  pool  of  the  bull.* 

A  calf  is  loogh  or  laech  (low  and  lee),  whence  we  have 
Benny  low,  Kirkcowan;  linnielow,  Eirkmaiden;  Loddenlaw, 
Portpatrick,  the  hill,  meadow,  and  pool  of  the  calves.  Carslae, 
Wigtown  ;  Barlae,  Old  Luce ;  Slocklaw  and  Slockalew,  on  the 
sea-shore,  are  the  carse,  hill-top,  and  guUey  of  the  calves. 
Ballochalee,  Stoneykirk,  is  the  calves'  road ;  Bellowe,  a  cave 
in  Portpatrick,  the  calves'  mouth. 

Milk  was  bainne,  whence  Acanabaine  (obsolete)  in  Inch; 
Auchanbainzie,  Penpont;  Lagabaine,  New  Luce;  Enockvenie 
in  Parton  and  Kirkpatrick-Durham ;  Kirvenie,  Wigtown,  the 
field,  hollow,  and  knoll  of  the  milk.    Whilst  whey  was  meag, 

^  Monahoora,  County  Down,  is  the  bog  of  the  dun  cow. — Joyce,  iL  280. 

*  In  the  end  of  a  word  damh  often  changes  to  duff,  as  Cloudnff,  Down, 
meadow  of  the  oxen. 

*  Harry  as  a  suffix  is  usually  "  fhaire,"  a  watcher. 


128  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY 

whence  Balmeg,  Wigtown;  Slewmeg,   Kirkmaiden ;  Altimeg, 
Ballantrae,  townland,  knoll,  and  stream  of  the  whey. 

Caora  (gen.  singular  and  plural  caorach)  is  a  sheep,  whence 
Drumacarie,  Blirkcowan ;  Culgarie,  Glasserton ;  Slocnagany, 
Kirkcolm,  ridge,  comer,  and  gulley  of  the  sheep ;  plural 
Damgarroch  and  Knockingarroch,  Carsphaim ;  Craignaquar- 
roch,  Portpatrick,  wood,  knoll,  and  rock  of  the  sheep.  The 
Cymric  hespin,  a  year  old  ewe,  appears  in  Garrahaspin,  Stoney- 
kirk. 

We  trace  the  Norse  faar  (a  sheep)  in  Fairgirth.     * 

Lumagarie,  Glasserton,  is  the  sheep's  leap  (leum) ;  Sloclo- 
mairt,  Kirkmaiden,  is  the  shearing  pit ;  ArioUand,  in  Mochmm 
and  Stoneykirk,  is  sheilings  of  the  wool,  olann.^ 

Beithe,  a  ram,  is  often  undistinguishable  from  reidh,  smooth. 
Dunanrae,  Stoneykirk,  is  probably  ram's  fort ;  Loddanrae,  Old 
Luce,  the  ram's  pool ;  Bamsey,  Whithorn,  is  pure  Norse,  ram's 
isle ;  and  Bamshawwood,  a  Teutonic  form  old  enough  to  have  a 
pleonastic  addition.^  Drumrae,  in  several  places,  may  either  be 
the  ram's  or  the  smooth  ridge. 

Mult  is  a  wether ;  whence  Knockmult,  Berwick ;  Wether- 
hill,  in  Kelton  and  Dairy,  are  probably  translations,  taking 
a  Norse  form  in  "  Wedderdod,"  Sanquhar. 

A  lamb  is  luan  and  uan,  Cymric  oen,  plural  wyn,  giving 
the  suffixes  Drumalone,  Dairy;  Drumanoon,  Penninghame; 
Lagwine,  Carsphaim. 

Gabhar  (gower)  is  a  goat,  as  in  Knockgower,  Leswalt ;  Inch- 
nagower,  Kirkmaiden ;  Lannigore,  Old  Luce,  the  goats'  meadow, 
(leona) ;  Altigober,  Ballantrae ;  and  very  many  others.  Castle 
Gower,  as  before  said,  is  from  a  proper  name,  or  vitrification. 

A  horse  has  many  names,  as  each,  capall,  mark,  peall, 
gearran ;  ^  a  mare  is  laer,  a  foal  searrach.    Whence  we  have 

^  LeffnoU,  Inch,  is  a  modem  contraction  for  Leffiu  oUa,  the  halfpenny  hind  of 
the  wool. 

^  Shaw  is  hoth  old  Saxon  and  Norse  ;  the  former  sceaga,  the  latter  skogr. 

'  Gearran  is  not  from  gearr,  to  cut,  hut  is  a  diminutiye  of  gohhar,  a  goat, 
anciently  a  horse.  It  is  often  translated  "gelding"  firam  misapprehension. 
O'Reilly  renders  it  work-horse,  hack. 


PLACE-NAMES  129 

Craigeach  and  Graiglarie,  Mochrum,  the  horse  and  the  mare's 
rock;  Glashneach,  Kirkmaiden;  Auchness  (a  very  frequent 
form,  "  eachinis  "),  horse  isles  ;  Cassandeoch  (da  each),  the  path 
of  the  two  horses ;  Slocklaurie,  Kirkmaiden ;  Glenlair,  Parton  ; 
Auchenlary,  Anwoth.  Mark  in  topography  is  often  a  march,  as 
well  as  indicating  the  duty  of  a  mark  (coin)  to  a  superior ;  but 
considering  Ochley,  a  sea  rock,  is  undoubtedly  the  gray  horse,  a 
similar  rock  being  mapped  "  the  yellow  horse  "  near  it ;  we  con- 
ceive Markbain,  Kirkcowan,  and  Markdow,  New  Luce,  to  indi- 
cate white  and  black  horses,  whether  real  or  representative. 
Marklach,  New  Luce,  abounding  in  horses  ;  Earmark,  Millmark, 
and  Portmark,  being  as  likely  to  be  horse  hills  and  port  as 
marches.  Peall  we  find  only  in  Drumpail,  Old  Luce,  translated 
in  ''  horse  hill "  opposite ;  and  peall  again  explained  in  the 
*'  moss  of  the  horse  hill,"  lying  between  the  two  ridges. 

Capall  appears  in  Barcaple,  Tongland  ;  Barhapple  (twice) ; 
Glenhapple  (twice) ;  Cairnhapple,  Leswalt ;  Portwhapple,  Moch- 
rum,  and  Sorbie,  the  summit,  glen,  hill,  and  harbour  of  the 
horse ;  Craignagapple,  Mochrum,  Lodnagapple,  Old  Luce, 
Fannygapple,  Kirkinner,  the  rock,  pool,  and  slope  of  the  horses. 

Searrach,  a  foal,  is  the  root  of  Balsarroch,  and  Dalsharroch, 
Kirkcolm;  Laggansarroch,  Colmonell;  Barsherry,  Alcherry(allt); 
Falincherry,  Kells — the  town,  field,  hollow,  hilltop,  glen,  and 
rock  (faill)  of  the  foals  (an  t'searraich). 

The  Norse  best  appears  in  Hestan,^  Horse  Isles  being  mapped 
opposite  to  it  Gearran  has  been  adopted  into  the  vernacular 
as  Garron,  for  the  Galloway  nag;  as  the  modem  Garranton, 
Carsphaim,  is  equivalent  to  the  Celtic  Balgarron,  Crossmichael 
the  latter  the  site  of  Kelton  Hill  horsefair ;  Dalzerran,  Inch ; 
Knockgarran,  Girvan ;  Glengarron,  Minigaff. 

Madadh  is  the  dictionary  word  for  dog,  but  in  topography 
allaedh,  wild,  is  usually  assumed  to  follow  it  when  it  denotes  a 
wolf;  and  in  place-names  it  is  generally  so  translated.  Domes- 
ticated dogs  are  cu,  genitive  con;  and  gadhair,  the   latter  a 

^  As  it  does  across  the  Solway.     ''We  have  hestr,  a  horse,  in  Heat  Bank, 
Hest  FeU,  Host  Holme." — NorHmen  in  Cumberhmd,  p.  123. 

VOL.  I  K 


130  HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY 

greyhound  or  mastiff,  as  in  Ossian's  line,  "  gath-gadhar-a-cnoc- 
gu-cnoc,"  the  voice  of  hounds  from  hill  to  hiU.^ 

Carrickcune,  ELirkmaiden,  and  Garrickcundie,  are  respectively 
the  rock  of  the  dog  and  of  the  black  dog.  Many  names  ending 
in  quhan  or  whan,  as  Glen  whan,  Old  Luce ;  Drumquhan,  Pen- 
ninghame ;  Torquhan,  Graiglewhan,  we  suspect  to  have  con  for 
their  root.  Attiquin  is  undoubtedly  Con's  house  site,  con 
there  being  a  proper  name ;  and  Democonner,  Colmonell,  by 
Irish  analogy,  should  be  the  oaks  of  the  dog's  wood ;  Glengyre, 
Leswalt,  is  the  hound's  glen ;  "  Dogstone  Hill,"  overlooking  it, 
and  Balingair,  Dairy,  the  townland  of  the  hounds.  Such  names 
mapped  as  "Dogtail  Hill,"  Mochrum;  "Hound  Hill,"  Car- 
sphairn;  "Doghead,"  Urr;  "Hound's  Loup,"  Portpatrick,  seem 
translations. 

Of  swine,  which  ran  wild,  and  were  followed  by  hound  and 
horn,  we  shall  speak  further  on. 

Turning  to  agricultural  processes,  "ar"  is  ploughing,  but 
the  same  word  means  slaughter ;  and  although  with  some  con- 
fidence we  suggest  that  Falhar,  Alahaar,  Macherhaar,  indicate 
ploughed  lands,  "  Craignair,"  which  appears  four  times  in  the 
map,  may  as  probably  refer  to  the  battle-field. 

Ceapach  is  a  tillage  plot,  whence  Capenach,  Kirkinner; 
Knockcappy,  Kirkmaiden  ;  Glengappach,  CrossmichaeL 

Losaid,  a  kneading  trough,  is  used  in  Ireland  to  denote  a 
rich,  well -tilled  field.  We  find  "Lossit"  in  Kirkcolm,  and 
"  the  trencher  "  in  Kirkmaiden  may  be  accepted  as  representing 
another  Lossaid. 

Garradh,  Norse  gardr,  modernised  garth,  was  an  enclosura 
From  the  Celtic  root  we  have  Garryharry,  Stoneykirk ;  Garry- 
horn,  Colvend,  respectively  the  bulls  and  the  barley  enclosure ; 
whilst  the  Norse  is  instanced  in  Fairgarth,  Cogarth,  Gadgarth,  and 
Applegarth,  the  enclosures  of  sheep,  cattle,  goats,  and  apple  trees. 

Fal,  a  penfold,  hedge,  or  fence,  separating  holdings,  as  Fal- 

^  Dean  of  Llsmore's  Book,  p.  6. 
Clooseguire,  Kerry,  is  the  dog*8  ear. — Joyce,  ii.  402. 

Phonetically,  Glengyre  might  be  rendered  short  glen,  but  it  is  particularly 
long  and  shallow.     Dogstone  Hill  above  it  seems  conclusive. 


PLACE-NAMES  131 

shawn,  Falkeown,  Kirkmaiden ;  Falhar,  for  ploughed  enclosures ; 
Falbae,  by  the  birches;  Faldarroch,  among  the  oaks;  Fallincherry, 
ant*seanach,  of  the  foals ;  and  probably  Ardwall,  Anwoth, 
Borgue,  New  Abbey  (Ard  bhfal).^ 

Grabh  is  to  grub,  whence  graffans,  a  grubbing  axe,  gives 
Glengruff,  Whithorn;  Culgruflf,  Crossmichael ;  Glengrubboch, 
Minigaff — the  grubbed  glen  and  angle.^ 

Winno wing-places  are  indicated  by  Cathia,  chaff;  slight  eleva- 
tions were  desirable  for  the  process,  so  Knockricaw,  Colmonell, 
means  the  knoll  of  the  winnowing.  Urlar,  is  a  threshing- 
floor,  of  wliich  the  Airlour,  Mochrum,  furnishes  an  example. 

Celtic  words  for  structures  connected  with  agriculture  are 
ith-teach  and  lann-ith,  synonymously  cornhouse;  and  sab- 
hall  (soul)  a  bam.  The  first  we  find  in  Lagatie,  Dailly; 
Knocketie,  New  Luce,  and  Kirkmaiden  ;  Drumatye,  Glasserton ; 
Emanity,  Crossmichael — ^the  hollow,  hill,  and  portion  of  the 
cornhouse.® 

"  Island  Buoy,"  Stoneykirk,  is  an  amusing  instance  of  the 
tendency  to  force  Celtic  words  into  English  forms.  The  place  is 
neither  an  island  nor  near  any  channel  requiring  to  be  marked 
by  a  buoy,  but  the  English-sounding  word  closely  reproduces  the 
Gaelic  original,  "  Ithlann-buidhe  "  *  (i  and  d  mute),  the  yellow 
barn,  or  perhaps  Boyds,  a  proper  name.  Lann-ith  appears 
in  Knockalanny,  Elirkcowan,  equivalent  to  "  Barnhill,"  in  con- 
stant use.  And  "  Linney  "  (Lann-ith)  has  been  pretty  generally 
accepted  in  the  vernacular  as  a  synonym  for  a  corn-barn.^  Sabhall 
(soul)  appears  in  Drumsoul,  Old  Luce ;  Auchensoul,  Barr ;  and 
eclipsed  in  Knockatoul,  Portpatrick — the  ridge,  field,  and  knoll 
of  the  bam. 

^  In  the  genitive  plural  fal  is  usually  represented  by  wall  or  vaul,  as  Comawall 
Moneghan,  round  hill  of  the  hedges. — Joyce,  ii.  212. 

*  Graf,  primarily  to  write,  secondarily  to  grub ;  grafan,  a  grubbing  axe. — 
O'Reilly. 

*  Atty,  as  a  prefix,  represents  eth-teach,  a  house  site,  as  Attiquin,  Con's 
house ;  as  a  suffix,  a  cornhouse  or  granary,  as  Knocketie. 

^  The  Brehon  laws  explain  **  Idhlann"  {d  mate),  "Frumenti  Repositorium. " 
'  Ithlann  and  lannioth  (ihlan  and  laniha),  Cymric  ydlan,  all  signify  a  granar}', 

literally  "house  of  corn."    The  English-speaking  people  of  some  counties  call  a 

bam  a  "linney." — Joyce,  L  S21. 


132  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OP   GALLOWAY 

"  Aith,"  a  kiln,  whether  for  malting  or  drying  com,  is  usually 
distinguished  from  ath,  a  ford,  by  having  the  h  of  the  genitive 
prefixed.  Thus  Auchenhay  in  Borgue  and  New  Abbey;  Knock- 
enhay,  Old  Luce,  are  the  field  and  knoll  of  the  kiln.^  The 
''  Auld  Kilns,"  a  little  south  of  the  Dunman  in  Kirkmaiden, 
was  supposed  to  be  the  great  distillery  where  the  Picts  prepared 
the  heather  crop.  The  tradition  has  taken  a  hopelessly  un- 
historic  form,  but  it  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  fifth  century  bards 
apply  as  an  epithet  to  the  Galwegians  the  name  '*  kiln  distillers." 

Bro  was  a  quern  (genitive  broin,  plural  brointe).  Ligna- 
brawn,  Kirkmaiden,  is  the  hollow  of  the  quern ;  Craignabronchie, 
Penninghame,  is  equal  to  ''Knocking-stone  Hill,"  in  Kirkmaiden 
and  New  Luce. 

Muilenn,  Cymric  melin,  a  mill,  enters  largely  into  our  topo- 
graphy. 

The  quern,  if  humbler  as  a  utensil,  was  hardly  a  more 
primitive  one  than  the  mill. 

The  use  of  water-mills  in  GcJloway  is  to  be  traced  back  to 
archaic  times :  indeed,  in  past  ages  they  seem  to  have  been  more 
numerous  than  now.  This  is  moreover  attested  by  Irish  Annals. 
It  is  there  a  historical  tradition  that  Cormac  M'Art,  monarch  of 
the  third  century,  sent  across  the  channel  for  a  millwright ;  and 
as  the  man  so  sent  was  probably  a  Niduari  Pict,  it  is  a  curious 
coincidence  that  the  mill  then  erected  was  placed  upon  an  Irish 
Nith,  a  stream  which  flowed  from  the  well  of  Tara.^ 

From  Church  History  we  learn  that  the  founders  of  the 
earliest  Irish  sixth  century  monasteries  received  instruction  in 
the  arts  of  secular  as  well  as  of  religious  life  at  Whithorn, — 
notoriously  founded  their  respective  houses  on  the  model  of 
Candida  Casa, — and  that  their  names  are  usually  expressly 
connected  with  the  construction  of  mills  at  the  said  monasteries. 

The  Ordnance  Map  marks  a  mill  dam  as  still  existing  by  the 

^  Not  to  speak  of  the  mythic  Picts'  kilns  (Cymric  or  Ydlan)  which  eyery  one 
has  heard  ahout,  but  few  have  seen. 

^  This  tradition  is  still  vividly  preserved,  not  only  in  the  neighbourhood, 
where  a  mill  still  occupies  its  site,  but  also  in  most  parts  of  Ireland. — Joyce  i.  374 ; 
Ordnance  Memoir  of  the  Parish  of  Tenyslemore, 


PLACE-NAMES  133 

site  of  St.  Ninian's  famous  monastery  ;  DrummuUin  Hill,  which 
overlooks  it,  having  its  suflBx  from  the  very  mill  used  by  the 
fraternity  at  Bosnat.  We  find  Holland  Hill  (anciently  Drum- 
moUin),  Penninghame ;  Ballymellan,  Mochrum  ;  KnockmuUin, 
Stoneykirk;  Drumwhillan  (Mhuilinn),  Kirkcowan;  Camywillan, 
Kirkmaiden;  TormoUen;  Drummullins  without  number;  several 
BarmuUins;  also  Milton,  Millisle,  Millhill,  in  every  direction. 

The  antiquity,  number,  and  ubiquity  of  these  mills  prove 
that  from  a  very  early  date  crops  were  produced  which  they 
were  required  to  grind. 

Ith,  or  iotha,  Cymric  yd,  and  arbha  (arrow),  both  mean  corn 
in  general.  The  former  appears  in  Ballyett,  Inch  ;  the  latter  in 
Arrow,  Glasserton  ;  Ervie,  Kirkcolm ;  Arvie,  Parton  ;  Arbrack, 
(Arbharack),  Whithorn.  Coirce  (kirke)  for  oats,  whence  Cul- 
quhirk,  Wigtown ;  Awhirk,  Stoneykirk — the  angle  and  field  of 
the  oats.  Eorna  for  barley ;  whence  Culhorn,  Inch  ;  Tallo- 
whom,  Kirkbean ;  Homey,  Stoneykirk ;  Knockhoman — enclos- 
ures and  hills  of  barley.  "  Berefeys "  are  mapped  in  every 
parish  ;^  Berehill  and  Bereholm  are  connected  with  barley,  but 
"  Barley  Hill,"  Mochrum,  is  probably  Celtic  Barleath,  gray  hill- 
top, "  hill "  being  pleonastic. 

Seagal,  Cymric  rhygen,  is  rye  ;  somewhat  oddly  we  find  our 
only  Cymric  example  in  Pictish  territory — Carseriggan,  Penning- 
hame ;  whilst  in  Cymric  Kyle  we  have  the  Scottish  Gaelic  in 
Knockshoggle.  Under  Norse  rule  rye  seems  to  have  been  culti- 
vated in  Eydale,  Troqueer.  Lin,  flax,  an  important  factor  in  Celtic 
economy,  appears  in  Glenling,  Mochrum;  Auchteralinachin 
(upper  flax  pool),  Leswalt ;  Lochanaling  (the  lakelet  in  which 
it  was  steeped),  and  Portleen,  Kirkcolm  (whence  it  was  ex- 
ported). 

Abhall  (having  the  force  of  owl  and  howl  in  composi- 
tion) is  the  apple.  The  sixth  century  bards  sang  of 
the   "sweet  apple   trees  of  the  woods  of  Celyddon,"   which 

^  Bere  (Hordeum  vulgare,  Linnteus) — a  coarser  sort  of  barley,  having  foar  rows 
of  grains. — Jamieson. 

Pese  and  atys,  bere  and  qwhet — Wyntoun.     Bere  means  barley  of  any  sort. 


134  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY 

could  hardly  have  roused  poetic  enthusiasm  had  they  been 
uncultivated  crabs.  We  find  "  Glenhowl "  in  Glenluce,  Kirk- 
cowan,  and  twice  in  Dairy ;  Knockhooly  in  Kelton  and  Colvend ; 
Marnhoul,  Parton — the  glen,  knoll,  and  plain  of  the  apple  trees. 
Abhalgort,  pronounced  Oulart,  is  an  orchard,  whence  Balnowlart, 
Ballantrae ;  Airiequhillart  (anciently  Ary whollart),  Mochrum — 
the  townland  and  sheiling  of  the  orchard.^  Orchard  hill  and 
"  the  orchard  "  are  common  place-names,  which,  if  translations, 
from  the  Celtic,  are  sites  of  fruit  orchards,  if  Old  Saxon,  vege- 
table gardens.^  Orchardton  is  from  a  man's  name, — ^Archar, 
Orchar, — strangely  accepted  in  Galloway  as  an  equivalent  for 
Urquhart.  Appleby,  Glasserton,  Norse,  seems  to  refer  to  the 
fruit,  and  exactly  to  translate  Balnowlast. 

Meacan  signified  any  taprooted  plant,  the  usual  translation 
of  the  word  connected  with  garden  produce  being  parsnip ;  thence 
Lagnamekan;  Blairmakin,  Kirkcowan;  and  Barnamachan,  Pen- 
ninghame — the  hollow,  field,  and  hill-top  of  the  roots. 

Meas,  a  general  term  for  fruit  and  acorns,  appears  in 
Tannymaws  (Tigh-na-meas  or  Tamhnat),  Borgue,  and  Balmesh, 
adjoining  the  garden  of  Glenluce  Abbey,  house  or  field  and 
town  of  the  fruit. 

In  the  life  of  St.  Ninian,  written  in  1142,  we  read  of  the 
saint  inquiring  why  there  were  neither  leeks,  other  vegetables, 
or  garden  herbs  upon  the  table ;  and  even  if  we  doubt  Ailred 
having  obtained  any  such  particulars  as  to  the  fifth  century 
from  an  older  life  of  the  saint,  yet  had  a  garden  of  some  sort 
not  been  attached  to  the  monastery  when  he  wrote,  the  mention 
of  the  unexpected  failure  of  leeks  and  potherbs  would  have 
fallen  rather  flat  if  they  had  been  then  unknown  in  the  convent 
garden. 

Achadh^    (auch),  tamhnach,  is  a  field;   as  Auchencleish, 

^  Agowle,  Wicklow ;  Aghywle,  Fermanagh ;  Ballyhooley,  below  Mallow,  are 
the  field  and  the  ford  of  the  apples.  Ballynowlart,  Wexford ;  Ballywhollart, 
Down,  signify  the  town  of  the  orchard. — Joyce  i.  515. 

'  Saxon  **oort-yeard,"  vegetable  or  wort  garden. 

3  Eilean  dubh  is  the  exact  equivalent  of  the  constantly  repeated  ''Black 
Isle  " — a  moory  meadow. 


PLACE-NAMES  135 

Kirkmaiden,  the  field  of  the  hollow ;  Auchenfranco,  LochruttoD, 
of  the  Anglo-Nonnan.  We  also  have  Tannul  Pen,  New  Abbey, 
later  Tonneshree,  Irish  ailean,  a  meadow,  as  Allanbey,  Kells ; 
Allandoo,  Leswalt,  the  yellow  and  black  meadow ;  cluain,  very 
similar  in  meaning  to  the  Norse  "  eyes,"  a  green  or  arable  spot 
in  bog  or  marsh,  as  Clonidder  (eadar),  Penninghame ;  cashel,  the 
meadow,  and  in  the  plural  Clantibuies,  Kirkcowan,  the  yellow 
meadows ;  a  very  wet  meadow  is  leana,  as  Lanigore,  Old  Luce, 
the  goats,  and  Laniwee,  Minigaff,  the  translation  mapped  beside 
it  "  yellow  bogs." 

The  chase  was  as  much  a  source  of  subsistence  to  the 
Celtic  chief  as  cultivation.  The  larger  game,  such  as  the 
hart  and  hind,  the  roebuck  and  the  boar,  were  sought  for 
the  pot ;  whilst  the  wolf  and  fox,  the  wild  cat,  and  otter, 
were  hunted  in  defence  of  the  breeding  lairs  and  fish  weirs. 
Sealg  (shalloch),  hunting,  appears  constantly  in  names.  Bam- 
shalloch,  Kirkpatrick  -  Irongray,  and  Barnchalloch^  (the  c  a 
corruption  for  $),  Stoneykirk,  are  the  ridge  of  the  hunting. 
Kittyshalloch  (ceide),  the  hillock  of  the  hunting.  Castle  Shell, 
Kirkmaiden,  is  from  its  name  sUU  pointed  to  as  the  "  hunting 
seat"  of  a  laird  of  olden  time.  Slewnark,*  Portpatrick,  and 
Mulwharker  in  Barr  and  Minigaff,  from  Irish  analogy,  are  to 
be  explained  as  "the  hills  of  the  hunting  horn,"  and  still 
re-echo  the  wild  music  of  the  chase :  most  appropriately  so 
in  the  latter  example,  as  Mulwharker,  Minigaff,  overlooks 
"  Hunt  Ha',"  a  favourite  rendezvous  for  the  Earl  of  Cassilis's 
hounds  in  the  forest  of  Buchan.  Assemblies  of  any  sort,  fairs, 
and  cattle  markets,  were  called  aenach,  and  coinne  (from  verb 
eonnich).  The  site  of  a  cattle  fair  is  to  be  recognised  at  least 
five  times  absolutely  unchanged  phonetically ;  as  Enoch  or  New 

^  c  is  often  oorntptly  interchanged  with  «,  and  vice  versa.  Whilst  Bam- 
challoch,  Stoneykirk,  should  be  written  BamshaUoch,  ShaUoch  O'Minnoch  and 
ShaUoch  OTig  in  Carrick  should  both  be  Challochs— t.c  Tulach— conical  hills 
overlooking  the  streams,  whence  their  names. 

*  The  yery  spot  where  the  huntsman  wound  his  horn  to  coUect  his  dogs  and 
companions  is  identified  by  such  names  as  EUlinerk,  West  Meath ;  Drumna- 
heark,  Donegal ;  Tullynaherka,  Roscommon — the  little  hiU,  ridge,  and  knoll  of 
the  hunting  horn  (adharc,  genitive ;  adhairce,  a  hunting  horn). — Joyce,  i  21. 


136  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY 

Cumnoch,  Maybole,  Whithorn,  Glasserton,  and  Portpatrick. 
The  approach  to  Enoch  in  the  latter  case  is  across  the  Pin- 
minnoch  Bum  at  Ashendram,  the  ford  of  the  old  ridge  (Alti- 
sean-dniim).  Why  oldl  the  obvious  answer  being,  "Because 
a  place  of  assembly  from  the  earliest  times."  ^  Examples  of 
coinnich  as  a  meeting-place  are  to  be  found  in  Barquhanny 
(anciently  Barwhinny),  Kirkinner ;  Barwhinny,  Buittle ;  Craig- 
whinny,  Girthon  and,  Kirkmaiden ;  Lochwhinny,  Dalry.^ 
Farrach  was  also  a  meeting-place,  as  Farrach  Bay,  Minigaff, 
the  meeting- place  at  the  birches,  and  Loch  Farroch,  Col- 
monelL    Mordhail,  glossed  an  assembly. 

The  cattle  herdsmen  was  buachile,  Cymric  bugel,  Cornish 
bigel:  whence  we  have  Barnbauchle,  Loch  Eulton;  Porto- 
beagle,*  Colvend;  Airiewiggle,  Old  Luce.  A  shepherd  was 
aodhaire,  not  easily  distinguished  from  airidh  in  composi- 
tion, but  in  Drumanairy,  Portpatrick,  the  use  of  the  masculine 
genitive  article  points  rather  to  the  shepherd  than  the 
shelling. 

In  early  days  no  duty  was  more  important  than  the  keeping 
of  watch  and  ward.  Faire,  a  watcher,  sentinel,  a  watching, 
occurs  frequently  in  our  topography. 

At  the  entrance  to  the  Isle  of  Whithorn,  the  great  sail- 
ing resort,  is  Knockenharry,  exactly  translated  by  the  name 
"  watch  crag  '*  on  an  opposite  rock.*  At  the  entmnce  to  the 
roadstead  of  the  ancient  Eerigonium  is  another  Knockenharry, 
with  a  similar  translation,  "watch  knowe,"  Kirkcolm.  At 
the  foot  of  Harry's  Hill,  Inch,  we  find  in  ancient  charters 
Ballyferry,  the  townland  of  the  watchers.  Kilfairy,  near 
Killgallioch,  is  the  watcher's  grave ;   Drumferry,  Parton,  the 

^  An  assembly  of  people  for  any  purpose  was  anciently  called  aenach ;  in 
modem  times  the  word  is  always  applied  to  a  cattle  fair. — Joyce,  i.  203. 

Aenach,  hardly  distinguishable  in  sound,  is  a  marsh.  Loch  £noch, 
Minigaff,  may  have  been  a  place  of  assembly,  but  as  probably  its  name  indi- 
cates a  marsh. 

'  So  Dalwhinnie,  Blair  Athole,  which  any  of  the  recognised  guides  wiU 
translate  to  the  traveller  the  field  of  meeting. 

^  Rose-au-beagle,  Cornwall,  the  shepherd's  moor. — Banister's  Cornish  Names, 

*  Clachnaharry,  Inverness,  is  recognised  as  the  stone  of  the  watchers.  Dr. 
Reeves  translates  Cnocnafaire,  lona,  hill  of  the  watchers. — Reeves's  Adamnan, 


PLACE-NAMES  137 

watcher's  ridge ;  whilst  "  The  Look  Out/'  Troqueer,  and  "  Ward 
Hill,"  New  Luce,  are  translations. 

Connected  with  watching  were  bale-fires,  usually  denoted 
by  teine,  plural  teinte  and  tendal,  whence  Tintoch,  Kirk- 
inner,  which  (as  also  the  well-known  hill  in  Lanarkshire)  is 
the  place  of  fires ;  Dumchinnie,  Inch ;  Dindinnie,  Leswalt ; 
Dinniehinney,  Eirkmaiden;  Drumhinnie,  Old  Luce;  Knocky- 
tinnie,  Kirkcowan,  are  all  named  from  bale-fires ;  but  when  the 
term  is  applied  to  hollows  and  waters,  fish-spearing  seems 
rather  to  be  indicated.  Piltanton  (although  apparently  St. 
Antony's  water)  was  probably  so  called  from  sea  trout  being 
habitually  speared  in  its  pools  by  torchlight.  Aldinna,  Barr, 
and  Lochnahinnie,  Colmonell,  are  the  stream  and  lake  where 
fishermen  pursued  their  trade  by  "burning  the  water."  Cul- 
chintee,  Kirkcolm,  the  angle  of  the  fire,  is  the  scene  of  a 
legendary  adventure  of  St.  Cuthbert.  Knocktentol  is  the  hill 
of  the  bale-fire.^ 

Of  professions,  there  was  one  not  of  the  Church  that  might 
be  caUed  learned,  that  of  the  sennach  or  the  bard:  whence 
Blanivaird,  Penninghame,  near  Castle  Donnell ;  Dervaird, 
Old  Luce,  near  Barlochart  (Lucairt) ;  Dalvaird,  Minigaff,  near 
Uchtred's  fort ;  Milvaird,  Leswalt,  by  a  rock-built  fort ; 
Drumavaird,  Colmonell ;  Barneboard,  Balmaghie — the  first  the 
bard's  creek  "in  Loch  Ochiltree,  Bleau,"  the  others  bards* 
woods  and  hills.  The  bards  were  poets  and  genealogists ; 
lower  in  the  scale  were  musicians,  feadaire  (piob  fhear),  in 
short,  whistling  men  or  pipers  :  whence  AUanfedder,  Kells,  the 
piper's  hill,  and  it  is  quite  as  probable  that  Kilfeather,  New 
Luce,  is  the  piper's  grave,  rather  than  Peter's ;  indeed  this  may 
be  the  case  with  Castle  Feather,  a  ruined  stronghold  in 
Glasserton.  The  Piper's  Cove,  Colvend ;  Piper's  Hill,  Inch,  all 
represent  this  "  piob  air." 

Those  names  indicative  of  clerical  functions  in  the  Scoto- 

^  It  is  curious  to  note  the  cbaDge  in  the  position  of  the  site  of  these  beacons 
after  the  Brudan  settlement.  They  lay  largely  to  the  westward,  and  especially 
on  the  Irish  Channel,  whereas  in  the  Douglas's  laws  of  march  not  one  is  detected 
on  the  western  seaboard,  those  being  all  to  the  eastward,  and  mostly  inland. 


138  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY 

Irish  Church  are  many  of  them  very  old  ;  such  as  easpuig,  bishop, 
whence  Ernespie  and  Gillespie,  the  bishop's  share  and  "  cil." 

Abbot  (ab),  as  Balnab,  Craignab.  Culdee  (Ceile-de),  Knock- 
aldy,  Leswalt  (the  old  Culdees'  well,  "  fors  Colidee,"  bubbling  up 
before  it) ;  Culcalday,  Inch,  the  "  cul,"  probably  a  corruption  for 
the  Culdee's  chapel  or  cell ;  his  glebe  indicated  by  the  name 
"  Garclearie,"  the  cleric's  enclosure.  Priest  (sagart),  Altaggart, 
New  Luce ;  Drumataggart,  Minigaff.  Monk  appears  in  Dal- 
mannoch,  Inch  ;  Ernmannoch,  Parton ;  Kirminnoch,  Kirrie- 
mannoch,  and  many  others.  Friar  (brathair),  Altibraiar,  New 
Luce;  Portbraiar,  Whithorn.  Scholars  (scolog),  Balscalloch, 
Kirkcolm ;  Craigenskulk,  MinigafT. 

Clerics  generally  (cleireach),  Barneycleary,  Penninghame ; 
Portacleary,  Elrkcolm ;  Garthleary,  Inch  (which  old  charters 
prove  to  have  been  anciently  Garclearie),  keeper  of  the  relics. 
The  Jore,  Dewar,  keeper  of  the  relics,  names  Glenjorie,^  near 
the  monastery  of  Luce. 

A  nun  was  caileach,  "  a  veiled  person,"  but  indistinguishable 
from  a  witch  in  nomenclature.  Of  Portencailzie,  Kirkcolm, 
believed  to  be  named  from  St.  Cuthbert's  mother,  an  outraged 
princess  and  nun,  however,  we  have  a  clue  from  its  translation 
upon  the  map,  "  Lady  Bay." 

Of  ranks  we  find  king  (righ),  Portree,  Portpatrick ;  Kilroy 
(king's  grave),  Dunscrore ;  King's  Laggan,  Anwoth,  seemingly 
a  translation.  Queen  (rioghan,  genitive  riogna),  Kilrhiny  (a 
queen's  cell  or  tomb),  Ballantrae.  Chiefs  (toisech)  in  Caimtosh, 
Girthon,  and  Barhoise  (pronounced  bar-hosh)  in  Kirkcowan  and 
Minigaff. 

Earlston,  Dairy,  has  its  name  from  James,  Earl  of  Boswell. 
Each  Mhilidh,  the  horse  knight,  of  which  Agholy  is  reduced 
by  aspiration,  may  be  represented  by  the  suffix  of  Caimholy. 
Knight  (riddere)  is  half  translated  in  Kidersknowe,  Carsphairn, 

^  Deoraidh,  a  pilgrim.     The  word  assumed  a  religious  limitation,  an  official 
keeper  of  the  relics,  and  became  a  family  name,  Dewar ;  thus  we  find  *'lator  de 
Coygerach  qui  Jore  vulgariter  dicitur."    These  Deorays  or  Dewars  were  probably 
descended  from  some  Irish  fomilies  whose  proper  names  merged  in  their  officia 
title. — Reeves's  Adamnan. 


PLACE-NAMES  139 

and  may  appear  in  Glenruther,  Penninghame,  though  that  is 
probably  from  riderel. 

Of  tradesmen,  the  foremost  was  the  armourer,  —  gobha 
(gow),  genitive  gobhan  (gown) ;  of  a  very  different  position  from 
the  modern  smith,  as  the  word  is  translated,  the  ancient  ''  gow  " 
indicating  a  man  of  high  position,  often  a  chieftain,  and  armourer 
by  profession.  Places  named  from  them  are  innumerable,  as 
Calgow,  Minigafif ;  Balgown  (numerous),  Killiegown,  Anwoth. 

Ceard  was  an  artificer  of  any  kind.  Cerdach  was  his  work- 
shop ;  whence  Cloncaird,  Glencaird,  Slewcart,  Carty,  Penning- 
hame ;  Drumicarty,  Old  Luce ;  Polcardoch,  Ballantrae ;  Knock- 
kerdoch — the  meadow,  glen,  hill,  pools,  and  knoll  of  the  artificer 
and  workshop.     Caird  has  now  sunk  to  tinker. 

Greusach,  of  which  a  most  undignified  modem  rendering  is 
cobbler,  is  from  Greis,  and  meant  originally  an  embroiderer 
and  ornamental  worker  in  leather ;  whence  Glengroosy,  Stoney- 
kirk ;  Balgracie,  Leswalt. 

Sudaire  was  a  tanner  —  a  term  which,  always  eclipsed, 
appears  in  Bentudor,  Eerwick ;  Drumtooter,  Dairy  ;  and  Caim- 
tooter.  Old  Luce. 

Saor  or  saer  was  a  builder  or  architect,  usually  translated 
carpenter;  whence  the  name  Mlntyre  (Mhic-an-t*saoir),  son 
of  the  carpenter.  We  have  both  Balsier  and  Baltier,  Sorbie ; 
Dnimasor,  Kirkcowan;  Drumatier,  Penninghame;  Drumashore, 
Colvend;  Dunsour,  Kirkcolm;  and  Lochintyre,  Anwoth — all 
townlands,  hillsides,  and  lake  of  the  carpenter. 

Ceannighe,  a  chapman,  a  merchant  in  modem  Irish,  a  pedlar, 
appears  in  Bameconachie,  Old  Luce ;  Cairnkenny,  Inch  and  New 
Luce ;  Cairnkennagh  and  Caimkinna,  Minigafif;  Caimhandy, 
Stoneykirk — numerously  translated,  as  in  Chapman's  Craig,  Chap- 
man's Stone,  Chapman's  Cleugh,  Chapman's  Lees,  and  with  a 
Norse  ring  in  Copinknowes,  Minigafif,  as  also  in  Copeland  Island, 
opposite  the  entrance  of  Belfast  Lough,  and  in  vulgar  form  in 
Cadger's  Loup,  Kells. 

In  forging  iron  weapons  charcoal  was  required  more  than 
for  culinary  purposes ;  in  Celtic  "  gual,"  coal,  it  being  the  coal 


140  HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY 

of  the  Galloway  Picts ;  more  fully  fiodh-ghual,  whence  Dargoals, 
Old  Luce,  now  a  flow  moss,  but  where  once  the  charcoal-burner 
pursued  his  trade  in  a  drj^  clearing  amidst  umbrageous  oaks.  So 
Auchengool,  Berwick,  whilst  Gool-hill,  Earkcowan,  is  a  half 
translation.  Demafuel  is  daere-na-fiodh-ghual,  the  oak  wood  of 
the  charcoal;  fiodh-ghual  (fewal)  having  the  definite  sense  of 
wood  coal. 

Fighting  and  tuilzying  are  certainly  to  be  counted  among 
Pictish  occupations.  Tachor  (strife),  a  skirmish,  appears  in 
Drumteacher,  Old  Luce,  half  translated  in  Tacher  Hill,  Sorbie ; 
Tacher  Bum,  Eerwick ;  and  wholly  translated  in  our  frequent 
Strife  Hills,  Strife  Knolls,  Strife  Land. 

Fuel,  genitive  fola,  blood,  in  nomenclature  refers  to  its 
effusion,  as  Loch -na- folic,  Leswalt;  Craigfolly,  New  Luce; 
Damnaholly,  Kirkmaiden,  are  all  allied  to  a  class  of  names 
— bloody  wheel,  bloody  rocks,  bloody  burn,  bloody  neuk — ^into 
which  the  genitive  fola  enters  and  has  been  translated.  Balloch- 
jargon  (dearg,  the  red),  may  mean  the  bloody  pass.  A  quarrel  is 
trodan,  whence  Drumtroddan,  Mochrum ;  here  three  large  stand- 
ing stones  perpetuate  the  memory  of  a  tuilzie,  the  actors  in 
which  have  been  long  forgotten.  Where  quarrel  appears  in 
the  vernacular, — as  Quarrelknowe,  Balmaclellan ;  Quarrelend, 
Carsphairn, — it  is  not  a  translation  of  trodan,  but  simply  Scottice 
for  stone-quarry. 

Piracy  and  brigandage  were  recognised,  indeed  honourable, 
vocations  during  the  early  name -giving  period  of  Galloway 
history.  In  Ireland  "  places  where  bands  of  robbers  fixed  their 
lair  and  hid  their  plunder  are  to  this  day  known  by  the  word 
'  Bradach,' "  ^  a  word  figuring  largely  in  maps  of  the  Ehynns. 
East  and  west  of  Corswall  Point  we  have  "  Braddoch " 
as  "Braidport";  between  Salt  Pans  Bay  and  Portslogan, 
the  Ordnance  map  has  Broadsea  Bay,  a  name  as  absolutely 
unmeaning  as  unknown  to  "  residenters."  As  in  the  case  of 
Kemp's  Wark,  which  the  English  surveyor  changed  to  Kemp's 

^  Bannister  translates  Braddoch,  Cornwall,  ''a  place  of  treachery,"  and  Dinny- 
road  as  the  "  castle  of  treason  or  plotters." — Joyce,  ii.  108. 


PLACE-NAMES  141 

Walk,  so  the  sapper  employed  on  the  Ordnance  Survey  con- 
sidered Broadsea  ^  a  happy  modernisation  of  Brodseach,  utterly 
unaware  that  it  conveyed  the  idea  of  a  pirate's  cove.  Near  the 
Mull  of  Galloway,  again,  we  find  "  Breddoch "  and  "  Breddoch 
Cave,"  all  dens  of  sea  robbers,  exactly  where  we  might  expect  to 
find  them.  Bradach  and  Braid  occur  in  the  hills  overlooking 
the  eastern  shore  of  Lochryan;  the  last  in  connection  with 
Shinraggie,  where  the  ancient  floors  of  what  may  be  supposed 
to  have  been  a  thieves'  village  are  to  be  traced  within  an  angle 
of  the  Deil's  Dyke.  The  prefix  evidently  "  old,"  the  suffix  a 
corruption  of  entrenchment  or  rogue's  place  ;  whilst  Braidenoch 
and  Braiden^  Knowe  point  to  haunts  of  the  same  fraternity 
in  Carsphairn.  Sladaighe  and  Sleidear  are  also  synonyms  for  rob- 
bers and  robbery,  whence  Barnsladie,  Kirkinner ;  Garasladoch,  a 
charter  name  in  Penninghame.  Near  Sliddery,  Sorbie,  is  mapped 
"  Reifer  Park,"  which  seems  so  obvious  an  attempt  at  translation 
that  we  are  inclined  to  think  that  Inchsliddery,  and  more  especi- 
ally Slidderich  in  Kirkmaiden,  are  not  slippery  places  as  re- 
presenting the  vernacular,  but  rather  derivatives  of  the  Celtic 
"  sleiderach,"  the  resort  of  thieves. 

Meirleach,  genitive  Meirlech,  was  another  term  for  a  robber, 
whence  Knockamairly,  the  thief  s  knoll,  in  Stoneykirk.  Bradach 
and  meirlech  figure  side  by  side  in  the  proverbs:  "Ghoid 
am  meirleach  air  hraideen  e,"  "The  thief  stole  it  from  the 
robber."  » 

Little  dishonourable  as  may  have  been  esteemed  the  profes- 
sion of  a  thief,  the  *'  reifer "  carried  his  life  in  his  hand,  and  if 
taken  redhanded  was  dealt  with  by  a  man  of  a  calling  as  legiti- 
mate— crochaire,  the  hangman.     This  official's  name  appears  in 

^  Similarly,  just  above  this  very  **  Bradseach,"  we  find  ^*  Light  of  the  Maze," 
another  amusing  simulation  of  English  forms,  the  sapper  apparently  supposing 
this  to  be  the  ruins  of  a  lighthouse,  whereas  the  true  name,  which  he  failed  to 
catch,  was  "  Lacht  o'  Maize,"  the  "  lacht"  being  the  monument  of  some  robber 
chief,  and  the  word  pure  Celtic. 

'  Braidein,  a  thievish  fellow,  fined  for  braid  theft.  Braidenoch,  a  hill  of 
some  height  near  the  eastern  end  of  the  Deil*s  Dyke.  Brady,  as  a  family,  derives 
from  this  once  honourable  calling. 

'  Sheriff  Nicolson's  JProverbs,  p.  204. 


142  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY 

Knockrocher,  Dailly,  and  Auchrocher/  Inch — the  hangman's 
knoll  and  field;  and  the  instrument  of  his  trade,  croiche,  in 
Belcrosh,  Sorbie ;  Culcruchie,  Penninghame — the  townland  and 
back  of  the  gallows.  The  Gallow-hills,  in  every  part  of  the  pro- 
vince, when  used  for  executions  before  the  Brucian  settlement, 
are  probably  translations.  "  The  Thieves,"  two  standing-stones 
on  the  moor  of  Drennandow,  are  said  to  mark  the  spot  where  a 
gang  of  robbers  were  "  justified  "  by  orders  of  Bandolph,  Earl  of 
Murray,  in  1330. 

As  to  divisions  of  land :  "  tir "  is  land  generally,  territory  ; 
as  Terawly,  Awlay,  or  Amlaph's  land. 

"Earrann"  (ern  or  iron  in  names)  is  a  share  or  portion, 
district  or  division,  as  Emmenzie,  Aammacnillie — ^Menzies's^ 
and  Macnillie's  portion ;  Irongrey  and  Ironmacannie,  Grey's  and 
M*Kenna's;  Ernespie,  the  Bishop's;  Emfellan,  St.  Fillan's; 
Ironlost,  the  burnt  portion ;  Arnmannoch,  the  monk's  portion ; 
Amdarroch,  the  oak-wood  district.  Bailie  is  a  town,  town- 
land,  residence,  or  holding;  a  "very  vague"  term,  but  very 
common,  entering  into  6400  place-names  in  Ireland:  as  Bal- 
greddan,  Kirkcudbright,  the  townland  of  the  greaddan,  com 
parched,  or  rather  burned,  out  of  the  ear.  Balquhirry,  of  the 
Corrie;  Balgoun,  the  smith's  townland.  Leath  is  a  half,  as 
Cockleath,  Halkett's  Leath,  the  red,  and  Halkett's  half. 
Lucarron,  again,  is  the  half  of  a  quarter. 

Ceathramhaidh  (Carhoo)  gives  us  Kerrone,  Minigafi^,  and 
Carhowe,  Twynholm  and  Mochrum ;  Kerronrae,  Kirkcolm,  and 
Kirminnoch,  Inch,  the  gray  and  the  monk's  quarterland,  besides 
many  others.^  It  is  translated  quarter  in  a  place-name  in  New 
Luca 

The  davoch  explained  is  land  capable  of  pasturing  320 
cows,  or  as  containing  four  ploughgates  of  104  acres  arable 

^  In  a  charter  of  the  Bishop  of  Galloway  to  Sir  Patrick  Agnew  the  name  is 
written  Ardcroquhart. 

'  Ardmynuies,  Pont,  precisely  as  Highlanders  pronounce  Menzies. 

'  Carron  begins  the  names  of  more  than  700  townlands  in  Ireland,  and  Carhoo 
of  about  thirty.  Lecarrow,  half  quarter,  gives  names  to  about  sixty. — Joyce, 
i.  243. 


PLACE-NAMES  143 

each,  or  as  equal  to  twenty  pennylands.^  Whence  Ardoch, 
Dahy  (an  old  holding  of  the  Agnews).  And  Ardoch  in 
Cunningham  which  Pont  translates  "a  high  plot  or  daach 
of  land  lying  upon  a  knowe."  Duchrae  (Dochray  Pont),  the 
smooth^  davoch,  appears  in  Buittle,  Dairy,  Colmonell,  and 
Inch.  Dochroyle,  Barr,  is  the  royal  davoch  (rioghail) ;  Culin- 
daich,  Girthon,  is  the  back  of  the  davoch  (but  Culdoch,  Twyn- 
holm,  is  the  back  of  the  doach,  cruive,  or  weir).^ 

"Mark,"  "Half  Mark,"  "Two  Mark,"  "Three  Mark,"  as 
place-names,  all  have  i-eference  to  Crown  dues.  Pen-peighin 
and  Leffin  (Leath-peighin)  mean  penny  and  halfpenny.  The 
markland  had  no  uniform  relation  to  the  pennyland,  the  old 
Norse  measure;  but  an  approximation  is  suggested  by  the 
statement  that  "  five-pennylands  were  equal  to  a  forty-shilling- 
land,  which  equalled  a  three-markland."  The  penny  was  the 
Norse  expression  of  this  measurement,  because  under  Norwegian 
rule  each  homestead  paid  a  penny  as  "  scat."  The  Wigtown- 
shire Pens  are  not  the  Cymric  equivalent  for  Ben,  but  the 
Celtic  peighin,  the  penny,  and  the  halfpenny,  Leathpeighin 
(Leffin),*  whence  Pennymuir,  Borgue,  Muir*s  pennyland;  Pen- 
verrains,  anciently  Pennyveran  (gwern),  penny  alderlaiid ; 
Penninghame,  nearly  Teutonic.  Pinminnoch,  Portpatrick,  in 
old  retours  is  always  Pigmoinoch,  the  monk's  pennyland. 
Penkiln,  Sorbie,  is  an  instance  of  the  proneness  for  simulating 
English  forms,  the  n  being  corruptly  added  by  a  person  ignorant 
of  Gaelic  supposing  it  had  been  a  kiln,  whereas  the  true  mean- 
ing is  the  pennyland  of  the  church  (cil.).  Dupen,  Ballantrae, 
is  probably  Dapeighin,  the  two-pennyland. 

1  Davoch  is  sometimes  translated  oxgang,  which  Mr.  Skene  shows  to  be 
incorrect.  "The  oxgang  contained  only  thirteen  acres,  two  oxgangs  made  a 
hnsbandland,  eight  oxgangs  a  ploughgate." — Celtic  Scotland,  iii.  221. 

'  The  force  of  the  word  is  prepared  for  cultivation.  O'Reilly  gives  under 
reidh,  *Mevel,  smooth,  prepared."  Armstrong  has  the  significant  addition, 
"freed  of  obstructions." 

'  Thin  name  is  from  dabhach,  primarily  a  tub,  secondly  a  cruive.  The  Doachs 
of  Tongland  are  now  well-known  as  a  salmon  weir. 

^  In  the  western  districts  we  find  pennylands  entering  into  topography  in 
the  form  of  Pen  or  Penny  ;  while  the  halfpenny  becomes  Leffin. — Celtic  Scotlandf 
iii  226. 


144  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY 

Lefiin  appears  in  LefBinolla,  Ballantrae ;  Leffinclery,  the 
clerics' ;  Garleffin,  both  in  Barr  and  Dairy,  the  rough  halfpenny- 
lands,  or  the  enclosed  pennylands  (garadh);  Leffnoll,  Inch, 
anciently  Leffindlea,  the  halfpenny  wool -land.  Valuation 
descended  to  the  eighth  of  a  farthing  (clietach),  which  appears 
in  Clutag,  Mochrum,^  which  might  be  freely  translated  the 
pendicle. 

Third,  FAUNA  and  FLORA. — The  most  formidable  of  the 
animals  indigenous  in  Galloway  was  the  wild  boar,  tore ;  whence 
Glenturk,  Wigtown;  Mindork,  Kirkcowan;  Craigork,  New  Luce ; 
probably  Glen  Orchy,  Mochrum.  Muc,  wild  swine  in  general, 
appear  unmistakably  in  Slewmuck,  Kirkcolm;  Killymuck, 
Blirkcowan ;  Elnocknamuck,  Barr ;  Lochmuick,  Carsphaim ; 
Drummuckloch,  Inch,  abounding  in  swine,  and  very  many 
others.  Litters  of  piglings,  bambh  or  Bonibh,  named  such 
places  as  Auchnabony,  Eerwick  ;  Craigbonny,  Balmaclellan. 

The  red  deer,  hart  and  hind,  were  respectively  fiadh  (the  / 
almost  always  aspirated)  and  eiled,  genitive  eilte,  whence 
Drumannee,  New  Luce  and  Kirkinner ;  Craiganie,  Dervananie, 
Larochanea,^  New  Luce ;  Pulnee,  Kirkcudbright ;  the  Gairy  of 
Pulnee,  Minigaflf — all  hills,  pools,  woods,  and  sites  frequented 
by  the  red  deer.' 

Kinhilt,  Portpatrick ;  Craignaltie,  Inch ;  Craignalty,  Mini- 
gaflf; Craigneltoch,  Kells,  are  exact  equivalents  of  "  Hind  Hill " 

^  The  common  computation  of  land  in  these  countries  (Western*^  Highlands) 
is  by  pennies,  halfpennies,  farthings,  half-farthings,  and  clitighs. — Old  SUU, 
Account  (Harris),  x.  866. 

*  So  Gortnavargh,  Tipperary,  and  Gortnavea,  Galway. — Joyce,  L  477. 

'  The  Qalloway  poet  Montgomery,  thus  describes  the  fauna  which  might  be 
seen  in  a  morning's  walk  from  Cumston  Castle  on  the  Dee,  circum  1580  : 

I  saw  the  hurcheon  and  the  hare 
In  hidlings  hirpling  here  and  there 

To  make  their  morning  mange : 
The  con,i  the  coney,  and  the  cat, 
Whase  dainty  downs  with  dew  were  wat, 
With  stiff  mustachis  strange ; 
The  hart,  the  hind,  the  dae,  tiie  lae, 

Tlie  fulmait,  and  fiilse  fox, 
The  bearded  buck  clamb  up  the  brae, 
With  birsie^  boars  and  brocks. 

Tht  CTierrie  and  the  SUu. 

1  Con,  squirreL  3  Binie,  bristly. 


PLACE-NAMES  145 

and  "  Hind  Craig,"  frequently  mapped,  as  also  is  Hart  Burn, 
Kirkcudbright ;  Hartthom,  Terregles ;  "  Deer's  Den,"  mapped 
five  times  in  Minigaflf  and  Carsphaim;  Deerhow,  Ballantrae;  and 
Bucksloup,  MinigafiF. 

From  the  roe-deer,  earbag,  are  Drumnarbuck,  New  Luce  ; 
Craignarbie,  Kirkcowan,  both  translated  in  "  Eae  Hill,"  Parton ; 
"  Eaeford,"  in  Dairy  ;  and  EaebeiTy,  Kirkcudbright,  suggestive 
of  earliest  Saxon  occupation. 

The  hare  was  gearrfiadh  (geary),  literally  small  deer,^ 
whence  Craigengeary,  Carsphaim  ;  Craigengearoch,  Kirkcolm  ; 
Knockengearoch,  Carsphaim ;  and  in  the  vernacular,  "  Hare- 
cleugh,"  Carsphaim,  translates  the  three.  We  also  find  "  Hare- 
moss,"  Eerwick ;  Mawkenhole,  Loch  Ken. 

The  badger,  which  once  greatly  abounded,  was  in  olden  days 
much  esteemed  for  food  (as  was  also  the  seal).  Caimbrock, 
Carsnabrock,  Kilbrock,  represent  a  large  class  of  names.  In 
Brockloch,  occurring  seven  times,  "  loch  "  is  not  a  lake,  but  the 
"lach  of  abundance,"  and  the  word  should  be  translated 
Badger  Warren ;  as  also  Brocklan  Braes,  Kirkmaiden  ;  Brock- 
ennie  Braes,  Parton. 

Sonan  is  a  seal,  whence  Gobaronning,  a  sea  rock  in  Kirk- 
maiden, "  the  seal's  snout,"  and  near  it  Knocknossan,^  literally 
the  "  Whelp's  Eock,"  probably  indicating  the  haunt  of  the  young 
seal. 

Madadh,  as  said  before,  is  supposed  to  be  used  in  nomen- 
clature for  wolf ;  Slocamaddy,  Kirkmaiden,  is  exactly  translated 
by  "Wolfs  Slock,"  Carsphaim,  where  we  also  have  Castle 
Maddie.  Claymoddie,  Glasserton,  is  equally  matched  by 
"WoKstane,"  east  of  the  Nith.  We  have  Strathmaddie, 
Minigaff ;  Pulmaddie  Gairy,  Kells  ;  Poomaddy,  in  the  Forest  of 
Buchan;^  and  Lochmaddy,  on  the  marches  of  Carrick,all  of  which 

^  The  hare  would  appear  to  be  the  smaUest  animal  to  which  fiadh  (origin- 
aUy  any  wild  animal)  was  applied,  if  we  may  judge  from  the  composition  of  the 
name  gaarr,  fiadh  (gerree),  short  or  small  fiadh.— Joyce,  iL  393. 

'  **  Osain,  usually  a  fawn,  is  also  a  seal  or  sea-calf,  and  so  used  on  the  sea- 
shores of  Cork." — O'Donovan. 

'  Joyce  gives  mactire  as  a  term  for  wolf,  signifying  literally  ''son  of  the 
country," as  also,  breach.    Sir  Herbert  Maxwell  suggests  that  this  last  word  may 

VOL.  I  L 


146  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY 

we  should  be  disposed  to  explain  as  connected  with  the  wolf, 
which  the  sheriffs  were  enjoined  to  hunt,  and  more  especially 
**  in  the  gang  and  time  of  year  when  they  have  thar  quhelps," 
as  late  as  1427. 

The  polecat  (feocalam,  foclan)  appears  in  Corriefech  Loch 
(feoclan  ent),  Minigaff;  Drumvogal,  New  Luce,  translated  in 
Fumart  Glen  and  Fumart  Liggat. 

The  fox,  sionnach,  looms  largely  in  Galloway  nomen- 
clature (although  we  find  no  mention  of  the  "varmint"  in 
Joyce's  names  of  places  in  Ireland).  Knockshinnoch,  Kirk- 
cowan  and  Kirkpatrick-Irongray ;  Kirshinnoch,  Minigaff ; 
Inchshaennoch,  Kirkmaiden,  practically  translated  by  "Fox's 
Eattle  "  close  by  ;  Auchenshinnoch,  Dairy ;  Benshinny,  Parton  ; 
Craigshinny,  Kells  ;  Dalshinnie,  Troqueer,  are  examples. 

Another  troublesome  poacher,  the  native  wild  cat,  expressed 
by  the  same  monosyllable  in  Cymric,  Norse,  and  Anglo-Saxon, 
gives  us  Allwhat  in  Dairy,  Carsphairn,  and  Cumnock — "  the  rock 
(aill)  of  the  wild  cats," — "  Cat  Craigs  "  ;  Altiwhat,  Girthon  and 
Carsphairn  ;  Dalwhat,  Kirkoswald  ;  Drumwhat,  Mochrum  and 
Minigaff;  Macherquhat,  Colmonell;  Magherawhat,  Old  Luce, 
are  the  "  glen,  ridge,  and  fields  of  the  wild  cat" 

Lagnagatchie,  Kirkmaiden;  Pulhatchie,  New  Luce,  are 
*'  hollows  and  holes  abounding  in  wild  cats."  Craighet,  New 
Luce ;  Dalhet,  Kirkcowan,  are  the  "  rock  and  field  of  the  wild- 
cat." We  also  have  in  the  vernacular  "  Wild  Cat  Knowe,"  Kells  ; 
«  wad  Cat  Wood,"  Berwick ;  ^'  Wild  Cat  Craigs,"  Southwick ; 
and  the  "  Cat  Craigs"  of  Auchencloy,  Girthon. 

The  otter,  doran,  literally  "the  water-beast,"  names 
Aldouran,  Leswalt ;  Puldouran,  Glasserton  ;  Bardouran,  Stair. 

There  is  a  remarkable  cavern  on  the  Galdenoch  shore  known 
as  "  The  Otters'  Cave,"  which,  arched  lightly  over  with  rock,  run- 
ning far  under  the  cliff,  is  divided  from  the  ending  of  the  den 
by  a  deep  pool,  almost  a  lakelet.  To  this  otters  resort,  and  in 
former  times  were  sometimes  trapped  by  gamekeepers,  their  fur 

be  preserved  in  some  of  our  numerous  names  ending  in  brake  or  breck. — OaUoway 
Topography^  82. 


PLACE-NAMES  147 

being  valuable.  The  cliflf  above  it  is  "  Drumahowan/'  a  name 
which  local  knowledge  confinns  as  truly  descriptive  (druim-an- 
uamhain,  the  ridge  of  the  cave).^ 

Of  Luchog  (dim.,  a  mouse),  we  find  an  example  in  Glen- 
luchoch,  Penninghame. 

Of  birds,  we  have  the  eagle,  iolaire,  presented  in  Pictish 
form  in  Petillery,*  Carsphaim ;  also  BenyeDary,  in  the  same 
parish,  reproduced  exactly  in  the  vernacular  as  "Eamscraig," 
New  Abbey. 

A  hawk  is  seabhach;  its  force  in  names  shouk  or 
habback,  when  aspirated,  and  eclipsed  touk.  The  Cymric 
is  gwalc  (whence  Gwallauc,  "the  hawk  of  battle")  and  hebog. 
The  four  examples  are  Slewsack,  Kirkcolm;  Pulsack,  Bal- 
maghie;  Balshaig  and  Gamshog,  Mochrum — the  hill,  pool, 
townland,  and  cairn  of  the  hawks.  Eclipsed  we  have  Bartyke, 
Kirkcowan ;  and  aspirated  or  affecting  the  Cymric,  Dalhabboch, 
Inch ;  Poulhabbock,  Stoneykirk ;  Barnhabbock  (obsolete)  Pont;  ® 
whilst  "HawkHQl,"  "  Hawk's  Hole,"  "  Gledknowes,"  "  Gled- 
craig,"  "  Gledebog,"  "  Gledsmuir,"  and  many  others,  are  repro- 
ductions in  the  vernacular. 

To  kill  a  hawk  or  destroy  its  nest  in  feudal  times  was  as 
great  a  social  crime,  more  serious  for  the  perpetrator,  than 
shooting  a  fox  would  now  be  thought  to  be  in  Leicestershire. 

For  aristocratic  hawkers  the  favourite  quarry  was  the 
heron,  "  corr"  (in  dictionaries  translated  a  heron,  crane,  or 
stork).  Knockencurr,  Kirkinner;  Craigencorr,  Leswalt,  New 
Luce,  Dailly,  and  Dairy ;  Knockcorr,  Kirkcudbright;  and  Knock- 
core,  Stoneykirk,  all  mean  the  heron's  rock. 

Bunnan,  the  bittern,  does  not  show  in  Celtic  form,  except 

^  Uaimh,  gen.  namhain  ;  so  MuUrenn-ia-hnamhaiQ  MuUinahome,  Tipperaij  ; 
Athhowen,  Cork ;  mill  of  the  cave,  Knocknahooan,  Clare,  cave  hill.— -Joyce  i. 
440. 

'  Pet  occurs  frequently  in  the  Pictish  nomenclature  of  the  east  of  Scotland, 
and  is  understood  to  have  meant  a  portion  or  place,  as  Pitlochrie,  Pitancleiroch, 
a  portion  of  the  clerics. 

'  Habbock  has  been  supposed  by  dabblers  in  nomenclature  to  be  kebbock,  the 
Lowland  Scotch  for  a  large  cheese,  but  seems  certainly  Celtic.  So  tyke  is  Gal- 
loway vernacular  for  a  dog  or  cur,  but  Irish  examples  show  that  it  is  rather 
tseabhaic,  as  is  Craigatuke,  Tyrone,  the  hawk's  crag. — Joyce,  i.  485. 


148  HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY 

perhaps  in  Barbunny,  Eirkcowan,  though  often  translated  in 
its  old  Scotch  name  btUter,  as  Butterbum,  MinigafP;  Butter- 
cairn,  Penninghame  ;  Butterhole,  Dairy,  Kirgunzeon,  Buittle, 
and  Terregles — all  marshy  spots  resorted  to  by  the  bittern, 
utterly  unsuitable  for  the  dairy  or  manufacture  of  butter. 
To  both  bittern  and  heron  was  extended  the  especial 
protection  of  the  law.  So  late  as  1600,  among  the  Acts  of 
James  VI.,  Parliament  ''discharges  any  person  whatsoever, 
within  this  realm,  in  any  ways  to  sell  or  buy  skeldraikis, 
herrouThy  butter,  or  ony  sic  kynd  of  fowllis,  commonly  usit  to  be 
chasit  with  hawkes." 

The  raven  (fiach  and  fitheach)  appears  in  Craigenveoch,^ 
Old  Luce ;  Benaveoch,  Kirkmaiden  ;  Dinveoch,  Kells ;  Minny- 
wick,  Minigaflf  fa  corruption  of  Minnyveoch).  We  have  also 
"  Ravencrags,"  Kirkpatrick-Durham  ;  "  Eavenshall,"  Kirkma- 
breck ;  "  Ba'ennest  Haugh,"  Minigaff ;  "  Eavenstone,"  Glasserton 
(though  the  raven  (rafn)  here  was  probably  a  Viking  name). 

Coileach  and  cearc,  genitive  circe,  in  the  dictionaries  cock  and 
hen,  in  our  topography  represent  black-game  and  moorfowl. 
Thus  Bamecullach,  Kirkcowan ;  Cornhulloch,  Mochrum ; 
EasnaguUoch,  Colmonell;  Clashgulloch,  Barr,  represent  the 
ridge,  hill,  thicket,  and  hollow  of  the  grouse  or  blackcocks  ; 
and  Bamkirk,  Penninghame,  and  elsewhere,  three  times ; 
Barnkirky,  Girthon  ;  Millwhirk,  Inch ;  Dunkirk,  KeUs ;  Loch- 
kirky,  Colmonell,  are  the  hills,  fort,  and  lake  of  the  moorhens, 
the  latter  matched  by  "  Grayhen  Bay,"  Stoneykirk. 

Partridge  and  quail  seem  to  have  been  included  under  the 
general  term  of  birds,  enn,  whence  Dunanain,  Kirkmaiden ; 
Slewnain,  Leswalt ;  Bamean,  Penninghame  ;  Elnockneen,  Kirk- 
colm.^ 

Creabhar  (crower)  is  a  woodcock,  and  naosg  a  snipe,  whence 
Knockcaars,  with  the  half  translation,  "  Crowarstone,"  adjacent, 
as  well  as  "  Crowarhill,"  and  the  full  one  of  "  Cock  Hill "  in 

^  Craigenveoch  was  the  war-cry  of  the  Glengarry  Maodonalds. 

^  Nighean,  a  girl,  pronounced  nyen,  was  applied  to  the  ''little  folk,"  t.e, 
fairies.  There  are  here  a  group  of  three  remarkable  knolls,  which  were  probably 
called  Enocknain,  as  haunts  of  the  girls,  i,e.  fairies. 


PLACE-NAMES  149 

Blirkmaiden,  where,  as  of  old,  woodcock  still  abound.  Pulnasky, 
Mochrum ;  Lochnisky,  Colmonell ;  Knochenaiisk,  Stoneykirk  ; 
Lagganausk,  Kirkmaiden ;  Knochnaskrie,  Portpatrick,  all  point 
to  spots  abounding  in  snipe,  "  naosg."  ^ 

Lacfaa,  genitive  lachan,  was  a  duck,  whence  Craiglauchie, 
Kirkmaiden ;  Craiglochan,  Inch  ;  Portlochan,  Kirkinner ;  Ben- 
lochan,  on  the  sea  cliffs  of  Kirkmaiden,  seem  rather  to  mean 
bays  and  cliffs  of  ducks  than  of  the  lakelets,  which  would  be 
colourless.^ 

Gadh  was  the  goose.  In  composition  the  word  is  indis- 
tinguishable from  gaoth,  wind  ;  but  Ilan-na-guy,  Kirkcolm ; 
Lochanghie,  Girthon ;  Craugie,  Penninghame ;  Glenghie,  Dailly ; 
Derhagie,  Old  Luce,*  seem  certainly  to  denote  wild  geese  (rather 
than  gulls),  which  notoriously  abounded  on  Galloway  shores,  as 
Goose  Isles,  Crossmichael,  in  the  vernacular.  Gayfield,  Leswalt, 
and  elsewhere,  means  "goose  field,"  but  the  birds  were  of  the 
domestic  sort 

Eala  is  the  wild  swan,  a  frequent  winter  visitor  to  Galloway, 
whence  Craignell,  Minigaff;  Craiganelly,  Crossmichael  and 
Balmaghie ;  Craignallie,  Kirkcolm. 

Allanfaichie,  Kirkmaiden,  is  the  rock  of  the  pufi&ns 
(fachach),  nearly  equivalent  to  "  Gull  Craig,"  Leswalt. 

Gairg  is  the  cormorant,  and  Gargrie  (gairgreach),  abounding 
in  cormorants,  is  the  appropriate  name  of  the  mossy  meadow 
adjoining  the  Castle  Loch  of  Mochrum,  where  to  this  day 
"scarts"  breed  in  thousands.  The  throne  of  Gargrie  is  an 
elevation  overlooking  the  spot.  We  have  "  Scart  Island "  in 
Mochrum  Loch  itself;  "Scart  Craig"  is  frequent  on  the  sea 
coast ;  and  we  have  native  authority  for  saying  that  "  Docker's 

^  Naosg,  naosga,  a  snipe.  ''The  word  is  generally  easy  to  recognise  in  names, 
as  Tullynesky,  Cork,  the  little  hill  of  the  snipes.  "—Joyce,  ii.  288. 

'  Cadhan  (coin)  is  a  barnacle  goose,  the  word  used  much  in  Ireland  ;  as  Gort- 
na-goyne,  Galway,  the  field  of  the  barnacle  goose.  So  Carrickcune,  Kirkmaiden, 
may  very  probably  be  the  rock  of  the  barnacles,  although  phonetically  it  may  be 
equally  rendered  of  the  dog. 

'  This  agrees  with  Irish  examples.     Monagay,  Limerick,  Mom-a-ghedh,  bog 
of  the  goose  ;  and  Inis-na-gedh,  Fermanagh,  is  the  counterpart  of  Ilan-na-guy 
goose  island — Joyce,  L  488. 


150  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY 

Byng,"  Colvend,  denotes  the  cormorant  and  not  the  northern 
diver.^ 

Feannog  is  the  hoodie  crow,  and  appears  in  Bamvannoch, 
Ballantrae ;  Barwhinnoch,  Glasserton  ;  Knockenfinnoch,  Ballan- 
trae ;  Bingvinaghan,  Stoneykirk ;  Slannievannach,  Minigaff — all 
ridges,  points,  and  hills  of  carrion  crows. 

We  have  the  cuckoo  (cuach)  in  Altigowkie,  New  Luce; 
Bamegowk,  Elirkcowan ;  translated  "  Gowk  Hill "  in  Whithorn 
and  Leswalt. 

Traona,  or  more  correctly  tradhnach,  the  corncrake,  appears 
in  Clontrainnaight,  Mochrum  (now  contracted  to  Clone),  and 
Drummatrane,  Elirkcowan  ;  and  snag,  the  woodpecker,  is  un- 
mistakable in  Darssnag,  Mochrum. 

The  thrush,  smeorach,  appeal's  in  Slewsmirroch,  Stoneykirk. 
"  Cha  dean  aon  snteorach  sambhradh,"  as  Sheriflf  Nicolson  tells 
us,  was  proverbial :  "  One  mavis  makes  not  summer."  The 
song-thrush  in  Scotland  did  duty  for  the  nightingale.^  Once 
only  do  we  find  the  wren,  drealan,  in  Drumadryland,'  Inch,  the 

^  Scarts,  8  name  for  the  black  cormorant.  Its  common  name  is  Dooker, 
also  Mochrum  Lairds,  because  they  have  been,  as  it  were,  proprietors  there  for 
an  unknown  length  of  time.  They  are  also  called  "  Elders  o'  Gowend,"  from 
their  black,  grave,  and  greedy  appearance,  being  common  on  Colvend  shores. 
— MTaggart,  Oal,  EncyclopcBdia, 

Byjig,  a  heap  or  lump. 

'  Montgomery  describes  himself  as  walking  near  the  old  Bridge  of  Tungland — 

About  a  bank  with  balmy  bews, 
Where  nightingales  their  notes  renews, 
With  gallant  gowdspinks  gay. 
And  adds — 

To  hear  her  aae  near  her, 
I  doubted  if  I  dreamed. 

The  idea  in  Scotland  that  a  song  full,  clear,  and  of  groat  variety,  heard  after  dark, 
as  it  constantly  ^vas  in  the  very  early  spring,  must  be  that  of  the  nightingale. 
It  was,  however,  certainly  that  of  a  throstle  or  mavis,  as  there  is  no  reason,  as  in  the 
case  of  red-deer,  black-game,  or  snipe,  that  the  nightingale  should  have  changed 
its  habits.  As  natural  history  became  a  science,  it  was  accepted  by  the  Scots  that 
they  had  no  nightingales  ;  but  this  seems  to  have  been  a  sore  subject.  '  A  GaUo- 
way  laird  visiting  English  friends  was  awakened  in  the  middle  of  the  night  to 
hear  a  nightingale  sing.  Cross  at  being  disturbed,  and  offended  at  the  air  of 
superiority  his  hosts  seemed  to  be  assuming,  when  pressed  by  a  lady  to  say  if  the 
song  was  not  exquisite,  he  bluntly  exclaimed,  "Ma'am,  I  wadna  gie  the  wheeple 
o'  a  Galloway  whaup  for  a*  the  English  nightingales  that  ever  sang." 

'  The  dryland  might,  and  may,  mean  the  three  enclosures  (lann),  or  three 
churches. 


PLACE-NAMES  151 

ridge  of  wrens ;  a  nest  (nead)  in  Knockaneed,  Stoneykirk,  and 
Knocknidi,  Cumnock ;  and  eggs  (ubh)  in  Dimow,  Kirkcowan. 

Of  fish,  a  salmon  was  "bradan,"  whence  Loch  Bradan, 
Straiton  ;  Lanebreddan,  Minigaff ;  and  it  is  probable  that  Drum- 
breddan,  Stoneykirk,  is  the  salmon-shaped  ridge,  or  salmon  may 
have  been  caught  on  the  shore  adjacent,  just  as  Ejiockscadan, 
Stoneykirk,  is  the  hUl  of  the  herring.  Breac  stands  for  trout, 
to  be  so  translated  with  discretion,  as  the  word  means  simply 
speckled.  Lochinbreck,  Balmaghie;  Lochbrack,  Balmaclellan ; 
Altibreck,  Kells,  are  the  trout  lake  and  trout  stream ;  Loch- 
breckbowie,  Straiten,  being  the  lake  of  the  yellow  trout.^ 

Culscaddan,  Lochanscaddan,  Glasserton ;  Knockscaddan, 
Stoneykirk,  are  respectively  the  comer,  bay,  and  knoll  of  the 
herrings  (scadan),  the  latter  overlooking  a  place  of  their  resort. 

A  fish-weir  is  coradh,  and  towards  the  mouth  of  the  Cree  we 
find  twice  on  opposite  shores  (Gassencarie-cos-an-coradh),  foot 
of  the  weir — a  familiar  name  (we  believe)  near  the  confluence 
of  the  Luce  and  Filtanton,  and  a  weir  seems  to  have  for  this 
purpose  been  used  where  the  tide  enters  the  Solebum,  Lochryan, 
the  present  lands  of  Salchrie  being  written  in  all  old  charters 
Salachquharry,  the  dirty  or  salt-water  weir. 

Giol  is  the  leech,  and  one  or  two  lakelets  bearing  this  name — 
as  Loch  Gill,  Penninghame,  and  "Gill's  Loch,"  Kells — are  not  to 
be  rendered  "Lochs  of  the  Brightness,"  as  they  might  be  in 
Ireland,'  but  "Lakes  of  the  Leeches."  Indeed  " gill "  has  been 
adopted  into  the  Galloway  vernacular,  gill -gathering  being 
long  a  recognised  occupation  for  old  women  of  a  certain  class, 
who,  armed  with  a  long  stick  cut  for  the  purpose,  called  the 
"gill- rung,"  and  a  bottle  suspended  by  a  string  from  their 
waists,  waded  into  such  lochlets  courting  the  attack  of  the  said 
leeches,  which  no  sooner  fixed  themselves  upon  their  legs  than 
they  were  transferred  to  the  bottle  and  thence  to  the  apothe- 
cary's shop.* 

1  We  have  many  small  lakes  called  Lough  Nabrackboy,  the  lake  of  the  yellow 
trouts.    What  these  are  I  cannot  venture  to  conjecture. 
'  Joyce,  ii.  298. 
'  Music  was  supposed  to  aUure  them.    M'Taggart  writes :  **  These  old  women 


152  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY 

The  ant,  seangan,  plays  a  prominent  part  in  topography,  it 
is  difficult  to  say  why.  Dalshangan,  Carsphaim,  Minigaff,  and 
New  Luce ;  Bamshangan,  Stoneykirk ;  and  Bamshannon,  New 
Luce  (which,  as  written,  seems  to  represent  scan  dun,  old  fort), 
is  mapped  by  Pont  Barnshangan,  and  consequently,  along  with 
others  named,  is  the  gap,  summit,  and  field  of  the  ants.^ 

The  reliability  as  well  as  the  extreme  antiquity  of  many  of 
our  place-names  is  especially  illustrated  by  those  which,  whilst 
suggestive  of  umbrageous  forests,  are  now  attached  to  our  deepest 
and  dreariest  mosses.  Their  correctness  can  be  easily  tested  by 
the  spade.  The  bleak  tract  from  Killiemore  to  Darvaird,  im- 
passable in  a  bee-line  from  the  frequent  "  flow,"  is  studded  with 
names  recalling  oaks  and  golden  birches,  with  copses  of  hazel 
and  holly  interspersed.  And  these  names  not  only  rightly 
indicate  the  position  of  woods,  but  retain  the  exact  description 
of  the  species  of  trees  which  grew  on  them.  Their  names  are  so 
numerous,  and  their  correctness  so  well  authenticated,  that  we 
shall  only  give  one  or  two  specimens  of  each. 

Coill  and  coillidh,  plural  coile  (Cymric  coed),  are  wood  and 
woodland,  represented  by  kil  and  killy,^  whence  Killiemore, 
Penninghame,  great  wood;  Glenwhilly,  New  Luce  and  elsewhere, 
wood  of  the  glen ;  the  Celtic  plural  in  Cultiemore,  Minigaflf;  and 
with  the  English  plural  frequently  in  Cults,  notably  as  Inch  and 

wade  about  with  their  coats  kilted  high ;  when  they  come  to  a  deep  hole  they 
plunge  the  gill-ning  into  it  and  start  the  leeches,  singing  a  strange  song  at  the 
same  time."    We  give  a  few  lines  as  a  specimen  : 

My  under-cotie'8  hie  now, 
Gif  ony  bodies  see  now ; 
The  water's  boon  my  knee  now, 
Aye  faith,  aboon  o'  thee  now ; 
Among  my  yellow  spawlies, 
There  ye  come  and  crawlies ; 
Now  thou  sticks,  my  gilly, 
Book  thy  filly,  filly. 
Bonnie's  the  moss  lily, 
But  bonnier  for  my  gilly." 

GalUtvidian  Encydopcedia^  228. 

^  Seangan,  the  Irish  word  for  pismire  or  ant,  is  a  diminutive  from  seang, 
slender,  and  means  a  slender  little  fellow. — Joyce,  ii.  284. 

^  I  have  conjectured  that  ahoat  a  fifth  of  the  kils  that  begin  names  are  woods. 
Eilmore,  Cork,  is  great  wood,  but  the  vast  majority  of  Eilmores  are  great  church. 
— Joyce,  i.  491. 

EiUy  is  always  wood. 


PLACE-NAMES  153 

Sorbie;  Kelton,  Kells,  being  the  diminutive,  a  little  wood. 
Doire  is  a  grove,  strictly  of  oaks,  hence  the  frequent  Deny,  as 
in  Kirkcowan,  Old  Luce,  Mochrum,  Penninghame,  Kelton.  The 
Cymric  coed  seems  to  appear  in  Cuttiemore,  Minigafif;  Cutfad, 
Kirkpatrick-Durham ;  Cotreoch,  (Rioco)  and  Cutcloy,  Whithorn ; 
and  we  have  an  example  of  the  Norse  holt  in  Chapelshot, 
Buittle. 

Bas  was  brushwood,  smaller  bushes,  briars  and  roses,  as 
EasnyguUoch,  Golmonell ;  Drumrash,  Parton ;  Glenrazie,  Pen- 
ninghame ;  Sashnoch,  Mochrum — '^  the  brake  of  the  moorfowl," 
the  "ridge,"  and  "glen,"  and  "the  place  abounding  in  bramble," 
and  wild  rose. 

A  small  tuft  or  copse  was  gas,  as  Gass  in  New  Luce  and 
Kirkinner. 

Ceap  was  a  tree-stump,  frequent  objects  when  wanton  waste 
of  woodland  was  the  order  of  the  day.  Thence  Dalnagap,  Inch ; 
Glengap,  Barr  and  Twynham;  Pulgap,  Minigaff;  Kipple, 
Urr — ^the  field,  glen,  pool,  and  place  of  stumps ;  and  Balloch 
o'Kip,  Kirkcolm,  the  road  through  the  tree-stumps." 

A  single  tree  was  "crann,"  "craobh,"  and  "bile,"  whence 
Slewcreen,  Kirkmaiden  ;  Crancree,  Inch — "  the  mill  of  the  tree," 
and  the  "  march  tree  " ;  and  Lochchranochy,  Mochrum,  the  tree 
trunks  at  its  bottom;  Castlecraivie,  Berwick;  Corncraivie,  Stoney- 
kirk  ;  Knockravie,  Kirkcowan.  Bile  gives  us  Knockville,  Pen- 
ninghame ;  Billyshill,  Portpatrick,  as  a  half  translation. 

Tom,  genitive  tuim,  was  a  bush,  and  tomach,  adjective, 
bushy ;  whence  Knocktim,  Kirkcolm ;  Milltim,  New  Luce — ^the 
knoll  and  hill  of  the  bush ;  Knocktammoch,  Stoneykirk ; 
Lochnatammoch,  Penninghame — the  bushy  knoll  and  loch. 

Dreas  means  briar  and  bramble,  adjective  dresach,  whence 
Glendrissoch,  Ballantrae.^ 

^  Dumfries  is  usually  explained  by  dun  phreas,  the  fort  of  the  shrubs, 
equivalent  to  the  English  Shrewsbury,  (scrobbea  byric).  Mr.  Skene,  however, 
usually  a  safe  guide  to  follow,  considers  the  suffix  to  be  derived  from  the  Frisians 
(the  Frisia  or  Frissonoo),  whence  also  the  term  ''Frisian  shore,"  or  the  south  of 
the  Firth  of  Forth.  ^    The  spellings  are  very  various :  Dounfres,  Cottonian  MSS., 

1  CtUic  ScoOand,  i.  231. 


154  HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY 

Of  generic  names,  dair,  genitive  darroch,  Cymric  dar,  is  oak ; 
whence  names  innamerable,  as  Kildarroch,  the  chapel  of  the 
oaks  ;  Dirnow  (n'ubh),  "  oak  wood  of  the  eggs,"  Kirkcowan ; 
Darachans,  Minigaff, "  abounding  in  oaks  " ;  Pinderry,  Ballantrae, 
the  pennyland  of  the  oak  wood. 

Uinnseann  and  Uinnseog,  is  ash ;  whence  Inshanks  in 
Kirkmaiden  and  Kirkcowan;  Drumnaminshog,  Minigaff;  Knock- 
ninshock,  Kirkmabreck. 

Leamhan,  longhill,  and  sleamhan,  are  elms  ;  whence  Auch- 
lewan,  Barr ;  Barluell,  Old  Luce ;  Ringielawn,  Mochnun  ; 
Craigslonn,  New  Luce — the  height,  field,  and  rock  of  the  elm  ; 
and  Lowran,  Kells,  "  abounding  in  elms." 

The  birch  was  beith,  whence  the  numerous  "  Beochs "  ; 
Dalbeattie ;  Knockibay,  New  Luce  ;  and  Cassanvey,  Balmaclel- 
lan,  "  the  pathway  through  the  birches." 

The  alder  was  feam,  Cymric  gwem.  Examples  are 
numerous,  as  Balfern,  Kirkinner;  Drumfamachan,  Kirkcolm, 
"  ridge  abounding  in  alders."  The  parish  of  Carsphairn,  is  the 
alder  cairn ;  and  Glashverains,  on  the  Carrick  marches,  "  the 
hollow  of  the  alders,"  has  a  Cymric  ring. 

Willow,  seileach,  confuses  in  nomenclature  with  salach,  dirty ; 
Balsalloch  may  either  be  the  "  miry  townland,"  or  "  of  the  osiers." 
We  can  point  to  the  willow  with  some  confidence  in  Glenselley 
and  Barnsallie,  Old  Luce ;  and  Mountsallie,  Kirkmaiden,  is 
probably  not  Sally's  hill,  but  of  the  willows,  a  half  trans- 
lation. 

The  yew  tree,  once  much  prized  and  commoner  than  now, 
"iubhar"  (yure),  appears  in  Glenour,  Ballantrae;  Glenowrie, 
Minigaff;  Palnure,  Kirkmabreck.  Uroch,  Balmaghie,  means 
"  abounding  in  yews " ;  and  Ballochanure,  Kirkmabreck,  the 
"  pass  of  the  yew  tree." 

The  holly  is  coinleann,  whence  Collin,  Berwick ;  Collindoch, 
Girthon  and  Kirkmabreck  ;  and  CuUindeugh,  New  Abbey — as 

1292  ;  Dunfreze,  Harding ;  Dunfres,  1805  ;  Dramfreiss,  1395,  Charter  of  Robert 
III. ;  Drumfrees,  Pont ;  Dunfreys,  Camden.  Preos  is  synonymous,  indeed  only 
another  form  of  dreas. 


PLACE-NAMES  155 

written,  all  the  "davoch  of  the  hoUies,**  unless  indeed  the  d  is 
intrusive,  in  which  case  the  "nach''  is  of  abundance,  and 
the  name  is  synonymous  with  Cullenoch,  Balmaghie,  "  a  place 
abounding  in  hollies."  ^ 

The  hazel  is  coll  (its  force  when  aspirated  quill),  a  hazel 
copse  calduinn,  whence  Barwhill,  frequent;  Auchenquill, 
Eerwick ;  Knockenquill,  Kirkmaiden,  refer  to  bushes ;  and 
Caldons,  English  plural  added,  in  Stoneykirk  and  MinigafT, 
represent  larger  copses.  Though  we  can  hardly  doubt  that  the 
Scotch  fir  abounded,  strange  to  say  we  can  trace  it  but  once  in  a 
Pictish  name,  viz.  Lochgoosy  (guisach),  Kells. 

The  rowan  tree  was  carthainn  (kearan),  whence  Barwhirren, 
Penninghame ;  Drumconran,  Kirgunzeon ;  and  Cooranlane, 
Minigaff,  which  seems  translated  in  "  Eowantree  Bum,"  Barr. 

The  white -thorn  was  sceach ;  as  Scaith,  Penninghame ; 
Skeock,  Kirkpatrick-Durham ;  Skeog,  Whithorn ;  with  Drum- 
skeochs,  and  Knocksceochs  innumerable. 

The  blackthorn  was  draighean,  Cymric  draen;  whence  Knock- 
dronnan,  Parton ;  Cardryne,  Kirkmaiden  ;  Auchendrane,  the 
knoll,  fort,  and  field  of  the  blackthorn ;  Drannigower,  New  Luce, 
the  goats'  thorn ;  Lanedriggane,  Leswalt,  the  thorny  meadow ; 
and  Dronnan,  Penninghame ;  and  Drangans  numerous ;  Drun- 
gan,  Kelton  ;  and  Drongan — all  meaning  brakes  of  blackthorn. 
The  sloe  (airne)  is  even  distinguished  from  the  blackthorn : 
Clachanarnie,  Mochrum ;  Bamarnie,  Kirkcowan — ^the  stone  and 
summit  of  the  sloe-bush. 

Muine  (difficult  to  distinguish  from  moin,  a  peat-moss,  in 
composition)  means  a  brake  or  thicket :  a  compound  leath- 
mhuine,  pronounced  leewinny,  is  often  used  in  Ireland,  glossed 
as  gray  brake.  Dmmlawhinnie,  Minigaff,  seems  to  be  the  ridge 
of  the  gray  brake.^  Dalmoney,  Urr,  may  either  be  the  field  of 
the  thicket  or  the  peat-moss. 

Conadh  is  firewood  (force,  conny ;  when  aspirated,  honey).^ 

^  Calenick,  Cornwall,  a  place  of  hollies. — Bannister. 
*  Joyce,  i.  496. 

'  The  Irish  examples  are  severaUy,  Eilliconny,  Westmeath  ;  Eilconny,  Cavau  ; 
and  Dramhoney,  Fermanagh. — Joyce,  ii.  881. 


156  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY 

Alwhenny,  Carsphaim;  Barwhanny,  Kirkinner;  Dnimhoney, 
Old  Luce,  seem  to  be  the  glen,  hill,  and  ridge  of  the  firewood. 

Heather  is  fraoch,  reproduced  simple  in  Freugh.  The/  often 
disappears  by  aspiration,  so  that  Knockenree,  Kirkmaiden ; 
Auchenree,  Portpatrick,  by  Irish  analogy  when  naming  small 
moors,  should  rather  be  translated  "  heathery  hills  "  or  "  places," 
than  of  "  the  king's." 

The  whortleberry,  Scottice  blaeberry,  was  fraochan  ;  whence 
Stronfreggan,  Dairy,  and  Barfreggan,  Kelton,  "  the  point  of  the 
blaeberries." 

Samhadh,  having  the  force  of  sow,  appears  in  Pulsow,  Cars- 
phairn;  Arnsow,  Kirkmichael;  Auchensough,  Sanquhar;  and 
Sowiehill,  Minigaflf,  exactly  corresponding  to  Sooey,  Sligo,  ex- 
plained by  Joyce  as  sorrel-bearing  land.  Smirle,  Glasserton, 
and  Smeurach,  Ballantrae,  are  spots  abounding  in  blackberries 
(smeur,  Scottice  blackbides),  and  Smyrton,  Ballantrae  (the  suflBx 
"  ton  "  dim.  of  abundance). 

Creamh  is  wild  garlic,  and,  combined  with  coill,  forms  a 
compound  well  known  in  Ireland.  Creamhchoill  (cramuhill), 
wild  garlic  wood.^  The  word,  almost  identical,  appears  in 
Tongueland — Cramuhill.  We  may  suspect  Crow  Hill,  Parton 
and  Old  Luce,  both  rather  represent  hillsides  abounding  in  wild 
garlic  than  hills  of  either  rook  or  crow. 

Four  Celtic  words  are  used  for  ships  and  boats  in  our  place- 
names — long,  bad,  corrach,  and  cot. 

Long  indicates  shipping  generally.  Port  Long,  Kirkcolm ; 
Portlung,  Inch — ship  port.  Cumlongan,  Holywood — the  ship's 
nook.  Killylung,  Holywood,  and  Derlongan,  Old  Luce — the 
wood  of  the  ships ;  that  is,  whence  the  oaks  of  which  they  were 
formed  were  taken. 

Bad,  is  a  boat.  We  have  very  early  particulars  as  to  Gallo- 
way boat-building.  Writing  of  Whithorn,  Ailred  says :  "  It  is 
the  custom  in  that  neighbourhood  to  frame  of  twigs  a  certain 
vessel  in  the  form  of  a  cup,  of  such  a  size  that  it  can  contain 
three  men  sitting  close  together.      By  stretching  an  ox-hide 

^  In  Sligo  the  name  becomes  *'Crawhill." — Joyce,  ii.  328. 


PLACE-NAMES  157 

over  it,  they  render  it  not  only  buoyant,  but  impervious  to 
water."  It  was  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century  that  he  was 
there  himself,  and  referring  to  the  days  of  Ninian,  with  which 
he  is  dealing,  he  adds :  "  Probably  at  that  time  vessels  of  im- 
mense size  were  so  built."  Possible  enough,  for,  however 
constructed,  regular  passages  were  made,  and  generally  safely, 
from  Bangor  and  Bosnat  to  Mantes. 

Moreover,  sails  as  well  as  oars  were  in  general  use ;  as,  in 
proceeding  to  describe  a  miracle  worked  by  Ninian's  staff,  he 
tells  us  that  this  ''  staff,  acting  for  sail,  caught  the  wind,  acting  as 
helm,  directed  the  vessel " ;  and  that,  as  it  unexpectedly  entered 
a  distant  port,  the  people  gazed  amazed  at  the  little  vessel 
moving  swiftly  and  directly  thence,  neither  propelled  by  sail 
nor  moved  by  oars,^  both  which  methods  of  propulsion  they  had 
been  accustomed  to  see. 

Portavaddie  (bhada),  at  both  Kirkmaiden  and  Portpatrick, 
are  boat  ports.  Craigavad,  opposite  entrance  to  BeKast  Loch, 
is  translated  by  Boat-rock,  Whithorn.  The  word  appears  also 
in  Portvad,  Ballantrae. 

Ailred's  description  of  the  little  vessel  exactly  coincides 
with  that  usually  given  of  the  Welsh  coracle. 

Corrach,  Cymric  cwrwyg,  in  the  construction  of  the  word 
implies  a  hide,  as  we  have  the  name  in  Glencurroch,  Kirkcolm. 

Cot,  or  coit,  a  boat  hollowed  out  of  a  tree-stem,^  is  more 
generally  used  in  our  nomenclature ;  having  coiteen  for  a  diminu- 
tive. A  few  such  boats,  made  from  monarchs  of  the  forest, 
were  long  and  large ;  the  majority,  little  canoes,  of  which  the 
shells  are  yet  often  to  be  found  deep  in  the  mud  of  river 
bottoms. 

Cottach,  Troqueer,  means  a  place  where  such  little  boats 
were  made  or  lay ;  so  is  Cattar,  Kirkmaiden. 

'  Ailred's  Lift  of  Ninian^  ch.  x. 

'  *'A  boat  formed  out  of  a  single  oak  wrought  hollow  is  called  in  Irish 
coiti "  (Harris).  The  correct  word  is  cot,  of  which  coite  is  the  genitive ;  it  is 
still  in  constant  use,  whence  Ath-na-coite,  Annacotty,  limerick. 

Carrickcottia  indicates  that  the  cot  used  to  be  moored  to  the  carrock  or  rock  : 
a  diminutiye  the  people  pronounce  Loch  Coiteain — the  lake  of  the  little  cot. 
Lough  Cullein,  Tipperary,  shows  a  dififerent  diminutive. — Joyce,  i.  225. 


158  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY 

Cutbraid,  Portpatrick,  is  the  gulley  of  the  little  boat. 

Cutcloy,  Whithorn ;  Cotlig,  Portpatrick ;  and  Cotvennane  * 
— ^the  stone  or  little  peak  to  which  the  boats  were  moored. 

When  the  meaning  of  individual  names  has  been  entirely 
lost  by  the  residents,  the  pronunciation  gradually  becomes  con- 
fused, and  the  spelling  hopelessly  corrupt.  It  then  becomes 
difficult  to  ascertain  the  true  roots,  as  syllables  phonetically 
alike  represent  very  different  words;  and,  as  a  further  com- 
plication, the  same  word  is  sometimes  used  in  very  different 
senses. 

Thus  riabhach,  brindled  or  gray ;  reidh,  smooth ;  and  reith, 
a  ram ;  have  on  Saxon  lips  alike  the  force  af  ray.  Whilst  breac, 
brindled  or  spotted,  generally  used  adjectively,  sometimes  as 
certainly  represents  a  trout  (the  spotted  fish),  and  also  speckled 
land,  in  a  substantive  sense,  as  Brochdoo  Leswalt,  of  which 
the  unusual  neighbouring  name,  Blackspots  Hill,  is  an  evident 
translation. 

In  such  cases  much  assistance  may,  as  in  the  case  first  men- 
tioned, be  derived  from  old  maps,  on  which  translations,  even 
if  seemingly  unintended,  suggest  the  probability  of  the  name 
having  the  sense  thus  shown. 

Drumrae,  which  might  be  "  the  gray  ridge,"  or  "  the  smooth  " 
one ;  yet,  from  the  frequent  recurrence  of  "  Eam's  Hill,"  was  as 
probably  connected  with  the  "  ram." 

Again,  whilst  Benbrake  is  certainly  "the  spotted  peak," 
that  is,  heath  interspersed  with  mountain  grasses,  Lochbrack 
and  Lochenbreck  should  be  translated  "  lake  of  the  trout." 

Madadh  is  a  dog,  but  in  topography  is  generally  applied 
to  the  "wolf"  or  "wild  dog" ;  and  we  feel  some  confidence  in 
rendering  Slocamaddy  on  the  Kirkcolm  shore  "  the  wolf's  pit," 
or  "gully,"  from  finding  "the  wolfs  slock"  a  place-name  in 
Minigaff. 

Auchness,  which  at  first  sight  has  a  Norse  ring,  is  pure 

^  The  Ordnance  Survey  alters  the  local  o  or  t^,  coat  or  cut,  to  eat,  which, 
though  immaterial,  is  radically  wrong.  The  Catevennan  as  mapped  is  from  cot 
or  coatvennan,  not  as  in  the  Christian  name  Kate. 


PLACE-NAMES 


159 


Celtic, ''  each  inis  " ;  and  we  are  confirmed  in  the  correctness  of 
the  assumption  by  the  frequent  recurrence  of  Horse  Isles  upon 
our  maps. 

We  are  disposed  to  believe  that  Allanfedder,  Kells,  refers 
rather  to  a  musician  than  to  Peter,  or  to  the  "  whistling  plover," 
by  the  closeness  of  the  translation  in  "  Fiddler's  Bog  "  close  by. 

To  give  a  few  more  examples  of  translations  intentionally  or 
unintentionally  mapped  down : 


Craigengeaviach,  Eirkcolm. 
Mulnigarrocb,  New  Luce. 
Enockmuck  (frequent). 
Drumanoon,  Penninghame. 
Benyellary,  MinigaflF. 
Corriefeckloch  (feocalacb),  Minigaff. 
Craigenveoch,  Old  Luce. 
Kinhilt,  Portpatrick. 
Knockmult,  Berwick. 
Bamsoul,  Kirkpatrick-Irongray. 
Knockalanny  (lannith),  Eirkcowan. 
Boothnaw,  Dairy. 
Craigencroy,  Stoneykirk. 
Drumanazy,  Portpatrick. 
Auchenhay,  Borgue,  etc. 
Farrenlure,  Inch. 
Oraignargit,  Mochrum. 
CraigfoUy,  New  Luce. 
Knockormal,  Colmonell. 
Portancorkrie,  Eirkmaiden. 
Balgracie,  Leswalt. 
Enockwhasen,  Portpatrick. 
Auchenquil,  Berwick. 
Drumfleucb,  New  Luce. 
Curghie,  Eirkmaiden. 
Belsavery,  Inch. 
AUwhat  (three  times),  Carsphaim, 

Dairy,  Cumnock. 
Enockeen,  Eirkcolm. 


Hare  Clench,  Carsphaim. 

Sheep  Hill,  Eirkinner. 

Hoghill  (as  common). 

Lamb  Hill,  Inch. 

Eam's  Craig,  New  Abbey. 

Fumart  Qlen,  Eells. 

Corbie  Crags,  Inch. 

Hind  Hill,  Leswalt. 

Wether  Hill,  Dairy. 

High  BamS)  Inch. 

Bam  Hill. 

Ford  House,  Penninghame. 

Sheil  Hill  (frequent). 

Shepherd's  Hill,  Leswalt 

Eiln  Park  (Scotticey  field),  Eirkcolm. 

Libberland,  Eirkcowan. 

Silver  Hill,  Eirkcudbright. 

Bloody  Brae,  Eirkcolm. 

Blue  Hill,  Berwick. 

Bedstone  Cove,  Leswalt. 

Souter^s  Croft,  Eirkmabreck. 

Path  Brae,  Eirkcolm. 

Hazelfield  (frequent). 

Big  of  the  Jarkness,^  Minigaff. 

Wondy  Hill,  Wigtown. 

Somerton,  New  Luce. 

Wild  Cat  Craigs. 
Bonnyknowes  (adjectives). 


In  others  the  same  idea  runs  in  the  two  tongues  thus  :  Och- 
ley  (each  liath),  the  gray  horse,  Eirkcolm,  is  matched  by 
"  Yellow  Horse,"  a  rock  on  the  same  shore.  Cunnoch,  a  chum 
or  barrel,  Eirkcolm  ;  Beef  Barrel,  on  the  same  shore.     Bilnavoe, 


^  Jarkness,  Galloway  vernacular,  same  as  Jamess,  Lowland  Scotch,   ''any 
place  so  wet  as  to  resemble  a  marsh." 


160  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY 

Kirkmaiden ;  Cow's  Snout,  Colvend.  Gobawhilkin  (choilchean), 
Kirkmaiden;  Cock's  Comb,  an  adjacent  rock.  And  Tondoo, 
also  on  the  Irish  Channel,  seems  freely  translated  by  "  Dutch- 
man's stem." 

Fourth,  Under  MISCELLANEOUS  we  shall  treat  of  roots  generally, 
commencing  with  adjectives;  endeavouring  to  throw  these  as 
much  in  apposition  as  possible. 

Big — mor ;  as  Kenmure,  Barmore,  all  frequent 

Little — beg,  Cymric  bychan,  whence  Barbeg,  Portpatrick,"  the 
little  hilltop  " ;  and  we  suspect  Barbuchany,  Penninghame,  to  be 
synonymous  with  the  Cymric  bychanig.  The  adjective  takes  a 
funny  form  in  Cash  Bay,  Kirkmaiden,  little  fissure ;  cos  being  a 
cave  or  crevice  as  well  as  a  foot. 

Long — fad ;  as  Drumfad,  Minigaff  and  Terregles. 

Short — ^gearr;  as  Gairloch,  Kells;  Garlakin  (leacan),  "the 
short  hill "  and  hillside.  It  is  often  impossible  to  distinguish  it 
from  garbh,  rough. 

Broad — ^leathan,  Cymric  llydan;  whence  Auchleand,  Wigtown, 
"  the  broad  field  " ;  and  we  seem  to  have  pure  Cymric  in  Cum- 
loden,  Minigaflf,  Cwmlwydan,  "the  broad  hollow  between 
hiUs." 

Narrow — caol;  so  Portkale,  Portpatrick;  Killiness  (caol- 
innes),  "  narrow  isle  or  pasture,"  Kirkmaiden. 

High — ard, Cymric  uchel;  whence  Ardoch,  Dairy,  "the  high 
davoch" ;  Ardrie  and  Airdrie, frequent  "high  places"  or  "sheil- 
ings  " ;  and  Ochiltree,  Penninghame,  "  the  high  dwelling." 

Low — iosal;  Falwhistle,  Kirkinner;  Craigeazle,  Inch;  Cor- 
visel,  Peninghame,  "  the  low  dyke,  rock,  and  corrie." 

Upper — uachdar ;  as  Corrochtrie,  Kirkmaiden ;  Bamywater, 
Girthon,  "  the  upper  hill  and  quarter." 

Bare — maol ;  whence  the  Mull  (of  Galloway)  in  the  sense 
of  bald.  Lom  (sheared),  as  in  Kenlum,  Anwoth.  Nochd 
(naked),  in  Auchnaught,  Kirkmaiden ;  and  the  ancient  Bos-nat 
(Eosnaught),  Whithorn. 

Bushy  —  creabhach,  as  Comcravie,  "  the  bushy  hill, " 
Stoneykirk ;  tomach,  as  Knockantomachie,  "  the  bushy  knoll," 


PLACE-NAMES  161 

Kirkmaiden ;  and  rasanach,  "abounding  in  briars  and  roses/' 
as  Bashnoch,  Mochrum. 

Crooked — crom  ;  as  Cromoch,  Kirkmaiden. 

Sound — cruin  ;  as  Slewcroan,  Leswalt,  "  round  hill " ;  Mill- 
croon,  Ballantrae. 

Eough — ^garbh;  as  Garvallock,  Inch,  '* rough  road";  Gar- 
rarie,  Kells  and  Mochrum,  "a  rough  place";  Garlefl&n,  Barr, 
"  rough  halfpenny  land." 

Also  carrach ;  as  Gaimgarroch,  Leswalt,  and  Drumcarrick, 
Inch,  "  the  rough  cairn  and  ridge." 

Smooth — reidh  ;  as  Ballochrae,  Kirkcowan,  "  the  smooth 
pass." 

Mid — meadhan ;  as  Balminnoch,  Kirkcowan,  ''  mid  town- 
land." 

Between — eadar;  as  Adderhall,  Penninghame;  Clonidder, 
Penninghame,  "the  centre  fence"  (fhal)  and  "meado\^." 

Across — tarsuinn ;  as  Craigentarsie,  New  Luce ;  Kilterson, 
Kirkcowan,  "  the  rock  and  wood  lying  athwart." 

Dirty — salach ;  as  Barsalloch,  Penninghame  and  Wigtown. 

Beautiful  —  caoin ;  as  Knockeen,  Alticane,  Colmonell, 
"  bonny  braes"  and  "  glen." 

Cold — fuar ;  as  Milfore,  Minigaff ;  and  Caimfore,  translated 
by  "  cold-craig,"  Balmaclellan. 

Sunny — ^grianach ;  as  Milgrane,  Penninghame. 

Warm — teth  (pr.  tya)  ;  Pultayan,  Kirkcowan. 

Windy  (see  gaoth  afterwards) — saideach  ;  Sheddoch  (sched- 
ack  Pont),  Whithorn,  "  a  stormy  place." 

Sloping — claen ;  as  Clenarie  or  Clendry,  Inch,  Old  Luce, 
and  Kirkcolm;  Clennoch,  Carsphaim  and  Inch — all  "sloping 
places."  And  staonach;  as  Stenoch,  Whithorn,  and  Knock- 
sting. 

Wet — finish;  as  Drumfluich,  and  Fleuchlarg,  Penning- 
hame— "  wet  ridge  "  and  "  hillside." 

Eocky — sceileach  (from  sceilig,  a  sea  rock),  as  Dunskirloch, 
Kirkcolm. 

Sandy — gaineach;   as    Guinoch,   Genoch   (very   common) 

VOL.  I  M 


162  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY 

Mullachgany,  Minigafif ;  Baxgany,  Girvan  ;  and  Bingainea, 
Stoneykirk,  equal  to  sandhead. 

Spotted — Breac;  as  Benbrack,  Carsphaim;  Kells,  Dairy; 
Benbrake  (the  highest  hill  in  Wigtonshire),  Kirkcowan ;  Lar- 
brax,  Leswalt ;  Learg-breac,  the  spotted  hillside. 

Of  colours  in  an  adjective  sense  we  have  fin,  Cymric 
gwyn;  whence  Finloch,  Stoneykirk  ;  Fintloch,  Kells — ^not 
"  white  lakes,"  but "  white  land"  ;  Fyntalloch,  Penninghame, 
"  white  knoll"  ;  Finnart,  white  headland. 

There  is  a  derivative  of  fin,  Ceinnfhionn  (pr.  cannon),  liter- 
ally "  white  head,"  but  applied  to  any  objects  speckled  with 
white  spots.  Whence  Slewkennan ,  Kirkcolm ;  Knockcannon, 
Balmaghie — ^both  meaning  "  the  speckled  hill."  ^ 

Geal,  also  white  ;  whence  Eingheal,  Mochrum,  "  the  white 
point "  ;  Port  Gill,  Kirkmaiden,  suggestive  of  white  sand  in  the 
little  creek ;  Loch  Gill,  if  clear  (but  also  giol,  leech  lake)  ;  Ban, 
C.  can ;  whence  Inchbane,  Kirkcolm,  "  white  pasture  " ;  Tor- 
bain,  Parton  and  Minigafif,  "white  knolls'*;  Markbain,  Kirk- 
cowan, "  white  mark"  or  "  horse."  * 

It  is  probable  that  the  Cymric  "  can"  names  the  river  Ken, 
the  "  White,"  in  opposition  to  Dee,  the  "  Black."  The  name- 
givers  did  not  consider  the  Ken  to  be  the  head  water  (ceann), 
because  when  the  combined  streams  issue  from  Loch  Ken,  the 
name  for  the  river  formed  by  both  is  Dee.  Dee,  moreover,  is 
more  in  Cymric  form  than  Gaelic ;  and,  as  if  especially  to  point 
to  the  distinction  in  colour,  the  Dee  above  Loch  Ken  is  mapped 
the  "Blade  water  of  Dee." 

Black — dubh.  C.  du.  pr.  dee  ;  as  Faldoo,  Kirkmaiden  ;  Inch- 
dow,    Kirkcolm,   "black    enclosure  or    meadow";    Craigdhu, 

^  The  word  Ceinnfhion  is  now  applied  to  a  cow  with  a  white  spot  on  the 
middle  of  her  forehead.  It  is,  however,  extended  to  designate  anything  speckled 
with  white  spots  ;  as  Lettercannon,  Kerry,  ** speckled  hillside"  ;  Clooncannon, 
Galway,  **  speckled  meadow." — Joyce,  ii.  268. 

^  Mark,  G.  march,  is  in  all  Gaelic  dictionaries  glossed  ''a  horse,"  though  in 
Galloway  names  it  usually  signifies  a  march  or  a  markland.  We  find,  however, 
a  "  Markbain"  and  a  **  Markdow"  in  New  Luce,  and  as  several  translated  names 
are  "white"  or  "yellow  horse,"  it  seems  very  probable  that  there  were  hills 
which  were  so  fancifully  called. 


PLACE-NAMES  163 

Glasserton,  "black  rock";  and  on  the  river  Dee,  Ballochadee, 
Kirkcowan,  is  "  the  black  pass."  Black  topographically  denotes 
peaty  soil,  in  opposition  to  sandy,  loamy,  or  hard  tiU. 

Brown — doun ;  as  Knockdown,  five  times ;  Milldown,  four ; 
Slewdown,  Leswalt,  all  "  brown  hills." 

Gray  —  riabhach,  brindled  (force  ray) ;  as  Monreith 
(murrith),  "  gray  tower" ;  Culreoch,  Inch,  "  gray  corner" ; 
Kirrereoch,  Minigaff, "  gray  corrie  "  ;  Lochree,  Inch, "  gray  loch." 

liath  (pale) ;  as  Craiglaw  (anciently  Craigley),  Kirkcowan, 
and  Craigley,  Urr  and  Kirkgunzeon,  "  gray  rock." 

Dunis-odher,  gen.  uidhre  ;  whence  Bennour,  Girthon ;  Dun- 
ower,  Balmaclellan ;  Milleur  in  Kirkcolm,  Kirkbean,  and  Gir- 
thon ;  Knockodher  (hardened)  in  Barr ;  and  genitive  form 
Barnhourie — all  "  dun  hills." 

Green — glas ;  as  Knockglas,  four  times.  This  is  really  equiva- 
lent to  "  white  hill" ;  in  Galloway  topography  "  glas"  is  always 
"  green"  (implying  good  soil),  whereas  in  the  north  "glas"  means 
gray.  Muirglas,  New  Luce,  is  "  the  green  tower  "  ;  Barglas, 
Kirkinner,  "  the  green  top " ;  Challochglas  "  (pr.  Ghallass), 
Mochrum,  "  the  green  knoll."  The  Glaster,  New  Luce,  and  the 
Glaisters,  both  mean  "  green  land"  (tir). 

Pale  green  is  uaine  (wan) ;   as  Gaimwanie,  Kirkmaiden. 

Blue  is  gorm  ;  as  Gormal,  with  the  pleonastic  hill,  in  Girthon 
and  Minigaff  (Gormaill) ;  Craighom,  Carsphaim  ;  Knockormal, 
Colmonell ;  Drumgorman,  Dairy ;  translated  by  "  Blue  Hill"  in 
Berwick  and  Balmaclellan. 

Yellow  is  buidhe ;  as  Kilbuie,  Kirkmaiden,  "  yellow  wood" 
or  "cell";  Blairbuie,  Glasserton,  "yellow  field";  Drumbuie, 
Kirkcolm  and  Kells,  "  yellow  field"  and  "  ridge  ; "  ^  Lanniwee, 
Minigaff,  "  yellow  meadow." 

Bed  is  dearg ;  as  Barjarg,  Penninghame,  Leswalt,  and  Col- 
monell, "  red  top  "  ;  Benjarg,^  Girthon;  Drumjargon,^  Kirkinner, 
"  red  hills  "  ;  Daljarroch,  Colmonell,  "  red  field  "  ;  Baryerroch, 

^  Yellow  applied  to  objects  above  the  soil ;  as  Milkbuie,  Kirkmaiden,  '*  yellow 
hill,"  to  gorse  and  broom  ;  in  woods,  to  golden  birch  in  autumn  ;  in  fields,  to  corn- 
flowers ;  in  mosses  and  wet  meadows,  as  Minibum,  Minigaff,  to  the  bog  asphodel. 

'  In  these  cases  the  dearg,  red,  applies  to  red  clay  or  reddish  till. 


164  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY 

Kirkinner ;  Glenzerroch,  Kelton ;  Poolzerroch,  Anwoth,  "  red 
top,  glen,  and  pooL" 

Euadh,  C.  rhudd  ;  whence  Bouchan,  Glasserton,  "  reddish 
land  " ;  MiUrow,  Kirkoswald,  "  red  hilL" 

Eod  (but  this  last  also  means  road)  signifies  "  red  **  in  the 
sense  of  soil  impregnated  with  iron  scum ;  ^  whence  Knock- 
arod  in  Leswalt,  Portpatrick,  Stoneykirk,  and  Kirkcolm ;  Eud- 
doch  Hill,  Leswalt  (Drumierand,  New  Luce,  means  '*  the  ridge 
of  the  road  "). 

Eed,  or  rather  crimson,  is  corcur.  Portencorkrie  and  Bam- 
corkrie  are  respectively  an-corcur,  *'  of  the  crimson,"  as  here  a 
mass  of  red  granite  crops  up  above  the  bay. 

The  Cymric  coch  appears  unmistakably  in  Cochlick,  Elirk- 
gunzeon ;  Cochllech,  pure  Cymric  for  red  flagstone;  as  also  in 
Cochrossan,  "  the  red  point ";  and  Cochleaths,  the  Celtic  leth, 
a  "  half  portion." 

Two  adjective  forms  of  gall,  literally  a  stranger,  but  in  their 
local  application  meaning  Anglo-Norman,  are  masculine. 

Gallda,  whence  Galdanoch  or  Galdenoch  (four  times)  in 
Wigtownshire,  Leswalt,  Inch,  Stoneykirk,  and  New  Luce,  means 
the  place  of  the  Anglo-Norman  GfdUseach  (fem.);  as  Arriegilshie, 
Kirkinner ;  Gilshi  Feys  and  Knockgilsie,  Kirkcolm — the  sheil- 
ing  and  hill  of  the  English,  that  is  Anglo-Norman,  lady.^ 

The  cardinal  points,  the  elements,  and  seasons,  are  all 
frequently  used  adjectively. 

North — ^Tuaith  and  Tuaiscairt ;  whence  Slewintoo,  Leswalt, 

^  Knockarod  occurs  in  frequent  cases  where  local  knowledge  points  clearly 
to  such  red  oozings  which  so  often  choke  our  drain-tiles,  and  also  not  on  any 
line  of  road.  Dunrod,  Kirkcudbright,  is  believed  by  its  inhabitants  to  mean 
a  reddish  hill.  It  might  have  been  so  called  &om  a  fort  above  a  road. — Joyce, 
IL  850. 

^  From  gall  foreigner,  we  have  Gaillseach,' constantly  used  in  Irish  writings 
for  an  Englishwoman;  so  Ballynagalshy,  Meath. — Joyce,  ii.  9. 

The  author  referred  the  name,  remarking  that  other  interpretations  had  been 
offered,  to  Dr.  Joyce  himself,  facile  princepa  in  this  field ;  he  replied  from 
Rathgar,  Dublin,  "  I  am  quite  in  favour  of  English  Lady." 

On  paper  guilshie  is  not  unlike  Guilcach,  rushing  or  abounding  in  broom, 
but  again  Dr.  Joyce  remarks,  '^grolbch  pronounced  gelka,  g  hard,  which  is  fatal 
to  the  rendering." 


PLACE-NAMES  165 

and  Drumatoo,  Ban,  northerly  hills ;  and  Toskerton,  Stoney- 
kirk,  "  the  northerly  place." 

South— deas  ;  whence  Eingdoss,  Inch,  and  Tonndoos,  Les- 
walt,  "the  southern  point"  and  "hillock." 

East  is  oir,  and  has  usually  s  prefixed;  whence  Druma- 
shure,  Colmonell,  "  the  easterly  ridge." 

West  is  iar,  which,  with  the  usual  s,  gives  us  Balshere, 
Kirkmaiden,  "  the  westerly  townland."  ^ 

Wind  is  gaoth,  and  appears  three  times  in  that  singular 
compound  Ton-re-gaeith,  "  backside  to  the  wind  ";  in  Tonderghie, 
Whithorn  ;  Tandragee,  Stoneykirk ;  Tonerahie,  MinigafiP.  Ben- 
ghie,  Girthon  ;  Curghie,  Kirkmaiden,  are  both  "  windy  hills." 

As  respects  the  seasons,  names  connected  with  spring  and 
summer  do  not  imply  warm  or  sheltered  places,  but  rather  the 
reverse,  too  exposed  for  occupation  in  winter. 

Spring  is  earrach ;  whence  Knockannarroch,  Stoneykirk ; 
Lochnarroch,  Minigaff;  Clashnarroch,*  Leswalt;  Clachanarrie, 
Mochrum,  are  respectively  the  knoll,  lake,  hollow,  and  stones 
of  spring. 

Ceiteiun  is  also  spring,  and  has  probably  the  same  meaning 
in  Glenkitten,  New  Luce. 

Summer  is  samhradh  (savry),  which  appears  little  altered 
in  Bellsavery,  Inch ;  and  Fellsavery.  Savery  is  also  a  place- 
name  in  Inch,  evidently  conveying  the  idea  of  summer 
pasturage. 

Winter  is  gamh  (gav),  whence  Bellgavery,  Kirkmaiden, 
and  probably  the  parish  name  of  Minigaif,  anciently  written 
'Moneygoof  and  Monigov ;  the  suffix,  having  exactly  the  force 
of  the  Cymric  gauaf,  is  winter  and  cold. 

^  Oir,  8oir,  and  thoir,  are  used  for  east.  So  iar,  west,  is  quite  common  in 
the  form  of  siar.  The  most  eastern  of  the  Aran  Islands  ia  now  Inisheer,  which 
is  very  puzzling,  for  it  exactly  represents  the  pronunciation  of  Inissiar,  Western 
Island. — Joyce,  ii.  428. 

If  it  is  difficult  to  distinguish  between  soir  and  siar  in  Ireland,  where  Celtic 
is  spoken  and  the  language  written  ;  it  is  doubly  so  in  Galloway,  in  which  this 
is  not  the  case. 

*  Aroch,  as  before  said,  is  a  dim.  of  aros,  and  is  glossed  a  little  hamlet,  sheil- 
ing ;  where  not  summer  pasturages,  this  may  be  the  root  of  some  narrochs. 


166  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY 

Almost  every  part  of  the  body  has  its  counterpart  in  some 
of  the  features  of  the  country. 

The  head — ceann,  C.  pen;  as  Eandee,  Mochrum,  "black  head"; 
Kinilaer,  Barr, "  head  of  the  plank,"  i.e.  plain ;  Kenlum,  Anwoth, 
"  bare  head  " ;  Cymric  Pinwherry,  Inch  and  Colmonell,  "  head  of 
the  corrie." 

It  is  to  be  remarked  that  in  the  West  pen  is  not  Cymric, 
but  Gaelic  peighin,  and  refers  to  "  pennyland  " ;  so  Pinminnoch, 
not  central  head,  but  "  peighin  manach/*  monk's  pennyland. 

Hair  of  the  head  was  urla;  whence  Urrall,  anc.  Urle, 
Kirkcowan,  indicating  a  place  with  long  hairlike  grass. 

Mong,  C.  mwng  (meaning  also  a  horse's  mane),  indicates 
places  with  long  sedgy  grass,  as  Balmangan,  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Dee. 

The  breast  is  ucht ;  whence  Auchneight,  Kirkmaiden.  Dim. 
Uchtdan;  whence  Auchten  (a  rock),  Portpatrick. 

The  back  is  drum,  a  word  adopted  into  the  vernacular  in 
"The  Drums,"  Leswalt ;  "The  Little  Drums,"  Kirkcolm  ;  "the 
Drums  of  Carsebuie,"  Kirkcowan.  Cul  is  also  the  back  of 
anything. 

Humpbacked  is  emit  (literally  gibbous),  and  is  applied  to 
humpy -looking  mounds.  So  Crotteach,  Kirkcowan;  and 
Culgroat,  Stoneykirk,  "  the  back  of  the  humps  " ;  closely  allied 
to  Crottees,  and  Bamagrotty,  given  as  Irish  examples.^ 

The  shoulder  of  a  hill — ^guala ;  as  Slewgulie,  Kirkmaiden. 

Pap — ciche,  whence  Carrickkee,  Kirkmaiden,  equivalent  to 
Maiden  Pap,  Colvend. 

The  throat,  braghad,  is  applied  to  a  gully ;  as  Braid,  Inch  ; 
Powbrade,  Colvend. 

The  tongue  is  teanga ;  Norse,  tang.  We  have  Tongue,  Inch ; 
Longthang,  Kirkcowan ;  and  the  curious  corruption  Chang  in 
Mochrum  and  Barr. 

The  nose — sron,  Celtic  trwyn ;  whence  Strone,  Kirkmaiden  ; 
Troon,  Ayrshire ;  Stronfreggan,  Dairy  (Fraochan),  point  of  the 
bilberries. 

*  Joyce,  ii.  898. 


PLACE-NAMES  167 

The  mouth — beul;  whence  Beliavo,  "the  cow's  mouth," 
Kirkmaiden. 

Snout — gob ;  Gobaronning,  Kirkmaiden,  "  the  seal's  snout." 

The  palm  of  the  hand — ^glac ;  whence  Core  of  the  Glaik, 
Leswalt 

The  finger  is  meur,  adj.  meurach ;  as  the  well-known 
Merrick,  Minigaflf,  the  "  centre  of  finger  in  the  group  " ;  Tulmer- 
rick,  Old  Luce,  "  fingerlike  knoll." 

The  groin  is  blean;  in  topography  means  a  "creek,"  as 
Blanivaird  on  Loch  Ochiltree,  "  the  bard's  creek." 

The  thigh  is  mas  ;  whence  Masmore  and  Knockmassan  (the 
latter  dim.),  Leswalt. 

The  rump  is  ton ;  whence  Tandoo,  Portpatrick ;  and 
Tonderghie. 

The  foot  is  cos ;  as  Cushiemay,  Buittle ;  and  Cassancany, 
"  the  foot  of  the  meadow,"  and  "  of  the  weir." 

The  side  is  taebh;  as  Taphmalloch,  Leswalt,  "Malloch's 
hillside." 

The  knee — glun;  as  Eig  of  Gloon,  Minigaff;  and  the 
translation  near  it  the  "  Knee  of  Caimsmore." 

The  fist  is  dom,  and  is  generally  accepted  as  the  root  of 
Dornoch,  Sutherland,^  whence  it  seems  possible  that  the  two 
lakes  Domal,  Penninghame  and  Balmaghie,  may  be  the  ''  fist- 
shaped  lakes." 

The  tail  is  earball,  and  applied  to  the  extremities  of  any 
natural  features  ;  as  Damarble,  Minigaff ;  and  Drummienarble, 
Kirkcowan,  "  the  oak  wood  "  and  "  ridge  of  the  tail."  * 

Of  other  hill  roots,  barr  is  the  top  of  anything ;  Lochinvar, 
"  lake  of  the  summit" 

^  Dom-eich,  the  hone's  fist,  i.e.  hoof.  This,  which  is  the  name,  as  well  as 
the  arms,  of  the  borough,  was  given  because  a  thane  of  Sutherland  being  disarmed 
in  a  battle  here  with  the  Danes,  picking  up  a  horse's  foot  which  lay  by  chance 
on  the  ground,  laid  about  him  with  such  a  will  that,  like  Samson  with  the  jaw- 
bone of  an  ass,  he  slew  *'  heaps  upon  heaps  "  of  the  foe,  as  well  as  the  Danish 
generaL 

'  Though  our  other  examples  have  been  from  parts  of  the  human  body,  no 
confirmation  of  the  Darwinian  theory  can  be  founded  on  the  tail  in  this  place- 
name,  however  old,  as  the  translation  lb  recoverable  within  measurable  distance, 
'' Dog-tail  }nll" 


168  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY 

Barrachan,  a  common  name, ''  the  uplands." 

Sliabh  (slew),  in  Galloway,  as  in  Ireland,  is  generally  used 
for  a  hill,  not  a  moor  or  marsh,  as  is  often  supposed ;  as  Slewfad, 
Leswalt,  "  broad  hill,"  one  of  a  group  of  ten  "  slews  "  rising  out 
of  the  contiguous  levels  of  the  Galdenoch  or  Garthrie  mosses. 

Beinn,  dim.  beannan,  is  also  used  as  in  Ireland,  applying 
here  rather  to  a  small  pointed  hill  than  to  a  mountain.  It  takes 
the  curious  form  of  "  Bine  "  alone  in  Portpatrick  and  Eirkcolm, 
both  remarkable  sugar-loaf  hillocks.  Bennane  alone  is  frequent ; 
Culvennane  is  "  the  back  of  the  peaks. " 

Cnoc  is  our  commonest  name  for  a  hill,  dim.  cnocan; 
Gnockynocking,  Stoneykirk,  and  Cnockanicken,  Eirkcowan, 
being  curious  reduplications. 

Meall,  lit.  a  lump,  is  also  a  hilL  As  Barmeal,  Glasserton, 
"  top  of  the  hill " ;  Millgrane,  Penninghame,  "  sunny  hill" 

Cruach,  lit.  a  stack,  means  a  stacklike  hill ;  as  Craichmore, 
which  is  often  corrupted  to  Craighmore,  but  which  is  "  the  laige 
stack."  The  word  appears  alone  in  Croach.  It  is  sometimes 
corruptly  spelt  Craig. 

Cnap  is  a  hillock ;  whence  Knapps,  Barr ;  and  with  an  s 
prefixed, "  the  Snap,"  Penninghame. 

The  Norse  dodd  appears  twice  in  Carsphaim.  We  also  find 
the  "  Dodd  of  Troquhair,  Balmaclellan,  and  the  corrupt  Dogtum- 
mock,  probably  meaning  the  bushy  (tamach)  dodd.  We  find  also 
Mickle  and  Little  Dodd,  as  well  as  "  Wedder  dodd "  (wether), 
Sanquhar. 

Geide,  a  hillock  level  at  the  top,  appears  in  Eittyshalloch, 
''the  hill  of  the  hunting,"  Minigafif.  Leiter,  a  hillside,  in 
Letterfin,  Girvan.  Tulach,^  a  knoll,  takes  in  Galloway  the 
peculiar  form  of  Challoch.  The  word  alone  occurs  seven  times 
in  Wigtownshire,  besides  Challochglass,Challochmunn,01d  Luce, 
it  is  possible  it  indicates  tallach,  "a  forge,"  but  generally  a 
remarkable  hillock  can  be  discovered.     We  believe  the  tch 

^  We  have  two  words  which  mix  a  good  deal :  tulach,  a  hUl,  sometimes  spelt 
tealach ;  and  tealach  a  hearth  properly  spelt  teaglach,  as  derived  from  tech,  a  house. 
I  would  hesitate,  unless  I  were  aware  from  other  sources  that  tealach  was  used 
elsewhere  for  a  forge,  so  to  designate  it." — Dr.  Joyce  to  the  author. 


PLACE-NAMES  169 

to  be  peculiar  to  Galloway ;  we  also  find  Laggantalloch,  Kirk- 
maiden  ;  Fintalloch,  Penninghame  ;  and  Shalloch  o'  Minnoch 
and  Shalloch  o'  Tig  are  respectively  "  the  hills "  of  those  two 
said  streams.  Shallochwrack,  Ballantrae,  is  a  corruption  of 
tulach-bhreac,  "the  spotted  hiU";  whilst  again  Bamchalloh, 
Stoneykirk,  is  a  corruption  for  Bamshalloch,  "  the  gap  of  the 
hunting." 

Torr  also  is  a  hill,  as  Tordoo,  Tormollen,  Tarbreoch,  Torbay, 
Colvend — "  the  black  hill,  or  rather  round  knoll,  of  the  mill," 
« the  spotted  hill,"  and  "  of  the  birches." 

Of  roots  for  plains  and  hollows.  A  plain  is  magh,  Cymric 
maes.  "We  find  it  as  May  in  Mochrum,  "  the  Doon  of  May  " ; 
and  Mye,  Stoneykirk. 

The  Cymric  appears  in  "The  Maize,"  Leswalt  (a  wet 
meadow).  Machair,^  a  derivation  from  magh,  is  extensively 
used,  as  "the  Machars,"  generally  denoting  arable,  or  at  the 
least  "  white  "  land,  sometimes  a  field.  Blair  is  a  green  field. 
There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  here  the  term  (as  it  is  said 
elsewhere)  applies  only  to  battlefields.  Keidh  is  a  flat;  as 
Eephad,  Inch,  "  the  broad  flat"  Cluain  is  a  meadow,  gener- 
ally supposed  to  be  an  insulated  one ;  as  Clone,  Mochrum ; 
Cloncaird,  "  the  tinker's  meadow  "  ;  and  Gairachcloyne  (the  old 
name  for  Garthland),  "  the  rough  meadow." 

Glac,  literally  "the  palm  of  the  hand,"  is  a  narrow  glen. 
Sloe,  a  hole  or  gully.  Coire,  literally  a  caldron,  a  narrow  glen  ; 
generally  b.cuI  de  sac. 

Amar,  literally  a  trough,  is  also  a  hollow ;  as  Slocanamar, 
Elirkmaiden;  Laganamour,  New  Luce;  Ballochanamour,  Kirk- 
mabreck — ^the  pit,  hollow,  and  pass  through  the  hollow. 

Bearna^  a  gap,  a  common  affix,  difficult  to  distinguish  from 
"bar-na";  thus  Bamcalzie  and  Bambauchlie,  Loch  Button, 
might  be  either  the  summit  of,  or  the  gap  of,  the  witch 
and  the  herdsman,  though  most  probably  "  the  gap." 

^  Machair  is  in  Galloway  often  corrapted  to  mar,  as  Marbrack,  Carsphaim  ; 
Mancallocb,  the  spotted  field,  and  of  the  scolog  (scholar  and  crofter) ;  it  is 
obyiously  not  mor,  great 


170  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY 

As  a  suffix  it  is  unmistakable  ;  as  Craigbernoch,  New  Luce ; 
Glenvernoch,  Penninghame — "  the  gapped  rock  "  and  "  glen/' 

Passing  over  roots  readily  understood,  as  pol,  port,  gleann, 
laggan,  etc., — ^traigh  is  "  a  strand,"  generally  applied  to  a  sandy 
beach  ;  as  Killantrae,  Mochrum  ;  Ballantrae,  '*  the  chapel " 
and  "  town  upon  the  shore." 

Cladach,  in  apposition  to  traigh,  indicates  a  stony  beach ;  as 
Cladiochdow,  Kirkcolm,  "the  black  stony  beach";  whilst 
across  Loch  Byan  we  find  the  word  used  in  the  vernacular  in 
Cladyhouse. 

Murbhach  is  a  sea  plain,  a  flat  piece  of  land  extending  along 
the  shore,  whence  Morroch,  Stoneykirk ;  Morrach,  Whithorn ; 
and  Myroch,  Kirkmaiden,  all  meaning  "  sea  plains." 

Several  roots  for  bogs  and  swampy  places  are  curious. 
Leana,  a  meadow,  indicating  ''grassy  land  with  a  soft  spongy 
bottom,"  appears  in  Laniwee,  Miniga£f;  Lanigore,  Old  Luce, 
"the  yellow  swampy  meadow"  and  "of  the  goats."  Lain- 
driggan,  Leswalt,  is  the  "  thorny  meadow." 

It  is  obviously  the  root  of  the  Galloway  "  lane,"  explained 
as  "  the  hollow  course  of  a  stream  in  meadow  ground,"  applied 
"to  brooks  of  which  the  motion  is  so  slow  as  to  be  barely 
preceptible." 

Leoghuis,  an  adjective  form  of  leog-a-marsh,  gives  us  Loch 
of  the  Lowes.^ 

Muchan,  a  derivation  from  Much,  smoke,  is  applied  to  a 
morass,  as  a  place  in  which  people  are  liable  to  be  suffocated. 
Loch  Moau,  Minigaff;  Drumanmoan,  Ballantrae. 

Maothail,  spongy  ground,  gives  us  Moile  in  three  or  four 
places;  Meowl  also  four  times  in  Wigtownshire;  Mahoul, 
Glasserton ;  Meehools,  Old  Luce ;  Moine,  C.  Mawn,  is  a  peat 
bog ;  as  Monjorie,  Kirkcowan,  red  bog ;  Portmona,  Kirkmaiden, 
"  port  of  the  bog." 

Munloch  is  a  puddle, "  dirty  water,  mire  " ;  whence  Menloch, 
Penninghame ;  Muntloch,  Kirkmaiden. 

^  Leoghas,  the  Isle  of  Lewis.    This  name  given  because  Lewis  abounds  in 
swampy  grounds.  — Annstrong. 


PLACE-NAMES  l7l 

Bog,  which  is  really  a  Celtic  (not  an  English)  word  adopted 
by  Saxons,  gives  Bogue,  Minigafif ;  Glenvogie,  Penninghame  ; 
with  derivatives  Boggrie,  Girthon,  and  Annaboglish,  Mochrum. 
Ath-na-boglish,  "  the  ford  of  the  flow." 

Turlach  is  explained  as  a  spot  marshy  in  winter,  dry  in 
summer,  whence  Drumtarlie,  Penninghame.  The  root,  "tur," 
dry. 

Corcagh,^  C.  cors,  a  marsh;  whence  Carcow,  Cumnock; 
Trevercarcow,  an  absorbed  parish  in  Kirkcudbright.  Whilst  to 
the  Cymric  we  must  refer  Corsoch,  Parton ;  Corsglass,  Dairy ; 
Corsmalzie,  Mochrum. 

Crith,  a  verb,  "  to  shake,"  with  the  particle  lach,  is  iised  for 
a  shaking  bog ;  as  in  Crailloch,  Portpatrick,  and  Creloch, 
Mochrum,  in  both  which  names  the  sufiix  has  no  reference  to  a 
lake,  but  has  the  force  of  very — ^very  shaky. 

Biasg  is  a  marsh,  whence  Bisk,  Minigaff,  Kirkoswald,  and 
Balmaghie ;  Susco,  Anwoth. 

Eanach  is  also  a  marsh,  and  probably  gives  us  Loch  Enoch, 
Minigaff;  but  it  is  difficult  to  distinguish  the  word  from 
Aenach,  a  market  or  fair,  which  is  in  more  general  use. 

Caedh,  a  marsh  (whence  the  vernacular  Quaw),  appears  in 
Culquha^  Twynham ;  Culkae,  Sorbie ;  and  Lochquie,  Penning- 
hame. 

Caladh  also  is  a  marsh,  but  it  has  a  secondary  meaning, 
Cala  or  caladh,  a  port  or  ferry;  whence  Cally,  Girthon,  anc. 
Kalecht,  the  landing-place  or  ferry.  Its  primary  meaning,  a  low 
marshy  meadow  along  a  river  or  lake,  we  find  in  Brackenicallie 
(New  Luce)  on  the  Tarf. 

Breaenach  Caladh,  the  spotted  land  of  the  marshy  meadow ; 
or,  as  it  would  be  expressed  in  Ireland,  of  the  caUow.^ 

Of  roots  relating  to  the  supernatural — 

^  Corcagh  names  the  city  of  Cork.  Its  marshj  site  was  known  for  many 
hundred  years  as  Corcach-mor-munhan,  the  great  marsh  of  Munster. 

'  Callow,  as  an  English  word,  is  quite  current  in  Ireland.  For  both  meanings 
see  Joyce,  i.  464.  We  are  much  disposed  to  think  the  prefix  should  be 
Brackene,  the  callow  frequented  by  badgers — ^broken,  rocky  ground,  yery  much 
interspersed  with  meadow. 


172      HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY 

Sidh  (pronounced  shee)  is  a  fairy,  with  a  diminutive 
sidhean  (sheen),  meaning  more  especially  a  fairy  hilL  Knock- 
nishy,  Whithorn;  Brishie,  Minigafif;  Auchansheen,  Colvend; 
Amsheen,  Ballantrae ;  Barnshean,  Kirkmichael ;  Shawn,  Stoney- 
kirk,  and  very  many  more,  all  denoting  "  haunts  of  the  '  Little 
Folk/  " 

Bruigheen,  a  diminutive  of  brugh,  a  distinguished  residence 
or  fort,  now  generally  applied  to  ruined  forts  or  palaces,  as  these 
are  always  supposed  to  be  inhabited  by  fairies;  whence  Kil- 
breen,  Stoneykirk;  Kirbrean,  Eirkinner;  and  Loch  Braen, 
Mochrum,  uninviting  as  its  site  appears  for  a  palace  ;  represent 
the  wood,  quarters,  and  lake  of  fairy  residence.^ 

Ban,  a  woman,  when  used  in  the  supernatural  sense,  applies 
rather  to  malevolent  old  crones  than  the  elves  of  the  fairy  hills. 
Thus  Bamamon,  Stoneykirk  (Barr-nam-ban),  and  Caimmon,  may 
properly  be  rendered  "  the  gap  or  round  hill  of  the  witches." 

Seanta  is  fortunate — having  a  charm  or  protection  in  the 
superstitious  sense  ;  whence  Clayshant,  Stoneykirk,  "  the  holy  " 
or  "  fortunate,"  or  as  glossed  by  O'Reilly,  "  enchanted  stone." 

Donas  was  misfortune,  bad  luck ;  applied  also  to  the  devil 
himself ;  whence  Cardoness  and  Miltonise,  New  Luce,  respect- 
ively "  the  devil's  fort  and  hill  of  bad  luck." 

Diabhal,  Celtic  diawl,  is  the  devil ;  whence  Drochdhuil,  Old 
Luce,  "  the  devil's  bridge " ;  Whithorn,  Knockatonal,  Kirk- 
cowan  and  Ballantrae,  "  the  devil's  hilL" 

Mallacht,  a  curse,  appears  perhaps  in  Polmallet,  Sorbie. 

The  following  in  modern  garb  are  probably  reproductions  of 
ancestral  humour :  Lot's  Wife,  Colvend ;  Adam's  Chair,  Berwick. 
Goleach  (the  witch),  Kirkcolm,  a  sea  rock  having  the  contour 
of  an  old  woman  ;  so  Monachan  (the  monk),  Whithorn  Shore ; 
Yellow  Horse,  Kirkmaiden ;  Green  Saddle,  same  shore.  The 
Celtic  Cunnoch  (the  milk-stoup),  Whithorn,  is  matched  by 
Beef  Barrel,  Kirkcolm.      The  Docker's  Bing,^  Colvend;   the 

*  Joyce,  i.  288. 

'  Bing,  a  rude  lump  or  heap  of  anything.     Dooker,  here  the  cormorant — 
MTaggart. 


PLACE-NAMES  173 

Scutching  Stock/  Kirkmaiden.  Throne  of  Gargrie,  Mochrum; 
Pharaoh's  Throne,  Twynham,  neither  of  which  we  can  explain. 
Three  Brethren  (rocks),  Borgue ;  Old  Man,  Berwick ;  Nick  of 
the  Dead  Man's  Banes,  Girthon. 

Two  or  three  words  are  peculiar  to  Galloway  j  as  gairy, 
in  such  composite  forms  as  "North  Garry,"  "the  Garry  of 
Pulnee,"  Minigafif ;  "  Poomaddygarry,"  and  the  "  Black  Garry," 
Kells;  Dougaries  in  Glenluce.  The  word  seems  to  convey 
the  idea  of  a  piece  of  land  cut  off  either  for  pasturage  or 
cultivation. 

Knoits  is  such  another ;  as  "  the  Knoits  of  Bentudor,"  "  the 
Elnoits  of  Linkens " ;  the  word  meaning  rocky  knobs,  "  little 
rocky  hillocks." 

Nearly  allied  to  knoits  are  clints :  the  "  Glints  of  Clendrie," 
Kells ;  "  Clints  of  Dromore,"  Kirkmabreck ;  "  Clints  of  the 
Bus,"  Minigafif.  Clints  glossed  by  M'Taggart  "  little  awkward- 
lying  rocks  "  ;  by  Jamieson,  "  hard  flinty  rocks." 

Elrich  has  undoubtedly  the  meaning  of  eerie,  whether  as 
expressing  relation  to  evil  spirits,  or  to  a  wild,  lonely,  frightful 
place ;  as  such  we  believe  the  place-name  to  apply  in  remote- 
lying  spots  where  no  cultivation  can  have  ever  taken  place, 
such  as  Loch  Eldrig,  far  away  on  the  moors.  The  name  is 
interchangeably  written  Elrig,  Elrich,  Eldrig ;  and  Oldrig 
may  of  course  frequently,  but  not  always,  apply  to  old 
cultivation. 

Gurlie,  a  bleak  spot  given  to  squalls,  appears  in  Gurlie- 
hawes,^  Kirkcolm,  anglice  a  bleak-lying  narrow  gorge.  The 
word  is  rendered  unintelligible  in  the  Ordnance  Map  as  spelt 
Garliehawise. 

Pasper  is  a  living  Galloway  word  for  samphire;'  whence 
Pasperrie  Rock  is  on  the  Leswalt  seashore.  This  has  been  mis- 
printed in  the  same  map  as  Pasbuery. 

In  these,  as  in  other  instances  innumerable,  it  will  be  found 

^  A  stick  to  beat  out  flax  or  hemp.  MTaggart  calls  it  a  scutching  sparkle. 

'  Hals:     Hawse  —  (1)    the    neck;  (2)    any  narrow  entry    or   passage. — 
Jamieson. 

*  MTaggart,  under  Pasper. 


174  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY 

that  local  knowledge  is  absolutely  required  for  the  discovery 
of  the  true  forms  of  place-names,  which  is  essential  to  their 
interpretation. 

As  these  have  never  been  written  in  their  original  form, 
and  are  not  understood  by  the  people,  local  pronunciation  is 
by  no  means  the  same  sure  guide  as  it  is  in  Ireland  to  the  real 
roots. 

Dr.  Joyce  ^  tells  us  that  "  whether  the  syllables  kill  and  kyle 
mean  church  or  wood,  we  can  ascertain  only  by  hearing  the 
names  pronounced  in  Irish ;  for  the  sounds  of  cill  and  coile  are 
quite  distinct." 

No  such  nicety  of  inflection  is  to  be  looked  for  from  a 
Galloway  resident ;  even  upon  the  spot  the  inquirer  will  often 
be  baffled  by  the  interchange  of  "  achs  "  and  "  ochs  "  ad  lib.,  and 
the  different  intonation  given  in  the  same  words  by  every  one 
he  applies  to  in  succession. 

True,  an  old  residenter  may  set  a  stranger  right  in  some 
such  ridiculous  blunder  as  light  (suggestive  of  a  beacon)  for 
lacht  (indicating  a  commemorative  standing-stone) ;  but  in  such 
a  common  case  as  "  Cos-an-coradh,"  few  local  persons  would  so 
pronounce  it  as  to  make  its  recognition  inevitable.  Some  might 
rightly  call  it  Cussencorry,  but  at  least  as  many  would  adopt 
the  form  of  the  Ordnance  Map,  "  Cass-en-carie " ;  even  this 
being  an  improvement  on  a  former  survey,  in  which  it  was 
mapped  "  Castle  Cary,"  though  the  true  meaning  is  "  cos,"  the 
foot,  whereas  "  casan  "  is  a  footpath. 

Within  the  recollection  of  many  living,  Auchleand,  Wig- 
town, has  been  changed  to  Auchland.  Old  people  rightly  pro- 
nounced the  word  Auchlawin  (achadh-leathen),  a  d  added 
made  it  Auchleand ;  as  a  further  corruption  e  has  disappeared, 
and  probably  the  next  generation  will  change  h  into  A;,  the 
radical  meaning  thus  apparently  shifting  from  a  "  broad  field  " 
to  "  Oakland." 

Croft-an-righ,  pronounced  as  written,  to  the  author,  by  no 
less  an  authority  than  Sir  James  Caird,  when  giving  him 

^  Joyce,  L  491. 


PLACE-NAMES  175 

interesting  particulars  as  to  an  excellent  apple  once  cultivated 
here,  which  bore  its  name,  has  recently  been  changed  to  Croft- 
angry,  also  pronounced  as  written,  a  name  which  will  puzzle 
future  philologists. 

Two  suggestions  may  be  offered  in  conclusion.  The  same 
name  may  in  difierent  places  have  an  entirely  different  mean- 
ing. Interpretations  must  always  depend  upon  circumstances 
and  facts. 

We  are  authoritatively  told  that  lisnegarvie  (now  Lisbume) 
means  "  the  fort  of  the  gamblers."  ^  But  it  would  be  absurd  so 
to  translate  Belgarvie  on  the  Tarf,  which  probably  simply 
means  ''a  rough  townland,"  as  the  suffix  usually  implies  in 
other  places. 

Secondly,  it  does  not  follow  that  we  have  ascertained  a  true 
root  because  the  word  we  are  in  search  of  is  found  in  the  dic- 
tionary. The  author  of  The  Gaelic  Topography  of  Scotland 
confidently  asserts  that  Glenapp  means  the  "  glen  of  the  ape," 
simply  because  the  suffix  is  so  glossed  in  the  dictionaries ; 
naively  adding,  "At  some  very  remote  period  these  animals, 
therefore,  must  have  existed  in  the  south  of  Scotland,  though 
they  are  long  since  extinct."  ^ 

Had  the  writer  of  this  sentence  ever  visited  the  locality,  he 
might  have  observed  a  remarkable  pillar-stone  overlooking  the 
entrance  to  Glenapp,  the  name  of  which,  well  known  in  the 
locality  (Laight  Alpyn),  as  pronounced  by  any  herd  boy,  must 
have  suggested  a  more  likely  origin  for  the  word  than  dic- 
tionaries could  give  him. 

The  following  places  retain  the  names  of  saints  who 
either  frequented,  or  were  held  in  honour,  in  the  several 
localities : — 

^  A  gambler  is  designated  in  Irish  by  the  word  Cearrbhach,  which  is 
still  in  common  use.  One  of  the  best  illustrations  of  this  word  is  Lisne- 
garvie. We  read  in  a  pamphlet  published  in  1691 :  **We  marched  towards 
Lisbume,  one  of  the  prettiest  towns  in  the  north  of  Ireland ;  the  Irish  name 
is  Lisnegarrah,  which,  they  tell  me,  signifies  'gamester's  mount.'" — Joyce, 
ii.  118. 

'  Robertson,  Cfaelie  Topography  of  Scotland^  p.  342. 


176  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY 

They  are  generally  to  be  identified  in  the  Kalendars.^  Their 
"  days  "  are  those  of  their  death.^ 

From  Ninian,  16th  September  432  (437,  Adam  King).  Kill- 
antringan,  Portpatrick,  Leswalt,  Ballantrae ;  Killanringan,  Col- 
monell ;  St.  Eingan's  Well,  Kelton ;  Tringan  (the  attraction  of 
the  t  of  the  Saint),  Leswalt^  etc. 

Patrick,  17th  March  432  (the  saint  is,  however,  tripartite). 
Kilpatrick,  Kirkpatrick  (1)  Irongray,  and  (2)  Durham,  Port- 
patrick,  Patrick's  Well ;  Cnllenpattie,  Inch,  etc. 

Malidh,  Mallie  Mell,  son  of  Patrick's  sister  Darerca,  6th 
February  487  ;  Culmalzie  (Kilmalzie),  Water  of  Malzie  (Malzie 
Symson) ;  Malzie  Well,  Crossmichael.  Egilsmalzie,  a  dedication 
to  him  in  Fife,  is  corrupted  to  Egsmalee. 

Medana,  18th  November,  contemporary  with  Ninian.  Three 
Kirkmaidens,  Medana's,  chapel  and  well  of  the  Co.,  Kirkmaiden. 

Brioc,  Briocus,  29th  and  30th  April  500. 

Kirkmabreck  parish,  which  Symson  says  is  "  so  called  from 
some  saint  or  other  whose  name  was  M'Breck" — the  worthy 
curate  did  not  understand  the  mo  of  endearment  (maith,  holy) ; 
also  Kirkmabreck,  Stoneykirk ;  Elilbrocks,  Inch. 

Bridget,  11th  February  523.  Kilbride  (1)  Kirkcolm,  (2) 
Kitkmaiden ;  Kirklebride,  Kirkpatrick-Durham. 

Machute,  15th  November  565,  patron  saint  of  Wigtown 
Parish  Churck  Kirkmahoe  parish,  Clashmahew,  Eglaismahew, 
Inch. 

Columba,  9th  June  597.  Kirkcolm  Parish  Church,  St. 
Columba's  Well. 

Finian  of  Moville,  Wynnen  (white  and  fair  men),  10th 
September,  M.D.;^  24th  January  379,  K.S.  Chapel  Finian, 
Mochrum,  and  holy  well,  Kirkgunzeon  parish ;  Loch  Whinzean, 
Girthon  ;  Kilwinning,  Ayrshire. 

^  The  Felire  of  Aengus,  O'Clery's  **  Kalendar"  (embodied  in  Martyrology  of 
Donegal^  Keith's  Scotch  Bishops  ;  King's  Kalendar,  Breviary  of  Aberdeen,  Bishop 
Forbes's  Kalendars  of  Scottish  Saints. 

'  Where  two  dates  are  given,  M.D.  is  Martyrology  of  Donegal ;  K.S.  Bishop 
Forbes's  Kalendars. 

'  According  also  to  Tighemae  and  Annals  of  Ulster. 


PLACE-NAMES  177 

Lassair^  '*  flash  of  fire  "  (so  named  in  the  Ealendars),  mother 
of  Finian  of  Moville.^    Killeser,  Stoneykirk. 

Fintan  (the  generous),  the  little  fair  man,  I7th  February  973. 
Knockiefountain,  New  Luce.* 

Barr  or  Finbar  (white  head),  25th  September,  named  Parish 
of  Barr,  as  well  as  Island  of  Barra.  Landberrick  (Llanila), 
Mochrum,  probably  Barrbarrons,  also  probably  Lochmaberry 
(Maith  Berarch),  and  may,  however,  confuse  with  Berach,  Abbot 
of  Elilbarry,  Eoscommon,  18th  February,  fix)m  whom  Elilberry, 
Argyle,  has  its  name. 

CJolman  Eala  (of  Llanila),  26th  September  610.  Colmonell 
Parish. 

Kentigem  (Munghen,  the  wild  man),  13th  November  603. 
St.  Mungo's  Well,  Dairy. 

Donan  (of  Eigg),  17th  April  616,  names  six  church  sites: 
Kildonan,Kirkmaiden(Stoneykirk),Kircolm  (Colmonell),  Chapel- 
donan,  Kirkcolm,  and  Girvan. 

Medhren  or  Merimus,  16th  September  (and  two  Medhrans, 
Mart  Donl.,  6th  and  8th  June).  Kirkmirren,  Kelton;  Kirk- 
madrine,  absorbed  parish,  Stoneykirk. 

Begha,  31st  October  660.  Culbee,  Kirkcolm  (near  Kirk- 
bride);  Culbee,  Kirkinner;  St.  Bees',  opposite  Whithorn  in 
Cumberland. 

Cuthbert,  20th  March  687.  District  and  Church,  Kirkcud- 
bright; Kirkcudbright,  Invergavane  (Girvan);  Kirkcudbright, 
Innertig  (Ballantrae) ;  Blillie-me-cuddican,  Leswalt. 

Sabina,  his  mother,  may  possibly  have  had  a  dedication  in 
Mochrum,  Culshabbin  (Cil  Sabina). 

Kennera  —  a  virgin  martyr,  one  of  the  companions  of  St. 
Ursule,  names  Kirkinner ;  her  day,  29th  October  450. 

Catherine,  martyred  in  the  fourth  century,  had  dedications, 
near  one  of  which  in  Kirkmaiden  is  the  curiously  corrupt  name 
Klibbertic  Kite.     On  referring  this  to  the  accomplished  scholar 

^  On  authority  of  Capgrave.     See  letter  of  Dr.  Reeves  to  Bishop  Forbes, 

KcUeTidarSf  p.  465. 

*  "To  your  Knockiefountain  our  Eilfountain  in  Kerry  is  a  parallel." — Letter 
of  Dr.  Beeves  to  Author,  13th  March  1876. 

VOL.  I  N 


178  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY 

Dr.  Thomas  Ml^uchlan  of  St  Columba's,  an  answer  came  by 
return  that  the  explanation  was  easy  :  t  corrupted  to  k,  Tiobar- 
tighe-chert,  the  well  of  Kate's  horse.  There  are  St  Catherine's 
Wells  in  Stoneykirk  and  Glenluce.^ 

Lawrence,  2d  February  617,  a  Bishop  of  Canterbury,  is 
named  in  St  Lawrence's  Well,  Colvend. 

Comhghain,  or  Cowan,  23d  October  527,  uncle  of  one  of 
the  St  Fillans,  appears  in  Kirkcowan  parish  and  Tencowan. 

Fillan  ("  faelan,"  the  little  wolf),  9th  January  703.  There 
are  nineteen  saints  of  the  name,  but  we  presume  the  dedications 
to  be  to  him  whose  arm  bone  wrought  wonders  for  the  Scots  at 
Bannockburn.     Kilfillan,  old  Luce ;  Elilfillan,  Sorbie. 

Molor,  Molonache  of  Lismore,  25th  June  592,  seems  to 
have  his  name  in  the  singular  Norse  corrupted  and  pleonastic 
place-name,  the  Howe  Hill  of  Haggamalag,  Whithorn;  his 
name  is  joined  with  St  Ninian's  in  Kilmaluag  and  Kilmorie  in 
Mull. 

Malachi  O'Morgair  (really  the  same  name),  a  much  later 
saint,  who  died  3d  November  1148,  and  was  not  canonised  till 
many  years  after,  names  Taphmalloch,  a  hillside,  where  he 
built  a  chapel  without  a  rath  in  Leswalt  parish;  and  to 
Eilmalloch,  New  Luce. 

Enan  of  Eigg,  29th  April  M.D.,  18th  August  (King's  Kal- 
endar),  839,  leaves  his  name  in  two  Elirkennans,  Buittle  and 
Parton ;  Fellyennan,  Mochrum ;  St  Inan's  Well,  BeitL 

Glas,  Glasvanus,  is  mirrored  in  St.  Glas's  Well,  Berwick  ; 
he  was  similarly  invoked  in  wells  in  Argyle  and  Fife. 

Galgacus,  classic  Latin  Yolocus,  Saxonised  or  Low  Latin  for 
Wallach,  Cymric  GwaUawc,  "hawk"  of  battle,  was  a  name 
known  to  the  early  church  militant ;  Woloch  or  Voluen's  day 
standing  29th  January  720  in  the  Kalendars.  It  appears  also 
in  our  topography  in  Carsewalloch,  Kirkmabreck ;  Knockwal- 
loch,  Kirkpatrick-Durham ;  Ulloch  Cairn,  Balmaghie;  but  we 
cannot  tell  whether  they  refer  to  a  warrior  or  a  cleric. 

^  It  ia  impossible  the  old  Geltio  name  oould  refer  to  St.  Catherine  of  Sunric, 
who  was  of  a  mnoh  later  date. 


PLACE-NAMES  179 

Maure,  a  virgin,  2d  November  899,  who  names  Kilmaurs 
parish  in  Cunninghame,  is  probably  remembered  in  Maurs 
Cairn,  Kirkcowan ;  Maurs  Craig,  New  Luce.^ 

^  Two  Christian  names  common  in  Galloway  have  deriyed  their  ori^  from 
saints: 

Quentin,  which  does  not,  as  elsewhere,  mean  the  fifth,  bnt  is  an  abbreviation 
of  the  Gaelic  Ceam  tigheam=£entigem,  a  clear  proof  of  which  is  that  the  saint's 
honorific  title — Monghu,  the  mild  or  gracious  one,  is  always  accepted  as  its 
diminutive. 

Gilbert  is  not  the  Teutonic  "bright  pledge,"  but  GiUe  Brighd,  "servant 
of  St  Bride." 


CHAPTEE  VIII 

THE  AGNEAUX  IN  FRANCE 

A.D.  1000  to  1460 

Le  premiere  jour  de  mai  par  permission  divine 
Saint  Lo  fut  assailli  a  coups  de  couleuvrone 
Matignon  y  etoit  la  et  sa  gendarmerie 
Rampon-Gleret,  aussi,  Agneaux  Sainte  Marie. 

The  Agnews  of  Lochnaw  are  a  branch  of  a  family  which 
take  their  name  from  a  district  in  the  Bocages  of  iN^ormandy,^ 
which  for  many  centuries  they  owned.^  Their  name  figures 
frequently  on  the  early  rolls  of  the  chivalry  of  France,  and 
notwithstanding  all  the  vicissitudes  of  time,  —  outlawries  as 
Huguenots,  proscriptions  as  aristocrats, — a  Marquis  d' Agneaux 
stiU  owns  portions  of  the  ancestral  fiefs,  and  the  Chateau 
d' Agneaux  stiU  overlooks  the  valley  of  the  Vire.*  Popularly 
the  origin  of  the  name  is  ascribed  to  a  miracle  wrought  at 
Les  Deux  Jumeaux,  near  Bayeux,  which,  notwithstanding  an- 
achronisms common  to  aU  early  legends,  deserves  mention  as  a 
really  old  and  genuine  tradition,  supported  by  the  well-authen- 
ticated coincidence  that  Les  Deux  Jumeaux  have  been  possessed 

^  La  famille  d' Agneaux  a  ou  donner  son  nom  k  la  paroisse  d'Agneaux  on  le 
recevoir  de  ce  lieu. — Le  Claude  d'Anesy,  Recherches  sur  le  Domesday^  258. 

^  La  famille  possedait  la  Baronie  d'Agneaux  depuis  un  temps  immemorial, 
et  un  grand  nombre  de  fiefs  nobles.  Deux  Jumeaux,  De  Souoelles,  De  Putot,  De 
Sainte  Croix  d' Ardennes,  De  St.  Contest,  De  Buron,  Du  Holme,  De  I'lle  Marie, 
De  Cameville,  De  Formigny,  etc — De  Magny,  NobUiaire  de  Nomuvndie,  Part 
2™o  p.  5. 

'  Les  Seigneurs  d'Agneaux  poss^daient  de  vastes  domains  dans  le  Cotentin, 
ses  donations  de  I'ann^e  1066  prouvent  qu'ils  existent  depuis  longtemps. — Le 
Claude  d'Anesy,  Heeherches  sur  le  Doineaday, 


1.  8ul  ot  Heli£  d'Agneaui,  1190. 

2.  Seal  of  Andrieu  I'AignBll,  end  ot  thirtsenth  century. 

3.  Seal  of  Herbert  d'Aigneanx,  Seigneur  ie  Tocqueville,  1224. 

4.  Seal  ot  RichBrd  d'AgneUia,  1269. 


A.D.  1 000-1460]   THE  AGNEAUX  IN  FRANCE         181 

by  the  Agneauxs  since  the  days  of  Duke  KoUo.^  It  runs 
thus : 

Among  the  earliest  of  the  Norsemen  who  took  seizure  of 
lands  in  France,  was  a  viking  settled  near  Bayeux.  Things 
went  well  with  him,  and  he  and  his  buxom  wife  had  but  one 
unsatisfied  desire, — they  were  childless, — but  long  after  they 
had  ceased  to  hope,  the  lady  presented  him  with  two  fine  twin 
boys.  Their  happiness  seemed  now  complete,  when  suddenly 
their  darlings  sickened,  drooped,  and  died.  Hardly  had  the 
cry  of  agony  broken  from  the  mother's  lips  when  a  knock  was 
heard  at  their  gate,  and  St.  Martin  of  Tours,  whose  name  and 
fame  were  equally  unknown  to  the  heathen  Dane,  stood  without 
and  humbly  begged  for  shelter.  Even  in  this,  the  darkest  hour 
of  grief,  the  claims  of  hospitality  were  paramount  with  the 
worthy  pair ;  he  was  at  once  admitted  and  his  wants  carefully 
attended  to.  When  shown  to  his  bed  the  saint  could  not  sleep, 
his  feelings  harrowed  by  his  entertainers'  sorrow,  intensified  to 
himseK  by  the  thought  that  the  unburied  babes  were  unbaptized. 
He  rose  in  the  night,  hastily  consecrated  water,  and  stealing  to 
the  silent  chamber  sprinkled  it,  mingled  with  his  own  tears,  on 
the  faces  of  the  little  ones  as  they  lay  beautiful  in  death ;  he 
breathed  a  prayer  for  their  eternal  welfare,  and  for  that  of  his 
hosts,  and  left  their  dwelling  unperceived. 

Early  next  morning  the  bearers  arrived  to  carry  the  corpses 
to  the  grave ;  the  weeping  friends  were  following,  when  a  shout 
was  raised,  "  the  children  breathe ! "  It  was  no  illusion  :  the 
parents  had  entertained  an  angel  unawares — the  lost  ones  were 
restored  to  the  maternal  embrace. 

The  news  spread,  crowds  came  from  afar  to  verify  for  them- 
selves the  story,  the  most  incredulous  were  convinced  of  the 
completeness  of  the  miracle,  and  as  they  watched  the  merry 
gambols  of  the  twins — snatched  but  a  few  hours  before  from  the 

^  Une  ancienne  tradition  bien  connue  dans  la  province,  fait  remonter  la 
Maison  d*Aigneaux  anx  premiers  invasions  des  Normands. 

Le  nom  de  eet  famille  est  ecrit  dans  les  anciennes  chartres,  Agnus,  Agnes, 
Agnelles,  d'Aignians,  d'Agneaux  ou  d' Aigneaux  et  Aigneaulx.  —  De  Magny, 
Nobiliaire  de  Normandie,  article  **d*Aigneaux." 


182  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY   [A.D.  I  GOO 

brink  of  the  grave — ^the  words  "Agneaux  de  St.  Martin"  rose 
spontaneously  from  their  lips.  And  the  name  clung  to  the  pair 
as  they  developed  into  manhood. 

Topography  enhances  the  antiquity  of  the  legend,  as  from 
the  date  of  the  earliest  records  this  scene  has  been  known  as 
"Les  Deux  Jumeaux,"  the  owners  of  which  were  lords  also 
of  the  district  of  Agneaux.  Heraldry  also  associates  the  story 
with  the  name,  as  from  the  time  when  armorial  bearings  and 
surnames  went  together,  the  d' Agneaux  or  De  Agnellis  carried 
what  are  known  as  canting  arms,  or  armes  parlarUeSy  which  were 
lambs. 

Simple,  however,  as  was  the  name,  and  obvious  as  is  its  mean- 
ing, the  perverse  ingenuity  of  scribes  made  many  changes  on  its 
form,  which  was  originally  pluraL  De  Agnellis  and  De  Agnis 
in  Latin,  d' Agneaux  and  d'Agnels  in  French ;  an  i  was  early 
introduced  before  the  g,  when  d'Aigneaux  and  d'Aignells,  usually 
written  in  English  y,  Aygnell,  and  an  I  was  sometimes  introduced 
before  the  final  x,  Aigneaulx.  The  Galloway  and  least  eupho- 
neous  form  Agnew  is  not  an  attempt  to  return  to  the  original 
Agneau,  but  from  the  Scottish  custom  of  considering  II  and  w 
interchangeable ;  and  the  first  Agnew  arriving  from  England 
when  his  name  was  written  Agnell,  the  equivalent  w,  used 
accidentally,  seems  to  have  become  the  settled  form.^ 

The  blessing  of  St.  Martin  followed  the  progeny  of  his 
"  Lambs."  When  the  Norse  chief  Hrolf  received  investiture  of 
Normandy  as  Duke  BoUo  from  the  King  of  France  as  his 
suzerain,  he  in  turn  gave  feudal  investiture  to  the  Agneaux  of 
the  lands  connected  with  their  name,  on  which  they  flourished, 
and  to  which  they  added  during  the  reigns  of  three  successive 
Dukes  Richard  who  followed  EoUo. 

The  first  scion  of  the  house  who  acquired  any  distinction 
individually,  and,  what  was  then  rare  with  his  race,  acquired 
some  literary  fame,  was  Andrew  De  Agnellis,  who  in  pursuit 
of  letters  travelled  to  Italy,  studied  in  its  universities,  took 

^  In  manj  of  the  earliest  charters  at  Lochnaw  it  is  impossible  to  say  whether 
UoTwia  intended. 


to  1460]       THE  AGNEAUX  IN  FRANCE  183 

orders,  and  at  his  consecration  assuming,  with  curious  agreement 
with  the  after  traditions  of  the  family,  the  name  of  Andrew, 
rose  eventually  to  be  Archbishop  of  Bavenna,  and  wrote  many 
works  considered  of  great  value  in  their  day,  and  which  have 
been  frequently  republished :  in  particular  a  history  of  his  own 
see,  characterised  by  an  independence  of  thought  unusual  for 
the  period.* 

The  next  whose  name  appears  in  writing  is  Herbert 
d'Agneaux,  who,  at  the  accession  of  Duke  Bobert  in  1028,  was 
safely  housed  in  his  almost  impregnable  fortalice  upon  the  Yire, 
and  so  well  landed  that  it  is  said  he  could  mount  his  horse  and 
ride  uninterruptedly  from  his  gate  over  seven  leagues  upon  his 
own  estates.^  And  this  Herbert,  on  Kobert's  death,  was  a  lead- 
ing spirit  in  the  confederation  of  nobles  who  refused  to  acknow- 
ledge William  (the  future  conqueror  of  England)  as  their 
sovereign,  on  the  ground  of  his  illegitimacy. 

For  years  these  Lords  of  the  Cotentin  successfully  defied 
him,  till  William,  sorely  against  the  grain,  called  on  the  help  of  his 
feudal  superior.  Even  then  the  malcontents  faced  the  united 
forces  of  the  king  and  duke,  and  victory  long  hung  in  the 
balance,  and  slipped  almost  accidentally  from  their  hands. 

The  deciding  conflict  occurred  at  Val  des  Dunes,  a.d.  1047, 
and  was  all  but  won  by  the  chivalry  of  the  Bocages.  So  fierce 
was  their  charge,  though  against  superior  numbers,  that  they 
broke  the  imperial  ranks,  unhorsed  the  King  of  France,  and  held 
him  as  their  prisoner.  The  battle  was  won,  their  opponents  fled, 
but  in  the  excitement  of  success,  and  guarding  their  prisoner, 
they  neglected  the  pursuit.    William,  with  eagle  glances  took  in 

^  His  entire  works  were  published  by  P.  Bacchino  in  2  vols.  4to,  in  1708. 
His  name  written  **  Agnelli  qni  est  Andreas. 

His  Liber  Pontificalia  siv6  Vila  PorUificum  Bavennatum,  is  reprinted  by 
Muratori  in  his  Italian  historians. 

'  Le  premier  propri^taire  de  ce  ch&teau  qui  nous  soit  bien  connn  est 
Herbert  d'Agneaux  qui  viyait  an  milieu  de  Xl^e  gi^le.  Outre  le  fief 
d'Agneaux,  il  poss^dait  les  terres  de  Loncelles,  Pntot  et  Sante  Croce. — Duboac, 
Notes  Historiqiiea, 

Les  Seigneurs  d'Agneaux  poss^daient  de  vastes  domains  dans  les  environs  de 
Caen  et  une  baronie  plus  importante  s^par^  par  la  riviere  de  la  Vire  pendant  sept 
lieues  du  cours  de  cette  riviere. — Jtecherehes  sur  le  Domeaday,  Le  Claude  d'Anesy. 


184  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY    [A.D.  I  GOO 

the  situation,  galloped  after  the  flying  squadrons,  rallied,  brought 
them  back,  fought  another  action,  and  snatched  from  the  barons 
the  honours  of  the  day. 

Henceforth  he  ruled  supreme ;  the  malcontents  were  at  his 
mercy.  Short  shrift  for  those  first  clutched  in  that  iron  grasp. 
Happily  for  Herbert  d'Agneaux,  his  castle  ofTered  a  retreat 
almost  impregnable  until  the  "Conqueror's"  anger  had  time 
to  cool.^  Whilst  there  he  had  a  foretaste  of  how  heavy  his  hand 
could  be.  On  hearing  that  three  of  his  manors  were  gifted 
irretrievably  to  the  Church  as  a  thank-offering  for  the  victory 
gained  over  the  Lords  of  the  Cotentin,^  and  happily  for  him- 
self taking  his  punishment  with  a  good  grace,  he  appealed  to 
the  victor^s  clemency.  William  was  a  bom  ruler  of  men. 
Appreciating  the  courage  he  had  found  it  so  hard  to  daunt,  he 
accepted  the  submission  of  such  of  these  lords  as  offered  it. 
Herbert  d'Agneaux  was  confirmed  in  his  principal  fief,  received 
into  especial  favour,  and  henceforward  William  had  no  more 
loyal  subject. 

The  unhorsing  of  King  Henry  of  France  is  a  favourite 
tradition  at  St.  Lo,  with  which  the  name  of  Herbert  d'Agneaux 
is  always  connected.  And  the  visitors  to  the  picturesque 
entourage  of  his  ancient  keep  are  often  reminded  by  the  sturdy 
peasants,  who  like  to  serve  themselves  heirs  to  the  glories  of 
their  forbears  under  their  ancient  chiefs,  that 

Da  Cotentin  sortit  la  lance 
Qui  abattit  le  Roi  de  France. 

Herbert  d'Agneaux  is  the  common  ancestor  of  several  branches 
of  the  family  once  powerful  in  France:  of  the  Agneaux  or 
Aygnells  of  Bedenhall  in  Norfolk,  and  Aignelis  of  Pentlai  in 
Hertfordshire ;  of  the  Lords  of  Lame,  if  they  had  any  exist- 

^  Assis  sur  un  rocher  escarp^  a  60  pieds  au  dessus  de  la  riviere  le  Ch&tean 
d'Agneanz  ^tait  imprenable  de  ce  cdt4,  et  la  disposition  du  terrein  devait  rendre 
presque  inutile  une  tour  avanc^  dont  on  voit  encore  les  mines  de  Tautre  cdt6  ; 
il  ^tait  d^fendu  des  mure,  un  pont  levis,  des  touro  et  autres  ouvrages. — ArchoBologx- 
ecU  Journal  of  Lt  Manche,  vol.  i.  p.  2. 

^  In  1056  William  confirmed  by  charter  to  the  cathedral  of  Coutances  their 
fiefs :  "De  Loncellis,  et  Putot  et  Sancta  Cruce,  quam  Herbertus  de  Agnellis  tenebat. 
— AbU  de  Bouen, 


to  1460]       THE  AGNEAUX  IN  FRANCE  185 

ence  excepting  in  scrolls  of  genealogists ;  of  the  Marquis 
d'Aigneaux  and  L'Isle  Marie  and  Les  Deux  Jumeaux ;  of  the 
Marquis  St.  Marie  d'Aigneaux,  still  owning  the  GhS^teau 
d'Agneaux»  and  of  the  Agnews  of  Lochnaw.'^ 

Herbert  died  before  the  conquest  of  England,  leaving 
three  sons,  Herbert,  Pierre,  and  Fulque,  minors,^  who  all  had 
issue. 

The  second  Herbert  was  early  taken  into  the  royal  house- 
hold, and  was  frequently  with  the  Court  in  England,  where  he 
acquired  large  estates  in  Norfolk  and  Suffolk,  but  not  until 
after  the  Domesday  Survey,  at  which  date  he  only  had  some 
eighty  acres.  He  is  a  witness  to  several  charters  of  the 
Conqueror's  reign,  one  of  which  is  reckoned  among  the  treasures 
of  the  Museum  of  St.  Lo  ;^  and  in  another  charter  the  king  and 
queen  are  themselves  witnesses  to  a  purchase  of  a  plot  of 
ground  from  Herbert  d'Agneau  by  Odo,  Bishop  of  Bayeux, 
the  king's  turbulent  brother.* 

Herbert — ^identified  by  Norman  genealogists  with  the  Agneli 
of  the  Domesday — had  three  sons,  Corbin,  Henry,  and  Eobert, 
all  to  be  traced  in  official  writs,  and  a  nephew  Fulque,  who,  in 

^  MM.  les  Barons  Athanase,  et  Frederick  Agneaux  h  Bayeux,  et  M.  Paul  d*Aig- 
neanx,  k  L'Isle  Marie  (Marquis)  poss^ent  la  terre  qu'y  possMaient  ses  ancestres 
il  y  a  huit  cent  ans.  II  existe  en  Grand  Bretagne  de  la  m^me  souche  une  famille 
d'Agnew  qui  habite  le  Comt^  de  Wigton. — Dubosc,  Paroisse  d^Agiieaux,  7,  8. 

^  Various  ''corrected  lists  of  the  Battel  Roll"  have  been  published  in  which 
Herbert  d' Agneaux  is  confidently  introduced.  In  a  recent  work,  Les  ConqueraiUs 
dCAngleUrrtf  there  are  three  Agneaux,  which  seem  all  without  sufficient  author- 
ity. Moreover,  a  comparison  of  dates  renders  it  certain  that  the  Herbert  who 
was  in  possession  at  Duke  Robert's  accession,  a  witness  at  the  Yal  des  Dunes, 
could  not  be  the  Agneli  of  the  Domesday.  The  second  Herbert  was  almost 
certainly  under  age  in  1066. 

'  In  the  charter  shown  at  St.  Lo  the  witnesses'  names  are  entered  after  their 
crosses,  as  below : — 

(Signum)        +  Willmi  Reges.  +Gaufredo  de  Saie.  .  . 

+  Odonis  de  Baiocenci.  +  Herbert!  de  Agnellis. 

+  Henrici  filii  Rego.  +  Gaufredi  de  CarbonelL 
+Rogeris  de  Albineis. 

*  Ego  Odo  d.g.  Baiesis  Epis.  frater  GuiUebni  Normanorum  Duels  Anglorum 
reges,  emi  quondam  terris  qui  vocatur  Ghernetville  a  Herberto  de  Agnellis. 
Subscript  +Gillelmo  Rex,  +  Mathilda  Regine,  +Johan  Archiepiscopus,  +Her- 
bertus  de  Agnellis,  +  Corbin  filius  ejus. — Cartulara  of  Bayeux, 


186     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  IOOO 

company  with  their  neighbour  Bobert  de  Convey,  attended 
Duke  Bobert  in  the  first  Crusade.^ 

On  the  second  Herbert's  death  the  fief  of  Agneaux  was  in- 
herited by  Corbin ;  Les  Deux  Jumeaux  and  L'Isle  Marie  fell  to 
Bobert,  the  third  son ;  and  his  English  lands  he  bequeathed  to 
Henry,^  who  retained  possession  of  the  lands  and  castle  of  La 
Boque,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Caen.* 

The  three  brothers  all  survived  the  reign  of  William  Bufus. 
When  Henry  I.,  not  satisfied  with  securing  the  English  crown, 
had  ousted  his  brother  from  his  rights  in  France,  he  appointed 
commissioners  to  ascertain  what  these  Norman  rights  actually 
were,  and  from  their  recorded  report  we  gather  that  "  Corbin 
d' Agneaux,  Baron  of  Agneaux,  owed  a  knight's  fee  for  Came- 
ville ;  Henri  d'Aignel,  Baron  d'Angleterre,  a  knight's  fee  for 
his  Norman  lands  ;  and  Bobert  d' Agneaux,  chevalier,  a  knighf  s 
fee  for  the  Houlme." 

Corbin  we  find  married  a  De  Bohun ;  Bobert's  eldest  son 
Helie  married  Adeliza,  daughter  of  an  Earl  of  Albemarle ;  and  we 
trace  family  connections  with  the  De  Hommets,  Saies,  Beaumont, 
and  the  lordly  rhymer  Gace  de  la  Bigne,  who  introduces  the 
name  in  vaunting  his  quarterings — 

La  poete  est  n^  en  Normandie 
De  quatre  costes  de  lign^e 
Que  moult  on  aimez  les  oiseaux 
De  ceuz  de  La  Bigne  et  d'Aigneauz 
Et  de  Clinchamp,  et  de  Burm.^ 

The  Agneaux  continued  their  connection  with  the  Court, 

^  In  lists  of  first  Cnisade,  Fonlqnes  d*Aigneauz,  Normandie. — La  Noblesse  de 
France  aux  Croisades,  P.  Boye,  from  MSS.  Biblioth^ue  Boyale. 

'  Herbert  d' Agneaux  eut  trois  fils,  dont  I'lin  Henri  herita  les  possessions 
en  Angleterre  ;  k  Corbin  ^churent  les  terres  d* Agneaux,  de  Cameyille,  de 
Tocqueville,  et  LieviUe,  en  Cotentin  ;  de  Loncelles,  Purtot,  et  autres  en  Basson  ; 
k  Robert,  Deux  Jumeaux  et  Vierville,  dioc^e  de  Bayeux,  L'Isle  Marie  ou  le 
Houlme  BoUeville,  et  autres  fiefs  dans  le  diocese  de  Goutance. — Dubosc, 
Paroisse  d'AgneauXf  y.  94, 

'  ''  Le  Manoir  et  Motte  de  la  Roque  ou  demeuraient  Henri  d'Agneux  et  Jehan 
son  fils,  chevaliers." — Hozier,  Armorial  OijUral  de  Frarice, 

*  Gace  de  la  Bigne  attended  King  John  of  France  when  a  prisoner  in  England 
in  the  reign  of  Edward  IIL  *'Que  moult  on  aimez  les  oiseaux,"  is  the  refrain 
or  burden  introduced  by  the  troubadours,  much  affected  at  the  period. 


to  1460]       THE  AGNEAUX  IN  FRANCE  187 

and  it  is  a  Norman  tradition  that  when  the  Blanche  Nef 
foundered  within  sight  of  land  with  Henry  I/s  only  son  and 
the  flower  of  the  young  Anglo-Norman  nobility,  a  son  of  Robert 
d'Agneaux  was  of  the  number. 

On  Henry  L's  death,  hastened  by  this  catastrophe,  happily 
for  themselves  all  the  Agneaux  were  ranged  on  the  side  of  his 
daughter  Mathilda ;  and  as  her  cause  triumphed  in  Normandy, 
they  remained  in  high  power  there,  and  stood  well  in  England 
on  the  accession  of  her  son  Henry  IL 

In  the  next  generation  Henry  d' Agneaux,  now  of  English 
domicile,  having  attended  Henry  II.  in  a  progress  in  Nor- 
mandy, was  drowned  with  other  ofl&cials  by  the  foundering  of  a 
ship  of  the  royal  squadron  on  their  return  voyage.^ 

Of  this  generation  the  sons  of  the  two  lords  of  Agneaux 
and  L'Isle  Marie  were  both  Helie,  a  name  which,  with  those  of 
Herbert  and  Henry,  in  a  prolific  race,  is  so  often  repeated  as  to 
produce  some  confusion  *  when  no  date  is  given. 

The  seal  of  the  former  Helie,  attached  to  a  charter,  drcmro 
1190,  preserved  among  the  archives  of  St.  Lo,  is  noticeable  as 
the  oldest  impression  extant  of  the  family  arms :  three  lambs 
passant  (but  somewhat  wolf- like  in  their  bearing).  It  is 
docketed  "Chartre  de  Helie  d* Agneaux  fils  de  Herbert  le 
vieux,  partant  pour  Jerusalem  et  donnant  aux  religieux  de 
Cherbourg  quatres  quartiers  de  froment  de  rent  a  prendre  dans 
son  moulin  du  Val  de  Saire." 

A  gift  by  the  widow  of  the  other  Helie  is  amongst  the 
charters  at  L'Isle  Marie  (she  styling  herself  "  Adeliza  Cometis 
Albemaris)  in  favour  of  the  Abbey  of  St.  Sauveur,  "  for  prayers 
for  her  husband's  soul."     This  witnessed  by  Engler  de  Bohun. 

The  crusader  Helie  married  another  Bohun,  a  cousin,  his 
father  Corbin  having  married  Engler's  aunt,  as  proved  by  his 

^  Qnatre  cent  personnes  fiirent  submerges,  dans  le  nombre  Henri  d*Aignel, 
Baron  d'Angleterre. — Depping,  Hist,  de  Normandie^  ii.  80,  In  the  English 
account  he  is  written  "de  Agnis." 

'  On  rencontre  pendant  300  ans  un  grand  nombre  de  seigneurs  du  nom 
d* Agneaux  portant  les  prenoms  d*Helie,  Henri,  et  Herbert,  hereditaires  dans 
les  diverses  branches  de  cette  grande  famiUe  oe  qui  rend  assez  difficile  I'^tab- 
lissement  d'une  gen^logie  exacte. — Dubosc. 


] 


188     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  I  GOO 

8011  Walter,  who,  when  appearing  as  a  witness  in  a  record  of  an 
action  raised  by  the  de  Bohuns  in  vindication  of  their  manorial 
rights,  is  there  described  as  "  Walterris  de  Agnellis,"  nephew  to 
Willelmns  de  Bohun. 

The  said  Walter  is  credited  in  the  Exchequer  EoUs  with  a 
payment  of  20s.  towards  the  ransom  of  Sichard  Coeur  de  lion. 
And  in  1206  there  is  record  of  his  taking  a  solemn  oath  on 
the  high  altar  at  St  Lo  to  defend  and  maintain  the  Abbey  in 
its  dues,  various  deeds  existing  connected  with  his  gifts,  in 
which  his  position  in  the  family  tree  is  rendered  unmistakable 
by  such  descriptions  as  "Walteras  de  Agnellis  Miles"  and 
"  arri^re  petit  fils  de  Herbert  Agneas." 

To  Walter  succeeded  Philip,  whose  memory  is  especially 
fragrant  at  St.  Lo,  as  he  added  to  the  previous  dotations  of  his 
family  the  beautiful  wood  of  Falaise  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor 
of  St  Lo,  which,  besides  yielding  a  handsome  revenue,  is  to  this 
day  a  much  enjoyed  recreation  ground.  When  the  Emperor 
Napoleon  inaugurated  the  Hall  of  the  Crusaders  at  Versailles, 
the  Archaeological  Society  of  La  Manche  brought  Philip 
d'Agneau's  claims  under  the  notice  of  the  Government,  which 
were  admitted,^  and  his  name  and  achievements  consequently 
appears  upon  its  walls. 

*  The  official  reply  of  the  minister  is  as  follows : — 

**M.  LE  President— L'examen  par  le  Conservateur  de  Chartres  ne  laisse 
aucun  doute  sur  les  droits  qu'a  le  nom  d'Agneauz  d'etre  admis  dans  la  Salle 
des  Croisades. 

''Connu  d^  le  XI«  siecle  comme  celui  d'une  famiUe  bienfaitrice  de  I'^glise 
de  Bayeux,  des  Abbayes  d' Ardennes,  de  Lorgues,  Saint  Sauvenr,  le  nom  d*Aigneaux 
c*est  perpetue  en  Normandie  jusqu'2i  nos  jours  par  une  filiation  non  in- 
terrompue. 

'^Les  armes  de  la  famille  d'Agneaux  ont  M  toat  d'azur  k  trois  agneaux 
a^nt  Quand  au  fait  de  Croisade  il  resulte  d*un  passage  d'un  registre  de 
I'Echiquier  de  Normandie  de  Tannee  1221. 

'*  Les  trois  conditions — anciennet^,  armes,  et  fait  de  Croisade — se  trouvent  ici 
compl^tement  remplies. 

''  II  est  done  de  toute  justice  de  placer  dans  la  salle  des  Croisades : 

"  Philippe  d'Agneaux,  1221. 
"  D'azur  k  trois  agneaux  d'argent. 

"  Le  Directeur-G^^l  des  Mus^  Imperiaux. 
(Sign^)  "  CoMTS  DE  Neuerksrkk. 

"  M.  le  Pr^ident  de  la  Society  d'Arch^ologie  de  la  Manche." 


to  1460]       THE  AGNEAUX  IN  FRANCE  189 

During  the  thirteenth  century  the  family  multiplied  and 
throve,  as  is  evidenced  by  numerous  charters  in  the  archives  of 
St.  Lo,  relating  to  benefactions  to  the  Church  and  charities,  with 
seals  attached,  and  the  frequent  names  of  Herbert,  Henry,  and 
the  still  older  one  of  Andrew.  This  latter  is  remarkable,  as 
being  somewhat  unusual  in  France,  a  facsimile  of  such  a  seal 
which  we  possess  being  different  fix)m  that  of  the  head  of  the 
house  by  the  substitution  of  one  lamb  for  three,  the  lamb 
carrying  a  staff  and  a  banner  with  a  St.  Andrew's  cross. 

Another  seal,  having  Andrew  D'Aignell  for  its  legend,  was 
found  among  the  charters  of  the  Abb^  Blanche,  near  Mortain.^ 

The  Ban  Rolls  of  France — King  Philip  Augustus  having 
summoned  the  Norman  nobility  to  Tours  in  1272 — show  that 
then  a  Henry  and  a  Herbert  d'Agnew  there  presented  them- 
selves.^ 

Towards  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century  the  fief  and 
chateau  of  Agneaux  passed  by  an  heiress  to  the  Paynells,  and 
from  them  consecutively  through  the  De  la  Hayes  and 
D'Esquays,  to  the  St  Marie.  Eudolphus  or  EaouU  St.  Marie, 
who  married  Gillette  D'Esquay,  being  previously  a  near  kins- 
man of  the  Agneaux,^  whose  name  he  eissumed.  And  his  direct 
descendant,  the  Marquis  Theobald  St.  Marie  Agneaux,  owns  and 
inhabits  the  Ch&teau  d' Agneaux  at  the  present  day.^ 

Les  Deux  Jumeaux  remained  with  the  representatives  of 
the  second  branch.  In  1459  we  find  Jean  d'Agneaux,  chevalier, 
in  possession,  and  marrying  "  la  noble  demoiselle  Elizabeth  de 

^  The  courteous  Archiviste  of  St.  Lo  thus  writes  to  the  author:  "J'ai 
l*hoiineur  de  vous  adresser  une  representation,  obtenue  par  moyen  du  moulage,  d'un 
sceau  de  la  fin  du  13'  si^cle,  le  champ  occup^  par  un  Agneau  et  qui  a  pour  legende 
+  S.  Andrieu  D'Aignel  (Andrieu  est  la  vieille  forme  du  nom  Andre). — DuBOSC 
Francois  Nicolas,  Archiviste,  St.  Lo,  25  Avril  1874." 

^  Herbertus  de  Agneaus,  in  Yicecomiti  Barocenci, 
Henricus  de  Aigniaus,  Miles  in  Yicecomiti  Cadomaner. 

Anciens  RoUes  du  Bans  et  Arri^re-Bans  en  1272. 

'  In  the  next  generation  the  connection  was  renewed.  In  the  Marquis 
d*Agneaux  pedigree  we  find,  *'  1473,  Rerre  d* Agneaux  ^pousa  en  1473  sa  cotisine 
N.  de  St  Marie  d' Agneaux." 

^  The  governorship  of  Granville  and  the  Isles  Ghampees  was  long  hereditary 
in  his  family ;  his  arms  are  ^carteld  d'or  et  azur. — Hozier,  Armorial  OHUral  de 
Franot  et  de  Mayenee, 


190  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY   [A.D.   lOOO 

Beauqendre " ;  ^  the  following  year  being  in  every  sense  an 
eventful  one  for  the  family.  Formigny  fonned  a  part  of  his 
estates ;  here,  on  15th  of  April,  the  Constable  de  Sichemont 
gained  the  victory  which  finally  severed  Normandy  from  Eng- 
land. It  is  a  strong  family  tradition  that  the  two  brothers 
Agneaux  took  different  sides  in  the  civil  war,  John,  happily  for 
his  heirs,  siding  with  the  victors ;  both  brothers  falling  on  the 
field  almost  in  sight  of  the  young  wife,  who,  widowed,  gave 
birth  to  a  posthumous  heir,  Pierre,  who  married  his  cousin, 
daughter  of  Agneaux  Sainte  Marie. 

Eelations  embittered  by  the  fratricidal  strife,  all  intercourse 
now  ceased  between  the  branches  of  the  family  on  the  two 
sides  of  the  channel 

But  although  England  was  no  longer  open  to  their  enter- 
prise, members  of  the  family  prospered  on  other  fields  in  France. 
Doubtless  particulars  as  to  their  names  and  holdings  might  be 
obtained  from  the  Departmental  Records,  which  we  have  not 
the  energy  to  explore. 

We  have  ascertained,  however,  that  there  was  a  branch  of 
the  Agneaux  in  Burgundy ;  another  in  the  Isle  of  France,  where 
a  chateau  and  a  smiling  village  still  bear  their  name ;  as  also 
it  has  undoubtedly  been  left  in  Agneliers  in  Provence.  The 
heads  of  all  these  branches  being  enrolled  in  the  lists  of  the 
noblesse,  and  their  arms  differenced  in  heraldic  visitations. 

To  revert  to  the  Norman  line,  we  may  briefly  state  that  they 
all  embraced  the  reformed  doctrines,  and  arrayed  themselves 
under  the  banner  of  Goligny  against  the  Guises.  During  the 
brief  hour  of  Huguenot  success  an  Agneaux  led  the  assault  at 
the  capture  of  Bayeux,  and  this  leading  to  the  surrender  of  St. 
Lo,  the  Lord  of  Agneaux,  by  his  influence  with  Montgomery  and 
Columbi^res,  saved  the  old  Cathedral  of  St.  Lo  and  its  religious 
houses  from  the  iconoclastic  grasp  of  the  eager  Protestants — a 
moderation  he  (much  to  his  disgust)  failed  to  induce  other  com- 
manders of  the  division  before  Caen  to  imitate.^ 

*  Nobiliare  de  Nbrmandie, 

'  Agneaux  en  Normandie  ancienne  noblesse.     Parte  d'aziir  k  trois  d' Agneaux 
d'argent  2  en  clief,  1  en  point. 


to  1460]       THE  AGNEAUX  IN  FRANCE  191 

As  the  superiority  of  the  Boman  Catholic  party  in  the  field 
became  pronounced,  the  strong  defences  of  the  Chateau 
d'Agneaux  afforded  the  provisional  leaders  of  the  Huguenots 
a  rendezvous  for  consultation,  and  their  pastors  a  safe  meeting- 
place  with  their  flocks. 

The  gnarled  trunk  of  a  pollard  within  bow-shot  of  the  out- 
works, where  these  proscribed  ministers  used  to  preach  when 
the  coast  was  clear  to  the  assembled  faithful,  still  remains, 
retaining  the  name  given  by  the  clerics  when  in  the  ascendant, 
of  "  the  Devil's  Pulpit"  ;^  whilst  a  grotto,  the  entrance  to  which 
was  carefully  guarded,  where  the  Communion  was  at  times 
administered,  was  called  in  the  same  spirit  "  the  Serpent's  Cave/' 
Happily  to-day  the  priests  of  St.  Lo  can  point  out  both  to 
the  Protestant  visitor  and  explain  the  terms  with  perfect  good 
humour,*  but  there  wm  no  joking  on  such  matters  in  days 
when  neither  party  regarded  toleration  as  a  virtue. 

Heavily  fined,  excluded  from  Court  and  military  employ- 
ment, the  Agneaux,  though  not  absolutely  disturbed  in  the  pos- 
session of  their  lands,  for  several  generations  passed  through 
evil  times.^ 

Agneaux  de  Provence,  parte  d'azur  an  chevron  d'or  accompagne  en  point  d'un 
Agneau  d'ai^ent. 

Agneaux  de  Bourgogne,  parte  d'aznr  au  chevron  d'or  accompagn^  de  trois 
roses  de  m^me. 

Agneaux,  Sainte  Marie,  dcarteU  d'or  et  d'azur. — Did,  04rUalogique  et  Hit- 
aJdiqu/t^  Armorial  0&n4rdl  de  Franoe. 

^  Eistoire  de  SL  Xo,  Jonstain  de  Bilby,  and  Histoire  de  Bayeux,  I'Abbe 
Beziers. 

'  On  remarque  partiouli^rement  trois  lieux  ou  cia  premiers  Protestants 
faisaient  leur  assemblies  pour  leur  Cene : 

1.  La  Maison  d'Agneaux,  dont  le  Seigneur  ^tait  perverti. 

2.  Une  caveme  k  Tautr^  cdt^  de  oette  maison  dans  un  rocher,  a  laquelle  pour 
cette  raison  on  a  donnd  le  nom  de  Oaveme  au  Serpents. 

8.  Au  coin  du  bois  de  SouUes,  prSche  d'une  arbre  qu'on  appelle  La  Chaire  du 
Diable. — ^Dubosc,  Paroisse  d* Agneaux;  Delalande,  Hist,  des  Ouerres  de  Religion 
dans  la  Manche, 

'  Devenue  protestante  cette  famille  suivit  le  parti  de  L'Amiral  de  Coligny ; 
Agneaux,  et  de  Piriqueville  Columbi^res,  chefs  des  protestants,  prisent  le  ChUt^u 
de  Bayeux.  Eloign^  de  la  Cour  elle  n'abbandonna  la  religion  rdform^e  que 
vers  la  fin  du  r^gne  du  Louis  XIV.  Le  Roi  Louis  XV.  fit  enlever  un  des 
demiers  protestants  de  cette  famille  pour  le  faire  dlever  aux  nouvelles  Catho- 
liques. — De  Magny,  Nob.  de  Normandie,  11.  8. 


192  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY    [A,D.   I  GOO 

The  youths,  however,  of  the  house,  debarred  from  winning 
their  spurs  upon  the  field,  seem  to  have  been  brought  up  with 
unusual  refinement,  Eobert  and  Antoine  d'Agneaux  courting 
the  muses  with  success,  made  themselves  a  name  as  scholars 
and  poets  which  was  recognised  even  by  Henry  III.,  bigoted 
as  he  was  against  the  name  of  Huguenot 

Their  translations  of  Virgil  and  Horace,  the  first  then 
attempted  in  French  verse,  were  read  by  themselves  by  royal 
command  before  the  assembled  Court,  on  which  they  were 
publicly  complimented  by  the  King.^ 

With  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  difiBculties 
thickened  for  the  family,  till  Louis  XV.  accomplished  the  con- 
version of  the  head  of  the  house  in  a  characteristic  manner, 
by  forcibly  abducting  the  young  heir  from  a  widowed  mother 
and  having  him  educated  to  order  in  the  Catholic  faith. 

Notwithstanding  religious  disabilities,  many  branches  of  the 
family  figure  on  the  rolls  of  the  provincial  nobility  and  land- 
owners during  the  sixteenth  and  following  century,^  as  for 
example  on  the  Eegister  of  Nobles  for  the  Generality  of  Caen, 
marked  "an.  1592,  maintenu," — which  has  the  force  of  having 
been  made  good  after  official  inquiry, — are  inscribed  "  Charles 
et  Adrien  d'Aigneaux,  Seigneurs  des  Deux  Jumeaux ;  Gilles 
d'Agneaux,  Seigneur  de  la  PeriUe ;  Michel  d'Agneaux,  Seigneur 
de  la  Pionifere." 

And  on  a  similar  visitation,  1667,  an  Agneaux  des  Deux 
Jumeaux  de  la  Rivifere  et  de  L'Isle  d'Auval;  and  as  indi- 
viduals ("nobles  qui  ont  bien  justifi^  leur  quatre  degr^s")  who 

^  Virgil  and  Horace  in  French  verse  were  published  respectively  in  1582  and 

1588,  and  dedicated  to  the  king  by  Robert  and  Antoine  d'Agneaux,  chevaliers. 

'<Ces  productions  furent  tr^  godt^  k  I'^poque  oil  elles  pamrent." — Jourigny 

et  du  Gouget, — Hist.  Biog.     A  fellow  poet,  Lonceur,  thus  apostrophises  them  : — 

Bn  r&me  de  Moron  des  Agneaux  tiansform^s, 
Des  neuf  muses  leurs  sceurs. 

*  The  Protestant  successions  are  given  as  follow  : — 

Charles  d'Aigneaux  a  embrass^  la  religion  pretendue  reform^. 
Guillaume  d'Agneaux  niari(§  a  une  noble  demoiselle  et  auteur  de  la 

Grauberge. 
Guillaume  d'Agneaux  (II®  du  nom)  eut  pour  fils 
Jean  Philippe  d'Agneaux,  de  la  religion  protestante,  enlev^  par  lea 

ordres  du  Roi  Louis  XY.  et  ^lev^  auz  nouvelles  Catholiques. 


to  1460]       THE  AGNEAUX  IN  FRANCE  193 

had  proved  their  four  quarteriiigs,Guillaume,  Jacob, Eobert,  Jean, 
GuUlauine  Jean,  Christophe  d'Agneaux,  Electors  de  Bayeux.^ 

Shortly  before  the  great  revolution  effectually  broke  up  their 
old  family  estates,  a  visit  of  a  Scottish  kinsman  of  the  old  house 
is  thus  recorded  : 

"  Lors  de  la  guerre  d'Amerique,  un  membre  de  cet  famille 
(Baron  de  Luknow),  officier  supdrieur  dans  le  Eegiment  de  la 
Reine  fut  fait  prisonnier  et  est  venu  passer  plusieurs  mois  dans 
la  famille  Normande  ^tablie  pr6s  de  Bayeux." 

The  Baron  de  Luknow,  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  explain, 
represents  the  Baronet  of  Lochnaw,  and  the  superior  officer,  as 
nearly  as  we  can  judge,  is  Colonel  Montgomery  Agnew,  nephew 
of  Sir  James  Agnew  of  Lochnaw,  distinguished  at  the  capture 
of  Louisburg,  an  aide-de-camp  to  the  king,  and  who  served  in 
the  American  war.  This  was  probably  the  first  meeting  of  scions 
of  Saint  Martin  Lambs  since  the  battle  of  Formigny,  though 
happily,  now,  intimate  relations  are  re-established  between  both 
houses. 

When  on  a  visit  to  the  late  Marquis  d'Agneaux  at  his 
hospitable  chateau  of  Lisle  Marie,  he  mentioned  to  the  author 
that  amongst  his  earliest  recollections  was  that  of  Colonel 
Agnew  being  brought  to  their  home  by  his  grandfather,  who, 
recognising  his  name  in  the  lists  of  prisoners,  had  sought  him, 
claimed  him  as  a  kinsman,  become  answerable  for  his  security, 
and  entertained  him  until  regularly  exchanged. 

We  have  only  to  add  that  the  late  Marquis  paid  a  visit 
to  Lochnaw  in  1875,  and  was  a  witness  to  the  marriage  of  a 
daughter  of  the  house,  leaving  very  agreeable  impressions,  and 
that  his  grandson  has  inherited  "  les  Deux  Jumeaux,"  his  usual 
residence  being  the  Ch&teau  L'Isle  Marie,  identical  with  the 
Holme  or  Houlme,  the  Castel  aet  Hulme  of  the  Saxon  Chronicle. 

The  Marquis  St.  Marie  d'Agneaux  occupies  the  Ch&teau 
d'Agneaux,  and  has  also  kindly  given  the  author  much  family 
information. 

^  Harleian  MSS.  4581. — NobUiare  de  Normandie. 


VOL.  I 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  AGNEWS  IN  ENGLAND 

A.D.  1084  to  1360 

And  heralds  stickle  who  got  who 
So  many  thousand  years  ago. 

At  the  date  of  the  Domesday  survey  Herbert  d'Agneaux  owned 
eighty  acres  of  Redenhall  in  Norfolk/  and  a  few  years  later  had 
acquired  the  entire  manor.  "  Eedenhall  Manor,"  says  Bloom- 
field,  "  was  so  called  from  Eada  the  Dane,  lord  hereof  in  the 
time  of  Edward  the  Confessor.  It  was  a  mile  and  a  half  long 
and  a  mile  and  three  perches  wide,  and  paid  ten  pence  to  the 
Dane  geld.  It  extended  into  Aldborough  and  Stanton.  In  the 
former  were  fifteen  freemen,  in  the  latter  nine."  ^  It  was  owned 
by  Henry  de  Agneux  in  Henry  II/s  time.  This  Henry  was 
son  of  Walter,  grandson  of  that  Agneli  who  held  eighty  acres  at 
the  Conqueror's  survey. 

Eedenhall  was  on  the  banks  of  the  river  Waveney,  which 
divides  Norfolk  from  Suffolk ;  and  in  this  latter  county  his 
descendants,  if  not  he  himself,  had  considerable  possessions. 

His  brother  Peter  d'Agneaux  is  entered  in  the  Liber 
Wintonensis  as  a  householder  in  Winchester,  then  the  royal 
residence ;  and,  curiously  enough,  another  Norman  (also  hailing 

^  In  Radanahalla  Agneli  tenet  LXXX.  Acr. — Domesday ,  fol.  80. 

Agneli,  de  Agnellis,  ici  nous  retrouvons  une  noble  et  ancienne  famille 
Normande  ;  plus  tard  ils  deviurent  puissants  en  Angleterre. — Beeherches  sur  le 
Domesday,  Le  Claude  d'Anesy. 

^  In  connection  with  their  tenure  of  Redenhall  we  find  five  different  spellings 
of  the  family  name :  De  Agnis,  De  Agneux,  Agneus,  Agnells,  Agneli. — Bloom- 
field,  Norfolk,  iii.  248. 


1.  AlgDMui  en  Normuulle.  4.  Agneanien  Bourgogne. 

2.  AgDcw  of  LochnBW — Scotland.  6.  Agnuux  en  ProTsnce. 

3.  AgDBtnx  de  VUlt.  6.  Agneaui  (euly  Engliib),  daU  1298. 

7.  Sir  John  Afgnelt,  Hertfordahire. 


A.D.  I084  to  1360]  THE  AGNEWS  IN  ENGLAND       195 

from  St  Lo),  Lupus,  is  named  as  his  next-door  neighbour ;  the 
wolf  and  the  lamb  living  peaceably  together  in  this  paradise  of 
courtiers.^ 

Another  brother,  Bobert,  is  said  to  have  founded  a  third 
English  branch,  though  whether  in  Suffolk  or  Hertfordshire  is 
uncertain.* 

Herbert  himself  was  only  a  visitor  in  England,  residing 
principally  at  his  GhS^teau  d'Agneaux  on  the  Yire  ;  but  we 
learn  from  both  French  and  English  authority  he  bequeathed 
his  English  possessions  to  his  second  son  Henry,  who  thence- 
forward may  be  looked  upon  as  a  naturalised  Englishman. 

We  infer  a  very  early  date  for  the  establishment  of  a  branch 
in  Hertfordshire,  as  their  name  stiU  clings  to  two  manors  which 
they  once  possessed  —  Aignell  in  Hemel  Hempstead,  and 
Aignell  or  St.  AigneUs  in  Eedbourn.^ 

The  Norfolk  branch  we  can  trace  with  the  greatest  certainty 
as  to  name  or  date  up  to  the  reign  of  Bichard  Goeur  de  Lion. 
Herbert  d'Agneaux  bequeathed  Bedenhall  Manor  to  his  son 
Henry ;  and  his  son  or  grandson,  also  Henry,  is  mentioned  by 
contemporary  chronicles  as  a  man  of  considerable  position, 
whose  death  by  drowning  caused  much  sensation  at  the  period. 

As  members  of  the  royal  household,  Henry  de  Agneaux  and 
William  de  Courcy  attended  Henry  II.  in  a  progress  through 
Normandy*  in  1169;  the  king  holding  his  Christmas  court  at 

^  In  Wunegre  Stret,  Petros  Agnellus,  Radulphus  Lupus, 

In  Sildworden  Stret  uxor  Gaudfredi  de  Sancto  Laude. 

LiJber  WinUm,  viiL  65. 

'  Herbert  d'Aigneaux  returned  to  Normandy,  where  his  descendants  still 
subsist.  Robert  d'Agneaux  founded  a  second  branch,  extinct  about  1289, 
and  Peter  a  third. — Gabriel  Ogilvy,  JLea  ConqueraiUa  d^Angleterre  (a  painstaking 
Norman  genealogist,  but  often  incorrect). 

'  Of  the  latter  Chauncy  writes:  *'The  Manor  of  Aignell  undoubtedly 
borrowed  its  name  from  John  de  Aignel,  lord  hereof. — Chauncy's  Hertfordshire, 
593. 

*  The  Abbot  Benedict,  who  gives  a  circumstantial  account  of  the  progress, 
thus  narrates  the  catastrophe :  *'  Una  illarum  (navium)  qua  recentior  et  ceteris 
spleiididior  Tidebatur  et  melior  ;  onusta  ditioribus  et  nobilioribus  familise  Regis, 
proh  dolor !  in  ipso  diei  diluculo  fluctibus  maris  obruta  submersa  est.  Submersi 
autem  in  ea  sunt  Henricus  de  Agnis  nobilissimus  Baronum  Anglise,  et  uxor  ejus. 
.  .  .   et  multi  alii  de  nobilioribus  Anglic." — Benedict,  AbhaSf  i.  2. 


196     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A,D.  10 84 

Nantes,  where  Agneaux  was  joined  by  his  wife  with  two  of  his 
childrea  When  recrossing  the  Channel  the  following  March  a 
hurricane  scattered  the  royal  squadron,  and  one  of  the  largest 
and  best  found  ships,  in  which  were  Agneaux,  his  wife  and 
children,  and  other  passengers  of  distinction,  foundered. 

His  successor,  also  Henry,  was  presumedly  an  infant  at  the 
time  of  the  catastrophe.  That  he  lived  at  Bedenhall  we  know, 
and  that  in  due  time  he  married,  our  knowledge  being  derived 
from  the  rather  startling  record  that  his  lands  were  seized, — ^he 
being  a  rebel  to  King  Richard, — ^reserving,  however,  to  the  Lady 
Mabel,  his  wife,  her  dower.^ 

This  forfeiture,  as  to  its  date  and  attendant  circumstances, 
certainly  fits  in,  if  it  does  not  actually  substantiate,  with  the 
Ulster  tradition  that  Henry  de  Agneux  accompanied  Sir  John 
de  Courcy,  the  son  of  his  father's  comrade  William  de  Courcy, 
in  his  conquest  of  that  province ;  that  his  name  is  preserved, 
whether  in  Agnew's  Hill,  or  in  its  older  form  Carnanagholy ;  and 
that,  having  conquered  and  parcelled  out  the  country,  De  Courcy 
and  all  his  band  fell  under  the  displeasure  of  King  John,  and  by 
him  were  declared  rebels  to  the  king.  Had  the  accusation  been 
one  of  actual  rather  than  constructive  treason,  we  can  hardly 
suppose  that  Henry  d' Agneaux  would  have  been  allowed  to 
return,  as  he  apparently  did,  to  lands  in  Normandy,^  and  been 
allowed  to  compound  for  real  rebellion  by  a  fine. 

However  this  may  have  been  as  respects  this  branch,  we 

The  French  account  is :  ''Cinq  bdtimens  de  la  flotte  dispersde  sor  la  mer 
furent  submergis  avec  quatie  cent  personages ;  dans  le  nombre  de  passagera 
^taient  Henri  d' Aignel,  Baron  d' Angleterre. " — Depping,  Hist,  de  Normaundity  ii.  80. 

And  the  English  version:  ''A  great  tempest  arose;  a  fleet  of  fifty  ships 
which  attended  the  king  were  dispersed  and  terribly  shattered.  One  of  them  sank, 
on  board  which  was  Badolph  de  Bellamont,  the  king's  physician,  and  Henry  de 
Agnis,  who  is  called  by  a  contemporaiy  writer  the  most  noble  of  the  barons  of 
England." — Lord  Lyttleton,  Henry  II,  ^  iv.  292. 

^  In  1196,  Henry  de  Agneux,  being  a  rebel  to  King  Richard,  that  king  8ei2ed 
his  lands  and  granted  them  to  Ralph  de  Lenham  for  200  marks,  saving  to  Mabel 
de  Agneux  her  dower. — Bloomfield,  Norfolk,  iii.  248. 

*  "Le  Manoir  et  Motte  de  la  Roque  ou  demeuraient  Henri  d' Agneux  et 
Jehan  son  fils,  chevaliers." — Hozier,  Armorial  Oinircd  de  France, 

Bloomfield  tells  us  John  Agneaux  was  heir  to  Redenhall,  but  failed  to 
recover  it. 


to  1360]       THE  AGNEWS  IN  ENGLAND  197 

substantiate  from  Bloomfield  authoritatively  these  facts,  that 
a  Henry  d'Agneaux,  direct  descendant  of  "Agneli"  of  the 
Domesday,  owned  Eedenhall  Manor  in  the  reign  of  Henry  II. ; 
that  a  Henry  d'Agneaux,  for  some  cause  untold,  incurred  the 
king's  displeasure  in  the  ensuing  reign,  and  that  his  heir  of  line 
was  John.^ 

But  whilst  we  find  Henry  and  John  of  a  now  well-established 
English  branch  recrossing,  from  circumstances,  the  channel,  it  is 
interesting  to  note  interchange  of  visits  between  the  N^orman 
stock  and  their  connections  in  England. 

In  our  last  chapter  we  find  intermarriages  between  the 
Agneaux,  Bohun,  Hommet,  and  De  Saies.  In  particular  we 
named  a  gift  to  an  abbey  for  prayers  to  her  husband's  soul  by 
Adeliza  d' Agneaux,  witnessed  by  her  brother-in-law  Engler  de 
Bohun.  A  year  or  two  previous  we  trace  in  English  chartularies 
this  same  H^lie  d'Agneaux,  on  a  visit  to  the  same  Bohun, 
witnessing  a  gift  of  Engler's  to  the  abbey  of  Quarr.^ 

In  the  first  year  of  King  John  (1199)  we  find  William  de 
Humet,  Constable  of  N^ormandy,  making  a  grant  at  Stamford  to 
the  nuns  of  St.  Michael  there,  in  presence  of  Jordan  de  Humet, 
William  de  Saie,  Eodolphus  de  Agnis,  Gileberte  du  Val ;  * 
and  within  a  year  we  find  the  same  Bodolphus  de  Agnis  signing 
in  French  form  "  Baoult  d' Agneaux  "  as  a  witness  to  his  kinsman 
Bichard  de  Hommet  of  a  grant  in  Normandy.  Bodolph  de 
Agneaux  is  styled  of  Kettering. 

Thomas  d' Agneaux  is  entered  as  an  owner  in  county  Buck- 

^  A  clerical  error  seems  to  have  crept  into  Bloomfield's  text,  writing  Walter 
instead  of  Henry.  His  words  are:  ''King  Richard  seized  all  his  lands,  and 
granted  them  to  Ralph  de  Lenham,  saving  to  Mabel  de  Agneauher  dower,  and  to 
Peter  de  Leonibns  (Lenham)  his  goods  and  com  sown  on  the  land ;  and  in  1199 
Walter  himself  confirmed  the  grant.  In  1200  Roger  de  Lenham  owned  one 
moiety,  and  Henry  de  Agnells  settled  it  on  him  by  fine. — Bloomfield,  Norfolk, 
iii.248. 

From  this  it  appears  Lenham  advanced  the  money  for  the  fine.  Henry 
being  Mabel  de  Agneau's  husband,  and  a  Henry  in  possession  in  1200,  the 
"  Walter  himself  in  1199  "  should  obviously  read  Henry. 

'  Carta  Engelgeris  de  Bohun  de  Hasileia  in  Insula  de  Yicta  (following 
several  btshops),  +  Helie  de  AigneU,  +  Gaufrede  Rufi,  +  Robert  de  Brehal,  etc. 
— Dugdale,  Moruuticon,  i,  761. 

'  Dugdalcy  Monasticon,  L  489  ;  Feck,  History  of  Stamford. 


198     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  10 84 

ingham  of  Chalfunte  Sancti  Petri,  Chalfunte  Sancti  Egida, 
which  last  we  take  to  be  the  pretty  village  of  Chalfont,  St. 
Giles,  near  Uxbridge,^  of  classic  memory  as  Milton's  favourite 
retreat.  And  early  in  the  thirteenth  century  Bobertus  de  Agnis 
gets  seizure  by  royal  mandate  of  lands  in  SufTolk  and  Essex. 

To  revert  to  Hertfordshire,  besides  the  manors  of  Aignell  in 
Bedboume  and  Hemel  Hempstead,  the  Agneaux  possessed  Pentlai 
or  Penley  in  the  former  parish,  which  was  their  usual  residence.' 
The  names  of  their  neighbours  in  the  reign  of  Eling  John,  as 
given  by  Chauncy,  have  a  curious  significance. 

Near  to  Penley  was  the  manor  of  Gadesden,  the  residence  of 
Soger  de  la  Zouche,  who  had  inherited  through  the  heiress  of 
a  daughter  of  a  Bohun.^ 

Beyond  Gadesden  was  Ware,  lately  inherited  by  Saier  de 
Quenci  from  William  de  Sale*  (lately  named).  It  may  be 
noted  that  the  Priory  of  Ware  half  a  century  later  was  the 
house  of  his  lady  when  her  son  Boger  was  Lord  of  Galloway. 

Adjoining  both  manors  were  the  lands  of  Hitchin,  originally 
assigned  to  Peter  de  Valognes,  a  knight  of  the  Cotentin, 
carried  by  his  two  daughters,  co-heiresses,  to  David  Comyn  and 
Bernard  Baliol. 

The  sons  of  the  lords  named  of  Ware  and  Hitchin  married 
Helen  and  Dervorgille,  daughters  and  co-heiresses  of  Alan,  Lord 
of  Galloway,  and  became  Lords  of  Galloway  in  their  turn. 
Boger  de  Quenci's  daughters  carried  his  honours  to  Alexander 
Comyn  (son  of  David),  and  Alan,  a  son  of  Boger  de  la  Zouche. 

The  son  of  Baliol's  wife  Dervorgille  became  King  of  Scotland, 
and  a  daughter  married  another  Comyn,  Justiciary  of  Galloway. 

We  have  therefore  the  coincidence  that  the  descendants  of 
a  knot  of  Anglo-Normans,  first  connected  by  ties  of  blood  in 

^  Hardy,  Rotuli  LUerarmn  Clausarum  in  Turri  Londonensif  voL  i.  p.  882. 

'  Penley  in  Domesday  Book ;  Pentlai  between  Tring  and  Berkhampstead,  by 
the  Bolbume  river.  King  William  granted  this  manor  to  Earl  Morton.  The 
next  lord  that  I  find  is  John  de  Aygnell. — Chauncy,  Hertfordshire,  fol.  690. 

'  Gadesden  was  previously  owned  by  Edward  de  Saresborg,  married  to  a 
Bohun  ;  their  daughter  and  heiress  married  De  la  Zouche. 

*  At  the  Conquest  Ware  was  assigned  to  Hugh  de  Grantesmailer,  of  whom  two 
daughters  and  heiresses  married  respectively  Robert  de  Courcy  and  William  de  Saie. 


to  1360]       THE  AGNEWS  IN  ENGLAND  199 

France^  and  afterwards  by  those  of  property  in  Hertfordshire, 
gave  to  Galloway  (to  which  some  of  them  had  probably  at  that 
period  never  turned  a  thought) — six  overlords,  a  justiciary,  and  a 
line  of  hereditary  sheriffs,  as  well  as  two  crowned  Scottish  kings.^ 

The  first  move  in  the  sequence  of  events  by  which  these 
results  were  brought  about  seems  to  have  been  the  appearance 
of  Alan  upon  the  scene  to  support  the  English  barons  in  their 
rising  against  King  John,  of  which  Saier  de  Quenci  was  the 
moving  spirit.  The  friendships  formed  round  their  camp  fires 
led  to  renewed  intercourse  between  the  nobles  who  obtained  the 
Magna  Charta.  Alan's  eldest  daughter  was  married  to  De 
Quenci's  eldest  son ;  Baliol,  who  was  also  concerned  at  Eunny- 
mede,  secured  the  hand  of  another ;  and  through  these  heiresses 
all  the  lords  named  became  directly  interested  in  Galloway. 

Although  the  Agneaux  were  not  in  the  rank  of  the  greater 
barons,  such  as  De  Quenci  and  BaUol,  we  have  direct  evidence 
that  they  supported  these  magnates  with  sufficient  effect  to 
incur  the  resentment  of  the  king;  and  that,  contrary  to  the 
engagements  he  had  made  with  the  leaders,  he  forfeited  the 
estates  of  those  who  had  assisted  them,  those  of  the  Agneaux 
being  named,  and  their  lands  in  the  eastern  counties  being 
especially  ravaged  by  his  mercenaries  when  on  his  march  to 
Lincoln  in  1217,  which  he  reached  to  die  on  the  19th  October, 
after  having  been  half  drowned  previously  in  the  Wash. 

Within  a  week  of  his  death  we  find  Eobert  d' Agneaux  (whom 
we  believe  to  have  been  the  owner  of  the  Hertfordshire  manor  as 
well)  restored  to  his  privileges  by  a  mandate  from  the  council  ;* 
and  three  years  later  he  is  named  a  Lord  of  Assize.^ 

^  Roger  de  Quenci,  John  Baliol,  Alexander  Ck)myn,  Alan  de  la  Zouche, 
John  Baliol  (2d),  Edward  Baliol,  successively  lords  ;  Alexander  and  John  Comyn, 
justiciaries ;  John  and  Edward,  crowned  kings  of  Scotland ;  Agnews,  hereditary 
sheriffs. 

^  26  Oct  ann.  1  Henry  III.  The  Sheriff  of  Suffolk  and  Essex  is  desired 
to  give  sasine  to  Robertus  de  Agnis  of  aU  his  lands  and  other  pertinents, 
"  qualiter  inde  habuit  dre  qua  recessit  a  fide  et  servicio  Domini  Regis  Johannis, 
prions  noetrL" — Hardy,  Itotuli  in  Turri  LandoneTiny  i.  882. 

'  The  Sheriff  of  Norfolk  and  Suffolk  is  instructed  to  bring  certain  persons 
named  before  Robertum  de  Agnens,  Robertum  de  Coleville,  "justiciarios  con- 
stitntos  per  preceptum  nostrum." — 16th  October  1224,  ib,  p.  688. 


200     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  IO84 

In  the  criminal  records  of  the  period  we  find  several  Agneaux 
figuring  not  as  judges,  but  defendants,  on  charges  very  similar 
to  those  to  which  young  Galloway  lords  were  often  called  upon 
to  reply  at  "  Justici  Aires  "  in  their  own  province. 

Thus  "  Eadulphus  de  Agneaux  of  Kettering  "  in  1277  comes 
in  for  the  kings  will  at  an  assize  at  Lincoln  for  slaughter,  paying 
therefore  twelve  solidi  to  Alexander  Cacherel.^ 

"  Eobert,  son  of  Aygnell  of  Multon,"  compounds  with  Adam 
Lepeter  for  goods  spoiled  (Scotice  spulzeit)  by  the  said  Eobert, 
and  compounds  for  seven  solidi  (ut  cancelerunt  ejus  latrocinum). 

John  Aignel  is  adjudged  to  pay  Peter  de  Bures  three  solidi 
for  assault.  This  points  him  out  as  of  Penley,  De  Bures  being  a 
neighbour.  This  John  was  himself  a  pursuer  in  court  for  the 
manor  of  Bedenhall,  but  the  decision  was  against  him.*  Never- 
theless he  otherwise  prospered,  and  we  can  trace  his  family 
continuously  for  several  generations,  until,  whether  from  pecuni- 
ary or  other  difficulties,  they  migrated  northwards.* 

His  son  was  a  man  of  some  note,  as  a  knight  serving  his 
sovereign  and  his  shire, — a  soldier  and  a  senator, — and,  what 
would  now  seem  incompatible  with  either,  a  judge  of  assize,  as 
well  as  acting  as  sheriff. 

From  Parliamentary  writs,  and  from  the  Pipe  EoUs,  we  can 
trace  minutely  his  doings  in  all  these  capacities.  A  few  speci- 
mens will  suffice. 

In  1296  we  find  Johannes  d'Aygnel  summoned  to  per- 
form military  service  in  person  against  the  Scots.  Muster  at 
Newcastle-upon-Tyne,  1  March,  24  Edward  I.* 

A  third  letter  to  the  same  sherifif  styles  Robertus  de  Agnens  "  Jnsticiarias 
Noster,"  ib,  p.  63.  Quoted  by  a  French  genealogy  as  *' Justicier  da  Roi"  That 
may  mean  rather  judge  than  grand  justiciary. 

^  Eotuli  Ewndredorunif  Co,  Lincoln, 

^  "  In  1264  Peter  de  Savoy  surrendered  Redenhall  into  King  Henry  IL's 
hands  for  the  use  of  Prince  Edward  (he  apparently  held  it  in  mortgage  from  the 
Agneaux).  The  prince  granted  it  to  Nicolas  de  Yatingdon.  John  de  Agneux 
sued  Bartholomew  de  Yatingdon  as  heir,  but  failed  to  recover. — Bloomfield, 
Norfolk,  iii  248. 

'  Pedigrees,  from  old  chartularies  of  St.  Albans,  of  the  greatest  family  interest, 
not  otherwise  readily  accessible  to  him,  were  kindly  communicated  by  Mr.  Cussans 
to  the  author. 

*  Parliammtary  JFriis, 


to  1360]       THE  AGNEWS  IN  ENGLAND  201 

Thence,  as  a  matter  of  history,  we  know  that  the  king  made 
a  rapid  march,  stormed  and  took  the  castle  of  Berwick,  then 
held  a  Parliament,  and  summoned  the  clergy  and  laity  of  Scot- 
land to  swear  fealty  to  himself.  Among  those  that  trooped  in, 
John  Aygnell  may  have  renewed  acquaintance  with  such  of  the 
Barons  of  Wyggeton  and  Dunfres  as  were  of  Hertford  origin, 
scions  of  the  Zouches,  De  Quencis,  and  Comyns,  little  think- 
ing that  a  little  later  his  own  family  would  have  a  firmer 
foothold  in  Gralloway  than  any  of  them.  In  short,  though 
probably  he  was  little  aware  of  the  historic  interest  destined 
for  the  display,  he  was  a  witness  of  the  signing  of  the  Bagman 
Roll. 

In  1295  Edward  I.  summoned  the  English  Parliament  to 
meet  at  York,  and  on  this  John  Aygnel  sat  as  Knight  of  the 
Shire  for  Hertford.^ 

In  1300  Sir  John  Agynell  was  named  one  of  the  justices 
of  Oyer  and  Terminer,*  and  the  following  year  was  elected  to 
be  one  of  the  assessors  and  collectors  of  the  fifteenth  granted  to 
the  king  by  the  Parliament  at  Lincoln. 

Upon  Edward  I.'s  death  in  1306  a  Parliament  was  sum- 
moned to  meet  at  Northampton,  when  Sir  John  Aygnel  was 
re-elected  for  Hertfordshire,  and  sat  on  this  the  first,  also  on 
the  second  Parliament  of  Edward  IL^ 

In  1373  we  find  him  by  the  Pipe  RoUs  serving  the  office  of 
High  Sheriff  for  Hertford,*  and  as  such  he  appears  in  an  entry 
in  the  chartulary  of  St.  Albans.  "  Oliver  de  Burdigans  granted 
all  his  lands  called  Le  Troy  to  the  Abbey  of  St.  Albans,  wit- 
nessed by  Sir  John  Aignel,  Sir  Eichard  Chamberlain,  and  Sir 
Stephen  de  Cheyndut,  the  18  July,  8  Edward  11."* 

By  a  pedigree  compiled  from  entries  of  various  requisitions 
in  the  chartulary  of  this  Abbey,  it  appears  that  Sir  John 

^  All  these  attendances  are  to  be  found  in  the  Parliamentary  Returns  of 
Members  for  English  Parliaments,  moved  for  by  Right  Hon.  Gerard  Noel,  M.P., 
but  in  the  text  are  usually  quoted  from  Ohauncy's  ffertfordshire. 

*  Commission  tested  at  Bury  St.  Edmunds,  10  May,  28  Ed.  I. 
'  Commission  tested  at  Linlithgow,  1  Nov.,  29  Ed.  I. 

*  Then  written  John  de  Aygnel  of  Pentlai. 
^  Chauncy,  fol.  477. 


202  HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY   [A.D.  IO84 

Aygnell  ^  had  three  sons — Peter,  William,  and  Adam.  The  two 
eldest  predeceased  him  ;  but  William  left  a  son,  John,^  between 
whom  and  Adam  he  divided  his  estates.  Adam  was  succeeded 
by  a  son,  also  John.*  One  of  these  Johns  was  the  progenitor  of 
the  Agnews  of  Lochnaw,  the  only  daughter  and  heiress  of  the 
other  John  being  ancestress  of  the  Earls  Vemey,  now  repre- 
sented by  Sir  Harry  Vemey  of  Claydon. 

The  third  John  Aygnel  married  Katherine,  daughter  of 
John  de  Chilterne,  of  Rickmeresworth,*  and  stands  thus  on  the 
family  tree : 

Justice  Robert  Aygnell 

I 

John  de  AygneU 

I 

Jastice  Sir  John  de  AygneU,  M.P.,  1298-1309 


I 


"I 


Peter  Aignel  William  Aignel  Adam  Aignell 

I  I 

John  de  Aignel,  M.P.,  1339-1360,  John  de  AigneU 
m.  Elatherine  de  Chilterne  ;  | 

remarried  Sir  Andrew  daughter  m.  Sir 

de  Bures  John  de  la  Haye 

I 

John,  Andrew, 

supposed  daughter  m.  Williain 

Constable  of  Herts.  de  Vemey,  1367. 

Katherine  de  Chilterne  seems  to  have  brought  her  husband 
considerable  property,*  and  he  appears  to  have  lived  in  style 

^  Chauncy  quotes  this  curioas  charter  from  the  records  of  St.  Albans: 
"  Oliver  de  Burdigans,  8  Edward  II.  (1315),  granted  all  his  land  called  Le  Troy, 
and  also  his  lands  and  tenements  which  Geoffrey  Turkeyld  and  Alexander  the 
Fool,  his  bond- tenants,  held  of  him,  to  the  abbot  and  convent  of  St.  Albans, 
which  deed  was  attested  16th  July  by  Sir  John  Aignel,  Sir  Richard  Chamber- 
lain, Sir  Stephen  de  Cheyndut,  John  de  Lattene,  Roger  de  Meredene,  and  many- 
others." 

•  John  de  Aignell,  who  held  this  manor  (Penley)  an.  10  Edward  II.,  without 
question  was  lord  hereof,  and  grandson  and  heir  of  John  de  Aygnell,  who 
served  in  Parliament  held  an.  26  of  Edward  I.,  and  in  the  Parliaments  of  an.  1 
of  Edward  II.,  and  an.  2  of  the  same  king. — Chauncy,  fol.  1364. 

•  Roger  de  Messeworth  held  of  the  king  land  in  Tring,  which  he  alienated 
to  Adam  Aignel,  which  alienation  Roger's  son  William  confirmed  to  John 
Aignel,  son  and  heir  of  Adam  ;  and  this  John  Aignel  held  of  the  king.  John, 
son  of  William  Aignel,  was  kinsman  and  next  heir  of  the  said  John,  the  son  of 
Adam. — Extracts  from  minutes  of  evidence  of  an  inquisition  held  at  Aldebury, 
Co.  Hertford,  2d  Oct.  1364  :  Oesta  Ahbati  Sane.  AJhani, 

^  Now  Rickmansworth. 

•  In  her  widowhood,  20th  April  1376,  Katherine,  widow  of  Andrew  de  Bures, 


to  1360]       THE  AGNEWS  IN  ENGLAND  203 

at  his  manor  house  at  Pentley,  holding  his  courts,^  and  re- 
presenting his  county  in  Parliament  from  1339  until  his 
death.^ 

Some  years  before  this,  however,  he  seems  to  have  got  into 
difSculties,  and  parted  with  one  of  his  manors  of  Aignels  to  the 
Abbey  of  St.  Albans,*  and  eventually  with  the  manor  place  of 
Pentlai  to  Sir  Andrew  de  Bures.^  He  died  in  1361,  leaving  a 
son  under  age  to  the  guardianship  of  his  brother-in-law,  John 
de  Chilteme,  and  was  buried  beside  his  father  and  grandfather, 
Sir  John  Aygnell,  in  the  Church  of  Albury,  the  family  burying- 
place,  in  the  chancel  of  which  their  arms  are  (or  were  till 
lately)  to  be  seen  as  given  by  Chauncy:  azure  two  chevrons 
or,  on  a  canton  argent,  a  holy  lamb  gules,  with  staff  and  banner. 

previously  of  John  de  Aygnell,  grants  to  her  brother  Henry  de  Chilteme  all  her 
right  in  lands  in  Herts  and  Backs  which  he  had  received  from  the  said  Henry, 
which  had  belonged  formerly  to  her  father  John  de  Chilteme. — Cussans,  Hert- 
fordshire, iii.  138. 

^  John  de  Aygnel  held  a  court  in  this  manor  in  the  nineteenth  year  of 
Edward  II.,  and  several  other  courts  from  an.  2  until  the  twenty-fourth  year  of 
Edward  III.— Chauncy,  f.  694. 

'  A  catalogue  of  those  eminent  persons  that  are  to  be  found  upon  record  who 
served  this  county  in  Parliament : 

Edward  I. 
26.  John  de  Aygnel.  Bobert  de  Hoo. 

30.  John  de  Aygnel.  Ralph  de  Munchancey. 

Edward  II. 

1.  John  de  Aygnel.  Gerard  de  Braybrock. 

2.  John  de  Aygnel.  Ralph  de  Monte  Caviso. 

Edward  III. 
12.  John  de  Aygnel.  Philip  de  Aylesby. 

33.  John  de  Aygnel.  Ralph  de  Monte  Caviso. 

Chauncy,  Hertfordshire,  fol.  23. 

'  This  is  now  known  as  St.  Agnells,  as  to  which  Mr.  Cussans,  historian  of 
the  shire,  wrote  to  the  author:  "There  are  at  the  present  time  two  manors  in 
Hertfordshire  known  as  Agnells  or  Aynells  in  Redboume  and  Hemel  Hempstead, 
both  called  after  the  famUy  of  Agnell.  It  is  probable,  after  the  two  came  into 
different  hands,  that  the  Abbey  Manor  was  caUed  St.  Albans  Agnells  to  dis- 
tinguish it  from  the  other,  and  that  in  course  of  time  the  '  Albans  *  was  dropped. 
—10th  April  1879." 

^  Of  this  manor  in  the  history  Mr.  Cussans  says :  "This  manor  was  possessed 
at  a  very  early  period  by  the  family  of  AigneU— the  name  of  a  family  in  France, 
spelt  in  a  variety  of  ways :  Agnels,  Agnes,  Aygnell,  Agneauz,  Aynell.  It  is 
from  this  family  Sir  Andrew  Agnew  of  Lochnaw,  Wigtonshire,  deduces  his 
descent"— Cussans,  Hwtfordshire,  iiL  282. 


204     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  IO84 

There  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  first  English  branches  carried 
three  lambs  gules,  differenced  from  those  of  Normandy,  which 
were  argent;  these  further  differenced  by  the  Hertfordshire 
branch  with  the  chevrons  which  had  been  carried  by  the 
branches  in  Burgundy  and  Provence. 

Notwithstanding  dilapidations,  we  find  from  inquests  that 
the  younger  John  Aygnell  was  infefted  into  what  may  be  called 
very  pretty  pickings  from  the  family  estates;  those  in  Hert- 
fordshire alone  we  give  below.^  But  his  over-zealous  guardian 
launched  himself  and  ward  into  lawsuits  with  the  powerful 
Abbot  of  St.  Albans,  urged  with  a  bitterness  that  led  to  feud, 
from  which  the  young  heir  suffered  much  in  pocket  and  himself 
in  person. 

It  is  somewhat  curious  that  whilst  these  entanglements 
were  undoubtedly  the  cause  of  the  last  of  the  Hertfordshire 
Agneaux  changing  his  domicile  and  setting  out  to  push  his 
fortunes  farther  north,  the  records  of  the  actions  at  law  in 
which  he  was  worsted  (lately  brought  to  light)  enable  us  satis- 
factorily to  unravel  matters  connected  with  his  pedigree  which 
seemed  diflBcult  to  reconcile  and  hopelessly  forgotten.^ 

^  The  said  John,  son  of  William  Aygnel,  held  at  his  death  of  the  king : 

One  acre  of  meadow  land  in  Rickmeresworth,  called  Le  Estmade  ;  one  acre  and 
a  rood  in  Rickmeresworth  in  the  hamlet  of  Crookslee,  his  principal  messuage  in 
Rickmeresworth,  called  Le  More,  with  forty  acres  of  land  and  eighteen  acres  of 
meadow  and  three  acres  of  pasture  held  by  petty  sergeantry  of  the  king  ;  in  the 
town  of  Rickmeresworth  half  a  hyde  of  land  containing  thirty  acres  held  of  the 
Abbot  of  St.  Albans  for  military  service ;  in  the  hamlet  of  Danielside  certain 
tenements ;  and  in  hamlet  of  Crooklee  a  tenement  called  Elysonde  held  by 
military  service  of  the  Abbot.  One 'messuage,  one  carucate  of  land,  fourteen 
acres  of  meadow,  ten  acres  of  pasture,  five  acres  of  wood  with  appurtenances 
called  Asseles,  and  one  virgate  of  land  called  Hanekwellesland,  held  in  free 
socage  of  the  heirs  of  Stephen-ath-grove  ;  fifteen  acres  called  Le  Stratefield  held 
of  John  of  Muridene  in  free  socage. 

In  the  town  of  Caeshoo  (Cashiobury)  one  water-mill  called  Tolfade,  one 
meadow  called  Le  Mullemade,  a  small  croft  called  Le  Mulm  Croft,  and  one 
several  bank  of  the  river  Colne  held  of  John  Chilteme. 

In  Redboume  one  messuage,  one  carucate  of  land,  three  acres  of  wood,  and 
twenty-one  shillings  rent  held  of  the  Abbot. — Quoted  by  Cussans,  Hertford- 
shire,  iii.  187. 

'  John  de  Chilterne  appears  to  have  caused  Thomas  de  la  Mare,  Abbot  of  St. 
Albans,  much  trouble.  De  Chilteme  was  accused  of  farming  oertain  tenements 
of  the  Abbey,  which  belonged  to  a  minor  John,  son  of  John  son  of  William 
Aygnel,  and  refusing  to  pay  the  accustomed  dues  to  the  Abbot     The  latter 


to  1360]       THE  AGNEWS  IN  ENGLAND  205 

Katherine  de  Aygnell  shortly  after  this  remarried  with  Sir 
Andrew  de  Bures,  the  purchaser  of  Penley  manor  house,  to 
whom  she  bore  a  son,  Andrew,  and  John  de  Aygnell  returned  to 
pass  the  years  before  entering  upon  manhood  to  the  home  of 
his  infancy,  over  which  his  mother  was  thus  again  called  to 
preside. 

On  reaching  man's  estate,  although,  as  we  have  seen,  he 
inherited  various  lands,  it  is  probable  there  was  upon  them  no 
manorial  residency,  and  that  these  were  heavily  encumbered ; 
and  on  his  stepfather's  death  in  1365  the  baronial  hall  of 
Penley  passed,  as  a  matter  of  course,  to  his  brother  Andrew, 
and  he  was  only  an  inmate  upon  sufferance. 

Bealising,  therefore,  what  he  could  from  such  lands  as  he 
had,  whether  arrangements  for  his  final  settlement  in  Galloway 
had  been  preconcerted  with  his  many  neighbours  who  had  con- 
nections there  or  not,  he  bid  a  long  adieu  to  his  Hertfordshire 
haunts,  and  rode  forth  in  search  of  adventure.^ 

Much  about  the  same  time  John  de  Aignel,  son  of  Adam, 
co-heir  with  his  grandfather,  died,  leaving  an  only  daughter,  who 
carried  his  lands  to  Sir  John  de  la  Haye,  whose  great-grand- 
daughter married  John,  son  and  heir  of  Sir  Balph  Verney, 
Member  and  Lord  Mayor  of  London  1466.  Ancestors  of  the 
Earls  Vemey,  represented  as  before  said  by  Sir  Harry  Verney, 
in  whose  hall  of  Middle  Claydon,  on  an  old  shield  above  the 
mantelpiece,  among  the  quarterings,  are  the  arms  of  John  de 

enforced Jhis  claim  by  driying  off  fifty  of  De  Cliilteme'8  cattle,  at  the  same  time 
requiring  him  to  send  their  fodder.  This  the  obstinate  John  de  Chilteme 
refused  to  do,  and  they  died  of  starvation.  "  Whereupon,"  the  pious  chronicler 
records,  "De  Chilteme  became  more  obstinate  than  ever."  At  length  it  was 
adjudged  that  John  should  pay  the  Abbot  a  thousand  marks  as  compensation, 
but  instead  of  doing  so  he  went  off  to  join  the  king's  army  in  France.  On  his 
return  the  Abbot  caused  his  arrest,  and  he  was  committed  to  the  Fleet  Prison. 
While  there  he  procured  an  inquisition  to  be  taken  to  prove  how  little  he  owed 
the  Abbey.  This  was  taken  at  Albury,  2d  October  1865.  The  result,  as  showing 
the  lands  in  Hertfordshire  owned  by  John  Aygnel,  are  given  in  the  note  above. — 
G€8ta  AhhaJtum  Sancii  Albanij  iii.  pp.  3-35.  Quoted  in  Cussans's  Hertford' 
BhirCf  iiL  187. 

^  Mr.  Cttssans,  the  greatest  authority  of  the  day  on  Hertfordshire  genealogies, 
writes :  ''The  name  (Aygnell)  does  not  appear  after  1859  on  the  Rolls  of  Parlia- 
ment ;  it  is  probable,  therefore,  that  shortly  after  this  time  the  family  either 
removed  or  became  reduced." 


206  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY    [AD.   IO84-1360 

Aignel,  bearing  the  chevrons  and  holj  lamb  gules,  with  staff  and 
banner,  as  in  the  burying-place  at  Albury. 

Considering  the  many  ramifications  of  the  family  in  Eng- 
land, and  how  frequently  the  name  occurs  in  rolls  and  inquests 
during  the  three  centuries  preceding,  it  seems  somewhat  strange 
that  it  should  have  suddenly  disappeared  by  the  failure  of 
heirs-male  in  one  branch  of  Sir  John  Aygnell's  heirs,  and  the 
migration  of  the  other. 

Having  been  at  pains  to  trace  cadets  of  county  families  of 
older  generations,  we  have  only  succeeded  in  recovering  two 
names — Eadulphus  or  Ealph  Aignell,  an  ecclesiastic  in  County 
Hertford  ^  in  1381 ;  Andrew,  son  of  George  Aignell,  in  baptismal 
register  of  St.  Mary,  Aldermary,  1575.  The  first  of  the  Anglo- 
Normans  of  whom  we  have  authentic  record,  as  well  as  the  last, 
south  of  the  Tweed,  being  thus  appropriately  Andrew. 

As  before  said,  the  Agneaux  line  thus  ran  in  two  manors 
of  Aignell,  as  also  further  on  Daynell  and  Danielside.  Anglo- 
Norman  surnames,  when,  as  was  not  uncommon  at  the  period, 
they  were  adopted  by  their  retainers  of  humble  rank,  take 
curious  forms  ;  thus  De  Aygnell  became  Daniels  ;  Pied-de-fer, 
Puddephatt ;  De  la  Mare,  the  name  of  the  haughty  Abbot  of  St. 
Albans,  is  remembered  in  DolUmore ;  and  d'Ayeville,  still  more 
uneuphoneously  as  Devil.^ 

^  Mr.  Cassans,  specially  referred  to,  adds :  *'In  1587  Balph  Aignell,  clericus, 
one  of  the  executors  of  Thomas  le  Gros,  conveys  the  manor  of  Fameauz  Felham 
to  Thomas  Bydeford." 

3  '*  Agneau,  Agnell,  Aynel,  are  identical.  I  should  be  by  no  means  unwill- 
ing to  believe  that  Daniels  is  not  D*Aynells.  I  took  some  pains  to  trace  the 
common  Hertfordshire  names  of  Devoil  (Devil  sometimes)  and  Puddephatt.  The 
former  I  traced  through  old  deeds  and  registers  through  Devil,  Defile,  Deovil, 
Devoile,  to  d'Ayeville ;  the  latter  from  Puddephatt  to  Fedifat,  to  Fedifer,  to 
Pied-de-fer  ;  the  DoUimores  are  De  la  Mares. 

**  T.  £.  Cttssaks 
**  179  Junction  Road,  10^  JprU  1875. 

"To  Sir  Andrew  Agnew,  Bart." 

In  Galloway  the  population  generally  keep  more  correctly  to  original  forms. 
The  "Bou  o'  Niel,"  Gordon,  and  Gumming  (Comyn),  are  phonetically  true; 
Eraser  changes  to  Frissel,  De  Veir  to  Weir  ;  Taillefer  is  little  changed  in  Telfer. 
Among  the  baronage  the  changes  are  not  for  the  better.  In  Galloway,  Yaux 
or  De  Vallibus  (intermediately  Woauss)  is  now  Vans  ;  d'Agneaux,  and  d* Aygnell, 
Agnew ;  Mondavilla  (in  England  Mandeville),  MundweU ;  De  Vesci,  Yertel ; 
De  Monte  Alto,  Mowatt. 


CHAPTEE   X 

THE  AGNEWS  IN  IRELAIH) 

A.D.  1365 

His  plate-jack  was  braced,  and  his  helmet  was  laced, 

And  his  vaunt-brace  of  proof  he  wore, 

At  his  saddle-girth  was  a  good  steel  sputhe 

Full  ten  pound  weight  and  more. 

The  Eve  of  St  John, 

A  FEW  stout  English  spearmen  in  his  train,  and  a  little  gold  in 
his  pocket,  John  Aignell,  bidding  a  long  adieu  to  the  Hertford- 
shire home,  and  his  half-brother  Andrew,  made  his  way  to  the 
Scottish  capital 

Scotland  was  still  a  field  open  to  Anglo-Norman  adven- 
turers. Kings  courted  their  society,  encouraged  their  desire  to 
hold  under  them,  and,  having  still  land  in  abundance  to  bestow, 
were  only  too  glad  to  place  on  it  these  vassals,  on  whose  per- 
formance of  feudal  duties  they  could  rely,  and  who  were  more- 
over able  to  take  possessions  and  hold  them  unaided. 

Hence  his  settlement  at  Lochnaw.  But  before  accompany- 
ing him  thither,  we  must  turn  for  a  moment  to  the  Irish  tradi- 
tions of  the  family.  The  salient  points  of  these  are  that  an 
Agneau,  having  accompanied  Sir  John  de  Courcy  at  the  con- 
quest of  Ulster,  received  as  his  share  of  the  spoil  the  "  Tuagh 
of  Lathama,"  and  left  his  name  there  in  Agnew's  Hill  which 
overlooks  it ;  that  these  lands  remained  continuously  in  the 
possession  of  his  descendants,  not  only  up  to  the  reign  of 
Edward  III.,  but  after  he  had  transferred  his  allegiance  to  a 
Scottish  king. 


208     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  1 365 

All  this  rests  entirely  upon  tradition,  and  is  incapable  of 
proof,  no  Irish  charters  or  state  papers  of  the  date  having  been 
preserved.  At  the  same  time  there  are  some  old  written  notices 
of  the  matter,  and  the  traditions  connecting  the  family  with 
Lame  are  so  strong  and  definite  on  both  sides  of  the  water  that 
we  give  them  for  what  they  are  worth. 

Scotch,  English,  and  Irish,  it  is  assumed  as  notorious  that 
the  Agnews  had  held  Irish  lands  beyond  all  memory  of  man, 
and  also  that  the  first  Agnew  of  Lochnaw  passed  by  way  of 
Ireland  to  the  Scottish  Court. 

Sir  George  Mackenzie,  one  of  the  earliest  Scottish  gene- 
alogists, writes : 

"Agnew. — The  chief  is  Agnew  of  Lochnaw,  whose  pre- 
decessors came  from  Ireland,  Bego  Davidus  2do,  being  a  son  of 
ye  Lord  Agnews,  alias  Lord  of  Lame.  There  he  gott  the  keeping 
of  the  king's  castell  of  Lochnaw,  and  was  made  Heritable  Con- 
stable yrof."  ^ 

Nisbet  the  herald^  (whose  inquiries  were  so  far  official  that 
he  was  assisted  by  a  grant  from  Parliament  in  their  prosecution) 
repeats:  "The  Agnews  of  Lochnaw  were  Lords  Agnew  alias 
Lords  of  Lame.  One  of  their  sons  came  from  Ireland  to  Scot- 
land in  the  reign  of  David  IL,  where  he  got  the  keeping  of  the 
king's  castle  of  Lochnaw,  and  was  made  Heritable  Constable 
thereof,  and  of  the  shire  of  Wigtown." 

Chambers  states  as  a  matter  well  known :  "  We  find  an 
Agnew  accompanying  Sir  John  de  Courcy  in  the  invasion  of 
Ireland." » 

Eepeated  in  the  Scottish  Nation :  *  "  In  the  twelfth  century 
Sir  John  de  Courcy  was  accompanied,  we  are  told,  by  an  Agnew, 
an  Anglo-Norman  like  himself,"  both  referring  to  their  occupa- 
tion of  Lame. 

Playfair,  an  English  authority,  whose  notice  of  the  French 
domicile  of  the  family  we  have  proved  to  be  accurate,  writes : 

^  Mackenzie's  Genealogical  MSS.,  Advocates'  Library,  Edinburgh. 

«  Nisbefs  Heraldry,  160. 

'  Chambers,  Eminent  Scotsmen^  vol.  y. 

«  Scottish  Naiion,  ii.  679. 


A.D.  1365]  THE   AGNEWS   IN   IRELAND  209 

'*  This  ancient  family  were  seated  in  Normandy  about  the  end 
of  the  tenth  century,  where  they  bore  the  name  of  Agneaux ; 
there  is  a  tradition  in  the  family,  confirmed  by  some  ancient  MSS., 
that  the  first  progenitor  in  England  came  from  Normandy 
with  William  the  Conqueror.  How  long  they  resided  in 
England  is  uncertain,  but  it  is  understood  that  they  went  to 
Ireland  soon  after  its  subjection  to  the  English  Crown  by 
Strongbow,  and  it  is  very  well  known  that  they  had  extensive 
possessions  in  the  county  of  Antrim,  where  they  were  Lords  of 
Larne.  We  are  unable  to  prove  this  by  any  specific  records,  on 
account  of  the  unsettled  state  of  that  part  of  the  kingdom  in 
those  early  times.  But  in  the  time  of  David  II.  a  son  of  the 
family  of  Agnew  arrived  at  the  Scottish  Court,  where,  being  a 
man  of  bravery  and  spirit,  he  got  the  keeping  of  the  castle  of 
Lochnaw,  of  which  he  was  made  Hereditary  Constable,  and  also 
was  appointed  Sheriff  of  the  County  of  Wigtown."  ^ 

The  matter  is  more  authoritatively  put  by  the  Eev.  Classen 
Porter,  whose  words  carry  weight  from  his  known  accuracy  in 
Irish  antiquarian  and  genealogical  research :  ^  "  It  would  be 
wrong  to  suppose  that  the  first  immigration  of  the  Agnews  into 
Antrim  took  place  on  the  settlement  there  of  King  James's 
Scottish  colonists.  They  had  been  in  Antrim  centuries  before, 
and  during  all  that  time  had  retained  their  connection  by 
property  with  the  neighbourhood  of  Lame,  although,  on  the  re- 
distribution by  King  James  among  the  Chichesters,  MacDonhells, 
and  other  families,  the  Agnews  of  Larne  were  obliged  for  the 
first  time  to  hold  as  tenants  under  the  Earl  of  Antrim  the  lands 
which  their  Norman  forefathers  had  won  by  the  sword."  ^ 

A  letter  addressed  to  the  late  Sir  Andrew  Agnew,  seventh 
baronet,^  by  an  Irish  resident  gentleman,  Mr.  Farrell  of  Maghera- 

^  Playfair's  British  Family  Antiquity.  The  MSS.  which  he  alludes  to  are  to 
be  foond  in  abundance  in  the  archives  of  La  Manche. 

'  On  tracing  the  subjoined  article  to  the  pen  of  Mr.  Porter,  the  author  wrote 
to  Dr.  Beeves,  Dean  of  Armagh,  now  Bishop  of  Dromore,  to  know  his  opinion  as 
to  its  weight.  The  Dean's  reply  \vas :  ^'  Mr.  Classen  Porter  is  a  good  and  reliable 
antiquary." 

'  Published  in  the  NoHhemlVhig,  27th  September  1864. 

*  The  author's  father. 

VOL.  I  P 


210     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  1 365 

morne,  dated  1818,  has  this  passage  :  "  There  are  few  estates  in 
Ireland  that  are  not  spoken  of  as  having  been  the  property  of 
some  Irish  family  not  now  in  possession.  But  I  have  never 
heard  the  most  distant  idea  being  suggested  that  Kilwaughter 
was  supposed  to  have  been  the  property  of  any  other  family 
previous  to  the  reign  of  Elizabeth.  I  do  not  know  of  any 
mountain  in  the  north  of  Ireland  that  bears  the  name  of  a 
family,  and  no  other  name  has  been  ascribed  to  it  so  far  back 
as  I  have  been  able  to  obtain  records."  In  reference  to  this  Mr. 
Classen  Porter  (to  whom  the  letter  was  shown  by  the  author) 
stated  that  the  townland  of  MuUoch-Sandal,  within  a  few 
miles  of  Larne,  took  its  name  from  one  of  De  Courcy's 
followers,  rendering  it  prima  f(wie  not  at  all  improbable  that 
Agnew's  Hill  may  have  got  its  designation  from  another. 
"  We  know,  however,"  he  subsequently  wrote,  "  from  retours  of 
a  very  ancient  date  (one  I  believe  reaching  back  to  1198),  that  it 
has  been  also  called  Camanagholy."^  Now  Carnanagholy  means 
the  "  Horse  knight's  Cairn."  Horse  knight  on  Celtic  lips  would 
well  convey  the  idea  of  an  accoutred  Anglo-Norman.  But  a 
second  local  tradition  respecting  the  name  is  even  more  suggestive 
— ^that  the  hill  stood  for  a  French  ofificer  who  settled  at  Lame.* 
The  only  historical  facts  in  the  slightest  degree  corrobo- 
rative of  these  traditions  being :  {\st)  The  intimate  connection 
between  the  families  of  De  Courcy  and  Agneau;  (2ti)  the 
association  of  the  fathers  of  the  Sir  John  de  Courcys  and  Agnews 
of  the  day  as  fellow  members  of  the  royal  household ;  and  (3rf) 
the  further  fact  of  Henry  de  Agnew  being  *' declared  rebel," 
and  his  manor  in  Norfolk  forfeited  to  the  Crown  at  the  very 
time  that  De  Courcy  was  imprisoned,  and  also  declared  rebel, 
for  high-handed  proceedings  in  Ulster. 

1  This  was  referred  to  Dr.  Reeves,  facile  princeps  in  interpreting  names, 
>vho  unhesitatingly  rendered  Agholy,  £ach  mhilidh,  horse  knight ;  Agholy  being 
the  recognised  fomi  of  the  vernacular. 

*  Mr.  Classen  Porter,  writing  to  the  author  in  1864,  says  :  **  This  form  of  the 
tradition  I  have  got  from  Mr.  Burke  at  Larne,  now  eighty  years  of  age,  he 
having  been  told  by  a  Miss  Craig  of  Glenarm,  slie  having  seen  it  in  an  old  book, 
viz.  that  the  first  Agnew  who  settled  at  Larne  was  a  French  officer,  whence  the 
name  of  Agnew's  Hill." 


A.D.  1365]     THE  AGNEWS  IN  IRELAND  211 

If  a  story  can  be  constructed  on  so  slender  a  foundation. 
Henry  de  Agneau  may  be  presumed  to  have  been  one  of  the 
Norman  knights  who  joined  Henry  II.  at  MUford  Haven,  the 
rendezvous  he  had  appointed  for  the  Irish  expedition  in  1171, 
Hence  the  kihg  "took  shipping,  and  arrived  unto  Waterford 
in  the  kalends  of  November,  being  St.  Luke's  Day.  The  Irish 
chieftains  were  greatly  astonished  at  the  magnificence  of  the 
Anglo-Norman  knights.  .Wonderful  it  was  to  the  rude  people 
to  behold  the  majesty  of  so  gallant  a  prince  :  the  pastime,  the 
sport,  and  the  mirth,  the  continual  music,  the  masking,  mum- 
ming, and  strange  shows;  the  gold,  the  silver,  and  plate,  the  dainty 
dishes,  furnished  with  all  sorts  of  fish  and  flesh,  the  wines,  the 
spices,  the  delicate  and  sumptuous  banquets,  the  orderly  service, 
the  comely  march  and  seemly  array  of  all  officers,  the 
gentlemen,  the  esquires,  the  knights  and  lords  in  their  rich 
attire,  the  running  at  tilt  in  complete  harness."  ^  "  There  were 
three  sundry  sorts  of  servitors  which  served  in  the  realm  of 
Ireland — Normans,  Englishmen,  and  Cambrians.  The  first 
were  in  most  credit  and  estimation.  The  Normans  were  very  fine 
in  their  apparel ;  they  could  not  feed  but  upon  dainties,  neither 
could  their  meat  digest  without  wine  at  each  meaL  They  left 
no  means  unsought  how  they  might  rule  the  roast ;  they  would 
not  remain  in  remote  places — a  warm  chamber,  a  ladle's  lapp,  a 
soft  bed,  a  furred  gown,  pleased  them  well"  ^ 

Prominent  among  these  dainty  gentlemen  was  Sir  John  de 
Courcy,  and  he,  quarrelling  with  Fitz  Aldelme  the  viceroy, 
started  a  few  years  later  upon  an  expedition  of  his  own : 
"By  his  wise  confidence  and  witty  persuasions,  he  allureth 
and  enticeth  to  him  such  as  were  the  valiantest,  honestest,  and 
chosen  men  of  them  all,  and  having  so  gotten  into  his  company 
two  and  twenty  gentlemen  and  about  three  hundred  others,  he 
boldly  entereth  and  invadeth  the  Province  of  Ulster."  * 

Again  Henry  Agneau,  we  are  to  suppose,  was  one  of  this 
little  band  of  twenty-two,  who  followed  his  chief  into  this 
unknown  country.    A  prophecy  of  Merlin  Colodiue  had  fore- 

*  Hanmer's  Chronicle,  ^  Giraldus  Cambrensis.  •  Holinshed's  Chronicles, 


212     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [a.D,  1365 

told  that  a  white  knight  sitting  on  a  white  hoise,  bearing  birds 
on  his  shield,  shall  subdue  Ulster.  De  Courcy  rode  forth  on  a 
white  charger,^  three  eagles  were  emblazoned  on  his  shield,  and 
as  place  after  place  yielded. to  the  Norman  arms  superstition 
helped  to  make  the  victory  easier,  and  the  whole  province  of 
Ulster  submitted  to  this  handful  of  adventurers.  The  king, 
fain  to  secure  allegiance  as  best  he  might,  instead  of  treating 
De  Courcy  as  a  mutineer,  created  him  Earl  of  Ulster,  and  gave 
him  a  grant  by  patent  to  himself  and  his  companions  of  all  the 
lands  they  could  conquer  by  their  own  swords,  to  be  held  and 
enjoyed  by  themselves  and  their  heirs  for  ever.' 

Acting  as  Lord  Paramount,  he  granted  the  lordship  of 
Howth  to  a  Moricus  de  Sancto  Lorentio,  his  brother-in-law, 
held  by  the  Earl  of  Howth  and  Viscount  St.  Lawrence,  his 
descendant ;  and  to  D'Agneau  he  allotted  the  lordship  of  Lame, 
a  part  of  which  was  enjoyed  by  his  descendants  until  the 
beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

The  Norman  conquerers  introduced  a  species  of  civilisation 
to  which  the  natives  would  no  doubt  gladly  have  remained 
strangers.  "  They  builded  many  castles,  made  bridges,  mended 
highways,  repaired  churches,  and  governed  the  country  in  great 
peace  until  the  days  of  King  John."  • 

It  may  be  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  name  of  Agnew 
in  Ireland  that  the  surname  was  assumed  by  a  considerable 
sept  of  Celtic  origin,  the  Ognieves  or  O'Gnives.  These  have  no 
connection  with  descendants  of  the  Norman  Agneaus,  who  all 
became  Protestant,  whereas  the  O'Gnives  are  Catholics. 

The  O'Gnives  were  the  bards  of  the  minor  branch  of  the 
Clanneboy  O'Neills,  and  had  their  residence  on  a  rock  near 
Ballygelly  on  the  Antrim  seaboard.  The  O'Gnive  of  his  day 
is  mentioned  as  appearing  in  his  state  dress  and  attracting 
much  attention  at  the  court  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  His  descen- 
dants call  themselves  Agnews. 

^  He  rode  upon  a  white  horse,  as  also  did  Bean,  in  his  shield  painted  birds 
blazoned  thus:  argent,  three  griples  or  geires,  gules,  crowned  gold. — Giraldus 
Cambrensis,  16. 

■  Hanmer's  Chronicle.  '  Ibid, 


CHAPTEE  XI. 

THE  king's  CASTLB  OF  LOCHNAW 

A.D.  1365  to  1366 

You,  my  good  yeomen, 
Whose  limbs  were  made  in  England — show  ns  here 
The  mettle  of  your  pasture. — Shakespeare. 

Br  whatever  route  Aignell  reached  the  Scottish  Court,  whether, 
like  his  great-grandfather,  by  way  of  Newcastle-upon-Tyne,  or,  as 
tradition  has,  by  Dublin,  Larne,  and  the  estuary  of  the  Clyde, 
his  mission  was  a  success,  as  "  their  he  gott  the  keeping  of  the 
Castell  of  Lochnaw,"  furnishing  him  at  once  with  employment 
and  a  home. 

As  the  writs  in  connection  with  his  first  infeftment  were 
lost  in  the  rifling  of  the  castle  some  years  later,  we  can  only  fix 
the  date  approximately. 

King  David  II.  had,  on  his  return  from  captivity  in  1347, 
been  prevented  from  taking  steps  for  quieting  Galloway  by 
disturbances  elsewhere.  And  it  was  not  until  1363  that, — 
having  concluded  a  final  and  secret  treaty  with  King  Edward 
TIL, — ^he  felt  himself  strong  enough  to  attempt  a  settlement  of 
the  turbulent  districts  of  the  west  There  his  Castle  of  Lochnaw 
was  without  a  keeper,  and  young  Agnew  arriving  opportunely 
seemed  exactly  suited  for  the  place.  Forthwith  his  commission 
as  Constable  was  made  out,  and  with  his  charter  of  Crown  lands 
in  his  pocket,  his  Hertfordshire  yeomen  at  his  back,  he  set  out 
to  take  possession,  his  escort  proving  sufficient  not  only  to  guard 
him  by  the  way,  but  to  keep  the  king's  peace  when  settled  on 


214     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [AD.  1365 

the  holdings  which  he  and  the  family  henceforth  were  to  call 
their  home. 

The  founding  of  the  fortunes  and  scene  of  the  settlement  of 
the  Scottish  branch  of  the  Agnews  has  been  well  and  humor- 
ously described  by  a  lively  writer : 

"  The  Isthmus  of  the  Ehynns  is  guarded  by  the  royal  Castle 
of  Lochnaw,  the  seat  of  the  Agnews,  Hereditary  Sheriffs  and 
Baillies  of  the  county.  Pleasantly  placed  among  wooded  hills 
by  the  side  of  a  romantic  loch,  the  ancient  seat  of  the  Agnews 
still  boasts  the  square  solid  tower  about  whose  battlements  is 
spread  a  wondrous  scene  of  land  and  water.  The  Agnews,  as 
their  name  and  arms  imply,  are  of  Norman  origin,  and  bear 
upon  their  coat  three  lambs.  They  established  themselves  on 
both  sides  of  the  Irish  Sea,  having  one  foot,  so  to  speak,  on 
either  island,  and  probably,  after  the  Norman  method,  without 
much  regard  to  the  rights  of  the  folk  who  were  there  before 
them.  As  a  powerful,  if  alien  family,  they  attracted  the  regards 
of  the  Scottish  monarchs,  who  sought  to  strengthen  their  hold 
on  the  principality  of  Galloway.  And  thus  from  an  early  date 
they  were  'par  excellence  the  king's  men,  and  seem  to  have 
gone  hammer  and  tongs,  with  anything  but  lamblike  behaviour, 
against  all  other  potentates  in  their  neighbourhood.^.  .  .  As  a 
rule  it  must  be  said  that  the  sheriffs  were  every  bit  as  wild  and 
lawless  as  the  rest  of  the  king's  lieges  in  these  parts.  Forays, 
feuds,  sieges,  and  plunderings,  curiously  mixed  up  with  plead- 
ings and  law-suits,  went  on  from  century  to  century.  When  the 
Douglasses  were  out  of  the  way,  there  were  the  Kennedys  to 
quarrel  with.  The  Kennedys,  Earls  :  of  Cassilis,  were  far  more 
powerful  than  the  sheriffs,  but  the  AgneWs  held  their  owu  in 

^  The  writer  continues,  though  he  anticipates  our  story  :  "  When  the 
Douglasses  ruled  at  Th reave,  the  Agnews  had  a' hard  time  of  it.  Douglasses 
grim  and  black  were  altogether  too  strong  for  both  king  and  sheriff,  and  Lochna^r 
was  captured  by  the  Douglas  power 'and  the  Agnews  driven  into  exile.  They 
probably  had  some  concern  in  that  terrible  6cene  at  Stirling  Castle,  when  the 
Douglas  was  done  to  death  by  the  king  and  his  attendants.  Anyhow,  soon  after 
that  event,  the  king  granted  by  charter  the  hereditary  sheriffdom  to  the  Agnews." 
— "Chronicles  of  Scottish  Counties,"  reproduced  in  All  the  Year  Bound,  vol. 
xxxviii.  p.  538. 


to  1366]         THE   king's   castle   OF   LOCHNAW  215 

many  skimishes  and  downright  battles,  both  in  the  field  and  in 
the  law-courtfii" 

A  tradition,  though  somewhat  grotesque,  of  the  first  con- 
stable taking  seizine  of  Lochnaw,  seems  not  altogether  incon-' 
sistent  with  the  humours  of  the  period. 

When  it  was  rumoured  that  a  king's  man  had  commission 
to  take  it,  a  native  chief,  it  is  said,  named  M'Clellan,  was  in 
occupation  of  the  stronghold. 

Denuding  the  country  round  about  of  all  provision,  and 
stocking  well  his  own  larder,  he  laughed  in  his  sleeve  as  the 
stranger,  with  his  armoured  following,  surrounded  the  lake, 
drawing  up  his  boats  upon  his  island.  Vainly  the  titular 
constable  tried  to  threaten  or  treat,  the  king's  writs  did  not 
then  run  very  freely  in  the  provincie,  and  spearmen  could  not 
well  conduct  a  siege  with  empty  stomachs.  Attack  was  im- 
possible. Agnew's  favourite  henchman  at  last  suggested  a 
stratagem.  A  mutiny  was  enacted  in  their  camp,  and  after  a 
pretended  scuffle,  appeared  to  be  quelled,  and  the  henchman 
exposed  to  view  as  the  ringleader  dangling  from  a  tree  (the  rope 
having  been  so  arranged  about  his  neck  that  he  could  for  a 
while  save  himself  from  strangulation).  The  hanging  scene 
arranged,  the  whole  party  mounted  and  made  off;  an  ambush 
having  been  set.  The  plot  succeeded  to  their  heart's  content. 
M'Clellan,  who  had  been  curiously  watching  the  proceedings, 
as  soon  as  the  last  lance  pennon  had  disappeared  behind  Drum- 
loccart,  manned  a  boat  and  went  to  examine  the  victim.  But 
hardly  had  he  sprung  ashore,  before  the  lyers-in-wait  cut  off  his 
retreat,  and  were  after  him  sword  in  hand.  The  old  Pict,  how- 
ever, was  so  supple  and  sly,  that  he  led  them  a  long  chase 
through  broken  ground,  and  hours  elapsed  before  they  ran  him 
in.  His  foe  despatched,  young  Agnew  bethought  him  of  his 
lieutenant,  who  had  been  left  far  longer  than  he  had  bargained 
for.  The  farce,  alas,  was  turned  into  a  tragedy :  the  brave 
fellow  whose  wit  had  gained  him  the  castle,  hung  stiff  and 
cold. 

The  phonetic  derivation  of  Lochnaw  is  Loch-an-atha,  "  lake 


216    HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [AD.  1365 

of  the  ford  " ;  and  that  there  was  a  submerged  causeway  from 
the  island  to  the  shore  there  can  be  no  doubt  But  in  this 
there  was  nothing  distinctive.  Almost  every  lake  in  the  pro- 
vince had  its  castle.  Where  there  was  not  a  natural  island,  a 
crannog  was  constructed ;  and  whether  built  on  an  artificial  or 
natural  island,  every  such  strength  had  a  causeway  to  the 
shore. 

In  the  oldest  description  of  the  shire  extant,  Lochnaw  is 
described  as  a  lake  ''belonging  to  the  Sheriff  of  Wigtown, 
wherein  ye  kings  of  old  had  an  house " ;  and  as  we  find  two 
Eochys  among  its  Pictish  kinglets,  we  are  inclined  to  think 
that — as  Lough  Neagh  in  Ireland — ^it  is  from  one  of  these  that 
it  takes  its  name. 

Many  place-names  in  its  neighbourhood  are  suggestive  of 
royal  residence. 

The  eastern  shore  of  the  lake  is  Drumloccart,^  the  "  ridge 
of  the  palace  "  ;  a  large  tract  of  land  connected  with  the  con- 
stabulary was  Garthrie,  ''  the  king's  enclosure " ;  Craigauch, 
"  Eochy's  rock,"  was  the  name  of  the  old  "  tawar,"  or  fortified 
lookout-post,  already  mentioned  as  one  of  Eochy's  strongholds. 
The  importance  attached  to  the  defence  of  Lochnaw  is  shown 
by  many  traces  of  Norse  and  Celtic  spades  in  lands  adjoining. 
Below  the  Tawar  of  Craigauch^  is  a  Danish  fort  (curiously  called 
Kemp's  Graves)  in  Aldouran  Glen,  whence  the  parish  name, 
Leswalt  (Lios-uillt),  ^' the  fort  of  the  glen" ;  and  between  this  and 
Drumloccart,  in  the  dry  summer  of  1880,  a  submerged  cause- 
way was  discovered  through  the  Black  Loch,  consisting  of 
oak  staves  6  feet  7  inches  in  length  and  8  inches  in  diameter, 
evenly  laid  on  a  bed  of  hazel  branches  closely  packed  and  in 
perfect  preservation.  Eastward  of  Lochnaw  is  also  Dinduff, 
"  the  ox  fort,"  ^  and  a  castle  site  called  also  Craigoch.    Above 

^  Lucairt  is  the  conventional  term  in  the  Highlands  for  the  residence  of  a  kinglet. 

'  Of  the  great  conic  mounds  of  defence,  as  we  learn  from  the  intrenchments 
that  surround  them,  and  the  encampments  on  their  summits,  was  the  Tawar  of 
Craigoch  in  Leswalt — Col.  iiL  S56. 

'  So  Clondoff,  County  Down.  Damh,  an  ox,  often  changes  to  Duffl — Joyce,  i. 
478.  In  this  case  the  soil  is  light  sand  and  gravel.  Duff,  from  dubh,  is  applied 
to  black  or  peaty  soils. 


to  1366]        THE  kino's  castle  OF  LOCHNAW  31? 

Lochnaw,  Boothward,  the  highest  hill  is  Sleutennoch  (TeiDne- 
ach), "  the  (watch)fire  hiU";  and  farther  westward  three  con- 
tiguons  circular  laths  almost  within  bowshot  of  one  another,  on 
a  hill-slope  called  Lashandarroch,  which  may  mean  either  "  the 
old  forts  of  the  oak  wood,"  or  "  the  fort  of  the  old  oaks."    At 


Larbrax,  dne  west,  is  the  well-known  Sea  King's  Camp,  mapped 
by  Ainslie  £emp's  Walks  (obviously  wark).  A  little  to  the 
north  is  the  fort  on  Salt  Pans  Bay,  under  Millvaird  (the  bard's 
hill),  and  farther  north.  Castle  Bann,'  evidently  synonymous 
with  Carbantinm  or  Carbantorigum. 

'  The  Bite  is  remtrkabU,  flattened  rrom  the  rock,  216  fe«t  in  drcmnfer- 
encB ;  this  det»cb«d  from  the  diCb  by  a  diy  ditch  20  feet  deep.    There  ta  budly 


218     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A,D.  1365 

Of  the  sites  of  historic  or  legendary  taies  we  have,  on  the 
shore  near  Lochnaw,  Cave  Ochtaree,  whence  Uchtred  was 
dragged  by  his  ruthless  brother  Gilbert.  Tapmalloch  (rather 
Taphmalloch)  is  the  hillside  where  St.  Malachy  o'  Morgair 
reared  his  chapel  and  rath  whilst  waiting  for  a  ship  from 
Bangor.  Below  it  is  St.  Eingan's  Well ;  Tringan,  as  it  is  called 
in  the  countryside,  famous  for  its  never-failing  supply  of  the 
purest  water.  On  the  eastern  shore  was  the  ancient  Kilmoiie, 
beside  which  was  a  wonder-working  well  of  great  repute  on 
the  lands  still  called  St.  Mary's  Croft,  and  Glen  Mary,  now 
Glenside.  Beyond  Glen  Mary,  Loch  Connell  intervening,  is 
Killiemaccuddican,  where,  as  already  mentioned,  the  saintly 
power  of  the  infant  Cuthbert  first  asserted  itself ;  whilst  nearer 
Lochnaw,  the  names  are  rather  suggestive  of  early  Anglo- 
Norman  occupation.  Galdenoch,^  "the  place  of  the  new 
comers"  ;  DrummuUin,  "the  mill  ridge"  ;  and  Slewnagel,  "the 
chapel  hill." 

Of  the  neighbours,  the  Constable  found  on  his  arrival  the 
nearest  were  the  Lairds  of  Corswall,  Dunskey,  Garthland,  and 
Killeser. 

Corswall  was  owned  by  Alexander  Campbell,  a  son  of  Sir 
Duncan  Campbell  of  Loudoun,  whose  elder  brother  Andrew  was 
Sheriff  of  Ayr.  The  lands  are  named  from  a  hill  (Cor-siale, "  the 
round  hill  of  the  brine  "),^  at  the  northern  extremity  of  the 
Ehynns,  against  which  the  billows  break  in  a  north-western 
gale  in  one  sweep  from  Labrador. 

Corswall  Castle  lay  in  a  hollow  behind  it,  the  lower  story 
vaulted  and  serving  as  a  cow  fort.  A  preposterous  story  passes 
current  that  in  the  well  underneath  this  was  a  spring  of  such 
power  that  by  raising  the  lid  the  owners  could  at  pleasure  flood 
the  moat  and  approaches  to  the  castle ;  the  origin  of  which  seems 

a  stone  lying  upon  another,  but  many  chisel-sliaped  stones  lay  on  the  beach 
below  it. 

^  GaUda,  as  a  living  word  in  Ireland,  now  means  "belonging  to  an  English- 
man."    In  Qalloway  it  is  usually  to  be  referred  to  Anglo-Normans. 

'  Preyious  to  1833  Corsiall  belonged  to  Sir  Alan  Stewart  of  Dreghom. 
Corsehill  is  more  correct  than  Corsewell,  the  modem  form.  It  is  written 
Crosswell  in  Robertson's  ItujUx  ;  Erosswell, — Pont. 


f 


to  1366]         THE   king's   castle  OF   LOCHNAW  219 

due  to  the  corrUptioH  of  the  Celtic  name  to  Corsehill,  and  after- 
wards to  Crosswell,  whence  it  became  confounded  with  St. 
Columba's  Well,  once  a  place  of  considerable  resort  at  a  short 
distance  from  it  It  seems  never  to  have  occurred  to  the 
inventors  of  the  story  to  inquire  what  had  occasioned  the  total 
disappearance  of  this  impetuous  spring. 

Dunskey,  here  the  equivalent  of  Portree,  belonged  to  Adair, 
as  also  the  strongholds  of  Kinhilt  and  Dromore. 

Dunskey  ^  (dun-sciath), "  the  winged  fort,"  stood  on  a  beetling 
crag  on  the  lands  of  Portree  (Port-righ,  "  the  king's  port,"  now 
Portpatrick). 

Kinhilt  ^  (ceann-eiltte),  the  site  of  the  castle  of  the  hind's 
hill,  was  on  the  lands  of  Kildonan,  just  beyond  the  point  where 
the  line  of  the  Colfin  Glen  cuts  the  road  to  Dumfries.^ 

Canting  origins  are  proposed  for  the  name  of  Adair  and 
Kinhilt,  or,  as  it  is  corrupted,  KUhilt,  in  connection  with  his 
acquisition  of  these  lands. 

Dunskey,  it  is  s«dd,  had  been  long  in  possession  of  a  robber 
and  pirate  named  Currie,  who  was  outlawed  for  his  excesses, 
and  his  castle,  deemed  almost  impregnable,  was  promised  by  the 
king  to  whoever  should  bring  him  his  head. 

A  Geraldine  from  Ireland,  who  had  fled  from  justice  there, 
endeavoured  to  retrieve  his  fortunes  by  gaining  the  prize.  He 
waylaid  the  robber  chief,  and  surprising  him  one  night,  forced 
him  backwards ;  and  after  carrying  on  a  running  fight,  struck 
him  down  with  the  hilt  of  his  sword  at  the  end  of  Colfin  Glen. 
Securing  his  head,  he  hurried  to  the  court,  presenting  his  bleed- 

^  Scceodunum  Yulgo  arz  alata. — Blaeu.  So  Liskeagh,  Sligo ;  Donaskeagh, 
Tipperary. — Joyce,  ii.  178. 

The  winged  fort,  or  fort  of  shields  ;  ''the  wing"  or  "shield"  rather  io  the 
senso  of  extended  side-buildings  than  of  a  store  of  arms. 

'  So  Annahilt,  County  Down.  Near  Lochnaw  is  the  same  place-name, 
translated  ''hind's  hill.'*  Adjoining  Kinhilt  is  BamchaUoch  (Beam-na-scalg), 
"the  gap  of  the  hunting"  ;  and  near  this  again  Slewnark,  "  the  hill  or  moor  of 
the  hunting-horn/'  Sleibh-na-hadairoe.  So  Killeenark  and  Drumnahark,  Ireland, 
**  the  wood  and  ridge  of  the  hunting-horn." — Joyce,  ii.  218. 

Kynhylt,  Chamberlain  Rolls,  1455  ;  Kynhelt,  1575 ;  Kinhilt,  War  Com- 
mittees, 1643,  el  aeq.f  now  corruptly  Kinhilt. 

3  New  sua.  Ace.,  Wigtown,  142. 


220     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [a.D.  1 365 

ing  trophy  at  the  point  of  his  sword.  He  was  infeft  in  Currie's 
lands  forthwith,  and  building  a  castle  where  the  fatal  blow  had 
been  struck,  called  it  suggestively  Eilhilt. 

"  Who  dare  encounter  Currie  ?  '*  asked  a  courtier  as  the  young 
Gteraldine  entered  the  royal  presence.  "  I  dare/'  he  answered. 
"Grood,"  said  the  king,  "let  that  be  your  name."  Heraldry 
favours  the  tradition,  which  at  least  is  an  old  one ;  the  Adairs 
carrying  for  their  crest  a  man's  head  couped  and  bloody,  drops 
of  blood  falling  from  it^  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  origin  of  the 
name  is  neither  the  canting  one,  nor  Athdara  (ford  of  the  oaks) 
from  Irish  lands,  but  it  is  simply  a  form  of  Edgar,^  his  progenitor 
being  probably  Edgar,  son  of  Duvenald,  a  leader  at  the  Battle  of 
the  Standard,  grandson  of  Donegal  of  Morton  Castle,  a  descendant 
of  whom,  Bobert  Edzear,  had  a  charter  from  Bobert  Bruce  of 
the  lands  of  Eildonan,  adjacent  to  which  are  those  of  Kinhilt. 
In  confirmation  of  this  we  also  find  the  name  Edgar  attaching 
to  a  hill  on  his  property  at  Dromore. 

Near  Kinhilt  was  Garthland,  the  seat  of  the  chief  of  the 
MacDoualls.  Though  Norse  in  form,  the  name  is  Celtic  Garbh- 
cluain, "  the  rough  meadow,"  its  older  orthography  being  Gairach- 
cloyne,  contracted  at  this  time  to  Garaflan.*  The  name  M'Dowall 
is  usually  derived  from  Dubhgall, ''  the  son  of  the  dark- haired 
stranger,"  presumably  of  the  Norsemen.  But  Mr.  Skene,  with 
truer  instinct,  points  for  its  derivation  to  a  class  of  names  in 
which  gal  stands  for  valour,  the  force  in  this  case  being  ^'  the 
dark-haired  warrior."* 

Next  came  M'CuUochs,  occupying  the  strong  houses  of 
Killeser  and  Auchnaught.    KiUeser  is  from  a  dedication  to  St. 

^  Adair  of  Kinhilt  parted  per  bend  dexter,  or  and  argent,  three  dexter  hands, 
gules.  Crest,  a  man's  head  couped  and  bloody.  It  is  said  they  carry  the  bloody 
head  for  killing  one  Carey  of  Dunskey,  a  proscribed  rebel. — Nisbet's  Heraldry. 

'  In  the  Lochnaw  charter  chest  various  deeds  prove  the  name  Edzear  and 
Adair  to  have  been  interchangeable  with  the  OaUoway  Adairs.  In  a  charter 
dated  1625  the  name  is  spelled  in  both  forms  on  the  same  page. 

*  Garflan,  Lochnaw  charter  chest,  1426  ;  Garflen,  1485 ;  Garthclone,  1488, 
ditto. 

^  The  names  Dubhgall  and  Finngall,  Danes  and  Norsemen,  must  not  be 
confounded  with  Dubhgal  and  Fingal,  belonging  to  a  laige  class  of  names  ending 
with  gal,  signifying  "valour." — CeUic  Scotland,  i.  28. 


to  1366]         THE   king's   castle  OF  LOCHNAW  221 

Lassair,  mother  of  St  Finian  of  Moville  ;  Auchnaught  (nocht) 
meaning  the  bare  field.  The  two  principal  families  of  M'Culloch 
were  styled  of  Myrton  and  Torhouse  (both  in  the  Machers). 
On  the  lands  of  the  latter  were  the  well-known  standing-stones 
beneath  which  their  princely  progenitor  Gwalauc  ap  Lleenawg 
slumbered. 

The  earliest  form  of  the  name  M'Culloch  as  a  proprietor  is 
M'Ulach,  whence  we  trace  it  back  in  church  calendars  to  Mak- 
wolok  ^  (in  the  breviaries  Volocus),  thence  to  the  Gwallawc  of 
the  Cymric  bards,  and  the  older  Golgacus  of  the  Romans,  its 
Cymric  root  being  gwalc,  "  the  hawk  of  battle." 

It  is  amusing  to  find  how  tradition  travesties  facts.  It  has 
been  generally  accepted  that  the  root  of  M'Culloch  is  the  Gaelic 
cullach,  "  a  boar,"  and  gravely  stated  that  a  Galloway  chief  who 
attracted  notice  by  his  valour  at  the  Crusades  had  carried  a 
boar  as  his  device,  whence  Cullach  became  his  nam  de  guerre. 
When  returning  home  he  was  specially  commended  to  William 
the  Lion  by  Godfrey  de  Bouillon,  who  forthwith  gave  him  the 
lands  of  Myrton,  Glasserton,  and  Auchnaught ;  and  he,  adopting 
M'Culloch  as  his  surname,  christened  his  son  Godfrey  after  the 
King  of  Jerusalem,  a  name  henceforward  frequent  among  the 
M'Cullochs. 

Unfortunately,  besides  various  anachronisms,  the  earliest  and 
the  only  arms  registered  of  the  M'CuUochs  were  Ermine,  a  fret 
ingrained  gules. 

A  more  interesting  tradition  is  that  a  ruin  on  Auchnaught 
is  called  by  the  peasantry  "  the  hunting  seat  of  the  M'CuUochs." 
This  is  really  a  Celtic  reminiscence,  as,  although  the  neighbourhood 
is  by  no  means  favourable  to  the  chase,  the  ruins  are  mapped 
Castle  Shell,  which  evidently  the  natives  understood  not  long  ago 
to  be  derived  from  seilg  (hunting),  just  as  the  tribal  name  Selgova 

^  There  is  a  Bishop  Makwolok  in  the  Kalendars,  his  day  being  29  th  January. 

Camararias  places  his  death  in  783,  and  names  his  mission  as  at  Candida  Casa. 

He  was  known  also  at  Balveny,  Mar,  etc.,  where  he  is  commemorated  in  the 

popular  rhyme — 

Wallaftiir  in  Loeie  Mar, 
The  80th  day  of  Januar. 

Forbes,  Scottish  Saints. 


222     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  1 365 

indicated  hunters.  The  M'Cullochs  had  lately  come  into  posses- 
sion of  Cardoness  by  the  Water  of  the  Fleet,  as  thus  related : 
A  Border  ruffian,  having  built  up  his  house  by  violence  and 
rapine,  took  to  himself  a  wife  to  perpetuate  his  name.  His 
spouse  presented  him  with  nine  daughters  in  succession,  each 
new  comer  more  unwelcome  than  the  last  After  a  long  pause 
his  wife  was  again  as  ladies  like  to  be  who  love  their  lords. 
Just  before  her  lying-in  he  burst  into  her  bower  and  brutally 
declared  that,  unless  she  produced  a  son,  he  would  drown  her 
and  her  whole  progeny  in  the  Black  Loch.  So  capable  was  he 
thought  of  acting  on  his  threat,  that  great  was  the  joy  of  the 
whole  countryside,  as  of  the  old  rascal  himself,  when  a  boy  was 
actually  bom.  It  was  midwinter,  and  the  laird,  in  jovial  mood, 
ordered  a  feast  to  be  prepared  on  the  frozen  surface  of  the  loch. 
The  neighbours  were  bidden,  and  on  a  bright  Sunday  they  and 
his  household  assembled  on  the  ice,  the  lady  and  her  precious 
babe  being  carried  thither.  The  glass  went  merrily  round,  fun 
was  at  its  highest,  when  suddenly  the  ice  collapsed ;  wife,  son, 
and  the  whole  bevy  of  daughters  save  one,  who  was  ill  and  had 
been  left  at  home,  sank  fathom  deep  in  the  dark  waters,  the 
devil  claiming  the  wicked  laird  as  his  own. 

The  little  heiress,  on  growing  to  womanhood,  gave  her  hand 
to  a  M'CuUoch,  carrying  to  that  family  the  lands  and  tower, 
which  thenceforth  had  the  name  of  Cardoness,  ''  the  castle  of 
ill-luck."  1 

Besides  the  M*Cullochs  and  M*Dowalls,  five  families  of 
the  Pictish  blood  still  held  lands  in  Galloway — the  M'Clellans, 
the  MacEies,  the  MacGhies,  the  Accarsons,  and  the  Ahannays. 

The  M'Clellans  (Mhic  Gille  Phaolan),  "  sons  of  the  servant 
of  St.  Fillan,"  from  whom  was  named  the  parish  of  Balmaclellan, 
owned  the  two  strongholds  of  Bomby  and  Eaeberry,  and  their 
chief  was  afterwards  created  Lord  Kirkcudbright.^ 

*  Caer-douais.  Donais,  "mischief,  misfortune,  ill-luck."  O'Ryley :  "the 
devil,  evil,  mischief."  MacAlpine:  "Miltoness  is  Meall-donais,  'the  devil's 
hill.' " 

^  Arms  argent,  two  chevrons  sable.  Crest,  a  naked  man  supporting  on  the 
point  of  a  sword  a  Moor's  head. 


to  1366]         THE   king's   castle   OF   LOCHNAW  223 

The  MacKies  (Mhic  Aedh),  "  sons  of  Hugh/*  owned  many 
lands,  their  chief  being  styled  "  of  Larg  " ;  and  they  carried  two 
crows,  with  an  arrow  feathered  thrust  through  their  heads  for  a 
bearing,  in  commemoration  of  the  feat  of  forestry  performed  by 
their  ancestor  before  Eling  Eobert  Bruce. 

The  MacGhies  were  their  cousins,  the  root  of  both  names 
being  similar.  This  branch  of  the  family  became  fully  the 
most  powerful,  and  named  the  parish  of  Balmaghie.^ 

In  the  names  of  Accarson  and  Ahannay  the  a  stands  for 
the  equivalent  to  the  Irish  0,  and  has  been  dropped  by  their 
descendants.  Of  the  Accarsons  or  Akersanes,  the  chief  was  of 
Busco,^  or  Glenskairesbum.  These  lands  were  carried  a  century 
later  by  an  heiress  to  the  Gordons  of  Lochinvar. 

The  Ahannays  or  Hannays  had  superseded  the  Yipounts  in 
Sorby,  where  they  long  occupied  a  strong  house;  as  also  at 
Kirkdale,  in  the  Stewartry.*" 

Of  Anglo-Normans  Sir  Walter  Stewart,  son  of  Sir  John 
Stewart  of  Dalswinton,  certainly  possessed  Garlics  at  this  date, 
but  it  is  doubtful  if  the  family,  as  yet,  were  often  or  ever  resi- 
dent in  Galloway.* 

The  Grordons  (of  whom  more  presently)  ranged  the  Forest  ot 
Glenkena  The  Vaux  were  established  in  Wigtownshire,  the 
Herries  at  Terregles,  and  the  Maxwells  on  the  Nith. 

As  a  strong  supporter  of  kingsmen  in  the  shire.  Sir  John 
Kennedy  warred  sturdily  on   the  northern  marches,  and  in 

^  The  bearings  of  the  MacGhies  differed  entirely  from  that  of  the  MacKies, 
being  three  leopards'  heads,  or. 

'  Rusco  (Riascach),  marshy.  Carsan  is  a  living  Celtic  word  for  hoarse  or 
asthmatic. 

'  Hannay  is  apparently  an  aspirated  form  of  Sennach,  a  name  common  in  the 
Kalendars,  probably  derived  from  sean,  *'old,  venerable."  Seannach  is  *^  lucky, 
fortunate,  crafty."— O'Reilly. 

The  Ahannays  carried  argent,  three  roebucks*  heads,  azure,  collared,  or  with 
a  bell  pendant,  gules. 

^  The  Stewarts  had  a  charter  of  Garlics  for  the  battle  of  the  Largs.  Sir  John, 
as  above,  had  a  chai-ter  of  renewal  from  Randolph,  Earl  of  Moray.  In  October 
1896  a  contract  was  entered  into  between  Sir  Walter  Stewart  of  Dalswinton  and 
Garlies,  and  Sir  William  Stewart,  Sheriff  of  Teviotdale,  that  Marian,  daughter 
and  heiress  of  Sir  Walter,  should  many  John,  son  and  heir  of  Sir  William. — 
Wood,  i.  116. 


224  SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY     [a,D.   1 365- 1 366 

1365  his  son.  Sir  Gilbert,  acquired  Cruggleton,  Polton,  and  the 
two  Broughtons.^ 

An  important  element  in  the  Constable's  society  were  the 
fraternities  of  Soulseat  and  Glenluce,  whose  lordly  abbots  took 
their  places  with  the  baronage  in  the  field,  the  banqueting 
hall,  and  the  council  board. 

There  were  also  at  this  date  many  lands  in  occupation  of 
the  Elnights  Hospitallers  of  St  John  of  Jerusalem,  some  of 
which  had  previously  been  held  by  the  Knights  Templars,  to 
whom  they  had  fallen  heirs.  ''  Hospital "  then  had  a  wider 
sense  than  a  place  for  the  treatment  of  the  sick,  the  hospice 
being  a  house  of  entertainment  for  the  stranger  and  the  traveller. 
Near  Lochnaw  was  the  Spittal  Croft  of  Craichmore  (now  Burgess 
Croft);*  Portes-spittal  under  Nashantee,  "old  houses,"  of  the 
Novantee,  near  Agricola's  Doon  of  Kildonan ;  Spittal,  between 
Kirkcowan  and  Wigtown  ;  Temple-Croft,  Kirkmaiden  ;  Temple- 
lands,  Sorby ;  with  St.  John's  Croft  adjacent ;  St  John's  town, 
now  Dairy,  on  the  river  Ken ;  and  St  John's  Croft,  the  site  of 
the  burgh  of  Stranraer. 

At  the  coming  of  the  Agnews  Malcolm  Fleming,  Earl  of 
Wigtown,  a  man  of  mark  and  character,  had  died,  or  was  dying, 
and  was  succeeded  by  a  grandson,  Thomas,  who  has  the  character 
of  being  weak,  and  who  had  long  been  a  hostage  in  England  for  the 
King  of  Scotland's  ransom.  He  succeeded  his  grandfather  before 
1365,  when  he  had  a  renewal  of  the  grant  of  his  earldom,  in  which 
the  king  expressly  reserved  the  regality  jurisdictions  held  by  the 
first  earl,  which  he  now  granted  by  commission  to  the  Agnews.* 

^  Concerning  this  name  it  is  out  of  all  doubt  the  same  proceeded  from  the 
name  Eennethe. — Pitcairne. 

'  In  the  Lochnaw  charter  chest  is  a  charter  by  Sir  William  Knowlys,  dated 
from  the  Preceptory  of  the  Order  of  St  John  of  Jerusalem,  of  "a  certain  croft, 
the  Temple  Land,  vulgerly  called  the  Spittal  Croft  of  Craighmore,"  dated  from 
Torfichen,  cireum  1487. 

'  Charter  to  Thomas  Fleming,  heir  au  Counte  de  Wigton. — Fr.  David  IL 
Perth,  25  Jan.  1865-6. 

Sciatis  nos  dedisse  et  restituisse  Thome  Flemjmg  totum  comitatum  de 
Wygtoun  cum  pertinenciis  .  .  .  sicut  quondam  Malcolmus  avus  pnedicti  Thome 
tenuit,  salvo  quod  jus  regalitatis  in  ipso  comitatu  non  habeat,  aut  ipsa  regalitate 
utatur,  ^2^771  ex  certa  caiisa  in  suspe7iso  remanere  volumus. — OrecU  Seal  Regitter, 


CHAPTER    XII 

THE  DOUGLAS  AT  LOCHNAW 

A.D.  1366  to  1424 

Grim  Douglasse  answered  him  agayne 

With  great  words  up  on  hee, 
I  have  twenty  men  against  they  one, 

Behold,  and  thoa  mayest  see. 

Border  Ballads, 

From  the  appointment  of  the  Agnews  to  the  keeping  of  Lochnaw 
by  David  II.  to  their  restoration  (after  having  been  ousted  by 
Earl  Douglas)  by  James  I.,  a  hiatus  occurs  in  family  records  as 
to  the  dates  of  the  successions  and  marriages  of  three  generations. 

Charter  evidence,  however,  suggests  their  connections  dur- 
ing that  period  to  have  been  with  the  Vauss,  the  Campbells, 
M'Dowalls,  and  Adairs. 

The  Vauss  (Vaux,  de  Val,  de  Valibus)  had  been  Norman 
neighbours  of  the  Agnews;  Vaux,  whence  their  name,  lying 
near  Bayeux,  almost  adjoining  Les  deux  Jumeaux;  and  we 
have  already  noted  the  association  of  the  families  on  English 
soil,  an  acquaintance  to  be  renewed  in  Galloway. 

The  first  Vans  of  Bambarroch  was  a  son  or  nephew  of 
William  de  Vans  of  Dirleton ;  another  son  of  whom,  Alexander, 
was  inducted  into  a  living  in  Gralloway  in  1381,  and  was 
afterwards  consecrated  bishop ;  his  brother  or  cousin  marrying 
the  heiress  of  Bambarroch  circum  1384^ 

1  Alexander  Vans  was  possessed  of  Church  livings  in  Galloway  as  early  as 
the  year  1381,  and  was  consecrated  bishop  of  that  diocese  in  1420. — Cor.  of  Sir 
Patrick  JFaus. 

VOL.  I  Q 


226  HEREDITARy   SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY   [A.D.   1 366 

Previous  to  this,  however,  we  find  mention  of  an  Andrew 
Vans — as  a  Galloway  baron — who  fell  at  Poictiers  1356,  fight- 
ing against  the  English.^  And  this  date  is  perfectly  consistent 
with  the  possibility  of  his  having  left  a  daughter  of  an  age 
eligible  for  the  wife  of  the  first  constable  of  Lochnaw. 

In  1368  Archibald  Douglas  received  hereditary  gift  of  all 
the  Crown  lands  in  Galloway  eastward  of  the  Cree,  and  the 
rights  of  the  Earldom  of  Wigtown  were  soon  about  to  drop  into 
his  hands  through  the  unfitness  of  its  holder.  This  result  was 
hurried  on  by  a  series  of  insults  which  we  cannot  but  suspect 
the  grim  Archibald  of  encouraging.  The  last  of  these  insults, 
whence  Fleming's  disappearance  from  Galloway,  reads  like  a 
comedy.  But  it  is  quite  obvious  such  pranks  could  not  have 
been  played  with  impunity  had  the  Earl  of  Wigtown  not  lost 
the  sympathy  of  his  neighbours. 

A  cadet  of  the  house  of  Dunure,  Alexander  Kennedy,  closely 
connected  with  the  baronage  of  the  Ehynns,  who,  from  his 
readiness  to  unsheathe  his  blade,  was  nicknamed  Alschunder 
Dealgour  (Sandy  of  the  Dagger),  having  quarrelled  with  Fleming, 
committed  such  serious  depredations  on  his  land  that  the  earl, 
in  a  rage,  determined  to  take  him  dead  or  alive ;  or,  as  quaintly 
expressed  by  the  chronicler,  "  This  Alschunder  fell  in  mislyk- 
ing  with  the  Erll  of  Wigtoune,  quha  wes  ane  werry  gritt  manne, 
and  had  ane  gritt  force  in  all  the  country,  and  wes  so  far 
ofifenditt  at  him  that  he  ofiferitt  to  any  that  wald  bring  this 
AJlexanderis  heid,  thai  suld  have  the  fourty  markland  of 
Stewarttoune  in  Cuninghame ! "  This  coming  to  Alexander's 
ears,  he  had  the  titles  of  the  estate  drawn  up  in  legal  form, 
**  heflfand  all  his  rycht  of  the  said  xl  mark  land  put  in  forme," 
"  and  convening  to  the  number  of  ane  hundred  horse,"  he  rode 
all  night,  timing  his  arrival  at  Wigtown  for  Yule-day  mom, 

^  A  French  historian,  writing  of  the  period,  says:  ''Dans  ce  temps-l&  le 
Ck)mte  de  Douglas  et  son  fr^re  Archinbald  Seigneur  de  Gallovay  renait  avec  trois 
mille  Ecossais  au  secours  du  Roi.  lis  firent  bon  service  a  la  Bataille  de  Poictiers. 
Des  hommes  de  marque  furent  tucs, — Andre  Stevart  tr^s  jeune  mais  tr^  brave — 
Robert  Gordon  d'une  grande  famille — Andr6  Vans  de  Gallovay  le  fr^re  d'armes  du 
Seigneur  Archinbald.  Le  comte  ^chappa  mais  Archinbald  fat  pris." — ffist,  des 
Jialheurs  de  la  France  soits  le  Roi  Jean :  Paris,  chez  Bard,  1611,  vol.  ii.  103. 


to  1424]      THE  DOUGLAS  AT  LOCHNAW  227 

at  the  hour  he  knew  the  earl  likely  to  be  at  morning  mass. 
Bursting  into  the  church,  his  charter  in  his  hand,  "My  lord," 
he  exclaimed,  "you  have  promised  this  40  mark  land  to  who- 
ever will  bring  you  my  head,  and  who  so  meet  to  oflfer  it  to 
your  lordship  as  your  humble  servant  ?  And  therefore  I  will 
desire  your  lordship  to  keep  your  word  to  me,  as  you  would  to 
any  other."  His  dagger  dangled  at  his  side,  the  spurs  and 
scabbards  of  his  followers  clanked  on  the  pavement  as  they 
crowded  in  behind  him.  "The  earl  perceived  that  gif  he  re- 
fused it  would  cost  him  his  lyffe,  and  therefore  took  pen  and 
subscribed  the  same."  "Alexander  thanked  his  lordship,  and 
taking  his  horse,  lap  on,  and  came  his  ways."  ^ 

That  the  earl  should  have  been  cowed  and  despoiled  by  such 
a  daring  roysterer,  we  can  readily  conceive.  But  what  were 
the  Sheriffs  of  Ayr  and  Wigtown  about  that  he  was  not  tracked, 
and  obliged  to  surrender  his  person  and  his  charter  to  superior 
force? 

No  hue  or  cry  was  raised ;  no  blast  of  the  horn  denounced 
him  rebel ;  no  kingsman  stirred  to  avenge  the  majesty  of  the 
law.  Alschunder  profited  at  least  as  much  by  Fleming's 
unpopularity  as  by  his  own  audacity.  The  officials  of  Wigtown 
and  the  shire  of  Ayr  shrugged  their  shoulders,  whilst  Douglas, 
who  could  easily  have  righted  his  feUow  peer,  laughing  in  his 
sleeve,  offered  to  relieve  him  of  his  responsibilities. 

As  a  result,  Fleming,  disgusted  with  the  Galloway  baronage, 
who  on  their  part  openly  despised  him,  fell  in  with  the  grim 
Archibald's  proposal*  A  bargain  was  speedily  concluded.  For 
£500  he  surrendered  his  lands,  his  castle,  his  powers  and  privi- 
leges, his  very  title  (though  this  last  was  not  eventually  confirmed 
by  the  king),  to  Archibald,  who  thenceforth  became  Lord  Para- 

^  History  qf  ths  Kennedys^  p.  5.  How  far  the  story  is  founded  on  fact,  it 
wonld  now  be  difficult  to  trace,  but  it  is  certain  that  the  Earl  of  Wigtown  made 
a  grant  of  the  town  of  EyrkyntuUach  to  Sir  Gilbert  Kennedy,  which  was  con- 
firmed 13th  May  1372.— A;^.  Mag,  Sig.  104:  Pitcaim,  ffist.  0/ Kennedys,  79. 

'  In  the  charter  conveying  his  lands  and  offices  to  Douglas,  dated  6th  February 
1871,  Fleming  expressly  gives  as  the  cause  of  his  leaving,  '*  propter  magnam 
atque  gravem  inimicitiam  inter  me  et  majores  indigenos  diet!  Comitatus." — Craw- 
ford's Peeragef  409. 


228  HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY   [A.D.  1 366 

mount  both  east  and  west  of  Cree,  and  gave  special  pro- 
minence to  his  style  of  Lord  of  Galloway. 

His  epithet  "grim"  notwithstanding/  there  can  be  no 
manner  of  doubt  that  the  change  from  Fleming  to  Douglas 
was  for  the  advantage  of  the  province,  the  sinister  memories 
attaching  to  his  castle  of  Threave  ^  belonging  not  to  himself, 
but  to  his  great-grandchildren. 

The  death  of  David  11.  in  1371  farther  increased  the 
prestige  of  the  Douglasses,  as  it  was  not  until  they  had  been 
conciliated  that  the  king's  nephew  could  ascend  the  throne  as 
Robert  11.'  It  altered  also  considerably  the  status  of  all 
Galloway  officials  who  had  held  appointments  directly  &om 
the  king.  For  although  Archibald*  governed  in  the  king's 
name,  he  considered  himself  solely  responsible  for  order,  with 
the  right  of  appointment  to  all  offices  vacant,  requiring  all 
Crown  vassals  to  acknowledge  himself  as  their  superior. 

It  was,  however,  an  object  with  Archibald  to  make  his 
service  popular,  and  attach  the  baronage  to  his  person.  Him- 
self a  veritable  Paladin,  formidable  in  the  field,  and  as  sagacious 
as  he  was  strong,  he  easily  won  the  admiration  of  the  chivalry 
of  the  province,  who  freely  enrolled  themselves  imder  his 
banners,  their  tastes  being  constantly  gratified  by  adventurous 
wdds,  in  which  they  not  only  lived  well  at  the  enemy's  expense, 
but  returned  to  their  homes  laden  with  spoils. 

Meanwhile  a  son  had  succeeded  the  first  Constable  of  Loch- 
naw,  in  the  keeping  of  which  he  was  in  no  way  interfered  with  by 
the  Lord  of  Threave ;  and  there  is  reason  to  believe,  although 
all  charters  have  disappeared,  that  the  family  had  extended  their 

^  ^'Archibaldus  dictus  Grym  sive  tenibilis." — Bowmaker,  CorUinuaHon  of 
Fordun,  bk.  zv.  ch.  xi. 

Archibald  the  Grim  was  a  natural  son  of  the  Good  Sir  James.  He  married 
the  daughter  and  heiress  of  Thomas  Murray,  Earl  of  Bothwell,  on  succeeding 
to  whose  estates  he  assumed  the  three  stars,  the  oognisance  of  the  Murrays,  in 
addition  to  those  of  Douglas,  argent  a  chief  azure. 

'  Tref.  (Gym.)»  Treabth  (Geltic),  an  equivalent  of  Aros,  ''a  house,  a  home- 
stead." The  Pictish  evidently  here  approached  the  Gymric  Various  deeds  in 
the  Lochnaw  charter  chest  are  dated  ''  Apud  Treyf." 

'  King  Robert  II.  was  the  only  chUd  of  Walter  Stewart  by  the  Princess 
Marjorie,  King  Robert  I. 'a  daughter. 


to  1424]      THE  DOUGLAS  AT  LOCHNAW  229 

possessions  eastward  of  Lochiyan,  and  had  become  possessed  of 
the  lands  of  Croach  and  Laight  Alpyn.^  Concurrently  with  the 
succession  of  this  generation,  William  Douglas,  a  natural  son  of 
Archibald,  was  entrusted  with  the  management  of  Galloway  affairs. 

The  first  swordsman  of  his  day,  handsome,  hearty,  and 
accessible,  he  was  singularly  fitted  to  take  the  lead  in  the  raids 
and  revels  of  the  period.  Fcdthfully  followed  by  the  youth  of 
the  province,  he  soon  made  himself  such  a  name  that,  what 
with  his  prowess  and  good  looks,  he  proved  a  successful  rival  to 
the  King  of  France,  whose  hand  the  Princess  Egidia,  the  fairest 
lady  of  her  day,  is  said  to  have  refused,  for  love  of  this  Galloway 
knight. 

A  chronic  war,  due  tp  the  private  rivalry  of  border  chiefs, 
raged  for  years,  which,  owing  to  the  prowess  of  Archibald  and 
William,  turned  usually  to  the  advantage  of  the  Galwegians. 

In  1378,  an  English  army  were  carrying  all  before  them  in 
the  eastern  counties,  under  Sir  Thomas  Musgrave,  when  the 
Douglasses  fell  unexpectedly  upon  them.  The  Galwegians, 
couching  their  lances,  charged  with  the  cry  of  "  Douglas  and  St 
Giles ! "  *  with  a  fury  which  bore  down  all  opposition ;  almost 
all  the  English  gentlemen  of  foitune  being  taken  prisoners  and 
held  to  ransom. 

A  meeting  being  agreed  upon  between  the  Lord  of  Galloway 
and  John  of  Gaunt,  Duke  of  Lancaster,  to  arrange  a  truce, 
this  was  kept  for  the  appointed  time,  but  the  moment  it  expired 
Douglas  pounced  upon  and  took  the  castle  of  Lochmaben,  which 

^  The  Agnews  of  Croach  on  Lochryan  were  cadets  of  Lochnaw,  in  whose 
fitvour  these  lands  were  detached  from  the  family  estates  as  early  as  eireum 
1460.  But  though  they  notoriously  so  received  them  and  held  possession  for 
three  hundred  years,  all  charters  connected  with  these  transactions  have  been 
lost 

'  Then  they  shouted  their  war-cry,  which  I  think  was  "Douglas  and  St. 
Giles  ! " — Froissart,  i.  224.  St  Giles  was  patron  saint  of  Edinburgh,  Egidia  was 
its  feminine  form.  .  .  .  The  conduct  of  the  Douglasses  in  these  wars  is  thus  de- 
scribed by  Froissart:  "Sir  Archibald  Douglas  was  a  good  knight,  and  much 
feared  by  his  enemies.  When  near  to  the  English,  he  dismounted  and  wielded 
before  him  an  immense  sword,  and  gave  such  terrible  strokes,  none  were  so 
hardy  among  the  English  as  to  be  able  to  withstand  his  blows.  The  battle  was 
sharp,  the  Scots  took  seven  score  good  prisoners,  and  the  pursuit  lasted  to  the 
Tweed."— Froissart,  L  225. 


230    HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  1 366 

had  long  been  in  their  hands.  Further,  following  after  them 
with  clouds  of  light  horsemen,  the  terrible  Archibald  recovered 
also  the  part  of  Teviotdale  which  the  English  had  held  since  the 
battle  of  Durham. 

In  these  years  the  ranks  of  the  baronage  of  Western 
Galloway  were  recruited  by  the  arrival  of  the  Dunbars.  As 
early  as  1368  George  Dunbar,  second  son  of  the  ninth  Earl  of 
March,  had  a  charter  of  lands  in  the  Glenkens  and  Mochrum, 
but  usually  resided  at  Cumnoch  or  Blantyre  in  the  shire  of  Ayr, 
By  Alicia,  daughter  of  Mure  of  Bowallan,  he  had  two  sons,  to 
the  second  of  whom,  Patrick,  drcum  1375,  he  gave  the  lands  of 
Mochrum,  upon  which  his  family  continuously  resided. 

The  Earl  of  Fife,  and  James,  Earl  of  Douglas,  attacking  the 
English  in  the  east,  Douglas,  as  a  diversion,  burst  with  his 
Galwegians  unexpectedly  on  the  lake  districts  of  Cumberland, 
which,  lying  beyond  the  usual  limits  of  border  raids,  afforded 
a  rich  booty  to  his  army,  who  plundered  the  quiet  homesteads 
with  a  will,  ransacking  wardrobes,  cellars,  butteries,  and  chapels. 
Wyntoun's  minute  description  (who  gives  the  date  1386)  is  worth 

attention : 

And  Schyre  Archebald  that  than  was 
0£f  Qallway  Lord  :  assemblyd  then 
Thai  war  welle  thretty  thowsand  men. 
Thai  swne  passyd  Sullway  ; 
Syne  till  Kokyrmowth  held  thai 
Between  the  Fellis  and  the  b^ 
Thare  thai  fand  a  hale  cuntr^ 
And  in  all  gudis  abowndand. 
For  na  ware  was  in  till  that  land, 
Syne  Robert  the  Brwys  deyd  away. 
Than  all  that  cuntr^  can  thai  pray 
And  duelt  thre  dayis  in  till  that  land^ 
Quhill  thai  had  fillyd  welle  thare  hand. 
Syne  held  than  thai  hame  thair  wayis 
Wyth  thare  eupresoneys  and  thare  prays, 
And  passyd  Sullway  but  tynsell, 
For  thai  war  wysly  led  and  welle.^ 

The  mention  of  Cockermouth,  and  between  the  "  Fellis  and 

a6"  suggests  that  this  expedition  was  partly  a  naval  one,  and 

shipping  would  greatly  facilitate  the  removal  of  their  prey. 

^  Wyntoun,  bk.  ix.  ch.  vii. 


to  1424]      THE  DOUGLAS  AT  LOCHNAW  231 

Other  successes  attended  this  campaign,  the  leading  spirit 
being  Sir  William  Douglas,  then,  as  styled  by  Wyntoun,  "  a  joly 
bachelare,"  but  an  ardent  wooer  too,  and  that  of  the  beautiful 
Princess  Egidia.  He  had  now  so  greatly  distinguished  him- 
self that  the  king  no  longer  withheld  his  consent  to  his 
marriage  with  his  daughter,  who  returned  his  love.  Their 
nuptials  were  duly  celebrated,  and  returning  to  Carlisle  the 
knight  proudly  presented  his  bride  to  his  comrades  of  a  hundred 
tuilzies,  thanking  them  for  assisting  him  to  win  her,^  and  forth- 
with Egidia  reigned  supreme,  the  queen  of  all  their  hearts. 

Her  honeymoon  was  to  have  been  spent  in  camp,  but  was 
fated  to  be  of  the  shortest  duratioa  News  reached  Carlisle 
from  the  west  that  a  band  of  Ulstermen  were  harrying  the 
Ehynns  in  the  absence  of  its  defenders,  and  leisurely  freighting 
their  ships  with  whatever  they  chose  to  carry  off.  Great  was 
the  indignation  of  the  Galwegian  mosstroopers  on  learning  that 
a  set  of  Irish  gallowglasses  had  so  presumed  to  ape  their  doings 
on  the  Derwent,  and  still  greater  their  exasperation  when, 
having  made  all  possible  speed,  the  royal  bride  heading  the 
column  as  their  forest  queen,  they  only  reached  their  destina- 
tion in  time  to  see  the  sails  of  the  laden  ships  disappearing  in 
the  offing. 

So  great  was  the  energy  of  William  Douglas  that  in  an 
incredibly  short  time  shipping  was  collected  sufficient  to  carry 
five  hundred  spearmen  across  the  channel.  Availing  himself  of 
the  castle  of  Lochnaw  as  a  place  of  safety  for  Egidia,  and 
leaving  her  with  the  keeper's  lady  (whose  husband  we  may  be 
sure  accompanied  him),  he  tracked  the  retiring  raiders  along  the 
Ulster  shores,  and  followed  them  into  Carlingford.'    Here  he 

^  William,  bofise  son  to  Archibald  Douglas,  Lord  of  Galloway,  for  his 
singalar  valour  and  reiterate  victories  against  the  Englishe  both  by  sea  and 
land,  Kyng  Robert  did  give  him  his  daughter  Geilles,  a  werry  beautiful  ladye,  in 
marriage. — Balfour,  ISl. 

The  king  settled  £300  annually  out  of  the  customs  of  the  great  towns,  dilecto 
et  fideli  nostro  Wilhelmo  de  Douglas  militi  filio  Domini  Archibald!  de  Douglas, 
Domini  Qalwidii  et  Egidiss  carissimss  filise  nostri.     26th  December  1386. 

'  Five  hnndyrd  fechtares  as  I  heard  say 

At  Earlyngford  arrived  thai. 

Wyntoun,  bk.  ix.  ch.  vii. 


232  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY   [A.D.   1 3  66 

tx)ok  the  town  by  assault,  and  recovering  his  spoil,  laid  it  under 
contribution ;  and  by  his  personal  prowess  and  strength 
repelled  an  attack  made  on  him  unawares  by  troops  from 
Dundalk 

Considering  this  attack  treacherous,  he  seized  all  the  ship- 
ping in  the  port,  and  loading  it  with  the  spoil,  set  fire  to  the  place, 
and  stood  out  to  sea  with  his  prizes. 

Having  thus  revenged  himself  on  the  Irish  he  remembered 
he  had  some  old  scores  to  settle  at  the  Isle  of  Man. 

Landing  there,  he  seized  more  ships,  filling  them  also  with 
goods  and  animals,  and  then,  although  in  sight  of  Burrow- 
head,  on  the  Isle  of  Whithorn,  making  a  long  detour  by  the  Mull 
of  Galloway,  and  rounding  CorswaU  Point,  his  large  flotilla 
rode  in  triumph  in  the  calm  waters  of  Loch  Eyan. 

That  he  took  this  course,  which  quadrupled  the  distance  and 
added  indefinitely  to  the  dangers  of  the  voyage,  is  easily  but 
only  to  be  accounted  for  by  reading  between  the  lines  and 
remembering  that  the  Lady  Egidia  was  waiting  for  him  near 
these  distant  waters,  and  doubtless,  daily  from  the  Tawar,  watch- 
ing for  the  arrival  of  the  avenging  squadron. 

Ehyming  and  graver  historians  are  equally  minute  in  de- 
scribing the  circuitous  route  taken,  and  that  they  returned  to, 
as  they  had  started  from  Loch  Eyan :  ^ 

Syne  bi  se  thair  trade  took  thai 

Till  Man  and  Harryde  it  in  thair  way 

And  syne  arrywyd  in  Loch  Ryane. 

Wyntoun,  bk.  ix.  ch.  viii. 

Shortly  after  this  William  Douglas  led  his  Galwegians 
across  the  western  marches  to  assist  his  father  Archibald.  And 
whilst  there,  James,  Earl  Douglas,  heading  a  column  farther 
eastward,  was  killed  at  Otterburn. 

By  ordinary  rules  llis  title  should  have  passed  to  the  Earl 
of  Angus ;  but  these  were  not  ordinary  times,  and  Archibald 
Douglas  was  no  ordinaiy  man.     He  demanded  legitimisation, 

^  Buchanan  is  equally  explicit :  '*Atque  obiter  MannisB  insula  spoliatns  ad 
Lacmn  Rianum  qui  partem  GalloTideae  et  Caractse  diremit,  appellunf 


to  1424]      THE  DOUGLAS  AT  LOCHNAW  233 

basing  his  demand  on  the  right  of  the  sword.  The  Galloway 
barons  declared  for  him  to  a  man ;  they  were  actually  in  the 
field  ready  and  able  to  uphold  him  against  all  comers.  The 
king  consequently  formally  ratified  the  claim  he  was  powerless 
to  refuse.^ 

If  Archibald  had  been  almost  equal  in  power  to  King 
Bobert  II.  before  he  was  served  heir  to  his  kinsman,  after  it  he 
was  practically  master  of  the  situation.  And  two  years  later 
Eobert  III.  had  to  give  the  hand  of  the  Princess  Eoyal  to  the 
eldest  son  of  his  great  feudatory  as  the  price  of  his  acquiescence 
in  his  own  coronation. 

But  whilst  Archibald  asserted  himself  as  Lord  Paramount 
in  Gralloway,  barring  all  interference  or  appeal,  his  rule,  though 
despotic,  was  just,  and  his  ideas  of  government  far  in  advance 
of  his  age.  He  habitually  assembled  his  baronage  in  local 
parliament,  when  laws  were  discussed,  framed,  and  promulgated, 
regulating  intercourse  across  the  Borders,  military  service,  the 
keeping  and  burning  of  bales,  and  general  order.  And  so  well 
and  80  long  was  peace  preserved  under  this  system  that  young 
William  Douglas,  despairing  of  finding  fighting  nearer  home, 
foolishly  accepted  an  invitation  from  certain  fire-eating  Teutonic 
knights  to  assist  in  a  war  against  infidel  Prussians,  and  sailed 
for  Dantzic,  never  to  return.  He  fell  in  a  few  days  after  landing, 
not  in  battle,  but  by  the  hand  of  an  assassin.  Though  Quixotic 
in  his  contempt  for  a  quiet  life,  his  untimely  death  was  a  real 
loss  to  Galloway,  where  high  and  low  long  mourned  him  as  a 
friend.* 

He  had  long  acted  as  his  father's  right  band  man,  and  by  the 
tact  and  kindliness  of  his  disposition  so  administered  affairs  as 
to  occasion  the  least  possible  friction  between  the  ruler  and 
ruled,  between  the  autocratic  overlord  and  those  who  claimed 
to  be  Crown  vassals. 

^  The  lact  being  that  Archibald,  Lord  of  Oalloway,  was  a  bastard,  how  came 
he  to  be  Earl  Douglas  ?  The  answer  must  be  by  the  grant  of  Bobert  II. — 
CdUdofdaf  iii.  267. 

'  The  customs  of  the  wool  of  Galloway  is  remitted  to  Egidia,  daughter  of  the 
king,  in  her  widowhood. — Exchcg^iier  Soils,  1401. 


234     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  1 366 

After  his  death  the  demands  of  the  Douglas,  if  not  more 
peremptory,  were  more  harshly  pressed,  their  tenour  being  that 
all  oflBcials,  whether  appointed  by  the  Crown  or  not,  must 
acknowledge  him  as  their  sole  superior.  In  Kirkcudbright  he 
altered  the  style  of  Sheriff  to  Steward,  as  marking  the  holder  as 
his  personal  officer.  The  baronage  also  were  desired  to  renew 
their  titles  to  their  lands  from  himself  under  pain  of  confiscation.^ 

Most  of  the  lairds  complied.  M'Douall  of  Grarthland  being 
among  the  first,  was  treated  with  distinction,  and  not  only 
confirmed  in  his  estates  but  named  Steward  of  Kirkcudbright 

Agnew  of  Lochnaw,  whether  from  real  afiTection  to  the  king, 
or  emboldened  by  his  close  relations  with  the  Kennedys,  who 
were  near  at  hand,  and  the  distance  and  strength  of  his  keep, 
neglected  to  bring  in  his  commissions  to  be  checked  at  Threave, 
and  Douglas  sent  to  fetch  him.  According  to  tradition,  Archibald 
found  his  fortalice  a  harder  nut  to  crack  than  he  had  expected. 
It  was  a  far  ciy  from  Threave  to  Lochnaw,  and  the  ways  none 
of  the  easiest. 

An  inland  road  by  Knockwhassan,  under  the  beaten  hill  of 
Dindinnie,^  leads  to  Lochnaw  by  the  valley  of  the  Piltanton. 
Here  the  Agnews  lay  in  ambush  for  a  party  of  the  Douglasses 
who  were  coming  to  attack  them.    A  fight  ensued,  both  being 

^  A  tissue  of  nonsense  has  been  written  on  this  subject,  as  if  Douglas  went 
from  house  to  house  demanding  charters,  and  burning  them  maliciously.  In  the 
first  place,  the  native  proprietors  held  allodially,  and  therefore  had  none ;  in 
the  second,  the  actual  charter  was  as  valueless  to  himself  as  he  declared  it  to  be 
to  the  proprietor.  He  asserted  himself  superior.  If  any  one  declined  to  accept 
his  lands  from  him,  because  held  from  the  Crown,  he  simply  confiscated 
them,  and  put  a  vassal  of  his  own  in  possession.  Crawford,  the  antiquary,  writes 
such  stuff  as  this:  ''It  is  impossible  that  old  charters  could  be  preserved  in 
that  country ;  what  might  have  escaped  the  mighty  Edward  were  more  fully 
rifled  by  Archibald,  Lord  of  Galloway.  This  is  the  reason  that,  although 
there  be  many  ancient  families  in  Galloway,  yet  not  one  gentleman  has  any 
writings  preceding  the  time  that  the  lordship  of  Galloway  came  to  the  house  of 
Galloway."— Jf^S'/S'.  Hist,  of  the  M'DmocdU  of  Oarthland, 

^  The  tradition  as  told  is  that  the  M'Ewans  had  then  lately  come  from  Aigyle. 
We  should  naturally  have  supposed  that  a  victorious  party  of  Highlanders  would 
have  been  more  likely  to  have  kept  the  arms  and  thrown  the  men  into  the  moss 
hole.  Knockwhassan,  Cnoc-chasan,  "the  hill  of  the  pathway";  Dindinnie, 
Dun-teinie,  *'fort  of  the  fires";  Lochnafolie,  Loch-na-fola,  ''lake  of  the 
blood." 


to  1424]      THE  DOUGLAS  AT  LOCHNAW  235 

well  matched,  when  a  stalwart  band  of  M'Ewans,  holding  under 
the  former,  took  the  Douglasses  in  the  rear,  who  were  made 
prisoners  to  a  man.  Having  stripped  them  of  their  arms,  they 
let  them  go,  and  afraid  of  retaining  what  might  afterwards  prove 
evidence  against  them,  threw  the  weapons  into  a  flow  moss, 
called  Loch-na-folie. 

Whether  this  little  episode  is  to  be  believed  or  not,  there 
could  but  be  one  result  to  the  unequal  strengtL  The  earl  had 
but  to  beleaguer  the  island  a  few  days  more  or  less  to  starve  the 
garrison  into  an  unconditional  surrender. 

His  day  of  triumph  came.  And  considering  the  standard 
by  which  the  actions  of  oflfended  potentates  were  then  weighed, 
it  cannot  be  said  that  the  earl  treated  the  constable  with  any 
wanton  cruelty.  He  allowed  him  to  leave  with  his  family  un- 
molested, and  go  where  he  pleased;  though  he  dealt  more 
roughly  with  the  castle,  firing  whatever  was  combustible  in  its 
massive  structure,  and  toppling  over  the  battlements  whence 
the  flag  had  flown  in  defiance  of  his  summons.^ 

Traditionally  it  is  said  that  the  Agnews  when  driven  from 
Lochnaw  retired  to  their  lordship  of  Lame.''*  Possibly  they  did, 
if  they  still  possessed  it.  Though  we  believe  that  their  journey 
was  much  shorter,  whether  by  land  or  water,  and  merely  across 
Loch  Eyan  to  their  lands  of  Groach.  But  however  this  may 
have  been,  the  constable  lost  little  time  in  repairing  to  Court  to 
lay  his  grievances  before  the  king.  Sobert  III.  doubtless  ex- 
pressed much  sympathy,  but  could  give  him  no  assistance, 
whether  with  money  or  men.  He,  however,  allowed  him  to 
remain  at  Court,  whether  with  or  without  an  appointment, 
where  he  was  fortunate  enough  to  attract  the  favourable  notice 

^  As  stated  airtly  by  the  chronicler :  "  Reg.  Davidis  2di,  a  son  of  ye  Lord 
Agnews,  gott  the  keeping  of  the  king's  Castell  of  Lochnaw.  His  great  grand- 
child wes  opprest  by  the  Erie  of  Douglas,  by  whom  the  Castell  of  Lochnaw  wes 
blown  up." — Mackenzie  MSS.,  Advocates'  Library,  Edinburgh. 

'  ''The  Agnews  of  Lochnaw  being  dispossessed  by  Archibald  the  Grim,  and 
their  lands  given  to  William  Douglas,  emigrated  beyond  his  influence  to  Ireland. 
But  not  liking  their  new  place  of  abode,  the  father  and  son  removed  to  the  Court 
of  Robert  III.  at  Perth,  the  former  becoming  a  member  of  the  royal  household, 
and  the  latter  having  the  good  fortune  to  attract  the  notice  of  the  king's 
daughter  Margaret." — Chron,  0/ Linduden,  63. 


236  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OP  GALLOWAY   [A.D.   1 366 

of  the  Princesses  Margaret  and  Mary.  He  assisted  probably  at 
the  marriages  of  both — ^the  elder  to  Archibald  Douglas,  son  and 
heir  of  his  terrible  lord;  the  latter  to  George,  first  Earl  of 
Angus  (the  date  of  which  is  24th  May  1397),  and  afterwards  to 
a  Kennedy  of  Dunura 

Meanwhile  the  jurisdictions  of  the  Agnews  and  their  lands 
of  Lochnaw  were  bestowed  on  William  Douglas  (probably  an 
illegitimate  grandson  of  the  earl),  who  took  possession  of  the 
shattered  keep,  styling  himself  "  Constable,  and  also  SheriflF,  of 
Wigtown." 

Shortly  after  these  summary  proceedings,  the  great  Archibald 
himself  passed  to  his  last  account  (1401).^ 

Heavy  as  his  hand  had  fallen  on  our  ancestor,  candour 
obliges  us  to  repudiate  the  charges  local  authors  have  somewhat 
loosely  heaped  upon  him.  In  truth,  he  was  neither  brutal  nor 
rapacious.  He  was  religious  according  to  his  light,  and  in  his 
administration  as  between  man  and  man  was  scrupulously  just. 

Two  indictments  against  him  have  been  repeated  ad  Tiauseam 
in  exaggerated  terms  of  reprobation.  One,  that,  as  an  ogre 
greedy  of  old  charters,  he  went  from  house  to  house,  where,  if 
his  unnatural  appetite  was  unsatisfied,  he  battered  down  the 
walls  to  get  at  them.  This  we  have  already  shown  to  be  ridicu- 
lous. The  other,  that  he  laid  a  tax  on  every  parish  of  a  fat 
heifer  yearly,  to  be  salted  for  winter  provisions  for  his  garrison. 
The  record  of  this  "vile  oppression"  being  usually  accompanied 
by  such  a  sensational  sentence  as,  "  Woe  be  to  those  who  refuse 
to  pay."  It  is  too  absurd  to  talk  of  one  bullock  from  a  whole 
parish  yearly  as  oppressive. 

His  character  as  given  by  Froissart,  an  observant  and  im- 
partial contemporary,  may  be  accepted  as  a  fair  one :  "  Most 

^  Earl  Archibald  married  Johanna,  daughter  and  heiress  of  Thomas  Moray, 
Lord  of  Bothwell.  In  her  right  he  introduced  into  his  shield  the  three  stars  so 
well  known  afterwards  as  the  Douglas  achievement.  His  arms  previously  were 
argent,  a  chief  azure. 

The  Bothwells  held  the  office  of  "Panetarius  Scotiie."  In  a  charter  to  his 
father,  who  married  King  Robert  I.'s  sister,  the  office  is  written  in  the  vernacular 
"  pantryman."  **  Charter  by  Andrew  Murray,  pantryman,  and  Christian  Brace, 
his  spouse." — Robertson  s  Index, 


to  1424]      THE  DOUGLAS  AT  LOCHNAW  237 

upright  was  he  in  judgment,  yet  severe ;  faithful  to  his  word ; 
recommended  to  fame  as  much  bj  his  wisdom  as  his  valour." 

His  successor,  also  Archibald,  is  distinguished  from  the  grim 
Earl  as  the  Tyneman,  a  soubriquet,  we  suspect,  in  facetious 
allusion  to  his  loss  of  an  eye,  and  another  member,  even  more 
important,  at  the  battle  of  Homildon.^ 

At  this  battle,  fought  in  Northumberland  14th  September 
1401,  he  received  five  severe  wounds,  and  was  taken  prisoner, 
as  well  as  his  brother-in-law  Angus ;  and  of  the  Galloway 
baronage,  Fergus  M'Dowall  of  Garthland,  Roger  Gordon  of 
Lochinvar,  and  Eobert  Stewart  of  Durisdeer.^ 

Earl  Douglas  was  released  by  his  captor,  Percy,  on  condi- 
tion of  his  assisting  him  in  an  attack  on  his  own  king.  The 
Lord  of  Galloway  asked  nothing  better,  but  was  again  taken 
prisoner  whilst  performing  this  engagement. 

Henry  IV.  of  England  quickly  released  him  on  his  sending 
thirteen  knights  as  hostages  for  his  ransom,  among  whom  were 
Sir  Herbert  Maxwell  of  Caerlaverock  and  Sir  John  Herries  of 
Terregles. 

Douglas's  brother-in-law  Angus,  less  fortunate,  died  whDst 
still  a  prisoner,  and  the  hand  of  the  Princess  Mary  being  free, 
she  gave  it  to  James,  son  of  Sir  John  Kennedy  of  Dunure. 

A  most  scandalous  stoiy  of  how  the  princess  was  wooed 
was  put  into  circulation  by  a  member  of  another  branch  of 
the  Kennedys,  which  has  developed  into  a  spurious  tradition, 
the  absurdities  and  anachronisms  of  which  are  patent :  '*  King 
James  I.  send  ane  of  his  dochters  to  the  Laird  of  Donour  to 
foster,  quha  remaynit  with  him  quhill  sche  was  ane  woman. 
At  the  quhilk  time  the  ladyis  owen  son  heffing  mair  creditt 
in  his  moderis  house  nor  her  stepsone,  being  in  luff  with  the 
young  ladye,  gettis  her  with  baime.  The  king  her  father  being 
far  offendit  thairatt,  could  find  no  better  way  nor  to  cause  him 

1  Home  of  Godscroft  gives  the  reason  for  the  nickname,  "in  that  he  tint 
all  his  men,  and  all  the  battles  that  he  fought."  But  this  is  opposed  to  fact. 
He  was  an  able  and  redoubtable  commander,  and  his  serrices  notoriously  com- 
peted for  by  the  kings  of  France  and  England,  as  well  as  by  his  own. 

*  Dorus-darie,  **  door  of  the  oakwood,"  i,e.  entrance  to  the  forest. 


238  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY   [A.D.  1 366 

marie  her.  And  sa  the  Laird  Donour  deshereist  his  eldest  sone, 
and  made  his  second  son  laird."  ^ 

We  have  here  a  tissue  of  untrutha  The  princess  was  not 
fostered  at  Donore;  her  first  visit  there  was  as  a  widow. 
James,  her  husband,  was  the  eldest  son  and  natural  heir 
to  his  father.  The  only  slight  plank  on  which  the  scandal 
originally  floated  was  that  James  Kennedy  was  actually  killed 
some  years  later  by  an  illegitimate  brother,  who  may  or  may 
not  have  been  older  than  himself.^ 

James  and  the  princess  had  three  sons, — John,  Gilbert,  James, 
— and  probably  one  daughter  only,  as  their  married  life  extended 
little  over  four  years.* 

We  are  enabled  to  fill  in  a  few  details  as  to  the  Galloway 
baronage  from  the  record  of  courts  held  at  Threave.  In  1403 
the  Earl  issued  a  precept  of  sasine  to  Thomas  Herts,  Steward 
of  Kirkcudbright,  desiring  him  to  infeft  Sir  Archibald  Gordon 
in  the  lands  of  Kenmure,  as  heir  to  his  father  Boger,  killed  at 
Homildon. 

Previous  to  1411  we  find  a  charter  of  confirmation  to  Sir 
John  Stewart  and  Elizabeth  his  daughter  of  the  lands  of 
Cally,*  witnessed  by  William  Douglas  of  Leswalt,  Thomas 
M*Culloch  of  Myrtoun,  Fergus  M'Dowall  of  Garthland,  Alex- 
ander Gordon  of  Lochinvar,  John  Keith,  and  Alexander  Cairns, 
Provost  of  Lincluden.  A  tombstone  of  this  provost,  a  valued 
and  trusted  servant  of  the  earl,  who  styles  him  *'  Cancellarius 
noster,"  was  lately  recovered  under  a  heap  of  rubbish  in  the 
Lady  Margaret's  Chapel  at  Lincluden — a  massive  slab  of  red 

^  Historie  of  the  Kenedys,  Pitcairn,  6. 

'  '*  Only  one  wife  of  Sir  Gilbert  Kennedy  is  mentioned  in  any  of  his  charters, 
Agnes  Maxwell;  and  she  is  described  as  mother  of  all  his  children  except  Gilbert, 
John,  and  Roland,  these  being  called  to  the  saccession  failing  heirs-male  of  Sir 
Gilbert's  body  lawfully  begotten.'* — HistoricaZ  Account  of  Kennedies  from  Char- 
tws,  18-17. 

'  In  all  peerages  and  genealogies  extant — Douglas,  Wood,  Pitcairn,  and  the 
History  from  Charters — all  daughters  are  omitted  for  four  generations,  though 
there  notoriously  were  many. 

^  Cally,  anciently  Ealacht,  Girthon.  "  Galadh,"  a  port  or  landing-place.  A 
dispensation  to  the  Elizabeth  named,  to  marry  her  cousin  Alexander  Stewart,  was 
granted  by  the  Pope  in  1411,  which  fixes  the  date. 


to  1424]      THE  DOUGLAS  AT  LOOHNAW  239 

freestone,  8  feet  by  4,  bearing  this  touching  appeal  to  the 
passer  by :  "  Tou  that  have  (unwittingly)  trodden  upon  my 
body,  pray  for  my  soul " — "  Qui  me  caleatis  pedibus  prece  sub- 
veniatis." 

In  1414  Fergus  M*Dowall  resigned  his  lands  of  Gairach- 
loyne,  Lochans,  and  Longan,  into  his  superior's  hands,  who  there- 
upon reconveyed  them  by  charter  to  his  son  Thomas,  in  presence 
of  Sir  William  Douglas  of  Eskford,  Sir  John  Herries  of  Ter- 
regles,  Sir  Alexander  Gordon  of  Kenmure,  Master  Alexander 
Cairns,  and  John  a-Kersone  of  Glen. 

In  the  Lochnaw  charter  chest  a  writ  of  the  earVs,  dated 
20th  October  1421,  confirms  a  deed  of  John  de  Crawford  de 
Trarinzean  to  his  cousin  John  de  Cairns,  scutifer  to  the  earl, 
and  son  of  "William  Cairns,  of  the  lands  of  Cults,  in  the  parish 
of  Cruggleton,  he  paying  yearly  therefor  a  silver  penny  in  name 
of  blench  farm.  Though  the  pedigree  cannot  be  traced,  it  is 
very  possible  that  this  De  Cairns  was  an  ancester  of  Lord 
Chancellor  Earl  Cairns.  Before  this,  between  1415  and  1420, 
Alexander  Vans  was  consecrated  Bishop  of  Galloway,  in  right 
of  which  he  became  superior  of  a  large  tract  of  Church  lands, 
as  well  as  of  the  stronghold  in  the  island  which  gives  its  name 
to  the  parish  of  Inch. 


CHAPTEE  XIII 

THE  DUCHESS  OF  TOURAJNE 

A.D.   1424   to  1440 

After  drought  commeyth  rayne, 
After  plesor  oommetlie  payne, 

But  yet  it  contynyth  nyt  boo  ; 
For  after  rayne  commyth  drocht  agayne, 

And  joye  after  payne  and  woe. 

The  second  Archibald  neither  developed  his  father's  adminis- 
trative talents  nor  his  liking  for  Galloway.  His  forte  lay  in  the 
direction  of  armies  in  the  field ;  and  wearying  of  Threave,  after 
first  coquetting  with  the  warlike  Henry  V.  of  England,  who 
would  fain  have  persuaded  him  to  change  his  allegiance,  he 
came  to  terms  with  Charles  VII.  of  France,  the  career  thus 
opening  before  him  being  more  in  consonance  with  Scottish 
tradition. 

This  settled,  committing  the  management  of  his  affairs, 
public  and  private,  to  his  countess,  he  sailed  for  France.  There 
his  reception  was  of  the  warmest,  the  king  at  once  appoint- 
ing him  lieutenant-general  of  the  kingdom,  creating  him  Duke 
of  Touraine,  and  investing  him  heritably  in  the  lands  of  the 
duchy. 

He  enjoyed  these  dignities  but  a  short  time,  as  he  fell  in 
the  battle  of  Yemeuil — against  the  English  under  the  Duke  of 
Bedford— the  I7th  of  August  1424. 

By  his  will  the  superiority  of  Galloway  devolved  not  upon 
his  son,  now  fifth  earl,  but  upon  his  widow ;  and  as,  almost 
simultaneously  with  her  husband's  death,  James  I.,  her  brother. 


A.D.  1 424-1440]     THE   DUCHESS   OP   TOURAINE  241 

was  released  from  his  long  captivity,  all  rights  and  privileges 
connected  with  this  lordship  were  confirmed  by  the  king  in 
their  fullest  sense  to  his '^ beloved  sister";  (carissima  nostra 
Margharita  soror) ;  and  she,  being  henceforth  known  as  Duchess 
of  Touraine,  ruled  for  nearly  twenty  years  at  Threave,  a  veri- 
table queen« 

Prominent  among  the  members  of  her  household,  each  of 
whom  she  addresses  as  her  beloved  squire  (scutifer,  the  modern 
equivalent  of  which  would  probably  be  equerry),  by  a  rather 
strange  coincidence  were  Andrew  Agnew,  son  of  the  constable 
driven  from  Lochnaw,  and  William  Douglas,  who  was  in  the 
enjoyment  of  his  rights. 

Both  gentlemen  seem  to  have  been  on  the  best  of  terms, 
though  William  styled  himself  "  sheriff "  and  retained  possession 
of  Lochnaw.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  Agnews  had 
been  left  undisturbed  by  the  Douglasses  in  any  of  their  lands 
which  were  unconnected  with  the  constabulary,  and  at  this 
moment  the  duchess's  squire,  when  not  in  attendance  on  that 
lady,  seems  to  have  resided  in  the  manor-place  on  the  island 
which  gives  its  name  to  the  parish  of  Inch.^  In  this  old 
strength  we  find  him,  a.d.  1426,  completing  the  purchase  of 
certain  tofts  and  crofts,  as  well  as  a  mill,  described  as  all  Ijring 
"between  the  torrents  in  the  Barony  of  Innermessan,"  which  we 
take  to  mean  between  the  stream  that  discharges  from  the  lochs 
of  Inch  and  the  Galloway  Bum. 

His  new  purchases  adjoined  the  lands  of  Croach  and  Laight 
Alpyn,  which  he  probably  already  possessed,  and  it  is  an  im- 
doubted  fact  that  beyond  all  memory  of  man  the  Agnews  owned 
the  castle  and  old  moat  of  Innermessan.  Though  no  charter  of 
its  acquisition  is  extant,^  there  is  frequent  record  of  its  occupa- 
tion by  them,  as  well  as  of  its  alienation  to  the  Earl  of  Stair. 

^  The  superiority  of  this  strength,  as  well  as  of  wide  lands  in  the  parish,  lay 
with  Alexander  Vans  as  Bishop  of  Galloway,  several  of  which  he  granted  to  the 
Agnews  in  perpetual  feu.  It  is  curious  that  some  of  these  have  returned  to 
scions  of  the  bishop's  family,  notably  Sheuchan  and  Tongue,  by  the  marriage  of 
a  Vaus  with  an  heiress  of  a  branch  of  the  Agnews. 

'  Andrew  Agnew  of  Lochnaw,  son  of  the  duchess's  squire,  disponed  the  lands 
of  Croych  to  his  son  William  as  early  as  1460. — Exchequer  Rolls, 

VOL.  I  R 


242  HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  1 424 

A  decree  of  the  Lord  Auditors  towards  the  close  of  the  century 
proves  them  to  have  had  early  occupation  of  the  Aird,  Culhom, 
Glenhappel,  and  the  Boreland  of  Soulseat,  all  lying  in  the 
Inch,! 

The  charter  of  this  most  recent  purchase  bears  that  "  Gilbert 
M'Cambil  and  Nevin  M'Gilbar,  burgesses  of  the  burgh  of  Inner- 
messan,  dispone  the  mill  of  Innermessan  and  certain  tofts 
and  crofts  to  Andrew  Aignew*  and  his  heirs  for  ever."  And 
because  the  former  has  no  seal  of  his  own  he  borrows  that 
"  of  an  honourable  man,  Thomas  M'Dowell  of  Garslew."  And 
the  latter  also  having  no  seal,  "  appends  that  of  Sir  Alexander 
Cambil,  Lord  of  Corsevel,  provost  of  the  said  burgh.  Wit- 
nessed at  the  Inch  the  14th  day  of  October  1426  by  Sir  Patrick 
M'Men,  late  abbot  of  Dundrennan,  David  Eoss,  Gilbert  M'Dowel, 
Duncan  M*Maycan,  Andrew  M'Kelli,  Duncan  M'Nely,  and 
many  more." 

This  we  believe  to  be  the  only  record  extant  of  the 
ancient  Berigonium  having  been  once  a  regularly  consti- 
tuted buigh,  having  its  provost,  baillies,  and  burgesses, 
though  it  has  long  fallen  into  decay.  It  is  also  interesting 
to  note  that  it  is  not  without  authority  that  Camden  in  his 
Britannia  styles  the  early  Sheriffs  of  Galloway  Agnew  of  the 
Inch.* 

At  this  conjuncture  the  Duchess  of  Touraine  actively  inter- 
fered in  favour  of  her  younger  equerry's*  restoration  to  his 
father's  home.  She  offered  William  Douglas  Cruggleton  Castle, 
with  its  lands,  as  a  fair  exchange  for  Lochnaw.  And  owing  to 
rumours  in  the  wind  of  the  young  king's  dealings  with  defaulters 

^  Ada  Auditorium,  1490. 

'  Tliifl  charter  being  printed  in  the  official  publication  of  national  records, 
need  not  be  quoted  at  length.  The  double  g  in  Agnew  evidently  represents  the 
y  which  the  Aygnells  in  England  inserted  before  the  g.  In  this,  as  in  other  early 
charters,  it  is  impossible  to  distinguish  between  a  double  I  and  a  v  at  the  end  of 
the  word,  the  two  being  interchangeable  in  Scotland. 

'  Galloway  reckoned  among  the  sheriffdoms  oyer  which  Agnew  of  the  Isle 
presides. — Britannici,  iL  1199. 

*  Andrew  Agnew  obtained  in  the  capacity  of  scutifer  the  good  will  of  Lady 
Margaret  Stewart,  Duchess  of  Turenne,  while  she  enjoyed  Galloway  as  her 
dower. 


to  1440]  THE  DUCHESS   OF  TOURAINE  243 

in  his  absence,  he  was  glad  to  divest  himself  of  a  dangerous 
possession,  getting  full  value  in  exchange.^ 

James  I.  was  a  man  of  a  very  diflferent  mould  from 
Robert  III.,  especially  jealous  of  any  assumptions  of  his  nobility 
(the  duchess's  son,  his  own  nephew.  Earl  Douglas,  had  already 
been  committed  to  prison  on  a  suspicion  of  misbehaviour) ;  and 
a  whisper  how  William  Douglas  came  to  style  himself  Sheriff  of 
Wigtown  *  or  Keeper  of  Lochnaw  in  defiance  of  royal  authority 
might  have  led  to  his  being  summarily  justified  on  the  dool 
tree  before  that  castle  gate.  It  is  significant  that  in  the  papers 
which  passed  on  this  occasion  William  Douglas  dropped  the 
"Vice  Comes"  which  he  had  invariably  subscribed  himself 
before  the  king's  return,  and  the  duchess  simply  styles  him  her 
scutifer. 

As  the  result  of  the  duchess's  gracious  intervention  ^  we  find 
Andrew  Agnew  on  a  happy  day  in  the  autumn  of  1426  riding 
with  a  party  of  lus  kinsmen  to  the  castle  of  Wigtown;  where 
William  Douglas  set  his  seal  to  charters  transferring  to  him  the 
constabulary  and  lands  of  Lochnaw,  and  the  privileges  of  the 
barony  in  the  fullest  manner :  ''  By  all  ancient  meiths  and 
boundaries,  in  ways,  paths,  waters,  pools,  with  fishings,  huntings, 
hawkings,  with  power  of  holding  courts,  with  herezelds,  blud- 
withs,  and  merchets  of  women,"  etc  Approved  and  confirmed 
"  delecto  scutifero  nostro,  Andrew  Agnew  by  Maigareti,  Ducisse 
Turonne,  Comitessi  de  Douglas  et  Domini  Galvidii  Apud 
Treyf,"  and  finally  ratified  by  James  I.  by  a  charter  under  the 
great  seaL 

^  William  Douglas  was  Sheriff  of  Wigtown  and  Constable  of  the  Castle  of 
Lochnaw  in  March  1424.— C7aZ.  iiL  898.  As  late  as  March  1424  William  Douglas 
witnesses  a  charter  to  the  Bishop  of  Galloway  as  "Vice  Comes  de  Wigtoun." — 
Oreat  Seal  Register, 

'  William  Douglas  held  the  lands  of  Lochnaw  and  constableship  of  the  castle 
thereof  both  which  he  transferred  in  1426  to  Andrew  Agnew;  he  obtaining 
from  the  said  lady  a  charter  to  the  lands  of  Balquhirry,  Cults,  and  Craglyntown. 
— Caledonia^  iiL  361. 

3  Margaret,  daughter  of  Robert  IIL,  after  the  death  of  her  lord  held  the 
whole  lordship  of  Galloway.  Under  such  rights  she  disposed  of  lands,  granted 
charters,  confirmed  possessions,  and  settled  transfers  of  property  as  Lady 
Superior. — Caledonia^  iiL  388. 


244  HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY   [A.D.  1 424 

William  Douglas  signs  at  lus  castle  of  Wigtown  10th  November 
1426,  styling  himself  Dominus  de  Leswalt.  "Witnessed  by 
Alexandro  Cambill  Domino  de  Corsewel,  Thoma  MakDonel  de 
Garflen,  Nigello  Adare  de  Portre,  Adam  de  Dalzel  de  Elliotston, 
et  Magistro  Gilberti  de  Park,  Secretario."  ^ 

The  first  three,  kinsmen  of  Agnew,  have  before  been  men- 
tioned. Adam  de  Dalzel  was  second  son  of  Sir  John  de  Dalzel, 
ancestor  of  the  earls  of  CamwortL* 

Some  time  before  this  James  Kennedy,  husband  of  the 
duchess's  sister,  the  Princess  Maiy,  had  been  killed  in  a  family 
quarrel,  and  she  had  remarried  Sir  WiUiam  Edmonstone  of 
Kincardine,^  leaving  her  children  to  be  brought  up  by  their 
grandfather  at  Dunure ;  and  it  may  be  well  supposed  that  they, 
and  especially  the  only  daughter,  were  frequent  visitors  of  their 
aunt  at  Threave.  Here  her  young  equerry  availed  himself  of 
his  opportunities  of  pressing  a  successful  suit.  Her  interest  in 
this  may  partly  account  for  the  haste  of  the  kindly  duchess 
in  effecting  the  restoration  of  Lochnaw  to  the  intended  bride- 
groom. 

The  proposed  connection  with  the  Kennedys  accounts  for 
her  selection  of  the  lands  of  Cruggleton  as  the  exchange  which 

^  All  these  charters  are  printed  at  length  in  the  official  pahlication  of  the 
Oreai  Seal  Register, 

The  duchess's  confirming  charter  bears  as  follows  : 

"  Quam  quidem  cartam  officia  donationem  et  concessionem  in  eadem  contentas 
in  omnibus  suis  punctis,  articulis,  conditionibus,  modis  ac  circnmstanciis,  appro- 
bamus,  ratificamus  et  pro  nobis  et  successoribns  nostris  Galvideee  dominio  in  per- 
petuam  confirmamns,  dilecti  scutiferi  nostri  Andrea  Agnew,  in  feode  et  hereditate  in 
perpetoam. "  Recapitulating :  * '  Per  omnes  rectas  metas  antiquas  et  di visas,  in  viis, 
semitis,  aquis,  stagnis,  moris,  mariscis,  boscis,  planis,  pratis,  pascuis,  et  pasturis ; 
piscationibus,  venationibus,  et  aucupationibus ;  cum  curiis  et  eomm  ezitibus, 
herezeldis,  bludwetis,  et  cum  merchetis  mulierum.  Cum  molendinibus  multuris  et 
eorum  sequelis ;  cum  libero  introitu  etiam  et  ezitu  ac  cum  omnibus  aliis  et 
singulis  libertatibus,  commoditatibus,  asiamentis  et  justis  pertinenciis  suis 
quibuscunque,"  etc 

^  This  charter  of  1426  is  the  oldest  producible  in  Galloway,  and  in  the  peerage 
pedigrees  of  the  Earls  of  Cam  worth,  as  well  as  those  of  the  M'Dowalls  and  Adares, 
it  is  referred  to  as  identifying  the  signatories. 

'  It  is  somewhat  of  a  coincidence  that  by  her  third  marriage  the  Princess 
Mary  became  the  ancestress  both  of  the  Dukes  of  Montrose  and  of  Grahame  of 
Claverhouse,  whilst  by  her  second  she  was  that  of  the  Earls  of  Cassilis  and 
SheriiSis  of  Galloway. 


to  1440]      THE  DUCHESS  OP  TOURAINE  245 

she  ofifered  to  William  Douglas  for  Lochnaw;  Sir  Gilbert 
Kennedy  ^  having  ancient  rights  over  part  of  these  lands,  which 
he  concurred  in  relinquishing  to  assist  in  his  granddaughter's 
settlement. 

The  signing  of  the  charter  above  mentioned  was  almost 
immediately  followed  by  the  marriage,  and  the  happy  couple 
repaired  td  the  Bhynns  to  re-establish  themselves  in  the  old 
home.  On  their  inspection,  however,  of  the  old  king's  castle, 
it  proved  to  have  had  so  severe  a  shaking  when  in  the  grip  of 
the  Black  Douglas,  that  it  was  easier  to  build  another  than  to 
repair  it. 

Civilisation  had  so  far  advanced  that  it  was  no  longer 
necessary  to  cling  to  the  island  as  the  only  defensible  position. 
Not  that  raids  were  less  frequent,  but  that  the  art  of  fortifica- 
tion was  better  imderstood. 

A  new  site  was  therefore  chosen  on  a  slight  elevation  above 
the  lake,  by  which  two  sides  were  defended,  the  two  others 
being  surrounded  by  a  moat.  Here  the  central  keep  was  raised 
five  stories  high,  with  thick  rubble  walls;  a  continuous  stair- 
case of  rough  whinstone  leading  to  a  watch  tower,  adjoining 
which  a  portion  of  the  parapet  was  corbelled  out  so  as  to  form 
"machicoulis,"  or  apertures  in  the  floor  closable  at  pleasure, 
overhanging  the  entrance  door,  through  which  missiles  could  be 
hurled  upon  assailants.  Corbels  also  supported  projections 
round  the  chimneys,  allowiag  free  circulation  to  those  on  the 
parapets,  these  being  pierced  by  spy-holes.  Built  at  the  same 
time  as  the  tower,  but  with  slighter  walls,  and  capable  of  being 
shut  off  firom  it  in  case  of  attack,  was  a  dining  hall,  with  a 
ladies*  bower  above  it — ^the  former  28  feet  8  inches  by  17  feet 
6  inche&  These  proportions,  although  modest  compared  with 
those  of  English  barons,  such  as  Haworth  just  across  the 
Borders,  were  probably  larger  than  any  in  (Jalloway  of  the 
period.    Outside  the  court,  overlooked  by  the  keep,  was  the 

^  He  had  a  charter  of  the  lands  of  Gruggleton,  Powton,  and  the  two 
Bronghtons,  22d  January  1865. — Seg.  Mag.  Sig. 

A  part  of  these  had  been  granted  by  Earl  Douglas  to  the  monks  of  Whithorn, 
but  had  been  apparently  resumed. 


246  HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY   [A.D.  1 424 

banukyn  (Anglo-Norman  barbican),  serving  the  double  purpose 
of  a  defence  of  the  drawbridge  and  place  of  security  for  cattle. 
And  within  the  outer  lines  were  granaries,  workshops,  stable, 
and  the  green.^  And  again,  within  the  courtyard  were  the 
chapel,  brewhouse,  knocking-stone,  hawk-perch,  and  the  jouggs. 
Happily  no  gallows  knob  disfigured  the  entourage,  that  ghastly 
emblem  of  baronial  state  being  relegated  to  the  dool  tree  on  the 
island. 

Altogether,  the  young  couple  at  Lochnaw  might  truly  say 
the  lines  had  fallen  to  them  in  pleasant  places :  overshadowed 
by  no  more  powerful  neighbour,  in  the  most  cordial  relations 
with  the  lady  superior,  hence  in  favour  with  the  king,  whose 
marked  policy  it  was  to  support  the  lesser  baronage  against  the 
more  powerful,  beyond  the  reach  of  Border  raids,  secure  at 
nights  from  the  prowling  thief  when  their  drawbridge  was 
raised,  and  ample  calls  of  duty  to  occupy  their  days.  House- 
keeping, when  everything — ^woollen  work,  linen  work,  plaidings, 
embroideries,  were  made  at  home — required  the  lady's  constant 
superintendence ;  who,  besides  the  supply  of  the  grosser  wants 
of  the  mouths  and  bodies  of  her  household,  was  expected  to 
be  skilled  in  the  mysteries  of  the  still-room,  and  dazzle  her 
neighbours  with  proof  of  her  maidens'  taste  in  coverings  and 
tapestry. 

Whilst  for  the  laird,  a  constant  practice  of  military  exer- 
cises, supervising  his  flocks  and  herds  over  a  wide  range,  a 
holding  of  courts,  and  even  the  chase  itself,  were  matters  as 
much  of  necessity  as  of  duty.  The  law  required  every  oflBcial 
to  have  weapon-shawings  four  times  in  the  year.*  Every  baron 
was  enjoined  to  erect  bowmarks  near  his  castle,  at  which  his 

^  A  green  before  chiefs'  residences,  for  drills,  games,  and  receptions,  was  an 
institution  derived  from  Celtic  times.  It  was  termed  "faitche,"  pronounced 
''faha."  Jamieson  suggests  it  "as  the  root  of  'fey,'  that  piece  of  inland  on 
which  the  dung  was  regularly  laid  and  laboured."  It  is  possible  that  in  its 
secondary  sense  of  a  green  field,  it  may  have  applied  to  this ;  but  the  "  fey " 
was  the  especial  spot  of  perpetual  cultivation,  often  called  the  "berefey," 
whereas  the  green  in  question  was  never  cultivated  at  all,  and  might  be  more 
idiomatically  rendered  "terrace." 

^  Acts,  8  Parlt  James  I.  ch.  27. 


to  1440]  THE  DUCHESS  OP  TOURAINE  247 

tenants  were  expected  regularly  to  attend ;  and  there  the  lady's 
presence  might  tend  much  to  popularise  such  gatherings,  and 
by  her  smile  enhance  the  value  of  the  silver  pennies  given  as 
rewards.^ 

A  statute,  promulgated  as  late  as  1427,  a  year  later  than  the 
period  to  which  we  refer,  required  the  baron, ''  in  gang  and  time 
of  year,"  to  chase  and  seek  the  whelps  of  the  wolf.^  Whilst 
such  names  within  an  easy  walk  of  Lochnaw  as  Hind  Hill  and 
Enocknamoak,'  are  suggestive  of  larger  game  than  sportsmen 
would  now  find  in  these  coverts.  Another  duty  of  the  Con- 
stable of  Lochnaw,  which  we  may  feel  assured  his  lady  was 
pleased  to  share,  was  attendance  at  Threave.  And  we  may  be 
aUowed  to  try  to  realise  the  ordering  of  these  journeys. 

The  roads  of  the  period  were  the  old  pack-horse  tracks, 
trodden  perhaps  by  the  beasts  of  burden  which  had  supplied 
Agricola's  commissariat;  any  improvement  during  the  inter- 
vening centuries  being  problematical  One  idea  governing  the 
selection  of  a  line  for  a  highway  was  its  directness ;  and  so  far 
from  taking  level  into  consideration,  steep  pitches  were  posi- 
tively preferred,  as  afifording  some  natural  drainage  where  much 
of  the  level  country  was  boggy.  The  sole  engineering  work 
in  Galloway  worthy  of  the  name  was  the  bridge  thrown  by 
Dervorgille  across  the  Nith,  one  end  of  which  rested  on  Gallo- 
way soiL 

^  That  the  bowmarks  be  made  be  lords  and  barronnes ;  that  each  man  achate 
sex  schotts  at  the  least ;  and  that  all  men  within  fiftie,  and  past  twelve  years, 
use  schuting :  twa  pennies  to  be  given  to  them  that  comes  to  drink. — 14  Parlt. 
James  II.  ch.  64. 

'  Ilk  barronn  to  chase  and  seek  quhelps  of  the  woolfe,  and  gar  slaie  them  ; 
and  the  barronnes  sail  give  to  the  man  that  slaies  the  woolfe  and  brings  to  the 
barronn  the  head,  twa  shiUings ;  and  qnhen  the  barronn  ordaines  to  hunt  and 
chase  the  woolfe,  the  tenants  sail  rise  with  the  barronn,  under  the  pain  of  a 
wedder  each  man. — 7  Parlt  James  II.  ch.  105.     Date  1427. 

Though  madadh  requires  the  addition  of  aUuidh  to  form  the  dictionary  term 
for  a  wolf,  maddy  alone  is  generally  held  in  nomenclature  to  mean  wolf,  not  dog. 
Thus  Stockamaddie,  Eirkmaiden,  seems  exactly  translated  in  Wolfs  Slock,  Cars- 
phaim  ;  Claymoddie,  Glasserton,  by  Wolfs  Stone,  Eskdale.  Polmaddy,  Forest  of 
Buchan  ;  Glenmaddie,  New  Abbey ;  Gormaddie,  Holywood,  are  the  pool  or  pit, 
glen,  and  hill  of  the  wolf. 

*  Cnoc-na-muick,  '  *  knoll  of  the  wild  boar  or  swine."    Hind  Hill  =  Einhilt. 


t} 


>l 


248     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  1 424 

Other  bridges,  so-ctdled,  were  simply  logs  thrown  across 
smaller  streams  for  foot-passengers,  and  causeways  of  mixed  stone 
and  wattle  were  occasionally  laid  across  marshes  and  flow  mosses. 

There  were  numerous  fords  where  the  passage  had  been 
artificially  assisted,  the  larger  streams  being  crossed  at  estab- 
lished ferries.  The  old  establishment  of  these  highways  and 
their  adjuncts  is  proved  by  the  hold  they  have  on  our  Celtic 
nomenclature. 

The  Pictish  term  for  a  highway  is  represented  in  Gaelic  by 
"  bealach " ;  a  path,  by  "  cassan,"  literally  a  footway ;  (cos)  a 
causeway,  by  "ceis"  and  "ceisseath,"  primarily  a  basket  or 
wicker-work;  also  by  "cliath/*^  a  hurdle;  a  ford,  by  "ath 
{t  mute) ;  a  bridge,  by  "  droichead." 

As  examples,  Grarvalloch  and  Ballochrae  are  the  ''rough 
and  "  smooth  "  pass ;  Ballochbeathes  and  Ballochrush,  the  road 
through  the  birches  and  the  brushwood;  Ballochakip,  through 
the  tree-stiunps;  Ballochalee,  the  pass  of  the  calves;  and 
Ballochjargon,  the  red,  or  bloody  pass. 

Cassan,  from  cos,  a  foot,  appears  in  Elnockwhassan  and 
Culquhassan,  the  knoll  and  back  of  the  pathway ;  Cassandeoch 
(da  each),  the  path  of  the  two  horses;  Cassanvey,  of  the 
birches  ;  Cassannaw,  of  the  ford. 

Ceiseach,  as  a  causeway,  appears  in  Balkissoch,  and  Dema- 
kissoch,  and  Knockeiche,  the  townland,  oakwood,  and  knoll  of 
the  causeway. 

Cliath  appears  in  Barely,  Barchly,  and  the  Cly — the  former 
translated  in  the  Ordnance  map  Causeway  End. 

We  find  fords  innumerable  :  Darnaw,  Craignaw,  Knocknaw, 
Inshaw,  popularly  Lochnaw — wood,  rock,  knoll,  island,  lake  of 
the  ford.  Annacarry  and  Annaboglish  are  Ath-na-Coradh, 
Boglach,  ford  of  the  weir  and  of  the  flow  moss.  Ashendram, 
near  Portpatrick,  is  the  ford  of  the  old  ridge  (whence  the  term 
old  ?) ;  it  crossed  the  Pinminnoch  Bum  at  Enoch,  meaning  an 
ancient  place  of  assembly,  or  a  fair. 

^  Dublin  was  anciently  Acly  (Athcliath),  ford  of  the  hurdles. — Joyce  i.  862. 
This  was  over  the  Dubhlinn,  the  black  pool,  hence  the  city's  name. 


to  1440]      THE  DUCHESS  OF  TOURAINE  249 

Droicharty  or  droichead^  a  bridge,  is  often  applied  sarcastic- 
ally ;  a  dangerous  ford  in  the  Piltanton  is  Drochdhuil,  the 
devil's  bridge.^  A  spot  near  Corswall  Point,  where  a  man  at  the 
risk  of  his  life  might  jump  a  chasm  in  the  cliffs,  is  mapped 
Drochhead.  A  similar  gap  in  the  beetling  crags  between 
Castle  Feather  and  Burrowhead  is  called  in  the  vernacular, 
probably  a  translation,  the  Devil's  Bridge. 

Drumdrochet  and  Kildrochat  are  the  ridge  and  wood  of  the 
bridge.  Near  the  latter  is  Barsolas,  indicating  an  eminence 
where  a  light  was  placed  to  guide  the  belated  traveller  to  this 
passage  of  the  Piltanton.^ 

Bardrochwood,  in  Minnigaff,  is  simply  a  corruption  for 
Bardrochat. 

Let  us  try  to  picture  to  the  mind's  eye  a  cavalcade  bent  on 
traversing  such  ways  defiling  across  the  drawbridge  from 
Lochnaw.  The  advance  guard  fully  accoutred  (for  travelling 
was  hazardous  to  those  not  well  attended),  pricking  forward, 
their  lance  pennons  fluttering  to  the  breeze.  A  troop  of  little 
Gralloways  carrying  the  wardrobes  and  other  luggage,  hawks  and 
hounds  with  their  keepers  accompanying  the  party  ;  for  where 
the  pace  had  to  be  regulated  by  baggage-drivers  on  foot,  it  was 
usual  for  knights  and  their  ladies  on  such  joumeyings  to  enjoy 
sport  by  the  way.  The  first  halt  of  the  worshipful  constable 
and  lus  wife,  we  may  place  with  confidence  at  Soulseat, — a  ten- 
mile  trudge, — where  all,  gentle  and  simple,  were  made  welcome 
by  the  monks  to  their  midday  meaL  Thence  a  nine-mile  ride 
would  bring  them  to  Drumacardy,^  whence,  after  fording  the 
Luce,  they  were  welcomed  to  the  larger  accommodations  of  the 
Cistercian  fraternity ;  and  there,  in  the  garden  or  the  bowling- 
alley,  pleasantly  whiled  away  their  time  till  called  to  the  re- 
fectory for  the  evening  meal. 

^  Loagli  an  doul,  cavern,  Loch  an  diabhil. — Joyce,  i.  199. 

*  So  Aflsolas,  Cork,  and  Bally nasolus,  Tyrone.  "  When  roads  were  few  and 
bridges  fewer,  to  be  able  to  strike  the  fordable  point,  at  night  especially,  was 
a  matter  of  life  and  death.  To  keep  a  light  of  some  sort  burning  on  the  spot 
would  suggest  itself  as  the  most  natural  and  effectual  plan  for  directing 
travellers." — Joyce,  L  217. 

'  The  ridge  of  the  workshop  or  forge. 


250  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY   [A.D.  1 424 

The  next  morning,  skirting  a  succession  of  mosses,  whose 
names  keep  green  the  memories  of  forests  long  entombed  below 
them/  fording  the  Tarf  by  the  way,  an  eight-mile  ride  would 
bring  them  to  Craighlaw,  the  seat  of  the  Mures.^  Whence, 
following  the  Bladenoch  and  crossing  it  by  a  boat  or  raft,  ''  as 
it  was  rarely  fordable,''  near  Spital,  a  pleasant  ride  past  the 
Stones  of  Torhouse  would  bring  them  to  Wigtown,  where,  if  at 
home,  William  Douglas  would  doubtless  claim  the  privilege 
of  entertaining  them  in  his  castle,  or  if  absent  on  duty  good 
quarters  would  be  cordially  placed  at  their  disposal  by  the 
Black  Friars. 

The  third  morning's  journey  would  commence  with  the  long 
ferry  of  the  Cree,  from  Knockdown  to  Cassencarry ; '^  their 
route  thence  leading  them  past  the  old  strengths  of  Carsluith 
and  Barholm  to  those  of  Gardoness  and  Cally,  on  either  side  of 
the  Fleet ;  and  entertainment  would  doubtless  be  ofifered  them 
by  a  M'Culloch  or  a  Stewart  Whence  through  the  wood  of 
Cumston,  across  a  second  Tarf,  they  would  reach  the  Priory  of 
Tongueland,  from  the  doachs^  of  which  the  brethren  would 
draw  salmon  for  their  refreshment  Then  leaving  the  priory, 
and  still  following  the  banks  of  the  Dee,  the  party  would 
presently  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  towers  of  Threave,  where,  as 
has  been  happily  said,  "  the  widowed  duchess  demesned  herself 
so  graciously  as  to  rob  the  rugged  pile  of  half  its  gloom."  ^  But 
turning  from  such  pleasing  imaginings,  the  domestic  annals 
of  the  period  furnish  records  of  sterner  realities.  The  Lady  of 
Threave  and  her  squire  were  alike  plunged  into  the  deepest 

^  As  Darvaird,  oaks  of  the  bard ;  Dargoles,  of  the  coals,  t.€.  charcoal ; 
Damain,  Demagee,  of  the  wild  geese,  or  of  the  winds  ;  Darsnag  (snaig),  of  the 
woodpecker ;  and  many  more. 

Although  quite  treeless,  it  is  curious  that  a  farm  on  the  first  spot  is  known 
by  the  pleonastic  name  of  Wood  of  Darvaird. 

'  Craighlaw,  creagliath,  gray  rock.  Tarf,  a  bull,  from  a  superstition  of  a 
bull's  spirit  infesting  the  water.  Tarbhuisge,  the  water  bull  of  the  Irish  and 
Scotch  Highlanders  ;  Tarrooushley,  of  the  Manxmen. 

'  Onoodonn,  brown  knolL     Gosancoradh,  the  foot  of  the  weir. 

^  The  doachs  of  Tongueland  are  its  fish-weirs.  Coldoch,  near  it,  is  the  back 
of  the  weir. 

'  ChronicUa  of  Linchiden,  p.  62. 


to  1440]      THE  DUCHESS  OF  TOURAINB  251 

anxiety  by  the  double  arrest  of  Earl  Douglas  and  Sir  John 
Kennedy,  eldest  brother  of  the  Lady  of  Lochnaw.  Both  were 
seized  on  no  averred  charge ;  but,  as  supposed,  for  having  let 
fall,  unguardedly,  words  as  to  the  Draconian  code  to  which 
the  nobility  were  being  subjected.  The  Earl  was  released 
after  several  months'  close  confinement,  and  retired  into  volun- 
tary exile ;  but  Sir  John  Kennedy  was  seen  no  more.^  A  deep 
mystery  hangs  over  his  fate,  as  to  which  an  entry  in  the 
Exchequer  KoUs  is  little  reassuring:  "For  £14:15:4,  Sir 
John  Kennedy's  expenses  in  tHe  Castle  of  Stirling,"  dated 
1434,  three  years  later.  After  that  he  apparently  ceased  to  be 
an  expense. 

The  unfortunate  young  man's  crime  seems  to  have  been 
simply  his  deprecation  of  such  severities  as  those  to  which 
he  was  himself  subjected;  and  their  frequent  repetition 
afterwards  drew  down  on  James  I.  a  terrible  retribution.  He 
was  murdered  at  Perth  a.d.  1437  by  Sir  Eobert  Graham 
and  his  accomplices ;  as  the  chronicler  pithily  puts  it :  "  The 
cause  of  the  king's  slauchter  was  that  he  was  owre  cruel  to 
his  lords." 

Some  communication,  "  though  no  record  of  it  exists,"  was 
doubtless  made  to  Sir  Gilbert  Kennedy  of  his  grandson's  death, 
as  Gilbert  the  second  was  recognised  as  oldest  surviving  son 
before  1438,  when  he  married  Catherine,  daughter  of  Lord 
MaxwelL  In  1438  James  Kennedy,  his  next  brother,  was  con- 
secrated Bishop  of  Dunkeld.  About  the  end  of  the  fourth 
decade  of  the  century  Sir  Gilbert  Kennedy  died  at  a  great 
age,  leaving  three  sons, — Alexander,  John,  and  Thomas, — 
who  founded  the  powerful  houses  of  Ardstincher,  Blairquhan, 
and  Bargany,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  grandson  Gilbert 
just  mentioned.  About  the  same  time  George  Douglas,  son 
of  Agnew's  fellow  -  scutifer  William,  married  Christian, 
daughter  of   Sir  William  de   Euthven,  who  was  infeft  for 

^  For  certain  causes  the  king  caused  Archibald,  Earl  of  Douglas,  and  Sir 
John  Kennedy,  his  nephews,  to  be  arrested.  The  earl  he  sent  to  the  Castle  of 
Lochleven ;  Kennedy  he  kept  in  the  Castle  of  Stirling. — Goodall,  Ctmtin,  of 
Fordun,  ii.  490. 


252  SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY     [AD.  1424-I44O 

her  dower  in  the  lands  of  Berbeth,  Dindufif,  and  Balqohirry, 
adjoining  those  of  Lochnaw.^ 

Immediately  after  James  I/s  assassination,  Earl  Douglas 
hasted  back  from  France,  and  was  named  one  of  the  Council 
of  Begency;  Sir  Alexander  Livingstone  being  appointed  the 
boy  king's  governor,  and  Sir  William  Crichton  chancellor.  He 
did  not,  however,  survive  his  mother,  and  therefore  was  only 
in  name  Lord  of  Galloway,  though  he  affected  the  style.^  He 
died  of  fever  in  1439,  leaving  David  his  son  and  heir,  a  boy  of 
fifteen,  William,  and  Margaret,  "  the  fair  Maid  of  Galloway." 
Soon  after,  the  Duchess  of  Touraine  died,  "  the  exact  dat€  has 
been  lost,"  and  was  buried  with  much  pomp  and  pageantry  * 
and  real  grief  in  the  Abbey  of  Lincluden,  where  a  magnificent 
monument  was  erected  to  her  memory.  All  chroniclers  concur 
in  stating  that  she  was  truly  and  rightly  beloved  by  all  classes 
in  her  little  dominion,*  where  she  was  deeply  and  generally 
mourned,  and  by  none  more  sincerely  than  by  her  faithful 
squire  Andrew  Agnew  of  Lochnaw. 

^  Bar  beith,  birch  hill ;  Dundamh,  ox*  fort ;  Baile  coire,  townland  of  the 
hollow. 

>  On  his  tomb  was  the  inscription :  ''Hie  jacit  Archibaldns  Douglas,  Dux 
Turoniffi,  Comes  de  Donglas,  et  de  Longoville,  Dominus  Gallovidiffi,  Wigtonise  et 
Annandise." 

'  The  remains  of  the  deceased  lady  were  conveyed  from  Threave  to  Ian- 
dnden,  a  distance  of  fifteen  miles  ;  never  before  had  such  a  grand  pageantry,  at 
once  so  solemn  and  imposing,  entered  the  college  grounds.  All  accounts  that 
have  come  down  to  us  concur  in  stating  that  she  combined  in  a  remarkable 
degree  sweetness  of  disposition  with  strength  of  purpose.  —  ChronicUs  of 
Lincluden. 

*  The  Princess  Margaret  lived  in  the  Castle  of  Threave  and  mitigated  the 
rigours  of  her  husband  and  his  father.  When  she  died  does  not  appear.  She 
was  certainly  buried  in  the  chancel  of  the  Church  of  lincluden,  where  an  elegant 
tomb  was  erected  to  her  memory,  without  ascertaining  the  time  of  the  Galloway 
people  losing  so  great  a  blessing." — CaledoniOy  iii.  270,  888. 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  chronicler  of  Lincluden  is  right.  The 
duchess  survived  her  husband  about  sixteen  years,  her  death  occurring  some 
time  in  1440. — Chronicles  of  Lincluden^  68. 


f 


CHAPTER   XIV 

THE  FIRST  HEBEDITARY  SHERIFF 

A.D.  1440  to  1455 

Oh  curse  oonfoond  the  Deil  o'  Threave, 

Hiit  neebors  he  doth  hany, 
But  Oallowa  ne'er  will  be  his  slave, 

Nor  the  braw  Laird  o'  Baeberry. 

Oalloway  Song, 

Almost  concurrently  with  the  duchess's  death,  her  nephew, 
James  Kennedy,  was  promoted  from  the  see  of  Dunkeld  to  that 
of  St.  Andrews,  becoming  at  once  Primate  of  Scotlemd  and  a 
prominent  member  of  the  Council.  And,  probably  by  his  good 
offices,  both  Andrew  Agnew  of  Lochnaw  and  his  son  received 
appointments  in  the  royal  household.^ 

About  this  time  also  we  find  the  Murrays  taking  a  place  in 
the  Galloway  baronage  as  of  Broughton,  they  being  scions  of  the 
family  of  Cockpule. 

David,  who  had  succeeded  on  his  father^s  death  as  sixth 
Earl  of  Douglas,  on  the  duchess's  decease  was  now  the  recog- 
nised Lord  of  Gralloway,  and  seems  to  have  served  himself  heir 
to  some  of  his  grandmother's  popularity ;  as,  although  during  his 
short  life  he  lived  principally  at  Douglas's  castle  of  Dalkeith,  he 
was  favourably  regarded  in  the  province  as  a  gay  and  generous 
youth. 

Unfortunately  he  incurred  the  envy  and  illwill  of  Crichton 

^  Andrew  Agnew  of  Lochnaw,  son  of  the  scutifer  of  the  duchess,  was  scutifer 
to  James  II. — Caledonia,  iii.  861.  This,  though  true,  carries  a  wrong  impression, 
as  the  father  as  weU  as  the  son  was  long  in  the  royal  household,  receiving  the 
gift  of  the  hereditaiy  sherifiship  as  a  reward  of  his  services. 


254     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  I440 

and  Livingstone,  who,  agreeing  in  notMng  else,  concurred  in 
arranging  a  fiendish  plan  for  his  destruction.  This,  they  would 
have  had  it  believed,  was  necessary  for  the  safety  of  the  state ; 
but  that  he  was  either  a  crafty  or  dangerous  conspirator  (be  it 
remarked  he  was  just  fifteen  years  old)  is  pretty  clearly  nega- 
tived by  the  ease  with  which  he  allowed  himself  to  fall  into  the 
snare.  He  was  decoyed  to  Edinburgh  (24th  November  1440)  along 
with  his  brother  William,  and  both  were  murdered  at  a  banquet. 
The  earnest  pleadings  and  bitter  tears  of  the  boy  king — "  the  king 
grat  very  sore  " — showed  a  truer  instinct  of  the  arts  of  governing 
than  the  calculating  barbarity  of  the  regent  and  chancellor. 

The  sympathy  evoked  for  the  victims  increased  the  popu- 
larity of  the  Douglasses  in  Galloway,  and  rendered  them  more 
really  formidable  than  they  had  ever  been  before. 

The  victim  of  the.  "black  dinner,"^  was  succeeded  by  a 
granduncle,  Lord  Balvany,  known  as  James  the  Gross.  His 
years  and  corpulence  inclining  him  to  placidity,  he  made  no 
effective  protest  against  the  crime,  but  was  succeeded  in  1443 
by  a  son  William,  who,  when  eighth  earl,  played  a  stirring  part 
upon  the  scene. 

Earl  William  succeeded  in  entirely  supplanting  both  Crichton 
and  Livingstone  in  influence  with  the  king,  boldly  accused  both 
of  malversation,  on  which  they  fled  the  country,  and  he  himself 
was  named  Lieutenant-General  of  the  kingdom. 

For  this  appointment  he  was  well  fitted,  having  a  clear  head 
and  a  strong  will.  Up  to  this  point  public  sympathy  was 
entirely  with  him,  but  he  now  forfeited  the  good  opinion  of 
many  in  Galloway  by  his  conduct  towards  the  only  sister  of  his 
murdered  kinsman. 

She  had  inherited  vast  estates  and  the  titular  lordship  of 
Galloway,^  which  Earl  William  coveting,  although  the  "Fair 

^  Edinburgh  Castle,  Town  and  Tower, 
God  grant  thou  sink  for  sin  ; 
And  that  e'en  for  the  black  dinner 
Earl  Doaglasse  got  therein. 

OalUyway  Ballad, 
'  Margaret,  daughter  of  fifth  Earl  Douglas,  celebrated  as  the  Fair  Maid  of 
Galloway,  enjoyed  all  Galloway  and  other  domains.     The  marratagium  of  this 


to  I4SS]         THE   FIRST   HEREDITARY   SHERIFF  255 

Maid "  was  a  mere  child,  repudiated  his  wife  (a  lady  of  irre- 
proachable character),  and  induced  the  king  to  concur  in  an 
application  to  the  Pope  to  sanction  an  unholy  alliance  with 
the  infant,  which  was  granted,  Margaret  herself  being  the  only 
party  not  consulted.^ 

Thenceforth  William  made  Threave  his  usual  residence. 
And  there,  heartless  as  he  had  shown  himself  in  domestic  rela- 
tions, his  bearing  toward  the  baronage  was  uniformly  gracious, 
and  his  rule  popular  and  firm.  In  his  earliest  essays  at  admin- 
istration  he  seemed  following  in  the  footsteps  of  his  sagacious 
ancestor,  the  first  Archibald.  Convening  the  baronage  of 
Galloway  and  Annandale  in  Border  Parliament,  he  presided  in 
person,  whilst  statutes  and  usages  of  march  were  considered  and 
codified.  At  such  a  meeting  in  1448  statutes  were  set  down  for 
regulating  bales  and  beacons,  the  assembling  and  arranging  of 
the  host,  of  prisoners,  and  ransoms.  These  were  approved  and 
promulgated  by  the  earl  on  the  18th  of  December,  he  having 
made  all  present  to  swear  solemnly  that  they  would  maintain 
the  laws  they  had  concurred  in  framing.^ 

These  statutes  are  so  illustrative  of  the  habits  and  ideas  of 
the  period,  forming  also  the  military  code  in  force  in  Galloway 
for  many  a  year  after,  that  we  insert  them  in  the  Appendix. 

One  only  we  quote,  as  amusingly  characteristic  of  a  Galloway 
weakness,  which  is  historical :  "  If  there  happens  any  chase, 

kdy  was  granted  by  James  II.  in  presence  of  Parliament,  2d  Febniary  1449-50. 
On  the  death  of  her  brother  she  had  inherited  the  lordship  of  Galloway,  which 
was  not  entailed,  but  the  earldom  went  by  entail  to  her  granduncle  James. — 
CalecUmia,  iiL  271. 

^  In  February  26,  1452-58,  Pope  Nicholas  granted  a  dispensation  for  the 
marriage  of  James,  Earl  of  Douglas,  with  Margaret,  widow  of  Earl  William. 
This  is  stated  to  proye  that  she  was  actually  married  to  William,  which  is 
disputed,  although  a  dispensation  for  it  was  granted  in  1444. 

As  the  Fair  Maid  was  only  twelve  years  old  when  the  dispensation  was  granted 
for  her  marriage  with  Earl  William,  she  must  have  been  bom  in  1482. — Caledonia, 
iii271. 

'  18th  December  1488  Earl  William  Douglas  assembled  the  lords,  free- 
holders, and  eldest  Borderers,  and  caused  those  lords  and  Borderers  to  be  sworn, 
the  Holy  Qoepel  touched,  that  they  justly  and  truly,  after  their  cunning,  should 
decreet,  decern,  deliver,  and  put  in  order  and  writing,  the  statutes,  ordinances, 
and  usages  of  march  that  were  ordained  in  Black  Archibald  of  Douglas's  days. — 
TJie  Harleian  MSS, 


256    HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  1440 

either  fleeing  or  following,  whatever  he  be  that  takes  his  fellow's 
horse,  if  he  wins  any  goods  on  him,  either  prisoner  or  other 
goods,  he  that  owned  the  horse  shall  have  the  half  of  it ;  and  he 
shall  bring  the  horse  again  to  the  stake,  and  failing  that  he  shall 
be  noted  as  a  traytor  and  punished.  And  if  it  happens  him  to 
fly  on  that  horse  as  soon  as  he  comes  home,  he  shall  pass  to  the 
market  of  the  shire,  and  proclaim  him,  and  immediately  deliver 
him  to  the  sheriff;  and  if  he  does  not  this  he  shaU  be  punished 
as  a  traytor." 

A  hundred  and  thirty  years  later  the  Galloway  contingent 
at  the  battle  of  Langside  improved  their  position  by  exchanging 
their  small  and  weary  nags  for  the  larger  and  fresher  horses  of 
their  Lothian  comrades  in  the  front ;  and  "  as  it  happened  to 
them  to  have  to  fly  upon  them  "  in  the  rout  that  followed,  they 
were  all  the  richer  for  the  defeat,  as  we  much  doubt  whether 
conscience  induced  any  to  deliver  their  stolen  horses  to  the 
sheriff.  Well  had  it  been  for  Earl  Douglas  if  the  wisdom  of 
which  he  gave  promise  at  these  Lincluden  assemblies  had 
been  as  conspicuous  in  his  after  career.  The  ef&cacy  of  the 
ordinances  that  had  just  been  enacted  was  soon  put  to  the  test. 
Flames  shooting  up  from  the  "white  wynd  of  Drifesdale," 
Trailtrow,  and  Kindleknock,  were  responded  to  from  Criffel,  and 
taken  up  in  detail  on  Bengaim,  Cairnsmore  of  Cree,  and  the 
Knock  of  Luce ;  and  by  the  next  evening's  sun  the  baronage 
from  the  marches  of  Garrick,  Shynns,  Machars,  and  Glenkens, 
had  kept  tryst  at  Lochmaben  Stane.^ 

Earl  Douglas  greeted  their  arrival;  Percy,  the  hereditary 
foeman  of  his  house,  had  already  crossed  the  Sark  with  an 
English  host ;  and  as  quickly  as  the  earl  coTild  set  battle  in 
array  he  joined  issue  with  him. 

He  himself  led  in  person  the  men  of  the  Stewartry,  Lord 
Maxwell  those  of  Nithsdale  and  the  Borders  on  his  left,  whilst 
the  spearmen  of  "Wyggeton  and  Garrick"  formed  the  right 

^  This  was  the  usual  trysting-plaoe  for  warden  raids.  It  is  a  standing  stone 
8  feet  high,  21  feet  in  circumference,  near  the  seashore,  between  the  Kirtle  and 
the  Sark.  It  has  no  connection  whatever  with  the  lake,  castle,  or  parish  of 
Lochmaben. 


to  14s  5 ]         THE   FIRST   HEREDITARY  SHERIFF  257 

wing  under  Craigie  Wallace,  a  "knycht  of  sovereign  man- 
hood." 

The  main  body  under  Douglas  in  their  advance  were  sorely 
galled  by  the  arrows  of  the  English  bowmen,  and  wavered, 
when  Wallace  rushing  past  them,  closed  with  the  archers,  who 
were  now  at  disadvantage,  the  combat  being  between  English 
swords  and  Scottish  spears.  At  this  crisis  of  the  battle  the  Bore 
of  the  Sol  way  rushed  up  the  Sark  ^  with  a  loud  roar,  threatening 
the  retreat  of  the  English,  and  causing  a  momentary  panic. 
The  spearmen  of  Wigtown  pressed  them  home,  utterly  routing 
them  with  considerable  loss,  and  taking  all  the  remainder 
prisoners.  So  many  persons  of  wealth  were  among  the  latter 
that,  what  between  the  plunder  of  the  camp  and  the  ransoms  of 
those  who  had  surrendered,  "  thair  was  such  abundance  of  gold 
and  silver  broght  to  Galloway  that  the  lyke  thereof  was  never 
seen  in  no  man's  time  before."  ^ 

The  Battle  of  the  Sark  was  one  of  the  few  Scottish  successes 
against  the  English  in  a  fair  field,  one  happy  result  of  which 
was  a  year's  truce  unusually  well  kept. 

Shortly  after  this  the  leading  barons  of  the  realm  were 
summoned  to  Edinburgh  to  assist  at  the  nuptials  of  the  king 
with  Mary  of  Gueldres.  Among  those  connected  with  Galloway 
were  Earl  Douglas  himself,  his  laurels  green  from  the  late 
battle,  his  brother  Lord  Ormond,  Sir  Gilbert  Kennedy,  James 
Eeimedy  the  Primate,  Stewart  of  Garlies,  Vans,  Bishop  of 
Galloway,  Andrew  Agnew  of  Lochnaw,  and  his  sons  Andrew 
and  Gilbert.  The  feast  was  spread  in  the  great  hall  of  Holy- 
rood,  course  after  course  was  disposed  of  (without  forks)  during 
five  long  hours,  "  strong  drinks  were  as  plentiful  as  sea  water," 
and  it  is  gravely  recorded,  as  an  incident  creditable  to  the  clerical 
head,  that  "  a  legate,  a  mitred  abbot,  and  three  bishops  sat  at  a 
table  by  themselves,  all  drinking  out  of  the  same  cup,  and  with- 
out spilling  any."  ^ 

^  **  The  water  boldening  with  the  filling  of  the  sea." 

'  The  account  of  the  battle  and  sentences  between  inverted  commas  are  from 
Lindsay  of  Pitscottie. 
»  Pinkerton,  i.  432. 
VOL.  I  S 


258     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  I440 

Hitherto  Douglas  had  exercised  regal  powers  in  support 
nominally  of  the  royal  authority,  though  unquestioned.  But 
now,  as  the  king  grew  into  manhood,  and  wished  to  take  the 
reins  into  his  own  hands,  the  earl  declined  to  submit  to  any 
control.  In  short,  he  deliberately  organised  a  party  pledged  to 
support  himself  under  all  contingencies,  he  engaging  to  defend 
his  partisans  from  attack,  whether  from  persons  they  had  out- 
raged, or  from  officers  of  the  law.  Such  a  partaker  Douglas 
had  in  John  of  Auchinleck,  who,  having  frequently  raided  on 
Golville  of  Ochiltree's  lands,  and  as  often  been  saved  by  Douglas 
from  pursuit,  was  at  last  encountered  personally  by  Golville, 
and  killed  in  a  skirmish.  Douglas  upon  this  grossly  maltreated 
many  of  Colville's  tenants,  carried  his  castle  by  storm,  hung  him 
at  its  gate,^  and  not  satisfied  even  with  blood  for  blood,  massacred 
every  male  within  the  defences. 

This  was  certainly  carrying  matters  too  far,  even  for  the 
rough  ideas  of  the  times,  and  aroused  popular  indignation  to  so 
high  a  pitch  that  Douglas  found  it  prudent  to  ask  leave  to  travel, 
a  permission  which  the  king,  powerless  to  punish,  was  too  happy 
to  give.  And  he  retired  to  France,  leaving  his  brother  Lord 
Balvany  in  charge  of  his  affairs,  who,  however,  eventually  proved 
the  most  contumacious  of  the  two.  Insolent  and  oppressive  to 
liis  neighbours,  and  flatly  refusing,  though  summoned  repeatedly, 
to  come  to  Court  and  answer  charges  laid  against  him,  "  the 
king  caused  ane  companie  of  men  of  warre  to  bring  him  in 
against  his  will,"  ^  which  they  having  done,  Balvany  ate  humble 
pie,  promising  to  restore  to  every  one  his  own,  and  to  amend  his 
conduct  But  being  released  on  these  conditions,  "he  keipt 
never  a  word  that  he  had  spoken  for  the  repairing  of  his 
offences,"  ^  but  further  maltreated  his  accusers. 

"  The  king  hearing  of  this  proudness,"  caused  Orkney,  the 
Chancellor,  "  to  pass  into  Galloway,  and  gather  up  all  the  rents 

^  The  nnusnal  joy  for  victory,  peace,  and  the  royal  nuptials  was  interrupted 
by  the  death  of  Richai-d  Golville,  an  eminent  knight,  not  so  much  because  it  was 
unmerited,  as  that  the  manner  in  which  it  was  perpetrated  afforded  a  most 
pernicious  example  to  the  people. — Buchanan,  bk.  xi.  chap.  82. 

«  Pitscottie,  S7  etseq,  »  Jbid. 


to  1 45  5]         THE   FIRST   HEREDITARY   SHERIFF  259 

in  these  parts  to  the  king's  use."  But  Orkney  arriving  with 
only  a  small  bodyguard,  Balvany  found  means  to  prevent  any 
payments  to  be  made  to  him,  and  openly  insxilted  him.^ 

The  king,  stung  to  the  quick,  passed  to  Galloway  in  person, 
and  threw  himself  upon  the  loyalty  of  the  baronage. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  majority  of  those  east  of 
Cree  remained  ''  servants  "  of  the  house  of  Douglas,  but  the  king 
found  sufficient  support  in  the  west  to  enable  him  to  drive 
Balvany  beyond  the  marches,  obliging  his  partisans  to  shut 
themselves  up  in  the  castles  of  Lochmaben  and  Douglas,  both 
of  which  at  last  he  took,  razing  the  latter  to  the  ground.^ 

As  few  family  names  are  mentioned  in  the  record  of  these 
stru^les,  no  lists  of  those  on  either  side  can  be  fully  made  ;  but 
we  know  as  a  fact  that  among  the  king's  men  to  whom  rewards 
for  services  were  afterwards  dealt  out  were  the  Kennedys  and 
the  Agnews.  Meanwhile  Earl  Douglas,  hearing  of  the  entangle- 
ments in  which  his  brother  had  involved  him,  hurried  home, 
and  confessing  his  faults  on  his  knees  before  both  king  and 
queen,  so  worked  upon  their  feelings  that  a  free  pardon  was 
accorded  him ;  and,  still  more  weakly,  all  his  castles  were  re- 
stored. The  injudiciousness  of  this  indulgence  was  quickly 
shown  by  its  being  ascertained  that  hardly  had  he  left  the  king's 
presence  than  he  entered  into  treasonable  correspondence  with 
the  English. 

Fortunately  for  James  II.,  at  this  conjuncture  he  allowed 
himself  to  be  guided  by  the  advice  of  the  Primate,  James 
Kennedy,  who,  having  satisfied  himself  as  to  the  earl's  treachery, 
strongly  counselled  his  master  no  longer  to  allow  his  too 
powerful  feudatory  to  set  him  at  defiance,  nor  longer  try  to 
avert  the  iaevitable  struggle,  in  which  any  delay  was  to  be  to 

^  Bat  when  the  Earl  of  Orkney  passed  to  Galloway  and  Douglasdaill, 
accompanied  by  ane  small  number  of  folkis,  not  only  was  he  disobeyed,  but  also 
mocked  and  injured  be  the  Erie  of  Douglas's  friendes. — Pitscottie,  i.  88. 

'  The  king  with  ane  armie  passed  into  Galloway,  at  whose  cuming  the  thieves 
took  sic  fear  that  they  fled  to  strongholds  and  strengthis  for  safety.  But  the 
king  sent  an  armie  to  pursue  them,  who  were  repulsed,  on  the  quhilk  the  king 
took  so  great  anger  that  he  seized  all  the  fortalices  and  castles  in  the  countrie, 
and  won  the  castles  of  Lochmaben  and  Douglas. — Pitscottie,  i.  89. 


260    HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [a.D.  I440 

Douglas's  advantage.  The  king  lost  no  time  in  acting  on  this 
advice.  Whether  summoned  specially  to  consult  as  to  the  state 
of  feeling  in  the  west,  or  in  the  ordinary  performance  of  their 
turn  of  duty  at  court,  we  find  the  Agnews,  father  and  son,  along 
with  Gilbert  (afterwards  Lord)  Kennedy  in  Edinburgh  in  May 
1451,  and  in  the  company  of  Crichton  the  Chancellor.  And 
within  a  few  days  of  their  signing  a  family  deed,  which  both 
indicates  their  presence  there  and  fixes  the  date,^  the  king,  in 
presence  of  his  principal  officers  of  state,  asserted  the  royal 
authority  in  Galloway  by  naming  his  trusty  squire  Sherifif  of 
Wigtown,  in  direct  contempt  of  Douglas's  pretensions,  his  com- 
mission empowering  him  "  to  embody  troops,  and  if  need  be  to 
lead  them  in  person  to  oppose  those  in  rebellion  and  defend  our 
lieges."  ^ 

At  the  same  time,  if  we  are  to  believe  tradition,  although  no 
record  of  the  transaction  remains,  Patrick  M'Clellan,  tutor  of 
Bomby,  accepted  a  similar  commission  as  Sheriff  of  Kirkcud- 
bright.* The  sheriffship  of  Western  Galloway  seems  to  have 
been  in  abeyance  for  some  years  previously.  It  is  stated  to 
have  been  held  by  the  Agnews  of  Lochnaw  till  transferred  by 
Archibald  the  Grim  to  William  Douglas,    He  dropped  the  title 

^  At  Edinburgh,  18tli  May  1451,  a  charter  is  signed  by  Gilbert  Kennedy  of 
Dunure  of  the  lands  of  Largentin  and  Brocklach  to  the  collegiate  church  of  Miny- 
bole  for  the  health  of  the  soul  of  Catherine  Maxwell  his  wife,  in  presence  of 
William  Lord  Crichton,  Sir  Walter  Scot,  Andrew  Agnew,  Alexander  Wardlaw, 
Patrick  Agnew,  George  de  Schoreswod  our  clerk,  Thomas  Brown  clarc.  not.  pub. 
— Greai  Seal  lUgister. 

'  The  commission  is  addressed:  ''Dilecto  familiari  nostro  scutifero  Andrei 
Agnew.  Cum  potestate  ad  summonendum  et  excitandum  omnes  et  singulos 
inhabltantes,  ac  si  necesse  fuerit  ipsos  pro  resistantum  nostrorum  rebellium  con- 
ducendum  .  .  .  testibus." 

William,  Lord  Crichton,  our  Chancellor ;  George,  Earl  of  Angus ;  Alexander, 
Karl  of  Huntly ;  Alexander,  Earl  of  Crawford ;  Patrick,  Lord  le  Glammis ; 
Alexander,  Lord  Montgomerie  ;  William,  Lord  Somerville ;  with  the  bishops  of 
Glasgow,  Moray,  and  Whithorn.  Sealed  25th  May  1451.  At  length  in  Oreat 
Seal  Register y  vol.  i.^ 

'  That  the  M'Lellans  in  ancient  times  were  Sheriffs  of  Galloway  is  beyond  a 
doubt. — Crawford's  Peerage^  237.  He  is  always  styled  sheriff  in  local  histories, 
but  all  charters  of  the  old  M'Lellans  have  disappeared. 

1  In  acknowledgment  of  the  services  of  various  members  of  the  family,  "  Fto  suis  suorumque 
flUorum  gratuitis  sen'itiis  multipliciter  impensis." 


to  1455]         THE   FIRST   HEREDITARY   SHERIFF  261 

on  James  I/s  return  from  captivity,  and  there  is  no  mention  of  a 
sherifT  in  the  interval.  The  commission  of  1451  reinstated  the 
Agnews  permanently  in  the  position,  constituting  the  holder  a 
royal  officer,  responsible  to  the  king  alone,  and  entirely  inde- 
pendent of  the  house  of  Douglas.  As  respected  the  new  sheriff 
and  the  Kennedys,  with  whatever  part-takers,  it  was  now  war 
to  the  knife  with  the  potentate  of  Treave. 

In  the  words  of  the  chronicler  : 

"  All  this  tyme  the  Earle  of  Douglas  cast  himselfe  to  be 
stark  against  the  king,  and  therefor  sought  and  persuaded  all 
men  under  his  opinion  and  servitude,  and  in  speciall  the  gentle- 
men of  Galloway,  with  Coile,  Carrick,  and  Guninghame,  and  all 
other  pairtes  that  were  neir  adjacent  unto  him,  desyreing  them 
dayUe  to  ride  and  goe  with  him  as  his  own  household  men  and 
servantis,  and  to  assist  him  in  all  things  whatsomevir  he  had  to 
doe,  whither  it  was  ryght  or  wrong,  with  the  king  or  against 
him.  Bot  some  wyse  men,  seeing  the  danger  of  the  Earle  of 
Douglas's  proceedings,  would  not  take  part  vrith  him,  nor  ride, 
nor  gang  with  him,  nor  be  his  man."  ^ 

Woe  to  those  who  did  not  obey  his  call,  unless  they  could 
make  their  defences  sure.  The  king  sent  his  quota  towards  the 
strengthening  of  Lochnaw,  by  the  hands  of  Sir  Gilbert  Kennedy, 
the  keeper's  brother-in-law,  in  the  shape  of  £5  out  of  the  crown 
dues  in  Garrick.  The  sum  seems  ridiculously  small,  but  we 
may  suppose  was  not  then  thought  inadequate ;  at  all  events  a 
crown  charter  signed  and  sealed  was  required  for  its  transfer- 
ence.^ 

As  for  M*Glellan,  his  castle  of  Eaeberry,  on  a  clifif  overhang- 
ing the  Solway,  was  supposed  to  be  impregnable. 

Disloyal  as  Douglas  was,  and  vindictive  against  those  who 
opposed  him,  it  cannot  be  disguised  that  large  numbers  of  all 
itmks  were  attached  to  his  interest;  as  it  must  have  been  by  his 
personal  popularity  chiefly  that  he  was  able  to  cope  on  equal 

1  Pitaoottie,  96. 

^  Gilbert!  Kennedy  per  solucionem  factam  Andree  Agnew,  de  firmis  terre  de 
Tnmeberdy  £y  per  cartam  Regis  sno  magno  sigillo  sigillatam. — Exchequer  Holls, 
1452. 


262     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  1440 

terms  with  the  national  forces ;  indeed  the  "  wyse  men  "  who 
refused  to  ride  with  him  were  notoriously  in  the  minority. 

For  long  the  issue  of  the  struggle  was  doubtful  No  sooner 
was  the  king's  flag  raised  at  Lochnaw  than  the  earl's  bands 
beleaguered  it ;  and  though  unable  to  force  the  drawbridge,  the 
sheriff's  cattle-pens  were  plundered  and  his  bams  destroyed.^ 

And  not  only  were  the  lands  of  Gilbert  Kennedy  overrun, 
but  the  earl  incited  his  partisans  in  the  north  to  ravage  those 
of  the  primate.  He  even  contemplated  the  consignment  of  the 
good  bishop  to  his  dungeon.^ 

What  the  fate  of  either  of  the  brothers  might  have  been 
may  be  gathered  from  his  treatment  of  Herries  *  of  Terregles, 
one  of  the  few  who  had  dared  to  call  himself  "  a  king's  man  "  in 
the  east,  as  had  the  Kennedys  in  the  west.  Sir  John  Herries  * 
having  sustained  many  injuries  from  Douglas's  partisans,  and 
vainly  sought  redress,  took  the  law  into  his  own  hands,  and 
having  followed  some  "  limmers,"  recovered  from  them  (a  part 
only)  of  his  own  goods  which  they  had  stolen.  Upon  this  they 
complained  to  their  lord,  who  forthwith  summoned  Herries  to 
his  court,  at  which,  as  a  mockery  of  justice,  he  was  condemned 
as  a  thief  for  stealing  what  was  really  his  own.  And  the 
sentence  was  carried  out  in  defiance  of  express  orders  from  the 
king.  M'Clellan,  as  in  duty  bound,  publicly  protested  against 
this  judicial  murder.  Herries's  crime  had  really  been  his  support 
of  the  king's  sheriff ;  and  Douglas,  enraged  at  the  said  sheriff 
intervening,  ordered  his  arrest.  M'Clellan  naturally  defending 
himself  from  those  sent  to  seize  him,  one  of  Douglas's  men  was 

^  Four  years  later  compensation  was  paid  to  Andrew  Agnew,  Sheriff  of 
Wigtown,  out  of  the  Exchequer,  in  consideration  of  the  burning  of  his  grain. — 
Kecheqiier  Holls, 

^  Bishop  Kennedy's  lands  were  plundered  at  the  instigation  of  the  Earl  of 
Douglas,  who  had  further  instructed  Lords  Crawford  and  Ogilvy  to  seize  if  possible 
the  person  of  the  bishop  and  to  put  him  in  irons. — Chambers,  MnineTtt  Scotsmen^ 
iii.  308. 

^  He  is  so  called  in  various  histories  and  by  Sir  Walter  Scott,  but  is  not  to  be 
traced  in  the  direct  line  of  the  Herries  of  Terregles  in  Douglas's  peerage. 

^  John  Herreise  was  castin  in  the  yrrones  and  thairafter  schamefullie  hangit, 
as  he  had  been  ane  thief,  notwithstanding  the  king's  commandment  to  the 
contrair.  — Pitscottie,  i.  96. 


to  1455]         THE   FIRST   HEREDITARY   SHERIFF  263 

killed  in  the  scuffle,  and  the  tutor  fled  to  Kaeberry.  The 
infuriated  Douglas  instantly  besieged  him,  when  a  wicket  of  his 
castle  was  found  to  be  not  proof  against  the  golden  key.  Brib- 
ing a  warder,  he  got  access  to  his  victim,  and  personally  seizing 
,  him,  carried  him  to  Threave.  Adam,  Lord  Grey,  and  his  brother 
Patrick,  fellow  members  with  the  sheriff  of  the  royal  household, 
uncles  of  M'Clellan,  were  on  duty  at  court  when  the  news  of 
their  nephew's  capture  arrived  from  Galloway.  Eealising  the 
imminent  danger  of  their  kinsman  they  passed  straight  to  the 
king,  imploring  his  assistance;  and  James  II.,  waiving  his 
dignity  in  anxiety  to  save  his  officer,  "  caused  right  ane  sweit 
letter  to  the  Earl  of  Douglas,"  not  commanding,  but  imploring 
him  to  deliver  the  Tutor  of  Bomby  to  Sir  Patrick  Grey,  who 
forthwith  started  on  the  errand. 

He  arrived  at  Threave  just  as  the  earl  was  rising  from  table, 
who,  divining  his  message,  went  to  meet  him  with  mock 
cordiality  in  his  hall.  And  under  the  plea  that  it  was  ill  talk- 
ing between  a  full  man  and  a  fasting,  gained  time  to  have 
M'Clellan's  execution  carried  out  before  the  messenger  had  had 
his  say.  He  expressed  himself  honoured  by  a  visit  from  the 
king's  familiar  servant,  "  made  him  good  cheere,"  and  dinner 
over,  reverently  received  and  carefully  read  the  king's  letter. 
Then  saying  that  as  to  any  desire  or  supplication  it  should  be 
thankfully  granted  to  the  king,  and  all  the  rather  for  his  (Sir 
Patrick's)  sake;  and  taking  his  hand  led  him  forth  to  the 
green,  on  which  lay  a  white  cloth,  and  on  this  being  raised  the 
Tutor's  corpse  was  exhibited.  With  aflfected  surprise  the  earl 
exclaimed,  "  Sir  Patrick,  you  are  a  little  too  late,  your  sister's 
son  wants  his  head,  but  his  body  is  entirely  at  your  service." 
Grey  called  for  his  horse,  and  having  leapt  on,  he  then  fiercely 
retorted,  "  My  lord,  if  I  Uve,  you  shall  pay  dearly  for  this 
day's  work." 

"  To  horse  and  pursue  him,"  shouted  the  Douglas,  and  had 
not  Grey's  horse  been  an  unusually  good  one  the  next  morning's 
sun  would  have  surely  seen  his  own  body  dangling  from  the 
gallows  knob   of  Threave.     "The  king  was  heavilie  disap- 


264    HEREDITARy  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  144O 

pointed,"  yet  we  cannot  approve  his  having  fought  the  earl  with 
his  own  weapons.    Douglas  was  enticed  to  Stirling  with  solemn 
promises  of  safety,  received  with  pleasant  words,  and  on  the 
20th  of  February  1452  sat  down  merrily  to  supper  with  the 
king  and  his  household.    Supper  ended,  those  in  attendance 
withdrew,  and  James,  with  blandishments  reminding  the  earl 
of  the  loyalty  of  his  forbears,  urged  him  to  break  his  treason- 
able leagues.    Douglas  scornfully  replied  that  nothing  should 
make  him  break  his  engagements  to  his  friends.    "  If  nothing 
else  can,"  said  the  king,  **  this  shall,"  and  plunged  his  dagger 
into  his  heart.    The  gentlemen  in  waiting,  hearing  the  scufSe, 
rushed  in,  foremost  among  them  Patrick  Grey,  who  seeing  his 
nephew's  murderer  in  grips  with  his  sovereign,  finished  the 
killing  with  his  battle-axe.    Thus  fell  William,  eighth  Earl  of 
Douglas,  a  man  of  brilliant  parts,  but  through  ambition  first 
faithless  to  his  wife,  and  then  to  his  king.     Overweening  pride 
led  him  on  to  deeds  of  violence,  for  which  he  had  well  deserved 
to  die,  though  the  king  was  utterly  unjustified  in  acting  as 
executioner.    The  deed  done,  the  mangled  body  was  thrown 
from  the  window,  and  the  castle  garrison  had  to  gird  for  the 
fight.    Four  stalwart  brothers  of  the  deceased  soon  knocked  at 
the  door.    The  besiegers  were  far  more  numerous  than  the  be- 
sieged, but  a  messenger  crept  out  in  the  darkness  to  tell  Bishop 
Kennedy  of  their  plight,  and  happily  their  bolts  held  good. 
The  bishop  rallied  the  Gordons  of  the  north  to  the  king,  sent 
Huntly  to  intercept  Crawford  on  his  march  to  support  the 
Douglases,  and  with  his  usual  tact,^  when  Crawford  was  then 
defeated,  induced  him    to  make   his  submission.     He  then 
detached  Angus  from  the  cause  of  his  kinsman ;  and  raising  men 
in  all   quarters,  ac  thousands  rallied  to  the  royal  standard, 
Douglas's  partisans  commenced  to  melt  away.    Angus's  im- 
portant and  somewhat  unexpected  adhesion  to  the  king^s  men 
gave  rise  to  the  jocular  saying,  since  proverbial,  that  the  Eed 
Douglas  has  put  down  the  Black. 

^  Kennedy,  Bishop  of  St  Andrews,  gnide  and  councillor  of  the  king,  a  man 
whom  it  is  not  unreasonable  to  believe  that  God  had  mercifully  provided  for  the 
occasion. — Lives  0/ the  Lindsays,  126. 


to  1455]         THE   FIRST   HEREDITARY   SHERIFF  265 

I 

An  assembly  of  his  states — not  very  fully  attended — at 
Edinburgh  in  June  declared  that  the  assassination  of  Earl 
William  was  a  legal  act, — in  short,  that  the  killing  was  no 
murder ;  and  further  declared  his  four  brothers  to  be  enemies 
to  the  Commonwealth,  and  their  estates  forfeited.  Whereupon 
James  II.,  feeling  himself  firmly  established  on  the  throne,  pro- 
ceeded to  reward  his  friends  with  a  lavish  hand. 

Of  those  connected  with  Galloway,  Sir  Gilbert  Kennedy  got 
the  keeping  of  the  castle  of  Lochdoon,  Herbert  Maxwell  was 
temporarily  appointed  Steward  of  Kirkcudbright,  and  Andrew 
Agnew  of  Lochnaw  had  a  renewal  of  his  charter  ^  to  himself  and 
heirs  for  ever. 

Why  this  second  charter  was  necessary  it  is  difficult  to 
understand,  the  substance  being  almost  identical  with  that  he 
received  the  previous  year.  However,  the  charter  exists,  with  a 
great  seal  attached  to  it,  witnessed  by  the  Lords  of  the  Council, 
much  as  was  the  other,  though  the  Primate,  Lord  Lindsay  of  the 
Byres,  Lord  Grey,  and  Patrick,  Lord  Graham  of  Kincardine,  are 
witnesses  to  the  second,  not  present  at  the  previous  one. 

The  charter  is  as  follows,  the  translation  being  an  old  one 
among  the  family  papers : — 

"Penes  Dominum  de  Lochnaw. 

"  James,  by  the  grace  of  God,  king  of  the  Scots,  to  all  good 
men  (etc.),  greeting — Know  that  for  the  singular  favor,  love, 
and  affection  we  bear  to  our  lovit  friend  and  esquire  (scutifer) 
Andrew  Agnew ;  and  for  his  and  his  son's  gratuitous  services, 
manifoldly  rendered,  and  to  be  rendered,  to  us  ...  by  these 

^  It  has  been  stated  *'  the  Agnews  had  probably  some  concern  in  that  terrible 
scene  at  Stirling  Castle,  when  the  Donglas  was  done  to  death  by  the  king  and 
his  attenders.  Anyhow,  soon  after  that  event,  the  king  granted  by  charter  the 
hereditary  sheriffdom  to  the  Agnews." — Chronicle  of  Scottish  Counties, 

The  loyal  barons  received  lands  and  honours  ;  at  the  same  time  Andrew 
Agnew  of  Lochnaw  was  appointed  Sheriff  of  Wigtownshire. — Mackenzie,  i.  376. 

Although  they  were  probably  present  as  stated,  it  is  satisfactory  to  note  that 
the  services  of  himself  and  sons,  gratuitously  rendered,  had  been  acknowledged  in 
a  royal  charter  at  least  a  year  previous  to  the  terrible  scene. 


266  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY   [A.D.   144O 

presents  we  make,  constitute,  and  ordain  the  said  Andrew  Agnew 
to  be  our  Sheriflf  of  Wigtoun. 

"  The  said  office  of  Sheriff  of  Wigtoun,  with  all  the  pertinents, 
to  be  held  and  possessed  by  the  said  Andrew  Agnew  for  the 
whole  term  of  his  life ;  and  after  his  decease  by  Andrew  Agnew, 
son  and  apparent  heir  of  the  said  Andrew,  and  by  the  heirs-male 
of  his  body,  lawfully  begotte  ;  whom  failing,  by  Patrick  Agnew, 
natural  son  ^  of  the  said  Andrew,  and  the  heirs  of  his  body,  law- 
fully begotten ;  whom  failing,  by  Gilbert  Agnew,  natural  son  of 
the  said  Andrew  Agnew  senior,  and  the  heirs  of  his  body,  law- 
fully begotten,  in  fee  and  heritage  for  ever  (the  which  foresaid 
persons  failing,  then  freely  to  revert  to  us  or  our  successors), 
with  the  fees,  profits,  emoluments,  liberties,  commodities,  ease- 
ments and  just  pertinents  whatsoever,  as  well  unnamed  as 
named,  in  any  way  justly  held  to  be  belonging  to  that  ofSce, 
or  that  may  hereafter  belong  to  it,  freely,  quietly,  fully,  entirely, 
honourably,  well  and  in  peace,  with  no  let  or  hindrance  whatso- 
ever. 

"  With  full  and  free  power  to  them  of  ordering,  beginning, 
holding,  ending,  and  (when  needful)  of  continuing  SherifTs 
Courts,  of  summoning  parties,  and  causing  them  to  be  sum- 
moned, with  power  of  levying  fines,  issues  of  court  and  escheats, 
and  of  destraining,  if  need  be,  for  the  same,  and  of  punishing 
delinquents. 

"  With  power  of  receiving  and  calling  on  pleas ;  and  receiv- 
ing and  opening  tiie  breves  from  our  chapel  (presented  to  Andrew 
himself  or  his  heirs),  and  duly  doing  desert  thereto ;  of  hearing, 
deciding,  and  duly  determining  suits  and  questions  moved  in 
and  belonging  to  the  said  courts  ;  with  power  of  removing 
mayors  and  Serjeants  from  their  ofSces  and  appointing  others 
as  oft  as  to  them  may  seem  expedient ;  of  deputing  one  or  more 

^  Scottish  legal  authorities,  we  believe,  are  of  opinion  that  **  filias  naturalis  " 
does  not  necessarily  imply  illegitimacy.  It  is  possible  that  this  was  the  case 
as  to  Patrick  ;  but  he  was  undoubtedly  a  member  of  the  royal  household,  and  his 
services  specially  acknowledged  by  the  king.  As  to  Gilbert,  it  is  almost  certain 
that  the  words  applied  to  himself  are  a  clerical  error,  as  his  name  was  that  of  all 
others  most  likely  to  be  given  to  a  legitimate  son  of  the  family  whose  mother 
was  a  Kennedy. 


to  I4SS]         THE   FIRST  HEREDITARY   SHERIFF  267 

deputy  or  deputies  under  them  as  often  as  it  shall  please  them, 
for  whom  they  shall  be  responsible,  who  shall  have  the  like 
powers  in  the  matters  premised. 

"  And  also  with  power  of  ordering  parades,  and  summoning 
gatherings  of  armed  men,  and  raising  the  bondmen  (vincinarios), 
all  and  singular,  within  the  sheriffdom,  for  the  defence  of  the 
country ;  and,  if  need  be,  of  leading  the  inhabitants  in  person 
to  us  or  our  lieutenant  to  oppose  our  rebels  and  to  defend  our 
lieges.  With  power  of  correcting  and  punishing  the  absent, 
remiss,  and  disobedient,  as  their  defections  deserve.  And  gene- 
rally with  power  of  doing,  exercising,  consummating,  and  exe- 
cuting all  other  things  known  to  pertain  to  the  office  of  Sheriff, 
whether  by  law  or  by  usage. 

"  Wherefore  we  straightly  command,  and  hereby  apprize,  all 
whom  it  may  concern,  that  they  promptly  respond  to,  obey,  and 
apply  to  the  said  Andrew,  and  after  his  decease  to  his  heirs  fore- 
said, in  all  matters  pertaining  to  the  said  office ;  under  all  the 
penalties  to  which  they  shall  otherwise  be  subject. 

*'  In  testimony  whereof  we  have  caused  our  great  seal  to  be 
appended  to  this  charter  before  the  Eeverend  Fathers  in  Christ, 
James,^  William,  John,  and  Thomas,*  Bishops  of  the  churches 
of  St.  Andrews,  Glasgow,  Moray,  and  Quhithome ;  our  dearest 
cousin  George,  Earl  of  Angus ;  William,  Lord  Creichtoune,'  our 
chancellor  and  well-beloved  cousin ;  our  dear  cousins  Patrick, 
Lord  Graham ;  *  Thomas,  Lord  Erskine ;  William,  Lord  Somyr- 
vile ;  John,  Lord  Lindesay  de  Bins  * ;  Andrew,  Lord  Gray,  the 
master  of  our  household ;  Master  John  Arons,  Archdeacon  of 
Glasgow,  and  George  de  Schoriswod,  rector  of  Cultre,  our  clerk. 

"  At  Edinburgh,  the  twenty-ninth  day  of  the  month  of  July, 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord  the  One  thousandth,  four  hundredth, 
fiftieth  secondth,  and  in  the  sixteenth  of  our  reign." 

^  James  Kennedy  the  Primate. 

'  Thomas  Spence,  Bishop  of  Galloway  on  Yaux's  resignation. 
'  Lord  Crichton,  reappointed  Chancellor  1447. 
^  Lord  Graham,  ancestor  of  the  Duke  of  Montrose. 

'  Lord  Lindsay  of  the  Byres,  High  Justiciary  of  the  north  of  Scotland.    A 
scion  of  his  was  Sir  David  Lindsay  of  the  Mount. 


268     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  144O 

In  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries  the  powers  and 
privileges  of  a  sherifif  in  his  own  province  were  nearly  as  un- 
limited as  those  of  the  great  justiciars.  The  emoluments  also 
were  considerable.  When  a  sheriflf-principal  held  his  court  by 
proclamation,  all  barons,  knights,  and  freeholders  within  the 
shire  owed  him  suit  and  presence.  Neither  bishops,  mitred 
abbots,  nor  barons  might  hold  their  own  courts  unless  the  sheriff 
had  been  duly  notified.  So  that  if  he  chose  either  he  himself  or 
one  of  his  deputes  might  be  present. 

One  of  the  rights  named  in  the  Agnew  commission  is  sug- 
gestive, viz. "  the  power  of  raising  the  bondmen,  all  and  singular, 
for  the  defence  of  the  country."  The  chartered  term  is  "  vinci- 
narios,"  otherwise  termed  "nativi  adscripti  glebee,"  a  class, 
apparently  descendants  of  the  native  Picts,  hereditarily  trans- 
ferred by  sale  or  gift  along  with  the  soil  which  they  cultivated.^ 
It  is  curious  thus  to  find  the  existence  of  these  bondmen 
recognised  in  Galloway  at  this  date,  and  it  is  equally  curious  to 
learn  that  by  the  end  of  the  following  century  slavery  (for  it 
was  nothing  else)  had  entirely  disappeared:  a  change  effected 
so  quietly  and  gradually  that  it  is  unnoticed  in  contemporary 
history,  and  no  exact  date  can  be  assigned  for  the  final  manu- 
mission of  the  serfs. 

James,  Earl  Douglas,  having  continued  quiet  for  several 
months,  James  II.  suddenly  endeavoured  by  indulgence  and 
blandishments  to  attach  him  to  his  person. 

The  first  instalment  of  the  royal  favour  was  in  the  very 
objectionable  form  of  the  gift  of  marriage  of  his  sister-in-law ; 
this  in  spite  of  the  indignant  protest  of  the  widowed  "Fair 
Maid."  The  second  was  the  impolitic  act  of  accrediting  him  as 
envoy  to  the  English  Court,  this  being  then  Lancastrian,  and 
the  earl  having  been  notoriously  long  in  correspondence  with 
the  Yorkists.  Douglas  gladly  accepted  the  mission,  as  a 
pleasant  chance  for  whiling  away  the  time  till  the  Papal  dis- 
pensation arrived  to  sanction  his  unholy  marriage.  And  such 
good  use  did  he  make  of  his  time,  that  he  was  able  suddenly  to 

^  Cosmo  Innes,  Early  Scottish  History ^  98. 


to  1455]         THE   FIRST   HEREDITARY   SHERIFF  269 

surprise  the  confiding  James  by  besieging  him  in  Stirling  with 
a  much  larger  force  than  the  king  could  muster  to  oppose  him. 

Happily  the  King  had  the  Primate  with  him  in  this  emer- 
gency, whose  strong  head  proved  more  than  a  match  for 
Douglas's  irresolute  hand. 

Had  the  earl  struck  home  at  once,  it  is  generally  believed 
he  might  have  made  himself  master  of  the  kingdom ;  but, 
calling  a  halt  when  he  should  have  sounded  the  charge,  Bishop 
Kennedy  found  time  to  work  upon  the  fears  or  feelings  of  his 
partisans,  and  detached  many  of  them  from  his  ranks.  Some 
joined  the  king,  others  slunk  silently  away,  till  Douglas,  almost 
deserted,  had  no  option  but  to  betake  himself  to  flight. 

He  and  his  brothers  lurked  in  Annandale  a  while,  but  there 
the  demands  made  for  their  supply  became  so  oppressive  that  one 
after  another  of  the  numerous  vassals  of  their  house  renounced 
fealty  and  craved  protection  of  the  king. 

The  host  of  the  west  was  ordered  to  be  put  in  array.  The 
Sheriff  of  Wigtown  summoned  the  baronage  of  Western  Gal- 
loway. Herries  of  Terregles  headed  those  of  the  Stewartry, 
who,  joining  the  assembled  Maxwells,  Johnstons,  and  Carlyles 
from  the  Borders,  took  up  a  strong  position  at  Arkenholme, 
near  the  confluence  of  the  Ewes  and  the  Wauchope  with  the 
Esk. 

Upon  the  morning  of  the  1st  of  May  the  Douglas  brothers 
swooped  down  fiercely  upon  the  gathering.  A  hotly  contested 
battle  ensued,  the  Galloway  spearmen  at  last  succeeding  in 
forcing  their  opponents  to  give  back,  when,  as  in  all  such  hand- 
to-hand  fights,  the  vanquished  were  utterly  dispersed  with  great 
slaughter. 

Douglas's  next  brother,  the  Earl  of  Moray,  fell  upon  the 
field ;  the  Earl  of  Ormonde  surrendered  to  Sir  John  Carlyle ; 
Lord  Balvany  disappeared  unattended  in  the  forest;  and  the 
earl  himself,  so  lately  all  but  master  of  the  kingdom,  made  his 
way  as  a  fugitive  to  the  Earl  of  Boss,  who,  eager  to  rid  himself 
of  so  compromising  a  guest,  passed  him  on  to  England,  whence 
he  never  returned. 


270  SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY  [A.D.  1 45  5 

The  losses  of  the  victors  seem  to  have  been  comparatively 
few,  but  we  learn  from  the  Exchequer  EoUs  that  the  SheriEF  of 
Galloway  fell  in  the  performance  of  this  last  and  not  least  im- 
portant service  to  the  king.  Great  was  the  rejoicing  at  Court 
at  this  crowning  victory.  Moray's  head,  sent  in  token  of  the 
complete  success,  was  exhibited  to  the  populace  with  savage 
glee,  whilst  Ormonde  was  hurried  to  the  scaffold,  lest  his  wounds 
should  cheat  the  gallows. 

The  Galwegian  commanders  came  in  for  large  shares  of  the 
spoiL  Herries  of  Terregles  got  the  keeping  of  the  Castle  of 
Lochmaben ;  Johnston  and  Carlyle,  joint  captors  of  Ormonde, 
received  grants  of  land,  the  latter  in  the  Stewartry ;  and  Andrew 
Agnew  of  Lochnaw,  now  second  hereditary  sheriflF,  received 
gifts  in  money  and  kind  in  consideration  of  his  father's  services.^ 

^  To  Andrew  Agnew,  Sheriff  of  Wigtown,  six  chalders  of  meal  in  considera- 
tion of  the  burning  of  his  grain  and  the  death  of  his  father  in  the  king's 
service.  To  Andrew  Agnew  the  escheat  of  the  giuin  of  WiUiam  Dunbar,  etc. 
Per  concessionem  factam  per  dominum  Begem  Andree  Agnew  per  literas  suas 
sub  signeto  camerario  de  Bute  directas.  .  .  .  et  pro  feodo  suo  zx  Li. — Exchequer 
Holls,  1456-68. 


CHAPTEK   XV 

THE  SECOND  HEREDITARY   SHERIFF 

A.D.  1455  to  1484 

Trowit  and  lovit  wel  with  the  king, 
This  ilke  guid  and  gentle  knycht 
That  was  baith  manful,  lele,  and  wycht 

A  FEW  days  after  the  battle  of  Arkenholme,  Andrew  Agnew, 
now  second  Sheriff,  was  served  heir  to  some  of  his  father's 
lands,  his  uncle  Gilbert,  now  Lord  Kennedy,  acting  in  loco 
parentis.  The  record  of  the  service  is  interesting,  as  being 
worded  in  the  vernacular,  then  very  unusual ;  also  as  being 
among  the  last  occasions  in  which  any  of  the  Douglas's  nominal 
rights  were  held  legally  admissible  in  the  province.  Earl 
Douglas  was  a  fugitive,  though  Threave  Castle  still  held  out  in 
his  name,  and  his  kinsman  George  Douglas  here  gives  infeft- 
ment  of  the  lands  of  Lochnaw  in  virtue  of  a  superiority  recog- 
nised by  the  Duchess  of  Touraine,  though  acquired  by  George's 
father,  William,  in  an  act  of  defiance  of  the  Crown. 

The  precept  is  worded  thus  : 

"  George  of  Douglas  of  Leswalt  till  his  lufl&t  Cusing  Fergus 
M'Gachin,  Gretyng,  &  for  als  mekyll  as  it  is  funing  be  an 
Inquest  of  ye  best  &  ye  worthiest  of  ye  Eands^  before  me  in  my 
Curt  of  Witsunday  of  my  lands  of  Leswalte  haldyn  at  Cors 
M'Gachin  in  Glenluse,  y*  Andrew  Agnew,  was  nerrest  &  lach- 
ful  ayr  to  quylum  Andrew  Agnew,  his  fayr,  Schyrraff  of  Wig- 
toun,  &  of  lachful  eld,  w*  al  ye  laiffe  of  ye  puts,  of  ye  bryff, 

1  The  Rhynns. 


272  HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF   GALLOWAY   [A.D.  1 45  5 

beand  ful  &  haile  of  ye  lands  of  Salcare,  Lochnaw,  &  Gar- 
kerue,  w*  ye  offices  of  Balzare  of  my  Barony  of  Leswalt :  My 
wil  is,  &  I  charge  zhou  to  gyfif  heritable  state  &  sesing  to  ye 
said  Androw  or  his  att'na  berer  of  y*"  Iris,  of  ye  said  lands  of 
Salcare,  Lochnaw,  &  Garkerue,  w*  y*"  pertinants  yir  lett'is  se^ 
for  owty  delay. — In  witnes  herof,  becauss  I  had  na  seile  to  put 
of  my  awyn,  I  haff  prociirit  a^i|i^stance  ye  seile  of  ane  Honorable 
&  a  wyrschipful  man  Gylbert  Kennedy — ^Dinowyr  in  my  said 
Curt  of  Whitsunday  ye  xvL  day  of  ye  moneth  of  May,  ye  zer  of 
our  Lord  M.  four  hund  fychte  and  v.  zers — to  be  huning  to  y^ 
letteris — befor  yr  witness,  Thomas  M'Dowell,  Gebon  M*DoweU, 
Gebon  Kennedy,  Alexr.  son,  Gebon,  RoUandson,  Androw  Neilson, 
Fynlaw  M'Culach,  Ferg*  M'Gachin,  Alexand""  Gordon,  Pat^ 
M'Dowell  of  Logan,  and  WiUm  of  Wyna  notar,  &  oyr  more."  ^ 

Of  the  cadets  of  the  Kennedys,  Gilbert  Kennedy  was  of 
Kirkmichael.^  "Gebon,  Alexander's  son,"  was  son  of  the 
Laird  of  Ardstincher.'  "  Gebon,  Roland's  son,"  was  son  of 
Roland  Kennedy  of  LeffnoU. 

Thomas  M'Douell  was  Laird  of  Garthland,  whose  daughter 
there  is  reason  to  think  afterwards  was  married  to  the  young 
sherifiF.  Patrick  M'Douell,  founder  of  the  Logan  bmnch,  was 
probably  his  son,  this  being  the  first  time  that  style  appears. 
Finlay  M'Culloch  was  of  Torhouse,  the  most  powerful  of  his  name 
after  the  Laird  of  Myrton.  Alexander  Gordon  was  of  Airds,  a 
brother  of  Lochinvar.  M'Gachan's  ancestors  were  landowners 
in  Wigtown  at  the  signing  of  the  Ragman  Roll.  Neilson  was  of 
Craigcaffie. 

^  In  notes  on  the  Lochnaw  charters  by  Mr.  John  Vans  of  Bambarroch,  c. 
1810,  as  to  this  precept,  he  writes:  "I  cannot  believe  this  man  (George  of 
Douglas)  to  be  George,  fourth  Elarl  of  Angus ;  he  is  possibly  the  son  of  a  natural 
son  of  that  house."  [A  very  good  guess.]  Of  the  worshipful  man  Gilbert : 
'*  This  was  Gilbert,  first  Lord  Kennedy,  son  of  the  Princess  Mary,  and  half- 
brother  to  Angus." 

3  The  pedigrees  of  the  cadets  we  take  from  the  historical  account  of  the 
Kennedys,  compiled  from  charters  at  Culzean.  The  first  Gilbert  was  son  of 
David  Kennedy,  son  of  Sir  Gilbert,  Lord  Kennedy's  grandfather.  In  charters 
of  1455  he  is  styled  Gilbert  Kennedy  of  Kirkmichael. 

'  Gilbert,  son  of  Alexander  Kennedy  of  Ardstincher,  had  a  charter,  31st 
December  1456,  of  the  25  shilling  land  of  Beoch,  in  the  parish  of  Inch. 


to  1484]      THE  SECOND  HEREDITAKY  SHERIFF  273 

George  Douglas  had  apparently  had  do  complicity  in  the 
treasonable  doings  of  his  kinsman,  and  had  probably  supported 
the  king's  sheriff  against  the  earL  It  seems  therefore  to  have 
been  found  convenient  to  admit  this  superiority,  his  father 
having  done  so,  his  signature  thus  facilitating  the  service. 

Moreover  the  rights  of  the  Douglasses  were  not  formally 
annulled  till  three  months  later,  when  Galloway  was  annexed  to 
the  Crown  by  Act  of  Parliament.^  And  even  when  this  was 
done,  George  Douglas  was  allowed  a  life  interest  in  the  lands 
of  Leswalt,  a  dower  also  being  reserved  for  his  wife.  This  lady, 
Elatherine  Buthven,  long  survived  him,  and  on  her  death  the 
lands  were  assigned  to  the  queen  for  her  life. 

The  Act  which  deprived  the  Douglasses  for  ever  of  their 
semi-independent  power,  was  passed  the  4th  of  August  1455. 
And  the  king  passed  forthwith  in  person  to  accept  the  homage 
of  the  lieges,  which  was  everywhere  joyfully  accorded  except 
at  Threave,  whose  gates  were  closed  against  the  royal  train. 
This  was  done  in  the  name  of  the  countess,  though  her  posi- 
tion in  the  castle  was  rather  that  of  a  prisoner  than  its  mistress. 
Threave  was  accordingly  besieged ;  but  the  walls  proving  too 
thick  for  the  mild  artillery  of  the  period,  the  lieges  of  Kirk- 
cudbright subscribed  to  furnish  the  king  with  heavier  metal. 
A  local  blacksmith  named  M'Min  succeeded  in  welding  together 
that  triumph  of  Scottish  ordnance,  yclept  "  Mons  Meg,"  which, 
charged  with  a  peck  of  powder  and  a  stone  ball  the  weight 
of  a  Carsphaim  cow,  swept  the  castle  from  end  to  end,  and, 
were  we  to  believe  tradition,  carried  along  with  it  the  hand 
of  the  '*  Fair  Maid,''  as  she  was  in  the  very  act  of  raising  the 
wine-cup  to  her  lips.  Whereupon  the  castle  instantly  sur- 
rendered.* 

^  These  are  the  lordshippes  and  castella  annexed  to  the  Crown :  the  hail 
lordflhippe  of  GaUoway,  with  sic  freedomes,  commodities,  as  it  wes  thir  daies, 
togedder  frith  the  CasteU  of  Triefe." — 11th  Parliament  James  II.  chap.  iv. 

'  The  loss  as  described  of  the  guilty  hand  may  have  suited  the  ideas  of  a 
credulous  age,  though  it  might  even  have  occurred  to  a  monk  of  the  fifteenth 
century  that  a  lady  delicately  nurtured  could  hardly  have  survived  the  shock  of 
a  baU  from  Mons  Meg,  much  less  have  borne  children  after  the  mutilation.  But 
it  is  really  too  ridiculous  that  the  finding  of  a  ring  among  some  rubbish  under 

VOL.  I  T 


274  HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  OALLOWAY  [A.D.  1 45  5 

little  as  the  latter  part  of  the  story  requires  refutation  as 
repeated  in  monkish  gossip,  it  involved  a  most  unfair  reflection 
on  the  countess;  the  insinuation  being  that  Providence  had 
thus  punished  that  very  guilty  hand  which  had  wickedly  been 
given  to  two  brothers. 

Poor  lady,  she  had  indeed  been  more  sinned  against  than 
sinning.  Happily,  history  utterly  belies  the  tale,  as  it  is  cate- 
gorically stated  that  the  castle  being  taken,  she  forthwith  threw 
herself  at  the  king's  feet,  implored  and  obtained  his  mercy. 
Certainly  had  her  arm  been  carried  away,  she  would  not  have 
been  in  a  condition  to  make  her  obeisance.  It  is  pleasant, 
moreover,  to  be  able  to  add  that  brighter  days  dawned  on  the 
*'  Fair  Maid."  The  king  gave  her  in  marriage  to  his  half-brother, 
the  Duke  of  Athole,  with  whom  she  lived  happily,  and  by 
whom  she  had  two  daughters — Janet,  married  to  Alexander, 
third  Earl  of  Huntly,  and  Katherine  to  John,  sixth  Lord 
Forbes. 

The  loyalty  of  the  lieges  of  Kircudbright  was  rewarded  by 
the  erection  of  their  town  into  a  royal  burgh,  M'Clellan  of 
Bomby  being  its  first  provost.  The  keeping  of  the  castle  of 
Threave  was  given  to  Maxwell  of  Terregles,  and  a  new  office 
created,  that  of  Chamberlain  (collector  of  the  royal  revenue), 
bestowed  on  William,  Abbot  of  Dundrennan ;  whilst  all  land- 
owners holding  formerly  under  Douglas,  who  made  unconditional 
submission,  were  confirmed  in  their  estates  as  vassals  of  the 
Crown. 

Henceforward  sheriff  and  steward  followed  their  avocations 
undisturbed.  In  1456  we  find  the  sheriff  giving  sasine  to  Sir 
William  Stewart  of  Dalswinton  and  Garlies  of  the  lands  of 
Glasserton  :  interesting  as  the  first  mention  of  the  family  with 
this  place,  for  three  centuries  after  their  principal  residence.^ 

the  castle  a  few  years  ago  should  he  gravely  mentioned  as  authenticating  the 
story.  *'  Threave  Castle  was  partially  repaired  under  the  superintendence  of  Sir 
Alexander  Gordon.  On  clearing  out  some  ruhbish  the  workmen  discovered  a 
massive  gold  ring  inscribed  '  Margaret  de  Douglas,  the  Fair  Maid  of  Galloway.' 
This  singular  relic  is  supposed  to  have  been  on  her  hand  when  blown  away  at 
the  siege  of  the  castle." — Mackenzie,  vol.  L  App.  85. 

^  Andrew  de  Agnew,  Vicomes  de  Wigtoun,  onerat  se  de  zxv  libris  de  relevio 


to  1484]      THE   SECOND   HEBEDITART  SHERIFF  275 

The  administrative  duties  of  a  sheriff  were  sufficiently  com- 
plex. With  woeful  ignorance  of  the  rudiments  of  political 
economy,  the  king  and  his  council  endeavoured  to  benefit  the 
exchequer  by  instructing  sheriffs  to  interfere  in  every  conceivable 
turn  of  commercial  transactions. 

So  many  difficulties  were  placed  on  exporting  in  any  shape, 
as  greatly  to  prejudice  the  producer ;  whilst  merchants,  if  they 
had  the  slightest  success  in  speculation,  had  hanging  over  their 
heads  indefinite  penalties  for  usury  or  forestalling.^ 

Crude  Acts  on  such  lines  drawn  up  by  the  Lords  of  the 
Articles,  ratified  as  a  matter  of  course  by  Parliament,  were 
referred  to  the  sheriffs  for  execution. 

Among  those  especially  affecting  Galloway  were  such  as 
follows : — 

1.  The  sheriff  was  to  forbid  the  exportation  of  wool,  if  in 
his  judgment  it  might  be  required  at  home. 

2.  No  bullion  might  cross  the  borders,  even  to  purchase  the 
necessaries  of  life ;  no  cattle  might  be  sold  out  of  the  realm, 
however  high  a  price  might  be  offered  for  them ;  no  cloth  might 
be  bought  from  Englishmen,  however  desirable  the  bargain. 

3.  Even  salmon  ^  might  not  be  sold  out  of  the  country,  but 
with  the  singular  proviso  that  half  the  value  must  be  paid  in 
English  coin,  the  other  half  in  Gascoigne  wine. 

And  every  court  he  held  the  sheriff  was  expected  to  ascertain 
what  persons  within  his  shire  bought  victuals ;  and  on  the 
slightest  suspicion  that  any  dealer  "  held  back  with  dearth,"  his 
goods  were  to  be  escheated  to  the  king,  and  he  to  be  subject 
to  the  pains  of  usurers  (ockerrares). 

Sheriffs  also  were  required  to  hold  the  barons  answerable  to 

terrarum  de  Glasserton  regi  debito  per  sasinam  datum  d'^  Willelmo  Stewart  de 
Dalswyntone  militL    Apud.  Edin.  4  Nov.  1426. 

^  That  Bchiriffia  enquire  quhat  persons  within  their  bounds  byes  victuals  and 
haldsit  till  dearth  ;  and  gif  it  bees  founden,  that  they  be  punished  and  demained 
as  ockerrares  suld  be,  and  the  victual  escheated  to  the  king. — 6th  Parlt.  James 
II.  c.  22. 

'  That  na  salmond  be  sauld  nor  bartoured  with  ony  man,  that  hes  it  out  of 
the  realme,  bot  for  English  money  allanarlie  gold  and  silver  for  th'  ane  halfe,  and 
Gascoigne  wine  or  sic  gud  pennie  worth  for  the  other  half. — 10th  Parlt.  James 
I.  c.  132. 


276  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY   [a.D.   1 45 5 

themselves  for  the  proper  cultivation  of  the  land,  it  being  enacted 
that  every  baron  should  insist  that  every  tenant  on  his  lands 
owning  a  yoke  of  eight  oxen  should  sow  at  the  least  a  firlot  of 
wheat,  half  a  firlot  of  peas,  and  forty  beans,  under  a  penalty  to 
himself  of  ten  shillings.  "  And  if  the  barronne  be  found  negli- 
gent in  the  receiving  of  that  pain  from  his  husbandmen,  then 
this  shall  be  raised  on  him  to  forty  shillings,  and  that  as  oft  as 
he  defaults  without  remission  to  the  king."  ^ 

This  statute  soon  became  a  dead  letter,  if  indeed  it  was 
ever  endeavoured  to  be  enforced  at  aU,  as  also  another,  more 
unreasonable,  though  firequently  re-enacted,  "  that  the  football, 
golf,  and  all  sic  unprofitable  sports  be  utterly  cried  down." 

Statutes  against  somers,  that  is  persons  extorting  enter- 
tainment by  threats  of  violence,  though  startling  in  their  severity, 
seem  to  have  been  really  called  for  and  frequently  enforced. 

Beggars  on  horseback,  now  talked  of  as  a  joke,  seem  to  have 
been  by  no  means  uncommon  :  jolly  beggars  in  every  sense, 
with  hounds  following  them  as  well.  The  very  wording  of  many 
Acts  is  suggestive  of  the  masterful  manner  in  which  this  soming 
was  carried  on.  Such  as  ''that  sornares  be  punished  to  the 
death  "  ;  "  that  sornares  taken  in  time  coming  shall  be  delivered 
to  the  king's  sheriffs,  who  shall  forthwith  do  law  upon  them  " ; 
"that  sheriffs  are  to  take  an  inquisition  at  ilk  court  as  to 
sornares  and  masterful  beggars  with  horse  and  hounds.  And  gif 
any  sik  be  founden,  that  thair  horse,  hounds,  and  other  gudes,  be 
escheat  to  the  king,  and  thair  persons  put  in  the  king's  ward, 
quhile  the  king  has  said  his  will  upon  them." 

"  Fenzied  fools,  bards,  and  other  sic  like  runners  "  were  to  be 
kept  in  prison  in  irons, "  any  money  being  found  upon  them  to 
be  used  for  their  support ;  but  their  funds  exhausted,  their  ears 
were  to  be  cut  off,  and  they  banished  from  the  country ;  and  if 
they  reappeared  they  were  to  be  hanged.* 

Early  in  1460  the  sheriff  was  sent  on  a  mission  to  an  Irish 
court,  that  of  Shane  O'Neill,  representative  of  the  famous  Aedh 
Buidhe  (Yellow-haired  Hugh),  whilome  King  of  Ulster.     It 

^  14th  Farlt  James  II.  c.  81.  '  6th  Farlt.  James  II.  a  2. 


to  1484]      THE   SECOND   HEREDITARY   SHERIFF  277 

might  be  supposed  that  his  being  chosen  to  go  there  favours  the 
notion  of  the  Agnews's  continuous  possession  of  lands  at  Lame. 
But  it  is  far  more  probable  that  he  waJ3  selected  simply  in 
consequence  of  the  king's  long  and  entire  confidence  in  him  as  a 
member  of  his  household.  The  object  in  view  seems  to  have 
been  to  obtain  O'Neill's  co-operation  in  a  war  projected  against 
England.  James  II.  thought  that  the  dissensions  between 
Yorkists  and  Lancastrians  there  rendered  the  moment  propitious 
for  his  recovery  of  the  Border  fortresses  which  the  English  had 
wrested  from  the  Scots;  and  an  Irish  raid  on  Leoicashire  or 
Cumberland  would  occasion  a  useful  diversion  in  his  favour, 
should  he  make  a  descent  on  Berwick. 

The  sherifiT  visited  the  Irish  potentate  at  Edenduif/  Shane's 
Castle,  overlooking  Lough  Neah.  Whether  he  succeeded  in  his 
object  or  not,  we  are  not  told,  the  only  record  of  the  visit  being 
an  entry  for  a  considerable  stun  allowed  for  his  expenses.^ 
Soon  after  his  return,  the  king  entered  in  fiill  confidence  on  his 
campaign,  took  the  town  of  Roxburgh,  and  was  besieging  the 
castle  when  the  sight  of  reinforcements  arriving  in  numbers 
made  them  "  so  blyth  "  that  he  ordered  a  general  volley  to  be 
fired  as  ^fm  dejoie.  But  standing  too  near  his  clumsy  artillery 
(in  the  quaint  words  of  Lindsay),  "  his  thigh  bone  was  dung  in 
two  be  ane  piece  of  amisframed  gune,  that  brak  in  the  schutting, 
be  the  which  he  was  strucken  to  the  ground,  and  died  hastily 
thairafter." 

The  arrangements  incident  to  a  government  for  the  long 
minority  entailed  by  this  sad  event  were  soon  completed,  and 
the  sheriff  was  fortunate  in  having  many  friends  among  its 
members. 

Bishop  Kennedy  was  the  young  king's  tutor.  Lords  Kennedy, 
Boyd,  and  Graham  (sworn  friends  and  part-takers)  were  three 

^  Endendabh  =  black  hiU  brow — Aidhe-buidh — ^whence  Clann  (or  Tribe)  of 
Aidhe  Buidhe,  in  the  vernacular  Clanaboy  or  Clandeboye,  a  name  preserved  in  the 
seat  and  title  of  Lord  Dnfferin. 

'  To  Andrew  Agnew,  Sheri£f  of  Wigtoun,  for  expenses  :  Enndo  in  Ybemiam 
versos  Regains  G'Nelej'by  mandate  of  the  king  of  good  memory,  xx  IL  The  Lord 
Chancellor  attesting  the  mandate. — JSxchequer  RollSy  6th  March  1460. 


278  HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  1455 

out  of  the  six  regents  ;  ^  the  Bishop  of  Glasgow  was  a  fourth, 
and  him  the  sheriflF  was  able  to  oblige  by  appointing  his  nephew, 
John  de  Muirhead  a  sheriff-depute  of  Galloway.  Angus,  half- 
brother  of  Kennedy  and  the  sheriffs  mother,  was  Warden  of  the 
Western  Marches. 

Very  shortly  after  this  the  sheiiff  was  summoned  to  assist 
at  the  meeting  of  the  two  queens — ^Margaret  of  Scotland,  just 
widowed,  and  Marguerite  of  Anjou,  the  high-spirited  wife  of 
Henry  VI. — one  of  the  most  romantic  episodes  in  Galloway  story. 

After  the  capture  of  her  husband  and  rout  of  the  Lancastrian 
army  at  Northampton,  the  English  Margaret,  with  her  boy, — 
titular  Prince  of  Wales, — sought  and  received  an  asylum  at 
Lincluden.  Lyndsay  its  provost,  the  bailies  of  Dumfries,  and 
neighbouring  Gkdloway  baronage,  vied  with  one  another  in 
providing  good  cheer  and  comfort  for  their  guest ;  ^  the  Scottish 
queen,  sending  before  her  a  quota  of  provision,®  appeared  to 
welcome  and  condole,  and  on  her  arrival  at  once  summoned  her 
Sheriff  of  Wigtown  and  the  Steward  of  Kirkcudbright  *  to  assist 
her  in  entertaining. 

Among  civic  dignitaries  present  at  the  board  we  find  the 
name  of  Herbert  Gledstanes,  a  forbear  possibly  of  the  Bight 
Honourable  William  Ewart  Gladstone 

Private  griefs  do  not  appear  to  have  diverted  the  royal  ladies' 
minds  from  practical  politics ;  a  match  for  the  Scottish 
Princess  Royal  with  the  English  heir-apparent  being  proposed 
by  the  one,  the  restoration  of  Berwick  suggested  by  the  other. 

And   further,   the    Sheriffs    of   Galloway,    Dumfries,  and 

^  The  lords  of  the  regency  were  the  Earl  of  Orkney,  Lords  Graham,  Boyd, 
and  Kennedy,  Andrew  Muirhead,  Bishop  of  Glasgow,  Thomas  Lander,  Bishop  of 
Dunkeld.  The  Bishop  of  Glasgow  was  one  of  the  commissioners  sent  to  Denmark 
for  procuring  King  Christian's  daughter  in  marriage  for  King  James  IIL 

'  {Inter  cUia)  A  bedcover  and  pair  of  sheets  lost  at  Lincluden  when  the 
queen  was  there  with  the  Queen  of  England. — ^The  accountiug  of  Herbert 
Gladstanes,  bailie  of  Dumfries,  1461. — Exchequer  Eolls, 

'  For  8  pints  of  white  wine  of  Poitou,  £18  :  10s.  For  carriage  of  the  same  to 
College  of  Lincluden,  82  shillings.  Also  for  8  boles  of  salt  for  use  at  the  time 
the  Queen  received  the  Queen  and  Prince  of  England. — Exchequer  Bolls. 

*  The  expense  of  two  servants,  the  one  to  the  Rhynns,  the  other  to  Kirkcud- 
bright from  the  College  of  Lincluden,  12  shillings.— .fib9cA«fu«r  BollSy  1460*61. 


/ 


to  1484]      THE  SECOND   HEREDITARY   SHERIFF  279 

Boxburgh,  with  the  Sherifif  of  Kirkcudbright  and  the  Warden  of 
the  Marches,  were  convened  to  discuss  in  conclave  in  the  hall  of 
the  college  various  burning  questions  of  the  Borders  with  the 
English  queen.  Everything  seemed  settled  to  mutual  satisfac- 
tion ;  tender  adieux  were  exchanged,  and  the  royal  heroine  of 
the  red  rose,  sanguine  of  success,  rode  forth  from  the  peaceful 
cloisters  to  court  the  din  of  the  battlefield. 

The  fortune  of  war  proved  against  her  cause,  and  the  crush- 
ing defeat  of  Towton  rendered  all  these  negotiations  useless, 
and  sent  her  back  to  Scotland  powerless  to  give  effect  to  the 
carefully  drawn  protocols  of  Lincluden.  Her  husband  too, 
separated  from  her  in  their  flight,  sought  refuge  in  Galloway, 
having,  with  a  young  child  and  a  meagre  retinue,  crossed  the 
Solway  in  an  open  boat  and  landed  at  Kirkcudbright^ 

Thither,  as  an  old  courtier,  the  sheriff  repaired  to  give  the 
forlorn  monarch  what  comfort  he  could  and  assistance  in  tracing 
his  belongings.  The  party  were  hospitably  entertained  by  the 
Grey  Friars  in  their  convent  (afterwards  the  castle),  till  news 
was  obtained  of  his  queen's  whereabouts,  and  orders  arrived  to 
escort  the  royal  fugitive  to  Linlithgow. 

In  1462  the  Abbot  of  Dundrennan  was  succeeded  as  Cham- 
berlain of  Galloway  by  Alan  Muir,  of  the  house  of  Bowalan.' 
In  his  first  accounting  there  is  an  entry  of  a  large  sum  paid  to 
the  Sheriff  of  Galloway  (no  less  than  £180)  from  the  Crown 
rents,  apparently  in  consideration  of  the  various  services  above 
mentioned,  and  others  rendered  to  the  queen  regent.^ 

In  1463  George  Douglas  died,  the  last  of  that  inferior  branch 
of  the  Douglasses.  His  lands  of  Leswalt  reverted  to  the  Crown, 
the  dower  being  reserved  for  Christian  Ruthven,  his  wife. 

^  "The  King  Herry  is  at  Eirkhowbre  with  four  men  and  a  childe.  Qneen 
Margaret  is  at  Edinburgh,  and  hir  son.  80th  August  1461." — A  letter  of  Sir 
Bobert  Whytingharae. — Original  Letters  of  the  Paston  Family.  Doubts  are  ex- 
pressed as  to  this  visit  in  preface  to  vol.  yii.  of  the  Exchequer  Holla,  apparently 
on  authorities  quoted  by  Miss  Strickland.  But  any  loose  notices  can  hardly 
weigh  against  a  contemporary  letter  of  unquestioned  authenticity. 

'  The  chamberlain  had  three  sons :  Alexander,  Archibald,  and  Rankine. 
Members  of  his  family  onoe  owned  Craighlaw,  and  afterwards  Torhouse  Mure. 

'  Paid'  by  Master  David  Guthrie,  treasurer  to  the  king,  to  Andrew  Agnew, 
from  fermis  of  the  Crown  in  Galloway,  super  Croe,  £180 : 3 :  B,— Exchequer  BoUs. 


280  HEREaOITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  1455 

Lord  Kennedy  was  appointed  receiver  of  the  rents  of  the 
barony,  afterwards  acquired  by  the  family  in  fee ;  the  Agnews 
continuing — as  they  had  been  beyond  all  memory  of  man — ^to 
be  bailies  of  the  barony  under  the  Crown.  This  is  to  be 
specially  noted,  as  Lord  Kennedy's  grandson,  on  acquiring  full 
possession  of  the  barony,^  claimed  the  sole  right  of  holding 
courts  at  Leswalt,  which,  though  successfully  resisted  by  the 
Agnews,  led  to  bitter  quarrelling,  and  a  complete  estrangement 
between  the  families. 

Successive  Earls  of  Cassilis  were  powerful  enough  to  set 
decisions  of  the  High  Courts  at  defiance,  and  it  was  not  until 
the  reign  of  Charles  I.  that  the  arm  of  the  law  was  strong 
enough  to  restrain  the  Kennedies  from  violating  the  Agnews's 
chartered  rights.  At  this  date  no  one  in  the  west  country  could 
compare  in  influence  with  Lord  Kennedy.  Besides  his  own 
many  vassals  and  wide  domains,  he  held  letters  of  revenue 
or  "man-rent"  from  the  powerful  cadets  of  his  house,  the 
Kennedys  of  Blairquhan,  Bargany,  Ardstincher,  Leffnoll,  the 
CoifT,  Knockdaw,  and  Drummellar,  and  had  bonds  of  mutual 
assistance  and  defence  from  Lords  Boyd,  Hamilton,  Maxwell, 
and  Montgomery;  himself  a  regent  of  the  kingdom,  and 
deriving  additional  prestige  from  the  position  of  his  "  wyse  and 
religious"  brother,  the  bishop.     Unfortunately,  however,  that 

^  The  barony  of  Leswalt  is  thus  described  in  Lord  Kennedy's  first  accounting : 
''Ck>nipotum  Gilberti  Domini  Kennedy,  receptoris  firmaram  de  Leswalt  de  ter- 
minis  Penthecostes,  1464  "  : — 

£S  de  firmis  terrarum  trium  Largbrecks ;  ^  £8 : 6 : 8  de  Masmore  ^  et  Knocnar- 
gade  de  dictis  baronie.  Et  de  ISs.  de  le  Glakis'  de  dictis  baronie.  Et  de  18s. 
de  firmis  de  Achnocharth>  Et  de  £Z  de  duabus  Glenstokdalis.  Et  de  £3 : 6 : 8 
de  le  Tallaich.^  Et  de  £8  : 6  : 8  de  Barbeth.  Et  de  £3  : 6  : 8  de  Dunduffis  et 
duanim  Balcurvis.*  Et  de  £8:6:8  de  le  Mule.  Et  de  16s.  8d.  terrarum  de 
Garthrowan.  Et  de  £3 : 6 : 8  de  fermis  de  le  Flote.  Et  de  £5  de  Kerowmacgill ' 
and  Kildonane.  Et  de  40s.  de  Drumfad.  Et  de  808.  de  Callonnis^  and 
Dalyewanach.*  Et  de  £6:18:4  de  firmis  baronie  de  Bartonny^  de  dictis 
terminis. 

Summa  higis  expense,  £52 : 2 : 8. 

1  Larbnx.  2  Kow  Knock  and  Maize.    The  original  "  silver  hiU,"  a  laige  meadow. 

>  Glac,  a  hollow.  *  Auchnotteroch,  upper  or  Uchtred's  field. 

B  Gh&Uoch,  the  knoll,  or  perhaps  the  forge.  0  Balquhirry,  townland  in  the  corrie. 

7  Clerical  error  for  Kirk  or  Oaer  MacOill.  8  Galdons,  the  hazel  wood. 

9  Dalmannoch,  monk's  field.  10  Barwhanny. 


to  1484]      THE   SECOND   HEREDITARY   SHERIFF  281 

good  man  died  in  1466,  mourned  by  all  parties,  an  irreparable 
loss  to  the  State,  and  to  the  king  especially,  who  was  not  so 
happy  in  his  future  councillors. 

As  to  local  doings,  a  fierce  encounter  took  place  in  1467 
between  many  Galloway  gentlemen  near  Synniness.  A  M'Dowall 
was  killed  in  the  fight,  for  which  John  Agnew,  Thomas  and 
Nigel  Adair,  and  Niven  Mackenzie,  were  amerciated^  in  £10  each. 

In  1469  the  sheriff's  heir,  Quentin,  married  Marian,  daugh- 
ter of  Eobert  Vans  of  Bambarroch.^  The  lady's  three  sisters 
married  the  Lairds  of  Garthland,  Gorswall,  and  Kinhilt  About 
the  same  time  John  de  Muirhead,  sheriff-depute,  married  a 
daughter  of  Lord  Hepburn  of  Hailes,  and  Andrew  M'Dowall  of 
Eldrig  was  named  another  sheriff-depute. 

The  lordship  of  Galloway,  with  the  customs  of  the  burgh  of 
Wigtown  and  Elirkcudbright,  were  settled  upon  Queen  Mar- 
garet of  Denmark  by  Parliament  in  1471.  Two  years  later  her 
majesty  made  a  progress  through  the  province  to  receive  the 
homage  of  her  new  vassals  and  propitiate  St  Ninian. 

The  burgesses  of  Wigtown,  anxious  to  have  fresh  confirma- 
tion of  their  privileges,  among  which  was  the  lucrative  one  of 
levying  toll  on  all  horses,  cattle,  sheep,  and  bales  of  wool 
crossing  the  Cree,  elected  the  sheriff  provost  of  the  borough, 
hoping  that,  as  a  jpersoiia  grata  to  the  royal  pair,  he  might 
assist  in  forwarding  their  views.  He  accepted  the  office,  and 
we  afterwards  find  him  for  several  years  consecutively  attend- 
ing for  the  borough's  interest  at  the  capital.® 

^  Pro  morte  quondam  Thome  M'Dovele  et  aliorum  interfectorum  apud 
Synons,  commissa  ad  septem  annos. — Lord  Trettsmrer's  Account,  1474. 

*  On  the  occasion  of  his  son's  marriage,  the  sheriff  resigned  his  lands  of 
Craighmore  to  the  Crown  ;  which  were  regranted  ('*  Qaentino  Agnew  et  Mariote 
Waus,  sponse  soa  ")  by  charter  under  the  Great  Seal,  28th  January  1469. 

In  1478  the  Lord  Treasurer  compounds  with  Andrew  Agnew  for  the  renuncia- 
tion of  the  third  part  of  the  lands  of  Drun^'ergane  ;  as  also  for  the  renunciation 
of  Ardnamord  (properly  Airynamord),  airadh  na  mairt,  sheiling  of  the  oxen. — 
Exchequer  Molls* 

*  In  the  Bechequer  Rolls,  1474-76  respectively,  are  the  entries :  "Compotum 
balllTorum  per  Andream  Aggnew,  bnrgi  de  Wigtoune  redditum  ez  parte  Andree 
Agnew,  propositi  dicti  burgi." 

1481.    For  the  baillies  of  Wigtoun,  £zz. 

1488.     Per  Andream  Aggnew  for  the  baillies  of  Wigtoun,  two  years,  £xl. 


282  HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  1455 

Their  majesties  travelled  in  considerable  state  ;^  ferrying 
the  Ken  at  St.  John's  Bjrk  of  Dairy  early  in  November ;  2  a 
crane  being  purchased  to  grace  the  royal  table  by  the  way ! 
leaving  Wigtown  for  Whithorn  on  the  12th  November,  where, 
it  is  to  be  remarked,  the  king  bought  two  Galloway  horses  for 
£2  and  £7 :  10s.  respectively. 

On  the  15th  of  November  they  slept  at  the  Abbey  of 
Glenluce,  and  on  the  18th  crossed  the  Bridge  of  Ayr,  which 
seems  to  have  then  only  just  been  built,  as  10s.  were  given  to 
the  masons.' 

Ninian  Spot,  who  had  succeeded  Thomas  Spence  as  Bishop 
of  Galloway  in  1459,  lodged  a  complaint  in  1466  against 
Finlay  M'Culloch  of.Torhouse,  and  his  sons,  "for  having 
wrongously  spulzeit  his  corn,  cattle,  and  goods."  The  Lords 
Auditors  allowed  the  case  to  drag  on  for  several  years  ;  and  at 
length,  on  his  repeated  application,  referred  the  whole  matter 
"to  Andrew  Agnew  of  Lochnaw,  sheriff"  with  an  order  that 
"the  said  M'Culloch  should  restore  as  much  as  the  reverend 
father  could  prove  had  been  taken  from  him  before  the  said 
sheriflF."  * 

A  serious  difiTerence  arose  between  Bishop  Spot  and  the 
sheriff  as  to'  the  latter's  tenure  of  various  church  lands,  which 

^  1478,  XX  August  To  Andro  Balfoure  for  lyveray  goonis  to  aez  ladys  of  the 
quenis  chalmire  et  hire  passing  to  Quhytehime :  xzj  elne  of  gray,  fina  Danid 
Gill,  price  elne  £x,  summa  £x :  lOs. — Lord  Treasfwrer'a  Accownts, 

^  At  Sanct  Johnis  Kirk,  for  the  ferrying  of  horses  and  men  owre  at  the 
water,  5s. 

Till  a  man  for  a  cran  be  the  way  passand  to  Qnhitheme,  58. 

xiL  November,  in  Quhithern.    To  Johne  of  Eynloycht,  to  buy  him  a  horse,  ^'li. 

XV.  November.  For  a  horss  boycht  to  the  king,  be  the  way  command  fra 
Glenluss,  £vii :  13s. 

'  18th  November  1478.  To  the  massonis  of  the  Bryg  off  Ayre,  10s. — Lord 
Treasiirer's  Accounts. 

^  We  may  here  mention  that,  in  the  Exchequer  RoUs  we  find  Andrew  Agnew, 
Sheriff  of  Wigtown,  accounting  at  Edinburgh  1471  for  sasines  he  had  given  of 
Auchlawn  ^  (now  Auchleand)  to  William  M'Gye  of  Skeoch  ;  and  chapel  croft  of 
Altoune'  to  Roland  Eennedie  of  Baijerroch  ;  and  of  Barowar  to  Patrick  M'Eie ; 
of  Clugstone  to  John  Clugstone  ;  of  Glenturk'  to  Alexander  Mure ;  of  Gotlands 
to  David  Faullerton ;  of  Logan  to  Uchtred  M'DoualL— ^6&  Avd. 

1  Acha  leathen,  brood  field. 

3  Altoune,  often  Auld  Tonn,  iB  not  brood  Scotch,  as  It  seems,  but  Alltan,  little  glen. 

s  Qleantorc,  wild  boor's  glen. 


to  1484]      THE  SECOND   HEREDITARY  SHERIFF  283 

had  been  acquired  by  his  father  from  Bishop  Yaux.  Lands 
held  nominally  under  lease  from  the  Church  were  considered 
almost  equivalent  to  freehold  ;  and  this  holding  was  especially 
popular  with  the  baronage,  as  involving  fewer  military  services 
than  those  held  under  the  Crown. 

Bishop  Spot  seems  to  have  demanded  larger  sums  for  the 
renewal  of  his  leases  than  the  sheriff  was  inclined  to  pay ;  but 
in  declining  to  come  to  terms,  he  refused  to  give  up  occupation. 
The  bishop  consequently  raised  an  action  against  him  before 
the  Lords  of  the  Council,  "  for  his  wrongous  occupation,  labour- 
ing, and  manuring  of  the  lands  of  Sheuchan  and  others."  The 
case  was  called  on  the  25th  of  October,  but  the  sheriff  took  the 
easy  course  usual  with  Galloway  barons,  and  failed  to  appear 
or  give  any  answer  to  the  charge.  But  he  had  friends  at  court, 
and  instead  of  the  decision  going  against  him  by  default,  we 
find  the  entry, ''  The  Lords  of  Council  assign  to  Andrew  Agnew, 
the  l7th  of  January  following,  with  continuation  of  days,  to 
produce  and  shew  such  evidents  and  rights  as  he  will  use,  and 
shew  anent  his  rights  which  he  claims  to  the  said  lands."  ^ 

That  these  "  evidents "  were  sufficient  seems  proved  by  the 
fact  that  the  bishop  gave  him  no  further  trouble;  and,  five 
years  later,  we  find  by  records  in  the  charter  chest  that  his  son 
was  infefted  in  these  very  lands,^  by  right  of  inheritance,  as  heir 
to  his  grandfather,  10th  June  1478.  Elizabeth  Hamilton,  spouse 
of  umquhile  Helise  M'Gulloch,  brought  an  action  before  the 
Lord  Auditors  against  "Andrew  M'Culloch,  Quentin  Agnew, 
Duncan  Mackmakyn,  James  Hert,  Andro  M'Gulloch's  man,  and 
Henry  Mundwel,  chaplain,  for  their  wrongous  withholding  of 
66  bolls  of  clene  braddit  oats " ;  both  parties  being  present 
by  their  procurators,  and  the  allegations  heard  at  length,  the 
Lord  Auditors  decree  that  the  said  parties  shall  restore  and 
deliver  again  the  said  66  boUs  of  oats.^ 

*  Act.  Dom,  Concil, 

'  The  precept  granted  by  the  sucoeeding  bishop  of  these  lands  is  worded : 
"  Dilecto  Qaentino  Agnew,  viceoomiti,  jozta  formam  et  tenorem  carte  quondam 
Andrea  Agnew,  avo  dicti  QaentinL"— iSetor,  25th  February  1485. 

»  Ad,  Aud, 


284  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY   [AD.   1 45 5 

This  year  also  Lord  Kennedy  died,  and  was  succeeded  by 
his  son  John,  who  had  been  married  first  to  a  daughter  of 
Lord  Montgomery,  and  secondly  to  a  daughter  of  the  Earl  of 
Huntly. 

An  entry  in  the  Wigtown  Borough  Becords  introduces  us  to 
the  sheriff's  second  son,  William,  acting  there  as  a  bailie.^ 

The  Head  Court  books  chronicle  an  exploit  of  his  eldest  son 
Quentin, — who,  probably  then  occupying  Innermessan,  led  a 
party  through  Glen  App  to  the  lands  of  Eonald  M'Neil,  whence 
he  drove  back  a  rich  booty  before  him. 

Bonald  carried  his  case  before  the  Lord  Auditors,  who  on 
hearing  both  parties  ordered,  ''that  Quentene  Agnew  should 
restore  and  deliver  again  to  Ronald  M'Neile,  thirty-three  great 
kye,  price  of  the  piece  24s. ;  eight  oxen,  each  30s. ;  one  bull, 
30s.;  seven  two-year-old  kye,  and  three  fed  veals,  each  13s.  4d., 
which  the  said  Quentene  spoiled  from  the  said  Eonald  out  of 
the  lands  of  Areshene."  ^ 

As  simple  restitution  was  merely  ordered  with  no  fine, 
we  presume  Quentin's  visit  to  Bonald  to  have  been  a  return 
one. 

About  1481  the  Maxwells  first  appear  as  Wigtownshire 
landowners.  Edward,  grandson  of  Herbert,  first  Lord  Maxwell, 
married  Margaret,  one  of  the  four  coheiresses  of  William 
Mundwel  (De  Magnavilla),  who  brought  to  her  husband,  with 
other  lands,  part  of  the  barony  of  Monreith.  A  precept  to 
Andrew  Agnew,  Sheriff  of  Wigtown,  from  Eobert  Boyd,  prays 
him  to  give  sezine  to  Edward  Maxwell  of  a  fourth  part  of 
the  barony  of  Monreith,®  as  formally  possessed  by  Hawysai 
Mundwel. 

Among  the  witnesses  are  Herbert  Maxwell  and  Bankine 

^  14th  December  1478.  Maurice  Anderson,  burgess  of  Wigtown,  by  the  de- 
livery of  a  silver  penny  into  the  hands  of  William  Agnew,  one  of  the  bailies  of 
the  said  borough,  resigned  12s.  rent  out  of  his  tenement,  lying  between  that  of 
Mr.  Gilbert  Maghellan,  chaplain,  and  Mr.  John  Maohon. 

^  Amsheen,  airidh  sidhein,  "the  shelling  or  place  of  the  fairy  hilL" — Ad* 
And, 

^  Monreith,  moine  riabhac,  but  anciently  written  Murrith  and  Murrief,  which, 
if  the  true  name,  would  be  "gray  walls"  (mur),  house  or  stronghold. 


to  1484]      THE  SECOND  HEREDITARY  SHERIFF  285 

Mure,  tenned  "  baillies,"  and  Fergus  M*Lymphquhaia  (a  quaint 
fonn  of  M'Clumpha).^ 

In  1483  the  Lord  Auditors  addressed  letters  to  Andrew 
Agnew,  Sheriff  of  Wigtown,  "to  take  prufe  before  him,  and 
warn  all  parties  to  be  present,"  in  a  case  in  which  George  Vans, 
now  Bishop  of  Galloway,  sued  Sir  William  Stewart  of  Garlics 
and  Lady  Euphemia  Graham  or  Vans  his  wife,  for  "  withhold* 
ing  the  males,  farmez,  profits,  gressums,  and  other  duties,  from 
Patrick  Vans  his  nephew,  and  Lady  Euphemia's  son."  She  and 
her  second  husband  had  occupied  Bambarroch  during  her  son's 
minority,  and  were  disinclined  to  make  it  over  to  him  when  he 
came  of  age.  The  Lord  Auditors,  on  the  sheriff's  report,  ad- 
judged that "  they  did  wrong  in  the  occupation  of  the  said  lands, 
and  shall  restore  the  back  rents  and  duties  so  far  as  Patrick 
Vans  can  prove  before  the  sheriff  that  they  have  retained  them." 

The  sheriff  received  also  letters  under  the  Privy  Seal  to 
warn  aU  the  lieges  to  be  equipped  for  war,  and  ready  to  join  the 
royal  standard  at  eight  days'  notice;  the  king  undertaking  to 
find  them  in  victual  for  twenty  days.  And  should  they  not  be 
required  to  take  the  field,  the  sheriff  nevertheless  to  muster  all 
men  capable  of  bearing  arms,  and  give  the  king  notice  of  the 
day  he  fixed  for  that  parade,  that  the  king  might  send  a  con- 
fidential servant  to  report  if  "  the  lieges  be  well  bodin." 

John  Montgomery,  nephew  of  Lady  Kennedy,  had  married 
an  Adair,  and  a  dispute  arose  between  him  and  his  wife's  family 
as  to  his  rights  under  marriage  settlements.  The  sheriff  seems 
to  have  sided  with  the  Adairs,  as  "Johne  of  Muntgumre"^ 
raised  an  action  against  Andrew  Agnew,  sheriff,  and  "  Newyn, 
his  son,"  Finlay  M'Allon,  Gilbert  Neilson,  Mitchell  M'Uvayne, 
Gelcallon,'  Patrick  and  Thomas  Adair,  and  Sir  Thomas 
M'llvayne,  "*  for  the  wrangous  occupation  and  manuring  of  the 
lands  of  Dromore  and  Ealdonan,  pertaining  to  him  be  reason  of 
his  spouse." 

^  Ramage. — Drumlanrig  and  the  Douglasses^  186. 
'  A  younger  son  of  the  second  Lord  Montgomery. 
'  Qilla  Colm,  servant  of  St  Colnmba. 


286  SHERIFFS  OP  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  I455  to  1 484 

The  Lords  decreed  that  the  said  persons  were  in  the  wrong, 
and  "  ordained  that  they  devoid  and  red  the  same.  Sir  Thomas 
(the  reverend)  to  pay  a  fine  of  25s.,  Gelcallon  and  Patrick  Adair 
of  12s.  6d.  each." 

Very  shortly  after  this  deliverance,  the  second  sheriff  died. 
Daring  his  lifetime  he  had  infefted  his  second  son  William  in 
the  lands  of  Croach  and  Laicht  Alpyne,  by  whose  direct  de- 
scendants in  the  male  line  they  were  enjoyed  for  nearly  300 
years.^ 

^  Sasine  given  to  William  Agnew,  "de  firmis  terrarum  de  Creach/'  1460. — 
Exchequer  JRoUs. 


CHAPTEE  XVI 

THIRD  HEREDITARY  SHERIFF 

A.D.  1484  to  1498 

He  was  lord  of  the  huntin  horn 

And  king  o'  the  covin  tree, 
He  was  lo'ed  in  a'  the  westlan  waters, 

And  oh  1  he  was  dear  to  his  ain  menye. 

A  MANDATE  under  the  Great  Seal,  dated  30th  January  1484, 
directed  Andrew  M'Dowall  of  Elrig  ^  as  sheriff-depute,  to  give 
Quentin  Agnew  of  Lochnaw  heritable  state  and  seizine  of  the 
lands  and  offices  which  his  father  held  under  the  Crown. 

And  a  precept  issued  by  Bishop  Vaus  on  the  25th  of  Feb- 
ruary following,  empowered  XJchtred  M'Dowall  of  Gkurthland,  as 
bailie  of  the  bishop  lands  in  Galloway,  to  infeft  him  in  the 
properties  which  his  family  held  under  the  Church,  by  virtue  . 
of  a  "charter  granted  by  Alexander,  Bishop  of  Galloway,  to 
Andrew  Agnew,  grandfather  of  the  said  Quentin.  Sealed 
in  the  presence  of  Adam  Hepburn,*  and  William  Colvel  of 
Cumston." 

^  Honorabilis  yir  Andreas  Macdowall  de  Ebig,  Vioecomes,  habeas  mandatum 
snpremi  domini  nostri  regis  sub  testimonio  sui  magni  sigilli  cum  alba  cera 
sigillatum  et  virtute  ejusdem  mandati  ad  conferendam  sasinam  hereditatum 
Quentini  Agnew  ...  est  legitimus  et  propinquior  heres  ejusdem  quondam 
Andrese  patris  .  .  .  una  cum  officio  Vice-comitatis  de  Wigtown,  et  officio 
baUiatus  de  Leswalt,  et  quod  de  nobis  tenantur  in  capite. 

'  Son  of  Sir  Patrick,  iirst  Lord  Hailes.  His  sister  was  married  to  Andrew 
M'DowaU  of  Elrig ;  his  elder  brother  was  created  Earl  of  Bothwell. 

Elrig,  £ldrig= Alderich  (curates),  according  to  situation  has  exactly  opposite 
meanings ;  often  Auldridge,  implying  old  cultivation,  otherwise  Elrick — haunted, 
eerie,  wild. — Jamieson.  In  glossary  to  Ramsay's  Cfentle  Shepherd;  vrild,  unin- 
habitable. 


288  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS  OF   GALLOWAY   [a.D.  1 484 

On  the  5th  of  February  the  formal  infeftment  of  the  Crown 
lands  was  carried  out  in  presence  of  WiUiam  Agnew  younger  of 
Croach,  Robert  Ahannay  of  Sorby,  Patrick  M'CuUoch  of  Larg, 
John  M*Christin,  William  Wallace,  Jacob  Hert,  and  Henry 
Mundwel,  chaplain  at  Lochnaw;  ''whilst  about  11  o'clock  in 
the  forenoon  of  the  12th  of  March"  the  Laird  of  Gkrthland, 
"by  delivery  of  staff  and  stone/'  gave  him  possession  of  the 
lands  of  Dalzarran,  Sheuchan,  and  Tongue,  before  John  M'Kie 
of  Myrtoun,  Andrew  M'Dowall  of  Myroch,^  Uchtred  M'Dowall 
of  Dalreagle,  Uchtred  M'Dowall  in  Knockincross,  and  Thomas 
M'DowaU  in  Stronrawer.* 

In  these  sasines  it  is  to  be  observed  that  the  royal  mandate 
recognises  the  baillierie  of  Leswalt  as  held  heritably  by  the 
Agnews  under  the  Crown^  which  was  afterwards  disputed  by 
the  Kennedys. 

The  orthography  of  some  of  the  place-names  deserves  notice : 
G^thclone  reflects  the  Celtic  root "  garbhcluain/'  rough  meadow, 
equivalent  to  Garryclone  in  Ireland. 

Kockincross,  now  Craigencross,  '^  the  knoll  or  hill  of  the  cross," 
a  conspicuous  knoll  in  the  Spital  Croft  of  Craichmore  (now 
Burgess  Croft),  once  belonging  to  the  Knight  Templars.  Cross 
in  topography  oftener  indicates  a  gallows  than  a  religious 
symbol;  but  in  this  case  a  real  cross  may  have  crowned  the 
hillock,  as  we  identify  the  lands  with  "a  certain  croft,  the 
Temple  land,  vulgarly  called  the  Spital  Croft  of  Craighmore," 
sold  at  this  time  to  M'Dowall  by  Sir  William  Knolys,  Preceptor 
of  the  Order  of  St.  John  :  "  There  being  paid  to  us  at  our  house  of 
Torphichen  the  dues  accustomed  to  be  paid  at  the  time  appointed 
to  the  Templars."  A  son  or  kinsman  of  this  M'Dowall  re- 
mained as  tenant,  whence  his  designation  "in"  not  "of," 
Knockincross ;  and  the  croft  was  soon  after  sold  to  the 
Agnews. 

^  Murbhach,  pronounced  Murrach,  flat  land  by  the  sea-shore,  a  salt  marsh 
(Joyce,  166) ;  yariously  written  Murrough,  Murreach  ;  further  softened  in  **  The 
Murrowe  "  of  Wicklow. 

'  Dare  sasinam  hereditatum  de  dilecto  nostri  Quentino  Agnew  .  .  .  juzta 
formam  et  tenorem  cart»  quondam  recolendi  memorii  Alezandri  nuper  Candidae 
Cass  episcopi  .  .  .  quondam  AndresB  Agnew  avo. 


to  1498]        THE   THIRD   HEREDITARY  SHERIFF  289 

We  here  find  an  interesting  identification  of  the  name  of 
Stranraer.  Eobert  I.  gave  the  lands  of  Stranrever  in  the  Rhynns 
of  Gralloway  to  Fergus  de  Mondewilla  (whence  Mundwell) ;  but 
these  have  not  hitherto  been  recognised  as  a  site  of  the  royal 
borough,  owing  to  the  hamlet  which  first  sprung  up  there 
having  been  known  as  Chapell  and  St.  John's  Croft. 

Stranrawer  next  appears  in  the  charter  for  its  erection  as  a 
borough  under  Adair  of  Kinhilt,  circum  1595 ;  and  this  it  has 
been  supposed  was  a  new  name  then  given,  meaning  "  the  row 
on  the  strand" 

Such  a  derivation  is  most  unlikely,  as,  if  from  the  vernacular, 
the  form  would  not  probably  have  changed.  The  discovery  of 
the  word  on  the  very  spot  a  full  century  before  seems  to  fix  it 
as  Celtic  "Sron  Eeamher,"  the  broad  snout  (Promontonium 
Crassum) ;  sufl&ciently  applicable  to  a  gravelly  bank  raised  by 
the  confluence  of  a  stream,  the  bank  having  now  been  levelled 
and  built  upon,  and  the  stream  course  covered  over. 

The  Adairs  at  this  time  were  numerous :  there  were  Adairs 
of  Altoun,  of  Curghie,  of  Maryport,  of  Dromore,  of  Creechan,  of 
Genoch,  and  Eonhilt;^  their  family  traditions  being  strangely 
tangled  with  legends  of  the  early  Church.  Of  the  latter,  none 
is  more  definite  than  that  of  Medana ;  and  despite  its  absurd- 
ities, there  can  be  little  doubt  that  she  was  a  real  personage, 
and  that  her  name  survives  in  three  Kirkmaidens,  which  local 
tradition  ascribes  to  three  maiden  sisters  of  a  fictitious  Bishop 
Adair.  This  bishop,  whose  name  will  be  vainly  searched  for  in 
Keith,  is  said  to  have  presided  over  a  monastery  near  Kinhilt ; 
and  wishing  to  add  a  library  to  his  suite  of  rooms,  he  had  a 
large  boulder  brought  from  Portesspital  to  form  the  lintel  of  his 
doorway.  Next  morning  the  stone  had  disappeared.  He  sent 
for  another,  when,  to  the  surprise  of  the  messengers,  they  found 

^  Altoun,  little  glen  ;  Cargliie,  Ck>r-gedh  or  gaeth,  hill  of  the  wild  geese,  or 
windy  hiU;  Creechan,  Cruachan,  the  stack -shaped  hill.  Of  this  last,  Simpson 
preserves  an  odd  piece  of  folklore :  ''At  a  piece  of  ground  called  Crichen,  the 
sheep  have  all  their  teeth  very  yellow,  yea,  and  their  very  skin  and  wool  are 
yellower  than  other  sheep  in  the  country,  and  will  be  easily  known,  though  they 
were  mingled  with  any  other  flock  of  sheep."  Genoch,  Gaineach,  a  sandy  place  ; 
Kinhilt,  hind  hill. 

VOL.  I  U 


290  HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY  [a.D.  1 484 

the  first  stone  lying  on  the  shore,  brought  it  back,  and  replaced 
it.  Next  day  it  was  gone  again ;  but  knowing  where  to  look  for 
it,  it  was  soon  traced,  and  the  bishop,  equal  to  the  occasion, 
ordered  a  Bible  and  a  sword  to  be  engraved  upon  it  before  build- 
ing it  in  again.  Its  erratic  tendencies  thus  effectually  stopped, 
the  stone  remained  firm  until  involved  in  the  ruin  of  all  Popish 
houses. 

The  sceptical  are  recommended  to  visit  the  adjoining  farm 
of  Colfin,^  where,  doing  duty  as  a  coign  to  his  steading,  the 
intelligent  tenant  will  show  them  this  very  stone. 

Symson  offers  a  third  derivation  for  one  of  the  parishes : 
'' Kirkmaiden,  so  called  because  the  kirk  is  dedicated  to  the 
Virgin  Mary,  the  point  of  whose  knee  is  fabulously  reported  to 
be  seen  on  a  stone  somewhere  about  a  place  called  Maryport" 
This  is  altogether  a  confusion.  At  Maryport  there  may  have 
been  a  dedication  to  the  Virgin,  but  the  parish  "  maiden "  is 
Medana.  The  Breviary  of  Aberdeen  gives  a  true  legend  which 
connects  her  with  the  three  parishes  so  called.  The  daughter 
of  an  Irish  king,  the  beautiful  Medana  (or  Modwene)  wais  sought 
in  marriage  by  many,  and  especially  by  a  knight  more  per- 
sistent than  the  rest ;  but  Medana,  unknown  to  her  friends, 
had  taken  vows  of  celibacy,  and  to  avoid  the  soldier's  importunity 
fled,  attended  by  two  handmaids.  Embarking  in  a  helmless  skiff, 
she  was  wafted  by  providential  guidance  to  a  creek  in  the  Khynns 
of  Galloway,  still  called  Portankill,  from  the  chapel  that  she 
reared  there.  Here,  a  cave  serving  for  her  bower  and  oratory, 
she  led  a  life  of  poverty  and  labour.  Time  flew  by,  till  one  day 
she  was  startled  by  voices  on  the  shore,  and  her  knight  rushed 
in,  entangling  her  in  his  embraces.  With  one  wild  scream  she 
freed  herself  from  his  grasp,  and,  followed  by  her  handmaids, 
plunged  through  the  surf,  and  took  refuge  on  a  boulder.  The 
lover  sprang  after  her ;  but  ere  he  could  lesjch  it  the  stone  floated 
miraculously,  and  bore  her  across  the  billows  to  Monreith  Bay. 
Here  she  found  shelter  and  repose,  and  lay  fast  asleep,  when  at 

^  Cul-fionn,  white  (that  is,  arable  land,  or  grassy)  corner ;  so  Coolfin,  Ireland. 
— Joyce,  ii.  265. 


to  1498]        THE  THIRD   HEREDITARY   SHERIFF  291 

cockcrow  her  persecutor  reappeared,  and  she  with  difficulty 
gained  time  for  a  moment's  parley  by  climbing  a  tree.  **  Why 
persecute  me  thus?"  she  tearfully  exclaimed.  "Those  eyes 
oblige  me/'  began  her  knight  sentimentally ;  but  ere  he  could 
finish  his  sentence  Medana  had  torn  her  eyeballs  from  their 
sockets,  and  sobbing  out,  "  Take  then  what  you  want ! "  dashed 
them  at  his  feet.  Maddened,  broken-hearted,  penitent^  when 
too  late,  he  slunk  away.  Medana  now  came  down,  asking  for 
water  to  bathe  her  aching  face.  She  was  told  there  was  no  well 
near,  when  lo !  where  her  eyes  had  fallen,  up  bubbled  a  fountain 
of  limpid  water,  its  origin  attested  by  its  healing  power.  She 
washed  and  saw.  The  remainder  of  her  days  were  happy ;  she 
living  a  life  of  devotion  and  good  works  in  the  enjoyment  of  the 
society  of  the  saintly  Ninian  and  the  congenial  brotherhood  at 
Whithorn.^  And  when  she  died  she  was  in  due  course  canon- 
ised, and  the  chapels  she  had  reared  on  either  side  of  the  Bay  of 
Luce  became  the  mother  churches  of  the  parishes  which  bear 
her  name. 

The  ruined  church  of  Kirkmaiden  in  Ferns  has  rather  an 
eerie  *  reputation.  When  its  parish  was  absorbed  by  Glasserton 
the  fabric  was  allowed  to  fall  into  decay ;  but  the  burying-ground, 
which  was  that  especially  of  the  houses  of  Myrtoun  and  Mon- 
reith,  remains. 

It  is  alleged  that  a  guest  at  the  mansion-house  of  Moors  ^ 
made  a  bet  that  he  would  ride  at  midnight  to  Medana's  Chapel 

^  In  Kirkmaiden  in  the  Rhynns  "there  is  a  small  cave,  though  one  of  no 
little  note,  between  the  bays  of  Portankill  and  East  Tarbet,  called  by  Chalmers 
St  Medan's  Gave  ;  together  with  a  pool  in  the  adjacent  rock,  called  the  Well  of 
the  *  Co.*  From  the  superstitions  observances  connected  with  the  spot  it  seems 
likely  it  was  the  abode  of  some  Druid  or  recluse.  To  bathe  in  the  well  as  the  sun 
rose  on  the  first  Sunday  of  May  was  considered  an  infallible  cure  for  almost  every 
disease  ;  and  till  no  very  remote  period  it  was  customary  for  almost  the  whole 
population  of  the  parish  to  collect  on  this  spot  on  the  first  Sabbath  of  May  (which 
was  caUed  Co-Sunday)  to  bathe  in  the  well. " — New  Statistical  AeeourU,  Kirkmaiden, 

For  a  minute  description,  and  views  of  St.  Medana's  Cave  and  Chapel,  see 
Ayrshire  and  Oallovjay  Archceological  Collectitms,  voL  vi.  art.  2. 

*  *  *  Terror  '*  (Jamieson) ;  * '  fear  of  beings  of  a  supernatural  stamp  "  (MTaggart). 

^  Moor,  Moore,  Mur,  "  the  tower  " ;  whence  Murrith,  corrupted  to  Monreith, 
* '  the  gray  tower."  '*  The  Mower,  together  with  the  whole  parish  of  Kirkmaiden, 
belonging  to  Sir  William  Maxwell  of  Muirreith." — Symson. 


292     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [AD.  1 484 

and  bring  away  the  Bible.  He  started,  but  was  never  again 
seen  alive.  Next  day  his  body  lay  cold  beside  that  of  his 
horse.  The  corpse  had  been  neither  stripped  nor  plundered,  but 
the  entrails  of  both  man  and  beast  were  garlanded  over  the  old 
thorn  bushes  near  the  kirk. 

Again,  when  the  parish  was  suppressed,  the  pulpit  and  bell 
were  taken  down  with  the  view  of  being  utilised  in  a  new  kirk 
in  a  sister  parish  across  the  bay.  They  were  put  on  board  a  boat, 
which  sailed  on  a  fine  day  with  a  fair  wind,  everjrthing  promising 
a  good  passage.  But  the  bell  had  been  consecrated  for  use  in 
"  Halie  Kirk,"  and  was  thus  being  unceremoniously  transferred 
to  an  unconsecrated  building ; — the  Papists  say  the  Patron  Saint, 
the  Presbyterian  guidwives  say  the  Devil — raised  a  storm  which 
sent  boat,  bell,  and  cargo  to  the  bottom  of  the  sea.  Tet  even 
there  this  lusty  beU  clings  to  the  memories  of  Medana's  Chapel, 
and,  not  unmindful  of  the  duties  for  which  it  had  been  set  apart, 
sends  forth  a  knell  from  the  watery  depths  whenever  the  last 
breath  is  passing  from  the  bodies  of  any  of  the  old  family  of 
Myrtoun.     So  say  the  lieges  of  Portwilliam. 

Lawlessness  becoming  very  rife  among  the  upper  classes,  an 
Act  was  passed  instructing  the  coroners  when  they  received 
their  "  Porteous  Rolls,"  ^  and  found  persons  named  therein  "  that 
they  dared  not,  and  had  not  power  to  arrest,"  to  pass  to  the 
sheriff  and  inquire  whether  he  will  become  surety  for  their 
appearance  at  the  next  Justice  Aire.  If  the  sheriff  agree,  well ; 
but  if  the  sheriff  refuse,  he  shall  require  the  said  sheriff  in  the 
king's  name  to  send  his  officers  and  familiars  in  sufficient 
numbers  to  enable  him  to  arrest  them.  And  when  arrested,  if 
the  coroner  had  no  safe  place  to  keep  them  in,  he  should  bring 
them  to  the  sheriff,  who  should  charge  himself  with  their  custody, 
and  who  on  delivering  them  at  the  Justice  Aire  should  be 
allowed  his  expenses.^ 

A  sheriff-depute  of  Galloway  furnishes  an  apt  instance  of  a 

^  A  list  of  persons  indicted  to  appear  before  the  Justiciary  Aire.— Jamieson. 
Chaucer  uses  "  portos  "  for  a  missile, 
s  14  Parlt  James  II.  chaps.  99-101, 


to  1498]        THE  THIRD   HEREDITARY   SHERIFF  293 

mighty  and  disobedient  person  with  whom  minor  officials  might 
find  it  difficult  to  deal. 

John  Muirhead,  one  of  Qaentin  Aguew's  deputes,  and 
William  his  brother,  and  Sankine  Mure,  son  of  the  chamberlain, 
are  charged  with  the  masterful  spoliation  of  Sir  Alexander 
Scott,  parson  of  Wigtown,  "  of  the  whole  lamb  teinds,  cheese, 
and  dues  of  kirk  since  the  feast  of  Pasch,  last  by-past;  and 
the  wrangous  occupation  and  manuring  of  his  kirkland  and 
glebe." 

The  Lords  and  Council  decree  that  Bankine,  John,  and 
William,  should  "red  and  devoid  the  same,"  and  pay  the  parson 
the  proper  rent.^ 

The  same  year  we  find  the  account  of  the  bailies  and  borough 
of  Wigtown  up  to  1st  July  1488  "  rendered  at  Edinburgh  by 
Quentin  Agnew,  Sheriff  of  Wigtown,  and  provost  of  the  said 
borough."  * 

In  1488  civil  war  had  broken  out  Angus  getting  possession 
of  the  person  of  the  Prince  Eoyal,  headed  an  insurrection 
against  the  father  in  the  prince's  name.  Angus  having  been 
always  popular  in  Galloway,  the  baronage  there  generally  sided 
with  him.  Indeed,  Earl  Bothwell,  his  right-hand  man,  was  then 
Steward  of  Kirkcudbright. 

The  final  struggle  took  place  on  the  8th  of  Juna  Angus's 
advance  guard,  formed  of  the  spearmen  of  the  Merse  and  the 
Lothians,  under  Bothwell,  met  that  of  the  king,  formed  of  High- 
landers, in  greatly  superior  force,  who  staggered  Bothwell's 
advance  by  a  well-directed  volley  of  arrows,  then  closed,  and 
used  their  claymores  with  such  deadly  effect  that  his  line 
broke,  and  victory  for  the  king  seemed  certain,  when  sud- 
denly the  Galloway  men  came  into  action,  mounted  on  small 
but  hardy  steeds,  wielding  their  long  spears,  with  which  the 
broadswords  could  not  cope,  and  charging  into  the  Highland 
host  with  terrific  cries,  drove  back  all  before  them.' 

^  Act.  Bom,  Condlii,  *  Exeheq\ier  Rolls. 

'  The  Homes  and  Hepbnms  having  the  vanguard,  with  thame  in  company, 
Mera,  Tividaill,  and  East  Lothian  ;  and  next  thame  the  Liddisdale  and  Annan- 
daill,  with  manie  of  Galloway. — Pitscottie,  i.  219. 


294  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY   [A.D.  1 484 

The  king  fled,  his  whole  army  dissolved  in  panic ;  and 
before  that  day's  sun  was  down  James  III.  had  been  cruelly 
murdered  and  his  son  proclaimed  king.  The  Galloway  men, 
having  exchanged  the  title  of  rebels  with  those  they  had 
opposed,  cheering  for  James  lY.,  marched  back  as  tried  and 
trusted  loyalists,  rich  in  glory  and  the  spoils  of  war. 

Just  previous  to  this  insurrection,  the  sheriff  had  resigned 
his  lands  and  offices  into  King  James  III.'s  hands,  with  a  view 
of  their  being  bestowed  upon  his  eldest  son  (a  fashion  of  the 
times,  which  answered  the  purpose  of  entails).  It  is  of  some 
historic  interest  to  note  that  there  were  duplicate  warrants  for 
this  transaction  in  the  Lochnaw  charter-chest.  The  first,  in 
the  name  of  James  III.,  dated  April  26  (which  apparently  the 
rebellion  prevented  from  taking  effect) ;  the  second,  in  that  of 
James  lY.,  dated  6th  August  1488.  This  second  precept  is 
addressed  to  Uchtred  M'Dowall,  sheriff-depute,  desiring  him 
"  to  give  heritable  state  and  seizine  to  Patrick  Agnew,  son  and 
apparent  heir  of  Quentin  Agnew,  Sheriff  of  Galloway,  of  the 
lands  of  Lochnaw,  Salquhirry,  and  Creachmore,  as  also  of  the 
offices  of  Sheriff  of  Wigtown,  Baillie  of  Leswalt,  and  Constable 
of  the  Castle,  Lake,  and  manor-place  of  Lochnaw,  reserving  to 
the  said  Quentin  the  life-interest  in  the  lands  and  offices,  and 
to  Marian  Yaus  her  rights  as  a  Tercer,  should  she  survive  him." 
The  delivery  to  the  minor  was  made  by  Nevin  Agnew,  his 
uncle,  at  "five  o'clock  on  the  afternoon  of  the  16th  August, 
before  William  Agnew  junior,  of  Croach,  James  M'Dowall, 
Elias  Gordon,  Sir  Finlay  M'Bryd,  chaplain  at  Lochnaw,  James 
Hert,  Thomas  Cruikshank,  John  Makgarue,  notary  public." 

On  some  cause  of  quarrel  unknown,  the  sheriff,  one  fine 
autumn  day,  mustered  his  retainers  on  the  green  at  Lochnaw, 
and  passing  by  Dindinnie,  Knockwhassen,  Crailoch,^  Knock- 
glass,  and  the  slopes  of  Craignaquarroch,'  to  Kinhilt,  seized  a 
considerable  prey  of  cattle,  and  passing  on  by  the  Caldons  ^  and 

^  Grailoch,  Crithlach,  "a  bounding  in  shaky  places,  a  shaking  bog." 
^  GraignaquaiToch,  na-chaoroch,  "rock  of  the  sheep." 
*  Caldons,  ''the  hazel  wood." 


to  1498]        THE  TEIRD  HEREDITARY   SHERIFF  295 

Kirkmadrine  ^  to  Ardwell,  stormed  the  house,  stripped  it;  appro- 
priated four  horses  in  the  stable,  sundry  oxen,  such  cows  as  he 
fancied  from  the  byres,  and  returned  with  his  spoiL  It  seems 
probable  that  this  raid  was  in  retaliation,  and  that  the  provoca- 
tion must  have  been  considerable,  as  Adair,  one  of  the  parties 
attacked,  was  the  sheriffs  brother-in-law;  and  the  Lord  Auditors, 
to  whom  the  case  was  referred,  simply  ordered  the  restoration 
of  the  property  taken,  and  imposed  no  fine.  "The  Lord 
Auditors  decreets  and  delivers  that  Quentin  Agnew,  Sheriff  of 
Wigtown,  shall  restore,  content,  and  deliver  to  William  Adare 
of  Kynhilt,  and  Archibald  M'Culloch  of  Ardwall,  28  oxen,  price 
of  the  piece,  24s. ;  22  ky,  the  piece,  IBs.  4d. ;  88  sheep,  price 
of  the  piece,  3s.  4d. ;  4  horses,  £3:6:8;  and  for  gudes  and 
insicht  of  household,  16  merks  spulziet  and  taken  by  the  said 
Quentin."  ^ 

Moderate  as  this  valuation  seems,  the  sheriff  demurred, 
alleging  its  excess  as  an  excuse  for  withholding  the  whole  sum 
awarded ;  and,  strange  to  say,  the  Lords  of  Council,  on  appeal, 
seem  to  have  reduced  it  by  the  price  set  on  the  furniture,  pro- 
vided this  was  given  back.  "5th  May  1489,  the  Lords  of 
Council  ordain  that  letters  be  directed  to  distress  Quentin 
Agnew,  Sheriff  of  Wigtown,  his  lands  and  guds,  and  make 
payment  to  William  Adare  and  Archibald  M'Culloch  of  the 
sum  of  £48 : 2  : 8,  rastand  the  award  of  the  guds  taken  by  the 
said  sheriff.  But  gif  the  guds  of  household  be  delivered  again 
as  gude  as  taken,  that  they  defalk  16  merks." 

By  one  of  the  earliest  Acts  of  the  new  reign  ships  were  for- 
bidden to  "come  and  make  merchandize"  at  any  ports  in 
Galloway,  excepting  Wigtown  and  Kirkcudbright;  thus  arbi- 
trarily preventing  the  lieges  enjoying  the  advantages  of  their 
situation  whether  on  Loch  Byan,  the  Bay  of  Luce,  and  the 
many  creeks  between  the  Cree  and  Nith  upon  the  Solway. 

In  1489  an  Act  was  passed  enjoining  sheriffs  to  take  strin- 

^  Eirkmadrine,  *'St,  Median's  Churcli."    This  was  the  parish  church  of  Tos- 
kerton,  Taaiscairt,  "a  northerly  place"  (as  compared  with  Kirkmaiden). 
>  Act.  Aud.,  17th  October  1488. 


296     HEREDITAKY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  I484 

gent  measures  to  prevent  salmon-poaching,  and  regulate  cruives, 
''  that  they  stand  not  in  forbidden  time,  and  let  the  midstream 
be  always  free  for  the  space  of  5  feet,  and  that  the  Setterdaies 
slop^  be  observed  and  kept"  * 

Another  Act  of  local  significance  is  "  for  undooing  of  caupes 
in  Galloway."  Caupes  were  exactions  in  addition  to  those 
legally  imposed,  such  as  herezelds  and  grassums,  and  are 
interpreted  as  "pretended  benevolences  of  horses,  cattle,  or  the 
like,  accustomed  to  be  wrested  from  the  poor  by  the  landlords 
in  Carrick  and  Galloway."  For  which  the  Estates  declare 
"  they  see  no  reasonable  cause,"  and  the  sheriffs  are  desired  to 
protect  those  so  oppressed:  ''all  such  abusions,  evil  use,  and 
extortions,  to  be  punished  henceforward  as  theft."  An  admir- 
able statute,  but  for  long  a  dead  letter. 

About  this  time  Lord  Kennedy  made  his  usual  residence  at 
the  Manor- place  of  Inch.^ 

In  1488  he  had  given  Quentin  M'Dowall  a  tcu^k  of  the  lands 
of  Culmore,  and  of  the  Larg,  the  latter  probably  as  a  "  kyndlie 
rowme"  (a  holding  given  on  easy  terms  as  to  rent,  but  for 
which  the  tenant  was  expected  to  support  his  superior  in  the 
field).  Having  either  repented  of  his  gift  or  been  dissatisfied 
with  the  occupier.  Lord  Kennedy  annulled  the  tack;  but 
M'Dowall  declining  to  remove,  his  lordship  seized  some 
hundreds  of  his  sheep  by  way  of  fine.  The  tenant  appealed 
to  the  Lord  Auditors,  who  decided  that  Lord  Kennedy  must 
abide  by  the  tack,  and  leave  Quentin  undisturbed  in  the 
said  lands.  The  Lords  further  ''adjudge  that  Lord  Kennedy 
does  wrong  in  withholding  five  score  sheep  from  Quentin 
M'DowaD." » 

Lord  Kennedy  appears  to  have  treated  their  decree  with 
contempt.    Two  years  later,  the  matter  came  before  the  Council, 

^  The  Setterdaies  slop  is  the  time  in  which  it  is  not  lawful  to  take  salmon 
between  evensong  on  Saturday,  until  the  rising  of  the  sun  on  Monday. 

3  Parlt.  2,  James  IV.  c.  15  and  18. 

'  In  the  charter  history  of  the  Kennedys,  the  first  notice  of  the  Kennedys 
being  appointed  captain  and  keeper  of  the  Manor-place  of  Inch  is  dated  1516. 
But  the  family  notoriously  resided  there  before,  as  evidenced  in  many  cases  before 
the  Courts.  *  Ad.  And, 


to  1498]        THE   THIRD   HEREDITARY   SHERIFF  297 

who  issued  a  summons  to  "  John,  Lord  Kennedy,  to  show  why 
he  had  not  fulfilled  the  articles  ordered  by  the  Lord  Auditors," 
allowing  him  till  the  following  March  to  prove  that  he  had 
contented  the  said  Quentin;^  which  it  is  to  be  presumed  he 
did. 

About  this  time  many  influential  persons,  ladies  among 
their  number,  stongly  advocated  reform  in  the  Church.  Presby- 
terianism,  as  subsequently  developed,  was  not  then  so  much  as 
thought  of;  "Halie  Kirk,"  with  the  Pope  as  its  avowed  head, 
being  had  in  reverence ;  the  sovereign  Pontiff  being  respect- 
fully requested  to  suppress  disorders  in  his  household,  and  to 
allow  the  very  few  persons  capable  of  doing  so  to  read  the 
Holy  Scriptures  as  authorised  by  the  Church.  As  the  more 
conspicuous  members  of  those  preferring  these  claims  belonged 
to  Ayrshire  rather  than  Galloway,  they  were  nicknamed  "  The 
Lollards  of  Kyle."  Among  those  most  prominent  was  Marian, 
Lady  Stair,  wife  of  William  Dalrymple,  and  daughter  of  John 
Chalmers  of  Gadgirth. 

In  the  year  1494  a  meeting  of  these  so-called  Lollards  was 
invaded  by  Blackadder,  Bishop  of  Glasgow,  and  cited  to  appear 
before  the  king.  It  might  have  been  a  serious  affair  had  the 
fourth  James  been  as  pitiless  an  enforcer  of  the  law  as  was  the 
first,  who  had  acquiesced  in  Paul  Craw  being  burnt  alive,  gagged 
with  a  ball  of  brass,  for  simply  expressing  sympathy  with 
the  Lollards  of  England.  With  a  kindlier  disposition,  and  more 
real  chivalry,  the  king  gave  the  accused  a  fair  hearing,  allowed 
their  defence  to  be  undertaken  by  Bead  of  Barskimming,  "  a  man 
of  firm  mind  and  facetious  repartee,"  which  he  so  conducted 
"that  the  greatest  part  of  the  accusation  was  turned  into 
laughter."  ^ 

Though  somewhat  of  a  bigot  personally,  James  IV.  jealously 
resisted  any  encroachment  of  the  Church  on  the  royal  authority. 
Of  this  Bishop  Vans  had  early  experience,  when  complained  of 
for  opposing  the  king's  authority  in  Galloway  in  the  person  of 
his  sheriff,  under  circumstances  as  follows : — 

*  Act.  Dom,  Concil.  '  Calderwood,  154. 


298     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  1 484 

Sir  Alexander  M'CuUoch  had  been  appointed  by  Quentin 
Agnew  a  sheriff-depute,  and  he,  in  the  ordinary  exercise  of 
his  functions,  had  ordered  a  distraint  on  Mitchell  M'Brair. 
M'Brair  appealed  to  the  bishop,  who  took  upon  himself  to 
intervene,  and  threatened  to  excommunicate  the  sheriff's 
sergeants  if  they  obeyed  their  orders.  They  at  once  told 
their  chief,  who  returning  with  them,  personally  superintended 
the  distraint. 

Vans,  furious  at  being  held  of  so  little  account,  sought  to 
terrify  Sir  Alexander  by  the  thunders  at  his  command. 
Mounting  the  high  altar,  he  cursed  sheriff,  clerk,  and  sergeants, 
by  candle,  book,  and  bell,  and  after  charging  the  air  with  his 
curses,  had  the  qurses  committed  to  writing,  and  served  "  letters 
of  cursing  "  to  each  of  them. 

Never  was  heard  such  a  terrible  curse. 

But  what  gave  rise 

To  no  little  surprise, 
No  one  seemed  one  penny  the  worse. 

M'Culloch  duly  reported  these  doings  to  the  sheriff  principal ; 
and  although  against  Quentin  Agnew  spiritual  thunders  fell 
very  flat,  he  resented  the  affront  put  upon  his  office,  and  com- 
plained to  the  king. 

Vans  was  instantly  summoned  to  meet  the  charge  in  court ; 
and  the  humbled  prelate  had  the  mortification  of  hearing  it 
declared  before  his  accusers  and  the  public,  that  the  king's 
Highness  was  greatly  angered  at  his  presumption,  and  that  the 
Lords  of  the  Council,  having  heard  both  parties,  refer  the 
punishment  of  the  bishop  to  the  king  himself,  as  an  example  to 
others,^ 

Notwithstanding  the  high  words  that  passed  at  this  pretty 
little  quarrel,  cordiality  was  soon  restored  between  the  dis- 
putants. The  bishop  did  not  long  refuse  to  ''take  a  cup  of 
kindness  for  auld  lang  syne  "  in  his  sister's  hall ;  and  the  king 

^  The  Lords  of  the  ConncU  refers  the  corrections  thereof  to  the  king's 
Highness,  and  counsels  his  good  grace  to  provide  for  remedy  thereintil,  that  it 
may  be  an  example  in  time  coming  to  others  not  to  make  stop  or  impediment  to 
the  king's  officers  in  the  execution  of  their  office. — Act,  Dom.  Condi. 


to  1498]        THE  THIRD  HEREDITARY   SHERIFF  299 

was  80  entirely  satisfied  with  his  subsequent  bearing,  that  when 
he  founded  a  chapel  royal  at  Stirling  a  few  months  after,  he 
named  George  Vans  its  first  chaplain^  who  thereafter  had  much 
influence  over  him. 

This  chaplaincy  became  a  permanent  appendage  to  the  see 
of  Gralloway ;  its  salary,  a  welcome  additon  to  the  income  of  its 
bishop. 

1st  of  June  1494,  the  Snowdon  herald  "  passed  with  haste  "  ^ 
to  the  Sheriff  of  Wigtown,  bearing  letters  from  the  king  "  anent 
the  schip  at  Brak  at  Quhitheme."  These  were  not  written  with 
any  view  of  protecting  the  property  of  the  owners,  but  to 
assert  the  king's  privilege  as  wrecker-in-chief  against  any  local 
pilfer. 

A  more  unpleasant  letter  soon  followed  from  the  tax-gatherer, 
the  Lord  of  St.  John,  reminding  the  sheriff  of  an  unsettled 
score  "of  the  rest  of  the  first  tax  granted  for  our  Sovereign 
Lord's  marriage,"  and  for  arrears  of  payment  by  some  of  the 
neighbours,  "  for  whom  the  said  Quentin  Agnew  became  pledged 
to  the  said  Lord."  ^ 

The  sheriff  was  long  in  replying  to  this,  probably  because  he 
had  no  money  to  send.  Consequently  he  was  cited  to  appear 
before  the  Lord  Auditors,  but  treated  their  sunmions  with 
similar  neglect :  "  The  said  sheriff  being  ofttimes  called,  and 
not  compeering." 

A  warrant  was  therefore  issued  to  distrain  upon  his  lands 
and  goods  for  the  sum  required ;  and,  in  legal  phrase,  he  was 
declared  rebel  His  lady,  intuitively  grasping  the  gravity  of  the 
situation,  rode  at  once  post  haste  to  Edinburgh,  and  succeeded 
in  obtaining  a  counter  order,  staying  action.  "  In  presence  of 
the  Lord  Auditors,  Marian  Wauss,  spouse  of  Quentene  Agnew, 
and  Master  James  Henderson,  procurator  for  the  same  Quentene, 
permission  was  given  to  delay  all  execution  of  any  decreet, 
gif  any  happit  to  be  given." 

^  For  which  he  received  408. — Exchequer  Rolls. 

'  Owed  to  the  Lord  Thesanrer  by  the  Sheriff  of  G&lloway,  £19 : 6 : 8.  Also 
by  the  three  M'Cullochs,  £10  each  ;  by  Patrick  Black,  £10  ;  by  Andrew  Lanch- 
laneaon,  £10 ;  for  the  qahUk  the  schirriffe  became  pledged. 


300     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  1 484 

Letters,  however,  though  not  issued,  had  been  made  out,  and 
had  somehow  come  into  the  possession  of  Symon  M'Culloch, 
who,  owing  a  grudge  to  the  sheriff,  collected  a  band  of  wild  spirits, 
and  these,  to  their  great  solace  and  divertissement,  organised  a 
day's  sport  in  sweeping  the  sheriff's  outlying  pastures,  and  seizing 
and  pounding  such  booty  as  they  could  find.  They  scoured  a 
wide  range  of  country  ;  but  from  the  smallness  of  the  bag  at  the 
end  of  their  long  day's  sport  it  is  obvious  that  their  amusements 
were  not  altogether  undisturbed.  The  records  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  to  which  they  were  after  cited  to  answer  for  their  conduct, 
minutely  recoimt  the  lands  gone  over  and  the  amount  of  prey 
secured. 

When  placed  at  the  bar,  they  endeavoured  to  plead  the 
king's  letters  as  a  warrant  for  the  outrage.  But  this  was  not 
for  a  moment  entertained  by  their  judges,  who  fined  them 
smartly  for  their  frolic,  adjudging  them  to  make  good  the  fiill 
value  of  all  that  they  had  taken,  paying  besides  the  travelling 
expenses  of  the  sheriff  and  his  lady,  as  well  as  the  expenses  of 
the  trial. 

The  judgment  is  as  follows : 

"The  Lord  Auditors  deliver  that  Symon  M'Culloch,  Neil 
Neilson  of  Carcalffy,  Alexander  Campbell  of  Auchiness,  Uchtred 
M'Dowall  of  Dalregill,  Uchtred  M'Dowall  of  Mindork,  sail 
restore  and  deliver  again  to  Quentine  Agnew,  and  Marian 
Vauss,  his  spouse,  xxiiij**  ky  with  calffs,  price  of  the  piece,  3 
merks ;  3  horses,  price  of  the  piece,  3  merks ;  8  oxen,  price  of 
the  piece,  30s. ;  9  score  sheep,  price  of  the  piece,  4s. ;  quhilk 
goods  were  spulziet  and  taken  be  the  said  persones  fra  the  said 
Quentine  and  his  spouse  out  of  the  lands  of  Lochinall,  Marsch- 
lach,  Clannerry,  the  Ard,  Culurhome,  Glencapill,  Suthquhen, 
Drumregget,  and  the  Bordland  of  Salset  As  was  sufficiently 
pressit  before  the  Lords,  the  quhilk  gudes  were  allegit  to  haf 
been  taken  be  the  said  Symon  Mackculloch  and  his  complices, 
be  virtue  of  our  Sovereign  Lord's  letters.  The  quhilk  letters 
and  endorsation  thereof  beand  seen  and  understood  be  the 
Lords,  were  declared  to  be  unorderly  execut,  as  was  pressit  be 


to  1498]        THE  THIRD   HEREDITARY   SHERIFF  301 

the  execution  thereof;  and  ordains  that  letters  be  written  to 
distress  the  said  persones,  the  wuds  and  goods  therefor,  and  for 
£40  for  the  said  Quentjmes  costs,  dampnages,  and  scaith,  sus- 
tenit  be  him  and  his  spouse  through  the  wanting  of  the  said 
gudes ;  and  for  40s.  to  the  expences  of  the  four  witnesses  that 
deponet  in  his  matter."  ^ 

As  far  back  as  1487  a  resignation  by  Quentin  Agnew,  in 
favour  of  his  son  Patrick,  and  Catherine  Gordon,  is  witnessed 
by  the  lady's  father  Eobert  Gordon,  and  his  elder  brother  Sii' 
Alexander  Gordon  of  Lochinvar.* 

This  we  must  suppose  to  have  been  on  the  occasion  of  the 
betrothal  rather  than  the  marriage  of  the  young  couple ;  Patrick 
then  being  only  sixteen  years  of  age.  The  wedding  followed  in 
due  course ;  the  bride's  father,  afterwards  Sir  Eobert  Gordon, 
being  styled  of  Glen  (and  on  his  brother's  decease  became 
of  Lochinvar),  and  her  mother  was  the  heiress  of  John  Accarson 
of  Glenskyrebum,  now  Eusco.' 

The  Skyre  or  Skirsbum,  which  named  this  barony,  is  classic, 
as  pointing  to  two  Galloway  proverbs  of  great  antiquity;  "Skirs 
Burn  warning"  being  suggestive  of  calamities  sudden  and 
overwhelming :  "  By  reason,"  says  old  Andrew  Symson, "  that  the 
Skirs  Bum  having  its  rise  from  Caimsmuir,  will  swell  by  sudden 
inundation,  even  in  the  summer  time,  almost  in  a  moment." 
In  the  other  case,  the  folklore  takes  the  form  of  rhyme : 

When  auld  Caimsmoor  wears  his  hat^ 
Palnare  and  Skirs  Bum  laugh  at  that 

^  AcL  And,  9ih  Deoember  1494. 

Carcalffy,  Craigcaffie  ;  Aucliiiiess  (Auchness),  Eachines,  horse  isles  ;  Mindork, 
Moinedorch,  dark  moor,  or  tore,  of  the  wild  boar ;  Clannerry  (Clendry),  Claon- 
rach,  sloping  land  ;  Culurhome,  Culhom,  Culk'coma,  angle  of  the  barley ; 
Glencapill,  Qlenhapple,  of  the  horses ;  Suthquhen  (Shenchan),  Suidpeachan, 
the  little  seat,  Carzarane  (Caimzarran),  Querran,  the  horses*  cairn  ;  Dromregget, 
Dunragit,  Ragat's  fort;  Bordland  (Boreland),  ''Bordlands  signifie  the  demesnes 
lords  keep  in  their  hands  for  the  maintenance  of  their  tables. " — Cowell's  Law 
Dictionary. 

*  The  original,  with  a  very  perfect  impression  of  Quentin  Agnew's  seal  attached, 
was  recovered  by  the  author  when  examining  the  family  charter  chest  at  Eenmure 
Castle  in  1874  ;  and  was  kindly  presented  to  him  by  the  Hon.  Mrs.  Bellamy 
Gordon, 

*  Riaseach,  an  adjective  form  of  riasg,  "  a  marsh  or  fen." 


302  HEREDITAEY   SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY   [A.D.  1 484 

This  is  matched  by  a  couplet  used  a  little  farther  eastward  : 

When  Tintock  tap  puts  on  a  cap, 
Criffel  wots  fu'  weel  o'  that. 

A  rather  melancholy  story  connects  itself  with  a  cousin  of 
the  bride.  The  Gordons  of  Huntly  were  still  near  of  kin  to 
those  of  Lochinvar,  and  still  retained  their  Border  properties.^ 
There  was  another  Katherine  Gordon  at  this  date,  whose  rare 
beauty,  as  well  as  her  name,  accounts  for  the  alacrity  with 
which  the  chivalry  of  Galloway  were  ready  to  ride  in  her  favour, 
and  which  nearly  led  to  an  English  war.  At  the  moment 
when  the  golden  youth  of  Scotland  were  at  the  feet  of  the 
lovely  Katherine, — known  as  the  "White  Eose,"  the  King  of 
France,  to  suit  his  own  purposes,*  palmed  Perkin  Warbeck  on 
James  IV.  as  the  real  Duke  of  York ;  and  the  Scottish  king 
falling  into  the  snare,  married  Katherine  Gordon  to  the 
pretender,  rightly  judging  that  the  young  nobility  would  gladly 
don  the  badge  of  his  Gordon  bride,  now  similar  to  his  own,  but 
which  proved  of  ill  omen  to  the  lady. 

There  was  mustering  in  hot  ha^te  from  the  Merse  to  the 
Rhynns  of  Galloway :  none  more  ready  to  maintain  his  fair 
cousin's  cause  against  all  comers  than  the  young  sheriff. 

The  din  of  preparation  reached  the  English  court,  whence  an 
army  was  soon  in  full  march  upon  the  Borders.  Their  approach 
was  announced  by  bale-fires  flashing  ea^t  and  west  from  a 
hundred  hills  ;  the  king's  sheriffs  urging  every  available  lance 
from  their  respective  districts  to  the  front. 

Happily,  for  once  sense  prevailed  over  sentiment,  and  the 

1  It  ia  Dot  generally  remembered  that  the  Huntly,  as  well  as  the  ducal  title 
of  the  Gordons,  was  derived  from  the  Borders.  Huntly  was  a  village  in  the  parish 
of  Gordon  in  Berwickshire,  the  only  vestige  of  which  is  a  farm  named  Huntly, 
and  Huntly  Wood  in  Gordon  parish.  The  Gordons,  on  getting  possession  of  their 
earldom  in  Aberdeenshire,  carried  it  with  them  :  whence  the  name  of  the  parish 
there  so  called. 

^  1496  the  French  king,  Louis  XII.,  discovers  to  King  James  a  notable  piece 
of  apocrypha  caUed  Edward,  Duck  of  Yorke :  this  masked  comedian  proved  a 
notable  counterfeit  .  .  .  This  year  the  counterfeit  Duck  of  Yorke  is  married  to 
the  Earl  of  Huntlie*8  daughter,  and  gets  a  good  armey  of  Scots  for  his  aide.  They 
invade  the  English  borders,  King  Henry  prepares  a  grate  armey  to  invade  Soot- 
land,  but  no  blood  was  shed  one  ather  syde. — Balgoni,  i.  220. 


to  1498]        THE   THIRD   HEBEDITARY   SHERIFF  303 

English  succeeded  in  convincing  the  Scots  of  the  futility  of 
Warbeck's  pretensions ;  that  the  beauty  of  his  wife  could  in  no 
way  assist  in  his  legitimation ;  and  that  the  people  of  England 
repudiated  him  en  masse,  A  formal  truce  was  signed,  and  the 
army  simultaneously  withdrew :  recorded  rather  boastfully  in 
official  accounts,  the  intimation  made  to  the  Sheriff  of  Galloway 
being  worded  "  Bepuke  of  an  English  Eaid."  ^ 

The  White  Eose  was  not  a  name  to  conjure  with  in  England ; 
for  poor  Katherine  the  coincidence  was  unfortunate.  Perkin 
Warbeck  was  taken  and  executed  soon  after ;  but  Henry  VII., 
struck  with  the  beauty  of  Katherine,  recommended  her  to  his 
queen,  who  retained  her  about  her  person,  and  eventually 
married  her  to  Sir  Matthew  Cradock,  ancestor  of  the  Earls  of 
Pembroke. 

The  king  had  now  commenced  a  series  of  pilgrimages,  almost 
annual,  to  Whithorn,  generally  attended  by  a  large  retinue, 
including  minstrels,  to  beguile  the  way.  In  Wigtownshire  he 
usually  lodged  in  the  religious  houses ;  though  he  occasionally 
slept  in  the  house  of  Mjrrtoun,  as  a  charter  exists  erecting  the 
place  into  a  burgh  of  barony  in  favour  of  Sir  Alexander 
M'CuUoch  "in  consideration  of  the  hospitality  tlie  king  had 
received  there  on  the  occasions  of  his  passing  to  and  from 
Whithorn." 

In  the  ruined  tower  of  Myrtoun  an  unglazed  and  unplastered 
closet,  now  used  as  a  pigeon-house,  is  pointed  out  as  the  "  King's 
chalmer."  ^ 

Almost  immediately  after  "  the  scaling  of  the  Englishmen  " 
(September  1497),  we  trace  the  king  taking  his  midday  meal  on 
the  Loch  Eyan  shores,  on  the  return  from  such  a  pilgrimage, 

^  20  August  1497.  David  Green  receives  828.  to  pass  with  the  king's  letters 
to  the  schirifs  of  Wigtown  and  Galloway,  to  warn  them  of  the  scaling  of  the 
Englishmen.  Docketed  '*  Notice  of  the  Repulse  of  an  English  Raid." — Lard  High 
Treasurer's  Accounts. 

'  The  other  Myrtoun  in  Penninghame,  now  Myrtoun  M'Eie,  had  been 
previously  constituted  a  burgh  of  barony  by  James  III.,  a.d.  1477,  subject  to  the 
Kennedies  of  Blairquhan  :  both  burghs  have  entirely  decayed. 

In  the  Chamberlain  Rolls  is  an  entry, '  'Alexander  M'Callauch,  Miles  de  Myrtoun 
et  Marian  Sinclair  ejus  sponsa."  Marian  was  daughter  to  Sir  John  Sinclair,  the 
Queen's  knight. 


304     HEREDITARY  SHEKIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [AD.  1 484 

from  an  entry  for  compensation  paid  to  some  of  the  sheriffs 
tenants  near  Innermessan,  for  bites  taken  by  his  horses  from 
their  growing  oats,  when  turned  loose  during  the  king's  repast.^ 

The  same  year  Patrick  M'Culloch  attacked  the  house  of 
Ardwell,  and  slew  his  kinsman  Archibald,  the  owner,  in  the 
fray ;  the  only  particulars  as  to  which  are  to  be  gathered  from 
a  respite  to  the  said  Patrick  for  the  slaughter  '*  committed  under 
the  silence  of  night."  A  still  more  serious  crime  is  to  be 
gathered  from  the  same  sources/  namely,  a  remission  to  Sir 
Alexander  M'CuUoch  of  Myrtoun,  the  Laird  of  Garthland,  and 
twenty-nine  others,  for  the  burning  and  reefing  of  the  houses 
of  Dunskey  and  ArdwelL  The  attack  must  have  been  made  in 
great  force  and  with  much  persistence,  which  resulted  in  the 
capture  of  a  fortalice  of  such  strength  as  Dunskey. 

Owing  to  the  increasing  infirmities  of  his  father,  the  duties 
of  sherifiF  were  now  generally  performed  by  Patrick  Agnew, 
already  infefted  conjunctly  with  Quentin  in  the  oflice.  Beared 
as  he  had  been  among  scenes  offend  and  violence,  such  audacious 
proceedings  as  not  only  plundering,  but  firing  and  razing  old 
strengths,  were  too  much  even  for  the  lax  code  of  conduct  then  in 
vogue  ;  and  he  bestirred  himself  with  laudable  activity.  Three 
blasts  of  a  sergeant's  horn  constituted  the  culprits  "  fugitive.'* 
The  officers  of  the  law  were  on  their  tracks  ;  and  so  hot  was  the 
pursuit,  that  the  offenders,  powerful  as  they  were,  found  it 
necessary  to  tender  their  submission  and  make  reparation  to  the 
aggrieved  parties,  upon  which  they  received  a  «  remission."  This 
word,  mild  in  form,  implied  no  small  amount  of  pain  and 
penalty  endured ;  as,  in  the  case  of  "  fugitives "  of  baronial 
position  declared  rebel,  their  lands  and  holdings  were  left  open 
to  be  ravaged  and  distrained  upon  with  rough  justice ;  moreover, 
they  had  to  find  good  security  for  the  fines  and  compositions 
imposed.  A  good  round  sum  must  have  passed  from  the 
pockets  of  the  lairds  of  Garthland  and  Myrtoun,  into  those  of 
Ninian  Adair,  who  restored  his  castle  of  Dunskey  in  a  style 
highly  creditable  to  his  taste. 

^  Pitcaim,  OnmincU  Trials, 


to  1498]        THE   THIRD  HEREDITABT  SHERIFF  305 

Other  lairds  of  smaller  means,  implicated  in  the  outrages — 
notedly  several  of  the  M'Kies, — wandered  as  outlaws  for  many 
years  before  they  found  securities  to  be  answerable  for  their  share 
in  the  damage.^ 

Whilst  west  of  the  Cree  such  strongholds  were  levelled 
in  private  warfare,  eastward.  Loch  Fergus,  the  palace  of  the 
old  Lords  of  Galloway,  belonging  to  the  powerful  Laird  of 
Bomby,  was  nevertheless  destroyed  by  fire  by  Cairns  and 
others.* 

After  such  daring  crimes,  a  simple  thefb  from  a  high 
ecclesiastic  almost  raises  a  smile.  On  the  18th  of  November 
1497,  John  Dunbar,  son  and  apparent  heir  of  the  Laird  of 
Mochrum,*  is  charged  with  resett  of  feft  with  his  servitors 
William  Fleming,  James  M'Culloch,  and  John  Core, '  quhilk  was 
with  Elizabeth  Kennedy  that  time  she  took  away  £43  gold  and 
silver,  a  silver  sele,  and  other  small  gere,  had  in  her  keeping 
for  the  Eeverend  Father  in  God,  George  Vaus,  Bishop  of 
GaUoway."  *  We  read  also  of  a  minor  crime,  but  which  was 
always  punished  with  disproportionate  severity :  "the  refe  of 
certain  haliks  out  of  Dundrennan  by  John  Herries  of  Barclay, 
a^ravated  by  the  binding  of  the  men  keeping  them/'  ^ 

About  this  time  the  sheriff  was  struck  down  by  disease 
(probably  paralysis),  and  in  the  interests  of  his  family  his  affairs 
were  put  in  trust,  a  precept  under  the  Privy  Seal  constituting 
Eobert  Ahannay  of  Sorby  and  Niven  Agnew  younger  of  Croach 

^  Dancan  M'Eieand  several  others  received  a  remission  in  1508  ;  and  three 
more  of  the  M'Eies  were  not  finaUy  '*  relaxed  "  tiU  1510,  the  Laird  of  Lochinvar 
hecoming  surety  for  the  jNurties. — Pitcaim,  Criminal  TricUs. 

'  Remission  to  John  Camys  in  the  Gopwood,  and  Thon  Hutchenson,  for  art 
and  part  of  the  burning  of  Loch  Fergus,  belonging  to  the  Laird  of  Bomby. — 25th 
February  1498. 

'  The  young  Laird  of  Mochrum  was  son  of  John,  the  second  son  of  Sir  James 
Dunbar  of  Westfield,  who  had  married  Margaret,  heiress  of  Sir  Patrick  Dunbar  of 
Mochrum,  she  thus  carrying  her  lands  to  her  kinsman,  and  dying  in  1483,  her 
husband  remarried  a  Stewart  of  Garlics. 

*  Bishop  Vaus's  nephew,  Patrick  of  Bambarroch,  had  a  charter  to  himself 
and  his  spouse,  Marian  Kennedy,  of  the  lands  of  Longcaster,  with  the  lake  and 
isle  of  the  same,  by  John  Dunbar  of  Mochrum,  20th  November  1498. — 
Pitcaim,  CfrimiruU  T^rieUa. 

'  Pitcaim,  Onminai  Trials. 

VOL.  I  X 


306  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY     [A.D.  1484-1498 

cuiatOTs  for  the  management  of  bis  affairs  until  bia  lecoreiy  or 
deatb.^ 

Hia  death  followed  soon  after.  Of  younger  children  we  only 
trace  Michael,  a  canon  of  Whithorn,  and  Mariotta,  married  to 
John  de  Murehead  of  Lawchop  and  Bailies. 

'  A  precept  of  ;e  office  of  cnntory  of  Qaintjn  Agnew,  Sheref  of  Wigtom,  be 
a  ratoiir  ob  made  to  Robert  Ahannaj  of  Sorbj,  and  to  Nerin  Agnev,  sons  uid  BT 
appersnde  to  WiIm  Agoew  of  Croich,  upon  hie  Uuds,  rents,  poBaenions,  and 
gnda.  Ay  and  qohill  God  provide  of  his  hele  or  ded.  10  Janoui,  anno  r^ii  li. 
iUaS).~Privy  Seal  Ittguter,  lib.  i  fol.  68, 

We  find  an  Andrew  of  tbe  period,  probablj  a  younger  brother,  and  copy  the 
«xtcact,  «sp«dBlly  with  a  view  to  the  form  of  "  Eirkmedyu  "  (Ueduia). 

1483.  King  conGrms  charter  of  John  Eennedy  of  LadycrofC,  Eirkmedyn,  to 
NeTin  Agnew,  sod  tad  heir  of  William  Aguew  of  Croach,  to  be  held  of  the  king. 
WitDsued  by  Ucbtred  Edyaie  of  Crachioe,  John  Gordon,  Andrew  Agnew,  Patk. 
Edya^,  And.  MaecaUane,  Sichard  Edyar&— Cmi^  Seal  BegitUr,  vol.  i.  p.  155. 


BBAL  OF  tvavTW  AOinw,  14S7< 


CHAPTER    XVII 

BARONIAL  BANQUBTINGS 

A.D.  1498  to  1506 

The  lieges  all  did  till  their  lady  lout, 

Wha  was  conveyed  with  ane  royal  rout 

Of  barroness  and  lusty  ladies  sheen. 

Welcome  our  Queen  !  the  commons  gave  ane  shout 

Dunbar. 

The  year  of  the  fourth  sheriff's  accession,  Cuthbert  BaiUie 
succeeded  Lindsay  of  Fairgirth  as  Chamberlain  of  Galloway.^ 
Soon  after  we  find  him  styled  of  Dunragit,  which  he  must 
have  purchased  from  the  sheriff  or  his  father,  as  the  only  earlier 
notice  of  the  property  extant  is  in  a  decree  of  the  Lord  Auditors 
(1494),  in  which  it  is  catalogued  among  lands  belonging  to 
Quentin  Agnew  and  Marian  Vans  his  spouse. 

The  dwelling-house  was  not  on  the  site  of  the  present 
mansion  of  the  estate,  but  about  a  mile  eastward,  where  the 
names  and  holdings  of  "  Old  Hall "  and  "  Orchard  "  indicate  the 
family  residence.  The  new  Laird  of  Dunragit,  who  in  his  first 
accounting  is  styled  Canonicus  Glasguensis,  was  of  a  family 
having  a  common  origin  with  those  of  Lamington,  Dochfour, 
and  Folkemmet.  Among  the  first  items  in  these  accounts  is 
one  to  Sir  Alexander  M'CuUoch  and  Marian  Sinclair  his  wife,* 

^  Mure  had  been  chamberlain  from  1462  to  1496,  when  he  was  succeeded  by 
James  Lindsay  of  Fairgirth,  a  cadet  of  the  house  of  Balcarres,  who  held  the  office 
two  years. 

Fairgirth  is  Norse  from  "  faar,"  a  sheep,  as  in  Fair  Isle  and  Faroe. 

'  Alexander  M'Callauch,  Miles  de  Myrtoun,  et  Marian  Sinclair  ejus  sponsa. — 
Charriberlain  Bolls, 


308  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY   [A.D.  1 49 8 

the  lady  apparently  a  daughter  of  Sir  John  Sinclair,  ''the 
Queen's  Knight." 

In  1501  we  find  James  IV.  varying  his  route,  entering 
Galloway  by  Dumfries,  entertained  on  the  23d  of  April  by 
the  friars  of  Kirkcudbright,  to  whom  he  gave  eight  French 
crowns,  passing  the  next  day  to  Whithorn ;  to  do  which  he 
must  have  ridden  betimes,  having  to  commence  his  journey 
by  ferrying  the  Dee,  next  to  ride  to  and  cross  the  Fleet, 
thence  pass  to  Cassencany,  and  ford  or  ferry  the  Cree 
to  Wigtown,  whence  a  good  twelve  miles  remained  to  his 
journey's  enA^ 

Sir  John  Dunbar,  who  had  married  as  his  second  wife  Janet, 
daughter  of  Sir  Alexander  Stewart  of  Garlics,  had  by  her  two 
sons :  Archibald,  founder  of  the  house  of  Baldoon ;  and  Gkivin, 
afterwards  tutor  to  James  V.,  and  Archbishop  of  Glasgow.  He 
obtained  in  1502  a  nine  years'  grant  of  the  keeping  of  the 
castle  of  Threave,  certain  fishings  in  the  Dee,  and  the  office  of 
Stewart  of  Kirkcudbright;  but  was  unfortunately  killed  in  a 
quarrel  (probably  as  to  these  very  fishings)  by  the  young  Laird 
of  Lochinvar,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son  John.  This  John, 
from  the  very  circumstances  of  his  succession,  fell  heir  to  a 
blood  feud  with  the  Gordons.  He  inherited  also  the  remainder 
of  his  father's  term  of  the  Stewardship  of  Kirkcudbright,  and  in 
due  course  "  letters  of  slains "  having  been  granted  to  Alex- 
ander Gordon  for  the  assassination  of  his  father,  according  to 
the  curious  ideas  of  administration  then  current,  the  whole  clan 
of  Gordons  were  exempted  from  his  jurisdiction,  on  the  ground 
that  "  neither  of  the  two  parties  could  be  competent  judges  in 
actions  affecting  one  another,  owing  to  the  discord  and  unkind- 
ness  existing  between  them."  ^ 

^  22  April  1501.  To  the  Freiars  of  Eyrkcndbricht,  eight  Franesche  crowns. 
Item  the  same  day  in  Whitheme,  to  Sir  Andrew  MacBeek,  to  dispone  among 
priests,  £5. — Lord  Treasurer's  Accounts, 

*  An  exemption  to  Alexander  Gordon  of  Lochinvar,  himself,  friends,  tenants, 
and  partakers,  from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Steward  of  Kirkcudbright  and  his 
deputes. — Privy  Seal  Register, 

In  Sir  John  Dunbar's  accountings  as  chamberlain  we  find,  a.d.  1504,  £30  as 
dues  for  Leffinnolls  (so  spelt,  Lefnoll),  Laucht  Alpine,  and  Mekell  Laucht 


to  1506]  BARONIAL  BANQUETINGS'  309 

John  Dunbar  married  Catherine,  daughter  of  Thomas 
M'aellan  of  Bomby. 

About  this  time  a  feud  between  the  Agnews  and  M'Kies 
attained  such  considerable  proportions  that  the  Crown  ordered 
an  inquiry;  and  the  High  Justiciary  of  Scotland  summoned 
both  parties  to  meet  him  at  Dumfries  where,  after  much  ado,  he 
induced  both  (on  the  13th  August  1504)  to  enter  into  recog- 
nisances to  keep  the  peace ;  John  Murray  of  Cockpule  standing 
surety  for  the  sheriif,  etnd  Thomas  Kirkpatrick  of  Closebum  for 
the  M*Kies.  The  former  is  now  represented  by  the  Earl  of 
Mansfield;  the  latter  is  believed  to  be  a  progenitor  of  the 
Empress  Eugenie  of  France. 

In  April  1505  the  king  made  one  of  his  many  pilgrimages 
to  Whithorn ;  starting  from  Ayr  early  on  the  29th,  and  fording 
the  Doon,  the  Girvan,  and  the  Stincher,  he  entered  Galloway 
by  Glenapp,  and  arrived  early  in  Glenluce.  The  same  after- 
noon we  read  of  his  enjoying  a  game  of  bowls  at  the  abbey  with 
such  of  the  baronage  as  the  abbot  had  invited  to  assist  at  his 
entertainment 

The  entry  as  to  this  in  the  Lord  Treasurer's  accounts  seems 
to  give  a  touch  of  reality  to  the  scene.  The  king  was  unlucky, 
and  lost  17s.  at  the  game,  which  was  honourably  discharged.^  A 
Galloway  horse  was  also  presented  to  his  majesty  on  the 
occasion,  which  he  was  graciously  please  to  accept.* 

Early  the  following  year,  "  the  queen  in  her  thraws  of  birth 
being  near  the  last  agonies  of  death,"  the  king  started  on  foot 
for  St.  Ninian's  shrine.  His  progress  was  now  necessarily 
slower,  and  no  conviviality  was  indulged  in  by  the  way. 

On  the  15th  March  he  reached  Dairy  and  paid  18s.  for  his 
supper  and  bed.  Next  day  he  dined  at  a  haKway-house 
between  the  Ken  and  Cree  in  his  long  walk  to  MinigafT,  paying 
9s.  for  his  "  belcheir."  On  the  l7th  he  walked  to  the  Clachan 
of  Fenninghame,  where  was  the  bishop's  palace,  where  he 

^  29  Aprile.  To  the  king  to  play  at  the  kyles  at  Glenlus,  17s.  Eyles^  bowls, 
more  strictly  skittles,  from  the  French  quUles. — Lord  Treasurer's  Accounts. 

'  To  the  Abbot  of  Glenluce  his  man  of  bridal  silver  of  ane  gray  horse  giffen 
here  to  the  king,  13s. — Ibid, 


310  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY   [A.D.  1 49  8 

probably  slept,  giving  9s.  to  the  man  that  bore  St.  Ninian's 
belL 

On  the  18th  he  got  to  Wigtown,  paid  288.  at  the  inn,  and 
leaving  in  the  middle  of  the  night,  walked  fasting  and  barefoot 
to  Whithorn,  giving  13s.  to  his  guide.^ 

The  faith  of  the  royal  pilgrim  had  its  reward  in  the  queen's 
recovery;  and  in  token  of  gratitude  the  queen  and  king  together 
made  a  progress  to  Whithorn  the  following  year  in  royal  state. 
Queen  Margaret's  wardrobe  required  seventeen  horses  to  carry 
it,  the  king's  three,  and  a  twenty-first  for  the  chapel  gear. 

The  queen,  not  strong  enough  to  ride,  was  borne  in  a  litter, 
entered  in  the  accounts  as  the  queen's  chariot.^ 

Gentle  and  simple  from  Bhjmns  and  Machars  donned  their 
best  to  give  the  royal  pair  a  befitting  welcome.  The  clerical 
element,  represented  by  the  bishop,  the  priors  of  Whithorn  and 
Wigtown,  the  abbots  of  Soulseat  and  Glenluce,  friars  black, 
white,  grey,  red,  and  parti-coloured ;  the  lay,  by  the  sheriff,  the 
chamberlain,  coroner,  cmd  baronage,  ''all  dighted  in  their 
braws." 

Their  pleasant  ladjes  prancing  ower  the  bents, 
In  costly  dothing  to  their  Mche  contentes. 

Great  were  the  acclamations  when  the  king  and  queen  passed 
to  St.  Kinian's  shrine,  and  placed  their  gifts  over  the  relics  of 
the  saint.  The  king,  leading  her  by  the  hand,  presented  the 
Tudor  Margaret  to  her  lieges,  radiant  in  gems  and  health,  which 
she  acknowledged  as  due  to  the  intercessions  of  their  favourite 
saint 

*'  Welcome  our  Queen  !  the  commons  gave  ane  shout" 

The  return  journey  of  the  royal  pair,  accompanied  by  the 

^  16th  day  of  March.  To  the  king's  belchior  in  Dahy,  18s.  For  the  king's 
belchior  quhen  the  king  dinit  be  the  gait,  9s.  Item,  that  night  the  king  sowpit 
at  Menegouf  for  the  belchior  there,  98. — Lwd  Treasurer* i  Aecounis. 

The  phonetic  spelling  Menegoif  tallies  with  the  Celtic  Moine-Gamp,  or 
Cymric  Myned-Gauaf,  "the  wintry  moor." 

'17  July.  Three  dozen  points  to  the  queue's  chariot,  13s.;  a  quartar  carsay 
quhilk  mendit  the  queue's  letter  graith,  18s. ;  GaUoway  oarsais,  kersey  or  woollen 
stuff,  a  frequent  item  in  ancient  book-keeping. 


to  1506]  BARONIAL  BANQUETINGS  311 

sheriff  and  a  bodyguard  from  the  Bhynns,  was  by  the  Mochrom 

shore  to  Glenluce,  where  they  passed  the  night ;  the  abbot  doing 

the  honours  of  the  monastery  grounds ;  the  king,  well  pleased 

that  the  English  ladies  of  the  suite  (notably  my  Lady  Musgrave) 

should  see  the  acres  of  esculents,  many  of  them  not  yet  common 

in  the  north,  the  orchards  and  trimmed  borders,  gave  a  douceur 

of  48.  to  the  gardener. 

These  were  days  of  fun  and  feasting,  any  incidental  notices 

of  which  are  doubly  agreeable ;  because,  whilst  the  wrong-doings 

and  bickerings  of  society  are  minutely  chronicled,  we  are  told 

Uttle  of  the  merry-makings  and  lighter  occupations  of  our 

ancestors.     Yet,  if  our  forbears  were  somewhat  violent  and 

prone  to  enter  into  "  bands  "  in  gendering  feud,  they  were  fully 

alive  to  the  claims  of  hospitality.    If  the  baron  was  too  often 

to  be  seen  issuing  from  his  gate,  "  boden  in  fere  of  wear,"  the 

baronial  halls  were  frequent  scenes  of  the  friendly  rivalry  of 

their  ladies,  whose  red-letter  days  were  those  which  marked 

their  triumph  of  culinary  skill ;  and  we  shall  for  a  moment  try 

to  penetrate  the  mysteries  of  the  kitchen  and  housewifery,  with 

the  aid  of  the  slight  clues  we  have  to  guide  us.     A  proverb  in 

use  among  the  Anglo-Norman  baronage  gives  us  a  guide  to  their 

hours: 

Lever  &  cinq,  diner  a  neuf, 
Souper  a  cinq,  couclier  &  neuf, 
Fait  vivre  d'ans  nonante  et  neuf. 

Freely  translated  by  a  later  generation  : 

Early  to  bed  and  early  to  rise, 

Makes  a  man  healthy,  wealthy,  and  wise. 

In  the  fourteenth  century,  in  England  as  well  as  Scotland, 
nine,  poetically  the  hour  of  prime,  was  the  usual  dinner  hour ; 
whence  Chaucer — 

And  let  us  dyne  as  sone  as  ye  may, 
For  by  my  chilindre  it  is  prime  of  day.^ 

In  the  fifteenth  century  it  is  believed  the  higher  classes  usually 

1  ''  The  Schipmanne'e  Tale." 


312    HERKDrrARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  1 498 

dined  at  ten ;  and  for  long  five  o'clock  was  the  recognised  hoar 
for  the  evening  meal :  arrangements  which  made  artificial  light 
unnecessary  for  dinner  at  any  season,  and  not  often  wcmted  for 
sapper — an  important  consideration  when  ordinary  candles  and 
oil  were  bad,  and  wax  both  scarce  and  dear. 

The  dining-halls  of  Galloway  gentry  were  less  imposing  than 
those  of  the  English.  Barely,  if  ever,  were  to  be  seen  there  the 
raised  dais  and  the  deeply  recessed  fireplaces,  examples  of  which 
are  to  be  seen  at  Kaworth  Castle,  the  nearest  to  the  Borders. 

The  hall  of  Lochnaw,  bailt  aboat  1426,  was  29  feet  by 
17^ ;  that  of  Danskey,  rebuilt  nearly  a  century  later,  36  feet 
by  17. 

English  and  Scottish  living-rooms  were  alike  without  lath 
and  plaster ;  the  haUs  of  ordinarily  good  houses  having  hangings 
of  worsted,  and  those  of  the  wealthiest,  tapestry. 

A  polished  dining-table  (now  almost  mediaeval)  was  then 
unknown,  as  was  mahogany  itself  The  festive  board  waa 
formed  of  deal  planks  loosely  placed  together  on  trestles,  and 
covered  with  a  cloth.  This,  if  somewhat  inelegant,  had  the 
advantage  of  elasticity ;  as  when,  as  it  not  unusually  happened, 
the  dining-hall  was  overcrowded,  free  circulation  was  afforded 
by  moving  a  part  of  the  table  when  eating  was  done ;  and  when 
the  party  broke  up,  the  part  remaining  was  lifted  from  its 
trestles  and  laid  against  the  wall,  whence  the  mediseval  phrase 
"  closing  the  tables." 

Plain  deal  cupboards,  ranged  round  the  room,  held  the 
various  requisites  for  repasts.  These,  with  increasing  wealth 
and  refinement,  developed  into  the  buffet :  an  ornamental  open 
stand  with  shelves,  on  which  china>  pottery,  and  plate,  were 
arranged  for  show.  From  the  centre  of  the  ceiling  depended 
the  chandelier,  consisting  in  primitive  times  of  two  transverse 
boards,  but  usually  in  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries 
made  of  latten  or  copper,^  carrjdng  four  candles  stuck  on 

^  Latten,  an  alloy  of  brass.  In  1495  Henry  Mundwell  and  Janet  Buyt  saed 
Bankin  Mure  for  the  detention  of  a  brazen  ohandelier  at  Wigtown.  The  Lords  of 
the  Council  referred  the  matter  to  Quentin  Agnew,  desiring  him  or  his  deputes  to 
value  it,  which  they  did  at  Ss. — AcL  Ihm,  ConcU, 


to  1506]  BARONIAL  BANQT7ETINGS  313 

spikes,  a  third  bar  being  sometimes  added  so  as  to  carry  six 
lights. 

Candlesticks  of  brass  were  often  placed  simply  against  the 
walls,  having  a  motto  beneath  the  bracket ;  ^  and  when  much 
lighting  was  required,  especially  for  the  passages  or  court,  this 
was  usually  provided  by  torches  carried  by  the  retainers. 

The  lady  of  the  house  usually  furnished  napkins  plentifully 
for  her  guests ;  and  when  a  feast  was  being  prepared,  the  style  of 
the  entertainment  was  primarily  gauged  by  the  amount  of 

"  Domik  work  (damask)  on  buird  desplayed."  ^ 

Of  silver  plate  the  most  essential  was  the  saltcellar ;  and 
second  in  importance  was  a  round  dish  similar  in  size,  divided 
into  compartments  for  sugar  and  various  spices.  Silver  punch- 
bowls were  usual ;  or  if  made  of  other  material,  with  silver  edges. 
A  silver  basin  was  always  if  possible  procured  to  hetnd  round  to 
guests  for  ablutions ;  but  only  a  very  few  of  the  wealthiest  land- 
owners had  silver  trenchers  for  their  joints.  Silver  drinking- 
cups  were  also  in  use  ;  indeed,  the  baron  frequently  carried  his 
own  cup  with  him ;  but  few  could  supply  these  to  many  guests : 
ordinary  drinking  -  vessels  being  wooden,  sometimes  with  a 
metal  rim,  sometimes  of  porcelain,  all  such  described  as  macers.' 
Glass  bottles,  of  an  enormous  size,  were  early  used  as  decanters. 
Many  a  laird  could  boast  his 

'^  Pair  of  bossis  gude  and  fyne 
They  hold  ane  gallon  full  of  Oascon  wyne."  ^ 

But  a  wineglass  was  a  curiosity.  It  is  said,  whether  jokingly  or 
not,  that  one  wineglass  sometimes  went  round  the  table. 

In  an  inventory  of  1492  is  "my  candel  beme  with  six  bellys  of  laton,"  i.e, 
six  brazen  holders. 

^  In  an  inventory  of  1468  we  find  '*a  candy Istick  of  laton  with  a  pyke"  ; 
Also  "  a  candylstick  of  kton  whereupon  is  wretyn,  *  Grace  me  goyeme.' " 

'  Lyndsay,  voL  ii.  p.  279. 

'  In  inyentories  "maser"  seems  equivalent  to  drinking-cup.  They  sre  sup- 
posed to  have  been  sometimes  of  earthenware,  sometimes  porcelain.  A  plausible 
derivation  is  the  Dutch  "maiser,"  maple  wood,  of  which  fancy  cups  were  often 
made.    A  '*  mazer  gUt "  in  inventories  seems  often  to  mean  silver  ^t 

*  Dunbar. 


314  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY   [A.D.  1 49  8 

We  find  Adair  of  Kinhilt  borrowing  from  Sir  Patrick  Vans 
— both  being  Galloway  lairds — "  ane  silver  basin,  gilt  abune  the 
edges,  weighing  seven  score  and  ten  ounces ;  and  one  layer  of 
silver."  ^ 

Loid  Cassilis,  in  the  middle  of  this  century,  was  able  to  spare 
from  his  plate-chest,  over  and  above  what  he  required  for  his 
own  use,  as  a  loan  to  his  mother,  "  a  silver  basin  and  a  laver, 
a  double  gilt  cup,  a  gilt  macer,  two  silver  trenchers,  two  little 
salt  fjEttts  in  their  nooks,  a  silver  salt  fatt  and  cover  thereof 
ungUt"* 

Where  plates  were  scarce,  thick  slices  of  bread  did 
duty  instead,  and  soaked  up  the  gravy.  In  frugal  houses, 
these  formed  part  of  the  repast;  in  greater  families  and  at 
feasts  these  trenchers  were  collected  in  the  alms  baskets  by 
servants,  when  the  tables  were  closed,  and  distributed  to  the 
poor. 

In  the  matter  of  cutlery  the  host  only  felt  himself  bound  to 

provide  table-knives  for  his  own  household.    Every  guest  brought 

his  own  knife  in  a  leathern  sheath  attached  to  his  girdle ;  whence 

the  caution  to  a  diner-out  in  an  old  book  of  etiquette,  "  Bring 

no  knjrves  unsecured  to  the  table."  *    Forks,  to  a  much  later 

period  than  we  now  write  of,  were  totally  unknown  as  a 

medium  of  conveying  food  to  the  mouth :  those  mentioned  in 

inventories  were  solely  used  for  carving  ajid  serving.    When 

gentlemen  of  refinement  endeavoured  to  introduce  the  custom 

from  abroad  as  cleanly  and  convenient,  it  was  abominated  as  a 

foreign  innovation,  ridiculed  as  an  afiectation,  and — what  seems 

almost  incredible — denounced  from  the  pulpit  as  wrong.     In 

Ben  Jonson's  comedy  of  The  Devil  is  an  Ass,  first  acted  as 

late  as  1616,  the  use  of  forks  in  the  highest  English  society  was 

so  little  known  that  we  find  the  following  dialogue  between 

Sledge  and  Meerecraft,  a  speculative  adventurer : 

Sledge.  "What?" 

Meerecraft.  "  My  project  o'  the  forks." 

^  Correspondence  of  Lord  Barnbarroch,  p.  261. 
'  Charter  History  of  the  Kennedys.  *  Lydgate. 


to  1506]        BARONIAL  BANQUETINGS  315 

SUdge.  «  Forks  1  what  be  they  1 " 

Meerecraft,  ^^  The  laudable  use  of  forks  brought  into  custom  here,  as 

they  are  in  Italy, 
To  the  sparing  of  napkins.  .  .  . 

.  .  .  'twill  be 
A  mighty  saver  of  linen  through  the  kingdom." 

When  the  cook  had  put  the  finishing  touches  to  their 
''subtilties/'^  dinner  was  announced  by  sound  of  trumpets 
(this  in  itself  being  a  baronial  privilege);  and  a  servant  handing 
round  a  basin,  another  following  with  napkins,  the  guests 
washed  their  hands  before,  as  they  subsequently  did  after,  meat 
They  then  filed  ofif  to  their  places,  hand  in  hand,  each  couple 
eating  off  the  same  trencher. 

The  bill  of  fare  on  which  a  Galloway  baron  might  draw  was 
as  enviable  for  its  excellence  as  for  its  variety.  Plums  in  his 
savoury  broth,  red  fish,  oysters,  beef  and  mutton  of  the  best, 
venison  and  wild  boar,  grouse,  partreck,  duck,  plover,  and  game 
of  every  sort,  varied  by  such  Twrs  d^oeuvres  as  baggis  and  Har- 
rest  brose;  there  being  this  difference,  however,  between  his 
tastes  and  ours,  that  what  we  consider  coarser  articles  of  food, 
porpoises  and  sturgeon,  were  held  to  be  more  lordly  food  than 
smelt  and  salmon;  whilst,  not  to  mention  cormorants,  coots,  and 
hedgehogs,  all  included  in  his  menu,  cranes  and  swans,  pur- 
chased at  exorbitant  prices,  were  preferred  to  moorfowl  and 
mallard  to  be  had  for  the  taking  near  his  own  gates ;  and  an 
old  peacock,  first  skinned,  then  roasted  and  farced,  and  redecked 
in  his  gorgeous  plumage,  was  more  esteemed  than  the  fattest 
capon  or  turkey. 

"  Bread  of  mane,"  fancy  loaves,  spiced  and  sweetened  jelly 
(the  art  of  extracting  which  from  the  feet  of  calves,  sheep,  oxen, 
and  pigs,  was  well  understood),  pastry,  and  comfits,  were  placed 
plentifully  on  the  table.  But  the  triumph  to  the  lady  of  the 
house  depended  upon  the  skill  of  her  cooks  in  the  production  of 
the  "  subtilty,"  a  mighty  compound  of  the  elements  of  cakes  and 

^  An  ornamental  device  in  pastry.  These  were  often  very  bold,  such  as  a 
ship  filled  with  birds,  surrounded  by  a  sea  fuU  of  fishes,  having  a  taU  mast  with 
sails  of  sUk  and  ermine. 


316    HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  1 49  8 

sweatmeats,  formed  into  edible  models  of  sculptured  groups^ 
castles,  ships,  or  heraldic  devices,  set  down  as  an  epergne,  to  be 
eaten  with  the  dessert.^ 

We  have  been  fortunate  in  recovering  the  details  of  a  feast 
given  by  George  Neville  on  his  installation  as  Archbishop  of 
York  in  1491,  to  which  many  of  the  officials  and  baronage  of 
Galloway  were  invited,  and  notably  the  bishop,  his  claim 
over  him  as  his  suffragan  being  foregone  on  the  occasion,  under 
protest  A  great  company  of  the  gentry  from  both  sides  of  the 
Border  were  present,  for  whose  entertainment  was  purveyed 
104  oxen,  1000  sheep,  2000  pigs,  and  other  animals  in  propor- 
tion, 104  peacocks,  204  cranes,  12  porpoises  and  seals,  besides 
game  and  poultry  of  all  sorts,  1000  partid  dishes  of  jelly,  3000 
plain  dishes  of  jelly,  4000  cold  baked  tarts,  2000  hot  custarda 

Music  was  a  usual  accompaniment  of  feastings.  In  King 
James's  numerous  journeys  to  Galloway,  he  presses  into 
his  service  the  musicians  of  the  burghs  and  the  baronage. 
Thus  we  read  of  the  Prior  of  Whithorn's  clarsha,  Eedman  the 
lutar,  William  the  tambroner,  Ainslie  the  tambroner,  Quhynbore 
the  tambroner,  and  his  marrow,  a  piper  that  playet  with  the 
schawmes  (cornet).  Pate  Harper  the  clarsha  at  Whithorn,  two 
trumpeters  of  Whithorn,  the  pipers  of  Wigtown,  Lord  Flem- 
ing's tambroner,  and  numerous  fithlers ;  all  these,  in  the  years 
1497-98,  the  usual  minstrels  playing  at  merrymakings  in  the 
countryside.  When  dinner  was  over  the  attendants  handed 
round  the  ewer,  and  all  washed  :  a  very  necessary  process  where 
all  had  eaten  with  their  fingers.     Abundance  of  napkins  were 

^  In  a  manual  of  such  Scottish  matrons  of  the  fifteenth  centuiy  as  could 
afford  such  entertainments,  called  the  Menagier  de  Paris,  minute  directions  are 
given  for  cooking  hedgehogs,  rooks,  msgpies,  jackdaws,  sheldrake,  coots,  cormo- 
rants, and  others  innumerable. 

We  subjoin  a  bill  of  fare  from  the  Sloane  MSS.  of  the  fifteenth  century,  which 
has  a  Scottish  ring : 

1st  Course.— Umbles  of  a  heart  Side  of  a  heart  roast.  Swan.  Fesaunt. 
Bytore  (Bittern).  Pike.  Great  gurnard.  Haggisse.  Blanche  custard.  A 
subtility. 

2d  Ck>ur8e.— Gelee.  Cream  of  almonds.  Eid.  Chickens  larded.  Pertrick. 
Larks.  Perch.  Porpoise  roast  Frytours  lombard.  Payne  pu£  A  subtilty 
(a  castle  of  silver  with  veins  of  gold). 


to  1506]  BARONIAL  BANQUETINGS  317 

provided^  but  only  one  btusin  for  the  whole.    As  a  contemporary 
poet  puts  it : 

Then  they  toke  echo  other  be  the  hand  and  weshed. 

If  this  small  provision  at  Gralloway  entertainments  sounds  un- 
refined, we  find  that  even  a  century  later  there  W£U9  but  one 
'  basin,  and  that  only  once  filled  with  water,  supplied  at  baronial 
banquets  in  more  wealthy  England. 

When  Cosmo  III,  Duke  of  Tuscany,  travelled  through  the 
southern  counties  of  England  in  1663,  one  of  Us  suite,  whilst 
acknowledging  the  abundance  and  good  quality  of  the  pro- 
visions set  before  them  by  the  west  country  proprietors,  re- 
marks in  parenthesis  that  they  thought  the  cooking  not  so 
good  as  that  of  France,  adds,  "  There  is  a  great  want  of  that 
gentility  at  English  tables  which  is  practised  in  Italy.  .  .  . 
There  are  no  forks,  nor  vessels  to  supply  water  for  the  hands, 
which  are  washed  in  one  basinfull  of  water,  which  serves  for 
all  the  company."  ^ 

Lastly,  as  to  wines.  Dunbar  the  poet  adjures  the  king  to 
leave  dull  Stirling  and  come  to  more  luxurious  Edinburgh 

To  eat  Bwan,  cran,  patrik,  and  plever, 
And  every  fish  that  swims  in  river, 
And  drink  with  ns  the  new  fresh  wine 
That  grew  upon  the  river  Rhine, 
Fresh  fragiant  clarets  out  of  France, 
Of  Angiers  and  Orleanse. 

The  importations  of  wines  direct  to  Galloway  was  limited 
by  law  to  the  ports  of  Wigtown  and  Kirkcudbright,  the  lieges 
having  the  advantage  of  buying  it  cheaper  than  in  the  eastern 
shires,  Gascon  wines  being  retailed  at  6  and  8  pennies  the  pint 
against  8  and  10  elsewhere.^  Bhine  wines  were  not  unknown, 
nor  those  of  Spain  and  Portugal,  called  sack  (i.e.  sec  =  dry),  as 

^  Trails  of  Gostm  IIL,  Duke  of  Tuscany ,  in  1663,  by  Count  Lorenzo  Mega- 
litto,  p.  464.     Quarto.     1821. 

'  Tliat  na  wines  that  is  cum  in  at  the  west  seas  be  bocht  of  onie  dearer  price 
nor  £16  the  tun  of  Burdeaux  wine,  and  the  Rochel  wine  for  £12  or  thretteen 
pounds  the  tun,  and  that  nane  of  them  seU  the  samin  of  onie  dearer  price  nor 
aucht  pennies  the  pynt  of  Burdeaux  wine,  and  6  pennies  the  pynt  Rochele  wine. 
— ^5  Parlt.  Queen  Maiy,  c.  1. 


318  SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY     [AD.  1 498- 1  5 06 

also  Malmsey  Madeira,  called  Malvoisie,  and  MuskadiU,  which 
were  sweet ;  and  a  strong  liqueur  called  Hippocras,  mixed  with 
spices  and  sugar,  was  much  drunk.  Distillation  was  not  then 
general  in  Scotland,  but  aqua  vitse,  i.e.  brandy,  appeared  occa- 
sionally on  the  tables  of  the  wealthy. 

Lyndsay,  describing  the  reception  of  a  traveller  at  a  Scottish 
country  gentleman's  house,  writes : 

He  found  hiB  chalmar  well  arrayed 
With  domik  work  on  buird  desplayed. 
Of  venison  he  had  his  weill, 
Qade  aqua  vitee  wyne  and  aill, 
With  nobile  comfeittes,  bran  and  geiU, 
And  sua  the  Squyer  fuir  richt  weill.  ^ 

Whilst  on  another  occasion  a  host  is  described  as  entertaining 
his  guests 

With  mirth,  music,  and  minstraUie, 
With  wyld  fowle,  venison,  and  wyne. 
With  tail  and  flam  and  fruitage  fyne. 
Of  bran  and  geill  there  was  na  stent. 
And  Ipocras  he  could  not  want.i 

Another  Lyndsay  (the  historian),  in  giving  details  of  a  feast 
given  in  1528  by  the  Earl  of  Athol,  where  we  should  hardly 
look  for  greater  luxuries  than  at  the  command  of  Galloway 
barons,  enumerates  **  all  kinds  of  drink,  as  aill,  beer,  wyne,  both 
white  and  claret,  malvasie,  muskadaill,  eligant  hippocras,  and 
aqua  vitae ;  farder,  thair  was  of  meattis,  weat  bread,  maine  bread, 
and  gingebread,  with  fleshis  beiff  and  mutton,  lamb,  veUl  and 
venison,  goose,  gruse,  capon,  cunning,  cran,  swan,  pairtrick,  plever, 
duik,  drake,  brissel,  cock  and  pannies,  blackcock  and  muirfoull, 
capercailles  ;  all  delicat  fishes,  as  salmond,  trouts,  pershes,  pikes, 
eels.  Syne  were  there  proper  stuarts,  cunning  baxters,  excel- 
lent cooks  and  potingaris ;  with  confections  and  drugs  for  the 
desserts." 

^  Squyer  Meldrum ;  bran,  brawn ;  geill,  jellies ;  skent,  scant,  scarcity  ;  flam, 
custard,  a  puddiug  baked  in  a  dish. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

THE  FOREST  OF  BUCHAN 

A<D.  1506  to  1510 

The  Kennedys  wi'  a'  their  power, 
Fra  Cassilis  to  Ardstencher  towers, 
May  rise  and  flock  like  screeching  craws, 
Fra  heighs  an*  hous,  fra  homes  and  ha's. 
An'  hither  come  wi*  blawing  crack ; 
They'll  bear  anither  story  back. 

The  Isle  of  Man  had,  till  the  fifteenth  century,  belonged  to 
Scotland 

In  earlier  days  Olave  the  Swarthy,  an  independent  kinglet, 
had  wedded  Aflfrica,^  daughter  of  Fergus,  Lord  of  Galloway,  who 
was  recognised  as  Queen  of  Man ;  but  later  Alan,  Lord  of  Gal- 
loway, and  his  brother  the  Earl  of  Athol,  held  the  island  in 
subjection.  Much  intercourse  consequently  took  place  between 
the  Galwegians  and  the  Manxmen,  till  the  latter,  throwing  off 
the  yoke  of  Olave's  successors,  confiscated  the  property  of  such 
Galwegians  as  had  settled  there,  and  banished  them  for  ever 
from  their  isla*  As  a  consequence  the  "  wild  Scots"  made 
occasional  piratical  descents  upon  the  Manxmen,  who  rarely 
retaliated. 

About  1506,  however,  the  English  Earl  of  Derby  obtained 
rule  there,  and  carried  the  war  into  the  enemy's  country. 

^  Enockeffrich,  Eirkinner,  near  Fergus's  strength  of  Loncaster,  is  supposed 
to  take  its  name  from  her. 

'  The  legislature  in  1422  enacted  *'  that  all  Scottish  men  do  avoid  the  land 
of  Manx  by  the  next  vessel  that  goeth  to  Scotland,  upon  paine  of  forfeiture  of 
their  goods  and  bodyes  to  prison." 


320     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  1506 

Then  came  Thomas  Derby,  bom  king,  'twas  he  wore  the  golden  cmpper, 
There  was  not  one  lord  in  England  itself  with  so  many  knee-guinea  men.^ 
On  Scotland  he  revenged  himself,  and  went  to  Eeelchoobragh, 
And  there  made  such  havoc  on  houses,  that  some  are  yet  unroofed.  ^ 

An  owre  true  tale :  he  laid  Ejrkcudbright  in  ashes ;  but,  en- 
couraged by  a  visit  of  sympathy  fix)m  Eong  James  IV.,  on 
-which  occasion  he  made  the  corporation  a  gift  of  the  Castle,'  it 
rose  phoenix-like  from  its  ashes,  and  it  was  found  that  happily 
the  freebooters  had  spared  the  marcat  cross,  which  still  stands, 
purporting  to  have  been  erected  in  1504. 

Lord  Derby's  fillibustering  energy  was  overmatched  by 
Cutlar  M'Culloch,  a  cadet  of  Myrtoun,  and  a  bom  sea-king. 
He  induced  the  Celts  to  build  and  man  many  more  boats,  and 
envelop  the  Isle  of  Man  with  his  flotilla. 

Again  and  again  he  ravaged  it,  carrying  oflf  all  that  was 
not  too  hot  or  too  heavy  for  removal,  till  his  very  name  became 
a  bugbear  with  young  and  old,  his  ubiqnity  being  such  that  a 
Manxman  presiding  at  the  board  would  warn  his  guests  to 
begiu  with  the  meat  and  finish  with  the  broth,  so  as  to  make 
sure  at  least  of  a  substantial  bite  before  M'Culloch  could  dis- 
turb them. 

And  so  closely  did  they  believe  him  to  match  Satan  himself 
in  his  powers  of  mischief,  that  it  was  proverbially  said  that  the 
family  prayers  of  a  Manx  patriarch  might  be  epitomised  in  the 
couplet — 

God  keep  this  house  and  all  within 
From  Cut  M'Culloch  and  from  sin. 

An  evidence  of  his  audacity  and  success  is  preserved  in  the 
deposition  of  a  governor  of  Peel  Castle,  the  strongest  in  the 
island,  but  which  he  had  taken  and  stripped  : 

^  The  soubriquet  '' knee-gainea  men"  is  matched  by  as  funny  a  one  in  Gal- 
loway a  century  later,  when  a  moss-trooping  laird  on  the  Galloway  marches  was 
known  as  *'Gibby  with  the  gowden  garters,"  he  being  Gilbert  Elliot  of  Stobs, 
who  married  Margaret,  daughter  of  Sir  Walter  Scott  of  Harden,  she  being  known 
as  **  Maggie  Fendy  {i.e.  handy). — Life  of  First  Earl  of  MvnJto^  vol.  i.  p.  4. 

'  Translation  of  a  Manx  poem  in  Train's  History  of  Man. 

'  It  was  granted  by  David  II,  to  Archibald  Douglas  in  1869.  On  forfeiture 
of  the  Douglases  it  reverted  to  the  Crown.  In  1582  Sir  Thomas  M'Clellan 
acquired  it  and  built  the  Castle,  the  ruins  of  which  now  remain  upon  its  site. 


to  1510]  THE   FOKEST   OF  BUCHAN  321 

"  Taken  by  Collard  M'Culloch  and  his  men,  by  wrangous 
spoliation,  two  box  beddes  and  ayken  burdes,  a  feder  boaster,  a 
cote  mailzie,  a  mete  burde,  twa  kystes,  five  barrels,  a  gyle-fat, 
XX  pipes,  twa  gunys,  three  bolls  of  malt,  a  quern  of  rosate,  certin 
petes,  viii  boll  of  thraset  com,  xii  of  nnthraschen,  xl  knowtes. 
(Signed)  "John  Machariotic,  Governor,  1507."^ 

M'Culloch's  *  achievements  having  freed  the  landowners  of 
the  Galloway  sea-board  from  anxiety  of  invasion,  they  ex- 
pended their  energies  in  quarrels  with  one  another.  Those 
which  obtained  the  greatest  notoriety  were  passages  of  arms 
between  Sir  David  Kennedy  and  the  sheiiff,  resulting  in  a  feud 
which,  if  temporarily  laid,  burst  forth  again  and  again  and 
dragged  its  course  for  more  than  a  hundred  years.  The  Kennedys 
and  Agnews  for  two  generations  were  very  near  of  kin;  and  for 
three,  the  most  cordial  relations  had  existed  between  them. 
The  power  of  the  Kennedys  would  have  been  irresistible  in  the 
west  country,  could  the  stem  of  the  branches  have  lived  in 
harmony.  But  it  was  not  so.  The  powerful  houses  of  Bargany 
and  Blairquhan  were  in  chronic  feud  with  that  of  Dunure,  which 
they  almost  rivalled  in  influence ;  and  the  numerous  Kennedy 
cadets  were  perpetually  entering  into  bands  with  one  faction 
or  the  other,  changing  sides  whenever  it  suited  their  whims  or 
convenience.  It  may  have  been  well  for  their  neighbours  that 
it  was  so ;  as,  if  the  clan  had  acted  as  one  body,  there  would  no 
doubt  have  been  truth  in  the  ancient  rhyme — 

Fra  Wigtoune  to  the  toun  of  Aire 
And  laigh  down  by  the  cruivea  o'  Cree, 
Ye  shall  not  get  a  lodging  there 
Except  ye  court  a  Kennedie.^ 


^  The  barrels  were  probably  ale ;  a  gyle-fat,  a  still ;  the  pipes  of  wine  ; 
knowtes,  nolt  or  black  cattle. — ChaUerson,  47. 

'  In  a  note  to  Peveril  of  the  PeaJc,  Sir  Walter  Scott  writes :  "The  redoubt- 
able Cutlar  is  now  represented  by  James  M'Culloch  of  Ardwell,  the  author's  friend 
and  near  connection." 

'  Besides  the  three  great  families  named,  there  were  Kennedys  of  Girvan 
Mains,  of  Drummennan,  of  LeffnoU,  of  Coiff,  of  Glentig,  of  Lenzie,  of  Gillespie, 
of  Knockdolian,  of  Carslo,  of  Balmaclanahan,  of  fiennane,  of  Enockreoch,  of 
Knockdaw,  of  Kirkmichael,  of  Pinwhirry,  of  Drummerchie,  of  Garriehorn,  of 

VOL.  I  Y 


322  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY   [A.D.  1506 

Lord  Kennedy's  eldest  son,  Sir  David,^  had  in  his  father's 
lifetime  been  infefted  in  the  lands  of  Leswalt,  which  his  family 
had  purchased  from  the  Crown,  and  had  taken  up  his  residence 
at  the  Inch,  which  he  held  under  the  Church.  Oblivious  of,  or 
rather  ignoring  the  rights  of  the  Agnews  as  Crown  Bailies  of 
Leswalt,^  he  claimed  exclusive  right  of  holding  court  there. 

A  Galloway  sherifif  had  to  find  his  own  troopers,  whether  to 
protect  the  lieges  or  assert  his  own  private  rights,  and  Patrick 
Agnew  could  only  resist  Sir  David's  pretensions  by  summoning 
his  friends  and  part-takers  to  come  to  his  assistance.  Both  parties 
were  resolute,  Sir  David's  apparently  much  the  strongest; 
and  we  find  from  official  records  that  he  attempted  over  and 
over  again  to  hold  these  courts,  but  was  foiled  by  the  sheriff  and 
his  friends.  Five  faction  fights,  waged  with  great  severity, 
occurred,  and  were  adjudicated  upon  by  the  Supreme  Courts 
between  the  years  1506  and  1513. 

Sir  David  called  up  numerous  kinsmen  from  Carrick.  The 
sheriff  was  supported  by  his  kinsmen  the  lairds  of  Loch- 
invar,  Garthland,  Corswall,  Barnbarroch,  Kinhilt,  Sorbie,  and 
Broughton.  Patrick  Mure  and  Nevin  Agnew,  youths  who 
delighted  in  a  tuikie,  seem  to  have  acted  the  part  of  aides-de- 
camp. 

The  campaign  was  opened  by  Sir  David  Kennedy  riding, 
after  formal  announcement,  in  force  from  the  house  of  Inch  to 
Leswalt.  The  court-house  of  Leswalt  lay  about  two  miles  fix)m 
Lochnaw,  at  the  foot  of  Aldouran  Glen ;  and  no  sooner  had  Sir 
David  come  in  sight  of  it,  by  way  of  St  John's  Chapel,  than 
the  sheriff's  party  appeared  descending  from  the  so-called 
"  Danish  Camp "  in  superior  force,  and  warned  him  off.     The 

Daljarroch,  of  Auchtralare,  of  Barquhanny,  of  Cloncaird,  of  Ouiltree,  of  Skeldon, 
of  Synniness. 

The  Coiff,  or  the  core,  is  now  Culzean  ;  Leuzie,  the  wet  meadow ;  Canio,  the 
calves'  carse ;  Knockdaw,  knoll  of  the  ox  ;  Garriehorn,  barley  croft ;  Da^arroch, 
reddish  field  ;  Cloncaird,  tinkers*  meadow. 

^  He  was  knighted  by  James  IIL  on  the  creation  of  his  second  son  Alexander, 
Duke  of  Ross,  29th  January  1497. 

'  Patrick  Agnew  had  been  personally  infefted  in  this  office  by  Crown  pre- 
cept, as  mentioned  before :  **  Officio  Ballivatus  de  Leswalt  de  riohia  tenendo  in 
capite." 


to  1510]  THE   FOREST  OF   BUCHAN  323 

conduct  of  the  sheriff  on  this  occasion  seems  to  have  been 
unimpeachable.  Backed  by  numbers  able  to  enforce  his  rights, 
he  made  a  dignified  protest,  and  retired. 

Such  a  peaceful  ending  to  the  day's  work  seemed  too  tame 
to  wilder  spirits,  such  as  Mure,  who  after  seeing  the  sheriff 
safely  housed,  doubled  back  at  full  speed,  overtook  the  Kennedys, 
and  had  a  glorious  tussle,  in  which  he  had  the  best  of  it,  and 
returned  in  triumph  with  the  spoils  of  war.^ 

Sir  David,  however,  was  not  to  be  thus  diverted  from  his 
purpose.  He  proclaimed  another  court,  and  proceeded  to  hold 
it  with  a  larger  retinue.  The  sheriff  accepted  the  challenge, 
donned  his  armour,  met  him  by  the  way,  and  effectively  pre- 
vented his  holding  his  court,  but  this  time  with  considerable 
violence. 

Kennedy  thereupon  appealed  to  the  Supreme  Courts,  which 
as  usual  played  fast  and  loose,  and  whilst  not  admitting  his 
right  to  hold  the  court  at  all,  fined  the  sheriff's  followers  slightly 
for  appropriating  their  opponents'  accoutrements.  In  short, 
tacitly  admitting  the  sheriff's  chartered  rights,  but  giving  Sir 
David  some  solatium  for  the  bruises  of  his  jackmen. 

The  sheriff,  having  paid  the  penalty  incurred  by  the  over  zeal 
of  his  followers,  considered  old  scores  against  him  cancelled,  and 
proceeded  to  open  a  new  account 

Kennedy  soon  gave  him  the  opportunity.    He  again  rode  along 

^  At  a  Justice  Aire,  held  July  1510,  Patrick  Waus  of  Irsick,  Nerin  Agnew, 
Ninian  Adair,  with  the  Lairds  of  Killeser,  Corswall,  Mindork,  and  twenty-three 
others ;  Alexander  Hannay,  brother-in-law  of  the  Laird  of  Capenach ;  and  ten 
others,  are  indicted  for  "  riding  with  the  Sheriff  of  Wigtown,  and  oppression  done 
to  Sir  David  Kennedy." 

The  indictment  in  the  first  case  only  charges  the  sheriff  with  "riding  forth  in 
rowting."  But  Patrick  Mure,  Nicholas  Fresle  (Fraser),  and  others,  are  chaiged 
"  with  forethought  felony  done  to  Sir  David  Kennedy,  coming  upon  him  in  war- 
like manner  with  invasive  weapons,  and  for  hereschip  of  cloaks  and  other  goods 
from  his  servants." 

Patrick  Agnew,  Sheriff  of  Wigtown  ;  Alexander  M'Meiken,  Nevin  Agnew,  John 
Adair,  George  Cruikshank,  Thomas  Porter,  Patrick  Agnew,  servants  of  the  said 
sheriff,  are  charged  with  convocation  of  the  lieges  with  warlike  arms,  jakkes,  and 
splents,  and  the  oppression  done  to  Sir  David  Kennedy,  coming  to  Leswalt  and 
hindering  him  from  holding  Ms  court.  In  both  cases  the  sheriff  is  permitted  to 
compound. — Rtcaim,  Oriminod  Trials, 


324    HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  1506 

the  same  highway,  again  was  interrupted  by  the  sheriffs  friends, 
more ''  cloaks "  taken  from  his  servant,  his  court-book  seized, 
and  its  blank  leaves  scattered  ignominiously  to  the  winds,  the 
sheriiF  prudently  keeping  himself  out  of  sight.  Again  Kennedy 
appealed  to  the  council,  and  again  the  sheriff  was  permitted  to 
compound  with  his  foUowers  by  a  fine.^ 

It  would  be  tedious  to  detail  all  those  collisions,  which  are 
entered  in  the  criminal  records,  and  which  may  be  weU  supposed 
to  represent  only  a  small  part  of  such  as  actually  occurred.  It 
is  remarkable  that  in  every  case  adjudicated  upon,  the  sheriff's 
party  had  the  advantage  of  the  Kennedys :  a  clear  proof  of  his 
popularity  and  the  readiness  of  his  neighbours  to  support  him. 

We  shall  pass  to  what  seems  to  have  been  the  last  encounter, 
and  which  settled  the  question  in  the  sheriff^s  favour  for  the 
lifetime  of  all  parties  concerned. 

Sir  David  Kennedy,  finding  that  convictions  for  undue 
violence  in  no  way  assisted  his  pretensions,  determined  in  a 
final  effort  to  prove  that  might  was  right  All  that  owed  him 
suit  and  service  were  summoned  from  Kyle  and  Carrick ;  and 
such  a  squadron  was  soon  assembled  as  he  believed  would  make 
the  audacious  sheriff  understand  who  was  master.  The  sheriff 
proved  equal  to  the  occasion :  keeping  his  larder  full  as  well  as 
his  powder  dry,  he  invited  his  part-takers  to  banquet  with  him 
the  evening  previous  to  the  day  fixed  by  Sir  David  for  the  trial 
of  strength. 

The  records  of  the  High  Court  of  Justiciary  supply  us  with 
the  names  of  his  guests,  which  included  the  lairds  of  Garthland, 
Corswall,  Killeser,  Broughton,  Mindork,  Sorby,  Ninian  Adair, 
the  young  Laird  of  Creaken,  the  Prior  of  Soulseat,  Thomas 
Waus  his  brother,  and  twenty-six  others.^  Cheerily  the  cup 
went  round  in  the  crowded  dining-hall  of  Lochnaw  that  night ; 
and  bravely  the  band  mustered  on  the  green  the  following 
morning.     The  fair  Katherine  handed  them  the  stirrup-cup ;  the 

^  Patriok  Vaus  for  oppression,  coining  upon  Sir  David  Kennedy,  stouthrief  of 
cloaks  and  other  goods  from  the  servants  of  the  said  lord ;  court-books,  etc — 
Pitcaim. 

'  Pitcaim,  Criminal  Trials, 


to  1510]  THE   FOREST   OF   BUCHAN  325 

Abbot  of  Soulseat  gave  his  blessing ;  the  young  Laird  of  Kinhilt, 
a  suitor  for  the  hand  of  the  sheriffs  daughter,  led  the  way — all 
happy  in  anticipation  of  a  fray  : 

The  battle  is  their  pastime,  they  go  forth 
Qay  in  the  morning  as  to  summer's  sport. 

The  road  from  the  manor-place  of  Inch  to  the  court-house 

of  Leswalt  led  past  the  hamlet  of  Ghapell  (now  Stranraer)  and 

across  a  little  stream  entering  Loch  Byan  beyond  St.  John's 

Well 

Here  the  Kennedys  in  a'  their  power 

were  met  by  the  sheriffs  men,  who  barred  their  passage ;  and  a 
m6Ue  ensued,  in  which  spear  and  sword-thrust  were  so  freely 
exchanged  that  the  brook  is  figuratively  asserted  to  have  run 
red,  and  that  day  got  the  name  of  the  "  Bloody  Bum,"  which 
has  clung  to  it  ever  since.  Again  the  Agnews  were  victorious ; 
and  again  Sir  David  entered  an  indictment,  charging  many  of 
those  present,  who  had  no  call  to  interfere,  with  "  coming  upon 
him  in  a  warlike  manner  "  and  "  forethought  oppression."  The 
Court  admitted  the  breach  of  the  peace  to  have  been  a  **  heinous 
one  " ;  but  they  simply  fined  certain  of  the  defendants  ten  marks 
each,  to  be  paid  at  their  leisure ;  accepting  the  sheriff  himself 
and  the  lairds  of  Garthland  and  Craighlaw  as  "  sureties  for  the 
parties." 

Sir  David  found  himself  no  nearer  obtaining  any  admission 
of  his  claims  on  the  Baillierie  of  Leswalt,  the  action  he  had 
entered  furnishing  a  lasting  and  authentic  record  of  his  defeat 

So  great  was  the  exultation  of  some  of  the  younger  of  the 
victors,  that  we  find  Nevin  Agnew  playing  most  audacious 
pranks,  carting  hay  out  of  the  great  man's  bams,  and  even 
making  an  attack  upon  his  person;  as  in  the  Court  Becords 
"  Nevin  Agnew  comes  in  for  the  king's  will  for  breaking  His 
Majesty's  protection  granted  to  Sir  David  Kennedy,"  and  on 
several  occasions  is  charged  with  "oppression  to  Sir  David 
Kennedy,"  such  terms  as  "  protection  "  and  "  oppression,"  reading 
rather  strangely  as  applied  to  the  conduct  of  this  pugnacious 


326  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY   [A.D.  1506 

little  laird  towards  so  great  a  magnate  as  the  heir  of  CassiUs. 
Meanwhile  Sir  David  had  succeeded  his  father  as  third  Lord 
Kennedy,  and  circum  1511  was  created  Earl  of  Cassilis.  Being 
now  beyond  all  dispute  paramount  in  Carrick  and  in  £yle,  he 
seems  to  have  ceased  to  concern  himself  about  holding  courts 
in  Leswalt 

Sir  John  Kennedy  of  Blairquhan  had  now  become  a  power 
in  Galloway.  He  acquired  wide  lands  in  Fenninghame,  and 
about  1508  built  and  endowed  a  chapel  on  the  Cree,  which  he 
dedicated  to  St.  Ninian.^ 

The  Kennedys  of  Blairquhan,  however,  rarely  supported 
their  cousin,  Lord  Kennedy,  in  his  feuds. 

Bishop  Vans  died  in  1508,  and  was  succeeded  by  David 
Amot ; '  and  from  him  Lord  CassUis  formally  obtained  the  keep- 
ing of  the  manor-place  of  Inch,'  as  well  as  a  regality  jurisdiction 
over  wide  Church  lands,  of  which  many  Galloway  barons  were 
''  kyndly "  rentallers.^  The  earl  was  also  titular  ranger  of  the 
Forest  of  Buchan,  a  style  he  much  affected,  of  which  he  was  un- 
disputed owner,  and  might  well  exult  in  this  lordly  possession. 
A  grander  range  for  the  field-sports  of  a  feudal  chief  could  hardly 
be  imagined ;  comprising  within  its  limits  peaks  almost  within 
the  snow  range,  the  haunts  of  ptarmigan,^  deep  dens  for  deer, 

^  Near  the  ruins  of  St  NiniAn's  Chapel  is  Glachaneasy,  which  Sir  Herbert 
MazweU  suggests  is  from  the  root  losa  (Jesus) ;  if  so,  equivalent  to  Kirkchrist. 

'  On  Yaux's  death,  James,  son  to  John  Beton  of  Balfour,  became  Bishop  elect 
of  Galloway ;  but  before  consecration  was  advanced  to  the  Archbishopric  of 
Glasgow  ;  and  David  Amot,  son  to  John  Amot  of  that  ilk,  was  preferred  to  the 
see. — Keith,  164. 

*  Gilbert,  second  Earl  of  Gassilis,  was  appointed  by  the  Bishop  of  GaUoway 
baillie  of  all  the  lands  belonging  to  the  bishopric,  and  captain  and  keeper  of  the 
manor-place  and  loch  of  Inch  in  1516. — Historical  Account  of  Keniiedys,  82. 

But  it  is  evident  that  the  fother  had  the  appointment  previously,  and  notori- 
ously resided  at  the  manor-house. 

^  The  Agnews  had  possession  of  the  Dougaries  (black  enclosure),  Craigbemach 
(the  gapped  craig),  and  Eylfeather  (St.  Peter's  Chapel),  all  in  the  parish  of  New 
Luce. 

°  ''  In  the  remote  parts  of  the  famous  mountain  of  the  Mearroch,  a  very  lai^ 
red  deer,  and  about  the  top  thereof,  that  fine  bird  the  mountain  partridge,  called 
by  the  commonalty  the  tarmachan ;  that  bird  feeds  on  the  seeds  of  the  bulrush, 
and  makes  its  protection  in  the  chinks  and  hollows  of  thick  stones  from  the 
insults  of  the  eagles,  which  are  plenty  about  that  mountain." — MTarlane's  MSS., 
Advocates'  Library. 


to  1 510]  THE   FOREST   OF  BUOHAN  327 

and  lochs  and  streams  innumerable.  It  included  the  whole 
of  the  large  parish  of  Carsphaim,  and  portions  of  those  of 
Straiton,  Dalmellington,  Kells,  and  Minnigaff. 

The  following  modem  farms  formed  but  a  small  portion  of 
the  Forest :  Buchan,  of  which  the  steading  is  on  Loch  Trool, 
known  by  the  shepherds  as  the  Four  Nines,  its  extent  being 
held  to  be  9999  acres,  Portmark,  Arrow,^  Lamloch,  Palgown, 
Stroan»  Dungeon  0'  Buchan,  Glenhead,  Castle  Maddie,  Fow- 
maddie,  the  Bush,  the  Cooran  Lane. 

Much  of  the  so-called  Forest  was  heath  and  hill-pasture ;  a 
few  arable  spots  intervening  among  thickets  of  primeval  oak, 
birch,  and  the  rarer  pine,  with  breaks  of  coppice ;  romantic  glens, 
where  the  rowan,  and  thorns  black  and  white,  picturesquely 
contrasted  with  the  juniper  and  holly ;  the  only  vegetation  not 
indigenous  being  an  occasional  ash  tree  planted  for  '*  policie  ** 
near  the  lodges. 

Wild  lochs  at  various  levels  reflected  the  hills  which  backed 
the  panorama,  of  which  the  highest  peaks,  frequently  snow-clad, 
were  Benyellarry,  the  Dungeon  of  Buchan,  Curleywee,  Millfore, 
and  the  Merrick  (Giant's  Fingers).^ 

Numerous  hunting-lodges  were  scattered  through  the  Forest, 
of  which  a  favourite  one  of  Earl  David's  is  known  as  Hunt  Hall, 
its  ruin  crowning  a  green  knoll,  surrounded  by  three  lakelets. 
Grarrary  was  another  of  his  haunts ;  and  Powmaddie  is  still 
pointed  to  by  the  herds  as  the  place  where  food  was  prepared 
for  Cassilis's  hounds. 

The  old  names  have  much  significance.  The  range  as  seen 
from  a  distance  resembles  the  fingers  of  an  extended  hand. 
Powmaddie  and  Castle  Maddie  recall  the  days  when  the  barons 
raised  their  tenantry  to  hunt  the  wolf.     Pulnnee  (pol  phiadh)  is 

^  Arrow,  a  place  of  com ;  Lamloch  Lom,  a  bare  place ;  Palgown,  the  smith's 
pool ;  Castle  Maddie,  Powmaddie,  the  wolfs  castle  and  pool ;  Buchan,  if  Pictish, 
seems  to  approach  nearest  the  Cymric  form  Buwch-an,  a  place  of  cows. 

'  Benyellarry,  lolaire,  the  eagle's  peak ;  Cooran  might  be  a  diminutive  of 
currach,  the  little  marsh,  but  more  probably  caorainn,  the  mountain  ash  ;  Mill- 
fore,  meall-four,  the  cold  hill ;  Mearich,  Meurag,  the  finger ;  Loch  Goosie  (within 
the  Forest's  bounds),  Guisach,  of  the  pine  wood,  is  the  only  old  local  place-name 
taken  from  the  Scotch  fir,  which  certainly  existed  in  the  native  forest. 


328     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  1506 

the  pool  of  the  red  deer  (and  "  deer's  den  "  is  mapped  four  times 
within  the  limits  of  the  Forest).  Benyellarry  is  still  haunted  by 
eagles. 

The  bounds  of  the  Forest  gradually  contracted.  In  the 
seventeenth  century  a  large  portion  had  been  acquired  by  the 
Lords  of  Garlics  and  Lochinvar.  In  1678  "a  procuratory  of 
resignation  was  granted  by  John,  sixth  Earl  of  CassiUs,  to  Sir 
John  (Jordon  of  Lochinvar,  of  his  free  forest  of  Buchan,"  All 
that  now  retains  the  name  belongs  to  the  Earl  of  Gfalloway.  In 
the  eighteenth  century  there  was  much  litigation  between  the 
Earls  of  Cassilis  and  Galloway  as  to  its  marches :  of  this,  funny 
traditions  have  been  preserved.  "  You  will  not  allow  yourself  to 
be  talked  out  of  a  rood  of  my  rights,"  says  my  Lord  John  to  his 
chamberlain.  "  My  Lord,"  quoth  that  functionary,  "  there's  nae 
living  man  could  fix  the  bouns  within  twa  or  three  thousan' 
acres." 

Lord  Cassilis's  agent  took  more  energetic  steps  to  vindicate 
his  master's  interests,  producing  a  "  wabster  body,"  a  great  oracle 
in  the  countryside,  who  swore  upon  his  soul  that  on  a  particular 
spot  he  stood  upon  Cassilis's  soil.  His  testimony  was  accepted 
by  the  arbiters  in  the  case,  and  the  bounds  marked  off.  But 
long  afterwards,  when  in  his  cups,  it  is  said  the  old  rascal  would 
recount  the  story  with  a  twinkle  in  his  eye,  adding,  "  It  was 
truth  that  I  swore  to  on  my  soul,  for  that  very  mom  I  had  put 
a  pickle  of  Cassilis's  soil  on  the  sole  of  my  boot." 

In  the  days  of  which  we  write,  the  marches  of  the  Forest 
were  for  miles  ill-defined  between  CassiUs  and  Lochinvar.  But 
disputes  arising  were  settled  in  a  much  more  high-handed  way 
than  references  to  any  "  wabster  body,"  though  those  with  ofBcial 
power  frequently  tried  to  influence  law-courts  in  their  own 
favour. 

About  1509  Lord  Cassilis  had  a  seat  at  the  council  board, 
whence  from  a  coigne  of  vantage  he  fought  over  again  the  battle 
of  Leswalt.  Knowing  the  carelessness  of  officials  in  conform- 
ing to  Acts  of  Parliament,  he  raked  up  a  series  of  charges  of 
oppressions  and  malversation  against  the  Sheriff  of  Galloway, 


to  1 510]        THE  FOREST  OF  BUCHAN  329 

founded  on  breaches  of  these,  upon  which  he  was  called  to 
plead. 

He  was  accused  of  oppression  done  to  James  Kennedy, 
Mariotta  M'Ewen,  Thomas  M'Dowall,  and  Roger  M'Crochat,  for 
causing  them  to  plough  and  harrow  his  lands  in  the  years  1504-8, 
to  build  his  dykes  with  their  peats,  and  with  plundering  them 
yearly  of  a  swine  ;  also  with  oppression  done  to  Thomas  Mak- 
William  in  taking  and  harrying  ten  bolls  of  barley ;  of  the 
hereschip  of  a  young  riding  mare  from  Thomas  Kennedy.  The 
sheriffs  retainers,  George  Cruikshank  and  Thomas  Mure,  striking 
the  said  Thomas ;  and  with  the  heirship  of  a  jument  from  John 
M'Roy  in  the  Forest  of  Buchan.^ 

Though  no  doubt  the  sheriff  was  not  immaculate,  a  know- 
ledge of  the  circumstances  and  habits  of  the  times  go  far  to  show 
that  his  exactions,  if  illegal,  at  least  were  customary;  and 
certainly  the  High  Courts  did  not  regard  the  charges  as  serious. 
In  the  first  place  they  were  retrospective,  the  aggrieved  parties 
being  Gassilis's  tenants  in  Leswalt:  the  so-called  oppressions 
were  the  exactions  of  accustomed  dues  to  the  bailies  of 
Leswalt,  of  which  in  reality  the  earl  illegally  disputed  the  right. 
A  baron-bailie  by  law  and  custom  was  entitled  to  so  many  days 
ploughing  and  harrowing,  leading,  carriages,  peat-cutting,  and  hens. 
The  swine  were  probably  taken  as  "  caupes,"  although  doubtless 
an  Act  had  passed  "  for  undooinge  of  caupes  in  Galloway  " ;  ^  and 
of  a  breach  of  this  he  had  to  plead  guilty,  but  with  the  mildest 
results ;  "  being  permitted  to  compound,"  and  the  Laird  of  Loch- 
invar  accepted  as  his  surety;^  which  is  the  more  amusing,  as  the 
taking  of  the  horse  in  the  Forest  of  Buchan  was  probably  in 
support  of  his  kinsman's  claim  on  those  marches  disputed  by 
the  earl,  a  mere  outcome  of  the  feud  between  the  Gordons  and 
Kennedys. 

And  as  to  this  especial  case,  the  entry  in  the  court-books  is 
that  the  Laird  of  Orchardton,  the  sheriff's  son-in-law,  should 
become  surety  that  he  would  satisfy  the  parties. 

At  a  Justice  Aire  held  at  Wigtown  in  1510,  there  are  several 

^  Pitcaim,  Oriminal  Trials.  '  Ibid. 


330  SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.   1 5 10 

convictions  for  killing  ''red  fish  in  close  time."  Also  John 
Maklumphaire  ^  in  Kirkmeren  (Kirkmadrine)  was  convicted  of 
stouthrief  of  the  wood  of  Grarthlone,^  and  of  the  barking  thereof! 
Fined  £3,  afterwards  remitted,  he  being  a  pauper.  There  were 
three  other  convictions  for  cutting  and  carrying  away  timber 
from  the  woods  of  Barnrawer,  Glensiche,  and  Croschrie,  proving 
that  there  were  still  some  remains  of  the  native  forest ;  as  we 
may  assume  that  there  had  been  little  replanting,  the  many 
statutes  to  that  effect  notwithstanding. 

^  Same  name  written  M'Lymphquay  in  1401.  M'Clumpha,  often  abbreviated 
M'Que. 

'  Garthlone,  Grarthland ;  Bamrawer,  Baraer,  Penninghame,  the  blnff  top ; 
Croschrie,  Crossarie,  Kirkcowan,  cross-roads,  or  place  of  crossings. 


CHAPTEE  XIX. 

FLODDEN 

A.D.  1510  to  1627 

In  suith  he  was  a  barronne  bauld, 
For  tnilzies  tough  in  days  of  auld. 

BOSWELL. 

Left  to  maintain  his  position  among  a  turbulent  baronage  as 
best  he  might,  a  Galloway  sheriff  had  no  choice  but  to  enter 
into  bonds  offensive  and  defensive.  The  highest  legal  function- 
ary in  the  province  was  thus  compelled  not  merely  to  do  that 
which  was  in  itself  illegal,  but  in  so  doing  he  became  bound  to 
involve  himself  in  the  quarrels  of  his  part-takers,  rendering  him 
liable  to  attack  from  parties  who  were  at  feud  with  these  ;  the 
impartiality  of  a  judge  in  such  circumstances  being  impossible. 

The  complications  thus  induced  were  endless.  We  find  it  on 
record  that  the  sheriff  suffered  from  depredations  on  his  estates 
from  M'Clellan  of  Gelston,  from  no  personal  quarrel  of  his  own, 
but  because  the  M'Clellans  were  in  bands  with  the  Dunbars, 
who  had  a  blood  feud  with  the  Gordons,  who  were  in  alliance 
with  the  Agnews. 

Sir  John  Dunbar,  who  had  been  unhappily  killed  by  Alex- 
ander Gordon,  had  left  two  daughters ;  the  elder  married  to 
M'Clellan  of  Bomby,  the  younger  to  the  Laird  of  Gelston,  whose 
son  entered  con  amove  into  the  feud.  The  sheriff,  unable  to 
adjudge  in  his  own  case,  remanded  him  to  the  higher  courts, 
where  the  charges  proved  were  so  serious,  that  judgment  was 
(with  a  severity  very  unusual  against  a  man  of  baronial  rank) 


332     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  151O 

entered  that ''  Patrick  M'Glellan  for  art  and  part  of  stouthrief 
of  twenty  oxen  from  the  Sheriff  of  Wigtown,  under  silence  of 
night,"  should  have  "  his  hede  stricken  fra  his  body."  The  sherifiP 
proved  not  revengeful ;  for,  satisfied  with  the  wholesome  lesson 
thus  read  him,  he  exerted  himself  to  procure  a  reprieve,  and 
this  so  effectually,  that  not  only  was  his  life  spared  but  the  other 
penalties  remitted.^  Gratitude  may  have  kept  M'Clellan  from 
further  attempts  on  the  cattle  pens  at  Lochnaw ;  but  society  had 
little  reason  to  thank  the  sheriff  for  his  clemency. 

Shortly  after,  Patrick  M'Clellan,  with  two  kinsmen,  was 
declared  rebel  for  the  killing  of  Bobert  Mure ;  and  again  he  was 
denounced  from  the  Market  Cross  of  Edinburgh  for  the  "  cruel 
slaughter  of  George  Frere." 

The  only  notices  we  have  of  social  life  at  this  period  are  to 
be  gathered  from  the  defaulter's  book.  These  certainly  are  ample, 
but,  it  must  always  be  remembered,  show  only  one  side  of  the 
picture. 

About  1510,  Sir  William  M'Clellan  of  Bomby  and  M'Ghie 
of  Plumptoune  were  fined  £4,  conjointly  and  severally,  ''for 
convocation  of  the  lieges  at  the  court  held  at  the  Standarde 
Stone  of  Dundrennan,"  ie.  assembling  there  armed  to  overawe 
the  judges. 

John  M'Clellan  was  convicted  of  the  theft  of  two  hogsheads 
of  Gascony  wine  from  John  Foster,  in  Kirkcudbright,  the  Laird 
of  Bomby  becoming  his  surety ;  he  himself  being  further  charged 
with  "  art  and  part  of  oppression  done  to  Sir  William  Shanks, 
monk  of  Dundrennan,  casting  him  down  from  his  horse  during 
the  time  of  the  above  said  court ;  and  further,  for  detaining  and 
taking  Andrew  Drury,  oflBcer  of  the  Abbot  of  Dundrennan." 
For  the  latter  offences  Sir  William  and  M'Ghie  were  fined  six 
marks  each,  and  Alan  and  John  M'Clellan  ten. 

^  1510.  The  kingis  grace  rehabillis  Patrick  M'Clellan  of  Gilestoune  to  his 
warldly  honours,  dignities,  and  uther  privileges,  and  lauchfully  to  succeed  his 
fader  and  utheres  his  predecessors,  notwithstanding  the  dome  given  that  the  said 
Patrick's  head  suld  be  strucken  fra  his  body,  for  the  rief  and  stouth  of  twenty 
oxen  and  ky  frae  Patrick  Agnew,  Sheriff  of  Wigtoune,  and  his  servantis,  under 
silence  of  night 


to  1527]  FLODDEN  333 

Patrick  Mure,  previously  mentioned  as  a  free  lance,  open  to 
engagements  with  every  faction,  was  summoned  within  a  limited 
period  on  a  variety  of  charges,  which  we  quote  as  a  curiosity. 
First,  for  forcibly  occupying  the  lands  of  Andrew  Dunbar  in 
Mochrum ;  second,  spulzying  the  annual  rent  of  lands  belonging 
to  the  Laird  of  Bomby ;  third,  contempt  done  to  the  king  in 
taking  one  called  Lang  M*Kie  out  of  the  stocks  wherein  he  had 
been  placed  by  the  sheriff- depute  for  hurting  a  Spaniard; 
fourth,  for  heirischip  of  five  oxen  from  John  M'Clean ;  fifth, 
breaking  up  the  doors  of  Mr.  Eichard  Aikenhead,  Vicar  of 
Wigtown,  and  keeping  him  furth  thereof,  and  with  Thomas 
Mure  and  Nicholas  Mure,  his  servants,  casting  the  vicar^s 
servant  over  his  own  stair ;  sixth,  for  forethought  felony  done 
to  Symon  M'Chiystine,  sheriff-depute  in  Wigtown,  by  chasing 
him  with  a  drawn  quhinzear ;  seventh,  stealing  a  young  gray 
horse  from  Andrew  Boyd ;  eighth,  for  carrying  off  ten  bolls  of 
victual  and  twenty-four  threaves  of  fodder;  ninth,  stouthrief  of 
five  score  sheep  from  Andrew  Dunbar  in  Derry  of  Mochrum ; 
tenth,  theft  from  James  Porter  of  ten  score  bolls  of  wheat; 
eleventh,  robbery  of  goods  from  Andrew  Mure ;  twelfth,  forcible 
occupation  of  the  Laird  of  Bomby's  farm,  near  Wigtown,  for  two 
years.^ 

The  M'Kies  of  Myrtoun  seem  to  have  lived  in  chronic  feud 
with  the  sheriff;  whence  we  find  the  "  sheriffs  servants  "  (which 
may  simply  mean  friends  in  bands  with  him)  charged  with 
robbing  John  M'Kie  of  seven  cows  with  their  calves,  wounding 
John  and  his  men,  "  with  loss  of  thumb  to  the  said  Joha"  At 
the  same  Justice  Aire  they  produced  a  "remission"  for  the 
slaughter  of  Patrick  and  Thomas  M'Kie,  who  seem  to  have  been 
killed  in  the  fray. 

Symon  M'Chrystine,  a  sheriff-depute,  is  charged  with  going 
forth  of  burgh  in  convocation  to  the  place  of  Myrtoun,  of  the 
stouthrief  of  oxen,  horses,  and  sheep  there,  from  John  M'Eie, 

^  Spalzying,  carrying  off  a  spoil ;  heirischip,  the  act  of  plandering ;  stouth- 
rief, carrying  off  by  force  (Pitcaim).  Robbery,  accompanied  by  violence,  in  all 
cases  panished  capitally. — (£rskine.  Institutes), 


334     HEREDITARY  SHERIPFS  OP  GALLOWAY  [A-D.  151O 

breaking  the  said  John's  bam  door  and  taking  aU  his  beir  and 
oats  forcibly  from  him.    This  active  sheriff-depute  is  charged 
on  other  occasions  with  "  oppression  done  to  the  community  of 
Wigtown/'  with  "  taking  the  best  merchandize  out  of  ships  com- 
ing to  the  said  burgh,  and  keeping  the  same  in  his  own  cellars."  ^ 
In  4th  November  1510  "  Patrick  Agnew,  Sheriflf  of  Wigtown, 
came  in  for  the  king's  will  for  usurping  lus  authority  by  putting 
James  Porter  to  the  knowledge  of  an  assize  for  the  slaughter  of 
John  M'Myane,  and  from  taking  pledges  to  purge  the  said 
Thomas  of  the  said  slaughter."    James  Porter  was  a  brother  to 
the  Laird  of  Lagg,  and  a  "  servant "  of  the  sheriff.    The  Crown 
was  very  jealous  of  reserving  jurisdiction  over  the  "four  pleas," 
of  which  murder  was  one;  and  the  suggestion  is  further  of 
partiality  that  the  sheriff  indicted  his  friend  for  the  minor 
offence  of  slaughter  instead  of  murder.     At  the  same  court, 
Patrick  Waus  of  Irsack*  was  allowed  to  compound  for  "the 
stouthrief  of  six  silver  tasses  from  the  Lord  Bishop  of  Galloway. 
Item,  for  oppression  done  to  the  bishop  for  houghing  his  oxen 
Item,  for  oppression  to  John  M'llvaine,  in  Whithern  for  the 
detention  of  his  crops.    Item,  for  the  southrief  of  certain  oxen 
and  cows  from  the  executors  of  unquhile  Mr.  Alexander  Waus." 
The  bishop  was  David  Amot 

Nevin  Agnew  of  Croach  continued  his  predatory  attacks  on 
lus  neighbours.  He  admitted  before  the  Lord  Justices  his  com- 
plicity in  coming  upon  the  Lairds  of  Ardwell  and  Kinhilt 
severally,  in  a  warlike  manner,  and  sundry  acts  of  "  oppression," 
the  cool  impudence  of  one  of  which  excites  a  smile :  "  the 
stouthrief  of  tymmer  of  twa  houses,  with  the  windows  and 
doors  thereof."  Yet  for  all  his  misdemeanours  he  was  permitted 
to  compound. 

These  ridings  in  routing  were  suddenly  brought  to  a  close 
by  the  summons  to  arms  sounding  forth  from  the  capital.  In- 
stantly local  bickerings  ceased,  feuds  were  forgotten,  and  the 

^  Pitcaim. 

*  Enoch  (arseach),  a  ploughed  place  or  arable  land ;  literallyi  aboonding  in 
tillage. 


to  1527]  FLODDEN  335 

baronage  assembling,  rode  forward  shoulder  to  shoulder  to 
wield  their  arms  for  king  and  country. 

Many  a  manly  hand  grasped  that  of  a  neighbour  in  un- 
affected friendliness  after  years  of  strife ;  and  well  that  it  was  so, 
as  many  of  these  restless  spirits  were  destined  to  meet  no  more 
on  the  scenes  of  their  old  forgatherings.  Within  a  few  days 
they  all  fought,  and  many  of  them  fell,  on  the  fatal  field  of 
Flodden.  The  Galloway  baronage  bore  their  fuU  share  of  the 
national  loss,  "  in  this  sorrowful  battell  strichen  and  cudit  the 
nynth  day  of  September,  the  year  of  God  1513.^ 

Of  the  sheriffs  neighbours  and  kin  there  fell :  his  uncle,  Sir 
Alexander  Gordon  of  Lochinvar;  Sir  Alexander  Stewart  of 
GarUes;  the  M*Dowalls  Lairds  of  Garthland,  French,  and 
Logan ;  Adair  of  Kinhilt ;  M'Culloch  of  Myrtoun ;  Sir  William 
M'Clellan  of  Bomby ;  the  Earl  of  Cassilis  ;  Lords  Maxwell  and 
Herries ;  Sir  William  Douglas  of  Drumlanrig ;  the  Master  of 
Angus ;  and  his  brother,  William  Douglas.  Poor  old  "  Bell  the 
Gat "  was  so  overwhelmed  with  grief  at  the  loss  of  these,  his 
only  sons,  that,  riding  back  with  the  surviving  remnant  of 
Galloway  lairds  as  far  as  their  routes  lay  together,  he  entered 
the  Priory  of  Whithorn,  and  passed  there  the  remainder  of 
his  days  in  contemplation  and  prayer.*  The  body  of  M'Cul- 
loch  was  mistaken  for  that  of  the  king,  and  hurried  off  to 
London  in  hope  of  a  reward,  where,  however,  the  mistake 
was  discovered.^ 

There  were  no  lists  in  these  days  taken  of  the  wounded ;  but 
there  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  sheriff  did  not  escape  scathe- 
less, as  he  died  within  a  few  weeks  of  the  battle  ;  his  eldest  son, 
Andrew,  being  under  age. 

1  Pitscottie,  L  281. 

*  The  Earl  of  Angus  had  implored  the  king  not  to  attack  the  English  in  the 
rash  way  which  he  proposed.  The  king's  answer  to  the  venerable  peer  was : 
"Angus,  if  you  are  afraid,  you  may  go  home."  Thus  publicly  insulted,  he  left 
the  camp,  but  returned  on  hearing  that  his  sons  were  killed. 

'  Alexander  M*Callo  (of  his  awin  guard)  was  very  lyke  in  make  to  the  king, 
and  so  they  tuik  and  kest  him  in  ane  chariott,  and  had  him  with  them  into 
England.  But  trew  it  is  they  gote  not  the  king,  because  they  had  never  the 
token  of  his  yron  belt  to  schow. — Pitscottie,  i.  281. 


336  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY   [A.D.   151O 

Of  three  daughters,  the  eldest  married  William  Cairns 
of  Orchardtown ;  another,  Katherine,  married  Ninian  Adair 
of  Kinhilt  (whose  mother,  Euphemia,  was  a  Stewart  of  Grarlies). 
This  Ninian  built  the  square  tower  once  styled  a  manor-place, 
afterwards  the  gaol  of  Stranraer.  Tradition  avers  that — no 
stones  being  procurable  at  hand,  and  wheeled  carts  unknown, — 
Adair  placed  retainers  in  rows  some  three  miles  to  the  quarries, 
whence  the  stones  were  passed  singly  from  hand  to  hand  to  the 
builders.^  A  third  daughter.  Christian,  married  Blaise  M'Ghie 
(presumably  of  Balmaghie.)  We  find  a  charter  in  the  lady's 
favour  of  the  lands  of  Egerness.^ 

The  fourth  sheriff  is  a  fair  type,  reflecting  at  once  the  vigour 
and  the  weaknesses  of  an  hereditary  official  in  the  fifteenth 
century.  If  an  injury  hetd  to  be  redressed,  especially  that 
towards  a  friend,  he  was  ready  to  spring  into  his  saddle  and 
deal  out  justice  with  his  own  right  arm  at  a  moment's  notice. 
Little  he  troubled  himself  with  studying  the  statute  book,  much 
less  with  the  technicalities  of  law. 

Help  thy  friend  and  do  nae  wrang 

was  his  motto,  and  against  great  odds  he  maintained  the  king's 
authority  in  the  person  of  his  sheriff,  handing  down  all  the 
rights  delegated  to  his  forbears  by  the  Crown  unimpaired  to 
his  successor. 

The  case  has  been  humorously  and  happily  put  in  an  article 
edready  quoted :  ''  As  a  rule,  it  must  be  said  that  the  sheriffs 
were  every  bit  as  wild  and  lawless  as  the  rest  of  the  king^s 
lieges  in  these  parts.  Forays,  feuds,  sieges,  and  plunderings 
and  lawsuits,  went  on  from  century  to  century.  When  the 
Douglases  were  out  of  the  way  there  were  the  Kennedys  to 
quarrel  with.  The  Kennedys,  Earls  of  Cassilis,  were  far  more 
powerful  than  the  sheriffs ;  but  the  Agnews  held  their  own  in 

^  In  a  deed  it  is  styled  the  tower,  fortalice,  manor-place,  yards,  and  orchards 
of  Chappell. —^ceatr  MSS. 

^  1527.  There  is  a  charter,  '*  Blaisii  M'Ghie  et  Oristina  Agnew,  sponsa  sna," 
of  the  lands  of  Egemess  and  Brochtonwall. — Great  SecU  Eegister, 

Michael  M'Ghie  submitted  to  Edward  III.  in  13S9.-~.Sod.  Scot, 


to  1527]  FLODDEN  337 

many  skirmishes  and  downright  battles^  as  well  in  the  field 
as  in  the  law  courts." 


Andrew  Agnew,  the  fifth  sheriff,  as  a  minor  was  given  sasine 
of  the  lands  and  offices  he  held  heritably  by  a  mandate  from  the 
Crown,  dated  20th  May  1514,^  Nevin,  Thomas,  and  William 
Agnew  being  witnesses  to  the  service;  and  a  precept  £rom 
David  (Amot),  Bishop  of  Galloway,  directed  his  infeftment  in 
the  various  lands  his  father  had  held  imder  the  Church,  carried 
out  before  Michael  Agnew,  Martin  M'Meiken,  Thomas  Agnew 
in  Clone,  and  Thomas  M*Geych,  presbyter  of  Whithorn. 

Gilbert,  who  succeeded  a  second  Earl  of  Cassilis  on  his 
father's  death  at  Hodden,  maintained  the  kindliest  relations 
with  his  kinsman  at  Lochnaw ;  and  the  quarrel  as  to  the  Courts 
of  Leswalt  was  allowed  to  slumber. 

Sir  Alexander  Stewart,  who  had  also  fallen  at  Flodden,  was 
succeeded  by  another  Alexander,  who  had  married  Elizabeth 
Kennedy  of  Blairquhan,  by  whom  he  had  nineteen  daughters, 
five  of  whom  married  in  Wigtownshire,  to  the  lairds  of 
Mochrum,  Garthland,  Sorby,  and  Corswall :  the  fifth  shortly 
after  this  date  to  the  young  sheriff.  The  aimt  of  this  lady  of 
Lochnaw  was  Agnes  Lady  Maxwell,  whose  husband  in  1520 
was  appointed  Steward  of  Kirkcudbright. 

Within  a  year  of  fatal  Flodden,  and  a  few  weeks  after  the 
death  of  poor  old  Bell  the  Cat  at  Whithorn,  the  queen  dowager 
had  married  his  grandson  Archibald,  now  Earl  of  Angus ;  by 
which  act  her  regency  terminated,  and  fell  by  her  first  husband's 
will  to  the  Duke  of  Albany.  Both  queen  mother  and  regent 
now  concurred  in  appointing  Gavin  Dunbar,  Prior  of  Whithorn, 
tutor  to  the  young  king :  a  duty  which  he  performed  to  the 
satisfaction  of  his  pupil,  the  Council,  and  society  at  large. 
Entries  in  the  Lord  Treasurer's  accounts  show  that  he  was  en- 
trusted with  all  arrangements  for  his  royal  pupil ;  as  examples  : 
16th  February  1517 — "Given  to  Maister  Gavin  Dunbar,  the 


^  In  the  case  of  the  Baillierie  of  Leswalt,  ''qaod  de  nobis  tenetur  in  capite 
is  applied  equally  as  to  the  sheriffship. 

VOL.  I  Z 


19 


338     HEREDITABY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  I  $10 

king's  maister,  to  buy  necessar  thingis  for  the  king's  chalmer, 
91i" 

*'  Item — 28th  August.  To  Maister  Oavan  Dunbar,  for  ex- 
pences  maid  by  him  in  repaiating  the  chalmer  in  the  quhilk 
the  king  now  lives,  £3." 

In  1522  Dunbar  was  promoted  to  the  Archbishopric  of 
Glasgow,  and  in  1528  was  Lord  Chancellor.  Albany,  disgusted 
with  the  strife  of  factions,  had  retired  to  France,  but  now  unex- 
pectedly turned  up  in  Gralloway.  Here  the  barons  received 
him  with  distinction,  sided  with  him  in  his  wranglings  with  the 
queen  dowager,  and  escorted  him  in  force  to  Edinburgh. 

In  1522,  having  returned  to  France  to  ask  for  King 
Francis's  assistance,  he  suddenly  reappeared  at  Kirkcudbright 
with  fifty  ships,  and  disembarked  great  store  of  arms  and 
ammimition.  The  Gallovidians  flocked  to  his  standard  in  such 
numbers  that  he  marched  eastward  in  sufficient  force  to  raise 
the  siege  of  Jedburgh.^ 

The  same  year  a  judgment  of  the  Lords  of  the  Council  stands 
on  record  against  the  sheriff  for  injury  done  to  Waus,  Parson  of 
Wigtown ;  but  Ids  name  seems  only  to  be  introduced  as  a  for- 
mality, his  son's  being  mentioned  along  with  him,  who  was  an 
infant  in  arms.  The  real  culprit  seems  to  have  been  a  kinsman 
of  the  parson,  Nevin  Vans,  son  of  Robert  Waus,  supported  by 
Nevin  Agnew  of  Croach,  the  sheriffs  kinsman. 

In  the  Court  books  the  action  stands  against  Andrew  Agnew, 
Sheriff  of  Wigtown;  Patrick  Agnew,  his  son;  Nevin  Vans, 
Gilbert  Hughan,  John  Seed,  and  Kevin  Agnew,  for  the  hough- 
ing, slaughter,  and  destruction  of  three  of  his  oxen,  price  of  the 
piece  £3,  stopping  the  labouring  and  tilling  of  his  mailing,  and 
damage  and  scaith  further  sustained  to  the  amotmt  of  £20. 

The  Lords  of  Council  deliver  that  the  said  parties  have 

^  The  Duck  of  Albany  this  yeare  retams  from  France ;  he  shipe  at  Brest  and 
lands  at  Earkondbright  the  7th  of  October.— Balfour,  L  260. 

The  French  king  could  not  spare  him  many  men,  but  gave  him  8000  pikes 
and  1000  launces.  The  Duke,  to  the  number  of  fifty  sail,  embarks  at  Brest  the 
21st  September,  and  lands  at  Kirkcudbright. —David  Scott,  825. 

Having  escaped  the  English  fleet  which  lay  in  wait  for  him,  he  landed  at 
Kirkcudbright  7th  October  1523.— Mackenzie,  L  448. 


to  1527]  FLODDEN  339 

done  wrong,  and  shall  content  and  pay  the  damages  claimed, 
and  exempt  the  said  Master  John  from  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
sheriff  and  his  oflScers.    (Nevin  Agnew  wtts  a  sheriff-depute.) 

In  1625  much  brawling  occurred  between  the  queen's 
faction,  of  whom  were  the  Earls  of  Argyle  and  Arran,  and 
Angus,  the  queen  dowager^s  husband,  who  conjointly  with 
Lennox,  getting  possession  of  the  young  king's  person,  tempo- 
rarily got  the  upper  hand. 

One  of  their  acts  was  a  wise  one.  They  sent  Lord  Cassilis, 
accompanied  by  two  churchmen,  to  negotiate  for  peace  with  the 
queen's  brother  Henry  VIIL,  who  cordially  received  Cassilis 
and  entertained  him  at  Greenwich ;  and  on  his  return  a  Parlia- 
ment was  summoned  to  meet  at  Edinburgh  to  discuss  the 
proposals  he  brought  back. 

Hither  the  barons  of  Galloway  repaired ;  among  those  re- 
corded as  present,  beside  Cassilis,  being  the  Laird  of  Lochinvai*, 
the  Laird  of  Bomby,  Lord  MaxweU,  the  Sheriff  of  Galloway, 
besides  many  powerful  cadets  of  the  Kennedys,  the  M'Dowalls 
of  Garthland  and  Ereuch,  M'Culloch  of  Torhouse,  Cairns  of 
Orchardton,  Gordon  of  Craighlaw,  all  accompanied  by  armed 
retainers. 

The  swashbuckler  style  in  which  these  gentlemen  habitually 
paraded  the  streets,  their  respective  followers  armed  to  the 
teeth,  led  to  encounters  of  the  most  serious  nature.  In  two  of 
the  frays  which  attained  most  notoriety,  the  west  country  barons 
were  prominent 

In  the  first,  certain  partisans  of  Cassilis  killed  a  Dutch 
nobleman.  Of  the  cause  of  the  quarrel  no  record  remains ;  but 
the  extraordinary  number  of  remissions  for  his  slaughter, 
amounting  to  over  two  hundred  and  fifty,  gives  a  startling  idea 
of  the  fierceness  of  these  street  battles,  aa  the  opposing  forces 
may  be  presumed  to  have  been  considerable.  As  usual,  some  of 
the  Kennedys  are  found  fighting  on  both  sides.  The  official 
record  is  drawn  in  form  of  a  respite  to  Gilbert  Earl  of  Cassilis, 
William  Lord  Semple,  and  thirteen  others,  Fergus  M'DowaU  of 
Freuch,  Alexander  MT)owall,  tutor  of  Garthland,  M'Kie  of 


340  HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY   [A-D.  ISIO 

Myrtoun,  Ahannay  of  Sorby,  thirty-four  others  named,  and  233 
others,  origin  unknown,  for  the  treasonable  slaughter  of  Cornelius 
de  Machitima,  Martin  Kennedy,  and  Gilbert  M'llwraitL^ 

A  day  or  two  later,  old  Lochinvar,  with  his  nephew,  the 
Sheriff  of  Galloway,  and  Sir  James  Douglas  of  Drumlanrig,  the 
young  laird  of  Orchardton,  M'Culloch  of  Torhouse,  and  other 
kinsmen,  when  saimtering  well  attended  down  the  High  Street, 
met  face  to  face  Sir  Thomas  M'Clellan  of  Bomby,  also  with  a 
band  of  friends  and  followers.  Between  Bomby  and  Lochinvar  a 
blood-feud  raged.  Both  parties  must  needs  keep  the  crown  of 
the  causeway.  Neither  would  yield  an  inch.  A  desperate 
struggle  ensued,  Lochinvar  eventually  keeping  the  place  of 
honour,  but  ending  in  the  Laird  of  Bomby  lying  dead  at  the 
door  of  St.  Giles's  Church,  Much  litigation  ensued  in  these 
days  of  weak  government.  The  resource  of  the  Courts  was  to 
incline  aggressors  to  make,  compensation  to  the  aggrieved, 
achieved  by  refusing  to  grant  remissions  for  slaughters  till 
''  letters  of  slains "  were  procured  from  the  families  bereaved. 
And  although  persons  of  position  were  not  easily  arrested,  they 
were  formally  put  to  the  horn  and  declared  rebel,  implying 
that  any  one  strong  enough  to  do  so  might  seize  their  persons. 
It  was  consequently  a  convenience  to  a^ressors,  however 
powerful,  to  obtain  such  a  remission. 

A  good  instance  of  the  procedure  in  question  is  furnished 
by  the  present  case.  The  Laird  of  Lochinvar  and  the  Sheriff  of 
Galloway  were  indicted,  summoned,  failed  to  appear,  declared 
rebel,  but  remained  at  large  for  some  eleven  years  with  little 
inconvenience  to  themselves,  till  the  matter  was  settled  and 
the  outlawry  recalled  in  the  shape  of  '*  a  remission  to  James 
Gordon  of  Lochinvar,  Andrew  Agnew,  Sheriff  of  Wigtown, 
James  Douglas  of  Drumlanrig,  William  Gordon  of  Crichlaw, 
George  M'CuUoch  of  Torhouse,  William  Cairns,  young  laird 
of  Orchardton,  David  Gordon,  John  Gordon,  called  John  of 
Whitheme,  and  twelve  others,  for  art  and  part  of  the  slaughter 

^  For  the  treasonable  slaughter  of  umquhile  Cornelius  de  Machitima  at  the 
Tolbooth  of  Edinburgh  at  the  time  of  seat  of  our  Parliament. — Pitcaim. 


to  1527]  FLODDEN  341 

of  Thomas  M'Clellan  of  Bomby,  committed  eleven  years  by- 
past,  in  the  burgh  of  Edinburgh.  Dated  13  January 
1338." 

This  settlement  was  hastened  by  a  romantic  incident.  The 
Laird  of  Bomby,  heir  to  the  slaughtered  man,  met  and  fell 
desperately  in  love  with  the  daughter  of  his  father^s  slayer. 
Old  Lochinvar  wisely  smiled  upon  his  suit,  and  soon  parties 
who  had  long  been  vainly  summoned  to  underlie  the  law,  sat 
with  the  pursuers  at  the  wedding-feast^  the  bridegroom  pre- 
senting his  new  relatives  with  ''letters  of  slains"  formally 
endorsed  by  "Thomas  M'Glellan,  son  of  Thomas  M'Clellan 
deceased,  to  Sir  James  Gordon  of  Lochinvar,  and  all  his 
assisters  in  the  slaughter  aforesaid." 

And  so  the  tomahawk  was  buried. 

To  revert  to  1526,  Lennox  broke  with  Angus ;  the  young 
king  escaped  from  the  latter's  keeping ;  civil  war  broke  out^ 
Angus  being  supported  by  Arran,  whilst  Lord  CassUis  declared 
for  Lennox  and  the  queen.  The  Galloway  lairds  being  friendly 
with  Cassilis,  he  was  able  to  bring  nearly  two  thousand  men 
into  the  field. 

The  parties  met  at  Linlithgow ;  Lennox  was  worsted,  and,  as 
asserted  by  Cassilis,  killed  in  cold  blood  after  the  fighting  was 
over  by  Sir  James  Hamilton. 

Angus,  having  now  recovered  the  king's  person,  summoned 
all  who  had  sided  against  him  in  the  king's  name  to  appear  for 
judgment  for  helping  the  king  to  escape.  Cassilis  among  others 
came  in,  made  his  submission,  and  was  permitted  to  compound. 
But  whilst  he  paid  lus  fine,  he  unguardedly  used  some  very 
hard  words  against  Sir  James  Hamilton.  He  mounted  to  ride 
home,  but  was  waylaid  in  lus  journey,  and  killed  near  Prest- 
wick  by  the  hand  of  the  Sheriflf  of  Ayr,^  but,  as  was  generally 
thought,  at  the  instigation  of  Hamilton.  Earl  Gilbert  was  tnily 
mourned  in  Galloway,  his  two  daughters  being  married  to  the 

1  Earl  Gilbert  wes  killed  at  the  Pow  of  Preisetick  in  Kyll,  by  Hugh  Campbell 
of  Loudoun,  Sheriff  of  Ayr,  2d  Dec.  1527. — Balfour,  OeTiecUoffieal  CoUeeUons; 
Pitcaim,  History  0/ the  Kennedys,  84. 


342  SHEBIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  1527 

Lairds  of  French  and  Einhilt,  besides  whom,  by  his  wife  Isabella, 
daughter  of  the  second  Earl  of  Argyle,  he  left  Gilbert  his  heir, 
David  of  Culzean,  and  Quentin,  who  was  Abbot  of  Crossraguel, 
and  became  famous  for  his  public  disputation  with  John  Elnox 
as  to  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass. 

The  following  year  James  V.'s  power  was  fully  established. 
Angus,  having  stood  at  bay  awhile  in  his  strong  castle  of  Tan- 
tallon,  fled  to  England;  and  by  an  Act  of  Parliament  1528, 
himself,  his  kin,  and  friends,  were  forfaulted,  and  their  lands 
annexed  to  the  Crown. 

In  connection  with  this,  we  find  by  the  criminal  records 
that  many  persons  of  rank  were  pursued  "  for  abiding  from  the 
king's  host  and  army  at  Tantallon."  Almost  all  of  these  were 
GaUoway  lairds,  there  being  especially  mentioned  Andrew 
Agnew,  Sheriff  of  Galloway,  the  lairds  of  Garlics,  Balmaghie, 
Torhouse,  Creachan,  Barclay,  Larg.  The  matter  probably  went 
no  further;  but  it  is  difficult  to  account  for  their  conduct 
There  is  no  hint  in  history  of  any  disaffection  in  the  province : 
it  was  certainly  from  no  want  of  stomach  for  a  fight ;  and  we 
can  only  suppose  that  there  was  still  a  lingering  affection  in 
Galloway  for  the  name  of  Douglas,  and  especially  for  the  branch 
of  Angus. 


CHAPTER  XX 

THE  DAWN  OF  THE  REFORMATION 

A.D.  1528  to  1545 

For,  Esayas  into  his  wark 
CalliB  thame  lyke  doggis,  that  can  nooht  bark, 
That  callit  ae  preistis,  and  can  nooht  preche 
Nor  Christis  kw  to  the  pepill  teche. 

Ltkdsat,  The  Complaint 

Gilbert,  third  Earl  of  Cassilis,  when  staying  at  St.  Andrews, 
a  boy  of  twelve  years  old,  was  forced  by  Beaton  ^  to  countersign 
the  death-warrant  of  Patrick  Hamilton,  the  proto-martjrr  of  the 
Scottish  Beformation.  The  archbishop  had  much  miscalculated 
the  effect  which  his  act  of  faith  would  produce  either  on  his 
young  pupil  or  the  general  public.  Gassilis,  from  the  part  thus 
forced  upon  him,  was  led  to  enquire  into,  and  afterwards  to 
approve  of,  Hamilton's  creed ;  and  so  loudly  was  the  popular 
disgust  expressed  against  such  barbarities  perpetrated  in  the 
name  of  religion,  that  one  of  Beaton's  most  trusted  familiars 
warned  his  master  in  the  form  of  a  grim  jest  against  ordering  a 
repetition  of  such  scenes :  "  If  you  needs  must  bum  many  more 
heretics,  my  lord,  pray  bum  them  in  deep  cellars  below  ground ; 
for  you  must  know  that  the  smoke  from  Mr.  Hamilton's  body 
has  infected  all  upon  whom  the  wind  has  blown  it"  The 
words  of  the  merry  gentleman  were  sober  tmth ;  the  easterly 

^  James  Bethune  or  Beaton,  was  named  Bishop  of  Galloway  on  the  death  of 
George  Vaax ;  bat  before  he  was  consecrated  to  that  see  he  was  advanced  to  the 
Archbishoprio  of  Glasgow.  In  1605  he  had  become  Lord  High  Treasmer,  and 
was  one  of  the  principal  ministers  of  state. 


344  UEREDITA&T  SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY   [AJ>.  1 528 

haar  of  St  Andrews  had  carried  the  infection  fiBur  into  the 
western  shires^  and  deep  mntterings  from  Ayr  and  Gralloway 
presaged  the  coming  storm.  The  days  had  gone  by  when  the 
great  monasteries  were  centres  of  charity  and  learning.  The 
shepherds  of  the  period  were  prone  to  shear,  bnt  seldom  fed 
their  flocks.  Their  usdessness  and  rapacity  were  scathingly 
exposed,  not  by  heretics,  bnt  by  decorous  chnrchmen,  such  as 
Sir  David  Lyndsay  of  the  Mount ;  and  so  notorious  were  their 
delinquencies,  and  so  true  to  the  life^  that  they  were  read  with 
acceptance  before  the  king  and  queen,  and  specially  applauded 
by  cardinals  and  spiritual  lords — ^veritable  Grallios — ^in  Ck>urt 
circles. 

The  universal  complaint  in  the  west  was  that  the  clergy — 
regular  and  secular  alike — ^impoverished  the  people  by  bare- 
faced exactions,  for  which  they  gave  no  religious  consolation  in 
return ;  hovering  round  a  death-bed,  not  to  solace  the  sufferer, 
but  to  secure  the  corpse  present  ^  from  the  survivors ;  such  dues 
being  heartlessly  extorted,  even  if  the  sorrowing  relatives  were 
half-starved  by  the  exactions. 

All  good  Catholics  deplored  such  scandals.  Lyndsay  lays 
the  scene  of  a  pitiable  case,  in  which  a  yeoman,  once  well  to  do, 
traces  his  ruin  to  church  dues,  heartlessly  levied  in  the  hour  of 
his  affliction,  on  the  Earl  of  Cassilis's  lands,  near  Ayr : 

We  had  three  kye  that  was  baith  fiat  and  &ir, 
Nane  tidier  came  into  the  town  of  Ayr. 

He  tells  at  length  how,  having  first  buried  his  father  and  his 
mother,  and  then  sickness  suddenly  bereaving  him  of  his  wife— 

The  vicar  talk  the  best  cow  by  the  heid 

Incontinent  when  my  father  was  deid. 

And  when  the  vicar  heard  tell  that  my  mother 

Was  deid,  for  hand  he  tuik  to  him  another. 

Then  made  my  wife  did  mourn  haith  e'en  and  morrow, 

Till  at  the  last  she  died  for  very  sorrow. 

And  when  the  vicar  heard  tell  my  wife  was  deid, 

The  third  cow  he  cleikit  by  the  heid. 


*  The  corpse  present  was  the  hest  cow  and  "upmost  cloth,"  i.e.  coverlet,  of 
the  bed  of  the  deceased. 


to  1545]         THE   DAWN   OF  THE  REFORMATION  345 

Their  upmoat  clais  that  was  of  raplock  gray. 
The  vicar  gart  his  clerk  them  bear  away. 
When  all  was  gone,  I  micht  make  nae  bebate, 
But  with  my  bairns  passed  till  by  my  meat^ 

To  their  unapostolic  rapacity  was  added  the  inability  to 
preach,  whence  the  satirist  makes  a  countryman  explain — 

Schir  God  nor  I  be  sticket  with  a  knife 
Qif  ever  our  parsoun  prechet  in  all  his  Hfe. 

When  such  sentiments  were  freely  expressed  in  the  highest 
society,  the  spirit  of  enquiry  was  stimulated  rather  than  checked, 
by  the  persecution  of  humble  Eefonners.  It  soon  was  whispered 
that  their  doctrines  were  none  other  than  those  of  the  Bible ;  and 
it  seemed  an  enigma  that  to  read  the  Bible,  even  privately,  much 
more  to  communicate  its  contents  to  others,  should  be  deemed 
a  capital  crime  by  dignitaries  of  that  Church.  Consequently  a 
curiosity  to  see  a  Bible  pervaded  all  ranks,  especially  in  the  west 
coimtiy. 

Grordon  of  Airds,  a  near  kinsman  of  the  sherifif,  having  gone 
on  some  errand  across  the  borders,  met  with  some  of  Wycliflfe's 
followers,  from  whom  he  obtained  a  copy  of  that  divine's  trans- 
lation of  the  Testament  On  returning,  he  invited  such  of  his 
neighbours  as  he  could  trust  to  come  to  secret  readings  in  the 
woods,  where  the  subject  was  discussed,  and  the  reformed 
doctrines  quietly  made  their  way.  It  must  be  understood  that 
the  sweeping  changes  afterwards  demanded  were  not  even 
wished  for  at  this  period.  It  was  no  question  of  Presbyterian- 
ism  or  Episcopacy  ;  neither  Calvin  nor  Knox  had  as  yet  made 
their  voices  heard  ;^  to  strengthen  and  improve  the  Catholic 
Church  by  a  reform  of  abuses  was  all  they  asked  for,  with  this 
one  step  only  in  advance,  that  the  Bible,  on  which  the  Church 
was  avowedly  founded,  should  no  longer  be  withheld  from  its 
adherents. 

"  Airds "  was  a  remarkable  man :  brought  up  at  Clanyard,' 

^  Lyndsay's  Complaint. 

*  Calvin  was  bom  in  1609 ;  Knox,  in  1505. 

*  Claon  ard,  *'  the  inclining  steep." 


346  HEREDITABT  SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAT   [A.D.  1 528 

the  third  son  of  Alexander  Gordon  of  Auchenreoch/  and  when  a 
yonth,  from  his  great  size  and  strength,  he  was  known  as  "  Sanie 
Bongh."  In  time  he  became  the  father  of  a  nomeroas  family, 
all  like  himself  zealous  for  the  Beformation;  and  as  a  third 
generation  grew  up  about  him,  his  designation  was  changed  to 
the  "  Patriarch." 

An  amusing  story  is  current  as  to  the  use  to  which  he  turned 
his  progeny.  There  being  a  law  that  any  beast  labouring  on 
Church  holidays  should  be  forfeited  to  the  king,  and  Gordon 
habitually  neglecting  to  stop  his  work  on  the  numerous  saint- 
days,  fasts,  and  feasts,  an  order  was  obtained  to  enforce  the 
statute.  In  response  he  assembled  a  large  party  at  Airds  upon 
Christmas  Day,  yoked  ten  of  his  sons  to  the  plough,  an  eleventh 
acting  as  coUer,  ploughed  a  ridge  of  land  before  the  astonished 
spectators,  and  dared  either  priest  or  layman  to  distrain  his 
team.  Years  rolled  on,  the  Patriarch  grew  gray,  and  great- 
grandchildren had  sprung  up  around  the  grand  old  man. 

A  benighted  traveller  of  gentle  mien  craved  one  evening 
hospitality  at  his  gate.  He  was  courteously  received  by  a 
stalwart  man,  who  referred  him  to  his  father, — ^the  father  in- 
dicated referred  him  to  his  father,  and  he  forthwith  accosted  a 
white-locked  grandsire,  who  again  referred  him  to  his  father. 
Completely  mystified,  he  was  passed  on  to  the  venerable  laird, 
seated  in  the  old  armchair,  who  vouchsafed  him  a  hearty  wel- 
come. 

Presently  the  board  was  spread ;  but  whilst  partaking  of  the 
good  things  set  before  him,  our  traveller  could  not  divest  himself 
of  an  undefined  dread  that  there  was  something  unearthly  about 
his  hosts;  and  it  was  not  until  supper  ended,  the  household 
assembled,  and  family  worship  was  conducted  with  a  simple 
earnestness  by  the  Patriarch,  that  the  uneasy  guest  was  fully 
convinced  that  there  could  be  nothing  uncanny  about  the 
family. 

^  *  *  Anchenreoch,  the  gray  field."  Alexander  Gordon,  second  son  of  William  de 
Grordon  of  Stiohel,  had  a  charter  to  Alexander  Gordon,  brother  of  John  Gordon 
of  Lochinvar,  of  the  lands  of  Auchenreoch,  1490.  From  him  descend  the  Gordons 
of  Aird,  now  of  Earlston. 


to  IS4S]         THE   DAWN  OF  THE  REFORMATION  347 

The  Patriarch  is  said  to  have  attained  the  age  of  101 ; 
having  been  bom  in  1479,  and  surviving  until  1580.  His 
grandson  married  Margaret  Sinclsdr,  who  brought  him  the 
lairdship  of  Earlston ;  the  honour  of  which  house  is  in  safe 
keeping  in  the  person  of  his  descendant  of  the  twelfth  genera- 
tion— Sir  William  Gordon,  one  of  the  heroes  of  the  death-ride  of 
Balaclava.^ 

King  James  Y.  about  this  time  set  himself,  with  more 
energy  than  judgment,  to  stanch  the  theft  and  reiving  prevalent 
on  the  Borders.  No  doubt  the  mosstroopers  required  chastise- 
ment ;  but  hanging  wholesale  batches  of  men — ^bom  dragoons, 
forming  a  ready-made  buffer  to  English  aggression ;  patriotic,  if 
thievish — was  both  unstatesmanlike  and  cruel.^ 

Messengers  rode  post  haste  to  the  sheriffs  of  Galloway,  Ayr, 
Boxburgh,  and  Dumfries,  to  desire  them  to  warn  all  lords, 
barons,  and  freeholders,  to  arm  and  equip  themselves,  and  pass 
with  the  king  on  his  bloody  assize.  And  all  gentlemen  that  had 
"  dogges  that  were  good  **  were  charged  to  bring  them  with  them, 
that  the  king  might  hunt  by  the  way. 

The  tale  of  the  royal  sport  in  the  intervals  of  hunting  men 
was  "  18  score  of  harts,  pulled  down  by  the  dogs,  besides  all 
manner  of  small  game  killed  by  hawks. " 

The  blending  of  st-erner  business  with  field-sports  was  ex- 
emplified in  its  acutest  form  in  the  haiiging  of  Johnny  Armstrong 
and  his  men ;  ^  and  in  a  less  tragic  phase  in  the  case  of  Lord 
Maxwell,  who,  riding  in  unsuspiciously,  bringing  his  dogs  to 
share  in  the  fun,  was  instantly  seized,  and  placed  in  durance 

^  Earlston,  said  to  have  been  a  hunting-seat  of  James,  Earl  of  BothwelL  Sir 
William  Oordon  served  in  the  17th  Lancers  in  the  Crimea  ;  for  which  he  has  a 
medal,  the  Bibbon  of  the  Legion  of  Honour,  and  the  Order  of  the  Me^jidie.  He 
afterwards  served  with  distinction  with  his  regiment  in  the  suppression  of  the 
Indian  Mutiny. 

*  The  king  marches  and  surveys  the  Borders,  apprehends  48  of  the  prinoi- 
pallest  rogues,  and  hangs  them  alL — Balfour,  iL  260. 

This  is  only  one  of  many  executions  following,  which  we  are  told  ''manie 
Scottismen  heavily  lamented." — Pitscottie,  ii.  842. 

'  Efter  this  hunting,  the  king  hangit  John  Armstrang,  als  guid  ane  chief- 
tain as  ever  was  upon  the  Borders,  and  albeit  he  was  a  lous  leivend  man,  yett  he 
never  molested  no  Scottisman. — Pitscottie,  also  Pinkerton. 


348  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY    [A.D.  I  528 

vile,  very  narrowly  escaping  with  his  life.^  The  charge  against 
Maxwell  was  that  he  had  ''winked  at  the  villainies  of  the 
limmers  on  the  marches." 

But  whilst  dealing  so  severely  with  sins  of  omission  in  the 
eastward,  James  took  no  adequate  steps  to  punish  crimes  of  com- 
mission in  the  west.  The  Macdowalls  of  French  and  of  Mindork 
audaciously  invaded  Arran  with  fire  and  sword,  and  burned 
Brodick  Castle  to  the  ground  The  success  of  this  flagrant 
attack,  conducted  by  two  Galloway  lairds  against  one  of  the 
most  powerful  nobles  of  his  day,  is  evidenced  by  the  very  terms 
of  the  warrant  issued  against  them,  and  commanding  them  to 
underlie  the  law.  And  yet,  as  far  as  we  can  learn,  they  neither 
surrendered  nor  were  arrested,  nor  even  suffered  any  serious 
inconvenience  for  their  contumacy,  as  French's  name  appears  in 
various  records  of  the  period  as  pursuing  his  ordinary  occupa- 
tions undisturbed  on  his  estates. 

This  outrage  was  the  outcome  of  the  feud  engendered  by  the 
murder  of  Cassilis  (who  was  father-in-law  of  French)  at  Prest- 
wick,  which  Arran  was  believed  to  have  abetted.  And  as 
plunder  was  not  the  object,  the  deed  was  generally  applauded  in 
Galloway. 

A  few  years  later  we  find  the  sheriff  called  upon  to  make 
good  damage  done  by  his  kinsman,  the  young  Isdrd  of  Croach. 
On  the  8th  of  July  1532,  the  Lords  of  the  Council  decree  "yat 
Andrew  Agnew,  Sheriff  of  Wigtown,  pledge  and  souritie  for 
Nevin  Agnew,  sail  restore,  content,  pay,  and  deliver,  to  Dene 
Andro  Stevenson,  sub-prior  of  Quhithom,  and  Vicar  of  Clauch- 
shant,  ye  guids  underwritten,  spuilziet  and  reft  fra  him  by  ye 
said  Nevin  and  his  complices,  and  fra  his  tenants  forth  of  his 
kirkland  of  ye  said  vicarage — that  is  to  say,  12  kye  and  oxen, 
price  of  the  piece,  40s. ;  as  also  that  Andro  Agnew,  sheriff  of 
Wigtown,  is  pledge  and  suretie  for  John  M'Kewin  in  ye 
parish  of  Leswalt,  shall  content  and  deliver  to  Dene  Andro 
Stevenson  the  guids  spulziet  and  reft  fra  him  be  the  said  John 

^  The  king  causes  behead  Cockbum  of  Hindarland  and  Adam  Soot,  and 
imprisons  the  Earl  of  Bothwell,  Lords  Maxwell  and  Home,  and  the  lairds  of 
Buccleugh,  Femiehurst,  Pollard,  Johnston,  and  Marker. — Balfour,  i.  260. 


to  1545]    TH£  DAWN  OF  THE  REFORMATION       349 

forth  of  his  mansion-house  of  the  said  vicarage,  twa  hors,  price 
of  the  piece,  £20/'  The  price  the  dean  put  upon  his  horses 
seems  exorbitant,  as  the  king  not  long  before  had  purchased  at 
Whithorn  a  "  lewiy's  pad  "  for  one  of  the  queen's  suite  for  £5.^ 

About  this  time,  M'Dowall  of  Logan  being  a  minor,  his 
wardship  was  granted  to  Yaux,  Abbot  of  Soulseat,^  who  assigned 
it  to  John  Yaus  of  Bambarroch.  To  this  the  chapter  of  the 
abbey  demurred,  appealing  to  the  king,  in  whose  name  a  letter 
was  addressed  to  the  sherifif. 

"James,  be  the  grace  of  God,  King  of  Scots,  to  our  Sheriflf 
of  Wigtown,  greeting. 

"  As  it  is  shewn  to  us  by  our  lovet,  John  Yaus  of  Bambarroch, 
that  Dean  David  Yaus,  Abbot  of  Soulseat,  having  by  our  gift 
the  wardship  of  Logan,  and  he  having  made  the  said  John  his 
assignee  thereto,  yet  nevertheless  the  incumbrance  of  the  abbey 
troubled  the  said  John  in  the  brooking  of  the  said  ward-lands. 
Our  will  is,  and  we  charge  you  that  incontinent  these  our  letters 
seen,  ye  call  both  parties  before  you,  and  take  cognisance  in  the 
said  matter,  and  do  them  justice. 

"Given  under  our  signet  at  Edinburgh,  the  19th  day  of 
August,  and  of  our  reign  the  28th  year"  (1533). 

In  1535  an  Act  of  Parliament  recapitulating  the  statutes  as 
to  re-aforesting  the  land,  ordained  that  "  the  breakers  thereof  be 
taken  cognisance  of  by  the  sheriff  at  his  first  head  coiirt  after 
Pasche,"  attaching  terrific  penalties  against  all  destroyers  of 
growing  wood :  £10  fine  for  the  first  offence ;  £20  for  the  second ; 
for  the  third,  death.*  We  doubt  whether  the  lieges  took  much 
more  note  of  it  than  to  turn  it  into  rhyme  : 

^  We  find  A  charter  of  resignation  of  the  lands  of  Croach  and  Brockloch  by 
GUbert  Agnew  and  Margaret  Mnir,  his  spouse,  to  their  son  Nevin,  dated  16th 
December  1628. 

Brockloch  is  not  the  badger's  lake,  but  the  badger  warren.  Clayshant, 
Clachseanta,  the  holy  stone — ^holy,  used  in  the  superstitions  sense  of  a  ohann, 
auspicious.  — 0  'Beilly. 

'  In  1525  a  yenerable  father  in  God,  Darid  Yaux,  is  named  as  coadjutor  and 
successor  to  Quentin  Vanz,  Abbot  of  Soukeat.  In  1581  there  is  an  obligation  by 
Henry  M'CuUoch  of  Eillaster  to  infeft  David,  Abbot  of  Soulseat,  in  the  lands  of 
Drumbreddan,  to  be  held  of  his  own  lord,  the  laird  of  Myrtoun. 

'  Fourth  Parlt.  James  V.  chaps  10  and  11. 


350  HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY   [A.D.    1 528 

The  oak,  the  ash,  the  elm  tree, 
Hang  a  man  for  all  the  three  ; 
For  a  branch  ye  may  win  free, 
But  for  a  root  ye'll  hangit  be. 

The  most  important  Act  of  the  period  was  the  institution  of 
the  College  of  Justice  (1537),  popularly  known  as  the  Court  of 
Session ;  a  leading  feature  of  which  Act  was  '^  that  all  processes 
be  taken  in  order,  the  unpriveleged  to  be  tabulat  with  the 
priveleged."  The  realm  being  divided  into  four  circuits,  the 
western  comprising  "Striveling,  Aire,  Eenfrew,  Lanark,  Wig- 
toune,  Dumfreis,  Kirkcudbright,  and  Annandale." 

About  this  time  Sir  Alexander  Stewart  of  Garlics  was  sent 
as  ambassador  to  the  English  Court.  Previous  to  setting  out 
he  obtained  renewals  of  Ids  charters  of  Garlics  and  Glasserton, 
with  remainder  to  his  eldest  son  Alexander,  failing  whom  to  his 
second  son  John,  parson  of  Kirkmahome.^  Sir  Alexander  had 
married  first  Eatheiine,  daughter  of  Sir  James  Crichton,  without 
issue ;  secondly,  Margaret  Dunbar,  heiress  of  Clugston.  Their 
second  son  is  the  progenitor  of  the  Stewarts  of  PhysgilL 

In  1536  the  king  sailed  for  France  incognito,  in  search  of  a 
wife,  taking  cunong  his  companions  Gordon  of  Lochinvar,  and 
Stewart,  Bishop  of  Aberdeen,  granting  extraordinary  indul- 
gences to  certain  of  their  relations,  among  whom  are  named 
Andrew  Agnew,  SheriiGf  of  Galloway,  the  lairds  of  Gurlies  and 
Sorby,  and  John  Vaus  of  Bambarroch  —  in  the  shape  of 
"exemption  from  answering  to  the  courts  of  law  for  any 
misdemeanour  whatever  committed  by  them  during  the  king's 
absence/'     An  indulgence  with  a  vengeance ! 

The  royal  knight  errant  did  not  speed  smoothly  on  his 
course,  being  blown  north  instead  of  south,  and  having  rounded 
Cape  Wrath  instead  of  the  North  Foreland,  be  suddenly  cast 
up  at  the  Isle  of  Whithorn,  his  ship  being  damaged,  and, 
escorted  by  the  baronage,  rode  back  to  Leith.     Here  he  em- 

^  The  ancient  form  of  the  name  was  Eirkmaoho  and  Eirkmagho.  The  saint 
seems  to  be  the  Mahasans,  whose  chmtsh  in  Edinbm^h  was  despoiled  by  Edward 
I.,  otherwise  St  Machut,  to  whom  the  parish  chmtsh  of  Wigtown  was  dedicated 
as  weU  as  Lesmahagow. 


to  1545]         THE  DAWN   OF   THE  REFOBMATION  351 

barked  in  another  ship,  leaving  Archbishop  Dunbar  and  Lord 
Maxwell  among  others  to  act  as  regents,  and  arrived  safely  at 
Dieppe,  where  he  was  met  by  the  Earls  of  Cassilis,  Moray,  and 
Lennox,  sent  forward  as  ambassadors  to  ask  the  hand  of  the 
Princess  Magdalene  of  France. 

Four  years  before  this.  Lord  Cassilis  having  gone  to  Paris  tx> 
finish  his  education,  had  fallen  in  with  Buchanan,  who  had  fled 
from  Scotland  owing  to  Ids  faith,  and  who  was  offered  and 
accepted  the  position  of  Cassilis's  tutor,  and  remained  attached 
to  his  person  till  1537.^ 

In  1542  is  chronicled  the  "  Solway  Bout,"  where  the  Scottish 
leaders  suffered  themselves  to  be  taken  prisoners,  and  their 
10,000  followers  were  dispersed  by  300  English  horse;  this 
inglorious  result  being  attributed  to  pique  and  pride  of  ancestry, 
outraged  by  Oliver  Sinclair — a  roturier — being  placed  in  comr 
mand. 

But  though  this  was  the  cause  alleged,  the  truth  seems  to 
have  been  that  many  of  these  lairds  being  Protestant  at  heart, 
were  disgusted  with  the  cold-blooded  cruelty  with  which  the 
king's  clerical  advisers  were  urging  him  to  stamp  out  the  new 
doctrinea  It  was  the  clergy  who  had  hurried  the  king  into 
this  war  with  England,  having  been  so  imprudent  as  openly  to 
suggest  that  the  expenses  of  the  war  might  be  met  by  exacting 
the  fines  to  which  the  law  subjected  heretics.  The  Scottish 
baronage  well  knew  that  a  serious  war  could  not  be  maintained 
with  England  without  help  from  France;  and  success,  with 
French  assistance,  meant  the  riveting  of  the  Papal  yoke  upon 
themselves,  which  the  English  had  just  thrown  off. 

Many  Scotch  lords  with  Protestant  leanings  had  already 
entered  into  correspondence  with  the  English ;  and  it  is  more 
than  probable  that  Cassilis  and  Garlics  inwardly  felt  what  Lord 

1  Lord  Gaasilis  was  occasionaUj  at  home  in  the  interim ;  as  in  1586  his  name 
appears  in  company  with  the  laird  of  French,  as  attacking  John  Dnnbar. 

Feigns  M'Dowall  also  had  to  underlie  the  law  for  coming  on  John  Dunbar  of 
Blantyre  with  the  Earl  of  Cassilis,  assaulting  and  wounding  him.  In  1538  there 
is  a  respite  to  Feigus  M'Dowall  of  French  for  the  cruel  slaughter  of  John  M'Cul- 
loch,  in  both  cases  the  Earl  of  Cassilis  becoming  surety. 


352     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  1 528 

Maxwell  openly  expressed,  when  urged  by  a  bystander  to  put 
spurs  to  his  horse  and  escape  capture :  *'  It  is  better  to  be  a 
prisoner  abroad  than  hang  at  the  market  cross  at  homa  "  ^  At 
all  events  all  three  surrendered,  and  were  sent  to  London, 
where  they  were  exceedingly  well  entertained ;  Cassilis  being 
assigned  to  Archbishop  Cranmer,  Maxwell  to  Sir  Antony 
Brown,  and  Garlics  to  his  kinsman  the  Duke  of  Lennox,  him- 
self a  fugitive  established  in  England,  who  had  been  already 
employed  by  Henry  VIIL  to  intrigue  with  the  Scottish  lords  ; 
and  he  now  assisted  in  arranging  the  terms  of  ransom  for  the 
captives.  A  letter  of  his  to  Lord  Shrewsbury  on  the  subject  is 
exceedingly  interesting,  dated  from  His  Majesty's  castle  of 
Wressel,  13th  June  1543  :  "  My  Lord — I  have  received  the  King's 
Majesty's  letter  from  your  Lordship  this  Mondaye,  being  the  13th 
of  the  month,  commanding  me  to  certify  your  lordship  in  writ- 
ing of  the  names  of  all  such  pledges  and  prisoners  as  I  have  in 
my  custody. 

"  My  Lord,  truth  it  is  that  my  first  journey  to  Dumfries 
there  came  into  the  King's  Majesty's  service  by  my  procure- 
ment the  most  part  of  the  Lairds  of  Gallowaye :  such  as  the 
Laird  of  Garles,  the  Laird  of  Lochynwar  and  Tutor  of  Bomby, 
who  I  brought  with  me  to  Carlele,  where  they  did  enter  their 
pledges  to  the  Lord  Wheirton ;  and  forasmuch  as  the  Laird  of 
Garles  is  my  near  kinsman,  I  did  take  into  my  custody,  by  my 
Lord  of  Somerset's  licens,  the  said  Laird's  son  being  of  the 
age  of  16  years,  but  by  my  judgement  his  father  may  spend 
1500  marks  Scots,  which  is  all  I  can  certify  your  Lordships  in 
this  matter." 

Lord  Wharton,  as  Warden  of  the  Western  Marches,  thus 
names  the  several  Galloway  lairds  taken  prisoner  in  his  official 
report  to  the  king : — 

"  The  names  of  suche  Scotishe  pledges  and  prisoners  as  wes 
taken  on  these  Western  Marches  [24th  November  1542],  with 

^  Balfour,  i.  274.  HIb  yersion  is :  "The  Scots,  in  disdain  of  their  general^ 
OUver,  render  themselves  captives  to  the  English  at  Solwa  Moss,  and  were  led 
captive  to  London,  such  as  the  Earls  of  Cassalis,"  etc. 


to  1 545]    THE  DAWN  OF  THE  REFORMATION       353 

an  estimate  of  their  values  and  estimation  [we  extract  Gallo- 
vidians  only] : 

"  Bobert  Maxwell,  nowe  Lord  Maxwell,  an  ancient  baron  of 
greate  lands,  his  self  remayneth  as  yet  in  Carliell. 

"  The  Lord  Garlishe^  [Garlyle],  a  man  of  300  merks  and 
more,  and  little  thereof  in  his  hands,  but  holden  from  it  by 
rebeUs  in  his  country.  His  selfe  remayneth  at  Pontefrett 
Castle  in  the  custodie  of  Sir  Henry  Savell,  besides  that  he  is  a 
prisoner,  as  aforesaid,  his  pledge  his  son  and  heyre  with  my 
Lord  Latimer  for  101  men. 

"  The  Larde  of  Dabatie  [Dalbeattie],  of  20  markes  land,  his 
pledge  his  brother  with  Sir  John  Tempest  for  41  men. 

"  The  Larde  of  Orcherton,  of  ten  pounds  lands  or  more,  his 
pledge  with  Sir  William  for  112  men. 

'*  The  Larde  of  Carlies  [Garlics],  of  an  hundred  pound  land 
and  more,  and  of  good  estimation,  his  pledge  his  son  and  heyre 
with  the  Earl  of  Lennox  for  206. 

"The  Larde  of  Loughinware  [Lochinvar],  a  man  of  two 
hundred  markes  lands,  and  in  goods  better  than  a  thousand 
pounds,  his  pledges  his  cousins,  two  of  them  with  my  Lord 
Scrope,  and  one  with  my  Lord  Conyers,  for  four  score  and 
fifteen: 

"  James  Macklenyne  [M'Clellan],  Tutor  of  Bombye,  a  man 
of  good  estimation  and  small  living,  his  pledge  his  sonne  and 
hejrre  with  Doctor  Bransbye  for  151. 

"John  Maxwell,  the  Lord's  brother,  who  answers  for  all 
uppon  his  brother's  lands,  his  pledge  Hewghe  Maxwell,  his 
nephew,  for  1000  men  and  more. 

"  The  Abbot  of  Newe  Abbey,  of  two  hundred  merks  ster- 

^  Michael,  fourtli  Lord  Carlyle  of  Torthorwald,  owned  Eelhead,  Cummertrees, 
Domock,  Torduflf,  Middleby,  Lees,  Eirkconnel,  etc.,  and  his  forbears,  if  not 
himself,  Coljn  and  Roweham  in  Galloway.  His  ancestor  held  these  by  charters 
'^  to  the  king's  sister's  son,"  Sir  William  de  Carlyle  having  married  a  sister  of 
Robert  Bruce.  In  1487  Robert  Carlisle  had  the  keeping  of  the  Castle  of  Threave 
and  the  stewardship  of  Kirkcndbright.  Of  this  fourth  lord  it  is  on  record  that 
at  the  signing  of  the  bond  of  association  for  the  support  of  James  YI.  in  1567,  he 
was  the  only  peer  who  could  not  write  his  name,  and  was  obliged  to  have  recourse 
to  the  assistance  of  a  notary. 

VOL.  I  2   A 


354  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY   [A.D.  I  528 

ling  in  right  of  Ids  house,  his  pledge  Bichard  Browne  and 
Bobert  Browne,  his  cosyns,  for  241  men. 

"The  town  of  Kyrcumbre,  a  prety  haven,  pledge  for  it 
Baryby  Douglas  son,  worth  nothing,  for  36. 

"Town  of  Dumfresse,  a  fair  market  town,  pledge  for  it 
Cuthbert  Murray,  worth  litill  or  nothing,  for  221  men. 

"  The  Abbot  of  Salsyde,  his  house  of  an  £100  yearly,  his 
pledge  James  Johnston  his  son  and  heyre,  for  20  men." 

The  Scottish  prisoners  were  thrown  into  company  which 
confirmed  their  Protestant  leanings ;  Cassilis  living  chiefly  with 
Cranmer  and  Latimer,  Gkirlies  associating  openly  with  the  fol- 
lowers of  WyclifiFe,  and  (so  contagious  was  the  spirit  of  enquiry) 
Lord  Maxwell,  though  still  professing  himself  a  Catholic, 
signaUsed  himself  by  moving  from  his  place  in  Parliament,  im- 
mediately on  his  return  from  Scotland,  "  that  it  sail  be  lawful 
to  all  the  lieges  to  have  the  Holy  Writ  in  the  vulgar  tongue." 

But  we  are  anticipating ;  this  occurring  in  1543,  James  Y. 
having  died  the  16th  of  the  previous  December,  and  the  Scottish 
prisoners  having  been  allowed  to  return.  Maxwell's  bold 
course  occasioned  a  fierce  debate.  Archbishop  Dunbar  started 
to  Ids  feet,  and  in  the  name  of  his  brother  prelates  protested 
against  such  a  proposition,  the  more  especially  coming  firom  a 
Catholic 

The  queen,  much  dismayed,  threw  in  her  influence  with  the 
churchmen,  but  aU  in  vain.  For  the  first  time  in  Parliamentary 
strife  the  prelates  found  themselves  in  a  minority  in  the  Estates. 

Arran,  the  Begent,  for  a  time  encouraged  the  Beformers, 
and  all  the  lords  who  had  been  taken  prisoners  had  returned 
pledged  to  support  a  match  between  their  infant  princess  and 
the  heir  to  the  English  crown ;  the  significance  of  which  pro- 
posal lay  in  the  fact  that  it  indicated  sympathy  with  church 
reform.  At  this  moment,  when  for  a  short  interlude  religious 
opinions  might  be  discussed  openly  without  danger  to  the  dis- 
putants, George  Wishart  made  his  appearance  in  Galloway,  his 
coming  there  being  due  to  the  folly  of  the  churchmen  in  the 
east,  he  having  been  banished  from  St.  Andrews  for  teaching 


to  IS4S]    THE  DAWN  OF  THE  REFORMATION       355 

the  Greek  Testament.  This,  to  thinkiDg  men,  showed  that  the 
ground  on  which  Beaton  and  his  party  stood  was  so  utterly 
without  foundation  that  it  obliged  them  to  prevaricate  and  to 
contradict  themselves :  hitherto  the  demand  for  the  Scriptures 
in  the  vulgar  tongue  had  been  constantly  met  by  the  reply  that 
the  Church  allowed  the  reading  of  the  Bible  in  Hebrew,  Greek, 
and  Latin,  whereas  the  moment  that  Greek  was  brought  within 
the  reach  of  ordinary  students,  they  violently  suppressed  it, 
and  no  doubt  would  have  done  the  same  with  Hebrew  had  ite 
study  become  popular. 

Wishart  was  supported  in  the  west  by  Lord  Cassilis,  Lord 
Glencaim,  and  his  son  Lord  Kilmaurs,  and  notably  by  the 
young  Laird  of  Garlies,  who,  when  threatened  with  proceedings 
for  encouraging  heretical  preachers,  boldly  answered,  "1  do  avow 
them,  and  will  maintain  and  defend  such  against  any  or  all 
kirkmen  that  may  be  put  at  them." 

Knox  tells  an  amusing  story  at  Dunbar's  expense.  Beaton 
having  written  to  the  archbishop  to  keep  an  eye  on  and  oppose 
the  dangerous  heretic  in  the  west,  he  repaired  to  Ayr.  There 
finding  that  Wishart  was  announced  to  preach,  he  mounted  the 
pulpit  before  he  arrived.  The  people  were  inclined  to  use  him 
roughly.  "  Let  him  alone,"  said  Wishart,  "  he  will  do  us  more 
good  than  harm."  Silence  was  obtained;  but  the  archbishop 
found  it  easier  to  occupy  the  Beformer's  seat  than  to  match  his 
eloquence.  He  became  confused,  words  refused  to  come,  till  at 
last  he  stammered  out,  "  They  say  we  should  preicha^  Quhy 
not  ?  Better  lait  thrive  than  never  thrive.  Hand  us  still  for 
your  bishop,  and  we  shall  provyde  better  next  tyme." 

Though  the  narrator  cannot  be  called  impartial,  it  probably 
embodies  the  popular  report  of  his  discourse.  The  habitual 
neglect  of  preaching  was  one  of  the  causes  which  hurried  the 
Boman  Catholic  Church  to  its  falL 

Two  hundred  years  before,  a  Galloway  bishop  had  acquitted 
himself  better,  immortalised  by  Wyntoun  in  his  Ehyming 
Chronicles : 


1  ^z 


Kdox's  History  of  the  lUforTnatum,  i.  48. 


356  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY       [A.D.  1545 

The  Bishop  of  Qalloway  thare  Thomas, 
A  Theolog  solempne  he  was, 
Made  a  sermond  richt  plesant, 
And  to  the  mattere  accordant 

Soon  after  his  affair  at  Ayr  Wishart  was  confronted  at 
Dunbar,  in  a  court  where  the  bishop  was  more  of  a  match  for 
him  than  in  the  pulpit.  Having  wandered  from  Galloway, 
where  neither  bishop  nor  cardinal  had  been  allowed  to  touch 
him,  Wishart  was  arrested  by  Beaton's  orders,  carried  to  St. 
Andrews,  arraigned  before  the  Primate,  Dunbar,  and  Dune, 
Bishop  of  Galloway — unpitying  judges  where  heresy  was  a 
crime.  He  was  of  course  condemned  to  die,  and  the  reverend 
trio  assisted  at  his  burning.  Vainly  had  the  Bible  been  appealed 
to  before  men  whose  earnest  caution  to  those  whom  they  really 
loved  was,  "  If  ye  will  read  ye  must  bum."  As  useless  was 
eloquence  in  a  case  where  its  possession  rendered  the  speaker 
the  more  dangerous ;  any  mental  recognition  by  the  prelates  of 
his  shining  abiUty  taking  possibly  the  form  of  the  thought  once 
audibly  expressed  by  a  famous  judge  to  a  less  worthy  prisoner : 
"  Ye're  a  vera  clever  chiel,  man,  but  ye  wad  be  nane  the  waur 
0'  a  hangin'." 

Dunbar  was  doubtless  conscientiously  a  persecutor,  at- 
tached to  the  old  religion,  and  believing  it  to  be  the  duty  of  the 
State  to  punish  treason  to  the  Church  with  death  The  Ee- 
formers  themselves  held  blasphemy  to  be  a  capital  crime :  a 
dangerous  admission  when  partisans  had  to  define  the  precise 
legal  meaning  of  the  term. 

Archbishop  Dunbar  was  an  able  and  estimable  man,  though 
neither  liking  nor  liked  by  the  Eeformers.  It  must  not  be  sup- 
posed that  his  failure  in  the  pulpit  arose  from  any  want  of  cult- 
ure. George  Buchanan,  one  of  the  most  resolute  opponents  of 
his  theology,  has  the  candour  to  state  than  an  evening  spent  in 
converse  with  the  archbishop  was  to  be  compared  to  supping 
ambrosial  nectar  with  the  gods.  Dunbar  died  about  1546. 
Peace  to  his  memory. 


CHAPTEK  XXI 

PINKEY  CLEUGH 

A.D.    1544  to  1547 

**  Fight  on,  my  men/*  Sir  Andrew  said, 
'*  A  little  I'm  hart,  bnt  not  yett  slaine, 
I'll  hot  lye  down  and  bleed  awhile, 
And  then  I'll  rise  and  fight  agane." 

The  rulers  of  Galloway — Pictish,  Saxon,  Norse  alike — had  from 
the  earliest  times  realised  the  advantage  of  free  trade  with 
England,  whilst  the  policy  of  the  Scottish  kings,  finding  expres- 
sion in  Acts  of  Parliament,  was  to  restrict  all  communica- 
tions across  tfee  Solway  as  much  as  possible.  The  Church  party, 
more  concerned  for  orthodoxy  than  protection,  alarmed  at  the 
very  whisper  of  a  blood  union  between  their  princess  royal  and 
a  heretical  prince,  threw  their  whole  influence  into  the  scale  of 
breaking  with  the  English  and  establishing  the  closest  relations 
with  France. 

In  Galloway,  however,  so  paramount  was  the  importance 
felt  to  be  of  a  good  understanding  and  free  commerce  with  their 
neighbours,  that  the  staunchest  Catholics  joined  hands  with  the 
most  advanced  Reformers  to  promote  the  marriage  between  their 
royal  Mary  and  the  heir-apparent  to  the  English  crown.  For 
this  Lord  Maxwell  was  not  less  keen  than  the  young  Laird  of 
Garlics.  Divergence  of  opinion  here  had  not  yet  been  accentu- 
ated by  blows ;  and  religious  matters  seem  really  to  have  been 
treated  more  calmly  in  this  province  than  elsewhere. 

Arran,  the  Eegent,  though  a  Catholic,  had  sided  with  those 


358  HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY   [A.D.  1544 

who  called  for  refonn,  till,  suddenly  alarmed  at  the  free  expres- 
sion of  opinions  he  had  himself  encouraged,  he  threw  himself 
into  the  arms  of  the  reactionaries,  and  the  union  of  interests  on 
either  side  of  the  Borders  was  postponed  for  many  a  long  day. 

The  English  negotiations  were  rudely  broken  off,  and 
Panther,  Abbot  of  St  Mary's  Isle,  sent  to  France  to  give  effect 
to  the  policy  diametrically  opposed  to  the  interests  of  the 
province  in  which  he  lived.  The  unwisdom  of  their  rulers  was 
soon  brought  home  to  the  nation  at  large  when  two  avenging 
columns,  sent  by  King  Henry,  crossed  the  Borders,  one  of 
which  ravaged  Galloway  up  to  the  gates  of  Panther's  prioiy, 
and  laid  Dumfries  in  ashes,  while  the  second  placed  Edinburgh 
under  contribution,  and  applied  the  torch  to  the  Palace  of 
Holyrood.  This  was  indeed  a  national  calamity,  a  mass  of 
public  and  private  records  being  thus  irretrievably  lost — the 
mischief  all  being  due  to  the  vacillations  of  Arran. 

Many  Galloway  barons  were  now  made  to  feel  individually 
the  effects  of  Henry's  wrath.  All  the  prisoners  of  the  Solway 
Rout  had  received  their  liberty  on  the  condition  of  promoting 
the  royal  marriages,  and  had  given  hostages  for  its  performance. 
These  were  summoned  to  surrender  themselves  forthwith  under 
penalty  of  execution  of  the  said  hostages  :  no  empty  threat ; 
Cassilis,  who  had  lingered  by  the  way,  received  a  pitiable  appeal 
from  his  uncle  and  two  brothers  not  further  to  neglect  them.^ 
He  returned  at  last ;  and  so  favourably  was  the  king  impressed 
with  the  young  lord's  sincerity  that  he  immediately  released  the 

^  His  hostages  were  his  uncle,  Thomas  Kennedy  of  the  Ck>ifir,  and  his  brothezs 
David  and  Thomas.     Their  letter  is  as  follows : — 

"My  Lords — We  commende  all  oure  services  to  yor  Lop.  quhon  plesit  to  wit 
yat  we  all  comfortles  doo  complaine  of  oure  miserable  case,  for  wee  arre  chargit 
for  zor  intrys — in  all  haste  possible.  For  gif  ze  doo  not,  we  sail  sufere  dethe  and 
yat  ryt  certly .  .  .  My  Lorde,  remember  quhat  pane  and  sorrow  we  doo  sufar — 
tarying  on  yor  coming  in  all  possible  hast,  to  have  sowm  comfort  of  zou,  that  ye 
will  relieve  us  and  bring  us  out  of  yis  great  dyspayr. 

(Signed)  Thomas  Eenydie,  sometime  Laird  of  Coiff. 
David  Kenedie  of  Carrick,  ye  ane. 
Archibald  Kynnidy. 

Copie  of  L"-  sent  to  the  Erie  of  Cassils  from  his  pledges,  164S. — Lodge's  lUus- 
trations,  i.  46. 


to  1 547]  PINKEY  CLEUGH  359 

hostages,  entertained  them  himself  right  royally,  and  allowed  the 
earl  to  return  with  his  suite  to  the  house  of  the  Inch.  Lord 
Maxwell  found  himself  in  a  more  serious  dilemma :  literally 
between  the  devil  and  the  deep  sea.  He  could  not  obey  his 
order  of  recall,  because  Arran  had  imprisoned  him  for  his 
importunity  in  advocating  this  same  English  marriage  ;  whilst 
Henry,  unaware  of  this,  or  discrediting  it,  issued  orders  to  his 
warden  to  take  him  dead  or  alive. 

The  warden  ^  went  to  work  with  a  will ;  and  when  at  last 
Maxwell  was  released  by  Arran,  Wharton  bribed  his  hereditary 
enemies,  the  Johnstons,  to  entrap  him ;  ^  and  having  him  in  his 
power,  in  order  to  make  him  sign  the  surrender  of  Caerlaverock, 
he  treated  him  with  scandalous  severity. 

Lord  Hertford  thus  deprecatingly  reports  the  matter  to 
secretary  Paget : 

"  My  Lord  is  in  such  a  state  of  perplexity,  he  can  neither  eat, 
drink,  nor  sleep." 

In  short,  the  unfortunate  Lord  Maxwell  was  tortured  till, 
"  to  effect  his  deliverance,  he  gave  up  his  castle  of  Caerlaverock 
to  the  English  on  the  28th  October  1545." 

Lord  Wharton,  however,  had  two  to  reckon  with:  old 
Lochinvar,  though  wishing  for  good  relations  with  the  English, 
had  no  idea  of  allowing  them  to  become  joint  owners  within  the 
marches.  Summoning  his  numerous  kin,  among  whom  were 
his  nephew  the  shmff  and  Drumlanrig,  he  so  closely  beleaguered 
Caerlaverock  that  Wharton  with  all  his  forces  by  sea  and  land 
vainly  endeavoured  to  relieve  it;  and,  strange  to  say,  the 
Johnstons,  who  had  not  been  unwilling  to  pocket  English  money 
for  making  their  hereditary  opponent  a  prisoner,  entirely  dis- 

^  In  1542  Lord  Wharton  was  Governor  of  Carlisle,  and  in  1548,  as  Warden  of 
the  Western  Marches,  defeated  the  Scottish  invaders  at  Solway  Moss,  to  the 
numher  of  15,000,  himself  only  leading  800  men. — Lodge's  Illustrations,  i.  202. 

He  was  ancestor  of  Philip,  Duke  of  Wharton,  at  whose  death  in  1781  the 
direct  line  became  extinct. 

'  ''  I  have  ordered  Lard  Johnson  800  crowns ;  the  Abbot  of  Selsid,  his  brother, 
100  ;  and  to  my  special  100  crowns,  if  by  his  draught  I  may  have  in  my  hand 
Robert  Maxwell.  I  would  be  glad  to  trap  him." — Lord  Wharton  to  Lord 
Shrewsbury,  10th  February  1544. — Lodge's  lUustnUions,  i.  85. 


360     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  I  5 44 

approved  of  his  fortaUce  becoming  an  English  garrison,  and 
came  promptly  to  the  rescue. 

So  strong  was  the  fortalice  that  Lochinvar  failed  to  storm  it ; 
but  his  Galloway  troopers  persistently  investing  it,  the  defenders 
were  starved  out  the  following  May. 

It  was  then  handed  over  to  the  Begent ;  but  he  being  now 
satisfied  of  the  loyalty  of  Maxwell,  restored  it  to  him,  renewing 
his  commission  of  Warden  of  the  Marches.  Lord  Maxwell  only 
survived  the  turn  of  his  fortunes  a  few  weeks,  dying  the  9th  of 
July  1646,  leaving  by  his  wife  Janet  Douglas  of  Drumlanrig  a 
son,  Bobert,  fifth  Lord  Maxwell  The  Johnstons  were  quite  a 
power  west  of  the  Nith,  giving  their  name  to  the  parish  in  which 
stood  the  residence  of  their  chief,  the  strong  house  of  the  Lock- 
wood,  whose  decendants  were  Earls  of  Hartfell  and  Annandale. 

The  brother  of  the  laird  was  abbot  as  well  as  commendator ; 
and  we  find  record  of  his  dealings  with  the  sheriff,  in  which  he 
grants  him  church  lands  in  "  kyndlie  tenancy,"  which  after  the 
Beformation  were  confirmed  to  the  Agnews  by  the  Crown  in  fee. 

The  original  grant,  shorn  of  tautology,  runs  as  follows  :  "  Us 
James,  by  the  permission  of  God,  parson  of  Johnston,  Com- 
mendator of  the  Abbey  of  Soulseat,  grants  us  to  haif  setten  to 
our  lovit  Andrew  Agnew,  Sheriff  of  Wigtown,  Agnes  Stewaxt  his 
spouse,  and  Patrick  Agnew,  sone  and  apparent  heir  to  the  said 
Andrew,  their  heirs,  executors,  and  assignees,  a  half  of  the 
lands  of  old  extent  of  Olbrick,  lying  in  our  barony  of  Drum- 
mastoun,  as  it  lyes  in  length  and  breid,  in  houses,  biggings, 
feylds,  lesurs,  pastures,  moss,  medow,  and  with  common  pasture, 
and  with  all  and  sundry  other  commodities  and  purtenance 
quhatsoever,  far  and  neir,  with  power  to  the  said  sheriff,  Agnes 
Stewart  his  ladye,  his  son,  and  their  heirs  and  executors,  to  input 
and  output  cottrals  and  undersettera,  who  are  to  remove  and 
change  as  oft  as  shall  be  thocht  expedient  by  the  said  Andrew 
Agnew  and  Agnes  Stewart,  etc.,  for  the  sum  of  fyve  marks, 
good  and  usual  money,  at  the  usual  terms  of  the  year,  in 
equal  portions.  In  witness  thereof,  we  have  appended  the 
common  seal  of  our  said  abbey,  together  with  our  subscription 


to  1547]  PINKEY  CLBUGH  361 

manuals  of  us  and  our  said  convent,  at  the  Abbey  Saulset  ye 
xiii  day  of  ye  month  of  Februar,  ye  year  of  Gk)d  1543,  before 
Master  Gilbert  Johnston,  Eoger  Johnston,  Andrew  Agnew  in 
Kylstay,  Sir  Andrew  Quhyit,  Michael  Murray." 

The  abbot  and  commendator  as  has  been  already  mentioned 
was  taken  prisoner  at  the  Sol  way  Bout,  and  released  on  giving  his 
son  and  heir,  James  Johnston,  as  his  pledge,  and  it  is  probable 
that  he  was  now  disposing  of  Auldbreck  to  the  sheriff^  to  raise 
the  sum  required  to  set  him  free. 

In  the  Bambarroch  charter-chest  is  a  discharge,  dated  1st 
December  1456,  "  from  Andrew  Agnew,  Sheriff  of  Wigtown,  to 
Johnne  Waus,  parson  of  Wigtown,  of  the  sum  of  fyf  pound  usual 
money,  for  the  Martinmas  maill  of  Culquhoic." 

Master  Johnne  Waus  had  resigned  his  benefice  the  previous 
year  in  favour  of  his  kinsman  Patrick,  who  being  only  fifteen 
years  of  age,  was  allowed  to  perform  hia  duty  by  deputy,  and  to 
travel  to  Paris  to  finish  his  education. 

The  young  cleric,  second  son  of  John  Vaus  of  Barnbarroch  by 
a  daughter  of  Sir  Simon  M'CuUoch  of  Myrtoun,  rose  to  consider- 
able note  as  a  Lord  of  Session,  best  known  as  Lord  Bambarroch. 
When  appointed  parson  of  Wigtown  he  was  a  schoolboy  at  Mussel- 
burgh, whence  he  wrote  a  letter  to  his  mother,  interesting  as  a 
specimen  of  family  correspondence  of  the  period,  and  also  in  proof 
of  our  assertion  that  a  greater  freedom  in  religious  discussion 
seemed  to  have  been  then  allowed  in  Galloway  than  elsewhere. 

Here  we  find  a  boy  allowed  by  parents  of  undoubted 
orthodoxy  to  purchase  a  New  Testament  and  to  read  it  unre- 

^  Olbrick,  or  Auldbreck  as  now  written,  falls  readily  into  the  Celtic  AUt  Breac, 
"  the  troat  stream,"  but  the  absence  of  a  stream  of  any  size,  or  of  any  trout, 
rather  tells  against  such  an  etymon,  as  also  against  the  Saxon  Old  Bridge. 
In  a  secondary  sense,  however,  this  may  be  the  derivation ;  the  name 
being  a  translation  of  Vetereponte,  an  old  proprietor,  circum  1190.  Ivo  de 
Vetereponti  granted  the  church  of  Great  Sorby,  which  is  adjacent,  in  pure  alms, 
to  the  abbot  and  monks  of  Dryburgh  ;  his  charter  being  confirmed  by  Roland, 
Lord  of  Galloway.  Aygiston,  corrupted  from  Inglestoun  on  these  lands,  was 
probably  one  of  his  seats. 

As  an  example  of  such  derivations,  which  are  unusual,  we  have  Mold  on  the 
Welsh  borders,  from  de  Monte  Alto,  a  family  name,  oomipted  in  Galloway  to 
Mouat.  And  Buttevant  in  Ireland  is  derived  from  Boutez-en-avant,  "push 
forward,"  the  war-cry  of  the  Lord  Barrimores,  its  former  owners. 


362    HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OP  GALLOWAY  [a.D.  1544 

proved ;  moreover  acknowledging  the  possession  of  a  book,  for 
writing  which  its  distinguished  author,  Buchanan,  was  in  exile.^ 

Letter  from  Patrick  Waus  from  School  to  his  Mother, 

3d  January. 

Most  louing  mother,  eftir  my  hairtlie  commendaciounnis,  ye 
sail  vit  that  I  am  in  good  helth,  praissit  be  God,  vissing  this 
sam  to  yow  and  all  youris.  Ye  sail  vit  that  I  am  verie  skant  of 
linine  cloth  of  sarkis  and  aurlairis.^  I  haine  vrytin  verie  oft 
to  yow  about  them,  and  ye  haine  never  send  me  ane  anser.  I 
pray  yow  vat  ^  ye  vaild  send  me  sum  mo  schankis,  for  them  that 
I  haine  vill  be  schone  doina  I  mervell  that  ye  send  vs  not  out 
the  ssingill  soUit  schone,  quhilk  ye  promissit  to  them  out  till  vs. 
Nocht  ellis,  bot  commitis  you  to  God ;  and  my  most  hairtlie 
commendaciounis  to  yourself,  and  to  my  sisteris,  the  third  day 
of  Januar. — ^Your  loving  sonne.  Patrick  Vaus, 

To  my  loving  mother  this 
Be  derecit. 

Letter  by  Patrick  Waus  written  from  School. 

The  count  of  the  silver  quhilk  I  haine  receauit  from  Jhamis 
Ghallmiris. 

Item  mair  reseuit  from  Jhamis  Ghallmiris  xxiiij"  for  till  bay 
ane  ovid.  Item  mair  iiij  pundis  for  till  giue  for  iiij  pair  of 
schoune,  quhilk  I  gait  or  ever  Vattie  Scot  fumishit  me  at  your 
avine  command.  Item  mair  receiuet  xxx*  for  till  bay  ane  boue  * 
the  quhilk  boue  the  tuteris  sune  brack  hir  befoir  yor  mother  or 
ever  I  cam  out  of  the  toune,  and  Jhamis  Ghallmiris  gaiue  for 
ane  other  xxx",  and  for  vi  arouis  everi  arroui  iiij'.  Item  mair 
receiuit  xxxx'^  for  till  bay  ane  bait  and  ane  string.  Item  mair 
iij  pundis  for  till  bay  thrie  pair  of  bleue  hois,  quhilk  I  haid 
nene  quhiU  I  gait  them.     Item  mar  receauid  xxxu^  for  ane  neu 

^  Among  his  Decessary  expenses  he  accounts  for  288.  "for  ane  silva.**  This 
was  a  treatise  written  by  Buchanan  circum  1536,  satirising  the  FianciscanB,  on 
reading  which  Archbishop  Beaton  was  so  enraged  that  he  compelled  the  anthor 
to  flee  the  country  and  remain  in  exile  for  twenty-four  years. 

«  Neckcloths.  »  That.  *  Bow. 


^^_« 


to  1547]  PINKEY  CLEUGH  363 

testament  and  ane  sam  buck.    Item  mair  receuit  xxiij"  for  ane 
silva.    Item  mair  receuid  xviii"  for  the  commenteris  of  ceser. 
Item  mair  for  ane  salust  xii^    Item  mair  for  ane  half  dusane  of 
arouis  ta  me  and  sandiris  x:x^ 
The  soum  xxix  pundis. 

The  youth,  it  will  be  observed,  expresses  himself  anxious  to 
have  a  pair  of  dress  shoes.  These,  unlike  riding-boots,  were 
supplied  very  sparingly  to  young  ladies  and  gentlemen  as 
expensive  luxuries :  a  story  of  which, — although  the  scene  is 
often  shifted, — ^is  usually  associated  with  the  house  of  Murray  of 
Broughton,  Yaus's  nearest  neighbour,  and  amusingly  illustrates 
the  diflSculty. 

As  the  laird  was  standing  about  his  doors  one  day,  a 
well-to-do  neighbour,  not  in  his  premitre  jeunesse,  rode  up, 
unusually  sprucely  dressed,  and  answered  the  invitation,  "  Will 
ye  licht  ? "  by  saying,  "  First  ye  shall  hear  my  errand,"  which 
was  no  less  than  to  ask  leave  "  to  coort  Miss  Jean."  The  host, 
looking  rather  sheepish,  muttered  something  about  Jean  being 
still  owre  young.  "  Just  as  ye  please,"  retorted  the  fat  buck, 
and  turned  away  in  a  hufiT.  No  sooner  was  he  gone  than 
Murray  rushed  into  his  wife's  room  to  tell  the  story.  "  Are  ye 
daft  ? "  roared  the  lady,  ere  he  had  half  done ;  "  three  lasses  to 
marry,  and  sma'  tocher  for  one !  rin  for  your  life,  and  ca'  back 
the  laird."  "  But,  my  dear,"  interposed  the  husband,  "  hoo  can 
he  see  her  the  day  ?  Jeanie's  shoon  are  at  the  mending.  The 
thought  came  across  me  as  the  laird  was  speaking,  and  I  was 
just  dumfoundered."  "  Stufif,"  said  the  dame, "  I'll  gie  her  mine." 
"  And  whatever  will  ye  do  yersel  ? "  "  Do  ?  I'll  just  pull  on  your 
boots,  and  let  doon  my  lang  petticoats ;  now  rin !  I'se  warrant 
ye  he's  no  far  ofif."  The  dame  was  right.  Like  his  prototype 
Cockpen,  the  big  laird  had  "ridden  cannily,"  and  was  easily 
called  back.  Miss  Jean  received  him  smilingly,  in  her  mother's 
shoes ;  little  the  old  beau  thought  what  the  old  lady  had  on ; 
the  young  one  did  not  say  him  nay,  and  Miss  Jean's  shoes  came 
back  from  the  mending  to  be  danced  in  at  her  bridal. 


364     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  1 544 

In  the  course  of  1546,  in  answer  to  a  petition  from  the 
Abbot  of  Glenluce,  the  Lords  of  the  Ck)uncil  instructed  the 
sheriff  to  take  possession  of  the  abbey,  and  prevent  Lord 
Cassilis  from  occupying  the  precincts. 

Of  the  circumstances  of  the  abbot's  quarrel  with  Lord 
Cassilis  we  know  nothing ;  but  the  sherifif  could  only  carry  out 
his  instructions,  in  opposing  his  powerful  neighbour,  by  calling 
in  his  part-takers,  amongst  whom  were  the  lairds  of  Lochinvar 
and  Gkirlies ;  and  the  former,  being  already  at  feud  with  the 
Kennedys,  serious  complications  might  have  ensued.  Lord 
Cassilis  in  his  turn  complained ;  and,  with  their  usual  vacilla- 
tion, the  Lords  desired  the  sheriff  to  retire  forthwith,  and  the 
retreat  was  effected  without  any  breach  of  the  peace. 

The  official  record  of  the  transaction  is  somewhat  involved : 
"My  Lord  Governor,  and  Lords  of  Council,  understand  that 
Gilbert,  Erie  of  Cassilis,  Baillie  of  the  Abbey  of  Glenluce, 
intending  to  hold  a  court  upon  the  lands  and  lordship  of  Glen- 
luce, and  to  that  effect  has  made  convocation  of  the  lieges : 
and  that,  on  the  uther  part,  Andrew  Agnew,  Sheriffe  of  Wig- 
town, be  assistance  of  the  Laird  of  Lochinvar  and  others,  his 
friends,  at  command  of  my  Lord  Governor  and  Lords  of  Council, 
has  taken  the  place  and  Abbey  of  Glenluce,  and  holds  the  same, 
tending  to  make  convocation  of  their  kin  and  friends;  for 
staunching  of  inconvenientis  in  the  countrie,  and  for  the  wele 
and  quietness  of  the  realm,  it  is  ordained  by  the  Lord  Governor 
and  Lords  of  Council  that  the  Sheriff  of  Wigtown  shall  remove 
furth  of  the  said  abbey  and  place  of  Glenluce,  and  leave  the 
same  void  and  red. 

"  And  anent  the  supplication  of  the  Eeverend  Father  in  God 
Gilter,  Abbot  of  Glenluce,  against  Gilbert,  Erie  of  Cassalis,  John 
M*Dowall  of  Garthland,  William  Adair  of  Kinhilt,  Fergus 
M'Dowall  of  Freuch,  making  mention  wherein  that  to  resist  the 
invasion  of  their  place  and  abbey,  Andrew  Agnew,  Sheriff  of 
Wigtown,  at  command  of  the  Queen's  letters,  entered  with 
certain  friendis  and  servants  in  the  said  place,  and  remaynit 
thair  quhill  laytlie,  it  is  ordained  that  the  keeping  of  the  said 


to  1547]  PINKEY  CLEUGH  365 

place  shall  cease  simpliciter,  and  the  invasion  thereof  be  super- 
seded quhiU  the  8th  day  of  July  next  to  come."  ^ 

Lochinvar,  having  readily  come  at  his  nephew's  call  to  assist 
him  in  his  little  difficulties  at  Glenluce^  we  next  find  him  calling 
on  the  sheriff,  and  his  other  cadets  and  king,  to  strengthen  his 
hands  in  better  defined  operations  in  the  marches.  Lord  Max- 
well had  provisioned  and  garrisoned  his  strong  fortalice  at 
Lochmaben,  and  here  the  board  was  daily  spread,  to  which  all 
old  comrades  were  welcome,  where  schemes  were  discussed  for 
keeping  the  English  in  check,  the  tempting  proposal  being 
added  that  they  should  try  to  recoup  themselves  for  the  ransoms 
of  the  Sol  way  Eout. 

Old  Lochinvar  entered  heartily  into  the  plans ;  and  where 
such  pastimes  as  tuilzying  and  moss-trooping,  business  and 
pleasure  blending,  were  in  the  wind,  there  was  no  difficulty  in 
attracting  the  daring  spirits  of  the  district. 

Long  details  of  these  Border  skirmishes  are  to  be  gathered 
from  the  English  archives;  but  as  they  are  very  wordy  and 
somewhat  dry  one  specimen  may  suffice,  in  the  form  of  a 
letter  from  Lord  Wharton  to  Lord  Eure  :  * 

"  On  Saturday  last  aforeday,  John  Maxwell,  Lord  Maxwell's 
brother,  the  Laird  Drumlangairt  (Drumlanrig),  the  young  Loch- 
invar, and  others  of  their  garrison  lying  at  Lochmaben,  to  the 
number  of  a  thousand  men,  assembled  themselves  at  a  place 
called  Tordofe,  near  to  the  water  bank  which  divideth  the  realms, 
and  sent  a  hundred  light  horsemen  in  the  daybreaking  to 
Glasson  in  England,  and  laid  the  rest  in  ambush  at  Tordofe. 
But  the  watch  descried  and  encountered  them;  there  was  a 
sharp  skirmish,  and  they  have  slain  Watty  Bell,  and  two  or 
three  of  their  geldings,  and  taken  one  notable  Borderer.  Thanks 
be  to  God,  no  damage  done  to  any  Englishman,  except  a  geld- 
ing slain  under  a  servant  of  mine." — Carlisle,  14th  June  1547. 

More  serious  work,  however,  was  in  store  for  the  Border 

*  Register  of  Privy  CovmcUj  L  8. 

^  Sir  William  Eure,  commander-in-chief  1542,  created  a  baron  1544,  was  of 
an  ancient  Northumbrian  family.  He  had  a  son,  Sir  Ralph,  killed  in  one  of 
these  skirmishes  with  the  party  at  Lochmaben. 


366  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY   [A.D.  1544 

chivalry  who  were  thus  enjoying  themselves  in  Lord  Maxwell's 
halL  "The  Protector  Somerset  threatening  the  capital  with 
both  an  army  and  a  fleet,  the  Scottish  regent  puts  out  the  fyerie 
crosse."  ^ 

Bale-fires  gleamed  from  Oriffel  to  the  Knock  of  Luce; 
sheriff  and  steward  had  peremptory  orders  to  push  forward  the 
Galloway  levy  forthwith,  to  join  the  great  gathering  encamped 
on  the  banks  of  the  Esk,  where  an  impromptu  Parliament 
held  at  Monkton  Hall,  the  8th  day  of  December,  enacted  as 
follows : — 

"The  Lord  Governor,  noblemen,  barons,  freeholders,  and 
gentlemen,  convened  to  pass  forward  for  the  defence  of  the 
realm,  in  Parliament  assembled,  statute,  devise,  and  ordain,  that 
gif  it  shall  happen  (as  God  forbid)  that  any  lord,  baron,  or 
freeholder  be  slain,  that  their  heirs  shall  freely  have  their  own 
wards,  reliefs,  and  marriages  in  their  own  hands,  to  be  disponed 
upon  as  they  shall  think  convenient" 

This  Act  passed,  and  a  most  important  one  it  proved  to  be 
to  the  families  of  many  of  those  there  present  The  host  was 
marshalled  and  manoeuvred  in  the  presence  of  the  enemy,  with 
the  view  to  immediate  battle. 

The  advantage  seemed  entirely  with  the  Scots ;  they  repulsed 
an  onset  of  English  horse  with  such  heavy  loss  that  Somerset 
determined  on  sending  a  flag  of  truce  to  treat  for  peace.  But 
as  he  was  on  the  point  of  sending  his  messenger,  a  bold  flank 
movement  initiated  by  Angus,  which  would  have  completed  his 
discomfiture,  was  mistaken  by  the  main  part  of  the  Scottish 
army  for  a  retreat ;  and  a  want  of  central  authority  being  the 
vice  of  the  Scottish  military  system,  instead  of  maintaining 
their  ground  and  waiting  for  orders,  small  parties,  each  led  by 
local  chiefs,  rushed  helter  skelter  to  a  furious  but  ill-directed 
encounter,  which  occasioned  the  wildest  confusion,  and  lost 
them  irreparably  the  advantages  of  their  position. 

Somerset  instantly  saw  and  took  advantage  of  their  mistake. 
Becalling  his  flag  of  truce,  he  launched  his  serried  ranks  against 

^  Balfour,  i.  288. 


to  1547]  PINKBY   CLEUGH  367 

the  broken  groups  of  eager  Scotchmen,  each  fighting  for  his 
own  hand.  Discipline  prevailed  over  iU-directed  valour;  the 
Scots  gave  way  before  well-conducted  charges  em.  masse,  the 
English  following  on,  striking  till  their  arms  were  tired  of  slay- 
ing, quarter  being  seldom  asked  for  or  given. 

Sad  was  the  news  which  the  few  survivors  of  the  Galloway 
force  carried  back  to  their  desolated  homes.  ''In  the  fallow 
fields  of  Inveresk,"  writes  an  eye-witness,  "  the  dead  bodies  lay 
as  thick  as  a  man  may  notte  cattell  grazing  in  a  full  plenished 
pasture."  ^  There  the  Sheriff  of  Galloway  met  a  soldier's  death, 
and  near  him  lay  his  uncle,  the  Knight  of  Lochinvar,  the  Lairds 
of  Garthland  and  French,  the  Laird  of  Bennane  and  his  son, 
Vaux  of  Bambarroch,  and  George,  Master  of  Angus. 

Of  the  fifth  sheriff's  family  we  trace  three  sons  :  Patrick,  his 
heir;  Gilbert,  afterwards  of  Galdenoch;  and  Alexander  of 
Ardoch ;  and  a  daughter,  Helen,  Lady  of  Torhouse. 

By  virtue  of  the  last  Parliamentary  Act,  at  which  he  had 
assisted  on  the  eve  of  the  battle,  his  eldest  son  was  immediately 
infefted  in  his  lands  and  of&ces ;  otherwise,  being  a  minor,  the 
revenues  of  his  estates  would  have  been  the  perquisite  for  five 
years  of  some  needy  courtier  to  whom  would  have  been  assigned 
the  nominal  wardship. 

On  the  5th  January  1548,  George  M'Culloch  of  Torhouse, 
the  late  sheriff's  son-in-law,  acting  as  sheriff,  in  conjunction 
with  Gilbert  Agnew  of  Croach,  gave  effect  to  a  Crown  mandate 
ordering  him  to  give  heritable  state  and  seisine  to  the  youth, 
dated  26th  December  preceding.* 

George  M'Culloch  was  grandson  to  Finlay  M'CuUoch,  a 

^  Patten's  Expedition, 

^  Maria  D.G.R.S.  dilectis  nostris  Georgio  M'CuUoch  de  TorhouBe,  David 
Grauford  de  Park,  Gilberto  Agnew  de  Groach,  salutem.  Quia  per  inquisitionem 
de  mandate  nostro  per  yos  factam  ad  capeUmn  nostrum  retornatam  compertum 
est  quod  Patricii  Agnew  latoris  presentiam,  obiit  ultimo  vestitus  et  sasitus,  ut 
feode  ad  paoem  et  fidem  nostrum  sub  nostro  yezillo  in  campo  juxta  Pynkecleuch 
decimo  die  mensis  Septembris  ultimo  elapsis  de  totis  et  integris,  terram  de 
Lochnall,  etc.  £t  de  officiis  vicecomitatis  nostri  de  Wigtoun,  Gonstabularie  de 
Lochnall  et  BaUise  hereditarie  de  Leswalt. 

Apud  Edinburgh  yicesimo  die  mensis  Decembri  anno  regni  nostri  sexto. 


368  SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY  [A.D.  1 547 

witness  at  the  second  sheri£f's  service.  Torhouse  at  this  time 
comprised  all  the  lands  which  a  little  later  furnished  out  three 
baronies :  Torhouse  M'Culloch,  Torhouse  M*Kie,  and  Torhouse 
Mure.  Upon  his  lands  stood  the  famous  standing-stones  of 
Torhouse,  below  which  there  is  little  doubt  rest  the  ashes  of 
Gwallwc-ap-Lleenaug,  the  eponymous  of  his  race.  Gwallwc, "  the 
hawk  of  battle/'  was,  as  mentioned  before,  not  the  King  Galdus 
of  Boece,  or  the  Galgacus  (though  the  name  is  the  same)  who 
confronted  the  Eomans,  but  the  nephew  of  Caradoc  (whence 
Carrick  in  Ayrshire),  who  flourished  in  the  sixth  century — ^the 
progenitor  of  the  Galloway  M'Cullochs.  The  mansion-house 
was  standing  at  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century.^ 

^  In  Wigtown  parish  there  are  no  considerable  edifices,  except  Torhouse,  situ- 
ated on  the  north  side  of  the  Blendenoch,  belonging  to  George  M'Culloch  ;  not 
far  from  whose  house  is  a  plain  on  which  there  is  a  monument  of  three  large  whin- 
stones,  called  King  Galdus's  tomb,  surmounted  at  about  twenty  paces  distance 
with  nineteen  considerable  great  stones,  erected  in  a  circumference. — Samson's 
Large  Description, 


CHAPTER    XXII 

SIXTH  HEBEDITARY  SHERIFF 

A.D.  1548  to  1569 

The  Pape,  that  Pagan  full  of  pryd, 

He  has  ns  blinded  lang  ; 
For  where  the  blind  the  blind  do  guide, 

No  wonder  both  go  wrang. 

Spiriiual  Songs* 

The  first  judicial  act  of  Patrick  Agnew,  now  sixth  hereditary 
sheriff,  was  to  preside  at  the  service  of  Uchtred  M'Dowall  to 
the  baron  of  Garthland,  who  lay  beside  his  father  on  the  field 
of  Pinkey.^ 

The  late  laird  had  left  two  sons,  and  two  daughters — Florence 
and  Helen — ^married  to  the  Lairds  of  French  and  Logan,  so  that 
the  heads  of  the  three  principal  branches  of  this  ancient  house 
were  all  for  the  moment  brothers. 

The  young  sheriff  was  soon  called  upon  to  perform  the  more 
serious  duty  of  "  summoning  gatherings  of  armed  men/'  The 
bale-fires  announced  the  advance  of  the  English,  under  Lord 
Wharton,  who,  having  driven  Lord  Maxwell  out  of  the  way 
with  great  slaughter,  had  taken  possession  of  Dumfries,  whence 
he  summoned  the  towns  westward  to  surrender.  He  sent  for- 
ward Sir  Thomas  Carleton,  who,  according  to  his  own  report, 
"  rode  one  night  [in  Febniary]  for  the  town  of  Kircobree,  and 
coming  there  a  little  after  sun-rising,  they  who  saw  us  coming 

^  Uchtred,  John  M'Dowall's  son  and  heir,  is  retoured  at  Wigtown  before 
Patrick  Agnew,  the  High  Sheriff  of  the  county,  upon  the  last  day  of  February 
1548,  as  lawful  heir  to  John  M'Dowall  of  Garthland,  slane  at  Pynkey  Gleuch. — 
Crawford's  MSS. 

VOL.  I  2  B 


370  HEREDITAEY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY   [A.D.  1 548 

barred  their  gates,  and  kept  their  dykes,  for  the  town  is  dyked 
on  both  sides  with  a  gate  to  the  westward/'  so  that  he  was 
only  able  to  invest  it  The  Laird  of  Bomby  presently  issued 
from  his  neighbouring  stronghold,  and  took  the  English  in  the 
rear,  but  was  beat  oflf;  when  suddenly,  "west  of  Dee,"  they 
observed,  to  use  Carleton's  words,  "a  well-appointed  force  of 
Gkdloway  folks  "  who  had  marched  at  speed  from  Wigtown  with 
the  sheriff,  whereupon  Carleton  thought  it  best  for  the  present 
to  secure  the  booty  he  had  taken :  "  about  2000  sheep,  200  kye, 
40  or  50  horses,  mares,  and  colts."  So  after  showing  a  bold 
front  at  the  "  difl&cult  ford  of  the  Dee  "  till  after  dark,  he  drew 
off,  and  marched  all  night  to  Dumfries.^ 

The  good  folks  of  Eorkcudbright  now  opened  their  gates  to 
their  succourers  from  the  Shire,  and  joyfully  filled  the  wassail 
bowl  for  their  reception.  Though  checked  at  Kirkcudbright, 
Carleton  surprised  and  took  the  Lockwood  with  great  address. 
He  writes  that,  "  learning  that  the  Laird  of  Johnston,  and  his 
brother  the  Abbot  of  Soulseat,  were  still  detained  in  England, 
he  thought  good  to  practise  some  way  by  which  to  get  hold  of 
the  castla  It  was  a  fair  large  tower,  able  to  lodge  all  our  com- 
pany, with  a  barnekin,^  hall,  kitchen,  and  stables,  all  within  the 
barnekin,  and  was  kept  but  by  two  or  three  fellows  and  as 
many  wenches." 

Timing  his  arrival  for  an  hour  before  sunrise,  he  left  the 
bulk  of  his  squadron  outside.  "  Twelve  men  stole  into  the  barne- 
kin and  took  the  wenches,  the  only  persons  in  it,  and  kept  them 
close  till  daylight.  Two  men  and  a  wench  slept  in  the  tower. 
At  dawn,  one  of  the  men,  rising  in  his  shirt,  went  to  the  tower 
head,  carefully  scanned  the  horizon,  and  there  being  no  one  to 

* 

^  MSS.  account  of  a  foray  into  Scotland  in  Februaiy  1548.  Reprinted  in 
Nicholson's  and  Bums's  History  of  Scotland,  Of  this  retreat,  Carleton  says :  **  We 
left  our  sheep  and  put  our  worst  horsemen  before  the  nowte  and  nags,  and  sent 
thirty  of  the  best  horsemen  to  prick  at  the  Scots  if  they  should  come  over  the 
water  at  the  forehead  ford ;  which  the  Scots  perceiving,  stayed.  So  we  passed 
quietly  that  night  to  Dumfries,  leaving  the  goods  in  safety  with  a  good  watch. 
Thus,  with  wiles,  we  beguiled  the  Scots." 

^  Barbican,  an  advanced  work  before  a  castle  gate,  especially  intended  to 
defend  the  drawbridge. 


to  1559]  SIXTH   HEREDITARY   SHERIFF  371 

be  seen,  called  to  the  woman  who  laid  in  the  tower  to  rise 
and  open  the  tower  door ;  she  so  doing,  and  opening  the  iron 
door  and  a  wooden  door  without  it,  the  men  who  lay  concealed 
rushed  forward,  but  brak  a  little  too  soon ;  for  the  wench,  per- 
ceiving them,  leaped  back  into  the  tower,  and  almost  got  the 
door  closed  to,  when  they  got  a  hold  of  it,  so  that  she  should 
not  close  it,  and  so  we  won  the  Lockwood." 

Here  he  tells  us  they  found  good  store  of  beef,  meal,  malt, 
butter,  and  cheese,  with  luxurious  quarters,  and  fortifications 
which,  when  well  manned,  were  almost  impregnable ;  and 
Wharton,  well  pleased,  named  him  Keeper  of  the  Lockwood. 

The  laird  of  Bomby  mentioned  by  Carleton  was  Sir  Thomas 
M'Glellan,  son  of  the  laird  killed  in  the  streets  of  Edinburgh  by 
old  Lochinvar ;  and  he  who  was  killed  at  Pinkey  had  left  besides 
his  heir  a  second  son  William,  who  succeeded  by  remainder  to 
the  lands  of  Penninghame  in  Wigtownshire ;  and  four  daughters 
— Helen,  Lady  M'Clellan ;  Elatherine,  married  to  M'CuUoch  of 
Cardoness;  Margaret,  Lady  Douglas  of  Dmmlanrig  (whose 
grandson  was  created  Earl  of  Queensberry) ;  and  Janet,  who 
shortly  after  this  English  foray  married  the  young  sheriff,  and 
became  lady  of  Lochnaw,^  The  laird  of  Bomby,  Helen  Gordon's 
husband,  in  1569  acquired  the  house  and  grounds  of  the  Grey 
Friars  Monastery  in  Kirkcudbright,  on  the  site  of  which  he  built 
the  castle,  still  picturesque  in  its  ivy-clad  ruins. 

When  we  consider  how  clumsy  and  inefficient  were  the  fire- 
arms of  the  day,  it  provokes  a  smile  to  read  that  the  baronage 
of  1550  seriously  complain  that  they  ''can  get  no  pastime, 
hunting  or  hawking,  by  reason  that  the  wylde  beasts  and  wylde 
fowls  are  exiled  and  banished  by  them  that  schuttes  with  guns." 

Whereupon  Parliament  enacts  that  "whosoever  of  our 
sovereign's  lieges  of  whatever  degree  take  upon  hand  to  shoot  a 
deer,  roe,  or  other  wild  beasts,  or  any  wild  fowls  with  half-hap, 

^  8d  September  1550.  Patrick  Agnew,  Sheriff  of  Wigtown,  with  consent  of 
John  Donbar  of  Mochrom,  one  of  his  curators,  settles  on  Joneta  Gordon,  sister 
of  John  Qordon  of  Lochinvar,  the  lands  of  Salquhany  on  her  viduity. 

Witnesses :  Gilbert  Agnew  of  Groach,  Patrick  M'Giacken  of  Shachane,  Malcolm 
M*Culloch. 


372     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  1 548 

culverine^  or  pistol,  in  ony  times  to  come,  shall  incur  the  pains 
of  death,  and  confiscation  of  their  goods.  And  whoever  brings 
such  culprit  to  the  sheriff  of  the  shire  shall  have  escheat  of  his 
goods,  and  be  otherwise  rewarded  as  the  sheriff  may  think  fit"  ^ 

As  a  rider  to  this  the  sheriff  was  to  satisfy  himself  that  the 
poulterer  did  not  sell  game  too  dear ;  a  sumptuary  law  fixing 
the  prices  as  follows :  "  The  crane,  5s. ;  the  swan,  5s. ;  the  wild 
goose  of  the  great  breed,  2s.;  the  claik  (barnacle),  quink  (golden- 
eye),  and  rute  (rude  goose),  Is.  6d.  each ;  the  plover  and  small 
moorfowl,  4d. ;  the  blackcock  and  gray  hen,  6d. ;  the  dozen  of 
powtes,  12d.;  the  quhaip  (curlew),  6d.;  the  cunning  (rabbit),  2s. 
till  Shrove  Tuesday,  thenceforth.  Is. ;  the  lapron,  2d. ;  the  wood- 
cock, 4d. ;  the  dozen  laverocks  and  other  small  birds,  4d. ;  the 
snipe  and  quailzie,  2d. ;  the  tame  goose,  16  pennies ;  the  capon, 
12d. ;  the  hen  and  poultry,  8d. ;  the  gryce  (young  pig,  wild  or 
tame).  Is.  6d." 

A  feud  broke  out  in  1554  between  the  Lairds  of  (jrarlies  and 
Lochinvar ;  as  an  episode  in  which  Alexander  Stewart,  young 
Laird  of  Garlics,  accompanied  by  Michael  M'Cracken,  a  burgess 
of  Wigtown,  forgathered  with  Simon  Gordon,  a  kinsman  of 
Lochinvar's,  and  killed  him,  wounding  his  servant  also,  in 
revenge  for  which  Lochinvar,  with  the  laird  of  Barskeoch,  Roger 
Gordon,  David  Gordon  of  Marbreck,  Eoger  GU)rdon  of  Hardland, 
Gilbert  M'Dowall  of  Machermore,  Patrick  M'Kie  of  Larg,  and 
Eliseus  Gordon,  attacked  and  forced  open  M'Cracken's  house  in 
Wigtown,  gutting  it,  the  owner  flying  for  his  life. 

Both  parties  presented  themselves  for  trial  at  a  Justice  Aire 
in  Kirkcudbright ;  the  Laird  of  Garthland  becoming  surety  for 
his  son ;  the  Laird  of  Lochinvar's  own  recognisances  being 
accepted  for  the  appearance  of  his  part-takers  to  answer  to  the 
charges  "  of  hame  sucken  and  searching  for  Michael  M'Cracken 
for  his  slaughter."  ^ 

^  4  Parliament,  Queen  Mary,  chap.  9.  By  an  Act,  ISth  June  1555,  6 
Parliament,  Queen  Mary,  chap.  51,  there  was  this  addition :  "  That  na  man 
ryde  or  gang  in  their  neighbour's  com  in  haUdng  or  hunting  fra  the  Feast  of 
Pasche,  and  that  na  pairtrich  be  taken  unto  the  Feast  of  Michaelmas." 

*  Pitcaim,  Criminal  Trials^  1554-55. 


to  1559]  SIXTH   HEREDITARY  SHERIFF  373 

At  the  same  court  Sir  James  M'CuUoch  is  replegiated  by 
the  Bishop  of  Whithorn  for  resetting,  supplying,  and  intercom- 
muning  with  Godfrey  M'Culloch,  rebels  at  the  horn  for  the  cruel 
slaughter  of  Patrick  Mure ;  and  Thomas  M'Clellan  of  Bomby, 
his  brother,  Godfrey  M'Culloch  of  Ardwell,  John  M'Culloch  of 
Barholm,  Ninian  Glendonwin  in  Parton,  Eichard  M*Kie  of 
Myrtoun,  and  John  Akinzean  (M'Einnon)  had  already  been 
summoned  to  underlie  the  law  as  principals  in  the  said  slaughter, 
the  Laird  of  Lochinvar  becoming  surety. 

Such  was  the  feebleness  of  the  Government,  that  at  this  very 
date  Sir  John  Gordon  of  Lochinvar,  a  party  or  principal  in  so 
many  disorders,  was  invested  with  a  special  commission  as 
Justiciary  for  Eastern  Galloway ;  apparently  in  illustration  of 
the  adage,  "  Set  a  thief  to  catch  a  thief." 

This  year  we  find  the  sheriff  in  Edinburgh  arranging  a 
settlement  of  two  years'  accounts ;  not  an  agreeable  process,  as, 
although  a  sheriff  shared  in  the  fi^es  and  dues  which  he  hai  t<; 
coUect,  he  was  often  obliged  perforce  to  give  long  credit  to 
neighbours,  coin  being  very  scarce ;  and  in  this  matter  he  seems 
to  have  been  helped  by  Master  David  Carnegie,  a  fact  interesting  to 
note  from  the  close  connection  afterwards  formed  between  the  two 
fiEunilies.   A  formal  deed  was  executed  by  the  sheriff  to  this  effect : 

"Be  it  kend  till  all  men,  me,  Patrick  Agnew,  Sheriff  of 
Wigtown,  to  be  bound  and  straitly  obliged  to  Master  David 
Camegy,  Parson  of  KynnouU,"  who  "has  relieved  me  at  the 
hands  of  John,  Archbishop  of  St.  Andrews,  treasurer  for  the 
time,  of  the  sums  following :  viz.  £389  :  6  :  8,  resting-owing  by 
me  in  my  counts  made  in  the  Chekker-roUs,  the  year  of  God 
1553,  and  of  the  whole  sums  contained  in  the  Book  of  Bespondie 
owing  by  me  since  making  my  said  count  unto  the  tenth  day  of 
April  1554  years.  Therefore  I  bind  me,  my  heirs  and  assignees, 
and  with  me  John  Dunbar  of  Mochrum  and  Alexander  Stewart 
of  Garuleis,  cautioners  and  sureties  for  me,  conjointly  and 
severally,  to  pay  to  the  said  Master  David  £210  usual  money  of 
Scotland,  betwixt  the  day  of  the  date  hereof  and  the  first  day  of 
September  nextocum,  but  longer  delay. 


374     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  1548 

"  And  if  we  fail  in  making  thankful  payment  thereof  at  the 
said  term,  I  and  my  sureties  oblige  us  to  pay  to  the  said  Master 
David  the  whole  sum  of  £389  : 6  : 8,  of  which  he  has  relieved 
me  at  ye  said  Reverend  Father^s  hand. 

"Provided  always,  that  gif  the  said  John,  Archbishop  of 
St.  Andrews,  give  any  discharge  subscribed  with  his  hand  after 
the  date  hereof  to  any  person  of  any  part  of  the  said  sum  of 
£389  : 6  : 8,  the  same  to  be  allowed  to  me,  the  said  Patrick,  as 
for  payment. 

"  I  and  my  sureties  subscribed  this  with  our  hands  at  Edin- 
burgh, 6  February  1555  years." 

David  Carnegie  was  the  second  son  of  Sir  Robert  Carnegie 
of  Kinnaird.  His  acquaintance  with  the  sheriff  commenced  from 
his  having  been  appointed  a  few  months  before,  along  with 
Maxwell  of  Terregles,  a  commissioner  to  settle  disputes  upon 
the  Borders.  Though  titularly  parson,  he  practised  as  a  lawyer, 
rose  high  in  his  profession,  and  served  in  various  commissions 
in  matters  affecting  the  Laws,  the  Church,  and  the  Exchequer. 
Freed  by  the  Reformation  from  vows  of  celibacy,  he  married  in 
1560  Elizabeth  Ramsay,  heiress  of  Colluthie.  Surviving  his 
elder  brother  Sir  John,  he  succeeded  to  Kinnaird  in  1595.  His 
first  wife  dying,  he  married  Euphame,  daughter  of  Sir  John 
Wemyss,  and  had  by  her  four  sons :  David,  created  Earl  of 
Southesk ;  John,  created  Earl  of  Northesk;  Sir  Robert  Carnegie 
of  Dunnichen,  Lour,  and  Auchterlony ;  and  Alexander,  Laird  of 
Balnamoon — a  most  prosperous  family  truly. 

A  direct  descendant  of  his,  daughter  of  Sir  James  Cam^e, 
and  but  for  the  attainder  eighth  Earl  of  Southesk,  became  the 
wife  of  Sir  Andrew  Agnew,  seventh  Baronet  of  Lochnaw. 

We  read  that  in  1557  "the  Queen  Regent  raisses  a  great  armey 
to  invade  England,  and  the  nobility  flatly  refuses  to  invade  it."  ^ 

This  refusal,  which  arose  from  reluctance  to  augment  the 
queen  mother's  powers,  had  its  echo  in  Galloway,  where  several 
lairds,  prominently  Stuart  of  Garlics  and  Dunbar  of  Mochrum, 
were  summoned  to  underlie  the  law  "  for  abiding  from  a  warden 

^  Balfour,  i.  808. 


to  1559]  SIXTH  HERBDITAKY  SHERIFF  375 

raid  summoned  to  convene  at  the  Lochmaben  Stane."  In  reply 
they  alleged  ''  that  at  the  day  of  Trew,  they  raid  to  the  water  of 
Annan,  to  have  passed  forward  with  the  warden,  but  the  water 
was  so  great  they  might  not  ride  it  without  danger  of  life." 
Their  plea  was  accepted. 

Meanwhile  the  Protestant  doctrines  had  been  making  great 
progress  in  the  west ;  the  Queen  Dowager,  ill  advised  by  the 
clergy,  allowed  the  time  to  go  by  when  reforms  might  have 
strengthened  the  old  Establishment. 

As  early  as  1548  John  M'Brair,  a  canon  of  Glenluce,  having 
embraced  the  reformed  doctrines,  attracted  great  attention  as  a 
preacher.  The  see  of  Glasgow  having  remained  vacant  for 
some  years  after  the  death  of  Dunbar,  and  Dury,  Bishop  of 
Galloway  (being  also  Abbot  of  Melrose)  preferring  residence  at 
Court  to  his  house  at  Claire,  evangelical  doctrines  were  sown 
broadcast  in  the  province  without  check.  Presently,  however, 
Hamilton,  Bishop  of  St  Andrews,  making  a  progress  in  the 
west,  astounded  at  what  he  heard,  instituted  a  vigorous  search 
for  ''  the  Apostate  Heresiarch,"  M'Brair,  and  at  last  tracked  him 
to  Lord  Ochiltree's,^  where,  in  spite  of  the  owner's  resistance^  he 
was  arrested  and  carried  to  Hamilton  Castle.  The  archbishop, 
however,  was  unable  to  retain  his  prisoner,  his  bolts  being 
forced  and  his  victim  rescued  by  *'  John  Lockhart  of  Barr,  a 
stout  gentleman,"  who  saw  the  preacher  safely  across  the 
Borders.  The  preachers  had  long  been  openly  encouraged  and 
entertained  in  G^Uoway ;  and  no  generous-minded  baron,  be  he 
Protestant  or  Catholic,  cared  to  assist  in  the  arrest  of  men  who 
had  broken  bread  at  their  tables,  well  knowing  that  they  would 
be  dragged  before  tribunals  where  they  would  get  short  shrift. 
The  Lords  Cassilis,  Glencaim,  and  Ochiltree;  the  Stewarts, 
Gordons,  Agnews,  Kennedys,  Dalrymples  of  Stair,  and  Chalmers 
of  Gradgirth,  all  interested  themselves  actively  in  the  safety  of 
the  Beformers,  as  was  quickly  shown.  The  Queen  Dowager 
allowed  herself  to  be  over-persuaded,  against  her  better  judgment, 

1 

I  ^  Andrew,  Lord  Ochiltree,  was  a  determined  reformer.    One  of  bis  dangbters 

I  married  John  Enoz ;  another  Kennedy  of  Baigany. 


376  HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [AD.  1548 

by  the  bishops  to  summon  all  known  preachers  to  Edinburgh; 
they  fondly  supposing  that  they  would  thus  place  them  on  the 
horns  of  a  dilemma,  either  of  running  their  heads  into  the  noose, 
or  else  by  disobedience  subjecting  themselves  to  the  pains  of 
outlawry.  However,  to  the  confusion  of  the  Council,  the 
preachers  obeyed,  but  attended  by  serried  files  of  spearmen 
under  the  leading  of  the  western  lairds,  eloquent  in  jakkis. 
The  Council  were  dumfoundered.  A  doggerel  rhjrme  of  the 
Bishop  of  Galloway,^  who  seems  to  have  been  a  fimny  fellow, 
amused  the  bystanders  so  much  as  to  have  been  thought  worthy 
of  preservation ;  when  the  arrival  of  their  retinue  was  reported 
in  the  Council  Chamber,  turning  to  the  queen : 

Madame !  because  they  are  come  without  order, 
I  redeye  send  them  to  the  Border. 

Excellent  advice,  had  the  said  lairds  been  amenable  to  dis- 
cipline. Her  majesty  proved  more  equal  to  the  situation  than 
her  ministers,  and  tried  soft  words,  saying  according  to  an  eye- 
witness :  "  *  My  joys,  my  hearts,  what  aileth  you  ?  *  Whereupon 
a  bold  man,  James  Chalmers  of  Gaidgyrth,  upspake,  *  We  know 
that  this  is  but  the  malice  of  thae  jevells  and  (pointing  to  the 
clerics)  those  idle  bellies;  they  trouble  our  preachers,  and 
would  murder  both  them  and  us !'  'My  lords,'  said  the  queen 
to  the  bishops,  *  I  forbid  you  to  trouble  these  good  men  or  their 
preachers.'    So  she  dismissed  them  with  a  good  grace."  ^ 

Archbishop  Hamilton  had  to  content  himself  for  the  loss  of 
M'Brair  by  burning  Walter  Mill,  a  heretic  of  much  inferior  note, 
at  St.  Andrews,  where  he  was  still  supreme ;  though  the  good 
people  of  the  East  Neuk  showed  much  exasperation,  and  as  a 
mark  of  opinion  closed  every  cellar  door  in  the  city  so  that  the 
executioners  had  much  ado  to  find  materials  for  the  fire. 

In  Galloway,  Bishop  Dury  bore  himself  more  discreetly,  and 
no  collision  between  churchmen  and  reformers  is  recorded 
during  this  phase  of  the  religious  struggle  in  the  province. 

^  "The  BUbop  of  Galloway,  after  his  accastomed  manner,  said  in  rhyme  to 
the  Queen  "  (as  above).— Calderwood,  i.  844. 

'  Galderwood,  i.  845.     "  Jevell,"  a  contemptuous  term. — Jamieson. 


to  1559]  SIXTH  HEREDITARY  SHERIFF  377 

The  spirit  of  the  period,  however,  showed  itself  in  the  com- 
pilation and  singing  of  grotesque  and  even  ribald  ballads,  but 
which  were  actually  published  under  the  title  of  "godly  and 
spiritual  songs."  Though  not  without  humour,  and  himself  a 
wit,  Dury  must  have  been  scandalised  at  hearing  such  verses 
as  these  before  an  admiring  crowd  in  contempt  of  the  Pope : 

His  cardmals  has  cause  to  mourn, 
His  bishops  are  borne  abacke, 
His  abbots  gat  an  uncouth  turn 
When  shavelings  went  to  sacke. 

With  burgess  wifes 

They  led  their  lifes, 
And  fare  far  better  than  we. 
Hey  tricks  trim  goe  tricks  under  the  greenwood  tree. 

Whilst,  however,  indignation  was  rightly  directed  against 
the  extortions,  idleness,  and  immoralities  of  churchmen,  the 
Seformers  were  as  yet  far  from  grasping  those  ideas  of  tolerance 
and  Christian  liberty  which  underlie  the  very  name  of  Pro- 
testant. If  the  Bomish  clergy  had  been  too  lax  on  the  score  of 
amusements,  the  Eeformers  fell  into  the  opposite  extreme.  Not 
satisfied  with  insisting  on  the  sanctity  of  the  Sabbath,  they 
decried  innocent  diversions  on  every  day  of  the  week,  and 
dancing  was  held  by  them  in  such  abhorrence,  that  had  their 
maxims  been  pushed  to  their  logical  conclusions,  any  one 
taking  the  father  for  an  example  in  the  parable  of  the  Prodigal 
Son  must  have  incurred  Church  censures. 

Up  to  this  time  the  fame  of  Bobin  Hood  had  been  celebrated 
regularly  in  May,  always  upon  a  Sunday  or  saint's  day.  The  whole 
burgh  populations  in  Galloway,  as  ebewhere,  turned  out  to  some 
neighbouring  field,  two  worshipful  bailies  being  usually  selected 
as  Bobin  Hood  and  Little  John,  the  most  respectable  citizens 
joining  as  performers,  when  various  scenes  in  the  famous 
outlaw's  life  were  acted 

Jack  in  the  Green  also  arrived  at  the  proper  season ;  and  at 
Christmas  an  Abbot  of  Unreason  (the  Scotch  representative  of 
the  English  Lord  of  Misrule)  appeared  upon  the  scene  and 
played  his  part. 


378  HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY   [A.D.   1548 

The  reforming  party  might  with  great  propriety  have  intro- 
duced an  act  forbidding  these  diversions  upon  Sundays ;  but  in 
place  of  this  a  law  was  drawn  by  which  such  amusements  were 
forbidden  altogether,  and  sheriffs  were  strictly  enjoined  to  see 
that  **  sic  unprofitable  sports  be  utterly  cried  down."  Further, 
that  for  the  future  "  no  manner  of  person  be  chosen  Bobin  Hude 
nor  Little  John,  nor  Queens  of  May,  the  choosen  of  such  to  tine 
their  freedom  for  the  space  of  five  years,  and  be  otherwise 
punished  at  the  queen's  grace's  will,  and  the  acceptor  of  sic  like 
offices  to  be  banished  furth  of  the  realm."  Monstrous  as  this 
appears,  a  clause  appended  was  almost  worse :  "  If  any  women 
or  others  make  perturbation  for  skaipie  of  money  or  otherwise, 
they  shall  be  taken,  handled,  and  put  upon  the  cuckstules." 

Though  these  Acts  were  extorted  from  the  Lords  of  the 
Articles,  the  Beformers  could  not  always  command  a  majority. 
Legislation  took  the  form  of  a  see-saw ;  and  another  Act  of  the 
same  year,  apparently  in  retaliation,  forbids  the  eating  flesh  in 
Lent  and  other  days  forbidden  by  the  Church,  under  pain  of  con- 
fiscation of  the  eater's  goods, ''  and  gif  the  eaters  has  na  guids, 
their  personis  to  be  put  in  prison,  there  to  remain  for  a  year 
and  a  day." 

Lord  CassiUs  had  been  sent  to  France  to  attend  Queen 
Mary's  marriage  with  the  Dauphin,  and  was  named  a  Lord  of 
the  Bedchamber  to  Henry  11.  of  France  in  honour  of  the  event. 
But  afterwards  he  and  his  colleagues  greatly  offended  the  French 
king  by  opposing  the  giving  of  the  crown  matrimonial  to  the 
royal  bridegroom. 

Cassilis  and  two  other  of  these  Scotch  lords  died  at  Dieppe 
on  the  18th  of  November  1558,  as  was  generally  suspected  by 
poison,  suggested  in  all  contemporary  chronicles.  But  for  the 
credit  of  French  hospitality  it  is  pleasant  to  be  able  to  state  that 
an  affecting  letter  from  the  earl,  written  on  his  deathbed  to 
Lord  Bambarroch,  clearly  contradicts  the  scandaL  It  ends 
thus: 

"  Fair  ye  weil,  off  Dieppe  this  vii.  of  November.  Item,  ye 
sail  wit  my  fevir  is  callit  the  cotedicene.  and  hes  bene  thir  ix. 


to  1 5  59]  SIXTH   HEREDITAKY   SHERIFF  379 

dayis  paist,  quharbe  I  am  groving  sa  walk  that  I  dow  do  na 
thing. — ^Youris,  "Caissailus."^ 

The  Earl  left  by  Margaret,  daughter  of  Alexander  Kennedy 
of  Bargany,  Gilbert,  fourth  earl;  Sir  Thomas  Kennedy  of 
Culzean;  Jean,  married  to  Robert,  Earl  of  Orkney;  and 
Katherine,  married  in  1574  to  Lord  Bambarroch  as  his  second 
wife. 

Among  the  last  acts  of  this  amiable  Earl  of  Casailis  before 
starting  on  his  mission  for  France  was,  at  the  request  of  Sir 
Patrick  Agnew,  acting  along  with  Sir  John  Gordon  in  an 
arbitration  between  members  of  the  Adair  family,  to  one  of 
which  Sir  Patrick  was  curator.  The  matter  is  of  but  trifling 
importance,  but  plulologically  interesting,  as  proving  with 
certainty  the  derivation  of  the  name  Adair  to  be  from  the 
christian  name  Edgar  rather  than  the  Celtic  ath  darach  "  ford  of 
the  oaks."  The  Adairs  of  Crichane  and  Kinhilt  were  of  the 
same  stock,  and  of  the  cousins  at  this  date  we  find  the  one 
branch  adhering*  to  the  older  spelling,  whilst  the  other  uses  the 
new. 

"At  Edinburgh,  the  19  day  of  May,  ye  year  of  God  1557 
years,  we,  Gilbert,  Earl  of  Cassilis,  Lord  Kennedy,  and  John 
Gordon  of  Lochinvar,  judges,  arbitrators,  and  amicabell  com- 
positors. 

**  Chosen  betwixt  an  honourable  man  Patrick  Agnew,  Sheriff 
of  Wigtoun,  for  himself,  and  taking  the  burden  upon  him  for 
Margaret  Edzear  and  Janet  Edzear,  dochteris  lawful  to  Niniane 
Edzear,  son  of  Niniane  Edzear  of  ye  Creechane,  on  the  one  part, 
and  William  Adair  of  Kinhilt  for  himself,  and  taking  upon  him 
the  burden  for  Quinten  Edzear,  son  of  the  said  Ninian  elder,  on 
the  uyr  parte,  anent  the  tocher  to  be  given  by  the  said  William 
and  Quenteni  to  the  said  Margaret  and  Janet 

''Dearce,  deliver,  and  for  final  sentence  arbitrall,  decern, 
and  ordain  ye  2d  William  and  Quenteni  to  pay  and  thankfully 
deliver  to  the  2d  Margaret  the  Sum  of  200  merks  in  manner 
following :  100  merks  at  Whitsunday  next  the  time  after  she 

^  Corretpondevice  of  Sir  Pairiek  Watts,  p.  12. 


380    HEREDITART  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  1548 

have  completed  the  bond  pf  matrimony  with  any  man  of 
possession,  and  100  merks  at  the  feast  of  Martinmas  therafter. 

''In  witness  whereof  we  have  subscribed  this  our  decreet 
arbitrall  with  our  hands,  day,  year,  and  place  foresaid,  before 
these  witnesses :  Alexr.  Stewart  of  Garleis,  Hew  Kennedy  of 
Drummellan,  Hew  Kennedy  of  Barquhinny." 

In  1558  Bishop  Dury  died,  and  was  succeeded  by  Alexander 
(rordon,  son  of  the  Master,  and  brother  of  the  fourth  Earl  of 
Huntly.  He  was  titular  Archbishop  of  Athens,  and  subse- 
quently embraced  Protestantism,  but,  rightly  or  wrongly,  was 
never  thought  veiy  earnest  in  the  matter. 

The  queen  regent  died  the  following  year,  and  Mary  and 
Francis  summoned  a  Convention  of  Estates,  which  met  in 
August  1560,  in  which  the  Beformers  being  in  a  majority 
adopted  a  Protestant  confession  of  faith.  In  this  Parliament 
there  sat  the  EarU  of  Cassilis  and  Glencaim,  the  Master  of 
Maxwell,  the  Lairds  of  Lochinvar  and  Garlies,  and  the  Bishop 
of  Galloway. 

Unsettled  as  was  the  state  of  society,  we  find  the  good  folk 
of  Wigtown  embarking  in  commercial  enterprise  with  a  spirit 
they  hardly  maintain  at  the  present  day. 

Certain  burgesses  having  entered  into  copartneiy  to  supply 
their  fellow-townsmen  with  wines,  spices,  laces,  furs,  and  other 
luxuries,  every  possible  restriction  was  in  these  days  placed  on 
trade,  and  these  good  folk  could  not  get  the  required  authorisa- 
tion until  the  Laird  of  Lochinvar  became  bound,  under  a  penalty 
of  £1000,  that  they  would  allow  no  rebels  to  the  sovereign 
authority  to  purchase  any  of  their  good  things.  How  they 
were  to  discriminate  loyal  from  disloyal  persons  under  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  period  would  have  sorely  puzzled  the  wisest 
heads;  as  the  Laird  of  Lochinvar  himself,  who  was  their 
security,  and  the  sheriff  who  had  to  certify  to  the  bond,  were 
alike  members  of  the  ''  Congregation,"  in  direct  antagonism  to 
the  religion  of  the  regent.^ 

^  The  bond  bears  as  foUows : — 

"  Forasmuch  as  the  Regent  has  granted  to  Patrick  M'Blane,  John  H'Cracken, 


to  1559]  SIXTH   HEREDITARY   SHERIFF  381 

Alexander  Hannay,  John  Hannay,  William  Gordon,  John  M'Allenay,  and  John 
Wans,  a  passport  and  testimonial  that  they  are  true  and  ohedient  subjects  to  our 
sovereign  lord  and  lady,  and  sua  may  saiflie  pass  to  ye  ports  of  France,  and  use 
leiiful  trafect  and  business,  but  truble  or  impediment:  Therefore  we,  John 
Gordon  of  Lochinvar,  becomes  caution  and  security  for  the  said  persons,  that 
they  shall  bring  their  goods  and  merchandize,  which  they  shall  happen  to  bring 
furth  of  the  realm  of  France,  to  the  port  and  haven  of  Wigtown,  so  that  our 
sovereign  lord  and  lady's  true  and  obedient  subjects  shall  be  furnished  y^S 
and  that  the  said  persons  shall  not  change  nor  trafect  any  of  their  goods  with 
any  persons  that  have  rebelled  against  our  sovereign's  authority.  Obliging  me 
and  my  heirs,  yat  gif  the  said  persons  doiss  in  ye  contrar  of  ye  premiss,  to  pay  to 
the  said  princes  the  sum  of  £1000  money  of  this  realm. 

*'  Before  Patrick  Agnew,  Sheriff  of  Wigtown  : 

**  Master  Robert  Stewart  and  John  Stewart,  witnesses 

"At  Edinburgh,  13th  Jan.  1559.     Sic.  Subr.  LOCHINVAR." 


CHAPTER    XXIII 

THE  KING  OF  CARRIGE 

A.D.   1659  to  1570 

The  Gordon,  Hay,  and  brave  Agnew, 

Three  knights  of  high  degree, 
Unto  the  ladye  courting  came. 

All  for  her  fair  beantie. 

Although  Lord  Cassilis  was  considered  a  Protestant  in  the 
Parliament  of  1560,  he  had  not  decidedly  declared  himself  for 
the  Congregation.  It  was  a  great  object  with  the  Court  party 
to  gain  him ;  and  among  the  last  acts  of  the  queen  regent  was 
the  absurd  though  not  uncommon  one  of  granting  an  exemption 
from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Sheriff  Principal  of  Galloway,  which 
was  as  follows : 

An  Exempt  for  the  Earl  of  Cassilis  and  his  Dependents 

FROM  THE  Sheriff  of  Wigtown. 

"  We,  understanding  that  thair  standis  sum  variance,  discord, 
and  unkyndness,  betwix  oure  cousing,  Gilbert,  Earl  of  Cassilis, 
his  kin,  friendis,  and  servandis  on  that  ane  part ;  and  our  Schiref 
of  Wigtoun,  his  kin,  friendis,  and  servandis  on  that  uther  part, 
quhairthrow  he  and  his  Deputtes  may  be  na  jugeis  competent  to 
thame  in  ony  action  concerning  thame :  Therefore,  We,  for 
eschewing  of  grettare  inconvenienttis,  be  thir  presentis  exemes 
our  said  cousin,  his  kin,  friends,  allies,  tenants,  servants,  and  par- 
takers fra  our  said  Schiref  and  his  Deputes,  thair  jurisdiction, 
office,  and  power,  anent  any  action  concerning  them  als  weill 


A.D.  ISS9-IS70]     THE   KING  OF  CARRICK  383 

criminal  as  civil  in  time  coming  induring  our  will;  charging 
therefore  our  sfdd  Schiref  and  his  Deputes  that  they  desist  and 
cease  fra  all  calling,  persewing,  or  proceding  upon  any  action 
concerning  our  said  cousin,  his  kin,  friends,  allies,  tenants,  ser- 
vants or  part-takers  either  criminal  or  civile  in  time  coming  ay 
and  quhill  they  have  command  of  us  in  the  contrair ;  discharging 
them  utherwayes  of  all  proceedings  thairintill,  and  of  their 
offices  in  that  part  during  the  said  space,  notwithstanding  any 
commission  of  justiciar  given  or  to  be  given  by  us  in  the  contrail 
to  our  Schiref ;  anent  the  quhilk  we  dispense  in  so  far  as  con- 
cerns the  premises  by  thir  presents,  given  under  our  signet,  and 
subscrivit  by  our  dearest  mother  Marie,  queue  dowriare  and 
regent  of  our  realm.  At  Edinburgh,  to  the  yeir  of  God  one 
thousand  fyve  hundred  and  fifty-nyne  years,  and  of  our  reign 
the  2d  and  18th  years.  Mabie  K"  ' 

A  copy  of  this  found  its  way  into  the  Bambarroch  charter- 
chest,  on  which  the  accomplished  editor  of  his  ancestor's  corre- 
spondence pertinently  remarks  :  "  Sir  Patrick  Agnew  of  Lochnaw 
was  the  representative  of  the  royal  authority,  but  being  seemingly 
at  feud  with  the  earl,  the  regent  says  that  he  and  his  deputies 
would  not  be  competent  judges  in  actions  between  them."  ^  The 
absurdity  is  even  greater  than  appears  on  the  surface:  the 
**  discord  "  was  prospective ;  the  earl  had  as  yet  not  even  been 
served  heir  to  his  father  of  happy  memory,  who  moreover  had 
not  left  him  a  single  feud  to  inherit 

As  there  is  little  on  record  creditable  to  the  fourth  earl,  it 
is  pleasant  at  least  to  find  that  he  was  a  better  son  than  a 
neighbour ;  and  we  quote  the  details  of  the  ample  provision  he 
made  for  his  mother,  which  is  interesting  as  bearing  on  the 
social  habits  of  the  period.^ 

On  the  29th  August  1559  he  assigned  her  "the  place  of 
Cassalis,  with  garden  and  orchard,  and  yearly  for  her  life  110 
bolls  meal,  52  bolls  bear,  115  marks  money,  89  capons,  36 

^  Correspondence  of  Lord  Sambarroeh,  p.  16, 

'  He  was  under  age  when  he  made  the  provision  quoted  in  the  text.     He 
was  served  heir  16th  Octoher  1562. — Charter  Hiatory  of  Kennedys,  p.  88. 


384    HEREDITAEY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  1559 

salmon  (and  the  yearly  rent  of  various  holdings),  111  tnilTr 
ewes,  77  yeld  ewes,  108  wedders,  40  gimmers,  40  dinmonts,^ 
11  old  goats,  2  kids,  114  head  nolt  in  the  Forest  of  Buchan,  16 
nicol  cows  and  as  many  calves,  77  farrow  and  9  yeld  cows,  5 
three-year-old  cows,  22  old  oxen,  2  bulls,  6  three-year-old  oxen, 
2  bulls,  5  two-year-old  oxen,  11  queys,  9  stirks  (during  her 
life),  a  silver  basin  and  a  laver,  a  double  gilt  cup  of  silver,  2 
cases  of  silver,  the  one  gilt  the  other  ungilt,  a  gilt  macer,  2 
silver  trenchers  with  two  little  salt  fatts,  12  silver  spoons,  a 
silver  salt  fatt,  a  black  velvet  bed  with  curtains  black  damask, 
4  pieces  of  tapestry,  4  feather  beds  and  their  bolsters,  etc. 
Eatified  on  5th  Nov.  1559  by  Quentin  Kennedy,  Abbot  of 
Crossraguel,  Sir  Hugh  Kennedy  of  Girvan  Mains,  David  Kennedy 
of  Culzean,  and  Mr.  Thomas  Hay,  pastor  of  Spynie,  the  earl's 
curators." 

Quentin  Kennedy,  the  earl's  uncle,  was  one  of  the  few 
Church  dignitaries  of  the  day  who  could  preach :  a  man  of  parts 
and  learning,  even  by  the  Protestant  chroniclers  admitted  t^ 
be  "ane  guid  man  cuad  ane  that  feared  God  after  the  manner  of 
his  religion." 

In  1562,  when  the  opposing  parties  were  nearly  evenly 
balanced,  Quentin  Kennedy  challenged  John  Knox  to  an  open 
discussion  as  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Mass,  "Which,"  says 
Calderwood,  "  was  granted,  and  held  at  Mynibole  *  three  days ; 
the  abbot  undertook  to  prove  that  Melchizedek  offered  bread 
and  wine,"  and  adds,  "  he  could  adduce  no  proffe."  Most  un- 
biassed persons  would  now  admit  that  Kennedy  was  right, 
though  he  naturally  failed  to  convince  a  west  country  audience 
that  the  Mass  as  then  celebrated  was  the  necessary  outcome  of 
that  act  of  patriarchal  worship.  Both  parties  were  satisfied  with 
their  champions :  the  Boman  Catholics  permanently  so ;  and 
Quentin  Kennedy  has  since  been  canonised. 

Notwithstanding  the  blandishments  of  the  queen  dowager. 


1  Gimmer,  a  ewe  two  years  old.     Dinmont,  a  wether  in  the  second  year. 
'  Calderwood,  ii.  203.     The  old  form  Mynibole  points  to  the  derivation 
moine-buaile,  ^'  moor  of  the  dairy  place.' 


t> 


to  1570]  THE   KING  OF   CARRICK  385 

Earl  Gilbert,  persuaded,  it  was  said,  by  his  young  wife,  Margaret, 
daughter  of  Lord  Glammis,  declared  himself  a  Protestant.  Un* 
fortunately  he  did  not  adorn  the  doctrine  he  professed. 

By  a  letter  dated  at  Amboise,  25th  March  1559,  the  young 
Queen  Mary  and  her  husband  Francis  had  asked  Cardinal 
Sermoneta  to  confirm  Thomas  Hay  (second  son  of  Hay  of 
Dalgety,  a  cadet  of  the  Errols)  as  Abbot  of  Glenluce ;  as  also 
an  annuity  of  £100  out  of  the  revenues  of  the  abbey  to  Mr. 
Patrick  Vaus.  Both  were  conceded.  This  Abbot  was  the  pro- 
genitor of  the  Hays  of  Park. 

In  1562,  for  a  matter  unexplained,  we  find  Patrick  Agnew, 
Sheriff  of  Galloway  ;  John  Gordon  of  Lochinvar,  Finlay  Camp- 
bell of  Corswall,  William  Adair  of  Kynhilt,  Master  Patrick 
Vaus,  Parson  of  Wigtown ;  John  Gordon  of  Barskeoch,  Matthew 
Campbell,  Sheriff  of  Ayr ;  and  Hugh  Kennedy,  "  fader-brother  " 
to  the  Earl  of  Cassilis,  denounced  for  not  appearing  as  witnesses 
before  the  Council  when  summoned.  In  1563  Queen  Mary 
married  secondly  her  cousin  Lord  Darnley,  who,  with  his  father, 
the  Earl  of  Lennox,  had  a  common  ancestor  with  the  Stewarts 
of  Garlics ;  Sir  Alexander  (of  Garlics)  and  his  son  being  both 
present  at  the  marriage,  the  latter  being  one  of  the  fourteen 
knighted  on  the  occasion.  Sir  Alexander  was  presented  with  a 
snuflP-box,  still  preserved  at  Galloway  House,  inscribed  :  "  The 
gift  of  Henry,  Lord  Darnley,  to  his  cousin  Sir  Alexander  Stewart 
of  Garlies." 

The  close  connection  of  the  Garlics  Stewarts  with  the  king 
consort  accounts  for  their  having,  alone  among  their  Galloway 
neighbours,  remained  unsoftened  to  Mary  during  her  subsequent 
troubles. 

During  twenty  years  preceding  these  times,  many  men  of 
blameless  life  had  been  cruelly  sacrificed  for  endeavouring  to 
bring  the  Church  practice  to  the  touchstone  of  the  Bible.  When, 
therefore,  the  reforming  party  became  masters  of  the  situation, 
they  would  have  been  more  than  human  had  they  accorded 
their  opponents  that  fuU  toleration  which  Catholics  themselves 
denounced  as  wrong.     Consequently  we  find,  in  1563,  the  Bishop 

VOL.  I  2  c 


386    HEREDITAEY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [AD.  1559 

of  St.  Andrews  arraigned  for  ''  saying  and  hearing  Mass/'  and 
forty-seven  others  charged  with  attempts  to  restore  Popery. 

The  Kennedys  of  Culzean  and  Barquhanny  were  charged  with 
coming  with  two  hundred  persons  "bodin  in  fear  of  weir"  to 
the  parish  church  of  Kirkoswald.  And  Malcolm  Fleming,  Com- 
mendator  of  Whithorn,  Sirs  the  Keverend  Thomas  Montgomery 
and  William  Tailzefeir,  had  to  underlie  the  law  "for  indecently 
and  irreverently  abusing  the  Sacrament  of  our  Lord's  body 
and  blood,  in  contravention  of  our  Sovereign  Lady's  procla- 
mation." 

The  Lords  of  Assize  were  Andrew  Stewart,  Lord  Ochiltree, 
Maxwell  of  Terregles,  the  Laird  of  Lochinvar,  the  Sheriff  of  Gal- 
loway, Dunbar  of  Mochrum,  Dunbar  of  Baldoon,  and  four  other 
lairds  of  Ayrshire ;  the  doom  pronounced  being  that  the  two 
Kennedys  be  put  in  ward  in  Edinburgh  Castle,  and  the  Whit- 
horn churchmen  in  the  Castle  of  Stirling,  there  to  remain  during 
the  pleasure  of  the  queen.^ 

When  the  government  was  taken  out  of  Mary's  hands  the 
regent  courted  the  co-operation  of  the  Galloway  baronage. 
They  were  frequently  summoned  for  assistance  and  consultation ; 
thus  we  find  in  1567,  letters  ordered  to  be  directed  severally  "to 
Patrick  Agnew,  Sheriff  of  Wigtown ;  John  Gordon  of  Lochinvar, 
Thomas  M'Clellan  of  Bomby,  John  Gordon  of  Ardes,  Alexander 
Gordon  of  Troqueer,  William  Gordon  of  Craighlaw,  and  Michael, 
Lord  Carlisle,  desiring  them  to  appear  before  my  Lord  Begent, 
be  the  6th  day  of  October  next  to  come,  to  give  their  advice 
and  judgement  anent  the  establishment  of  universaU  justice  and 
goodness  within  the  bounds  of  the  said  marches,  and  for  remeid 
of  divers  disorders  and  disobediences  committed  by  the  in- 
habiters  of  the  west  country."  * 

We  mentioned  the  enterprise  of  certain  merchant  burgesses 
of  Wigtown  in  trading  to  France  :  it  seems  greater  dangers 
attended  much  shorter  voyages.  The  sheriff  was  obliged  to 
address  a  remonstrance  to  the  English  government,  praying 
''that  compensation  and  redress  be  made  to  WiUiam  Wauss, 

^  Fitcaim.  '  Privy  Council  R^;i8ter. 


to  1570]  THE  KING  OP  CAKRICK  387 

John  Martin,  and  William  Gordon,  merchants  of  Wigtown, 
whose  ships  had  been  seized  and  spoiled  by  Shane  O'Neil  and 
others  in  Ireland."  Also  "  for  a  cargo  plundered  in  the  harbour 
of  Carlingford  by  the  said  Shane  and  Ferdonagh  Macgenis." 
The  good  Queen  Bess  graciously  acknowledged  receipt  of  the 
petition,  which  she  desired  her  Lord  Justice  to  reply  to  and 
remedy.  It  is  calendared  in  the  State  Paper  Office,  "  The  com- 
plaint of  certain  merchant  burgesses  of  Wigtown,  commanding 
Sir  Thomas  Cusacke  to  deal  in  the  matter,"  dated  9th  January 
1595. 

When  Mary  was  deposed  on  her  marriage  with  Bothwell, 
the  Galloway  baronage  generally  signed  the  bond,  recognising 
the  prince  as  king.  But  when  the  beautiful  queen  effected  her 
escape  from  Lochleven  Castle,  most  of  these  same  lairds  donned 
her  colours,  the  Stewarts  of  Garlics,  Dunbars,  and  M'Kies  only 
excepted.  In  the  east,  Lords  Herries  and  Maxwell,  the  Abbot 
of  Dundrennan,  Lochinvar,  M'Clellan  of  Bomby,  the  Laird  of 
Drumlanrig ;  in  the  west,  the  Sheriff,  the  Bishop,  the  Abbots  of 
Soulseat  and  Glenluce,  Baillie  of  Dunragit,  Patrick  Yaux, 
M'CuUoch,  Gordon  of  Craighlaw,  and  many  Kennedys,  flocked 
to  the  queen's  standard.  Cassilis  was  there,  and  shook  hands 
with  Lochinvar ;  and  Lord  Fleming  as  cordially  fraternised  with 
the  Sheriff,  who  had  so  lately  thinned  his  breeding  stock  in  the 
church  lands  of  Cruggleton. 

The  queen's  partisans  outnumbered  the  king's ;  but  so  hot- 
headed were  the  Galloway  knights,  that  in  their  haste  to  break 
a  lance  for  their  fair  mistress,  they  joined  battle  without  order 
or  concert  on  the  13th  May  1568,  and  were  totally  defeated. 

An  amusing  incident  of  the  retreat  shows  that  the  instinct 
to  appropriate  their  neighbour's  horse  was  as  strong  in  the  true 
Gallovidian  as  in  the  days  of  the  Black  Douglas.  When  the 
Galloway  spearmen  saw  that  the  battle  was  lost,  with  great 
presence  of  mind  passing  quickly  to  the  rear,  they  remounted 
themselves  on  the  pick  of  the  spare  horses  of  the  other  divisions, 
and  thus  easily  distanced  their  pursuers,  among  whom  were 
many  of  their  former  allies,  who  joined  their  opponents  in  the 


388     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [AD.  1559 

useless  chase.^  "With  these  they  furnished  a  bodyguard,  which, 
headed  by  Lord  Hemes,  accompanied  Mary  in  a  rapid  flight  to 
Dundrennan;*  whence  she  crossed  the  Solway,  to  return  no 
more  to  Scotland. 

Their  adherence  to  the  losing  side  proved  a  serious  matter  to 
the  Galwegians.  The  following  year  the  Eegent  Murray  entered 
the  province  from  the  eastward,  and  easily  took  Dumfries ;  but 
Lochinvar  refusing  to  yield,  he  burned  Kenmore  Castle  to  the 
ground.  Fortunately  for  the  Wigtownshire  barons  the  regent's 
army  fell  short  of  supplies,  and  instead  of  advancing  turned 
backwards  and  lived  at  free  quarters  on  the  lands  of  the  Max- 
wells and  Drumlanrig. 

A  fiery  summons,  however,  was  issued,  ordering  them  all  to 
come  in  and  make  their  submission,  which  appears  to  have  been 
unattended  to  in  the  first  instance,  and  reissued  by  Lennox  two 
years  later.  The  summons  is  dated  1569,  but  endorsed  "  The 
charge  of  Lennox  upon  certain  barons  and  gentlemen  in  Gal- 
loway, 1571."  *    It  was  as  follows  : 

"  James,  by  the  grace  of  God,  with  advice  and  consent  of  our 
dearest  cousin,  our  regent, — ^We  charge  straitly  Patrick  Agnew, 
Sheriflf  of  Galloway;  Hugh  Kennedy  of  Chappell,  Master  Patrick 
Vaux  of  Bambarroch,  Thomas  Baillie  of  Little  Dunraggit, 
Andrew  Bailzie  of  Dunraggit,  Alexander  Gordon  of  Craighlaw, 
Thomas  Hay,  Abbot  of  Glenluce  ;  Archibald  Kennedy  of 
Sinnyness,  William  Kennedy,  M'CuUoch  of  Ardwell,  M'Cul- 
loch  of  Kelleser,  to  compeer  personally  before  our  dearest 
goodsir  and  Eegent,  upon  the  20th  of  March  inst.,  at  Ayr, 
to  answer  such  things  as  shall  be  laid  to  their  charge,  under 
the  pain  of  tresson ;  with  certification  to  any  of  them  gif 
they  failzie,  ye  said  day  being  by-past,  they  shall  be  repute, 
halden,  esteemit,  demesnit,  and  pursuit  with  fire  and  sword,  as 

^  If  there  happens  to  be  any  chase,  either  fleeing  or  following,  whoever  he  be 
that  takes  his  fellow's  horse,  and  does  not  as  soon  as  he  comes  back  deliver  it  to 
the  sheriff,  he  shall  be  treated  as  a  traitor. — Douglas's  Border  Ordinances,  No.  5. 

^  She,  seeing  herself  deprived  of  the  day,  fleies  with  the  Master  of  Maxwell 
and  his  companey  of  Galloway  men  quho  escaped  on  their  fellows'  horsses  that 
had  endured  the  brunt  of.  the  battell. — Balfour,  i.  344. 

«  State  Paper  Office. 


to  1570]  THE  KING  OF   CARRICK  389 

traitors  and  enemies  to  God,  ns  theit  sovereign,  and  their  native 
countrie." 

The  day  after  the  arrival  of  Mary  and  her  attendants  at 
Carlisle  she  wrote  to  CassUis,  pleased  with  her  reception,  and 
blissfully  ignorant  of  her  future  fata  The  letter  is  in  the  Culzean 
charter-chest,. and  we  believe  has  never  before  been  published: 

"  Traist  Cusing, — ^Forsamekle  as  I  for  the  salftie  of  my  bodie 
findand  na  suir  acces  nor  place  within  my  realme  to  retire  me  at 
this  tyme,  as  ye  may  knaw,  I  was  constraignit  to  leve  the  samin 
and  to  pas  in  this  cuntrey  of  Ingland,  quhair  I  assuir  yow  I 
have  bene  Bycht  weill  Bessauit  and  honorablie  accompaigned 
and  traicted.  I  have  deliberit  to  pas  fortherward  in  France 
to  pray  the  King  my  gude  broder  to  support  and  help  me  to 
delyuer  and  Eeleue  my  Eealme  of  sic  Eebelliouis  troublis  and 
oppressionis  that  now  regnis  within  the  samin,  and  to  depart 
furth  of  this  toun  the  xxiiij  day  of  this  Instant  moneth,  Thair- 
fore  I  pray  you  eflfectuouslie  traist  cusing  that  ye  in  the 
menetjrme  hald  yourself  constant  in  my  seruice  and  aduerteiss 
your  freinds  and  neighbouris  to  do  the  samin,  and  to  be  in 
readienes  to  serue  me  quhan  the  occatioun  sail  offer  as  ye  have 
done  trewlie  afoir  this  tyme,  Speciallie  at  the  last  battall  quhair 
(as  I  am  adwerteist)  ye  have  done  Bycht  weill  your  deuoir,  ye 
beand  on  your  featis  quhilk  sail  nocht  be  forgit  be  me  in  tyme 
coming.  With  the  help  of  God  I  houp  to  returne  agane  about 
the  XV  day  of  August  nixt  with  gud  company  for  the  effect  fore- 
said God  willing.  This  I  beleve  ye  will  do  as  my  traist  is  and 
wes  ay  in  you,  And  for  to  mak  ane  end  of  my  bill  I  will  com- 
mit you  to  the  protectioun  of  the  eternall  God.  AT  Carlell 
the  XX  day  of  Maij  1568.  Marie  R 

"  I  pray  you  my  lord  excuss  this  stamp  because  the  quene 
hes  na  uthir  at  this  tyme. 

"  To  my  lord  Erie  of  Cassilis." 

The  queen  from  her  English  prison  sent  Lord  Bambarroch 
"a  grant  of  the  escheat  of  Alexander  M'Kie,  because  of  his 
assisting  James,  Earl  of  Moray,  in  the  downcasting  of  Loch- 


390     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  I  5  59 

invar's  place  of  Kenmure."  This,  of  course,  firom  the  circum- 
staDces,  was  inoperative. 

The  "unlaw"  of  this  period  was  much  aggravated  by  the 
fact  that  whilst  the  government  was  carried  on  in  the  name  of 
James  YI.,  Mary's  partisans  were  the  most  influential  in  Gal- 
loway, where,  the  Sheriff  himself  being  a  "  queen's  man,"  the 
"  king's  men  "  ran  riot.  Gradually  the  former  opened  their  eyes 
to  the  hoplessness  of  Mary's  cause,  and  made  their  submissions 
to  the  regent ;  but  great  had  been  the  complications  when  the 
royal  authority  was  thus  in  abeyanca  Official  documents  sug- 
gest situations  which  would  seem  extravagant  in  pages  of  fiction. 

Sir  Alexander  M'Kie  of  Myrtoun  was  a  "  king's  man,"  and 
having  insufficient  provision  for  a  second  son,  saw  his  way  of 
setting  him  up  at  the  expense  of  a  partisan  of  the  queen's. 

Alexander  Vaux,  when  killed  at  Pinkey,  had  left  as  his 
heiress  an  infant  daughter,  Helen,  who  was  brought  up  by  her 
uncle  Patrick  (the  future  Lord  of  Session),  who  was  out  for  the 
queen,  leaving  his  wife  and  ward  in  his  house  of  Carscreugh. 

M'Kie  formed  the  bold  plan  of  seizing  this  infant  heiress 
and  marrying  her  to  his  son.  It  is  evident  that  he  secured  some 
assistance  through  political  partisanship,  from  the  fact  that  the 
Stewarts  of  Grarlies,  the  Dunbars,  and  the  Johnstons,  the  only 
"  king's  men  "  of  note  in  the  west,  were  proved  to  have  been  alone 
cognisant  of  his  intentions.^ 

Under  silence  of  night,  on  31st  July  1568,  a  band  of  M'Kies 
forced  an  entrance  into  Carscreugh,  and,  despite  the  elder 
lady's  tears,  not  only  robbed  her  of  her  charge,  but  deliberately 
plundered  the  place  and  premises,  carrying  away  jewellery,  orna- 
ments, the  family  plate,  a  large  sum  of  money,  and  the  title-deeds. 

For  this  they  were  formally  put  to  the  horn  on  the  11th  of 
August;  but  the  whole  machinery  of  law  was  out  of  gear,  and  no 
arrest  was  made. 

^  Mr.  Vans  Agnew  tells  us  that  the  plotting  was  suspected,  and  a  letter 
written  to  put  Patrick  Vans  on  his  guard  ;  also  that  Alexander  Stewart  younger 
of  Qarlies,  a  week  after  the  oatrage  was  oommitted,  wrote  that  he  had  been  told 
that  his  own  fother  and  the  Laird  of  Mochrom  were  both  privy  to  M'Eie's 
enterprise. — Bambarroch's  Cforregpondenee,  47. 


to  1570]  THE  KING   OF  CARRICK  391 

It  should  be  premised  that  immediately  after  her  father's 
death  the  gift  of  Helen's  wardship  and  marriage  had  been 
granted  to  Sir  John  Bellenden/  the  Lord- Justice  Clerk,  so  that 
the  aggrieved  parties  seemed  to  have  unusual  facilities  for 
bringing  the  outrage  to  the  knowledge  of  the  government. 
Nevertheless  much  delay  followed  the  homing,  and  it  was  not 
for  several  weeks  that  the  regent  despatched  special  messengers 
to  the  sheriffs  of  Ayr,  Galloway,  and  Dumfries,  with  warrants 
for  the  arrest  of  the  abductors.  That  to  Sir  Patrick  Agnew  is 
as  follows : 

"  Forsamekle  as  it  is  shewn  to  us  that  Sir  Archibald  M'Eie 
of  Myrtoun  M'Kie,  Patrick  M'Kie  his  brother,  Duncan  M'Kie, 
burgess  of  Quhithom;  John  M'Elie,  son  to  Isabel  Mure,  in 
Torhouse ;  Sandy  M'Eie  (ai^d  other  household  servants  named)^ 
in  maist  awful  and  cruel  manner  assieged  Mr.  Patrick  Waus's 
dwelling-place  of  Garscreugh  in  his  absence,  his  wyf  and  his  pupill 
Helene,  with  convocation  of  Lieges  bodin  in  fear  of  weir,  and 
thereafter  perforce  broke  up  the  doors  thereof,  and  maisterful 
reft  and  ravished;  the  said  Helene  being  under  the  age  of  eleven 
years ;  had  her  away  with  them,  and  yet  uses  her  in  thraldom 
and  captivity  at  their  pleasure ;  and  also  theftuously  by  way 
of  stouthrief,  under  silence  of  night,  away  took  furth  of  his 
coffers  in  gold  and  silver  marks  the  sum  of  8000  marks,  together 
with  gold  and  silver  work,  jewels,  and  others,  to  the  value  of 
£3000  ;  and  since  they,  denounced  as  rebels  and  put  to  the  horn, 
yet  haunts,  frequents,  and  repairs  within  the  said  town  of 
Wigtown,  and  resorts  to  kirks  and  markets,  we  charge  you 
straitly  thir  our  letters  sene,  to  search,  seek,  and  take  them 
wherever  they  may  be  apprehended;  and  gif  any  of  them  pass  to 
strengths  and  houses  to  lay  siege  thereto,  and  gif  they  refuse  to 
be  taken,  or  on  taking  happen  slaine,  our  sheriffs  shall  not  incur 
danger  nor  skaith  in  their  persons  or  goods  :  And  we  charge  all 
barronns,  gentlemen,  and  freeholders  to  assist  our  said  Sheriff  of 
Wigtown  and  his  deputes,  under  pain  to  be  called  assisters  in 
rebellion,  as  will  answer  to  us  thereupon.  At  Edinburgh  from 
under  our  signet  7th  Sept.  1568." 


392  HEfiEDITARY   SHERIFFS   OP   GALLOWAY   [A.D.  I  5  59 

A  proclamation  was  consequently  made  fiX)m  the  market 
cross  at  Wigtown,  warning  all  the  lieges  neither  to  buy,  advance 
money  or  goods  on,  or  assist  in  concealing  or  disposing  of,  any 
of  the  spoils  of  Carscreugh ;  but  long  before  this  was  read  the 
prize  for  which  the  M'Kies  had  risked  their  heads  was  far 
beyond  the  sheriff's  jurisdiction.  Helen  was  where  sheriff- 
sergeants  would  find  it  difficult  to  follow — in  the  Johnston's 
stronghold  of  the  Lockwood.  Here  the  ceremony  of  marriage 
between  the  frightened  child  and  the  needy  cadet  had  been 
gone  through  before  an  assembly  of  persons  in  good  position, 
not  one  of  whom  seems  to  have  protested. 

Now  what  action  did  my  Lord  Justice-Clerk  take  when  he 
heard  of  this  abduction  of  his  ward,  whom,  if  legally  entitled 
to  fatten  on,  he  might  at  least  have  been  expected  to  protect  ? 

Outrunning  the  regent's  messengers,  penetrating  with  soft 
words  or  a  silver  key  the  defences  of  the  stronghold  which  sets 
all  sheriffs'  officei's  at  defiance,  a  limb  of  the  law  in  his  lord- 
ship's interest  found  his  way  into  the  inmost  recesses  of  the 
ladies'  bower,  and  there,  before  a  family  circle  of  Johnstons  and 
M'Kies  (who  were  laughing  in  their  sleeves),  as  if  the  Lockwood 
was  her  usual  home,  and  ignoring  the  fact  of  the  marriage,  with 
perfect  gravity  he  stated  that  the  Lord  Justice-Clerk,  solicitous 
for  the  comfort  of  his  ward,  had  sent  him  to  offer  her  the  choice 
of  four  elder  sons  of  good  family  in  marriage,  namely  those  of 
the  Sheriff  of  Galloway,  the  Laird  of  Garthland,  M'Culloch  of 
Myrtoun,  and  M*Culloch  of  Killeser.  The  sheriff's  son  was  not 
of  marriageable  age;  whether  the  others  were  so  or  not  we 
cannot  tell.  Helen  was  no  longer  free  to  choose;  but  for  this  he 
little  cared,  having  thus  publicly,  and  evidently  by  preconcerted 
arrangement,  made  the  above  proposal,  following  it  forthwith 
with  a  protest  as  follows  : 

"  Ane  honourable  man,  James  M'Clellan  of  the  Nuntown, 
procurator  to  ane  noble  man  Sir  John  Bellendon  of  Auchinoule, 
having  offered  the  said  Helene  to  choose  whether  she  would 
marry  one  of  the  four  persons  stated,  equal  to  her  in  living  and 
blood,  and  of  the  quhilks  personis  the  said  Helene  refusit  to 


r 


to  1570]  THE   KING   OF   CARRICK  393 

tak  ony  of  them  in  marriage,  wherefore  the  said  M'Clellan 
cledms  for  the  said  nobleman  the  double  and  treble  of  the  avail 
of  marriage.  This  done  at  the  Lockwood,  about  12  hours  of 
noon,  6th  day  of  Sept  1658,  before  thir  honourable  men: 
John  Johnston  of  that  ilk,  James  Johnston  of  Cony,  John 
Johnston  of  Gretno,  David  Johnston  in  the  Clairquhite,  Herbert 
Johnston,  servant  to  Mr.  Patrick  Waux  of  Cascrew."  ^ 

The  whole  affair  is  scandalous.  Sir  John  Bellenden  must 
have  been  aware  of  the  impossibility  of  Helen's  compliance ; 
moreover,  though  he  was  Lord  President  of  the  Council,  the 
M'Kies  were  never  brought  to  justice. 

Shortly  after  Alexander  M'Eie,  in  whose  interest  the  crime 
had  been  committed,  wrote  to  the  uncle  apologising  and  offer- 
ing to  make  terms.  This  Patrick  Yaux  seems  to  have  thought 
it  best  to  do.  The  marriage  was  acknowledged,  and  8350  marks 
given  by  the  guardian  as  his  niece's  tocher. 

The  one  redeeming  feature  in  the  case  is  that  the  M'Kies 
seem  to  have  used  the  young  lady  well,  and  that  her  married 
life  was  happier  than  her  rough  wooing  might  have  led  her  to 
expect. 

The  charter-chest  discloses  another  act  of  turbulence  in  the 
province  resulting  from  the  issue  of  Langside. 

Lord  Fleming,  the  great  Chamberledn  of  Scotland,  had  by 
a  grants  dated  1567,  received  a  gift  of  the  rents  of  the  Priory 
of  Whithorn,  including  the  lands  of  Cruggleton,  either  in  co- 
partnery with,  or  on  the  forfeiture  of,  Malcolm  Fleming,  the 
former  commendator.  But  after  the  queen's  defeat  the  regent's 
half  brother,  Bobert  Stewart  (afterwards  Earl  of  Orkney),  super- 

^  Some  recoUection  of  this  strange  incident  seems  reflected  in  a  genuine  old 

Galloway  ballad.     Carscrengh  is  altered  to  Craignarget,  and  there  are  other 

changes  in  the  names.    One  of  these  couplets  heads  the  present  chapter ;  the  next 

was  as  follows : — 

"  Which  of  these  men,"  they  asked  her  then, 
"  That  should  her  husband  be  " ; 
Bnt  Bcomftilly  she  did  reply, 

"  111  wed  nane  of  the  three." 
With  scorn  and  pride  she  answer  made, 

"  You'll  ne'er  chooee  one  for  me, 
Nor  will  I  wed  against  my  mind 

For  all  their  high  degree." 

(At  fall  in  Sharpe'B  rare  BaJka  Book,) 


394  HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY   [AJX   1 5  59 

seded  both  as  Commendator  of  WhithoriL  The  Flemings 
refused  to  give  np  the  abbey  lands ;  and  Lord  Fleming,  mnster- 
iog  his  forces,  marched  off  to  maintain  his  preteDsiona  The 
sheriff  on  being  appealed  to  sided  with  Lord  Bobert  Stewart, 
and  exercising  his  functions  in  a  style  worthy  of  his  great- 
grandfather, swooped  down  on  the  pastures  of  Croggleton,  and 
swept  off  the  whole  of  Fleming^s  stock  upon  the  disputed  lands.^ 

The  r^ent  had  already  written  to  Bambairoch :  *'  Traist 
friend  .  .  .  We  understand  that  certane  fntemen  and  horsemen 
ar  presentlie  cum  in  Galloway,  direct  be  the  Lord  Flemyngis, 
quhilkis  intendis  or  ar  alreddy  assegeing  the  hous  of  Cmgiltoun, 
pertening  to  our  brother  the  Commendator  of  Quhithoma 
.  .  .  We  pray  you  therefore  maist  effectuusly,  as  ye  will  euir 
schaw  us  plesser  and  guidwill,  that  with  all  possible  diligence 
ye  convene  your  kin,  freindis,  seruandis,  .  .  .  and  releve  our 
said  brother  of  the  said  assege,  and  persew  the  authouris  thairof 
with  all  hostilitie. — ^At  Edinburgh,  the  xxiij  of  Aprile  1569. — 
In  traist  your  assurit  freind,  James,  Begent.^ 

Lord  Fleming  raised  the  siege,  leaving  Ins  kinsman  Malcolm 
in  the  sheriff's  hands. 

Lord  Bobert  Stewart  (a  natural  son  of  James  Y.)  was 
connected  with  Galloway  by  his  marriage  with  Lady  Janet 
Kennedy,  daughter  of  the  third  (good)  Earl  of  Gassilis.  He 
greatly  profited  by  the  temporalities  of  the  Church,  being  Com- 
mendator of  Holyrood  as  well  as  of  Whithorn,  exchanging  some 
of  these  with  great  advantage  for  those  of  the  Bishopric  of 
Orkney.  He  was  created  Earl  of  Orkney  1581,  still  drawing  an 
income  from  Galloway,  as  in  the  Great  Seal  Begister  there  is  a 
letter  of  provision  to  Patrick  Stewart,  fifth  son  of  Bobert  Earl  of 
Orkney,  from  the  Priory  of  Whithorn.  His  half-brother  the 
Begent  Murray  was  murdered  21st  January  1570,  and  succeeded 

^  In  a  testament-datire  of  Malcolm,  Commendator  of  Whithorn,  given  np  by 
John  Lord  Fleming,  exeoutor  (catalogued  among  debts  donbtful  of  reoovBry),  are 
item  :  By  Patrick  Agnew,  Sheriff  of  Wigtown,  for  17  score  yowes  and  17  tapes 
spulziet  be  him  in  ye  tyme  of  my  being  in  Cmggleton.  Ye  said  yowes  and 
tupes  with  the  proferts  estimat  to  £1000. — OumbematUd  Papers. 

'  Bambarroch's  Corretipondenee,  61.  A  copy  of  this  letter  is  in  the  Loch- 
naw  charter-chest 


to  1570]  THE   KING  OF   CARRICK  395 

by  the  Earl  of  Lennox,  father  of  Damley.  He  in  his  turn  was 
attacked  and  killed  at  Stirling,  where  the  gallant  Alexander 
Stewart  of  Gktrlies  fell  fighting  bravely  in  defence  of  his  kins- 
man.^ 

Meanwhile  the  fourth  Earl  of  Cassilis,  who  in  the  sense  of 
an  unchecked  tyrant  had  come  to  be  called  the  King  of  Carrick, 
had  misdoings  of  every  sort  attributed  to  him.  In  the  words  of 
an  old  histoiy  of  the  Kennedys,  "  this  last  Gilbert  was  a  very 
greedy  man,  he  cared  not  how  he  got  land  so  that  he  could 
come  by  the  same."  He  entered  into  "bloking**  (that  is 
bargaining)  with  the  Abbot  of  Glenluce  for  perpetual  feu  of 
some  of  the  abbey  lands ;  but  before  the  deeds  were  signed  the 
abbot  died.  The  earl,  fearing  his  successor  might  prove  less 
pliable,  "dealt'*  with  a  monk  who  undertook  to  draw  out  a 
pretended  agreement  and  forged  the  necessary  signatures,  armed 
with  which  Cassilis  took  possession.  Not  choosing,  however, 
to  be  any  way  in  the  power  of  a  libertine  monk,  "  he  caused  a 
carle  called  Camochan  to  stick  him,"  and  then  fearing  the  carle 
might  peach,  he  moved  a  relative  to  accuse  Camochan  of  theft, 
on  which  he  gave  him  an  assize  in  his  own  courts  and  hanged 
him.  "And  sa,"  concludes  the  relator,  "wes  the  lands  of  Glen- 
luse  conqueist."  ^ 

If  the  above  charges  are  to  be  received  with  a  grain  of 
salt,  a  tale  of  daring  wickedness  issued  &om  the  "  Black  Youte  " 
of  Dunure,  which  the  earl  himself  never  aflTected  to  deny. 

Shortly  after  the  death  of  Quentin  Kennedy  a  Master  Alan 
Stewart  obtained  the  abbacy  of  Crossraguel ;  of  the  temporalities 
of  which  the  earl  determined  to  possess  himself  by  fair  means  or 
by  fouL  Stewart  having  taken  possession,  was,  on  the  morning 
of  the  27th  of  August  1570,  walking  unsuspicously  in  the  wood 
of  Crossraguel,  when  he  was  surprised  by  Lord  ^Cassilis  with 
sixteen  armed  men  in  lus  suite,  who  after  some  "  flattery  and 
deceitful  words  "  persuaded  him  to  go  with  him  to  Dunure ;  he 

^  Alexander  Steward,  young  Laird  of  Garlies,  carried  away  prisoner,  was 
slaine,  bat  it  is  uncertain  whether  by  the  enemie  or  negligentlie  by  the  pursuers. 
— Calderwood,  iii.  140. 

'  Pitcaim,  History  of  the  Kennedy$t  p.  0. 


396     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  I  559 

well  knowing  that  if  he  refused  they  would  have  taken  him  by 
force.  Arrived  there,  he  was  for  a  season  honourably  entreated, 
"  gif,"  as  he  ingenuously  remarked,  "  a  prisoner  can  think  any 
entertainment  pleasing."  Six  persons  were  specially  appointed 
to  wait  upon  him ;  but  he  felt  they  were  simply  his  keepers. 
From  time  to  time  he  was  civilly  asked  to  sign  a  feu-charter 
the  abbey  lands  (a  nineteen  and  five  year  tak  of  the  whole 
fruits,  duties,  and  teinds,  of  all  the  kirks  and  parsonages  pertain- 
ing to  it) ;  he  replying  that  this  was  impossible,  as  he  had  already 
disponed  them  to  ''  kyndlie  tenants"  ;  the  earl,  finding  blandish- 
ments fell  flat,  said,  as  a  ghastly  joke,  that  "  he  would  now  prove 
whether  a  collation  could  work  that  which  his  previous  good 
cheer  had  not,"  and  had  him  taken  to  a  secret  chamber,  with  such 
as  were  bidden  to  the  banquet.  In  the  victim's  own  words, "  On 
the  first  of  September,  after  long  boasting,  he  caused  me  to  be 
carried  by  John  Kennedy  his  baxter,  John  M'Clue  his  cook, 
Alexander  Eichardson  his  pantryman,  Alexander  Eccles,  and  Sir 
William  Todd  (chaplain;,  to  the  Black  Voute,  where  the 
tormentors  denuded  me  of  my  clothes  perforce,  except  only  my 
sark  and  doublet,  and  then  bound  my  hands  at  the  shackle 
banes  with  a  cord,  as  he  did  both  my  feet,  and  bound  my  soles 
betwixt  an  iron  chimney  and  a  fira 

"  The  first  course  was  :  '  My  Lord  Abbot,  will  you  please 
confess  here  that  with  your  own  consent  you  remain  in  my 
company,' — '  Would  you,  my  lord,  that  I  should  lie  for  pleasure  ? 
It  was  against  my  will  I  came,  and  against  it  that  I  stay.'  '  But,' 
said  the  earl,  *  you  shall  remain.' — *  I  am  not  able  to  resist  your 
will  and  pleasure.'  '  You  maun  then  obey  me,'  said  the  earl, 
and  certain  parchments  were  offered  me  to  subscribe.  I  declined. 
Efter  the  erle  espyed  repugnance  and  that  he  could  not  come  to 
his  purpose  by  fair  means,  he  commanded  his  cooks  to  prepare 
the  banquet.  And  first  they  fleeced  the  sheep  even  to  his  skin; 
and  next  they  bound  him  to  the  chimney,  his  legs  to  the  one 
end,  his  arms  to  the  other :  and  as  they  began  to  bait  the  fire 
that  the  roast  should  not  bum,  but  might  roast  in  soppe,  thye 
spared  not  flambing  with  oil." 


to  1570]  THE   KING  OF  CARRICK  397 

In  that  torment  they  held  the  poor  man, "  who  ofttimes  cried, 
*  Fye  upon  you !  will  ye  ding  whingares  into  me,  and  put  me 
out  of  the  world,  or  put  a  barrel  of  powder  under  me.  There  is 
as  meikle  gold  in  my  purse  as  will  buy  enough  to  put  me  out 
of  pain.' 

''On  this  the  said  earl  bade  his  servant  Bichard  put  a 
serviette  in  lus  throat  that  the  voice  might  be  stopped.  At  length 
the  King  of  Carrick,  perceiving  the  roast  to  be  enough,  com- 
manded it  to  be  taken  from  the  fire  ;  and  the  Earl  said  grace 
thus :  *  Benedicite,  Jesu  Maria :  You  are  the  most  obstinate  man 
ever  I  saw.  Had  I  known  ye  wad  have  been  so  stubborn  I 
would  not  for  £1000  have  handled  you  so.' " 

The  half-roasted  abbot  was  however  still  kept  a  prisoner. 
The  earl "  resorting  to  the  same  practices  on  the  7th  of  September, 
which  being  performed  at  the  11  hours  at  night,"  as  the  abbot 
continues,  "seeing  that  my  flesh  was  consumed  and  burnt 
to  the  bone,  where  through  I  shall  never  be  well  in  this 
life  time,  I  condescended  to  their  purpose,  and  the  Earl  got 
all  his  pieces  subscribet  as  weel  as  a  half  roasted  hand  could 
do  it."  1 

Kennedy  of  Bargany,  whose  sister-in-law  was  Stewart's  wife, 
hearing  of  the  outrage,  had  procured  "  letters  of  deliverance  " 
from  the  Court,  which  the  King  of  Carrick  despised,  and  "  for  his 
contempt  was  put  to  the  horn,"  he  caring  as  little  for  the  one  as 
for  the  other. 

Bargany,  who  had  only  been  partially  informed,  getting  wind 
of  what  had  really  happened  to  the  abbot,  and  "  perceiving  that 
the  ordinary  justice  could  neither  help  him  nor  yet  the  afflicted 
man,"  attacked  the  house  of  Dunure  in  such  force  that  he  broke 
in  and  released  the  abbot — the  earl  disappearing  by  a  back  way. 
"  The  brute,"  as  he  is  deservedly  called  in  the  record,  "  flew  fra 
Carrick  to  Galloway,  and  there  so  suddenly  assembled  herd 
and  hyreman  that  pertained  to  the  band  of  the  Kennedys,"  that 
in  an  inconceivably  short  time  he  in  turn  besieged  Bargany 

^  Act  of  Privy  Council  anent  the  complaint  made  by  Mr.  Alane  Stewart    Also 
MemoriaU  of  Transactions  in  Scotland  frojn  1569  to  1573,  by  Richard  Bannatyne. 


398     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  1 5 59 

with  the  abbot  in  the  house  of  Dunure,  beside  himself  with 
rage,  and  vowing  vengeance. 

The  Laird  of  Baigany  meanwhile  had  had  letters  granted  him 
calling  on  all  the  king's  good  subjects  to  assist,  which  found  so 
ready  a  response  in  Kyle  and  Gunninghame  that  the  servants 
of  the  earl  were  outnumbered ;  "  perceiving  which,  the  earl's 
brother  and  the  Master  of  Cassilis  in  their  heat  would  lay  fyre 
to  the  dungeon,  with  no  small  boasting  that  enemies  within  the 
house  should  die."  ^  Those  within  remonstrated ;  but  they  per- 
sisted in  their  attempts  till  *'  the  wind  of  an  hagbut "  blasted  the 
Master's  shoulder,  when  they  desisted,  and  the  earl's  company 
drew  back  from  the  house. 

Bargany  carried  the  Abbot  to  Ayr,  where,  at  the  market  cross 
he  declared  how  cruelly  he  had  been  entreated,  and  publicly 
revoked  the  acts  done  in  his  extremity.  On  the  27th  April 
1571  the  earl  was  arraigned  before  the  Begent  and  Lords  of 
Privy  Council  at  Stirling,  who  ordered  him  to  be  detained  until 
he  found  surety  in  £2000  that  neither  he  nor  none  that  he  may 
lett  shall  molest  Mr.  Alane  Stewart." 

Beyond  this  detention,  no  further  punishment  was  inflicted 
for  his  barbarous  act ;  but  even  for  this  he  unblushingly  complains 
to  his  kinsman  Vans  of  Barnbarroch,  as  if  he  had  been  harshly 
treated,  for  the  ''  little  matter,"  as  he  styles  it,  between  himself 
and  the  abbot 

He  even  asks  for  his  advice  as  to  whether  he  may  not  be 
demeaning  himself  by  making  any  submission  to  the  regent : 

"  Traist  cusin. — I  have  received  no  word  of  you  since  coming 
here.  The  Abbot  has  written  to  me  that  he  is  willing  the  business 
take  end  which  is  between  us,  but  he  has  not  written  in  what 
manner.  The  Eegent  is  very  urgent  in  the  retaining  of  me  until 
I  give  obedience,  quhair  I  must  do  after  the  advice  of  men  of 
honour. 

"  I  am  somewhat  disappointed  that  you  may  not  have  resort 

^  The  earl's  brother  was  Thomas,  afterwards  Sir  Thomas  Kennedy  of  Calzean, 
tutor  to  his  nephew  the  fifth  earL  On  the  failure  of  the  elder  branch,  1759,  the 
title  went  to  his  direct  descendant,  who  became  ninth  earl. 


to  1570]  THE  KING   OF   CAREICK  399 

to  where  I  am,  that  I  might  confer  with  you  and  have  your 
advice  on  such  great  affairs  as  I  have  to  do.  I  would  you  should 
come  and  speak  with  me  if  you  could  guide  me  any  way. — 
You  assured  cusin  and  good  friend,  Cassalis. 

"  Off  Dumbarton  Castle,  26th  Jime."  ^ 

The  end  of  the  whole  matter  was,  that  the  abbot,  despairing 
of  any  redress  from  the  government,  negotiated  through  Lord 
Boyd,  who  arranged  that  Gassilis  should  pay  £500  to  Stewart  of 
Caimdonald,  to  whom  the  abbot  had  previously  feued  the  land, 
3000  marks  to  the  abbot  himself,  giving  a  bond  of  300  marks  to 
Hugh  Kennedy,  which  Lord  Boyd  himself  had  borrowed,  for 
which  consideration  Lord  Boyd  undertook  to  procure  the  abbot's 
signature  to  a  charter  embodying  all  the  conditions  against 
which  he  had  held  out  in  the  Black  Voute.  The  author  of  the 
Historic,  who  evidently  had  not  heard  all  these  particulars,  states, 
"My  Lord  gave  the  abbot  some  money  to  live  upon,  quhilk 
contented  him."  Concluded,  "and  thus  were  the  lands  of 
Crossraguel  conqueist" 

We  next  find  the  earl  himself  invoking  the  law,  and  that 
in  a  manner  peculiar  to  the  period,  in  the  case  of  a  supporter  of 
his  own,  M'Dowall  of  Garthland,  killed  in  one  of  the  many  feuds 
then  carried  on.     He  thus  writes  to  Lord  Barnbarroch  : 

"Cusin. — This  is  to  advertize  you  that  there  is  a  law  day 
appointed  against  the  27th  of  ^pril  at  Edinburgh,  on  those  who 
are  suspected  and  known  to  be  guilty  of  the  unhonest  slaughter 
of  my  special  friend  and  servant  Uchtred  M'Dowall.*  Whereat 
I  intend,  God  willing,  to  be  accompanied  with  such  friends  and 
servants  as  I  think  needful  to  that  effect,  seeing  that  I  can  do 
no  less  than  to  suitt  and  get  such  remedy  as  the  law  will  provide ; 
desiring  you,  effectuously  as  you  would  serve  me,  to  be  ready  to 

*  Bannatyne's  Memorials;  Privy  Council  Records;  Barabarroch's  Corre- 
spondencc,  p.  76.  Some  of  the  last  deeds  mentioned  are  in  Lord  Ailsa's  charter- 
chest. 

'  The  M^Dowall's  of  Lochinvar  are  the  parties  pointed  at.  The  slaughter  of 
M'Dowall  was  committed  in  the  struggle  of  the  Gordons  with  Gassilis  for  the 
abbey  lands  of  Glenlace.  There  is  no  record  of  their  appearing  to  defend  the  case. 
At  that  period  all  justice  was  in  abeyance. 


400  SHBRIPFS  OP  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  1570 

pass  with  me,  aad  meet  me  at  Ayr  the  6th  of  April  next.  I 
believe  nether  yoa  nor  any  other  that  pertains  to  me  will  grudge 
that  joum^,  any  more  than  if  you  or  any  of  yours  had  Mien  on 
such  evil  handling,  which  God  forbid,  I  should  grudge  any  labour 
to  see  some  order  done  for  it. 

"I  think  it  meetest  thai  even/ -man  shovid  havehisjak.  I 
commit  you  to  God.  Cassalis. 

"  Prom  the  Inch,  22d  March  1570." 

From  the  above  it  would  appear  that  the  king  of  Carrick 
thought,  and  probably  rightly,  that  the  military  maxim  "  Victory 
nsuaUy  falls  to  the  largest  battalions,"  was  as  applicable  in  his 
days  to  battles  in  the  law-courts  as  in  the  field. 


SEAL  or   PAtBlCK  AOMIW,  I57G. 


CHAPTEE  XXIV 

SUPPRESSION  OF  PILGRIMAGES 

A.D.  1670  to  1584 

Ane  gat  a  twist  o'  the  craig ; 

Ane  gat  a  bunch  o'  the  wame ; 
Jamie  Young  got  lamed  o'  a  leg, 

And  syne  ran  walloping  hame. 

Border  Minstrelsy, 

Haying  alienated  the  aCfections  of  the  powerful  branches  of  his 
house,  Earl  Cassilis  seems  to  have  issued  from  his  short  deten- 
tion in  Stirling  "  a  sadder  and  a  wiser  man."  We  have  seen 
that  from  his  prison  he  had  entreated  the  Laird  of  Barnbarroch 
to  come  and  see  "  gif  ye  may  guide  me  in  any  wise." 

A  better  counsellor  he  could  not  have  chosen  ;  Barnbarroch, 
afterwards  his  father-in-law,^  being  remarkable  during  a  long 
life  for  keeping  on  good  terms  with  his  neighbours ;  and  we  may 
feel  assured  that  it  was  by  his  advice  that  the  EarVs  first  act 
when  released  from  Dumbarton  Castle  was  to  ride  straight  to 
his  house  of  the  Inch  and  endeavour  to  place  the  relations 
between  the  Sheriff  and  his  friends  on  the  footing  that  they 
had  been  with  his  family  of  old.  His  approaches  were  made 
in  a  spirit  which  ensured  success ;  he  offering  to  grant  to  the 
Sheriff  and  the  Lairds  of  Garthland,  Einhilt,  and  Myrtoun 
kyndlie  tenancies  of  a  large  portion  of  the  Church  lands  he 
had  acquired  in  the  very  questionable  way  already  mentioned. 

^  Lord  Bambarroch's  mother  was  Marian ,  daughter  of  the  second  Lord 
Kennedy.  He  married  first  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Hugh  Kennedy  of  Girvan 
Mains,  who  died  1572 ;  and  secondly,  1674,  Katherine,  daughter  of  the  third  Earl 
of  Cassilis,  sister  of  the  present  earl. 

VOL.  I  2d 


402  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY   [AD.  1570 

Those  which  came  into  the  sherifiTs  occupation  were  Kyl- 
feather,  Craigburnoch,  and  the  Dougaries.^ 

Shortly  after,  the  sheriff  sublet  a  portion  of  these  to  his 
second  son.  We  make  an  extract  from  the  tack,  as  useful  in 
verifjring  the  family  pedigree :  "Mr.  Patrik  Agnew,  Sheriff  of 
Wigtown,  having  in  tack  and  assedation  all  and  haill  the  lands 
underwritten  of  ane  nobbell  and  potent  Lord,  Gilbert,  Earl  of 
Cassalis ; — ^with  express  consent  and  assent  of  Andro  Agnew, 
my  son,  lets  to  my  weel  beloved  second  lawful  son  Patrik,  all 
and  haill  the  lands  of  Craigberanoche,  together  with  their  pur- 
tenance  and  teind  charges  for  the  years  and  terms  of  19  years," 
etc.  "Signed  at  Wigtown  the  23d  January  1575,  before 
Alexander  Agnew  of  Croach,  Gilbert  Agnew  of  Galdenoche, 
Quentin  Agnew  my  son,  and  Sir  Herbert  Anderson,  notary- 
public." 

On  the  6th  of  September  of  the  same  year  the  sheriff 
acquired  from  John  Johnston,  Commendator  of  Soulseat,  the 
lands  of  Auldbreck,  which  he,  as  his  father  had  hitherto,  held 
as  tenant  to  the  Church, — ^in  fee-simple.^ 

Transcriptions  were  made  of  seisines  of  Dalzerran,  Meikle 
and  Little  Toung,  Sheuchane,^  Marsloch,  Garchlerie,*  by  which 
the  sheriff  had  been  infefted  by  precept  from  the  Bishop  of 
Galloway  in  1550,  and  which  were  now  confirmed  to  him  by 
charters  from  the  state. 

^  Eylfeather,  Cilpbeadair,  "Peter's  church,"  or  "the  piper's  grave"  ;  Craig- 
burnoch,  ** Greagbearnoch,  "cloven  craig";  Dougaries,  dubh  garadh,  "black 
enclosure,"  i,e.  peaty  soil.  The  number  of  clerical  names  on  the  lands  is 
remarkable,  there  being  Altaggart  and  Altibrair,  "  the  priest's  and  the  friar's 
glen";  Knockiebrair,  "the  friar's  knoll";  Kilmacfadzen,  "MTadyen's  cell 
or  church  "  ;  Kilmalloch,  "St.  Malachy's  chapel";  Lagnabanie,  beannacht, 
"  the  hollow  of  the  benediction." 

There  is  also  the  Eyes  of  Eylfeather,  from  the  Norse  oe,  "a  green  oasis  in  the 
moor" ;  as  well  as  Larachane,  "  the  side  of  the  red  deer"  ;  Altigonskie,  "the 
cuckoo's  glen "  ;  with  the  numerical  combinations,  Bardeoch  (da  each),  and 
Altryoch  (tri  each),  "  the  ridge  of  the  two  horses,"  and  "  the  glen  of  the  three 
horses." 

*  Charter  by  Commendator,  dated  6th  September  1675.  Confirmation  by  the 
Crown  1586. 

»  Sheuchane,  Suidheacan,  the  little  seat ;  Garchlerie,  Garthclearach,  the 
cleric's  enclosure.     It  is  now  corrupted  to  Garthleary. 


to  1584]  SUPPRESSION  OP  PILGRIMAGES  403 

The  principal  witnesses  to  these  **  transumpts  "  are :  Master 
Patrick  Vans  of  Bambarroch ;  Eobert  Johnnestown,  his  ser- 
vant ;  Alexander  Vans,  burgess  of  Whithorn ;  Nevin  Agnew,  of 
Graloch  ;  Gilbert  Agnew,  of  Gkildanoch,  with  many  more. 

Acts  of  Parliament  were  falminated  again  and  again  against 
the  leagues  entered  into,  and  the  overgrown  military  establish- 
ments resulting  from  them,  kept  up  by  private  parties. 

"  Na  person  of  whatsoever  quality,  estate,  or  degree  should 
raise  bands  of  men  of  war  on  horse  or  foot,  with  pistolets,  picks, 
spears,  jaks,  splents,  steel  bonnets,  white  harness,  or  other  muni- 
tion, or  make  sound  of  trumpet  or  talbrone,  or  use  culvennes 
with  banners  desplayed,  under  pain  of  death  to  the  raisers,  as 
also  to  those  who  rode  with  them."^  Also  that  none  of  the 
lieges  should  enter  into  leagues  or  bands ;  that  all  bonds  of 
manrent,  and  that  all  who  gave  or  took  them,  should  be  put  in 
ward.* 

Acts  serving  only  as  historic  curiosities,  and  proving  the 
inveteracy  of  the  offences  condemned;  whilst  in  a  somewhat 
contradictory  spirit  the  government  constantly  urged  the 
sheriffs  to  ascertain  that  every  man,  gentle  or  simple,  "  should 
be  weaponed  effeirand  to  his  honour,"  these  weapons  to  be 
shown  twice  in  the  year,  **  at  sic  day  and  place  as  shall  please 
the  sheriff."  8 

Non-possession  of  arms  was  a  rare  delinquency  indeed,  but 
as  any  attention  to  law  "was  long  out  of  use,"  few  of  the 
barons  we  should  imagine  troubled  themselves  to  parade  at 
place  or  time  "as  it  pleased  the  sheriff,"  for  the  Earl  of 
Morton,  apparently  well  aware  of  this,  on  becoming  regent, 
immediately  issued  a  proclamation  commanding  the  sheriffs 
rigidly  to  enforce  such  a  weaponschawing  the  incoming  year. 
Further,  desiring  that  such  inspection  might  be  held  simul- 
taneously over  the  country,  on  the  20th  July  and  10th  Octo- 
ber 1675.     "  And  further,  that  none  should  be  obliged  to  travel 

^  9  Pari.  Qneen  Maxy,  chap.  83. 
'  6  ParL  Queen  Mary,  chap.  48. 
'  6  Pari.  James  Y.,  chaps.  85  and  87. 


404  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY   [A.D.  1570 

an  unreasonable  distance,  the  sheriffs  should  furnish  names  of 
persons  of  note  to  assist  them,  so  that  there  might  be  several 
meeting-places  in  every  shire."  For  that  of  Galloway,  the 
sheriff  named  Sir  Alexander  Stewart  and  the  Laird  of  Gkirth- 
land,  who  are  entered  in  the  record  accordingly. 

In  the  autumn  of  1575  Katherine,  the  sheriffs  eldest 
daughter,  was  married  to  the  heir  of  Larg,  head  of  the  M'Elies, 
whom  Symson  writes  of  ''  as  a  very  ancient  name  and  family  in 
this  countiy/'  The  marriage-settlements,  signed  8th  October, 
are  as  follows  : 

"It  is  agreed,  appointed,  and  finally  ended,  betwixt  the 
the  honourable  parties  following,  to  wit :  Patrick  Agnew,  Sheriff 
of  Wigtown,  taking  burden  on  him  for  Katheren  Agnew  his 
daughter,  on  the  one  part,  and  Patrick  M'Kie  of  Larg,  taking 
the  burden  upon  him  for  Alexander  M'Eie  his  son  and  apparent 
heir,  on  the  other  part,  in  manner  following ;  to  wit,  the  said 
Patrick  M'Kie  of  Larg  shaU  infeft  the  said  Alexander  his  son 
and  Katheren  Agnew  his  future  spouse  in  her  viduity  in  all 
and  haill  the  lands  of  Larg  (and  others)  lyand  within  the 
Stewartry  of  Kirkcudbright,  and  parish  of  Monygaflf,  to  be 
holden  of  our  Sovereign  Lord  the  King's  Majesty  and  his  suc- 
cessors according  to  the  said  Patrick's  auld  infeftment. 

"And  the  said  Patrick  Agnew  obliges  him,  his  heirs  and 
assignees,  to  pay  to  Patrick  M'Kie  the  sum  of  thirteen  hundred 
merks  in  name  of  tocher. 

"  And  attoure  gif  it  happens  that  the  auld  lady  the  foresaid 
Patrick's  guid  wife  leifif  after  the  yeirs  of  the  said  fynding,  in  that 
case  the  said  Patrick  M'Kie  shall  find  Alexander  M'Kie  and  his 
future  spouse  the  ane  yeir  in  his  house,  and  the  said  Sheriff 
another  yeir  enduring  her  lifetime. 

"Before  these  witnesses — Thomas  M'CuUoch  of  Torhouse, 
Patrick  Vans  of  Barnbarroch,  Patrick  M'Kie,  James  M'Kie  in 
Corsbie.  (Signed)  Patrick  Agnew. 

Patryk  M*Kie  of  Larg.'* 

The  Laird  of  Torhouse  was  the  sheriff's  nephew ;  Patrick 


to  1584]  SUPPRESSION   OF   PILGRIMAGES  405 

M'Kie  was  the  elder  brother  of  Alexander,  famous  for  the 
abduction  of  Helen  Vans.  The  tocher,  though  only  1300 
marks,  was  large  for  the  times.  When  the  sheriff's  eldest 
son  shortly  after  married  the  only  daughter  of  Stewart  of 
Garlies  he  only  received  1000  marks  with  his  bride.  "The 
auld  lady"  mentioned,  was  Margaret,  daughter  of  Sir  Alex- 
ander Stewart  of  Garlies  by  Margaret  Dunbar,  heiress  of 
Clugston. 

On  the  14th  December  1576  the  King  of  Carrick  passed 
from  the  scene,  leaving  a  son,  a  minor,  to  whom  his  brother-in- 
law  Lord  Glammis  became  tutor,  Hugh  Kennedy  of  Auchter- 
lour  managing  the  estates.  But  Glammis  the  chancellor  dying 
in  1578,  Sir  Patrick  Vans,  who  the  previous  January  had  been 
nominated  one  of  the  senators  of  the  courts  of  justice,  thence- 
forward called  Lord  Barnbarroch,  assumed  entire  charge  of  the 
young  earl's  affairs. 

Hugh  Kennedy  having  taken  up  house  at  the  Inch,  and 
calculating  on  the  sheriff's  reconciliation  with  the  late  Earl, 
endeavoured  unadvisedly  to  renew  claims  to  holding  courts  at 
Leswalt,  and  sent  an  ofGicer  in  the  chancellor's  name  to  order 
the  attendance  at  this  court  of  all  who  owed  feudal  casualties 
to  the  young  earL  The  sheriff  at  once  deforced  the  baron- 
ofiKcer,  and  refused  to  allow  any  proclamations  to  be  made  in 
Leswalt  court-house  but  by  himself.  Hugh  Kennedy  wrote 
word  of  this  "to  his  special  lord  and  master,  my  Lord  of 
Glammis,  concerning  the  fear  of  the  fermes  within  the  parochins 
of  Inche  and  Leswalt :  I  sent  an  oflBcer  in  your  lordship's  name 
to  the  effect  that  payment  should  be  in  readiness,  and  to  proclaim 
the  same  in  writing ;  the  quhUk  was  taken  from  the  officer  by 
the  Sheriff  of  Wigtown,  and  he  discharged  (forbid)  the  said 
officer  to  proclaim  any  fear  ^  there  by  word  or  writing ;  the 
which  I  thought  good  to  advertize  your  lordship  of,  for  I  know 
not  the  lyk  done  by  any  friend  or  servant  of  the  house  of 
Cassalis.  I  understand  the  said  sheriff  to  mislike  onything 
that  may  work  by  him  in  that  country  of  Galloway,  to  the 

^  The  money  dues. 


406  HEREDITABY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY  [A.D.  I  57O 

effect  that  he  may  hif  things  in  use  to  his  own  commodities, 
which  use  he  would  be  leath  to  be  alteiit  of." 

This  epistle  was  fortunately  submitted  by  the  chancellor  to 
Lord  Bambarroch  (among  whose  papers  it  was  found),  a  coun- 
cillor who  above  all  things  was  discreet,  and  who  advised  his 
lordship  to  check  the  zeal  of  his  subordinate,  especially  in  the 
matter  of  the  court-house.  It  is  to  be  observed  that  the 
point  in  Hugh  Kennedy's  letter  against  the  sheriff  lies 
in  the  words  "  friend  and  servant  of  the  house  of  Cassalis" ; 
his  holding  the  lands  lately  mentioned  from  the  earl  in  kyndlie 
tenancy  being  put  forward  as  a  reason  for  expecting  to  yield 
something  of  his  rights.  One  sentence  of  his  letter  to  the 
chancellor  is  interesting  as  an  agricultural  reminiscence.  ''  As 
to  the  com  in  this  country,  they  say  it  will  nocht  gif  us  hot 
horse  com,  quhilk  will  nocht  be  worth  20  shillings  the  bolL" 
But  adds  afterwards,  "  Blessed  be  Grod  we  are  this  year  als  gude 
as  any  countrie  is,  and  no  appearance  of  ony  great  deartL"  ^ 

The  following  letters  are  partly  in  connection  with  the 
incidents  above,  and  are  given  as  specimens  of  the  sheriff's 
epistolary  style : 

Letter  from  Sir  Patrick  Agnew,  Sheriff  of  Wigtown, 

TO  THE  Laird  of  Barnbarrooh. 

"  My  lord,  eftir  my  hartlie  commendatioim,  I  resawit  your 
(1)  writting  fra  ane  boy  of  kinheltis,^  tuichand  my  awin  bissines, 
that  your  (1)  is  catioun  for  me.  Your  (1)  sail  wit  that  on  my 
treuth  and  honestie  the  tutour  hes  tane  that  silwer  of  the 
tenentis ;  and  as  for  the  rest  that  the  tresourar  sould  haif,  I  haif 

^  Nevertheless  Hugh  Kennedy  seems  to  have  heen  rather  a  mischief-maker. 
He  writes  to  Lord  Bambarroch :  "My  Lord,  I  have  received  your  L.  writing, 
declaring  that  the  Sheriff  of  Wigtown  and  the  Laird  of  Garflen  had  offered  to 
my  Lord  Chancellor  4  marks  for  every  boll  of  finne  maill,  and  twa  marks  for 
every  boll  of  teind  maill ;  quhereof  the  Sheriff  has  made  his  vaunt  in  Galloway, 
and  stays  the  tenant  of  payment  I  desire  your  L.  that  I  may  make  proclama- 
tions in  your  L.  name  and  mine  to  the  effect  we  be  na  further  scomit  or  mockit  in 
the  country,  and  nocht  to  prevail  to  us.  And  gif  it  be  otherwise,  prays  your  L. 
to  advertize  me."    The  answer  is  unknown. 

^  Adair  of  Kinhilt 


■    ■■  *^^i^m 


to  1584]  SUPPRESSIOK  OP   PILGRIMAGES  407 

wryttin  yit  as  befoir  for  the  sam  to  master  alexr.  knowis  to  maik 
sum  raleif  to  me  in  that.  Me  lord,  sa  laing  as  I  half  land  or 
gear,  your  (lo)  salbe  raleifit  as  honestie  wald  godwilling,  and 
geif  I  can  get  na  raleif,  hot  to  mak  payment,  your  (lo)  man  help 
me  at  the  tresourar  hand,  for  I  haif  na  other  quantancie  ^  bot 
your  (lo)  to  charg ;  albeit  I  haif  nocht  done  my  dewtie  to  your 
(lo),  your  (lo)  salbe  na  losar  for  me  godwilling  farther  quhair 
your  (lo)  wryt  to  me  to  be  in  edr.  the  aucht  of  agust  to  my 
chakar  compt,  I  sail  asuire  your  lordschip  I  haif  nocht  gottin 
my  presept  of  chakar  as  tuirsday  the  penult  of  this  instant ;  and 
as  to  my  compt  this  yeir,  I  haif  na  thing  ado  bot  the  supiroritie 
of  the  lady  corswall  ^  of  the  tua  mark  land  of  knokiname,®  and 
the  quarter  of  the  mill  of  the  galdenoche,*  quhilk  my  lord 
argyllis  geift*  will  tak  away,  that  he  gat  quhen  the  lard  of 
corswall  died;  for  scho  entret  air  to  hir  father^  quhen  he  died; 
Sua  I  will  nocht  be  cummerit  this  yeir.  I  pray  your  (lo)  haif 
me  excusit,  for  I  haif  nocht  done  my  dewtie  to  your  (lo) ;  your 
lo  salbe  satisfeit  at  your  cuming  to  this  cuntrie  in  all  thingis  to 
your  (lo)  awin  contentment,  for  I  haif  no  other  to  scharg  bot 
your  (lo),  quhen  ye  haif  to  do,  lyk  as  I  salbe  redy  to  your  (lo) 
at  power  on  the  auld  maner.  And  sua  committis  your  (lo)  to 
god.  At  lochnaw,  the  penult  of  July,  be  your  (1)  at  power  on 
the  auld  maner.  Patrik  Agnew."^ 

"  To  my  the  honorabill  and  my  maist  speciall 
my  lord  of  bambarroche." 

^  ?  Acquaintance. 

'  Finlay  Campbell  of  Corswall,  Chamberlain  of  Galloway,  died  in  1566,  leav- 
ing two  grand-daughters  co-heiresses.  The  elder,  Jane,  was  served  heir  to  her 
grandfather,  and  must  be  the  person  here  meant. 

'  A  farm  in  Portpatrick  parish.  ^  A  farm  in  Stoneykirk  parish. 

'  The  gift  was  that  of  her  ward  and  marriage.  Sir  Hew  Kennedy  "oblist" 
him  to  present  Jane  Campbell,  one  of  the  heirs  of  Corswall,  to  the  Council,  the 
Earl  of  Argyle,  donatour  to  her  ward  and  marriage,  consenting  thereto. — JUg. 
Privy  Cotmcil,  January  1664-65. 

•  John  Campbell  of  Lundy. — (Ibid,  vol.  i.  p.  326.) 

'  Sir  Patrick  Agnew  of  Lochnaw  succeeded  his  father  as  Sheriff  of  Wigtown 
in  1647,  and  died  in  1690.  Sir  Thomas  Kennedy  was  tutor  of  Cassilis  from 
about  1677  till  about  1690.  This  letter  was  therefore  written  between  those 
dates,  but  it  contains  nothing  to  show  in  what  year. 


408  HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  1570 

Letter  from  Patrick  Agnew  to  Sir  Patrick  Waus, 

ABOUT  1577  OR  1578. 

"  My  Lord,  efter  my  maist  hartle  commendatioun,  efter  my 
writing  to  your  L  with  hew,  I  reseuit  ane  writing  of  my  Lord 
Ohanslaris  the  xxix  day  of  October,  desyring  me  to  be  at  his  L 
in  edinburch  the  first  of  november,  quhilk  your  1  may  schaw 
my  Lord  Chanslar  it  was  over  schort  warning.  And  in  respect 
I  haid  appoyntit  befoir  the  dayat  betwix  his  L  and  the  lard  of 
Lochinvar,  as  I  writ  to  your  L  befoir  with  hew,  I  could  not  be 
able  to  keipe  his  L  writing  for  schortnes  of  tyme ;  Thairfoir 
your  L  man  haif  me  excusit  at  my  Lord  chanslar.  And  farther, 
gif  my  Lord  chanslar  rydis  over  the  watter,  ye  may  causs  his  L 
speik  the  comtrollar  and  thesaurar  with  your  aun  diligence, 
quhilk  I  lippen  maist  to  continew  my  comptis  quhill  his  (L) 
bak  cuming,  and  to  adverteiss  me  of  his  (L)  dayat  to  Edr.  agane, 
that  I  may  causs  the  lard  of  Lochinvar  keipe  the  same ;  and 
your  1  anser  in  writ  with  the  berar,  with  my  hartle  commenda- 
tiounis  to  your  ladie  my  ant.  Off  Lochnaw  be  your  gud  frend  at 
power  on  the  auld  manner.  Patrick  Agnew. 

"  Your  L  will  delyver  this  other  writing  of  myne  to  my  Lord 
Chanslar,  and  excuiss  the  same  as  your  L  wysdom  thinkis  gud. 
To  my  ryt  speciall  frend  my  lord  of  bambarroch." 

There  is  something  hearty  in  the  sheriflF's  subscription  "  Your 
good  friend  after  the  auld  manner."  Within  a  few  months  of 
this,  Lord  Barnbarroch,  as  a  friend  of  both  parties,  assisted  in 
drawing  up  the  pre-nuptial  contract  between  the  sheriffs  eldest 
son,  and  Agnes  daughter  of  Sir  Alexander  Stewart  younger  of 
Garlics  (killed,  as  already  stated,  at  Stirling  1571,)  and  Lady 
Katherine  Herries  ;  the  Laird  of  Garthland  with  others  being 
among  the  witnesses,  by  which  the  sheriff  bound  himself  to 
infeft  "  Andrew  Agnew  my  son  and  apparent  heir,  and  Agnes 
Stewart  his  future  spouse,  in  the  lands  of  Dindinnie  and  Auch- 
neeL"  The  lady's  tocher  being  1000  marks,  for  which  her 
grandfather.  Sir  Alexander  Stewart,  made  himself  responsible. 


to  1584]  SUPPRESSION  OP  PILGRIMAGES  409 

Lady  *Katherine  Hemes  had  remarried  secondly  Wallace 
of  Dundonald,  and  thirdly  M'Dowall  of  Mindork,  which  she 
seems  to  have  regretted ;  for  we  find  a  letter  from  her  to  Lord 
Bambarroch,  dated  "Mundork,  2d  day  of  July"  (year  un- 
named), in  which  she  tells  him  her  husband  intends  "  wodsetting 
sum  land "  of  her  late  husband,  and  **  quhat  he  means  to  do/' 
she  adds,  "  is  contrair  to  my  will  and  plesor." 

In  the  following  generation  Mindork  passed  to  the  Stewarts, 
as  to  which  an  absurd  story  is  told,  that  the  last  laird  of  the  old 
tower,  which  has  long  disappeared,  failing  to  pay  certain  crown- 
dues  was  put  to  the  horn,  and  that  the  Laird  of  Garlics  taking 
advantage  of  this  endeavoured  to  arrest  him,  with  a  view  to 
keeping  his  land.  That  the  outlawed  M'Dowall  ^  confided  his 
distress  to  a  publican,  who  found  him  a  hiding-place  near  the 
Spittal  of  Bladenoch,  saying  that  there  the  devil  himsel  would 
be  hard  set  to  find  him.  Boniface,  however,  proved  false,  and 
betrayed  him  to  the  more  powerful  laird,  who  sent  a  party  to 
seize  him,  and  he  showing  fight,  was  roughly  treated,  and 
among  other  indignities  his  captors  singed  his  beard,  and 
lodged  him  in  Wigtown  gaol,  where  he  died,  utterly  neglected, 
his  body  even  not  receiving  Christian  burial  The  moral 
pointed  by  the  story  is  that  Providence  did  not  let  the  outrage 
pass  altogether  unavenged,  as  henceforth  for  many  generations 
the  beards  of  the  Stewarts  were  singularly  scanty. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  point  out  the  absurdity  of  the 
whole  story. 

Alexander  Gordon,  Bishop  of  Galloway,  died  1576,  having 
founded  a  family  on  the  spoils  of  his  diocese,  styled  Gordons  of 
Glenluce.  He  may  have  been  sincere  in  his  religious  convic- 
tions, but  he  had  the  misfortune  to  be  looked  upon,  alike  by  the 
church  he  had  left  and  that  which  he  joined,  with  scant  respect. 
The  former  styled  him  "  a  time-serving  heretic  " ;  the  latter  sub- 
jected him  to  various  suspensions,  and  mortifications  innumerable. 
On  the  6th  August  1573,  he  was  sentenced  to  make  public  re- 

^  There  is  a  signature  of  Uchtred  M'Dowall  of  Mundork  to  a  paper  in  Bam- 
barroch charter-chest,  date  28th  March  1596. 


410  HEKEDITABY   SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.   1570 

pentance  in  sackcloth  three  several  Lord's  days,  and  it  was  only 
on  his  making  bumble  entreaty  that  the  sackcloth  might  not  be 
worn  in  his  own  diocese,  backed  by  the  regent's  personal  request, 
that  it  was  conceded  that  he  should  confess  his  offences  in 
presence  of  a  congregation  specially  convened  in  the  Abbey 
Kirk,  on  a  Lord's  day,  but  without  sackcloth. 

By  his  wife,  Barbara  Logie,  he  had  a  son  John,^  to  whom  he 
resigned  his  lands,  which  were  confirmed  by  charter.  By  the 
act  of  annexation  of  1587,  the  lands  became  vested  in  the 
Crown,  but  were  regranted  to  Laurence  Gordon,  brother  of  the 
above  John,  by  James  VL  1602. 

Some  odd  traditions  are  preserved  of  the  baronial  courts  of 
this  family.  A  certain  M'Clumpha  and  his  daughter  were  there 
convicted  as  sheep-stealers,  the  father's  doom  being  to  be  hung 
upon  a  gibbet  till  he  was  dead,  and  the  girl  to  be  branded  with 
S.S.* — a  legend  of  very  different  import  across  the  Border. 
Whilst  awaiting  execution  of  their  sentences  a  "  supple  rascal " 
named  Douglas,  arrested  for  brawling,  was  thrust  into  their  cell, 
and  with  his  assistance  they  all  managed  to  break  out,  but  were 
soon  re-arrested,  and  Douglas  was  condemned  to  be  dragged 
with  them  on  the  hurdle  to  the  gallows,  and  afterwards  to  be 
banished  to  Barlure.  As  the  three  started  on  their  dreary 
journey,  the  old  man  with  great  saTig  froid  made  it  his  dying 
request  that  the  executioner  should  brand  the  lassie  as  far  back 
as  possible,  "  sae  that  her  mutch  may  cover  the  scar."  The 
interest  in  the  tradition  lies  mainly  m  following  Douglas  to  his 
destination — Barlure,  the  hill  of  the  leper.  The  spot  is  mapped 
by  Pont,  Libberton,  the  name  giving  some  colour  to  the 
tradition  as  a  spot  to  which  outcasts  might  be  consigned; 
neighbouring  place-names,  such  as  Eldrig  of  Libberland,  and 
Libberland  Bum,  all  pointing  to  the  fact  that  wretched  lepers 

^  John  seemB  to  have  resigned  in  his  brother's  favour,  he  being  Dean  of 
Salisbury,  to  whom  the  property  reverted  in  1610,  and  was  carried  by  his  only 
daughter  to  Sir  Robert  Gordon  of  Gordonstown,  who  disposed  of  it  to  the  Crown, 
and  the  revenues  were  annexed  to  the  see  of  Galloway. 

^  The  coUar  of  S.S.  is  that  worn  by  the  Chief  Justices  of  England.  Dugdale 
says  it  is  from  St.  Simplicius.  The  wearers  of  the  collar  of  S.S.  is  a  classical 
style  for  Chief  Justices. 


to  1584]  SUPPRESSION   OF  PILOBIMAGES  411 

were  consigned  to  this  place  rather  for  separation  than  for 
treatment.  Ochtreloure  was  possibly  a  leper  hospital ;  Pullour,  a 
pool,  probably  supposed  to  possess  some  virtue  in  curing  leprosy.^ 
Douglas  on  his  way  to  his  penal  residence  by  the  old  pack-horse 
track  leading  to  Killgallioch  (the  church  of  the  standing  stones), 
before  crossing  the  Tarf  would  pass  the  two  remarkable  standing 
stones  at  Laggangam.  These  were  once  part  of  a  complete 
circle,  but  having  been  frequently  plundered  for  building  pur- 
poses, crosses  were  cut .  on  the  last  remaining  three,  which 
were  consequently  spared.  A  strong-minded  mason,  however, 
regardless  of  the  charm,  carried  off  one  of  them  as  a  lintel 
for  his  house.  Despite  all  advice  he  built  it  in;  but  soon 
his  children  sickened  and  died  one  by  one.  his  sheep-dog  went 
mad,  and  he  boldly  seized  him  by  the  tail  and  dashed  out 
his  brains  against  the  lintel.  His  doom  was  now  sealed ;  the 
dog  bit  him  in  its  dying  struggles,  the  fell  disease  attacked  him, 
and  at  his  own  request  his  wife  and  wife's  sister  "  smoored  him 
atween  twa  cauf  beds." 

In  1579,  at  a  Justice  Aire  in  Wigtown,  Uchtred  M*Dowall 
younger  of  Garthland,  is  charged  with  "riding  furth  and  con- 
voking the  lieges  bodin  in  fear  of  weir,  and  with  the  cruel 
slaughter  of  James  Grordon  of  Barskeoch."  Andrew  M'Dowall 
of  Dalreagle,  and  George  his  eldest  son,  were  heavily  fined  as 
abettors  in  the  matter.  These  were  results  of  the  "  dishonest 
slaughter  "  of  another  Uchtred  M'Dowall,  mentioned  in  the  last 
chapter,  for  which,  even  though  backed  by  Cassilis,  his  relatives 
had  probably  been  unable  to  obtain  any  redress. 

A  lively  incident  of  the  feud  is  thus  alluded  to  in  a  letter 
from  Lochinvar  to  Lord  Bambarroch :  "  Efter  maist  hertlie 
commendationis,  ye  sail  wit  that  the  Laird  of  Barguny  and  Grarth- 
land  has  come  to  my  friend's  house  Sanderis  Campbell,  and  has 
schot  furth  of  the  same  his  wyff  and  bairns."  * 

1  I  suppose  everywhere  we  find  a  name  containing  this  word  Lobhair  (Lour), 
we  may  infer  lepers  were  connected  with  it. — Joyce,  iL  80. 

^  Bambarroch's  Correspondence,  p.  229.  The  parties  to  this  were  Uchtred 
M*Dowall  of  Garthland  and  Thomas  Kennedy  of  Bargany,  on  the  one  part ;  Sir 
John  Gordon  of  Lochinvar,  John  Gordon  of  Barskeoch,  and  Alexander  Gordon 


412    HEREDITAKY  SHKEIFPS  OP  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  1570 

The  greatest  change  of  the  centuiy  in  the  usages  of  the 
people  at  large  was  now  brought  about  by  a  series  of  legislative 
measures  in  the  name,  though  hardly  in  the  spirit,  of  religion. 

Hitherto  kings  had  vied  with  one  another  who  could  go  the 
oftenest  and  offer  the  most  at  St  Ninian's  shrine ;  special  legis- 
lation provided  for  the  safety  of  travellers,  even  aliens,  to  the 
province.  Now,  a  change  had  come  over  the  spirit  of  the  dream, 
and  in  1581  Acts  were  promulgated  which  must  have  filled  the 
beadles  of  Whithorn  with  dismay. 

Pilgrimages  to  St.  Ninian's  Church,  and  weUs^  or  crosses, 
were  no  more  to  be  resorted  to,  even  those  of  Medana  or  St. 
Columba  were  prohibited,  under  severest  penalties. 

The  preamble  set  forth  that  the  dregs  of  idolatry  yet  re- 
remained  by  usage  of  pilgrimages  to  chapels,  wells,  and  crosses, 
by  observing  festival  days  of  saints,  by  singing  of  carols  within 
and  about  kirks  at  certain  seasons,  and  observing  certain  other 
superstitious  and  Papistical  rites.  For  remede  thereof  the 
sheriff  was  to  search  and  seek  the  persons  passing  on  any  such 
pilgrimages,  and  apprehend  them  in  the  actual  deed  of  trans- 
gressing of  the  Act,  and  condemn  them.  Ilk  gentleman  or 
gentiewoman  landed  in  a  £100,  the  unlanded  in  100  marks,  for 
the  first  offence ;  and  for  the  second  the  offenders  to  suffer  the 
pain  of  death  as  idolaters.  Superstitious  observers  of  saint 
days,  and  singers  of  carols,  when  caught  in  the  act  were  to  be 
put  in  prison,  and  speedy  judgment  passed  on  them  by  the 
sheriff,  and  if  not  able  to  redeem  their  persons  by  fine  then  to 
be  kept  in  prison,  irons,  or  stocks,  upon  bread  and  water,  for  a 
month  at  the  least,  and  then  to  find  caution  for  better  behaviour.^ 

The  sheriffs  were  to  receive  one-half  of  the  fines,  the  other 
half  to  go  to  the  poor  of  the  parish.  The  framers  of  this  statute, 
who  had  laudably  struggled  to  have  the  Bible  brought  within  the 
reach  of  all  in  the  vulgar  tongue,  had  been  strangely  oblivious 
of  the  toleration  which  its  pages  inculcate,  and  of  the  charity 
"  not  easily  provoked." 

of  Portencorkcrie,  on  the  other.    All  were  bound  over  to  keep  the  peace.    October 
1579.  ^  Seventh  Parliament  James  YL,  chap.  104. 


to  1584]  SUPPRESSIOK  OF  PILGRIMAGES  413 

Many  of  the  superstitions  they  laboured  to  remove  were 
truly  ridiculous ;  but  it  was  simply  wicked  that  their  exercise 
by  quiet  inoffensive  persons  should  bring  them  within  reach  of 
the  hangman.  Happily  their  bark  was  worse  than  their  bite, 
and  though  not  a  few  Popish  priests  suffered  death  for  admin- 
istering  the  mass,  we  have  read  of  none  executed  for  bringing 
their  children  to  holy  wells. 

So  deeply,  however,  were  these  usages  ingrained  in  the 
habits  and  traditions  of  the  people,  that  though  these  laws 
frightened  people  from  parading  such  practices  in  public,  for 
long  the  wells  especially  were  privately  visited  at  particular 
days  and  hours ;  and  no  doubt  in  certain  nervous  diseases  cures 
were  effected  in  those  who  implicitly  believed  in  their  efficacy. 
Of  such  wells  we  can  mention  but  a  small  proportion :  Near 
Lochnaw  was  Kilmorie,  St  Mary's  well,  "  to  which,"  as  Sym- 
son  writes  a  century  later,  "people  superstitiously  resorted." 
St  Columba's  well,  known  also  as  the  Crosswell  (though  this 
has  no  connection  with  the  name  of  Corswall),  was  in  the  parish 
which  he  names  Kirkcolm ;  in  which  also  was  St  Bride's  well, 
besides  a  dedication  to  her  as  Kilbride.  There  is  St  Malloch's 
well  at  the  foot  of  Tapmalloch  (tiebh-malloch), "  the  hillside  of 
St.  Malachy  o'  Morgair,"  whence  he  watched  for  a  vessel  coming 
for  him  from  Bangor;  below  it  Tringan,  St  Ninian's,  or  Ringan's 
well ;  and  a  little  farther  on  the  Culdees'  well,  at  Knockaldy 
(cnoc-ceilede).  A  few  miles  farther  on,  in  Dunskey  Glen,  is  St 
Kain's  well,  whence  the  name  Ochtriemakain  (ma  and  mo  indi- 
cating a  saint),  his  name  interesting  as  connecting  Galloway  with 
Cornish  tradition,  where  St  Keyn  is  identical  with  Cainnech  or 
Canigus  of  the  Scoto-Irish  Church.  In  Cornwall  the  tradition 
attaching  to  St  Kain's  well  is,  that  if  a  bridegroom  on  his 
wedding-day  drinks  from  it  before  his  bride  he  will  be  master ;  but 
that,  if  the  lady  gets  the  first  draught,  the  gray  mare  will  be  the 
better  horse.  By  Chappell  Patrick  there  was  St  Patrick's  well ; 
and  at  Stranraer  St  John's  well,  below  high- water  mark,  was  in 
much  repute.  In  Stoneykirk  and  Glenluce  there  were  two  St 
Katherine's  wells,  and  a  third  in  Kirkmaiden,  its  name  strangely 


414  HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY   [A,D.  1570 

disguised  in  the  corruption  Kibbertie  Kite,  though  really  the 
chief  alteration  is  in  the  change  of  the  initial  K  for  T  (Tiobar- 
tighe-Ceat),  "  Katherine's  well  house."  What  makes  the  identi- 
fication certain  is  that  "St  Katherine's  croft"  (so  mapped) 
adjoins.  Near  Kibbertie  Kite  is  Chipper  dingan.  Here  again 
we  have  St.  Ninian's  name  in  an  unusual  disguise,  the  conven- 
tional E  being  changed  to  D.  But  this  substitute  is  not  with- 
out ecclesiastical  authority,  as  Geoffrey  Gaimer  writes  : 

A  Witemam  (Whithorn)  gist  Saint  Dinan 
LongtenB  vint  devant  Columban.^ 

Near  the  last  two  there  is  Muntloch  well;*  and  another,  St 
Bride's ;  and  a  still  more  famous  one,  really  Medana's,  but 
known  as  "Well  of  the  Co,"  largely  resorted  to  within  the 
memory  of  the  present  generation  on  the  first  Sunday  in  May. 
Across  the  Bay  of  Luce,  in  the  other  Kirkmaiden,  now  a 
part  of  Glasserton  parish,  is  the  Chincough  well  (whooping- 
cough)  well,  whose  original  source  flowed  from  the  eyeballs  of 
St.  Medana,  "  superstitiously  resorted  to  "  long  after  the  passing 
of  the  Acts.  In  Kirkinner  was  Malie's  well,  sacred  to  St. 
Patrick's  nephew  Malidh,  who  names  the  Water  of  Malzie. 
Besides  others  too  numerous  to  mention,  there  was  the  Gout 
well  in  Minigaff,  Mount  Horeb  well  in  Kirkmabreck,  the 
"Brownie's  well,"  Dairy;  St.  Mungo's  well,  Carsphain;  St. 
Lawrence's,  Colvend. 

The  cool  indifference  of  a  Galloway  baron  to  summonses 
from  law  courts  is  amusingly  illustrated  in  a  case  in  which  the 
sheriff  himself  was  defendant. 

Bishop  Gordon  had  claimed  certain  sums  from  him  as  teinds 
of  Church  property  in  Glenluce  ;  but  as  the  bishop  himself  had 
secularised  and  appropriated  many  of  these,  the  sheriff,  thinking 

^  Estoire  des  EngleSy  Geoffroi  Gaimar,  eleventh  century. 

I  am  indebted  for  this  identification  of  St.  Ninian  as  Dinan,  i,e,  Dingan,  to 
Sir  Herbert  Maxwell. 

'  About  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  parish  kirk  is  a  well  called  Muntlnck 
well,  in  the  midst  of  a  little  bog,  to  which  persons  have  recourse  to  fetch  water 
for  such  as  are  sick,  asserting  that  if  the  sick  person  shall  recover  the  water  will 
so  buller  and  mount  up  when  the  messenger  dips  in  his  vessel  that  he  will  hardly 
get  out  dry  shod. 


to  1584]  SUPPRESSION  OF  PILQRIMAQES  415 

he  should  have  his  share  in  the  spoil,  declined  to  pay.  The 
bishop  dying  in  1576,  his  widow  remarried  Alexander  Gordon 
of  Grange,  who,  discovering  this  debt  to  the  late  bishop's  estate, 
conjointly  with  his  wife  raised  an  action  against  the  sheriff 
and  obtained  a  decree  for  the  amount.  To  this  the  sheriff 
opposed  a  passive  resistance,  and  did  nothing,  whereupon 
"letters  of  homing"  were  raised  against  him,  but  with  no 
further  effect. 

A  year  and  a  day  elapsed,  and  under  the  renewed  applica- 
tion from  Gordon,  the  court  declared  the  liferent  of  his  estate 
forfeited  to  the  king.  Nevertheless,  the  sheriff  kept  possession : 
the  sum  probably  was  small.  From  his  papers  we  find  he  had 
no  difficulties  as  to  money,  but  he  was  simply  contumacious ! 
Presently,  however,  his  eldest  son,  being  about  to  receive  a  com- 
mission as  justiciar,  thought  it  unseemly  that  his  father  should 
remain  under  the  category  of  those  with  whom  that  commission 
enjoined  him  specially  to  deal,  and  either  paid  it  out  of  his  own 
pocket  or  induced  his  father  to  compromise,  resulting  in  his 
getting  as  a  grant  from  the  Crown  the  escheat  of  Lochnaw  in 
his  own  favour.  The  whole  proceeding  reads  like  a  legal  farce, 
Sir  Patrick  being  apparently  neither  the  better  nor  the  worse 
for  the  settlement : 

"  Under  our  privy  seal,  at  Haliruid  Hous,  the  3d  of  March 
1584:  Wot  ye  us  to  have  given  to  our  lovit  Andro  Agnew  younger 
of  Lochnaw  his  heirs  and  assignees  the  escheat  of  all  guids 
moveable  and  unmoveable,  debts,  tacks,  steadings,  rowmes,  pos- 
sessions, corns,  cattle,  insicht  plenishing,  acts,  contracts,  actions, 
obligations,  reversions,  decreets,  sentences,  sums  of  monfey, 
jewels,  gold,  silver,  coined  and  uncoined,  and  other  goods  and 
geir  whatsoever,  which  appertained  of  before  to  Patrick  Agnew 
of  Lochnaw,  and  now  pertaining  to  us,  falling  and  deciding  in 
our  hands  and  at  our  disposition  be  the  laws  and  practice  of  our 
realm ;  and  the  liferent,  mails,  farms,  profits  and  duties  of  all 
lands,  tenements,  and  annualrents,  which  appertained  before  to 
the  said  Patrick  Agnew  of  Lochnaw,  holden  by  him  immedicUeli/ 
of  U8,  induring  the  said  Patrick's  lifetime  which  now  appertains 


416     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  1570 

to  our  disposition  by  our  Acts  of  Parliament,  through  the  said 
Patrick  wilful  and  obstinate  lying  and  remaining  under  the 
process  of  homing  without  lawful  relaxation,  attour  the  space  of 
a  year  and  a  day  next  after  that  he  was  denounced  our  rebel 
and  put  to  our  horn.  To  be  halden  and  to  be  had  the  escheat 
goods  and  the  liferents  by  the  said  Andrew  Agnew." 

Far  from  the  sheriff  being  in  any  disgrace  at  Court  through 
these  irregidarities,  we  find  him  named  as  taking  a  prominent 
part  as  an  assizer  in  the  trials  consequent  on  the  defeat  of  the 
conspiracy  known  as  the  £aid  of  Euthven,  in  which  his  Mend 
M'Dowall  of  Garthland  was  gravely  implicated. 

The  so-called  raid  weis  the  seizure  of  the  young  king's  person 
by  Buthven,  Earl  of  Gk>wrie,  and  his  accomplices  (in  1582),  to 
compel  him  to  dismiss  his  favourites  the  Earls  of  Arran  and 
Lennox.  It  was  momentarily  successful,  but  ended  in  the 
discomfiture  of  all  concerned. 

The  state  trials  consequent  commenced  in  1584,  and  lasted 
many  months. 

On  the  panels  of  assize  were  the  Master  of  Cassilis,  Patrick 
Agnew,  Sheriff  of  Galloway,  John  Gordon  of  Lochinvar,  William 
M*Culloch  of  Myrtoun.^  It  is  noteworthy  that  Sir  John  Gordon 
was  at  first  placed  on  another  panel,  but  was  challenged  by  Lord 
Gowrie  himself,  the  reason  alleged  being  the  enmity  known  to 
exist  between  Garthland  and  Lochinvar. 

The  Laird  of  Garthland,  who  had  first  married  a  Kennedy  of 
Girvan  Mains,  on  her  death  had  remarried  a  daughter  of  Lord 
Methven,  sister  of  the  Countess  of  Gowrie.  Most  of  those 
implicated  lost  their  lives,  but  Garthland  managed  to  escape 
and  never  returned,  his  enforced  exile  bringing  the  feud  with 
the  Grordons  to  a  close.  This  trial  was  followed  by  a  non- 
political  one,  in  which  Patrick  M'Kie  of  Whitehills  was  charged 
with  "  forging,  feuzening,  and  stryking  false  moneys :  half-marks, 
30s.,  20s.,  10s.,  and  40-penny  pieces."  The  assize,  by  mouth  of 
William  M'Culloch  of  Myrtoun,  found  him  guilty  "  of  counter- 
feiting the  half-marks  and  40d.  pieces  in  great  quantity,"  but 

^  Pitcaim's  Criminal  Trials. 


to  1584]  SUPPRESSION   OF   PILGRIMAGES  417 

acquitted  him  of  the  other  charges  :  a  qualification  by  which  he 
took  little,  being  sentenced  "  to  tynt  life,  lands,  and  goods,  and 
to  be  hanged  at  the  market  cross  of  Edinburgh.^ 

Great  cordiality  existed  between  the  sheriff  and  Sir  Thomas 
Kennedy  of  Culzean,  a  letter  from  whom  we  insert  thanking  the 
sheriff  for  his  having  become  security  for  some  of  his  kin  and 
dependants  for  money  due  to  them,  assuring  him  he  will  take 
care  that  he  shall  not  be  the  loser. 

Letter  from  Sir  Thomas  Kennedy  of  Colzean  to  the 

Sheriff  of  Galloway. 

"  Traist  freind,  efter  my  hartlie  commendationes,  I  ressauit 
your  lettre,  and  consideris  be  the  same  that  the  laird  of  bam- 
barocht  is  emest  with  you  for  that  hundreth  pundis  that  he  wes 
cautioner  for.  It  is  trew  my  seraundis  hes  ressauit  ane  part  of 
it ;  alwyiss  I  sail  relief  yow  at  the  laird  of  bambarochtis  handis 
howsone  he  cumis  to  edr.,  and  thairof  ye  salbe  certane  without 
langar  delay.  And  as  to  the  males,  quhilkis  he  craveis  out  of  the 
barony,  as  I  persaue  be  thair  lettre,  he  willbe  awand  me  twyss 
alsmekle  male  out  of  glenluce,  quhilk  salbe  allowit  to  him,  ane 
part  of  the  ane  for  the  other.  Alwyiss  nather  ye  nor  the 
tennentis  sail  ressaue  truble  for  ony  of  thir  causis.  Swa  that 
howsone  he  cumis  to  edr.  ye  salke  fred.  Haveing  na  forder 
occasionn  for  the  present,  I  committ  yow  en  godis  protectionn. 
Off  blaknes  this  satirday  Be  youris  assurit  freind, 

"  THOMAS  tutor  OF  CaSSILLIS. 

"  To  my  richt  traist  friend  the  Sereff  off  Galloway." 

^  Pitcairn's  Criminal  Trials. 


VOL.  I  2  E 


/ 


CHAPTER  XXV 

THE  ARMADA 

AD.  1584  to  1598 

Oo  tell  it  in  Wigtoun,  in  Garrick,  in  Kyle, 
Although  the  proud  Dona  are  now  passing  the  Moil, 

Wi'  this  magic  clue 

Of  the  indigo.blue 
That  Eleine  de  Aggart  has  at  her  command 
A  foreign  foe  never  shall  win  to  our  strand. 

To  check  the  lawlessness  generally  rampant,  Grovernment,  feel- 
ing itself  somewhat  stronger,  issued  a  commission  of  Justiciary 
of  Wigtown  to  the  sheriff's  eldest  son,  who  had  previously  been 
associated  with  him  in  his  office.^ 

Entrusting  him  thus  with  privileges  overshadowing  those  of 
Sheriff  Principal,  there  being  no  reservation  in  his  jurisdiction 
of  the  former  pleas  of  the  Crown,  the  said  commission  prefaced 
with  the  words :  "  As  we  are  certainly  informed  that  there  are 
very  many  persons  in  our  shire  of  Wigtown  who  cannot  behave 
orderly,  we  therefore  appoint  our  lovit  Andrew  Agnew  our 
justiciar  in  these  parts,  giving  him  fiill  power  from  us  of  holding 
courts,  and  of  continuing  them,  as  often  as  need  is,  and  of 
causing  all  to  be  summoned  who  owe  suit,  amerciating  the 
absent,  and  indicting  persons  accused."* 

His  selection  for  such  an  appointment  requiring  a  cool  head 

^  Among  the  Bambarroch  papers  we  find  that  Sir  Patrick  Yaus  requiring  a 
decreet  of  removal  against  certain  of  his  tenants,  carried  his  case  before  ''ane 
honourable  man,  Andrew  Agnew,  Sheriff  of  Galloway,  2dd  May  1586." 

'  The  commission,  which  is  under  the  quarter  seal,  constitutes  him  our 
justiciar  in  that  part  known  as  the  Sheriffdom  of  Wigtown,  for  a  term  of  nineteen 
years.     It  is  dated  *'  From  Halyrude  House,  30  April  1586." 


A.D.  1584-1598]  THE  ARMADA  419 

and  unflinching  courage  proves  him  to  have  acquired  a  name  for 
energy  and  capacity.  It  was  doubtless  to  his  advantage  that  he 
had  a  Stewart  of  Garlies  for  his  wife  and  a  Gordon  of  Lochin- 
var  for  his  mother,  so  that  he  might  calculate  on  the  support  of 
these  two  powerful  rival  factions ;  and,  what  was  pleasing  in  the 
result,  he  seems  consequently  to  have  had  a  hand  in  their 
reconciliation.^  Moreover,  some  time  before  his  brother-in-law 
Lochinvar  had  been  appointed  Justiciar  of  the  Stewartry,  the 
disorders  of  the  time  were  aggravated  by  the  disaffection  of 
many  men  of  position,  engendered  by  the  severity  of  the  laws 
against  Boman  Catholics. 

Lord  Maxwell  was  imprisoned  for  allowing  a  single  mass 
to  be  said  at  Lincluden  Abbey  on  Christmas  Day,  and  was  only 
liberated  on  the  impolitic  condition  that  he  should  instantly 
leave  the  country.  He  did  so,  and  going  to  Spain,  in  his  wrath 
urged  the  king  to  utilise  the  Galloway  ports  for  the  purpose  of 
invasion,  undertaking  to  make  a  diversion  in  his  favour. 

In  the  meantime  King  James  YL  appeared  in  person  on 
the  Galloway  marches,  summoning  justiciars,  sheriffs,  and 
steward  to  meet  him  at  Lochinvar.  The  sheriff  and  his  son 
received  him.  Lord  Maxwell  was  necessarily  absent.  The  king 
pushed  on  to  Kirkcudbright,  where  the  party  were  doubtless 
entertained  by  the  Laird  of  Bomby,  brother-in-law  to  both  the 
Sheriff  of  Galloway  and  Lochinvar.  It  was  on  this  occasion 
that  the  king  presented  to  the  burgh  the  famous  ''  siller  gun  " 
as  an  heirloom,  which  bears  on  its  barrel  the  initials  T.  M.  C. 
for  Sir  Thomas  M'Clellan,  and  the  date  1587.^ 

The  next  year  Maxwell  suddenly  appeai*ed  in  Galloway, 
and  believing  the  Armada  to  be  close  behind  him,  hoisted  his 
flag  at  his  castles  of  Threave,  Caerlaverock,  and  Lochmaben. 

^  Grizzel  Qordon,  daughter  of  Sir  John  and  niece  to  the  elder  Lady  Agnew, 
married  Alexander,  first  Earl  of  Galloway,  nephew  of  the  younger  Lady  Agnew, 
the  justiciar's  wife. 

^  In  some  accounts  the  year  of  the  king's  visit  is  stated  to  be  1588,  but  the 
date  on  the  gun  itself,  1587,  seems  conclusive.  The  Galloway  historian  speaks 
depreciatingly  of  the  trophy:  **  This  trinket,  like  a  penny  whistle  seven  inches  in 
length,  has  been  only  shot  for  three  times  in  the  memoiy  of  the  oldest  inhabit- 
ant"— ^Mackenzie,  i  629. 


420  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY   [A.D.  1 5S4 

He  was  mistaken  indeed.  As  he  vainly  scanned  the  horizon  to 
the  westward  for  the  coming  Spaniards,  the  dust  of  the  king's 
squadrons  announced  their  advancing  from  the  east  Maxwell 
fled,  and  hurriedly  embarking  in  a  ship  at  St.  Mary's  Isle,  stood 
out  for  the  Irish  Channel  in  his  hopeless  quest.  Sir  William 
Stewart,  brother  of  the  Laird  of  Garlics,  was  at  his  heels,  and 
unmooring  another  vessel,  gave  chase,  and  ran  him  to  ground 
on  the  seaboard  of  Carrick. 

The  king's  troops  bringing  artillery  with  them,  Threave  and 
Caerlaverock  instantly  struck  their  colours.  Lochmaben  held 
out  for  another  day,  but  before  the  evening  of  the  second, 
cannon  having  forced  its  defences,  David  Maxwell,  its  keeper, 
dangled  from  the  castle  gate. 

As  it  proved,  the  Armada  went  by  the  way  of  the  English 
Channel,  only  appearing  on  the  Galloway  shores  in  a  condition 
of  hopeless  discomfiture,  as  to  which  there  are  some  dim  tradi- 
tions, particles  of  truth  underlying  the  spurious  element 

That  best  authenticated  is  that  a  first-class  man-of-war  was 
driven  ashore  in  the  Bay  of  Luce,  near  Portwilliam,  at  a  spot 
mapped  *'  Philip  and  Mary  Point" 

A  second  was  said  to  have  been  wrecked  under  Cruggleton 
Castle,  and  that  a  stallion  getting  ashore  was  the  progenitor  of 
the  Galloway  breed. 

A  third  is  believed  to  have  been  driven  on  the  Ardwell 
shore,  and  Float  Bay  is  said  to  take  its  name  from  the  wreckage  ; 
and  this  local  quidnuncs  hold  to  be  further  proved  by  the 
adjoining  place-name,  "  Money  Head,"  derived,  as  they  say,  from 
the  doubloons  which  were  to  be  gathered  there  by  the  handful 
when  the  ship  broke  up. 

Nothing  can  be  more  absurd  than  all  these  latter  state- 
ments. Not  only  did  Shakespeare  write  "  Know  we  not  Gallo- 
way nags  ? "  but  they  were  praised  by  Froissart  two  centuries 
before  the  building  of  the  Armada,^ 

^  Taylor,  who  should  have  known  better,  adopts  this  absurdity,  and  under 
head  of  words  derived  from  place-names,  names  Gallowajrs,  writing,  **  One  of  the 
galleons  of  the  Armada,  which  had  succeeded  in  weathering  Gape  Wrath,  was 
lost  on  the  coast  of  Galloway,  and  tradition  avers  that  a  Spanish  stallion  rescued 


to   1598]  THE   ARMADA  421 

''  Money  Head  "  is  an  attempted  translation  of  Bamammon^ 
and  Caimmon  (Cairn  nam  ban)  the  woman's,  i,e.  the  "  witch's 
cairn  " ;  Jeanie's  Cairn,  close  by,  being  another  attempted  ren- 
dering ;  the  "  women  "  in  such  names  Lplying  either  fairies  or 
witches. 

Tradition  credits  local  witches  (though  of  a  far  later  date 
than  those  which  named  these  places)  with  assisting  in  the 
defeat  of  the  Armada.  Elsie  M'Taggart,  immortalised  by  Train 
as  Eleine  de  Aggart,^  was  believed  to  have  watched  for  ship 
after  ship  as  they  rounded  the  Mull  of  Cantyre,  perched  on 
a  rock,  holding  a  blue  ball  of  worsted  in  her  hand,  which  as 
she  unwound  the  storm  became  more  and  more  serious,  untQ  at 
last  they  sank  into  the  seething  waves  under  her  spell. 

A  few  sentences  from  a  letter  of  Lady  Katherine  Vans  to 
her  son-in-law  Kennedy  of  Barquhanny,  taking  charge  in  her 
absence,  gives  us  some  inkling  of  the  cares  of  a  housewife  of 
the  period : 

"  Ye  write  me  that  ye  have  gotten  aucht  mais  of  herrings 
for  Bambarroch ;  we  must  hold  us  content  of  the  same  for 
this  year.  I  pray  you  fail  not,  but  gar  make  us  12  bolls  of 
meal  and  half  a  brewing  of  double  ale  against  our  hame-ganging, 
and  God  preserve  you.  Further,  I  pray  you  not  to  fail  to  send 
me  out  sUver  with  the  first  that  comes,  for  we  are  very  skant 
thairoCF.  Also  ye  shall  receive  rattoun  poison  and  gae  give  the 
same  to  the  rats. — Youris  at  power. 

"  Dame  Katherine  Kannady, 
Lady  Baimbarroch. 

"  OflF  Edinburch,  23  Februar  1506." « 

The  last  sentence  absolutely  contradicts  Symson's  assertion 

from  the  wreck  became  the  ancestor  of  the  strong  and  serviceable  breed  of 
Galloways."— Taylor's  IFords  and  Places,  5th  Edition,  286. 

We  might  answer  him  with  Pistol,  **  Thrust  him  downstairs  !  Enow  we  not 
Galloway  nags?" — Shakespeare,  Henry  IV.,  act  iv.  sc.  2. 

^  Train's  Mountain  Bard,  It  need  hardly  be  repeated  that  Float  has  no 
connection  with  wreckage,  being  old  Saxon  fledt,  "where  a  vessel  can  float," 
marking  a  naval  station  of  the  Northumbrian  Saxons. 

'  Bambarroch's  CorrespoTidence,  345. 


422  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY   [AD.   1 5  84 

that  ratB  were  unknown  in  Kirkinner  before  his  coming  there 
a  century  later.^ 

The  Lady  Eatherine's  husband  had  in  1587  been  one  of 
the  ambassadors  who  negotiated  the  marriage  of  Princess  Anne 
of  Denmark,  which  having  been  solemnised  by  proxy,  the  young 
king,  in  daily  expectation  of  her  arrival,  writes  thus  to  the  Laird 
of  Bambarroch : 

*'  At  Edinburgh,  the  penult  day  of  August  1589.  The  Queen 
our  bedfellow  being  hourly  looked  for  to  arryve,  we  earnestly 
desire  that  ye  will  send  hither  to  the  help  of  the  honour- 
able charges  to  be  made  in  this  action,  sic  quantity  of  fate  beef 
and  muttoun  on  fute^  wild  fowlis,  and  vennysonn  or  other  stuff 
meet  for  this  purpose,  as  possibly  ye  may  provide  and  fumeiss 
of  your  awen,  or  be  your  moyane,  and  expeid  the  same  here 
with  all  diligence  after  the  receipt  of  this  one  letter." 

But  before  the  hampers  could  be  packed,  all  this  was 
countermanded.  News  had  arrived  that  the  royal  bride  was 
storm-stayed  in  Norway,  and  Sir  Patrick  was  ordered  at  onfce  to 
attend  the  king  thither.  They  went  to  Norway  accordingly, 
and  reaching  Upsala  the  19th  November,  we  are  told  that  the 
king  inmiediately  at  his  coming  *'  past  quyetlie  with  buites,  to 
hir  hienes.  His  majestie  myndit  to  give  the  Queine  a  kisse 
efter  the  Scottis  faschioun  at  meiting,  quhilk  scho  refusit  as  not 
being  the  forme  of  hir  countrie.  Marie!  efter  a  few  wordis 
prively  spoken  betwix  his  majestie  and  hir,  thair  past  familiaretie 
and  kisses."  ^ 

They  were  married  on  the  24th  November,  but  did  not  return 
to  Scotland  till  May-Day  of  the  following  year ;  immediately 
after  which,  in  recognition  of  his  services.  Lord  Bambarroch  was 
given  "  the  advocation,  donation,  and  right  of  patronage  of  the 
kirks  of  Kirkinner,  Kirkcowan,  Cammanell,  and  Wigtown." 

About  this  time  Thomas  Hay,  late  Abbot  of  Glenluce,  settled 
on  secularised  church  lands,  and  took  the  style  of  Park.     His 

*  In  the  Presbytery  of  Wigtown,  although  we  have  mice  good  store,  we  have 
no  rats. — Symson's  Large  Description, 

2  Moysie's  Memoirs^  p.  80 ;  Bambarroch's  Correspondence^  377. 


to  1598]  THE  ABMADA  423 

son,  who  had  married  a  daughter  of  the  Laird-  of  Garthland^ 
built  the  house  so  called,  which  still  stands,  though  used  only 
as  a  farmhouse,  placing  over  the  doorway  the  inscription  : 
"Blessit  be  the  name  of  the  Lord,  this  verk  vas  begun  the 
first  day  of  March  1590,  be  Thomas  Hay  of  Park,  and  Janet 
Makdoval  his  spouse."  ^ 

Consequent  upon  the  assumption  of  church  property  by  the 
Crown,  royal  charters  were  granted  to  the  Agnews  of  Lochnaw 
of  the  lands  of  Kerronrae  and  Marsloch,  which  had  been  held 
from  the  bishops,  as  well  as  of  the  office  of  the  baillierie  of 
Soulseat.^ 

This  office  carried  jurisdiction  over  Portpatrick,  the  landward 
part  of  which  parish  was  then  known  as  the  "  Black  Water  of 
the  Inch,"  although  it  was  not  constituted  a  separate  parish 
until  1620,  when  Chapel  Patrick  became  its  kirk.  On  its 
extinction  the  revenues  of  the  Abbacy  of  Soulseat  amounted  to 
£343  :  13  : 4  silver  rent,  13  chalders  and  4  bolls  of  meal,  7  of 
bear,  6  of  oats,  1  lb  of  wax,  and  13^  dozen  capons. 

In  connection  with  the  secularisation  of  these  abbey  lands, 
we  find  an  inquisition  held  by  the  justiciar  on  the  30th 
November  1589, "  in  Pretorio,"  as  his  court-house  of  Wigtown  is 
termed,  to  ascertain  the  values  of  the  church  lands  of  the  Inch. 
The  principal  interest  in  the  document  lies  in  the  names  of 
the  assizers  in  the  roll,  as  follows : 

"  Before  the  most  honourable  Andrew  Agnew,  Sheriff,  in  the 
court-house  of  Wigtown,  with  Gavin  Dunbar  of  Baldoon,  and 
Alexander  Agnew  of  Croach  his  deputes,  there  sat  the  following : 
Alexander  Ahannay  of  Sorby,  Alexander  Gordon,  Tutor  of 
Craighlaw;  Simon  M'Christine  of  Clonche,  John  Ahannay 
younger  of  Sorby,  William  Kennedy  of  Gillespie,  Patrick  M*Kie 
of  Larg,  Pattrick  M*Kie  of  Drumbuie,  Gilbert  M'Clanachan  in 

^  M'Dowall  MSS.,  to  which  Granford  adds:  "She  was  the  jonDgest  that 
was  married  to  Parke,  and  not  verie  sprightly." 

'  Kerronrae  (Geath-ramhaidh  Riahhach),  the  gray  quarter.  The  charter  of 
confirmation  under  the  Great  Seal  dated  12th  May  1587,  in  favour  of  Patrick 
Agnew,  Sheriff  of  Wigtown,  recapitulates  the  lands  of  Marsloch,  Kerronrae, 
Glendrie,  Shenchan,  Garchlerie,  and  Holymark,  as  granted  hy  Alexander,  Bishop 
of  Galloway,  to  the  said  sheriff,  14th  July  1566. 


424  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY   [A.D.   I  5  84 

Culeram,  Gilbert  Boyd  of  Leswalt,  Fergus  M'Clanaclian  in 
Machquhar,  John  M'Culloch  of  Torhouse,  John  Gordon  of 
Crequhan,  Bobert  Maxwell,  brother  of  John  Maxwell  of  Mureith ; 
John  Dunbar  of  Midwig." 

About  this  time  the  sheriffs  third  son,  Patrick,  became 
Laird  of  Barmeill  (a  name  which  may  be  translated  ''  the  top  of 
the  hill "),  the  lands  all  in  Glasserton  parish ;  and  he  afterwards 
acquired  those  of  Wigg,  founding  the  branch  of  the  family  so 
called. 

In  days  when  the  number  of  kinsmen  able  to  "ride  and 
gang"  with  him  added  greatly  to  the  prestige  of  the  family 
chief,  it  was  of  no  small  interest  to  the  sheriff  that  the  various 
cadets  of  lus  family  should  prosper.^  And  besides  the  acquisi- 
tion of  these  lands  by  his  son,  Agnew  of  Croach  now  found  the 
wherewithal  to  purchase  the  lands  of  Culmalzie  from  the 
Commendator  of  Whithorn ;  whilst  Agnew  of  Graldenoch  had 
a  purse  sufficiently  well  filled  to  be  able  to  accommodate  the 
powerful  Laird  of  Bambarroch.* 

In  the  Bambarroch  charter-chest  we  find  an  odd  contract 
between  "  the  Laird  of  Bambarroch  and  Sir  Andrew  Agnew, 
Sheriff  of  Wigtown,  dated  at  Glenluce  29th  March  1588,"  by 
which  the  Laird  of  Bambarroch,  taking  burden  on  him  for 
John  lus  son  and  apparent  heir  .  .  .  touching  the  thieves 
apprehended  with  red  hand  in  the  barony  of  Mochrum  Loch, 
the  profit  of  their  escheat  shall  be  equally  divided  betwixt  both 
parties,  their  respective  officers  to  have  free  power  in  searching 
and  ryping  in  the  said  lands,  but  stop  or  impediment — John 
Hannay  of  Kirkdill,  James  M'Culloch  of  Drummorrell, 
witnesses."  * 

^  From  the  chief  family  of  Agnew  of  Lochnaw  there  sprang  various  fiunilies 
who  constituted  much  of  the  baronies  of  Wigtownshire. — Caledonia,  iii.  S95. 

'  In  the  Bambarroch  charter-chest  is  a  discharge  by  Gilbert  Agnew  of  Galde- 
noch  to  Thomas  Kennedy  of  Baijarg  for  £100  on  behalf  of  Mr.  Patrick  Waus  of 
Bambarroch,  *'quha  was  adebted  to  me  for  the  same.  Gilbert  Agnew,  22nd 
April  1588." 

'  Under  the  date  11th  July  1588  there  is  a  letter  from  the  Clark  Begister  to 
the  Right  Honourable  the  Sheriff  of  Galloway,  asking  him  to  exempt  the  Laird 
of  Bambarroch  from  taxation  as  being  a  Lord  of  Session. 


to  1598]  THE  ABMADA  425 

Ninian  Adair  of  Kinhilt  had  a  large  family,  and  a  prosperous 
one,  by  Elizabeth  of  Lochinvar,  sister  of  the  Lady  of  Lochnaw. 
His  second  son  became  Laird  of  Maryport ;  his  third  of  Chirghie ; 
his  fourth  was  successively  Dean  of  Eaphoe  and  Bishop  of 
Killaloe,  of  Waterford,  and  of  Lismora  His  fifth  son  is  styled 
of  Cardrine,  a  smedl  estate  near  the  Mull  of  Galloway. 

In  a  letter  dated  from  Lochnaw  29th  November  1582,  the 
sheriff  addresses  him  as  *'  brother" ;  tells  him  he  has  been  say- 
ing a  good  word  "  concerning  your  plea  "  to  the  young  Laird  of 
Mochrum  and  the  Laird  of  Bambarroch,  and  signs  himself 
"  your  brother  at  power,  Patrick  Agnew." 

During  Sir  Patrick's  sheriffship,  the  Hathomes — written 
also  Halthorne  and  Hawthorn — established  themselves  in  Airies. 
The  name  occurs  as  far  back  as  in  the  Chamberlain  Bolls  1455, 
in  which  the  Chamberlain  accounts  for  "  15  bolls  farinse 
avenaticse  (oatmeal)  of  the  escheat  of  David  Halthom. 
"Quentin  Halthorne  and  Alexander  Halthorne"  were  sum- 
moned "to  compeer  before  the  Lords  of  Council,  22  Jan. 
1484, — and  compeered  not."  The  family  became  kyndlie 
tenants  of  the  lands  of  Airies  under  the  Church,  and  on  the  6th 
November  1562,  we  find  a  bond  of  manrent  between  Harry 
Hawthorne  of  Airies  and  Alexander  Waus  of  Bambarroch. 
"Harry  Hawthorn  becoming  servant  to  the  said  Alexander 
Vans,  to  ride  and  gang  with  him  in  all  his  leisum  causes  and 
actions ;  for  which  cause  the  said  Alexander  gives  to  the  said 
Hary  his  parsonage  of  his  6-merk  land  of  Mickle  Aries,  for  the 
yearly  payment  to  him  of  14  marks. 

"Simon  M^Culloch  of  Myrtoun;  Patrick  Mure  of  Cairn- 
field  ;  Alexander  M'Culloch  of  Kyllasser ;  Alexander  Vaus  and 
Sir  Herbert  Anderson,  notary  public,  witnesses." 

A  Michael  Hawthorne  was  a  "  reader  in  Toskerton  "  in  the 
first  list  of  reformed  clergy,  probably  the  brother  of  Harry, 
mentioned  with  the  clerical  "sir,"  by  Lord  Barnbarroch  in  a 
letter  to  his  agent :  "  Always  ye  will  remember  to  provide  Sir 
Michael  Hawthorne's  silver  against  Paice  (Easter)  at  the  latest. 
9  Feb.  1586." 


426    HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  1584 

The  Hawthornes  acquired  Aiiie  Hemming  in  the  parish  of 
Glenluce,  retaining  Airies  till  the  present  century.  Eventually 
John  Hawthorn  of  Airies  married  in  1738  Agnes  Stewart  of 
Physgill,  and  took  her  name.  His  descendants  are  the  Stewarts 
of  Glasserton. 

Beyond  the  mere  mention  of  the  second  hereditary  sheriff 
having  been  employed  in  negotiations  with  the  Eegulus  O'Neill, 
A.D.  1460,  there  is  no  record  of  any  communication  kept  up  by 
the  Agnews  with  the  north  of  Ireland.  In  an  historical  notice, 
however,  it  is  assumed  as  notorious  that  some  of  the  Scottish 
baronage  in  the  west  held  lands  in  Ireland.  It  is  as  follows  : 
"  A.D.  1540,  King  Henry  VIII.  takes  the  title  of  King  of  Ire- 
land, whereat  King  James  somewhat  grumbles,  but  keeps 
himself  quiet  in  respect  King  Henry  makes  no  use  of  this 
title  for  expelling  the  Scots  there  from  their  inheritance.''  ^ 

The  question  of  the  Agnews'  possession  of  Lame  stiU  re- 
maining entirely  dependent  on  tradition,  and  that  especially 
Irish. 

Forty  years  later,  however,  such  Scots  as  had  land  there  had 
a  more  active  foe  in  a  Celt  from  their  own  side  of  the  water, 
"  Sorley  Boye,"  ^  by  whom  Anglo-Norman  and  Lowland  Scots 
were  alike  termed  the  Sassenach.  To  him  Queen  Elizabeth 
made  a  more  vigorous  resistance  than  James  V.,  sending  Essex 
with  a  large  force  to  confront  him ;  but  the  picturesque  bar- 
bariEui  made  good  his  hold  of  the  seaboard  from  Strangford 
Loch  to  the  Giant's  Causeway. 

The  queen  afterwards  accepted  his  submission ;  and  James 
VL  treated  his  son  with  great  distinction,  eventually  creating 
him  Earl  of  Antrim  (in  1603),  with  the  over-lordship  of  the  entire 
regions  known  as  "  The  Route "  and  "  The  Glynns,"  extending 

*  Balfour,  I  272. 

'  This  was  Sombirle  M'DonnelL  Somhirle  or  Somerled,  a  name  composed  of 
two  Norse  words,  Sumar  lidi,  *'  summer  soldiers  or  wanderers,"  equivalent  to  sea- 
kings  or  vikings.  The  name  has  been  incorrectly  rendered  Charles,  and  still 
more  so  Samuel.    Sorley  Boye  is  the  golden-haired  Somerled. 

That  part  of  Antrim  extending  from  Ravel  Water  northward,  at  the  present 
day  ''The  Route" — Latin  rata — ^is  considered  to  be  a  corraption  of  the  latter 
part  of  Dalradia. 


to  1598]  THE  ARMADA  427 

landwards  from  Lame  to  Goleraine.  Connected  with  this  there 
seems  indirect  evidence  of  the  Agnews  having  been  ancient 
owners  of  a  part  of  these  domains,  in  that  one  of  the  first  acts 
of  Sir  Bandall  McDonnell,  the  son  in  question,  before  he  was 
created  an  earl,  was  to  offer  Sir  Patrick  Agnew  leases  of  various 
townlands  in  the  baronies  of  Glenarm  and  Lame. 

The  last  notice  we  find  of  the  sixth  sheriff  is  an  entry  in  the 
Privy  Council  Becords  of  special  commissions  granted  to  Patrick 
Agnew  of  Lochnaw,  Sheriff  of  Wigtown;  John  Kennedy  of 
Blairquhan,  Sheriff  of  Ayr;  and  John  Gordon  of  Lochinvar, 
Sheriff  (sic)  of  Kirkcudbright,  to  convene  the  freeholders  for 
choosing  commissioners  to  meet  at  Edinburgh  the  6th  October 
following,  and  to  report  the  result  of  the  elections. 

The  sheriff  died  in  1590.  The  first  of  his  line  buried  in  the 
churchyard  of  Leswalt  with  Protestant  rites.  He  left,  besides 
his  heir,  Patrick  of  Sheuchan  (reproduced  by  his  grandson), 
William  of  Barmeill ;  Thomas,  whose  son  was  heir  of  his  uncle 
William ;  Quentin,  who  had  various  properties  near  Stranraer ; 
Alexander  of  Ardoch  in  the  Stewartry,  then  sheriff-depute  ;  and 
two  daughters — Katherine,  the  Lady  of  Larg,  and  Helen,  wife  of 
John  M'Dowall,  presumably  of  Garthland.^  Gilbert  Agnew  of 
Galdenoch,  in  virtue  of  two  Crown  precepts,  invested  his  eldest 
son  in  his  lands  and  rights,  the  ceremonies  extending  over  two 
days — the  22d  and  23d  April  1590.  The  witnesses  the  first  day 
being  David  Kennedy,  Alexander  Agnew  of  Croach,  James 
M*Ewen  in  Leswalt,  Robert  Boyd  in  Largbrak,  George  M'Cedlum, 
and  Niven  Adair  younger  of  Kinhilt.  On  the  second,  Nevin 
Agnew  in  Mais,  William  Dunbar  in  Culmalzon,  Finlay 
M'Cracken,  Patrick  M'Kie,  William  Gordon  in  Bemernie, 
William  Agnew,  brother  -  german  of  the  sheriff;  Thomas 
M'Dowall,  Alexander  M'Dowall,  Michael  M'Cracken,  notary  to 
sheriff-clerk.^ 

^  There  is  a  charter  in  the  Great  Seal  Register  of  the  lands  of  Portensak 
(Portnessoch)  to  John  M'Dowall  and  Helen  Agnew  his  spouse,  20th  January 
1581. 

'  Both  charters  in  the  Great  Seal  Register.  Larghrak,  Larbrax ;  Mais,  Maize, 
Cymric  maas,  **  meadow  "  ;  Bamnemie  (n-aime),  "  hill- top  of  the  sloe  hush.  " 


428  HBREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY    [A.D.  I  5  84 

The  seventh  sheriff  as  justiciar  had  already  gained  himself  a 
good  name  by  his  activity,  and  at  the  date  of  his  succession  the 
local  historian  relates  ''that  the  condition  of  the  inhabitants 
had  considerably  improved.  Law  had  assumed  some  vigour, 
and  both  the  persons  and  property  of  individuals  were  held 
more  sacred.  The  execution  of  justice  had  become  more  certain, 
and  the  chances  of  escape  diminished.  The  courts  of  justiciary 
had  principally  contributed  to  produce  this  salutary  change  in 
Galloway."  ^ 

In  recognition  of  his  services  he  was  moreover  appointed 
Chamberlain  of  Galloway,  an  office  of  considerable  emolument, 
and  which,  except  in  his  case,  had  never  been  conjoined  with 
that  of  sheriflf.  His  accountings,  as  preserved  in  the  Chamber- 
lain Bolls,  extend  continuously  from  1595  to  1609.  He  was 
knighted  previous  to  the  earlier  date.  We  doubt  if  he  con- 
sidered this  a  privilege,  but  rather  as  an  attempt  of  the  heralds 
for  extracting  a  fee.  It  is  observable  that  all  the  principal 
Galloway  lairds  registered  as  knights,  such  as  Garlies,  Lochinvar, 
Myrton,  and  the  sheriiffs,  never  use  the  "  sir  "  in  their  signatures, 
considering  the  baronial  position  the  more  honourable,  except 
in  the  case  of  being  conferred  personally  by  the  sovereign  for 
service  in  the  field.  The  knightly  prefix  is  invariably  given  to 
the  clerics,  and  often  to  the  notaries  public.  In  1591  we  find 
the  sheriff  serving  Sir  Patrick  Vaus  heir  to  George,  Bishop  of 
Galloway  (his  good-sire*s  brother),  who  had  died  at  the  age  of 
ninety  at  least,  in  1570.     The  record  is  as  follows  : 

"The  Sheriff's  head  court  at  Wigtown,  holdenin  the  Tolbooth 
of  the  same  be  ye  honourable  Andrew  Agnew,  Sheriff  of  Wig- 
town, the  12th  day  of  October  1591. 

"  Suits  coiled.  —  The  court  affirmed  absence  amerciate : 
Dempster,  Patrick  Wardlaw. 

*  Mackenzie,  vol.  iL  p.  2. 

The  Privy  Council  Records  supply  many  facts  useful  in  filling  in  the  links 
in  pedigrees.  Thus  1692  :  **  Bond  by  Andrew  Agnew,  Sheriff  of  Wigtown,  that 
James  M'Eie  of  Drumbuy  shall  not  harry  Alexander  Gordon,  Tutor  of  Craighlaw. 
Subscrivit  at  Lochnaw,  8  July,  before  Archibald  Gordon  and  Alexander 
Agnew." 


to  1598]  THE   ARMADA  429 

Jurors, 

George  M*Culloch  of  Torhouse.  William  Campbell  of  Eerrintray. 

Patrick  Hannay  of  Eirdaill.  Harrie  Halthoime  of  Aries. 

William  Danbar  in  Oulmalzow.  Mr.  William  M'Qowyne^  Commissar 

Alezr.  Qordonn,  apparent  of  Balcray .  of  Wigtown. 

Simon  MKIHiristine  of  Clonsche.  Johnne  Baillie  in  Dunragat 

Gilbert  Gordon  of  Polmallairt.  John  Ramsay  of  Boghouse. 

Malcolm  M'Eie  in  Dyrrie.  William  Muir,  tutor  of  Gaimfield. 

"  The  quhilk  day  compeerit  the  right  honourable  Sir  Patrick 
Waiis,  Bambarroch,  desiring  the  honourable  inquest  above 
written,  to  serve  him  as  nearest  and  lawful  heir-male  to  umqiihile 
and  Eeverend  Father  in  God,  George  Wawss,  sometime  Bishop 
of  Quhithorne,  quha  decesit  the  year  of  God  1570.  Our 
Sovereign  Lord's  brief  verified  be  William  M'CuUoch,  king's 
oflScer  upon  the  28th  day  of  September  last. 

"  The  said  inquest  passed  furth  of  Court  as  the  use  is  being 
rypelie  advicit,  with  the  said  brief  and  claim  ;  and  on  entering 
again  all  on  ane  voice,  but  variance,  servit  the  said  Sir  Patrick 
as  heir-male  nearest  and  lawful  to  the  said  umquhile  George 
conforme  to  the  said  claim." 

On  this,  Mr.  Vans  Agnew  remarks :  "This  good-sire  succeeded 
in  1482  ;  therefore  at  that  date  his  Father  and  the  Bishop's  was 
dead,  and  this  Bishop  George  must  have  lived  for  nearly  90 
years."  ^ 

But,  as  seen  in  our  pages,  Bishop  George  Vaus  was  brother- 
in-law  to  the  present  (the  sixth)  sherififs  great-great-grand- 
mother, which  Marietta  became  Lady  of  Lochnaw  in  1469 ;  at 
which  date  she  must  have  been  somewhere  about  nineteen  years 
of  age,  and  it  is  highly  improbable  that  George  could  have  been 
more  than  twenty  years  younger  than  his  sister,  or  that  he  was 
consecrated  bishop  before  he  was  himself  thirty-three.  On 
either  of  which  calculations  he  seems  certainly  to  have  been  a 
centenarian.^ 

In  1591  the  Laird  of  Larg  died,  leaving  to  his  widow,  the 

^  CorrupondeMe  of  Sir  Patrick  Waus,  Introduction,  p.  84. 
^  The  startling  fact  being  that  Bishop  George  Vaux  died  101  years  after  his 
sister  was  married  and  established  as  Lady  of  Lochnaw. 


430    HEREDITAEY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [AD.  1584 

sheriff's  sister,  the  whole  of  the  revenues  of  Lai^  and  other 
lands.  On  the  13th  of  July  1593  Catherine  M'Kie,  late  Agnew, 
was  married  at  Lochnaw  to  Alexander  (xordon  of  Clanyard; 
the  settlements  then  signed  conveying  to  the  sheriff,  in  trust 
for  his  sister,  a  Ufe  interest  in  the  lands  of  Clanyard,  Grarroch- 
tree,  and  Portencorkrae.^ 

Whilst  Catherine  Agnew  was  its  lady  Clanyard  Castle  was 
famed  as  the  "  best  halding  house  "  in  all  the  country  sid^  and 
she  herself  as  a  "  notable  spendar."  ^ 

Kitchen  and  hall  cure  now  alike  silent,  but  her  old  dinner- 
bell  is  still  as  sonorous  as  ever,  it  having  been  removed  to  the 
parish  church  of  Kirkmaiden,  where  it  now  weekly  summons 
the  lieges  for  more  serious  purposes. 

The  bell  had  been  cast  in  1534  for  Lord  Dalhousie,  from 
whom  it  had  been  acquired  by  the  Laird  of  Lochinvar,  who 
made  it  a  wedding-gift  to  the  bride  and  bridegroom  on  their 
taking  up  house  at  Clanyard.  The  following  letter  from  the 
sheriff  is  in  the  Bambarroch  charter-chest : 

Letter  from  Sir  Andrew  Agnew  to  the  Laird  of 
Barnbarroch,  24th  June  1592. 

My  Lord,  eftir  my  hertlie  commendatioun,  the  berar  heirof 
Mr.  Williame  Turner,  as  I  am  Informit,  hes  agreit  with  the 
comnusser,  and  hes  satisfeit  him  in  all  things,  according  as  he 

^  Clanyard,  claonard,  ''the  high  glope." 

In  a  charter  nnder  the  Great  Seal,  from  Stirling,  1594,  both  settlements  are 
recapitulated.  By  the  first  Eatherlne  Agnew  receives  the  lands  of  Laig,  Mark, 
Tarff,  Polbrecks.  Dated  9th  December  1591.  Witnesses :  Patrick  M'Kie,  apparent 
of  Larg,  Sheriff  of  Galloway,  Patrick  Heron,  Robert  Gordon  of  Bememey.  The 
second  is  to  Andrew  Agnew,  Vice  Comes,  and  Eatharina  Agnew,  soror  ejus, 
giving  Clanyard,  Portencorkrae,  Garrachtrie,  etc.  Signed  by  Alexander  Gordon 
and  the  sheriff  as  principals ;  Quentin  Agnew  the  sheriffs  son,  and  others, 
witnesses. 

Port  an  corcoir,  "  the  port  of  the  crimson  "  ;  above  it  red  granite  crops  out  in 
the  cliff.     Bamcorkrae,  ''the  height  of  the  crimson  or  red." 

'  Cloneyard,  of  old  a  very  great  house. 

Rather  more  than  a  couple  of  centuries  ago  Alexander  Gordon  had  brought 
home  to  Clanyard  as  his  wife  the  richly  dowered  sister  of  Sheriff  Agnew.  They 
kept  house  with  baronial  splendour  and  profusion  ;  for  every  day  in  the  year  a 
GaJloway  nowt  was  killed,  and  not  "a  peck **  but  a  boU  of  malt  brewed,     dan- 


to  1598]  THE   ABM  ADA  431 

will  testifie  and  mak  knawin  unto  your  (L)  Quhairfoir  I  will 
deayre  your  (L.)  that  as  your  (L)  has  bene  ane  guid  freind  and 
favourer  of  him  hitherto  so  in  lyke  wayis  your  (L)  will  forder 
him  to  get  his  besines  exped  This  nocht  dowting  bot  your  (L.) 
will  do  for  my  requiest,  as  I  salbe  habill  to  do  for  your  (L) 
requeist  agane.  Nocht  trubling  your  (L.)  with  farder  at  this 
present  quhill  the  nixt  occasioun,  committis  your  (L.)  to  the 
protectioun  of  the  lord  ffroume  the  wigtoun  the  xxiiij  day  of 
Junij  1592.  Andro  Agnew. 

**  To  the  rycht  honorabiU  and  my  speciaU  my  lord  of  bame- 
barroch." 

In  a  charter  of  renewal  in  the  Great  Seal  Eegister  in  favour 
of  Ninian  Adair,  dated  12th  November  1595,  "  Portray,"  the 
"  Clachane  of  Stranrawer,"  is  named  as  part  of  his  barony. 

In  1596  "Stranrawer"  was  erected  by  Act  of  Parliament 
into  a  burgh  of  barony  under  the  Adairs  of  Kilhilt,  the 
charter  just  quoted  having  been  overlooked.  It  has  been  gener- 
ally assumed  that  the  name  was  a  new  one  given  at  this  erection, 
and,  as  Symson  suggests,  descriptive  of  the  situation  ;  as  by  the 
town  "  there  runs  a  bourn  or  strand,  so  that  perhaps  the  town 
should  be  spelled  Strandrawer."  But  good  Andrew  Symson 
notwithstanding,  neither  "  row  "  nor  "  strand  "  lie  at  the  root  of 
the  name,  but  "  sron,"  the  "  nose  or  snout,"  and  "  reamhar,"  the 
"  bluflf  point."  The  Celtic  form  Stronrawer  is  to  be  found  in  the 
Lochnaw  charter-chest  a  century  before  this,  and  is  obviously 
identical  with  the  "  Stranrever  in  the  Ehynns  "  in  charters  of  the 
days  of  Robert  Bruce.  The  bounds  assigned  by  charter  to  the 
burgh  are:  "St.  John's  Croft,  extending  to  6  acres,  from  the 
burn  which  comes  from  the  Loch  of  Chappell  to  the  Loch  of  Loch 
Ryan,  and  to  the  lands  of  Airds  to  the  east.  The  tower,  fortalice, 
manor-place,  and  yards  of  Chappell  on  the  west.  The  water- 
gang  which  was  to  the  mill  of  Chappell  on  the  south;   and 

yard  must  have  been  a  pleasant  residence  :  it  is  sheltered  from  westerly  gales  by 
Bamcorkrae  Fell,  and  from  bitter  east  winds  by  the  heights  of  Garrachtrie. 
Around  it  are  fair  arable  lands,  and  half  a  mile  to  the  west  is  Glanyard  Bay,  with 
its  broad  sandy  beach. — Macllwraith's  Cfuide  to  WigtovrMhirtt  148. 


432  HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY   [A.D.   I  5  84 

the  Loch  of  Loch  Bjan  on  the  north ;  reserving  to  Elizabeth 
Kennedy,  heretrix  of  the  said  croft,  the  tower,  fortalice,  manor- 
place,  yards,  and  orchards  of  ChappelL"  In  1595  we  find  the 
rising  town  styled  "Clachane  de  Stranrawer";  in  1596  it  becomes 
"  librum  Burgum  Eegalium." 

Within  a  few  years  of  its  foundation,  Stranraer  became  quite 
a  social  centre,  a  knot  of  county  lairds  habitually  frequenting 
it ;  the  Laird  of  Garthland  building  a  large  town  house,  as  also 
Quentin  Agnew  the  sheriff's  brother,  as  well  as  Lynn  of  Larg  and 
the  Kennedys  of  Chappell ;  John  Kennedy  of  Creach  being 
among  its  first  provosts,  and  cadets  of  the  Agnews,  M'Dowalls, 
and  others  among  its  bailies.  In  later  years  it  is  traditionally 
said  that  the  George  Hotel  was  once  the  town  house  of  the  Earls 
of  Stair. 

The  cordial  relations  established  between  Sir  Thomas 
Kennedy  of  Culzean  and  his  "  traist  friend,"  Sir  Patrick  Agnew, 
were  drawn  even  closer  with  his  son. 

Sir  Thomas,  known  as  the  "  Tutor  of  Cassilis,"  is  written  of 
even  by  a  bitter  opponent  as  "  indeed  a  wery  potentious  man, 
and  a  wery  wise  man."  The  heir  whom  he  had  educated  seems 
to  have  inherited  a  large  share  of  his  father's  (the  fourth  earl's) 
greed,  and  hardly  was  he  free  from  his  uncle's  leading-strings 
than  he  showed  himself  as  unscrupulous  in  making  money,  and 
more  careful  to  keep  it,  than  his  father.  He  gave  early  evidence 
of  this  ruling  passion,  when,  in  1597,  being  barely  twenty 
years  of  age,  against  aU  remonstrances,  he  married  the  widow  of 
Lord  Maitland  of  Thurlston,  a  lady  old  enough  to  be  his  mother, 
but  largely  dowered.  As  pithily  put,  *'Ye  3d  of  November 
1597  Earl  Cassilis  married  ye  Chancellour  Maitland's  widow, 
of  gude  yearis,  not  like  to  bear  children,  daughter  and  heir  to 
Lord  Fleming."^  And  at  his  wife's  instigation  he  further 
accepted  the  ofi&ce  of  Treasurer  of  Scotland,  from  which  the 
tutor  vainly  tried  to  dissuade  him.^ 

^  Oottonian  Manuscript 

'  The  22d  March  1598  the  Earl  of  Cassilis  is  made  great  Treasurer,  persuaded 
thereto  by  his  wyfe,  quha  had  been  the  chancellor's  wyfe  before,  and  thought 
she  would  have  her  last  gudeman  Treasurer.     But  his  majesty  thinking  him  right 


to  1598]  THE   ARMADA  433 

Before  this  the  tutor's  eldest  daughter  Margaret  had  married 
Patrick,  the  sheriifs  eldest  son;  and  shortly  after  her  sister 
married  the  younger  Mure  of  Auchendrane  under  extraordinary 
circumstances. 

Sir  Thomas  Kennedy  had  obtained  a  decree  in  court  against 
this  young  man  for  12000  marks, "  not  intending  to  put  the 
same  in  execution,  but  as  an  awband  above  his  head,"  which 
greatly  incensed  his  family.  They  meeting  to  consider  the 
matter,  Auchendrane,  his  father,  suggested  a  simple  mode  of 
dealing  with  the  debt.  Sir  Thomas  had  a  house  at  Maybole, 
and  the  laird's  advice  was  to  waylay  him  on  his  return  from  a 
supper-party  to  which  it  was  known  he  was  engaged  for  New 
Year's  night  1597.  The  accomplices  watched  accordingly,  and 
tracking  their  victim  to  a  narrow  close,  discharged  a  voUey 
point  blank  at  the  party,  the  tutor  escaping  their  bullets  by  a 
miracle.  **  He  flees ;  they  chase  him ;  but  by  the  mirkness  of  the 
night  he  escapes."  The  noise  aroused  the  neighbours,  and 
friends  rallying  to  Sir  Thomas,  Mure  and  his  party  had  in  turn 
to  fly.  The  misdemeanants  were  summoned  to  appear  before 
the  council,  and  not  attending,  were  declared  rebel  and  put  to 
the  horn.  Whereupon  the  tutor  seized  the  "  House  of  Auchen- 
drane, destroyed  the  plenishing,  and  wrecked  all  the  yarding."  ^ 
Buin  stared  the  Auchendranes  in  the  face,  when  the  bold  idea 
occurred  to  the  laird  to  propose  a  man*iage  between  his  son  and 
heir  and  the  tutor's  daughter ;  at  the  same  time  expressing 
himself  in  language  of  the  most  abject  penitence  for  his  mis- 
doings.  Young  Mure  was  of  good  repute,  his  expectations  large, 
and  there  may  have  been  previous  love  passages  between  the 
young  folks.  At  all  events  the  damsel  proved  not  unwilling. 
The  tutor  took  the  matter  ad  avizandum^  and  as  the  result  kith 

rich,  and  that  she  might  furnish  sums  of  money,  and  using  words  to  this  effect, 
put  them  to  such  a  ftight  that  she  moved  him  forthwith  to  give  the  pkco 
up.  He  had  to  pay  8000  marks  to  be  allowed  to  do  so. — Pitcaim*s  Historie  of 
the  KennedyiSf  p.  112. 

Lady  Cassilis  died  1609,  aged  fifty-five,  having  had  issue  by  her  first  husband 
John,  created  Earl  of  Lauderdale,  of  whom  one  was  ancestor  of  the  Maitlands  of 
French. 

*  Pitcaim's  HUtorie  of  the  Kennedyis,  p.  27. 

VOL.  I  2  F 


434  SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY      [A.D.   1584-1598 

and  kin  from  far  and  near  were  summoned  to  the  bridal ;  and 
80  thorough  did  the  reconciliation  appear  that  the  historian  of 
the  opposing  faction  writes  that  "  the  Laird  of  Culzean  did  now 
so  affect  the  good  of  the  Laird  of  Auchendrane  and  his  house, 
that  it  was  no  less  dear  to  him  than  his  own."  ^ 

An  unfortunate  quarrel  occurred  about  this  time  between 
the  Master  of  Cassilis  and  the  tenant  of  Auchnotteroch.  These 
lands,  now  a  part  of  the  Lochnaw  estate,  then  the  Earl  of 
Cassilis's,  had  been  let  by  Sir  Thomas  Kennedy  to  one  M'Ewen, 
the  Master  of  Cassilis  having  previously  engaged  that  they 
should  be  given  to  his  foster  brother,  Patrick  Bickard.  Hearing 
this,  the  Master  sent  a  message  to  M'Ewen  warning  him  not  to 
accept  the  farm,  **  else  he  would  make  all  his  harness  clatter." 
But  this  M'Ewen,  "  being  a  proud  carle,  and  having  the  Sheriff 
of  Galloway  as  well  as  Culzean  to  back  him,"  defiantly  answered 
"that  he  would  take  any  land  my  lord  chose  to  give  him. 
Thereupon  the  Master,  forgathering  with  M'Ewen,  slays  him,^ 
whereat  my  lord  was  far  offendit"  Afraid  of  returning  to  his 
brother,  the  youth  claimed  and  received  hospitality  at  Garthland, 
where,  falling  in  love  with  his  host's  sister,  he  married  her ; 
"  whereat,"  we  are  told,  "  my  lord  was  even  more  offended  than 
he  had  been  before."  It  is  a  curious  coincidence  that  after  the 
lapse  of  nearly  three  centuries,  a  M'Ewen  is  still  tenant  of 
Auchnotteroch. 

^  The  marriage  complete,  Auchendrane  relaxed  from  the  horn,  and  all  their 
folk  made  free  that  was  with  him  and  made  friends. — Pitcaim's  Historic  qfthe 
Kennedyis,  p.  86 ;  from  which  are  taken  all  the  notices  in  inverted  commas 
above. 

'  Three  years  later,  14th  September  1601,  we  find  a  remission  to  the  Master  of 
Cassilis,  John  Boyd  his  servant,  and  Hugh  Kennedy  of  Ghappell,  for  the 
slaughter  of  Andrew  M'Ewen  in  Auchnotteroch. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

THE  FEUDS  OF  THE  KENNEDYS 
A.D.  1598  to  1616 

Few  were  the  words,  and  stem  and  high, 

That  marked  the  foemen's  feudal  hate ; 
For  question  fierce  and  proud  reply, 

Gave  signal  soon  of  dire  debate. 

Lay  of  the  Last  MinstreL 

Sir  John  Kennedy  of  Blairquhan,  whose  family  had  long  owned 
lands  on  the  Cree,  towards  the  close  of  the  century  acquired 
from  Sir  John  Yaus  various  lands  in  Sorbie.  He  had  married 
I^ady  Margaret  Keith,  daughter  of  the  Earl  Marshal,  by  whom 
he  had  two  sons,  John  and  James,  and  a  daughter,  married  to 
Andrew,  third  Lord  Ochiltree.  About  1605,  this  second  son 
married  the  sherifiTs  daughter  Jane,  and  his  father  settled  the 
lands  of  Cults  and  Baltier  upon  the  young  couple,  with  Cruggle- 
ton  Castle  for  their  residence.^  Of  the  branches  of  the  Kennedys 
none  were  more  respected  than  the  Laird  of  Blairquhan.  He, 
alone  of  all  the  clan,  keeping  himself  clear  from  the  frequent 
bickerings  and  meetings  between  relatives,  ending  in  blood, 
which  kept  the  province  in  a  state  of  continual  turmoil  Of 
the  family  holding  baronial  position  in  Galloway  we  trace  a 
Kennedy  of  LeflFnoll,  of  Knockybay,  of  Arioland,  of  Auchtra- 

^  In  the  Lochaw  charter-chest  are  yarious  charters  to  James  Kennedy  and 
Jaine  Agnew  his  spouse.  No.  1  of  Baltier,  No.  2  of  Cults,  of  2Sd  September  1606, 
confirmed  ''and  to  be  holden  of  his  majesty  by  royal  charter,  5  Not.  1606." 
Also  Nos.  3  and  4  of  Cruggleton  Castle  and  contiguous  lands,  one  from  M'Dowall 
of  Machermore,  another  from  Sir  John  Wauss  of  Longcastle,  confirming  the 
former  as  superior.  John  Kennedy  of  Blairquhan  had  built  and  dedicated  a 
chapel  to  St  Ninian  at  the  Cruives  of  Cree  in  1508. 


436     HEREDITAKY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  1598 

lour,  of  Chappell,  of  Airiehemming,  of  Grennan,  of  Synnieness, 
of  Gillespie,  of  Airds,  of  Cieach,  and  of  Caimgaam. 

The  feud  between  the  earl  and  Bargany  had  led  to  such 
disorders  that,  on  the  complaint  of  the  local  officials,  the  king 
summoned  both  to  Edinburgh,  and  there  ''gart  them  shake 
hands."  But  hardly  were  their  differences  composed,  than  the 
earl  plimged  into  a  serious  quarrel  with  the  whole  baronage  of 
the  shire.  His  father,  it  will  be  remembered,  had  in  one  of  his 
softer  moods  propitiated  the  good- will  of  these  gentlemen  by 
granting  them  kyndlie  tenancies  which,  if  they  did  not  bring  as 
much  rent  to  his  coffers  as  what  was  marketably  obtainable,  yet 
secured  him  their  good- will,  often  of  more  than  money's  worth 
to  a  superior.  Greed  being  the  new  earl's  weak  point,  he  did 
not  see  the  matter  in  this  light,  and  determined  to  break  the 
leases.  Accordingly  he  ''obtenit  ane  decreitt  aganis  all  the 
gentill  menne  of  Galloway,  of  aU  thair  kyndlie  rowmis,  sik  as 
the  Lairdis  of  Gairfland,  Kenhilt,  and  Meirtonne,  with  the 
Schereff  of  Galloway,  and  thair  freindis,  rydis  to  his  house  of 
Inche  in  Galloway,  with  forty  horse  in  geir,  on  intentione  to 
put  the  same  decreite  of  his  to  executiounne.  .  .  .  The  quhilk, 
the  gentill  menne  of  Galloway  perseiffing,  send  and  desyritt  me 
Lord  to  wse  thame  kyndlie ;  bot  he  refuissit  the  samin,  and  wald 
wse  na  thing  bot  the  rigour  of  the  law  " ;  and  singling  out 
Garthland  for  his  first  attack,  proclaimed  a  court  at  Glenluce 
for  next  day,  thinking  there  to  enforce  the  decree  against  him. 

From  his  intimate  relations  with  Culzean,  the  sheriff  might 
probably  have  made  terms  for  himself ;  but  this  he  scorned  to 
do,  and  deciding  to  make  common  cause  with  his  neighbours, 
the  friends  met,  and  engaging  to  support  one  another  to  the 
death,  made  arrangements  for  putting  a  superior  force  in  the 
field  on  the  following  morning. 

Cassilis's  summons  was  therefore  responded  to  in  a  manner 
as  prompt  as  unexpected.  As  he  was  preparing  to  leave  his 
house  with  his  troop  of  forty  horse,  he  was  informed  that  the 
gentlemen  had  already  ridden  past  his  gates  on  the  way  to 
Glenluce  with  one  hundred  horse  in  geir. 


vvi  -jr  ^- 


to  1616]     THE  FEUDS  OP  THE  KENNEDYS         437 

M'Dowall's  family  under  the  Church  had  been  baron  bailies 
of  the  district ;  and  the  gentlemen  entering  the  court,  and  my 
lord  not  appearing,  Garthland  facetiously  remarked :  "  If  my 
lord  would  come  there,  he  should  be  welcome,  and  he  should  be 
his  depute."  The  earl  meanwhile  occupied  his  morning  in  re- 
cruiting his  forces ;  and  as  the  party  jubilantly  returned, 
endeavoured  to  disperse  them  by  a  flank  attack.  A  m^l^e 
ensued,  ending  in  the  earl's  men  being  driven  back  within  their 
defences.^  Where  a  garrison  being  ill  provisioned,  their  in- 
creased numbers  rather  told  against  them,  for  the  gentlemen 
knowing  this,  invested  the  island  so  closely  that  no  one  could 
get  out,  and  food  was  running  scarce.  In  this  dilemma  the  earl 
determined  to  throw  himself  upon  the  generosity  of  his  cousin 
Bargany,  who  was  actually  at  the  moment  in  hostile  bands 
against  him ;  and  having  with  him  as  his  chaplain  the  minister 
of  GolmoneU,  he  despatched  him  on  an  embassage  to  Bargany. 

The  reverend  gentleman  sped  so  quickly  on  his  errand  that 
he  reached  Ardstincher  before  Bargany  had  retired  to  bed,  who, 
hearing  his  story,  at  once  "  lapp  on  with  forty  horse,"  desiring  a 
further  detachment  to  follow,  and,  riding  all  night,  arrived  at 
Craigcaffie  by  break  of  day.  Hence  he  sent  desiring  the  sheriff 
and  gentlemen  to  confer  with  him.  They  soon  appefiu'ed,  ex- 
plaining that  they  were  not  assembled  "to  pursue  my  lord  to 
his  injury,"  but  simply  to  defend  themselves  from  wrong. 
Bargany  expressed  sympathy  with  them,  and  especially  with 
Garthland  (who  indeed  was  in  bands  with  him),  promising  to 
deal  with  my  lord,  adding,  "  Gif  me  lord  be  to  do  you  wrong,  and 
not  use  you  kyndlie  by  the  sight  of  friends,  I  will  not  only 
leave  his  lordship,  but  defend  you  to  the  last  drop  of  my  blood." 

^  *'  Now,  the  vay  that  thay  war  to  cum  bak  was  be  the  Loch-end  of  the 
Insche,  quhair  me  Lord  wes  ;  and  me  Lord  had  gaderitt  sum  ma  of  his  menne  to 
him  or  thay  com  bak  ;  and  sa,  isschit  oat  of  the  loch,  and  thocht  to  put  thame 
about  the  way  thay  com :  Bot  thay  com  that  way  and  wald  nocht  be  stayitt. 
The  Galloway  menne  com  that  nycht,  and  inclossitt  the  Loche ;  and  wald  not  latt 
nane  out  or  in  ;  for  thay  knew  he  wes  not  weill  prowydit  .  .  .  My  Lord  of 
Gaissallis  wes  hiche  offenditt  .  .  .  bot  heffing  ane  minister  in  the  Yll  with  him, 
callit  James  Zoung,  minister  of  Camnell  (who)  com  out,  and  said  he  was  going  to 
his  kirk.  For  the  quhilk  effect  thay  sufferitt  him  to  pass."— Pitcaim's  ffistorie 
of  the  Kermedyis,  p.  81. 


438  HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  1598 

All  agreed  "  that  they  would  abyde  by  his  judgement " ;  and 
Bargany  passed  to  the  Inch.  Here  my  lord  thanked  him  for 
having  proved  a  friend  in  need,  and  promised  to  be  entirely 
guided  by  him  in  his  dealings  with  the  baron's  kyndlie  rowmis. 
Upon  this  Bargany  returned  to  the  gentlemen,  and  suggested 
that  they  should  send  their  followers  home  and  come  with  him 
to  discuss  their  matters  with  my  lord ;  he  undertaking  to  be 
answerable  for  their  safety,  and  to  make  doubly  sure,  passed  on 
forty  of  his  own  men  armed  into  the  island. 

The  earl  received  them  aflfably,  pronusing  to  stand  by  what- 
ever "his  eame"  should  settle.  Their  grievances  being  thus 
discussed  in  an  amicable  spirit,  and  the  laird  entering  into 
particulars  with  my  lord,  "agreed  them  aU  to  their  contente- 
ments,"  it  being  understood  that  the  decreit  against  Garthland 
should  be  forthwith  withdrawn. 

The  mansion-house  being  now  provisioned,  my  lord  insisted 
that  they  all  should  stay  and  dine,  which  they  did,  nothing  loth; 
and  dinner  over,  all  mounted  and  rode  off,  the  Galloway  gentle- 
men, as  a  mark  of  goodwill,  escorting  his  lordship  to  Glenapp. 
All  seemed  now  happily  settled,  when,  a  few  days  later,  having 
waited  on  the  earl  with  the  conditions  reduced  to  writing, 
Cassilis,  to  his  astonishment,  coolly  told  him  that  he  did  not  feel 
himself  bound  by  promises  extorted  by  superior  force,  and 
should  fulfil  them  only  so  far  as  he  chose. 

High  words  ensued ;  the  indignant  Bargany  challenged  the 
earl,^  who  agreed  to  give  him  satisfaction,  but  played  him 
as  false  in  this  matter  as  the  former,  never  appearing  "  at  the 
time  or  place,"  and  again  setting  the  law  in  force  against  his 
kyndlie  tenants.  He  took  out  king's  letters  against  Garthland, 
which  the  sheriff  was  bound,  in  virtue  of  his  office,  to  enforce ; 
but  he  being  himself  in  "  bands "  with  Garthland,  he  took  no 
step  in  accordance  with  these  to  compel  his  removal  or  distrain  his 
effects,  for  which,  consequently,  he  became  personally  liable. 

^  "And  efter  lus  waj-cuming,  writ  to  me  Lord,  'that  his  lordschip  wald, 
according  to  his  word,  apoynt  him  tyme,  place,  and  maner.'  Bot  me  Lord  geff 
na  ansner,  bot  lat  the  samin  pass  oner  withe  sylense." — Pitcaim's  Hittorie  of  the 
KermedyiSf  p.  S4. 


to  1616]     THE  FEUDS  OF  THE  KENNEDYS         439 

A  summons  was  consequently  served  upon  him  by  orders  of 
the  Lord  Treasurer,  requiring  him  to  account  for  the  money  he 
had  been  desired  to  collect ;  and  failing  to  reply,  he  had  a  visit 
from  the  Carrick  pursuivant,  with  a  demand  for  the  surrender  of 
the  keys  of  his  castle  to  the  king,  as  if  he  had  been  an  ordinary 
debtor.^  The  sheriff  obeyed,  and  for  the  said  keys  he  asked  and 
received  a  receipt.  It  is  to  be  presumed  they  were  handed  back 
to  him,  as  we  can  find  no  suggestion  of  his  having  been  in  any 
way  further  inconvenienced  by  the  visit.  This  receipt,  bearing 
date  19th  September  1601,  is  in  the  charter-chest  at  Lochnaw : 

"  Compearit  Eobert  Campbell,  Carrick  Pursewant,  quha,  be 
virtue  of  our  Sovereign  Lord's  letters  directed  at  the  instance  of 
his  Highness's  Treasurer  and  Comptroller,  had  charged  an  honour- 
able man,  Andrew  Agnew  of  Lochnaw,  Sheriff  of  Wigtown,  to 
render  and  delyver  to  him  in  our  said  Sovereign  Lord's  name 
his  Castle,  Tower,  Fortalice,  and  Dwelling  Place  of  Lochnaw^ 
and  to  deliver  him  ye  keys  thereof,  conforme  to  the  said 
letters  quhilk  are  of  ye  date  at  Striveling  ye  21st  day  of 
August  last  bypast,  under  the  pain  of  treesone,  ye  said  Bobert 
granted  that  the  said  Andrew  Agnew,  Sheriff  foresaid,  for 
obedience  of  the  said  letters  has  rendered  and  deUvered  to  him 
the  said  Castle,  Tower,  and  Fortalice,  with  the  keys  thereof, 
conform  to  the  said  charge,  and  granted  the  same  fulfilled  con- 
cerning the  delivery  of  the  said  place.  Done  at  my  dwelling- 
house  at  10  hours  before  noon,  in  presence  of  Thomas  Agnew, 
Baillie  of  Stranrawer ;  James  M'Morland,  smith ;  John  Smyrlie, 
servitor  to  the  said  £obert;  and  Thomas  Agnew,  merchant 
burgess  of  Stranrawer. 

"  Robert  Campbell,  Carrick  Pursewant." 

Though  the  whole  proceeding  reads  much  like  a  farce,  en- 
tanglement in  the  meshes  of  the  law  might  have  proved  a 
serious  matter  for  the  uncaring  sheriff,  had  not  Sir  Thomas 

^  The  law  of  Scotland  did  not  permit  imprisonment  for  debt,  but  by  a  legal 
fiction  transmuted  a  refusal  to  make  payment  into  a  question  of  disloyalty, 
equivalent  to  treason. 


440     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  1 598 

Kennedy  intervened,  and  brought  these  unseemly  wrangles  to  a 
closa  Inviting  the  earl,  his  nephew,  to  meet  at  his  mansion  of 
the  Coiff,  or  Culzean,  he  got  both  to  consent  to  submit  their 
matters  to  mutual  arbiters,  and  abide  by  their  decision;  and 
in  the  result  the  earl  seems  to  have  kept  better  faith  than  in 
the  former  question  of  arbitration  at  Lochinch. 
Both  parties  signed  the  following  paper  : — 

'"  At  Maybole,  the  12th  day  of  November  1601. — ^A  noble 
and  potent  Lord,  John,  Earl  of  Cassilis,  on  the  one  part,  and 
Andrew  Agnew  of  Lochnaw,  Sheriff  of  Wigtown,  on  the  other 
part,  have  faithfully  submitted  and  compromised  themselves  by 
signing  the  blank  on  the  other  side  of  the  paper,  to  be  filled  by 
the  final  sentence  arbitral  of  Gilbert  Boss  on  the  part  of  the 
noble  Earl,  and  John  Kennedy  of  Baltersone  on  the  part  of  the 
Sheriff,  as  judges,  arbiters,  and  amicable  composers,  equally 
chosen  by  both  the  said  parties  to  decern  and  ordain  what 
satisfaction  in  sums  of  money  or  other  ways  the  said  Andrew 
shall  give  to  the  noble  Earl  for  the  heritable  fews  of  the  lands  of 
Kylfeather,  Craigberrinoch,  and  the  Dougarie,  within  the  barony 
of  Glenluce,  appertaining  to  the  said  Sheriff  in  kindlie  stedding, 
and  which  he  alledges  should  be  set  to  him  in  few,  according  to  a 
decreet-arbitral  pronounced  by  the  late  Earl  of  Murray  betwixt 
the  Earl's  late  father  and  the  Laird  of  Lochinvar. 

''The  said  Judges  have  presently  accepted  these  presents, 
and  shall  fill  in  the  blank  betwixt  this  and  the  twenty-fifth  day 
of  December  next  to  come :  and  by  what  the  Judges  decern 
and  ordain  by  that  the  said  parties  are  bound  and  obliged  to 
abide. 

"  In  witness  whereof  both  parties  have  subscribed  the  blank 
within ;  and  they,  with  the  Judges,  have  subscribed  these  presents, 
time,  place,  and  day  foresaid,  before  Sir  Thomas  Kennedy  of 
Culzeane,  Knyt.,  John  Kennedy  of  Balneil,  Thomas  Kennedy  of 
Sinniness  (and  their  servants). 

"  John  Earl  of  Cassilis. 
"  Andro  Agnew." 


to  1616]     THE  FEUDS  OP  THE  KENNEDYS         441 

The  details  of  the  arbitTation  are  not  forthcoming,  but  we 
have  ample  proof  that  the  sheriff  was  satisfied,  and  that  the  earl 
kept  faith,  by  a  charter  under  the  Great  Seal  confirming  the 
assignment  of  the  lands  of  Kylfeather,  Craibumoch,  and  the 
Dougaries,  by  the  Earl  of  GassiUs  in  feu-farm  to  Andrew  Agnew 
of  Lochnaw,  Sheriff  of  Galloway,  and  his  heirs  for  ever.  Cordial 
relations  were  thus  re-established  between  the  house  of  the  Inch 
and  Lochnaw.^ 

We  find  a  note  as  to  the  Justiciar  of  Galloway,  when  in 
Edinburgh  in  1600,  intervening  to  clear  a  brother  from  a  scrape 
in  a  manner  hardly  consistent  with  judicial  propriety.  It  is  as 
follows :  "  Bobert  Maxwell,  merchant  in  Edinburgh,  having  been 
disappointed  of  a  sum  of  £100  due  to  him  by  Alexander  Agnew, 
brother  of  the  Sheriff  of  Wigtown,  apprehended  the  said  Alex- 
ander in  Edinburgh,  and  consigned  him  to  ward  till  he  found 
caution  to  answer  the  law.  But  while  the  town  officers  were 
conveying  the  debtor  to  the  Tolbooth,  the  Sheriff  of  Wigtown, 
accompanied  by  Sir  Bobert  Gordon,  apparent  of  Lochinvar,  and 
all  his  friends  and  servants  who  were  in  town,  violently  rushing 
upon  the  said  officers  with  drawn  swords  and  quhinzears,  re- 
leased the  said  Alexander  Agnew,  and  carried  him  off  to  John 
Gordon's  housa  The  King  and  Council  decern  Sir  John 
Gordon  by  the  20th  of  the  month,  till  he  find  security  for  the 
sum  adjudged."  ^    The  matter  was  compromised. 

The  ties  between  Sir  Thomas  Kennedy  and  the  sheriff's  family, 
which  had  subsisted  for  two  generations,  were  drawn  even  closer 
in  a  third,  by  the  marriage  of  the  sheriff's  eldest  son  Patrick 
with  Margaret,  the  Laird  of  Culzean's  daughter,  by  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  David  M*GiIl  of  Cranstoun  BiddelL  As  a  result, 
which  was  no  doubt  considered  natural,  we  observe  in  the  Privy 
Council  Begister,  a  relation  that  Patrick  Agnew,  younger  of 
Lochnaw,  becomes  responsible  by  a  bond  of  £1000,  that 
James  Kennedy  of  Culzean  (now  his  brother-in-law),  should 

^  Privy  Seal  Begiater,  vol.  74,  folio  800.  "Apud  Halyrude  Hous,"  26tli 
December  1602. 

'  Meg.  of  Privy  CouncU,  voL  i.  p.  102.  The  assault  seems  to  have  been  made 
in  1598,  but  not  adjudged  upon  till  two  years  later. 


442     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  1 598 

not  harm  John  Dalrymple  of  Stair,  or  James  Dalrymple,  his 
brother. 

The  relationship  of  the  families  of  Garlies  and  Lochnaw  had 
been  for  some  generations  very  close.  The  sheriff  was  married 
to  Sir  Alexander  Stewart's  aunt,  whose  mother  was  a  Douglas 
of  Drumlanrig  by  Margaret  Gordon  of  Lochinvar,  sister  of  the 
sheriff 's  mother. 

In  1600,  being  then  under  age,  young  Sir  Alexander  Stewart 
obtained  the  consent  of  his  curators — ^Walter,  Commendator  of 
Blantyre,  and  Robert  Douglas,  Provost  of  Lincluden — to  marry 
Grizel,  daughter  of  Sir  John  Gordon  of  Lochinvar.  The  marriage- 
contract  was  signed  at  Wigtown  the  15th  October,  no  one  being 
present  besides  the  principals  but  the  sheriff  and  Alexander 
Stewart  of  Clary ;  and  was  solemnised  the  December  following 
at  Kenmure  Castle  "in  face  of  Haly  Kirk,"  the  witnesses 
signing  thus:  "Blantyre,"  " Lyncloudon,"  Sir  John  Gk)rdon  of 
Lochinvar,  Sir  Andrew  Agnew,  Sheriff  of  Wigtown ;  Alexander 
Stewart.^ 

The  young  Sir  Alexander  was  in  1607  raised  to  the  peerage 
as  Lord  Garlies,  and  further  advanced  in  1623  to  the  Earl- 
dom of  Galloway.  A  second  marriage  seems  to  have  been  the 
residtof  the  wedding-party  at  Kenmure;  Bosina  Agnew,  second 
daughter  of  the  sheriff,  espousing  William  M'Clellan  of  Glen- 
shannoch,  brother  and  next  heir  to  the  Laird  of  Bomby,  who 
was  shortly  after  created  Lord  Kirkcudbright.  Bosina's  hus- 
band did  not  live  to  inherit,  but  her  eldest  son  Thomas 
succeeded  his  uncle  as  second  Lord  Karkcudbright,  well  known 
as  a  dashing  cavalry  of&cer  in  the  civil  wars. 

The  law,  so  inert  in  graver  matters,  was  set  in  motion  in  one 
which  now  sounds  ridiculous  ;  Uchtred  M'Dowall  of  Garth- 
land,  Alexander  Hannay  of  Sorbie,  Sir  John  Vans  of  Barn- 
barroch,  and  Alexander  Gordon,  being  all  summoned,  in  March 
1600, "  to  compear  before  the  Lords  of  Session  to  hear  themselves 
decerned  as  having  incurred  the  pains  for  boarding  themselves 

^  This  contract  is  in  the  charter-chest  of  Kenmore  Castle,  and  a  copy  was 
kindly  given  to  the  author  by  the  Hon.  Mrs.  Bellamy  Grordon.in  1874. 


to  1616]     THE  FEUDS  OF  THE  KENNEDYS         443 

in  oifitlar  houses  " ;  the  penalties  for  which  were  serious  indeed 
— ''  500  marks  the  Lord  and  Prelate,  and  300  the  Barons,  to  be 
uplifted  for  the  Kling."  ^ 

The  chronic  feuds  of  the  Kennedys  were  meanwhile 
troubling  the  marches^  The  intensity  of  the  disorders  is 
to  be  gathered  from  such  notices,  among  dozens  of  others, 
"of  the  young  Laird  of  Bargany  gathering  to  the  number  of 
600  men  and  horse  with  twa  hundert  hagbutteris,  and  many 
basses "  (i.e.  cannon) ;  my  Lord  TJchiltree  joining  him  with  an 
hundred  horse,  ''so  that  in  all  he  wes  the  number  of  nine 
hundred  men  on  foot  and  horse,"  to  oppose  my  Lord  Cassilis, 
who  was  coming  with  nearly  an  equal  number  to  distrain  the 
crops  at  Dangart,  for  which  he  had  obtained  a  decreet.  The 
necessarily  sanguine  result  of  such  a  meeting  was  only  pre- 
vented by  the  intervention  of  Lord  Cathcart  (married  to  a  near 
kinswoman  of  Lord  Cassilis),  who  "  travelled  among  them  "  and 
composed  their  diflferences.' 

It  was  but  a  truce.  Very  shortly  afterwards  Bargany,  with 
the  Kennedys  of  his  faction,  and  the  Laird  of  Auchendrane, 
hearing  of  my  Lord  Cassilis  being  about  to  ride  to  Galloway, 
lay  in  wait  for  him  at  a  ford  of  the  Stincher,  and  would  have 
taken  his  life  had  they  not  been  overawed  by  the  unexpected 
presence  of  his  uncle.  Sir  Thomas  Kennedy,  who  they  strangely 
seem  to  have  thought  would  have  kept  out  of  sight  and  connived 
at  their  attempt 

The  earl's  party  passed  unchallenged,  little  aware  of  how 
narrow  had  been  their  escape,  and  arrived  safely  at  the  Inch, 
where,  next  morning,  who,  of  aU  men,  should  present 
himself  at  the  tutor^s  bedside,  but  Auchendrane,  the  chief 
conspirator  himself,  who  coolly  reproached  the  tutor  for  not 
having  played  into  their  hands. 

The  earl,  hearing  of  his  coming,  had  sent  orders  that  he 
should  not  be  allowed  to  leave ;  and  presently  joining  him  and 
the  tutor  in  the  courtyard,  accused  him  of  plotting  to  take  his 

^  2  James  VI/s  seventh  Parliament,  chap.  116. 
'  Hiatoru  of  the  Kennedyia,  pp.  87-88. 


444  HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY   [A.D.  I  598 

life,  which  Auchendrane  audaciously  denied.  The  earl,  how- 
ever, detennined  to  detain  him  as  a  prisoner ;  and  as  he  was 
telling  him  this,  dinner  was  announced,  to  which  he  invited 
him.  As,  however,  the  earl  entered  the  house,  Auchendrane's 
servant  beckoned  to  him  to  make  for  the  boat,  which  he  had 
unfastened ;  and  both  he  and  Ardmillan's  brother,  who  was 
also  in  the  yard,  jumped  in  and  pushed  off,  the  earl  supposing 
they  were  following  him;  and  before  he  was  aware  of  their 
escape  they  were  already  on  horseback  and  away. 

Shortly  after  Gassilis  rode  from  Galloway  to  his  Castle  of 
Craigneil,  "where  he  remained  ane  space";  which  castle  lying 
close  to  that  of  Ardstincher,  Bargany's  residence,  both  swarming 
with  £u*med  men,  encounters  were  of  daily  occurrenca  In  one 
of  these,  Bargany  being  surrounded  by  superior  numbers,  of 
whom  he  struck  down  many,  Hugh  Kennedy  of  Garriehom 
"brak  a  lance  on  him,  Quentin  Grauford  strak  at  him  with 
swords,  and  ane  fellow  called  John  Dick  hackitt  a  lance  at  him, 
and  strak  him  through  the  craig  and  the  thropilL" 

Carried  home  in  this  uncomfortable  state,  the  poor  young 
man  died  of  his  wounds,  being  barely  twenty-five  years  old; 
much  lamented  by  his  partisans ;  the  chronicler  of  his  house 
adding  that  "  he  was  of  his  age  the  most  wise  he  mycht  be,  and 
gif  he  had  time  to  add  experience  to  his  wytt  he  had  been  by 
his  marrows."  ^  That  he  was  a  brave  young  man  there  can  be 
little  doubt,  but  we  can  hardly  with  the  chronicler  admit  him 
to  be  an  example  to  all  posterity,  except  in  the  sense  of  quoting 
his  untimely  fate  as  a  warning  against  playing  with  edged 
tools. 

Bargany  was  far  too  important  a  personage  to  die  unavenged, 
and  my  Lord  CassiHs  was  summoned  to  answer  a  charge  of  being 
accessory  to  his  death ;  whereupon  my  lady  rode  into  Edin- 
burgh, and  dealt  with  her  friends  at  court  Nevertheless  things 
might  have  gone  hard  with  him  had  not  the  Laird  of  Culzean 
followed,  and  "  Jy  Ms  moyarie*'  obtained  for  my  lord  an  Act  of 

^  Historie  of  the  Kennedyis,  p.  51.     **  Had  been  by  his  marrows,"  would  have 
surpassed  all  his  contemporaries. 


to  1616]     THE  FEUDS  OF  THE  KENNEDYS         445 

Gonncil,  declaring  **  all  IQ7  Lord  had  done  good  service  to  the 
King/'  because  Bargany's  brother  was  at  the  horn  for  other 
slaughters  at  the  moment  of  the  fatal  encounter. 

Having  thus  righted  his  nephew's  aflfairs,  the  Laird  of  Cul- 
zean  rode  into  Galloway,  and  "  there  remaynit  a  great  space " 
with  his  daughter,  destined  to  be  his  last  visit  to  Lochnaw ; 
for,  according  to  the  monstrous  usages  of  the  day,  the  friends 
of  Bargany  had  solemnly  sworn  that  a  man  of  note  of  the 
Gassilis  faction  must  die,  and  the  occasion  to  them  came  very 
shortly  after. 

Sir  Thomas  Kennedy,  having  to  go  to  Edinburgh,  unsuspect- 
ingly wrote  a  note  to  Auchendrane,  telling  him  so,  and  asking 
him  to  meet  him  by  the  way.  On  getting  the  letter  he  at  once 
communicated  its  contents  to  Drummurchie,  Bargany's  brother, 
and  Mure  of  Gloncaird.  All  along  Mure,  under  a  disguise  of 
gratitude,  had  nursed  a  deadly  hatred  to  Gulzean,  and  it  was 
soon  settled  that  this  was  an  opportunity  not  to  be  lost,  and 
that  they  should  waylay  the  tutor  the  following  morning. 

Sir  Thomas  started  merrily  from  Gulzean  on  his  journey, 
attended  by  one  servant  only ;  and  when  among  the  sandhills, 
beside  St.  Leonard's  Ghapel,  the  four  assassins  fell  upon  him, 
''  and  slays  him  maist  cruelly  wi'  shots  and  strakes,  and  took 
from  him  efter  he  was  slain  his  purse  and  ring,  and  sundrie 
diamonds,  with  his  golden  buttons  of  goldsmith  work."  These 
"honourable"  men  plundered  him  also  of  "eleven  score  rose 
nobles,  his  swordbelt  and  hangar,  and  left  him  "  ;  when  his  man 
Lancelot  "  brings  him  with  him  to  the  Grennan,  and  there  gets 
ane  horse  litter,  and  takes  him  to  Maybole." 

Public  feeling,  lax  as  it  was  in  matters  of  feud,  was  outraged 
by  the  circumstances  of  this  murder.  Mure,  the  instigator, 
should  have  been  bound  by  ties  of  gratitude  as  well  as  of 
kindred  to  his  victim,  and  indignation  rose  to  a  boiling-point 
when  he  was  further  suspected  of  a  second  murder  on  a  poor 
scholar,  who  had  been  an  unwilling,  and  the  only  witness  to 
Mure's  conference  with  Drummurchie. 

The  Mures,  father  and  son,  were  arrested,  and  as  no  direct 


wwsv 


446     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  I  5  98 

evidence  was  forthcoming,  they  were  put  to  the  torture,  under 
which,  however,  they  held  out  bravely;  and  as  most  persons 
"  much  misliked  that  form  of  trial,**  they  were  on  the  point  of 
being  liberated,  when  one  of  the  accomplices  in  the  scholar^s 
murder,  wishing  to  secure  his  own  safety,  turned  king*s  evidence, 
and  all  three  were  convicted,  mercy  beiug  denied  to  the  in- 
former, and  the  Mures  made  a  full  confession  of  both  their 
offences,  much  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  public.^ 

The  tutor  left  four  sons ;  the  second,  Alexander,  eventually 
carried  on  the  line ;  and  his  great-grandson,  on  the  £gdlure  of  the 
senior  branch,  was  served  heir  as  ninth  Earl  of  Cassilis,  the 
present  Marquis  of  Ailsa  being  his  direct  descendant. 

The  chronicler  tells  us  '*  his  dochteris  warre  thiie :  Margaret 
married  the  young  Sheriff  of  Galloway,  Helen  married  the 
young  laird  of  Auchendrayne,  and  Susanna  was  efter  Lady 
Larg." 

This  Laird  of  Larg  being  Sir  Patrick  M'Eie,  son  of  Katherine 
Agnew ;  and  his  son  represented  the  Stewartry  in  Parliament 
during  the  civil  wars.  Margaret,  with  her  husband  Patrick 
Agnew,  resided  during  the  sheriff's  lifetime  at  Innermessan, 
a  position  commanding  the  road  from  Ayrshire,  by  which 
Cassilis  was  constantly  passing  to  the  Inch,  rendering  it  diffi- 
cult for  young  Agnew  to  avoid  taking  part  in  the  tuilzies  in 
which  the  earl  was  engaged  with  the  slayers  of  his  wife's  father ; 
the  more  so  as  the  Bargany  fiEUition  loudly  proclaimed  their  in- 
tention of  offering  a  second  victim  to  the  manes  of  their  chie£ 

Their  next  attack  was  a  most  ungallant  one  upon  a  lady. 
Cassilis  having  occasion  to  go  to  London,  his  lady  took  the 
opportunity  of  paying  some  visits  in  Galloway,  arriving  by 
Innermessan  on  the  16th  April  1604,  and  returning  probably 
from  Lochnaw  about  the  21st  of  May.     Kennedy  of  Drum- 

^  Lord  Cassilifl  gave  this  extraordinary  bond  to  his  brother  to  induce  him 
personally  to  revenge  his  uncle's  death,  should  law  fail  to  do  so :  ''We,  John, 
Earl  of  Cassilis,  binds  and  obliges  us  how  soon  our  brother  Hugh  Kennedy  with 
his  complices  takes  the  laird  of  Auchendrane's  life,  that  we  shall  make  good  and 
thankful  payment  to  him  of  the  sum  of  1200  marks  yearly,  together  with  the 
com  for  six  horses ;  and  herein  we  oblige  us  upon  our  honour.  Subscribed  at 
Maybole,  8d  September  1602." 


to  1616]     THE  FEUDS  OF  THE  KENNEDYS         447 

murchie,  his  hands  red  with  the  tutor^s  blood,  getting  notice  of 
her  plans,  arranged  with  Sir  James  Stewart  (who  was  married 
to  a  daughter  of  Garthland)  and  More  of  Gloncaird  to  waylay 
her  when  beyond  call  of  her  Galloway  friends.  Lady  Cassilis 
meanwhile  had  asked  her  brother-in-law  ^^  the  Master  "  to  escort 
her,  which  he  readily  agreed  to  do,  bringing  with  him  fifteen  of 
his  brother^s  horse.  Deeming  their  number  sufficient,  they 
parted  from  their  Wigtownshire  friends,  fording  the  Stincher,  and 
getting  safely  beyond  Maybole ;  when,  on  the  moor  of  Auchen- 
drane,  Beu^gany  attacked  them  with  a  p6u*ty  of  nine  horse, 
twenty-four  hagbutt  men  being  drawn  up  on  either  side  of  the 
way.  Outnumbered  as  to  firearms,  the  Master  effected  a  retreat 
upon  the  mansion-house  of  Auchensoul,  belonging  to  a  friend 
Duncan  Crawford,  who  fortimately  had  "  three  stalwart  friends 
with  him :  the  young  laird  of  Grimatt,  a  brother  of  the  Laird  of 
Polquharne,  and  Quentin  Crawford  of  SilL" 

Drummurchie  quickly  invested  the  place,  but  so  garrisoned 
they  refused  to  surrender;  whereupon  a  torch  was  procured, 
and  "  it  being  but  a  thak  house,"  they  were  soon  smoked  out, 
but  stiU  made  a  stand  in  the  walled  yard.  My  lady  came 
forward  to  parley,  when  Drummurchie  coolly  informed  her 
that  among  her  retinue  was  one  John  Dick,  who,  as  before 
mentioned,  was  concerned  in  his  brother's  slaughter;  and 
that  he  would  discuss  no  terms  unless  he  was  delivered  up 
to  him. 

John  Dick,  overhearing  this,  speedily  made  a  "  slop  in  the 
dyke  "  behind  them,  dashed  through,  and,  assisted  by  the  smoke 
which  partly  concealed  him  and  his  horse,  was  off  in  an 
instant.  Thereupon  Drummurchie's  party  made  off  after  him, 
chasing  him  "  four  or  five  myle " ;  but  he  distanced  them  all, 
never  drawing  bridle  till  far  on  the  road  to  Loudon,  where  he 
arrived  in  an  incredibly  short  time,  telling  his  master  of  the 
plight  in  which  he  had  left  the  countess. 

The  earl  told  his  story  to  the  king,  which  put  his  majesty 
in  "  sic  a  rage  "  that  letters  were  sent  forthwith  to  the  Sheriffs 
of  Galloway  and  Ayr,  ordering  them  instantly  to  pursue  and 


448     HEREDITAEY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  1598 

arrest  the  misdemeanants,  and  farther  desiring  the  matter  to 
be  brought  before  the  Parliament 

The  sheriffs  acted  with  a  will;  yet  in  Galloway  so  much 
more  efficient  were  private  bands  than  legal  procedure,  that  the 
release  of  Lady  Cassilis  had  already  been  brought  about,  not 
by  the  action  of  the  sheriffs  officers,  but  by  pressure  brought  to 
bear  by  the  Laird  of  Garthland  and  Lord  Ochiltree,  who  had  a 
private  understanding  with  Drummurchie.  Summons  of  treason 
nevertheless  went  forth  in  due  time  against  Thomas  Kennedy 
and  Walter  Muir  for  the  double  crime  of  burning  Auchensoul 
and  the  abduction  of  Lady  Cassilis;  and  on  the  11th  of  July 
Parliament  adjudged  Drummurchie  "to  have  tint  his  fame, 
honours,  and  dignities,  and  that  he  be  punished  as  a  traitor,  and 
all  his  lands,  gudes,  and  geir  forfeited  to  the  king."i 

The  Earls  of  Cassilis  had  hitherto  inhabited  the  old  strength 
of  the  Inch,  which  had  sheltered  the  Agnews  when  driven  from 
their  home.  The  present  earl  now  set  about  building  a  new 
house  on  a  tongue  of  land  between  the  two  lakes,  well  known 
as  Castle  Kennedy. 

Whilst  the  building  was  in  progress,  the  earl,  riding  up 
thither  near  Girvan  Bridge,  stumbled  suddenly  on  Thomas 
Dalrymple  (brother  of  the  Laird  of  Stair),  who  was  then  at  the 
horn  for  having  lain  in  wait  to  kill  Cassilis  himself  a  few 
months  previously.  The  youth  was  "hard  at  my  lord's  men 
in  the  twilight"  ere  ever  he  knew  them.  The  earl  carried 
him  to  Craigneel,  where  he  halted  for  the  night,  and 
before  starting  next  morning  "gave  him  an  assize  and 
hanged  him  on  a  tree."  Though  the  act  was  severe,  the 
earl  was  perfectly  within  the  law  ;^  but  in  revenge  for  the  pro- 

^  Their  indictment  was  ''pro  malevolo,  cnideli,  nefario,  abominabili  et 
scelesto  incendio  manerii  Auchensoul — ubi  Domina  Joanna  Comitessa  de 
Cassilis,  Hugo  Eennedie,  etc.,  captivi  fact!  sunt.  Et  vi  abducti  et  in  priratis 
carceribus  detenti." 

'  Lord  Gassilis's  act  may  seem  harsh,  but  the  chronicler  had  somewhat 
hazy  ideas  as  to  the  spirit  of  kindness  and  what  might  be  cause  of  offence, 
having  himself  related,  without  a  word  of  disapprobation,  as  a  fact,  that  on  the 
6th  December  1606  the  youth  had  lain  in  wait  to  murder  Cassilis  as  he  passed, 
for  which  he  was  a  fugitive  when  caught,  and  for  which  the  Baron  Court  con> 
demned  him. 


to  1616]     THE  FEUDS  OF  THE  KENNEDYS         449 

ceeding,  Muir  of  Cloncaird,  himself  also  at  the  horn  at  the 
moment  for  other  slaughters,  rode  ofif  to  Galloway,  and  there 
killed  David  Girvan,  the  master  of  the  works  at  the  castle,  in 
cold  blood,  though  he  had  no  concern  whatever  in  Dalrymple's 
seizure. 

Lady  Cassilis,  the  victim  of  Drummurchie's  escapade,  died 
in  1609,  and  her  husband  the  fifth  earl  in  1615.  He  was 
succeeded  by  his  nephew  John,  son  of  the  Master  of  Gassilis, 
who  had  married  Margaret,  daughter  of  M'Dowall  of  Garthland. 
This  sixth  earl  resided  more  constantly  at  Castle  Kennedy  than 
his  father.  He  is  known  in  family  tradition  as  the  "solemn 
earl ; "  but,  as  we  shall  see,  he  too  could  don  his  armour  and 
"  ride  forth  in  routing  "  on  occasions. 

Sir  Thomas  Kennedy,  father  of  the  Lady  of  Lochnaw,  had 
been  predeceased  by  his  eldest  son.  After  his  murder,  his  second 
son,  James,  was  served  his  heir,  who,  for  some  reason  unknown, 
sold  Gulzean  to  his  next  brother,  Alexander.  This  brother 
acquired  other  estates  by  marrying  Agnes,  heiress  of  Kennedy 
of  Ardmillan,  and  his  descendants  eventually  succeeded  to  the 
Cassilis  title. 

Eequiring  some  immediate  advantage  in  respect  to  his  pur* 
chase,  he  was  assisted  by  his  brother-in-law,  as  shown  in  a 
bond :  "  I,  Alexander  Kennedy  of  Culeane,  grants  me  by  the 
tenour  hereof  from  the  hands  of  Sir  Patrick  Agnew,  knight, 
SheriflF  of  Wigtown,  the  sum  of  seven  hundred  and  fourscore 
marks  money  usual  of  this  Eealm,  whereof  I  grant  my  receipt, 
and  bind  me  my  heirs  and  executors  thankfully  to  refund  and 
deliver  the  same  to  the  said  Sir  Patrick,  and  the  Dame  Margaret 
Kennedy  his  spouse.  With  ten  marks  money  yearly  for  the 
annual  rent  of  ilk  hundred  marks  of  the  principal. 

"At  Innermessane  the  20th  day  of  April  before  thir  wit- 
nesses ;  Robert  Weir,  servitor  to  the  said  Sir  Patrick,  and  James- 
Glover,  notar,  writer  hereof." 

In  1606  James  Kennedy  acquired  the  lands  of  Cults,  as 
shown  by  a  charter  executed  at  Glenluce,  granted  by  Vans 
of  Barnbarroch,  the  25th  of  November,  in  favour  of  Jamea 

VOL.  I  2  G 


450     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  1598 

Kennedy  of  Cruggleton,  and  Jane  Agnew  his  spouse.  Witnessed 
by  Andrew  Agnew,  Sheriff  of  Wigtown,  John  M'Dowall  of 
Garthland,  Thomas  Hay  of  Park,  and  James  Glover,  notary 
public. 

We  also  find  a  disposition  of  Mellan,  now  Molland  HiU,  in 
the  parish  of  Penninghame,^  to  Alexander  Agnew,  the  sheriff's 
third  son,  by  James  Gordon  of  Hazelfield,  dated  21st  November 
1609 ;  and  on  the  26th  January  1611  his  father  purchased  for 
him  the  lands  of  Barvennan  from  Sir  John  Vans.  Of  these  the 
Bishop  of  Galloway  was  superior ;  and  we  find  a  second  charter 
of  confirmation  by  WiUiam,  Bishop  of  Galloway,  confirming 
Alexander  Agnew's  right  to  Barvennan,  dated  27th  January 
1614. 

This  *'Eeverend  Father  in  God"  was  William  Couper,  son  of 
John  Couper,  merchant  in  Edinburgh.  Very  different  characters 
are  given  him  by  Calderwood  and  Keith ;  the  former  sneeringly 
remarking,  "  None  fracker  against  the  Estate  of  Bishops  in  the 
purer  times,  than  he,  none  now  fracker  for  the  present  course 
and  corruptions  of  the  times  " ;  the  latter  intimating  "  that  he 
rested  from  his  labours,  Feb.  1619,"  jwids,  "  he  certainly  was  a 
man  of  worth." 

In  1608  Ninian  Adair  had  died,  and  was  succeeded  by  his 
son  William,  married  first  to  a  M'Clellan  of  Gelston,  and 
thirdly  to  a  daughter  of  Cathcart  of  Carleton.  By  the  first  he 
had  Eobert,  his  heir;  by  the  third,  William,  well  known  as 
minister  of  Ayr  from  1640  to  1684 

William  Adair  succeeded  Sir  John  (the  Eeverend)  Johnston 
as  Commendator  of  Soulseat :  an  office  which  must  have  been 
purely  honorary,  the  lands  having  been  secularised  when  the 
abbey  was  suppressed.  William  entered  into  close  relations 
with  Sir  Hugh  Montgomery  of  Broadstone,  who  had  received  a 
part  of  one-third  of  the  O'Neil  lands  in  the  north  of  Ireland,  to 
which  he  led  a  colony  of  western  Scots.  Quite  an  exodus  of 
Galloway  cadets  ensued  to  this  paradise  of  confiscations. 

The  following   Galloway  lairds   made   application   to  be 

^  Drummolyn,  "mill  ridge." — Pont 


to  1616]     THE  FEUDS  OF  THE  KENNEDYS 


451 


enrolled  as  undertakers  in  the  intended  plantation  and  distribu- 
tion of  forfeited  lands  in  the  province  of  Ulster : — 

George  Murray  of  Broughton  for  2000  acres,  with  Alexander 
Dunbar  of  Egemess  as  cautioner. 

Alexander  Dunbar  for  2000  acres,  with  Murray  as  his 
cautioner. 

James  M'Culloch  of  Drummorell  for  2000,  with  Broughton 
cautioner. 

Andrew  Lord  Stewart  of  Ochiltree  for  2000,  his  uncle 
Bobert  Stewart  cautioner. 

James  Dalrymple,  brother  to  the  Laird  of  Stair,  2000  acres  ; 
and  though  not  a  Gallovidian,  one  who  had  traversed  it  in  its 
length  and  breadth.    Mr.  Timothy  Pont  for  2000  acres. 

The  sheriff  had  dealings  with  the  new  Lord  Antrim  as  to 
his  Irish  claims,  of  which  we  shall  say  more  presently. 

Some  years  after  this  the  sheriff  purchased  the  reversion  of 
Cults  and  Baltier  from  James  Kennedy,  who  had  no  family, 
and  which  ever  since  have  been  known  as  a  part  of  the  estate 
called  the  Sheriff's  lands.  The  charter  was  signed  and  sealed 
at  Lochnaw,  the  10th  day  of  January  1615,  bearing :  "  Wit  ye  all 
and  sundrie  whom  it  effeirs :  me,  Sir  Andrew  Agnew  of  Loch- 
naw, Sheriff  of  Wigtown,  forsamekle  as  my  belovit  sone  in  law, 
James  Kennedy  of  Crugiltoun,  has  sauld,  disponit,  and  dimitted 
to  me,  my  airs  and  successors,  bot  any  manner  of  regres,  rever- 
sion, or  right  of  redemption  quhatsoever.  The  five  pound  land 
of  Cults,  and  three  and  a  half  mark  land  of  Baltier  lyand  in  the 
parochin  of  Cruggleton.  The  said  James  has  heritably  infefb 
me  in  ye  said  lands.  The  charter  containing  the  precept  of 
seizing  of  the  daitt  at  the  place  of  Lochnaw,  the  9th  January 
1615,  for  the  sum  of  5000  marks  usual  of  Scotland. 

"  Subscrivit  with  my  hand,  written  by  William  Gardner,  my 
seal  is  hung  and  affixed  at  Lochnaw,  before  Quentene  Agnew, 
my  sone ;  Gilbert  Agnew,  my  servitor  domestic ;  Thomas  Baillie, 
servitor  to  the  said  James;  and  the  said  William  Gardner, 
notary." 

There  was  a  residence  on  the  land  of  Cults,  as  we  find  the 


452  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY      [AD.  1616 

sheriiTs  daughter-in-law  dating  a  discharge  from  the  Cults,  sub- 
scribing herself  *'  Dame  Margaret  Kennedy,  Lady  Lochnaw." 

The  sheriff  seems  also  to  have  been  able — ^very  unusual  in 
those  days — to  pay  down  to  his  sons  their  respective  portions 
before  his  death,  as  proved  by  the  following  registered  dis- 
charge :  "  Be  it  kenned  to  all  men,  be  thir  present  letters,  we, 
Andrew,  Alexander,  and  Quentene  Agnew,  lawful  sons  to  the 
rycht  honourabill  Sir  Andrew  Agnew  of  Lochnaw,  knycht. 
Sheriff  of  Wigtown ;  forsamekle  as  ye  said  Sir  Andrew  Agnew, 
our  father,  has  contented  and  payit  to  us,  and  ilk  ane  of  us,  the 
full  and  haill  soums  of  money  quhereupon  we  were  infeft  in 
wadsett  in  our  said  father's  lands,  in  satisfaction  of  all  portions 
natural  and  bairns'  part  of  geir,  which  befell  and  appertenit  to 
us  be  right  of  umquhill  Agnes  Stewart,  our  mother.  Be  the 
tenour  hereof,  we  discharge  the  said  Sir  Andrew  Agnew,  his 
heirs  and  successors,  all  and  haill  of  the  said  lands. 

"  At  Lochnaw,  the  13th  day  of  November,  the  year  of  Grod 
1616,  before  yir  witnesses :  Sir  Patrick  M'Kie  of  Larg,  knycht; 
William  Agnew  of  Croach;  Mr.  Thomas  Garvey,  minister  of 
Leswalt ;  and  Gilbert  Agnew,  merchant  in  Stranraer." 

The  Sheriff  died  before  the  close  of  1616. 


CHAPTER    XXVII 

THE  king's  bailie  OF  LESWALT 

A.D.  1616  to  1630 

Oh  !  we  have  the  noble  Stewarts  that  have  lived  here 
For  more  than  the  space  of  four  hundred  year ; 
Agnews,  and  M'Dowalls,  and  Gordons  so  gay, 
And  Maxwells,  and  Murrays,  and  likewise  Park  Hay. 

Galloway  STu^Tierds, 

The  entry  of  the  eighth  sheriff's  service  is  as  follows : — 

"  The  Sheriff-Court  of  Wigtown,  holden  in  the  Tolbooth  there- 
of by  John  Ahannay  of  Sorbie,  and  William  Agnew  of  Barmeil, 
sheriff-deputes. 

"  Ye  quhilk  day,  anent  ye  public  edict  raised  at  the  ainstance 
of  the  right  honourable  Sir  Patrick  Agnew  of  Lochnaw,  Sheriff 
of  Wigtown,  son  and  heir  of  unquhill  Sir  Andrew  Agnew  of 
Lochnaw,  Sheriff  of  Wigtown,  his  father,  summoning  and  charg- 
ing all  and  sundry  be  open  proclamation  at  the  Market  Cross 
of  Wigtown  and  other  places  needful,  to  have  compeirit  this 
day.  To  have  heard  and  seen  the  instrument  of  seizine  insert 
and  registrat "  (which  instrument  is  then  recapitulated  with  lists 
of  lands  and  offices,  the  seizing  of  the  former  being  by  delivery 
of  earth  and  stone  ;  of  the  latter,  by  rod  and  staff).  "  On  the 
l7th  March  1617,  about  2  in  the  afternoon,  in  presence  of 
John  Kennedy  of  Crichane;^  Archibald  Gordon  in  lands  of 
Luce ;  Alexander  Agnew  in  Kerronrae ;  William  Agnew  of 
Croach ;  Ninian  Agnew  in  Craigauch ;  Antony  Stewart,  servant 

^  He  seems  to  be  the  husband  of  the  sheriff's  cousin  Jane,  daughter  of  Sir 
Alexander  Stewart  of  Garlies,  father  of  the  first  Earl  of  Galloway. 


!7«B!«^VU.i    >-  ^■^■^^^^^i^WP 


454  HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY   [A.D.  1616 

to  the  said  Sir  Patrick ;  and  Alexander  Templeton,  servant  to 
the  said  John  Kennedy." 

Among  the  sheriflf's  papers  is  a  precept  from  the  Court  of 
Exchequer  for  the  infefting  of  Sir  Patrick  Agnew  of  Lochnaw, 
Sheriff  of  Galloway,  in  a  house  and  yard  in  the  town  of  Stran- 
rawer,  which  belonged  formerly  to  John  Adair,  burgess  thereof, 
VJho  being  a  bastard,  died  without  issue  or  making  a  settlement 

A  query  here  suggests  itself :  Was  this  a  usual  perquisite  of 
sheriffs  ? 

In  1619  Bishop  Cowper  was  succeeded  by  Andrew  Lamb, 
Bishop  of  Brechin.  On  King  James's  accession  to  the  English 
crown  he  had  appointed  Gavin  Hamilton  to  the  see  of  Gallo- 
way, which  had  been  without  a  titular  bishop  for  twenty  years ; 
gifting  him  also  with  what  revenues  remained  to  the  priory  of 
Whithorn,  and  the  abbacies  of  Tongland  and  Dundrennan. 

Hamilton  died  in  1614,  and  was  succeeded  by  Cowper,  who, 
as  his  predecessors,  had  been  constituted  also  Dean  of  the 
Chapel  Eoyal.  When  King  James,  moved  by  his  "  salmon-like 
desire,"  revisited  the  land  of  his  birth  in  1617,  Cowper  officiated, 
and  it  is  said  to  have  given  peculiar  offence  that  the  bishop 
administered  the  Sacrament  there  to  the  Court  and  courtiers 
kneeling,  though  we  can  hardly  see  how  he  could  have  done 
otherwise  if  he  used  Episcopal  services  at  alL 

A  General  Assembly  was  called  at  Perth  in  1618,  which 
adopted  by  a  majority  certain  reversions  to  ancient  usages: 
namely,  kneeling  at  the  Sacrament,  and  observance  of  Easter 
and  Christmas  Day.  Bishop  Cowper  supported  these  changes, 
and,  according  to  Calderwood,  "  upbraided  Mr.  Thomas  Provane, 
minister  of  Leswalt ;  Mr.  James  Symson,  minister  of  Tongland ; 
and  exceeded  all  bounds  in  abusing  Mr.  David  Pollock,  minister 
of  Glenluce,  for  voting  against  them."  ^ 

More  impartial  observers,  however,  declared  that  Cowper 
always  exhibited  a  laudable  moderation;  with  Calderwood, 
"purity  of  worship"  meant  Presbyterianism. 

Cowper's  successor  was  Andrew  Lamb,  two  of  whose  daugh- 

^  Calderwood,  7,  334-849. 


to  1630]         THE  king's  bailie  OP  LESWALT  455 

ters  married  respectively  Murray  of  Broughton  and  Lennox  of 
Cally :  a  son  of  the  former,  in  a  succeeding  generation,  married 
his  cousin,  the  heiress  of  the  latter,  and  thus  combined  the  pro- 
perties. 

The  acrimony  engendered  by  sectarian  differences  colours 
all  the  annals  of  the  period,  panegyric  or  abuse  being  bestowed 
entirely  according  to  the  writer's  religious  bias.  Thus  Eow  and 
Calderwood,  good  men,  but  certainly  violent  partisans,  retail 
with  glee  ribald  sayings  against  all  the  bishops.  We  shall  only 
quote  one : 

Ymum  amat  Andreas,  cum  vino  Glasgoa  amres  ; 
Bos  coetus,  ludos  Gallua,  Brichaeus  opesw 

Thus  translated  for  us  by  the  first-named  divine  : 

St  Androes  loves  a  cup  of  wine, 
Wine  Glasgow  with  an  whoore  ; 

Bosse  companie,  play,  Galloway, 
Brechin  not  to  be  poore.^ 

It  is  but  fair  to  add  that  the  "  play "  with  which  Cowper  is 
taunted  was  neither  with  cards  nor  dice ;  he  was  not  a  gambler, 
but  fond  of  a  game  of  golf  on  the  links  of  Leith.  Almost  all 
the  Galloway  proprietors  had  accepted  the  leading  doctrines  of 
the  Reformation ;  but  when  James,  alarmed  at  the  power  the 
General  Assembly  wielded,  employed  his  kingcraft  to  assimilate 
the  churches  of  the  two  kingdoms,  he  found  many,  both  of  the 
clergy  and  the  laity,  in  sympathy  with  himself.  The  Presby- 
terian divines,  from  an  exaggerated  craving  for  so-called  purity, 
had  reduced  the  church  services  to  a  baldness  distasteful  to 
those  who  had  been  accustomed  to  more  ornate  ritual ;  and  even 
a  considerable  section  of  the  clergy  preferred  a  moderate  Epis- 
copacy to  extreme  Calvinistic  Presbyterianism. 

The  leaders 'of  the  ultra-Presbyterians  were  good  and  earnest 
men,  but  prone  to  denounce  all  who  differed  with  them  in 

^  Row,  269  and  292.  George  Gledstanes,  Archbishop  of  St.  Andrews ;  John 
Spottiswode,  Archbishop  of  Glasgow ;  Dayid  Lyndsay,  Bishop  of  Ross  ;  William 
Cowper,  Bishop  of  Galloway ;  Andrew  Lamb,  Bishop  of  Brechin,  and  afterwards 
of  GaUoway. 


456     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  1616 

matters  of  ritual  as  wicked,  classing  together  Prelacy  and 
Popery  as  deadly  sins. 

The  Bishops,  thus  abused,  not  satisfied  with  retorting  from 
the  pulpit,  somewhat  ill-advised,  profited  by  their  position  to 
get  laws  framed  for  their  assistance.  Hence  law,  strained  to 
reusurp  unfair  powers  over  conscience,  fell  into  disrepute ;  and 
under  the  imposing  protests  of  assertion  of  the  law  on  the  pre- 
latical  side,  and  conscientious  resistance  to  it  from  the  presby- 
terian,  life  in  Galloway  was  embittered,  and  the  province 
impoverished  for  three  generations.  Ko  actual  outbreak  occur- 
red until  1638. 

Meanwhile  the  sheriff's  attention  was  called  officially  to 
more  trivial  matters.  Commissioners  appointed  to  examine  the 
weights  and  measures  used  in  the  realm  had  reported  that  the 
greatest  diversity  from  the  standards  existed  in  the  sheriffdoms 
of  Wigtown,  Dumfries,  and  the  border  counties.  The  Sheriff 
of  Wigtown  was  therefore  desired  to  convene  a  court  in  his 
shire  within  twenty  days,  and  there  "  embraced  the  met,"  and 
decreed  that  none  shall  presume  in  time  to  come  within  any 
sheriffdom,  to  sell,  block,  bargain,  contract,  or  deliver,  with  any 
other  met  or  measure  but  that  by  the  Act  then  approved. 

It  is  amusing  to  have  to  state  that,  notwithstanding  his 
exertions,  the  teinds  of  Leswalt,  of  which  the  hereditary  sheriffs 
were  principal  heritors,  have  continued  to  this  day  to  be  paid 
in  Galloway  met,  which  is  exactly  double  of  that  ordained  by 
statute. 

Gallovidians  indeed  have  been  always  proverbial  for  "good 
weight."  Within  the  present  century  a  stranger  presented 
himself  at  a  "farm  toun"  among  the  hills,  and  asked  for  a 
pound  of  butter.  The  moorman  was  out,  and  his  gudewife, 
though  ready  to  serve  him,  could  nowhere  find  the  "  pun-stane." 
The  meal-stone  quarter,  her  only  weight  available,  obviously 
would  not  do.  They  searched  long  and  vainly  for  the  "  ouncel 
weights,"  when  the  woman's  eyes  brightened.  "  I  ken  hoo  we'll 
manage  it  the  noo,"  she  exclaimed,  seizing  one  of  the  fireirons. 
"  The  gudeman  brought  hame  a  pair  0'  tangs  yestreen  fira  the 


to  1630]  THE   king's   bailie   OF   LESWALT  457 

smiddy,  which  then  just  weighed  twa  pund.  Wf  them  I'll 
weigh  your  pund  0'  butter."  Baising  the  tongs  in  triumph,  she 
intelligently  put  one  leg  in  the  scale  and  let  the  other  hang. 
The  beam  got  its  swing,  the  butter  was  plastered  in  till  it 
righted,  and  the  new-comer  carried  off  his  purchase  with  a  light 
heart,  well  pleased  with  his  experience  of  Galloway  weight. 

In  the  criminal  records  of  1618  we  find  a  county  proprietor 
convicted  of  a  cruel  murder.  Maxwell  of  Garrarie  having  got 
possession  of  another  man's  estate  (probably  by  way  of  wadsett), 
and  being  bound  to  make  some  provision  for  the  penniless  ex- 
owner,  became  irritated  at  the  annuitant's  tenacity  of  life,  and 
took  effectual  steps  to  make  it  a  terminable  annuity.  The  man 
was  murdered  and  thrown  into  a  moss-hole.  Lord  Garlies  and 
M'Kie  of  Larg  assisted  hia  relatives  in  tracing  the  murderer. 
Circumstantial  evidence  was  obtained  sufficient  to  authorise  the 
Sheriff  to  arrest  him,  who  sent  him  before  the  High  Court  of 
Justiciary,  where  "  the  dittay"  as  follows  tells  its  own  story : 

"  Johne  Maxwell  of  Garrarie  having,  in  his  politic  and  crafty 
manner,  upon  conditions  best  known  to  himself,  conqueist  and 
acquired  from  Johne  M'£ie  of  Glassock  his  haill  worldly 
moyane  and  estate,  and  thereby  drawn  him  to  his  daily  com- 
pany and  attendance  :  He,  furth  of  his  avaricious  and  churlish 
disposition,  loathing  and  wearying  of  the  said  John  M'Eie's 
company,  in  the  month  of  July  1618,  to  rid  and  exoner  himself 
of  his  company  devised  and  concluded  in  his  develish  heart  the 
pitiful  and  treasonable  murder  of  the  said  John  M'Kie  as  fol- 
lows:— finding  the  said  John  for  the  most  part  making  his 
daily  residence  with  him  at  bed  and  board  within  his  place  at 
Garrarie,  upon  the  18  July,  knowing  the  time  of  John  M'Kie's 
dyet  in  coming  to  his  house,  under  silence  and  cloud  of  night, 
accompanied  by  George  Maxwell  his  son,  and  others,  with 
swords  and  invasive  weapons,  on  John  his  coming  to  the  said 
place,  put  violent  hands  on  his  person,  bound  both  his  hands 
and  feet,  and  thereafter  in  most  cruel  and  merciless  manner 
playing  the  part  of  hangman,  with  a  hair  tether  strangled  and 
wirreit  him  to  death;  and  having  by  that  violent  and  cruel 


458    .HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OP  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  i6i6 

meane  bereft  him  of  his  life,  thereafter  carried  him  to  a  peat 
moss  or  bum  called  the  Bum  of  Savenstoun,  wherein  they 
flang  him." 

On  this  charge,  upon  full  consideration,  Maxwell  of  Garrarie 
was  found  guilty ;  and  was  beheaded,  as  he  justly  deserved,  on  the 
2d  of  April  1619. 

As  an  incident  in  connection  with  this  trial,  it  is  stated  that 
seventeen  gentlemen  of  the  district,  among  whom  were  Sir  John 
Dunbar  of  Mochrum,  James  Kennedy  of  Cruggleton,  Alexander 
Dunbar  younger  of  Mochruip,  George  Gordon  of  Barskeog,  and 
Alexander  M*Culloch  younger  of  Myrtoun,  were  all  fined  one 
hundred  merks  each  for  declining  to  serve  upon  the  assize. 

The  Lynns  of  Larg,  owning  a  small  lairdship  on  the  Water 
of  Luce,  were  in  the  habit  of  fishing  with  small  regard  to  their 
neighbours'  marches.  The  Rosses  of  Balneil  and  Hays  of  Park 
remonstrated,  but  in  vain ;  the  Lynns  daring  them  to  try  to  turn 
them  back.  At  last  they  accepted  the  challenge,  and  came 
upon  the  poachers  in  the  act  of  trespass  in  a  bend  beyond  the 
Muir  Kirk  of  Luce.  A  tuilzie  ensued,  in  which  it  is  said  three 
of  the  combatants  fell  dead  upon  the  river  banks,  and  few 
retired  unwounded.  The  name  of  "  the  Bloody  Wheel,"  im- 
pressed upon  the  battlefield,  is  held  to  authenticate  the  story. 

A  less  tragic  tradition  connects  itself  with  the  Hays  and  the 
valley  of  the  Luce. 

There  was  a  wedding-party  near  the  abbey  of  Luce,  and  a 
young  Hay  of  Park  was  amongst  the  company.  In  the  course 
of  the  feast  one  of  the  few  articles  of  plate  was  suddenly  missed ; 
and  a  blacksmith  present,  expressing  more  loudly  than  any  one 
his  indignation  at  the  fact,  ended  by  a  solemn  prayer  that 
"cauld  iron  might  be  his  hinner  en'  quhaever  took  it."  He 
became  much  excited,  and  later  in  the  evening  rudely  called  upon 
Hay  to  pay  for  the  shoeing  of  a  horse  he  owed  him,  and  irritated 
the  young  man  so  much  by  his  insulting  manner  that  at  last  he 
drew  his  sword  and  ran  him  through  the  body.  As  those  present 
raised  the  corpse,  the  missing  article  fell  from  the  dead  man's 
pocket ;  and  their  indignation  at  his  murder  was  momentarily 


to  1630]  THE   king's   bailie   OP   LESWALT  459 

stayed  by  the  feeling  that  the  smith  had  impiously  drawn  upon 
himself  the  doom  which  Providence  had  thus  meted  out  to  him. 
Hence  Hay  was  able  to  retire  unquestioned,  though  afterwards 
obliged  to  fly  the  country. 

A  long  while  after  he  returned  to  Glenluce,  disguised  as  an 
idiot  pauper ;  and,  blowing  a  long  horn,  he  begged  from  house  to 
house,  repeating  a  string  of  doggerel  verses.  He  was  known  as 
Jock  0'  the  Horn,  and  visited  all  his  old  haunts,  even  venturing 
to  the  House  of  Park.  Here  he  clamoured  for  alms,  as  else- 
where, in  jingling  couplets.  He  never,  however,  doffed  his 
strange  disguise,  though  it  was  whispered  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Park  that,  when  the  family  were  quite  alone,  the  servants 
were  sometimes  kept  out  of  the  way,  and  that  then  poor  "  Jock 
0'  the  Horn"  again  took  his  proper  place  in  the  parlour,  and 
shared  the  family  meal. 

The  Hays  have  been  unfairly  accused  of  having  reared  their 
House  of  Park  out  of  the  spoils  of  the  abbey  of  Glenluce ;  the 
fact  being  that  the  fabric  stood  entire  for  several  years  after  the 
building  of  Park  Place ;  but,  being  uninhabited,  it  came  to  be 
looked  upon  as  a  quarry,  and  plundered  now  of  a  lintle,  now  of 
a  freestone  rebate,  or  quoin,  it  fell  into  decay.  It  is  pleasant  to 
know  that  the  monks  were  never  harried,  but  permitted  to  die 
out,  the  last  member  surviving,  it  is  said,  until  1590. 

Glenluce  had  always  a  somewhat  uncanny  reputation.  Even 
in  the  days  of  the  Commonwealth  the  General  Assembly  of 
Divines  seriously  debated  taking  steps  to  exorcise  the  "  Deil  of 
Glenluce."  Michael  Scott's  name  is  not  unconnected  with  its 
sorceries,  and,  freed  from  the  presence  of  its  ancient  canons, 
witches  and  ghosts  played  there  greater  pranks  than  ever.  An 
ingleside  story  of  the  period,  handed  down  as  literally  true,  is 
that  a  labouring  man's  wife — a  sensible,  decent  woman — Shaving 
been  detained  late  from  home,  was  returning  about  the  witching 
hour;  and 

When  the  gray  howlet  had  three  times  hoo'ed, 
When  the  grimy  cat  had  three  times  mewed, 
When  the  tod  had  yowled  three  times  in  the  wood, 


460     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [AD.  i6i6 

at  a  spot  known  as  the  "  Clay  Slap/'  she  met  face  to  face  a  troop 
of  females,  as  to  whose  leader  being  cloven-footed  she  could 
not  be  mistaken.  Her  consternation  was  the  greater  as,  one  by 
one,  she  recognised  them  all,  and  among  them  the  ladies  of  the 
manor.  They  stopped  her,  and  in  her  terror  she  appealed  to 
one  of  them  by  name.  Enraged  at  being  known,  the  party 
declared  that  she  must  die.  She  pleaded  for  mercy,  and  they 
agreed  to  spare  her  life  on  her  taking  an  awful  oath  that  she 
would  never  reveal  the  names  of  any  as  long  as  they  lived. 

Fear  prevented  her  from  breaking  her  pledge,  but  as  one  by 
one  the  dames  paid  the  debt  of  nature,  she  would  mysteriously 
exclaim,  "  There's  anither  o'  the  gang  gone ! "  She  outlived 
them  all,  and  then  divulged  the  secret;  adding,  that  on  that 
dreadful  night,  after  getting  to  her  bed,  she  lay  entranced  in  an 
agony  as  if  she  had  been  roasting  between  two  fires.  We  men- 
tion this  especially  to  show  that  witchcraft  was  as  universally 
believed  in  in  Galloway  as  elsewhere  ;  and  yet,  notwithstanding, 
amongst  the  papers  at  the  sherifiTs  courts  and  criminal  records 
of  the  shire,  we  have  not  found  a  hint  of  oflScial  witch-hunting, 
with  its  attendant  cruelties,  which  shortly  after  became  too 
common  elsewhere,  and  to  which,  sad  to  say,  the  people  were 
egged  on  principally  by  their  ministers. 

In  the  year  1619  Gilbert  Agnew  of  Galdenoch  acquired  by 
charter  (24th  of  May)  the  lands  of  Knocknean  from  Uchtred 
Campbell  of  Airies;  the  witnesses  being  WUliam  Agnew  of 
Croach,  William  Boyd  of  Auchrochar,  John  M'Dowall  in 
Dinduff.  The  land  takes  its  name  from  a  certain  group  of 
peculiar  knoUs,  such  as  fairies  are  supposed  to  affect  for  their 
evening  revelries;  the  root  being  nighean,  "girls,"  or  the 
«  Uttle  folks."  ^ 

In  the  year  1621  the  sheriff's  daughters  Agnes  and  Jane 

^  Mo  nighean  dubh,  "  my  dark-eyed  girl,*'  is  a  refrain  of  a  song  introduced 
by  Professor  Blackie  in  AUavona,  There  were  two  sorts  of  fairies  :  the  "little 
folk,"  and  the  women,  rather  held  to  be  "  uncanny  folk."  So  Bamamon,  Stoney- 
kirk,  is  **  the  hill-top  of  the  women,"  these  uncanny  folk.  Joyce  gives  au 
example  in  Slievenamon,  Tipperary  (Sleibh  na  m-ban),  **  hill  of  the  fairy  woman,'* 
a  famous  fairy  palace  site  being  on  the  mountain  (Joyce,  i.  185). 


to  1630]  THE   king's   bailie   OF   LESWALT  461 

married  respectively  the  Lairds  of  Freuch  and  Logan.  Uchtred 
M'Dowall,  the  former,  was  son  of  a  daughter  of  Lord  Bam- 
barroch.  His  branch  of  the  family  was  especially  prosperous, 
possessing,  in  addition  to  Freuch,  the  lands  and  strength  on 
Dowalton  Loch,  besides  the  extensive  barony  of  Loch  Bonald 
with  its  two  picturesque  lakes.  Agnes  Agnew's  grandson  mar- 
ried Lady  Betty  Crichton,  in  her  own  right  Countess  of  Dum- 
fries, her  great-grandson  inheritiug  that  earldom,  and  his  only 
daughter  carried  the  title  to  the  Earl  of  Bute. 

Alexander  M'Dowall,  Laird  of  Logan,  settled  upon  his  bride 
as  her  dower  the  lands  of  Grennan,  Balgown,  Chappell  Bossan, 
and  Auchness.  The  same  year  we  find  Gilbert  Agnew  disposing 
on  the  26th  September  to  Quentin  Agnew,  designed  brother  of 
the  sheriff,  lands  lying  within  the  burgh  of  Stranraer,  with  con- 
sent of  Agnes  M'Dowall  his  spouse ;  "  to  his  name  "  this  amusing 
declaration  being  used  instead  of  the  modem, "  his  mark/'  "  with 
my  hand  at  the  pen,  as  held  by  the  notary  underwritten,  because 
I  cannot  wryte  myself." 

In  the  Bambarroch  charter-chest  there  is  a  discharge  by 
Lady  Agnew,  mother  of  the  M'Dowall  brides,  to  Sir  John  Vans, 
worded  thus : 

"  I,  Dame  Margrett  Kennedy,  Lady  Lochnaw,  grants  me  to 
have  resawitt  fra  my  eam  the  Lord  of  Bambarroch  ten  bolls 
beir  at  £8  the  boll,  and  ten  boUs  corn  at  5  marks  the  boll,  and 
shall  cause  my  husband  allow  the  same  to  him  in  part  payment 
of  the  annuals  that  he  is  caution  for.  Subscrivit  with  my  hand 
at  the  Cultis^  25  April  1625,  before  this  witness,  Alexander 
Agnew  in  Marslache." 

The  memorandum  proves  beyond  dispute  that  in  the  west 
countiy  at  least  eme  or  eam  had  a  wider  sense  than  uncle. 
Sir  John  Vans  was  undoubtedly  her  cousin,  and  Kelly  in  his 
Old  Scotch  Proverbs  rightly  glosses  eam  "  relation,"  though  this 
has  been  disputed  by  Jamieson. 

Dame  Margaret  Agnew  must  be  held  to  be  an  authority  as 
to  the  idioms  of  her  day. 

Her    eldest    son  was    married    in    the  summer  of   1625 


462  HEREDITARY    SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY   [A.D.  l6l6 

to  the  only  daughter  of  Lord  Galloway,  by  Grizel  Gordon  of 
Lochinvar.  The  substance  of  the  marriage -contract  is  as 
follows : 

**  It  is  agreed  between  ane  potent  Erie,  Alexander,  Erie  of 
Galloway,  for  himself  and  taking  burden  upon  him  for  Lady 
Agnes  Stewart,  his  lawful  daughter,  on  the  one  part ;  and  Sir 
Patrick  Agnew  of  Lochnaw,  Knycht,  SheriflF  of  Wigtoun,  and 
Andrew  Agnew  his  son  and  apparent  heir,  on  the  other  pari ; 
forsameikle  as  the  said  Andrew  shall,  God  willing,  marry  and  to 
his  lawfull  wyfe  take  the  said  Lady  Amies,  and  solemnize  the 
bond  of  matTmony  in  presence  of  ckrist^  congregation  between 
the  date  hereof  and  the  last  days  of  July  next  to  come.  .  .  .  The 
said  Sir  Patrick  binds  himself  to  infefb  duly  and  sufficiently  the 
said  Andrew  and  Lady  Agnes  in  the  lands  of  Oraichmore,  Auch- 
neel,  etc.,  in  the  parish  of  Leswalt, — the  lands  of  Galquhirk, 
lying  among  the  borough  acres  of  Wigtoun,— the  lands  of 
Craigbimach  in  the  parish  of  Glenluce,  etc.  etc.,  for  the  quhilk 
solemnization  and  other  causes  specified  the  said  noble  and 
potent  Erie  binds  himself,  his  heirs,  etc.,  to  content  and  thank- 
fully pay  to  the  said  Sir  Patrick  Agnew,  the  sum  of  eight 
thousand  merks  in  name  of  tocher  with  his  said  daughter— to 
witt,  2000  merks  at  the  feast  and  term  of  Whitsunday  1626 ; 
3000  merks  at  Whitsunday  1627 ;  and  the  sum  of  other  3000 
merks  at  the  term  of  Whitsunday  1628.    And  in  like  manner, 
after  the  accomplishing  of  the  said  marriage,  to  entertain  the 
said  Andrew,  his  future  spouse,  their  servants  and  retinue, 
according  to  their  rank,  for  the  space  of  two  years  next  there- 
after, which  being  expired,  the  said  Sir  Patrick  binds  himself  to 
entertain  them  and  their  servants  in  the  same  manner  for  the 
space  of  one  year  thereafter. 

"  Written  by  Wm.  Stewart  notary  and  servitor  to  the  said 
noble  Earl,  at  the  place  of  Glastoune,  the  22d  day  of  March 
1625  years,  before  these  witnesses — John  Ahannay  of  Sorbie  ; 
Mr.  James  Adamson,  minister  of  Penninghame ;  Mr  Abraham 
Henryson,  minister  of  Quhithorne  ;  Alexander  Stewart  in  Larg; 
and  William  Agnew  of  Barmeill." 


to  1630]  THE   king's   bailie   OF   LESWALT  463 

By  these  provisions  the  young  couple  were  saved  all  the 
cares  and  expenses  of  housekeeping  for  three  years. 

It  is  a  proof  of  the  scarcity  of  money  that  a  potent  Earl  could 
promise  no  more  than  8000  merks  (less  than  £450  sterling)  to 
an  only  daughter  for  her  portion ;  and  that  even  this  sum  was 
only  to  be  paid  by  instalmenta  And,  more  surprising  still,  we 
find  that,  eleven  years  after,  not  one  farthing  of  the  money  had 
been  paid ;  and  that,  after  vainly  trying  to  obtain  a  settlement, 
the  sheriff  sued  the  noble  earl  for  the  amount,  and  obtained  a 
decree  from  the  head  courts  commanding  immediate  payment^ 

John  Ahannay,  a  witness  to  the  young  sheriff's  marriage- 
contract,  unfortunately  renewed  an  old  blood  feud  with  the 
Murrays  of  Broughton,  through  which  his  family  had  already 
suffered  much;  and  from  excesses  committed  he,  incurring 
further  fines  and  escheats,  was  obliged  to  part  with  the  remainder 
of  his  lands.  The  barony  of  Sorbie,  with  "  the  old  place,"  was 
sold  to  Lord  Galloway,  and  his  lands  of  Crailloch.^  John 
Ahannay  himself  was  killed  in  a  quarrel.  His  younger  brother 
Patrick  was  a  man  of  literary  as  well  as  military  note.  He 
served  with  distinction  under  the  King  of  Bohemia,  and  rose  to 
the  rank  of  general  He  published  a  volume  of  poems,  so 
highly  esteemed  that,  seventy  years  ago,  a  copy  fetched  at  the 
sale  of  Sir  Mark  Sykes's  eflFects  £42  :  10s. ;.  and  in  1864  a  copy 

^  "  Charles,  by  the  Grace  of  God,  etc. — Forasmuch  as  by  a  contract  made  and 
perfected  betwixt  our  rt.  trustie  Cousin  and  CounciUor,  Alexander  Earl  of  Gallo- 
way, and  Sir  Patrick  Agnew,  of  Lochnaw,  Knight,  Sheriff  of  Wigtown,  of  the 
date  22d  March  1623,  anent  the  marriage  then  contracted  and  thereafter  solemn- 
ized between  Andrew  Agnew  and  Lady  Agnes  Stewart,  the  said  Earl  bound  himself 
to  haye  paid  Sir  Patrick  the  sum  of  8000  merks  in  name  of  tocher ; — ^we  will 
therefore  and  command  the  said  Alexander  Earl  of  Galloway  to  pay  to  the 
said  Sheriff  the  foresaid  sum  of  8000  merks  within  six  days  next  after  he  be 
charged  by  me  thereto,  wnder  the  pain  qf  rebellion  and  putting  of  him  to  our  horn, 
— 15  day  of  April  and  of  our  reign  the  twelff  year  1636." 

'  Creloch,  now  Crailloch,  written  in  the  curates*  lists  Crelaugh.  Crith-lach, 
'*  a  shaking  bog":  so  Creelaugh,  Galway ;  Crylaugh,  Wexford. — Joyce,  ii.  367. 

We  find  in  the  Lochnaw  charter-chest,  first :  Contract  entered  into  betwixt 
Sir  Patrick  Agnew  of  Lochnaw  and  John  Ahannay  of  Sorbie,  whereby  the  said 
John,  with  consent  specified,  sold,  and,  under  reversion  by  way  of  wadsett,  disposed 
the  lands  of  Creloch  to  the  said  Sir  Patrick,  29  June  1625. 

Second:  Sassine  following  on  the  above  contract  in  favour  of  Sir  Patrick 
Agnew,  dated  the  7th  and  registered  the  14th  July  1626. 


464  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY   [A.D.   1616 

bound  in  vellum,  "printed  for  Nathaniel  Butler  1622,'*  was 
knocked  down  for  the  startling  price  of  £96.  A  third  brother 
was  created  a  baronet  in  1629  by  the  style  of  Sir  Eobert  of 
Mochrum,  and  was  killed  in  the  Civil  War  in  1642.  To  him 
Sir  Samuel  Hannay  of  Kirkdale  was  served  heir  of  line  in  1762. 
On  the  24th  of  May  1627  we  find  sasine  in  favour  of  Sir  Patrick 
Agnew  and  his  lady  of  the  lands  of  Knocktinnie  in  Kirkcowan 
(the  hill  of  the  bale  fires),  proceeding  on  a  contract  between  the 
said  parties  and  the  Earl  of  Galloway.  And  the  same  year  the 
sheriif  acquired  the  mill  of  Auchrochar,  and  the  year  following 
the  lands  so  called  from  William  Boyd.^ 

We  find  several  notices  of  purchases  made  by  the  sheriff's 
eldest  son.  As :  "  Disposition  by  Eobert  Weir  to  Andrew  Agnew 
apparent  of  Lochnaw  of  ane  heritable  right  upon  the  lands  of 
Crooch,  Minigaff,  and  houses  and  yards  in  the  said  Kirktown." 
And  under  date  6th  April  1627 :  "  Sassine  of  the  houses  in 
Wigtown  called  Turnpeick  and  Blackball,  and  the  yeards  thereof, 
to  Andrew  Agnew  apparent  of  Lochnaw." 

In  1627  the  king  ordered  the  surrender  of  all  the  tithes 
throughout  the  country  to  himself:  doubly  rash,  because,  whilst 
it  offended  many,  it  pleased  few.  The  bulk  of  them  were  held 
by  the  more  powerful  barons,  who  were  little  disposed  to  give 
them  up,  whilst  thq  lower  orders  saw  in  it  only  a  scheme  for 
endowing  Episcopacy,  which  they  detested.  Charles,  however, 
never  did  things  by  halves.  Royal  commissioners  were  appointed 
forthwith  to  value  these  teinds,  and  every  shire  was  desired  to 
send  two  of  the  barons  to  confer  with  them. 

Sir  Patrick  Agnew  and  Sir  John  M'Dowall  of  Garthland 
represented  the  shire  of  Wigtown ;  their  commissions  dated  at 

^  In  a  charter  of  confinnation  of  these  lands  to  the  sheriff,  the  Bishop  of 
Galloway  makes  it  clear  that  Crochaire,  **  the  hangman,"  is  the  true  root  of  the 
name :  **  Be  it  kent  till  all  men,  we  Andrew,  Bishop  of  Galloway,  for  certain 
sonms  of  money,  other  gratitudes,  pleasures,  and  gyd  deeds  made  pasrment  and 
done  to  us  be  Sir  Patrick  Agnew  of  Lochnaw,  Knight  Baronet,  be  the  tenor 
hereof,  we  give,  grant,  and  dispone  to  the  said  Sir  Patrick  his  heirs  and  assignees 
the  escheit  of  William  Boyd  of  Ardcroquhart,  and  all  and  haill  the  408.  land  of 
Ardcroquhart  with  the  purtenance,  come  mill  thereof,  milne  lands,  and  multures. 
At  Edinburgh  the  2d  day  of  August  1630." 


to  1630]  THE   king's   bailie  OF   LESWALT  465 

Wigtown,  27th  June  1627 ;  the  gentlemen  and  heritors  of  the 
shire  binding  themselves  to  "  abide  firm  and  stable  in  whatever 
their  commissioners  should  do  in  the  matter."  ^  One  important 
signature,  however,  from  this  engagement  was  wanting — ^that  of 
the  Earl  of  Gassilis. 

No  femUy  held  more  Church  property  than  hia.  and  no  indi- 
vidual  was  more  strongly  opposed  than  the  earl  to  the  king's 
religious  innovations.  He  was  dissatisfied  with  the  sheriffs  and 
Garthland's  concessions,  and  probably  suspected  them  of  leaning 
to  Episcopacy.  And  so  much  stronger  are  sectarian  influences 
than  ties  of  kindred,  that  at  the  very  moment  when  a  lady  of 
his  own  house  again  presided  at  Lochnaw,  he  fell  into  wrangles 
with  the  sheriif  as  to  money  claims,^  and  revived  the  feud, 
which  had  long  slumbered,  as  to  the  right  of  holding  courts  at 
Leswalt. 

Lord  Cassilis  is  justly  a  favourite  with  Presbyterian  historians, 
with  whom  he  is  everything  that  is  orthodox  and  good;  but 
surely  it  was  a  strong  step  for  a  religious  man  to  choose  a 
Sunday  morning  to  awake  the  echoes  with  shots  and  the  clang 
of  arms ;  and  to  disperse  a  congregation  assembling  for  the  cele- 
bration of  Holy  Communion — even  if  Episcopal — was  somewhat 
of  a  travesty  of  Presbyterian  tenets  as  to  the  sanctity  and 
observance  of  the  Sabbath. 

The  act  was  the  more  inexcusable  because,  owing  to  the 
increase  of  central  authority,  he  could  have  secured  his  rights — 
if  rights  he  had — in  the  courts  of  law.  And  it  is  a  proof  of  the 
advancing  civilisation  of  the  times  to  find  the  sheriff,  instead  of 
summoning  his  friends  and  sounding  to  horse,  appealing  as  the 
weaker  party  to  the  protection  of  the  law ;  and,  still  more  con- 
clusive, that  he  received  it. 

Unable  to  cope  with  the  invading  force,  the  sheriff  appealed 
to  the  king;  and  the  justice  of  the  sheriff's  complaint  is  proved 
by  the  result : 

^  M'DowaU  Manascript. 

'  HIb  claima  against  the  sheriff  were  as  tacksman  of  the  bishop,  in  virtue  of 
an  instrument  extracted  from  Church  representatives  by  his  father,  with  a  very 
high  hand,  when  the  Bishopric  of  Galloway  was  in  abeyance. 

VOL.  I  2  H 


466     HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS  OF  GALLOWAY  [A.D.  i6i6 

*'  To  the  King's  Most  Excellent  Majesty : — 

"  The  humble  petition  of  Sir  Patrick  Agnew,  Knight,  SheriflF 
of  Galloway  in  Scotland ;  humbly  showeth — 

*'  That  whereas  the  Petitioner  and  his  predecessors  are  and 
have  been  BaylifTs  Hereditable  unto  your  Majesty  and  your 
royall  predecessors  ever  since  King  James  the  First's  time,  and 
be/ore,  of  your  Majesty's  property  and  proper  lands  in  the  barony 
of  Leswalt  and  Mynibrick,  and  in  the  continual  possession  of 
several  lands  and  tythes  there  for  payment  of  the  accustomed 
duties  ;  until  that  John,  now  Earl  of  Cassilis,  dispossessed  the 
Petitioner  of  the  said  lands  and  tythes ;  upon  which  the  said 
earl's  oppression  your  Petitioner  having  exhibited  humble  peti- 
tion unto  your  Majesty,  your  Highness  was  graciously  pleased 
to  direct  your  royal  letters  unto  his  Lordship  (as  by  the  annexed 
copy  appears),  advising  his  Lordship  to  forbear  such  vigorous 
course  against  the  Petitioner,  least  your  Majesty  in  compassion 
of  your  suppliant's  wrongs,  should  interpose  your  Highnesses 
title  to  this  right 

''  Nevertheless,  the  said  earl  hath  not  only  disobeyed  your 
Majesty's  letters,  but  hath  also  since  the  delivery  thereof  dis- 
possessed the  Petitioner  of  the  foresaid  lands  and  tithes.  And 
(has)  placed  other  BayliiFs  in  the  Office  holden  of  your  Majesty 
by  the  Petitioner ;  discharging  ^  the  tenants  to  answer  unto  the 
Petitioner's  Court,  or  to  give  their  service  conforme  to  the 
Petitioner's  lawful  right  as  accustomed.  Albeit  neither  the  said 
earl,  his  predecessors,  nor  any  other  in  their  names  did  ever 
keep  any  Court  in  that  place,  where  the  Petitioner  usually  kept 
them,  or  in  any  other  part  of  the  said  Bailliary. 

"  In  regard  whereof,  and  for  that  the  said  earl,  notwith- 
standing your  Majesty's  letters,  did  upon  the  29th  of  June  1628, 
being  the  Sabbath  and  preparation  day  for  the  Holy  Communion, 
come  with  a  number  of  men,  horse  and  foote,  having  muskett 
powder  and  shott,  unto  the  Petitioner's  parish  church,  where 
his  Lordship  never  was  before :  Divers  of  his  said  company  being 
rebells  whom  the  Petitioner  as  Sheriff  then  had  and  still  has 

'  Forbidding. 


to  1630]  THE   king's   bailie   OP   LESWALT  467 

warrants  to  apprehend ;  and  brought  the  Petitioner's  officer  that 
morning  out  of  his  own  house  and  bed  to  proclaim  at  the  said 
Church  a  Court  to  be  holden  in  his  Lordship's  name  within  the 
foresaid  Bailliary,  and  immediately  after  caused  a  number  of 
armed  men  to  go  unto  that  place  where  the  Petitioner  used  to 
keepe  his  Courts,  and  there  entrenched  and  fortified  the  same, 
placing  musketeers  and  pikemen  garrison -wise  there.  And 
upon  the  2nd  of  July  then  following,  the  earl  being  charged  at 
the  Petitioner's  instance  by  letters  of  Lawsuitry  granted  by  the 
Lords  of  your  Majesty's  Council,  and  on  the  3rd  day  of  the  said 
month  being  likewise  charged  by  the  Privy  Council  to  desist  from 
holding  or  keeping  Court  or  approaching  unto  the  said  place 
under  his  Highnesses  will,  yet  nevertheless  the  said  earl  did 
most  contemptuously  disobey  both  the  said  strict  charge  from 
the  Lords  aforesaid  and  without  having  any  respect  unto  the 
letters  signed  by  your  Majesty's  royal  hand  in  the  Petitioner's 
behalf,  did  on  the  3rd  day  of  the  said  month,  having  convocate 
three  hundred  horse  and  foot  with  musketts,  hagbotts,  pistolls, 
lances,  and  such  other  warlike  and  invasive  weapons  prohibited, 
come  and  in  most  hostile  manner  upon  the  Petitioner's  own 
domains  upon  a  part  of  the  Petitioner's  own  land  which  was 
opposite  to  where  the  Court  was  to  be  kept,  and  there,  to  the 
great  terror  and  disquieting  of  the  country  and  in  contempt  of 
the  Petitioner  and  the  foresaid  letters  they  did  shoote  off  their 
pieces ;  and  there  (the  earl)  kept  his  men  upon  your  suppliant's 
lands  for  the  space  of  two  days,  destroying  the  Petitioner's  com 
and  grasse  to  his  exceeding  great  losse  and  hinderance. 

"  Whose  most  humble  suite  is — 

"  That  your  Majesty  will  take  the  said  earl's  high  contempts, 
ryotts,  and  oppressions  unto  your  royall  consideration,  or  give 
order  to  your  Majesty's  most  Honourable  Privy  Council  to  take 
a  course  for  the  condigne  punishing  thereof,  to  the  end  others 
by  his  example  may  be  warned  not  to  commit  the  like  insolence 
and  outrage ;  and  that  speedy  order  may  be  taken  for  the  Peti* 
tioner's  restitution  unto  the  foresaid  lands  tithes  and  office; 
and  such  satisfaction  made  him  for  his  wrongful  sufferings,  great 


468  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF  GALLOWAY   [A.D.   1 6x6 

losses,  charge  and  damage  as  shall  be  agreeable  to  conscience 
and  equity.  Without  which  your  suppliant  cannot  return  home ; 
many  of  the  said  earl's  men  being  very  dangerous  people,  lately 
brought  out  of  Ireland  and  placed  in  the  lands  the  Petitioner  is 
now  dispossessed  ofif.  The  said  earl  and  his  men  having  done 
what  in  them  lies  to  vex  the  Petitioner,  purposely  to  have  him 
forfeit  his  bond  of  ten  thousand  merks,  which  the  Lords  of  your 
Majesty's  Privy  Council  then  enforced  them  both  to  enter  into 
for  the  preservation  of  the  peace. 

"  And  as  in  duty  bound  he  will  daylie  pray  for  your  Majesty's 
longe  and  happy  wraigne.  Patrick  Agnew." 


Upon  receipt  of  which  the  king  referred  the  matter  to  the 
chancellor : — 

"To  our  trusty  and  well  beloved  Cousin  and  Coimcillor, 
the  Lord  Viscount  Duplin,  Chancellor  of  the  Eangdom  of 
Scotland — 

"  Charles  R — Et.  trusted  and  well  loved  Cousin  and  Coun- 
cillor, we  greet  you  well.  Whereas,  Sir  Patrick  Agnew  Knight 
hath  complained  unto  us  of  divers  oppressions  done  unto  him  by 
the  Earl  of  Cassilis,  as  by  the  enclosed  petition  doth  appear, 
our  pleasure  is  that  you  consider  thereof,  and  after  exact  trial  of 
what  is  therein  mentioned,  if  you  find  that  our  law  and  author- 
ity have  been  contemned  and  broken  by  the  said  earl,  or  that 
he  hath  oppressed  the  Petitioner  in  his  Office,  Estate,  or  Person, 
that  you  censure,  fine,  or  cause  punish  him  as  you  shall  find  the 
nature  of  his  offence  to  have  justly  merited  :  And  that  you  make 
him  give  sufficient  satisfaction  to  the  Petitioner  for  what  losses 
he  hath  sustained  by  him,  that  others  may  be  restrained  from 
attempting  the  like  hereafter  and  that  our  peace  in  those  parts 
may  be  duly  preserved  for  the  general  good  of  all  our  loving  and 
well  disposed  subjects  there. 

"  Which  recommending  to  your  care  we  bid  you  farewell,  from 
our  Court  at  Bagshotte  the  15th  of  August  1629."^ 

^  ThU  letter  was  forwarded  by  the  Chancellor  to  the  Sheriff  of  Galloway,  and 
is  preaerred  among  the  Lochnaw  Papers. 


to  1630]  THE  king's  bailie  OP   LESWALT  469 

The  sheriff,  in  his  petition,  graphicallj  sets  before  us  the  scene 
of  the  quiet  of  the  Sunday  morning  disturbed  by  the  appearance 
of  Lord  Cassilis  with  his  host,  largely  recruited  amongst  the  wild 
Irish  from  the  opposite  shore ;  and  pithily  describes  their  reck- 
less proceedings  as  they  bivouacked  on  his  own  lands,  to  the 
special  detriment  of  his  standing  corn ! 

There  had  been  much  previous  correspondence  about  similar 
quarrels ;  but  into  this  it  is  not  necessary  to  enter,  as  the  sheriff 
indicated  in  this  petition  the  result  of  former  bickerings;  in 
consequence  of  which  both  the  earl  and  himself,  at  the  very 
moment  of  his  writing,  were  bound  over  under  heavy  penalties 
mutually  to  keep  the  peace. 

Another  cause  of  these  disputes  arose  from  the  claim  of 
bishop's  teinds.  Cassilis  had  become  tacksman  to  the  Bishop  of 
Galloway  ;  and  the  sheriff,  apparently  with  reason,  argued  that 
the  earl  was  bound  to  stand  by  any  such  commutations  in  money 
as  were  customary  and  sanctioned  by  previous  agreement  To 
this  Cassilis  demurred,  claiming  the  tithes  in  kind  in  full,  and 
raising  an  action  "for  spoliation  of  tythes"  against  the  sheriff; 
who  retorted  that  the  ''Earl  was  but  a  tacksman  interposed 
betwixt  the  Bishop  and  himself,  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  the 
Royal  Proclamation  for  the  surrender  of  all  tythes  to  the  King, 
in  which  it  is  set  forth,  that '  what  favor  is  granted  in  Bishops' 
teythes,  is  onlie  to  the  Bishop  himself/ "  and  not  to  the  inter- 
posed tacksman. 

The  sheriff  ably  states  his  own  case  in  a  petition  to  the  king, 
also  extant ;  setting  forcibly  before  his  Majesty  the  fact  that 
subjects  living  in  remote  districts  may  be  much  oppressed  if 
liable  to  be  vindictively  summoned  to  the  head  courts,  even 
supposing  the  decision  to  be  given  in  their  favour : 

"Tour  Petitioner,  and  his  predecessors,  are  heritable  pro- 
prietors of  certain  lands  immediately  halden  of  your  Majesty, 
and  hath,  in  all  tyme  bipast,  had  the  teythes  of  the  said  lands 
for  sixteen  pounds  Scottis  money  payit  to  the  Earl  of  Cassilis  as 
tacksman  to  the  Bishop  of  Galloway.  Until  now  of  late  most 
rigorously  the  said  earl  hath  called  and  pressed  the  Petitioner 


470  HEREDITARY   SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY   [A.D.   i6i6 

for  spoliation  of  the  said  teythes — notwithstanding  of  your 
Majesty's  royal  reformation  and  good  course  of  your  revocation, 
registrate  and  published  to  your  subjects, — ^upon  which  your 
Majesty  was  graciously  pleased  to  direct  your  royal  letters  in 
favor  of  your  suppliant  advysing  his  Lordship  to  forbear  such 
rigorous  dealing  .  .  .  nevertheless,  without  any  regard  to  your 
Majesty's  letter  he  hes  kept  the  Petitioner  in  plead  of  law,  both 
exacting  inordinate  dues  and  intruding  himself  in  the  Petitioner's 
heritable  ofBce  halden  of  your  Majesty. 

"  And  now  after  valuation  and  approbation  of  the  Petitioner 
his  teinds  before  the  Commissioners  appointed  by  your  Majesty 
the  Petitioner  will  have  real  security  in  the  Petitioner's  lands  for 
the  valued  bolls — otherways  the  Petitioner  would  become  one 
perpetual  fermorer  to  the  said  earl  of  unliquidat  bolls, — and  by 
this  means  hyd  intollerable  process  of  law  ilk  year,  and  he  in  worse 
case  than  he  was  before;  the  Petitioner* s  residence  being  near 
ane  hundred  myles  distant  from  the  seate  of  Justice,  to  his  great 
damvAige  and  overthrow, 

"  Whose  humble  suite  is  that  your  Majesty  would  be  pleased 
to  give  warrant  what  right  the  Petitioner  shall  give  to  the  earl, 
and  what  right  the  Petitioner  shall  receive  from  the  bishop  or 
interposed  tacksman.  Lykeas  your  suppliant  most  humbly 
craves  your  Majesty  to  convert  the  valued  bolls  to  a  constant 
money  rent ;  your  suppliant  freed  of  continual  plead  of  Law. 
Humbly  craving  your  Majesty  to  this  effect  to  stay  all  action  at 
the  said  earl's  instance  against  the  Petitioner.^' 

As  a  result,  Sir  Patrick  not  only  had  i*estitution  made  of  the 
lands  of  which  he  had  been  dispossessed,  but,  by  a  precept  from 
the  Court  of  Chancery,  was  retoured  as  heir  to  his  father  in  the 
bailiary  of  the  barony  of  Leswalt,^  to  the  earl's  entire  discomfiture. 

Some  of  the  by-play  which  occurred  during  the  great  bailie- 
court  quarrel  is  extremely  amusing.  A  series  of  petitions 
appeared  against  the  sheriff,  of  some  of  which  it  is  to  be 
suspected  that  the  earl  was  instigator. 

^  Dominns  Patricias  Agnew  de  Lochnaw,  hseres  Domini  Andree  Agnew  patzis 
in  ofiScio  balliie  hsereditarin  de  Leswalt — Inquis.  Spec, 


to  1630]         THE   king's   bailie   OF   LESWALT  471 

Although  not  sustained,  they  are  curious,  as  specimens  of 
charges  not  considered  improbable  against  a  Galloway  sheriff. 

The  dates  of  the  complaints  range  over  several  years,  all 
prior  to  1628. 

*^  Information  contra  the.  Sheriff  of  Wigtoun. 

"  By  the  space  of  eight  years  syne  or  thereby,  in  the  month 
of  December,  the  Sheriff  apprehended  Mungo  Campbell  a  com- 
mon thief,  who  broke  into  a  booth  in  Edinburgh,  and  brought 
with  him  furth  thereof  sundry  sticks  of  velvet  and  satin  stuffs, 
and  silk  lace,  and  gold  lace.  Also  he  (Mungo,  not  the  Sheriff!) 
stole  in  Ayr  a  silver  piece,  with  sundry  other  geir.  He  stole  in 
Stranraver,  from  Alex.  Auld,  merchant,  furth  of  his  merchant 
booth,  three  hundred  merks  money,  wherewith  the  said  Mungo 
was  apprehended  red-hand,  who  took  the  whole  stuffs  all 
packed  in  a  wallet,  and  the  stolen  silver  he  had  hid  at 
Portpatrick." 

*' InforTnations  against  his  Son,  and  Depute. 

"  The  Sheriff  of  Gralloway  is  a  seller  of  Justice,  at  the  least 
his  eldest  son,  who  is  his  depute,  by  his  knowledge  and  direc- 
tion is  so,  viz.  he  took  from  Andrew  Dunbar  of  Baldoon,  for  sit- 
ting Sheriff  upon  the  service  of  umquhile  Thamas  M'Kie's  son, 
in  Wigtoun,  as  heir  to  his  umquhile  Father,  twenty  merks. 

"  He  apprehended  lately,  in  the  month  of  July,  1628  years, 
a  common  thief,  called  Boss,  who  stole  many  nolt  out  of  Carrick, 
especially  part  of  them  from  John  Kennedy  Younger  of  Knock- 
daw,  and  from  divers  others.  Another  thief  sold  the  same  in 
Kirkcolm,  which  goods  the  Sheriff  intromitted  with  and  appre- 
hended the  thief;  whereupon  young  Knockdaw  followed  the 
(first)  thief  and  his  goods  and  apprehended  him,  and  desired 
justice  of  him  before  the  Sheriff,  and  offered  to  find  caution  to 
pursue  the  thief  to  the  death.  The  Sheriff  refused  and  gave 
young  Knockdaw  some  of  his  own  goods  back,  detained  the 
rest,  transacted  with  the  thief,  and  let  him  go  free  to  Ire- 
land," etc. 

Not  only  were  the  sheriffs,  elder  and  younger,  exonerated  of 


472  HEREDITARY  SHERIFFS   OF   GALLOWAY   [A.D.  i6i6 

the  charges  against  them,  but  that  the  fonner  had  the  confidence 
of  his  fellow  barons  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  a  few  months 
after  he  was  elected  as  their  representative  in  a  Parliament 
said  to  have  been  the  first  in  which  any  interest  was  shown  by 
the  electors  in  their  political  rights. 

The  union  of  the  two  crowns  had  greatly  enhanced  the 
royal  prerogative,  and  had  this  been  used  with  the  most  ordi- 
nary tacti  the  kingdom  would  have  greatly  profited  by  the 
existence  of  a  central  authority. 

Already  life  was  more  secure,  travelling  safer,  and  a  little 
English  money  had  found  its  way  across  the  Borders.  Private 
houses  were  now  arranged  with  more  regard  to  comfort  than 
defence,  of  which  we  have  local  examples  in  the  castles  of 
Kirkcudbright  and  Castle  Kennedy.  Fairly  good  cheer  was 
procurable  at  country  inns,  and  if  the  agriculture  of  the  period 
did  not  quite  come  up  to  that  of  the  days  of  Devorgille,  its 
produce  sufficed  to  maintain  a  very  numerous  small  proprietary 
in  some  style,  and  presumably  in  comfort. 

The  yield  of  oats  and  here  was  then  much  larger  than  that 
to  which  it  sank  a  generation  later,  and  the  Galloway  wool,  as 
well  as  its  little  horses,  had  a  world-wide  reputation. 

Though  the  native  forest  had  generally  disappeared,  there 
were  still  some  tracts  over  which  the  red  deer  roamed,  and 
where  the  boar  found  covert. 

These  assertions  are  made  on  contemporary  authority. 
Lithgow,  the  great  traveller  of  the  day,  who  had  made  the  tour 
of  Europe  and  the  East,  and  was  well  qualified  to  judge,  thus 
writes  of  the  ancient  province : 

"I  found  heere  in  Galloway  in  diverse  rode- way  innes  as  good 
cheare,  hospitality,  and  serviceable  attendance,  as  though  I  had 
beene  ingrafted  in  Lombardy  or  Naples.  The  wool!  of  which 
countrey  is  nothing  inferiour  to  that  in  Biscai  of  Spaine ;  nay 
the  Calabrian  silke  had  never  a  finer  luster  and  softer  gripe, 
then  I  have  scene  and  touched  this  growing  wooll  there  on 
sheepes  backes.  The  mutton  whereof  excelleth  in  sweetnesse  ; 
so  this  country  aboundeth  in  bestiall,  especially  in  little  horses,