;
HISTORY OF GLASGOW
VOLUME I
PUBLISHED BY
MACLEHOSE, JACKSON & CO., GLASGOW,
the fflnibersity.
MACMILLAN AND CO., LTD., LONDON.
New York, The Macmillan Co.
Toronto, - - The Macmillan Co. of Canada.
London, Simpkin, Hamilton and Co.
Cambridge, Bowes and Bowes.
Edinburgh, Douglas and Foulis.
Sydney Angus and Robertson.
MCMXXI.
HISTORY OF
GLASGOW
BY
ROBERT RENWICK, LL.D.
LATE DEPUTE TOWN CLERK
AUTHOR OF "GLASGOW MEMORIALS" "ABSTRACTS OF GLASGOW PROTOCOLS" ETC.
AND
SIR JOHN LINDSAY, D.L.
TOWN CLERK OF GLASGOW
VOLUME I
PRE-REFORMATION PERIOD
3o. V. a 3.
GLASGOW
MACLEHOSE, JACKSON fef CO.
PUBLISHERS TO THE UNIVERSITY
1921
IDA
92.
ROBERT RENWICK, 1841-1920
ROBERT RENWICK, son of Robert Renwick and his wife, Janet
Alexander, was born on 4th March, 1841, at Torbank, Peebles-
shire, in a cottage no longer standing, His great-grandfather,
William Renwick, was a cooper and burgess of Peebles (1661-
1733), whose widow, Barbara Smith, died in 1739. His grand-
father lived at Skirling, Peeblesshire ; and his father, Robert
Renwick, was born there in 1812. l A family relationship to
James Renwick, the well-known Covenanter, is uncertain
from the meagre pedigree facts available, but a deep ancestral
root in Peebles county and town is indisputable. Torbank,
overlooking the Lyne Valley, sits on a beautiful grassy slope,
with the ground rising quickly ridge beyond ridge behind it
to the sky-line.
At school in Peebles, under a Mr. Willins of notable local
reputation as a teacher, the young Renwick finished as dux
in 1856. He then entered the office of Stuart & Blackwood,
a firm of Writers in Peebles, with an excellent general practice.
He was already drawn to literature, not only reading widely
both in prose and poetry but himself dabbling in verse. His
themes included Neidpath Castle and Macbeth, but perhaps
his brightest effusion was The Two Kings, A Ballad, written
1 A memorandum by Dr. Renwick is in these terms: "William Renwick
my great grandfather, cooper and burgess in Peebles, who died 8th January,
r 733. aged 72 years, also Barbara Smith, his spouse, who died 8th January,
*739, aged 72."
vi ROBERT RENWICK
in laudation of the chartered rights of salmon fishing in the
Tweed. About 1864 he was (probably by Alexander Harris,
formerly his fellow clerk in Peebles, and then in the town
clerk's office at Edinburgh) introduced to Mr. James D.
Marwick, then recently appointed town clerk of Edinburgh,
who took him into his staff. This, in conjunction with his
literary leanings, proved a determining fact for his future.
We can see the forces that almost inevitably made him an
antiquary.
It was a time of continued expansion in record studies.
The historical renascence early in the century had been followed
by a brood of Clubs such as the Bannatyne, which Sir Walter
Scott had founded, and the Maitland and the Abbotsford,
which continued the magician's spell. The energetic tradition,
though faltering a little, was still effective enough to arouse
new aspirations of research. Historical and legal impulses
now were probably stronger than those of literature, which
had held the ascendant while Scott lived. Cities and burghs
were legitimately bethinking themselves of their charters
and records as containing memorials of a great past. In 1863
a resolution to print the Records of the Convention of Royal
Burghs in Scotland started a far reaching and successful move-
ment. The first volume bore the imprint of the year 1866.
The initiative of the Convention was promptly followed by the
burghs themselves and the burgh antiquaries. Credit has been
rightly claimed for the Convention as the essential influence
leading to the formation of the Scottish Burgh Records Society in
1868 for the study and publication of Scottish burghal archives.
In this movement Mr. Marwick, as both town clerk of Edin-
burgh and clerk to the Convention, took a foremost place,
working with all his opportunities in consultation and co-opera-
tion with Professor Cosmo Innes, John Hill Burton, John
Stuart, Joseph Robertson, and David Laing. Cosmo Innes,
let us remember, edited the Chartulary of Glasgow in 1843
ROBERT RENWICK vii
Mr. Marwick had high company in these masters, to whom
in the vigour of his organising faculty he was a powerful
second. The Society had a considerable response, and was
destined during its career of forty-one years to achieve its
ideal of gleaning from the ancient town registers and guild
minutes and the protocols of the old burgh notaries the authentic
story of civic law and usage and life, touching also at continual
turns the burghal share in national fortunes and public events.
An immense repository was thus opened, and the lore of the
burghs for at least four centuries was read.
To the new Society's publications Mr. Marwick devoted
himself with assiduity and spirit. He was the Society's chief
editor, no fewer than seventeen of its entire two-and-twenty
volumes being brought out by him. In this high task he had
the benefit of young Renwick's assistance, its value doubtless
growing with experience. A memory of the Society survives
in an early list of the subscribers written ante 1870 in the beauti-
ful clerkly hand Ren wick then wrote. Except for the corporate
subscribers and two or three very late recruits of the Society
it may be doubted whether a single member on the list now
survives.
The youthful Renwick's antiquarian beginnings can be
traced back to Peebles, as his reading there included Ross's
Lectures on Conveyancing, an advanced work seldom tackled
by junior students. The spirit of the old burgh must early
have impressed him, not only offering historical problems to
which he returned to the end of his days with unblunted
zest, but also luring him beyond the bounds of Peebles to explore
the wider domain of the burghs as a medieval institution.
In Edinburgh this trend of thought was very directly furthered
by the turn his work was to take under Mr. Marwick upon the
old records both of the Convention and of certain burghs,
beginning with Edinburgh and Peebles. The first publication
of the Burgh Records Society was a collection of Ancient Laws
viii ROBERT RENWICK
and Customs of the Burghs of Scotland, vol. i., edited by Cosmo
Innes, then at the height of his historical fame. His intro-
duction outlined the foundation of the Scottish burghs of the
twelfth century. He did not live to complete his useful book,
which fell to other hands more than forty years later, when
it dignified the close of the Burgh Records Society. In 1869
there appeared the first volume of Extracts from the Records
of the Burgh of Edinburgh. Renwick was by this time in the
full current of participation as a selector and transcriber in
the production of the work edited by Mr. Marwick. To this
period belonged occasional incidents of association worthy
of note. Cosmo Innes, going into the town clerk's chambers,
found Renwick busy at his task of transcription. It was an
occupation which lay near the old professor's heart, and he
expressed the pleasure it gave him to see a young man at
work on the old handwriting. In the innermost counsels of
the Burgh Records Society was David Laing, and it was often
the duty of the subordinate of Mr. Marwick to visit the room
at the Signet Library where the famous old bibliographer carried
on his work with piles of books built up like ramparts in
confusion on the floor about him. Of all the Edinburgh group
it was apparently Laing who most impressed Renwick by his
extraordinary knowledge of the Edinburgh council records.
Edinburgh itself somehow had not laid that permanent hold
of his imagination which might have been anticipated.
In 1872, in the preface to the Charters and Documents
relating to the Burgh of Peebles, issued by the Society, William
Chambers, afterwards Lord Provost of Edinburgh, but more
famous in Scottish annals for his place in his publishing firm,
attributed to Renwick's zeal and industry the existence of
the volume, which indeed chiefly consisted of extracts taken
by him from the burghal muniments, in the search for and
recovery of which the preface makes evident the fact that
Renwick had no inconsiderable share. Probably in this Peebles
ROBERT RENWICK ix
book Renwick found his vocation, picking out from the original
writings the significant entries of record, and making the burgh
itself register an autobiography. His intimate knowledge of
Peebles and his sense of the typical importance of the material
with which he was working gradually gave him an intimate
familiarity with the medieval burghal system. The unity of
the burgh, its organic personality, was already clear to the
patient interpreter.
It is difficult to bring back from distant memories the
portrait of youthful manhood, but Dr. Gunn, one of Renwick's
oldest friends in Peebles, describes his " rubicund boyish and
buoyant personality " frequenting the bye ways of Tweeddale
on holiday or in summer vacation. A capital walker and an
ardent and successful angler, fondest of burn fishing, he held
the key to the charm and beauty of his native district. His
brother writes : "He had a keen sense of humour, and in
congenial company he was a racy talker. He was a keen angler,
and as he swung over the hills to the burns with creel and rod
he could keep up the conversation with a constant flow of
illuminating talk."
In 1873, when Mr. Marwick became town clerk of Glasgow,
Renwick accompanied him to the west, and his official life
thenceforward was spent in the municipal service of Glasgow.
From 1873 onward he had charge of the conveyancing depart-
ment and of the city muniments. In 1874 he was admitted a
Notary Public, an office the history of which had always an
attraction fox him. His notarial motto, " Veritas," was
peculiarly apt alike in its personal and professional application.
In 1885 he was appointed depute-town-clerk and Keeper of
the Burgh Register of Sasines, and he continued to hold with
complete acceptance the double office until his death. He
acted as Assessor of the Burgh Court, a historical survival
in which he took great interest, and at which he was often
practically judge as well as assessor. There were about 20,000
x ROBERT RENWICK
ejectment cases in the court in a year, but the ancient procedure,
applied with all kindliness and consideration, enabled these
cases to be disposed of in a few minutes one morning a week.
Defended cases were rare, and appeals and suspensions un-
known.
Anyone looking at a bookcase filled with his writings might
have assumed that he did not do much other work. No
greater mistake could have been made. As keeper of the
Burgh Register of Sasines he collated personally every deed
which was recorded the numbers running to many hundreds,
and in certain years to thousands. He drew or revised the
conveyances of property bought or sold by the Corporation,
except those under the Police Acts, and, for a time, those
under the City Improvement Acts. He, personally, was the sole
" Searcher " of the Burgh Records, and certified the presence
or absence of burdens affecting thousands of separate properties
in the ancient " royalty." He also took his share in advising
as to the parliamentary and general legal business of the City.
One who from his position in the town clerk's office had
excellent opportunity to judge his quality as a man of affairs
has kindly written for this memoir a notice of his official
services :
" It is right to say that he was an accomplished practical con-
veyancer, and that in his first few years in Glasgow he had a heavy
task in completing old transactions and in recovering and arranging
the series of Corporation title-deeds which three careless removals
had thrown into gross confusion. His accurate conveyancing, com-
bined with his antiquarian zeal, resulted in the resuscitation of
numerous lost feu-duties, mostly of small amount, but carrying
with them claims, on ' untaxed entry,' to casualties of large extent.
What he recovered for the city in this way was more than equal to
his salary. He sought no credit for such work, and, indeed, when in
1885 he was appointed on the death of Mr. Andrew Cunningham to
be a depute town clerk he was personally unknown to the majority
of the town-councillors. Even after he was a depute town clerk he
insisted on his subordinates taking his place at council and committee
meetings."
ROBERT RENWICK, LL.D.
ROBERT RENWICK xi
In his professional capacity and as keeper of the archives he
had a well-tried reputation for methodical attention in substance
and detail, and for an unfailing memory on points of topography
and history which came within his ken from the study of the
Glasgow histories and memoirs and the perusal of the original
records. His experience in Edinburgh and his studies of the
Peebles minute books and notarial protocols had shown him
how infinitely first-hand evidence transcends all secondary
versions and how needful it is to check by recourse where
possible to primary sources, the embellished later narrative
to which all too uncritically the name of tradition is wont to
be applied.
How quickly after coming to Glasgow Renwick found his
way into the heart of the burgh records there is evident from
the appearance in 1876 of a volume of Extracts from the Records
of the Burgh of Glasgow, A.D. 1573-1642. In the preface the
editor, Mr. Marwick, with a frank emphasis which did him
honour, expressed very exactly the nature and measure
of the service rendered by his assistant. " In this work," he
said, "as in the corresponding selections from the records of
Edinburgh and Peebles, the editor owes everything to the care,
intelligence, and accuracy of Mr. Renwick, by whom the
transcripts have been made, the proof sheets collated, and the
index prepared." The same service he was to continue to
render in selecting and presenting the text in at least six other
solid tomes of Glasgow record, edited by Mr. Marwick, who
was knighted in 1888. The latest of these tomes, in which
Sir James's name stood alone in the editorship, was in 1905,
and in the preface he took occasion to observe regarding
Renwick that his intimate knowledge of Old Glasgow was
unique. In 1906 Renwick's name for the first time stood along
with Sir James's on the title page of the second volume of
Charters and other Documents relating to the City of Glasgow,
Vol. II., A.D. 1649-1707, with Appendix, A.D. 1434-1648.
xii ROBERT RENWICK
It was a becoming close to a series which began in 1876 that
the long colleagueship should be thus formally commemorated.
Sir James had now retired from the town clerkship, and had
practically committed to Renwick's hands pro futuro the
editorial control of his burghal trust.
After Sir James's death in 1908 Renwick, as a faithful
historical executor, brought out his chief's three posthumous
works, The River Clyde and the Clyde Burghs (1909), Edinburgh
Guilds and Crafts (1909), and Early Glasgow (1911). To the
last-named volume he appended for anniversary reasons a
final chapter written by him in continuation of Sir James, so
as to bring down the narrative from 1609 until 1611, when
Glasgow was by a formal writing, though without any formal
accession of privileges, erected into a royal burgh.
Renwick's independent reputation from an early period
may be inferred from his selection by the antiquaries of Stirling
and Lanark to edit the records of these burghs Stirling,
which he accomplished in three volumes in 1884-89 ; and
Lanark in one volume in 1893, all duly equipped with luminous
prefaces, setting forth the historical position of each of these
ancient and important corporate communities.
In 1891, in conjunction with Mr. A. M. Scott, a Glasgow
solicitor, remembered as an antiquary for his monograph on
the battle of Langside, he drew up a detailed report on thirteen
volumes of Glasgow Presbytery Records from 1592 until 1774.
He seldom missed a chance that brought grist to the antiquary's
mill, and the presbytery minutes were faithfully read, yielding
many facts and incidental touches of local life for that prolonged
commentary on Glasgow, which in various forms was to come
from his pen. Nor was it merely for himself he studied ; he
transcribed the whole of Vol. I. of these Presbytery Records,
and presented his MS. transcript to the Presbytery.
Renwick had taken voluminous notes from the muniments
of Peebles as well as from general sources, and these he collected
ROBERT RENWICK xiii
into a series of articles for the Peeblesshire Advertiser in 1871-72.
Twenty years later he resumed the subject, and finally put out
a small volume of very restricted issue in 1892 entitled Gleanings
from the Records of the Royal Burgh of Peebles. Its success no
doubt encouraged him to his next enterprise. Between 1894
and 1897 he wrote for the same newspaper numerous articles
on the parishes of the county. What he had already done for
the burgh he now did for the whole shire, collecting for its
upland ranges and its beautiful little valleys the annals which
he had traced in the multifarious documentary sources explored
during his years of research. These topographical essays, rich
in extracts and references, were collected in volume form in
1897 as Historical Notes on Peeblesshire Localities.
If his love for Peebles was thus attractively made manifest,
the fact that Glasgow held its just and equal half in his his-
torical affection was shown by his preparation simultaneously
with these Peebles papers of a unique and laborious calendar
of the Protocols of the town clerks and notaries of Glasgow
from A.D. 1547 down to 1600, a systematic analysis and close
abstract preserving every date and place and name in the
record, and supplying where requisite the explanation of
obscure allusions or doubtful locality. No one but Renwick
could have done this with the sureness of local knowledge
which has made the Protocols as edited and calendared by far
the most important repertory of information, topographical,
industrial, genealogical, and intimately historical for the
ancient city in its passage through a great national evolution.
When the Protocols began Glasgow was still essentially a rural
community ; when they ceased the city was swiftly shaping
landward and seaward towards its future as a world-centre
of manufacture and trade. The resolution to condense and edit
the protocols came about in direct consequence of a search
through the whole set by the writer of this notice. Renwick
remarked that he had a good mind to make an abridgement
xiv ROBERT RENWICK
and inventory ; his idea developed, but before deciding upon
his plan he took counsel with special antiquarian friends and
scholars. The list included the late John Guthrie Smith,
historian of the Blane Valley ; Dr. Thomas Dickson, long the
historical curator of the Register House ; Joseph Bain, famous
as author of the Calendars of Scottish Documents which have
since 1881 been the greatest general work of documentary
reference for early Scottish history ; and C. D. Donald, that
tireless worker in the antiquities of Old Glasgow. Dr. J. T. T.
Brown was also consulted, and no doubt others. In this
correspondence there are few pleasanter episodes than his
association with Joseph Bain, a Glasgow man whose warmth
of feeling for his native Cambuslang and the adjacent city
had found its first expression in his coeditorship in 1875 of
the Diocesan Registers of Glasgow, based on the capitular proto-
cols of Cuthbert Simson. Once settled, the scheme for a com-
prehensive editing of the town-clerk's sixteenth century
protocols was energetically and methodically carried out.
The chief collections thus made accessible were those of William
Hegait (1547-68) and Henry Gibsone (1555-76), and, supple-
mented by the protocols of four other notaries, formed the
staple for eleven slim but closely documented volumes, com-
pleted in 1900, and laden with Glasgow history.
A lucky opportunity came in connection with the British
Association's visit to Glasgow in 1901, when he was requested
to sketch the history of Glasgow for incorporation in the
Association's Handbook. This led him to survey anew the
whole course of events from the twelfth century, and to sum
up his inferences and conclusions in a succinct and orderly
account of Historical Glasgow. A compact and clear present-
ment of the rise, progress, and character of Glasgow from its
foundation until modern times, this sketch made its mark
as an admirable summary, linking in due sequence the geo-
graphical, historical, industrial, and mercantile forces which
ROBERT RENWICK xv
created the city. It also proved an excellent ground plan for
the direction of Renwick's own future examination of the deter-
mining elements in the civic development. Probably, however,
no work of his, except the present volume, combines so large
a store of vital and pictorial features as his Glasgow Memorials,
the handsome book published in 1908, in which he gathered
up much of the invaluable miscellaneous material, gradually
amassing itself in his special press articles for years before.
In conjunction with friends, and especially with A. B.
M'Donald, City Engineer, he drew up from time to time
various maps illustrative of particular phases of burghal
growth in earlier times. These maps or plans were recon-
structions of no common skill : nothing short of the exhaustive
topographical and record knowledge which he alone combined
would have sufficed to produce such lucid and informing charts
of the past as his re-picturings of Stirling, Peebles, and Lanark,
as well as of Glasgow, with its suburban communities prior
to their absorption in the urban area. Probably these maps
indicate that Renwick in his studies, always visualised the past,
which accounts for the signal clearness of his localisations and
the security of his inferences on the gradual expansion of the
towns, but particularly of Glasgow. His monographs on Gorbals
and Calton and Anders ton (for the Regality Club in 1900 and
1912) were invaluable sketches of these once independent
baronial burghs, before they were welded into the fabric of the
city. He knew the detached constituent elements as intimately
as the central organism which was to incorporate them all.
In October 1908 the anticipated close of the work of the
Burgh Records Society necessitated rearrangements, and on
the motion of Lord Provost Sir William Bilsland, Renwick
was authorised to continue the series of Extracts combined with
Charters and other Constitutional Documents from 1717 till
the passing of the Burgh Reform Act of 1833. With customary
promptitude the work was undertaken and accomplished in
xvi ROBERT RENWICK
seven volumes, the first volume for the years 1718-38 appearing
in 1909, and the last, for 1823-33, m I 9 I 6, comprising in each
case a lucid introduction. The series from 1718 until 1833
was issued under the auspices of the Glasgow Corporation
alone. The Burgh Records Society ceased to exist in 1910,
its last publication fitly coming from Renwick's pen. He had
splendidly qualified himself to complete the collection of
burghal laws begun by Cosmo Innes, and his volume of The
Ancient Laws and Customs of the Burghs of Scotland, vol. ii.,
A.D. 1424-1707, ending the Society's work, closed a considerable
and honourable chapter of burghal history.
It is now time to schedule chronologically the publications
as the real items of the author's biographical calendar :
1871-1872. Selections from Peebles Records relative to the period
1652-1714, published in Peeblesshire Advertiser.
1872. Communication from Mr. Renwick to Lord Provost
William Chambers regarding the extant records of Peebles
made use of in the Burgh Records Society volume of
Charters and Documents relating to the Burgh of Peebles
(1872). It is incorporated in the Preface of that
volume.
1884. Charters and other documents relating to the Royal
Burgh of Stirling, A.D. 1124-1705. Quarto.
1887. Extracts from the Records of the Royal Burgh of Stirling,
A.D. 1519-1666. Quarto.
1889. Extracts from the Records of the Royal Burgh of Stirling,
A.D. 1667-1752. Quarto.
This included a plan of the Royal Burgh of Stirling,
shewing its condition and surroundings about the year
1700. Compiled from authentic sources. (Drawn by
A. B. M'Donald.)
1892. Gleanings from the Records of the Royal Burgh of Peebles,
A.D. 1604-1652. Peebles : Watson & Smyth. Duodecimo.
Reprinted from the Peeblesshire Advertiser.
The Gleanings included a Plan of the Royal Burgh of
Peebles compiled in illustration of Gleanings from the
Burgh Records, 1604-1652. (Drawn by Alexander A.
Thomson.) This was reproduced in the second edition
of the Gleanings in 1912.
ROBERT RENWICK xvii
1893. Extracts from the Records of the Royal Burgh of Lanark,
A.D. 1150-1722. Quarto.
This Volume of Extracts included a Plan shewing bounds
of the Royal Burgh of Lanark as described in Charter by
King Charles I. (Drawn by Alexander A. Thomson.)
Note. Minor newspaper articles in substance incorporated in Glasgow
Memorials, 1908, are for the most part omitted here.
1894-1900. Abstracts of Protocols of the Town Clerks of Glasgow
(1530-1600). Eleven volumes. Quarto.
Vol. I. included Sketch Plan of the City of Glasgow
compiled in illustration of Protocols of the Town Clerks
of Glasgow. (Drawn by A. B. M'Donald.) Reduced and
reproduced in Marwick's Early Glasgow, 1911, p. I.
1894. Article on " Charters and Manuscripts " in the Memorial
Catalogue of the Old Glasgow Exhibition, 1894. Glasgow
Institute of the Fine Arts. Large Quarto.
1895. Articles in Scots Lore on White Hat symbol: Friars
Preachers : A Rentaller's title.
1897. Historical Notes on Peeblesshire Localities. 7" X5 // .
Peebles : Watson & Smyth.
Aisle and Monastery, St. Mary of Geddes Aisle in the
Parish Church of Peebles, and the Church and Monastery
of the Holy Cross of Peebles. 8" x 5^". Glasgow :
Carson & Nicol.
1900. Paper on " The Barony of Gorbals." (Regality Club,
fourth series, part first, March, 1900.)
Plan of Village of Gorbals. Plan shewing site of Great
Lodging, St. Ninian's Leper Hospital, Orchards, Yards,
etc. (Compiled for The Barony of Gorbals, 1900. Drawn
by A. B. M'Donald.)
Plan of The Barony of Gorbals, 1795. (Compiled as
above, 1900. Drawn by A. B. M'Donald.)
Sketch Plan shewing sites of principal buildings and
places in the vicinity of Glasgow Cathedral in the i6th
Century. Prepared for Glasgow Protocols, 1530-1600.
(Drawn by A. B. M'Donald. Originally appeared in
Glasgow Protocols, vol. xi., 1900. Reduced and repro-
duced in Marwick's Early Glasgow, 1911, p. 328.)
1901. Historical Glasgow. 8" x 5".
Part of the Glasgow Handbook of the British Association
for the Advancement of Science, 1901.
Reprinted separately, Glasgow, 1901. 106 pp.
1902. Article on " Scottish Burghal Charters " in Scottish History
and Life, 1902. (Being the memorial volume of the His-
torical Loan Collection in the Glasgow International
Exhibition, 1901.)
Article on Endowment of a Chaplainry in Glasgow
Cathedral in Scottish Antiquary, January, 1903.
xviii ROBERT RENWICK
1903. Peebles Parish and Church in Early History. 8" x 5^".
Peebles : A. Redpath.
Peebles during the reign of Queen Mary. 7" x 4^ ".
Peebles : The Neidpath Press.
1905. Review of Sir Archibald Laurie's Scottish Charters
in Peeblesshire Advertiser, March 4, 1905.
An inventory of Peebles County Records communicated
to the Peeblesshire Advertiser.
1906. Charters and other documents relating to the City of
Glasgow, vol. ii., A.D. 1649-1707. With Appendix,
A.D. 1434-1648, edited by Sir James D. Marwick and
Robert Renwick. Glasgow. Quarto.
Paper on " The Archiepiscopal Temporalities in the
Regality of Glasgow." (Regality Club, fourth series,
part third. December, 1906.)
Plan of the Barony and Regality of Glasgow, 1773.
Reproduced for the Regality Club with additions (by A. B.
M'Donald for " The Archiepiscopal Temporalities," 1906).
Article on Glasgow Fair (Evening Times, July 7).
1907. Article on Glasgow and the Union, in Glasgow Herald,
February 13.
Reprinted in The Union of 1707. By Various Writers.
Glasgow : George Outram & Co., 1907. 8vo.
Article on " Buchanan's connection with the University
and Grammar School of Glasgow," in George Buchanan
Quater-Centenary Studies, 1906. MacLehose.
1908. Articles on " The Provost of Glasgow " (Evening Times,
June 19). "Suppressing the Covenant" (Ibid. Septem-
ber i).
1908-1916. Extracts from the Records of the Burgh of Glasgow.
Eight volumes, quarto, issued as undernoted :
A.D. 1691-1717. Glasgow, 1908.
1718-1738. Glasgow, 1909.
1 739-1 759- Glasgow, 1911.
1760-1780. Glasgow, 1912.
1781-1795. Glasgow, 1913.
1796-1808. Glasgow, 1914.
1809-1822. Glasgow, 1915.
1823-1833. Glasgow, 1916.
1908. Glasgow Memorials. MacLehose. Quarto.
Articles on " Convention of Burghs " in Evening Times,
April 8, and on " The Cloch-stane," Ibid. April 29.
1909. Map of the City of Glasgow. By R. Renwick, Town
Clerk Depute, and A. B. M'Donald, City Engineer.
Articles on " Glasgow History shewn in a Map " (Herald,
July 9) ; " Old Prisons of Glasgow " (Weekly Herald,
ROBERT RENWICK xix
August 7) ; " Craft Guilds of Glasgow " (Herald, October 9) ;
" A Fortified Residence in Glasgow " (Evening Times,
February 15) ; " Bishop Forest " (Evening Times, August 3).
1910. Extracts from the Records of the Burgh of Peebles,
1652-1714. With Appendix, 1367-1665. Glasgow. Quarto.
Ancient Laws and Customs of the Burghs of Scotland,
vol. ii., A.D. 1424-1707.
Articles on " The Procurator Fiscal " (Herald, February
18) ; " Provand's Lordship " (Herald, December 22) ;
" Glasgow Trades House " (Herald, June 30) ; " Glasgow
as a Royal Burgh " (Herald, September 24) ; " Peebles
in the Olden Time (Herald, October 20).
1911. Article on " The Scottish Exhibition Muniments of
Royal Burghs " (Herald, June 16), and " The Old Burgh
of Calton " (Herald, July i).
1912. The Burgh of Peebles. Gleanings from its Records, 1604-
1652. Second edition. Peebles : Allan Smyth. Quarto.
Article on " Glasgow Green " (Herald, April 6).
Paper on " Burghs of Barony of Calton and Anderston "
(Regality Club, fourth series, part fourth. June, 1912).
1915. Article on " Dr. Chalmers and Glasgow Town Council "
(Herald, April 14).
1917. Abstract of Documents relating to the City of Glasgow,
1833-1872. Glasgow. Quarto.
Article on " Kirklands, Jedderfield, and the Rae Burn,
in Peeblesshire Advertiser, May n, 1917.
The foregoing hand-list will probably facilitate local study,
A real bibliography, while a boon to research, would without
doubt enhance the measure of respect due to Renwick's diligence
and his fidelity to his ideals.
The centre of gravity in the sources of Glasgow history was
in some degree shifted by these publications, in which the
names of Marwick and Renwick are almost inseparably inter-
twined. The formal historians of Glasgow had scarcely risen
to the full height of their responsibilities. They had been
content with a few ill-edited passages from the civic muni-
ments. They neither knew the body of manuscripts to be
examined nor the constitutional niceties of burghal status
to be critically determined ; imperfectly alive to the more
ancient historic life of the City, they found its greatness and
xx ROBERT RENWICK
therefore their own commanding theme mainly, if not wholly,
in the modern, or almost modern, merchants and manufacturers,
whose country houses were homes of a mercantile aristocracy,
which in making itself had made Glasgow and had made the
Clyde. The mass and weight of new ore dug from the mine
of record greatly altered the balance. The centre of gravity
of Glasgow history is still modern rather than antique, but
the long continuous evolution, the remote forces in the making
of the city, the mentality alike of its churchmen and its citizens,
and above all the variety of its intellectual mercantile and
marine enterprise all unite to throw back the centre point
and shew the causes of things as far more complex and remote
than men supposed. John M'Ure and his successors, for the
most part, had laid the general foundations with little art.
The Reform time was too hot with politics for calm institu-
tional investigation. John Strang, " Senex " (Robert Reid),
John Buchanan, and J. 0. Mitchell exploited a most influential
epoch of Glasgow's industrial development. Marwick and
Renwick set up anew the medieval city, and equipped it with
an array of title deed and protocol from the first founding
of the bishop's burgh to the Reforms of 1833. Glasgow thus
offered a fine example in the treatment of its archives,
and rendered a municipal homage to history difficult to
match.
In his way across a wide tract of historical antiquity,
Renwick was constantly on the edge of subjects of controversy,
but his accuracy, sagacity, and tolerant moderation steered
him through, if not quite without friction at least without a
bitter word of archaeological debate. The nearest approach
to a controversy he ever had was in relation to the position
of Peebles Castle, which an eccentric opponent would fain
have spirited away up river to Neidpath, albeit the tenor of a
whole series of documentary references makes plain the
identification of the " Castlehill " in the angle of the junction
ROBERT RENWICK xxi
of Peebles Water and the Tweed as the true site of the royal
castle which David I. had founded in its pristine form, but
which as a structure had ceased to be in evidence by about
the middle of the fourteenth century.
While Renwick cannot be said to have established any
new archaeological principle or any constitutional or functional
characteristic of importance in burghal politics or economy, the
immense lore of the burgh as a generic institution, its deep-laid
store of customary rule and observance was, as never before, ex-
hibited by his transcriptions, disclosing recurrent in burgh after
burgh identical or analogous usages. On many a hereditary dis-
putation he cast a new and sometimes decisive light, as when
he disproved the inference that the Cross of Glasgow was ever
at the Drygait or elsewhere than at the present Cross, or when
he cleared up the mystery of Bishop Forest, or when he dis-
covered that the Bakers had " newlie biggit " their mill on
the Kelvin in 1569, a fact shrewdly serving to clinch the argu-
ment from tradition that the gift or grant of the mill came from
Regent Moray after his victory at Langside the year before.
Of such documentary triumphs Renwick enjoyed not few.
On the complex problems of the general origins of burghs,
although he was no adventurous theorist, he followed acutely
the course of historical discussion, reading in particular with
keen interest the works of Professor Frederic W. Maitland,
Mary Bateson, and Adolphus Ballard. The purely legal and
formal side of old transactions greatly appealed to him. To
a critic of his final volume, who suggested some curtailment
of narrative of symbolic ecclesiastical detail, he replied that
in the early period those details were so often almost the sole
incidents preserved that it was imperative to utilise them.
One may dispute the argument and yet acknowledge that the
traditions of antique ceremony are worthy of remembrance.
The art of history is chiefly the detection and due registration
of relationships of general events. To Renwick fell many more
xxii ROBERT RENWICK
of the vital conjunctions for the annals of Glasgow than fell
to any of his predecessors. He not only made discoveries
himself : for fifty years he was preparing the material for the
discoveries of others.
The recognition of the true measure of his service to history
was visible in the growing and public appreciation both of
himself and of his work. Various expressions of this, in par-
ticular on three occasions, gave him great gratification.
First, and perhaps chief of all, was the tribute of gratitude
from Peebles in 1897, when the freedom of the burgh was con-
ferred upon him, and he was admitted honoris causa a burgess
and guild brother. He bargained for simplicity in the function,
which was memorable to witness, including the delightful,
modest, and yet earnest speech he made in reply, vindicating
the claim of the burgh to David I. as its founder.
A secondary recognition, rather late in arrival, came in
1915, when Glasgow University, in respect of his eminent
historical merits, made him a doctor of laws. His many friends
among the officials of the city, Sir John Lindsay, town clerk, in
the chair, presented him with the robes and hood appropriate.
A third compliment was relative to the project for the work
to which this notice is a prefix. It had become increasingly
evident that Renwick stood alone and incomparable in his
mastery of the story of burghal Glasgow ; and when the com-
mission given to him to bring the charters and extracts down
to 1833 was fully executed and the last volume brought out
in 1916, a suggestion was thrown out in the Scottish Historical
Review, confirmed and emphasised in various forms by the
press of Glasgow, that he ought to be invited under the
highest learned and civic auspices to dedicate his ripe historical
faculty to a full general history of the city. The proposal was
fortunate. Sir John Lindsay wrote a letter, putting it before
Lord Provost Sir Thomas Dunlop, who laid it before the
Corporation, which with unanimous cordiality gave its appro-
ROBERT RENWICK xxiii
bation. The invitation thus handsomely extended was heartily
accepted, although neither Dr. Renwick nor his encouraging
friends forgot that he was seventy-five. Greatly heartened
to the new task he turned to it with characteristic promptitude,
vigour of purpose, and thoroughness of system. His plan
was to follow the leading lines of the sketch he had written
in 1901, and to expand his " Historical Glasgow " into a formal
and comprehensive History of Glasgow. So vigorous was his
progress that within little more than a year the first volume
was complete, except for the last touches of revisal of proof
of his preface. He seemed to enjoy the task, in which he made
steady headway. There was no sign of over-pressure ; his
habitual deliberate fashion of work, without hurry but with
persistent diligence, was maintained. But an attack of illness
in 1919 probably left him materially weaker, although his
recovery seemed both rapid and complete. Mid-winter
found him with the text of Vol. I. passed for press and with
his preface on proof. At the end of the second week of January
he was active and cheery, almost beyond his wont both in
official duties and in the final adjustment of his preface. He
told a friend a day or two previously that he was " taking
short views of life." His jocular phrase was truer perhaps than
he thought. He was at business on the Saturday with every
sign of active health, but early on Sunday morning, January n,
1920, a sudden seizure came ; he never recovered conscious-
ness, and he died in the afternoon. His death took place at
8 Balmoral Crescent, where he had had his studious and happy
home for almost thirty wonderfully productive years. He
was interred in Craigton Cemetery. Press notices in the leading
journals made fit expression of appreciation and regret, extolling
the palaeographer and burghal annalist while recording the
modesty linked with geniality of the man and, as it was happily
styled, the " atmosphere of intellectual hospitality " with
which he welcomed his fellows in quests of history.
xxiv ROBERT RENWICK
This is not the occasion for a full estimate of his value
as a historian, especially when the present volume best commits
that question to the impartial test of time. To its composition
he had dedicated his most careful thought, ripened by nearly
forty-eight years of unique familiarity with the muniments of
Glasgow. It was no patchwork of reprint hastily compiled :
he was genuinely and radically remaking the whole record as
in the light of the latest knowledge its trend presented itself.
It was the last word of Robert Renwick. His memory among
the historians is in no need of that charity which he himself
never failed to manifest alike towards his contemporaries and
his predecessors in the studies he loved.
His modesty narrowly escaped being a fault. Constitution-
ally so retiring that he shrank from meeting strangers, he yet
was the most approachable of men. He was much sought
for his historical knowledge and counsel. What student of
Old Glasgow was there who did not consult him ? His intimate
friendships were too many to record, but the names of William
Young, the artist, and the Rev. James Primrose must not be
left untold. But no one appears to remember his ever having
addressed a literary or antiquarian society. Overtures made
to him to lecture in connection with a university foundation
were unavailing. He preferred to work in his own way. He
fought shy of all outside social activities. His son says he never
saw his father idle. It was his practice to be at work before
breakfast, sometimes for two or three hours, and his capacity
for plodding through a heavy task was prodigious. " Eident
was he but and ben." He read the old script with astonish-
ing ease and familiarity. He never used spectacles, and to
the last met his problems of decipherment without a glass.
An even temper and placid good humour never failed him,
and could turn the edge even of discomfiture.
His marriage in 1868 to Agnes Wallace of Mauchline,
Ayrshire, gave him a home of affection, in which his fondness
ROBERT RENWICK xxv
for children found its gratification, and he saw a family grow
up around him in a circle of happiness in which a spirit of simple
contentment left him considerably free to prosecute his ceaseless
study of the old burghs. He is survived by his widow, two
sons and four daughters.
The portrait prefixed admirably renders the man the
kindly face, the gentle spirit, the quick eye, the pose of natural
unaffected dignity. To some of us it will recall hours of happy
memory over many years hours of instructive collation and
intimate communings with an accomplished medievalist,
hours that cannot return.
His library was of modest dimensions ; he was not a
collector. He had a most tenacious memory which time
never seemed to impair. His charity in judgment was con-
stitutional, his patience infinite. His style in writing might
lack animation and his narrative lose something from his
objection to emphasis, but he lived up to his motto of " Veritas "
and had the highest historic quality, the genius of taking
pains.
His way of gathering the purport of disconnected frag-
mentary evidences was only one of many forms in which his
intense interest in his records was revealed. The annals of
the scriptorium are dull only to the outsider. His prefaces,
balanced by appendices of citation, ensured the preservation
of every ground of proof. He was weary of empty repetitions,
and jocularly boasted that he had never styled David I. the
" sore saint," nor James VI. the " Scottish Solomon."
What the old notaries before him had done to register the
life of the community and the topography of the place, Renwick
in broader and better fashion achieved not less faithfully by
his many books, not jealously shutting up his material in secret
protocols, but making them for the first time a connected whole
for general information. After all, what is the historian but
a notary in excelsis ? Surpassing any predecessor of either
xxvi ROBERT RENWICK
craft by the extent and variety of his output, his acuteness
as a topographer, his sleepless memory of facts and his fidelity
to the mass of record he interpreted, he holds a place all his
own in the goodly fellowship of those who have built up the
story of the city of Glasgow. The work he leaves behind him,
not the gleaning but the harvest of half a century, is in great
measure the primary authority of the civic history, and his
memory will endure. It is the last office and much valued
privilege of old friendship, an intimate and genial associa-
tion of nearly thirty years, to add this stone to the cairn of
Glasgow's greatest chronicler.
PREFACE
MATERIAL for the early history of Glasgow was not very
accessible when the eighteenth century historians, M'Ure,
Gibson, Denholm, and Brown, compiled their works, and this
mainly accounts for the extremely limited extent to which
original sources of information are used by these authors.
Towards such excusable neglect the present generation might
be indifferent if it were certain that everything of local his-
torical value, then in existence, were still available, and this
may safely be assumed with regard to the bulk of the manu-
scripts, but there are grounds for believing that some have
disappeared in the interval.
All the muniments which Archbishop Beaton took with
him when he left the country at the time of the Reformation
were retained in Paris till near the end of the eighteenth century,
but by good fortune they had come under the notice of Thomas
Innes, an eminent elucidator of ancient Scottish annals.
Innes was a Roman Catholic priest and was latterly vice-
principal of the Scots College, where most of the Glasgow
manuscripts were deposited. These documents, as well as
those deposited in the Chartreuse of Paris, he had carefully
examined in the course of his historical inquiries, and he had
been specially gratified with the proof they afforded of the
legitimacy of the Stewart line of kings. Public attention
having been directed to the results of these investigations,
Father Innes was often applied to for information procurable
xxviii PREFACE
from the Glasgow manuscripts. The University of Glasgow
asked him to supply extracts of the writings relating to that
institution, and a similar request came from the magistrates
and council of Glasgow with reference to the documents speci-
ally relating to the city.
In consequence of the communications thus opened, and
the correspondence which followed, a number of authenticated
transcripts were transmitted to the University in 1738, and
later on a complete copy of the Episcopal Register was supplied.
In 1739 the magistrates and council were presented with
transcripts of the early city charters and other writs in which
the municipality were more immediately concerned. Till
the original documents were returned to this country, at a
later date, it is probable that investigators of the early
ecclesiastical and municipal history of Glasgow obtained most
of their information from these transcripts supplied by Father
Innes.
John M'Ure, Glasgow's first historian, was keeper of the
Register of Sasines for the Regality of Glasgow -and adjoining
district, from which register deeds relating to the burgh were
excluded, and thus he had no special knowledge of the city
so far as could be learned from its registers. But M'Ure
claimed that his nativity in the city, great age, long experience
and employment, had given him more than ordinary occasion
to know the state of the town, while at "no small difficulty
and expense " he had procured from Paris copies of such
documents as he judged essentially necessary to illustrate
his work. M'Ure's history was published two years before
the University procured its first transcripts, and therefore he
had to depend on what was obtainable from Paris direct.
Father Innes, whom he styles " the learned and ingenious
Mr. Thomas Innes," supplied a copy of the foundation charter
of 1175-8, where it is provided that the city was to have all
the privileges of a royal burgh ; and in the history it is bluntly
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PREFACE xxix
stated that Glasgow was created a royal burgh by William
the Lion. Technically this was wrong, because in strict
language a royal burgh must be held direct of the sovereign,
while in the case of Glasgow the bishop intervened. But in
a wider sense the statement was substantially correct. Some
of the more recent historians who criticised M'Ure's verbal
inaccuracy went to the opposite extreme, and, reasoning from
the name while overlooking the substance, represented Glasgow
as an ordinary burgh of barony, with its citizens dependent
on the pleasure of the bishop as their overlord. In actual
experience, and by virtue of its earliest charters, Glasgow
had trading rights, home and foreign, as full as any enjoyed
by a royal burgh. It held its own courts, admitted its bur-
ges^ses, and conducted its municipal administration, all in
accordance with the ordinary procedure of a royal burgh.
Only in the election of the magistracy was there a peculiarity.
The bishop chose the bailies, but this could only be done
from a leet presented by the burgesses or the town council,
so that the election in the first instance came from the citizens.
With regard to the provost, an official who at a comparatively
late period was added to the town council of Glasgow, the
bishop had a freer hand, as the original nomination was left
to himself. But even after the bishop's selection of the
bailies and nomination of the provost, the commissions both
to provosts and bailies were issued by the town council.
John Gibson, who published his History of Glasgow in 1777,
makes more abundant use of transcripts obtained from Paris
than M'Ure did, and he also broke new ground by giving a
few extracts from the city's own records. Here attention is
arrested by quotations from a council record prior in date
to the earliest of the records now preserved in the city's archives.
Embracing the period immediately preceding and succeeding
the national change from the old to the new faith, the missing
volume must have contained much of vital importance in
xxx PREFACE
telling the story of such a city as Glasgow, whose ciyic and
ecclesiastical affairs were so closely intermingled. Gibson's
meagre extracts, which may after all have been taken, not from
the original record, but from transcripts, do not conclusively
prove that the volume was really in existence in his day, and
therefore the discredit of its loss must not without further
proof attach to the record custodiers subsequent to that time.
Glasgow's episcopal registers and writs, so full of informa-
tion about localities throughout the diocese, were largely used
by George Chalmers in his Caledonia, published in 1807-24.
By this time the original documents had passed through
serious risk of destruction during the French Revolution.
Part of the writs had been brought to this country by the
Abb6 Macpherson, rector of the Scots College at Rome, and
Chalmers himself, who was always on the outlook for manu-
scripts of historical value, obtained the custody of some of
these. Other writs and registers came into the hands of
Bishop Cameron of Edinburgh, but suspicions are entertained
that several bundles traced to St. Omers, in France, were never
returned to this country.
In 1832 the Maitland Club, by the issue of a volume of
selections from town council and burgh court records (1573-80)
took the first effective step for having the local manuscript
collections made readily accessible for historical purposes ;
and, through newspaper enterprise, this publication was shortly
afterwards followed by a supplementary series of extracts
(1588-1750), now known in their republished form as Memora-
bilia. Then came, in 1843, the Maitland Club's issue of
Registrum Episcopatus Glasguensis, a most important work,
containing a print of the ancient register and of all charters
relating to the bishopric and the cathedral from the earliest
times till the middle of the sixteenth century. In 1846 the
Club issued to its members Liber Collegii Nostre Domine and
Munimenta Fratrum Predicatorum de Glasgu, being collections
PREFACE xxxi
of documents relating to (i) the Collegiate Church of St. Mary
and St. Anne (1516-49), and (2) the Place of the Friars Preachers
in Glasgow (1249-1559) ; with selections from miscellaneous
writs preserved in the University's archives. The Univer-
sity's own muniments, including such of the writs relating to
that institution as had already appeared in print, were issued
by the Maitland Club in 1854.
Besides the documents comprehended in these publications
there had been returned from Paris two MS. volumes relating
to the diocese, one consisting of the Protocols of Cuthbert
Simson, clerk of the Cathedral Chapter (1499-1513), and the
other the Rental Book kept by the archbishops (1509-70).
The publication of these manuscripts, under the title Diocesan
Registers, was undertaken by the Grampian Club in 1875.
Little was known either of the Protocols or the Rental Book
before their publication, but each has its peculiar value in
providing minute and interesting particulars regarding the
city and barony before the dates when the existing council
records and town clerks' protocols commence.
Beyond what had been accomplished, about forty years
previously, no progress was made in the publication of
municipal records till, in the year 1876, the late Sir James
Marwick, through the medium of the Scottish Burgh Records
Society, began the publication of the city's charters and
records. Latterly continued and completed to the year 1833,
under the authority of the Town Council, this series extends
to fourteen bulky volumes, and the valuable information
thereby provided for the local historian has been supplemented
by eleven thin quartos, embracing the protocols of the town
clerks of Glasgow, so far as preserved, between the years
1530 and 1600.
From time to time portions of the large accumulation of
historical material here enumerated have been utilised in
narrative form, notably by Sir James Marwick in his Historical
xxxii PREFACE
Introduction to the first volume of Glasgow Charters and in
his Early Glasgow, but it is generally recognised that the time
has come for the history of the city being presented on a more
comprehensive scale than has hitherto been attempted.
After finishing, in 1916, the editorial work entrusted to me
by the Town Council eight years previously, it was not my
intention to undertake anything further in connection with
the city's history beyond the issue of (i) a few papers supple-
mentary to Glasgow Memorials, and (2) a revised and enlarged
edition of Historical Glasgow, originally compiled as part of a
handbook on the occasion of the British Association's visit
to Glasgow in 1901. Unexpectedly, however, suggestions
came to me from various quarters which led to reconsideration
of that limited design. In the course of an appreciative notice
of the completed charters and records, which appeared in
the Scottish Historical Review, I was urged to undertake the
compilation of a history of the city. Approval of that step
came both from individuals and from some of the public
journals, the Council of the Glasgow Archaeological Society
concurred, and Glasgow Town Council formally invited me to
proceed with the work. Perhaps too easily persuaded to enter
on so congenial a task, and not sufficiently realising the diffi-
culties which lie in the way, many of which can only be partially
overcome, I have ventured thus far, and the first instalment
of the new history of Glasgow is now submitted to the
public.
That the Town Council should have extended to the present
scheme the generous support which they gave to the publica-
tion of their charters and records is highly gratifying, alike to
author and publishers ; and in this connection grateful acknow-
ledgment is due to Sir John Lindsay, Town Clerk, for the
interest manifested by him in the progress of the work, and for
his cordial co-operation in facilitating the needful business
arrangements.
PREFACE xxxiii
Surviving all its many hazards by land and sea, in this
country and abroad, the ancient register of the bishopric,
known as Registrum Vetus Ecclesitz Cathedralis Glasguensis,
is now safely deposited in St. Mary's College, Blairs, Aberdeen-
shire ; and through the courtesy of the Right Rev. James
M'Gregor, Rector of the College, facilities were readily afforded
for photographing the four pages here reproduced in facsimile.
All the documents in the register are printed in Registrum
Episcopatus, but it is interesting to have a specimen of the
original manuscript, penned, it is thought, in the twelfth
century. The photographed pages begin with the last two
lines of Earl David's Inquisitio (the whole of the lithographed
MS. of which is given in the published Registrum), and also
contain the foundation charter of the burgh of Glasgow, the
charter instituting Glasgow Fair, and other documents specified
in the List of Illustrations.
As will be seen from quotations and footnotes, I have freely
availed myself of the researches and opinions of other writers ;
and to several personal friends I am indebted for information
and advice. Very specially have I to express my obligations
Mr. George Neilson, LL.D., for invaluable assistance. Not
dy was Dr. Neilson always ready to confer with me on
reliminary points, but he also, in renewal of similar favours
idered on previous occasions, took the trouble to read over
the proof sheets of the present volume and to give me the
lefit of his wise counsel and serviceable suggestions.
R. RENWICK.
GLASGOW, December, 1919.
CONTENTS
PACK
LIST OF AUTHORITIES - - - xlv
CHAPTER I
Prehistoric Condition of Glasgow Area Sites of Early Dwellings - i
CHAPTER II
The Roman Period and After - 6
CHAPTER III
The Coming of St. Kentigern - 13
CHAPTER IV
St. Kentigern's Return from Wales 18
CHAPTER V
Early Place Names - 21
CHAPTER VI
After the Days of St. Kentigern Strathclyde and Cumbria 27
CHAPTER VII
Diocese of Glasgow - 32
CHAPTER VIII
Landed Possessions of the Church - 37
XXXV
xxxvi CONTENTS
CHAPTER IX
I'AGE
Building of Cathedral and Early Dedications - - 40
CHAPTER X
Bishop Herbert Cathedral Organization Somerled's Invasion - 45
CHAPTER XI
Episcopate of Bishop Ingelram Barony Courts Erection of
Burghs Rutherglen - 50
CHAPTER XII
Bishop Joceline Additional Lands Condition of Serfdom - 56
CHAPTER XIII
Establishment of the Burgh of Glasgow - 60
CHAPTER XIV
Early Streets and Buildings Possessions of Religious Houses - 70
CHAPTER XV
Church Building Bishop Joceline - 77
CHAPTER XVI
King William's Burghal Legislation - 82
CHAPTER XVII
Glasgow and Dumbarton Royal Mint 90
CHAPTER XVIII
Collection of the King's Customs ... 97
CHAPTER XIX
Building of Glasgow Cathedral Resumed - - - 101
CONTENTS xxxvii
CHAPTER XX
PAGE
Lands in the Barony of Glasgow and Bishopforest - 108
CHAPTER XXI
Arrival of the Friars - 113
CHAPTER XXII
Kings and Bishops Cathedral Canons and Vicars - 119
CHAPTER XXIII
Burgh Court Sales of Heritage Bridge over Clyde Steeple
and Treasury of Cathedral Taxation of Benefices - - 125
CHAPTER XXIV
Transfers of Properties St. Mary's Chapel St. Enoch's Chapel
Monks' House - - 132
CHAPTER XXV
National Calamities War of Independence Wallace and the
Battle of the Bell o' the Brae Bishop Wischart English
Occupation - 136
CHAPTER XXVI
Baronial Revenues Appointments of Bishops Charters by
King Robert Polmadie Hospital Barlanark or Provand
Chapel of St. Thomas Lost Seal Manor of Loch wood - 145
CHAPTER XXVII
King Robert Reign of King David and Episcopate of Bishop
Rae Temporalities of Bishopric Bishopforest Papal
Registers Endowments of Friars Preachers Glasgow
Bridge - 152
CHAPTER XXVIII
Reigns of Kings Robert II. and III. Bishops Wardlaw and
Glendonwyn Duke ol Albany: French Army Burgesses
Weekly Market St. Mary's Chapel Prebend of Glasgow
Secundo Robes, Ornaments, and Lights of Cathedral
Timber Steeple Alienation of Cadder - 164
xxxviii CONTENTS
CHAPTER XXIX
PAG 8
Foreign Trade Customs on Exports Glasgow's Earliest
Trading, Manufactures, and Industries - - 174
CHAPTER XXX
Glasgow's Connection with Convention of Burghs Dukes of
Albany and King James I. Bishop Lauder Cathedral - 182
CHAPTER XXXI
Return of King James I. His Legislation Bishop Cameron
Cathedral and Castle Archdeaneries and Prebends
Town Mill Rentallers 189
CHAPTER XXXII
Reign of James II. Bishops Bruce and Turnbull Market
Customs Freedom of St. Mungo Barony and Regality - 203
CHAPTER XXXIII
Founding of the University of Glasgow - 213
CHAPTER XXXIV
Bishop Andrew de Durisdere Vicars of the Choir St. Nicholas
Hospital - 225
CHAPTER XXXV
Friars Preachers of Glasgow and their Endowments - 233
CHAPTER XXXVI
The River Clyde and Foreign Trade The Elphinstones in
Glasgow Election of Bailies and other Officers in Burghs 244
CHAPTER XXXVII
Bishops Andrew " Muirhead " and John Laing University
Privileges Friars Minors in Glasgow Chapels of St.
Thomas and St. Tenew Chaplainries Forfeiture of Un-
productive Tenements - - 252
CONTENTS xxxix
CHAPTER XXXVIII
TAGS
Kings James III. and IV. Bishops Carmichael and Blacader
Archbishopric of Glasgow Grant of Free Tron Burgh
Privileges Lollards of Kyle - 261
CHAPTER XXXIX
Leper Hospital and Chapel and their Endowments Endow-
ments of other Chaplainries Grammar Schools 271
CHAPTER XL
Fergus Aisle in Cathedral Rood Screen Church of Little St.
Kentigern St. Nicholas Hospital Church of St. Roche
Liners of the Burgh Foreign Merchandise - 280
CHAPTER XLI
Population Old Green Feuing of Common Lands Waulk
Mill on Water of Kelvin Linningshaugh Skinners Green
Society of Fishers Assize of Herring Subdean's Mill
Fortified House in High Street Lands of Gorbals
Cadder and Monkland - - 292
CHAPTER XLII
Commercial Progress Shipping Acts of Parliament -Bur-
gesses Archbishops Blacader and Beaton Regality and
Diocesan Jurisdictions King and Archbishop of St.
Andrews Rental Book of Barony Lands - - 306
CHAPTER XLIII
Earls of Lennox Manses of Govan and Renfrew Battle of
Flodden Provosts -Depute Altar of St. Christopher Seal
of Cause to Skinners and Furriers Duke of Albany, Gover-
nor of Kingdom Insurrectionary Movements Siege of
Archbishop's Castle - ~ - 3*5
CHAPTER XLIV
Archbishops Beaton and Dunbar Custody of the King Mer-
chants and Foreign Trade Clyde Shipping Spread of
"Heresies" John Major, Theologian and Historian Pre-
bend of Barlanark or Provan King's Visits to Glasgow
Court of Session . 328
xl CONTENTS
CHAPTER XLV
PAGE
Blacader's Hospital for Casual Poor Collegiate Church of St.
Mary and St. Anne - - 339
CHAPTER XLVI
Bailieship of Regality Earls of Lennox and Arran Succession
of Provosts Bonds of Manrent Craftsmen Seals of Cause
to Tailors, Weavers, and Hammermen Acts of Parliament - 347
CHAPTER XLVII
Legislation Relating to Burghs Accounting for Common Good
Sailing of Ships Foundations of Religious Services
Song School Spread of Reformed Doctrines Martyrs - 355
CHAPTER XLVIII
Protocol Book for City Properties Traffic on River Clyde
Liberties of Glasgow, Rutherglen and Renfrew Tax Roll
of Burghs - 361
CHAPTER XLIX
Disaster of Solway Moss Beginning of Queen Mary's Reign
Earl of Arran, Regent and Governor Insurrection of
Lennox and Others Siege of Bishop's Castle Battle of the
Butts Additions to Castle - 366
CHAPTER L
Archbishops of St. Andrews and Glasgow Their Rivalry
Archbishop Dunbar Vicars-General during Vacant See
Archbishops Gordon and Beaton Privilege of Sanctuary
Claimed for Place of Blackfriars Seals of Cause to Masons
and Other Craftsmen - 378
CHAPTER LI
Mode of Election of Glasgow Magistrates Royal Commission
on Archbishop's Rights Dues Claimed by Archbishop-
Convention of Burghs - - - -383
CONTENTS xli
CHAPTER LIT
PACK
Privileges of Burghs Liberties and Privileges of Craftsmen
Deacons Discharged and Visitors Substituted These Con-
ditions Dispensed with Trading in West Seas Exactions
on Herring Fishing Summer Plays - - 390
CHAPTER LIII
Early Council Record Navigation of the River Clyde Uni-
versity's Exemption from Taxes and Subsidies Vicarage
of Colmonell Seal of Cause to Cordiners - - 395
CHAPTER LIV
Duke of Chatelherault, Bailie of Regality Protection to Archbishop
Progress of Reformation Attacks on Churches and Monas-
teries Treaty with England Return of French Army Departure
of Archbishop Beaton Meeting of Parliament - 402
INDEX 412
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Glasgow Cathedral - Frontispiece
1. Robert Renwick, LL.D. - x
2. Facsimile of Ancient Register, folio 2, recto. - xxviii
3. ,, ,, ,, folio 2, verso. - xxviii
4. ,, ,, ,, folio 5, recto. - xxviii
5. ,, folio 5, verso. - xxviii
6. Canoes found at Clydehaugh 2
7. Prehistoric Implements 4
8. Roman Wall at Hillfoot, near Glasgow - 6
9. Bowl of Samian Ware unearthed in Glasgow Green - 10
10. Sarcophagus from Govan Churchyard - 38
11. Old British Camp at Queen's Park - 42
12. Site of Old British Camp at Queen's Park - 44
13. Seal of Bishop Joceline, 1175-99 56
14. Ancient Chapter Seal of Glasgow 56
15. Seal of Bishop Florence, 1202-7 86
1 6. Facsimile Pages from Glasgow Pontifical Book - 90
17. Coins attributed to Glasgow Mint 96
1 8. Seal and Counter Seal of Walter, Bishop of Glasgow, 1208-32 - 102
19. ,, of William de Bondington, Bishop of
Glasgow, 1233-58 - - 106
20. Carved Portraits of Isabella de Valoniis and Sir David
Comyn - 112
21. Ancient Seal of the Community of the City of Glasgow, 1325 - 1 16
22. Early Seal and Signet of Robert Wishard, Bishop of Glasgow
before the Wars of the Succession - 128
xlii
ILLUSTRATIONS xliii
PAGE
23. Counter Seal of Robert Wishard before the Wars of the
Succession - - - - -128
24. Seal of the Chapter of Glasgow used in the Episcopate of
Robert Wishard - - 130
25. Later Seal and Counter Seal of Robert Wishard, the Counter
Seal showing in compartments Saint Kentigern's Re-
covery of the Queen's Ring - - 142
26. Monument of Bishop Robert Wishard in the lower church,
Glasgow Cathedral - 144
27. Seal of John de Lindesay, Bishop of Glasgow, 1323-35 - 148
28. Fragment of a Seal used by the Dean and Chapter of Glasgow
on the Feast of the Eleven Thousand Virgins, 1304 - 148
29. The Privy Seal of the Chapter of Glasgow used in 1321 - 148
30. Seal of John Wyschart, Bishop of Glasgow, 1337-8 - - 156
31. Seal of William Lauder, Bishop of Glasgow, 1408-25 - - 182
32. Inscription on the East Wall of the Chapter House, Glasgow
Cathedral - 186
33. James I. - - 192
34. Aeneas Sylvius at the Court of James I. - 198
35. James II. - - 202
36. Pope Nicholas V., Founder of Glasgow University - - 212
37. The Auld Pedagogy - - 216
38. The University Mace - - 220
39. Seal of Andrew Muirhead, Bishop of Glasgow, 1455-73 - - 224
40. Inscribed stone from the Place of the Vicars Choral - - 226
41. James III. - - 244
42. Bishop Elphinstone - 248
43. Seal of John Laing, Bishop of Glasgow, 1473-82 - - 252
44. James IV. - - 262
45. Seal of Robert Blacader, Bishop of Glasgow, 1483 - 266
46. ,, ,, ,, Archbishop of Glasgow 14 1508 - 266
47. Carving from Fergus Aisle, Glasgow Cathedral - - 280
48. Saint Nicholas' Chapel - 282
49- Carved Stone from Tolbooth - 288
50. Seal of James Beaton, Archbishop of Glasgow, 1508-24 - 312
51. James V. and Mary of Guise - - 320
xliv ILLUSTRATIONS
I'AGE
52. The Bishop's Castle - - 326
53. Seal of Gavin Dunbar, Archbishop of Glasgow, 1524-47 - 330
54. Mary, Queen of Scots, Reproduced by permission from the
portrait in possession of the Marquis of Ailsa - - 368
55. Seal and Counter Seal of the Chapter of Glasgow " For
Causes " used in 1488-1540 - - 384
56. The Seal of Court of the Official of Glasgow used in 1533 384
57. The Last Chapter Seal of Glasgow - 384
58. Seal of James Beaton, last Roman Catholic Archbishop - 400
MAPS
Sketch Plan of the City of Glasgow about 1560 - 352
Sketch Plan showing Sites of Principal Buildings and places
in the vicinity of Glasgow Cathedral in the i6th Century 406
LIST OF AUTHORITIES
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xlv
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LIST OF AUTHORITIES xlix
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1 LIST OF AUTHORITIES
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LIST OF AUTHORITIES 11
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lii LIST OF AUTHORITIES
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HISTORY OF GLASGOW
CHAPTER I
PREHISTORIC CONDITION OF GLASGOW AREA SITES OF
EARLY DWELLINGS
BY a gradation of ancient sea beaches which can be traced
along the Clyde valley in the vicinity of Glasgow, the occur-
rence of successive upheavals of the land is fully established,
and it is obvious that during some part of the remote period
immediately preceding the last of these elevations the estuary
of the Clyde at Glasgow was several miles wide, covering not
only the lower districts of the city but extending to the base
of the Cathcart and Cathkin Hills, and probably receiving the
waters of the river not far from Bothwell. That this district
was then inhabited by man seems to be placed beyond reason-
able doubt by the discovery of canoes in the Trongate and
other localities far above the present level of the river, but
all of them covered by strata of transported sand and gravel.
One canoe was unearthed in 1780, when excavations were
being made for the foundation of St. Enoch's Church ; another
was found at the Cross, when similar preparations were in
progress for the erection of the Tontine buildings ; one was
got in Stockwell Street, near the present railway crossing ; and
another was dug up on the slope of the Drygate. All these
canoes were formed of single oak trees roughly scooped out,
fire having been employed to burn out the interior, and were
2 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
altogether of the most primitive kind of construction, 1 a
description which likewise applies to a number of other canoes
that were found on the lands of Springfield and Clydehaugh
on the south side of the Clyde. These latter canoes, dis-
covered during operations for the widening of the harbour
between 1847 and 1849, seem to have been deposited at a
much later period than those found in higher ground. No
change in the relative positions of land and sea had
apparently taken place between the time when they were
swamped or settled down in the channel of the river till
they were again exposed to the light of day. The St.
Enoch's Square canoe was 24 feet below the surface, and
there was found within it a polished stone hatchet or celt,
one of the instruments which may have been used in its
construction, though it seems as much adapted for war as
for any peaceful art. 2
During long ages which succeeded the final settlement of
sea and land level, the Clyde, running through a tract of
1 A fifth canoe, discovered in 1825 when opening a sewer in London
Street, was built of several pieces of oak, and exhibited unusual evidences
of labour and ingenuity (Daniel Wilson's Prehistoric Annals, p. 35).
2 Ibid. A sketch of the celt, given by Mr. Wilson, is here reproduced.
All the canoes discovered in the higher grounds on the north side of the
river were destroyed, and no sketch of their appearance or record of their
dimensions has been preserved. Representations of two of the canoes
found at Clydehaugh, as shown in Scottish History and Life, are here repro-
duced : No. i measured 14 feet in length, 4 feet i inch in breadth, and
i foot ii inches deep; No. 2 was 10 feet long, 3 feet 2 inches broad, and
i foot deep.
For fuller information and interesting speculation on the prehistoric
subjects alluded to in the text reference may be made to Ancient Sea
Margins, by Dr. R. Chambers, pp. 203-9 ; Daniel Wilson's Prehistoric
Annals, pp. 34-37; Macgeorge's Old Glasgow (1880), pp. 248-62; John
Buchanan's narrative in Glasgow : Past and Present (1856), iii. pp. 555-79;
Transactions of Glasgow Archaeological Society, ist Series, I. pp. 288-90 ;
II. pp. 121-30. In the last of these Archaeological Society's papers
Mr. J. Dairy mple Duncan gives an account of the discovery at Point Isle
in 1880 of a canoe which crumbled to pieces in the hands of those who
attempted its removal.
PREHISTORIC CONDITION 3
country with no proper river channel, must have been con-
tinually changing its course, and in the tidal area, specially,
not only the bed of each changing channel, but likewise the
land on either side would by silting process be gradually
raised. But the bulk of the sediment would collect wherever
the water had its course for the time, and so soon as the accumu-
lation became higher than the adjoining ground, the former
channel would be deserted and a new one chosen. Many of
these river variations can still be identified, and it is believed
that such a change is sufficient to account for the Springfield
canoes being found seven feet below the natural bed level of
the river and one hundred yards to the southward of its
bank, as these existed before the artificial deepening which
was commenced in 1758 and the widening carried through
by the Clyde Trustees in 1847. Such flooding effects and
silting process are also regarded as sufficient to account for
the covering by stratified sand of the beautiful Roman bowl
of Samian ware which, in 1876, was discovered in the Green,
about 4^ feet below the surface.
It was not till comparatively modern times that the river,
in its passage through that part of the valley which is now
city territory, permanently settled into its present course,
and even after embankment, deepening and other artificial
operations and appliances were adopted, the lower lying
grounds, such as Glasgow Green and the Broomielaw area,
were subject to ever recurring floods, which kept them to
a large extent in a more or less swampy condition. The
havoc caused to grain crops by such floods would not often
be turned to so providential a purpose as on the occasion
when the scornful king's barns with their stores of wheat were
carried away by the river and deposited on the banks of the
Molendinar to feed the brethren of St. Kentigern's monastery. 3
Nor would many floods be so disastrous as that of 1454,
3 St. Kentigern (Scottish Historians), pp. 69, 70.
4 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
described by one of our chroniclers as " ane richt greit spait
in Clyde, the xxv and xxvj days of November, the quhilk
brocht doun haile houssis, bernis and millis, and put all
the town of Govane in ane flote quhill thai sat on the
houssis/' 4
But apart from such extreme occurrences the floods experi-
enced so recently as the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries,
as described by personal observers, were so serious that one
may conceive how little inducement there was for the early
inhabitants to plant their habitations near the river before a
way was discovered for keeping it within reasonable bounds.
If, therefore, the banks of the Molendinar were inhabited by
man in these prehistoric times, his dwellings must have occupied
the higher grounds, and it is significant that in the earliest
account we have of the comparatively modern days of St.
Kentigern it is that part of the city which is referred to.
Joceline, the biographer of St. Kentigern, writing in the
twelfth century makes mention of a cemetery which had been
" long before " consecrated by St. Ninian, and this ancient
cemetery was evidently identified as having occupied the
site of the Cathedral and its adjoining burying ground.
Cathures, which Joceline gives as the former name of
Glasgu, is understood to bear the interpretation of a fort
or encampment, and may well have been applied to the site
of those dwellings placed on the higher grounds, between the
Molendinar and Glasgow Burns, and occupied by a primitive
community which had probably grown up and prospered under
the protection of some powerful chief. In later times this
district, traversed by an old Roman road and including the
inhabited area bearing the archaic designation of Ratounraw,
was possessed by rentallers who were subject to a special
bailliary jurisdiction of unknown origin. Early churches were
often planted in such places, and there, as a general rule, is
4 Ane Schort Memorials of the Scottis Corniklis (Auchinlek MS.), p. 18.
PREHISTORIC IMPLEMENTS.
EARLY DWELLINGS 5
to be found the nucleus of the village, the town and the
city.
With the coming of St. Kentigern the real beginning of
Glasgow as a city has aways been associated, and notwith-
standing irregularities in progress and the untoward vicissitudes
of the intervening centuries, it may safely be assumed that
by the time we have the benefit of the few fragments of
twelfth century writings which are still extant, inhabited
dwellings had begun to spread over the lower grounds near
the margin of the river. Keeping within the bounds of the
two streamlets, the Molendinar on the east and Glasgow Burn
on the west, the banks of the former seem to have attracted
the bulk of the earlier settlers, but rentallers of croft land
lying along the foot of Glasgow Burn are also traced, and
here, according to ancient tradition, were laid the earthly
remains of St. Kentigern's mother on the spot where the
chapel bearing her name was reared. The ruins of St. Tenew's
Chapel were still in evidence till well on in the eighteenth
century, and though the circumstances connected with its
foundation must remain in obscurity, seeing that any accounts
we have of St. Mungo's birth and parentage are mainly
legendary fable and that we have little or no reliable infor-
mation on his domestic affairs, there seems to be no inherent
improbability in the substantial correctness of the traditional
story. Another chapel, likewise of unknown antiquity, was
planted in the more populous district just referred to, and was
dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
CHAPTER II
THE ROMAN PERIOD AND AFTER
UNAFFECTED alike by Julius Caesar's invasion of Britain
and by the conquests accomplished during the reign of the
Emperor Claudius, about a hundred years later, the northern
parts of the island were for a long time protected by their
inaccessibility, and it was not till the seventy-ninth year of
the Christian era that the Roman legions entered territory
north of the Solway. In the summer of the previous year
Julius Agricola arrived to take on hand the government of
Britain, and his plans for the subjugation of the northern
tribes were so successfully carried through that in the course
of his third summer campaign he had proceeded from Annan-
dale to the strath of the River Clyde, through Lanarkshire
and Stirlingshire, and into the vale of Strathern. The country
thus acquired was secured by the formation of roads and the
erection of forts, and in the year 81, Agricola, entering upon
a work of special importance to the Glasgow district, con-
structed a line of fortifications along the narrow neck of land
between the Firths of Forth and Clyde. Beyond this barrier
operations against the northern tribes were conducted for the
ensuing five years, and were successfully terminated in the
great battle of " Mons Graupius," fought in the year 86. But
the territory thus temporarily added to the Roman province
remained in that position for so short a time that the effect
on the inhabitants was probably of little account. Agricola
THE ROMAN PERIOD 7
was speedily recalled from the scene of his military triumphs,
and after his departure and on till the visit of the Emperor
Hadrian, about the year 122, we have little knowledge of
what happened in Britain, but the fact that the rampart
then constructed between the Solway Firth and the River
Tyne was fixed as the limit of the Roman province indicates
that the former subjugation of the northern tribes had secured
no permanent advantage.
One result of the movements of the Roman soldiers and
sailors during Agricola's campaigns has been of lasting interest,
inasmuch as their observations and reports supplied the bulk
of the information obtained by the geographer, Ptolemy,
regarding the number and position of the Caledonian tribes,
their names, the situation of their towns, and the leading
geographical features of the country. From Ptolemy's maps
and descriptions it is learned that the modern Strathclyde was
included in the great nation of the Damnonii, which extended
as far north as the River Tay. South of the Firths of Forth
and Clyde the Damnonii possessed the territories now forming
the counties of Ayr, Lanark and Renfrew, and north of these
estuaries the counties of Stirling and Dumbarton with adjoining
districts. In the southern of these two groups were three
towns : Colania, near the source of the Clyde ; Coria, supposed
to be near Car stairs, where are numerous Roman remains ; 1
and the third Vandogara or Vanduara, at one time claimed
for Paisley, but now believed to have been situated at Loudon
Hill in Ayrshire. Coria was on the main Roman highway
which passed from the south into Clydesdale, and, besides the
westward branch road breaking off from that point into Ayr-
shire, it is not improbable that the main line was there joined
by an eastward branch leading to and from Tweeddale and
1 One of the marches of the burgh of Lanark's lands in this quarter was
called Watling Street in a charter dated 2oth February, 1632 (Lanark Records,
P- 324)-
8 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
passing the large camp at Lyne, 2 a view which is supported
by the fact that in later times this was the line of highway
from Glasgow to towns in the Tweed valley.
Recurring to the main road down the Clyde valley, it is
shown on the map in Chalmers' Caledonia as divided into two
sections a few miles below Carstairs, a northern branch going
off in the direction of Falkirk, while the western portion goes
on to Kilpatrick, taking Glasgow in its way. For the offshoot
shown near the River Calder and leading to the supposed
" Vanduara " or Paisley, it is now considered there was not
sufficient authority. But with regard to the western and
northern roads, one leading to the west end and the other to
the east end of the Antonine Wall, the map may be accepted
as sufficiently correct.
The wall just referred to, placed on the line of Agricola's
forts between the Forth and Clyde, was constructed about the
year 142, by which time the frontier of the Roman province
had again been advanced thus far beyond the limits estab-
lished by Hadrian, but though the area within the wall,
amid many harassing interruptions, was at one time believed
to remain as part of the province till the Romans finally
left the island in 410, it seems to be fairly well established
that, early in the reign of the Emperor Commodus (180-92),
the Romans finally abandoned the whole country north
of the Cheviots and Solway. One of the most serious
invasions which the retained province had to endure was
organized by Picts from the north and Scots from the west,
in 360, and in the course of the next eight years part of the
district south of Hadrian's Wall seems to have been in posses-
sion of the invaders, but in 369 they were expelled by the
eminent Roman commander, Theodosius, who renewed the
8 In the excavations made here by the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland
in 1901 (Proceedings, vol. 35, pp. 154-86) two coins were found, one of Titus,
A.D. 79, and the other of Trajan, A.D. 104-10.
THE ROMAN PERIOD 9
stations along the wall, and effectively protected the province
against further interference for the time. 3
In consequence of the Roman occupation of the country
being of so short duration, the influence of their civiliza-
tion on the inhabitants of the district where Glasgow is now
situated was probably slight, but we have really no definite
knowledge of their condition at that time. So far as physical
appearances go, there is little existing evidence of Clydesdale
having passed through such an experience. Isolated portions
of the wall, not far from the city, can, however, still be pointed
out, and inscribed stones taken from the original earthworks
are preserved ; 4 some of the thoroughfares of the city seem to-
be identified with the line of the Roman highway, and coins
and other Roman relics have been discovered. In 1876 a
Roman bowl of Samian ware was unearthed on the Green, 5 *
and in the course of some digging operations, carried out in
1867 at Yorkhill, near the east bank of the River Kelvin,
opposite to Partick, some Roman coins, fragments of broken
3 For an account of the Antonine Wall, see full Report on the subject by
the Glasgow Archaeological Society, issued in 1899. Reference may also be
made to Stuart's Caledonia Romano, (1845) with its excellent illustrations.
The results of the more recent investigations are fully described in Curie's,
Roman Frontier Post and its People (1911) and Macdonald's Roman Wall in
Scotland (1911).
4 There is now preserved in the Hunterian Museum at the University a
fine collection of inscribed stones and other Roman remains, illustrative of
the nature of the Roman occupation in this part of the country. See Dr.
James Macdonald's Tituli Hunter iani : An Account of the Roman Stones in the
Hunterian Museum (1897) : also Dr. George Macdonald's Roman Wall in
Scotland (1911).
In Glasgow ; Past and Present, published in 1856, p. 663, John Buchanan
says : " Coins of the Romans have been found in the vicinity of the Cathedral,,
especially those of the warlike Hadrian, and of Crispina, wife of Commodus,.
the degenerate son of Marcus Aurelius, some of which are in my possession."
The edition of Past and Present referred to throughout the present
volume is that of 1851-6. In David Robertson's edition of 1884 the
contents are made readily accessible by its complete Index.
5 MacGeorge's Old Glasgow, pp. 249, 253 ; Catalogue of Glasgow Exhibition,
1901, No. 200; Scottish History and Life (1902), p. 33, from which work the-
illustration here given is reproduced.
io HISTORY OF GLASGOW
vessels and a small quantity of wheat were found. One of
the coins bore the image of the Emperor Trajan, who reigned
A.D. 98-117. 6
It is generally believed that at least as early as the second
century the Christian religion had made its way into Britain
under Roman auspices, and that a Christian church had been
established within the province, but it is not till the closing
years of the Roman occupation that we have specific infor-
mation regarding the spread of the faith in the northern
districts. Towards the end of the fourth century Ninian, a
native of Britain, was trained at Rome in the doctrine and
discipline of the Western Church, and, having been ordained
a bishop, was sent on an evangelizing mission to the western
parts of his own country. On his way thither he visited the
famous St. Martin at Tours, in Gaul, and having obtained
masons who accompanied him to Whithorn, he there, about
the year 397, built that church of white stone, which is best
known by its Latin name of Candida Casa. From his head-
quarters thus established Ninian went on a mission to the
people whom Bede, writing two centuries later, designates the
Southern Picts, and as a result of his efforts they abandoned
their idolatrous worship and received the true faith. It has
been maintained, on grounds which need not be repeated here,
that Ninian' s missionary labours extended over the whole
eastern seaboard of Scotland, but it is sufficient for present
purposes to point out that in any case Glasgow lay in the
route which he would be likely to take both in going and
returning, 7 and whether in pursuit of his mission, or resting
from his labours, it is probable that he took the opportunity
of making there a sojourn of some duration. Indeed, so much
6 Catalogues of Glasgow Exhibitions (1888), Nos. 85-92 ; (1901), Nos. 203-10 ;
also Taylor's Partick (1902), pp. 2, 3.
7 Skene's Celtic Scotland, ii. pp. i, 2; St. Ninian, pp. 1-15; 5. Ninian
by Archibald B. Scott (1916).
SAINTS NINIAN AND PATRICK n
is implied by the statement in Joceline's Life of St. Kentigern
that it was Ninian who had consecrated the cemetery where
Fergus was laid, procedure likely to be entered into only
by one who had more attachment to the place than could be
expected of an occasional visitor. 8
Another apostle of the Christian faith, the son of a magis-
trate in a provincial town, comes into notice just about the
time that Ninian finished his course. By his own account
Patrick's birthplace was "the village of Bannavem of Tabernia,"
a district not identified, though it is likely to have been on
the south-west border of Scotland, seeing it was exposed to
the incursions of the Scots. The honour of being Patrick's
birthplace has been claimed for Old Kilpatrick, a village
situated about eleven miles west of Glasgow and five miles
east of Dumbarton, and also for Dumbarton itself, the ancient
Alcluyd, but any information we have on the subject is too
vague for more than mere conjecture. 9 Patrick dwelt at
" Bannavem " till his sixteenth year, when he was taken
captive and brought to Ireland with many others. Employed
in tending sheep, he remained six years in slavery, and then
effected his escape in a ship which was crossing to his own
8 According to Dempster, who cites authorities in his Ecclesiastical History
of Scotland, edition 1829, vol. ii. p. 502, St. Ninian had an exceptional place
in the ritual of Glasgow Cathedral.
9 The writer of the Old Statistical Account of the Parish of Old Kilpatrick
says : " there are many circumstances favouring this tradition," such as
there being an ancient stone in the churchyard bearing a figure supposed
to represent St. Patrick ; and in the River Clyde, opposite to the church,
there was a large stone or rock, visible at low water, called St. Patrick's Stone.
The chapel of Dumbarton Castle is mentioned in 1271. It was dedicated
to St. Patrick ; and on 23rd March, 1390-1, King Robert III., referring to
grants to the chapel, by previous sovereigns, of eight merks yearly furth of
the burgh ferms of Dumbarton, added two merks yearly from the same source,
the latter gift being for the weal of the souls of himself and of Annabella,
his consort (Origines Parochiales, vol. i. p. 24 ; Reg. Mag. Sig. i. No. 802).
One of the burgh fairs sanctioned by royal charter dated I3th December,
1609, was held on St. Patrick's Day (iyth March) and continued for four
days (Reg. Mag. Sig. vii. No. 190).
12 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
country. After living with his parents in the Roman province
for a few years, he returned to Ireland as a missionary, and
preached the gospel to the people for the next fifteen or twenty
years, at the expiry of which time he was consecrated a bishop.
Patrick's episcopate was crowned with success and seems to
have lasted till the latter half of the fifth century. In his
own writings we are told that through his ministry clerics had
been ordained for the people, and that " those who never had
the knowledge of God and had hitherto only worshipped
unclean idols have lately become the people of the Lord."
A mass of legendary lore has gathered round the names of
Ninian and Patrick and the evangelistic work carried on by
them and their disciples, but into the speculations thereby
raised it is unnecessary to enter here. It is enough for the
present purpose to have called attention to such accounts as
seem to be historical regarding the work of these two famous
men, seeing Glasgow, or at least its vicinity, can reasonably
claim some connection with each.
For a century and a half after the withdrawal of the Romans
we have scarcely any contemporary information as to what
was happening in this country, but about the end of the sixth
century, when our knowledge becomes less obscure, four
separate nations are found in possession. The Picts, divided
into northern and southern sections, still maintained their
hold in the parts north of the Forth, except perhaps where
they had been displaced by the Scots from Ireland, who were
then established in Dalriada and the western isles. Anglian
or Saxon settlers occupied the east coast from the Forth to
the Tweed and beyond ; and the remaining people consisted
of the Britons, who possessed what was left of the old Roman
province, including Strathclyde, with its chief seat at Alcluyd
or Dumbarton, and with territory extending as far south as
the River Derwent in Cumberland.
CHAPTER III
THE COMING OF ST. KENTIGERN
APART from the fabulous accretions which obscure the nar-
rative, it may be that Kentigern' s biographers were warranted
in tracing his parentage from Thaney or Tenew, daughter of
the " half-pagan " Loth who ruled the Lothian province " in
Northern Britannia." Culross, likewise, may have been his
birthplace, but the further statement that he received his
education and training at the hands of St. Servanus is an
obvious anachronism. Servanus, in the end of the seventh
or beginning of the eighth century, was associated with the
establishment of religious communities such as those which,
by a similar anachronism, are attributed to Kentigern's agency,
and it has been suggested that in this way the names of these
two apostles of Christianity have been linked together, not-
withstanding the divergence of their labours in point of time. 1
In an early chapter of the Life Joceline states that the
name, which in the language of the country was originally
" Munghu," meant in Latin earns amicus dear or beloved one
and that subsequently Servanus had named him Kentigern,
which was interpreted the head lord. Joceline then tells
that St. Kentigern, to escape the malice of his fellow students,
took his departure from Culross and in the course of his journey
lodged at Kernack in the house of a holy man, Fregus or
Fergus, who died on the night of his arrival. Next morning
1 Skene, ii. 260.
13
14 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
the body was placed on a wain to which two untamed bulls
were yoked and enjoined to carry their burden to the place
which the Lord had provided for it. The bulls, in no way
disobeying the voice of Kentigern, who along with many
others accompanied them, came by a straight road as far as
Cathures, " which is now called Glasgu," and halted at a
cemetery which had long before been consecrated by St.
Ninian. There the body of Fergus was placed in a tomb
which in Joceline's day was " encircled by a delicious density
of overshadowing trees, in witness of the sanctity and the
reverence due to him who is buried there.'' 2 At a later date
the south transept of the Cathedral was erected over what was
supposed to be the spot of interment, and the lower aisle or
crypt was dedicated to Fergus. On a stone in the roof over the
entrance a representation of the saint extended on the car is
carved, along with the inscription " This is the He of Car
Fergus " ; but the completion of the aisle belongs to the
closing period in the building of the cathedral.
The reference to St. Ninian's connection with Glasgow is
consistent with the information supplied by the Venerable
Bede, who states that Ninian successfully undertook the
evangelization of the Southern Picts, whose territory was
situated beyond the Forth. Glasgow was thus in the route
of the founder of Candida Casa, on his northern mission, and
it is more than likely that he made converts among the
Strathclyde Britons, including those in the Glasgow district
from whom he apparently had a grant of ground for a cemetery.
Trained at Rome in the doctrine and discipline of the Western
Church he was among the earliest of the Christian missionaries
to this country, and the churches, chapels and altarages
dedicated to him are numerous. 3 An altarage in Glasgow
Cathedral and the Leper Hospital and Chapel in Gorbals were
dedicated to St. Ninian. The period of his activity in Scotland
2 St. Kentigern, p. 52. 3 St. Ninian, pp. xlv, xiii-xvii.
THE COMING OF ST. KENTIGERN 15
dates from the year 397, when he founded the church at Whit-
horn, in a district which then formed part of the Roman
province and whose inhabitants were provincial Britons, and
it is believed he lived about twenty years after the Romans
finally left Britain.
If Joceline's allusions to St. Ninian are historically correct
the influence of his teaching seems to have been altogether
extinct in Glasgow. We are told that, at the time of Kentigern's
arrival and after some manifestation of the new evangelist's
many miraculous gifts, the king and clergy of the Cambrian
region, with other Christians " albeit they were few in
number," consulted what was to be done to restore the good
estate of the Church, which was well-nigh destroyed, and
thereupon they elected St. Kentigern to be the shepherd and
bishop of their souls, and he was duly consecrated by a bishop
brought from Ireland for the purpose. 4 Though the narrative
is tinged with the experiences of twelfth century ceremonial it
may have a solid enough foundation in fact. Joceline states
the means adopted by him for procuring information for his
theme. He wandered through the streets and lanes of the
city a phrase, implying no more, perhaps, than that he
had made a diligent inquiry in all likely quarters seeking
the recorded life of St. Kentigern, and in addition to an already
known biography, " stained throughout by an uncultivated
diction," he had found another little volume " written in the
Scotic dialect," filled from end to end with solecisms, but con-
taining at greater length the life and acts of the holy bishop. 5
From such sources Joceline put together the matter collected,
" seasoning with Roman salt what had been composed in a
barbarous way," or, in other words, transforming the uncouth
language into elegant diction. The " already known
biography " is supposed to have been that compiled by an
unknown ecclesiastic in the time of Bishop Herbert (1147-64).
4 St. Kentigern, p. 54. 5 Ib. pp. 29, 30.
16 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
About the "little volume " nothing is known, but it may have
been from that work that particulars regarding the bishop's
personal appearance and dress were obtained. He is said to
have been of middle stature, rather inclining to tallness, he
was of robust strength, capable of enduring great fatigue,
beautiful to look upon and graceful in form. His outward
cheerfulness was the sign of that inward peace which flooded
all things with holy joy and exultation, and fleeing from
hypocrisy, he carefully taught his followers to avoid it. With
regard to dress " he used the roughest hair-cloth next the skin,
then a garment of leather made of the skin of the goats, then
a cowl like a fisherman's bound on him, above which, clothed
in a white alb, he always wore a stole over his shoulders. He
"bore a pastoral staff, not rounded and gilded and gemmed,
as may be seen nowadays, but of simple wood and merely
bent. He had in his hand the Manual-book, always ready to
exercise his ministry, whenever necessity or reason demanded.
And so by the whiteness of his dress he expressed the purity
of his inner life and avoided vainglory." 6
What is mentioned here about the form of the pastoral
staff agrees with what is known regarding the early staves of
the British and Irish bishops which were very short and simple.
It would accordingly be croziers of that description which St.
Columba and St. Kentigern exchanged with each other when
they met at " the place called Mellindenor." Joceline states
that the staff which Columba gave was preserved for a long
time in the Church of St. Wilfrid, bishop and confessor, at
Ripon ; and, in corroboration of this assertion, Walter Bower,
Fordun's continuator, who wrote about the year 1447, says
that in his time it was still to be seen in that church, where
it was held in great veneration, and preserved in a case inlaid
with gold and pearls. 7
6 St. Kentigern, p. 57.
7 Ib. pp. 343, 106, 109 ; Macgeorge, pp. 14, 15.
ST. KENTIGERN IN WALES 17
Being only in his twenty-fifth year, Kentigern at first
remonstrated against ordination at so early an age, but finally
acquiescing in his destiny he " established his cathedral seat
in ' Glesgu ' where he united to himself a famous and God-
beloved family of servants of God, who lived after the fashion
of the primitive church under the apostles, without private
property, in holy discipline and divine service." But this
peaceful course of existence was interrupted by a plot against
his life, instigated by the apostate King Morken and his kin.
Kentigern fled to Wales, where he sojourned for about twenty
years, founding churches and also establishing a monastery.
The site chosen for the monastery was in a vale, at the
junction of the river Elwy with the Clwyd, a name
which it has been conjectured may have been given to it by
Kentigern from some fancied resemblance to the river and
valley in the north where he had his original seat. Joceline
gives a description of the work of the monastery, which is
not improbably applicable also to the Glasgow establishment
after making allowance for exaggeration in numbers and
other particulars. Of 965 monks in all, 300 who were unlettered
attended to agriculture, the care of cattle and other necessary
duties outside the monastery. To another 300 were assigned
duties within the cloister, such as doing the ordinary work,
preparing food and building workshops. The remaining
365, a lettered class, celebrated divine service within the
church, and those who were more advanced in wisdom and
holiness, and fitted to teach others, sometimes accompanied
Kentigern when going forth to perform his episcopal office. 8
Neither at St. Asaph's nor at Glasgow is it likely that there
would be accommodation for nearly so large an assemblage
of monks, though it may be supposed that the division of
labour and duties would be somewhat on the lines indicated
in the narrative.
8 St. Kentigern, p. 79 ; Celtic Scotland, ii. pp. 189-90.
CHAPTER IV
ST. KENTIGERN'S RETURN FROM WALES
IN or about the year 573, while Kentigern still remained in
Wales, the great battle of Ardderyd or Arthuret was fought
between the Pagan and the Christian parties and resulted in
the establishment of Rydderch Hael, or the Liberal, as
Christian King of Strathclyde. According to Joceline the
Christian religion had been almost entirely destroyed in this
territory, and the King, having set himself zealously to restore
it, and discovering no better plan for accomplishing this object
than to recall Kentigern to his first see, messengers were
despatched to him earnestly entreating his return. Kentigern,
therefore, left St. Asaph's, accompanied by brethren of the
monastery to the number of 665, and on their way northward
a halt seems to have been made at Hoddam in Dumfriesshire
where he fixed his see for a time. It was after Kentigern's
return to Glasgow, which, it is supposed, could not have taken
place much before 582, that St. Columba with a great company
of his disciples from lona made the visit already referred to.
Joceline gives a picturesque narrative of the interview and
mentions that on the visitors approaching the place called
" Mellindenor," a message was sent forward to announce
their arrival, and Kentigern having called together his clergy
and people, the two companies came towards each other,
amid the singing of spiritual songs ; and " when these two
godlike men met, they mutually embraced and kissed each
other, and having first satiated themselves with the spiritual
18
ST. KENTICxERN'S RETURN 19
banquet of divine words, they after that refreshed themselves
with bodily food/' 1
In a curious chapter headed " How King Roderick con-
ceded to him power over himself and his posterity/' Joceline
states that the King, with consent and advice of his lords, gave
his homage to St. Kentigern, and handed over to him the
dominion and princedom over all the kingdoms. " Not in vain,"
adds Joceline, " but of set purpose had he been called Kentigern,
because by the will of the Lord he ought to become the head
lord of all ; for ' Ken ' is caput in Latin, and the Albanic
' tyern ' is interpreted dominus in Latin." 2 It is not improbable
that this statement is based on the fact that the twelfth century
successors of St. Kentigern were vested in large estates and
extensive jurisdictions throughout the Cumbrian territory,
all of which were believed to have been bestowed on the
bishopric by sovereign authority.
After narrating particulars regarding the death of St.
Kentigern, which event is on reasonable grounds supposed to
have occurred on I3th January, 603, Joceline concludes his bio-
graphy with a chapter in which he states that King Rydderch,
who died in the same year, had " remained much longer than
usual in the royal town which was called Pertnech." The
place referred to appears to be Partick, which long after that
time became the property of the church by gift of King
David I. Both Bishop and King were buried at Glasgow in
the church cemetery, where also, " as the inhabitants and
countrymen assert, 665 saints rest ; 3 and all the great men of
that region for a long time have been in the custom of being
buried there." 4
1 St. Kentigern, pp. 91, 106-7 ; Celtic Scotland, ii. pp. 190-6.
2 St. Kentigern, p. 94.
3 These are understood to be the brethren who accompanied Kentigern
when he left the monastery in Wales (Celtic Scotland, ii. p. 260).
4 St. Kentigern, p. 118.
20 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
In a previous part of his biographical work Joceline gives
an account of a cross " cut by quarriers from a block of stone of
wondrous size " and which, resisting all the powers of many
men, and the application of machinery, for removal to the
cemetery, was at last by miraculous agency rolled there and
raised to the place "where it standeth to-day." The cross,
it is added, " was very large and never from that time lacked
great virtue, seeing that many maniacs and those vexed with
unclean spirits are used to be tied, of a Sunday night, to that
cross, and in the morning they are found restored, freed and
cleansed, though ofttimes they are found dead or at the point
of death." 5 Of this large block of stone, hewn into the form
of a cross and probably sculptured, there seems to have been
left no trace. On account of its reputed possession of super-
natural power, leading to such deplorably misguided practices
as those just referred to, the cross had little chance of surviving
the Reformation if it lasted till that time, and either then or
previously it may have been broken up and used as building
material. The church and dwellings erected by St. Kentigern
and his more immediate followers were probably constructed
of wood or of stone of the rudest description, and most of the
material would naturally disappear at a comparatively early
date. As the result of recent research, it is believed that of the
original church or of any buildings which may have replaced
it, previous to the twelfth century, no fragment, even of the
foundations, now remain.
6 St. Kentigern, p. no.
CHAPTER V
EARLY PLACE NAMES
JOCELINE says that on Kentigern's first arrival he came as far
as Cathures, which is " now called Glasgu." Thus far the
time when the latter name came into use is not indicated, but
as we are told that, on his election as bishop, Kentigern
established his cathedral seat in a town called Glasgu, and that,
following upon the death of two of his enemies, King Morken
and his wicked follower Cat hen, he " for many days enjoyed
great peace and quiet, living in his own city of Glasgu," it may
be assumed that, so far as the narrator knew, the two designa-
tions were used contemporaneously. There has been much dis-
cussion on the interpretation of these names. " Cathures," it
has been supposed, indicated the Fort or encampment of the
chief who held sway in the district. With regard to " Glasgu "
there have been various conjectures. In one of the MSS.
of Joceline's Life of St. Kentigern it is said that his first church
was erected in the town called " Deschu," but, in the bio-
grapher's time, called " Glaschu." The initial letter " d " in
the first name is now generally regarded as a misreading of
" cl " (these letters in old writing being often indistin-
guishable), so that, with this correction, we are told that
the town was at one time called Cleschu and afterwards
Glaschu. 1
Ancient place names are very often derived from the
1 St. Kentigern, pp. 51, 55, 72 ; Rottenrow, pp. 36, 42.
21
22 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
distinguishing physical feature of the locality, and from the
interpretations given in the footnote 2 a reasonable and fairly
convincing theory is established for the city, as it existed in
Joceline's time, being called Glaschu, a name which by easy
transition has now become Glasgow. The qualities indicated
by these interpretations fit the site of the cathedral and adjoin-
ing ground in a sufficiently general way ; and it is not unlikely
that this corner of the future city alone bore the name before
it acquired a wider application. " Glasgow " was the earliest
name of the stream now usually called St. Enoch's Burn.
This burn, rising near the cathedral, flowed westward, and
after receiving some small tributaries, joined the Clyde close
by the chapel dedicated to St. Tenew, the mother of St.
Kentigern. Between the burn and the precincts of the
cathedral there was from early times a piece of land called
Glasgowfield, a name which still occurs in title deeds. This
locality, chosen as the site of the primitive church or cells
and the dwellings of St. Kentigern and his evangelistic and
colonizing community, might be supposed to have grown
in importance as the rath by comparison diminished,
till the name Cleschu or Glaschu would gradually supersede
Cathures, if indeed the latter designation was ever applied
*In his Old Glasgow, pp. 29-31. Dr. Macgeorge gives several variations of
the name in early writings and on seals. Discarding the interpretation
" grey smith," given by some local historians, and also the suggestion " clais,"
a ravine or hollow, and " dhu," dark, he arrives at the conclusion that the
name means the beloved green place from the British branch of the Celtic
language " glas," viridis, and " cu " or " gu " carus ; and, he adds, " it prob-
ably took its origin from the spot where Kentigern and Columba met, and
where the first church was erected."
In a paper read to the Glasgow Archaeological Society on i8th January,
1883, Dr. William George Black has gathered the opinions of various eminent
authorities, and there is general concurrence in holding that the first syllable
means green or grey, the translucent colour of still water. The puzzle lies
in the second syllable. One suggestion was that it might be a phonetic
rendering of the Gaelic achadh, a field ; and Glasachadh would thus mean a
green field. Among suggestions reaching Dr. Black through the public press,
were glas, blue, gwy, water ; and glas, green, cat, a field. (Glasg. Arch. Soc.
ist series, ii. pp. 219-28.)
EARLY PLACE NAMES 23
to anything but the ancient fort and its surrounding
structures. 3
As distinguished, apparently, from " Glaschu," another
place of residence is referred to on two occasions. Through a
flood the barns and grain of King Morken were carried to " the
place called Mellingdenor, where the saint was at that time
accustomed to dwell." St. Columba meets Kentigern at
" the place called Mellindenor, where the saint abode at that
time." 4 Perhaps the name Glasgu was at first restricted to
the area adjoining the old encampment, and Mellingdenor,
where the monks dwelt, was situated nearer the banks of the
stream which has since then appropriated the name, latterly
transformed to Molendinar, from the erroneous notion that it
was so called on account of its supplying water power to the
several mills erected along its course. The name of the burn
appears as Malyndoner in 1463 5 and 1542, and as Mellendinor
in 145 5. 6 Joceline says that Kentigern used to bathe in the
stream and to dry his limbs on the brow of a hill called Gulath
by the water side, near his own home. Wester Craigs, on which
the Necropolis has been formed, is on the left bank of the
Molendinar, exactly opposite the cathedral, and so far as situa-
tion is concerned is likely enough to have been the hill referred
to. Though Gulath means Dewhill, 7 the suggestion that it
3 In his Medieval Glasgow (pp. 7-12) Dr. James Primrose adopts Joceline's
interpretation of Cleschu the dear family as applicable either to the
people or the church, and after full discussion, comes to the conclusion that the
name signifies the dear church, a term bestowed by St. Mungo on his return
from Wales to the scene of his earlier labours. Keeping in mind, however,
that place names have usually a tenacious hold, even under the most changeful
circumstances, it is not easy to see how the suggested alteration could be
permanently effected. The greater likelihood is that the district within
which St. Mungo planted his church retained its descriptive name, a designa-
tion which has been continuously recognizable in all its forms from Cleschu
to Glasgow.
* St. Kentigern, pp. 70, 106.
5 Reg. Episc. No. 389.
6 Lib. Coll. pp. 24, 253 (" Malyndonar " in 1542).
7 Macgeorge's Old Glasgow (1880), p. 150; St. Kentigern, pp. 54, 344.
24 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
and Dowhill, ground situated to the south of Wester Craigs,
and sloping towards Gallowgate, are identical, does not seem
to be based on sufficient authority. The name Dowhill occurs
frequently in sixteenth century title deeds, from 1501 onwards.
Old Acts of Parliament contain many regulations as to the
erection and maintenance of Dowcats or Dovecots, and if
one of these was placed on Dowhill the name is easily accounted
for. Part of the Old Green of Glasgow was called Doucat
Green and Dove and Dovecot enter into numerous place names
throughout Scotland.
Highways in Kentigern's time must have been better than
might be gathered from the narrative of his biographer, who
represents the bulls yoked to the funeral car as miraculously
travelling towards Cathures in a straight line where there was
no path. Now it is known that the road from Stirling and St.
Ninians, over the Campsie Fells, to Glasgow, is a very ancient
route, and there can be little doubt that this or some parallel
road was in use in Roman times, if not long before The
Roman road which ran from " Coria " by Cleghorn, Carluke,
Motherwell and Bellshill to Tollcross and thence through
Glasgow, along the old Drygait, to Partick and the wall beside
West Kilpatrick has been already referred to. 8 A military way
was visible in Sibbald's time from Glasgow to Cadder, and seems
from thence, he says, " to have reached from Cairpentollach,
called now Kirkintillo." Continued still further to the north,
this would be the route which was followed by St. Kentigern. 9
Most of the devices on the bishops' seals, the chapter seals
and the early seal of the municipality, represent incidents of a
miraculous or legendary nature narrated in Joceline's work. 10
8 Antea, p. 7.
9 Rottenrow, pp. 37, 38 ; Sibbald's Historical Inquiries (1707), p. 39.
10 The theory has been propounded that the emblems are not to be accounted
for by the legends, but rather that the legends arose from the presence of
relics and monuments of pre-Joceline times. (See Lecture by Ludovick
McL. Mann, reported (with illustrations) in Evening Times, ist April 1918.)
DEVICES ON EARLY SEALS 25
One exception is the bell, though even here all the stories
regarding its history cannot be accepted. That the Pope, as is
asserted, gave Kentigern the bell while the latter was in Rome,
on the occasion of his seventh visit, is not believed, nor is there
any probability that Kentigern was ever in that city. But the
bell is known to have been in existence in Glasgow from a very
early period till so late as the middle of the seventeenth century.
Quadrangular in shape and similar to those made in this country
or in Ireland up to but not much later than the ninth century,
it is just possible that the bell may have been given to Kentigern
at the time of his ordination by the bishop who came from
Ireland to perform that office. Such bells, usually four or
five inches in height and a little less in breadth, were used at
altar services and were also rung through the streets by friars
or clerics for the repose of the souls of the departed. The
printed records of Glasgow contain several references to the
ringing of St. Mungo's bell through the town in services for
the dead.
The salmon with the ring in its mouth represents the
recovery by St. Kentigern of the Queen of Cadzow's ring, which
she had furtively given to a knight from whose scrip it was
abstracted by the King and thrown into the river. This put
the Queen into a serious plight, and, having sought Kentigern's
assistance, the saint got one of his people to take a salmon
from the river, in the mouth of which fish the ring was found.
It was at once sent to the Queen, thus enabling her to show it
to the King and save her life. The whole scene is represented
on the counter seal of Bishop Robert Wyschard, made about
the year 1271.
The tree was at first only a twig or branch, and is so shown
on the oldest seal of the burgh, an impression of which is
affixed to a document granted in 1325. This device com-
memorated the frozen bough which Kentigern miraculously
kindled into flame when the holy fire in the refectory at Culross
26 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
monastery had, during his sleep, been maliciously extinguished
by his envious companions. The remaining device, that of
the bird, represents the robin redbreast, a favourite of St. Serf,
which had been accidentally killed but was miraculously
brought back to life by St. Kentigern. 1
1 These devices or emblems, fuller particulars of which will be found in
Macgeorge's Old Glasgow (1880), pp. 19-29, are alluded to in this popular
jingle :
" The tree that never grew
The fish that never swam
The bird that never flew
And the bell that never rang."
CHAPTER VI
AFTER THE DAYS OF ST. KENTIGERN STRATHCLYDE AND
CUMBRIA
No record has been preserved of the immediate successors of
St. Kentigern, and shortly after his death and the death of his
protector, Rydderch, the whole of the Cumbrian and adjoining
Anglic districts, the latter stretching northward to the Forth,
were thrown into confusion by the revolution which restored
>aganism for a time under the pagan Mercian King, Penda,
md the apostate Welsh King, Ceadwalla. In 635 King Oswald
established the Columban Church in Northumbria, and as the
dngdom of the Britons, a few years later, fell under the
iominion of the Angles, it is probable that during the period
>f their rule there would be no independent church there.
Consequent on the defeat inflicted by the Picts on the Anglian
ly at Dunnichen, in 685, the Britons inhabiting those
iistricts north of the Solway, embracing the area now
represented by the counties of Dumbarton, Renfrew, Lanark,
Ayr and Dumfries, with the stronghold of Alclyde as the chief
citadel of their territory, recovered their liberty, and two years
iter they conformed to the practice of Rome in observance of
the proper time of keeping Easter, then a matter of the greatest
importance from an ecclesiastical point of view. About that
time one, Sedulius, who was present at a council held at
Rome in the year 721, has been associated with the Britons of
Strathclyde as their bishop. 1
1 Skene's Celtic Scotland, ii. pp. 199, 219, 260, 265.
27
28 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
In his Life of Kentigern, Joceline tells us that he " joined
to himself a great many disciples whom he trained in the sacred
literature of the Divine Law, and educated to sanctity of life
by his word and example. They all, with a godly jealousy,
imitated his life and doctrines, accustomed to fastings and
sacred vigils at certain seasons, intent on psalms and prayers
and meditation on the Divine Word, content with sparing diet
and dress, occupied every day and hour in manual labour.
For, after the fashion of the primitive church under the Apostles
and their successors, possessing nothing of their own, and living
soberly, righteously, godly and continently, they dwelt as did
Kentigern himself, in single cottages, from the time when they
had become mature in age and doctrine. Therefore these
solitary clerics were called in common speech Calledei." On
this passage Dr. W. F. Skene remarks that in assigning the
Keledei of Glasgow to the time of Kentigern Joceline is guilty
of as great an anachronism as when he assigned to him Servanus
as a teacher. 2 Joceline wrote when there existed bodies of
Keledei in Scotland, and he is no doubt repeating a genuine
tradition as to the original characteristics of the Culdean
clergy before they became canons. What he describes is
simply a community of anchorites or hermits. Servanus was
contemporary with Sedulius, bishop of the Britons, and it is
to this period that these Keledei of Glasgow properly belong.
This connection with the real Servanus, Dr. Skene thinks,
may have led to the history of this period having been drawn
back, and both Keledei and Servanus associated with the
great apostle of Glasgow in popular tradition. 3
After this we have no connected historical account of the
Britons for a long time to come, but it is known that in 756
they surrendered to Eadbert, King of Northumbria, and Angus,
King of the Picts, and that these invaders took Alclyde, which
was burnt in 780. In the next century the territorial name
2 Antea, p. 13. 8 St. Kentigern, p. 66 ; Celtic Scotland, ii. p. 260.
BRITONS OF STRATHCLYDE 29
Britons of Strathclyde or Strathclyde Welsh was for the first
time applied to the inhabitants who had hitherto borne the
general name of Britons. Thus the Irish Annals narrate that
Artgha, King of the Britons of Strathclyde, was killed in 872,
and the Saxon Chronicle tells that in 875 the Danes subdued
the whole of Northumbria and ravaged the Picts and the Strath-
clyde Welsh. It is in a narrative of this event, written by the
chronicler Ethelwerd, between 975 and ion, that the name
Cumbrians is for the first time applied to the inhabitants
of Strathclyde 4
It is understood that in the ninth century the people
dwelling in the regions north of the Solway, including Strath-
clyde, and the Picts of Galloway were independent of the
Angles and of each other, and that the Angles still maintained
a hold upon the district south of the Solway. In the following
century, however, the name of Strathclyde Welsh passed
into that of Cumbri, and in the Saxon Chronicle, under the
year 945, the important announcement is made that Edmund,
King of Wessex, " harried all Cumbraland and gave it to
Malcolm, King of the Scots/' Whether the ceded district
consisted of the area on the south of the Solway or
that on the north of the Solway, or both together, is
doubtful, and in any case the transaction was probably
little more than nominal. For a long time after 945 Strath-
clyde remained in active hostility to the King of Scots, but
in the year 1018 Owen, its last independent King, died, and the
second Malcolm was then able to appoint his own grandson
as Owen's successor. 5
No fewer than six Kings are named as reigning in
Scotland between the time of Malcolm I. (942-54) and that of
Malcolm II. (1005-34) in which latter reign Lothian was ceded
to the Scots and the several territories were thenceforth
4 Celtic Scotland, i. p. 295 ; St. Kentigevn, p. 332 ; Scottish Annals, p. 62.
6 Celtic Scotland, i. pp. 362, 393-4.
30 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
designated the kingdom of Scotia. But it was not till the
consolidation of feudal Scotland under King David, in 1124,
that Cumbria was more than a dependency of the Scottish
kingdom, and there had been periods when even that relation-
ship was not maintained. One notable break occurred during
the reign of Macbeth (1040-57), who does not appear to have
ruled south of the Forth ; and, between the death of Malcolm III.
and the accession of Edgar, it seemed as if the Forth was
again to be the southern boundary. Throughout Edgar's
comparatively peaceful reign of nine years some difficulties
were experienced in ruling the combined territory, on account
of diversity of race and complications of a political nature,
and historians are of opinion that it was for this reason that,
on Edgar's death, Scotland proper was assigned to Alexander,
with the title of King, while David, the younger brother, ruled
the southern district as Earl. This latter territory Cumbria,
Teviotdale and part of Lothian the scene of many old
rivalries between aboriginal Britons, Saxon and Norse invaders,
and nearer neighbours, the Picts and Scots, comprehended
the area now included in the countries of Lanark, Renfrew,
Ayr, Dumfries, Peebles, Selkirk and Roxburgh, with adjoining
districts not precisely defined. Many places throughout
these bounds soon rose into prominence when placed under
the able administration of Earl David, who had exceptional
advantages for ruling the Border country. On account of
his sister being the wife of King Henry, and his own marriage
bringing with it substantial interest in England, he was in his
younger days in close relationship with the English court.
This intimacy with the southern country accelerated the
Anglo-Saxon and Norman immigration, which had been
going on since the arrival of Queen Margaret, and it was not
long till most of the land, other than the portions retained
as royal domain or gifted to the church, was in the possession
of the new settlers as overlords. It is thought, however,
SAXON AND NORMAN IMMIGRATION 31
that the native population would continue to occupy their
previous holdings as cultivators of the soil, and, if this view
be correct, the introduction of the new feudal overlords pro-
bably caused little or no disturbance. The protection which
a powerful chief could extend to his vassals and tenants
would counterbalance other disadvantages and reconcile the
old possessors to the change.
CHAPTER VII
DIOCESE OF GLASGOW
WITH regard to the extent of the kingdom of Cumbria, a
chronicler of the year 1069, in the early part of the third King
Malcolm's reign, states that it included the three bishoprics
of Glasgow, Candida Casa and Carlisle. Both sides of the
Solway, as well as the Galloway district, were thus at that time
-comprehended within the kingdom ; but, according to the Saxon
Chronicle, William Rufus, in 1092, went with a large army to
Carlisle and wrested from Malcolm the district south of the
Solway. 1
At what time the diocese, which originally extended from
the Clyde district to the Derwent in Cumberland, was split
into two, with the Solway as the dividing line, is not definitely
known, but such seems to have been the position about the
middle of the eleventh century. The Cumbrian region, how-
ever, still continued to be viewed as a whole, and Joceline uses
the term in that sense, though the name of Cumberland began
to be exclusively appropriated by the southern parts. Of the
existence of Bishops of Glasgow during the eleventh century,
any statements in the chronicles are rather vague and some
are of doubtful authority. According to one account, Thomas,
Archbishop of York, between 1109 and 1114, ordained " a
holy man, Michael/' as Bishop of Glasgow, and on the authority
of " truthful men " it is also stated that Kinsi, who was
1 St. Kentigern, pp. 333-4 ; Dr. G. Neilson's Annals of the Solway, p. 36.
32
DIOCESE OF GLASGOW 33
archbishop between 1055 and 1060, had consecrated his pre-
decessors, Magsula and John, the only other bishops, besides
Sedulius, of whom there is any mention between the time of
St. Kentigern and the twelfth century. " But/' adds the
chronicler, " because of hostile invasion and desolation and the
barbarity of the land, for long the church was without a pastor,
until Earl David (afterwards King of Scotland) appointed,
as bishop, Michael aforesaid, and sent him over to be conse-
crated by Archbishop Thomas." Though Michael's name is
mentioned only by English historians and does not appear
in Scottish record, there seems to be little doubt of his existence,
at least as a titular Bishop of Glasgow. He died and was buried
in Westmoreland, and as he acted as an assistant bishop at
York his personal connection with Glasgow was probably
of the slightest. That he was consecrated by the Archbishop
of York, at Earl David's desire, is improbable, the claim for
canonical obedience, either to Canterbury or York, having been
so constantly disputed by Scottish rulers. Of Magsula and
John no reliable information is procurable, and it is
suspected that their names are chronicled merely in support of
the claim of the Archbishops of York to supremacy over the
Scottish sees. 2
Of John, the next Bishop of Glasgow, a monk who has the
reputation of being a learned and worthy man, there are fuller
and more authentic particulars. Formerly tutor to Earl
David, he was consecrated Bishop of Glasgow prior to 1118.
In a letter by Pope Calixtus II. to the bishop, in 1122, it is
stated that he had been elected by the chapter of the church
of York and at their request had been consecrated by the former
Pope, and he was therefore enjoined to render obedience to
the Archbishop of York. Neither this command nor a repeated
order in the same year and to the like effect was complied
2 St. Kentigern, p. xcii ; Scottish Annals, pp. 133-4 ; Dowden's Bishops,
pp. 294-5.
c
34 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
with ; and here it may be added, as showing the persistency
on both sides, that a similar request by Pope Innocent II.,
in 1131, was also ignored. John, having been suspended in
1 122, left his diocese, intending to visit Rome and Jerusalem,
but he was compelled to return to Glasgow in the following year.
From a subsequent absence he was similarly recalled in 1138. 3
Most of the high officers of State, in early times, were church-
men, and in the exercise of these functions Glasgow ecclesiastics
had their full share. In an undated charter by King David
to the Abbey of Dunfermline, believed to be granted about
the year 1130, John, designated bishop and chancellor, is one
of the witnesses. The chancellor was the King's adviser in
all legal matters, acting as his assessor in courts of justice,
while the King still held them in person, and he was also usually
keeper of the Great Seal. 4
It must have been about the time of John's instalment
that the reconstitution of the Bishopric of Glasgow was
accomplished. One of the durable acts of King David's
administration was the establishment of a diocese co-extensive
with his Cumbrian territory, and shortly after that the bishop
entered on his duties. About the same time David caused an
official inquiry to be made concerning the possessions of the
church, and the result was set forth in a document, a copy of
which, in what is supposed to be twelfth century handwriting,
is engrossed in the ancient Register of the Bishopric. In a
preliminary narrative the founding of the church as the see
of the " bishop of Cumbria," 5 the reception of St. Kentigern
as bishop, and the flourishing condition of the holy faith
throughout the district, are referred to ; but in course of time
evil influences prevailed, whereby the church and its possessions
3 Bishops of Scotland, pp. 295-6.
4 Reg. de Dunfermlyn, No. 12 ; Early Scottish Charters, pp. 74, 336.
" Cumbria," as applicable to this early period, is erroneous, but the slip
was natural to a twelfth century narrator.
INQUEST OF DAVID 35
were destroyed, the former inhabitants were driven into exile,
and tribes of different nations poured in and possessed the
desolated territory. Different in race, unlike in language and
not agreeing among themselves, these intruders clung to
heathenism rather than the worship of the Faith.
At last, in the time of Henry, King of England, while
Alexander, King of the Scots, was reigning in Scotia, God sent to
the people David, brother german of the Scots King, to be their
prince and leader, " to correct their shameless and wicked vices
and curb their insolent pride." Towards this purpose David,
by the aid of his nobles and clergy, chose as bishop, John,
" a religious man who had educated him and had vowed not
without effect that his life should be devoted to God."
Unwilling to accept the charge, on account of the savage
state of the unhappy people, John was consecrated by Pope
Paschal against his will, but being accepted by the inhabitants
and welcomed by the prince and nobles of the kingdom, he
assumed the charge and succeeded in spreading abroad the
Gospel throughout the Cumbrian diocese.
It is then related that David, chiefly from love to God, but
partly through exhortation of the bishop, caused inquiry to be
made concerning the lands pertaining to the church of Glasgow,
in each of the provinces of Cumbria which were under his
dominion and rule, " for he did not rule over the whole of
Cumbria," 6 so that there might be left to future generations
a certification of those possessions which " of old " the church
had held. Accordingly, by the help and counsel of the old and
wise men of all Cumbria, and on the oath of four persons who
are named, three of them being designated ' ' j udges in Cumbria, ' '
a list of the church's possessions, so far as these could be
ascertained, was compiled. 7 Like many other church lands
6 See preceding note.
7 Reg. Episc. No. i ; Inquisicio, with translation printed in Scots Lore,
pp. 38-41.
36 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
throughout the country at that time some of the lands con-
tained in the list had probably passed into the hands of
laymen, but if so they must to a large extent have been
restored, as most of those specified can be identified among
the possessions of the bishopric at a later date.
From the form of the document narrating the investigation
and its result, it may be assumed that the first part of the
procedure consisted in a supplication to Prince David, prepared
by Bishop John, with the assistance of clerics associated with
him in the reorganization of the restored see and well versed
in such historical matter as was obtainable from the Annals
and Chronicles then extant. On such an application a breve or
order for inquiry and the gathering of evidence from the " old
and wise men " throughout the several districts would natur-
ally follow, and the scribe whose duty it was to record the
verdict has summarized the statements contained in the
writings placed before him as well as the result of the inquiry.
It has been surmised that both the compiler of the original
document and the transcriber who engrossed it in the register
may have been imported clerics not familiar with the names
of the churches and lands reported as belonging to the see,
and that this may partly account for the difficulty now experi-
enced in their complete identification, especially in the vicinity
of Glasgow. Less difficulty is encountered in recognizing the
recorded names of places in the shires of Dumfries, Selkirk,
Roxburgh and Peebles, and in the landward parts of Lanark-
shire, all of vital importance to the local historian.
CHAPTER VIII
LANDED POSSESSIONS OF THE CHURCH
IN the beginning of the twelfth century most of the territory
surrounding Glasgow, and extending over Rutherglen, Partick
and Govan, formed part of the royal domain and was probably
at the disposal of Prince David as ruler of the district. Even
at that time a considerable population must have been
gathered in the city and adjacent villages, and as these people
would to a large extent depend on the produce of the soil for
their maintenance, it may be assumed that all available land
was cultivated by the class latterly designated Rentallers, from
whom a share of the produce, in name of maill or rent, would
be exacted by the prince and his officers. So much of this
land as was by the inquest ascertained to belong to the church
would be under the same system of management, the only
difference being that the bishop instead of the prince would be
overlord and entitled to the contribution exigible from the
tillers of the soil. Split up into such divisions, the names of
these holdings were apparently too numerous for insertion
in the document specifying the result of the inquiry, and
consequently only two or three leading territorial designations
are given, and even these few cannot all be satisfactorily
identified.
About " Pathelanerhc," the original name of Provan,
there is no doubt. " Cunclut " has probably a survival in
" Kinclayth," a piece of land now incorporated in Glasgow
Green. In his Caledonia, Chalmers gives examples of many
37
38 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
places, both in South and North Britain, having as a compound
" Ken," " Cyn," or " Kin," signifying first or foremost part,
the head, end or limit. In " Conclut " the second syllable
probably indicates Clutha the river Clyde and the whole
word, with its prefix of comprehensive meaning, may be
applicable to a large extent of river frontage. Unless this be
so, or unless Partick, bestowed on the church by a subsequent
grant, extended a long way east of the River Kelvin, we have no
certain knowledge how Glasgow Green and a wide stretch of
land to the east and west of that space came into the possession
of the bishopric. But, indeed, it is likely enough that the
bishop obtained large tracts of royal territory without the
formality of a written grant, and even if scrip of some kind
passed through the hands of the prince's officers, the chances
are that in many cases the transactions would neither be
registered nor the bits of parchment preserved. The recorded
charters relating to special lands within the area subsequently
known as the Barony of Glasgow are renewals rather
than original grants, and this confirms the impression that,
simultaneously with the reconstitution of the diocese, the
bishop was established as overlord of the city and the whole
of its surrounding lands, both those which had formerly belonged
to the church and the remaining portions from which Prince
David, through his officers, had hitherto derived a share of the
produce.
Of the system under which these barony lands were culti-
vated and put to the best avail, both for overlords and the
working community, we have no contemporary evidence,
but it may reasonably be surmised that it was not essentially
different from that which was found in practice in the sixteenth
century, the earliest date of any extant rental books or rent
rolls. The crop-bearing lands would thus be regularly tilled
by a class of rentallers to whom distinct areas would be assigned,
while those lands more suitable for grazing purposes would be
BARONY RENTALLERS 39
possessed in common, the inhabitants being entitled to put
on cattle or sheep stock in specified numbers and at prescribed
rates. Even in the present day, after so long a course of
drainage and cultivation, there are several small lochs through-
out the barony, and in the twelfth century patches of stagnant
water must have been much more numerous, and marshy land
must have abounded. From such localities, and from the
hilly and rocky ground, with their yield of brushwood, heath,
timber and stone, fuel and building material would be
obtained. Coal, if used at all, would only be got by
quarrying near the surface, and perhaps the bishops' rentallers
would learn that art from their neighbours in the Monklands,
the rentallers of those monks of Neubotle who have the credit
of being the first coalworkers in Scotland. 1
At this time, when the bishop was recognized as overlord
of the barony lands, it is probable that these were subject to
certain exactions for the upkeep of Prince David's establish-
ment at Rutherglen castle. Such at least is the inference which
may be drawn from the terms of an undated charter of King
William (1165-1214) to the effect that after his accession to
the throne King David erected his demesne vill of Rutherglen
into a royal burgh, giving its officers authority to levy the
customs and dues exigible over a wide district, including
the Glasgow area. 2 It may accordingly be assumed that the
bailies of the newly constituted burgh would continue the
collection from the bishop's lands of the customs hitherto
payable, though, as will afterwards be seen, the establishment
of a burgh at Glasgow eventually led to these being gathered
from a restricted area.
1 Early Scotch History, p. 131.
*A.P.S. i. p. 86. In a supplication to Parliament in 1661 it is stated
that King David granted a charter to the burgh of Rutherglen in 1126 (A.P.S.
vii. pp. 239-40).
CHAPTER IX
BUILDING OF CATHEDRAL AND EARLY DEDICATIONS
BEFORE the end of King David's reign the diocesan reorganiza-
tion of the whole of the country was completed, and the
foundation of the various bishoprics and appointment of the
bishops were followed by the erection of cathedral chapters,
usually of secular canons, constituted for the most part on
English models. The chapter of Glasgow was based on the
model of Sarum (i.e. Salisbury), the ritual of which was like-
wise adopted. But for the completion of such arrangements
some little time would be required, and meanwhile the building
of a suitable church had to be undertaken. Towards the build-
ing and restoration of the church Prince David, in the year
1123, granted one hundred shillings yearly from the rents of
Hardingestrorna within the earldom of Northampton, which
earldom he had acquired on his marriage with the Countess
Matilda, and to this grant his wife was a consenter. 1 No
portion of this early structure has survived, but the general
plan is indicated by a fragment of the immediately succeeding
work which is still preserved at the west end of the present
lower church. Though in the original design a completed
church was no doubt contemplated, the first object would be
the erection of the Choir, with its High Altar, where a beginning
might at once be made in the exercise of divine worship. From
the slope of the ground the building would naturally be in two
storeys, the High Altar in the Choir being placed over the shrine
1 Reg. Episc. No. 2 ; Lawrie's Charters, No. 46.
40
DEDICATION OF CATHEDRAL 41
in the crypt, or lower church, containing the relics of St.
Kentigern. Only this part of the work seems to have been
accomplished when the new church was dedicated in July,
1136.2
At the dedication of the new church King David granted
to God and St. Kentigern part of the land in " Perdeyc "
territory which has already been referred to as an old possession
of the British Kings. The portion which was now assigned to
the church is described in the grant as the land which Ascelinus,
archdeacon, held of the King, " in wood and plain, waters and
fishings, meadows and pasturages, all as Ailsi and Tocca held the
same on the day in which the land was in the king's demesne."
The archdeacon, however, was to remain in possession during
his lifetime, paying to the church a silver mark and rendering
such services as he had been accustomed to do to the King,
but after his decease the land was to remain with the church
free and quit of all such claims. At a subsequent but unknown
date David bestowed on the church another part of " Perthec,"
and he also, by a charter, granted prior to 1152, gave " Guven,
with its marches," to be possessed by the church of St.
Kentigern of Glasgow and the bishopric, free and quit of all
customs and services. 3
Before referring more particularly to these grants and
their utilization for the augmentation of cathedral services,
it may here be noted that the remainder of the lands of
Partick, to give the old royal demesne its modern name, was
either granted or confirmed by Malcolm IV. to Walter, son
of Alan, the High Steward, who had obtained from King David
extensive lands, including those of Renfrew on the south
side of the Clyde. At this part the river was late in being
confined to a settled course, as may be seen from the numerous
islets shown on Blaeu's map, the survey for which was made
2 Cathedral (1901), pp. 9, 10.
3 Reg. Episc. Nos. 3, 6, 7.
42 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
in the beginning of the seventeenth century, doubtless after
many changes in the channel since Malcolm's time. In the
charter by that King to the Steward, confirming both his office
and lands, there is included " as much of Prethec as King
David held in his hand/' and it is stated that Malcolm gave
and confirmed the same for services which the Steward had
rendered to King David and him. 4 The lands so bestowed,
so far as not composed of river islets, were situated on the
north side of the Clyde, and are now merged in the parish of
Renfrew. Having long ago lost their original name, the lands
now include such well-known places as Yoker, Scotstoun and
Jordanhill.
The town of Renfrew, occupying part of the royal
demesne, had been erected into a burgh by King David, and
about the same time he gave its church to Bishop John of
Glasgow, who thereupon constituted it a prebend of his
cathedral. After the bestowal of the lands on Walter the
Steward and the foundation by the latter of Paisley Abbey,
the monks claimed right to the church of Renfrew as being
within the parish of Paisley, but by a Bull of Pope Urban,
granted about the years 1185-7, tne church of Renfrew was
confirmed to the Bishop of Glasgow, and by a formal agreement
entered into between the years 1208 and 1232, the Abbot
renounced all claim to the church. 5
As stated in a previous chapter, the lands of Partick appear
to have been extensive, though they are nowhere precisely
defined. One of the four wards into which the barony of
Glasgow was latterly divided was called Partick Ward, em-
bracing property as far east of the River Kelvin as Shettleston,
but this can scarcely be accepted as more than an indication
that to some undefined extent the lands of Partick included
a portion of that area.
In Walter Bower's continuation of the Scotichronicon it
4 Reg. de Passelet, Appendix I. * Reg. Episc. Nos. 66, 113.
TERRITORY OF GOVAN 43
is stated that Saint Constantine, King of Cornwall, leaving an
earthly kingdom, became a soldier of the heavenly King, and,
along with Saint Columba, went to Scotland and preached
the faith to the Scots and Picts ; that he founded a monastery
of brethren at Govan on the Clyde, over whom he was abbot,
and that he converted the whole land of Kintyre, where he died
a martyr for the faith, and was buried at Govan. 6 Other
chroniclers give narratives to similar purport, and that there
was a church or monastery at Govan, long before the time of
King David, seems to be further evidenced by the fact that
there are preserved in the churchyard various sculptured
stones of ancient workmanship, including an elaborately
decorated sarcophagus, believed to be the shrine of St.
Constantine, king and martyr. 7 When Govan, therefore,
came into possession of Glasgow bishopric it seems to have had
a church as well as a village and an agricultural community
occupying a considerable tract of land. The territory bestowed
by King David extended along the south bank of the river
Clyde from the lands of Renfrew on the west to those of Ruther-
glen at Polmadie Burn on the east, and were bounded by the
stewardry lands of " Kerkert " and Paisley on the south.
On " Kerkert " lands, a short distance from the southern
Govan boundary, stood an old British camp, the outer rampart
of which, 400 yards in circumference, still remains in a fair
state of preservation. Earthworks of similar description must
have been common in the district, but in consequence of
agricultural and building operations their sites are now beyond
identification. " Camphill," being within the Queen's Park
grounds, is secure against further dilapidation.
In King David's charter of Govan the bishop is not named,
and though it is supposed to have been granted about the year
6 Goodal's ed. (1759), i. p. 130.
7 Scots Lore, p. 106 ; The Govan Sarcophagus (1902) ; Scottish International
Exhibition Catalogue, 1901, Nos. 238-47.
44
HISTORY OF GLASGOW
1134 it is uncertain in whose episcopate the church was
originally formed into a prebend of the cathedral. By an
undated writing Bishop Herbert, who succeeded John in
1147, g ave an d confirmed the prebend to " Help," his clerk,
describing it as the church of Govan, with all its ecclesiastical
rights, and the islands between Govan and Perthic, and that
part of Perthic which David, King of Scots, gave towards the
endowment of the church of Glasgow at the dedication thereof,
and another part of Perthic which the same King afterwards
gave to that church and to Bishop John. It is stated that parts
of the lands thus dedicated did not formerly belong to the
prebend, but that they, with the adjacent islands and fishings,
were bestowed by Bishop Herbert, for augmentation of the
honour and dignity of his church. 8 It was in consequence of
these arrangements that when the parish of Govan was formed
and defined its northern section extended beyond the river
Clyde.
8 Reg. Episc. No 7
SITE OF BRITISH CAMP AT QUEEN'S PARK.
CHAPTER X
BISHOP HERBERT CATHEDRAL ORGANIZATION SOMERLED'S
INVASION
BISHOP JOHN, who during his episcopate was frequently away
from Glasgow for lengthened periods, died in 1147 and was
buried in the monastery of Jedburgh. He was succeeded by
Herbert, who had been third abbot of Selkirk and was first
of Kelso, having held that office at the time when the abbey
which Prince David had established at the former town, in
1113, was transferred to Kelso in 1128. The new bishop was
consecrated by Pope Eugenius, at Auxerre in France, on 24th
August, 1147. In addition to gifts of churches and endow-
ments, in places more distant, King David, in 1150, gave to the
Bishop of Glasgow the church of Cadihou or Cadzow, near
Hamilton, 1 a church which subsequently became the prebend
of the dean of the cathedral chapter. Other two grants of
uncertain though probably prior dates may also be noticed.
By the first of the two undated charters just alluded to,
David gave to the church of Glasgow the whole tithes of his
" chan " in the beasts and pigs of Strathgrif and Cunningham,
Kyle and Carrick, in each year, unless the King should go to
dwell there and consume his own chan ; and by the second
charter the King gave to the church the eighth penny of all
pleas throughout Cumbria. 2 Evidence of the continuation of
1 Reg. Episc. No. 8.
2 Reg. Episc. Nos. 9, 10. Sir Archibald Lawrie places these charters circa
11 39-4 1 (Early Scottish Charters, pp. 95, 96).
45
46 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
these allowances, till near the end of the thirteenth century, is
found in the published Exchequer Rolls, from which it will be
seen that in the diocese of Glasgow the bishop had his eighth
of the fines and escheats of both justiciary and sheriff courts,
his right also extending over the diocese of Galloway in respect
of the issues of the former but not of the latter courts. 3 Chan
or can, it may be explained, was the share of produce of crops
or animals delivered as part of the rent and dues payable by
tenants and vassals for the lands they possessed under a
superior.
During the reign of his brother-in-law, Henry I., David's
relations with England were altogether friendly, but in 1136,
when Stephen seized the crown in violation of the arrangement
for the succession of the late King's daughter, Maud, David
entered on a course of warfare with England which lasted
intermittently for a number of years. These contests resulted
in his securing possession of a wide district in the north of
England, and for the remainder of his reign the Eden and the
Tees became the boundaries between the two kingdoms. But
owing to the death of Prince Henry, his only son, David was
succeeded by the youthful Malcolm, who was forced to
relinquish these gains, and thenceforth the Scottish border
line did not cross the Solway.
At the desire of Bishop Herbert a foreign ecclesiastic who
had travelled much, but whose name is not known, composed
or at least began a Life of St. Kentigern, but only a fragment
of it has been preserved and it is not known if the task was
ever completed. The extant fragment has often been printed
and commented on, and it seems to have been known to
Joceline, who compiled the fuller biography of the saint
about twenty-five years later. The Prologue is interesting as
showing the views current in Bishop Herbert's time. Many
regions, the writer says, he had traversed, carefully investigating
* Exchequer Rolls, i. p. Iviii, etc.
CATHEDRAL CHAPTER 47
the manners of the same and the devotion of their clergy and
laity. Every land he had found venerating its own provincial
saint, but when he came to Scotland, though he found it rich
in the relics of saints, illustrious in its clergy and glorious in
its princes, it was, in comparison with other kingdoms, behind-
hand in its reverence for the saints. Noting the scantiness
of such attention, the writer, for the honour of the most holy
confessor and bishop Kentigern, who in comparison with
others, " glittereth like Lucifer among the stars," took up his
pen at the instance of Herbert, the venerable Bishop of Glasgow,
and had composed the work " from the material found in the
little book of his virtues and from the oral communication
of the faithful." 4
Along with these researches into the past history of the see,
the bishop also devoted some attention to its existing organiza-
tion, and the constitution of the cathedral chapter, based, as
already mentioned, on that of Sarum, is understood to have been
framed by him. At a subsequent period, when the constitution
was again under consideration, full particulars were obtained
from Salisbury, with a ritual composed so early as the year
1076, and as will hereafter be seen these were adapted to
the requirements of Glasgow cathedral. Like his predecessor,
Herbert seems to have disregarded the supremacy claims of
York, though in 1155, Pope Adrian addressed a joint letter
to all the Scottish bishops ordering them to submit to the
archbishop of that see as metropolitan. Similar claims were
put forward from time to time, but the controversy was
interrupted in 1176 by Pope Alexander III. commanding the
archbishop not to exercise metropolitan jurisdiction over
the Scottish church until the question was examined and
decided. 5
4 St. Kentigern (Historians of Scotland), pp. 123-4.
6 Lawrie's Annals, pp. 18, 206; Scottish Annals (Anderson), p. 238; Reg.
Episc. No. 38. See also postea, ch. xii.
48 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
In the year 1161 the same Pope had issued three documents
relating to Glasgow's ecclesiastical affairs. By a Bull dated
I7th January the clergy and people of the bishopric were
enjoined to visit the cathedral church yearly, according to
the custom observed in the bishopric of St. Andrews and
other sees, and on 7th March it was intimated to the dean and
chapter that the prebends of canons, for a year after their
death, should be given to the poor or applied in satisfaction
of the just debts of the deceased canons. 6 The third document,
which is dated 24th June, is included among several royal
and papal writs for enforcing the payment of tithes in the
several parishes throughout the diocese. As enumerated in
one of these documents, teinds were payable from grain,
lint, wool, cheese, butter, lambs, victuals, swine, goats and
poultry. 7
During his reign Malcolm had been much troubled by the
rebellion and invasions of Somerled, " under-king of Argyle."
In 1164 Somerled assembled a fleet of 160 ships and landed at
Renfrew with the intention of subduing the whole kingdom,
but the invaders were suddenly attacked by the people of the
district and sustained an unexpected defeat, and Somerled
and his son were slain. This collapse was attributed by the
chroniclers to divine interposition, and the author of a curious
contemporary poem attributes the chief credit to the merits
of St. Kentigern. The poet says that Somerled landed near
Glasgow, the people fled, and one Marcus alone of the clerics
remained in the church. In answer to a prayer St. Kentigern
recalled Bishop Herbert, accompanied by Helias, a canon of
the cathedral, and the people, encouraged by the arrival of the
6 Under changed circumstances, and with a different destination, there is
still in operation a law for the disposal of stipends payable for the first year
after the death of parish ministers, that portion of the stipend payable for
the current half year falling into the deceased's estate and the remainder,
called annat, going to his widow and family.
7 Reg. Episc. Nos. 13, 14, 17, 18; Lawrie's Annals, pp. 61-63.
SOMERLED'S INVASION 49
bishop, became brave and attacked and slew Somerled. His
followers, panic-stricken, fled to their ships, but many were
killed. A cleric cut off the head of Somerled and gave it to the
bishop, who ascribed the victory to St. Kentigern. 8 Sometime
before 1165 Walter, the Steward, by an undated charter,
granted in perpetual alms, for the lights of the church of St.
Kentigern of Glasgow, two shillings yearly from the rents of
the burgh of Renfrew, 9 and though this seems to have been in
continuance of an Easter donation which had already been
bestowed for several years, it is not unlikely that the grant
was now formally constituted in gratitude for the assistance
rendered by churchmen in quelling Somerled's invasion.
8 Skene's Celtic Scotland, i. p. 473 ; Fordun's Chronicle, i. p. 449.
9 Reg. Episc. No. 20.
CHAPTER XI
EPISCOPATE OF BISHOP INGELRAM BARONY COURTS-
ERECTION OF BURGHS RUTHERGLEN
INGELRAM who had been chancellor of the kingdom was, on
2oth September, 1164, elected Bishop of Glasgow, in succession
to Herbert who died in that year, and he was consecrated by
Pope Alexander III. at Sens in France, on 28th October. In
a letter of the latter date, addressed to Salomon, the dean,
and the canons of Glasgow, and all the clergy and people
dwelling in the bishopric, the Pope states that Ingelram had
come to him for consecration and had brought letters from
Malcolm, the illustrious King of Scots. Although the messenger
of the Archbishop of York was present and strongly opposed
the proceedings, the Pope, mindful of the necessity, both in
spiritual and temporal matters, which threatened the church
of Glasgow from the want of a pastor, consecrated the new
bishop and cordially commended him to the people in his
diocese. Ingelram had succeeded Asceline as archdeacon, in
1160, and had then distinguished himself as one of the leaders
of the Scottish church in opposing the claims of the Archbishop
of York, conduct which sufficiently accounts for the opposition
to his consecration. 1
King Malcolm died in 1165 and was succeeded by his brother,
usually styled William the Lion, whose long reign, extending
into seven episcopates, lasted till 1214. In these early reigns
those of David, Malcolm and William the King travelled
1 Dowden's Bishops, pp. 297-8 ; Lawrie's Annals, pp. 84-86, 149.
50
BARONY COURTS 51
from place to place attended by a retinue of prelates, earls,
churchmen and barons, administering existing laws and some-
times sanctioning new or imported ordinances. Latterly
assemblies of King, bishops, earls and barons, and great councils,
attended by the " magnates " of the land, come into notice,
but it was only after a long course of years that these developed
into what could be properly called a National Parliament.
Subsidiary to such assemblies and councils, sheriffs and jus-
ticiars, bishops of dioceses, abbots of monasteries, and the
greater of the crown vassals likewise exercised judicial and
administrative functions of varying degree, and throughout the
twelfth century these baronial courts increased both in number
and power. By an ordinance of King William, passed at
Stirling on I4th July, 1180, " throw common consent of prelatis,
erlis and barounis and fre haldaris," it was provided that
neither bishops, abbots, earls, barons nor freeholders should
hold their courts unless the King's sheriff or his sergeant were
summoned thereto to see that the court was rightly held. If,
however, neither sheriff nor sergeant should attend, it should
be lawful for the baron to hold his court in their absence.
The four Pleas of the Crown murder, rape, robbery and
wilful fire-raising were reserved, and it was specially declared
that no baron might hold court of life and limb, " as of jugement
of bataile or of water or of het yrn," unless the sheriff or his
sergeants were there to see law and justice done. 2 It may,
therefore, be assumed, in the absence of any definite evidence
on the subject, that the bishops of Glasgow, by themselves
or through their bailies and other officers, were entrusted with
the preservation of order and the dispensing of justice through-
out their territories, long before the date of any extant record
of court procedure or even of any charter bearing on the subject.
Such baronial jurisdiction was of course quite apart from the
proceedings of the bishop's spiritual or consistorial courts,
2 A.P.S. i. p. 374 ; Trial by Combat, p. 83.
52 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
presided over by a judge, named the Official, and latterly
monopolizing most of the judicial business transacted through-
out the diocese. 3
It is during William's reign that charters to royal burghs
begin to make their appearance, but all such charters, with the
exception of that of the burgh of Ayr, were granted to burghs
already existing, most of these burghs tracing their constitution
and privileges to a time when the soil was either all " folc "
or public land, or just beginning to be " boc " or individually
owned land and crown property. 4 As an illustration of the
form of such grants it may be mentioned that, by the Ruther-
glen charter, previously referred to, 5 King William confirmed
to that burgh and to his burgesses there, all customs and
rights which they had in the time of King David, and those
marches which he granted to them. Then follow the bounds
of a wide district which apparently included the whole of the
bishop's territory north of the River Clyde and east of the
Kelvin, within which area no one was to bring anything for
sale unless it was first presented at the burgh. It was also
declared that if any one should take away the toll or other
rights which belonged to the town in the time of King David,
the lord of the land in which such abstracted toll might be
attached should assist the officers of Rutherglen in recovering
the same and securing the King's rights. 6 A similar provision
as to customs occurs in the charter of erection of the burgh of
Ayr, which was granted by William between the years 1202
and 1207. Here also a wide district is assigned for the collec-
tion of " toll and other customs/ 1 five outlying places, on the
boundaries of the shire and commanding the principal roads
by which merchandise could be taken to and from the burgh,
being named as the stations where the dues were to be given and
3 The Medieval Church in Scotland (Dowden), chap, xviii.
4 Ancient Laws and Customs, i. p. xxxvii.
6 Ante a, p. 39. 6 Acts of Parliament, i. p. 86.
BURGH MARKETS 53
received. 7 The provision as to sale of goods at the burgh is
in accordance with an old Burgh law, attributed to William's
reign, whereby it is ordained that all merchandise should be
presented at the market cross of burghs, and there " preofferit "
to the merchants of the burgh, " and the custome therof salbe
payit to the king/ 1 By another old law it is provided that all
dwellers in the country, as well freeholders as peasants, should
come with all their moveable wares for sale to no other than
the king's market within the sheriff dom where they dwell. 8
Scottish prelates and monasteries frequently purchased
at Rome confirmations of their lands and privileges, and many
such writings by the Popes in favour of the church of Glasgow
are recorded in the Register of the Bishopric. In this way
Pope Alexander III. confirmed to Bishop Ingelram the tenth
of the " chan " of lands in Carrick, Kyle and Cunningham,
of Strathgrif and Largs, and the eighth penny of fines exacted
in the king's courts throughout the bishopric, all of which had
been granted by King David, and at the same time the chapel
of Roxburgh castle and the churches of Carmichael and Carn-
wath were confirmed. The year in which this confirmation
was obtained is not stated, but it seems to have been after
1164. By another writing of the supposed date 26th April,
1166, the Pope required the patrons of churches in the diocese
to present to the bishop persons fit for the cure of souls, and to
supply them with becoming stipends. In a Papal Bull dated
5th April, 1170, the church of Glasgow and all its possessions,
among which are enumerated a number of churches throughout
the diocese, were taken under the protection of St. Peter and
the Roman see, and confirmed to the bishop and his successors. 9
Unless there is some ambiguity in this document it would appear
that seventeen of the churches were mensal, the revenues of
7 Ayr Charter, pp. 1-4.
8 Ancient Laws, i. pp. 61, 183.
9 Reg. Episc. Nos. 24, 26, 27 ; Lawrie's Annals, pp. lit, 149.
54 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
such belonging to the bishop, under burden of the maintenance
of vicars for the due observance of religious services. Several
of these churches, however, such as Glasgow parish, Govan
and Cadiho, had already been constituted prebends of members
of the chapter. Included in the list of mensal churches are one
in the town of the daughter of Sadin (villa filie Sadin) and
another on the lands of Conclud, but beyond vague references
in subsequent confirmatory Papal Bulls and Charters there
is no subsequent trace of these churches, and their sites
are unknown. Villa filie Sadin becomes Inienchedin (and
by misprint Mineschadin) in subsequent documents, the
prefix " Inien " being the Gaelic equivalent of the Latin
" filie," and latterly develops into Schedinestun, now known
as Shettleston.
A Papal Bull, dated 25th March, 1172, was addressed to
Salomon, the dean, and to the canons of Glasgow, whereby
their possessions were confirmed. These comprehended the
parish of Glasgow with all its rights, liberties and teinds, as
they were given in the time of Bishop John, and with the
addition of a ploughgate of land at the burgh of Renfrew
which Bishop Herbert gave in augmentation of the prebend ;
the church of Govan, with the whole of Perdehic ; the church
of Renfrew, with the teinds and customs which it held from the
time of King David ; a ploughgate of land in Glasgow, with
the church of Cadiho and its pertinents, as in the time of King
David ; Barlanark, with Budlornac, which Bishop Herbert
gave for augmentation of the prebend ; the prebend which
the same bishop instituted of one measured ploughgate of land
in Glasgow and of one-seventh part of the proceeds of the
benefices in common which were formerly divided among six
canons ; the prebend which Bishop John instituted of the
teinds of the farms, as well in cheeses as in grain and in other
things which came into the bishop's cellar, and of the teind of
the eighth penny of the king's pleas. After the enumeration
CHURCH LANDS 55
of these prebends, presumably possessed by members of the
cathedral chapter as then constituted, the Bull provides
for the bishop and the canons having sole jurisdiction and
patronage within the territories of Glasgow, Govan, Partick
and Shettleston ; and the customs of Sarum which had been
adopted in the cathedral by Bishop Herbert were likewise
confirmed. 10
Two undated charters were granted by King William to
the church, but whether in the time of Bishop Ingelram or in
that of one of his successors is uncertain. By the first of
these charters the king confirmed to God and St. Kentigern
and to the bishop of Glasgow, Conclud, Cader and Badermonoc,
with their whole lands and pertinents, which had originally
been given by King Malcolm, in perpetual alms. By the
second charter the king bestowed forty shillings yearly from
the farms of his burgh of Rutherglen, to be applied for the
lights of the church. 1
By Badermonoc is understood to be meant the district now
included in the parish of Old Monkland. The territory of
New Monkland was bestowed by King Malcolm on the monks
of Neubotle. 2 That part of the lands of Old Monkland called
Kermil, now Carmyle, had likewise been given by Bishop
Herbert to the monks, but after the middle of the thirteenth
century these lands were redeemed and dedicated for the
sustenance of three chaplains who were to celebrate divine
services in the church of Glasgow. 3
10 Reg. Episc. No. 28 ; Lawrie's Annals, pp. 151-2. Shettleston is again
alluded to postea p. 98 ; and for further particulars and speculations on the
subject reference may be made to the Rev. J. F. Miller's paper, Old
Shettleston, printed in Transactions of the Old Glasgow Club (1918-19), vol. iv.
pp. 16-24.
1 Reg. Episc. Nos. 29, 31.
2 Reg. de Neubotle, p. xxxvi.
3 Glasgow Protocols, No. 1934, and authorities there cited.
CHAPTER XII
BISHOP JOCELINE ADDITIONAL LANDS CONDITION OF
SERFDOM
BISHOP INGELRAM died on 2nd February, 1173-4, and his
successor, Joceline, abbot of the Cistercian monastery of
Melrose, was chosen by the clergy, " the people requesting and
the king consenting," at Perth, on 23rd May, 1174. Pope
Alexander III. confirmed the election, and commanded that
consecration should be given to the new bishop elsewhere
if it was extremely difficult for him to appear before the Pope.
Joceline was accordingly consecrated by the Primate of Den-
mark in 1175. Retaining the attitude of his predecessors,
Joceline resisted the encroachment of York. On 25th January,
1175-6, King Henry held a council at Northampton, at which
King William and the bishops of Scotland, as well as the
archbishops of Canterbury and York, were present, and the
question of jurisdiction was then discussed. The Scottish
bishops refused to recognize the archbishop of York as their
metropolitan, and the two archbishops having disagreed on the
English claims no decision was arrived at till 3Oth July, 1176,
when Joceline obtained from the Pope a command that until
he had examined and decided the question the bishops of
Scotland should yield no obedience to the archbishop of York,
notwithstanding that Henry of England had compelled them
to swear obedience to the Anglican church. 1
1 Reg. Episc. Nos. 35, 38 ; Dowden's Bishops, pp. 298-300 ; Lawrie's
Annals, pp. 200, 213 ; Scottish Annals, pp. 264-6.
56
POSSESSIONS OF BISHOPRIC 57
King William had a great desire to add Cumberland and
Northumberland to the Scottish kingdom, and when, in 1173,
the son of Henry II. rose in rebellion against his father, William
gave his support, on the promise of having his wishes in that
respect so far gratified. While on a hostile expedition into
England, in connection with this movement, William was
taken prisoner at Alnwick, in July, 1174, and was not released
till the following December, and that on an extorted treaty
whereby he became vassal of the English king for the entire
extent of his dominion. In this irksome state of subjection
William remained during Henry's lifetime, but after the acces-
sion of Richard L, who in the course of his crusading career
was in urgent need of money to meet the costs of an expedition
for achieving the conquest of Jerusalem, negotiations on the
subject were renewed, and the " Lion-hearted king " readily
accepted ten thousand merks as compensation for restoring
the independence of Scotland. In the interval between the
Alnwick affair and the restoration accomplished in 1189
William had much to do in keeping down trouble in different
parts of his own kingdom, especially in quelling insubordination
both in Galloway and in the far north. So far, however, as
the bishopric of Glasgow and the town itself were concerned
any information we have indicates a progressive state of
development and rising importance.
By a Papal Bull addressed to Bishop Joceline, and appar-
ently issued shortly after his election, though as transcribed
into the Register bearing the obviously erroneous date 2Qth
April, 1174, the rights of the church of Glasgow to many
churches and lands were confirmed, and it was declared that
the church was dependent only on Rome. On this subject it
may here be added that by a writing addressed to King William,;
on isth March, 1188, Pope Clement III. decreed that the
Scottish church owed subjection only to the apostolic see,
whose spiritual daughter she was, with no intermediary,.
58 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
and in that church the episcopal see of Glasgow was known
to be included. 2
As compensation for excesses committed by him against St.
Kentigern and the church, after the decease of Bishop Ingelram,
King William, by a charter supposed to have been granted
between 1175 and 1177, gave to Bishop Joceline lands then
called Balain 3 or Badlayn, and perhaps to be identified with
those now known as Bedlay, situated on the north-east corner
of the parish of Cadder and close to the border of Stirlingshire.
If this surmise be correct the lands can scarcely have formed
part of Cadder parish at the time when Malcolm bestowed the
bulk of the lands on the church, but they may have been added
to the parish after the date of William's gift. Lying to the
north of " Ballain " were lands called Mucraht which William
Cumin, baron of Lenzie and lord of Cumbernauld, claimed as
belonging to Kirkintilloch and the bishop of Glasgow claimed
as belonging to Ballain. An arrangement was concluded,
between the years 1200 and 1202, and in presence of the King
and his court, at Alyth, Cumin resigned to the bishop all right
which he had to the lands. 4 In the Barony plan of 1773 the
place is called Muckcroft.
The several lands acquired by the bishops up till this time
seem to have embraced all those which are classified in six-
teenth century Rentals as situated within the barony of
Glasgow. New names found either in charters or rentals, such
as Dalmarnock, Barrowfield, Fossil, Kenmore and Ramshorn,
usually, if not invariably, imply sub-divisions of land having a
general name, though it may be that in some instances lands
were acquired of which no trace of acquisition has been
preserved either in the Register or in title deeds.
That a section of the native population existed in a state
2 Reg. Episc. No. 32; Lawrie's Annals, pp. 199, 275; Scottish Annals,
p. 299 ; Dowden's Bishops, pp. 298-9.
3 Reg. Episc. No. 39. 4 Reg. Episc. No. 90.
CONDITION OF SERFDOM 59
of serfdom till at least the thirteenth century is shown by re-
ferences in old chartularies and registers to their occasional
transfer by sale or gift, and one such transaction is noted in
the Glasgow Register. By an undated charter, but supposed
to be granted between the years 1174 and 1189, King William
transferred to the church of St. Kentigern and to Bishop
Joceline and his successors Gillemachoi of Conclud, with his
children and all his descendants, and the king charged his
bailies not to obstruct the transfer. 5 As a rule, though there
were exceptions, the serf was sold only along with the land
on which he dwelt, and it is probable that Gillemachoi lived
on that part of Conclud which was assigned to the bishop in
or about 1170.
Reg. Episc. No. 34.
CHAPTER XIII
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE BURGH OF GLASGOW
THOUGH the always growing number of people, both clerics
and laics, connected with the cathedral and the affairs of the
barony, would continue to be accommodated in the vicinity
of Rottenrow, there must have been from very early times a
community of fishermen, craftsmen and traders occupying
dwellings on the lower ground near the banks of the River
Clyde, on whom the former class as well as the agricultural
and pastoral population of the surrounding district would
depend for the supply of commodities. As this commercial
and industrial class increased in numbers and importance
they must have felt hampered in their pursuits by their relation
to the burgh of Rutherglen as the chief market place of the
district. A change was desirable, and the bishops eventually
secured trading rights for their own people and exemption
from outside interference.
It is to the period of the first David's reign that the origin
of the royal burghs, with their communities enjoying the
exclusive privilege of trade and the right of self government,
is usually ascribed. 1 Possessing some features of the municipal
1 If the rise of burghs in this country could be traced back to their earliest
inception it would probably be found that they began as units of a military
and political organization in the ancient kingdom of Northumbria while it
had its northern boundary at the Forth. Recognized in the twelfth century
as a legislative assembly and judicial tribunal the Curia Quatuor Burgorum was
then composed of representatives from the four burghs of Berwick, Roxburgh,
Edinburgh and Stirling. As far back as the ninth century, when the designa-
tion burgh signified a fort, and before commerce became prominent, there
60
RISE OF BURGHS 61
organization which characterized the cities of the Roman
Empire, these burghs were mainly formed on the model of
those which, in the tenth and the eleventh centuries, had come
into existence on the continent of Europe, and had been intro-
duced into England after the Norman conquest. Of the total
number of eighteen Scottish burghs which claim to have
been founded before the end of King David's reign, no fewer
than seven viz. Rutherglen, Lanark, Dumfries, Peebles,
Selkirk, Jedburgh and Roxburgh grew up in the district
which he first ruled as earl. Each of these burghs was placed
on the royal domain, in close proximity to the king's castle,
and they probably mark the sites which Earl David used for
residence and the exercise of justice even before he succeeded
to the throne. The inhabitants of Scottish burghs, termed
burgesses, were originally crown tenants paying to the king
for their holding a yearly rent called burgh maill ; and though
the seven burghs in question might not, strictly speaking, be
regarded as royal burghs till after the king's accession, the
inhabitants may even before that time have been paying
their maills to the earl's bailies, and enjoying the privileges
of free burgesses. Besides their individual holdings, burgesses
had usually a considerable tract of land held in commonty
and used for pasturage or cultivation. But the privileges of
the burgesses were not confined within these limits. Often
existed a powerful Danish confederation known as the Five Burghs, composed
of the cities of Lincoln, Nottingham, Derby, Leicester and Stamford. The
Five Burghs belonged to the Mercian kingdom, and it is not improbable
that Northumbria, its not too distant neighbour, was stimulated by the force
of imitation or rivalry into the establishment of its four chief strongholds
in the north on a similar basis. Neither the original kingdom of Scotia,
north of the Forth, nor Cumbria, was at first connected with this confederation ;
and indeed a somewhat similar combination, known as the Hanse, was
established north of the Grampians as early as the time of King David. But
in the fifteenth century if not earlier the whole burghs throughout the country
began to meet in general conference, and latterly the Curia Quatuor Burgorum
was merged in the Convention of Royal Burghs. The extant records of the
Convention begin only in 1552, and Glasgow was represented at their meeting
held in that year.
62 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
they had the exclusive privilege of buying and selling and
of levying custom over a wide extent of country, and many
of the early charters provide that goods belonging to the bur-
gesses themselves should be exempt from custom throughout
the kingdom. Wool and hides seem at first to have been the
staple commodities of commerce, and the subsequent processes
of manufacture through which the raw material passed gave
employment to craftsmen in the burghs. There are several
old burgh laws giving burgesses a monopoly in articles of
commerce.
There are no extant charters to burghs of an earlier date
than the reign of William the Lion, nor, except in the case of
Rutherglen, is there any reference to a charter having been
granted to a burgh by King David. 2 There is, however, reason
to believe that the older burgh laws were in operation in
David's time, and, indeed, the earlier charters contain much
that was received as common burgh law. Though in later
times the theory held good that a royal burgh could be erected
only by the sovereign it is probable that several, if not all of
the burghs in Earl David's domain took form and exercised
burghal privileges previous to 1124. Records of burghs are
not so complete as are those of the religious houses, and in
consequence our knowledge of their origin is more imperfect.
Of the four Border abbeys Kelso, Jedburgh, Melrose and
Dryburgh which were founded by David, it is known that at
least the two former were in existence before he was king.
The credit of procuring the erection of a burgh at Glasgow
belongs to the energetic Bishop Joceline. By a charter which
bears no date, but which, from the names of the witnesses,
including that of David, the king's brother, is judged to have
8 Antea, p. 52. Dr. George Neilson has adduced good grounds for
holding that Dumfries, one of the seven towns named in the text, did not
become a royal burgh till the reign of William the Lion (Transactions of
Dumfriesshire and Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian Society,
1913-4, pp. 157-76).
FOUNDATION OF BURGH 63
been granted between the years 1175 and H78, 3 William
authorized Joceline and his successors to have a burgh at
Glasgow, with a market on Thursday, and with all the freedoms
and customs which any of his burghs throughout his whole
land possessed. The king also enjoined that all the burgesses
resident in the burgh should have his firm peace through his
whole land in going and returning, and no one was to be allowed
to trouble or molest them or their chattels, or to inflict any
injury or damage upon them. 4
It will be observed that in the Glasgow charter there is
neither specification of territory within which custom or toll
was leviable, as in the Rutherglen and Ayr charters, nor grant
of lands as in the latter charter. There was not even the
creation of a burgh, merely authority to the bishop to establish
one, though when so established all the privileges pertaining
to a royal burgh were to be secured. The reason for this
distinction in form was obvious. Rutherglen and Ayr were
situated on the king's domain, while Glasgow and its surrounding
lands belonged to the bishop. It rested accordingly with the
bishop to assign the area to be possessed by the burgesses, and
with regard to the territory throughout which custom and toll
were to be leviable it was probably intended that the king's
customs leviable in the barony should continue to be collected
by his bailies of Rutherglen and accounted for to the royal
treasury ; but, as will afterwards be seen, the place of collection
was, in 1226, restricted to Shettleston, and eventually the
officers of other burghs were strictly forbidden to take toll or
custom within the bishop's territory. 5 King William's charter
8 At the time this charter was granted the king was holding court at
Traquair, then apparently a place of some importance. Though now occupy-
ing a sequestered corner in the county of Peebles, Traquair at one time, as is-
shown by the extant fragments of thirteenth century Exchequer Rolls, gave
its name to the shire.
4 Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. pp. r, 2.
8 Ibid. pp. 12, 27.
64 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
was addressed to the bishops, abbots, earls, barons, justiciars,
sheriffs, officers, and all good men of his whole land, and though
these expressions were to a large extent mere words of style
they sufficiently authorized the officers of the bishop and those
of the king's burgh of Rutherglen to adjust all necessary
details for getting the new burgh into working order. In all
essential respects, such as the holding of a weekly market,
the enrolment of burgesses and the appointment of bailies and
officers, the new burgh was successfully organized ; and it
may be noted that in the Papal Bull which was granted to
Bishop Joceline on igth April, 1179, Pope Alexander specially
took under his protection the burgh of Glasgow, with all its
liberties, and confirmed the charter which King William had
granted. 6
Even before the date of the charter the class who sub-
sequently became burgesses must have been in possession of
.a considerable tract of land for the raising of crops, pasturage
of animals and supply of fuel and building material, and the
area so occupied, with perhaps some extensions, would
naturally become the recognized property of the community.
At a later date when the whole territory of which the bishops
remained overlords was specified in rentals, the burgesses are
entered as possessing a 16 merk land, for which they paid a
yearly rent of 16 merks or 10 135. 4d. Scots, thus placing
the community, as regards the occupation of land, in the same
category as the other rentallers throughout the barony.
An old burgh law provided that each burgess should give
to the king five pence for each rood of land that he possessed,
and latterly burghs were allowed to collect and apply such rents
to their own uses in consideration of a fixed yearly sum payable
to the crown. The rents thus collected were called Burgh
Maill, but in the old Glasgow accounts there is no trace of
revenue derived from that source. In title deeds there are
6 Reg. Episc. No. 51.
MARKET AND MARKET CROSS 65
occasional references to the bishops exacting " ferms " and
"burgh maill" from individual holdings, and therefore it
appears that in Glasgow such rents were paid to the bishops
or their chamberlains direct, without the intervention of the
bailies of the burgh.
From the first the burgh market must have been the chief
source of municipal revenue. " Ladle " duty, the levying of
which was not abolished till 1846, was probably the earliest
exaction. In a decree of 1576 it is stated that the magistrates
had been in the practice of uptaking a ladleful of each sack
of corns or victual coming to the market " past memour of
man/' 7 Complying with the old law whereby it was stipulated
that all merchandise should be presented at the markets and
market crosses of burghs, 8 one of the earliest requisites in
the new burgh of Glasgow must thus have been the erection
of a market cross. The site chosen was at the convergence
of what long formed the four chief streets of the older part
of the city, High Street and Walkergait or Saltmarket,
Gallowgait and Trongait, and it is probable that even in 1175
the booths and primitive dwellings of the burgesses had already
begun to be placed on these lines. For the convenient
collection of market dues the Tolbooth, the booth for the
collection of toll or custom, immediately adjoined the cross.
The tolbooth was also convenient for the transaction of other
branches of municipal business, and in this way the name in
course of time became applicable to its usual adjuncts, the jail,
council hall and court-house. Adjoining these premises like-
wise stood the old chapel of St. Mary already referred to.
It is not till nearly a hundred years after the foundation of
the burgh that the names of any of the magistrates appear on
record, but in a charter supposed to be granted in or before
I268, 9 relating to proceedings in the burgh Court, three of
7 Glas. Chart, i. pt. ii. p. 166. 8 Ancient Laws, i. p. 61.
9 Glasg, Chan. i. pt. ii. pp. 17-19. As to date see ch. xxiii. postea.
66 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
the witnesses are designated, in the Latin, Prepositi. The
old burgh laws contain many provisions as to the Prepositi,
a designation which in Sir John Skene's sixteenth or early
seventeenth century edition is variously translated alder-
men, " burrowgrefis " and bailies, and though in later times,
when most burghs had a provost at the head of the municipality,
prepositus is correctly translated provost, the early prepositi
were really the bailies of the period. At the first court after
the feast of St. Michael in each year the prepositi were to be
chosen, through the counsel of the good men of the town,
or in other words the bailies were to be chosen by the whole
body of burgesses assembled at the head court which was held
after Michaelmas yearly. That a similar mode of election
was practised in Glasgow is quite probable, though the bishop,
either from the beginning or under some subsequent arrange-
ment, was entrusted with the final selection from a leet
presented to him.
Another early ordinance directed that for the adminis-
tration of the burgh laws and customs, " in ilk burgh of
the kynrick," there should be appointed twelve of "thelelest
burges and of the wysast of the burgh," a provision under which
councillors, usually nominated by magistrates elected by the
community, were assigned a position in municipal govern-
ment, though neither as regards numbers, nor mode of
election, was there any hard and fast line observed in the
different burghs. According to statutes of the first half of the
thirteenth century, at first enacted for regulating the Guild of
the merchants of Berwick, but soon adopted as authoritative
among the Scottish burghs in general, the town was to be
governed by twenty-four good men, together with the mayor
and four bailies (prepositis) . w So numerous a body of coun-
cillors as twelve or twenty-four would be superfluous in most
10 Ancient Laws, i. pp. 34, 54, 81 ; Historical MS. Commission, Berwick on
Tweed (1901), p. 14 ; Scott's History of Berwick, pp. 465-9.
INSTITUTION OF FAIR 67
burghs, and it may be supposed that each would adapt the
number to its own requirements. In the case of Glasgow it
is not till the middle of the sixteenth century that extant
records supply anything like full knowledge on municipal
procedure, but the mode of election then observed is quite
reconcilable with the likelihood of elections having been
regulated by the ordinary burgh laws in use for the
time.
As supplementary to the trading facilities afforded by
weekly markets, special privileges were enjoyed during the
time of annual fairs, for the holding of which authority was
frequently conferred on burghs. A few years after the burgh
of Glasgow was established, probably between the years 1189
and 1198, King William authorised Bishop Joceline and his
successors to have a fair at Glasgow, for eight full days from
the octaves of St. Peter and St. Paul (7th July), with the
sovereign's firm and full peace, and with all the liberties and
rights granted or belonging to any fair in any of his burghs.
By another charter granted ten days before the beginning of
a fair, the date being 27th June, with the year not stated, the
same king gave his firm peace to all who should come to
the fair, for repairing thither, there standing and thence
returning, provided they did what they ought to do justly
and according to the laws of his burghs and his land. 1 The
fixing of this fair was in keeping with medieval custom, fairs
being usually appointed in connection with saints' days or other
religious festivals, or in commemoration of the dedication of
churches. The cathedral church of Glasgow, built by Bishop
John, was consecrated on 7th July, 1136, and it was probably
the practice in Glasgow as in other places, for tradesmen and
merchants to bring their wares for sale to a convenient space
in the vicinity of the church on the anniversary of that event,
when large crowds were likely to be collected from the surround-
1 Glasgow Charters, i. pt. ii. pp. 6, 7.
68 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
ing districts. 2 The day of St. Peter and St. Paul was 2gih
June, and the octave of that festival fell on 7th July and con-
tinued for eight days thereafter. This practice was observed
till the year 1744, when the magistrates and council, taking into
consideration that " the Sabbath intervening in these eight
days stops and interrupts the course of the fair," resolved that
in future, instead of the fair beginning on a fixed day in the
Calendar it should begin on the first Monday of July and finish
on the following Saturday. No subsequent regulation on the
subject has been passed, but the transition, in 1752, from the
old to the new style, operated indirectly in producing a change,
and the fair, established upwards of seven centuries ago, is
still held in July, but now begins on the second Monday of the
month. 3
For the period prior to the latter half of the sixteenth cen-
tury there is little information obtainable with regard to the
Fair, but at the time when the extant Council Records begin
it seems to have been the practice to hold an open-air court
of the burgh upon the " Fair-even," and there to make all neces-
sary arrangements. The spot appropriated for holding this
court adjoined the Place of the Grey Friars a little to the west
of the High Street, a piece of rocky ground called variously
Craigmak, Craigmacht or Craignaught. 4 Here, on 6th July,
1574 (being the earliest July of which any Town Council minute
is preserved), the court was held at " Craigmak," and the provost,
bailies, council and community ordained every booth-holder to
have within his booth a halbert, jack and steel-bonnet, in readi-
ness for his taking part in quelling any disturbances that might
arise, " conforme to the auld statute maid thairanent." The
proclamation of the Fair took double form, as in 1581, when the
2 Glasgow Charters, i. pt. i. p. 8.
3 Glasgow Memorials, pp. 205-6.
4 The prefix seems to have been derived from a ridge of whinstone running
through the ground, and perhaps " mach," a field, might account for the second
part of the place name.
PROCLAMATION OF FAIR 69
officer of the barony proclaimed the peace of the fair on the
Green and the burgh officer did the same upon the market
cross. By these announcements all the king's lieges, frequent-
ing the fair, were charged not "to do ony hurt or trublens
ane to ane uther, for auld debt or new debt, auld feid or new
feid, bot leif peceablie and use their merchandice and exchange
under Goddis peace and our Soverane Lordis protectioun." 5
6 Glasgow Rec. i. pp. 18, 88 ; Glasgow Memorials, pp. 204-5.
CHAPTER XIV
EARLY STREETS AND BUILDINGS POSSESSIONS OF RELIGIOUS
HOUSES
BY general assent Rottenrow is regarded as the oldest street
in Glasgow, and the opinion that it occupied the line of a Roman
highway may also be accepted as sound. The Roman road
from the south, through Clydesdale, approached Rottenrow
by the street, which having crossed the Molendinar Burn by
a bridge was, in contrast to other lanes which led to fords,
named Drygait, or in its Latinised form, Via Arida. The
precise route of the Roman road westward, after leaving
Rottenrow, is not definitely known, but that it passed through
Partick is probable, both on account of its destination being
in that direction and from the fact that the westward continua-
tion of Rottenrow is called in early title deeds the way which
led to " Partwich." l This Partick road must either have
crossed, or, for a short distance northward, joined the track
long known as the Cow Lone, and in modern times called Queen
Street, with its continuations of Buchanan Street and Garscube
Road. The cattle which daily left the town and took their
way along this old track reached the outskirts of their destina-
tion at Cowcaddens, 2 adjoining which, on the north, was the
1 Lib. Coll. etc. p. 258.
2 In the earliest preserved report on perambulation of the town's marches
(i June 1574), the Cow Lone is called " the passage that passis to the
quarrell and muir and the commone pasturis " (Glasgow Rec. i. p. 13). A
short distance north of Rottenrow the road divided Little Cowcaddens on
the east from Meikle Cowcaddens on the west. These lands were in the
70
EARLY ROADS AND STREETS 71
Summerhill, where one of the burgh's open-air courts was
annually held. Here the magistrates and community were
wont to assemble on the first day of a week about the middle
of June, and to pass resolutions on their common affairs, while
the more active exercise of " wapinschawing " was sometimes
combined with the day's proceedings. At the east end of
Rottenrow, where it joined the Drygait, these streets were
intersected by the roadway leading northward to the cathedral
and beyond, and southward to the market cross. To the north
there were probably several buildings occupied by churchmen
and their dependents, but towards the south, where sufficient
open space was left for accommodating the Black and Grey
Friars when these bodies were planted in Glasgow, the built
area must for a long time have been small in extent. South of
the market cross was the Walkergait (an early name for the
present Saltmarket Street) : it was obviously so called from its
being regularly traversed by the weavers and other workers
in cloth who frequented the Waulk Mill, which derived its
water power either from Camlachie Burn or Molendinar Burn,
or from both combined, below the point of their confluence.
At the foot of Walkergait the Bridgegait turned off to the cross-
ing over the River Clyde which led to the old village of Gorbals.
From the north end of the bridge which is known to have been
erected at this spot before the end of the thirteenth century,
possession of the Bishop's rentallers, and being described as a 6s. 8d. land
and a 135. 4d. land respectively, may be regarded as together extending to
about 52 acres. Little Cowcaddens, separated from the Subdean's lands of
Provanside by Glasgow burn, on the south, had the rentalled lands of
Broomhill on the north. Meikle Cowcaddens had the parson of Erskine's
lands of Blythswood on the south, the boundary being somewhat on the
line of the present Sauchiehall Street, and the rentalled lands of Woodside
on the west. On the north were Summerhill and Wester Common,
belonging to the community, and embracing the quarries and pasture land
to which the burgesses had access by the Cow Lone and its continuation.
Philologists are divided in opinion as to the origin of the name Cowcaddens,
which appears in the Bishops' Rental book as " Kowcawdennis " in 1510,
" Cowcaldens " in 1552, and elsewhere in varying forms. Available
information seems too scant for arriving at a satisfactory definition.
72 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
but how much earlier cannot be ascertained, a street called at
first Fishergait, and latterly Stockwell Street, was frequented
by fishermen who got water supplies from a " stock " or wooden
well which gave name to that thoroughfare. Westward from
the market cross was the important street called, alternatively,
Lady-gait, from the chapel of the Virgin Mary which stood on
the north side, or St. Tenews-gait, from its leading to the
Chapel of St. Tenew, and latterly Trongate, from the tron or
weighing place erected on its south side not far from the market
cross.
One other street, that of Gallowgait, extending eastward
of the cross, probably completes the list of the main thorough-
fares in the end of the twelfth or the beginning of the thir-
teenth century. The last mentioned gait passed through a
considerable stretch of land which it divided into Over and
Nether Gallowmuir, and at its east end approached a piece of
ground called " the Gallow Aiker " which, towards the end of
the sixteenth century, was in the possession of the "marshall of
the barony and regality of Glasgow." 3 As the name implies,
and documents substantiate, it was in this district that there
were carried out on malefactors the sentences pronounced in
the exercise of the " pit and gallows " jurisdiction 4 conferred
by implied or expressed grant in the charters to the bishops
as lords of the regality, or to the magistrates of the burgh.
Ports or gates were placed at the entrances to the
principal streets, with the view not only of facilitating the
collection of burgh customs but also of keeping out unwelcome
visitors, especially in times of pestilence. In the upper part
of the town were the Rottenrow port, North or Stable-green
port and Drygate port, the last-named being erected at the
bridge over the Molendinar burn. In the streets branching
from the market cross, and at short distances from this centre
(thus indicating the restricted area over which buildings
3 Glasgow Prot. No. 2411. * Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. p. 393.
FIRST BUILDING OF BURGH 73
extended), ports were placed in the Walkergait, Trongait and
Gallowgait. Occasionally ports were removed to new sites so
as to include building extensions, but latterly, under changed
conditions, the ports became unnecessary for their original
purposes, and were one by one removed as obstructions of
street traffic. 5
Though we have no contemporary warrant for setting down
the precise lines of streets or the extent of the built area in
the end of the twelfth century, there is some ground for
supposing that the town had by that time assumed the form
here indicated. And even if so fully developed a position had
not yet been attained, there can be little doubt, from the
evidence adduced by early title-deeds, that the formative pro-
cess was well advanced and that at a very early period the
inhabited area of Glasgow was laid out in the way described.
It happens that the title-deed of a property in the burgh,
supposed to date between the years 1179 and 1199, has been
recorded among the charters of Melrose Abbey. By this
document Bishop Joceline gave to his former church of St.
Mary of " Maylros," and to the monks serving God there,
in free and perpetual alms, that toft 6 in the burgh of Glasgow
which Ranulph of Hadintun built in the first building of
the burgh. 7 Another writing, authenticated with the common
5 The foregoing particulars as to streets and ports perhaps suffice at this
stage. Fuller information will be found in the topographical chapters of
Glasgow Memorials.
6 " Toft," a dwelling with a piece of land attached.
7 " Illud toftum in burgo de Glasgu quod Ranulfus de Hadintun edificavit
in prima edificatione burgi " (Glasgow Charters, i. pt. ii. p. 5). This quotation
is of special interest on account of its allusion to the beginnings of Glasgow as-
a burgh. The Bishop had recently obtained the king's authority to have a
burgh, with a weekly market and privileges such as other burghs possessed.
When Bishop John was about to set the municipal machinery of St. Andrews
in motion he obtained the services of Mainard, a burgess of Berwick, where
he had acquired a knowledge of burgh usages, and it is not unlikely that
Ranulf had come from Haddington to Glasgow in a similar capacity (Glasgow
Memorials, p. 68).
74 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
seal of the burgh and transcribed into Melrose chartulary,
sets forth that on 8th October, 1325, an " inquest " had found
that Thomas of Hall was rightful heir of certain lands in the
town of Glasgow and that possession had been given to him,
subject to approval by the abbot for his interest. It may
therefore be inferred that by this time the monks had leased
or feued their Glasgow property and that it had come into the
possession of Thomas of Hall by inheritance. In another
document, dated loth May, 1454, a tenement on the south
side of the street of " St. Tenew " is described as bounded on
the east by the land of the lord abbot of Melros, being pre-
sumably the twelfth century toft and identifiable with a
property belonging to the Hall family, and described as a
tower or fortalice and orchard lying on the south side of
Argyle Street and west side of Stockwell Street, the site of
which, in the sixteenth century, was disposed of in building
lots. 8
One of the witnesses named in Joceline's charter to Melrose
was Hugh, abbot of Neubotle, and it was possibly at the time
of that grant that the bishop gave to the church of St. Mary
of Neubotle, and to the monks serving God there, a full toft
in the burgh of Glasgow, in free and perpetual alms. To this
charter Arnald, abbot of Melrose, was a witness. 9 The monks
of Neubotle subsequently acquired other properties in the
t>urgh, and these are supposed to have formed part of a toft
which, with the fishing of one net in the river Clyde, Bishop
Joceline gave to the Knights Templars. The Knights by a
charter, granted between the years 1175 and 1179, gave to
William Gley, their man (homini nostro) the toft and fishing,
8 See Glasgow Memorials, pp. 2, 3, 68-70, where the identification is more
fully explained. From the Rental of Melrose Abbey lands it appears that a
yearly sum of 20 s. was derived from Glasgow, and this may have been the
rent or feu-duty exacted from Ranulf's toft. (Melrose Regality Records
Scottish History Society, 2nd Series, vol. 13, p. 241.)
9 Reg. de Neubotle, No. 175.
POSSESSIONS OF RELIGIOUS HOUSES 75
to be held by him and his heirs of the Templars for payment
of twelve pence yearly. 10 It seems to have been part of this
property which, by an undated charter, authenticated with
the burgh seal, William Gley, designated burgess of Glasgow,
transferred to the monks of Neubotle. The ground thus
conveyed is described as lying in the town of Glasgow, between
the land which Gley bought from the executors of John Alison
and the land of William Scloyder, and the granter bound himself
to warrant the property to the monks according to the law of
the burgh. The rent payable to the Bishop was tenpence
yearly. Under proceedings in the burgh Court, in 1295, the
monks acquired from Gley's successors a property described
as lying in the Fishergait, between the land of William Scloyder
on the south and the land of John Williamson, called Bradhy,
on the north. 1 Assuming, therefore, that these properties
were included in the Templars' toft, they may, at least to
some extent, be identified with the property on the west side
of Stockwell Street, over which, in the sixteenth century, the
Knights of St. John, as successors of the Templars, were still
exercising their separate jurisdiction. 2
In connection with these twelfth century grants it may be
mentioned that in early times it was customary for the heads
of religious houses to possess dwellings in the more important
towns throughout the country. Many of these holdings were
originally Crown gifts, the object being to enable the great
church lords to accompany the Sovereign in his frequent
changes of residence, as well as to secure responsible and
improving tenants in the new burghs. 3 By royal grants the
Bishops of Glasgow owned a toft in each of the burghs of
Montrose, Dumfries, Forfar and Stirling. 4 King William gave
to the monks of Aberbrothock a toft in each of his burghs and
10 Reg. Episc. No. 41.
1 Reg. de Neubotle, No. 177. 2 Glasgow Memorials, p. 67.
3 Cosmo Innes, Early History, p. 35. 4 Reg. Episc. Nos. 33, 50, 74, 77.
76 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
residences, and it is not improbable that Glasgow, which of
old had its chapel of St. Thomas, likewise contained a dwelling
for the accommodation of the monks of the great northern
monastery. But to conclude the list of known possessions of
the class referred to it has to be noted that the Abbey of Paisley
had at least three properties in the city, one called the Monks'
House at the corner of High Street and Rottenrow, another is
described in the Abbey rental as the " ynnis before the Black
Freris," and the third consisted of a tenement in Stockwell
Street. 5
6 Paisley Abbey. Appx. p. civ; Registrum de Passelet, pp. 399-401, 433-4.
The Monks' House was sometimes called " the hous at the Wynd-heid."
CHAPTER XV
CHURCH BUILDING BISHOP JOCELINE
THERE is neither any record of the destruction of the church
erected by Bishop John nor any reference to new works till
Joceline's time, but it is supposed that the earliest portion of
the existing fabric was constructed during Ingelram's episco-
pate. This portion, consisting of a mere fragment, is to be
found about twenty feet from the west end of the south aisle
of the present Lower Church, and it is apparently part of the
east gable of the original south aisle. 1 It is stated in
the Melrose Chronicle that in 1181 " Bishop Joceline enlarged
his episcopal residence and magnificently extended the church
of St. Kentigern " ; 2 and Wyntoun repeats the story :
" A thowsand a hundyr foure scor and ane
Fra Jhesu Cryst had manhed tane,
Joce, than Byschape off Glasgw.
Rowmyt the kyrk off Sanct Mongw." 3
On the assumption that the work of John and subsequent
bishops still remained entire it has been supposed that
Joceline began the erection of a nave as an addition to the
already existing choir, but that before the work was far
advanced it was interrupted in consequence of the completed
portions being destroyed by fire. Contemporary evidence
as to the rebuilding which was going on a few years later has
1 Glasgow Cathedral (1901), p. 10. * Melrose Chronicle, p. 139.
8 Wyntoun, ii. p. 214.
77
78 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
been preserved in a charter granted by King William, between
1189 ar *d 1192. At this time the bishop was engaged in restor-
ing the fabric which, as mentioned in the charter, had been
" in these our days " consumed by fire. Acting with the co-
operation or counsel of the abbots, priors and other clergy
in the bishopric, Joceline had constituted a " fraternity " or
society for the raising of funds and promotion of the work,
and the king, characterizing the church of Glasgow as the
mother of many nations, hitherto lowly and narrow, which
he now desired to widen, ratified the scheme and took it and
all engaged in the work under the royal protection. 4 The
new church, which was sufficiently advanced to be dedicated
for divine worship on 6th July, H97, 5 probably consisted of
no more than the partially completed choir, though the con-
struction of a nave and transepts was also commenced.
Much progress, however, does not seem to have been made
with the work, either by Joceline himself or by his three
immediate successors in the bishopric, and building operations
on an extensive scale were not resumed till the time of Bishop
William of Bondington, the founder of the existing choir and
lower church.
It is generally believed that the chief purpose which Bishop
Joceline had in view in getting his namesake, a monk of
Furness Abbey, in Lancashire, to compile a biography of St.
Kentigern, was the rousing of enthusiasm over Glasgow's
patron saint so as to promote the collection of funds for
erection of the church which was to be so intimately associated
with his name. Monk Joceline was experienced in such work,
4 Reg. Episc. No. 76.
5 Ibid. No. 541. " A.D. 1197, Joceline, bishop of Glasgow, dedicated his
cathedral church, which he had built anew, upon Sunday, the day before the
nones of July, in the 24th year of his episcopate " (Melrose Chronicle ;
Church Historians of England, vol. iv. pt. i. p. 147). " In 1197 the cathedral,
a new building, begun by Bishop Herbert, was consecrated by Jocelin, two
other bishops assisting." (Dowden's Bishops, p. 299.) St. Kentigern, p. 308.
BISHOP JOCELINE 79
having already written a life of St. Patrick and biographical
narratives of other saints, thus justifying his selection for the
purpose which the bishop had in hand. The means adopted
by the author for obtaining information have been referred
to in a previous chapter, and reference need only be made
here to the terms in which " the least of the poor ones of
Christ " speaks of " his most reverend lord and dearest father
Joceline, an anointed bishop of the Lord Jesus Christ." Allu-
sion is made to the fame of the bishop's name, the loftiness
of his office, the even balance of his judgment, his life which
was darkened by no shadow of evil report and his long tried
religion, all giving sufficient reason for believing that he was
the ornament of the House of the Lord over which he presided,
while the first-fruits of the gatherings for the Life of St. Kenti-
gern, then offered to the bishop, were redolent of the glory of
himself and the church. 6 But apart from the monk's somewhat
high-flown dedication enough is known of Bishop Joceline to
mark him out as a man of great ability, and as one who during
the twenty-five years of his episcopate was highly successful
in promoting the best interests, both temporal and spiritual,
of the wide district over which he exercised his authority.
Of all his endeavours perhaps that which has been most per-
manently beneficial was the establishment of a burgh at
Glasgow ; but the matters which attracted most attention in
his own day were probably those connected with ecclesiastical
affairs throughout the see, and, most prominent of all, the
rebuilding of the cathedral.
In those days it was considered desirable to have repeated
assurances of protection from Rome, and Joceline was success-
ful in obtaining, within a period of twelve years and from
three successive Popes, a series of Papal Bulls, whereby there
were confirmed to the Bishop and his successors all their goods
and possessions, whether acquired by gift of the Popes, bounty
6 St. Kentigern, p. 29.
80 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
of the Kings or Princes, offerings of the faithful, or in any
other lawful manner. In addition to this general classification
there was usually a special enumeration of existing possessions,
and in this way Pope Urban, in a bull dated I2th June, 1186,
specified " the place itself in which the church was situated,"
with its pertinents, the Burgh of Glasgow with all its liberties,
as granted by King William, and lands named in a list and
situated within Glasgow barony, " with all the churches of
the said lands, chapels and other pertinents." Next came a
list of nineteen churches and seven chapels, situated in different
parts of the diocese, with, it is added, all other churches and
chapels ; and this was followed by a general ratification of lands
in Clydesdale, Tweeddale, Teviotdale, Annandale, and above
a dozen other districts, along with the teinds payable
from the King's " can " in Kyle and Carrick, the eighth
of the King's pleas in courts throughout the bishopric,
and the tofts and lands in the King's burghs belonging to
the church.
Among regulations dealing with diocesan management and
ecclesiastical discipline, passed between 1181 and 1187, during
the rule of Pope Lucius and that of his successor, Pope
Urban, is a declaration that in cases of disputed patronage of
benefices the decision of the bishop should be final ; and by
another provision, the object of which was to secure regularity
in the performance of religious services, patrons were not
allowed to hold churches in their own hand when they were
vacant or to institute parsons therein without authority of
the bishop, while bishops had right to appoint to benefices
if vacancies were not filled up within three months. Appoint-
ments to churches were not to be made till vacancies
occurred, and priests' sons occupying churches which their
fathers had held before them were liable to removal, except
in cases of approved character and long possession. There
was also a curious prohibition against Churchmen pledging
PROTECTION OF PAPAL SEE 81
their benefices for money borrowed from the Jews or other
usurers. 7
In consequence of a dispute with Pope Alexander III.,
regarding an appointment to the bishopric of St. Andrews,
King William was excommunicated in 1181, and his kingdom
laid under an interdict. The Pope died shortly afterwards,
and in the Melrose Chronicle of the year 1182 it is related that
Bishop Joceline, along with the abbots of Melrose and Kelso,
" with many other men of consequence," went to Rome
upon the affairs of the king and kingdom, and after accomplish-
ing their mission they returned home, bringing with them, from
Pope Lucius to King William, the Golden Rose along with his
paternal blessing. 8 Peace being thus secured in that quarter
William seems to have thereafter kept on good terms with the
successive heads of the church, and it is stated that in a letter
addressed to him, on I3'th March, 1187-8, Pope Clement III.
announced that the Scottish Church was taken under the
immediate protection of the papal see. 9
7 Reg. Episc. Nos. 54, 58-65.
* Melrose Chronicle, p. 139.
9 Dunbar's Scottish Kings (1899), p. 80 ; Dowden's Bishops, pp. 298-9.
CHAPTER XVI
KING WILLIAM'S BURGHAL LEGISLATION
IN the collections of ancient statutes an attempt has been
made to distinguish those attributable to the reign of King
William ; and of the legislation so marked a few chapters,
specially applicable to burghs, contain provisions substantially
identical with clauses in the charters of that period granted
to various individual burghs. By one of these laws the mer-
chants of the realm were authorized to have a merchant guild,
with liberty to buy and sell in all places within the liberties of
burghs, so that each one should be content with his own
liberty and that none should occupy or usurp the liberty of
another. 1 This seems to mean that the merchants within the
trading liberties of any particular burgh were entitled to
form themselves into a fraternity, and it was in this way that
merchant guilds were constituted in actual practice. In
Glasgow the provisions of the general law were not incorporated
in any burgh charter till 1636, long before which time the
merchants had been classed together, first perhaps as an
ordinary association and latterly as a guildry with a dean at
its head. 2
By another statute it was ordained that no prelate or
churchman, earl, baron or secular person, should presume to
buy wool, skins, hides or such like merchandise, but goods of
that sort were to be sold only to merchants of the burgh within
whose sheriff dom and liberty the owners dwelt. To secure
1 Ancient Laws, i. p. 60. 2 Glasg. Prof. No. 1662 ; Glas. Rec. i. pp. 95. 96.
82
HOME AND FOREIGN MERCHANDISE 83
the due observance of this provision all merchandise was to
be offered to the merchants at the market and market cross
of the burgh, and such king's custom as was exigible was there-
upon to be paid. By a separate law, perhaps of later date
than that of William, all dwellers in the country, as well free-
holders as peasants, having marketable wares for sale, were
directed to bring such to the king's market within the sheriff-
dom where they happened to dwell. Under this statute, if
in operation before 1175, the market to be frequented by
dwellers in Glasgow barony would be that of Rutherglen,
and it is known that, whether under the statute or not, officials
of the burgh of Rutherglen collected the king's custom in the
barony both before and for some time after the founding of
the burgh of Glasgow. But the Glasgow market, possessing
in other respects all the privileges conferred by statute or
burghal usage, would be exclusively resorted to by the barony
traders, and though local customs would be exacted there it
is probable, from what is known of subsequent practice, that
the king's custom would be gathered elsewhere.
With regard to foreign trade it was ordained that no
merchant of another nation should buy or sell any kind of
merchandise elsewhere than within a burgh, and such trading
was to be conducted chiefly with merchants of the burgh and
ships belonging to them. Foreign merchants arriving with
ships and merchandise were not to " cut claith or sell in penny
worthis," but were to dispose of their goods wholesale to
merchants of the burgh. Such provisions can scarcely have
been of much benefit to Glasgow till a long time after the
beginning of the thirteenth century, and they are not imported
into the early charters of the burgh. But, as was shown in
the negotiations which Glasgow subsequently had with Renfrew
and Dumbarton, the merchants of the burgh were acknowledged
to be entitled to the privileges conferred not only by the
general law adopted in William's reign but also by the implied
84 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
terms of the burgh's own charters. Thus in an action of
declarator by Glasgow against Dumbarton, decided by the
Court of Session in favour of Glasgow, on 8th February, 1666,
it was pleaded that, as a necessary and essential point of the
freedoms conferred by King William's charter of 1175-8, the
burgh had the right and privilege of merchandizing, sailing
out and in with ships, barks, boats and other vessels upon the
Clyde, and arriving, loading and unloading goods at places
convenient within the river. 3
Engrossed in the Register of Glasgow Bishopric, in thirteenth
century handwriting, are a few ordinances corresponding
with privileges granted by King William to some of the royal
burghs, but none of these provisions have been embodied in
the Glasgow charters, the general law being considered of
sufficient application. The enactments referred to provide
(i) That no one residing outwith a burgh should have a brew-
house, unless he had the privilege of " pit and gallows," and
in that case one brewhouse only ; (2) no one residing outwith
a burgh was allowed to make cloth, dyed or cut ; (3) no one
travelling with horses or cows, or the like, was to be interfered
with if he pastured his beasts outwith meadow or standing
corn ; and (4) no bailie or servant of the king was to have a
tavern in the burgh or to be allowed to sell bread or bake it
for sale. 4
In addition to the forty shillings, yearly, which he had
previously given from the ferms of the burgh of Rutherglen,
for the lights of the cathedral, King William, in the time of
Bishop Joceline, had from the same source bestowed three
merks yearly for the sustentation of the dean and subdean.
To this latter grant other three merks were added, in the time
3 Ancient Laws, i. pp. 60-62, 183 ; River Clyde (1909), p. i. King William's
statutes above referred to are summarised and renewed in a charter by King
David II. to his burgesses throughout Scotland, dated 28th March, 1364
(Convention Records, i. pp. 538-41).
4 Reg, Episc. No. 536 ; Ancient Laws, i. 97-98.
LIGHTS OF CATHEDRAL 85
of Bishop William, so that the dean and subdean might be
decently provided with surplices and black capes conform to
the statute of the church ; and by a charter, granted between
the years 1200 and 1202, the king charged his prepositi of
Rutherglen, on behalf of himself and of Alexander, his son,
to pay the six merks yearly to the clerics within the church
of St. Kentigern. 5 In connection with these church grants
it may also here be noted that Robert of London, son of the
king, gave out of his lands of Cadihou a stone of wax, to be
delivered at Glasgow fair, yearly, for the lights of the cathedral. 6
Bishop Joceline died at his old abbey of Melrose on lyth
March, 1198-9, and was buried there, in the monks' choir. Then
followed, within the short space of eight years, the placing of
no fewer than four of his successors. Hugh de Roxburgh,
chancellor of Scotland, though elected, was probably not
consecrated, as he did not survive Joceline as much as four
months. William Malvoisine, who also was chancellor and
held the office of archdeacon of St. Andrews, next succeeded.
He was, by command of the Pope, consecrated by the arch-
bishop of Lyons, in that city, on 24th September, 1200, but
he was translated to St. Andrews on 20th September, 1202.
Florence, a nephew of King William, being son of his sister
Ada and of Florence III., count of Holland, seems to have been
elected in 1202. In the following year he was designated bishop
elect and chancellor of the king, but he was never consecrated,
and he resigned before December, 1207. The next bishop,
Walter, chaplain of the king, was elected on 9th December,
1207. He was, by leave of the Pope, consecrated at Glasgow
on 2nd November, 1208, and held the bishopric for the fairly
long period of twenty-four years. 7
In the latter years of King Richard of England, with whom
he always remained on terms of friendship, William had in
5 Reg. Episc. No. 92. Ibid. No. 49.
7 Dowden's Bishops of Scotland, pp. 299-301.
86 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
vain endeavoured to recover Northumberland and Cumber-
land, and after John succeeded to the English throne, in 1199,
these attempts were renewed with no better success. Another
subject of contention arose in consequence of English schemes
for the erection of a fortress at the mouth of the Tweed, all
of which were frustrated by the Scots, but though, in 1209,
armies had been raised on each side, the two kings were in no
warlike mood, and an amicable arrangement was adjusted
through the mediation of their barons. Troubles, however,
were not wholly extinguished in some of the outlying districts
of the country. In the extreme southwest peace had been
maintained since the settlement with Roland, lord of Galloway,
in 1185, but the northern counties were not yet pacified. In
1196-8 three successive campaigns against rebels in the earldom
of Caithness resulted in the complete overthrow of Earl Harald
and his insurgent forces ; and in the year 1211 a similar result
was secured in the Ross district by the defeat of Guthred
MacWilliam, a Celt who claimed the Scottish throne through
descent from Malcolm Canmore.
King William died at Stirling in 1214 and was buried at
Arbroath in the abbey which had been founded by himself
in honour of St. Thomas of Canterbury.
" Oure Kyng off Scotland Schyr Williame
Past off this warld till his lang hame,
To the joy off Paradys,
(Hys body in Abbyrbroth lyis)
Efftyre that he had lyvyd here
King crownyd than nere fyfty yhere." 8
During the visit of William de Malvoisin to Lyons for his
consecration he seems to have asked information for his
guidance in the management of his bishopric, and a letter he
received on the subject from John de Belmeis, a former arch-
8 Wyntoun, ii. p. 228. See also the remarks of a contemporary of the
king in Melrose Chronicle, p. 155.
SEAL AND SIGNET OF FLORENCE, BISHOP OF GLASGOW, I2O2-y.
BARONIAL JURISDICTION 87
bishop of Lyons, has been preserved. At the outset of his
letter the ex-archbishop expresses his belief that Bishop William
will find, on his return journey, men much more wise and
prudent than he was to afford the desired information, especi-
ally while passing through the city of Paris "where there is no
doubt you can find many who are skilled both in divine and
human law." But he proceeded to explain the plan he himself
had followed, in accordance with the example of his prede-
cessors and the experience of his own times. The see of Lyons,
said the archbishop, " has the very ample jurisdiction which
you call ' barony '," and there was a seneschal to whom was
entrusted the responsibility for legal business, and who dealt
not merely with pecuniary causes but saw to the punishment of
crimes and serious offences, in accordance with the custom
of the country. " But/' adds the archbishop, " if the nature
of the offence inferred either the penalty of the gibbet, or the
cutting off of members, I took care that not a word of this
was brought to me." It was the seneschal, with his assessors,
who decided about such matters, though it was the archbishop
who gave them authority to take up and decide them,
and whatever revenue was derived from causes of that kind
was carried to his account, after deducting the perquisites
of his seneschal, who was entitled to a third of the proceeds
for his trouble. On another branch of Bishop William's
inquiry, the late archbishop stated that clerics, and especially
such as had been advanced to holy orders, were strictly pro-
hibited from prosecuting in a secular court cases of robbery
or theft, or if they could not avoid that they were on no account
to proceed to single combat, or the ordeal of red-hot iron, or
of water, or any procedure of that sort. 9
9 The ordinance by King William as to the " judgement of bataile or of
water or of het yrn," in this country, is referred to antea, p. 51. Facsimiles
(one third of original height) are here given of pages of Glasgow Pontifical Book,
preserved in the British Museum. No. i facsimile shews, in ritual of hot-iron
ordeal, the consecration of the iron. No. 2 shews (on foreshortened page
88 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
It is long after this time before any direct information
is obtainable as to the mode of government followed in
Glasgow barony, unless something may be learned from
King Alexander's confirmation of the Bishop's lands in free
forest, in 1241 ; but according to fifteenth century practice, a
bailie and his deputes are found exercising somewhat similar
authority to that assigned to the seneschal of Lyons and his
assessors in 1200, and it is not unreasonable to suppose that a
like system may have prevailed in Glasgow during the inter-
vening period.
No prohibition against duelling by churchmen, such as
that enjoined abroad, seems to have been in operation in this
country till a few years after the date of the archbishop's
letter. By a Bull obtained on 23rd March, 1216, at a time when
Malvoisin, then bishop of St. Andrews, was in Rome, and
directed to all the faithful of Christ throughout the province
of York and the kingdom of Scotland, Pope Innocent III.
stated that it had come to his ears that a certain baneful
custom, which should rather be called an abomination, as being
utterly in defiance of law and of the credit of the church,
had from of old established itself within the kingdom of England
and of Scotland and was still wrongfully adhered to, namely,
that if a bishop, abbot, or any cleric, happened to be challenged
for any of the grounds of offence in respect of which a duel
was wont to take place among laymen, he who was challenged,
however much a cleric he might be, was compelled personally
to undergo the ordeal of duel. The Pope, therefore, utterly
detesting the custom, as offensive to God and the sacred
canons, commanded that no one thenceforward, under pain
of anathema, should presume to persist in the practice. But
to left) in ritual of hot- water ordeal the adjuration of the water, and (on full
page to right) direction as to immersion of the accused man's hand. The
photographs for these facsimiles have been kindly lent by Dr. George Neilson
who procured them in illustration of his Rhind Lectures on Scottish Feudal
Traits.
PRIVILEGES OF BURGESSES 89
this papal fulmination did not alter the law of the land, and
twenty years after its date the bishops and clergy of England
are found seeking to procure from the kings of England and
Scotland exemption from liability to wager of battle. 10
So far as statutory law was concerned the burgesses of
royal burghs seem to have had greater protection from the
call to battle than the clergy could claim. There was nothing
to prevent two burgesses of the same town settling their quarrel
by an appeal to arms, but if a rustic, or non-resident burgess,
challenged a resident burgess, the latter was not bound to
fight, and was entitled to defend himself in the burgh court.
If, however, the challenge came from the resident burgess the
outside party had to defend himself by battle, and in such a
case that had to be fought outside the burgh. 1
10 Reg. Episc. No. 1 10 ; Statutes of the Scottish Church : Scottish History
Society, vol. 54, pp. 288-93 ; Neilson's Trial by Combat, pp. 122-6.
1 Other privileges are noted in Edinburgh Guilds and Crafts (Scottish Burgh
Records Society), pp. 12, 13.
CHAPTER XVII
GLASGOW AND DUMBARTON ROYAL MINT
ALEXANDER II. was only in his seventeenth year when he came
to the throne, but being apparently well guided, alike by his
own discretion and the prudence of his advisers, his rule marked
the beginning of that course of prosperity which earned for
the combined reigns of himself and his successor the distinction
of being called the golden age of Scottish history. But during
the first three years, at a time when King John of England was
continuing the struggle with his barons, the latter offered the
northern counties of England to Alexander in return for his
assistance, and through the revival of this old contention
complications were threatened. Scottish armies were led
south and frontier hostilities lasted for some time, but through
the changed conditions brought about by the granting of
Magna Carta and the subsequent death of John, a settlement,
which included the abandonment of the county claims, was
adjusted with John's successor, King Henry, whose sister
Alexander married in 1221. On this subject Wyntoun says :
" Betwene Alysandyr the secownd Kyng
That Scotland had in governing,
And the Kyngis off Ingland,
That in hys tyme war than rygnand
Fra that he fyrst maryd wes,
Wes ay qwyete, rest, and pes.
KYNGIS OFF PES for-thi thai twa,
Aly sander and Henry, cald war swa." 1
1 Wyntoun, ii. pp. 238-9.
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ARGYLE AND LENNOX DISTRICTS 91
The continued peace with England gave the Scottish king the
opportunity of bestowing more attention on home affairs,
and one of the first advantages thereby secured was the com-
plete subjugation of the district of Argyle, part of which had
formed the ancient Dalriada, and had never hitherto been
thoroughly subject to the Scottish crown.
Between the lands of Glasgow barony and the district of
Argyle, thus united to the kingdom, lay the earldom of Leven-
achs, otherwise Levenax, a name latterly softened to Lennox,
originally taken from the river Leven to the lands through
which it flowed, and in time extended to the wide district
embracing Dumbartonshire with a considerable portion of the
shire of Stirling and other adjacent lands. The first owner of
this territory is said, but on doubtful authority, to have been
one Arkyll who lived in the time of Malcolm Canmore, and it
was supposed that his son or grandson, Alwyn, was the first
earl. Both the first earl and his son and successor were
named Alwyn, but the precise dates of possession are uncertain.
When the succession opened to the second earl he was in
minority, and till he came of age for military service the
earldom was held by King William's brother, David earl of
Huntingdon. 2 One interesting bit of information connected
with the administration of the earldom about this time is
preserved in the Register of Glasgow Bishopric. By charters
granted between 1208 and 1214 the second Earl Alwyn and
Maldouen, his son and heir, granted to the church of Glasgow
and to Bishop Walter and his successors, the church of
" Kamsi," with the land which he gave to it at its dedication,
and with the chapels adjacent to the church, common pasturage
throughout the whole parish and other easements, all in free
and perpetual alms. The charters are accompanied by a
minute description of the bounds of the parish, but these
2 Lindores Chartulary, p. i ; Scots Peerage, ' Lennox,' vol. v. ; Reg. de
Passelet, p. 167.
92 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
limits have been altered by subsequent disjunctions. 3 Campsie
became the prebend of the chancellor of the cathedral, but at
first the bishop's title to its possession was not clear. During
Earl David's wardship he had granted Campsie church to the
monks of Kelso, and their claim was only surrendered in con-
sideration of their receiving payment of ten merks yearly
from the benefice. 4
Whether or not the castle of Dumbarton had been in the
full possession of earlier owners of the earldom is not definitely
known, but from about the beginning of the thirteenth century
it has been vested in the crown. By a charter dated 28th July,
1238, King Alexander granted and confirmed to Maldouen,
son of Alwyn, the earldom of Levenax which his father held,
with all its pertinents, except the castle of Dunbretane, with
the land of Murrach, and with the whole harbour, and whole
water and fishings on each side of the water of Levyne as far
as the land of Murrach extended ; which excepted possessions,
it was added, had been retained by the king with consent of
Earl Maldouen. By this time the important step had been
taken of erecting the town of Dumbarton into a royal burgh,
and lands had been bestowed on the burgesses, thus accounting
so far for the exceptions referred to, and also leading to the
conclusion that the retention of territory and privileges had
been in operation some years before the date of the charter.
Previous to this time the burgesses of Glasgow had enjoyed the
privilege of trading throughout both Lennox and Argyle, but
after the new burgh of Dumbarton came into existence its
burgesses seem to have objected to a continuation of such
conditions. It was on 8th July, 1222, the same year in which
Argyle had been subdued, that King Alexander constituted
Dumbarton a burgh royal and conferred on its inhabitants
such liberties as had been granted to Edinburgh, with the
3 Reg, Episc. Nos. 101-3.
4 Reg. Episc. No. 116 ; Origines Parochiales, i. p. 45.
BURGH OF DUMBARTON 93
privilege of a weekly market and freedom from payment of
toll for their goods in any part of the kingdom. By another
charter, granted in the following year, the king charged
dwellers within a wide district, probably as much as was then
included in the shire of Dumbarton, to come to the burgh
with their merchandise and there present the same to the
market, conform to the laws and customs of burgh. The
exaction of toll and custom duty from dwellers between the
Water of Kelvin and the head of Loch Long 5 was authorized,
and parts of the lands of Murraich were bestowed as common
good. By a third charter, granted in 1225-6, the king author-
ized the burgh to have a yearly fair, enduring for eight days,
with all the customs and liberties enjoyed at the fairs held in
the burghs of Roxburgh and Haddington. 6
All this time Glasgow was not being overlooked in the
bestowal of such advantages as could be derived from charters.
Between 1224 and 1227 the king, in a series of three separate
writings, confirmed the charters of his predecessor, and again
in express terms renewed the powers and privileges of the
burgesses. By a charter dated I3th October, 1235, the king
directed that the bishops and their men should be quit of paying
toll throughout the kingdom, as well within as without burghs,
for their own goods and for all other things bought for their
own use. The privileges here conferred seem to have been
intended for the benefit of the whole inhabitants of the barony,
5 These bounds refer to land, not to waterway. Neither the shire nor the
earldom embraced territory at the mouth of the Kelvin. Immediately west
of the Kelvin, at its confluence with the river Clyde, were the lands of Govan
within Glasgow barony, and beyond these was a stretch of riverside grounds
within the barony, afterwards the shire, of Renfrew. But notwithstanding
the obvious meaning of the charter the representatives of the two burghs,
in their Clyde litigations of the seventeenth century, both of them oblivious
of the primitive trading practices which prevailed four hundred years before
their time, thought that the toll and custom which the burgh of Dumbarton
was authorized to exact was leviable for traffic on the river Clyde.
6 Reg. Mag. Sig. vii. No. 190.
94 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
and in this respect the charter differs from most of the other
royal grants relating to trading and exaction of customs which
were applicable to the burgh only. 7
The full liberties of trading and exemption from toll and
customs expressed in the burgh's charters appear to have
been freely exercised throughout Lennox and Argyle before the
burgh of Dumbarton was constituted in 1222. For some time
previous to 1243, however, the burgesses of Dumbarton seem
to have considered that the continuance of such freedom
within their territory involved an infringement of their own
privileges, and it is gathered from the terms of a charter granted
by the king on nth January, 1242-3, that the Glasgow men had
been obstructed in the exercise of their rights. By the charter
referred to the king confirmed previous grants and explicitly
declared that the bishops and their burgesses and men of
Glasgow might go into Argyle and Lennox, and throughout
the whole kingdom, to buy and sell, and to exercise every
sort of merchandise, without any hindrance from the bailies
of Dumbarton, or from any others, all as such privileges had
been exercised of old before a burgh was founded at Dumbarton.
Peace and protection were also extended to all coming to or
returning from the Fair and Market of Glasgow, and no one
was to interfere with such traffickers or cause them injury
or trouble. 8
The charter authorizing Bishop Joceline to have a burgh
at Glasgow was granted in 1175, 1178, or an intervening year,
and in connection with the apparent assumption that the
burgesses thereby obtained trading privileges throughout the
earldom of Lennox, it seems a significant fact that Earl David,
the king's brother, was one of the witnesses, while it is highly
7 Glasg. Chart. I. pt. ii. pp. 8-13. In the charter of 1235 " sui " is a mis-
print for "servi." These are the words : " homines, nativi et servi "
men, natives or neyfs and bondmen.
8 Glasg. Chart. I. pt. ii. pp. 15, 16.
ROYAL MINT 95
probable that at that time he was in possession of the earl-
dom of Lennox, for the date of his investiture was some time
about 1178-82. In any case Earl David must have had the
opportunity, whether he exercised it or not, of conferring on
the earliest burgesses of Glasgow some degree of freedom in
the earldom, and it may be that to this circumstance the
privileges referred to in the charter of 1242-3 owed their
origin.
At this early period any little trade which the merchants of
Glasgow carried on beyond their own borders was chiefly by
land, though in later times it was nearly always in connection
with the waterway that any rivalries existed between the two-
burghs. But the land controversy did not readily subside.
In 1275 Alexander III. reminded the sheriff and bailies of
Dumbarton that they knew well how, before the foundation
of the burgh of Dumbarton, there had been granted to the
bishop and his men of Glasgow authority to go to and return
from Argyle with their merchandise, and the king then com-
manded that if the sheriff and bailies had taken anything from
the bishop's men they should make restitution, and he charged
them to desist from such interference in future. In this charter,
which was ratified by Robert the Bruce in 1328, trading in
the earldom is not referred to, but the object of the royal
mandate must have been the protection of the Glasgow
merchants while passing through the Lennox territory. 9
From the existence of coins struck at Glasgow in the reign
of Alexander II. or III., and from the circumstantial account
given by M'Ure of coins of Robert III. bearing the inscription
' Villa de Glasgov," being in the hands of collectors in his day,
it appears that in former times there was a royal mint in the
city, though its establishment may have been more of a periodic
than a permanent nature. Originally the moneyers employed
to strike coins accompanied the king from place to place.
9 Glasg. Chart. I. pt. ii. pp. 17, 24.
96 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
performing the work where and when necessary, and putting
the temporary place of sojourn on the coin as the place of
mintage. In this way the name of Walter, a moneyer, appears
on Alexander's coins minted at Glasgow, Aberdeen, Montrose,
Berwick and Dunbar. During the reign of Alexander III.,
the practice of giving the coiner's name was discontinued,
and accordingly the pieces mentioned by M'Ure bear the
sovereign's name only. In these days mints were established,
or at least were in occasional operation, in many provincial
towns, but it may be that mintage at these places was practised
only during visits of royalty. 10
10 See Records of Coinage in Scotland, i. pp. xiv, xv, xlii, xliii. The Alexander
coins attributed to Glasgow are stamped with the letters GLA, and on that
account it has been thought possible that they were minted at or near the
royal castle of Glamis in Forfarshire, but it is generally held that Glasgow has
the better claim. See The Coinage of Scotland, by Edward Burns (1887), vol. i.
p. 147. The illustrations here reproduced in the following order are taken
from vol. iii. of that work, viz., plate x, fig. 920, 920, 92E ; plate xi, fig. 102 ;
plate xii, fig. 118, u8A ; plate xiii, fig. 127, 128.
M'Ure says, " There has been a mint-house " at Glasgow, " as was in most
of the considerable burghs ; for some of the coins of King Robert the III.
bear to have been stampt here, and have the king's picture crowned, but
without a scepter, and Robertus Dei gratia rex Scotorum, in the inner circle
Villa de Glasgow, and on the outter dominus protector t some of which are pre-
served in the cabinets of the curious, and some were found lately by masons
among the rubbish of the office-houses, as Mr. Russel informs me, who is
.governor of the correction house " in Drygait (History of Glasgow, p. 83).
The inscription " dominus protector " seems to refer to the Duke of Albany
in the time of his regency. With reference to the coin said to be " without
a scepter," the editor of the 1830 edition of the History notes that " there is
one in the possession of a gentleman of this city with the sceptre " (76.).
r^ ill
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IV
COINS ATTRIBUTED TO GLASGOW MINT.
CHAPTER XVIII
COLLECTION OF THE KING'S CUSTOMS
IN the thirteenth century the chief collectors of the royal
revenues were, firstly the sheriffs, who gathered in the rents
of the crown lands, the feudal casualties and the fines imposed
by themselves and by the Justiciar and Chamberlain at their
circuit courts ; and, secondly, the magistrates and custumars
of the royal burghs who accounted for the burghal fermes and
customs. Periodically accounts were rendered to the Chamber-
lain, who was both receiver and disburser of the crown revenues,
and these accounts as filed were called Exchequer Rolls.
Unfortunately no original rolls of a date prior to 1326 have
been preserved, and the Earl of Haddington, who in the
seventeenth century examined earlier rolls which have since
disappeared, was so sparing with his transcripts that these
afford little information about the burghs. From the account
of Alexander Hunyeth, sheriff of Lanark in 1264, a few items
are extracted by the earl, one recording payment for the car-
riage of lead from Crawford Muir to Rutherglen, and another
the purchase of ninety-eight sheep which were sent for the
king's use at a meeting of the great men of the realm, known
as a " colloquium," held at Edinburgh that year. 1 The
amount collected by Hugh of Dalzell, sheriff of Lanark in
1288, was 522 75. ii Jd. ; and his expenditure included 22s.
paid for two enclosures called " ponfaldys " (penfolds), one at
Lanark and the other at Rutherglen. 2
1 Exch. Rolls, I. p. 30. z Ib. p. 40.
G
98 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
The- crown revenues collected by bailies of royal burghs
consisted of the fixed yearly rent paid by each burgess for his
separate toft or tenement, called Burgh Maill, the fines awarded
in the Burgh Court, and the toll or petty custom on articles
brought to the market either from the country or from abroad,
and payable either at the town gate, in the market, or on leav-
ing the town. As the burgh of Glasgow was situated on the
bishop's territory burgh maill was not payable to the king,
and the burgh court was presided over not by the king's but
by the bishop's bailies, and thus crown revenue was not collected
by the magistrates of the burgh of Glasgow. In such circum-
stances it seems to have been considered expedient, as already
suggested, 3 for the bailies of Rutherglen to continue the
collection of such crown customs as were payable by those
dwellers in Glasgow barony who formerly frequented the
Rutherglen market. After about fifty years' experience in
the working of this system some modification in the method
of collection was considered desirable, and by a charter dated
2Qth October, 1226, King Alexander directed his bailies or officers
of Rutherglen not to take toll or custom in the town of Glasgow,
but to do this at the cross of " Schedenestun " as it was wont
to be taken of old. The place thus fixed as still available for
the collection of custom seems to have been situated close to
the eastward boundary of the original royalty, on lands
anciently bearing the curious designation of the Town of the
Daughter of Sadin and now called Shettleston. 4 The only
known allusion to a cross at the place is that contained in
Alexander's charter, but it is probable enough that the place
of collection formed the centre of an ancient village, and it was
no doubt on one of the highways leading to Rutherglen.
Whether the charter of 1226 carried exemption from customs
to any extent, or whether no more than a change in the method
3 Antea, p. 39.
4 Glasg. Chart. I. pt. ii. p. 12. See also antea, pp. 54, 55.
CROWN CUSTOMS IN BARONY 99
of collection was thereby effected, is a question which cannot
now be definitely answered, but in support of the theory that
partial exemption was secured it is significant that, by a
more drastic order passed at a later period, the barony seems
to have been wholly relieved from liability for such dues.
In consequence of a complaint made by Bishop Turnbull
that the burghs of Renfrew and Rutherglen had caused dis-
turbance and trouble to those who brought goods to the market
of Glasgow to sell or buy, thereby hurting and prejudicing the
privilege and custom granted by the King's predecessors to
the Kirk of Glasgow, King James II., by letters under his
privy seal, dated 4th February, 1449-50, charged the bailies,
burgesses and communities of the two burghs in future to make
no disturbance or impediment to any of his lieges coming or
going to the market of Glasgow with merchandise, but to suffer
them to come, go, buy and sell freely and peaceably without
any demand. Moreover, these burghs, and all others, were
forbidden to come within the barony of Glasgow, or within
any lands pertaining to St. Mungo's freedom, to take toll or
custom, by water or land, from any persons coming or going
to the market, notwithstanding any letters of the king's
predecessors granted to the burghs of Renfrew or Rutherglen
or any other burghs. 5 From this time, therefore, the burghs
of Renfrew and Rutherglen must have ceased to collect crown
customs in any part of the barony of Glasgow, and in conse-
quence of the system of collection then in operation the loss
must have fallen on the burghs themselves and not on the
crown. For a long time past the crown revenues had been
leased to the respective burghs at fixed yearly rents, and any
surplus remaining after payment of that sum was appropriated
for the purposes of the common good. 6
5 Glasg. Chart. I. pt. ii. p. 27.
6 Parts of the Govan lands were at different times claimed for the shire
of Renfrew, and it must have been from such portions that the bailies of
ioo HISTORY OF GLASGOW
In addition to the customs collected for the crown each
burgh levied duties or customs for its own purposes, such as
maintaining streets in proper condition, keeping order in the
burgh, upholding market places and superintending the
markets. Such dues merchants of Rutherglen and Renfrew,
like other traffickers, had to meet when frequenting Glasgow
market on business. As an illustration of the operation of this
impost it may be mentioned that in 1304, during the time when
King Edward of England had assumed the task of governing
this country, the Bishop of Glasgow asked his authority to
distrain the burgesses of Rutherglen for payment of toll which
had been claimed from them, because the bishop and his town
of Glasgow had been " seised, from time beyond memory,"
of toll from these burgesses on all goods sold or bought in
Glasgow. The Guardian and Chamberlain of Scotland were
instructed to inquire into the facts and report, 7 but though
nothing further on the subject is recorded it need not be
doubted that the former practice of paying such dues was
continued. So late as the year 1575 the lords of council
decided that the community of Rutherglen were then liable
for Glasgow market dues, "conforme to the lovable use
ebservit past mem our of man/' 8 and therefore it may safely
be assumed that there never had been any serious interrup-
tion to their imposition and collection.
Renfrew had been collecting custom within Glasgow barony previous to 1449.
On the subject of county boundaries in the Go van lands some intricate ques-
tions have been raised, and these are discussed in Glasgow Memorials, pp.
119-25-
7 Bain's Calendar, vol. ii. No. 1627.
8 Glasg. Chart. I. pt. ii. p. 166.
CHAPTER XIX
BUILDING OF GLASGOW CATHEDRAL RESUMED
AN important stage in the status of the Scottish Church was
reached while Walter was bishop of Glasgow. In a Lateran
Council held in November 1215, at which that Church was
represented by the bishops of St. Andrews, Glasgow and
Moray, a long series of disciplinary measures were passed, and
it was enacted that throughout the Christian church metro-
politans should hold provincial councils yearly to correct
abuses, to reform morals and to enforce the statutes of general
councils. The Scottish church had long before this been pro-
nounced independent of the provinces of York and Canterbury,
and had no metropolitan of its own to summon a provincial
council, but by a Papal Bull, obtained in 1225, the Scottish
bishops were authorized to hold such a council, by authority
of the Apostolic see, without the co-operation of a papal legate
or other outside assistance. Though the phraseology was
ambiguous this authority was interpreted as of perpetual
application, and from that time the Scottish church exercised
the privilege of holding its own provincial councils, which all
bishops, abbots and priors, were required to attend every year. 1
Most of the statutes passed by the Scottish provincial
council are taken from those of general councils and from
English and other sources, and the few special enactments
are not always accommodated in any peculiar way to Scottish
conditions ; but there is at least one important resolution
1 Statutes of Scottish Church (Scottish History Society), pp. xxxi-v.
101
102 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
relative to the building of Glasgow Cathedral. Following on
a regulation as to the reception of Pardoners coming to
churches, on missions of the Pope or bishop, to grant in-
dulgences on the gift of alms, it was ordained, as a thing to be
kept steadily in view, that from the beginning of Lent until
the Octave of Easter the scheme for the building of Glasgow
church should, on all Sundays and feast days, be faithfully
and earnestly brought before the parishioners, in every church,
after the gospel at mass, and that an indulgence should be
granted to those who contributed to the building scheme.
It was also directed that the indulgences should be exhibited
in writing in every church, and that the announcement should
be publicly and distinctly recited to the parishioners in the
common tongue. Contributions and the effects of persons
dying intestate and also moneys piously bequeathed were to be
faithfully collected and made over, without deductions, to the
deans of the respective places at their next chapter-meetings ;
and no one was to authorize a collection in parish churches
for any other scheme within the period specified. 2 Donations
in money for the building and embellishment of the cathedral
must have been profuse, but of these no record has been kept.
In one case, however, where land was bestowed, the charters
relating to the transaction have been recorded in the Register.
Forveleth, the widowed countess of Lennox, designated as the
daughter of Kerald, in exercise of her free power, during her
widowhood, gave to God and Saint Kentigern the half quarter
of the land called Hachenkerach, in the parish of Buthelulle,
for sustentation of the building of the church of Glasgow,
and that in free and perpetual alms, for the weal of her soul
and of the souls of the earls of Lennox and of the souls of her
and their ancestors and successors. The lands thus gifted
were apparently part of those now embraced within the estate
2 Statutes of the Scottish Church (Scottish History Society), p. 25. This
ordinance is said to have been granted in 1242 (Reg. Episc. p. xxviii).
K
SEAL AND COUNTER-SEAL OF WALTER, BISHOP OF GLASGOW, 1208-32.
CATHEDRAL CHOIR 103
of Auchincarroch, about two miles north-east of Alexandria,
in the parish of Bonhill. The charter is not dated, but
it was confirmed by Earl Maldouen, and both grant and
ratification are supposed to have been penned about the
year I240. 3
It is probable that each of the four Bishops next in suces-
sion to Joceline had a hand in furthering the construction of
the Cathedral choir, but in this work the chief share fell to
Bishop Walter, whose episcopate extended from 1207 to 1232,
and who is not only credited with completing that part of the
Cathedral but is also believed to have made some progress
with the nave and transepts. That in Walter's time the
Cathedral had been put into a fairly efficient condition there
is historical evidence to show, but strange to say the whole
fabric disappeared without leaving any trace of the process
whereby such a sweeping clearance was effected. Burning
may have been the immediate agency or, as has been con-
jectured, the older material may have been designedly removed
to make way for the magnificent choir and lower church which
took its place under the direction of Walter's successor, but
under what circumstances reconstruction began is a point of
inquiry likely to remain obscure.
Bishop Walter died in 1232, and William de Bondington,
at that time chancellor of the kingdom, 4 was elected his
successor in the same year. He was consecrated by the Bishop
of Moray at Glasgow on Sunday, nth September, 1233, and he
held the episcopate for twenty-five years after that date. The
new buildings undertaken by Bishop William, consisting
chiefly of the choir and lower church, which remain till the
3 Reg. Episc. Nos. 177-8 ; Scottish Abbeys and Cathedrals, p. 58.
4 Before his appointment to the bishopric Bondington had been a canon
of Glasgow Cathedral in the capacity of rector of Eddleston in Peeblesshire,
and he had also held the office of archdeacon, either of Teviotdale or of St.
Andrews, it is uncertain which. For fuller information regarding the bishop
reference may be made to Dr. Primrose's Mediaeval Glasgow, pp. 16-33.
104 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
present day, were carried on with remarkable expedition, and
it is thought that they may have been completed during his
lifetime. 5 Other works, at different parts of the building,
8 In his Glasgow Cathedral (1901) Mr. P. Macgregor Chalmers thus describes
the building : " The choir is five bays long, and the arches are of greater
span than those in the nave. The east end is square, with a column in the
centre of the wall. The unique feature in the plan is the Chapel of the Four
Altars, to the east of the choir and of the high altar. This is one of the most
beautiful parts of the whole design, the columns and arches being exceedingly
graceful, and the details of the windows and walls of great richness. The
plan appealed to the designer of Roslyn Chapel, and he copied it in 1450.
There appears to be no reason to doubt that the architect of the choir at Glasgow
was familiar with the great work projected by his contemporary at Durham
the Chapel of the Nine Altars. The chapels occupy similar positions and
serve similar purposes, and a study of the two works reveals that there is much
in common. The Bishop of Glasgow subscribed to the new fabric at Durham,
and he granted a twenty days' indulgence to all who would contribute towards
the work.
The main piers in the Glasgow choir are elaborately moulded, the capitals
are richly carved, and the arches are decorated with a splendid series of small
mouldings set in relief by the deep hollows between. The second storey, or
Triforium, is a beautiful design, of a double arched opening within a pointed
arch. The clear-storey is treated as a simple arcade richly moulded. The
outstanding feature in the work is the elaborate character of the mouldings.
There is very little sculpture work. The east window is of four tall lancets,
and the aisle windows are of three lights, under a single arch, the plate of
stone over the lights being pierced with cusped openings. The Sacristy door
is at the north-east corner of the Chapel of the Four Altars, where there is a
staircase leading from the lower church to the Triforium. There was another
door at the west end of the north aisle, which led to the room called the Hall
of the Vicar's Choral. This building no longer exists ; the doorway is built
up, and the sill of the window above has been lowered and made uniform with
the other sills. The aisles are vaulted in stone. This work is very interesting
because of the number of coats of arms which have been introduced, all
brilliantly gilded and coloured.
The plan of the lower church closely follows the plan of the choir. The
Chapel of the Four Altars is repeated ; but, instead of the piers being detached,
they are connected to the east wall by screens of stone. The altars were
dedicated to SS. Nicholas, Peter and Paul, Andrew, and John. St. Mungo's
Well stands in St. John's Chapel. The door to the Chapter-house, in the
north-east corner of St. Nicholas' Chapel, is the most elaborately decorated
work in the cathedral.
The side aisles of the lower church are vaulted in stone of a simple design.
The centre aisle, in the arrangement of the pillars and in the design of the
vaulting, presents features of great interest. The task set the architect was to
distinguish both the new site of the High Altar in the choir above, and the
RITUAL OF SARUM 105
such as the south and west porches of the nave, the walls and
pillars of the low building on the south transept, and some
parts of the chapter-house, appear also to have been executed
about this time. Experts recognize that the style of work,
which is of a pure English type, is marked by a strong indivi-
duality, and the unknown architect is acknowledged to have
been no copyist. 6 A durable sandstone was employed, which
may have been obtained from what was latterly known as the
Cracklinghouse Quarry, the site of which is now occupied by
the Queen Street station of the North British Railway
Company.
Having done so much in rearing the structure of the
cathedral and fitting it for religious services, the Bishop turned
his attention to the services themselves, and shortly before
his death, while residing at his country seat of Ancrum in
Roxburghshire, he, with consent of his chapter, granted a
site of the old Altar and Shrine of St. Mungo. An open compartment was
formed at the east end, equal in width to two divisions of the vaulting in the
aisles. In this compartment we may now identify the Chapel of the Blessed
Virgin Mary. The vault was richly decorated with moulded ribs and carved
bosses in great profusion.
There are four carvings on the bosses in the vaulting of the north aisle,
near the north porch, which merit special attention. Their great beauty of
design and execution justifies the opinion that Gothic art at its best, approxi-
mated to the perfection of Greek art. And these have a further interest in
addition to their beauty if, as appears probable, they are portraits of great
benefactors to the cathedral. One of the bosses is carved with a woman's
face, of rare beauty, sunk in the centre of a wreath of leaves. A man's face
is carved in the other boss. His hair is peculiarly dressed. It is worn long
at the back, but is fashioned in front with a plaited and curled fringe, which
hangs stiff and square upon the brow. The nobles are shown with their hair
dressed in this fashion in an illustrated life of S. Thomas the Martyr, drawn
by a Frenchman in England between the years 1230 and 1260. It is prob-
able that we have in these two carvings portraits of Isabella de Valoniis and
Sir David Comyn, her husband. Her magnificent gift to the cathedral [referred
to posted, p. no], was made before 1250. To these two portraits must be
added the portrait of the great builder-bishop, William de Bondington, and,
on another boss, the portrait of King Alexander II., who died in 1249 "
(Glasgow Cathedral (1901), pp. 13-15).
6 Glasgow Cathedral (1901), pp. 15, 16.
io6 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
charter whereby the liberties and customs of Sarum (Salisbury)
were established as the future constitution of Glasgow cathedral.
Bishop Osmund of Sarum had, in 1076, composed a ritual
which was very generally adopted in other churches, and it
seems to have been used in Glasgow. Perhaps the constitution
and customs of Sarum had likewise been followed to some
extent ; but definite information regarding these were now
procured, and the rules laid down with greater precision.
In the church of Sarum there were four principal dignitaries
the dean, the chanter, the chancellor, and the treasurer ;
four archdeacons, and also a sub-dean and sub-chanter. In
Glasgow there were only two archdeacons, one for Glasgow
proper, and the other for Teviotdale ; but other office-bearers
were the same in Glasgow as in Sarum. It was the dean's
office to preside over the canons and vicars in the rule of souls
and the correction of morals ; to hear all causes belonging to
the chapter, and to decide by the judgment of the chapter ;
to correct the excesses of clerics ; and, after fit consideration,
to punish the parsons according to the gravity of the offence
and the quality of the offenders. The canons received
institution from the bishop, but possession of the prebends
from the dean. The dean assigned to the canons their stalls
in the choir and their places in the chapter. The office of the
chanter was to guide the choir, to appoint the singers and the
ministers of the altar, and to admit the boys into the choir,
and superintend their instruction and discipline. The chan-
cellor had to bestow care in regulating the schools, and repair-
ing and correcting the books, to examine and prescribe the
lessons, to keep the seal of the chapter, to compose its letters
and charters and to read the letters requiring to be read in
the chapter. The treasurer had to preserve the ornaments
and treasure of the church, to manage the lights, and also the
great paschal wax, to maintain the bells and ornaments
providing all necessaries, to supply bread and wine, and candles
SEAL AND COUNTER-SEAL OF WILLIAM DE BONDINGTON, BISHOP OF GLASGOW,
I233-58-
CHURCH DIGNITARIES
107
to the altars, and incense, coal, straw, and bulrushes for the
church. The subdean took the place of the dean in his absence,
and the sub-chanter similarly acted for his principal, and like-
wise superintended the song school. 7
7 Reg. Episc. No. 211.
CHAPTER XX
LANDS IN THE BARONY OF GLASGOW AND BISHOPFOREST
THE primitive practice of the king travelling from place to
place, attended by a retinue of prelates, earls, churchmen and
barons, and holding courts for the administration of justice,
was gradually superseded by the devolution of such duties upon
qualified officials, such as justiciars and sheriffs, acting under
direct royal authority, and the judges appointed by bishops,
abbots and barons, each presiding over the court applicable
to his own prescribed area. The king's justiciars or chief
justices traversed the kingdom, holding circuit courts in the
central parts of the different districts, the sheriff kept within
the limits of his shire, and the attention of the baron-bailie was
confined to the area ruled by its lay or ecclesiastical lord.
In addition to the burgh court, established subsequent to
1175, the bishops of Glasgow must have had their baronial
courts from the earliest times, though no charter containing
either an express or implied grant of jurisdiction is known to
have been granted previous to 1241, at which time the bishops
were authorized to hold the barony lands by the tenure of free
forest. Cosmo Innes was of opinion that a forest grant was
the most extensive and the most privileged in use in the thir-
teenth century, and he remarks that the rights of property
usually if not invariably preceded the rights of forest. The king
gave an extensive grant of lands, and afterwards, sometimes at
a considerable interval of time, he improved the vassal's tenure
by giving him a right of forest over the same vassal's bounds,
1 08
LANDS HELD IN FREE FOREST 109
thereby conferring all the rights which the king enjoyed in his
own forests. The specific advantage conferred by a grant in free
forest in Scotland was that it fixed a definite fine against any
one cutting the wood or hunting the deer, and the forfeiture
was 10, the same as the king's. 1 Though the lands of Glasgow
barony were not of very great extent, and though the term
" forest " does not necessarily imply the existence of trees,
especially those of large growth, it seems significant that the
grant of forest rights was made about the time when the
rebuilding of the cathedral was commenced, and this may be
taken as an indication that the additional powers conferred
on the bishop were meant to give him greater facilities in
procuring timber to be used in the structure.
The charter of 1241 is short, and as it has not been reprinted
in Glasgow Charters a translation may be given here :
" Alexander, by the grace of God, King of Scots : To all good
men of his whole land, greeting. Know ye that we have granted
to the venerable William, bishop of Glasgow, that he and all his
successors, bishops of Glasgow, may have and hold their lands
around Glasgow, namely, the lands of Conclud, of Schedinistun,
of Ballayn, of Badermonoc, of Possele and of Kenmore, of Garvach,
of Neutun, of Leys, of Rammishoren, and the land of the Burgh,
and other lands belonging to the manor (manerium) of Glasgow,
in free forest for ever. Likeas we strictly prohibit any one, without
their authority, to cut wood or hunt in the said lands, upon our
full forfeiture of ten pounds. Witnesses : Clement, bishop of
Dunblane ; master Matthew, archdeacon of Glasgow ; John,
sheriff of Strivelyn ; Walram of Norman vill. At Kirketun, the
I2th day of September (1241) in the 28th year of our reign." 2
The ten leading names of lands here given, coupled with
the generality " and other lands belonging to the manor of
Glasgow," seem intended to include all the territory belonging
to the bishopric north of the river Clyde and east of the river
Kelvin, and to leave out the lands of Govan and Partick
1 Legal Antiquities, pp. 33, 41. 2 Reg. Episc. No. 180.
no HISTORY OF GLASGOW
situated to the south and west of these streams. Conclud,
Schedinistun, Ballayn and Badermonoc, places already referred
to in previous chapters, may be regarded as combining all the
barony lands to the east of the burgh territory. Possele and
Kenmore or Kenmure occupied the north-western district of
the barony, and Garvach, Neutun and Leys, apparently the
lands now known as Garrioch, Kirklee and Newton, or, as it
was sometime called, the new town of Partick, completed the
western section. Ramshorn which, from at least the year
1518 when it is first noticed in the bishops' rental-book, is
always bracketed with Meadowflat, here makes its earliest
appearance as Rammishoren, a name which has often attracted
the attention of etymologists but has hitherto baffled their
powers of satisfactory solution. Originally the name may
have been applied to lands of wider extent, just as the name
Conclud or Kinclaith is believed to have been formerly the
designation of a large stretch of river frontage though it is now
applicable to no more than a small portion of the Green. As
known in modern times, Ramshorn and Meadowflat embrace
the present George Square and extend from St. Enoch's Burn
on the west to the High Street properties on the east, and from
Rottenrow on the north to Longcroft, in the line of Ingram
Street, on the south. Mainly on account of their central
position these lands were early acquired by the magistrates
and council and were incorporated with the burgh by the
first statutory extension of the municipal boundaries.
About the time of the forest grant the bishopric received an
important addition to its territory through the bounty of
Isabella de Valoniis, lady of Killebride. By a charter granted
in or before 1250, this lady, for the weal of her soul, and of the
souls of her parents and successors and of Sir David Comyn,
her late husband, gave and confirmed to God and St. Kentigern,
and the church of Glasgow, her fifteen pound land in the fief
of Kirkepatrick, called the Forest of Dalkarne, a name appar-
FOREST OF DALKARNE
in
ently derived from its situation on the border of the vale
through which the river Karne or Cairn had its course. The
lands were to be possessed as they stood on the day of the
grant, or according to limits to be fixed at the sight of good
men chosen by the Bishop of Glasgow, and any deficiency in
extent was to be made up from Lady Isabella's adjacent lands
of Dalkarne. The gifted lands were to be held by the bishop
and his successors in pure and perpetual alms, free of all home
or foreign service and of all other service or demand. 3 The
charter was confirmed by John of Balliol on I4th September,
1250, and by King Alexander III. on I2th November, 1254.*
The lands thus obtained lie in the parish of Kirkpatrick-Iron-
gray, in the stewartry of Kirkcudbright, and have long been
known as Bishop's Forest, under which name they were com-
bined with the city and barony in forming the Regality of
Glasgow, as erected by crown charter in I450. 5
It is not expressly stated that the Forest of Dalkarne came
into the bishop's possession in connection with the rebuilding
of the cathedral, but the grant was made while the work was
proceeding, and there are other circumstances, all leading to
3 The witnesses to the charter, which is undated, are Friar David, prior
of the Friars Preachers of Ayr ; friar Robert de Irewyn ; Sir William de Valoniis,
the granter's brother ; Walter de Mortimer, dean, and Reginald de Irewyn,
archdeacon of Glasgow ; and Sir Radulf, chaplain, canon of Glasgow. It is
stated in " Melrose Chronicle " (Church Historians, iv. pt. i. p. 181) that Master
Hugh de Potton, archdeacon of Glasgow, died in 1238, and that after his decease
the archdeaconry was divided, Master Matthew de Habirden assuming the
title of archdeacon of Glasgow and master Peter de Alingtun being styled
archdeacon of Thevidale. The statement is also made (Ibid. p. 185) that in
1242 Master Peter de Alinton died and was succeeded by Master Reginald de
Irewin. The latter held that office till 1245, when he was appointed arch-
deacon of Glasgow, and Nicholas de Moffat then became archdeacon of
Teviotdale (Chronicle of Lanercost, quoted in George Watson's " Arch-
deaconry of Teviotdale " : Transactions of Hawick Archceological Society, 1907).
With reference to the first statement here quoted from Melrose Chronicle,
Cosmo Innes remarks that some new arrangement of the archdeaconries may
have taken place, but that an archdeacon of Teviotdale occurs long before
(Reg. Episc. p. xxix).
4 Reg. Episc. No. 199-201. *Glasg. Chart, I. pt. ii. p. 28.
ii2 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
the inference that the main purpose of the gift was the further-
ance of Bishop Bondington's great scheme. Of five portraits
carved on bosses in the vaulting of the north aisle, near the
north porch of the lower church, three are supposed to represent
King Alexander II. with his son, afterwards Alexander III.,
and Bishop Bondington ; and it has been suggested 6 that
the other two carved bosses contain the portraits of Lady
Isabella de Valoniis and Sir David Comyn. A beautiful tomb,
the stones of which are richly moulded, occupied a site near
these portraits, thus lending support to the further theory
that the tomb is that of David Comyn and his pious and
benevolent lady, whose good deeds were thus commemorated
in the building which her bounty helped to rear. 7
6 Antea, p. 105. The portraits here given were sketched from the bosses
by Miss Mary R. Henderson, artist.
''Glasgow Cathedral (1901), pp. 14-16; (1914), pp. 54, 55.
CHAPTER XXI
ARRIVAL OF THE FRIARS
BOTH of the great Orders of Mendicant Friars, the one insti-
tuted by St. Francis of Assisi, an Italian merchant, and the
other by St. Dominic, a Castilian theologian, had made rapid
progress in evangelistic work on the continent before the end
of the second decade of the thirteenth century, Francis devot-
ing his chief attention to the masses of the people, and Dominic
being equally enthusiastic and successful in inspiring a new
vitality among scholars and ecclesiastics. The Dominicans,
otherwise called Friars Preachers, or, from the colour of their
habit, Black Friars, were the first to arrive in England, and were
preaching in London in the autumn of 1221. Two years
later a band of Franciscans came to England, and not many
seasons were allowed to pass before brethren of both Orders
had found settlements in this country. Unlike the monk who
kept by his cloister and his grange, and had nothing to do
with ministering to others, the Friar was an itinerant evangelist
whose first duty was to save the bodies and souls of the people.
His dwelling was not in rural monasteries but in the towns
where assemblages of humanity could best be reached and
benefited by missionary labours. The year 1230 has been
given as the date when the Dominicans were settled in Edin-
burgh, Berwick and Ayr. King Alexander II. is credited
with founding not only these houses but also branches of the
Order in five other Scottish towns. It must have been in or
before 1246 that a convent of Dominican Friars was planted
H4 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
in Glasgow, as on loth July of that year Pope Innocent IV.
issued a Bull granting forty days' indulgence to all the faithful
who should contribute to the completion of the church and
other edifices which the Friars Preachers of Glasgow had begun
to build. Six years later the king charged the bailies of
Dumbarton to pay from his rents of that burgh ten pounds
yearly to the Friars Preachers of Glasgow, in lieu of his obliga-
tion to find them in food for one day of every week. 1 This
slender donation of aliment can scarcely be classed with the
long series of subsequent endowments bestowed on the friars
in Glasgow, the acceptance of which involved a departure
from the original constitution of the Order whereby all worldly
possessions were renounced and the individual friars had to
rely on voluntary alms for their support.
According to tradition the Place of the Preaching Friars
in Glasgow " wes biggit and foundit be the Bischop and
Cheptour." 2 The site chosen lay midway between the
Cathedral and the Market Cross, and on the east side of the
thoroughfare between those points. At that time little of
the ground in this locality was occupied by buildings, being
on the one hand too far south for the dwellings of ecclesiastics
and on the other too far north for convenient occupation by
the artizans and booth-holders of the burgh. On the opposite
or western side of the road which fronted the site, in the line
of the present High Street, lay the lands of Ramshorn, though
there may have intervened a strip of ground which at a later
date is found partly in possession of the Parson of Glasgow and
partly occupied as the Place of the Franciscan or Grey Friars.
It may therefore be assumed that in 1246 the ground selected
1 Liber Coll., etc., pp. xxxix, xl. At the time of the Reformation the
endowments of the Friars came into the possession of Glasgow University,
along with the relative title-deeds, and in the work here cited, compiled
chiefly from these writs by Dr. Joseph Robertson for the Maitland Club in
1846, much valuable historical information is contained.
* Ibid. p. xxxviii.
PLACE OF FRIARS PREACHERS 115
as the site for the buildings of the Friars, forming the eastmost
portion of vacant land stretching from St. Enoch's Burn on
the west to the Molendinar on the east, was at the disposal of
Bishop Bondington, thus confirming the accuracy of the
tradition at least to the extent that he had a share in the be-
stowal of a site, though, keeping in view the terms of the Pope's
" indulgence," it seems apparent that the Place was not entirely
" biggit " by the bishop and chapter. As an indication of
the mutual friendship subsisting between the bishop and the
friars it is recorded that on I4th May, 1255, Pope Alexander IV.
commissioned the Prior of the Preaching Friars of Glasgow
to dispense the bishop of a vow he had made not to eat flesh
in his own house. On account of his old age and weakness the
vow was to be commuted into alms and other works of mercy. 3
Not many years after the arrival of the Friars references
occur in Registmm Episcopatus to buildings or lands situated
near their premises. In 1270 Robert of Lanark, subdean,
granted to the vicars, dean and subdean of the cathedral,
his house, with a croft and all its pertinents, which he had
bought from Philip, the fuller, who at that time held the land
as a feuar of the subdean. Sasine or possession of this property,
which is described as lying in the town of Glasgow, between
the lands of the Friars Preachers and the house of William of
Bellidstane, was given to the new owners in presence of nine
named witnesses " and many others." Of the named witnesses
three were dignitaries of the cathedral and the remainder were
burgesses of the city, this being perhaps the earliest occasion
in which we have names of that class of the inhabitants. 4
It was the usual practice to have near neighbours as witnesses
to the public ceremony of giving sasine, and at least three of
3 Dowden's Bishops, p. 303.
4 Reg. Episc. No. 220. The named witnesses were Sir Walter de Mortimer,
dean of Glasgow ; Robert, treasurer, and Richard, chancellor, canons of Glas-
gow ; Richard of Dundover, William Gley, Roger, skinner, Galfrid, dyer,
Richard Camber, and William, fuller, burgesses of Glasgow.
n6 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
the witnesses, a skinner, a dyer and a fuller, may have resided
in the Walker-gait (Vicus Fullonum), not far from the south
side of the Friars' grounds, where the transferred house and
croft were apparently situated. For authentication of the
document the seals of the granter and of the dean, as well as
the common seal of the city, were appended.
No document having the burgh seal attached is now extant
of an earlier date than 1325, and consequently the form of the
burgh seal of 1270 is not definitely known. Father Innes, who
examined the seal attached to a document believed to have
been issued about the year 1268, states that it showed the head
of the Bishop (St. Kentigern) with mitre, and that the seal
attached to a document dated 1293, also examined by him,
contained the head above and a bell below. 5 The seal of 1325
has the Bishop's head and mitre along with the bell and other
emblems. On these grounds Dr. Macgeorge was of opinion
that between 1268 and 1325 three separately designed burgh
seals had been in use ; 6 but, after more or less handling in the
course of four centuries, the impressed wax on the first two
seals may not have been quite distinct, and perhaps the state-
ments of Father Innes, who does not expressly say that there
was no bell on the first seal or that no other emblem than
a bell was on the other seal, can scarcely be taken as conclusive
evidence on these points.
A charter believed to have been granted about the year
1300 contains a description of property which seems to have
adjoined that of the Friars on the north. By this deed Alan,
designated perpetual vicar of the church of Glasgow 7 and
6 Reg. Episc. Nos. 236, 248; vol. i. pp. cxxv, cxxvi.
e Armorial Insignia of Glasgow, pp. 98-102.
7 Alan, whose name as vicar of Glasgow appears in the Ragman Roll on
28th August, 1296 (Bain's Calendar, ii. p. 212), seems to have held the vicarage
of the parish of Glasgow. The term " perpetual " was more applicable to
the benefice than to its possessor, but it was used to distinguish parochial
vicars from those who sang in the choir or who took part in the cathedral
services, as representing the canons while residing in their rural parishes.
ANCIENT SEAL OF THE COMMUNITY OF THE CITY OF GLASGOW,
USED IN THE REIGN OF ROBERT I.
WATER FROM MEADOW WELL 117
sacristan thereof, with consent of the cathedral chapter, granted
to Sir John of Carrie, chaplain of the parish of Glasgow, a piece
of land then vacant, lying within the burgh, opposite that of
the Friars Preachers, between the lands of Malcolm called Scot
on the north and the vennel or passage (viam) of the Friars on
the south, to be held by Sir John and his heirs, for payment to
the sacristan and his successors of three silver shillings yearly.
The seal of the granter is appended to the charter, and for
greater security he also procured the seals of the Official, 8
and of the community of Glasgow. 9
From the croft transactions just noticed it will be observed
that, though more than a hundred years had elapsed since the
foundation of the burgh, little or no progress had been made
in the placing of dwellings on the upper or steep part of the
High Street, and that the land thus left vacant was chiefly
applied for the maintenance or accommodation of churchmen
and friars. As still further manifesting the goodwill sub-
sisting between the secular clergy and the preachers, it may be
mentioned that in August, 1304, the bishop gave to the latter
the use of water from the Meadow Well in Deanside, on the
west side of the High Street, with liberty to lead the same to
their cloisters, and this grant was subsequently confirmed by
the cathedral chapter. But it was not everywhere or always
that the Friars found a cordial reception in their settlements,
and in 1265 the Pope thought it expedient to issue a Bull
pronouncing excommunication upon all persons daring to offer
8 The administration of justice in the Bishop's ecclesiastical court was
originally entrusted to the archdeacon, but when business increased the duty
devolved on a judge appointed by him and named the Official.
9 Reg. Episc. No. 254. The witnesses were John Dubber and John, son
of Waldeve, bailies of Glasgow, Roger Halcrer, John his son, Radulph Saryn,
John Juet, John son of Alan, " and many others." In Glasgow Memorials,
p. 190, it was suggested that the sacristan's property may have been situated
on the west side of the High Street, but it appears that the east side has the
better claim.
n8 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
violence to the churches or places of the brethren. 1 In Glasgow
also the Friars may at first have had their occasional troubles,
but the extant records of that period are so meagre that we
have scarcely any knowledge of their movements or of the
nature of the relations which subsisted between them and the
community.
10 Liber Coll. etc. pp. 149-51.
CHAPTER XXII
KINGS AND BISHOPS CATHEDRAL CANONS AND VICARS
TOWARDS the close of Alexander's reign the peaceful relation-
ship which had existed between England and Scotland was
nearly arrested through the occurrence of the tragic incidents
following on a tournament held at Haddington in 1242 ; but
the people on both sides were disinclined for war, and at New-
castle the two sovereigns arranged a treaty under which
neither king was to attack or injure the other except in self-
defence or on just provocation. 1 Proceeding with the settle-
ment of his own national affairs Alexander was desirous of
crowning his work in the subjugation of Argyle by securing
beyond doubt the sovereignty of the Western Isles. Negotia-
tions with Haco of Norway for that end having been
unsuccessful, the king sailed with a fleet to obtain possession
partly by negotiation and partly by force, but in the course
of this expedition he died in the small island of Kerrera,
fronting the Bay of Oban, on 8th July, 1249.
Alexander III. was only in his eighth year when he succeeded
to the throne, and for the next few years the country was
subjected to the inconveniences and dangers of a minority
rule ; but notwithstanding the divided aims of the two chief
parties in the state, the Comyns and the Durwards, the ordeal
was safely passed through, and by the year 1262 Alexander
was himself in a position to take the leading part in the affairs
of the nation. The following year saw the destruction of the
1 Burton, ii. p. 18 ; Hume Brown, i. p. 116.
119
120 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
Norwegian fleet at Largs, and a direct result of this disaster
to Haco's imposing invasion was the definite annexation,
three years later, of the Western Isles to the crown of Scotland.
Whether there were any special circumstances calling for
royal recognition in 1251, or whether, as is more likely, this
was sought very much as a usual formality at the beginning of
a new reign, is not known, but by letters dated soth April of
that year, King Alexander took Bishop William his lands and
his men, and all their possessions, under his firm peace and
protection, and forbade that any one should unjustly do them
harm, injury, molestation or trouble, under pain of his full
forfeiture. 2 At a later period, and at a time when the Dum-
barton authorities were interfering with the bishop's men in
their trading journeys to Argyle, the king granted to the bishop
the charter of 1275 which has already been referred to. 3
Bishop William died on roth November, 1258, and was buried
at Melrose, near the great altar. Nicholas de Moffat, who had
been archdeacon of Teviotdale, was chosen his successor,
with the king's approval, and he proceeded to Rome to receive
consecration from the Pope. But in this he did not succeed,
partly, says the Melrose chronicler, 4 because he was unwilling
to pay a sum of money which the Pope and the cardinals
demanded from him, and partly because he was opposed by
those who had accompanied him, particularly Robert, the
elect of Dunblane, who thought that if Nicholas was rejected
he might have the bishopric himself. Nicholas returned to
Scotland in 1259 an( i J Oftn de Cheyam, archdeacon of Bath
and a papal chaplain, was appointed by the Pope and
consecrated at the Roman court. This appointment was
disagreeable to the king, and was rendered more so on account
of the letters for carrying it into effect being addressed to the
bishops of Lincoln and Bath. Though the king was apparently
2 Glasgow Chart. I. pt. ii. p. 16. 3 Antea, p. 95.
4 Church Historians, vol. iv. pt. i. pp. 209-10.
TEMPORALITIES OF SEE 121
powerless to stay the ecclesiastical procedure his control
over the destination of the land revenues was sufficient to
make his consent very desirable if not essential. As shown by
the Exchequer Rolls, in the Earl of Haddington's extracts,
the temporalities of the see were accounted for to the king's
chamberlain for the terms of Martinmas, 1259, an d Whitsunday,
1260, but unfortunately particulars are not given. 5 On the
application of the Pope, who stated that he did not desire to
do anything contrary to the custom of the kingdom in regard
to the temporality, and who directed the bishop to render
fealty to the king before receiving such, all differences seem
to have been smoothed over for the time, and Bishop John
entered into full possession of the see and held it for about
seven years. But he was not on good terms with the canons,
who resented his intrusion, and in 1267 he went abroad, where
he died in the following year. Nicholas de Moffat was there-
upon elected bishop for a second time, but he diedunconsecrated
in 1270. William Wischard, archdeacon of St. Andrews and
chancellor of the kingdom, was chosen as his successor, but on
2nd June, 1271, he obtained the bishopric of St. Andrews, and
the see of Glasgow again became vacant. 6
On 2nd January, 1258-9, about two months after the death
of Bishop Bondington, the dean, the two archdeacons and other
dignitaries along with the other canons of the cathedral,
confirmed the liberties and customs of Sarum as applicable to
their own church, and they each by oath undertook that if
he should be chosen bishop he should, in the first year of his
promotion, remove his " palacium," which was outside the
Castle of Glasgow, and devote the whole of the site to dwellings
for the canons, and in so far as the site might not be sufficient
for those canons who had not dwellings, he should assign
competent places elsewhere for their accommodation. 7 Bishop
6 Exchequer Rolls, i. p. 6. 6 Dowden's Bishops, pp. 304-6.
7 Reg. Episc. No. 208.
122 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
John was no party to this compact, and the design for
"building canons' dwellings did not come into operation in his
time ; but after his death, in 1268, the canons, while again
confirming the liberties of the church, renewed their contingent
obligation for removal of the " palacium " and the supply
of sites for the requisite dwellings. 8 What is meant by the
term " palacium," as here used, is not perfectly obvious, but
there seems to be good ground for believing that the castle
was the bishop's place of residence and that the " palacium "
proposed to be removed was the palisade surrounding the
adjoining court or pleasure ground. 9 In primitive times there
may have been a fort here, as the remains of what seem to have
been old earthworks in the vicinity were not wholly removed
before 1599 ; 10 and it is probable that in the thirteenth century
the palisade surrounding the bishop's castle embraced grounds
which were appropriated as sites for some of the manses erected
subsequent to that date. Ground near the cathedral and
castle being the most suitable as sites for such dwellings must
have been much in demand, though it may be readily under-
stood that the bishop in possession for the time would not be
too eager to curtail his open space. Bishop John, however,
with consent of his chapter, assigned to William of Cadihou,
one of the canons, part of his garden, as marked off by the dean
and the Official, master Adam de Dertford. Canon William,
who had erected buildings and planted trees on the ground,
was to have the use of the place for his lifetime as freely as any
of the other canons held their dwellings around the church, and
it was stipulated that a cloister should be constructed and main-
tained between the alienated ground and the bishop's garden. 1
8 Reg. Episc. No. 213.
9 As the result of transitional nomenclature the designation " palacium "
was sometimes transferred from the enclosing material to the enclosure itself.
See Trial by Combat, pp. 86, 112, 210.
10 Glasg. Rec. i. p, 195 ; Glasgow Memorials, p. 14.
1 Reg. Episc. No. 217.
PREBENDAL MANSES 123
By a statute passed in 1266, the bishop, with consent of
the dean and chapter, made various regulations regarding the
appointment and duties of residential vicars. Each canon
was to appoint a competent vicar to take his place when he
himself was on personal duty in his country parish, to pay him
a suitable stipend, and to provide him with a cope and sur-
plice. The dean, precentor, chancellor, treasurer, and subdean
required to reside at the cathedral for one half of the year,
but residence for the fourth part of the year was sufficient for
the other canons. Each canon was to have his own house in
the city, and no dignity or prebend was to have a house annexed
to it. On the occasion of a canon going away, the bishop and
chapter were entitled to assign his house to such canon as they
chose. 2 Latterly a different system prevailed, and most of the
prebends had their own manses attached to them. It is probable
that in course of time the scheme for the erection of dwellings,
contemplated in 1258 and 1268, gradually came into operation,
as most of the manses occupied at the time of the Reformation
were situated at short distances from the cathedral and castle.
In the last year of his episcopate, and while residing abroad,
Bishop John, " being zealous for the increase of divine service
in the church of Glasgow/' granted the lands of " Kermil " in
pure and perpetual alms, for the sustenance of three chaplains
who were to celebrate services in the church, for the weal of
z Reg. Episc. No. 212.* With one or two exceptions the canons were
rectors or parsons of country parishes where dwellings had also to be supplied.
By one of the General Statutes of the thirteenth century it was provided that
every church should have a manse near it in which the bishop or archdeacon
could be comfortably accommodated, and such manses were to be built at
the joint expense of the parsons and vicars in proportion to their incomes
from the parish, but the vicars, who had the main use of the buildings, were to
be responsible for their maintenance (Statutes of the Scottish Church Scottish
History Society vol. 54, p. 12). In a fourteenth century statute it is stated
that by reason of the meanness of the houses the bishop of St. Andrews could
not be entertained in the benefices within his diocese, and it was decreed that
against his next visitation each holder of a benefice should make arrangements
for building a suitable manse (76. p. 68).
124 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
the bishop's soul, of the soul of Sir Reginald de Irewyn, some-
time archdeacon of Glasgow, and of the souls of their prede-
cessors and successors and of all the faithful dead. The lands
thus dedicated to the church had been purchased or redeemed
by the bishop with the help of the archdeacon, but there was
excepted the new mill which the former had erected on the
River Clyde, with its site and the road leading thereto.
Vacancies in the chaplainri.es were to be filled by the dean and
chapter out of the body of vicars serving in the church, and a
malediction was invoked on anyone who should violate the
purpose of the endowment. 3 Carmyle, as the lands are now
called, is situated in the parish of Old Monkland, and lies on
the right bank of the River Clyde, about four miles south-east
of Glasgow Cross. Under the ancient name of " Kermil "
the lands appear on record, in the twelfth century, as a gift
from Herbert, bishop of Glasgow, to the abbey of Neubotle.
Kings and popes from time to time confirmed the lands to the
abbey ; but in the chartulary a note appended to the transcript
of a papal bull, dated 1273, mentions that the monks had then
ceased to be owners. 4 Bishop John's pious arrangements
seem to have been disregarded by Bishop Robert Wischart,
and his interference led the dean and chapter, in the year 1275,
to appeal to the Pope for redress. The papal court thereupon
authorised the bishops of Dunblane and Argyle to investigate
the complaint, and some documents relating to the judicial
procedure, but not the final decision, are recorded in the
Register. 5 That the lands ultimately reverted to the bishopric
is shown by the fact that during the period embraced in the
Bishops' Rental Books (1510-70) the entries of rentallers in
Carmyle lands are numerous.
3 Reg. Episc. No. 218.
4 Registrum de Neubotle (Bannatyne Club), pp. 91, 123, 191, 316 ; Glasgow
Protocols, No. 1934.
5 Reg. Episc. Nos. 222-4.
CHAPTER XXIII
BURGH COURT SALES OF HERITAGE BRIDGE OVER CLYDE
STEEPLE AND TREASURY OF CATHEDRAL TAXATION OF
BENEFICES
DURING the first hundred years of its existence as a burgh,
Glasgow had a favourable opportunity for increasing in trade
and commerce to the limited extent attainable at that
early period. Its overlords, the bishops, usually held high
positions in the state, and were possessed of sufficient influ-
ence at court to secure the community against external
encroachment or undue interference, while the peaceful con-
dition of the country allowed the internal organisation to
develop. The inhabitants were not slow in adapting them-
selves to usages and procedure which in the experience of older
burghs had been found beneficial ; but there was one important
distinction in the position of Glasgow. In royal burghs,
though the sovereign is believed to have originally appointed
the magistrates, the burgesses themselves were from an early
date allowed to exercise that privilege. In Glasgow it is
probable that the bishops from the first elected the magistrates,
though, as in the earliest elections of which any record is extant,
from leets primarily selected and presented by the burgesses,
a system which was continued till the seventeenth century.
Apart from this peculiarity, and the practice of the burgesses
paying rents or burgh maill to the bishop instead of to the
sovereign, administration and procedure in Glasgow were
similar to those which prevailed in royal burghs.
125
126 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
One of the old burgh laws imposed restrictions against
burgesses disposing of their heritage to the prejudice of their
heirs. In the event of an owner requiring to part with heritage
he was not entitled to sell it to a stranger till it was offered to
the nearest heirs and they declined to become purchasers. 1
An illustration of the operation of this law in Glasgow occurs
about the year 1268, when a burgess named Robert de
Mithyngby, " compelled by great and extreme poverty and
necessity," sold his property to Sir Reginald de Irewyn, then
archdeacon of Glasgow. This was done with consent of the
seller's daughter (his heiress) and brother, who both in the
burgh court expressly consented to the transaction ; " which
land," it is also stated, " was offered to my nearest relations
and friends, in the court of Glasgow, at three head courts of
the year, and at other courts often, according to the law and
custom of the burgh." In addition to the price paid by the
purchaser he was liable in a yearly rent to the bishop and his
successors, but the amounts are not stated. Of this property,
which must have been situated in a street running east and
west, as it had the land of Peter of Tyndal on the east and that
of Edgar, the vicar, on the west, possession was given to the
archdeacon in presence of the " prepositi " and bailies and
twelve burgesses. " Prepositi " at that time occupied positions
of authority in the burgh which it would be difficult to define.
Perhaps the bailies were graded and the " prepositi " might be
the first in rank ; but they must not be confounded with the
modern " provost," whose office did not come into existence
in Glasgow till about the year I453- 2 Among the witnesses
1 Ancient Laws and Customs, i. p. 55.
2 Sir James Marwick has fully discussed the subject in his Introduction to
Glasgow Charters, pointing out that the term frequently occurs in royal charters,
and that it had a wide application in varying circumstances. Thus the
prepositus might be a cathedral dignitary, the second officer in a monastery
under the abbot, the head of a religious college, a j udge, or an official in a town
or in an incorporation or guildry (Glasg. Chart, i. pt. i. pp. xvi, xvii).
BRIDGE OVER CLYDE 127
were Sir Richard de Dundovir, Alexander Palmer and
William Gley, designated " prepositi," being the earliest
magistrates of the city whose names appear in any known
record. To the original writing the common seal of the city
was appended, and Father Innes notes that it was " on white
wax, almost entire, and showed the head of the bishop, with
mitre, namely St. Kentigern." 3
In the year 1285 another burgess, constrained by poverty >
sold to the Abbot and Convent of Paisley a property described
as lying in the Fishergait, prope pontem de Clyde* thus estab-
lishing the important fact that by that time the river was
spanned by a bridge. Fishergait corresponds with the modern
Stockwell Street, where the first stone bridge was erected.
The bridge referred to in 1285 was doubtless constructed of
timber, and may have been there from a much earlier period.
The bishops had valuable lands on the south side of the Clyde.
Two hospitals were erected there, and for ready access to
these it was desirable that something more convenient than a
ford should be provided. One of the hospitals was used for
the reception of lepers. An old burgh law required that those
afflicted with leprosy should be put into the hospital of the
burgh, and for those in poverty the burgesses were to gather
money to provide sustenance and clothing ; 5 and another act
3 Reg. Episc. No. 236 ; Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. pp. 17-19. The document
from which these particulars are obtained must have been one of those taken
by Archbishop Beaton to Paris at the time of the Reformation. In his Trans-
script of Charters supplied to the town council of Glasgow in 1739, Father Innes
gives the date of the document as " circa 1280 vel 1290," but as Archdeacon
Irewyn who acquired the property is referred to in Bishop John's charter of
nth June, 1268 (Reg. Episc. No. 218) as then deceased, the transaction must
have been completed before that date. In the copy printed in Gibson's
History of Glasgow (p. 303), which seems to have been taken from another
transcript, the date is 1268.
4 Reg. de Passelet, p. 399. Adam of Cardelechan was the name of the
burgess, and, for authentication of the charter granted by him in favour of
the abbot and convent, there were appended his own seal, together with the
common seal of the burgh and the seal of the official of the court of Glasgow.
5 Ancient Laws, i. p. 28.
128 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
refers to the collection of alms " for the sustenance of lepers
in a proper place outwith the burgh." 6 Perhaps in Glasgow
special care was bestowed on lepers, as Joceline of Furness,
writing in the twelfth century relates that St. Kentigern
cleansed lepers in the city of Glasgow, and that at his tomb,
likewise, lepers were healed. 7 The precise date of erection is
not known, but the hospital may have been established as early
as the twelfth century. The other hospital, that of St. John of
Polmadie, was governed by a master, keeper, or rector, was
used for the reception of poor men and women, and was in
existence at least as early as the time of King Alexander III. ;
but neither of this hospital nor of that which accommodated
the lepers, is there much information procurable till a later date.
On his leaving Glasgow Bishop William Wischard was suc-
ceeded by his nephew, Robert Wischard, archdeacon of Lothian,
who was elected apparently in 1271 and was consecrated by
the bishops of Dunblane, Aberdeen and Moray, in the end of
January, 1272-3. In the peaceful days which preceded the
War of Independence the new bishop devoted much attention
to the completion of the cathedral. Arrangements seem to
have been made for the erection of a bell-tower or steeple and
a treasury, and Maurice, lord of Luss, by a charter granted
at Partick, in August, 1277, sold to the bishop all the timber
necessary for the work, giving the artificers and workmen
free access to his lands and woods for cutting down and re-
moving the timber, all horses, oxen and other animals employed
on the work being allowed free grazing during the time they
were on his grounds. It has been conjectured that the steeple
and treasury for the erection of which preparations were made
in 1277 were the two western towers of the cathedral, 8 but we
e Ancient Laws, i. p. 72.
7 St. Kentigern, pp. 97, 117.
8 Glasgow Cathedral (i9Oi),p. 17 ; Medieval Glasgow, pp. 38-40 ; Reg. Efrisc.
No. 229.
w o
O M
>**''
TIMBER FOR CATHEDRAL 129
have no information as to the progress of the work, and the
precise date of the erection of the towers is uncertain. Later
on the bishop obtained supplies of trees from Ettrick Forest
and other places for building in various parts of his diocese ;
but it was alleged that instead of using some of these for the
woodwork of the cathedral they were employed in the con-
struction of instruments of war for the siege of Kirkintilloch
castle, then held by the English. 9
In the early years of Robert Wischard's episcopate much
anxiety prevailed in ecclesiastical circles with regard to the
revaluation of church benefices for the imposition of taxation.
For the general purposes of the church, for meeting the demands
of Rome and her papal legates, as well as in bearing a propor-
tion of expenditure for national requirements, funds had
hitherto been raised on the basis of a valuation supposed
to have been in existence as early as the reign of William the
Lion, and the clergy strenuously resisted all attempts to vary it
according to the progressive value of livings. The modes
adopted in levying contributions werfe also sometimes objection-
able. Thus, in 1254, Pope Innocent IV. granted to Henry III. of
England a twentieth of the ecclesiastical revenues of Scotland
and in 1268 Clement IV. renewed that grant and increased it
to a tenth. The money was required for a crusade which was
then being organised ; but when Henry attempted to levy it,
the Scottish clergy resisted and appealed to Rome, and it is
believed that the English king did not succeed in raising much
of the tenth in Scotland. Another demand was made in 1266,
six merks being asked from every cathedral church and four
merks from every parish church, to pay the expense of a papal
legate who had been sent to England to compose the quarrels
between Henry and his barons, but both king and clergy
resisted the claim.
9 Burton's History of Scotland (1897 edition), iii. p. 429 ; Book of Glasgow
Cathedral, p. 182 ; Bain's Calendar, ii. No. 1626; Dowden's Bishops, p. 306.
i
130 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
In the year 1275 Baiamund de Vicci was sent from Rome
to collect the tenth of ecclesiastical benefices in Scotland,
for relief of the Holy Land, and as he was collecting not through
the English king but for the Pope direct the clergy did not object
so much to the imposition as to the introduction of a new basis
of assessment. They insisted for their ancient valuation, as
the approved rule of proportioning all church levies, but
notwithstanding their intreaties the Pope adhered to his
resolution of having the tenth of the benefices according to
their true value. Known in this country as " Bagimont 's
Roll," the valuation of 1275 was long detested by churchmen ;
but as time wore on and livings increased in value, it had its
turn of favour, and in an act of parliament passed in 1471
it was stipulated that collections made for the see of Rome
should be conform to the " use and custome of auld taxation,
as is contained in the Provincial buik, or the auld taxation
of Bagimont."
Ancient valuations of church benefices for many parts
of Scotland have been preserved, but neither any ancient
valuation nor even that of " Bagimont " in its original state
exists for Glasgow diocese. In the printed Registmm Episco-
patus a copy of " Bagimont his Taxt Roll of Benefices," as
contained in a sixteenth century transcript, is given, but in
that shape it is regarded as evidence for nothing earlier than
the reign of James V. 10 Yet such as it is the Roll furnishes
the earliest valuations we now have of Glasgow benefices, and
an abstract may here be given. The thirty -two prebends
possessed by the canons composing the chapter of Glasgow
cathedral were of the cumulo yearly value of 4,796. The
parsonages and vicarages, so far as remaining in connection
with the diocese, but excluding several churches which had
been transferred to monasteries or other religious houses, such
as Rutherglen, which then belonged to Paisley Abbey, are
10 Origines Parochiales, vol. i. pp. xxxiv-xxxix.
TAX ROLL OF BENEFICES 131
grouped in deaneries and the cumulo amount in each deanery
is as follows : Peebles, 786 ; Teviotdale, 666 ; Nithsdale,
1,353 ; Annandale, 346 ; Rutherglen, 906 ; Lennox, 501 ;
Lanark, 900 ; Kyle and Cunningham, 533 ; Carrick, 260.
The total valuation was about n,ooo, 1 and the levy of a
tenth of that amount would accordingly form a substantial
contribution from the diocese.
1 Reg. Episc. i. pp. Ixii-lxx. Shillings and pence are omitted ; and it may
be mentioned that there is a discrepancy of a few pounds between the amount
of the sums stated and their summation in the print. The bishopric, which
is not noted in Bagimont's Roll, is valued in another list at 1,700 (Ib. p. Ixxi).
CHAPTER XXIV
TRANSFERS OF PROPERTIES ST. MARY'S CHAPEL ST.
ENOCH'S CHAPEL MONKS' HOUSE
TOWARDS the end of the thirteenth century a few documents
relating to transfers of Glasgow properties afford information
as to the procedure in such transactions and also furnish some
incidental particulars regarding the position of the streets
at that time. By a charter supposed to have been granted
about the year 1290, Finlay Jager, son of Radulf Jager, burgess
of Glasgow, being under the necessity of selling his heritage,
in relief of his extreme poverty, and having according to the
usual manner offered it to his heirs, in three successive courts
of the burgh, sold it to Sir James Renfrew, a chaplain. The
property must have stood somewhere south of the Drygate.
It is described as a house, with yard and buildings, in the street
which extended from the wall of the Friars Preachers upwards
towards the castle, lying on the south side of the said street,
between the land of the abbot and convent of the monastery
of Kilwinyn and the land which Robert, the procurator,
formerly a burgess of Glasgow, and Christina, his spouse,
gave in augmentation of the lights of St. Mary the Virgin,
in the crypt of the High Church of Glasgow. Andrew
Jager, son of the granter, consented to the sale, and for
greater security the seal of the seller, the common seal of
the city, and the seal of the official of Glasgow, were
appended to the charter. In the list of witnesses are included
132
CHAPEL OF ST. MARY 133
the names of John Dubber and John, son of Waldeve, ' ' pre-
positi "of the city. 1
The property in the charter next to be noticed probably
formed part of a field at the Broomielaw, adjoining seven riggs
of land given by John of Govan to the Friars Preachers about
the year I325. 2 This charter, which was granted by Oliver
and Richard Smalhy, prepositi, and other prepositi and citizens
of Glasgow, assembled in the court of the burgh, held on I5th
September, 1293, sets forth that Odard, son of the deceased
Richard Hangpudyng, for the weal of his soul and the souls of
his predecessors, successors, and the rest of the faithful in
Christ, gave to St. Mary's Light in the High Church of Glasgow,
the half of seven roods of land, lying in the crofts outside the
town, towards the west, between the land of St. Mary's light,
in the chapel lower in the town, on the west, and the land of
Christian, late spouse of Simon Govan, on the east. Sasine
or possession was given in presence of Oliver, " prepositus,"
twelve burgesses, and Roger, son of Philip, and John Dubber,
servants of the town, 3 and the common seal of the city and
seal of the official were appended to the charter. 4
Thus is got the earliest extant reference to the Chapel of
St. Mary, situated on the north side of Trongate, adjoining the
Tolbooth. The time and circumstances of the erection of the
chapel are unknown, but it is probable that shortly after the
foundation of the burgh the burgesses established the chapel
with the view of making provision for religious services
appropriate to their needs and the custom of the period. The
cathedral was a considerable distance from the market cross,
1 Reg. Episc. No. 237. When the document was examined by Father
Innes all the seals had been worn away.
2 Lib. Coll. etc., p. 155 ; postea, p. 159.
3 John Dubber, here called a servant of the town, is designated " pre-
positus " in Jager's charter and " bailie " in the charter by Alan, the vicar,
referred to antea, p. 117.
4 Reg. Episc. No. 248; Glasg. Chart, i. pt. i. pp. 20, 21.
134 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
in the vicinity of which the mercantile and artizan classes had
both their dwellings and places of business, and consequently
the site chosen was well adapted for a chapel designed to serve
the wants of the community. No other reference to the chapel
has been noticed till 1384, in which year Walter Wan, of the
diocese of Glasgow, was its chaplain, 5
Properties in Fishergait belonging to the Knights Templars,
to Paisley Abbey and to Neubotle Abbey, respectively, have
already been referred to. 6 In a burgh court held by John,
son of Waldeve, miller, William, painter, and other prepositi
and citizens of Glasgow, on Tuesday before the Feast of
St. Katherine, Virgin and Martyr (25th November), 1295,
Richard called Bruning, son of the late William Gley, appeared
in court and, after the usual procedure in cases of sales on
the ground of poverty, sold to the abbot and convent of
Neubotle one of these properties, described as land, with
houses thereon, lying in the Fishergait, between the land
of William Scloyder on the south and the land of John
Williamson, called Bradhy, on the north. The writing
embodying this grant contains a declaration to the effect that
if .the seller failed to fulfil his part of the transaction he
should pay 20, whereof one half was to go to the building of
the church of Glasgow and the other half to the service of
St. Enoch. 7 If by " service of St. Enoch " the chapel of
St. Tenu is meant, this is the earliest known reference to
the building which was dedicated to the memory of the
mother of St. Kentigern. 8 In one view such a destination for
part of the money would be quite appropriate, seeing the
property in connection with which it was to be contributed
6 Papal Reg. i. p. 566. 6 Antea, pp. 74, 75, 127.
''Reg. de Neubotle, No. 177.
8 In the Papal Registers, vol. iv. p. 86, Walter de Roulen is designated
rector of the chapel of St. " Thanen " in 1370. Thanen seems here to be a mis-
print for Thaneu, a common form of the name of Kentigern's mother.
PROPERTY OF PAISLEY ABBEY 135
lay on the border of the croft on which the chapel was
situated.
At the corner, on the south side of Rottenrow and west
side of High Street, the abbot and convent of Paisley possessed
a property long known as the Monks' House, which seems
to have been acquired by them in the end of the thirteenth
or the beginning of the fourteenth century. From title deeds
recorded in the Abbey Registers it appears that Gilbert de
Camera, burgess of Glasgow, to whom the bishop had given the
property, sold it in his urgent necessity and under the usual
court procedure, in 1283. Nicholas Sprewll was the purchaser,
and his son-in-law, William de Bonkel, conveyed it to the
abbey, by an undated charter in which it was described as
land lying in Rattonraw and bounded by the street called the
' Wynde " on the east. In the year 1321 Nicholas Sprowll
confirmed the sale and bound himself to defend the monks in
their possession of the property. Part of the ground was feued
to a burgess in 1413, but the corner portion was retained by
the abbey till about the time of the Reformation. 9
9 Registrum de Passelet, pp. 382-7 ; Glasgow Protocols, Nos. 2660, 2723.
CHAPTER XXV
NATIONAL CALAMITIES WAR OF INDEPENDENCE WALLACE
AND THE BATTLE OF THE BELL o' THE BRAE BISHOP
WISCHART ENGLISH OCCUPATION
BY a series of misfortunes in the last quarter of the thirteenth
century, the prosperous condition of Scotland was completely
arrested, and for a long time the story which the annalist has
to tell is one of overbearing oppression on the one side and
of patriotic and ultimately successful resistance on the other.
Through the loss of his children, two sons and a daughter, who
all died within the years 1281-3, King Alexander III., when
accidentally killed on igth March, 1285-6, left as his successor
to the Scottish throne an infant grand-daughter, Margaret
the Maid of Norway, who survived him for no more than the
short period of four years. On account of the divided interests
of the claimants to the crown, chiefly in consequence of their
landed estates being spread over both countries, and those
situated in England being held of King Edward as feudal
superior, that monarch's ambitious scheme for the union of
the two kingdoms was not devoid of Scottish support, and
but for the patriotism of some of the lesser barons and the
feeling of sturdy independence which pervaded large masses
of the people, his purpose might have been accomplished.
During this critical period Glasgow must have had its share
of the country's prevailing troubles, and though many of its
citizens, barony men and churchmen, may have had their
names inscribed on the Ragman Roll, it is known that Robert
136
BISHOP WISCHART'S PATRIOTISM 137
Wischart, the warrior bishop, was not without local followers
in his valiant contest for freedom.
Bishop Wischart was appointed one of the guardians of
Scotland after the death of King Alexander, and throughout
subsequent events, the interregnum of 1290-2, the inglorious
reign of John Balliol, 1292-6, the interregnum of 1296-1306,
Wallace's protectorate and the early years of Bruce's reign,
the bishop took a prominent part in public affairs. He was
keenly patriotic, 1 and though, under compulsion or urgent
expediency, he swore allegiance to Edward, the oath was broken
as often as the opportunity occurred. 2 As Cosmo Innes has
observed, it was a time when strong oppression on the one
side made the other almost forget the laws of good faith and
1 Though in the elaborately formal record of proceedings which resulted
in the selection of John Balliol as king no express disavowal of Edward's
supremacy appears, independent chroniclers are not so reticent, and para-
phrasing their statements, Wyntoun, in a passage marked, perhaps, more by
poetical license than strict historical accuracy, ascribes to Bishop Wischart
delivery of this spirited protest :
" Excellend Prynce (he sayd), and Kyng,
Yhe ask ws ane unleffull thyng,
That is superyoryte ;
We ken rycht noucht, quhat that suld be ;
That is to say, off our kynryk,
The quhilk is in all fredome lik
Till ony rewme, that is mast fre,
In till all Crystyanyte,
Wndyr the sown is na kyngdome,
Than is Scotland, in mare fredome.
Off Scotland oure Kyng held evyr his state
Off God hym-selff immedyate,
And off nane othir mene persowne.
Thare is nane dedlyke king with crowne,
That ourlard till oure Kyng suld be
In till superyoryte."
Wyntoun 's Chronicle (Historians of Scotland), book viii. ch. v. p. 301, lines
821-36. Some words in the quotation may be glossed thus : " unleffull "
unlawful ; " We ken," etc. we well know that should not be ; " kynryk ""
country ; " rewme " realm ; " sown " sun ; " mene " mediate ;
" dedlyke " mortal ; " ourlard " overlord.
8 A list of these occasions is given in Burton's History of Scotland, vol. ii.
pp. 260-1.
138 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
humanity. The bishop was a friend and supporter of Wallace,
and having joined the army gathered under Bruce and others,
was among those who surrendered and made " peace " at
Irvine in July, 1297*
To about this time may be assigned the encounter known as
the battle of the Bell o' the Brae. An animated passage in
the metrical narrative of Harry the Minstrel describes how
Wallace overcame a body of English troops in the streets of
Glasgow. The story is circumstantially told and vouched
~by the expression "' as weyll witnes the buk," suggesting that
the minstrel was proceeding on something more substantial
than oral tradition. Starting from Ayr one evening, Wallace
and his band rode " to Glaskow bryg, that byggit was of tre,"
which they reached next morning at nine. Here the attacking
party was formed into two divisions. One division, under the
laird of Auchinleck, " for he the pasage kend," made a detour,
and seems to have crossed the Clyde above the town, while the
other division, headed by Wallace, marched up the " playne
streyt " leading to the castle, and attacked the garrison in
iront. Then at the opportune moment Auchinleck' s division
rushed in by " the north-east raw " (i.e. the modern Drygait),
" and partyt Sotheron rycht sodeynly in twyn." Thus pressed
in front and surprised in rear, the garrison forces were com-
pletely routed, and fled to Both well, there joining another
English army, who checked the further pursuit of Wallace and
Ids men. The retreat is thus described :
" Out off the gait the byschope Beik thai lede,
For than thaim thocht it was no tyme to bide,
By the Frer Kyrk, til a wode fast besyde.
In that forest, forsuth, thai taryit nocht ;
On fresche horss to Bothwell sone thai socht.
Wallace followed with worthie men and wicht." 4
At that time, the open ground east of the Blackfriars' Kirk
and the woods and fields beyond, would afford the readiest
3 Bain's Calendar, ii. Nos. 907-10. * The Wallace, book vii. lines 515-616.
BATTLE OF " BELL O' THE BRAE " 139
route in the retreat to Both well. The narrative is true to the
locality in its outstanding features ; and, keeping in mind
that Wallace, from his early days, was well acquainted with the
district, that he had the co-operation of the bishop, and was
on intimate terms with his co-patriots, the monks of Paisley, 5
who had dwellings and dependents in Glasgow, and that
these dependents had the opportunity of knowing and com-
municating to Wallace the most favourable time and place
of attack, it would have been strange if some attempt had
not been made to molest the English garrison. Notwith-
standing the absence of notice in the scant remains of con-
temporary chronicles, and though some of the details are
erroneous or exaggerated, there is reason to believe that the
account of the battle of the " Bell o' the Brae " was founded
on a real incident in the career of our national hero.
Bothwell, situated about eight miles south-east of Glasgow, to
which the vanquished remnant fled, was long the headquarters
of the English armies in Clydesdale. Bothwell castle, while
occupied by the English towards the end of the thirteenth
century, stood out a siege by the Scots for more than a year,
but the garrison were at last starved into submission. 6 From
that time the castle seems to have been held by the Scots till
retaken by the English in the autumn of 1301. During part
of the time occupied by the latter siege, King Edward was in
the vicinity and doubtless took an active part in directing
operations. On I2th August, while the besiegers were still
busy, he granted to Aymer de Valence the castle and barony
of Bothwell, and all other lands which William de Moray had
forfeited through his patriotism. In August Edward was
in Glasgow, and took the opportunity of making devout
oblations at the local shrines and altars. Offerings were made
6 See The Abbey of Paisley, by Dr. J. Cameron Lees (1878), chap. x. As a
reward for the patriotism of the monks during the wars of Wallace and Bruce,
the English burned their monastery in 1307 (Glasgow Memorials, pp. 28, 29).
6 Bain's Calendar, ii. Nos. 1093, 1867.
140 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
on the 20th of the month at the shrine of St. Kentigern ; on
the following day at the high altar and at the shrine ; on the
24th in his own portable chapel, in honour of St. Bartholomew
(whose day it was) ; again on 25th in his chapel, this last
being a special offering on account of good news of the capture
of Sir Malcolm Drummond. The king's oblations, costing in
money seven shillings each, were continued in September, an
offering having been made on the 2nd of that month in his
portable chapel ; on the 3rd at the shrine of St. Kentigern ;
and on the 23rd at the high altar and at the tomb of St. Kenti-
gern. The tomb is expressly described as being situated " in
volta," meaning apparently the crypt of the cathedral. On
6th September the sum of six shillings was given to the Friars
Preachers as a contribution towards their food supply.
For prosecuting the siege of Bothwell Castle supplies of
material were forwarded from Glasgow. In August timber
was obtained from the neighbouring woods for the construction
of a siege engine, brushwood was collected for hurdles to form
a bridge, and night watchmen were employed to guard the
implements and stores. Waggons were hired at Glasgow for
carriage of the engine to Bothwell. Purchases of coal, iron,
and tools were made at Glasgow, both during and after the
siege, the implements so procured including anvils, hammers,
chisels, nails, picks, shovels, an axe, a ploughshare, a grind-
stone, a cauldron, coffers and locks. Congratulations on the
surrender of the castle were transmitted to Edward on 2nd
October, by which time he had apparently left the district. 7
Notwithstanding the siege and similar successes Edward was
experiencing the difficulty of keeping the Scots under control,
for no sooner had he secured submission in one district than
trouble broke out elsewhere, and in this spasmodic warfare both
7 Bain's Calendar, ii. and iv. ; Rhind Lectures (1900), " The Edwards in
Scotland," pp. 35, 36 ; Reg. Episc. p. xxxiii. Edward's usual offering of
seven shillings was equal to about five guineas of the present day.
THE ENGLISH OCCUPATION 141
Bishop Wischart and the men of the barony had their share.
In August, 1302, Pope Boniface VIII. wrote the bishop express-
ing astonishment that, as reported, he had been the " prime
instigator and promoter of the fatal disputes which prevailed
between the Scottish nation and King Edward," and calling
upon him, by earnest endeavour after peace, to obtain forgive-
ness. 8 This appeal had no immediate effect on the bishop's
course of action, and in 1302-3 he was treated as a rebel, his
estates were forfeited and parts of his lands in Glasgow barony
were laid waste. Even Edward's collector could not get
certain sums from the " farm of the burgh of Glasgow, because
the tenants were destroyed by the Irish," apparently alluding
to the Irish foot soldiers who formed a large section of the
English army. There was also a deficiency in the barony
collection, as distinguished from that of the burgh, because so
much " land of the barony lay waste." 9 The burgesses of
Rutherglen, also, took the opportunity of discontinuing
payment of tolls on their goods bought or sold in Glasgow. 10
In consequence of Edward's energetic campaign of 1303, and
the apparent hopelessness of further resistance, the bishop again
became reconciled to Edward 1 and besought him to authorise
the levying of tolls, as formerly, and to confirm the charters
of the church, that he and his clergy might be paid their arrears. 2
That the desired restoration of temporalities was conceded
may be inferred from a letter dated loth April, 1304, in which
Edward thanked the bishop, " dearly," for giving the prebend
of Old Roxburgh to his (the king's) clerk who was about to be
sent out of the country on special business, thus making it
desirable that he should obtain immediate possession. 3 In
8 Hailes' Annals, 3rd edition, i p. 330.
8 Bain's Calendar, ii. p. 424. 10 Antea, p. 100.
1 In or about January, 1303-4, Edward had stated the conditions for
receiving the bishop of Glasgow, William le Waleys, Sir David de Graham, Sir
Alexander de Lindesey and Sir John Comyn (Bain's Calendar, ii. No. 1444).
2 Bain's Calendar, ii. No. 1626-7. s Ib. No. 1502.
142 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
August, also, the bishop and chapter were in a position to give
to the Friars Preachers the Meadow-well in Deanside, the water
of which was to be led to their cloister. 4
The friendly attitude thus subsisting between King Edward
and the bishop was not long maintained. Sir William Wallace
having been betrayed into Edward's hands had met his death
in London in August, 1305. According to Blind Harry, the
place of capture was Robrastoun or Robroystoun, 5 situated
in the barony, about four miles north-east from Glasgow Cross ;
but some chroniclers, including Walter Bower, assert that
Wallace was seized " at Glasgow," which, taken literally, would
mean in the city itself. 6 The actual place of capture is accord-
ingly doubtful, but all accounts agree in crediting Sir John
Monteith, governor of the castle of Dumbarton, with the chief
part in the transaction. At this stage King Edward, deeming
that Scotland was finally at his disposal, proceeded to supply
it with a constitution, and an " Ordinance for the settlement
of Scotland " was drawn up to his satisfaction. 7 But before
six months had elapsed the scheme became utterly inoperative,
and the English king had virtually to recommence the work of
conquest. In the spring of 1305-6 Robert Bruce took the
field and forthwith the irrepressible bishop j oined his standard,
and it is said that from vestments in the cathedral he prepared
the robes and royal banner for the coronation. Exasperated
at this turn of affairs Edward, on 26th May, 1306, issued his
commands for taking the most effectual means for seizing
the bishop and sending him to the king. Shortly after-
wards came the announcement that Wischart had been taken
prisoner at the siege of Cupar castle, news which elicited
^Antea, p. 117. 6 Book xi. lines 997, 1083.
6 Pictorial History of Scotland, i. pp. 776-7. John Major, in his History
of Greater Britain, published in 1521, when he was principal Regent of the
University, says that, " by a shameful stratagem, Wallace was seized in the
city of Glasgow " (Scottish History Society edition, p. 203).
7 Bain's Calendar, ii. No. 1691-2.
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REWARDS TO WALLACE'S CAPTORS 143
from Edward the avowal that he was almost as much pleased
with the capture of the bishop as if it had been that of the
Earl of Carrick. 8
The forfeiture of the bishop's interest in the temporalities of
his see, which followed this new rupture, afforded an opportunity
of bestowing on Wallace's captors part of their reward. It
had been arranged that 40 merks should be given to the valet
who spied Wallace, that 60 merks should be divided among
those who assisted at his seizure, and that land of the yearly
value of 100 should be assigned to Monteith. 9 In part fulfil-
ment, apparently, of the last of these grants, King Edward,
on i6th June, 1306, instructed Aymer de Valence to give to
Sir John de Meneteth the " temporality of the bishopric of
Glasgow, towards Dumbarton" ; but seeing that in course of
time the revenues of the see would require to be applied to
their legitimate uses, Sir John's possession was only to last
duringthe king's pleasure. 10 It is likely enough that the portion
of the temporality vaguely described as " towards Dumbarton "
consisted of the clearly defined area of the barony lands lying
on the Dumbarton side of the Clyde and west side of the river
Kelvin. These lands, including the "toune of Partik," were
valued at 74 i2s. 4d. old extent.
Bishop Wischart was removed to England and there kept
in strict confinement for many years. While he was a prisoner
in Porchester Castle, near Portsmouth, the Scottish king,
Robert the Bruce, restored to him his churches, lands and
possessions. This was done by a charter dated 26th April, 1309,
in which sympathetic reference was made to "the imprisonments
and bonds, persecutions and afflictions which a reverend
father, lord Robert, by the grace of God, bishop of Glasgow, has
8 Bain's Calendar, Nos. 1777, 1780, 1786.
9 Palgrave's Illustrations, p. 295 ; Wallace Papers, No. XX. ; as cited in
Burns' Scottish War of Independence, ii. p. 134.
10 Bain's Calendar, ii. No. 1785.
144 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
up to this time constantly borne, and yet patiently bears for
the rights of the church and our kingdom of Scotland." l But,
unfortunately, formal concessions of this sort were of no avail
in procuring relief to the unhappy victim, and efforts in other
directions for his release were likewise futile. With the view
of thwarting applications to Rome for help, King Edward II.,
on 4th December, 1308, represented to the pope that the crimes,
lese-majesty, and other offences of the bishop of Glasgow
against the late king and himself, forbade any hope that he
could be allowed to return to Scotland. 2 Two years later,
Edward, hearing that the bishop, " who has sown such dissen-
sions and discord in Scotland," was busy suing for his deliver-
ance at the court of Rome, with " leave to return to his own
country, which would be most prejudicial to the king's affairs
there, and an encouragement to his enemies," the English
chancellor was instructed to concert measures for opposing the
bishop's restoration either to his office or his country, " pointing
out his evil conditions and his oaths repeatedly broken, and
anything else to induce the pope to refuse him leave even to
return to Scotland." 3 After being summoned before the pope
to answer for his offences against Edward L, he was sent back
to England in November, 1313, "to be detained by the king
at pleasure, till Scotland was recovered," 4 but following upon
the military and political events of the following year, the final
liberation of the bishop was secured. By that time, however,
he had become blind, and he survived his long hoped-for
deliverance only two years. He died on 26th November, 1316,
and was buried in the crypt of the cathedral between the altars
of St. Peter and St. Andrew. A dilapidated effigy now lying
in the open arch of one of the cross walls, at the east end of the
crypt, is supposed to have once covered his tomb. 5
1 Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. p. 21.
2 Bain's Calendar, iii. No. 61. 3 Ibid. No. 194. * Ibid. No. 342.
6 Book of Glasgow Cathedral, pp. 412-3 ; Mediaeval Glasgow, pp. 58, 59.
MONUMENT OF BISHOP ROBERT WISHARD IN GLASGOW CATHEDRAL.
CHAPTER XXVI
BARONIAL REVENUES APPOINTMENTS OF BISHOPS CHARTERS
BY KING ROBERT POLMADIE HOSPITAL BARLANARK OR
PROVAND CHAPEL OF ST. THOMAS LOST SEAL MANOR
OF LOCHWOOD
INTROMITTERS with the temporalities in the barony of Glasgow
must have had a somewhat precarious experience during the
early years of the War of Independence, and they were prob-
ably changed more than once according to the dominance of
the party locally in authority at the time. In the beginning
of 1309 Scotland was becoming consolidated as the result of
Bruce's successes, and it was at this time that the charter to
Bishop Robert, already referred to, 1 was granted. By this
document, which was dated at Arbroath, 26th April, 1309, the
king charged his officials and lieges to cause the bishop's
churches, lands, rents and whole possessions and goods,
" hitherto seized " by others, to be delivered to his chancellor,
Bernard, lord abbot of Arbroath, and to Master Stephen of
Donydouer, canon of the church of Glasgow, his chamberlain,
or either of them, as vicars or vicar of the bishop. 2 At this
time and during the next five years the bishop was confined
in an English prison, so that he must have enjoyed little if
any personal advantage under the new arrangement, but it
may be assumed that the revenues of the see would
thenceforth be applied for the benefit of those engaged in the
1 Antea, p. 143. 2 Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. pp. 21-23.
K
146 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
performance of the duties of office and the administration
of affairs.
Canon Stephen, as empowered by the charter, probably
acted as vicar during the absence of the bishop, and on
the death of the latter, in 1316, he was himself chosen bishop
and proceeded to Rome to receive confirmation. Failing
apparently to obtain the Pope's sanction, Bishop Stephen
left Rome to return to Scotland, but he died in the course of
the journey. In 1318 the Pope appointed John de Egglescliffe,
of the Order of Preaching Friars, to the bishopric, and, mean-
while, the chapter of Glasgow, perhaps unacquainted with the
proceedings of the Apostolic see, had chosen John de Lindesay as
bishop. The Pope declared this latter election to be null, and in
a similarly discordant mood the appointment of Egglescliffe was
disregarded in Scotland. Having at last reported to the Pope
that he got nothing from his bishopric, and that he was
unable to govern and instruct the flock committed to his
care, Egglescliffe was, in 1323, translated to a see in Ireland,
and John de Lindesay was thereupon accepted by the Pope and
duly consecrated. 3
In the bulls and diplomacies on the national affairs of
Scotland, it was long before the papal see acknowledged Bruce 's
right to the title of king, 4 but the solemn address and appeal
of the Scottish Parliament, adopted at Arbroath Abbey and
forwarded to the Pope in 1320, had a powerful effect, and from
that time intercourse between Rome and this country assumed
a friendlier tone. In an admonitory bull, dated in July, the
English king was exhorted to try conciliation with Scotland
and negotiations in that line were commenced, but it was
not till three years later, and after resort to hostilities in
3 Dowden's Bishops, pp. 309-11. At the time of his selection as bishop
Lindesay was one of the canons of Glasgow.
4 Notwithstanding the attitude maintained at the Roman court a provincial
council of the Scottish clergy, held at Dundee in February, 1309-10, recognised
Bruce as the lawful king of Scotland (A.P.S. i. p. 460).
HOSPITAL OF POLMADIE 147
the interval, that peace was concluded between the two
countries. 5
In the years of his reign subsequent to the battle of
Bannockburn many charters, mainly of confirmation, were
granted by Bruce to the church, such renewals being necessary
in some cases to restore to their proper destination revenues
which had been misapplied during the more troublous times.
By writings addressed to the burgh of Rutherglen and his
bailies of Cadihou in 1315-6, and by precepts to his chamber-
lain, King Robert confirmed grants by his predecessors and
authorised continuance of the yearly payment, from the fermes
of Rutherglen and Cadihou, of 100 shillings for the stipend of a
chaplain in the church of St. Kentigern ; ten merks towards
the stipends of the dean and subdean in that church ; and
forty shillings for the lights of St. Kentigern. 6
One of the latest official acts of Bishop Robert was the
appointment of Sir Patrick Floker as master and guardian
of the Hospital of " Polmade," with power to exercise discip-
line over the brethren, sisters and pensioners. Floker was at
the time connected with the church of Kilpatrick, and it was
stipulated that he should employ a curate to officiate in that
church during his absence. The bishop's writing is dated at
Glasgow, on Friday after the Feast of St. Mark the Evangelist
(25th April), in the year of grace 1316. 7 By a charter dated at
" Ruglen," on 28th May of the same year, King Robert directed
that the masters, brethren and sisters of the hospital, here
called the " Hospital of Polmade near (juxta) Ruglen," should
freely enjoy all the privileges they had in the time of his
predecessor, King Alexander, and specially that no one should
seize the goods belonging to them in " Strablathy," or any
other place, and that no one should trouble or molest them,
5 Hill Burton's History of Scotland, ii. pp. 283-7.
8 Reg. Episc. Nos. 259-62. 7 Reg. Episc. No. 263.
148 A HISTORY OF GLASGOW
contrary to the royal protection. 8 Three years later another
patron crops up in the person of King Edward II. of England,
who, when at York, in July, 1319, on the eve of his unsuccessful
invasion of Scotland, issued presentations to a large number of
prebends, churches and benefices in that country, and included
in the list is a grant to William de Houk of the guardianship
of the " Hospital of St. John of Polmadde in Cliddes-
dale." 9 But it is not probable that this appointment took
effect.
John de Lindesay, who obtained the bishopric in 1323,
bestowed on the hospital a considerable tract of adjoining
land. At that time the revenue was found to be insufficient
for continuing the celebration of divine service and the main-
tenance of the poor brothers and sisters dwelling in the hospital,
and the bishop gave for these purposes the east half of his
adjoining lands of Little Govan, 10 resulting apparently in an
equal division between the bishopric and the hospital of the
considerable area which lay between Gorbals lands and
Rutherglen territory.
One of the presentations of King Edward in 1319 was in
favour of Thomas de Newehaghe whom he had " appointed
to the vacant prebend of Barlanark in the church of Glasgow," 1
but here, as in the appointment to Polmadie Hospital, the
nomination seems to have been disregarded. John Wyschard
8 Reg. Episc. No. 265. " Strablathy," indicating the kirk and kirklands
of Strathblane, was an endowment the origin of which cannot be traced.
This connection with Strathblane gave the lords of Lennox an interest in the
hospital, and in 1333 Earl Malcolm confirmed to the brothers and sisters
freedom from all kinds of service, burdens and exactions, both as regards their
own house and their church of Strathblane (Ib. No. 284).
9 Parish of Strathblane, by J. Guthrie Smith, p. 170.
10 Reg. Episc. No. 269.
1 Bain's Calendar, iii. No. 658. At the same time, the king had appointed
Robert de Coucy to the " vacant deanery of Glasgow " (Ib. No. 659), but there
is no evidence that he entered into possession. In Registrum Glasguensis
(Nos. 271 and 273) the dean in 1325 is named, variously, Robert de Bardis
and Robert de Florencia.
04
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PREBEND OF PROVAN 149
is noticed as holder of the prebend both in 1321 and 1322.*
The lands of Barlanark are understood to be those named
" Pathelanerche " in Earl David's Inquisition, and are
identified with " Barlannark cum Budlornac," which Bishop
Herbert, previous to 1172, gave in augmentation of the prebend
of Cadiho or Hamilton. 3 Subsequently, Barlannark had been
erected into a prebend by itself, and on i2th May, 1322, King
Robert I. authorised John Wyschard, designated "canon of
the prebend of Barlanark of the church of Glasgow," to hold
his prebend of Barlanark in free warren, and forbade that any
person should cut wood, hunt on the lands, or fish in the lochs,
without licence of the prebendary. 4 A " warren " right was
considered to carry an inferior jurisdiction, as compared with
free " forest," but both seem to have been independent of
all except the sovereign authority. The vernacular Provand,
by which name Barlanark was subsequently known, is under-
stood to be the equivalent of the Latin Prebenda. It was a
peculiarity of this benefice that the prebendary who held it,
though a member of the cathedral chapter, was not, as far as
can be ascertained, parson of any charge in town or country.
Each of the other prebendaries, with the exception, perhaps,
of Glasgow Secundo, who held the vicarage, was parson of a
parish in the diocese. 5
In 1320 Sir Walter Fitz-Gilbert, progenitor of the ducal
family of Hamilton, entered into an arrangement with the
chapter of Glasgow cathedral whereby a suit of priests' vest-
2 Reg. Episc. Nos. 268, 272. 3 Antea, pp. 37, 54.
4 Reg. Episc. No. 272. The king was in Glasgow when this charter was
granted. The witnesses were Bernard, abbot of Aberbrothoc, chancellor,
Walter the steward, and James, lord of Douglas, and David de Lindesay,
knights.
5 Cosmo Innes says " a prebend often consisted of land, or even of money-
rent. One at Elgin was prebenda centum solidorum " (Legal Antiquities, p.
183). The lands of " Provand," comprising an estate of 2,000 acres, situated
to the east of Glasgow, will hereafter come in for occasional notice. For a
summary of their history, see Glasgow Memorials, pp. 208-12.
150 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
ments and plate, which he had given for use in services at the
altar of the Virgin Mary, in the crypt of the cathedral, were
allowed to be borrowed on certain occasions elsewhere, one of
these favoured places being the chapel of St. Thomas the
Martyr, where they might be used twice yearly, viz. on the
Feast of the Commemoration of St. Thomas (29th December)
and the Feast of his Translation (7th July). 6 This is the
earliest known reference to the chapel of St. Thomas in Glasgow.
Though the chapel is supposed to have adjoined, or to have
been in some way connected with the chapel of St. Tenu, we
have little definite information on the subject.
At the time when the affixing of a seal to a document was
the sole evidence of its authenticity, the safe custody of the
matrix was essential to avert the risk of fraud. Now the
matrix of Bishop Lindsay's seal happened to be lost, and to
guard against any damage or injury that might be sustained
through its possible use while beyond the bishop's control,
protests were taken by him with declarations to the effect that
any documents bearing the impressions of the seal from the
date of its disappearance would be null and void. These
protests and declarations were recorded by John de Quincey,
notary public, in an instrument which sets forth that on 23rd
April, 1325, the bishop appeared in his court at Glasgow, in
presence of the notary and witnesses, and stated that his seal
had been lost and that if found it was in nowise to be after-
wards used, all documents to which it might be affixed being
of no effect. The seal is described as containing the form or
image of the blessed Bishop Kentigern, with the shield of a
nobleman, William de Coucyaco, on one side, and a fish bearing
a ring in its mouth above it, and the bishop's own shield on the
other side, with a little bird over it ; and the name of the bishop
was also inscribed on the seal. The instrument then narrates
that on 30th April the bishop, while dwelling at his manor
6 Reg. Episc. No. 267.
MANOR OF LOCHWOOD 151
de Lacu, 1 affirmed that the seal which was lost by Robert
Barkow, near the chapel of St. Mary of Dumbarton, had been
found by Sir James de Irwyn, a monk of Paisley, and returned
to him ; and to complete the official record which it was thought
necessary to preserve, the bishop, on i8th May was present at a
meeting of the cathedral chapter when the seal was produced,
and after three impressions had been taken on red, white and
green wax respectively, the matrix was publicly broken. The
instrument to which these impressions and the common seal
of the chapter were attached, the bishop then directed to be
faithfully preserved in the treasury of the cathedral. 8
7 The dwelling on the south side of the Bishop's Loch, otherwise called the
Manor of Lochwood, about six miles east of Glasgow Cross. The bishops of
Glasgow retained this residence till the time of the Reformation. A chapel
was also connected with the manor from at least the end of the fourteenth
century (Reg. de Passelet, p. 108).
8 Reg. Episc. No. 271. The instrument was one of the documents taken by
Archbishop Beaton to France at the Reformation. In the transcript supplied
to Glasgow town council, in 1739, Father Innes notes that the seal in red wax
was almost entire but that the other three had nearly disappeared.
The witnesses named in the instrument are Sir Robert de Bardis, dean,
Sir Walter de Roull, precentor, Master William Comyn, chancellor, Sir John
Wyssard, archdeacon of Glasgow, Master William of Yetam, archdeacon of
Teviotdale, John Flemyne, the bishop's official, " and many other canons,
members of the chapter."
CHAPTER XXVII
KING ROBERT REIGN OF KING DAVID AND EPISCOPATE OF
BISHOP RAE TEMPORALITIES OF BISHOPRIC BISHOP-
FOREST PAPAL REGISTERS ENDOWMENTS OF FRIARS
PREACHERS GLASGOW BRIDGE
A CHARTER granted to Aberdeen in 1319, and another to
Edinburgh in 1329, by King Robert I., bear early evidence of
the practice which latterly became general of substituting for
the rents payable by burghs fixed annual feuduties, not subject
to those fluctuations which were liable to occur under earlier
arrangements. The burghs thus became feudal vassals of the
crown, a position which was apparently open to the acceptance
of any royal burgh, and it was perhaps, as has been surmised,
in consequence of their being viewed in this relationship that
the burghs were represented in the famous parliament, held at
Cambuskenneth on I5th July, 1326, when the lay estates of
the kingdom, specially named as the earls, barons, burgesses
and free tenants of the realm, granted an annual revenue to
the king, certain crown exactions were freely abandoned, and
all taxes and impositions without the authority of parliament
were declared illegal. 1
As the burgh of Glasgow did not hold direct of the sovereign,
or pay rent to the crown, it could not apply for a feu-charter,
but apparently those in authority considered it desirable to
have the burgh's market and trading privileges renewed, and
'A.P.S., i. p. 475.
152
CHARTERS BY KING ROBERT I. 153
on 28th July, 1324, King Robert ratified and confirmed the
charter granted by King Alexander II., in 1225, which original
charter was repeated verbatim in the body of the new grant.
Under the authority thus renewed the burgh was fortified with
all the liberties and customs possessed by any royal burgh, and
the burgesses were to have the king's firm peace and protec-
tion in their trading journeys throughout the kingdom. 2
Bruce 's charter being mainly for the advantage of the trad-
ing community was put into the custody of the magistrates
and was not among the cathedral muniments which were
removed to France at the time of the Reformation. It forms
No. i of the Inventory of the City's Writs, compiled in 1696,
and must then have been in its place, but through some not
very creditable want of care it had disappeared by the time it
was required for the purpose of being included in the printed
volume of Glasgow Charters. A like fate has unhappily
befallen No. 2 of the Inventory of 1696. This was a charter,
also by King Robert, dated I5th November, 1328, and confirm-
ing the charter granted by King Alexander III. in 1275, whereby
the bishop and his men of Glasgow were authorised to go to
and return from Argyle with their merchandise freely and
without any impediment. 3 The loss of this charter is of the
more consequence seeing it embraced verbatim that of 1275,
of which neither original nor transcript exists.
Following on the treaty of Northampton, in 1328, and the
marriage of Prince David with the Princess Joanna, sister of
the English king, Edward III., amicable intercourse between
the two countries was resumed, and one of Bruce's latest acts
was the writing of a letter to King Edward calling attention
2 Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. p. 23. This charter was granted while the king was
at Scone but he had been at Glasgow on roth and i3th, and perhaps other
days in June preceding (Marquis of Bute's " Itinerary of King Robert," Scottish
Antiquary, xiv. p. 19).
3 Ib. p. 24. The king was in Glasgow at this time.
154 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
to the custom duty exacted from Scottish merchants on enter-
ing or leaving English ports, by sea or land, and asking that
the same privileges should be given to Scottish merchants as
the English would wish their merchants to enjoy in Scottish
ports. The letter is dated 3rd May, 1329, and was written
irom Cardross, where Bruce died on the 7th of the following
month. 4
King David II. was only five years of age when he succeeded
to the throne, and at first government in his name had to be
conducted by successive guardians of the kingdom. In
aggravation of the usual disadvantages of minority rule,
Edward Balliol, son and heir of the unlucky King John, assisted
by an English army, partly composed of those barons who had
been disinherited of their Scottish estates, invaded the country
and met with such an amount of success that he took the title
of king and was crowned at Scone in September, 1332. Like
his father, " King " Edward of Scotland manifested no zeal
for Scottish independence, and he not only acknowledged the
English king as " lord paramount," but also formally conveyed
to him the southern counties of Scotland, and these districts
were thereupon placed under the charge of English officials.
As an illustration of the working of this transfer it may be
mentioned that Edward's sheriff of Roxburgh, in the years
1335-7, accounted for his intromissions with the rents of the
manors of Lillesclif , Alncrum and Ashkirk, parts of the tempor-
alities of the bishopric of Glasgow, and out of these rents the
abbots of Melrose and Neubotle were allowed the sum of 50. 5
In 1335-6 the sheriff of Dumfries accounted for 135. 4d. received
from the land of " Benneueryk," belonging to the bishop of
Glasgow, and formerly valued at 20 merks, which land was
then in the king's hand on account of the vacancy in the see.
The lands here referred to are apparently those of Bishop-
4 Bain's Calendar, iii. No. 984. * Ib. pp. 322, 375.
EDWARD BALLIOL IN GLASGOW 155
forest, in the stewartry of Kirkcudbright and near the Dum-
friesshire border. 6 The right of disposal of these lands, but
under a different name, was shortly after this claimed by
Edward Balliol. By a charter dated 2ist September, 1347,
Edward, " king of Scots," granted to John de Denton, an
Englishman, for his good and praiseworthy service, " the
forest of Garnery, which with all its belongings was possessed
by William, bishop of Glasgow, an enemy and rebel against
us, and which by forfeiture of the same bishop came into our
hands/' 7 As in the sheriff's account the lands in the charter
are stated to be of the value of 20 merks yearly, there seems to
be no doubt as to their identity, especially as the bishops of
Glasgow were not possessed of temporalities other than Bishop-
forest in this locality. 8
During the invasion of Scotland in July, 1335, King
Edward, with a numerous force, entered the country by
Carlisle, while another army, commanded by Balliol, advanced
by Berwick. After ravaging the country the two divisions
united at Glasgow, and thence marched towards Perth.
They met with no organized opposition, the country through
which they passed being completely deserted by the in-
habitants, who retired to inaccessible districts, taking their
cattle and provisions with them. 9
Bishop Lindsay, unlike the " rebel " William, adhered to
the party of Edward Balliol, and when the latter was at
Glasgow, on 25th September, 1333, in the second year of his
" reign," he confirmed his father's charter securing the church
in annual revenues payable furth of the farms of Cadihou
* Antea, p. in ; Bain's Calendar, iii. p. 318.
7 Transactions of the Dumfries and Galloway Antiquarian Society (1916-18),
3rd series, vol. v. p. 257.
8 In the charter whereby the archbishop of Glasgow granted Bishopforest
to feuars, in 1613, it is described as a 20 merk land of old extent (Reg. Mag. Si
vii. No. 1025).
9 Hailes' Annals, ii. pp. 219-2 ; Pictorial History, i. p. 190.
156 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
and Rutherglen. In this confirmation charter many of the
disinherited lords are named as witnesses. 10 It would almost
appear that the bishop's adherence to Balliol did not, at least
in later years, embrace attachment to the English king, as it
is stated that in the year 1335, while on one of two ships sailing
from Flanders, with many Scots on board, he was taken prisoner
by the English and died from wounds which he received at
the time of the capture. The see remained vacant till
February, 1336-7, when John Wyschard, archdeacon of
Glasgow, was chosen bishop and duly consecrated, but his
episcopate was brief, as in consequence of his death another
vacancy is noted on nth May, 1338. l
William Rae, precentor of Glasgow, was appointed bishop
in 1338-9, and he retained the episcopate till his death in 1367.
His name does not often occur in connection with the public
affairs of the period, but in the published Calendars of Papal
Registers there are notices of many missives transmitted to
him from Rome. One of the more interesting of these was a
mandate, dated 23rd January, 1347-8, authorising the bishop
to give dispensation to the future king of Scotland, there
designated " Robert, Lord of Stratgrif, knight," and Elizabeth
More, parents of a " multitude " of children, allowing them to
intermarry, notwithstanding the impediments of consanguinity
and affinity. This concession was granted at the request of
David, king of Scotland, Robert's uncle, and of Philip, king
of France, and on condition that Robert should found a
chaplainry within the church of Glasgow. 2 Again, by a man-
10 Reg. Episc. No. 283.
1 Dowden's Bishops, p. 313. Some uncertainty, formerly entertained
regarding the succession of bishops between 1316 and 1339, has been
almost wholly removed by information contained in recent publications and
summarised by Bishop Dowden (Ib. pp. 309-13).
2 Papal Reg. iii. p. 265. The stipulated chaplainry was founded by
Robert on I2th January, 1364-5, with an endowment of ten merks yearly pay-
able from lands in Stirlingshire (Reg. Episc. No. 302).
i \ t '
SEAL OF JOHN WYSCHART, BISHOP OF GLASGOW, 1337-8.
SCOTS COLLEGE IN PARIS 157
date dated 2nd May, 1355, the bishop was entrusted with another
dispensation, this time for the marriage of Robert, here desig-
nated " steward of Scotland," and Euphemia, relict of John,
earl of Moray, who were related in the fourth degree of kindred
and the third of affinity. 3 These dispensations were not known
to Hector Boece and George Buchanan, who in their historical
works expressed doubts as to the legitimacy of Robert III.;
and, in refutation of this calumny, Father Innes and the other
charter scholars of the Scots College in Paris who, in the end
of the seventeenth century, came upon documents preserved
among the Glasgow muniments disclosing evidence on the sub-
ject, were elated with their success. The information contained
in the Glasgow collections led to investigation at the Vatican
and the discovery of the original documents, 4 the purport of
which was communicated to the bishop of Glasgow by the
mandates above referred to.
Notwithstanding the many disappointing events which
happened during David's reign, and the occasional discourage-
ments resulting from the acts and conduct of the king, Scotland
was never without its band of loyal subjects, an irresistible
barrier to the complete surrender of its independence. For-
tunately Edward of England, in consequence mainly of the
drain upon his resources in the long contest with France, was
eventually disposed to adjust terms with this country, and by
a treaty entered into in 1357, about a year after Edward
Balliol had renounced the " royal dignity " in his favour, 5
he consented to King David being released from captivity,
in consideration of a ransom which, exorbitant as it was, all
classes of the community agreed to pay. 6 But though the
3 Ib. p. 547. Reg. Episc. pp. xxxix, xl.
6 Bain's Calendar, iii. No. 1603 (ayth January, 1355-6). Taken prisoner
at the battle of Durham (or Neville's Cross) on iyth October, 1346, David
had been eleven years in captivity.
6 Ancient Laws and Customs, i. pp. 194-9 ; Bain's Calendar, iii. 1648,
1650.
158 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
prelates, secular and regular, as well as the nobles and merchants
of the realm, had entered into this undertaking, Pope Innocent
VI., on being applied to for a ratification, stated that " con-
sidering the loss it would cause to the said prelates he is in
conscience unable to grant it." 7 Though the evidence on the
subject is not quite complete, there are grounds for believing
that the ransom money, payment of instalments of which was
a heavy burden on the country for many years, was never
fully settled. 8
Subsequent to his return from captivity there are con-
firmations by King David of several endowments of the church
of Glasgow, 9 but on the other hand there is indication that
part of the dowry of his second queen, Margaret Logie, was
obtained from the bishopric. By a charter, granted at Edin-
burgh on i8th May, 1367, Margaret, Queen of Scotland,
constituted Sir William of Kirkyntulach, master of the hospital
of Polmadie, within the bishopric of Glasgow, which hospital,
it is added, was at her disposal through the grant by the king
to her of part of the bishopric. Sir William was to have the
full administration of the goods and rents of the hospital for
his lifetime, he sustaining all burdens and services exigible
therefrom. 10
Letters of protection were granted by King David to the
Friars Preachers in general, in 1357, and by letters patent, in
1362, he specially took the prior and brethren of Glasgow,
their lands and men, their whole goods, movable and herit-
able, spiritual and temporal, into his lasting peace and pro-
tection. In 1360, also, he had made a donation of two merks
7 Papal Reg. iii. p. 595.
8 Exchequer Rolls, iii. p. Iv. Contributions for the ransom as well as for
the maintenance of King David were levied from Glasgow along with the
other burghs. Thus between the years 1365 and 1373 the burgh, by six
consecutive payments, contributed in all 28 73. gd. (Ib. vol. ii. pp. 257-432).
9 Reg. Episc. Nos. 298, 312. 10 Reg. Episc. No 307.
ENDOWMENTS OF FRIARS PREACHERS 159
to the convent of the Friars Preachers in Glasgow. 1 By this
time the Friars had received several other donations and
endowments. In 1314, Guyllascop MacLauchlan, of Argyll,
bestowed on them forty shillings, yearly, for the upkeep of their
buildings and repair of their church ornaments, or for any
other pious uses in the services of the church, the money to be
payable from the rents of the granter's lands of Kilbryd, near
his tower called Castellachlen, on the shore of Loch Fyne. 2
In the following year King Robert gave for the lights and other
works of the church twenty merks, yearly, from the rents of
Cadihou in the Vale of Clyde. 3
The next grant to be noticed is embodied in a charter with-
out date but supposed to belong to this period, or perhaps
about 1325. By this charter John of Govan, burgess of
Glasgow, for the weal of his soul and of the souls of his ancestors
and successors, and all the faithful dead, in praise and glory
of Almighty God, and of the glorious Virgin Mary and St.
John the Evangelist, in honour of whom the church of the
Friars was named, gave to the prior and convent of the Friars
Preachers of Glasgow, for the support and necessary repair
of their church, and of the ornaments of the chief altar thereof,
several lands, tenements and annual rents. These consisted
of eight riggs of land lying in the field of Broomielaw and
yielding five shillings yearly, seven of these riggs being de-
scribed as lying between the land of Sir Walter of Roule on the
east and the land of St. Mary, 4 possessed by John Wyschard,
on the west, and the eighth rigg as lying between the land of
1 Fratrum Predicatorum, pp. 159-60 ; Exchequer Rolls, ii. p. 51.
2 Lib. Coll. etc. p. 152.
3 Ib. p. 153. The charter was sealed at Ayr on 28th April, 1315, in presence
of Edward Bruce, the king's brother, Thomas Ranulph, his nephew, Walter
the steward, Bernard, abbot of Arbroath, his chancellor, and Sir James of
Douglas, knight.
4 Antea, p. 133. John of Govan had probably succeeded to the land which
belonged to Christian, spouse of Simon of Govan. in 1293.
i6o HISTORY OF GLASGOW
Walter Rule on the west and the land of Agnes Brown on the
east ; three riggs of land held by Richard Schort for payment
of 3od. yearly, and described as lying in the Croupis, being
perhaps part of the land latterly known as Cribbs Croft, which
occupies part of the space between the present George Street
and Square and Rottenrow ; two tenements, one of them
yielding thirty pennies and the other three shillings yearly ;
six shillings and " two days in harvest/' being the yearly rent
of a house in High Street ; forty pennies payable yearly from
a tenement on the east side of Fishergait ; a tenement on the
north side of Gallowgait, yielding four shillings yearly ; and
five shillings yearly payable furth of a tenement on the north
side of the place or cloister of the Friars. 5 The last of the
endowments known to have been bestowed on the Friars during
King David's reign was that of Alan, lord of Cathcart, who
gave to them twenty shillings yearly from his lands of Bogtowne,
near Cathkert, for the purchase of oil for their lamps. The
charter embodying this grant is dated at " Cathkert," I4th
August, 1336. 6
It is in consequence of his name having been associated
with speculations regarding the erection of the first stone
bridge over the River Clyde, at Glasgow, that Bishop Rae
comes prominently into notice in connection with the history
of the city. " This prelate," says M'Ure, " was no small
benefactor to the town : for, upon his own charge, he built the
stately bridge of eight arches over the river of Clyde ; the third
6 Lib. Coll. etc. pp. 155-8.
6 Ib. pp. xlv. 158-9. The Lord of Cathcart had fought by the side of
Bruce and survived to recount his adventures to Barbour, who thus refers
to him in his Metrical History :
" A knycht, that then wes in his rowt
Worthi and wycht, stalwart and stout,
Curtaiss, and fayr, and off gud fame,
Schyr Alane off Catkert by name
Tauld me this taile, as I sail tell."
Barbour's Bruce (1869), b. vii. 1. 113-7.
OLD BRIDGE OVER CLYDE 161
arch at the north end thereof was built by the Lady Lochow,
and the bishop built the other seven, which still remains a
monument of his bounty and liberality to his episcopal seat." 7
M'Ure also states that the lady who built the third arch was
Marjory Stuart, daughter of Robert, first duke of Albany,
who married Duncan Campbell, Lord Lochow, the first of the
family to assume the designation of Argyle. 8 But the bracket-
ing of Bishop Rae and Lady Lochow as contemporaries seems
an anachronism, for Duncan Campbell lived till the year 1453
and could not have been married till long after the death of
Bishop Rae in 1367. Nor can reliance be placed on the state-
ment, presumably a tradition in M'Ure's time, that the bridge
owed its construction to Bishop Rae. For one thing, the time
was unpropitious. Added to the distractions caused by
national and civil wars and the frequent want of a settled
government, Scotland was ravaged by the pestilence in 1350.
For these and other reasons the country was not in a prosperous
condition, and Glasgow, sharing in the general depression,
could scarcely have been then in a position to enter upon such
an extensive undertaking. Nor is it likely that seven arches
of such a structure could be built on the sole charge of the
bishop. On this point tradition, voiced by M'Ure, could not
be expected to speak with authority in 1736. In the MS.
of Henry the Minstrel, written in 1488, it is stated that the
bridge of Wallace's time " was of tre," 9 the inference being
that the bridge of 1488 was built of a different material. There
is no extant document of an earlier date bearing on the subject.
In 1571 the bridge was referred to as having been damaged by
" great trowpes " of ice, and in 1618 it was described as " ane
of the most remarcable monuments within this kingdome,"
and as being very much decayed and at the point of ruin. In
7 M'Ure's History of Glasgow (1830 edition), p. 15. 8 Ib. p. 53.
9 The Wallace, b. vii. 1. 533. Again in b. iv. 1. 100, " Our Clyd that
tyme thar was a bryg of tre."
162 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
1654 stones were falling off, showing signs of dilapidation;
and in 1671 the southmost arch gave way. These facts indi-
cate considerable age, and it seems evident that if the bridge
was not erected in the fourteenth century, it probably belonged
to the early part of the fifteenth century. Originally it was
only twelve feet in width. In 1777 ten feet were added to the
upper side, and as thus widened the bridge remained till
about the year 1850, when it was replaced by the present
Victoria Bridge. 10
In confirmation of the statement that the third arch of
the bridge was built by Lady Lochow, M'Ure mentions that
" her head is cut out of stone upon the pillar or but-ridge
thereof " ; and, having mentioned that she also built the
Leper Hospital, near the south end of the bridge, he adds that
" her effigies was likewise cut out in stone, and erected upon
the buildings of the said hospital." 1 Lady Lochow was
probably married towards the end of the fourteenth century
and was alive in February, 1419-20, when she and her husband
were granted the privilege of a portable altar. But she seems
to have died shortly thereafter, as on I7th January, 1422-3, a
dispensation was granted to her husband to enter into a second
marriage. 2 Taking all these circumstances into account, it
appears that if Lady Lochow had any hand in its construction
the bridge can scarcely have been erected in Bishop Rae's
time. M'Ure cites no documentary evidence in support of
the statement that this lady endowed the hospital, and, on the
other hand, most of his statements on the subject are clearly
l Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. pp. 146, 300; Glasg. Rec. ii. p. 296; iii. pp. 153,
161 ; vii. pp. 450, 532. Dr. Macgeorge says : " The old foundations had
been laid on beams of oak, and it is interesting to know that when these
were taken out after the lapse of five hundred years, they were found to be
as fresh as when first put in " (Old Glasgow, 1880 edition, p. 254). When the
works for the preservation of the " Auld Brig " of Ayr were in progress a few
years ago, it was found that there also the structure had been raised on oak
foundations (The Brig of Ayr, by James A. Morris, 1910).
1 M'Ure's History of Glasgow, p. 53. a Papal Reg. vii. pp. 259, 336.
HOSPITAL OF POLMADIE
163
erroneous. The discrepancies are, perhaps, partly to be
explained by supposing that tradition had confounded the
leper hospital with the hospital of Polmadie, and the daughter
of the first duke with the wife and widow of the second duke
of Albany. Isabella, eldest daughter of Duncan, Earl of
Lennox, was espoused to Murdoch, afterwards second duke of
Albany, in 1391. On his return from captivity, King James I.
wreaked fearful vengeance on the Lennox and Albany families,
and this lady, in the course of two days, lost her eldest son,
her father, her husband, and another son, all by the hands of
the executioner. The remaining son fled to Ireland, and died
soon afterwards. Retaining her titles, the Countess of Lennox
and Duchess of Albany lived till about the year 1460, having
a few years previously transferred the endowments of the
hospital of Polmadie to her collegiate church of Dumbarton.
Contemporaneously with that transfer, the Friars Preachers
received from the lady an endowment from her lands of
Balagan, for the weal of her soul, of the souls of her husband,
her father and her three sons. Not improbably, therefore,
it was the good deeds of the Duchess of Albany which, through
errors in memory and tradition, had, in the course of three
centuries, been inadvertently attributed to Lady Lochow.
CHAPTER XXVIII
REIGNS OF KINGS ROBERT II. AND III. BISHOPS WARDLAW
AND GLENDONWYN DUKE OF ALBANY FRENCH ARMY
BURGESSES WEEKLY MARKET ST. MARY'S CHAPEL
PREBEND OF GLASGOW SECUNDO ROBES, ORNAMENTS
AND LIGHTS OF CATHEDRAL TIMBER STEEPLE ALIENA-
TION OF CADDER.
ROBERT II., the first of the Stewart kings, had been early
destined for the throne, a parliament held in 1318 having
declared him heir to the crown in default of male issue of his
grandfather, Robert I. On the birth of David, in 1323-4, Robert
ceased to be heir-presumptive, but that position was restored
in 1329. He was chosen guardian of the kingdom in 1338 and
again in 1346, and on the death of his uncle, on 22nd February,
1370-1, he became King of Scots in the fifty-fifth year of his
age. The new king was of a peaceful disposition, and as the
English nation at that time had its own special troubles to
contend with, his reign of nineteen years was not eventful.
Occasional entanglements there were, such as those consequent
on the league with France and the outbreaks of unruly members
of the Scottish nobility, leading to border raids, invasions and
counter invasions on a small scale, the battle of Otterburn,
in the year 1388, being the most* notable. 1 Interruption to
1 A full contemporary account of the battle of Otterburn is given in
Froissart's Chronicles, together with an account of " the manner of the Scots
and how they can war" (Globe Edition, 1895, P- 16)-
When a French army landed in Scotland, in 1385, difficulty was experienced
164
KING ROBERT II. AT GLASGOW 165
rural labour and the consequent shortage of agricultural
produce were amongst the worst effects of these military
incursions, conditions of scarcity being indicated by the
frequent licences granted by the English king to the nobles
and merchants of Scotland for importing grain into the
country, some of it coming from Ireland. But it is known that
the commercial spirit of the country was on the increase and
that the trade with Flanders, in which, however,the ports on the
eastern seaboard were mainly concerned, was conducted with
much activity. Though the western districts may not have
directly participated in the advantages of the growing Flanders
trade they had some compensation in being largely exempt
from warlike devastation, as the movements of troops were
chiefly confined to the south and east borders of the country.
In the public records Glasgow is occasionally mentioned in
connection with visits of the king, who it may be noted passed
much of his time in residence at Rothesay Castle. On 2Oth
September, 1382, the king granted a charter " at Glasgu,"
and on 2ist September, 1384, other royal charters were granted
" at Glasgu, in the time of our council held there." 2
Walter Wardlaw, Archdeacon of Lothian and a Canon of
Glasgow, was, " by apostolic authority," appointed Bishop
of Glasgow, as successor to Bishop Rae, on I4th April, 1367.
During Wardlaw 's episcopate the great papal schism occurred,
and in 1378 Scotland joined France and other countries in
in accommodating such a number of soldiers. Edinburgh, where there were
" not in the whole town four thousand houses," lodged so many, and the
remainder were quartered " in the neighbouring villages, and at Dunfermline,
Kelso, Dunbar, Dalkeith, and in other villages." Complaints were heard
of the burden of maintaining the foreigners, as much harm being anticipated
from their being allowed to remain, as the English could do in battle. " If,"
argued the complainers, " the English do burn our houses, what consequence
is it to us ? We can rebuild them cheap enough, for we only require three
days to do so, provided we have five or six poles and boughs to cover them "
(Hume Brown's Early Travellers in Scotland, pp. 8-n).
2 Reg. Mag. Sig. i. Nos. 740, 770-1.
166 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
acknowledging Clement VII., seated at Avignon, as Pope,
while England was among the number of those who acknow-
ledged Urban VI. as Pope, seated at Rome. By Clement
VII. (anti-pope, as in after times he was called) Wardlaw was
made a cardinal priest, on 23rd December, 1383. At that date
it was the rule that bishops on being made cardinals should
vacate their bishoprics, and Cardinal Wardlaw therefore ceased
to be bishop of Glasgow ; but, on 24th November, 1384, the
Pope granted to him exemption from the application of the rule.
In a letter addressed to the dean and chapter of Glasgow the
Pope asked them to give help and obedience to the cardinal
whom he, " desiring to honour the church of Glasgow and the
realm of Scotland, raised to that dignity, empowering him,
for the support of his rank and expenses, and for a certain
fixed time, to retain the said church, with the administra-
tion of its spiritualities and temporalities, even as before his
promotion." 3
Wardlaw, " lord bishop of Glasgow/' who was paid his
expenses for going to London on the king's affairs in 1368
and 1 369,* has the designation " lord cardinal of Glasgow "
in 1384, on being paid expenses incurred to him when sent,
along with the Bishop of Dunkeld, on a mission to the king
and council of France, relating to the affairs of the Scottish
king and kingdom. 5
There seems to have been an early rule against a cleric
holding more than one benefice at the same time, but the
dispensations from the operation of the restriction, recorded
in the papal registers, are so numerous as to leave the impres-
sion that it was not much honoured in the observance. Luckily,
applications for the granting of such dispensations have been
the means of preserving information regarding a number of
benefices which might not otherwise have been procurable,
8 Papal Reg. iv. p. 250. 4 Exchequer Rolls, ii. pp. 305, 344.
1 Jb. iii. p. 676.
PREBENDS OF GLASGOW 167
and in this way the name of an early holder of the chapel of
St. Mary is divulged. In 1384 " Walter Wan, of the diocese
of Glasgow/' was authorised to hold a benefice in the gift of
the abbot and convent of Kilwinning, " notwithstanding that
he has the chapel of St. Mary in Glasgow." Three years later
the same chaplain made a similar application with reference to
a benefice in the gift of the abbots and convents of Paisley
and Kilwinning ; but likely enough these entries in the register
refer to the one benefice, possession of which, if got at all,
may not have been secured till 1387.
In 1395 " Walter Wan, priest," presumably of St. Mary's
chapel, applied to the Pope to sanction his acquiring " the
canonry and second prebend of Glasgow," value 14 marks,
void by the resignation of Gilbert de Carrick, notwithstanding
that John de Tonergayth has unlawfully held the said canonry
and prebend for sixteen years and that Walter has a perpetual
vicarage in the city of Glasgow. 6 Here we have the earliest
extant reference to the prebend of Glasgow Secundo, the chief
endowment of which was the vicarage of the parish. Toner-
gayth, as a place, is heard of in 1327 when Eva, widow of
Robert Avenel, gave to the bishop and church of Glasgow,
for the weal of her soul and the souls of her predecessors and
successors, and for the increase of divine worship in the church,
the sum of forty shillings, yearly, payable furth of her fee of
" Thunregeyth," 7 lands which seem to be identified with
those now called Tunder garth, part of the parish of that name
in Annandale. One " John de Tunnyrgayth " was clerk of
the king's wardrobe between 1360 and J-362, 8 but whether he
or another of the same name was the interloping prebendary
has not been ascertained.
Owing to the old age and infirmity of the king, his second
son, Robert, Earl of Fife, was chosen governor of the kingdom,
6 Papal Reg. i. pp. 566-7, 584. 7 Reg. Episc. Nos. 278-9.
8 Exchequer Rolls, ii. pp. 19, 112.
i68 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
and on his brother, Robert III., succeeding to the throne, on
igth April, 1390, he was continued in the same capacity. With
slight intermission Earl Robert, on whom the title of duke,
hitherto unknown in Scotland, was conferred in 1398, and who
thenceforth was known as the Duke of Albany, was at the head
of the government from this time till his death in 1420, four
years before the return of James I. from captivity.
From an entry in the city's Inventory of Writs it appears
that in the reign of Robert III. the burgesses and community
of Glasgow were recognised by a direct grant from the crown,
without the intervention of the bishop, this being, so far as
is known, a departure from all previous usage. Notwithstand-
ing the importance of such a document, if only from a con-
stitutional point of view, the royal grant referred to has shared
the fate of the two missing charters of the first King Robert's
reign, and the only trace of its existence is the entry in the
Inventory, where it is briefly described as " Precept under the
privie seall be King Robert III, directed to the Bishop of St.
Andrews, 9 chancellor for the tyme, for granting a charter under
the great seall to the burgesses and communitie of Glasgow
to keep their mercat day on Munday instead of Sunday."
The date is I3th October, I397. 10 Glasgow charters, so far as
the terms of such are preserved, provide for the weekly market
being held on Thursday, and therefore in the absence of in-
formation which the original precept probably contained the
reason for issuing the new order must remain unknown.
Duncan Petyt, Archdeacon of Glasgow, a former keeper of the
privy seal, was chancellor of the kingdom in 1396, l and it may
have been through his influence that the precept was issued.
Shortly after the death of Cardinal Wardlaw in 1387, the
" anti-pope " consecrated Matthew de Glendonwyn Bishop
9 The bishop of Aberdeen was chancellor in 1397. " St. Andrews " is
probably a misreading by the compiler of the Inventory.
10 Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. p. 24. x Exchequer Rolls, vol. iii. p. 378.
THE SHORT CHRONICLE 169
of Glasgow, and he retained the episcopate till his death in
1408. Perhaps unaware of or ignoring this appointment,
Pope Boniface, on ist March, 1390-1, named John Framisden,
a Friar Minor, as bishop, but in consequence of this country
having adhered to the Pope's rival at Avignon this interfer-
ence from Rome was of no avail. 2 Bishop Matthew was often
in attendance at court, as shown by the frequency of his name
in the lists of witnesses to deeds under the great seal. He took
a large share in the conduct of the country's affairs, and he was
one of the select council, chosen by the parliament held at
Perth in January 1398-9, to act with David, Duke of Rothesay,
then appointed lieutenant for his father, King Robert. 3
At the beginning of the new reign in 1390, an eight-years'
truce had been concluded with England, but though com-
parative quietness was secured on the south border there was
much disturbance in the Scottish Highlands, one singular
incident connected with which being the fight between members
of the clans Chattan and Kay on the North Inch of Perth,
in 1396. 4 The following passage quoted from the Register
2 Dowden's Bishops, pp. 316-8. 3 A.P.S. i. p. 572.
4 In the Breve Chronicon (Reg. Episc. No. 327) the fight has this notice :
" Bellum de Perth, de 60 hominibus, A.D. 1397 " ; but 28th September, 1396,
was the date (Exchequer Rolls, iii. pp. Ixxix. 418 ; Trial by Combat, p. 253).
The chronicle appears to have been originally written on a fly leaf at the end
of the ancient Register. The leaf is now missing and the entries have been
printed from transcripts. The first item cites the year 1067 and the last 1413,
so that the chronicler or chroniclers must have compiled or at least completed
the list subsequent to the latter date. The incorrectness, noticeable in some
of the dates in the chronicle, Professor Cosmo Innes thought might arise from
the transcribers having changed the old way of dating for the Arabic numerals
(Reg. Episc. p. xli) . Most of the information, sometimes under slightly varying
dates, is contained in Fordun's Scotichronicon, as supplemented and continued
by Walter Bower. The following is a translation of the items in the chronicle,
some notes being added within square brackets :
1067. Marriage of King Malcolm and St. Margaret.
1170. Martyrdom of St. Thomas, bishop of Canterbury.
1296. 15 March, Capture of Berwick by Edward Langschankss.
1297. Battle of Faukyrk ; at Feast of St. Mary Magdalene.
1208. (1312) Deposition of the Templars. [1208 misprint or misreading for
1308. See Scotichronicon (1759) ii. p. 242.]
170 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
of the Bishopric of Moray and referring to the state of " Scot-
land " in the year 1398, can scarcely be accepted as literally
1314. Battle of Banokburne.
1318. Capture of Berwick by the Scots, middle of Lent.
1320. " Blac parlment."
1329. Obit of King Robert.
1332. Coming of Edward de Balzol.
1332. Battle of Duplyn.
J333- 1 8 July, Battle of Halydonhill.
1346. Battle of Dorame ; at Feast of St. Luke.
1355. " Brynt Candylmess."
1350. First Mortality. [1362 Second Mortality. Scotichronicon (1759) ii- P-
364 ; Fordun's Chronicle (1872) ii. p. 369.]
1370. Death of King David ; at Feast of St. Peter's Chair.
1372. Coming of St. Nicholas.
1378. 23 Sept., Burning of Church of St. Andrews.
1378. The Schism began in that year.
1379. 12 Nov., Capture of the Castle of Berwick by Hog of Lydzertwod and
his company.
1381. "Penultima" and Third Mortality. ["1380 Secunda et tertia mor-
talitas." Quoted, apparently from a different transcript, in Gibson's
History oj Glasgow, p. 73.]
1384. Coming of the duke of Lancaster.
1384. Capture of the Castle of Berwick by the men of the Earl of Douglas.
1385. Coming of the French and King Richard and the burning of the town
of Edinburgh.
1388. 5 Aug., Battle of Oterburae.
1 390. Death of King Robert Stewart.
Tournament between the two [nations], about the feast of Michaelmas.
Coming of Sir John Morlay for the King's cup (pro cipho Eegio}.
1397. Battle of Perth of sixty men.
j 400. Coming of King Henry and capture of the Castle of Dunbar from the earl.
1401. i March, Death of the Duke of Rothesay.
1402. Battle of Homyldon ; at Feast of Holy Cross.
1403. Capture of Castle of Enerwyk, Schreuisbery and Coklau.
1405. Burning of the town of Berwyc by the Scots.
1405. Battle of Langhirdmanston, and death of Sir David Flemyng.
1406. 30 March, Capture of King James in England,
j 406. 4 April, Death of King Robert.
1407. Burning of James Henry at Perth.
1407. 4 March, Burning of the church of Strevilling.
1409. 7 May, Capture of the castle of Jedword.
Tempest [on the day of] St. Kentigern.
1411. Burning of Linlithgow.
1411. Battle of Harlaw.
1412. Fight between John Hardy and Thomas Smyth.
1413. Slaying of the Earl of Stratherne.
CATHEDRAL ROBES AND ORNAMENTS 171
accurate, and in any case it seems more applicable to districts
north than to those south of the Forth : "In these days
there was no law in Scotland, but the strong oppressed the
weak, and the whole kingdom was one den of thieves. Homi-
cides, robberies, fire-raisings, and other misdeeds remained
unpunished and justice seemed banished beyond the kingdom's
bounds." 5 Whatever measure of exaggeration there may
be in this indictment the need was evidently felt for a stricter
rule, and as already mentioned, the Duke of Rothesay was
appointed the king's lieutenant through all the kingdom.
Shortly afterwards the duke, the Bishop of Glasgow and others
were sent to England as commissioners to treat for a renewal
of the existing truce, and this they succeeded in negotiating
for another year, the indenture stating the arranged terms
being dated I4th May, 1399. 6
By a statute dated 2ist May, 1401, in which reference is made
to the great deficiency of ornaments for divine service in the
church, Bishop Matthew, with consent of the dean and chapter,
ordained that in future when any one obtained a prebend he
should assign to the dean and chapter a stated portion for the
purchase of robes and ornaments for the church and required
for divine service. From the enumeration of the prebends
contained in this statute it is learned that the chapter, which
latterly was composed of thirty-two members, had only
reached the number of twenty- three in 140 1. 7
Archibald, the third Earl of Douglas, died on 3rd February,
1400-1, and on 8th July following, his widow, Joanna, Countess
6 Dunbar's Scottish Kings (1899), p. 174.
6 Bain's Calendar, iv. Nos. 519-20.
7 Reg. Episc. No. 320. The twenty-three prebends were taxed as follows :
Cadihou, Kilbryde, Campsi, Carnwythe, Menar (connected with Peblis),
Merbotil, Cadar and Glasgu primo, 5 each ; Glasgu secundo, 2 merks ;
Barlanark, ^5; Renfrew, ^3; Goven, 405.; Casteltarris, 2 merks; Moffet, ^5;
Erskyn, 405.; Dorysder, ^3 ; Edalston, ^3 ; Stobhou, ^5 ; Are, ^5 ; Auld
Roxburgh, ^3 ; Cardrose, 405.; Alyncrumbe, 405.; Askyrke, 405.
172 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
of Douglas and Lady of Bothwell, for the weal of her soul and
of the soul of Archibald, Earl of Douglas and Lord of Galloway
and Bothwell, and of all their ancestors and successors, granted
to the church of Glasgow, for increase of divine worship and in
aid of the lights of the church, three stones of wax, yearly
payable furth of the rents of the barony of Bothwell. 8 This
barony had belonged to Lady Bothwell, and by her marriage
with the Lord of Galloway, about 1362, it was carried to the
Douglas family, with whom it continued till the forfeiture of
James, Earl of Douglas, in 1455, when it fell to the crown.
Through some default the annual contribution to the church
of Glasgow had been neglected, and on this omission being
brought to the knowledge of King James III. he, by a charter
dated I4th October, 1475, ordered that in future the three stones
of wax should be regularly levied from the lands of Odings-
toune (Uddingston) in the lordship of Bothwell, 2j stones of
which were to be used at the tomb of St. Kentigern at the
cathedral and the remaining half stone at the tomb of St. Tenu,
" in the chapel where her bones lay." In 1498 it was found
that the contribution was seven years in arrear, and Arch-
bishop Blacader thereupon instituted proceedings in the court
of the Official of Glasgow against fifteen possessors of portions
of the lands of Uddingston who were forthwith ordained to
deliver eighteen stones of wax to the church and three stones
to the chapel, under penalty of excommunication. 9
Though there is no definite information on the subject,
there are indications leading to the belief that the timber
3 Reg. Episc. No. 321. On loth October, 1398, the earl and countess had
converted the church of Bothwell into a collegiate church for the service of a
provost and eight prebendaries (Chalmers' Caledonia, iii. p. 648). The first
provost of the collegiate church was Thomas Barry, a canon of Glasgow
cathedral, who celebrated in a lengthy Latin poem the battle of Otterburn,
where James, Earl of Douglas fell, 6th August, 1388 (Origines Parochiales, i.
p. 54). As to succession to the Bothwell estate, see The Scots Peerage, iii.
pp. 161-2.
9 Reg. Episc. Nos. 407, 478-9.
LANDS OF CADDER 173
steeple erected by Bishop Wischart was burned down in the
time of Bishop Glendonwyn. That prelate made preparation
for its restoration in stone-work, but died before its erection
was commenced, and it is not precisely known what progress
was made towards the completion of the cathedral in his time.
From a charter granted by Bishop Glendonwyn in 1408
it is gathered that either he or one of his predecessors had
made a substantial alienation of baronial territory. By this
writ the bishop, with consent of the cathedral chapter, gave
to " his beloved vassal/' William of Strivelyne, son and heir
of the late Sir John of Strivelyne, knight, the lands of " Cadare,"
in the barony of Glasgow and shire of Lanark, to be held of
the bishop and church of Glasgow, for payment of a feuduty
of 4 yearly, and making suits at three head courts of the
barony, with ward, relief and feudal services. 10 The lands of
Cadder were thus detached in classification from those which
remained in the possession of the bishop's rentallers, but in
relation to the severed territory the bishops were put in the
position of feudal superiors. 1 Parts of the Antonine wall
stood on the feued lands.
10 Hist. MSS. Com. Report, x. Appx. i. p. 62. From the expressions
" vassals " and " heir " it may be inferred that the charter was the renewal
of a previous grant to one of William's ancestors. The witnesses are Symon
of Mundavill, M.A., archdeacon ; John of Hawik, M.A., precentor of the
church of Glasgow ; Sir Symon of Glendonwyne, knight ; and Sir John of
Hawik, priest and notary public.
1 Diocesan Registers, i. p. 38. The editors, without citing their authority,
speak of Cadder as a barony and, alluding to its being held of the bishop by
ward service, comment on such a tenure being very rare in Scotland.
CHAPTER XXIX
FOREIGN TRADE CUSTOMS ON EXPORTS GLASGOW'S EARLIEST
TRADING, MANUFACTURES AND INDUSTRIES
PREVIOUS to the fifteenth century, the Scottish towns receiving
any substantial benefit from foreign trade were those
situated on the east coast, and at that early period three of
the four burghs constituting the Curia Quatuor Burgomm l
each possessed a flourishing sea-port. To that con-
federation some of the negotiations with foreign merchants,
relating to commercial transactions, were probably entrusted ;
but owing to the absence of any record of its proceedings,
apart from the legislation attributed to the court and a few
fragmentary references, very little information on such subjects
has been preserved. It is, however, probable that it was the
members of this court who, on behalf of the community of
this country, joined with Andrew of Moray and William
Wallace, " leaders of the army of Scotland," in sending a letter
to the mayors and communities of Lubeck and Hamburg
representing that their merchants might have safe access with
their merchandise into all the ports of Scotland, seeing that
the kingdom had by war been redeemed from the power of
the English. The letter, in a postscript to which the interests
of two Scottish merchants, John Burnet and John Frere, were
commended to the care of the authorities in Lubeck and
Hamburg, was sent from Haddington on nth October, 1297.
1 Antea, p. 61.
174
INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE 175
where and when the representatives of the Four Burghs are
likely to have been in attendance holding their annual court.*
At subsequent periods formal contracts were entered into
between the merchants of this country and the representatives
of different towns in the Netherlands for the regulation of
international commerce. The earliest of these of which there
is any trace consists of an agreement between the burgesses
and merchants of Scotland and the burgesses and merchants
of Middleburgh, in Zealand, whereby that town was consti-
tuted the staple port for the transit of merchandise from this
country. The date of that document is not given, but it
was ratified by King David's charter dated at Dundee, I2th
November, I347- 3
In each burgh possessing facilities of export the crown was
in the habit of appointing a " custumar " or custumars,
generally one or two of the leading burgesses, to collect the
king's great customs. Till the end of the sixteenth century
free trade in imports may be said to have prevailed in Scotland,
but from the earliest times the records of which have been
preserved, a duty was exacted from exports. In the four-
teenth century four burghs of export are noticed on the west
coast, Dumbarton, Ayr, Wigtown and Kirkcudbright, and
there the revenue was usually small in amount. For example,
2 Ancient Laws and Customs, vol. ii. p. ix. The letter was shown in the
Scottish Exhibition, at Glasgow, in 1911, and a facsimile is given in the
Palace of History Catalogue, i. p. 479.
3 Convention Records, i. p. 537. Particulars regarding the subsequent
staple contracts will be found in the printed Convention Records. In 1364
King David, with consent of his council, granted to all his burgesses throughout
the country free liberty to buy and sell within the liberties of their own burghs,
but prohibited them from buying or selling within the liberties of other burghs.
In its application to Glasgow this provision secured to the burgh the exclusive
liberty of trading throughout the barony. The charter also prohibited foreign
merchants coming with their ships or merchandise to trade with any persons
except merchants of the Icing's burghs, either in buying or selling (76. pp.
538-41) ; and to the privileges thus secured to royal burghs Glasgow was also
entitled by the terms of its original charters.
176 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
in the year 1327, when the gross amount of custom, derived
chiefly from exported wool and skins, was 1,851, Ber-
wick contributed 673 ; Edinburgh, 439 ; Aberdeen,
349 ; Dundee, 240 ; Perth, 108 ; Linlithgow, 14 ; Cupar-
Fife, 13 ; Inverkeithing, 8 ; Ayr, 3 ; Stirling, 2 ; 4 and
from the remaining three western burghs nothing was obtained.
Rates of duty on wool and hides were much increased when
funds were being raised to meet the instalments for King
David's ransom, and were long retained at the same figure,
but the average yearly yield, even during the reign of King
James, did not much exceed 5,000. Various other customs
were from time to time imposed, including duties on salmon,
grilse and herring. The ports from which salmon were exported
were principally Aberdeen, Banff and Montrose, and the
average yearly custom from that source during the reign of
King James was 115, representing 920 worth of fish. The
cumulo customs obtained from the western burghs continued
small in amount. In 1408 Ayr paid 2 on eleven last of hides ;
Dumbarton, in 1426, paid 28s. custom on wool ; and it was only
at wide intervals that export duties of any amount were
accounted for by burghs in this district.
While Berwick remained a Scottish town its position as a
commercial port was fully maintained, and the amount of
customs collected there formed a substantial part of the national
revenue. For the period from 29th November, 1331, to 3rd
November, 1332, its collectors accounted for 570, as the
custom received on the export of wool and hides ; and a
supplementary account brought down to 22nd February of the
following year added 86 to that amount. 5 From 2nd March,
1330-1, to 3rd March, 1332-3, the customs collected at Edin-
burgh amounted to 812. As the result of the Scottish defeat
at the battle of Halidon Hill, Berwick came into the hands of
* Exchequer Rolls, i. p. c. In the above list shillings and pence are omitted.
6 Exchequer Rolls, i. pp. 419, 428.
COURT OF FOUR BURGHS 177
the English in July, 1333, and the town, as the price of English
support, was formally surrendered by Balliol in February of
the following year. Berwick being thus deprived of the
privileges it enjoyed as a member of the Court of Four Burghs,
the English king, on the application of the community, author-
ised the governor and mayor of the town, with twelve of the
most discreet and law-worthy burgesses, to assemble within
the town, yearly, on the fifteenth day after Michaelmas, and
there to exercise the functions of the court ; and this was to
continue " until the men of the said Four Burghs can assemble
peacefully " to issue their judgments as formerly. 6
Shortly after the Berwick severance Roxburgh also fell under
English control, and in the altered circumstances parliament,
on 6th March, 1368, ordained that so long as these border
towns should be held by " our enemies of Ingland " the burghs
of Lanark and Linlithgow should take their place as " twa of
the Four Burghis whilk have of auld to mak the court of the
chalmerlan ance a year at Hadyngton." 7 By this time
Linlithgow, 8 as a burgh of export, was of considerable conse-
quence, the customs collected there, in 1367, amounting to
597, as against 2,459 collected in Edinburgh, 88 in Stirling
and 5 us. njd. in Ayr. Like Roxburgh, Lanark was not a
burgh of export, but its liberties extended over a wide area,
embracing the whole of Lanarkshire, excepting the barony
of Glasgow and the district assigned to the burgh of
Rutherglen.
For any transactions connected either with imports or
exports by the east coast there need be little doubt that the
inhabitants of Lanarkshire, including those of the burgh and
6 Convention Records, ii. p. 482. The ordinance is dated at Guildford,
30th March, 1345.
7 Ancient Laws and Customs, i. p. 191.
8 Linlithgow had its port at Blackness, about the same distance from the
burgh as Edinburgh was from its port at Leith.
178 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
barony of Glasgow, resorted mainly to Linlithgow as being the
most convenient port. In confirmation of this view reference
may be made to the account of the custumars of Linlithgow
for the year 1384, in which allowance is made for i8s. paid
for the hire of a waggon to carry wine to Glasgow for the use
of the king, and in the corresponding account for 1387-8 the
sum of 2os. is allowed for a similar service. 9 Another supply,
consisting of eighteen pipes of wine, probably imported to
Linlithgow in the usual way, though its carriage to Glasgow
has not been traced, was carried by water from Glasgow bridge
to Renfrew, where it was stored. 10 Remissions of export duty
were granted to a Glasgow physician on two occasions between
1393 and 1396. As is gathered from the accounts of the custu-
mar of Linlithgow for 1393-5 William, " medicus " of Glasgow,
sent to Linlithgow two sacks of wool for export, the duty on
which would have been four merks or 2 135. 4d., but the
king, by letters under his privy seal, relieved him of payment. 1
A similar concession was granted to the Glasgow physician
in the following year, as is noted in the account of the deputy
chamberlain for 1396-7, but here the burgh of export is not
named. 2 These two remissions were probably granted in re-
turn for services rendered, but frequent remissions on a larger
scale and often for inadequate consideration made serious
encroachments on the crown revenues. 3
On payment of export duty the sender of the goods obtained
a certificate under the seal of the proper officer authorising
the export of the articles in respect of which custom had been
paid. This document was called a cocket, and lords of regality,
lay or spiritual, who owned burghs of export, had generally
the grant of a cocket which entitled them to export merchandise
duty free. 4
9 Exchequer Rolls, iii. pp. 122, 173. 10 Ib. vol. iv. p. 631 (year 1434-5).
1 Ib. iii. p. 356. 2 Ib. p. 427.
3 Ib. p. Ixxxv. 4 Ib. vol. i. pp. c, ci.
FREE TRON IN THE CITY 179
So far as can be ascertained it was not till a comparatively
late period that the Bishops of Glasgow were accorded this
privilege. In the second year of his reign King James IV.,
while confirming to the bishops all their existing possessions
and privileges, and apparently doubtful if there had hitherto
been a free tron in the city, authorised the bishops to have one
in future, to appoint a troner of the customs and clerk of the
cocket, and to uplift and apply to their own uses the customs
of all goods and merchandise of the citizens and tenants of
the barony. Cockets were to be issued certifying payment
of duty, and on production of these the owner of the goods was
to be free of customs in all other towns, ports and places within
the kingdom. By another provision of the charter the bishops
were enabled to export wool, hides, fish, and all other goods
and merchandise, so far as for their own purposes, without
payment of custom thereon. 5
Such small craft as frequented the Clyde estuary in the
fourteenth century would be more adapted for fishing purposes
and for cruising about the Western Isles than for making long
voyages ; but it is known that in the course of the next hundred
years regular trading communication with France, in which
Glasgow merchants took a share, had been fully established.
According to popular belief, formed perhaps less on actual
knowledge than on consideration of the natural order of things,
the earliest trading ventures of the citizens, connected with the
river, consisted of the capture of salmon and herring and their
cure and transit to foreign markets. Fishergait, traversed by
the fishermen after mooring their boats on the margin of the
Old Green at the bridge, is one of the earliest street names
on record. 6 At first the river afforded no advantage for general
trading purposes, and when the merchants required port
facilities they made their way by the nearest neck of land for
the most convenient shore. In this way Irvine port, for the
5 Glasg. Charters, i. pt. ii. pp. 83 85. * Antea, p. 72.
i8o HISTORY OF GLASGOW
Clyde, was long frequented by Glasgow merchants, in the
same way as Linlithgow port had been resorted to for the
Forth traffic. According to Tucker's Report, 1 Irvine, even so
late as 1656, was maintaining " a small trade to France, Nor-
way and Ireland, with herring and other goods, brought on
horseback from Glasgow, for the purchasing timber, wine and
other comodityes r to supply theyr occasions with." Glasgow
itself at that time was trading with France, taking plaiding,
coals and herring, and returning with salt, paper, rosin and
prunes ; getting timber from Norway, carrying coals in open
boats to Ireland and bringing back hoops, barrel staves, meal,
oats and butter ; and obtaining from Argyllshire and the
Western Isles plaiding, dry hides, goat, kid and deer skins, in
return for which the inhabitants of these districts purchased
from Glasgow traders such commodities and provisions as
they required. But no vessels of more than six tons could
then come nearer to Glasgow than the vicinity of Dumbarton,
about fourteen miles below Glasgow bridge, at which distance
they had to unload and transfer their cargoes to small boats,
cobles or rafts, which thence made their way to Glasgow bridge
or other destination.
Glasgow's earliest waulk or fulling mill was situated either
on the Molendinar or Camlachie Burn, or perhaps below the
confluence of these two streams, at the foot of the Walkergait,
and it may be supposed that in this vicinity hand-loom weavers,
linen manufacturers, tailors and other workers in cloth, would
be chiefly accommodated. The obtaining of raw material,
including wool for weavers and skins for the manufacture of
leather, would give employment to a body of itinerant
merchants who, in the earlier stages at least, 8 made their
journeys more by land than by water. Within the bounds
7 Tucker's Report of 1656, reprinted in Miscellany of Scottish Burgh Records
Society, pp. 1-48.
8 Ante a, p. 71.
CRAFTSMEN IN CITY 181
of the barony itself, where there were upwards of three hundred
rentallers, and also the outlying commons belonging to the
burgesses, considerable supplies of wool and skins must have
been obtainable, for besides the cultivated fields there existed
large areas of pasture land suitable for the rearing of flocks
and herds. Among the artisans obtaining employment by
the manipulation of the raw material, thus procured far and
near, were the skinners and furriers, who supplied such wearing
apparel and useful articles as were appropriate to their special
trade ; and the " barkers," 9 who by tanning and other pro-
cesses converted the skins into durable leather, suitable for
the purposes of those who plied the cordiner or shoemaker
craft. The remaining craftsmen, latterly composing the four-
teen incorporated trades, were the hammermen, maltmen,
bakers, wrights, coopers, fleshers, masons, gardeners, barbers
and dyers ; and though we have no definite information on
the subject it may be assumed that shortly after the establish-
ment of the burgh each of these classes would be represented
within its bounds. Taking into account all the known
circumstances connected with the burgh and barony in com-
bination, and keeping in view the opportunities within the
reach of the inhabitants for extending, to mutual advantage,
their commercial and industrial pursuits, it may be assumed
that no inconsiderable population was gathered within this
district before the end of the fourteenth century. The estimate
of the number of the burgh inhabitants at about 1,500 or
2,000 seems a not unreasonable calculation.
9 So called from their using the bark of trees in the tanning process. Tan-
ning was usually practised at the side of a burn, and rules to obviate complaints
of neighbours were common. In old titles of properties, such as those on the
south side of Bridgegait, near the Molendinar Burn, references to tan holes,
bark holes and lime holes often occur.
CHAPTER XXX
GLASGOW'S CONNECTION WITH CONVENTION OF BURGHS
DUKES OF ALBANY AND KING JAMES I. BISHOP LAUDER
CATHEDRAL
BY a decree of the Court of Four Burghs, which, according to
the date given by Sir John Skene, was held at Stirling on I2th
October, 1405, it was ordained that two or three sufficient
burgesses of each of the " King's burghs " upon the south side
of the Water of Spey should appear yearly at the burghal
parliament to treat upon all things concerning the common-
weal of all the burghs and their liberties. 1 If the date is cor-
rect, and if the ordinance took effect, this may be regarded as
the first step in the process whereby the Curia Quatuor Bur-
gorum was merged in the Convention of Burghs ; but the time
for clearing off the obscurity with which the early history of
the court is enveloped has not yet been reached, and no record
showing that the decree was put into operation has been dis-
covered. Whether in obedience to the decree, burghs outside
of the chosen four really sent commissioners or not, it is curious
to observe that the privilege of doing so was not extended
to burghs beyond the Spey, such as Inverness, Elgin and the
other towns situated in the province of Moray. At that time,
six years before the battle of Harlaw, a distinction still existed
between the districts within and those without the bounds of
ancient Scotia. No similar exclusion is noticed elsewhere,
1 Convention Records, i. p. 502.
182
SEAL OF WILLIAM LAUDER. BISHOP OF GLASGOW, 1408-25.
CONVENTION OF BURGHS 183
and in an act of parliament passed in 1487 commissioners
of " all the burrowis, baith south and north," were appointed
to convene, yearly, to commune and treat upon the welfare
of merchants and common profit of the burghs. 2 But even
before this date representatives of the burghs in general seem
to have been in the habit of meeting and adjusting their com-
mon affairs. Thus, on 2ist March, 1483-4, " the commissaris
of burghis " allocated upon the individual towns their shares
of a national tax. The names of the burghs subjected to this
impost, situated " beyond Forth," have been preserved, and
these include Elgin, Forres, Inverness and Nairn, all on the
Moray side of the Spey. 3 Unfortunately there is no correspond-
ing list of the taxed burghs on the south side of the Forth, nor
is there a list of such earlier than 1535. In the Roll of that
year Glasgow duly appears, showing that at that time it bore
its share of national taxation as a constituent member of the
Convention of Burghs. The minutes of the Convention are
not preserved previous to 1552, and at the meeting held in
that year Glasgow was represented by its provost and another
commissioner. 4
Opinions as to the true dates of the capture at sea of Prince
James and the death of his father, King Robert III., have been
somewhat conflicting in the past, but it is now generally agreed
that the former event took place in February or March, 1405-6,
and the latter on 4th April, 1406. In this connection it is satis-
factory to note that in the " Short Chronicle " inserted in the
Register of the Bishopric, the capture is stated to be 30th
March and the " obit " 4th April, I4o6. 5 King James was
in the twelfth year of his age when he succeeded to the throne,
but from that time he was detained in England eighteen
years, and did not enter upon the personal rule of his kingdom
2 Ancient Laws and Customs, ii. p. 44. 3 Convention Records, i. p. 543.
4 Ib. pp. 2, 514. 6 Reg. Episc. No. 327 ; antea, p. 170.
184 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
till 1424. Meanwhile the government of the country remained
in the hands of the Duke of Albany till, on his death in 1420,
it passed to his son, Duke Murdoch, and national affairs were
thus conducted much on the same lines as they had been
since the beginning of the second Robert's reign. The first
duke was virtual ruler of the kingdom for nearly half a century.
It was a period during which some of the nobles embraced the
opportunity of augmenting their estates at the expense of the
crown, a mode of aggrandizement which brought about fearful
reprisals when the day of reckoning arrived.
On the death of Bishop Matthew, in 1408, the anti-pope,
Benedict XIII., gave the bishopric to William Lauder, Arch-
deacon of Lothian. The new bishop's appointment was dated
9th July, 1408, and it is supposed that he obtained consecration
shortly afterwards, as, on 24th October following, the English
king gave a safe conduct to " William Laweder, bishop of
Glasco, with 24 horsemen in company, to cross from France
and pass through England to Scotland." 6 He seems not to
have returned in time to enter into possession of the tempor-
alities till after Martinmas, as in the account of the chamberlain
of Scotland for 1408-9 credit is given for the rents of the
bishopric for the term of Whitsunday and for the half of
those falling due at Martinmas, 1408. The other half of the
Martinmas rents the chamberlain, by favour of the bishop,
expended in paying the fees of the bailies and sergeants,
and allowances were also given to certain kinsmen of the late
bishop. 7
Bishop Lauder's progenitors belonged to an ancient family
in the Merse. In a charter granted at Lauder on ist August,
6 Dowden's Bishops, p. 318 ; Bain's Calendar, iv. No. 773.
7 Exchequer Rolls, iv. p. 99. The sheriff of Peebles had collected 44,
presumably at Stobo and Whitebarony, and the rents collected in the shire
of Lanark, within which were the two baronies of Glasgow and Carstairs,
amounted to 188 us. 8d.
TOWERS OF CATHEDRAL 185
1414, his father, there designated " Robert de Lawedre,"
with consent of the bishop as his son and heir, gave to the
church of Glasgow two annualrents of twenty shillings each,
payable furth of tenements situated in Edinburgh, as an
endowment for anniversary services to be celebrated by the
canons and vicars of the cathedral. The charter was confirmed
by the Duke of Albany on 28th September ; and on igth May
of the following year Bishop Lauder gave specific directions
for celebration of the obits or anniversaries and for the tolling
of the church bells and the bell of St. Kentigern on the vigils
of the services. 8
The upper part of the north-west tower of the cathedral,
said to have been struck by lightning and burned down in the
time of Bishop Glendoning, was restored by Bishop Lauder.
The tower is known to have been vaulted in stone, in the
interior, at the junction of the new with the old work. The
vault rested on four corbels in the angles, curiously carved
with figures. Three of these corbels are now preserved in the
chapter-house and have been identified as part of the work
of restoration executed by Bishop Lauder. The bishop like-
wise placed the traceried parapet upon the central tower.
His coat of arms, carved on the western side, is the earliest
heraldic device in the cathedral. The belfry stage of the tower
is supposed to have been erected by Cardinal Walter or by
Bishop Glendoning, and the stone spire, rising from Lauder's
parapet, was constructed by Bishop Cameron. The lower
courses of this tower were obviously intended to carry a stone
structure to the top, and if timber was at any time used here
in constructing a spire that must have been regarded as a
temporary expedient. 9
8 Reg. Episc. No. 324, 326.
9 Glasgow Cathedral (1901). p. 19 ; (1914;, pp. 39, 40. Mr. Chalmers,
states that Lauder's parapet was reconstructed in 1756, in consequence of
having been injured by lightning (Ib.).
i86 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
The masonry of the chapter-house, begun in the thirteenth
century, had remained very much in its original condition
for nearly 200 years, the foundation walls showing little more
than a mere outline of the building plan. The erection of
this building was also resumed by Bishop Lauder, who made
considerable progress with the work. His arms are carved
on the exterior of the west wall and also upon the cornice of
the dean's seat in the east wall, the latter accompanied with an
inscription 10 bearing that he had built the chapter-house, but
the completion of this work also he had to leave to his
successor. 1
Bishop Lauder took an active share in the administration
of national affairs. He was one of the commissioners appointed
to treat with English representatives for peace in 1411 and
was one of the ambassadors who negotiated for the return of
the king in 1423.2 He was chancellor of the kingdom from
1421 till his death in 1425. 3
The foundation of the university of St. Andrews, in 1410,*
was an event of national importance and must have attracted
attention in all scholastic circles throughout the country.
In cathedrals at that time the chancellors presided over those
in their respective localities who taught in letters, and the
precentors or chantors looked after the training of the young
musicians. By the rule of Sarum, adopted in Glasgow
cathedral, it was directed that the chancellor should bestow
care in regulating the schools and repairing and correcting the
10 " WILMS : FUDAT : ISTUT : CAPILM i DEI " Willelmus fundavitistut capi-
tulum Dei. Doubts have been entertained whether this inscription applies
to William de Bondington who began the building or to William Lauder,
who carried it on, but the preponderance of opinion favours the latter, prelate'.
1 Glasgow Cathedral (1901), p. 19; (1914), pp. 34 , 35 .
2 Bain's Calendar, iv. Nos. 804-5, 932-3.
3 Dowden's Bishops, p. 318 ; Exchequer Rolls, iv. pp. 358, 373, 379,
4 Formal papal sanction was not obtained till February, 1413-4, though
lectures similar to a university course had been read at St. Andrews from 1410.
SCHOOLS IN THE CITY 187
books, and that the precentor should provide for the instruc-
tion and discipline of the boys destined for service in the choir.
Taking advantage of the guidance thus provided, municipal
authorities freely co-operated with the cathedral dignitaries
in the promotion of education within their bounds, as in 1418,
when the alderman and community of Aberdeen nominated
a master of the burgh schools and presented him to the chan-
cellor of the diocese for approval. 5 Though it is not till forty
years later that we have documentary evidence of the
magistrates of Glasgow being associated with the Grammar
School of that city, it is known that such a school was in
existence in I46o, 6 but as to its previous history no information
is vouchsafed. Such elementary education as could be gained
at these schools would afford the preparation necessary for the
student entering a university ; but when this stage was reached
he had no choice but to leave the country and betake himself
to other parts, perhaps to Oxford or Cambridge, if peace
existed between England and Scotland at the time ; if not, the
continent was the only resort. Latterly it was Paris, where
the Scots College had been founded by the Bishop of Moray
in 1326, that the Scottish students mainly frequented and there
at the close of the fourteenth and beginning of the fifteenth
century large numbers of them were yearly assembled. No
doubt many Scottish students embraced the opportunity of
completing their education at St. Andrews, though the older
universities abroad still continued to be frequented by those
who could afford and preferred that course ; but that the
educational facilities obtainable at St. Andrews were largely
appreciated, and that there was a call for extension of such
accommodation in Scotland, is shown by the fact that Glasgow,
only forty years later, followed the example set by St. Andrews
and secured the establishment of a university of its own.
5 Early Scottish History (Cosmo Innes), p. 256.
6 Early Glasgow, p. 44 ; Glasg. Chart., i. pt. ii. p. 436, No. 28.
i88 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
One of the transcripts supplied by Father Innes to Glasgow
College was that of a notarial instrument of some interest as
showing the procedure in the borrowing of money on heritable
security in the beginning of the fifteenth century. In presence
of a notary public and witnesses, Andrew of Kinglas, burgess
of Glasgow, in consideration of the loan of ten merks Scots,
conveyed to William Johnson, another burgess, a rood of waste
land in the front, with a yard at the back, lying on the east
side of the street leading from the cathedral church to the
market cross, between the land of the heirs of John Bridin
on the south and the land of John Smith on the north. The
property was to be redeemable by the borrower on his repaying
to the lender the ten merks, with any sums profitably expended
by him on the property, and that at any Whitsunday, between
the rising and the setting of the sun, on the altar of the Virgin
Mary in the cathedral church. 7 In such cases an altar became
so well established as the place of redemption that for some time
after the Reformation, when altars had been removed, it was
customary to specify as a substitute the place in the church
where the altar had stood.
7 Reg. Episc. No. 323 (yth November, 1413). The witnesses were Mr.
John of Mortoun, provost of the collegiate church of Bothwell ; Sir Thomas
Merschel, perpetual vicar of the church of Kilbirny, in the diocese of Glasgow ;
Adam Massoun, Nicholas of Prendergast and Andrew Smyth, burgesses of
the burgh of " Glasgu."
CHAPTER XXXI
RETURN OF KING JAMES I. His LEGISLATION BISHOP
CAMERON CATHEDRAL AND CASTLE ARCHDEANERIES
AND PREBENDS TOWN MILL RENTALLERS
THE period of King James's reign which followed his return from
England is marked by much legislative activity and in this
connection the burghs were not overlooked. Under statutes
then passed regulations came into operation for the more effec-
tive supervision of craftsmen and their work ; hostels or public
inns were to be provided for the accommodation of travellers ;
burgesses and indwellers, sufficiently equipped, had to appear
for inspection of their armour, at the periodical wapin-
shawings ; measures were to be adopted for security against
fire ; the " array of burgesses and thair wyffis " was regulated
by the sumptuary laws ; rules were laid down " anent lipper
folk " ; beggars were subjected to licensed conditions; playing
at football was discouraged as interfering with the practice
of archery, and instructions were given to the king's officers
and burgh sergeants for the maintenance of order. 1
By a parliament held on 26th May, 1424, a subsidy was
imposed to meet the contribution to England stipulated for
on the return of the king from captivity. As Glasgow bore
its share of the taxation for King David's ransom it might have
been expected that the burgh would also be a contributor to
1 Ancient Laws and Customs, ii. pp. 1-20.
189
I 9 o HISTORY OF GLASGOW
the levy of 1424, but in the Exchequer Rolls, where the contribu-
tions of twenty-three burghs are recorded, Glasgow is not
included in the list.
Acts of parliament were passed for securing the " fredome
of halikirk " ; traffic in pensions payable out of church bene-
fices was prohibited ; church lands unjustly alienated were
to be restored ; and churchmen were forbidden, by them-
selves or their procurators, to take their law pleas to foreign
ecclesiastical courts without the king's consent. These and
other regulations, however needful and salutary, did not meet
with approval in all quarters, and the responsibility for their
introduction having to some extent been ascribed to John
Cameron, who was Bishop of Glasgow from 1426 to 1446,
he was subjected to not a little opposition and trouble on that
account.
It is not known if King James ever held court in, or even
passed through Glasgow, though, keeping in view the long
official, as well as personal, intimacy which subsisted between
him and Bishop Cameron, it is likely enough that he was an
occasional visitor. The bulk of the king's charters, so far as
recorded in the Great Seal Register, were granted at Edinburgh,
and a large number are dated from Perth, but Glasgow is not
one of the eight towns from which the remainder emanated.
So far as has been noticed, the only charter of James, connected
with Glasgow, is one granted under his privy seal, at Edinburgh,
on I4th April, 1426, whereby, in consequence of the see being
vacant at the time, he presented Thomas Pacock, priest, to
a chaplainry in the cathedral founded by Bishop Lauder. 2
The appointment to the see, which fell vacant through the
death of Bishop Lauder, on I4th June, 1425, had been specially
reserved to the Pope, but, in ignorance of the reservation, the
chapter elected John Cameron as bishop. On all the circum-
stances being represented to the Pope he, on 22nd April, 1426,
* Reg. Episc. Nos. 330-1.
BISHOP CAMERON 191
assented to the choice made by the chapter and subsequently
authorised the consecration of the new bishop. Still it appears
that in these arrangements entire harmony did not prevail. In
a papal bull, issued in May, 1430, it is stated that Cameron had,
before his promotion, incurred disability more than once, and
by subsequent action in parliament had been the author of
statutes about collation to benefices which were against
ecclesiastical liberty and the rights of the Roman Church,
transgressions which had resulted in his excommunication.
Through the intervention of the king on the bishop's behalf,
and after an investigation, in the course of which the accuracy
of many of the charges was disputed, while proper behaviour
was promised in the future, the bishop was absolved from the
sentences which had been pronounced against him. 3
On this as well as on subsequent occasions when the bishop
had to defend himself against accusations lodged at the papal
court, one of his chief accusers seems to have been William
Croyser, Archdeacon of Teviotdale. Between the bishop and
the archdeacon there had been a controversy with regard to
the jurisdiction exerciseable by the latter ; and the dean and
chapter, to whose arbitration the dispute had been referred,
pronounced a decree on I4th January, 1427-8, whereby it
was found that the bishop was entitled to have his commis-
saries throughout the whole diocese, qualified to decide all
causes to the same extent as in the archdeanery of Glasgow.
The commissaries appointed by the Archdeacon of Teviotdale
were entitled to hear and decide all minor causes within their
jurisdiction, but the archdeacon had no power to dismiss or
incarcerate the clerks in his archdeanery or to appoint them
to or deprive them of benefices without the special authority
of the bishop. It was also declared that the losers in causes
3 Dowden's Bishops, pp. 319-22. Previous to his appointment as bishop,
Cameron had been a canon of Glasgow, provost of Lincluden, king's secretary
and official of St. Andrews. (See also Medieval Glasgow, pp. 60 et seq.)
I9 2 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
decided by the archdeacon or his commissaries should have
recourse by appeal to the bishop or his auditor. 4
Bishop Cameron held, successively, the offices of secretary
of state and keeper of the privy and great seals. He was
chancellor of the kingdom from 1426 to 1439, and he also
served on several embassies to England ; but notwithstanding
the calls upon his time involved in the performance of official
duties and the unpleasant interruptions arising out of his
contests with ecclesiastical superiors and others, diocesan
affairs, and especially those connected with the cathedral, were
attended to with conspicuous efficiency. To the cathedral
chapter already embracing twenty-six members, he procured
an addition of seven prebends, and passed a series of statutes,
regulating the attendance and duties of the canons, and the yearly
sums payable by them to their vicars, and he ratified the ordin-
ance issued by Bishop Matthew in 1401 for payment of certain
sums on admission of prebendaries in order to provide the
vestments and ornaments needful for service in the cathedral. 5
The term vestments and ornaments, as used in Registmm
Episcopatus, included the necessary equipment and furniture
of the cathedral, whether of a decorative character or not, and
as considerable expenditure was incurred in procuring and
upholding these the money raised from taxed prebends would
have been insufficient for the purpose unless supplemented by
gifts from pious benefactors. A donation obtained from
Walter Fitz-Gilbert in 1320 has been already referred to ; 6
4 Reg. Episc. No. 332. Croyser was deprived of the archdeaconry in or
about the year 1433, but it was subsequently restored to him, and by the
decision of the dean and chapter in 1452 it was declared that the Archdeacon
of Teviotdale had precisely the same jurisdiction in his district as the Arch-
deacon of Glasgow had in his part of the diocese (Ib. No. 373. See also
"' James I., Bishop Cameron and the Papacy " in the Scottish Historical
Review, vol. xv. pp. 190-200).
6 For a list of the prebends in Bishop Cameron's time see p. 193.
6 Ante a, p. 149.
JAMES I.
LIST OF PREBENDS
193
Merks pay-
able yearly
to Vicar.
Contribution
Prebend.
County.
Position of Prebendary
in Chapter.
for Vestments
and
Ornaments.
Aug-
ment-
Total.
ation.
i Cadihou
Lanark
Dean
I
13
s
2 Kylbryd
Lanark
Chanter or Pre-
3
15
5
centor
3 Campsy
Stirling
Chancellor
2
14
5
4 Carnwath
Lanark
Treasurer
4
16
5
5 Peblis and Menar
Peebles
Archdeacon of
I
I
5
Glasgow
6 Merbotle
Roxburgh
Archdeacon of
10
5
Teviotdale
7 Cader
Lanark
Subdean
2
14
5
8 Glasgow primo
H
Canon
2
M
5
9 secundo
()
8
i
6
8
10 Barlanark or
M
9
5
Provan
ii Renfrew
Renfrew
,,
I
12
3
12 Govan
Lanark
,,
2
II
3
13 Carstairs
(Castletarris)
M
1
9
i
6
8
14 Moffat
Dumfries
,,
ii
5
15 Erskine
Renfrew
Sacristan major
9
2
16 Durisdeer
Dumfries
Subchanter
(a)
3
17 Eddleston
Peebles
Canon
ii
3
i 8 Stobo
,,
,,
12
5
19 Ayr
Ayr
M
8
5
20 Old Roxburgh
Roxburgh
>t
I
ii
3
21 Cardross
Dumbarton
M
9
2
22 Ancrum
Roxburgh
tt
I
ii
2
23 Ashkirk
& Selkirk
it
9
2
24 Douglas
Lanark
M
ii
25 Sanquhar
Dumfries
tl
00
3
26 Cumnock
Ayr
(J
(*)
3
27 Cambuslang
Lanark
,,
I
10
3
28 Tarbolton
Ayr
,,
I
12
3
29 Eaglesham
Lanark
,,
9
3
30 Luss
Dumbarton
ti
9
3
31 Kirkmaho
Dumfries
)t
9
5
32 Killearn
Stirling
)t
10
3
33 Polmade and
Lanark and
Strathblane
Stirling
"
(4
2
(Reg. Episc. Nos. 341-2 ; pp. 344-7.]
next page. N
For references (a), (b), (c), (d),
194 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
and on 2nd February, 1429-30, Alan Stewart, Lord of Dernele,
gave to the church a set of vestments and ornaments on con-
dition that he should have such use of them as he needed during
his lifetime. 7 The noting of these two transactions in the
Register was apparently thought necessary to secure the donors
in their reserved rights ; but there must have been numerous
unconditional gifts of similar objects no record of which can
now be traced. At the command of the bishop and chapter
an inventory of all the ornaments, relics, jewels and books
in the cathedral was made up by the chanter, the treasurer
and two canons, in 1432-3. 8 Among the relics enumerated
in the inventory were two silver crosses, each ornamented with
precious stones and containing a piece of wood, part of the true
cross ; a phial or casket, with hair of the Blessed Virgin ; in a
silver coffer, parts of the garments of St. Kentigern and St.
Thomas of Canterbury, and part of the hair shirt of St. Kenti-
gern ; in one silver casket, part of the skin of St. Bartholomew,
the apostle, and in another a bone of St. Ninian ; a casket
with a portion of the girdle of the Blessed Virgin Mary ; a phial
with a fragment of the tomb of St. Catherine ; a bag containing
a portion of the cloak of St. Martin ; a precious case with combs
of St. Kentigern and St. Thomas of Canterbury ; and two
linen bags with bones of St. Kentigern, St. Tenew, and several
(a) The prebendary of Durisdeer had to provide for the maintenance of
six boys in the choir.
(6) Sanquhar is entered in list, but the sum is left blank.
(c) The prebendary of Cumnock paid n merks to the inner sacristan
(sacriste interiori) for his maintenance.
(d) The prebendary of Polmade had to pay 16 merks yearly for the main-
tenance of four boys serving in the choir (Reg. Episc. Nos. 338 and 341).
7 Reg. Episc. No. 337.
8 Reg. Episc. No. 339. A translation of the inventory is given in Dr. J.
F. S. Gordon's Scotichronicon, ii. pp. 451-7 ; and Bishop Dowden has given
a partial translation and supplied valuable notes on the vestments and orna-
ments in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, 1898-9, pp. 280-329.
The books are described by Professor Cosmo Innes in his Preface to Reg.
Episc. pp. xlii-xlvi.
THE NEW PREBENDS 195
saints. At the Reformation most of the relics and jewels
were carried to France by Archbishop Beaton, and such of
them as were not otherwise removed for safety, and were found
about the cathedral, ran the risk of being destroyed as objects
of idolatry.
The parishes which, by Bishop Cameron's additions, had
their rectors constituted members of the cathedral chapter
were Cambuslang and Eaglesham in the county of Lanark,
Tarbolton in Ayrshire, Luss in Dumbartonshire, Kirkmaho
in Dumfriesshire and Killearn in Stirlingshire. 9 The remaining
new prebend was in a peculiar position. Some particulars
have already been given about the Hospital of Polmadie. 10
At a conference held in the chapel on the west side of Edinburgh
Castle, on 7th January, 1424-5, the Earl of Lennox acknow-
ledged that the Bishop of Glasgow had full right to the patronage
of the hospital with its annexed church of Strathblane, and he
accordingly resigned any claim he had in favour of Bishop
Cameron and his successors. 1 Having thus obtained a free
hand in the disposal of these endowments, Bishop Cameron,
with consent of his chapter, erected the hospital and church
into a prebend of the cathedral, stipulating that the church
should be served by a vicar, to whom should be paid 14 merks
yearly besides getting the use of about thirty acres of land as
a glebe. 2 It is not known if the hospital, as a refuge for poor
men and women, was now discontinued, but even as a prebend
of the cathedral its connection with Glasgow was soon severed.
9 The patrons consenting to the erection of these prebends were Archibald
Earl of Douglas for Cambuslang, Sir John Stewart of Dernlie for Tarbolton,
Sir Alexander Montgomery for Eaglesham, John Colquhoun, Lord of Luss,
for that parish, Sir John Forestar and his lady, Margaret Stewart with Sir
William Stewart, her son, for Kirkmaho, and Patrick Lord Graham for
Killearn (Reg. Episc. Nos. 336 and 340; also, vol. i. p. xlii.).
10 Antea, pp. 147-8, 158, 163.
1 Reg. Episc. No. 344.
2 Reg. Episc. p. ci ; letters by the bishop and chapter dated i2th January,
1427-8 ; ratified by a papal bull dated 5th December, 1429 ; Ib. No. 338.
196 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
In 1453 Isabella, Countess of Lennox and Duchess of Albany,
founded the collegiate church of Dumbarton ; and by some
arrangement, to which the Bishop of Glasgow must have been
a party, though particulars of the negotiation have not been
discovered, the whole endowments of the hospital were trans-
ferred to the Collegiate church. 3
Most local historians, following the lead given by John
M'Ure, state that the building of manses for the prebendaries
originated with Bishop Cameron, but in reality these church-
men, bound to give attendance at the cathedral during a con-
siderable part of each year, must always have had suitable
residences in Glasgow, and it is probable that the arrangement
proposed in 1266,* whereby the bishop then to be appointed
was required to provide such additional space as might be
required for the erection of manses, was substantially carried
into effect about that time. Of the few recorded notices
bearing on the possession of prebendal manses there is the
narrative of an inquiry which took place in the chapel of
Edinburgh Castle on 2nd March, 1447-8, for the settle-
ment of a controversy between Mr. John Methven, canon of
Glasgow, and Sir John Mousfald, chaplain, as to the ownership
of a tenement on the north side of Ratounraw. The arbiters,
consisting of Lord Chancellor Crichton and others, found that
Mr. John had full right to the tenement as being annexed and
belonging to the prebend of Edilston. 5 At that time Methven
was apparently prebendary of Edilston and thus entitled to
occupy the tenement as his manse, a building about which
some interesting particulars of later date have been collected. 6
The great stone spire of the cathedral, from the level of the
parapet of the central tower, was placed by Bishop Cameron,
and he also completed the chapter-house, on one of the carved
3 Guthrie Smith's Parish of Strathblane, pp. 172-3.
4 Antea, pp. 122 3. 6 Reg. Episc. No. 351.
6 Glasgow Protocols, Nos. 1477, 3485 ; Glasgow Memorials, p. 18.
GRAIN MILLS IN BARONY 197
bosses in the vaulting of which his arms are shown. The
erection of the consistory house and library, an oblong structure
of two storeys, which, with the addition of a third storey added
in the seventeenth century, formed the south-west tower of
the cathedral, is also believed to have been accomplished in
the bishop's time 7 ; and, not confining his building activities
to the cathedral and its accessories, Cameron made an addition
to the adjoining episcopal residence by adding the tower, which,
according to M'Ure, bore his name and on which his arms were
visible in I736. 8
As territorial lords the bishops had several grain mills
throughout the barony. A mill on the River Kelvin served the
Govan and Partick wards. Baddermonach ward, correspond-
ing to the modern Cadder parish, had its mill at Bedlay, and
Clydesmill supplied the wants of Cuik's ward or West Monk-
land. Two of the cathedral prebends also had mills as part of
their endowments the barony of Provan having its mill on
the Molendinar Burn, and farther down the stream, at the foot
of Drygate, the subdean having his mill, for the grinding of
grain from his own lands and perhaps from others within the
thirl.
So far as has been ascertained the burgesses of Glasgow,
previous to the fifteenth century, were thirled to no mill
in particular, and it is not till some years later that we have
definite knowledge of the means provided for grinding their
grain. Originally hand mills may have supplied all demands,
but, in the interest of those overlords who possessed water
mills, burgh laws of the thirteenth century forbade the use of
7 Glasgow Cathedral (1901), pp. 17, 19 ; (1914), pp. 25, 26. As mentioned,
antea, pp. 128-9, it has been suggested that the south-west tower may have
been so far erected in Bishop Robert Wischart's time.
8 Mediaeval Glasgow, p. 77. Dr. Primrose points out that the tower erected
by Bishop Cameron was not, as generally supposed, at the southwest angle
of the wall facing Castle Street, but was placed towards the east within the
palace grounds.
198 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
hand-mills unless they had to be resorted to in consequence of
great storms or want of water. In any case, it may be assumed
that this primitive process would be superseded at an early date,
and that the bishops would see to the supply of the requisite
grinding facilities at one or other of the mills on the Molendinar
Burn. At length a definite arrangement was concluded with
Bishop Cameron whereby the burgesses and community were
empowered to construct a mill on their lands of Garngadhill,
on the north side of the Molendinar Burn, in consideration of
their contributing two pounds of wax, yearly, for the lights
around the tomb of St. Kentigern in the cathedral. These
facts are ascertained from a document which is still preserved,
being a Notarial Instrument, dated six weeks after the bishop's
death, and certifying that the keeper of the lights acknowledged
the yearly delivery of the specified quantity of wax from the
time when the arrangement was made, a date, however, which
is not given. 9
From another source a further supply of lights was secured
for the cathedral. Lands called at one time Collinhatrig,
afterwards Conhatrig and now Conheath, in Dumfriesshire,
formerly belonged to the Bishops of Glasgow, and under an
arrangement between the Duke of Albany, then governor of
the kingdom, and Bishop William, the revenues were annexed
to the Hospital of St. Leonard in Ayrshire. But by a charter,
dated 7th June, 1442, King James II. dissolved this union,
and the rights in the lands were restored to Bishop Cameron,
who bestowed the rents on the cathedral for the better supply
of wax and upkeep of lights ; and he also stipulated that any
surplus of income should be applied in providing white lawn
and other ornaments of the high altar. 10
9 Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. pp. 25-27 (4th February, 1446-7).
10 Reg. Episc. No. 347 ; also p. cii. The yearly feuduty payable to the arch-
bishop for the lands of Conhatrig in 1632 was ^3 6s. 8d. (Descriptions of sheriff-
doms of Lanark and Renfrew (1831), p. 149).
AENEAS SYLVIUS AT THE COURT OF JAMES I.
BISHOP CAMERON'S RULE 199
Bishop Cameron also instituted a mass to be called the
Mass for the Dead Bishops and to be celebrated by the vicars
of the choir and the four boys of the Polmadie prebend. For
their services the vicars were to be paid eighteen merks yearly
out of the ferms of the burgh of Glasgow, 1 a most interesting
stipulation, on the working out of which information would
have been welcome. The only burgh ferm payable to the
bishops, of which we have any trace, was that of sixteen merks
for the lands possessed by the burgesses ; but, following the
practice prevailing in royal burghs, additional " ferms " were
probably exacted for customs and other dues leased to the
community. Out of these combined revenues the vicars
might draw their annual allowance of eighteen merks. 2
According to a tradition which George Buchanan says was
current in his time, Bishop Cameron had the reputation of
dealing harshly with his rentallers, 3 but this may imply no
more than that he took greater care than some of his prede-
cessors had done to collect his yearly revenues as well as to
exact the occasional heavy fines or casualties falling due on
renewals of investiture. The agreement with the burgesses
as to the town mill may be regarded as an example of the
bishop's methodical way of transacting business ; and if
previous bishops had not already begun to keep the rental
books, of which specimens are still preserved, bearing dates
between 1509 and 1570, it is not improbable that Cameron
introduced the system. Buchanan also states that the bishop
was reported to have died, under mysterious circumstances,
" in a farm of his own, about seven miles from Glasgow," on
Christmas eve, 1446. Subsequent writers assume this " farm "
1 Reg. Episc. p. cii.
2 During the English occupation King Edward's collectors, in 1302-4,
took ^48 6s. Sd. and 405. from the burgh ferms. Bain's Calendar, ii. p. 424 ;
antea, p. 141.
3 Buchanan's History of Scotland, 1821 edition, vol. ii. book xi. p. 225.
200 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
to have been the bishop's manor-house of Lochwood, which
was situated about six miles east of the cathedral. But grave
doubt is cast on the accuracy of the story, not only on account
of its inherent improbability, but also by the following entry
in the Auchinleck Chronicle (p. 6), which is regarded as con-
taining a contemporary narrative of events : " Ane thousand
iiiixlvj. Thar decessit in the Castell of Glasqw, master Jhon
Cameron, bischop of Glasqw, apon Yule ewyne, that was bischop
xix yere." Besides, tradition was not altogether one-sided in
its dealing with the bishop's character. John M'Ure, who
wrote in 1736, found it hard to credit the story recounted by the
earlier historians about Cameron, " from what good things we
hear " about him. Viewed from M'Ure's standpoint the ex-
tortionate laird getting in his " racked rents " from " poor
tenant bodies, scant o' cash," is transformed into the " great
prelate, seated in his palace," and bounteously distributing
favours among " his vassals and tenants, being noblemen
and barons of the greatest figure in the kingdom." 4 Exaggera-
tion seems apparent in both accounts, but the fact of these
being in circulation at so great distances of time bears witness
to the exceptional influence exercised by Bishop Cameron
while he ruled the see.
In the reign of James I. Scotland was visited by two obser-
vant strangers, one from the continent and the other from
England, each of whom has left a record of his impressions of
the country, in general, and the Englishman likewise refers
to Glasgow in particular. ^Eneas Sylvius, afterwards Pope
Pius II., was a guest at the king's court in the winter of 1435,
and he describes Scotland as a cold, bleak, wild country,
producing little corn, for the most part without wood, but
yielding a " sulphurous stone " which was dug out of the earth
for fuel. The cities had no walls, the houses were mostly
built without lime, with roofs of turf in the towns. Hides,
4 M'Ure's History of Glasgow (1830 edition), pp. 18-20, 48.
VISITORS' REMARKS ON GLASGOW 201
wool, salt fish and pearls, were exported to Flanders. 5 Though
there is no evidence that Glasgow came under the notice of
this keen observer most of his quoted remarks may be adopted
as applying to its condition at that time, including the allusion
to coal digging, which was then probably carried on in open
quarries.
The other visitor just referred to was John Hardyng, who
was sent to Scotland by Henry V. and Henry VI. of England,
to procure deeds confirming the claims of English superiority
over Scotland, and who, being unsuccessful in the search,
returned with documents suspected to be of his own manu-
facture, but which he stated had been procured by purchase
in fulfilment of the purpose of his mission. In his metrical
Chronicle which propounds different schemes for the con-
quest of Scotland, Hardyng has the following remarks on
Glasgow :
" Returne agayne unto Strivelyne,
And from thence to Glasco homewarde,
Twenty and foure myles to S. Mongo's shrine,
Wherewith your offeryng ye shall from thence decline,
And passe on forthwarde to Dumbertayne,
A castell stronge and harde for to obteine.
In whiche castell S. Patryke was borne,
That afterwarde in Irelande dyd wynne. . . .
.... Than from Glasgo to the towne of Ayre,
Are twentie myles and foure wele accompted,
A good countree for your armye everywhere
And plenteous also, by many one recounted ....
.... Next 6 than from Ayre unto Glasgew go,
A goodly cytee and universitee,
Where plentifull is the countree also,
Replenished well with all commoditee."
5 Hume Brown's Early Travellers in Scotland, pp. 25-27.
8 In the course of an expedition starting from Carlisle and proceeding by
Dumfries northward.
202 A HISTORY OF GLASGOW
A plan is sketched for three armies traversing the country in
a sort of conquering march and all three meeting at
" Glasgo
Standyng upon Clyde, and where also
Of corne and cattell is aboundaunce,
Youre armye to vittayle at all suffysaunce." 7
The Chronicle was written by Hardyng in his advanced
age, and some of his remarks, such as his allusion to the
" universitee " of Glasgow, are applicable to a period later
than the reign of the first James. But in any case, the
Englishman's observations convey the impression that in
the first half of the fifteenth century the country was in a
fairly prosperous condition.
7 Hume Brown's Early Travellers in Scotland, pp. 16-23.
JAMES II.
CHAPTER XXXII
REIGN OF JAMES II. BISHOPS BRUCE AND TURNBULL
MARKET CUSTOMS FREEDOM OF ST. MUNGO BARONY
AND REGALITY
THE reign of James II., with its long minority and short period
of personal rule, was marked by many dramatic episodes,
and owing to the scantiness of authentic records the narrative
of these bulks perhaps too prominently in the historian's
pages. Notwithstanding the disorders, interruptions and
other evils caused by the rivalries between the Crichtons and
the Livingstones, alternate custodiers of the young king, the
plotting of the Douglases and the measures taken for their
final overthrow, the turbulent conduct of other members of
the nobility and the efforts required for the subjugation of
rebellious subjects, the country had attained a fairly prosperous
condition when this chapter of its history closed with the
untimely death of the king at the siege of Roxburgh Castle.
In the administration of internal affairs parliament, which was
frequently assembled, passed a series of laws for the regulation
of commerce, the encouragement of agriculture, the organisa-
tion of judicial departments and the protection of various
classes of subjects, who had hitherto been too much overlooked,
specially including farmers, artisans and merchants. The law
passed for the benefit of " the pure pepil that laubouris the
grunde," whereby tenants were secured in the lands they
leased during the currency of their tacks, still remains on the
203
204 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
statute book, the only scrap of legislation belonging to this
reign which was allowed to survive the wholesale repeal of
the Scots acts in 1906. In this statute Glasgow people had
perhaps little concern, as it may be assumed that the system
of rental right, with its fixity of tenure, enjoyed by the tenants
in the barony was already in operation. Other acts of parlia-
ment which affected Glasgow, in common with the royal burghs,
but which though superseded or fallen into desuetude, were
not formally repealed till 1906, related to such subjects as the
restraining of masterful beggars, avoiding dearth of victuals,
precautions against the pestilence, holding wapinshawings
and regulating measures of capacity ; while, for the more
speedy disposal of law prosecutions, a " secret council " of
from eight to twelve persons was ordered to be appointed in
each burgh of the realm. There was also a statute which
narrated that the realm was greatly impoverished through
sumptuous clothing both of men and women, and it was
ordained that no man within burgh who lived by merchandice
(unless he should be an alderman, bailie or councillor), nor his
wife, should wear clothes of silk, nor costly scarlets in gowns,
nor furrings of martens. Wives and daughters were to be
apparelled corresponding to their estate, wearing " on their
hedis schort curches with litill hudis, as ar usit in Flanderis,
Ingland and uther cuntreis ; and as to their gownys, that na
woman weir mertrikis nor letvis nor talys of unfittande lenthe
nor furryt under, bot on the Halyday." 1
Bishop Cameron retained the chancellorship till 1439,
after which it was held for a few years by Sir William Crichton.
Crichton's successor in that office was James Bruce, then Bishop
of Dunkeld, who followed Bishop Cameron in the bishopric
of Glasgow. Bruce is styled Bishop of Glasgow and Chancellor
on I9th June, 1447, but he must have died before 4th October
1 Ancient Laws and Customs, ii. pp. 21-29. "Mertrikis," martens, of
the weasel species ; " letvis, letteis," gray fur.
BURGH MARKET 205
of that year, the date of a document in which the see is said
to be vacant. William Turnbull, who had succeeded Bruce
as Bishop of Dunkeld, likewise filled his place in the bishopric
of Glasgow, the date of his appointment being 27th October,
1447.2 In I 44 I Turnbull is designated Keeper of the Privy
Seal and in 1446 Keeper of the Privy Seal and Canon of Glasgow. 3
This official position and the consequent freedom of intercourse
between the bishop and the sovereign afforded favourable
opportunities, of which advantage was freely taken, for
obtaining protection against encroachment on the city's
rights as well as for the extension of existing privileges.
In the old laws injunctions were repeatedly given for the
market of each burgh having a monopoly of the trade within
its own district or " liberty," 4 a term which in the case of a
royal burgh usually denoted the shire within which it was
situated, but for Glasgow its " liberty " was the barony. The
burghs of Rutherglen and Renfrew being situated within so
short a distance of each other, and Glasgow being placed
between them, it was not surprising that questions as to precise
limits should arise in places where there was no well-defined
physical boundary. Towards the west Renfrewshire lands
stretched along both sides of the Clyde and, similarly, on the
east Rutherglen's market territory embraced portions of
Lanarkshire on both sides of the same river. At these ex-
tremities the precise boundaries were perhaps dubious, and
either through ignorance or wilful encroachment custom was
being unjustly withdrawn from Glasgow market. Not only so,
but the inhabitants of the Rutherglen and Renfrew districts
were being obstructed in their attendance at Glasgow market,
2 Dowden's Bishops, p. 322. The Auchinleck Chronicle (p. 41) has this
remark : " In that samyn yer (1449) master William Turnbull said his first
mes in Glasgu, the xx of September."
3 Exchequer Rolls, v. pp. 108, 222.
4 Ancient Laws and Customs, i. pp. 61, 162, 183.
206 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
thereby curtailing the trading privileges of the city. This
led to a complaint by Bishop Turnbull, who represented to
the king that the bailies, burgesses and communities of Renfrew
and Rutherglen impeded the lieges and communities " of
burgh and land " who brought goods to Glasgow market,
thereby prejudicing the " privilege and custum grantyd to
the kyrk of Glasgu of auld tyme " by the king's predecessors
and observed in time past. The king thereupon, by letters
granted under his privy seal, at Edinburgh, on 4th February,
1449-50, charged the communities complained against, and
all others whom it might concern, that they should not trouble
or impede any of the lieges coming or going to Glasgow with
merchandise or other goods to sell or buy, but should suffer
them to come, go, buy and sell, freely and peaceably without
any hindrance. It was also ordered that no one of the burghs,
nor any others, should come within the barony of Glasgow,
" na within ony landis pertaining to Sant Mongos fredome,"
to take toll or custom, by water or land, of any person coming
or going to the market, notwithstanding any letters of the
king's predecessors, granted to Renfrew, Rutherglen, or any
other burghs. By this stipulation the sanction given to the
burgh of Rutherglen, by the royal charter of 2Qth October,
1226, for collection of toll or custom at the cross of Schedneston, 5
must have been withdrawn, if indeed the practice had not
already been discontinued. Besides the relief thus afforded,
Glasgow was also secured in the collection of dues exigible
from traders coming from other burghs, as well as from all
other frequenters of the city's markets. 6
In his representation to the king the bishop refers to the
privilege and custom granted to the " kyrk of Glasgw of auld
tyme/' an expression which may be taken as comprehending
the interests of all concerned in the market. Originally the
market rights were conferred on the bishops and their succes-
5 Antea, p. 98. 8 Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. pp. 27, 28.
HONORARY CANONS 207
sors as an essential privilege of the burgh they were authorised
to establish and maintain, and " kyrk " was here used as an
equivalent term. Though the bishops as overlords might,
by the restoration of appropriated area, have received aug-
mented custom, yet the chief benefit derivable from market
extension and development must have accrued to the trading
community.
It was customary for continental sovereigns and princes
to be honorary canons of religious establishments in their
respective territories, and following these precedents both
James II. and James IV. became canons of Glasgow cathedral.
In some remarks on cathedral services, based on information
contained in the MS. Register of Glasgow Bishopric, then
preserved in the Scots College at Paris, Father Innes refers to
" King James IV. who was honorary canon of Glasgow, as
the Kings of France are of St. Martin of Tours." 7 The
position in the cathedral thus attained by James II. is a further
indication of his intimacy with the bishop, on whom in turn
not a few favours were conferred. By this time the landed
estates of the bishops in the vicinity of Glasgow, going by the
name of the " Barony," must have been managed under some
recognised form of jurisdiction ; but so far as is known, the only
writing bearing on the subject was the charter of Alexander II.
confirming some of the lands in free forest. 8 As early as the
reign of the first Alexander churchmen were accustomed to
hold courts within their own lands, and it is probable that the
grant of free forest, and even that of free regality, next to be
noticed, indicated not so much concession of new authority
as confirmation of existing privileges. On 20th April, 1450,
King James, having regard to the honour of the church of
Glasgow, " in which he was a canon/' and for the favour which
he bore towards Bishop Turnbull, " his well-beloved councillor/*
7 Spalding Club Misc. ii. p. 365. 8 Antea, p. 109.
208 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
confirmed to him and his successors the city and barony of
Glasgow, and lands commonly called Bishopforest, to be held
in free regality or royalty, with all the privileges attaching to
that tenure ; and in acknowledgment of the grant the bishops
were to offer devout prayers and to deliver to the sovereign
a red rose, yearly, in name of blench farm. 9 The privileges
thus bestowed, as more fully set forth in a charter of confir-
mation by King James III. on I5th July, 1476, include authority
to administer justice (reserving only the four pleas of the crown),
privilege of " chapel for serving brieves," and power to appoint
a provost, bailies, sergeants and other officers of the city,
and also a sergeant or officer of the regality. The sergeant
was to carry a silver mace or wand with the royal arms on the
upper end and the arms of the bishop on the lower end, for
making arrestments and executing the bishop's precepts within
the regality and throughout all his lands within the diocese. 10
9 Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. pp. 28-31. The original charter is still preserved.
Its attached seal, in white wax, was entire when examined by Father Innes,
but it is now somewhat broken and defaced. A copy of the charter, but
unaccountably bearing date 22nd February, 1450-1, and having the name of
one attesting witness omitted and four others added, is engrossed in each of
the collections known as the Ancient Register and the Red Book of the
Church (Ib. p. 36 ; Reg. Episc. Nos. 356, 362).
Cosmo Innes says : "A grant of regality took as much out of the crown as
the sovereign could give. It was, in fact, investing the grantee in the sover-
eignty of the territory " (Legal Antiquities, p. 40). Though there is no extant
charter of an earlier date than 1450 investing the bishops with regality powers,
it is not improbable that such had been conferred before that time. So far
as form is concerned the charter may be taken either as a confirmation or an
original grant, and in the ratification by James III., noticed in the text, refer-
ence is made to the fact that " several " of his predecessors had granted to
the church and see of Glasgow sundry liberties and privileges, and particularly
the city, barony and lands in free regality. Accordingly, the charter of 1450
may merely so far have given formal expression to a condition of things which
already existed, either under express grant or the operation of general law.
10 Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. pp. 60-65. An act of parliament (1436, c. n)
regulated the kinds of wands to be carried by different officers. The king's
officer had a red wand, three quarters of a yard long ; a regality officer, a wand
of the same length, one end red and the other white ; a barony sergeant, a
white wand an ell long ; and a burgh sergeant, a red wand like the king's
officer (Ancient Laws and Customs, ii. p. 20).
EPISCOPAL JURISDICTION 209
The right of " chapel (capella} for granting brieves,"
mentioned in the charter, consisted of the jurisdiction exercised
by the bishops in the service of heirs, the process whereby an
heir acquired a title to his ancestor's estate. In Ducange
one sense of capella is given as equivalent to cancellaria ; and
to this definition may be traced the use to which the word
was applied in connection with the service of heirs in Scotland.
The king's chapel (capella regis) from which writs relating to
the making up of the titles of heirs, technically called services,
were issued, and to which, after inquisition, such writs were
" retoured " (i.e. returned), was simply the chancellary or
chancery office, and similar nomenclature was extended to
subordinate judicatories. Erskine, in his Institute of the
Law of Scotland, says : "A lord of regality had a chancery
proper to his jurisdiction, from whence he might issue brieves
to his bailie for the service of heirs ; and the service proceeding
on such brief, when recorded in the books of the regality, was
as effectual as a retour on a brieve issuing from the king's
chancery." 1
The passage in the charter of 1476 authorising the bishop
to constitute within the city a provost, bailies, sergeants and
other officers and to remove them was appropriate to a deed
setting forth the original foundation of a burgh of regality,
but in the case of Glasgow, a city already possessed of all the
privileges of a royal burgh, it can scarcely be taken in its
literal significance. If there had been any intention to inter-
fere with the already existing practice of appointing the provost
and bailies of the burgh, something more specific than mere
words of ordinary style would have appeared in the charter ;
and therefore it may be assumed that, subject to such modifica-
tion as the circumstances rendered necessary, the mode of
election prevailing in royal burghs still remained applicable
1 Institute, B. i. tit. iv. s. 7. Examples of brieves issued from the Glasgow
chancery are referred to in Glasg. Protocols, Nos. 40, 186, 131 4, 2033.
o
210 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
to Glasgow. Originally the provost was not an essential
member in the constitution of a royal burgh, and in many
towns no provost was appointed till a comparatively late
period in their history. The " first provost that was in
Glasgow " makes his appearance in 1453, and for more than
a hundred years after that date the office was usually held by
the bailie or depute-bailie of the barony and regality who
was charged with the judicial administration of the landed
district. Though nominated by the bishop, it is probable that
from the first, as the extant records show was latterly the case,
the provost was accepted by and received his commission
from the bailies and council. The bailies themselves could
only be chosen by the bishop from a leet presented to him by
the old bailies and council, and the bailies so chosen received
a formal commission which proceded in the name of " the
comburgesses and whole community of the burgh/' an expres-
sion which may be taken as a survival of the early time when
the bailies were appointed or leeted by the good men of the town
assembled at the Michaelmas Court. 2
Though, as has already been suggested, the lands around
the city of Glasgow may have been subject to regality juris-
diction from earlier times it is not unlikely that Bishopforest,
the territory bestowed on the church by the widow of the Lord
2 A judicial document dated in 1554 (Glasg. Chart, i. pt. i. pp. dxl, dxli)
narrates that " beyond the memory of man " it had been the custom for the
old bailies and councillors to present to the archbishop, at Michaelmas, a leet
of persons from which he chose the bailies for the ensuing year ; and the
earliest extant record of a municipal election in Glasgow farther illustrates
the practice. This election was carried through at the head court held on
the first Tuesday after Michaelmas, 1574, when Archbishop Boyd nominated
his kinsman, Lord Boyd, bailie of the regality, as provost, and desired the
bailies, council, and community to give him a commission of provostry,
" conforme to use and wont." Then the provost, with the old bailies and
council, presented a leet of eight persons, including the three old bailies and two
craftsmen, to the archbishop, who chose from the leet three bailies, being one
more than the usual number " in respect of the multitude of the people and
trublis in office " (Glasg. Rec. i. pp. 22, 23).
LANDS OF BISHOPFOREST 211
of Kilbryde, 3 remained as an ordinary outlying estate till it
was incorporated with the regality of Glasgow in 1450. Before
that date these lands, lying in the parish of Kirkpatrick-
Irongray and stewartry of Kirkcudbright, were probably
cultivated by rentallers, whose successors eventually got their
possessions converted into feu-holdings. Archbishop Dunbar,
as is shown by the statement of his executors made up in 1548,
drew rents from the lands, 4 but it is not till seventy years later
that we have specific information on the subject. During
the archbishopric of John Spottiswoode, Lord Herries, who
seems to have been connected with the estate as mid-superior,
resigned his interest to that prelate, who apportioned the
lands in feu-farm among the old tenants. In the year 1613
eighteen separate holdings were in this way conveyed to twelve
feuars for payment of yearly feuduties, amounting in cumulo
to 33 133. 3d. Scots of old rental with 8s. 8d. of augmentation.
Described as a twenty merk land, the area of Bishopforest may
be approximately put down at 700 acres ; and, assuming that
the feuduties were allocated in proportion to extent, the
largest holding must have contained about 100 acres and the
smallest about three acres. In addition to the money payment
the feuars had to contribute specified services to the arch-
bishop's bailie on the lands retained in his possession. Seven-
teen horses for ploughing his fields, and twenty-nine reapers
in autumn were thus requisitioned from the feuars to serve
for specified times in the year, making up 13 J days' work in
all. The largest holder supplied three reapers and two horses
for one day, and the smallest was required to provide half a
reaper for a day, an obligation which could be implemented
by combining with another feuar similarly liable. The feuars
were likewise bound to attend the courts of the " barony and
regality of Bishopforest," for holding of which courts the
3 Antea, p. no. * Crosraguel Abbey, i. p. 109.
212 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
archbishop undertook to appoint a fit bailie from among his
servants and attendants, whom failing one was to be deputed
from the qualified feu-farmers of the lands. 5 Distinctive
names of farms on the lower grounds now supersede the original
designation, but a conspicuous height in the north-west of the
parish, reaching to 1,285 feet above sea-level, still retains the
name of Bishopforest. 6
5 Reg. Mag. Sig. vii. No. 1025.
6 The writer of the Old Statistical Account (vol. i. p. 525) says that the hill
though apparently the highest near Dumfries was " yet of no very steep or
difficult ascent in most places, owing to a very extended and regular base,
around which are planted several large and distinct farms and properties.
Foxes bring forth in holes upon the Bishopsforest. When they begin to kill
sheep anywhere in the parish, the huntsman, who is paid by the county, is
sent for, and he seldom fails to unkennel a fox on that hill or in the woods
around it."
Communion stones on the side of the bill, with a granite monument
erected in 1870, commemorate Covenanting scenes and the conflicts between
prelacy and presbytery. Tombs of martyrs " hanged without law by Lagg "
are likewise to be seen near the parish burying ground, while in the churchyard
itself is another attraction for pilgrim feet. This consists of a grave, over
which a stone was " erected by the author of ' Waverley ' in memory of
Helen Walker, who died in the year of God 1791, and who practised in real
life the virtues with which fiction has invested the imaginary character of
Jeanie Deans." (Ordnance Gazetteer " Kirkpatrick- Iron gray " iv. p. 436.)
POPE NICHOLAS V., FOUNDER OF GLASGOW UNIVERSITY.
CHAPTER XXXIII
FOUNDING OF THE ' UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW
IN the movement for the revival of letters and acquisition of
knowledge which characterized the fifteenth century, manifest-
ing itself in the establishment of an unprecedented number of
universities, Scotland had an honourable share, as it can claim
no less than three of these seats of learning to set against about
a score which were founded in continental cities. Actuated,
perhaps, so far by laudable rivalry of St. Andrews, but mainly
inspired by intelligent zeal for the spread of knowledge, Bishop
Turnbull, with the cordial co-operation of his sovereign, took
the necessary steps for the institution of a university in the city
of Glasgow. The head of the papal see, with whom rested the
requisite authority, happened to be Nicholas V., a Pope speci-
ally eminent for devotion to learning, and in this combination
of favourable circumstances all preliminary arrangements
were successfully completed. It must have been about the
time that negotiations were going on for the founding of the
university that, in connection with the Universal Jubilee
which had been proclaimed, Pope Nicholas decreed that for
the faithful in this country a pilgrimage to Glasgow cathedral
would be considered as meritorious as a pilgrimage to Rome,
while a plenary indulgence was granted to all who should make
true confession of their sins and present their offerings at the
high altar. Of the offerings one third was to be remitted to
the papal treasury, another third was to be used for the repair
213
214 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
of the fabric of the cathedral, and the remainder was to be
applied towards the upkeep of pious places in the kingdom. 1
The documents bearing on the foundation of the university
begin with a bull by Pope Nicholas V. 2 which has this opening
sentence : " Amongst other blessings which mortal man is
able, in this transient life, by the gift of God to obtain, it is to
be reckoned not among the least that by assiduous study he
may win the pearl of knowledge, which shows him the way to
live well and happily, and by the preciousness thereof makes
the man of learning far to surpass the unlearned, and opens
the door for him clearly to understand the mysteries of the
universe, helps the ignorant and raises to distinction those
that were born in the lowest place." It is then narrated that
the king had represented to the Apostolic see, " the prudent
administrator of spiritual as well as temporal things, and the
steady and unfailing friend of every commendable under-
taking/' that he was very desirous that a university should be
established in his city of Glasgow, " as being a place of renown
and particularly well fitted therefor, where the air is mild,
victuals are plentiful, and great store of other things pertaining
to the use of man is found." The Pope having fully considered
the application, and being impressed with the " suitableness
of this city, which is said to be particularly meet and well
fitted for multiplying the seeds of learning and bringing forth
of salutary fruits, not only for the advantage and profit of
the said city, but also of the indwellers and inhabitants of the
whole kingdom of Scotland, and the regions lying round about,"
therefore erected a university (generate studium) in the city,
and ordained that it should flourish in all time, as well in
1 Reg. Episc. Nos. 359-60, 366 ; Medieval Glasgow, pp. 87, 88. By what
was apparently regarded as a valuable concession the citizens were permitted
to use butter and milk meats instead of olive oil on certain fast days (Papal
bull dated 26th March, 1451 ; Reg. Episc. No. 364).
2 Dated yth January, 1450-1, Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. pp. 31-35.
PROCLAMATIONS AT MARKET CROSS 215
theology and canon and civil law as in arts and every other
lawful faculty. The doctors, masters, readers and students
were to enjoy privileges and immunities such as had been
granted to the university of Bologna, 3 and Bishop Turnbull
and his successors, for the time being, were to be the chancellors
of the university, with the same authority as those of Bologna,
and specially the right to bestow the degree of master or doctor
on those who should be found qualified. The students who
in process of time should merit a diploma in the faculty in
which they studied, and licence to teach for the instruction
of others, and also those who sought the honour of master or
doctor were to be examined by the chancellor, doctors and
masters of the university, and those who were found to be
qualified were to obtain their degree and licence from the
chancellor, entitling them to rule and teach in any university
to which they might choose to resort.
Proclamation at the market cross of a burgh was a recog-
nized form of publishing the statutes of the realm, as well as
of conveying other official intimations to the lieges, and not
only the magistrates of a burgh but also the sheriff of the shire
in which it was situated exercised this prerogative. 4 In
accordance with this rule Glasgow cross was available for the
announcements of the bishop and his bailies of the regality,
and in the Auchinleck Chronicle (p. 45) we have an interesting
allusion to the ceremony which was witnessed when the founda-
tion of the University and the Jubilee indulgence were
proclaimed : " That samyn yer (1451) the privilege of the
universite of Glasqw come to Glasqw, throw the instance of
3 From Bologna's eminence as a school of law it has been thought that in
selecting that university as a model for Glasgow the founders designed it for
primarily legal studies. In the university of St. Andrews predominance was
given to theology, and it was probably intended that Glasgow should be strong
where St. Andrews was comparatively weak. See Scottish Historical Review,
vii. p. 172 ; xi. pp. 273-4.
4 Ancient Laws and Customs, ii. pp. 18, 21, 50.
216 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
King James the Secund and throw instigacioun of master
William Turnbull, that tyme bischop of Glasqw, and was
proclamit at the croce of Glasqw, on the Trinite Sonday, the
xx day of June. And on the morne, thar was cryit ane gret
indulgence, gevin to Glasqw at the request of thaim forsaid, be
Pap Nycholas, as it war the yer of grace, and with all indulgens
that thai mycht haf in Rome, contenand iiii monethis, begyn-
nand the ix of Julii, and durand to the x day of November."
Though the ancient Italian university of Bologna, where
Pope Nicholas had studied and obtained his degree, is cited
as indicating the nature of the privileges conferred on the
university of Glasgow, the customs and technical phraseology
of the latter showed an imitation of the institutions of Louvain
in Belgium, which Cosmo Innes remarks was then and for all
the following century the model university of modern Europe.
The first statutes divided the members of the university into
four " nations," here following Louvain as well as general
practice ; and in the nations, as represented by their pro-
curators, was vested the right of electing the Rector.
Numerous members and graduates are noted in the first year
of the university. There were lectures in Canon and Civil
Law and Theology from the beginning, and these were
delivered in the chapter-house of the Friars Preachers. But
the Faculty of Arts alone received a definite shape and con-
stitution. The members of that Faculty annually elected a
Dean, had stated meetings, promulgated laws for their govern-
ment, and acquired property. At Louvain the Faculty of
Arts had four pedagogia. At Glasgow the Faculty of Arts
speedily established one and applied its funds for the support
of the building. Bachelors' degrees were conferred in Arts,
and Licentiates and Masters of Arts were made, and these
degrees were recorded not in the University registers but in
the register of the Faculty. 5
6 Munimenta, Preface, pp. xiii, xiv.
THE AULD PEDAGOGY.
AULD PEDAGOGY 217
The first general chapter of the university was held in 1451,
for the incorporation of members, in the chapter-house of the
Friars Preachers. About forty members were incorporated,
the eleventh name on the list being that of the famous William
Elphinstone, subsequently bishop of Aberdeen. Mr. David
Cadzow, precentor of the cathedral, was chosen as the
first rector. The next year's general meeting was held,
in the presence of the bishop, who was ex officio chan-
cellor, in the chapter-house of the cathedral, which continued
to be the usual place of assembly down to the time of the
Reformation. 6
The Faculty of Arts had their first meeting in the chapter-
house of the cathedral, when they elected William Elphinstone^
canon of Glasgow and father of the subsequent bishop, as their
Dean. This was in 1451, and on 28th July of the following year
the appointment was renewed. On igth October, 1453, the
faculty met in the place of the Friars Preachers, and on this
occasion a sum was levied from the graduates for repair of
the school there. The next allusion to a school or place for
carrying on the work of teaching occurs at the meeting of the
Faculty held in the chapter-house of the cathedral on the
morrow of All Saints, 1457, when a sum was contributed from
the common purse to pay the rent of the " Pedagogium "
and meet the losses sustained through famine, war and pestil-
ence and the fewness of students in preceding years. The
building here referred to is understood to be the Auld Pedagogy,
which was situated on the south side of Ratounraw, being the
chief place of residence and instruction before other premises
were provided. 7 Next year and up to 1461 all the money oa
6 Munimenta, ii. pp. 55-60.
7 " Ratounraw " in Regality Club, iii. pp. 65-68 ; Glasgow Protocols,
Nos. 1894-5. The Auld Pedagogy was sometime used as the manse of the
Parson of Luss, and passing through various hands became ruinous in the
eighteenth century. On its site part of the present Lock Hospital is erected ..
Medieval Glasgow, p. 93.
2i8 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
hand was appointed to be applied in building a pedagogium, 8
presumably the new structure which superseded the Auld
Pedagogy for which rent was raised in 1457.
As explanatory of the reference to war and pestilence and
the scarcity of funds, it may be recalled that in March, 1455,
the king opened a vigorous campaign against the Douglases.
Having demolished the castle of Inveravon in Linlithgow-
shire he hastened to Glasgow, and gathering a force of West-
land men and Highlanders, carried fire and sword into
Douglasdale, Avondale and the lands of Lord Hamilton.
These devastating proceedings seem to have been followed
by a visitation of famine and plague, one of the frequent
accompaniments of war's ravages in these early days. 9 Shortly
afterwards Lord Hamilton was restored to the royal favour,
and it was chiefly through his generosity that the univer-
sity obtained suitable accommodation for carrying on its
work.
Sometime prior to 1454 a tenement and grounds situated
on the east side of the High Street, to the north of the place
of the Friars Preachers, with four acres of adjoining land extend-
ing over part of Dowhill, on the opposite side of the Molendinar
Burn, belonged to Sir Gavin of Hamilton, provost of the col-
8 Munimenta, ii. pp. 178-95 ; Coutts' History of the University, pp. 10-12.
9 " The yer of God mcccclv, in the begynning of Merche, James the Secund
kest doune the castell of Inveravyne, and syne incontinent past till Glasqw,
and gaderit the Westland men, with part of the Areschery, and passit to
Lanerik and to Douglas, and syne brynt all Douglasdale, and all Avendale,
and all the Lord Hammiltonnis landis, and heriit them clerlye, and syne passit
till Edinburgh, and fra thin till the Forest, with ane ost of Lawland men . . .
And incontinent efter, the king passit in proper persoun, and put ane sege
till Abercorn. And within vii days, Lord Hammiltoun come till him till
Abercorne, and put him, lyf, landis and gudis in the kingis will purelie and
sempillye, throw the menys of his erne James of Levingstoun, that tyme
chalmerlane of Scotland. And the king resavit him till grace." . . (Auchinleck
Chronicle, p. 53). According to the Chronicle it was in the November
immediately preceding these events that there occurred the great flood on
the river Clyde which swept away houses, barns and mills, and put the town
of Govan " in ane flote." Antea, p. 4.
SITE OF UNIVERSITY BUILDINGS 219
legiate church of Both well, and he by " a plane gift and a charter
thairapoun " had conveyed the property to the prior and
convent of the Friars Preachers. But this transaction had
not been intended as an absolute transfer, and by letters of
reversion dated ist February, 1454-5, the prior and convent
acknowledged that Sir Gavin was entitled to resume possession
of the tenement and land at his pleasure. In the course of
the ensuing six years changes must have been made in the
ownership of which no trace has been preserved, and the
property having come into the possession of Lord Hamilton,
the elder brother of Sir Gavin, that nobleman conveyed it to
Duncan Bunch, principal regent in the Faculty of Arts of the
university, and his successors, for behoof of the regents and
students in the Faculty for the time, on condition that they
should perform certain acts of devotion and pay to the bishop
the burgh ferm and other annualrents, all as set forth in a charter
dated 6th January, 1460. 10
How the lands thus transferred originally came into
possession of the Hamilton family is not known, though
it is not unlikely that this may have been brought about in
connection with arrangements between the cathedral chapter
and Walter Fitz-Gilbert, progenitor of the house of Hamil-
ton, already referred to. 1 Some reversionary interest in the
tenement and land seems to have been retained by the bishop,
and to make the title of the university, or its Arts Faculty,
unchallengeable, the bishop resigned all his claims in favour
of Lord Hamilton, who thereupon gave valid investiture to
Duncan Bunch in name of the Faculty. In allusion to his
granting the site and such buildings as then existed thereon,
l Munimenta, i. pp. 9-12, 14.
1 Antea, p. 149. The Hamiltons were patrons of the Chapel of St. Thomas
in the city, and on 22nd August, 1449, Lord Hamilton had conferred the
chaplainry on master David Cadyhow, precentor of Glasgow cathedral (Muni-
menta, i. p. 15). The chapel itself latterly came into the possession of the
university.
220 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
Lord Hamilton is designated, in the charter, founder of the
College (fundator Collegii), and it is probable that the intimation
of the gift had been made as early as 1458, when the Faculty
first gave instructions for expenditure on the erection of a
pedagogium. In the intervening three years progress must
have been made with the buildings which were probably so
far in use when the charter was granted. Building operations
were still proceeding at that time, and six years later instruc-
tions were given for the erection of a house on the south side
of the college, being on that part of the grounds which adjoined
the place of the Friars Preachers. A tenement situated to
the north of Lord Hamilton's property, with attached land
extending to the Molendinar Burn, was gifted by Sir Thomas
of Arthurle to the Faculty of Arts in 1467, but under reservation
of his own liferent and that of William of Arthurle, then a
regent in the Faculty. 2 The sites on the east side of High
Street, thus acquired, were occupied by the university from
the fifteenth century till the removal to Gilmorehill in 1870.
In recognition of the valuable service rendered by Lord
Hamilton in providing accommodation for the university at
the outset of its career his family arms appear on the mace,
that emblem of academic authority which is associated with
the earliest stages of College history. David Cadyow, first
rector of the university, on the occasion of his re-election in
1460, gave what has been called the " munificent contribution
of twenty nobles " towards providing a mace, and as other
members, assembled at a congregation in 1465, submitted to
a tax to make up the requisite funds, it may be assumed that
a suitable mace would then be procured. In 1490 directions
were given for the reforming and correction of the silver mace,
and in the condition to which it was then altered it probably
remained till, along with other valuables, it was for safety
removed to France at the time of the Reformation. As now
8 Munimenta, i. pp. 9-19.
THE UNIVERSITY MACE.
PRIVILEGES OF UNIVERSITY 221
preserved the mace measures 4 feet gf inches in height and
weighs 8 Ib. i oz. The top is hexagonal, with a shield on each
side. On the first shield are the city arms, in a form similar
to those in use in the seventeenth century ; on the third, the
arms of Douglas of Dalkeith, as borne by the Regent Morton,
the restorer of the College in 1577 ; the fourth has the coat of
Hamilton, the first endower ; the fifth of Scotland ; the
sixth of Turnbull, the founder of the university. The second
shield is occupied with an inscription, stating that the mace
was bought, on the charges of the university, in 1465, that it
was taken to France in 1560 and restored to the university
in isgo. 3
In extension of the privileges already conferred, King
James, by a charter dated 2Oth April, 1453, took under his
peace and protection the rector, deans of faculties, procurators
of nations, regents, masters and scholars studying in the
university, and exempted them as well as the beadles,
scriveners, stationers and parchment makers, from all tributes,
gifts, taxes, watchings, wardings and tolls imposed or levied
within the kingdom. 4 This relief from national burdens was
followed by a charter of Bishop Turnbull, dated ist December,
I 453> whereby, in relation to the city and regality of Glasgow,
every one connected with the university was freed from
similar liabilities. Specifically enumerated there were given
to the doctors, masters and " supposts " a term which
embraced scholars and servants or other subordinates
(i) free power of buying and selling their own goods, specially
food and clothing, free of custom and without licence from any
one ; (2) the privilege of sharing in the prices fixed for bread,
3 Munimenta, Preface, pp. xli-xliii. A common seal was ordered for the
university in 1453 and a seal for the Faculty of Arts in 1455. The university
also procured a seal ad causas to be affixed to documents of small importance.
For description of these seals see Coutts' History of the University, p. 29.
4 Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. p. 38.
222 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
ale and other articles of food, any dispute between the magis-
trates and the university people being referred to the bishop ;
(3) jurisdiction to the rector in all disputes with citizens or
inhabitants ; (4) right to occupy inns and houses in the city,
so long as rent was paid ; (5) release to beneficed persons, while
studying, from residence on their benefices ; (6) extension of
all these privileges to beadles, domestics, scriveners and
parchment makers, wives, children and hand-maids ; (7) ex-
emption from all tributes, exactions, watchings, wardings,
contributions, burdens and personal services. 5 Supplementary
to these privileges, the last perhaps of the favours which Bishop
Turnbull had power to bestow on the university, as he died in
the autumn of the following year, Bishop Andrew, the next
prelate, by a charter dated ist July, 1461, granted to the rector
of the university full jurisdiction in all disputes between the
" supposts " of the university or between them and the citizens,
with this qualification that the accused was to have the choice
between the rector and the bishop's official as judge. On a
point of precedency it was ordained that in synods, processions,
and other solemn occasions, the rector should have first place,
next after the bishop, and before all other prelates in the
diocese. 6
A statute of the Faculty of Arts, dated 2nd May, 1462,
made provision for the celebration of an annual banquet on
the Sunday or Feast next after the Translation of St. Nicholas
(9th May), but outsiders did not join in this display, and
questions of precedency, such as those indicated in Bishop
5 Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. p. 39. In accordance with these grants and subse-
quent renewals the college buildings and grounds east of the High Street had
been exempt from rates and assessments levied by the corporation and board
of police ; and when, in the year 1872, the boundaries of the city were extended
over the lands of Gilmorehill, to which site the university had removed in
1870, it was provided by the Extension Act that the university, its professors
and officers, should have similar exemption and immunity in respect of the
ownership or occupation of their new premises.
6 Ibid. p. 53.
GRAMMAR SCHOOL 223
Andrew's charter, did not arise. All the masters, licentiates,
bachelors and students were to assemble at eight in the morning
and hear matins in the chapel of St. Thomas the Martyr ;
and thereafter they were to ride in solemn and stately proces-
sion, bearing flowers and branches of trees, through the public
street from the upper part of the city to the market cross, and
so back to the college, " and there take counsel for the welfare
of the faculty and the removal of all discords and quarrels,
that all, rejoicing in heart, might honour the prince of peace
and joy." After the banquet the masters and students were
directed to repair to a more fitting place of amusement, and
there enact some interlude or other show to rejoice the people. 7
Previous to the institution of the College the city's
educational wants were supplied chiefly by the Grammar
School, the regulation of which was the special care of the
cathedral chancellor, and by the " sang " schools, over which
the precentor or chantor had charge. But while the over-
sight of schools belonged to the church it is known that from
early times municipal authorities freely co-operated with the
clergy in promoting education within their bounds. Of the
Grammar School in Glasgow the earliest preserved notice is
contained in the abstract of a deed of gift, dated 2oth January,
1460-1, whereby Simon Dalgleish, precentor and official,
granted to master Alexander Galbraith, rector and master of
the Grammar School, and his successors in office, a tenement
lying on the west side of the High Street and south side to
Rannald's Wynd. 8 Unfortunately the document has not been
preserved, and its contents can only be imperfectly gathered
from the summary given by the compiler of the city's Inventory
of Writs, in 1696. It is there stated that in return for the
7 Munimenta, ii. p. 39.
8 Rannald's Wynd, so named because it formed the entrance to ground
called Rannald's Yard, was afterwards known as Grammar School Wynd,
and part of its site is now embraced in Ingram Street.
224 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
.gift the master and his scholars had to perform " some popish
rites/' and the important statement is made that " the said
master Simon appoints the magistrates and council of the
burgh patrons, governors and defenders of the said donation." 9
It is likely enough that the magistrates had already some
charge of educational affairs, but from this time they appear
to have had the responsibility of maintaining the Grammar
School, and though their exercise of the patronage was not
always acquiesced in by the chancellor, they gradually acquired
entire control in its management.
9 Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. p. 436.
SEAL OF ANDREW MUIRHEAD, BISHOP OF GLASGOW, I455'73-
CHAPTER XXXIV
BISHOP ANDREW DE DURISDERE VICARS OF THE CHOIR
ST. NICHOLAS HOSPITAL
INCLUDED in the series of crowded activities which distinguished
his short episcopate, Bishop Turnbull found time to complete
his predecessor's work on the vestry erected over the chapter-
house of the cathedral, as indicated by his coat of arms, carved
on the exterior near the top of the west wall. So far as is known
the next three bishops had no hand in the constructive work
of the cathedral, 1 and it is not till the time of Bishop Blacader,
who was elected in 1484, that any further development of the
building is traced.
Varying accounts of the place and date of Bishop Turn-
bull's death are given, but the date 3rd September, 1454,
noted in the Glasgow Martyrology, 2 if not correct, cannot be far
wrong. Andrew of Durisdere, as he is designated in con-
temporary documents, though usually named Andrew Muirhead
by later writers, was provided to the church of Glasgow by
Pope Calixtus III., on 7th May, 1455, and he was consecrated
as bishop either in the end of that year or the beginning of
I456. 3 The church of Durisdeer, in Dumfriesshire, was the
1 Glasgow Cathedral (1901), p. 21. Though no constructive work was
entered upon the existing buildings were maintained in good condition, and
it is specially stated that Bishop Andrew repaired the north aisle of the nave
{Reg. Episc., p. xlviii ; Gemmell, p. 33, and authorities cited). His arms are
engraved there and also on the south side of the choir (Glasgow Cathedral
). P- 85-
2 Reg. Episc. p. 6 1 6. 3 Dowden's Bishops, pp. 324-6.
p
226 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
prebend of the sub-chanter in Glasgow cathedral, a benefice
which has not been traced to Bishop Andrew, though he may
have held it for some little time as he was a noted pluralist. 4
If not his settled surname or a designation derived from the
prebend, perhaps " Durisdere " was adopted from the place
of his birth, and as it is known that he was related to a
Muirhead family the name by which he was latterly known may
be also accounted for. In the Martyrology, containing note of
his death on 20th November, 1473, it is stated that " Andrew
Mureheid," bishop of Glasgow, was founder of the College of
the Vicars of the Choir of Glasgow, and this is corroborated
by the following inscription found on a stone which it is sur-
mised had originally been placed in a building occupied by the
vicars, adjoining the cathedral :
Has pater Andreas antistes condidit edes
Presbiteris choro Glasgu famulantibus almo. 5
If Bishop Andrew had really at one time held the position
of sub-chanter, his consequent responsibility for the choral
services in the cathedral would account for the interest he took
in providing accommodation for the vicars, but whether or
not his connection with the prebend was of this substantial
nature it seems to have been sufficient to secure his patronage.
The vicars, whose duty it was to furnish the musical part of
church services, had a common residence erected on a piece
4 At the time of his provision to the bishopric Andrew de Durisdere was
dean of Aberdeen, subdean of Glasgow, canon of Lincluden, and vicar of the
church of Kilpatrick in the diocese of Glasgow.
6 (These buildings Bishop Andrew put up for the priests who serve the
auspicious choir of Glasgow.) In the course of operations, under the Glasgow
Improvements Act of 1866, on the west side of Saltmarket Street, the stone
was taken from the back wall of a tenement entering by close No. 122. That
building was comparatively new, having been erected in the eighteenth century,
while the lettering on the stone was ancient. The buildings at the cathedral
occupied by the vicars were deserted after the Reformation, and from their
ruins the decorative stone may have been picked up and after being used in
older buildings was eventually built into the Saltmarket tenement where it
was recently found. It is now preserved in the Kelvingrove Art Galleries.
VICARS' PLACE AND HALL 227
of ground situated to the north of the cathedral, between a
lane called the Vicars* Alley on the west and the manse of the
chanter or precentor on the east. In old records this residence
was usually called the " place " and sometimes the " manse "
of the vicars. There are also several references to the " hall "
of the vicars, on one occasion called the hall of the College of
Vicars of the Choir .(in aula collegii vicariomm chori).* It has
been conjectured that the place and the hall were separate
buildings and that parts of the under walls of the latter are
now embraced in the low building which stands against the
outside of the north wall of the cathedral, between the two
buttresses at the west end of the north aisle of the choir. In
its complete condition it is supposed that the hall, which was
only a few paces distant from the manses of both chanter and
sub-chanter, may have been used by the vicars for their business
meetings, for music practisings and for a song school, while an
upper storey may have provided a robing room for the vicars
and a sleeping place for the sacristan. 7 Though on these points
our information is somewhat indefinite there seems to be little
doubt that from one or other of these buildings the inscribed
stone must have been removed subsequent to the Reformation.
Bishop Andrew's episcopate is associated with other
buildings which have turned out to be of greater durability
6 Diocesan Reg., Protocol No. 194.
7 Archbishop Eyre in Book of Glasgow Cathedral, pp. 292-302 ; Scottish
Historical Review, ii. pp. no-i. The vicars owned, as their common property,
many houses, lands and annualrents throughout the city and its suburbs,
the management of which, including collection of revenue, was probably
attended to by their procurator or other officer. A new plan seems to have
been tried in 1507. On i5th May of that year twelve vicars, being the greater
part of their number, assembled in the chapter-house of the cathedral, placed
the whole of their common property under the administration of Roland
Blacader, subdean, who agreed to pay each of the vicars serving in the choir
ten merks yearly out of the annual proceeds, and to apply the remainder to
the building and repair of the vicar's houses. If there should in any year be
a deficiency of money for the pensions the subdean was to make it up from
his own benefice. (Diocesan Reg., Protocol No. 234.)
228 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
than those constructed for the vicars. These other erections
consisted of a chapel and hospital dedicated to St. Nicholas,
together with a separate tenement, three stories in height and
containing three chambers in each storey. The whole group
was situated a short distance from the bishop's castle or palace,
on the west side of the street leading thence to the market
cross. Nearest the castle was the tenement, an oblong building,
54 feet in front and 24 feet in width ; a few paces to the south
was the chapel, and then a little farther on stood the hospital,
which bordered on the small streamlet called the Girth Burn. 8
No contemporary information is available regarding the
chronological order of erection, but the natural sequence would
be first the hospital, next the chapel and then the tenement
to be used as dwellings partly for the officials of the hospital
and chapel and partly for the accommodation of tenants as
a means of raising revenue. 9 The buildings occupied the site
of a piece of ground which from its proximity to the castle
stables was called Stable Green.
Bishop William Turnbull, with consent of the dean and
chapter, had conveyed Stablegreen lands to another William
Turnbull, a canon of the cathedral. From this canon the lands
had come into the possession of Patrick Colquhoun, designated
of Glen or Glyn or Glinnis, in Stirlingshire, some of whose
8 It was not till the year 1785 that, in connection with street levelling,
arrangements were made for filling up the hollow at the burn, at that time the
division line between the grounds of St. Nicholas Hospital and those of the
Trades' Almshouse (Glasg. Rec. viii. p. 164).
9 In his System of Heraldry, published in 1722-42, Alexander Nisbet states
that about the year 1471, the Bishop " founded near to the precincts of his
Episcopal Palace, at Glasgow, an Hospital which he dedicated to the honour
of St. Nicholas. The place where the divine service was is of fine aisler work
of a Gothic form, and the windows supported by a buttress betwixt each of
them ; upon the front, over the door, is the bishop's arms, surmounted of
the salmon-fish, and a crosier or pastoral staff behind the shield. Opposite to
the Hospital he built and devoted a house or manse for the priest or preceptor,
upon which there is still to be seen the Bishop's arms, the crosier behind the
shield, with the three acorns on the bend." (Quoted in Gemm ell's Oldest
House in Glasgow, p. 33, and notes added.)
LANDS OF STABLEGREEN 229
descendants became influential people in the city. These
transfers of Stablegreen are narrated in a Commission by Pope
Pius II. for confirming the lands to Patrick Colquhoun, and in
that deed some interesting topographical particulars are
preserved. 10 Out of the lands there was payable to the bishop
los. Scots, yearly, together with lod. in name of burgh maill,
an exaction the few references to which contained in the
Glasgow records are not so explicit as could be desired.
How the southern portion of Stablegreen came into the
Hospital's possession has not been ascertained, but the
remainder of the ground, on part of which the Glasgow resi-
dence of the Colquhoun family was probably erected, seems to
have been retained by them till it was transferred to the Earl
of Lennox in 1509. x
10 Maxwells of Pollok, i. p. 179. The east boundary of Stablegreen was a
road in the line of the present High Street and Castle Street, the northmost
point being marked by two crosses placed at the common pasture land, ap-
parently Easter Common, and the southmost point touching the tenement
or manse of John of Hawyk, vicar of Dunlop, property to the north of Rotten-
row, described in a title deed dated 22nd March, 1430-1 (Lib. Coll., etc., p. 246).
The north boundary was a common way leading to a place called Otterburne's
Cross, perhaps so named from some connection with William Otterburne who
was a bailie in 1435. On the west Stablegreen adjoined the yard or manse of
Richard Gardner, vicar of Colmanell ; and then returning eastward the south
boundary was the pool or stank (stagnum) which lay in the hollow on the
north side of Ratounraw, and the small stream called the Girthburne, till
the vicar of Dunlop's property was again reached.
1 John Colquhoun, son of Patrick, who first acquired Stablegreen, married
Katherine Stewart, daughter of Matthew, earl of Lennox, father of the second
Earl Matthew to whom the Lennox mansion or its site was conveyed. It
was no doubt through the relationship constituted by this matrimonial alliance
that members of the Colquhoun family were selected for the provostship, and,
presumably, they also acted as depute bailies of the barony.
The Colquhouns, as rentallers and proprietors, were extensive owners
in the city and barony. George Colquhoun who, through his provostship,
gave name to Provosthaugh, now part of Glasgow Green (Glas. Rec. viii.
p. 676, No. 1499) had besides these lands Bedlay, Molens and Cuninglaw in
rental, in 1535, but in consequence of his daughter and heiress, in that year,
marrying Robert Boyd, afterwards the fourth Lord Boyd, all these possessions
ultimately became vested in the Boyd family. (Chiefs of Colquhoun, ii.
p. 260 ; Dioc. Reg. Rental Book, pp. 79, 107 ; Glasg. Rec. vii. p. 657.)
230 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
The other endowments of St. Nicholas Hospital chiefly
consisted of considerable areas of lands scattered over the
crofts in and around the city. These lands, so far as not
cultivated by the hospital's own dependents, appear to have
been treated on the system in operation on the estates of the
bishops. Rentallers were put in possession for payment of
rents in grain or money, and the leases were renewable by their
successors on payment of certain sums on a specified scale.
These rents were no doubt originally adequate, but owing to
the rise of prices and the depreciation of the currency
the annual money payments can now be regarded as
little more than nominal. Rental rights were in course
of time converted into feu-holdings, and the rents into
feuduties. Some of these feuduties are still collected, but
others have been redeemed, while not a few are believed to
have been lost on account of changes in management and
other vicissitudes. 2
According to the best information now available, the
hospital was originally intended for the accommodation of
twelve poor men, with a priest, who exercised control over
the establishment, and was designated preceptor, magister
or " maister." If a foundation charter ever existed, though
the formality of granting such a writ was perhaps dispensed
with, it has not been preserved ; but the scope of some of the
regulations can be gathered from the terms of an agreement
entered into in February, 1583-4, for the " reparatioun of
certane wrangeis and contraversys betwixt the maister and
stallaris." 3 Sir Bartholomew Simpson, the priest who then
2 The earliest preserved Rental seems to have been made up in 1625. See
Glasg. Chart, ii. pp. 626-30. The long list of lands and annualrents there
given looks imposing when placed beside the meagre rental of 1783 (Glasg.
Rec. viii. pp. 87, 88). At the later date the number of the beneficiaries was
reduced to four.
3 Glasg. Rec. i. pp. 115-6.
ST. NICHOLAS' HOSPITAL 231
held the appointment of master, was one party to this trans-
action, and the other party was a representative of the " stallaris
and possessouris of the stallis and beddis of the said hospital,"
eleven in number (there appears to have been one vacancy),
all of whom are named. Two of these inmates or " stallaris "
have the prefix " Sir," denoting the priestly grade, the Reforma-
tion being doubtless responsible for their decayed condition.
By the first stipulation for the redress of grievances the master
became bound to pay the poor men all arrears and regularly
settle their monthly allowances in future. As to clothing,
each of the men was to get " ane new quhyte claith goune "
every third year, four of them to be thus clad the first year,
the like number each of the two following years, and so on
with renewals by continuous rotation. Bedding with coverlets
and blankets, straw or heather, with " bousters," were to be
provided for twelve beds ; and each of the poor men was to
be supplied with " ane pair of doubell solit schone " on the
first of January, yearly ; " with sax pence to every ane for
thair kaill silvir." Beyond this contribution for " kaill,"
which seems to apply to only one day in the year, there is no
reference to food, and therefore it may be assumed that out
of his monthly allowance each had to provide his own meals
as well as any article of clothing other than the yearly pair of
shoes and the triennial gown. Among other comforts the
inmates were to be supplied with coals for the fire and candle
at evening " to the prayeris " ; and the hospital and houses
pertaining thereto were to be slated, repaired, and kept
wind and water-tight. On the part of the " tuelf puir
men " it was provided that they should reside in the
hospital and not sell their " claithis on bed or back/' nor
remove the bed or bed clothes out of the hospital, and
they were to keep their ordinary hours within the house
and attend the kirk for prayers and preaching. Infringe-
ment of the rules was to be followed by the ejectment of
232 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
the defaulter and the appointment of another " stallar " in
his place. 4
Subsequent references to both hospital and chapel will
appear in due course, but here it may be noted that the former
is understood to have been deserted as a residence in the latter
half of the eighteenth century, and the building having become
ruinous the site was sold in 1789. The chapel appears to have
stood for about twenty years after that date, but it too became
dilapidated, and the combined sites, extending to 1510 square
yards, after being in possession of the town council for a short
time, was acquired by a purchaser in i8io. 5 The tenement
is now included in the premises called " Provand's Lordship,"
and has the distinction of being the oldest dwelling-house in
the city. 6
4 These regulations were no doubt adapted from those observed under
pre-Reformation conditions which were probably sim :Ia j to the rules appointed
for the hospital in Aberdeen, founded by Bishop Gavin Dunbar in 1531. There
the number of inmates or bedesmen was twelve, as in Glasgow, and they were
housed in separate chambers, each 14 feet by 12 feet, and having a fireplace.
The common hall measured 36 feet by 16 feet, and there was a chapel of the
like size, with a belfry and bell. The chaplain was a chantry priest in the
cathedral. Each bedesman was to receive 10 merks yearly, by quarterly
instalments, with an extra merk at Michaelmas to buy a white cloak. Each
week one of the bedesmen was appointed janitor, with custody of the keys
of the hospital gate and doors, and he had to ring the bell at the appointed
hours. Certain times were fixed for rising and retiring to rest, partaking of
meals, attendance at prayers in the chapel and mass in the cathedral, and
provision was also made for joining in processions and celebration of festivals,
and for " pursuing virtuous exercises," either in the cells or in the orchard,
labouring among the herbs and fruits (Reg. Episc. Aberdonensis, i. pp. 399-401 ;
Gemmell's Oldest House in Glasgow, pp. 36-40).
6 Glasg. Memorials, pp. 255-63.
6 With the view of securing the efficient maintenance of the building it was
acquired by a society called the Provand's Lordship Literary Club in 1906.
and there has since been formed in it a library and museum of local antiquities.
The house is open to the inspection of the public throughout the year, and during
the winter season exhibitions are held and lectures given on subjects specially
connected with Old Glasgow.
CHAPTER XXXV
FRIARS PREACHERS OF GLASGOW AND THEIR ENDOWMENTS
SOME of the early donations to the convent of Friars Preachers
in Glasgow have already been referred to, 1 and as bearing the
burden of voluntary poverty had ceased to be a binding vow
upon the Order, these were followed by a long series of endow-
ments which must have sufficiently provided for ordinary
wants. 2 Of several grants of revenues and lands from country
districts, the gift of Balagan in the parish of Strathblane,
Stirlingshire, by Isabel, duchess of Albany and countess of
Lennox, was perhaps the most notable. 3 The charter is dated
from Inchmyrryne, in Loch Lomond, on i8th May, 1451,
twenty-six years after the tragic deaths of her father, her
husband and her two sons, for whose repose the lands were
mortified.
From about the year 1430 the grants of lands and other
extant muniments enable us to trace the succession of the
Priors, though not in a complete line. On igth September,
1430, the Prior of Blantyre bought and transferred to the
1 Antea, pp. 159-60.
* Many of these grants are specified in Munimenta Fratrum Predicatorum ,.
issued by the Maitland Club in 1846. In that work the word " chetis,"
which strangely enough puzzled the editor, and is commented on at p. xlvi.
is obviously a misprint for " thecis," the letters " t " and " c " in old writing
being often indistinguishable. Thus in the earl of Argyle's grant, in 1481
(p. 192), instructions were given to pay twenty shillings yearly, " de thecia
nostris " from our coffers.
3 Ibid. (Lib. Coll., etc.), pp. 171-2.
233
234 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
Friars a tenement lying on the west side of the High Street,
symbolic possession being given by John Wyschart, bailie of
Glasgow, to James Boyd, prior, in name of the convent. 4
Four years later Brother Oswald was Prior, as is shown by an
Indenture between him and the convent, on the one part, and
John Flemyng of the Cowglen, on the other part, dated 22nd
January, 1433-4. By this document, which is written in the
vernacular, Flemyng conveyed to the Friars a rood of land on
the south side of their place and east side of the High Street,
for which they were to pay ten shillings Scots yearly, and to
provide " stabylling for twa hors in that samyn place, or ellis
within the Freris, tyll the said John Flemyn, quhen hym
lykis tyll cum tyll do hys erandis or mak residens within the
town." If he chose to come and dwell in Glasgow the Friars
undertook to build for him " an honest hall, chamir and butler,
with a yard for to set cale in" ; and so long as he should possess
these conveniences the money payment was to cease. 5 Cow-
glen is situated in the parish of Eastwood in Renfrewshire,
4 Lib. Coll., &c. pp. 164-5. The Friars thereby became liable for the
yearly " ferm " owing to the bishop and the other accustomed duties ; and
irom this condition and similar stipulations occurring in other title deeds it
seems likely that the bishops collected from city tenements dues similar to the
burgh maills levied in most royal burghs.
The following is a list of the Priors and their periods of rule so far as ascer-
tained : James Boyd, 1430 ; Friar Oswald, 1434 ; John of Govan, 1447-56 ;
John Mure, 1468 ; William Knokis, 1471 ; Patrick of Govane, 1471-6; John
Smyth, 1478 ; Andrew Cunyngham, 1481 ; David Crag, 1484-7 ; Thomas
Symson, 1497-1514; John Spense, 1517-8; Robert Lyle, 1519-22;
Alexander Barclay, 1529-30 ; George Crechtoune, 1532 ; Robert Lyle (second
rule), 1542 ; John Huntar, 1553-8 ; Andrew Leich, 1560. In 1470 Prior
John Mure was, by the provincial council of England, appointed Vicar General
of the order of Saint Dominic in Scotland ; and this kingdom itself having
been erected into a province before the year 1487, he became its first Prior
Provincial (Ibid., pp. xlvii-lxv).
5 Ibid. pp. 166-7. An indenture was written, in duplicate, from a blank
space in the middle towards each end of the used parchment or paper which
was then divided, along a wavy or indented line in the blank space, and the
appropriate section was retained by each party. In the present case the com-
mon seal of the Friars was set to the part of the indenture remaining with
John Flemyng, and his seal was set to the part remaining with the convent.
EARLY BUILDINGS 235
and the laird in this way secured a town residence. Perhaps
resort to similar practices was not uncommon at that time,
for it is known that in the following century many country
people possessed houses in the city. Of the early fifteenth
century houses in Glasgow we have scarcely any definite
knowledge, and it is interesting to learn that a town house of
three apartments was considered sufficient for the requirements
of a country laird. 6
On igth April, 1456, Duncan Flemyng, then laird of Cow-
glen, resigned to David of Cadioche, precentor of Glasgow,
all claim which he had to a tenement on the east side of the
High Street, described as lying between the land of the late
Katherine de Ennerphefyr on the north, and the land of
William of Robertson's heirs on the south. 7 The relative
positions of the rood of land and the tenement are not
specified, but it rather looks as if the whole of Flemyng's
High Street property had not been transferred to the Friars
in 1434.
Friendly relationship and the desire for neighbourly
accommodation always existed between the College authorities
6 One of the few early references to buildings in Glasgow occurs in a title
deed dated nth February, 1435-6. There it is narrated that a burgess sold to
Robert de Moffat, treasurer of the church of Glasgow, (i) the half of three
booths and two lofts lying at the south end and on the east side of the great
street leading from the cathedral to the market cross, between the land of
John of Dun on the north and the " Conyhe " to the common street on the
south, of which booths and lofts John Dun held one half ; and (2) an annual-
rent of one merk payable furth of a tenement, newly built and covered with
" sklate," lying on the north side of Gallowgate, between the tenement of
William Raite, burgess, on the east, and John of Dun's land on the west. It
thus appears that in the reign of James I. the buildings at the corner of High
Street and Gallowgate, fronting the market cross, consisted of merchants'
booths on the ground floor, having storage lofts above, and that an adjoining
tenement, newly erected, was roofed with slate. Lib. Coll., etc., p. 250.
7 Reg. Episc. No. 380. The witnesses were John Steuart, provost of
Glasgow ; William of Otterburne, and John Rede, bailies ; John Schaw,
Andrew Brady, John of Hall, John M'Mulan and John Rankyne, burgesses ;
Sir John of Restown, vicar of Kilbryde and notary, Sir Nicholas of Hall,
chaplain, ministering in the choir of Glasgow, and Robert Hyne.
236 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
and the Friars, and it was only befitting that mutual benefits
should be conferred as opportunity occurred. As an illustra-
tion of such intercourse reference may be made to an endow-
ment bestowed shortly after the university was established.
David de Cadzow or Cadioch, first rector of the university,
having used the chapter-house of the Friars for the reading of
some of his lectures on canon law, besides receiving other
favours at their hands, was desirous of making some suitable
return, and being possessed of a large number of annualrents,
he, in May 1454, transferred to the Friars twenty-eight of these,
amounting to twelve merks yearly. In his deed of gift and
foundation the rector avowed the regard entertained
by him for the Friars, expressing his desire for the more
efficient celebration of divine service, and he directed
that the annual revenue should be applied towards the mainten-
ance of the Friars and the repair of their church and place,
due provision being made for a daily mass at the altar of the
Virgin Mary. On the anniversary of the donor's death (which
it may be noted occurred on igth August, 1467) there were
to be various religious observances, and the handbell of St.
Kentigern, or another if it could not be got, was to be tolled
through the town. The document bearing record of the
prior and convent's undertaking to fulfil their part of
the arrangement is authenticated with their own seal and
also the seal of David Raite, vicar-general of the Order
of Friars Preachers in Scotland, and these two seals are
still preserved in good condition. The common seal of the
burgh of Glasgow which had likewise been appended is now
missing. 8
By an indenture dated i8th December, 1454, John Stewart,
8 Reg. Episc. pp. 173-6 ; Glasg. Chart., ii. pp. 441-4. The seal of the Friars
is thus described : Within a canopied niche a representation of the coronation
of the Virgin. The Father seated on the sinister with arched crown and
nimbus, his right hand holding up the chrism, the Virgin seated on the dexter
with open crown and nimbus. Above is what is supposed to be the dove.
SERVICES IN BLACKFRIARS KIRK 237
who is there designated " the first provest that was in the cite
of Glasgw," gave to the prior and convent a tenement lying
in " Walcargat," as Saltmarket Street was then called, a rig
of land lying in the " Palyhard Croft/' 9 and certain annual-
rents. In consideration of this gift the Friars were to perform
certain masses at St. Katherine's altar in their kirk " for the
said Johne Stewards saule, hys eldyris saulis, and all Chrystyn
saulis," and the De profundis was to be said in presence of the
people. On the day of the provost's decease St. Mungow's
bell was to be rung through the town, and each friar who said
a mass for his soul was to receive " sex pennyes and a galown
of the best sale ale of the town " to his collation. The prior
and convent agreed that Stewart and his wife and heirs should
have their " bodyis and banys sepulturyt at the north end of
the said altar of Sant Katryne." 10 Provost Stewart died before
25th June, 1485, leaving as his heiress a daughter, Jonet
Stewart, wife of Robyn Hall of Fulbar. These spouses, on
the date just mentioned, made an indenture with the prior
and convent similar to that which the provost had entered
into. The same allowance of ale was to be provided, and it
was specially added that there should be " brede and chese
to the collacioune." 1
Legend s CME FRATRV PREDICATORV GLASG. Common seal of the Friars
Preachers of Glasgow.
There are some grounds for identifying David Raite as the author of
Ratis Raving and other poetical pieces preserved in MS. in the University
Library, Cambridge. See articles by Dr. J. T. T. Brown in the Scottish
Antiquary, xi. pp. 145-55 ; xii. pp. 5-12.
9 This croft is now usually called Pallioun Croft in title deeds. It lies on
the north side of Argyle Street, between Queen Street and Mitchell Lane.
The lands of Meadowflat formed the northern boundary, and on the west was
Glasgow (now called St. Enoch's) burn. The ground was low lying, and during
spates must occasionally have been flooded. From a pool in the burn's
course, or a pool in the adjoining land, occasional or permanent, the descriptive
designation pol-yard, varying into pal-yard, may have been derived. See
other conjectures on the origin of the name in Regality Club, 3rd series, p. 115.
10 Lib. Coll. etc., p. 176 ; Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. p. 43.
1 Lib. Coll. etc., pp. 195-8.
238 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
John Stewart, who is referred to as the first provost of
Glasgow, is found in office on loth May, 1454, and was probably
appointed at the usual period of election in October preceding.
In a charter dated ist December, 1453, whereby Bishop Turn-
bull conferred various privileges on the university, the provost
is referred to, but no earlier notice of his holding office has been
discovered. It has been conjectured that the appointment
of a provost in Glasgow was an outcome of the charter of 1450,
whereby the bishop's city and lands were declared to be held in
free regality. In that charter there is nothing said on the sub-
ject, but in a confirming charter, granted by King James III.,
on 15 th July, 1476, it was specially provided that the bishops
should have power to appoint a provost, bailies, sergeants and
other officers, for the rule and government of the city. 2 If,
therefore, the first appointment of a provost was made by
the bishop in his capacity of lord of regality he must have acted
under the implied authority contained in the grant of 1450.
Provost Stewart is understood to have belonged to a family
who had a long and influential connection with the city. In
the year 1429 Sir William Stewart of Dalswinton and Garlies
obtained the estate of Minto, in Teviotdale, and bestowed it
upon his third son, Sir Thomas Stewart of Minto, ancestor
of the Lords Blantyre. John Stewart, the provost, was the
younger brother of Sir William. By the marriage of Sir
Thomas with Isabel, eldest daughter and co-heir of Walter
Stewart of Arthurly, of the Castlemilk family, he acquired
extensive estates in the counties of Lanark and Renfrew,
and thus was commenced the family connection with Glasgow
and its neighbourhood. Sir Thomas was himself provost in
1480-1, and his descendants frequently filled that office.
With the University in active operation and the neighbour-
ing Friars prosperous there seems to have arisen a demand for
building accommodation in that vicinity, and as the Friars
2 Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. pp. 60-65.
BUILDING SITES SOLD BY FRIARS 239
had some ground to spare they, as set forth in an Indenture
dated I2th June, 1467, agreed to feu certain roods of land
lying to the south of their cemetery, for payment of such
annual sums as might be adjusted by the provost, bailies and
community and the prior and his council, and to this arrange-
ment the bishop, as represented by his chancellor, gave his
express consent. 3 In the following April the provost, bailies
and community, with consent of the prior and convent and also
of the bishop, feued to Thomas Kerd, burgess, and his spouse,
two roods of land described as lying on the east side of the
High Street, upon the Friars' fore and west walls, between the
lands of John Rankin, smith, on the south, and unbuilt lands
on the north ; for payment of ten shillings Scots money, yearly,
to the prior and brethren and of the accustomed burgh
ferms owing to the bishop. The successors of the original
feuars were to pay 135. 4d. yearly, and the two roods were not
to be sold for a higher rate without the consent of the com-
munity and the friars. On 27th July, 1468, other two roods
of ground, described as lying in the vennel called Freir Wynd,
in the yard of the Friars, and adjoining a stone wall, were sold
to William Jaksoune, burgess, and his wife, for payment of a
yearly feuduty of 6s. 8d. On 24th March, 1470-1, Thomas
Kerd acquired additional ground which was described as
lying near the cemetery, extending from his house at the
entrance to the cloister, between seven aspen trees, on the
north, and the enclosure at John Rankyn's building on the
south. Other sales are recorded, including one of unbuilt
lands conveyed, in 1478, to Robert Forester, who bound him-
self to construct, under his building, a gate and passage to the
Friars' church, with a niche or window above the entrance for
the reception of an image of the Blessed Virgin. 4
Not long after the introduction of a national literature,
as exemplified in the writings of Barbour and Wyntoun, with
3 Glasg. Chart, ii. pp. 454-6. 4 Lib. Coll. etc., pp. 180-4, 190-1.
240 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
whose historical works it may be assumed that most intelligent
clerics, including those professionally employed in the prepara-
tion of legal decuments, would be to some extent acquainted,
occasional specimens of title deeds written in the vernacular
begin to make their appearance. The earliest extant docu-
ment of that description relating to property in Glasgow is of
some intrinsic interest, as it specifies the conditions under which
a piece of ground was disposed of for building purposes. As
printed for the Maitland Club, 5 the deed is dated 2Oth October,
1434, but as it was granted by John Stewart, subdean, during
5 Appendix to Lib. Coll. etc., p. 249. The deed is inscribed " vj
schillingis viii penyis out of Thome of Welkis land in the Densyd " and is
in the following terms : " Be it mad kennyt tyil al men be thir present lettres
me Johne Stewart, sudan of Glasgu, with the consent and the assent of a
reverent fadyr in Crist, Wilyame throu the grace of Code byschop of Glasgu,
and the chapiter thairto callit till haf gyffyn and grantit and in fe heritably
latyn ane akyr of land of my land callit the Densyde lyand in lynth and brede
on the north syde of the comown strete callit the Ratownrawe next a west
half the tenement of Thorn Curouris wyth al fredomys and esementis that to
the said akyr pertenys or may perten in tym to cum, til Thome of Welk,
burges of the said burgh of Glasgu, his airis and assignez of me, my succes-
souris, sodenes of Glasgu for the tyme beand : Gynand to me and my succes-
souris, sodenes of Glasgu for the tyme beand, at two usuall termys, Quhit-
sonday and Martynmes, yherly, sex syllingis and acht penys [of usuale mone]
of Scotland, the said Thorn of Welk, his airis and assignez, anerly, for ony
demandis, exaccioun . . . said Thome of Welk beand oblist to byg a sufficiand
tenement on the said akyr of land within a yher folowand the date of thir
letrez, and alsua to mac the half of the calse before the forfront of the said akyr
als far as to thaim pertenys and til uphald. And I the said Jon Steuart and
my successouris sudenez of Glasgu sal warande the said akyr of land to the
said Thome of Welk, his airis and assignez aganys al men and women and
perpetualy sal defend. In the witnes of the qwhilk thyng the sele of the said
reverent fadyr byschop of Glaegu and the sel of the chapiter togedyr with
my sele ar put to thir present letrez, the xx day of the monethe of Octobyr,
the yher of our Lord m. cccc. xxxiiij. Witnes, atour bodely takyn, Schir Jon
of Dalgles, Schir Jon of Neuton, Schir Richard of Are, vicaris in the quere of
Glasgu, and Schir Water Ra, notar, persoun of the Garvald, with mony othyr
witnes takyn and to callit, etc." [Probable date, 2oth October, 1424.]
Glossary : acht, eight ; anerly, only ; atour, besides ; atour bodely
takyn, besides the writing's own evidence ; beand, being ; brede, breadth ;
byg, build ; calse, causeway ; fadyr, father ; kennit, known ; latyn, let or
set ; mac, make ; mad, made ; persoun, parson ; quere, choir ; sodene,
sudan, subdean ; takyn, token, taken ; thir, these ; tyil, to.
LANDS OF DEANSIDE 241
the bishopric of William Lauder, it must really have been
written before 1426. It is likely that " xxxiiij " is a
misreading for " xxiiij," thus making the true date 20th
October, 1424. If, as is usually understood, the whole of the
subdean's lands of Deanside were situated on the south side
of Rottenrow, there is a further misprint of " north " for
" south." Effect being given to these corrections it appears that
in 1424 an acre of land fronting Rottenrow, and worth 6s. 8d.
yearly, was sold to a burgess for the erection thereon of a
sufficient tenement within a year, and it was stipulated that
half of the causeway in front was to be formed and maintained
by him. Such conditions are usual in the laying out of
building ground at the present day, and it is to be assumed
that the subdean or his feuars, as owners of land on the north
side of Rottenrow, would be responsible for the other half of
the causeway. As indicating the state of possession of ground
in this quarter, it is noticed that, in the year 1425, the owner
of a tenement on the north side of Rottenrow who had
fallen into arrear with his annual payments, resigned his
property to the subdean, under reservation to himself and
spouse of the inner garden, bushes and pertinents, during
their lifetime. 6
From the many transfers and other deeds relating to
Glasgow properties, the particulars of which are accessible in
printed volumes, it may be gathered that besides the canons
occupying their manses and the vicars of the choir lodged in
their common building, the other vicars and clergy dwelling
in the city had their residences mainly in Rottenrow, Drygate
and other places in the vicinity of the cathedral. 7 The originals
6 Lib. Coll. etc., p. 243.
7 A few of these may be mentioned. On i6th November, 1410, it was agreed
between Sir Thomas Merschell, perpetual vicar of Kilbirnie, and John Leiche,
burgess, that the vicar should have part of a tenement lying opposite the gate
of the subdean, between the Gyrthburne and the street called Dreggate.
Q
242 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
of most of these printed documents came into the possession
of the University at the time of the Reformation, in connection
with the transfer of church property to that body, but several
are preserved in the city's archives. Of the latter collection
the earliest in date is a notarial instrument which may be
described as illustrative of its class. William Wischart, vicar
of the church of Govan, was proprietor of a tenement and two
roods of land, with an adjoining yard, lying on the north side
of Ratounraw and east side of a tenement belonging to Sir
James Cameron, another priest. By the old burgh laws an
heir in heritage could not dispose of it without consent of the
next heir, and Wischart had apparently acquired his property
by inheritance, as his brother and heir formally consented to its
sale. It is narrated in the notarial instrument that, on I3th
April, 1434, in presence of a notary public and witnesses,
Wyschart, with consent of his brother, sold the tenement to
Mr. Patrick Leche, vicar of the church of Dundonald, at the
price of 20 merks Scots, and the seller caused John Wischart,
a bailie of the city, to give the purchaser sasine or possession
of the property. These proceedings, part of which had taken
On 1 4th June of the same year a burgess sold to John of Dalgles, a
vicar serving in the choir, a tenement and ground containing presumably
four particates (misprinted " carucatas ") or roods, on the south side of
" Ratounraw," between the land of Jonet Pyd on the east and the subdean's
lands of Deanside on the west. On gth February, 1417-8, it was agreed between
Sir John of Dalgles and Sir Roger Schort, priests, and John Broun, cleric, that
Sir Roger should have a manse in the street of Ratounraw, between the land
of Sir John on the east and a yard of Sir Roger in Deanside on the west. On the
death of Sir John Schort, his uncle, Broun was to have a chamber in the yard,
and on the death of Sir Roger he was to inherit the manse. On 22nd March,
1430-1, Sir John of Hawyk, priest, perpetual vicar of the church of Dunlop,
gave to John Yonge, his nephew or grandson (nepoti), his tenement lying near
the Stablegreen, on the west side of the street, between that green on the north
and the tenement of Sir Thomas Merschell, priest, vicar of Kilbirnie, on the
south, in which tenement Sir Thomas then dwelt. On 6th October, 1524, Mr.
James Houstone, subdean, resigned several annualrents in favour of the vicars
of the choir, and in return was vested in the tenement and place called the
Aulde Pedagog, on the south side of Ratounraw. (Lib. Coll. etc., pp. 237-8,
246, 260.)
A RATOUNRAW PROPERTY 243
place in the cathedral, having been completed, John of Hawyk,
priest and notary, set down the particulars in the notarial
instrument, which he authenticated with his signature and sign,
and to which, for greater security, the seal of the official of
Glasgow was appended. 8
9 Glas. Chart, ii. pp. 437-9.
CHAPTER XXXVI
THE RIVER CLYDE AND FOREIGN TRADE THE ELPHINSTONES
IN GLASGOW ELECTION OF BAILIES AND OTHER OFFICERS
IN BURGHS
IN conformity with earlier usage a statute of James II., passed
in 1457, ordains that sailors engaged in merchandise should
be freemen of burghs and indwellers within the burgh ; and
by an Act passed in the reign of James III., on 3ist January,
1466-7, it is more specifically provided that none of the king's
lieges should sail or pass with merchandise for trading pur-
poses, furth of the realm, except freemen of the merchant
class dwelling within burgh. But stringent conditions were
imposed with the view of ensuring that those engaged in
foreign trade should be financially able to implement their
engagements. 1 Though the Scottish shipping ports at this
time were still chiefly on the east coast and the trade with
Flanders was far in advance of that in any other quarter,
some share of shipping activity was manifesting itself in the
Clyde estuary before the end of James the Third's reign.
This is shown by a Precept of James IV., in 1490, whereby
he confirmed an undated decree by the Privy Council, in
his father's time, ordaining that all manner of ships, strangers
and others, should come to the king's free burghs, such as
Dumbarton, Glasgow, Ayr, Irvine, Wigtown, Kirkcudbright
and Renfrew, and there make merchandise, strangers being
1 Ancient Laws and Customs, ii. pp. 26, 30, 31.
244
JAMES III.
TRAFFIC ON RIVER CLYDE 245
required to buy merchandise only at free burghs, and to pay
their duties and customs there. 2
Notwithstanding its inland position and the incommodious
state of the river for miles below its site, 3 Glasgow was not
content to confine its seaward enterprise to traffic in salmon
and herrings, but was ready to compete with its neighbours
for a share of foreign trade. With four burghs having an
interest in the narrow part of the river between Rutherglen
and the eastern bounds of Dumbarton there was need for
careful diplomacy if seaboard advantages were to be equally
distributed, and a few isolated particulars of such negotia-
tions have been preserved. The liberties of the burgh of
Renfrew, embracing its shire, took in both sides of the river,
and accordingly between it and Dumbarton arrangements
connected with both land and water required consideration.
To provide for the settlement of questions likely to arise,
twelve representatives from each burgh met in the kirk of
St. Patrick (Kilpatrick), on 2Qth August, 1424, and resolved
that for the maintenance of friendship, six persons from
each burgh, making twelve in all, with an oversman to be
chosen alternately by the one and the other, should decide
all complaints that might be made. Anything that might
happen, either by sea or land, which it was not in the power
of this body to determine, was to be referred to the quarter
where the earliest competent decision could be got. It was
also agreed that no one in the burghs should forestall or buy
within the shire or freedom of the other without obtaining
2 Lanark and Renfrew, pp. 188-9 ; Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. pp. 87-88.
3 The unnavigable condition of the river Clyde at Glasgow is shown by the
provisions of an agreement dated I4th May, 1507, whereby Thomas Tayt,
burgess of Ayr, sold to the archbishop a quantity of lead, part of which he
undertook to deliver either at the burgh of Renfrew, or at the shallow of
Govan if his ship could be conveniently brought to the latter place (Diocesan
Reg. Prot. No. 233). The editors of the Register suggest that the lead may
have been destined for the south transept of the Cathedral which the arch-
bishop began but did not live to complete (Ibid. i. p. 16).
246 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
the requisite permission, but that all should intercommune
with each other within their burghs to buy and sell freely
and in good neighbourhood. Five years later questions
arose between the burghs as to certain freedoms and fishings,
and these were settled by an assize which met at Glasgow
on 22nd November, 1429, in presence of the great chamber-
lain of Scotland, who pronounced his decree on 3rd January,
thereafter. Renfrew was found to be in possession of fish-
ings called the Sand- or de and of the midstream of the Water
of Clyde, and also to have the custom and anchorage of the
river to a place called the Black-stane. Below that point
the profit was to be divided between the burghs. 4
The agreement of 1424, was still operative a hundred years
later, and at a meeting of six representatives from each burgh,
held in the parish kirk of Kilpatrick, on i8th May, 1524, the
procedure thereby prescribed was observed. At that
meeting Renfrew complained that Dumbarton had made
a " band and confederatione " with the city of Glasgow with-
out their consent, and that a bailie of Dumbarton had intro-
mitted with the custom and toll of a French ship within their
bounds and freedom. 5 The " band and confederatione "
here referred to has not been conclusively identified, but it
may have been the " mutuall indenture," not now extant
but said to have been entered into in 1499, between Glasgow
and Dumbarton, for the maintenance and defence of each
other's privileges, " condiscending to ane equal entres of
the river Clyde, neither of them pretendand priviledge nor
prerogative over the othei." 6
The contract of 1424 is valuable as indicating how by friendly
negotiations facilities were afforded for carrying on trade
between communities to their mutual advantage, notwith-
4 Lanark and Renfrew, pp. 282-4.
5 living's History of Dumbartonshire (1857) pp. 155-7.
6 Glasg. Chart, ii. p. 62.
AGREEMENTS AMONG BURGHS 247
standing the restrictions imposed by early burghal legislation.
It is difficult to understand how the hard and fast rule of
giving each burgh exclusive privileges within the limited
area of its own freedom could ever bear the strain of actual
practice, and it is probably safe to assume that arrangements
similar to those agreed upon by Renfrew and Dumbarton
were, either by tacit implication or express contract, in general
operation throughout the country. With regard to Glasgow
its interests were so far protected by the royal charters and
precepts which the bishops, through their influence as state
officials and otherwise, were able to procure, but even here,
in addition to the contract of 1499, there is trace of an
earlier arrangement between the city and the burgh of Dum-
barton with reference to their respective rights in the river
Clyde.
Without superseding the system of cross-country trans-
port, practised between the city and Linlithgow port on the
east and Irvine harbour on the west, 7 Glasgow merchants
were from early times in the habit of dealing both in imports
and exports by meeting ships at landing places in the Firth
and, after concluding purchases or sales, transferring cargo
from or to small boats of draught suited for passage along
the shallow water between these landing places and the city.
In the later stages of traffic so conducted some city merchants
had ships of their own engaged in foreign trade, but in the
fifteenth century, when we first have any references to the
subject, the trading vessels belonged to foreigners. In the
year 1469 Glasgow's representatives bought a quantity of
wine out of a Frenchman's ship, but the magistrates and
community of Dumbarton interfered and forcibly stopped
the completion of the transaction. Thereupon Bishop Andrew
and the magistrates and community of Glasgow summoned
7 Ante a, pp. 177-80.
248 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
the Dumbarton authorities before the Lords Auditors of
Causes and Complaints, who, after investigation, found that
Glasgow, as " the first byars of the wyne," had been wronged,
and Dumbarton was ordained to desist from such interference
in future, and to be in the meantime punished, at the will of
the sovereign, for the injury done by its representatives.
This decision was arrived at after examination not only of
charters and evidents but also of " the instruments and
indenturis of baith the partiis," from which it may be inferred
that at that time there was in existence a contract between
the two burghs regulating the mode of procedure in the pur-
chase of imports. With the authoritative pronouncement of
the Lords Auditors on their respective rights, any need for
further contention between Glasgow and Dumbarton on sea
questions must have been removed for the time, though
eventually, in consequence of changes in views or circum-
stances, the " band and confederatione " complained of by
Renfrew, in 1524, may have introduced modifications, the full
terms of which cannot now be definitely ascertained. 8
John M'Ure asserts that "the first promoter and pro-
pogator of trade in this city was William Elphingston, a
younger brother of the noble family of Elphingston," who
took up his abode in Glasgow in the reign of James I., and
became a merchant ; and Gibson, in his History of Glasgow,
published in 1777, adopts the statement, and adds that the
trade which he promoted was in all probability the curing
and exporting of salmon. On the authority, apparently, of
George Crawfurd, 9 M'Ure states that the wife of William
Elphingstone was Margaret Douglas of the house of Mains
in Dumbartonshire, and that this couple were the parents
of William Elphinstone, bishop of Aberdeen and founder of
8 Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. p. 54. The River Clyde, pp. 11-13, an< ^ authorities
there cited.
9 Officers of State, (1726), p. 47.
BISHOP ELPHINSTONE.
THE ELPHINSTONES IN GLASGOW 249-
the University in that city. 10 What authority there was for the
trade story cannot be traced, but there is no doubt that Bishop
Elphinstone's father, also named William, was a churchman,
a canon of Glasgow cathedral from 1451 to 1483, holding
the offices of dean of faculty in 1468, prebendary of Ancrum
in 1479, an d archdeacon of Teviotdale in 1482. He died in
1486. Bishop Elphinstone is believed to have been born
in Glasgow in 1431 ; he matriculated at Glasgow college in
1457, took his Bachelor's degree in 1459, was a regent in the
University in 1465, and its rector in 1474 ; and between the
years 1471 and 1477 he acted as official of the diocese of Glasgow.
Of all the written proceedings of the courts of the official
only a single leaf has been preserved, and it embraces the
record of the part of two days' procedure in court, in 1475,
containing the name of William Elphinstone as the presiding
judge. 1 On his being appointed official of Lothian, in 1478,
Elphinstone's more intimate connection with Glasgow was
terminated, but the chief events of his great career were still
to come. One of the most useful services rendered by the
bishop to national progress was the part he took in the
introduction of the art of printing into Scotland, he having
obtained a grant of exclusive privileges in favour of Walter
Chepman and Andro Myllar, two burgesses of Edinburgh, in
1507-
If the William Elphinstone whom M'Ure introduces in
the reign of James I. was a real personage, he may have been
the ancestor of the Elphinstones of Gorbals, as the earliest
rentaller traced in the possession of these lands bore that
name, and his forebears must have been rentallers for an un-
known period prior to 1520. About that time the name of
Elphinstone was common in Glasgow, and, as will be after-
wards noticed, one John Elphinstone, in the year 1508, obtained
10 M'Ure's History of Glasgow, p. 93 ; Gibson's History of Glasgow, p. 203.
1 Glasgow Protocols, vol. v. pp. xi, xii.
250 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
royal authority to erect and occupy a fortified building in
the High Street of Glasgow. 2
Various statutes of James III., on the lines of those of
his immediate predecessor and already referred to, 3 were
passed for advancing the internal welfare of the burghs, and
it seems there was room for improvement in the mode of
electing the magistrates and other officers, disturbances being
apt to arise when large bodies of the citizens were assembled
to choose their rulers at the annual period of election. By
Act of Parliament dated 2oth November, 1469, it was, for
avoidance of the great trouble and contention which yearly
occurred at the elections, "throw multitud and clamor of
commonis sympil personis," enacted that no officers or council
should be continued more than a year, that the old council
should choose the new, that the new and old councils should
choose the alderman, bailies, dean of guild, and other officers,
and that each craft should choose one of its number to have
a voice in the election of such officers. The requirement for
a new council yearly was modified by the provision in an
Act dated 9th May, 1474, stipulating for "four worthy per-
sounis " of the old council being continued on the new ; 4
'but, as was not uncommon with ordinances of the Scottish
legislature neither act was strictly observed. The Commis-
sioners on Municipal Corporations, who had evidence before
them from the several burghs, remarked in their Report
of 1835, that the simple and uniform plan of election pre-
scribed in 1469 was by no means universally adopted, and
that the constitutions of burghs royal, technically denominated
their " setts," came to exhibit an endless variety in their details,
although, there was scarcely any exception to the " leading
2 Early Scottish History, pp. 258-66 ; Hunterian Club, vol. xv. pp. iii-xiii ;
Medieval Glasgow, pp. 116-26.
3 Antea, p. 203.
4 Ancient Laws and Customs, vol. ii. pp. 32, 35.
TOWN COUNCIL ELECTIONS 251
principle of what has been usually termed self-election, to
the exclusion of any near approach to popular suffrage."
It was this prevailing distinction which was referred to in
the preamble of the Burgh Reform Act of 1833, where it is
stated that the right of electing the common councils and
magistrates appears to have been originally in certain large
classes of the inhabitants of the burghs, " by the abrogation
of which ancient and wholesome usage much loss, inconveni-
ence and discontent have been occasioned and still exist,"
and it was for redress and prevention of such that the " close
system " of election was abolished and the " ancient free
constitutions substantially restored." Whatever may have
been the mode of election in Glasgow previous to 1469, the
new rules, adapted to the city's circumstances, seem to have
been followed in most of their essential features.
CHAPTER XXXVII
BISHOPS ANDREW " MUIRHEAD " AND JOHN LAING UNI-
VERSITY PRIVILEGES FRIARS MINORS IN GLASGOW-
CHAPELS OF ST. THOMAS AND ST. TENEW CHAPLAIN-
RIES FORFEITURE OF UNPRODUCTIVE TENEMENTS
THOUGH Bishop Andrew did not occupy any high office of
state he took part in the legislative work of the parliaments
which sat between 1464 and 1471 ; he is said to have been a
member of the council of regency appointed after the death of
James II., and he served on several important embassies. On
1 3th July, 1459, the bishop and others had a safe conduct to
treat with English commissioners regarding the truce between
the kingdoms ; he was one of the Scottish commissioners
who ratified a fifteen years' treaty of peace at Westminster in
1463 ; and again, in 1465, he is named as one of the
commissioners who negotiated the prorogation of the
truce till the year 1519. In 1466-7 the bishop and others,
with eighty persons in their company, were authorised to pass
between Scotland and England, and four years later a similar
safe conduct was granted, but this time the sanctioned retinue
was increased to four hundred persons. In 1468 the bishop
was on the embassy to Denmark to treat of the marriage
between James III. and the Princess Margaret. 1
Besides conferring on the University the jurisdiction
specified in his grant of 1461, 2 it is probable that the bishop
1 Dowden's Bishops, p. 326 ; Bain's Calendar, iv. No. 1301, et seq.
2 Antea, p. 222.
252
SEAL OF JOHN LAING, BISHOP OF GLASGOW, 1473-82.
UNIVERSITY PRIVILEGES 253
used his influence in procuring from James III. the letter
confirming the protection and exemptions bestowed by James
II. in 1453. 3 The confirmatory letter, which recites the love,
favour and affection which the king bore towards the University,
and his desire that students might increase in number, to
the honour of the commonweal and profit of many, was granted
under his great seal, at Edinburgh, on loth December, 1472,
and the bishop is the first of ten attesting witnesses. Curi-
ously enough the last witness was John Laing, designated
rector of Newlands and king's treasurer, who was destined,
within little more than a year, to become bishop of Glasgow. 4
In the Glasgow Martyrology the " obit of Andrew Mureheid,
bishop of Glasgow," is given as 20th November, I473. 5
From various writings, including a papal bull of pro-
vision, dated 28th January, 1473-4, it is ascertained that
John Laing was appointed the next bishop, but whether
after a capitular election or not is uncertain. At the time
of his appointment Laing held the offices of rector of New-
lands, treasurer of the king, and clerk of the rolls and register. 6
He belonged to an Edinburghshire family and possessed pro-
perty in Edinburgh. By a deed of gift, dated Qth February,
3 Antea, p. 221.
4 Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. pp. 55-57. Simultaneously with the issue of this
more formal document, the king addressed to the bishops of his realm a
Letter, under his privy seal, exhorting them, in their respective dioceses, not
to trouble the rectors, deans of faculties, procurators of nations, regents,
masters, beadles, scriviners, stationers, parchment sellers and scholars, in-
corporated in the university, on the ground of any exactions, collections or
taxes whatever, but contrariwise to defend all such persons in the privileges
and exemptions granted to them by the king and his father. (Ibid. pp. 58-60.)
5 Reg. Episc., p. 6 1 6.
' Reg. Episc. Nos. 403-4. Newlands, in Peeblesshire, is on the highway
from Glasgow to the eastern borders of the diocese. It is likely that Laing
was the last rector of Newlands as the benefice was erected into a prebend of
the Collegiate Church of St. Nicholas at Dalkeith in 1 475 . (Ongines Parochialcs,
i. p. 192.) Discharges by the king to the bishop of his intromissions as
treasurer, dated nth October, 1475, and 3rd February, 1475-6, are recorded
in Reg. Episc., pp. 428-9, Nos. 408-9.
254 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
1481-2, he gave six stones of wax, annually, for candles
to the choir of Glasgow cathedral, to be provided from the
rents of two booths in that city. 7 In 1482, Bishop Laing held
the office of chancellor of the kingdom, but he died on nth
January, 1482-3. 8
It was during Laing's episcopate that a body of Franciscan
Friars settled in Glasgow. The Franciscans, so named from
their founder, St. Francis, of Assisi, in Italy, were established
in 1206, and confirmed by Pope Innocent III., in 1210. They
were otherwise known as Fratres Minores or Minorites (dis-
tinguishing them from the Fratres Major es or Friars Preachers),
and as Grey Friars, from the colour of their habit. About
the year 1415 a branch of the Franciscans adopted certain
reforms, calling themselves Observantines, on account of
their more strict observance of the founder's rule, and it was
the section of the Order holding these views that acquired
a residence in Glasgow. A few towns in Scotland had Fran-
ciscan settlements in the fourteenth century, but it was not
till about the year 1476 that, so far as contemporary records
show, members of the Order came to Glasgow. The spot
selected for their residence was a short distance west from the
High Street, nearly opposite the place of the Friars Preachers,
which was on the east side of the street. Access from the
High Street was obtained from a lane which acquired the
name of Greyfriars Wynd, and is now known as Nicholas
Street. The present Shuttle Street was also sometimes called
Greyfriars Wynd, and it seems to have formed the eastern
7 Reg. Episc. No. 427. Within the burgh court of Edinburgh, on 24th
November, 1476, in presence of Andrew Hervy, dean of guild, Thomas
Mahome, burgh treasurer, and others, George Penycuk, son and heir of George
of Penycuk, burgess of Edinburgh, ratified the sale and conveyance which his
father and James Creichtoune of Felde had made to John, bishop of Glasgow,
of a tenement of land on the north side of the High Street in the burgh of
Edinburgh, including the two booths above mentioned. (Ibid. No. 411.)
8 Dowden's Bishops, pp. 328-9.
FRIARS MINORS IN GLASGOW 255
boundary of the Friars' grounds. Some particulars regarding
the coming of the Friars to Glasgow are ascertained from a
charter of James III., dated 2ist December, 1479, whereby
he confirmed to the Friars Minors of the Observantine Order
the sites belonging to them in Edinburgh, St. Andrews and
Glasgow. 9 The Glasgow site is stated to have been gifted
by John, bishop of Glasgow, and Mr. Thomas Forsythe, rector
of Glasgow ; and, as Bishop John's episcopate began in 1473,.
the Friars must have got possession between that date and
1479. The ground on the west side remained the property
of the bishop and rector respectively, and therefore it may
be inferred that the site was taken partly from the rectory
or parsonage lands. In 1511 the rector of that time, Robert
Blacader, gave to the Friars a strip of ground, twenty feet in
breadth, and the bishop gave them a further strip, twenty-two
feet in breadth, from his lands of Ramshorn. The two strips,
with the ends joined together, extended along the western side
of the Friars' property, and were stated to be given for
enlargement of their monastery (monasterii) , house and
yards. 10
There is very little on record bearing on the history of
the Greyfriars in Glasgow. Adhering to their original vow
of poverty they do not seem to have possessed lands other
than those just referred to, and consequently had few title
deeds. Then no contemporary writings are extant affording
information on the routine work of either the Black or the
Grey Friars in Glasgow, and with regard to the latter the
references to transactions in which they were concerned are
specially meagre. At the acquisition of ground in 1511
the convent was represented by Friar John Johnson who
held office as Warden, and the title to the portion given by
the bishop was taken to James Peddegrew, Provincial
9 Reg. Mag. Sig. ii. No. 1434.
10 Diocesan Reg. Prot. Nos. 560, 565.
256 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
of the Order, in name of the Friars Minors. Two years
later Johnson, who was still Warden, along with Friar John
Tennant, cleric, and Alexander Cottis and Thomas Bawfour,
laics, all members of the Glasgow convent, were witnesses to a
ceremony which took place at the manse of the cathedral
treasurer. 1 This was on gth April, 1513, and on 4th July
following the name of John Akinhede, Observant Friar Minor,
occurs. 2 According to the official statutes of the Order, enacted
at Barcelona in 1451, the term Warden (Gardianus) is the
official title of the head of a convent in which twelve brethren
could be comfortably accommodated. If, therefore, in the
passage just cited the term Warden was used in its strict
sense Glasgow convent must have consisted of at least twelve
iriars. 3
About the chapel of St. Thomas, which is believed to have
adjoined that of St. Tenew, a few particulars have been
gathered from the Papal Registers. On i6th March, 1422-3,
Pope Martin V. gave dispensation to David de Hamylton, a
"bachelor in canon law, " who was of a race of great nobles of
the realm of Scotland and a kinsman of Murdac, duke of Albany,
governor of the said realm," to hold the deanery of Glasgow
and parish church of Cumnock, though he held several other
benefices, including the Chapel of St. Thomas the Martyr,
which was of value not exceeding 10 yearly. Three years
later this benefice, still in Hamylton 's possession, was called
the Chapel, without cure, of St. Thomas the Martyr, without
the walls of Glasgow. The expression " without the walls "
was apparently used to denote that the chapel was situated
beyond the West Port of the city. On nth March, 1430-1,
David de Hamylton is again referred to as holder of the chapel.
1 Diocesan Reg. Prot. No. 632. * Ibid. No. 645.
8 Scottish Historical Review, vol. iii. p. 184. The Parson's property, part
of which was given to the Friars, embraced the piece of rocky ground called
variously Craigmak, Craigmacht or Craignaught, where Glasgow Fair used to
Ibe proclaimed, as mentioned antea, p. 68.
I
ST. TENEW AND ST. THOMAS 257
A letter from Pope Nicholas to the bishop of Glasgow, dated
4th January, 1450-1, desires him to inquire into a petition
by Lord Hamilton, asking that the parish church of Hamilton
" called from of old Cadzow," should be erected into a collegiate
church. If the statements in the petition should be found
correct the collegiate church was to be erected as craved, and
the chaplainry of St. Thomas, of a value not exceeding four
merks yearly was to be included in the endowments. Regard-
ing the chapel of St. Tenew, the Papal Registers add little if
anything to the meagre information derived from other sources.
In July, 1370, there is an entry in the Register bearing that
Walter de Roulen, designated " Rector of the chapel of St.
Thanen, value 4," was to be confirmed in his possession of
the Church of Torbolton, if found qualified. 4 The reference is
not quite explicit, but it seems likely that the chapel of St.
Tenew in Glasgow was meant, and if so Roulen is the only
one of its rectors whose name has been traced on record.
Towards the end of Bishop Andrew's episcopate and
during that of Bishop John several endowments for religious
services in the cathedral were obtained. On 2Qth January,
1472-3, James Douglas of Achincassil, who is perhaps to be
identified as an ancestor of the Duke of Queensberry, founded
a chaplainry at the altar of St. Cuthbert, on the south side
of the nave, and endowed it with annualrents amounting
to 10 yearly, payable furth of lands and tenements mainly
in Linlithgow and the remainder in Glasgow, one of the latter
properties being described as lying near the market cross,
on the north side of the tolbooth. 5 On loth March, 1476-7,
John of Ottirburn, licentiate in decreets and greater sacristan
of the church of Glasgow, conveyed to the vicars of the choir,
4 Papal Reg. vii. pp. 258, 425 ; ix. p. 38 ; x. p. 75 ; iv. p. 86 ; antea,
P- 134-
6 Glasg. Chart, i. pt. i. Abstract, p. 7, No. 286 ; ii. p. 461, No. viii ; p. 605,
No. 3 ; The Scottish Antiquary, vol. xvii. pp. 112-20.
R
258 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
for observance of specified services, his croft lying on the
north side of the city, between the subchanter's manse on
the east, the yard or orchard of the rector of Glasgow, then
held in feu by Richard Gardner, on the west, the end of the
yards of the precentor and chancellor, and the manses of
the vicars built by Bishop Andrew, on the south, and the
common lands of Glasgow, extending to the two crosses,
on the north. 6 On igth December, 1478, Gilbert Rerik
archdeacon, founded a perpetual chaplainry at the altar of
St. Michael, the archangel, within the church, behind the
great south door to the west, and endowed it with the tene-
ment on the south side of Ratounraw called the Pedagogy ;
also a contiguous waste tenement acquired from the vicars
of the choir. Other two tenements were likewise given, one
of them described as lying opposite the subdean's gate, on
the south side of Erskine manse and east side of certain stone
houses belonging to Glasgow hospital ; and the other was
situated north of the tenement formerly belonging to Sir
Thomas Arthurle and then to the new Pedagogy. It was
a condition of this endowment that the chaplain should yearly
distribute twenty shillings among thirty poor and needy
persons, giving to each either money or meat and drink to
the value of eightpence, and that he should maintain and
repair the houses and tenements belonging to the chaplainry. 7
The property above referred to which Gilbert Rerik bought
from the vicars of the choir consisted of a tenement which,
on account of its unproductive condition, had been forfeited
Reg. Episc. No. 412. To the instrument setting forth this endowment
the dean and several of the canons gave their express approval (Ibid. No. 413).
In the activities of cathedral services the vicars had evidently an important
share. Such services, too, seem to have been increasingly valued from a
pecuniary point of view, for by a writing dated 5th June, 1480, the dean and
canons consented to an augmentation of the stipends or pensions of the vicars,
those who formerly got 5 each being in future entitled to receive 10 from
the prebendary in whose stall he served (Ibid. No. 426).
7 Reg. Episc. Nos. 420, 452.
FORFEITURE OF PROPERTY 259
to the vicars by a process which may be described as illustra-
tive of practice in the burgh court at that time.
The old burgh laws contained provisions for the forfeiture
of property in default of payment of annualrents, and by
the Act which latterly regulated procedure it was ordained
that no one pursuing for recovery of a waste and undistrain-
able tenement, because of the annualrent being in arrear,
should be bound to lay waste the land or tenement by pre-
senting at the court of the burgh the doors, windows, and
timber or such like, no one being bound to injure himself.
The former procedure requiring that mode of action was
therefore declared inept, " and as it were condemnit be the
wise council of the burghs " ; and it was provided that whoso-
ever desired to proceed in burgh for recovery of land or
tenement unfruitful, on account of non-payment of the
yearly rent, should go to the land or tenement with witnesses
and the burgh sergeant or officer, and take earth and stone
of the tenement and present it to the bailies at three head
courts of the burgh. The stones and earth so presented were
then appointed to be placed in a bag, sealed with the bailie's
seal, and kept by the pursuer till the fourth head court, when
the stone and earth exhibited at the three preceding courts
were to be shown to the bailie, and possession of the land
sought and given. 8 Acting in conformity with that law,
the provost, John Stewart, with two bailies, held a court
on 27th January, 1477-8, when one of the vicars of the choir,
for himself and his colleagues, appeared and reported that
the tenement in the Ratonraw, above referred to, was destitute
of all "bigging and reparation," so that it could not be
distrained for the payment of the annualrent due in respect
of it. Wherefore he sought the court to deliver to him earth
and stone in default of payment, according to the burgh laws.
The application being deemed reasonable, the applicant, with
8 Ancient Laws and Customs, i. p. 168.
260 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
one of the sergeants of the burgh, was authorised to go to the
premises and receive earth and stone of the same before
witnesses, after the custom of the city in such matters. All
this having been done the applicant reported the procedure
to the court. At the second head court, held on yth April,
1478, the vicar reappeared and renewed his application, which
was granted, and a similar course of procedure was adopted
and reported to the third head court. At that court, held
on I3th October, 1478, the same formalities were gone through,
and at the fourth head court, held on 26th January, 1478-9,
another vicar, whose authority to represent his colleagues
was known, appeared and recited the procedure which had
been taken on the three previous occasions, and the fact that
proclamation had been made, at the market cross of the
city, warning the lawful heritors or heirs to make payment of
the annualrent then due. He thereupon claimed the legal
remedy. Upon this he was removed, the court was warded,
and the application was considered, after which the applicant
was called in, and Sir John Michelson, the town clerk, judicially
instructed the dempster to give decree sustaining the claim
of the vicars. 9
9 Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. pp. 66-71.
CHAPTER XXXVIII
KINGS JAMES III. AND IV. BISHOPS CARMICHAEL AND
BLACADER ARCHBISHOPRIC OF GLASGOW GRANT OF
FREE TRON BURGH PRIVILEGES LOLLARDS OF KYLE
FOR several years after the truce of 1464, in the negotiations
for which the bishop of Glasgow had been a party, there was
no serious misunderstanding between England and this country,
though there were occasional border disturbances, and the
truce was renewed in 1473. But from the year 1479 till the
end of his reign King James and his government were never
long free from domestic troubles and these were often accom-
panied by international quarrels. The king's partiality for
seclusion and for the society of favourites who shared his
fine-art sympathies was repugnant to most members of the
nobility, who preferred to associate with the king's two brothers,
the Duke of Albany and the Earl of Mar, both of whom were
noted for their knightly accomplishments. In 1481 hostilities
were resumed with England, both by sea and land, next year
a large Scottish army was raised for defence of the kingdom
against " the revare Edward, calland himself king of England/'
and at this time Albany joined himself with his country's
enemies. The year 1482 witnessed the triumph of the dis-
affected nobles, the Lauder bridge tragedy, and the recapture
by the English of the castle and town of Berwick, one of this
country's earliest and most flourishing burghs, which thus
finally passed from the hands of the Scots. A three years'
261
262 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
truce with England, entered into in 1484, had not expired
when James met his death, after the skirmish at Sauchieburn,
in June, 1487. In the civil war thus brought to a crisis the
bishop of Glasgow was on the side of the insurgents, and took
part in the futile negotiations for a peaceful settlement.
During the reign of James III. parliaments were held
with great regularity and many useful measures were passed.
Some of these have already been referred to, such as the Act
of 1469, relating to elections in burghs. In 1487 it was rati-
fied and ordered to be observed, so that elections might result
in the choice of the best and worthiest inhabitants, not through
partiality or mastership, " quhilk is undoing of the borowis
whare mastershippis and requestis cummis." x At the same
time the Act was passed which is usually regarded as the first
statutory constitution of the Convention of Burghs, 2 and as
such was one of the few Acts which escaped the wholesale
repeal carried through in 1908. In authorising an embassy of
thirty persons to England regarding marriages of the King
and his son Prince James, it was arranged about the expenses
which amounted to 250, that 100 should be laid on the
prelates, 100 on the barons and the remaining 50 on the
burghs. 8 One sixth was the usual proportion borne by the
burghs in national taxation, the shares payable by the several
communities being apportioned by the Convention. 4
In the parliament held on i6th October, 1488, a special
effort was made for the suppression of theft, robbery and other
" enormities," which were at that time grievously prevalent,
by dividing the kingdom into districts over which were placed
various earls and barons to whom full authority was entrusted
1 Ancient Laws and Customs, ii. p. 43.
2 Ibid. p. 44. By this Act commissioners of all burghs, both south and north
of the Forth, were appointed to meet yearly to commune and treat upon the
welfare of merchants, good rule and common profit of the burghs.
3 Ibid. p. 44. 4 Ibid. pp. 109, 161 .
JAMES IV.
KING'S VISITS TO GLASGOW 263
during the king's minority. The district within which Glasgow
was situated was assigned to the Earl of Lennox, Lord Lyle
and Matthew Stewart, the earl's eldest son. 5 But within a
few months after this Act was passed these three guardians
of order broke into open revolt against the king's government.
Lyle occupied the strong fortress of Dumbarton, while Lennox
and his son raised their vassals and garrisoned their castles
and strongholds, including Crookston, near Paisley, and Duchal,
in the parish of Kilmacolm. In the course of the military
movements for suppressing this insurrection, a result which
was speedily effected, Glasgow comes frequently into notice.
On i8th July, 1489, the king was in Glasgow on his way to
the siege of Duchal. In the following October, levies from
the west and south were summoned to assemble on Glasgow
Moor, and thence, on the i8th of that month, the king pro-
ceeded to Dumbarton to press the siege of the castle. On
loth November he was again in Glasgow on his way to Lin-
lithgow. On 23rd November he returned to Dumbarton and
left it on 1 3th December, a few days after its surrender. Other
visits of the King to Glasgow are traced by his donations to
the poor, to altars and to Friars. Of these the larger sums
were usually given to the Friars, as in December, 1488, when
he gave 5 "in alms," and on 2nd May, 1489, 10 both to the
" Freris of Glescow," not distinguishing between the Preachers
and the Friars Minors, the two bodies of friars located in the
city. 6
Glasgow was now coming into greater prominence in
national affairs and was beginning to occupy a leading position
in its relation to other districts in the West Country. Eleva-
tion in ecclesiastical status added to the influence of its arch-
bishop, with whom the King seems always to have been on
6 A.P.S. 1488 c. 9. ii. p. 208.
6 Lord High Treasurer's Account, vol. i. See also Crcokston Castle, by
Robert Guy (1909) pp. 36-42.
264 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
friendly terms, and between 1491 and 1496 he was on several
important embassies, such as to France for renewal of the old
alliance and to the court of Spain to negotiate a treaty of
friendship as well as to engage in matrimonial speculation.
Glasgow likewise provided a serviceable base for incursions
against some of the West Islesmen who, notwithstanding
their formal submission to royal authority, in 1493-4, continued
to give trouble to the government for many years to come.
Preparatory to a military expedition to the Isles, ships
and boats were being put in order, and for that purpose iron,
timber, and other material, were bought and collected at
Glasgow and despatched in boats from the " brig " there to
Dumbarton, towards the end of 1494. Thereafter the " lords
of the westland, eastland and southland " were summoned
to meet the King at Glasgow in April or May, 1495, and there
his presence is indicated by an offering of a French crown,
valued at 143., " to the reliquis in Glasgw." Boats carried
the guns to Dumbarton, where the king was on 5th May,
and on the following day he was at Newark Castle, whence
probably he embarked. Returning from this expedition, in
which he was accompanied by Sir Andrew Wood, with
one of his ships, the King was in Glasgow in the end of
June, and he remained there till the middle of the following
month, during which period he received a visit from Odonnel,
chief of Tyr-connel, in Ulster, who came to renew old family
alliances.
In May, 1496, " the preistis of Glasgo " got 405. when the
King seems to have been passing through the city on his way
from Ayr to Stirling. There, on 9th June, the sum of 53.
was paid " to the man that brocht the sture fra Glasgo,"
indicating apparently the gift of a sturgeon for the king's
table and perhaps an early example of the liberality of the
citizens in distributing the produce of their bounteous river.
Shortly after the death of Bishop Laing, on nth January,
CONSTITUTION OF ARCHBISHOPRIC 265
1482-3, the chapter elected George de Carmichael, who had
been for some years treasurer of the cathedral and prebendary
of Carnwath. In deeds dated, respectively, i8th February
and 22nd March, 1482-3, he is designated elect of Glasgow,
but on I3th April Pope Sixtus IV. declared the election to be
null and void as being contrary to his reservation of the see.
The Pope favoured the translation of Robert Blacader, bishop
of Aberdeen, to Glasgow, and this was effected with such
expedition that he was consecrated in April or May, 1483.
But Carmichael did not relinquish his claims and he is said to
have been on a journey to Rome, seeking consecration, when
he died in 1484.
In 1472 St. Andrews had been constituted the archiepiscopal
and metropolitan see of Scotland, a step which was disapproved
of by the bishops of the other sees as well as by the king.
To allay contentions which had arisen between the arch-
bishop and Bishop Blacader, the Pope, on 25th May, 1488,
exempted the bishop and his diocese from all jurisdiction,
visitation and rule of the archbishop during the lifetime of
the former. But the see of Glasgow was not satisfied with
this temporary favour and its cause was warmly supported
by King James IV., who held the honorary dignity of a canon
of Glasgow. Letters were despatched by the king urging
on the Pope that Glasgow should be raised to a primacy like
that of York in the church of England, and in a parliament
held on I4th June, 1488-9, it was enacted that for the honour
and public good of the realm the see of Glasgow should be
erected into an archbishopric with such privileges and dignities
as York enjoyed. After further pressure the desired object
was attained, and by a bull of Pope Innocent VIII., dated gth
January, 1491-2, Glasgow was raised to the dignity of a
metropolitan church, with Blacader as the first archbishop
and the bishops of Dunkeld, Dunblane, Galloway and Lismore
(Argyll) as suffragans. That peace between St. Andrews
266 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
and Glasgow was not effected by these changes is shown by the
terms of an act of parliament dated 26th June, 1493, whereby
it was declared that if the two archbishops did not cease their
strife and stop litigation in the court of Rome, the King would
-command his lieges not to pay them the ferms, rents and
maills required for the prosecution of such pleas, a threat
which probably secured ostensible compliance for the
time. 7
Before the negotiations in regard to the archbishopric
liad been fully concluded, King James IV. granted to
Bishop Blacader and his successors a charter confirming and
extending the liberties and privileges of the see. In the
preliminary narrative of the charter, which is dated 4th
January 1489-90, the King refers to the singular devotion
which he bore to the church " wherein we are a canon," and
to the favour and love which he had for the bishop " and his
renowned chapter, which holds the chief place among the
secular colleges of our kingdom." After the confirmation,
in general terms, of existing possessions, special reference is
made to the baronies of Ancrum, Lilliesleaf and Ashkirk, in
the shires of Roxburgh and Selkirk, and to those of Stobo and
Edilston in Peeblesshire, and then conies the grant of a free
tron, introduced by words which indicated uncertainty as to
whether that privilege had not been already conferred.
At that time merchandise liable to the great custom, pay-
able to the crown, could not be legally exported without a
socket, being a certificate under the seal of the proper officer
that the dues had been settled. Lords of regality who owned
tmrghs of export had generally a grant of cocket, entitling
them to export merchandise duty free. So far as shown by
any extant writing the bishops of Glasgow do not appear to
have previously had this privilege, but by the charter of 1489-90
7 Dowden's Bishops, pp. 329-36, and authorities cited ; Early Glasgow,
PP- 51-55-
GRANT OF FREE TRON 267
the bishop and his successors were authorised to have a free
tron in the city of Glasgow and to appoint a troner of the
customs and clerk of the cocket, in order that all merchandise
and goods pertaining to the citizens and tenants of the barony
might be there troned, weighed and customed. The bishops
were to possess, for their own use and profit, the customs col-
lected by their officers and factors, and on payment of such
dues cockets were to be issued, entitling the citizens and
tenants to be free of exaction or payment of all other customs
on their goods, in all other towns, ports and places within the
kingdom. 8 The first tron or weighing place within the city
was erected a little to the west of the market cross, on the
south side of the street at one time known as St. Tenewis-gait,
but the name of which, after the erection of the tron, was
changed to Tron-gait. About forty years later an adjoining
site was occupied by the Collegiate Church of St. Mary and St.
Anne, which in its turn was replaced by the Tron Church ;
and by this adherence to existing nomenclature the old weigh-
ing place has become one of the best known landmarks in the
city.
From a decree pronounced by the Lords Auditors on loth
December, 1494, it seems that the customs were rentalled by a
" custumar " who, in consideration of a yearly rent payable
to the archbishop, was authorised to collect the amount for
his own behoof. At that time Allan Stewart was the rentaller,
but under an arrangement to which he was a consenter the
archbishop had assigned to his brother, Sir Patrick Blacader
of Tulliallan, knight, the half of the customs from ist December,
1493, and during the subsistence of this let the rentaller was
only entitled to his own half. But as he had collected the
8 Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. pp. 79-87. By a precept and warrant dated 2oth
October, 1490 (Ib. pp. 87,88), King James IV. ratified the decreet by James III.
(antea, p. 244\ requiring all trading ships to be brought to such burghs with
their merchandise and there to " pay their dewties and take cockets."
268 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
whole customs for the past year he was ordained to pay Sir
Patrick 10, under deduction of 405. paid for rent and 325.
"for a rud of calsay making." 9
It is ascertained from an entry in the Inventory of City
Writs, compiled in 1696, that on I7th January, 1491-2, King
James addressed a letter to the Provost and Bailies intimating
the release of his former " recognitione " and granting them
license to " use and occupy their freedom as they did of befor." 10
Here, presumably, was opportunity for learning something of
the direct relationship subsisting between the King and the
burgh, the bishop as lord of the regality and the usual inter-
mediary being apparently no party to the arrangement ;
but unfortunately the letter, like so many important docu-
ments extant in 1696 but now gone, has disappeared. The
term " recognitione " indicates that the burgh had, for some
reason, been deprived of certain possessions or privileges, but
whatever may have been the nature or extent of the temporary
forfeiture, the magistrates were fully restored to their former
condition. 1
The persecutions which arose after the death of John
Wycliffe, the English Reformer, in 1380, drove many ol his
adherents into exile. Some of them, coming to the western
parts of Scotland, settled in Ayrshire and obtained the name
of the Lollards of Kyle. Their tenets were obnoxious to the
ruling classes, both civil and ecclesiastical, and it is probable
that Wyntoun voiced the general opinion when, in his metrical
9 A eta Dominorum Auditorum, p. 197. The last item is interesting as
showing that the upkeep of the causeway was a charge on the customs.
10 Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. p. 88. See another direct grant, antea, p. 168.
1 Between the municipal year 1486-7, when Robert Stewart was provost,
and the year 1491-2 when Andrew Otterburn held that office, the line of
Stewarts (of different families perhaps) was broken for the first time. The
precise time and reason of the change are not known, but it is not unlikely
that the provost was implicated in the Lennox revolt of 1488-9, bringing
about the " recognitione " referred to in the text (Glasg. Chart, ii. p. 475).
LOLLARDS OF KYLE 269
Chronicle, he commends Robert Duke of Albany, governor
of the kingdom, for maintaining that attitude :
" He was a constant Catholike,
All Lollards he hatyt, and Hereticke." 2
It was during this governor's administration that James
Resby, the first martyr of the Reformed religion, was com-
mitted to the flames at Perth, for alleged heresy, in the year
1406-7. John Knox commences his History of the Reforma-
tion in Scotland by referring to an unnamed person who, as
mentioned in the Scrolls or Register of Glasgow, was burnt
for heresy, in the year 1422. If correctly reported this event
occurred during the governorship of Duke Murdoch and William
Lauder's episcopate. King James I. continued the efforts
for repressing the new doctrines, as by an act of parliament,
passed on I2th March, 1424, " anentis heretikis and Lollardis,"
it was ordained " that ilk bischop sail ger inquyr be the In-
quisicione of Heresy, quhar ony sik beis fundyne, ande at
thai be punyst as Lawe of Halykirk requiris : Ande, gif it
misteris, that secular power be callyt tharto in suppowale and
helping of Halykirk." 3 The machinery for preventing the
spread of independent opinion included the appointment of a
dignified churchman as Inquisitor of Heresy, but no connected
record of procedure has been preserved. The " Scrolls and
Register of Glasgow " to which Knox refers are supposed to
be the records of the Official of Glasgow, not now extant. 4
A deed recorded in " the books of the acts of the Official of
Glasgow " is referred to in an instrument dated 27th July,
I5o6. 5 These books seem to belong to the series to which
Knox had access in Glasgow subsequent to the Reformation
and consequently they had lost the chance of being preserved
by the archbishop along with the other muniments which
2 Book ix. lines 2773-4. 3 A .P.S. ii. p. 7, c. 3.
4 Glasg. Prot. vol. v. pp. xi. xii. fi Dioc. Reg. Prot. No. 189.
270
HISTORY OF GLASGOW
he took to France. From the Register of 1494 Knox supplied
details of proceedings against thirty persons in Ayrshire whom
Archbishop Blacader had summoned before the king and his
council, but no conviction seems to have followed at that
time. 6
8 History of Reformation, i. pp. 6-1 1 ; 494-500. Against two of the persons
summoned in 1494, " George Campbell of Sesnok and John Campbell in
Newmylns," a charge of heresy was depending on 9th March, 1503-4, on which
date the archbishop declared that he was ready to deliver a copy of the at-
testations produced in support of the case (Diocesan Reg. Prot. No. 66). But
again no decision seems to have been reached.
CHAPTER XXXIX
LEPER HOSPITAL AND CHAPEL AND THEIR ENDOWMENTS
ENDOWMENTS OF OTHER CHAPLAINRIES GRAMMAR
SCHOOLS
IT is believed that the disease of leprosy prevailed in nearly
every district of Europe from the tenth to the sixteenth century,
after which latter period it gradually disappeared In his
work On Leprosy and Leper Hospitals in Scotland and England*
Sir James Y. Simpson remarks that " laws were enacted by
Princes and Courts to arrest its diffusion, the Pope issued
Bulls with regard to the ecclesiastical separation and rights
of the affected, a particular order of knighthood was instituted
to watch over the sick, and leper hospitals or lazar-houses were
everywhere instituted to receive the victims of the disease." 2;
As previously mentioned 3 Joceline of Furness, writing in
the twelfth century, relates that St. Kentigern cleansed lepers
in the city of Glasgow, and that at his tomb lepers were like-
wise healed. It may thus be inferred that from the earliest
times the bishops exercised due supervision and care over the
sufferers in their district, and after the constitution of the
burgh such attention was imposed as a legal obligation. By
an old burgh law it was provided that those afflicted with
leprosy who could sustain themselves should be put into the
hospital of the burgh and for those in poverty the burgesses
1 Archaeological Essays, ii. pp. 1-184.
2 Ibid. p. 3. 3 Antea, p. 128.
271
272 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
were to gather money for their sustenance and clothing.
Another act refers to the collection of alms " for the sustenance
of lepers in a proper place outwith the burgh," it having been
provided that lepers were not entitled to go from door to door
but might " sit at the toune end " and ask alms from those
entering or leaving the burgh. 4 In the reign of King James I.
parliament ordained that lepers, though permitted to enter
burghs on certain occasions, should not be allowed to ask alms
except " at their awin hospitale and at the porte of the toune
and uther places outewith the borowis." 5 From these refer-
ences in the old laws it would appear that hospitals for the
reception of lepers were usual adjuncts of royal burghs.
There is little doubt that, either in conformity with their
traditional observances or in compliance with the statutory
enactments above alluded to, the Bishops of Glasgow provided
accommodation for the lepers of their burgh. Gorbals, on the
south side of the river Clyde, formed part of the Govan lands
and its position outside the town's gates complied with the
necessary requirements of a site. A bridge over the Clyde
existed before the end of the thirteenth century, and it is
possible that St. Ninian's hospital, placed only a few yards
beyond its south end, would then be in use. 6 A papal bull,
4 Ancient Laws and Customs, i. pp. 28, 72. 5 Ibid. ii. p. 14.
6 The tradition current in M'Ure's time and narrated in his History of
Glasgow (1830 Edition, p. 52), to the effect that Lady Lochow founded and
endowed the hospital, receives no support from extant records and some of
its historical inaccuracies are apparent. That this lady acquired the lands
on which Bridgegate is situated and also St. Ninian's Croft adjoining the
hospital is a purely imaginative story, based perhaps on knowledge that the
hospital drew revenues from Bridgegate properties and that the name of the
croft was the same as that of the hospital. But there is nothing to indicate
Lady Lochow's connection with either of these sites, any revenues from Bridge-
gate properties, traced to their source, having been derived from other donors,
and St. Ninian's Croft having remained with the owners of the barony till
near the end of the eighteenth century. If she was really one of the hospital's
benefactors, her gifts must have been bestowed, not in 1350, the date given by
M'Ure, but in her own time, about a century later, and whatever she gave is
now beyond identity.
LEPER HOSPITAL AND CHAPEL 273
issued by Alexander III. in the latter half of the twelfth
century, appointed every leper-house to be provided with its
own churchyard, chapel and ecclesiastics. 7 A cemetery
adjoined the Gorbals hospital and there was a vacant
space in front towards the river. Hospital and grounds
were thus close by and on the east side of the thoroughfare
which then led southwards in the line of the modern Main
Street.
A chapel in connection with the hospital, but situated
about a hundred yards farther south, where the thoroughfare
just mentioned joined Rutherglen Lone, was built by William
Steward, a canon of the cathedral, a few years previous to 1494,
in which year he endowed a chaplainry with a tenement on
the south side of Bridgegate and various annualrents payable
from properties in the city ; but whether this was the first
chapel of the hospital or one to replace an older building has
not been ascertained. Canon Steward was prebendary of
Killearn and rector of Glassford, and by his charter of endow-
ment, dated 3ist May, 1494, he provided that on the anni-
versary of his death twenty-four poor scholars were to assemble
in the chapel and celebrate certain services for which one
penny was to be paid to each, and twelve pennies were to be
given to the lepers. The inmates of the hospital were to ring
the chapel bell for the Salve Regina every night and to pray
in the chapel for their benefactors. As the foundation charter
is not extant the terms of the chaplain's appointment are not
known, but in 1494 the chaplain was master of the Grammar
School, and by the endowment charter it was provided that
he should, after the founder's death, commend him every night
to all the scholars before they departed, causing them to pray
devoutly for his soul and the souls of all the faithful dead.
From the terms of this provision as well as of that about the
twenty-four poor scholars, it seems to have been intended that
7 Simpson's Archaeological Essays, ii. pp. 3, 22.
274 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
the chaplainry should belong to the master of the Grammar
School for the time, ex official
Endowments of the hospital itself are traced to a slightly
earlier date than those of the chapel. On 3Oth June, 1485,
all the men and women lepers dwelling in the hospital appointed
John Elphynston, burgess and citizen of Glasgow, their pro-
curator, with authority to receive sasine of an annualrent of
205. payable furth of a tenement of George Huchonson, situ-
ated on the west side of the High Street and adjoining a tene-
ment of the master of the Grammar School on the north.
This annualrent had been given, in pure alms, by Thomas
Huchonson, burgess and citizen of Glasgow, son and heir of
George Huchonson, with consent of his father, for the poor
and leprous persons, male as well as female, dwelling in the
hospital, they making earnest supplications in their daily
prayers for the souls of the donor and his relatives. A gift of
I2d, yearly, for similar purposes was made by Robert Adamson,
burgess, on i6th August, 1491, and in the document constitut-
ing the gift an interesting reference is made to the Chapel of
St. Ninian as then " newly built/' thus confirming the state-
ment in the charter of 1494 just referred to. 9
As the hospital was situated close to the city's southern
thoroughfare the inmates were accustomed to receive casual
donations from passers-by, while others who used the roads
and bridge with greater regularity gave permanent endow-
ments. The monks of Paisley contributed six bolls of meal
8 Reg. Episc. No. 469. Father Innes states that to this charter were
appended the seals of (i) the archbishop, (2) the chapter, (3) Martin Wan,
chancellor, and (4) William Steward, the granter. Both hospital and chapel
were dedicated to St. Ninian, who was the favourite patron saint of such
institutions. See Dr. George Neilson's remarks on this subject in the Scottish
Antiquary, vol. xiii. pp. 53, 54.
9 Glasg. Chart, ii. pp. 465-73 ; Glasg. Prot. No. 1876. Out of an annualrent
of 8s. payable from a rig of land in St. Tenew's Croft, Michael Flemyng, a
canon of Glasgow and prebendary of Ancrum, assigned 55. yearly, to the poor
lepers in the hospital of St. Ninian beyond the bridge (Dioc. Reg. Prot. No. 152).
DONATIONS TO LEPER HOSPITAL 275
yearly and the lairds of Mearns two bolls. Other two bolls
of meal were yearly delivered by the bishops of Glasgow, and
various benefactors in the city gave annualrents from their
properties. 10 One of the notable donations of a casual nature
was made in September 1497, on the occasion of King James
IV. passing from Kilmarnock to Glasgow, there being then
two shillings given " to the seke folk at the brig of Glasgo,
be the Kingis command." 1 Before leaving for Stirling on
I4th September, the King gave 3 "to say thre trentalis of
messis in Glasgo " and 33. " to the pur folk in Glasgo."
Journeying in the opposite direction from Stirling to Ayr,
the king had on 2ist February, 1497-8, given 2s. at the town
end of Stirling " to the seke folk in the grantgore " and on the
following day he gave the like sum " to the seke folk in the
grantgore, at the toune end of Glasgo," 143. to the Blackfriars
and 3 to the priests in Glasgow. 2
The consent of Martin Wan, the cathedral chancellor,
to the charter of 1494, as indicated by the appending of his
seal, was probably given for such right as he had to the over-
sight and government of the Grammar School, the master of
10 See Rentals in Glasg. Rec. ii. p. 293 ; Glasg. Chart, ii. pp. 625-6.
1 Lord High Treasurer's Accounts, i. pp. 356-7.
z Ibid. p. 378. The " toune end " here referred to seems to be the north
entrance to the city though the hospital which at one time stood there is not
known to have been erected till a few years later.
Sir James Y. Simpson's " Antiquarian Notices of Syphilis in Scotland " con-
tained in his Archaeological Essays, ii. pp. 301-44, may be referred to for
particulars regarding the " grantgore " malady and its first appearance in
Glasgow and other towns in 1497. In 1600 Glasgow kirk session requested
the magistrates " to consult the chirurgeons how the infectious distemper of
glengore could be removed from the city " (Ib. pp. 316, 322). On 3rd May,
1600, the town council resolved to take " tryall of the inhabitantis anent the
greit suspicioune of sindry persones infectit with the glengoir, quhilk, gif it
be nocht preventit, will endanger the haill towne." All the " chyrurgianes "
were warned to attend a meeting to advise on the subject (Glas. Rec. i. p. 206) ;
and on 6th August, seemingly as a result of the conference, money was given
" to a man for bigging a lodge, without the Stablegreen port, to the women
that hath the glengorr " (Collections on the Life of Mr. David Weems Maitland
Club p. 42).
276 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
which was then the chaplain of the Leper Hospital. Within
four months after the date of the charter the chancellor lodged
with the archbishop a complaint that David Dune, a priest
and master of arts, residing in the city, had set himself to the
teaching and instructing of scholars in grammar and of youths
in the elements of learning, within the city and university of
Glasgow, of himself and independently, openly and publicly,
" without any licence from the chancellor, nay, in his despite
and against his will, was publicly engaged in it." Sitting in
judgment, in the chapter house of the metropolitan church,
on I3th September, 1494, the archbishop, with advice of his
chapter and of the rector and clerks of the university, decided
that Dune ought not to keep a grammar school, or teach and
instruct scholars in grammar or youths in boyish studies, with-
out the special licence of the chancellor. 3 In these pro-
ceedings the chancellor had pleaded that according to the
statutes and usage of the church of Glasgow, and privileges
of the dean and chapter, confirmed by apostolic authority, he
and his predecessors had been in the peaceable possession of
the appointing and removing of the master of the grammar
school, without interruption and beyond the memory of man. 4
But in this claim the town council, if they had been consulted,
would probably not have concurred without some qualification,
as was shown by the position they took up, fourteen years
later, when Martin Rede, by virtue of his office of chancellor-
3 It was only two years after this time that the well known Scots act of
1496 was passed, whereby barons and freeholders were required to put their
eldest sons and heirs, from eight or nine years, to the schools, and keep them
at the Grammar Schools till they were competently founded in "perfyte
Latyne." Thereafter the pupils were to remain three years at the schools of art
and "jure," one of the chief objects aimed at, in those days of heritable
jurisdictions, being to ensure that on succeeding to their estates the rising
generations of barons and freeholders would have " knawlege and under-
standing of the lawis, throw the quhilkis justice may reign universalie throw
all the realme, sua that thai that ar sherems or jugeis ordinaris may have
knalege to do justice." (A.P.S. ii. p. 238, 1496, c.3.)
4 Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. pp. 89-92.
PATRONAGE OF GRAMMAR SCHOOL 277
ship then held by him, appointed John Rede master of the
" grammar schools " of the city. On that occasion the provost
and other burgesses appeared and asserted that the provost,
bailies and community of Glasgow had the right of admitting
the masters of the school, and both parties referred to the
deed of foundation by Simon Dalgleish in 1460. 5 Both parties
seem to have acquiesced in the appointment made at that time
and it is not known that any similar question was again raised
between them. So far as extant records show the town
council continued to act as patrons of the Grammar School
till its management was taken over by the board elected under
the Education Act of 1872.
Two years after his endowment of the Leper Hospital,
William Stewart, canon, prebendary and rector, founded a
perpetual chaplainry in the church of the Preaching Friars
and endowed it with annualrents amounting to fifty shillings
yearly, besides undertaking to erect, at his own charges,
houses for the use of the Friars between the church and their
dormitory. The new buildings were to consist of six vaults
beneath, above these were to be two halls, two kitchens and
four chambers, and in the upper part houses well roofed with
tiles or slates. The walls of the building were to correspond
in height with the walls of the church and to have on the out-
side well hewn stones. The rector of the university and the
regents of the college of arts, with the provost and bailies of
the city, were constituted conservators of the chaplainry and
they were enjoined to watch over it and to give heed that it
did not decay through neglect of the Friars. 6
Some additional chaplainries which were about this time
founded in the cathedral may here be briefly noticed. On
5 Antea, p. 223. Diocesan Reg. Protocol, No. 342, dated igth June, 1508.
6 Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. pp. 72-79. This foundation was approved of at a
Provincial Chapter of the Friars, held at Edinburgh on isth June, and the
common seal of the city of Glasgow was appended to the duplicate of the
document remaining with the Friars, on 6th July, 1487.
278 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
ist April, 1486, James Lindesay, dean of the cathedral chapter,
founded a chaplainry at the altar of Saints Stephen and
Laurence, the martyrs, in the church of Glasgow and behind
the High Altar, and endowed it with the lands of Scrogys,
in the barony of Stobo, Peeblesshire ; ten merks furth of the
lands of Sanct Gelisgrange, Edinburgh ; and 6s. 8d. payable
furth of a tenement in the High Street of Glasgow, belonging to
Gerard de Brabancia, physician (medico). After the founder's
death the chapter were to have the patronage. The dean also
founded an obit for his anniversary, assigning 405. to the
canons and vicars, out of which the vicars of the choir were
to receive i 6s. 8d. The minor sacristan was to get 2s., the
keeper of the church, 35. for two new wax lights and I2d.
for his own services, the curate i8d., the keeper of St. Kenti-
gern's bell 6d. and forty poor persons 8d. each. 7
Thomas Forsyth, prebendary of Glasgow primo, founded
a new perpetual chaplainry on the north side of the nave, at
the altar of Corpus Christi, then built by him with stones, at
the fourth pillar from the Rood loft. The endowments in-
cluded four merks payable from part of the Tolbooth, opposite
the market cross, and extending on the west to the chapel of
the Virgin Mary ; 4od. of annualrent furth of the yard behind
the chapel on the north ; and 8s. furth of a tenement in
Walkergait which belonged to the late John Steuart, provost.
Among the other places mentioned are Lady's Yarde on the
north side and Eglasamis Croft on the south side of Gallowgait,
the hill of Kyncleth on the east side of Suzannys Ryge, a
tenement at Barresyet, belonging to Robert Steward, provost,
and lands on the west side of High Street belonging to the
abbey of Paisley. 8
Archibald Quhitelaw who acted as secretary of James III.
and James IV. from 1463 to 1493, is found in office as arch-
deacon of Lothian from 1470 to 1494 and as subdean of Glasgow
7 Reg. Episc. No. 441. Ibid. No. 446.
FOUNDATION OF CHAPLAINRY 279
from 1488 to 1494, and his obit is entered in Glasgow " Martyr-
ology " 9 as 1498. By a charter dated 3ist May, 1494, in which
he is designated subdean of Glasgow and archdeacon of St.
Andrews, within the parts of Lothian, Quhitelaw founded a
new chaplainry at the altar of St. John the Baptist on the
south side of the nave of the cathedral, at the first pillar from
the Rood loft. The endowments consisted of tenements at
the " quadrivium " and in Drygate, two acres of land in
Denesyde, three roods of land in Provansyde, and several
annualrents, including one of 8s. payable from what are de-
scribed as the lands and yard of Malcolm Renald, 10 lying on
the Denesyde, near the monastery of the Friars Minors, be-
tween the lands commonly called Ramyshorne on the west
and the lands of the late Alan Dunlop on the east. After the
founder's death the patronage of the chaplainry was to belong
to the chapter and instructions were given to ensure the
reputable conduct of the chaplain. 1
9 Reg. Episc. No. 545.
10 Several properties at George Street, Deanside Lane and Portland
Street are still described in title deeds as part of Rannald or Douglas Yard.
1 Reg. Episc. No. 468 ; Book of Glasgow Cathedral, pp. 309-10.
CHAPTER XL
FERGUS AISLE IN CATHEDRAL ROOD SCREEN CHURCH
OF LITTLE ST. KENTIGERN ST. NICHOLAS HOSPITAL
CHURCH OF ST. ROCHE LINERS OF THE BURGH-
FOREIGN MERCHANDISE
IT is believed that the only part of the fabric of the cathedral
which Bishop Turnbull left unfinished was the building which
projected to the south of the south transept, and no farther
progress was made with that building till the time of Arch-
bishop Blacader, who undertook its repair and supplied a
vaulting which has been described as the richest example of
that kind of work in the cathedral. The carvings are beautiful
and numerous, the arms of King James IV. and the archbishop
frequently occur, and the initial of Queen Margaret, whom
the King married in 1503, is carved, under a royal crown,
upon the pillar in the centre of the south wall. The carving
in the vault over the north pier represents a human figure
lying on a car which has the inscription : " This is the He of
Car Fergus," an allusion to the first arrival of St. Kentigern
in Glasgow and the interment of the body of the holy Fergus
in the cemetery which had been hallowed by St. Ninian. 1
Previous to entering on his work at the south transept,
Archbishop Blacader had erected the magnificent Rood Screen
at the entrance to the choir. This part of the work was prob-
1 Cathedral (1901), pp. 21, 22. Referring to the carvings, Mr. Chalmers
remarks that " one of the bosses is a beautiful design illustrating the Five
Wounds, and another, of particular interest, represents the King and the
three Estates, 'burges, barownys and prelatis.'"
280
ROOD SCREEN OF CATHEDRAL 281
ably begun in 1492 and it must have been completed in 1497,
the year in which the chaplainry at the altar of the Holy Rood
was founded. 2 The altar itself would be placed on the gallery
of the screen, a fuller description of which is subjoined. 3
Owing to the rood screen encroaching to a considerable
extent on the floor of the choir a new arrangement of the
stalls was necessary and in connection with these alterations
an agreement was entered into with Michael Waghorn, wright,
for the making of the timber canopies. The agreement, dated
8th January, 1506-7, is written in the vernacular, and being,
with its detailed description of the work, of special interest
as a rare specimen of such writings, is given below. 4
2 Reg. Episc. No. 476 ; Book of Glasgow Cathedral, p. 308.
3 In his book above mentioned (pp. 21, 22) Mr. Chalmers has the following
observations : " The rood screen stands on the level of the choir floor between
the eastern piers of the crossing. The low elliptical-shaped arched door in
the centre is richly moulded. The wall on each side now looks bare and
ineffective, but this is wholly due to the fact that the eight statues which
stood upon carved corbels in the panels have been destroyed. The fragment
of a statue which is preserved in the chapter-house may be part of one of these.
The most important part of the design of the screen is the beautiful parapet
of open tracery and tabernacle work. The tracery is of a much later type
than the tracery of Bishop Cameron's work in the spire. The carvings on
the cornice which supports the parapet are exceedingly interesting. The
figures carved at the ends are ecclesiastics, but there is no clue which would
lead to their identification. The seven intermediate carvings illustrate the
seven ages of man. Old age occupies the centre, as appropriate to the Rood ;
Infancy, Youth and Manhood are on the north side, with the schoolboy, the
lover, and the sage on the south. A very brief description will suffice : I.
Infancy : a young wife sits with an infant on her knee, with her husband
alongside. II. The Schoolboy : the master is behind a pile of books, asleep
it may be, and the scholar plucks at his chin. III. Youth : a woman pinches
the ear of a youth, whose smiling face, and knee drawn up in pretended agony,
reveal the age of frolic. IV. The lover : he sits with his arm round his
mistress's neck. V. The soldier : armed cap a pie, he fights with a lion.
VI. The elderly sage : with his wife beside him, he holds a long roll in his hands.
VII. Old age : again a married pair is figured, and again the symbolism is con-
fined to the man. The artist was gallant and the wife is comely still. These
carvings which are in some parts destroyed, anticipated the words of the melan-
choly Jacques by just one hundred years." (See also Scots Lore, pp. 89-94.)
4 The contract, as printed in Registrum Episcopatus, No. 543, is stated to
be in the British Museum, but there is also a duplicate stitched to the leaf
282 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
In the fifteenth century there was, throughout Scotland,
a revival in church building ; but on account, probably, of
the accommodation afforded by the Cathedral for the erection
of new altars and chaplainries by those who were so inclined,
no separate church or chapel, other than the chapels connected
with St. Nicholas and the Leper hospitals, appears to have
been founded in Glasgow within that period till 1500. 5 On
on which Cuthbert Simson's protocol No. 198 is written. The writing runs
thus : " Memorandum, that it is appunctit betuix venerable and wirschipfull
men, the dene and cheptour of Glasgw, on the tapairt, and Mychell Waghorn,
wrycht, on the toderpairt, that is to say the said Mychell sail mak, Godwilling,
to the queyre of Glasgw, fife silouris for the covering of the stallis, tuenty
fute lang ilk siloure, on the best fassone, that is to say the gest at the siloure
standis in to be hewin and graithit be him, with tua frontellis, ane on ilk syde
of the gest, scheme and kersit werk, with five colums to ilk siloure and anglis
as efferis, with hede and frontellis fiellis with knoppis and with thre gret
hyngaris and knoppis with ryzrufe and f cure lefts about ilk knop in ilk siloure,
sik lik as is in the chapell of Striviling. And as to the principale frontellis of
thir five silouris, to be divisit be the masteris of werk, and specialy eftir the
forme of the frontell of the silouris of the hie altare in Glasgu. And as to the
sawine of all and sindri burdis and treis neidfull to the said werk, the said
Mychell sail mak all burdis and treis at may be sawin with hand saw to be
sawin, and the dene and cheptour sail mak wther burdis and treis at mane be
sawine with armyt sawis siklik to be sawine. Atour the said Michell oblisis
him faithfully to remane still at the said werk and not pas tharfra quhill the
completing of the samyn without special leif of the dene or president and
cheptour of Glasgu foresaid. And sa to the making of scaffating and wpputt-
ing of the said silouris, the said Mychell sail mak the samyn, the saidis dene and
cheptour findand the stuffe as efferis tharto and to the laif of werk. And for
the completing of the fife silouris the said Michell sail hafe fourty merkis, ay
according to the werk, ane quarter before hand geif he pleis. This contract
wes maid within the kirk of Glasgw, the acht day of Januare, the yeir of
God, j m v c sex yeris, before thir witnes : masteris Holland Blacader, subdene ;
Adame Culquhone, persone of Govane ; Mychell Flemyng, persone of Aln-
cromb ; Nicholl Greynlaw, persone of Edulfistoun ; chanonis of Glasgw ;
with divers wtheris."
Glossary : Appunctit, appointed ; armyt sawis, saws worked by more
than one person ; at, that ; fassone, fashion ; fiellis, round tops ; fife, five ;
frontellis, front curtains ; gest, joist; graithit, furnished ; greit hyngaris, great
hangings, tapestry ; hede, head ; knoppis, knobs ; lefis, carved leaves ; mane,
must ; ryzrufe (" rynrufe " in Diocesan Registers), run-roof ; sawyne, sawing ;
scattering, scaffolding ; schorne and kersit werk, perhaps cut and shaped or
dressed work ; silouris, canopies ; tapairt, one part ; toderpairt, other part.
* The primitive chapels of St. Mary, St. Tenu and St. Thomas are under-
stood to have been instituted at earlier though unknown dates.
LITTLE CHURCH OF ST. KENTIGERN 283
3rd October of that year, David Cunninghame, archdeacon
of Argyle, provost of the collegiate church of Hamilton
and official of the diocese, founded a chaplainry in a church
which he erected, on his own charges, in the Gallowgate.
The site is described as lying outside the city port, beyond the
Molendinar Burn and near the trees called St. Kentigern's,
and the original endowments embraced a tenement in Trongate
and several acres of land in Dowhill, Gallowmuir and Provan-
side, with annualrents from the lands of Drips and an orchard
near Rutherglen. 6 The church or chapel so founded usually
got the name of St. Kentigern and was sometimes called the
Little Church of St. Kentigern. It does not seem to have been
fully equipped till a few years after 1500. On nth January,
I 54-5> David Cunninghame, the founder, then acting as
vicar-general of the archbishop who was on business abroad,
appeared in the chapter-house of the cathedral and in presence
of Martin Rede, assistant and successor of Martin Wan,
chancellor, and other dignitaries and canons, and in name of
the archbishop desired John Gibson, rector of Renfrew, who
had been acting as master of work of the church of St. Kenti-
gern, " to lay out money and pay the expenses of the small
and minute works about and within that church, as his prede-
cessors, masters of work, had been in the practice of doing." 7
x.
6 Reg. Episc. No. 481 ; Glasg. Memorials, pp. 236-8. The lands of Drips
are in the parish of East Kilbride, Lanarkshire.
7 Diocesan Reg. Prot. No. 91. The editors of the Diocesan Registers under-
stood the works here referred to as applying to the cathedral but it seems
evident that the new church in the Gallowgate was meant. A transaction,
the particulars of which are recorded a few years later illustrates not only the
distinction between the two churches but also the exercise of the subdeanery
jurisdiction (antea, p. 4). In an instrument dated 22nd November, 1509,
it is set forth that in a full and confirmed head court of the subdean, held,
after Michaelmas, in the " Subdenrsland," in the house of John Graham (a
former bailie of the subdeanery) by Roland Blacader, subdean, and Thomas
Hucheson, his bailie, it was found that William Purdhome was lawful and
nearest heir of the late John Purdhome, his grandfather, and of Thomas
Purdhome, his uncle, and also of Marion Cunigham, his mother, in fourteen
rigs of land in Provanside, in which John, Thomas and Marion died vested,
284 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
There is not much known regarding this church of St.
Kentigern and its services, but one of the few bits of extant
information relates to the induction of a chaplain in 1513.
On 24th September of that year, subsequent to the death of
Dionisius Achenlek, 8 possessor of the chaplainry, Cuthbert
Simson, priest and notary public, by authority of the arch-
bishop, inducted Sir John Symonton into the corporal possession
of the chaplainry, by delivery of the keys of the church, the
bell rope, book, chalice and ornaments of the altar, to Mr.
John Rede, chaplain of the royal chapel of Dundonald, as
procurator and in name of Sir John, the procurator touching
the delivered articles in token of completed possession. 9
Martin Wan, who had been chancellor of the metropolitan
church from at least the year 1475 10 and who has already been
mentioned in connection with his supervision of the grammar
schools, 1 had acquired various annualrents payable from
properties in the city, bestowed these, amounting to 6 I2s. 8d.
yearly, for the maintenance of one poor person living in the
almshouse or hospital of St. Nicholas. By the deed of founda-
tion, which is dated ist June, 1501, and to which the common
at the faith of the king, of holy mother church and of the subdean. Three
of the fourteen rigs lay between the lands of the chaplainry of St. Michael
in the church of Glasgow, on the east, and those of the chaplainry founded
in the church of St. Kentigern in the Gallowgate, on the west. After William
Purdhome had been formally vested in the fourteen rigs he conveyed the whole
to Roland Blacader, in name of the church, meaning here the cathedral,
subject to payment of the annualrents owing to the subdeanery. (Ibid. Nos.
39I-3-)
8 Achinlek is frequently mentioned in Cuthbert Simson's protocols and
he was one of the executors on the estate of the founder of the church of St.
Kentigern, as stated in protocol No. 366, dated i8th May, 1509.
9 Ibid. No. 652. Subsequent to the Reformation the endowments of the
church came into the possession of the College (see Rental in Munimenta
Alme Universitatis i. p. 175). In 1593 the church site was acquired by the
magistrates and council and in the deed of transfer it is stated that they were
not entitled to alter the Cunninghame arms on the church " sa lang as the wall
standis " (Glasg. Prot., No. 2701 ; Glas Rec. iv. pp. 679-80).
10 Reg. Mag. Sig. ii. No. 1428. l Antea. pp. 274-6.
ST. NICHOLAS HOSPITAL 285
seal of the city and the seal of the chancellor were appended,
the provost, bailies and council were appointed to be patrons
after his death. On a vacancy occurring the patrons were to
select as the next beneficiary a native of the parish of Glasgow
and present him to the master of the hospital for admission. 2
The chaplain of the hospital usually acted as master 3 though
the joint designation may not have been given on appointment.
It happens that only two months before the date of Wan's
endowment a new chaplain had been inducted. The chap-
lainry of the hospital having become vacant through the
demission of Sir Thomas Bartholomew, last chaplain, the arch-
bishop of Glasgow, with consent of the canons, chapterly
assembled, presented Cuthbert Symson, priest, as chaplain,
on condition that he should daily attend within the Pedagogy
of Glasgow for the instruction of youths in grammar and
reading in the same, and he was formally installed and vested
in the rule and administration of his office with all the revenues
and emoluments belonging thereto. 4
Cuthbert Symson was chapter clerk of Glasgow and a
notary public, and from his Protocol Book, embracing the
period 1499-1513, valuable information on some minute points
of Glasgow history is obtainable. Transactions the particulars
of which were recorded in a notary's protocols were carried
through in the presence of witnesses, so many of whom were
named and the remainder were embraced in the formula
8 Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. pp. 92-96. Martin Wan, the chancellor, was a
contemporary of Bishop Andrew and on that account it is satisfactory, in the
dearth of other direct evidence, to have his express statement that the bishop
was founder of St. Nicholas Hospital. A facsimile of Wan's deed of foundation
is given in Sir Michael Connal's Memorial on the hospital (1859), printed in
Transactions of Glasgow Archaeological Society, ist series, vol. i. pp. 135-79.
3 The site of Renfrew manse, part of the hospital ground, was conveyed
to the prebendary by Sir William Silver, subchanter and master of the hospital
on 22nd May 1507, so that Simson does not seem to have been acting as master
at that time. (Dioc. Reg. Prot. No. 190.)
* Munimenta Alme Universitatis, i. pp. 39-41 (soth April, 1501).
286 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
" and many others." The bulk of such transactions related
to heritable properties, where the parties appeared on the
open ground in full public view, but in other cases the purpose
was served by attendance in a church, the chapter-house
of the cathedral or other equally accessible premises. Several
of Cuthbert Symson's protocols record proceedings which took
place in St. Nicholas* Hospital. By one of the protocols relat-
ing to the hospital it is narrated that on 27th April, 1510,
the notary and witnesses appeared at a tenement situated in
the " Stablegreyn," outwith the city port, when possession
of an annualrent, payable from that property, and bestowed
by Michael Flemyng, master of arts, as the endowment
of a bed in the hospital, was symbolically given to John
Curry, one of the poor men therein. 5 On 25th May, 1513,
in presence of canons and priests, the subchanter of
Glasgow appeared in the hospital and presented John Bull,
a poor man, to a bed in the hospital, which bed had formerly
been possessed by William Mathy or Johnson, then recently
deceased, and the chaplain was charged to admit Bull to the
brotherhood and to the privileges of the hospital. 6
A ceremony of a very different description was witnessed
in and adjoining the hospital, in the notary's chamber, on 6th
August, 1510, when John Gibson, prebendary or parson of
Renfrew, whose manse was only a few yards north of the
hospital, assuming his wallet, cloak, cap and staff, and taking
leave of the bystanders and advancing a little space began
his journey to his holiness Pope Julius II. and the apostolic
see, committing himself, his prebend and all his goods, spiritual
and temporal, to the protection of the Pope and the holy see. 7
The hospital and its chaplainry were possessed of several
pieces of ground at the New Green, feuduties from which are
payable to the hospital at the present time. One of these
8 Dioc. Reg. Protocol, No. 434. Ib id. No. 637.
7 Ibid. No. 481.
CHURCH OF ST. ROCHE 287
properties seems to have been acquired in 1512-3, as on I2th
February of that year, in presence of the subdean and other
members of the chapter assembled in the chapter-house, the
vicars of the choir, with consent of the chapter, conveyed
in feu-farm to Cuthbert Simson, chaplain of St. Nicholas'
Hospital, and his successors, an acre of land lying in the field
of Kyncleth, in the Brumelands, and adjoining other lands
belonging to the chaplainry. The yearly feuduty payable to
the vicars was 3od. 8
Shortly after the planting of Little St. Kentigern, a church
dedicated to St. Roche was founded on the north side of the
city. St. Roche was a native of Montpelier, in France. It
is said that in his lifetime (A.D. 1295-1327) he effected many
miraculous cures on persons stricken by the plague, and belief
in his power as an intercessor was not lessened by his canonisa-
tion. At the beginning of the sixteenth century there appears
to have been in this country an awakened interest in the saint.
As shown by the Lord High Treasurer's Accounts, King James,
on 20th March, 1501-2, gave 145. to the " wrichtis " of a chapel
dedicated to St. Roche which had been or was being erected
in the burgh muir of Edinburgh, the inhabitants of which city
had suffered severely from the trouble ; on nth July he sup-
plied the chapel with fifteen ells of linen cloth ; and on 3Oth
October there was paid the large sum of 10 los. "to the
French frere (friar) that brocht ane bane of Sanct Rowk to
the King." This relic was no doubt regarded as a powerful
antidote to the pest and it was probably placed in the chapel,
where in subsequent years the king made occasional offerings.
Glasgow seems to have had a visitation of the pest in 1504,
as in a protocol dated 5th June of that year it is stated that a
chaplain and vicar of the choir, named Sir John Brakanrig,
lay at the point of death " ex morbo pestifero " in the house of
" Patrick Hammiltoun alias John Elphinstoun." John Knox,
8 Dioc. Reg. Protocol, No. 664.
288 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
who had been appointed by the bailies to keep the chaplain
in seclusion, appeared before the door of the house in which he
lay and announced to a notary and the witnesses there
assembled the will of the dying chaplain as to the disposal of
his goods, and the statement was confirmed by Bessy Revoch,
" the other keeper of the said Sir John." 9 It must have
been about this time that the movement for the erection of
the Glasgow chapel originated, though specific information
on the subject is not obtained till a couple of years later. On
2Oth June, 1506, in presence of the archbishop and the
president and chapter, assembled in the chapter-house of
the cathedral, Sir Andrew Burell, chaplain, appeared and,
with consent of the president and chapter and of the provost
and bailies, on behalf of the community of the city of Glasgow,
assigned to Sir Thomas Forbas, chaplain of the church of
Saint Roche, founded and about to be built in the territory
of Glasgow, a tenement and yard lying in the Ratounraw.
Burell also gave up the Whitsunday rents and on the other hand
the provost and bailies bestowed on him a gratuity of twenty
shillings. 10
The constitution of another chaplainry in the new church
and its endowment was made the occasion of a more imposing
ceremony. At the Michaelmas head court of the burgh,
held on loth October, 1508, in presence of the provost, a bailie,
and other citizens, gathered " in great and overflowing
9 Dioc. Reg. Protocol No. 87. The instrument prepared by the notary,
embodying these statements, would thus form the chaplain's last will and
testament.
10 Dioc. Reg. Protocol No. 181. At this time Sir John Stewart, of Minto,
knight, was provost and Thomas Hucheson and David Lindesay were bailies.
The Ratounraw property mentioned in this protocol is probably that which
Thomas Forbas, then master of arts, transferred to David Murehede, chaplain
in the church of St. Roche, as set forth in an instrument dated 24th November,
1512 (Ibid. No. 602). On this date also several other tenements and annual-
rents were vested in the same chaplain in name of the church (Ibid. Nos. 60 1,
603-5)-
ANCIENT ROYAL ARMS OF SCOTLAND, FROM CARVED STONE
FROM OLD TOLBOOTH.
CHURCH OF ST. ROCHE 289
numbers," in the tolbooth, Mr. Thomas Muirhead, canon of
Glasgow and rector of Stobo, declared that he had founded
several chaplainries within the church of St. Roche, newly
established within the territory of the city. One of these chap
lainries he appointed to be at the presentation of the com-
munity of the city, when vacancies occurred, and in exercise
of the patronage thus conferred, the provost, bailie and
community, at his desire, presented Sir Alexander Robertone,
chaplain, to the benefice. These proceedings took place at
ten o'clock, forenoon, and in the same surroundings, an hour
later, Muirhead endowed the chaplainry with property built
by him and lying in the Bridgegate, adjoining the Nether
Port. 1 Besides being patrons of one of these chaplainries it
is probable that the magistrates and community were the
donors of the sites of the church and its surrounding cemetery
and croft as these originally formed part of the town's common
muir. Though the precise spot where the church stood has
not been quite identified it was apparently between the
modern Glebe Street and Castle Street near the place
intersected by the canal, where through part of the cemetery
and croft grounds Tennant Street and Kennedy Street have
been formed. But while all trace of buildings and cemetery
has long ago disappeared the church is abidingly commemorated
by its name which, passing through the variations of Roque,
Rowk and Rollock, has for some time settled into the well
known form of St. Rollox. 2
The croft and other lands belonging to and adjoining the
1 Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. pp. 97-99 ; ii, pp. 479-81. The witnesses to these
proceedings included two canons, acting as vicars-general, in the absence of
the archbishop and other clerics and burgesses. The tolbooth in which this
large concourse of people had assembled was probably that of which a stone,
carved with the royal arms, is still preserved. A photograph of the stone
is reproduced in Glasgow Records, vol. viii. p. xxvi., and the stone itself lies in
the Kelvingrove Art Gallery.
2 The church will come into subsequent notice but reference may here be
made to Glasg. Memorials, pp. 238-41 ; Glasg. Prot. Nos. 1161, 3516.
T
290 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
church of St. Roche were divided into two lots by the liners
of the city and were, on 24th November, 1512, vested in Mr.
David Murehede and Sir Alexander Robertson, chaplains of
the church, each of them obtaining his assigned portion. 3
The liners just referred to were officials chosen in conformity
with old Burgh Laws which provided for their appointment
by the alderman and community for the purpose of denning
the boundaries of land within the burgh according to their
old and right marches. 4 By recognised usage the powers of
the liners latterly included the settlement of all disputes among
the neighbours regarding their adjoining properties, one
example of the exercise of which functions may here be noticed.
In 1512 a burgess, named in one place Patrick Lappy and in
another Patrick Dunlop alias Loppy, purchased a property
on the east side of High Street, and three years later, for the
adjustment of a question which had arisen between him and
one of his neighbours, Kentigern Mortoun, he " approached
the liners of the city, elected and approved for lining and
measuring, by suitable inquisition, all and sundry lands where-
soever and whatsoever, to be settled and determined between
whomsoever co-burgesses or inhabitants within the burgh/'
The nature of the complaint is gathered from the verdict of
the liners which was delivered in presence of the provost,
bailies, and a large number of citizens, assembled in the tol-
booth, when the neighbour (named " Kentigernus " in the Latin
and " Mowngo " in the vernacular) was ordained " to put up ane
hewin spowt of stayne " in part of his wall " to kep the said
Mowngous drop off the said Patrikis tenement and skathyne
3 Dioc. Reg. Prot. No. 606.
* Ancient Laws, i. pp. 51, 58, 96. By the first of these laws it was provided
that the liners were to be at least four in number. At the earliest election in
Glasgow, the record of which is extant, five liners were chosen. This was in
October, 1574. When the dean of guild court was constituted under the
provisions of the letter of guildry, in 1605, it was ordained that the liners
should consist of four merchants and four craftsmen, an arrangement which
has subsisted till the present time.
LINERS OF THE CITY 291
of it in tymis cumyng." 5 By this time the ground on the
east side of High Street was getting well covered by buildings
and protection from the effects of eavesdrop must often have
been demanded.
For infringement of the statutes requiring foreign merchants
to traffic exclusively with free burghs, and specially the Precept
of James IV., dated 2oth October, I490, 6 the King's Advocate
and the burghs of Glasgow and Dumbarton, in January, 1499-
1500, prosecuted Lady Lile and Nicol Ramsay for purchasing,
and two merchants of Brittany for selling, quantities of wine
and salt, being part of the cargo of a ship called the Christopher
of Ceuta, a famous seaport on the Moorish coast which at that
time belonged to Portugal. What penalties, if any, were
imposed on the accused is not explicitly stated, the recorded
decision of the Lords of Council, before whom the proceedings
were taken, merely expressing approval of the king's precept,
and directing that " it be observed and kept in all particulars,
under the penalties therein contained." 7
5 Glasg. Chart, ii. pp. 482, 488. 6 Antea, pp. 244-5.
7 Acta Dom. Con. ii. pp. 358-9 ; where the Precept, the original of which
has disappeared from the city's repositories, is printed in full. See also
Abstract of the Precept, Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. p. 86.
CHAPTER XLI
POPULATION OLD GREEN FEUING OF COMMON LANDS
WAULK MILL ON WATER OF KELVIN LINNINGSHAUGH
SKINNERS GREEN SOCIETY OF FISHERS ASSIZE OF
HERRING SUBDEAN'S MILL FORTIFIED HOUSE IN HIGH
STREET LANDS OF GORBALS CADDER AND MONKLAND
HISTORIANS of Glasgow have usually acquiesced in the estimate
that at the time of the Reformation the population of the city
was about 4,500. Perhaps there was not any very reliable
basis for this calculation at the time it was made, but in the
absence of definite information the substitution of other
figures need not be attempted. Towards the end of the fif-
teenth and beginning of the sixteenth century, when the
population may be assumed to have been from 2,000 to 3,500,
the built portions of the city were being slightly increased, as
shown by the few deeds of alienation which have been pre-
served, but here our knowledge is on a very limited scale
because we have no protocol book specially relating to city
properties of an earlier date than I53O. 1 Extensions for build-
ing purposes are noticed in Ratounraw to the westward, about
the middle of the High Street, and along Gallowgate not far
from the cross. In Trongate, buildings had probably got no
farther west than midway between the cross and the line of
1 Cuthbert Simson's book, 1499-1513, relating to properties and trans-
actions throughout the diocese, contains several protocols connected with
the city, but it cannot be classed with the later protocols of the town clerks
who had a monopoly in recording title deeds of burgh property.
292
FEUING OF COMMON LANDS 293
Stockwell Street, while to the north of Trongate was the open
Long Croft, and to the south was Mutland Croft, tilled by
individual proprietors, the pathway leading to the bridge
separating the tilled lands from part of the common green
belonging to the citizens. Mutland Croft, with its crops diffi-
cult to protect from the ravages of geese, swine and other
animals, was kept almost wholly free from the erection of
buildings till the latter half of the sixteenth century, but the
green was appropriated for that purpose at an earlier date.
In April, 1503, five plots of the Green, each containing two
roods of ground, were sold by the magistrates and council
to five separate purchasers who undertook to pay to the
common purse yearly feuduties of from los. to i6s. 8d. each.
The north boundary of this feued area was the king's highway
from Barresyet to the bridge, some of the lots had the Molen-
dinar Burn for their south boundary, and one of them had on
its west side a vennel, five ells wide, extending from the high-
way to the burn. 2
After the disposal of the bulk of the ground lying between
Bridgegate and the river Clyde the area latterly known as the
Old Green of Glasgow and styled by a sixteenth century
notary " palestra de Glasgw lusoria " Glasgow's playground
was restricted to that section of the original ground which
extended from Stockwell Street to St. Enoch's Burn, a little
to the east of what is now Jamaica Street. When in course
of time this space in its turn was so encroached upon as to be
no longer available as a place of recreation, lands to the east-
ward were acquired for the formation of the New Green. The
first of these acquisitions consisted of about twelve acres of
land called Linningshaugh, the early history of which, if
known, would clear up some doubtful questions. Traced in
the bishops' rental books from the year 1526, Linningshaugh
was for a long time possessed by rentallers in separate portions.
1 Dioc. Reg. Prot. Nos. 44, 49-53.
294 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
The lands are supposed to have embraced the site of the waulk
or fulling mill which gave to Saltmarket Street its earlier name
of Walkergait. The water power of the old waulk mill, and
perhaps also of an early grain mill, may have been supplied
by the combined flow of the Molendinar and Camlachie burns,
which joined each other at Linningshaugh. Camlachie Burn
seems to have been embanked a little to the east of that point,
giving to the adjoining lands the names of Milldamhead and
Crooks of Milldam. These lands at one time belonged to the
community, and there, till near the end of the sixteenth century,
it was customary for the burgesses to assemble yearly and
hold their Whitsunday court, at which the common good was
set to tacksmen, the treasurer, clerk, master of work and
minstrels, were chosen, and arrangements were made for the
annual perambulation of the marches.
In the year 1507-8, Archbishop Blacader caused a new
waulk mill to be erected on his lands at the Water of Kelvin,
and it may be assumed that about that time his mill at Linnings-
haugh would be discontinued, leaving the lands on which it
had stood or had been surrounded free for the raising of crops
or for pasturage. But, really, on these points much is left to
conjecture, little being definitely known about the original
waulk mill though the history of its successor on the Kelvin
can be satisfactorily traced. The object of its erection is
explicitly stated in a charter granted on 27th January, 1507-8,
from which it appears that the archbishop, who was then on the
eve of his departure for the Holy Land, had founded two chap-
lainries in Glasgow and one in the parish of Carstairs. Of the
Glasgow chaplainries one was dedicated to the Virgin Mary of
Consolation, at the altar of St. John the Baptist, in the nave of
the cathedral, and in front of the image or statue of the Virgin.
The other chaplainry was in honour of St. Kentigern at his
altar founded by the bishop's brother, Sir Patrick Blacader,
knight, near the tomb of the saint in the lower church. Part
LINNINGSHAUGH LANDS 295
of the endowments of these three chaplainries consisted of a
grant from the petty customs of the burgh of Glasgow, and it
was for the purpose of compensating his successors for the loss
of customs that the archbishop caused a waulk mill to be
erected and maintained on his lands at the Water of Kelvin,
for which a yearly rent of six merks was to be paid to him and
his successors. 3 From Donald Lyon, a rentaller in 1517, the
mill passed in 1554, to his son, Archibald Lyon, under whose
name it is frequently mentioned in the records. The site now
forms part of Kelvingrove Park.
The stream below the confluence of the Molendinar and
Camlachie burns divided the burgh lands from those of the
barony, but in times of flood the doubled burn was apt to change
its course, casting uncertainty on the true march. On one of
these occasions a Linningshaugh rentaller represented that in
consequence of the flooded stream taking a new course through
his lands the adjoining Bridgegate proprietors had appropri-
ated portions of his property and had for several successive
seasons sown hemp and other seeds and set plants thereon ;
and he sought restitution of his rights. This claim was
referred to the liners of the burgh and the sworn men in
the Partick ward of the barony, and after joint investigation
they restored the severed ground to the rentaller ; and at
a burgh court held in July, 1596, the city bailies ratified the
decision. 4
In the years 1577-9 there was a readjustment of the lots
of Linningshaugh possessed by the respective rentallers, and
instead of the apportioned acres running from east to west
as formerly, they were laid out from the " loyne " on the north
to the river Clyde on the south. These changes which were
made on the report of the sworn men of Partick Ward, " con-
forme to the use of the barony," were sanctioned by the court
3 Reg. Episc. No. 486. See also Glasg. Prot. No. 3266.
4 Glasg. Chart, ii. pp. 567-9.
296 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
of the barony and regality, held " at the Castle and Paleis
thairof." 5
On the west side of the stream, opposite Linningshaugh,
and extending a short distance along the north bank of the
river Clyde, was a piece of ground long used by the Skinners
of Glasgow for drying their wool and skins and latterly known as
Skinners Green. In title-deed descriptions of properties in
this vicinity references to lime-holes and bark-holes fre-
quently occur, these receptacles, along with the burn, being
required in the tanning of hides, the first stage in the
process of leather manufacture. A seal of cause was granted
to the Glasgow skinners in 1516 but there need be no
doubt that, even though this may have been their first
formal incorporation, members of that body had for some
time practised their trade in the city ; and the green was
probably used by them at the time of feuing the adjoining
lots in 1503.
John M'Ure states that " of old " the city was well furnished
with salmon fishing on the river Clyde and that there was an
incorporation of fishers above a hundred years before his time,
but that these conditions no longer existed in consequence of
the liming of the land and the steeping of lint in the river
" which kills the salmon " 6 But Glasgow's salmon fishing
continued long after M'Ure's day, though perhaps not to its
former extent. The " incorporation " of fishers, whether a
formally federated society or simply a body of men following
a common trade, probably did not confine their attention to
salmon fishing as it is understood that the taking and curing
of herring was an industry of some importance to the early
citizens. From remote times the sovereigns of Scotland ex-
acted a tax, called an assise, on the produce of the herring
fisheries, and this assise for the west seas and lochs was yearly
5 Glasg. Chart, ii. pp. 558-61.
c History of Glasgow (1830 edition) p. 122.
HERRING FISHING IN WEST SEAS 297
accounted for at Glasgow. The separate contributions were
collected from the owners of fishing boats by a tacksman who
paid a fixed rent to the crown and appropriated the surplus
as his own profit. On 2Qth June, 1501, King James granted
to " Peter Coquhwn " a three-years' tack of the assise herring
of the west sea coast and the lochs there, in consideration of
his supplying four lasts of herrings to the king's household,
barrelled and well salted, to be delivered, free of all charges,
within Glasgow, on 8th January, yearly. A renewal tack was
granted to " Petir of Culquhone," for nine years from Candle-
mas, 1507, the stipulation for delivery, in Glasgow, of four
lasts of herring (equal to 48 barrels) being repeated. The
tacksman having died, his widow, Isobell Elphinstoun, on gth
September, 1512, got a new tack for thirteen years, the rent
being increased to six lasts of herring yearly. Shortly after this
the widow married David Lindesay of Dunrod, and on 17 th
June, 1515, the assise was leased to John Flemyng of Auchin-
bole for his lifetime. 7 A tack granted by Queen Mary to James
Campbell, in 1561-2, provided for the delivery of six lasts and
two barrels of herrings, at the burgh of Glasgow, between
7 Reg. Secreti Sigilli, i. Nos. 710, 1585, 2431, 2576. Isabella Elphinstoun, lady
of Dunrod, in her account as lessee of the assise of herrings of the sea and
western lochs for three years from 1513 got an allowance for barrels and storage,
on condition that in future six lasts of herrings were to be delivered free at
Glasgow, on 8th January yearly, to the servants of the king or comptroller
(Exchequer Rolls, xiv. pp. 195-6).
Parliament bestowed attention on the improvement of fishing and on 26th
June, 1493, a statute was passed, lamenting " the greate innumerable riches
that is tinte in faulte of schippes and busches " or fishing boats, and directing
that every town and burgh, according to their substance, should fit out ships
and boats for the taking of fish, the officers of royal burghs being authorised
to " make all the stark idle men within their bounds to pas with said ships
for thair waigis " (A.P.S. ii. p. 235 c. 20). Writing in 1498, Don Pedro de
Ayala, the Spanish Ambassador, at the Court of King James, when describing
the produce of the country, says : " It is impossible to describe the immense
quantity of fish. The old proverb says already ' piscinata Scotia.' Great
quantities of salmon, herring, and a kind of dried fish, which they call stock
fish, are exported. The quantity is so great that it suffices for Italy, France,
Flanders and England " (Early Travellers, p. 44).
298 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
Martinmas and Candlemas, yearly. 8 Glasgow being thus the
place for delivery oi the assise herring to the crown it may be
inferred that facilities would be afforded for their curing and
barrelling, a process which may have been practised on a larger
scale for export. In home trading it is noticed that by the
" auld statutes," referred to in 1575, there were certain hours
for selling herring at the bridge, but subsequently part of the
Trongate was assigned as the market place. 9
Shortly after the time when the site of the waulk mill
is supposed to have been changed from the Molendinar Burn
to the Water of Kelvin, the former stream, on which the town's
corn mill had stood for a century and a half, was utilised for
the establishment of another mill for grinding grain. This
was the Subdean's Mill which was erected by the subdean,
Roland Blacader, on the burn, at the western extremity of
the lands of Wester Craigs. At a meeting of the cathedral
chapter, held on i8th May, 1513, permission was given to the
subdean to form an aqueduct from the east end of the cemetery,
where some of the canons' manses were placed, and to divert
8 Fourth Report of Historical MSS. Commission, p. 481. The countess of
Argyll became lessee in 1600, at a rent of fourteen lasts of herring, and subse-
quent tacks were mainly to the dukes of Argyll or members of that family.
The rent in 1619, no longer in kind, was ^1,000 Scots, at which figure it stood
in subsequent tacks, including that of John duke of Argyll, for thirty-eight
years from 1717, in which tack it was stated that the duke and his predecessors
had been " lessees of the assyse herring for many ages " (Ibid. pp. 481-2).
An account of the factors of Alexander Campbell, bishop of Brechin, who
was tacksman of the assise in 1596, shows that at that time 470 boats, belong-
ing to the localities there named, contributed five merks each, amounting in
all to ^1557 6s. 8d. Scots. The town of Renfrew had nineteen boats, the
laird of Newark (afterwards Port Glasgow) had twelve, the laird of Greenock
seventy-eight, the parish of Inverkip seventy-nine, and Saltcoats and Kilbryde
twenty-eight. (Glasg. Prot. v. pp. xii-xiv.) After settling the crown rent
the tacksman would thus secure a substantial profit. Another crown exaction,
" the assyse aill," accounted for by the Sheriff of Dumbarton, and yielding
12 yearly, is described by Sir William Purves in his Revenue of the Scottish
Crown, 1681, p. 73, as " ane auld dewtie payed to his Majestic for the aill that is
drunken and spent att the fishing of the west sea, bot ther is hardly anything
payed since anno 1646."
9 Glasg. Rec. i. pp. 39, 366.
RENTALLERS OF GORBALS 299
the water of the burn and lead it along the foot of the Craig
to the site of the mill which was being erected by the subdean.
On iyth June the archbishop and chapter approved of the
scheme and authorised the subdean and his successors to
maintain the mill, rebuilding it when necessary, and to collect
the water and use it for driving the machinery in all future
time. 10 To the subdean's mills the grain growing on the lands
of Easter and Wester Craigs was thirled ; and at a later time
when it was of importance that the town should have a mon-
opoly of multure dues throughout the city the mills were
acquired by the magistrates and council and were retained by
them till their removal in the course of operations under the
Glasgow Improvements Act of 1866.
John Elphinstoun, the first rentaller of the lands of Gorbals
whose name has been definitely traced, was the son of Agnes
Forsyth, who, when first heard of was the wife of one named
Patrick Hamilton and presumably the widow of John
Elphinstone's father. In 1506 Agnes Forsyth liferented a
tenement on the east side of High Street, probably the house
in which, two years previously, the chaplain, John Brakanrig,
was secluded in the time of the pest, 1 and then stated to belong
to " Patrick Hammyltoun alias John Elphinstoun." As
narrated in a document dated I9th May, 1506, Agnes Forsyth,
there designated spouse of Patrick Hamilton, conveyed to
John Elphinstoun, " her son and heir " a chamber situated
above the kitchen of her tenement, to be possessed by him
during her lifetime, on condition that he should build and give
to her the liferent use of a house, near at hand, in which she
could completely brew and bake bread for her own family
and strangers. The other parts of the house seem to have
continued in the possession of Agnes Forsyth and her husband,
as on 3rd February following, in presence of a notary and
witnesses, assembled in the hall of Patrick Hamilton, John
10 Diocesan Reg. Prot. Nos. 635 and 641. 1 Antea, pp. 287-8.
300 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
Elphinstoun declared that Sir Thomas Forsyth had said of
him that he was " a defamit persone perpetuall, and ane verray
erratic (heretic) and a Jow " ; and in repudiation of this
slander he protested for remedy of law. Perhaps this incident
discloses the existence of a family feud as, to judge from the
name, Sir Thomas Forsyth, apparently a priest, may have
been the brother or other relative of Agnes. 2
If, as seems likely, it was this tenement which was converted
into a fortified building, called in the records, " ane batellit
hous," John Elphinstoun must have obtained possession of
the whole building shortly after he was granted the use of the
upper chamber. On i6th June, 1508, King James gave
" Johne Elphinstoun, citizen of Glasgow, full licence and
power to byg and erect his fore hous, in his land and tenement
Hand within the said ciete, in the Hiegate thairof , with battelling,
macholing, and all uther maner of defens and munitioun
necessar for savite and promt of his said hous and thak thairof
fra invasioun of fyre, wynd, and utherwayis." 3 By battelling
one readily understands battlements, but it may be explained
that " machcoling," as defined by Jamieson, means the con-
struction of openings in the floor of a projecting battlement,
8 Dioc. Reg. Prof. Nos. 164, 201. On i6th June, 1498, Thomas Forsyth,
canon of the cathedral church of Ross and prebendary of Logy, therein, founded
a chaplainry, in honour of Saints Peter and Paul, in the lower metropolitan
church of Glasgow, situated between the altar of St. Nicholas on the north and
that of St. Andrew on the south. The endowments consisted of two tene-
ments and also annualrents amounting to ^4 8s. yearly, payable from several
properties. One of the tenements was situated in Ratounraw and lay to the
west of a property belonging to the abbot and convent of Paisley, and the other
tenement is described as built by the founder " on the west cunze," near the
market cross in Walkergait, thus indicating the corner property south of
Trongate and east of Saltmarket. (Reg. Episc. No. 480.) This chaplainry
the founder on yth April, 1506, conferred on his cousin, Sir Thomas Forsyth,
chaplain ; (Dioc. Reg. Prot. 154) and he is presumably the priest who made the
accusation quoted in the text.
3 Reg. Sec. Sig. i. No. 1696. As letters of protection were granted by the
King to Elphinstone on 2oth September, 1510 (Ibid. No. 2127), it may be sup-
posed that he was then subject to some danger or trouble.
FORTIFIED BUILDING 301
through which stones, darts, etc., might be hurled upon
assailants. " Munitioun " implies provision for placing the
guns or small artillery of the period. Security against the
elements was likewise aimed at. The wooden fronts of build-
ings at that time made them readily liable to catch fire. Con-
structed of stone, as the fort doubtless was, and reared to a
considerable height, not only would there be protection from
fire, but when the wind was tirling more exposed roofs, the
thatch on Elphinstoun's adjoining buildings would be compara-
tively safe. Such licenses were rare, but apparently necessary
before a fortified building could be erected, as this document pro-
ceeds on the assurance that neither Elphinstoun nor his heirs
should be accused or incur danger or loss on account of the estab-
lishment of his fort " nochtwithstanding ony statutis or lawis
of the kingisinthe contrare." Only one other similar building
has been heard of in Glasgow, viz., the tower or fortalice on
the west side of Stockwell Street, elsewhere referred to. 4
About the time when the license just referred to was granted
a bailie of the city was named John Elphinstoun, but he is not
quite identified with the owner of the fort, who, there seems no
reason to doubt, was the earliest rentaller of Gorbals found on
record. On I4th June, 1520, Beatrice Wardlaw was relieved
of forfeiture consequent on her contracting a second marriage
without license of the archbishop, and was " rentalit agayn "
in the lands of Gorbals. In the following year she resigned
her rental rights to her son, " George Elphinstoun, son of
umwyle Jone Elphistoun," under reservation of her own life-
rent. 5 The name Elphinstone was common in Glasgow at that
time, and one can only guess that Beatrice Wardlaw was the
" wife of John Elphinstoun," to whom the parson of Erskine
bequeathed his best gown when he made his last will and
testament on 30th June, 1507. Unluckily the wife's name is not
mentioned in the protocol narrating the bequest, an omission
4 Antea, p. 74. * Dioc. Reg. pp. 78, 82.
302 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
which deprives us of specific evidence on the point. 6 In a
protocol dated 2gth June, 1554, the " batellit house " is men-
tioned as adjoining another tenement which George Elphinstone,
son and heir of another George, sold to enable him to be
rentalled in the lands of Gorbals. On each change of rental
right, either by transmission to an heir or to a purchaser, a sub-
stantial contribution required to be made to the archbishop,
lord of the regality, and it was to meet a demand of this kind
that money was now needed. In 1588 the building itself,
described as a " great tenement called the battellit hows," was
conveyed by " George Elphinstoun of Blytheswood " to a third
George, his son and heir, but reserving the father's liferent. 7
The levying of certain kinds of vicarage dues exigible
from the representatives of deceased parishioners, sometimes
occasioned unusual hardship. Trouble of this sort seems to
be referred to when, on gth March, 1503-4, Thomas Huchon-
son, bailie, protested before the archbishop and members of
the chapter, that the community should not be prejudiced
with regard to the custom of paying mort dues in the parish
of Glasgow whatever might be done in the cause pending
between the vicar and one named John Curry. On his part
the vicar protested that unless the community by itself, or
through the principal citizens, took up the cause they should
not be heard in the proceedings, and that John Curry should
be put to silence unless he showed sufficient reason to the
contrary. 8 Exaction of mort dues was one of the grievances
for which relief was claimed at the Reformation, and it
is here seen that half a century before that event it was
a subject of discussion among the citizens of Glasgow. 9
6 Dioc. Reg. Prot. No. 249. 7 Glasg. Prot. Nos. 187, 2538.
8 Dioc. Reg. Prot. Nos. 64, 65.
9 In Sir David Lindsay's Satyre of the Three Estaitis, the " Pauper " thus
expounds the evil effects consequent on the exaction of mort dues :
" My father was ane auld man, and ane hoir,
And was of age fourscore of yeiris, and moir ;
VICARS' MORT DUES 303
The two parishes of Cadder and Monkland, adjoining the
Barony parish of Glasgow on the north and east, formed part
of the subdean's prebend, the cure being served by a perpetual
vicar pensioner who employed a curate at each place. 10 When
the subdean, Roland Blacader, obtained collation to his bene-
fice, his father, Sir Patrick Blacader of Tulliallan, had stipulated
for payment of an annual pension in money and grain from the
And Maid, my mother, was fourscore and fyftene ;
And with my labour I did thame baith sustene.
Wee had ane meir, that caryit salt and coill
And everilk yeir scho brocht us hame ane foill.
Wee had thre ky, that was baith fat and fair,
Nane tydier into the toun of Air.
My father was sa waik of blude and bane,
That he deit, quharefor my mother maid gret mane.
Then scho deit, within ane day or two,
And thare began my povertie and wo.
Our gude gray meir was baitand on the feild,
And our lands laird tuke hir for his heryeild.
The vickar tuke the best cow be the heid.
Incontinent, quhen my father was deid.
And quhen the vickar hard tel how that my mother
Was deid, fra hand, he tuke to him ane uther :
Then Meg, my wife, did murne baith even and morrow,
Till at the last scho deit for verie sorrow.
And quhen the vickar hard tell my wyfe was deid,
The thrid cow he cleikit be the heid,
Their upmest clayis, that was of raploch gray,
The vickar gart his clark bere thame away.
Quhen all was gane, I micht make na debeat,
Bot with my bairns past for till beg my meat.
Now haif I told yow the black veritie,
How I am brocht into this miserie."
(Poetical Works of Sir David Lyndsay (1806 edition) li. pp. 5-7).
Glossary : Baitand, feeding ; baith, both ; blude and bane, blood and bone ;
coill, coal ; debeat, delay ; deit, died ; everilk yeir, every or each year ;
foill, foal ; gart, caused ; heryeild, fine paid to a landlord on the death of his
vassal or tenant ; hoir, hoary ; ky, cows ; mane, moan ; meir, mare ; murn,
mourn ; quharefor, wherefore ; quhen, when ; scho, she ; tuke, took ; up-
mest clayis, uppermost clothes claimed by the vicar of the parish on the death
of a parishioner ; waik, weak.
10 Origines Parochiales, i. pp. 50-53 ; Old Statistical Account, vii. p. 269.
In 1640 the eastern part of the lands was erected into a separate parish, now
called New Monkland. Old Monkland occupies the western part of the
original parish.
304 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
parish of Cadder. This fact is disclosed by a declaration which
the subdean made before a notary and witnesses, on iQth
June, 1504, when he avowed that the contract had been ex-
torted from him through force and fear, and he solemnly
protested that from that time it should not stand in prejudice
or injury to himself, his benefice, or conscience. 1
Cadder was one of several vicarages which were, in 1507,
annexed to the College of Glasgow, " for the advantage of the
clergy and for cherishing varied and superior learning and the
society of learned men therein." 2 A few months previous
to this arrangement, Sir Archibald Calderwood, then vicar of
the parishes of Cadder and Monkland, who had for his interest
consented to the annexation, 3 bequeathed an annuity of eight
shillings for a collation to the dean, regents, masters and
students of the college, on the day of his obit, and there was
also given to the college a cup, called a mazer, and four silver
spoons. 4 Calderwood had " tua places " in Glasgow, one
described as opposite the Pedagogy and the other as on the
Friar wall, evidently not far from each other, though their
precise positions are not clearly indicated. From the vicar's
bequest, as extracted from the " Mes bwik of Cadder," and
written in the vernacular, it appears that so much of the
revenues of the two properties was already applied to religious
and charitable purposes. St. Machan's altar got 45., the master
of the almshouse, 3od. and St. Nicholas altar and John of
Akynheid, 175. id., all from the property opposite the
Pedagogy. By the new foundation the vicar directed to be
paid, yearly, for anniversary services, 2 merks to a chaplain,
8s. to the Friars Preachers, and 8s. to the regents and students
of the College. One merk was allowed for repairs of buildings.
From the Friar wall property, out of which the Friars Preachers
already received I2S. yearly, the vicar assigned, in annual
1 Dioc. Reg. Prot. No. 88. * Ibid. Nos. 247, 316.
3 Ibid. No. 248. 4 Munimenta, i. p. 43, No. 23.
I
CADDER AND MONKLAND 305
sums, to the curate of Cadder los. " to pray for me daily at
his mes and to commend mye saule to the parochinaris,"
and for other services on " Salmes day " (All Souls day 2nd
November) ; to the curate of Monkland ios., and to the
priest of Our Lady altar 2os. for similar services in Monkland
kirk. The kirkmasters of Monkland were to receive and
expend 2s. on " mendyng of twa brygis the quhilkis I biggit."
The dean of faculty of Glasgow was to be overseer of these
bequests, receiving 2s. yearly for his labours, and eight pennies
were to be paid for St. Mungo's bell passing through the town
on the afternoon of All Souls day and the day thereafter,
calling for prayers for the departed. 5
It has been stated that Calderwood died on 30th June, 1510,
but a protocol sets forth that on i6th January, 1509-10, James
Blacader, scholar, appeared in the manse of the subdean and
there produced letters by Pope Julius II., granting to him in
commendam the vicarage of the churches of Cadder and Monk-
land, to be held by him till he should attain his eighteenth
year. Unless, therefore, the Pope's provision of the vicarage
was prospective and meant to take effect on a vacancy, Calder-
wood seems to have resigned the vicarage. Holland Blacader,
the subdean, found James duly qualified and inducted him
to the benefice. 6
5 Reg. Episc. No. 489 ; Munimenta, i. pp. 43-46, No. 24.
6 Dioc. Reg. Prot. No. 435. On being provided to the vicarage James
Blacader appointed Patrick Blacader, archdeacon of Glasgow, and others,
as procurators for obtaining possession. (Ibid. No. 436.) No subsequent trace
of the vicarage is got till after the Reformation when it is stated that the vicar-
age of Cadder and Monkland was held by Mr. Michael Chisholm, who reported
that the revenues were leased for 54 yearly, and that they consisted of eight
bolls of meal, sixty tithe lambs, eight stone of wool, with corps presents, etc.
(Chalmers* Caledonia, iii. p. 681).
CHAPTER XLII
COMMERCIAL PROGRESS SHIPPING ACTS OF PARLIAMENT
BURGESSES ARCHBISHOPS BLACADER AND BEATON-
REGALITY AND DIOCESAN JURISDICTIONS KING AND
ARCHBISHOP OF ST. ANDREWS RENTAL BOOK OF BARONY
LANDS
THE end of the fifteenth century is regarded as marking the
close of the Middle Ages and the dawn of a new era for modern
Europe. The discovery of America and of a fresh sea route
to India enlarged geographical knowledge and gave promise
of immense advance in commercial enterprise ; and it may be
supposed that other countries besides the leading maritime
nations of Spain and Portugal would share to some extent in
the impetus thus given to trading activity. Of the prosperous
condition of Scotland we have a contemporary account given
by Don Pedro de Ayala, the Spanish ambassador to the court
of King James. Writing in 1498 this foreigner reported that
the country had greatly improved during the king's reign,
that commerce was much more considerable than formerly
and was continually advancing. There were three principal
articles of export, wool, hides and fish, and the customs were
substantial and on the increase. 1
1 Early Travellers, pp. 42, 43. Ayala says : " The towns and villages
are populous. The houses are good, all built of hewn stone, and provided
with excellent doors, glass windows, and a great number of chimneys. All
the furniture that is used in Italy, Spain, and France, is to be found in their
dwellings. It has not been bought in modern times only, but inherited from
preceding ages." (Ibid. p. 47-)
306
PORT OF DUMBARTON 307
About this time, and for a considerable period afterwards,
Dumbarton was the chief port in the west of Scotland and
the most frequented as a naval base. It was the favourite
place of departure and arrival to and from France. Expedi-
tions to the Isles were organised at Dumbarton, fleets were
fitted out there, and thence they sailed. At the time King
James was making strenuous efforts to create a navy one ship
was built at Leith, another in Brittany and a third at
Dumbarton. There are many other recorded cases of ship-
building at Dumbarton, and it long continued to be a harbour
for such royal ships as came to the west coast. 2
In 1499 Glasgow and Dumbarton entered into an amicable
arrangement for the defence and maintenance of each other's
privileges. In future each of the two burghs was to have an
equal interest in the river Clyde, neither of them pretending
privilege or prerogative over the other. 3 As subsequent
records show this judicious arrangement worked satisfactorily
and, subject to various modifications, it was renewed from time
to time.
Several of the statutes of James IV. deal with the adminis-
tration of burgh affairs. 4 Thus in May, 1491, better observance
of the existing Acts relating to weights, measures and customs
2 River Clyde, pp. 17, 18 ; Lord High Treasurer's Accounts, iii. and iv.
In the year 1512 there are several payments out of the royal treasury for timber
and other material used for the building of a galley at Glasgow, a vessel about
which, unluckily, there are no further particulars (Ibid. iv. p. 290).
3 Glasg. Chart, ii. pp. 62, 72, 119. In connection with the purchase of
wine from a ship, in 1531, Glasgow had sued Dumbarton in the consistorial
court, and on this ground the latter burgh alleged that the " band " of 1499
had been broken, but the treasurer of Glasgow protested against his burgh
being prejudiced by the proceedings (Glasg. Prot. No. 1103). An indenture
entered into between the two burghs, in 1590, is on the same lines as the agree-
ment of 1499, and provision is made for the settlement of disputes by six
representatives from each who were to meet in the burgh of Renfrew (Glasg.
Chart, i. pt. ii. pp. 225-7).
4 Ancient Laws, ii. pp. 49-57. Magistrates of burghs were required to
ive these Acts openly proclaimed within their bounds.
308 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
was enjoined, directions were given for expenditure of the
common good only for the necessary purposes of the burgh
and on the advice of the town council and deacons of crafts,
and inquiry was to be made regarding such expenditure in
the yearly circuits of the great chamberlain. To avoid undue
alienation of burgh property, lands, fishings, mills and all
yearly revenues were not to be leased for a longer period
than three years at a time.
To secure the loyalty of the burgesses both to the nation and
to their own rulers it was, by renewal of a similar Act passed
in I457, 5 ordained that no one dwelling in the burgh should
enter into leagues or manrent bonds with any landward person
in any risings or convocations, but that every one should obey
the king or the burgh authorities in the defence of the realm
and for the advantage of the burgh. In the words of the statute
the inhabitants were not to " ride na rout in fere of were 6 with
na man bot with the king or with his officiaris or with the
lord of the burgh thai dwell in, or with his officiaris."
Practices introduced and dues exacted by craftsmen,
with regulations passed by deacons of crafts, had the effect
of unduly raising prices and interfering with the completion
of work, and in June, 1493, some interesting statutes were
passed to remedy such evils. In June, 1496, magistrates of
burghs were instructed to fix the prices and quality of victuals,
bread and ale, but this maybe regarded more as a parliamentary
sanction of existing practice than as the introduction of a
new system, because from the earliest times of which their
proceedings are extant town councils seem to have exercised
control in that direction.
An Act passed in March, 1503, providing that all officers,
provosts, bailies and others having jurisdiction within burgh
should be changed yearly, and that none should hold office
except those who " usis merchandice " within the burgh,
5 Ancient Laws, ii, p. 29. 6 Not to assemble and march in warlike array.
BURGESS LIABILITIES AND PRIVILEGES 309
may have been strictly observed in Glasgow, except in the case
of the provost whose office, as formerly, seems to have been
regarded as an appendage to the bailieship of the regality. 7
Membership in the community of a royal burgh, termed
burgesship, originally implied the possession of real property
within the burgh, with the privilege of sharing in its trade,
responsibility for the administration of its affairs, and liability
for the defence of its interests. From an early period the
regulation of admission to the burgess roll was in the hands of
the community, one of the points on which the great chamber-
lain inquired on his periodical visitations of a burgh being " gif
the balyeis sell the fredome of the burgh till ony without leif
of the comunite." 8 In accordance with the practice here
indicated, it was, in the parliament of 1503, ordained that the
provost and bailies should not make burgesses without the
advice and consent of the great council of the town and that
the profit should go to the common good and be spent on
common works. As representing the community the Town
Council fixed the entry money, which long formed a substantial
item in the Common Good assets of royal burghs. Under
numerous legislative enactments burgesses of royal burghs
possessed the exclusive privilege of trade, both home and
foreign, and expenditure in enrolment as a burgess was thus a
remunerative investment. In Glasgow the rights of burgesses
are recognised in the foundation charter of the burgh. " I
will and straitly enjoin," so runs the royal mandate, " that
all the burgesses who shall be resident in the foresaid burgh
shall justly have my firm peace through my whole land ; and
I straitly forbid any one unjustly to trouble or molest them
or their chattels." 9 It may safely be assumed that Glasgow
burgesses have all along enjoyed the usual privileges of their
class, but on account of the extant council records not beginning
7 Antea, p. 210. Ancient Laws, i. p. 153. *
9 Glasg. Chart, i. p. 4.
310 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
at an earlier date than 1573 there is little actual evidence on
the subject prior to that date.
On a vacancy in the chaplainry at the altar of St. Kentigern,
founded by Sir Walter Stewart of Arthurle, on the south side
of the nave of the cathedral, 10 occurring in the year 1505-6,
Sir Bartholomew Blare, chaplain, was inducted, by delivery
of the chalice, missal and ornaments of the altar. It had been
provided that on failure of heirs-male of the founder the
patronage was to belong to the bailies and community, and
though it is not recorded that they nominated the new chaplain
they took part in some of the necessary arrangements. The
induction took place on 2oth February, 1505-6, and two days
later Patrick Culquhoune, provost, and two bailies, in name of
the whole community of the city, delivered to the inducted
chaplain the furnishings and ornaments of the altar, conform
to a list which is quoted below as indicating the vast amount
of valuable material which must have been stored in the
cathedral, assuming that each of its many altars was fitted
up and decorated in a somewhat similar manner. 1 The
chaplain accepted the custody of the articles delivered to him,
10 Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. pp. 45-52.
1 " First, an image of the Saviour with a pedestal, in" a wooden chest, of
alabaster ; an image of the glorious Virgin, on a table of alabaster ; two
large chandeliers, and two small brass prikkets ; two extinguishers for torches,
of tin ; two silver phials, one of which wanted ' the strowp ' ; a chasuble
of blue, with the hood, stole, and apparels thereof ; a chasuble of dun-coloured
' sathyne,' without the hood, stole, and apparels ; a chasuble of burd
alexander ; two white albs, with an old alb ; a missal, with a wooden boss
of overlaid work ; two curtains of taffety ; six coverings for the altar of
linen cloth ; two amices ; a hanging of arras cloth, suspended at a pillar
before the altar ; a frontal of black velvet, with a frontal hanging to the ground
joined to it of arras work, also an arras frontal with a hanging front of worsted
reaching to the ground ; two cushions of blue and red velvet ; a stole with a
fillet of Liege cloth of gold ' the luke ' ; two apparels of red velvet upon
the tail, with an apparel of green burd alexander upon the sleeve of an alb ;
an apparel upon an amice of green burd alexander ; a large hanging chandelier
before the altar." Burd alexander was a kind of cloth manufactured at
Alexandria and other towns in Egypt.
ARCHBISHOPRIC AND CHAPLAINRIES 311
but protested for the replacement of those which were wanting,
when they happened to be restored to the altar. 2
About four months later Andrew Stewart, son of the
founder of the chaplainry, and then archdeacon of Candida
Casa, founded another chaplainry at St. Kentigern's altar,
endowing it with four tenements on the west side of the High
Street. 3 Some little time must have been occupied in pre-
liminary details, but on I7th November, 1507, the founder con-
ferred the new chaplainry on Sir James Houstoun, deacon, who
latterly came to be well known as subdean and founder of the
Collegiate Church of St. Ma*y and St. Anne in the city. In the
instrument recording the appointment the founder takes the
opportunity of narrating that the endowments of the chap-
lainry consisted of goods bestowed by God and collected by
his own industry and labour. 4
Archbishop Blacader died in the end of July, 1508, while
on a voyage in pilgrimage to the Holy Land. News of his
reported demise probably reached Scotland by October, as
James Beaton, then bishop of Galloway, 5 was at the king's
desire chosen by the chapter of Glasgow as his successor, on
9th November, but under reservation of the right and possession
of the former archbishop, " if he still survived." All doubt as
to the actual vacancy having been removed, the chapter, on
8th April, 1509, complied with letters sent by Pope Julius and
received the new archbishop as the father and shepherd of
2 Diocesan Reg. Prot. Nos. 148-9.
3 Reg. Episc. No. 485. Provision was made for the tenements being kept
in repair ; and on the day of the founder's obit the chaplain was instructed
to bestow sixpence each on forty poor fathers and mothers of families, the
procurators who distributed the money receiving 33. for their trouble, and
the priest who served the original chaplainry was also to get 33.
4 Dioc. Reg. Prot. No. 281.
5 Archbishop Beaton was the sixth son of John Beaton of Balfour in Fife,
his mother being Marjory, daughter of Sir David Boswell of Balmuto.
Bethune, Betone and Betoun, are varying forms which this name takes in
sixteenth century MSS. " Beaton " is adopted here in conformity with modern
usage.
312 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
their souls. Similarly cordial welcome was given by the
university and clergy and by the bailies in name of the citizens
and people of Glasgow, and on i8th April the archbishop
himself, sitting in judgment in the chapter house, " for
restoring rights and hearing causes," declared that he was
prepared to render justice to those who desired to prosecute
any ecclesiastical persons of his diocese, repledged from the
court of justiciary to the jurisdiction of ecclesiastical liberty. 6
The jurisdiction here referred to was that exercised in the
court of the archbishop's Official, otherwise called the com-
missary or consistory court. Four months later the archbishop
granted a commission to Lord Gray, the king's justiciar,
authorising him to hold a court of his (the archbishop's)
regality of Glasgow, within the tolbooth of Edinburgh, for the
trial of Alexander Likprivik and his accomplices for the
murder of George Hamilton within the regality and city ot
Glasgow, the accomplices being also charged with other crimes.
The commission, which was presented by John Stewart of
Minto, bailie of the regality and provost of the city, was
accepted by Lord Gray and, while the reason for holding the
trial in Edinburgh is not stated, the archbishop, who was
present, took the precaution of protesting that this should not
be to the prejudice of the regality of Glasgow. 7
The jurisdiction exercised by the Official throughout the
diocese was so comprehensive as to leave few subjects beyond
its range, but the bailies of the burgh maintained that none
of the citizens ought to summon another citizen before a
spiritual judge ordinary respecting a matter which could be
competently decided before the bailies in the court-house of the
burgh. A citizen who was fined in the burgh court for trans-
6 Dioc. Reg. Prot. Nos. 288-90, 358-60 ; Dowden's Bishops, pp. 334 40.
7 Reg. Episc. No. 488. The trial ended in the conviction and capital
sentence of Alexander Lekprevik, but he had a royal pardon. (Pitcairn's
Criminal Trials, pp. 62*; no*.)
n\
SEAL OF JAMES BEATON, ARCHBISHOP OF GLASGOW, 1508-24.
VISIT OF KING AND PRIMATE 313
gressing this rule appealed to the court of the Official, and some
of the proceedings, including the decision of the burgh court,
are recorded in documents dated in December and January,
1510-1. While the magistrates, through their provost, the
Earl of Lennox, appear to have adhered to their position, it
was declared that the magistrates and citizens would not do
anything against the liberty and jurisdiction of Holy Mother
Church. 8
Alexander Stewart, a son of the king, had been provided to-
the archbishopric of St. Andrews, in 1504, while he was yet a
child of about eleven years of age, the actual administration
of affairs being entrusted to churchmen of mature experience.
On the occasion of a visit to Glasgow by the young archbishop,
when in his seventeenth or eighteenth year, the feeling of
independence and anxiety for the maintenance of their privileges
was manifested by the clergy of Glasgow diocese, as represented
by the cathedral chapter. Hearing that the archbishop,
who was likewise primate of Scotland and papal legate, was
approaching the city, and that the archbishop of Glasgow
was going to meet him for the sake of paying homage and
obedience, the chancellor, president and chapter of Glasgow,
on 2 ist June, 1510, formally declared that they were to go with
the archbishop to please the King, who was to accompany
his son, the primate, and also to please the archbishop, and
not otherwise ; and that they were exempted " both by their
ancient and modern privileges, granted by the Roman pontiffs
and by kings from doing homage to the primate and to the arch-
bishop of Glasgow and other judges ordinaries whomsoever/'
They therefore solemnly protested that whatever homage or
obedience or courtesy the archbishop of Glasgow, to please
8 Dioc. Reg. Prot. Nos. 498, 503-4. One of the points of inquiry to be
made by the great chamberlain on his circuit of the burghs was " gif ony
drawis his nychtbouris in the christiane court fra the secular." (Ancient
Laws, i. pp. 152-3.)
314 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
Ins Majesty, should render by walking in procession to meet him
should not prejudice them or their successors. 9
Long before the time of Archbishop Beaton all the available
lands in the barony of Glasgow which had been at the disposal
of his predecessors were put into the possession of rentallers,
but the earliest preserved Rental Book, containing the record
of changes in ownership, only begins in the first year of his
episcopate. After the original grant from the bishop, as lord
of the barony, a rental right might be acquired by succession,
by purchase from a rentaller, or by marrying the daughter of
a rentaller ; and a widow was entitled to hold her husband's
possession during her viduity. Relaxation of a widow's
iorfeiture on remarriage was common, and when a right came
~by succession to a son, and sometimes, though rarely, to a
daughter, the liferent of the surviving father or mother was
invariably reserved. It was a common practice for one
member of a family to be entered as rentaller during the life-
time of both parents, but in that case actual possession was
contingent on survivance. The preserved Rental Book em-
bodies holograph entries by the several archbishops, recording
in brief form the transmission of rental rights between 1509
and 1570, and thus affords much desirable information regarding
the people in the barony and their estates, some of which were
continued in direct lines of succession for many generations. 10
9 Dioc. Reg. Prot. No. 468. The privileges of the chapter of Glasgow were
confirmed by Archbishop Beaton on 8th July, 1512 (Reg. Episc. No. 490).
30 In 1918 the corporation of Glasgow purchased from the trustees of
William Allan Woddrop, recently deceased, part of the estate of Dalmarnock,
which had come to him through ancestors and relatives whose successive
possession can be traced since 1522 (Dioc. Reg. Rental Book, p. 83). The
Rental Book was taken to Paris by the second Archbishop Beaton, who
continued to enter the names of rentallers therein till 1570. This book and
Cuthbert Simson's Protocol Book, 1499-1503, were published by the Grampian
Oub in 1875 under the title Diocesan Registers of Glasgow.
CHAPTER XLIII
EARLS OF LENNOX MANSES OF GOVAN AND RENFREW
BATTLE OF FLODDEN PROVOSTS-DEPUTE ALTAR OF
ST. CHRISTOPHER SEAL OF CAUSE TO SKINNERS AND
FURRIERS DUKE OF ALBANY, GOVERNOR OF
KINGDOM INSURRECTIONARY MOVEMENTS SIEGE OF
ARCHBISHOP'S CASTLE
REFERENCE has been made to the negotiations with Duncan,
Earl of Lennox, and his daughter Isabella, the Countess of
Lennox and Duchess of Albany, regarding the Hospital of
Polmadie, and benefactions bestowed by them on the Friars
Preachers of Glasgow. 1 The earldom subsequently passed
to Sir John Stewart of Dernely, grandson of Elizabeth, the
youngest daughter of Earl Duncan. His grandfather and
father had likewise taken an interest in the Friars, as in 1419
and 1433, respectively, the latter had obtained from these
Dernely lairds yearly pensions of victual and money. 2 Sir John
was created Lord Dernely about the year 1460, and some years
afterwards he got possession of the earldom of Lennox. His
son Matthew, second earl of the Stewart line, succeeded in
1494, and it was during his time that the intimate relationship
existing between the Lennox family and the city and regality
of Glasgow is first referred to in a contemporary record. Earl
Matthew was provost of the burgh in the year 1509-10, and at
1 Antea, pp. 196, 233. 2 Lib. Coll. etc. pp. 162, 165.
315
316 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
that time he acquired the Stablegreen property where the
Lennox mansion stood till near the end of the century. It is
supposed that in 1509-10 the earl must have held the office of
bailie of the barony and regality of Glasgow, as in the year 1578
it was stated that his grandson, another Earl Matthew,
who had been regent of the kingdom, his father and
grandfather, and their "foirbearis, wer kyndlie baillies" of
the lordship and regality " and broukit the office thairof past
all memory." 3
South of the property acquired by Earl Matthew the
Stablegreen ground, as already mentioned, 4 was apparently
at one time vested in the administrators of St. Nicholas
Hospital. In the year 1507 Sir William Silver, subchanter and
master of the hospital, with the approval of the archbishop
and the magistrates of Glasgow, conveyed to Mr. John Gibson,
prebendary of Renfrew, and his successors, " a tenement
belonging to the said hospital, lying in the city of Glasgow,
near the palace of the archbishop, on the west side thereof,
between the manse of the prebendary of Govan on the south
and the lands of Patrick Colquhoun of Glen on the west and
north." It was declared that this tenement should be for
ever annexed to the prebend of Renfrew, and it thus became
the parson's manse, a designation which the property bears
in title deeds at the present day. As shown by the description
of 1507 the manse of Govan had already been planted to the
south of that of Renfrew, but at what date has not been
ascertained. On i7th June, 1508, Gibson, as prebendary of
Renfrew, complained against Adam Colquhoun, prebendary
of Govan, for having appropriated part of his manse,
and in presence of the dean and chapter he protested against
the encroachment. Both manses paid feuduties to St.
Nicholas Hospital, thus showing that Govan manse as well
3 Privy Council Reg. ii. p. 697. * Antea, pp. 228-9.
BATTLE OF FLODDEN 317
as that of Renfrew had been erected on a site derived from
the hospital. 5
The acquisition of the Lennox mansion or its site is narrated
in a protocol dated 20th August, 1509. Adam Colquhoun,
parson of Govan, a son of Patrick Colquhoun of Glens, on that
day resigned in favour of Matthew earl of Lennox what is
described as a tenement in the Stablegreen, situated between
the lands of George Colquhoun on the north and the manses
of the archdeacon of Teviotdale and of the prebendary of
Renfrew on the south, with the garden and pertinents, the
price payable by the earl being ten merks, yearly, for church
services, on the seller's foundation. 6
Earl Matthew, bailie of the regality and presumably provost
of the city of Glasgow, was likewise sheriff of Dumbarton, and
in 1513 he is understood to have led the men of Lennox and
the citizens of Glasgow to the field of Flodden, where he was
slain. Little information is procurable as to the number of
Glasgow people who accompanied the earl ; but of one citizen,
Michael Flemyng, it is recorded that, three weeks before the
fateful day, he gave instructions that if he happened not to
return to Glasgow but should die in battle against the English,
or elsewhere, an obit should be founded for certain religious
6 Dioc. Reg. Prot. Nos. 235-8, 323 ; Glasg. Prot. No. 3531 ; Chiefs of Colqu-
houn, ii. p. 260; Maxwells of Pollok, i. p. 179 ; Rottenrow (Regality Club, iii.)
p. 57. In the cited protocol, No. 237 (26th May, 1507), Patrick Colquhoun
is designated " prepositus Glasguensis pro tempore." See remarks as to his
relationship with the Earl of Lennox and as to the provosts and provost-
deputes, antea, p. 229, and postea, pp. 319-20.
6 Dioc. Reg. Prot. No. 384. In this place the earls of Lennox had for
many years their town residence. In consequence of the forfeiture of the
second Earl Matthew in 1545 the mansion reverted to the crown, and it was
bestowed on John Hammylton of Neilisland in 1550, and on John Stuart,
commendator of Coldingham, in 1556. With the rescinding of the forfeiture
in 1564 it is understood that the mansion was restored to the earl, whose son,
the ill-fated Darnley, probably occupied it in the month preceding his murder
at Kirk of Field in Edinburgh (Glasg. Chart, i. p. dxxxiv.). About the year
1584-5 the grounds were broken up and disposed of in building lots (Glasg.
Prot. Nos. 2666-7, 2673-4).
3*8 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
services to be celebrated in the cathedral yearly. 7 But
Flemyng had better luck, as he lived to return to the city, and,
on 29th November, 1514, he and his mother founded an obit
in the church of the Friars Preachers. 8
Glasgow people may not have had a very prominent share
in the active preparations for the expedition to England, but
there was one incident which brought the military movements
vividly under their notice. The Irish chieftain O'Donnell
was in Scotland in July, 1513, about which time there was some
idea of creating a diversion in Ireland which might occupy the
attention of the English King. A big cannon drawn by thirty-
six horses and accompanied by proportionate ammunition was
sent from Edinburgh to Glasgow, probably with the intention
of being shipped to Ireland, and the force included seven
quarriers " for the undermyning of walls." In addition to this
cavalcade sixteen " tume " or empty carts were sent for bring-
ing home wine expected to be landed on the west coast from
France. But owing to a change of plans, it being perhaps
found that artillery could not be spared at that time, the guns
never got to Ireland. On I4th August more carts were
despatched to Glasgow to bring them home again, a journey
which it took ten days to accomplish. 9
After the battle, which was fought on gth September, we
have two or three contemporary notices incidentally connected
with it. On 7th December Lady Elizabeth Hamilton, relict
of the Earl of Lennox, in presence of notaries and witnesses,
assembled in her Stablegreen residence, made arrangements
with her son and heir as to the disposal of revenues from her
deceased husband's estate ; 10 and on 24th January a meeting
of the magistrates, held in the court-house of the burgh, was
attended by John Schaw, " provost-depute," the first occasion
1 Dioc. Reg. Prot. No. 651. 8 Lib. Coll. etc. pp. 211-2.
9 Lord High Treasurer's Accounts, iv. pp. Ixxx-i. 527.
10 Dioc. Reg. Prot. No. 659.
ALTAR OF ST. CHRISTOPHER 319
on which that designation has been noticed on record. 1 Un-
luckily Cuthbert Symson's protocol book ends in 1513, and
its only other reference to affairs connected with Flodden
is the statement that " King James V., King of Scots, was
crowned in the castle of Stirling by James, archbishop of Glas-
gow, 2ist September, 1513." 2 The other Scottish archbishop
had fallen with his father on the field of battle.
During the year of his tenure of the provostship, John
Schaw, with consent of Marion Crawfurd, his spouse, founded
a chaplainry at the altar of St. Christopher, on the south side
of the nave of the cathedral, and for its maintenance he assigned
property acquired by him " by labor and purchase, through the
divine favour." These endowments consisted of several lands
and buildings situated in various crofts and streets throughout
the city. The founder provided that after he had " departed
from this vale of tears " the magistrates and community were
to be patrons of the chaplainry which was to be bestowed only
upon the son of a burgess of the city, " learned and meet for
the office." On the " day " of the founder's " obit," which,
by an unusual stipulation was conventionally fixed for I3th
June, yearly, the chaplain was to give twelve pennies each to
twelve priests to celebrate mass for his soul, at the altar, to-
gether with the obsequies of the dead, on the night preceding,
and the ringing of St. Kentigern's bell. The foundation
charter is dated 30th May, 1514, and on the following day, in
presence of the two bailies of the city and the burgesses, as-
sembled in the burgh court-house, " in a great number and
overflowing multitude," John Scot, Schaw's nephew and
apparent heir, appeared and solemnly ratified the endowment.
The first chaplain was John Schaw, a natural son of the founder,
he having been appointed by his father with concurrence of
the bailies and community as patrons. 3
1 Dioc. Reg. Prot. No. 255. 2 Ibid. No. 663.
3 Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. pp. 101 ; ii. p. 458. In the foundation charter
Schaw is designated " provost " and in the ratification " provost-depute.'^
320 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
Two years after the date of Provost Schaw's foundation
the skinners and furriers of the city applied to the town council
for confirmation of their rules as a society, one of the declared
purposes being augmentation of divine service at the altar of
St. Christopher, their patron. 4 Complying with this desire
the provost, magistrates and council, with consent of the
archbishop, granted to the Skinner and Furrier Crafts a seal
of cause on 28th May, 1516, this being, so far as can be ascer-
tained, the first example of such procedure in Glasgow. Though
the skinners and furriers, as well as most of the other craftsmen
of the city, must have been formed into separate societies,
under various sorts of voluntary arrangements, before this time,
it is not improbable that this was the first occasion on which
the town council and the archbishop had interposed their
It is doubtful if any distinctive meaning was attached to the alternative
designation. It was only on about half-a-dozen occasions, when the names
of John Schaw and George Colquhoune appear, between 1514 and 1520, that
the term depute occurs, and once it is omitted. Both Schaw and Colquhoune
are likely to have been bailies-depute of the regality and a similar affix may
have inadvertently crept into their civic designation. In no year when a
provost- depute is named is there mention of another person holding the
office of provost. Perhaps the expression provost-depute was used in the
same sense as sheriff-depute, the designation of the principal sheriff of a
shire.
After the Reformation the town council, as patrons, devoted the revenues
of St. Christopher's chaplainry to educational or charitable purposes. On
the decease of Sir Andrew Walker, the last pre-Reformation chaplain, St.
Christopher's chaplainry was given to Sir James Fleming on condition of his
restoring St. Mungo's chaplainry then held by him. Court proceedings
were resorted to for enforcement of this arrangement, but these ended with
Fleming's resigning the former chaplainry. St. Christopher's being thus
again at their disposal, the town council, in March, 1575-6, gave it to Michael
Wilson, son of James Wilson, mason, for the space of seven years " providing
he remane at the scholes in this toun." Eight months before the expiry of the
seventh year Michael Wilson resigned in favour of John Wilson, his brother,
*' beand blinde," and to this brother the chaplainry was bestowed for the
space of other seven years. (Glasg. Rec. i. pp. 19, 30, 48, 96.)
4 In 1450-1, the skinners of Edinburgh undertook to give their support to
the chaplain and altar of St. Christopher in the church of St. Giles, and their
seal of cause, obtained in 1474, provided for contributions to that altar.
Edin. Rec. i. pp. 9, 28.
CRAFT GUILDS AND CRAFTSMEN 321
authority in the constitution of a craft incorporation ; and if
this be so it may further be surmised that the prospect of
augmenting the revenues of the new chaplainry, of which the
town council were to be the patrons, acted as an inducement
for adopting such a course at that particular time.
Craft guilds or fraternities are known to have flourished in
many European countries long before the date at which our
limited knowledge enables us to trace them in Scotland. From
the tenth century onwards, associations adapted to various
social and political purpo c es are traced, and so far as can be
gleaned from the scant glimpses of their inner life they seem to
have existed almost entirely for secular purposes. But from
the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, when knowledge on
the subject is fuller and more accessible the religious element
becomes conspicuous, though in this country at least the
regulation of trade and industry remained the leading object
of these confederations.
As regards Scotland an Act of Parliament passed in the
reign of James I., on his return from English captivity, seems
to indicate that, bodies of craftsmen had been organised by
that time ; and for their more effective regulation it was enacted
that in each town, and of each " sindry " craft therein, a wise
man should be chosen by the majority of that craft, " and be
the counsall of the omciaris of the toune," to be " dekyn,"
with power to try all made work, so that the King's lieges
should not be defrauded and injured in future, " as thai have
been in tyme bygane, through untrew men of crafts." 5 Sub-
sequent statutes likewise deal with the appointment of deacons,
and more than once the power to choose them was temporarily
withdrawn, but with such exceptions the practice of appointing
deacons has been continuously observed.
Associations of craftsmen could thus be organised and
5 Ancient Laws, ii. p. 5 (i2th March, 1424).
x
322 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
ruled by deacons under the general law, though in course of
time it came to be the invariable practice in Scotland for each
body to be constituted under special regulations sanctioned
by the town council of the burgh, and expressed in a writing
which was sometimes called a " Letter of Dekynheid," but more
commonly a " seal of cause," on account of its being authenti-
cated by the appending of the seal of cause of the burgh. In
this country seals of cause are believed not to have come into
use before the fifteenth century, so there is nothing unreasonable
in supposing that the practice had not been introduced into
Glasgow before 1516.
Neither the formation nor the efficient working of an
associated body of craftsmen could be satisfactorily under-
taken without the services of a qualified clerk, especially as
it seems to have been the practice of such societies to keep
records of their official proceedings. Such clerical duties would
naturally devolve on a priest and it may be assumed that in
most cases the craftsmen's choice would fall on the chaplain
serving at their altar. When confirmation of a craft's rules
became desirable the preliminary supplication to the town
council would usually be framed by the priest acting as clerk
and chaplain, a circumstance which was likely to ensure due
prominence being given to altarage claims. But by the
beginning of the sixteenth century there was not much latitude
allowed in that procedure, the seals of cause being very much
of an established formal type and, as expressed in the petition
of the skinners and furriers, " according to the lawis and
consuetis of grete townis of honour of uther realmes and
provinces."
The seal of cause of 1516 was granted on the supplication
of the " kirkmaisters and the laif of the maisteris of skynner
craft and furrier craft," being " tua craftis and unyte ourself
in cherite togidder," which supplication was presented to the
provost, bailies, council and community of the burgh " sittand
SKINNERS AND FURRIERS 323
in jugement, counsalie gaderit." The kirkmaster, a name
primarily applied to the official having charge of altarage
arrangements, sometimes acted as deacon, and the refer-
ence here to " kirkmaisters " shows that previous to 1516
the skinners and furriers had each an official bearing that
designation.
Besides the kirkmasters, who are not named, eleven
masters of craft, all named, joined in the desire that, for loving
of Almighty God, the honour of the realm, the worship and
profit of this good town, the profit of the King's lieges, and for
augmentation of divine service at the altar of St. Christopher,
within the metropolitan kirk, the statutes and rules set down by
them should be authorised and put in force. Briefly stated
these were to the following effect : (i) No member of the
crafts to set up booth unless found qualified and admitted by
the town council and sworn masters of the crafts, and each
to pay, if a freeman's son 53., and if an unfreeman's son ios.,
towards the repair and upholding of divine service at the altar.
(2) No master of craft to hire or reset any other master's prentice
or freeman, under penalty of a pound of wax candles to the
altar and punishment at the discretion of the town council.
(3) Each master holding booth within burgh to pay a weekly
penny towards the repair and adornment of the altar and sus-
tenance of the priest. (4) No false stuff to be sold, under the
penalty of half a pound of wax to the altar, and the false stuff to
be forfeited. (5) Provision made for collection of the dues and
upholding of divine service. As craved by the supplicants,
the magistrates and community, with the approbation of the
archbishop, ratified the rules, and the common seal of the
burgh and round seal of the archbishop were appended to the
writing. 6
6 Annals of the Skinners Craft (1875), pp. 114-8; facsimile of seal of
cause, the original of which is in the possession of the Incorporation of
Skinners.
324 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
Before inarching to England James IV. had named Queen
Margaret as regent, associating with her the archbishop of
Glasgow and several noblemen. Following out these instruc-
tions the Scottish estates met and appointed Queen Margaret
guardian of her son and regent of the kingdom, while the
archbishop of Glasgow, holding the office of chancellor, and the
earls of Huntly, Angus and Arran were associated with her
as councillors. But in the absence of central control, and
with not a few members of the nobility more concerned about
their own aggrandizement than the common weal, rivalry
and strife soon manifested themselves, and the marriage of
Margaret to the Earl of Angus, in the first year of her widow-
hood, brought on a crisis. A new regent became a necessity,
and the choice lay between two noblemen, the Duke of Albany
and the Earl of Arran. John, fourth duke of Albany, was
son of the younger brother of James III., and, after the young
King, next heir to the crown. James, second lord Hamilton
and first earl of Arran, was the son of that Lord Hamilton
whose donations to Glasgow college and benefactions for
religious purposes in the city have already been noticed. The
earl's mother was Princess Mary, eldest daughter of King
James II., and he and Albany were thus in the same degree of
kin to the King, though the earl's descent being through a
daughter, his claim ranked second to that of the duke, whose
descent was through a son of James II. Albany had been
brought up in France, where his chief estates lay, and he was
unacquainted with the Scottish customs and people ; but,
through the influence of Bishop Elphinstone and others, he
was chosen regent. Before Albany's arrival in this country
the Earl of Arran, with his nephew, John, Earl of Lennox
(who had succeeded his father in 1513), and the Earl of Glen-
cairn, had taken up arms against the Earl of Angus and his
party. On a tempestuous night in December, 1514, Lennox
seized the castle of Dumbarton, which was then regarded as
DUKE OF ALBANY 325
the key of the west, and Erskine, the governor, who held it
for the Queen, was expelled.
On i8th May, 1515, the Duke of Albany arrived at Dum-
barton with a squadron of eight ships laden with ammunition
and warlike stores. He was eagerly welcomed by a concourse
of the nobles and gentry of the western shires, received a like
cordial reception in the capital, and at a parliament held in
July was installed in the office of regent and proclaimed
Governor and Protector of the kingdom. Part of the imported
artillery and stores seems to have been brought by water from
Dumbarton to Glasgow, whence it was removed to Edinburgh
and other places. In July payments were made by the King's
treasurer for bringing the guns and other pieces of artillery
out of the water at the " brig " and storing them at " Blak-
freris." Between August and October, men, horses and carts,
in considerable numbers, were from time to time employed
in the transfer of the material, and even so far on as
4th February, 1515-6, there was a payment of 72 i8s. for
carts and carriage of artillery out of Glasgow and Dumbarton
to Edinburgh.
About this time the Earl of Arran had entered into a league
with Lennox, Glencairn, and other barons, for the purpose of
depriving Albany of the regency. 7 It was perhaps in appre-
hension of these disturbing times that Archbishop Beaton
fortified his episcopal palace by enclosing it with a strong wall
about fifteen feet high towards the east, south and west, with a
bastion on the one corner and a tower on the other, fronting
Castle Street. The tower must have been of considerable
strength so long as it was maintained in good condition, for
even after it had stood for nearly three centuries, and had
latterly fallen into decay through neglect, it still showed an
imposing exterior at the time of its removal to make
1 Treas. Accounts, v. pp. 16-18, 30, 38, 68, 71.
326 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
way for the erection of the Royal Infirmary about the year
1792. 8
In course of the insurrectionary movements of the western
lords, the castle of Glasgow was besieged and taken from
the archbishop by John Mure of Caldwell, who had joined
the league of the Earls of Lennox, Arran and Glencairn. The
assailants obtained access to the castle on 20th February,
1515-6, but the regent marched to the city with a strong body
of troops and recovered possession for the archbishop. Letters
were sent to the sheriffs and bailies of shires and burghs,
summoning the lieges to convene at Glasgow, artillery drawn
by oxen was brought from Falkirk, and the Regent himself
was in Glasgow on 2ist February. 9 Through the archbishop's
mediation a settlement was adjusted at this time and Arran
made his peace with the Governor on 7th March. To judge
from a series of " respites," or letters of remission, granted by
the King and his council between ist July, 1526, and 2Qth
May, 1527, and which seem to refer either to this rising or to
that which was suppressed in the end of 1515, the proceedings
of these months must have been of a somewhat formidable
character. By the first of the letters of remission the Earl
of Arran, and others to the number of five or six thousand,
conform to a list to be verified by him, were respited " for the
treasonable arraying of batell, insurrection and feilding, aganis
Johne, duke of Albany, etc., tut our to the Kingis grace, pro-
tectour and governour of his realme, cumand with the kingis
autoritie and his banner being displayit for the tyme at
Kittycrocehill, besyde Glasgw." All the letters of remission
referred to mention the array at Kittycrocehill, 10 but though
there are several places in the vicinity of Glasgow called Cross-
8 Trans. Arch. Soc. (Macgregor), 2nd series, i. p. 232 ; Medieval Glasgow,
p. 242.
L. H. T. Accounts, v. p. 73.
10 Reg. Sec. Sig. i. Nos. 3409, 3440, 3728, 3765, 3787.
SIEGE OF BISHOP'S CASTLE 327
hill none of these has the prefix " Kitty," and consequently
the precise locality of the military display has not been
identified. There is a place called Kittyrmrir in the parish of
Stonehouse and situated a few miles from Hamilton Castle,
which castle Albany besieged and took in his military operations
against the Earl of Arran in 1515. Perhaps it was this locality,
though incorrectly described as " besyde " Glasgow, which
was the scene of the rebellious array referred to in the letters
of remission.
The facts connected with the occupation of the archbishop's
castle by the insurgents are narrated in a decree by the lords
of council, dated 4th March, 1517-8. The archbishop had
raised an action against Mure " for the wranguis and violent
ejection and furth putting of his servands out of his castell and
palace of Glasgow and taking of the samyn fra them ; and for
the wranguis spoliation, intrometting, away taking and with-
halding fra the said maist reverend fader " of certain goods,
such as beds, clothing, jewels, utensils, provisions, ammunition
and arms, all specified in detail ; " and for the wranguis de-
struction of his said castell and place, breking down of the
samyn with artalzary and utherwais." The lords ordained
Mure to restore to the archbishop what had been taken away
or to pay the value. 1
1 Caldwell Papers, i. pp. 54-58 ; Trans. Arch. Soc. (Macgregor), pp. 232-6 ;
Glasg. Chart, i. pt. i. p. dxxxv. There was also an action at the instance of the
governor of the kingdom and the porter of the castle resulting in an order
by the lords of council for the restoration of goods and money abstracted from
the porter's lodge at the castle. Glasg. Chart, i. pt. i. p. 12, No. 307 [45bJ.
Through the nrsread ; ng of a passage in Buchanan's History of Scotland
Macgregor supposed that there was another attack on the Bishop's castle in
1517, but the siege referred to by Buchanan was that of February 1515-16.
CHAPTER XLIV
ARCHBISHOPS BEATON AND DUNBAR CUSTODY OF THE
KING MERCHANTS AND FOREIGN TRADE CLYDE SHIP-
PING SPREAD OF " HERESIES " JOHN MAJOR, THEOLO-
GIAN AND HISTORIAN PREBEND OF BARLANARK OR
PROVAN KING'S VISITS TO GLASGOW COURT OF
SESSION
DURING the time Albany remained in France, from 1516 to
1521, Archbishop Beaton was one of the viceregents of the
kingdom, but between two of his colleagues, the earls of Angus
and Arran, there was a continuous feud, in which the archbishop
usually sided with the latter. One of the contentions between
the two earls culminated in the famous encounter in the streets
of Edinburgh, known as " Cleanse the Causeway," that scuffle
being preceded by the dramatic interview between Bishop
Gavin of Dunkeld and Archbishop Beaton, when the latter 's
armour-clad conscience " clattered." This was in April, 1520.
The duke's resumption of personal government, from
November, 1521, till October in the following year, effected
a diversion in factional rivalry. Angus fled to England, and
those in this country who favoured France gained the ascend-
ancy. Harassing incursions into the Border country were
made by the English during Albany's second absence, which
lasted eleven months. Even with the aid of French auxiliaries,
brought with him on his return, the Lord Governor was not very
successful in repelling the enemy, while attempted negotiations
328
GAVIN DUNBAR, ARCHBISHOP 329
were likewise unsatisfactory. On 20th May, 1524, Albany
finally left the country, and for a short time thereafter the
charge of national affairs mainly devolved on Archbishop
Beaton.
By this time Beaton had left Glasgow, and was Archbishop
of St. Andrews and chancellor of the kingdom. Though he
had been translated to his new see on loth October, 1522,
the archbishopric of Glasgow remained vacant till 8th July,
1524, when Gavin Dunbar, son of Sir John Dunbar of Mochrum,
and nephew of Gavin Dunbar, bishop of Aberdeen, was installed
by Pope Clement VII. In the end of the previous year Arch-
bishop Beaton had been writing to Rome, in evident dread that
in the appointment of the future archbishop the Pope might
exempt him from the primatial and legatine jurisdiction of
the see of St. Andrews. His fears were justified, for on the
day of Dunbar's provision to the archbishopric the Pope granted
to him and his suffragans as full an exemption from the juris-
diction of St. Andrews as had been enjoyed by his two-
predecessors. 1 On 27th September, 1524, Archbishop Dunbar
obtained from the King a Precept admitting him to the tempor-
alities of the see. 2
Early in 1525 an agreement was come to between the Queen
and the nobility by which the government of the country was
1 Dowden's Bishops, pp. 344-5. It is believed that, notwithstanding the
delay in completing the appointment, Gavin Dunbar had, through Albany's
influence, been elected archbishop in 1523 (Ibid. p. 344). It appears ^that
after this the king, through pressure from Beaton, represented to the Pope that
the bull of 8th July, 1524, was to the primate's prejudice and great loss, and
Clement had thereupon ordained that Dunbar's privileges and exemptions,
should not extend to the rights of the archbishop of St. Andrews so far as they
arose from his being primate and legate. But on the Pope, at a later date,
being made better acquainted with the circumstances he, on 2ist September,.
1531, restored to Dunbar all the immunities enjoyed by his predecessors
Blacader and Beaton (Reg. Episc. No. 499). A few months before this time-
(yth February, 1530-1) Henry Wemyss, "bishop of Candida Casa and of the.
Chapel Royal of Stirling," offered obedience and reverence to Archbishop
Dunbar as became the duty of a suffragan to his metropolitan (Ibid. No. 498) .
2 Reg. Sec. Sig. i. No. 3298.
330 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
entrusted to a secret council consisting of the archbishops of
St. Andrews and Glasgow, the Bishops of Aberdeen and
Dunblane, and the lords Angus, Arran, Argyle and Lennox.
The Queen was to be perpetual president and to have a casting
vote. The custody of the King was to be given to the peers
in rotation, and at the outset of this arrangement he was to
remain with the archbishop of Glasgow and Angus until
November. In 1526 the King completed his fourteenth year,
and parliament passed an ordinance to the effect that as he
was then of major age the royal prerogative was to be assumed
by him and all other authority formerly derived from him was
annulled. This declaration was issued at a time when the
custody of the King had again come into the hands of Angus ;
and, at the time when he should have passed it on to other
lords, he was strong enough to refuse and to oppose by a superior
force of arms all attempts to secure the King's release. 3 In
September, 1526, John, third earl of Lennox, lost his life in an
attempt to rescue his sovereign from the Angus restraint, and
it was not till nearly two years later that James obtained his
ireedom, an immediate sequel to which was the wholesale
forfeiture of the Douglases and all their kin.
While the country was disturbed both by outside aggression
and internal dissension, the merchant class were not remiss
in their efforts for the extension of foreign trade. So far back
as the middle of the fourteenth century Scottish burgesses and
merchants had a contract with the burgesses and merchants of
Middleburgh in the Netherlands, where the staple port for the
disposal of merchandise from this country had been established. 4
In the beginning of the fifteenth century Bruges was the
recognised staple of the Scottish trade in the Netherlands, but
in consequence of the marriage of Mary, daughter of James I.,
to the lord of Campvere in Zeland, in 1444, the^staple was
3 Exchequer Rolls, xv. p. xlvi. * Conv. Rec. i. p. 537.
/ J *J
SEAL OF GAVIN DUNBAR, ARCHBISHOP OF GLASGOW, 1524-27.
TRADING IN NETHERLANDS 331
changed to his state, where it continued till J-539. 5 But these
arrangements do not seem to have been always continuous.
On 27th February, 1519-20, the Lord Governor represented to
the town council and community of the merchants of Edinburgh
that he thought it necessary there should be a staple in Flanders
where the Scots merchants might resort, and he asked which
of the three towns, Campvere, Middleburgh or Bruges, they
preferred as most convenient for the purpose. The choice
fell on Middleburgh. 6
The proceedings just referred to seem to be those which
were adversely discussed in parliament in 1526, when it was
alleged that commissioners had been appointed by the king,
on the advice of the Duke of Albany and lords of council,
with consent of the principal mercantile towns of the realm
viz., Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Stirling, St. Andrews, Perth and
Dundee, to carry through the requisite negotiations. After
inquiry, and on the ground that the " pretendit contract "
had been obtained by " circumvention of our Soverane Lord,
and in his les ayge," and that such was contrary to the common-
weal of the realm and detrimental to the burghs and their
merchants, parliament annulled the arrangement for having
the staple and residence of the Scottish merchants at Middle-
burgh and granted full licence and liberty to all merchants to pass
with their ships and goods where they thought most profitable
and where they could be best treated in future. For obtaining
this privilege money had been promised to the King, and the
amount was to be raised by taxation laid on each burgh. 7
6 Halyburton's Ledger, pp. liv, Iv. In 1539 the staple was removed to Ant-
werp, and two years later to Middleburgh, but it soon returned to Campvere,
and with short interruptions it remained at that port till the French Revolu-
tion (Ibid.; Edin. Rec. ii. pp. 97, 105).
6 Edin. Rec. i. p. 195.
7 Ancient Laws, ii. pp. 58-65. Agreements with staple ports thus left
merchants free to choose their own markets, but in the event of the staple
port being preferred merchants had the benefit of whatever privileges it
afforded (Edin. Rec. ii. pp. 106-7).
332 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
On account of their situation the Clyde burghs could not
derive much if any benefit from the staple ports in the Nether-
lands and they must always have had freedom to trade else-
where, ports on the west coast of France being probably the
most favoured. A reference to such trading occurs in a
document dated i8th May, 1524, being the record of a conference
of representatives of Dumbarton and Renfrew, held in the
parish kirk of Kilpatrick, under the arrangement between these
burghs, in 1424, for settling any disputes that might arise. 8
Renfrew now complained that Dumbarton had made a bond
and federation with Glasgow, apparently that of 1499, 9 without
their leave, and had intromitted with a French ship within
the bounds and freedom of Renfrew ; but the discussion did
not result in any definite settlement. 10
An allusion to one of the sea dangers of the time is contained
in a notary's protocol, dated 2nd February, 1525-6, where
authority is given to a citizen of Glasgow, and others, to
appear before the regent of England and obtain restoration of
gold, silver, hides, woollen cloth and pickled salmon, which
had been captured off the coast of England, by Englishmen
and Spaniards on the ship James of Dumbarton, belonging to
the earl of Arran. 1
Between 1494, when the Lollards of Kyle were brought
before James IV. 2 till about thirty years later, when the
doctrines of Luther found their way into Scotland, there is
little or no notice of the spread of opinions contrary to the
teaching of the church. But, in 1525, to avoid the dangers
of " the dampnable opunyeounes of heresy spred in diverse
cuntreis, be the heretik Luthere and his discipillis," parliament,
on I7th July in that year, ordained that no strangers arriving
with their ships, within any port of the realm, should bring
8 Antea, p. 245. 9 Antea, p. 246.
10 Irving's Dumbartonshire, (1857) pp. 155-7.
1 River Clyde, p. 20. 2 Antea, pp. 268-70.
JOHN MAJOR, REGENT OF COLLEGE 333
with them any of Luther's books or works, or rehearse his
heresies or opinions, except for refutation, and all other persons
propagating such opinions were to be suitably punished. 3
But these repressive measures had the opposite of the desired
effect, and according to John Knox it was the teaching
and death of Patrick Hamilton, who had been a pupil
of John Major, while in Glasgow, 4 and who was burnt at
St. Andrews, for heresy, in the beginning of the year 1527-8,
that decisively marked the beginning of the Reformation in
Scotland. 5
John Major, theologian and historian, was principal regent
of Glasgow college during the last four or five years of Beaton's
tenure of the archbishopric. Returning from Paris and
coming to Glasgow when about to enter the fiftieth year of his
age, Major had attained a great reputation as a scholar and
teacher and had made considerable progress with his History
of Greater Britain. On his admission to the university in
November, 1518, he was designated a Doctor of Paris, principal
regent of the college and pedagogy of Glasgow, canon of the
Chapel Royal and vicar of Dunlop. Major is referred to as
treasurer of the Chapel Royal in 1520 and also in 1522. On
9th June of the latter year he removed to St. Andrews. 6 While
in Glasgow Major was active in the general business of the
university as well as in teaching, his History was published in
1521, and he could scarcely have had much time to devote
to his treasurership or vicarage, his chief official connection with
which being probably concerned with the emoluments which
seem to have come to him as college endowments. The name
John Knox occurs in a list of students who were incorporated
at Glasgow in 1522, and it has generally been assumed that
the great Reformer was a student at Glasgow. That Knox
3 Ancient Laws, ii. p. 58. 4 Major's History, p. Ixxi.
6 Works of John Knox, i. p. 36.
6 History of Chapel Royal (Grampian Club), pp. liv. 97.
334 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
studied under Major all ancient accounts agree, but it seems
doubtful whether that was at Glasgow or St. Andrews. 7
In the first year of Beaton's archbishopric King James IV.
continued to the regents, students and officers of the university
the exemption from taxes and impositions granted by his
predecessors. The letter, under the king's privy seal, dated
at Edinburgh on 7th June, 1509, is general in its terms and
refers to the previous and more specific charters of exemption
for particulars. In Beaton's last year in Glasgow a tax had
been imposed on beneficed persons for the defence of the
kingdom and the members of the university were relieved of
payment as reported to a meeting on 24th May, 1522, at which
John Major was present. Four days before, an ample Letter
of Exemption had been granted by James V., with advice of
the Duke of Albany, whereby all previous exemptions by
royalty were specifically confirmed and all taxations, exactions,
and other charges against the rectors, deans of faculty, pro-
curators, regents, masters and scholars of the university were
discharged. 8
The few recorded grants ol the canonry of Barlanark
came direct from the popes, though with regard to the lands
forming the prebend, King Robert I. authorised their being
held by the canon with special privileges which were
eventually construed as baronial. 9 In the year 1431 there
7 Coutts, p. 45. In his History Major refers to Glasgow as " the seat of an
archbishop, and of a university, poorly endowed and not rich in scholars.
This notwithstanding, the church possesses prebends many and fat ; but in
Scotland such revenues are enjoyed in absentia just as they would be in
praesentia, a custom which I hold to be destitute at once of justice and common
sense. ... St. Andrews possesses the first university ; Aberdeen is serviceable
to the northern inhabitants, and Glasgow to those of the west and south."
In another passage Major refers to Glasgow cathedral as " second to no church
in Scotland for its beauty, the multitude of its canons, and the wealth of its
endowments." (Major's History, pp. Ixvi-vii, 28, 29, 86.)
8 Glasg. Chart, i. pp. ii. pp. 100, 106 ; Munimenta, ii. p. 143 ; Major's
History, p. Ixvii.
9 Antea, p. 149.
PREBEND OF PROVAN 335
was assigned to Walter Stewart, canon of Glasgow, bachelor
of canon law, the deanery of Moray which Pope Eugenius
IV. authorised him to hold along with " his canonries and
prebends of Barlanark in Glasgow and Balhelvi in Aberdeen,"
the combined value of which benefices did not exceed 100
sterling. 10 Several benefices held by Robert de Lawedre,
canon of Glasgow, in the year 1447, included the prebend of
Cardross and " a yearly provision for life of 6 sterling, assigned
to him by papal authority on the fruits, etc., of the prebend
of Barlanark, in the church of Glasgow." l
Bishop Blacader obtained from the Pope authority to
annex the prebend of Barlanark to the bishopric, but by a
document dated igth September, 1487, the bishop not only
promised to preserve the liberties and privileges of the chapter
but he also renounced all claim to the prebend and to its union
and incorporation with the bishopric. 2
When next traced the prebend was in the possession of one
William Baize (i.e. Balye or Baillie). On I3th February,
1506-7, King James IV. granted to James Bailzie of Carfyn,.
" bruther to Mr. William Bailzie, prebender of Barlanrik,"
a respite relating to " his lands and lordship of Provand."
Under this grant James Bailzie, Alexander, his son, and " alsa
10 Papal Reg. viii. p. 411. In 1441, during the reign of James II. his
secretary, William Turnbull, sometime a prebendary and afterwards bishop
of Glasgow, is designated in charters " dominus prebende," i.e. lord or laird
of the prebend, and this is understood as indicating that he held the prebend
of Barlanark. The Latin prebenda is equivalent to the English provender,
and appears in the Scottish vernacular as Provand. So far as is known.
Turnbull did not possess the prebend during his episcopate. (Keith, p. 251 ;
Reg. Mag. Sig. ii. No. 264-5, 267-8.)
1 Papal Reg. x. p. 310.
2 Reg. Episc. No. 450. Connected with his translation from Aberdeen to
Glasgow, Bishop Blacader had incurred heavy debts, and to assist in their
liquidation he, on 3ist March, 1487, obtained a papal bull granting certain
subsidies, with the half of the first fruits of all benefices in his diocese ; (Dow-
dens' Bishops, pp. 331-2) and the annexation of the prebend of Barlanark
may at the same time have been authorised.
336 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
Mr. Williame's servants " were to be free from appearing in
justice courts within the regality of Glasgow for a year. 3 About
sixteen years later William Bailzie, reserving the revenues
during his own lifetime, resigned the prebend in favour of
Thomas Baize, canon of Glasgow. By a Bull or Letters of Pro-
vision dated 3rd February, 1522-3, in which William Baize is
designated " clerk, lately canon of Glasgow," Pope Adrian
VI. ratified this arrangement and bestowed the prebend on
Thomas Baize during his survivorship of William. 4
After the secret council had taken Albany's place in the
government of the country, the comptroller reported to parlia-
ment the necessity of economy in the administration of the
King's revenues and the upkeep of his household ; and, though
household accounts are known to have been kept from 1508.
it is probably in consequence of the regulations adopted in
1525 that we have the extant series beginning at the latter date.
All earlier accounts have disappeared. The books are in
substance journals of the cost of provisioning the royal table,
the expenditure being classified under three heads, pantry,
buttery and kitchen, and interesting particulars regarding the
movements of royalty are chronicled. One of the King's
visits to Glasgow was made on I5th October, 1525, when
he and his council, arriving from Stirling, were entertained
l>y Archbishop Dunbar the whole of that day and part
of the next. After dinner the royal party rode to the palace
of Enchenzean (Inchinnan), the residence of the Earl of
Lennox, where they had supper. The earl entertained the
3 Reg. Sec. Sig. i. No. 1429.
* Regality Club, i. p. 74, where a facsimile and translation of the bull are
;given ; Glasg. Chart, ii. p. 350, No. 755. The Bull was one of the many
documents which have been abstracted from the city's archives since the
Inventory of Writs was compiled in 1696, but fortunately it was deposited
in the Hunterian Museum where it is accessible. In 1549 the prebend was
conferred on " Mr. William Baillie," presumably a relative of the first William
{Glasg. Memorials, p. 210).
VISITS OF JAMES V. 337
King and his retinue till after dinner on I7th, when they
left for Dumbarton. Coming from Stirling to Glasgow on
I4th December, 1529, the King, two days thereafter, was at
Cumbernauld, perhaps on his way back to Stirling. On 25th
January, 1529-30, the King rode from Stirling to Glasgow.
There the purchases for the royal table were 160 loaves, 305.;
40 gallons of ale, 535. 4d.; 3 carcases of beeves, 4 ios.; 4
quarters of a calf, 20s.; 16 sheep, 5 6s. 8d.; 4 ox tongues and
2 Ibs. of suet, 35. The King, on his return from Ayr, was
again in Glasgow on 4th February, when he gave to the Friars
96 loaves and four gallons of ale. On nth June, 1533, he
passed through Glasgow, on his way from Stirling, making
a pilgrimage to the church of St. Ninian at Candida Casa. 5
In 1504 a reform in the administration of justice in the
supreme court of the kingdom had been secured by superseding
the itinerary system, under which courts were held for brief
periods in different parts of the kingdom, by the establishment
of a daily council, chosen by the King and sitting permanently
in Edinburgh, or wherever the King should make his residence. 6
After nearly thirty years' experience of the working of this
judicial body its shortcomings, naturally enough, were revealed
and changes and improvements became desirable, and at a
parliament held in Edinburgh, on I7th May, 1532, the College
of Justice was instituted. Consisting so far of a development
of the daily council, and modelled largely on the Parliament
of Paris, but with modifications suggested by observation of
the judicial systems of other countries, this new court,
with its jurisdiction as in the case of the council limited to
civil actions, was to be composed of fourteen persons, seven
8 Excerpta Libris Domicilii (Bannatyne Club), 1836, pp. vi, 15, 16, 224.
Appx. pp. 5, 27, 28, 42.
6 The evolution of the daily council from its origin as a committee of
parliament is clearly traced in the Introduction to the recently published
Ada Dominorum Concilii, vol. ii.
Y
33 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
lay and seven spiritual, and a president who should always be
a churchman, all named by the crown. But it was provided
that the chancellor of the kingdom might take the place of
president when he pleased and that the king, at his discretion,
might add three or four members to the permanent body.
Archbishop Dunbar was chancellor at this time and in that
capacity presided in the new court when, in presence of the
King, it commenced its sittings on 27th May, 1532.
CHAPTER XLV
BLACADER'S HOSPITAL FOR CASUAL POOR COLLEGIATE
CHURCH OF ST. MARY AND ST. ANNE
DURING the greater part of Gavin Dunbar's tenure of the
archbishopric the country was in a state of comparative repose,
affording the opportunity for attention to domestic concerns.
In this period there were founded in Glasgow a hospital and
chaplainry and a collegiate church, each of considerable
importance. The founder of the hospital and chaplainry was
Roland Blacader, subdean of Glasgow, and a nephew of Arch-
bishop Blacader. The deed of foundation has been preserved
in a notarial copy, but the dates are ambiguous, and the precise
time when the endowment took effect cannot be ascertained,
though 1524, or a few years earlier or later, may be accepted
as approximately correct. Blacader was subdean in 1503,
and perhaps previously, and it is supposed that he lived till
1540 or 1541. About the year 1527 James Houstoun succeeded
to the subdeanery, but, if certain documents are to be trusted,
Blacader still retained the title of subdean. 1 The chaplain
under the new foundation was to officiate in the cathedral
at the altar of St. John the Baptist and St. Nicholas, on the
south side of the nave, at the first pillar from the Rood loft.
Various lands and a long list of annualrents were bestowed
1 In aprotocol, dated I2th December, 1533, James Houstoun was designated
" young subdean." (Glasg. Prot. No. 1174.) See also Glasg. Prot. Nos.
1161, 1290, 1292, 1313.
339
340 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
as endowments. Masses were to be celebrated daily, and
the chaplain was to be master of the hospital in the
Stablegreen, then newly founded by Blacader. The hospital
was situated outside the North Port of the city, where Dobbies
Loan joined the main northern thoroughfare, and it was
adapted for the reception of wayfarers, being described as a
" house of the poor and indigent casually coming thereto."
The chaplain had his chamber within the house, the keeper
of which, appointed by the chaplain, was to be a trustworthy
married man, of good life and honest conversation.
The keeper and his wife were required to dwell in the house
and take charge of bed clothing for the poor. There were to
be six beds furnished with blankets, coverlets, and pillows.
Vegetables and herbs for the poor were to be grown in the
garden, and lentils were to be purchased, " with which lentils
the keeper and his wife shall cook green vegetables, with garden
herbs, on the evening of every night, for the feeding and
nourishment of the poor assembling there." When herbs
were not in season the diet was changed to " white gruel "
cooked from the lentils. Coals were to be bought for the
fire, an iron grate procured for the fireplace, and special direc-
tions were given for the purchase of "an iron pot, containing
two quarts, for cooking gruel or vegetables, and a caldron,
also containing two quarts, for washing the feet of the poor." 2
The founder had appointed Sir William Craufurd to be
chaplain of the altar and master of the hospital, and that
priest seems to have retained the latter charge till about the
year 1589. On his successor taking office the building was
inspected and the report then made is given below as presum-
ably applicable so far to the hospital's original condition. 3
2 Glasg. Pvot. No. 618, where a full translation of the deed of foundation is
printed.
3 " The yaird dyk, the north syd thairof weill dykit and kaipit with stane,
and ane haill hedge on the south syd thairof ; the well weill kaipit with stane,
BLACADER'S HOSPITAL 341
In the deed of foundation precise rules were laid down for
the celebration of masses and exequies for the founder and
his friends. By one of these conditions sixty poor people,
possessing hearth, house and home in the city, were to attend
in church yearly, on the day of the founder's obit, and pray
for his soul ; and on the same day eight chaplains were to sit
around the founder's tomb, in their surplices, and celebrate
the obsequies of the dead. Each of the poor householders was
to receive 8d., and each of the chaplains I2d. for their
services. On the occasion of each obit the minor sacristan
was to get fourteen pennies for the tolling of the bells and four
pennies were to be paid to the ringer of the little bell of St.
Kentigern through the town. Ten yearly masses were to be
celebrated with the Friars Minors and twelve with the Friars
Preachers dwelling in the city. Blacader had at one time paid
260 to the Convent of the Friars Preachers in Glasgow and
obtained their obligation for the celebration of thirteen masses,
weekly ; and when the provincial and visitor of the Friars
made their annual visitation the chaplain was directed to show
them the obligation and arrange the places for celebrating
the masses for the ensuing year. 4
ane elne above the eird, with the yaird yett sufficient and lokfast ; item, the
heich chalmer of the said hospitall weill loftit and jestit. twa windois within
the samen staincherit with irne, ane stand bed fixit in the wall of the said
chalmer, weill bandit, ane panttrie dure and ane saig dure . . . without hes ane
sufficient gude dure and foir yett weill wallit and lokit, with ane raill galrie
stair and ane turlies upoun the northmost windo therof ; item, fand the laich
hous thairof with six stand beddis of aik sufficient, with ane pantrie lokfast,
and ane mekill kist standand within the same claspit with irne on everie nook ;
fand the coilhous dure sufficientlie lokit and bandit, weill wallit and kapit
round about ; item, the haill houssis of the said hospitall sufficient in ruif,
tymmer, sklait, and watterfast ; item, fand ane doubill foiryett bandit, with-
out ane lok, with the wallis of the clois weill kapit round about." (Glas. Rec. i.
pp. 147-8.) The founder is here called " Allan " Blacader, by which name he
is also sometimes mentioned in protocols.
4 Glasg. Prot. No. 618. In 1605 the craftsmen of Glasgow purchased the
hospital buildings for the purpose of using the site for their own hospital,
then proposed to be erected. But another site was subsequently fixed on
342 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
The collegiate foundation to which allusion has been made
was promoted by Blacader's successor, James Houstoun, who
was subdean from about the year 1527 till his death in 1551. As
early as the year 1516 Houstoun began to acquire properties
in the vicinity of what is now the site of the Tron church,
on the south side of the Trongate, then usually called the street
of Saint Tenew. At first the title deeds of these properties
were taken in the purchaser's own name, but on 22nd February,
1523-4, a tenement, back area and yard, which he purchased,
were resigned by him in favour of a chaplain, " in name of
the church founded by the said Mr. James." Similar pur-
chases and investitures of many adjoining properties are
recorded 5 and progress had been made with the erection of
the church before 1525 when the first step was taken for its
formal constitution. On 2gth April of that year " master
James Houstoun, perpetual vicar of the parish of Eastwood,"
appeared in the chapterhouse of the cathedral, in presence of
the archbishop, dean and canons, and intimated his intention
to complete, on the foundation already laid, and to endow,
a church to bear the name of the holy Virgin Mary of Laureto,
and of her mother, Saint Anne, on the south side of the street
of Saint Tenew, on lands acquired at his own charges and
expenses. The scheme was approved of by the archbishop
and chapter and their assent was heartily accorded. 6
As originally announced there was no allusion to a collegiate
arrangement, but as the work proceeded its scope gradually
expanded and when next heard of, four years later, several
chaplainries had been established in the church. On ist
for the crafts' hospital and Blacader's hospital, then ruinous, was sold by the
crafts in 1610. The site has since been possessed by private owners. (Glasg.
Prot. Nos. 619-21.)
* Lib. Coll. etc.
6 Glasg. Chart, ii. pp. 494-7, where an instrument narrating the pro-
ceedings, as prepared by Cuthbert Simson, notary, is printed. Representations
of the archbishop's seal and the notary's sign are also given.
COLLEGIATE CHURCH 343
May, 1529, James Houstoun, then designated " subdean of
the metropolitan church of Glasgow/' appeared in the presence
of notaries public and witnesses, assembled in the chapter-
house of the cathedral, and constituted the bailies, community
and burgesses of Glasgow, patrons of seven chaplainries in the
new church, but reserving to himself the patronage during his
lifetime. At this meeting the provost of the city, Robert
Stewart of Mynto, was present and accepted the charge on
behalf of the bailies and community.
That this ceremony was one side of a transaction, mutually
negotiated, is indicated by the terms of a charter, three days
later in date, which narrates that the provost, bailies, coun-
cillors and community of the city, assembled in the tolbooth,
bestowed on the new church, and on eight chaplains therein,
sixteen acres of land in the Gallowmuir, two of these acres
being assigned to each of the chaplains. To this grant the
archbishop and the chapter consented, and by a separate
charter, dated I5th May, 1529, it was confirmed by the
archbishop as the city's " immediate lord superior and ordinary
in things spiritual and temporal." 7
Very little is known as to the architectural features of the
church, its size and precise site. 8 Between the building and
the street a vacant space was set aside as burying ground and
there were plots to the south and west laid out as gardens for
the prebendaries, while immediately adjoining was the open
7 Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. pp. 107-17.
8 In the year 1566 the provost and prebendaries, with consent of the magis-
trates and council, as patrons, sold to John Stewart and spouse a " waste
fore tenement " described as lying on the south side of the street of St. Tenew
and bounded by the cemetery of the church on the west and the " north wall
of the choir of the said church " on the south. The purchasers were to be
allowed to " build and raise their tenement upon the vestry or vestibule "
of the church in such a way that it might not be prejudicial to the vestibule
and church, but that the vestry should belong to the provost and prebendaries
for the " necessary things " of the church being placed therein and for their
chapter being held there weekly. (Glasg. Chart, ii. p. 530.)
344 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
field called Mutland Croft. A building used as a song school
stood on the west side of the church.
It is supposed that the collegiate church had not attained
completion and full equipment before 1548, by which time the
establishment consisted of a provost, eleven canons or pre-
bendaries, and three choristers. The abbot and convent of
Kilwinning transferred to the church the vicarage of Dairy,
as an endowment for the provost, whom they, as patrons,
appointed. The prioress and convent of the Cistercian
nunnery of North Berwick, as patrons of the church of Maybole,
gave half of that benefice to the first prebendary, styled the
arch-priest. Under the same patronage the " greater sacrist,"
who kept the books, chalices, copes, vestments and ornaments,
held the second prebend, and received one-half of the fruits
of the vicarage of Maybole. The " lesser sacrist," elected by
the provost and prebendaries, had to ring the bells, light the
candles, open and shut the church doors, and keep the keys.
The magistrates and council nominated the third prebendary,
who had charge of the organ, and was bound to keep a song
school for the instruction of youths. His prebend consisted
of the rent of a house in Saltmarket Street. The fourth and
fifth prebends (St. Mary and St. James) were also in the patron-
age of the town council, and their endowments consisted of
lands, houses and rents. St. Roch or Roque was the designa-
tion of the sixth prebend, the holder of which had to continue
religious services in the chapel on the moor, as well as perform
duties in the new church. St. Kentigern, St. Nicholas and
St. Andrew were the designations of the next three prebends,
all of which were under the patronage of the town council.
Sir Martin Reid, chaplain of the altar of St. Martin in the
cathedral, founded the tenth and eleventh prebends, and
assigned the patronage of both to the magistrates and
council. The twelfth and last prebend was that of the
three choristers, one of whom was to be chosen by the town
CHURCH SERVICES 345
council and the other two by the provost of the collegiate
church.
Both the church itself and the houses bequeathed for its
endowment were to be kept in good repair, in roofs, windows,
and walls, at the sight of the city bailies, under the care of a
master of work, to be chosen from the number of the pre-
bendaries in their yearly chapter at Whitsunday.
For ensuring strict observance of the rules the dean of the
cathedral chapter, with one of the canons, and the rector and
dean of the arts faculty of the University, were appointed
visitors of the collegiate church, with sufficient powers for
correcting faults and enforcing amendment. Many minute
directions were given for masses and other religious services
and if these were all regularly observed continuous supervision
must have been necessary. As a specimen of standing
requirements the services on the Feast of Saint Anne (26th
July) may be noticed. At a certain hour all the prebendaries
and choristers were to assemble for prescribed singing, reading
and prayers, which being ended three shillings were to be
distributed among them in bread and ale. On the same day
and at the mass on the morrow, thirty poor people, old men and
matrons, were to take their place on a wooden bench, in the
middle of the choir, set apart for the images and wax lights,
and receiving each of them, three pennies in wheaten bread,
three pennies in flesh or fish, and two pennies for ale. Eight
poor scholars, after repeating psalms, etc., were to get two
pennies each. The poor, of " both chambers," of the hospital
of St. Nicholas were to be invited and four shillings divided
equally among those present or detained in the Almshouse
through infirmity. The lepers of St. Ninian's hospital were to
assemble in the cemetery of the collegiate church, there to-
offer up prayers, and among them twelve pennies were to be
distributed. St. Mungo's bell was to be tolled through the
city, both on St. Anne's day and on the morrow ; the bells
346 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
of the church were to be rang and images and wax lights were
to be set out in the choir. 9
The collegiate church appears to have superseded the old
chapel on the north side of the street, that building having
been taken possession of as an endowment. There is still
in existence a charter, dated loth February, 1555-6, whereby
the chaplain and prebendary of St. Mary in the collegiate
church (in consideration of eleven merks yearly payable to
him and his successors), with consent of, (i) the other pre-
bendaries, (2) the town council as patrons of the collegiate
church, and (3) the Archbishop, feued the disused building
and its site to George Herbertsone and spouse. The building
was described as a tenement, " otherwise called the chapell,"
and it is said to have been " then ruinous and would come to
complete ruin unless immediate provision should be made for
repair thereof." 10
9 Lib. Coll. etc. pp. xv.-xxv.
10 Glasg. Chart, ii. pp. 513-7 ; Glasg. Prot. No. 3728. Subsequent to the
Reformation the church site and cemetery were disposed of by the town
council, but they reacquired the property about the year 1592 and fitted up
the church as a protestant place of worship. Since that time the building
has been extended over a larger area, and the church was wholly rebuilt about
the year 1793, but still the present site of the Tron church is practically that
which was occupied by the collegiate church of St. Mary and St. Anne.
CHAPTER XLVI
BAILIESHIP OF REGALITY EARLS OF LENNOX AND ARRAN
SUCCESSION OF PROVOSTS BONDS OF MANRENT
CRAFTSMEN SEALS OF CAUSE TO TAILORS, WEAVERS AND
HAMMERMEN ACTS OF PARLIAMENT
GEORGE COLQUHOUN who is designated provost-depute of
Glasgow in 1514-5 and again in I5IQ-20, 1 is referred to as pro-
vost of Glasgow in 1523-4, 2 and though there is no definite
information on the subject it is probable that he acted both
as depute-bailie of the regality and provost of the burgh till
the death of the earl of Lennox in 1526. The latter 's suc-
cessor, Earl Matthew, born in 1516, was in pupillarity, and
his estates having thus fallen to the crown in ward were
bestowed on the Earls of Arran and Angus jointly. Angus
resigned his half to Arran's natural son, Sir James Hamilton
of Finnart ; and in connection with these arrangements the
Earl of Arran seems to have obtained the bailieship of the
regality. On i8th October, 1527, Sir Robert Stewart of Minto,
who was provost of the burgh from that year till 1537, bound
himself, so long as he remained provost, to be " man and
1 Glasg. Chart, i. pt. i. p. 533 ; antea, 319-20.
* Historical MSS. Commission : Col. D. Milne Home (1902) p. 34. In a
letter to the Duke of Albany, dated 2ist January, 1523-4, David Home of
Wedderburn stated as the reason he could not attend upon his grace, that the
Earl of Lennox had caused him to remain in the country with his (the earl's)
" awin servand, George of Colquhoun, provost of Glasgow," to apprehend
some evil doers.
347
348 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
servitur " to James earl of Arran. 3 Keeping in view the
position of the earl as bailie of the regality, this bond can
scarcely be regarded as conflicting with the statutes of 1457
and 1491 forbidding any man dwelling in a burgh to bind
himself in manrent with any one except the king or his officers
or with the lord of the burgh. 4 The archbishop of Glasgow was
lord of the regality within which the burgh was situated and
the bailie of the regality was at least nominally his officer.
Whatever may have been the effect of the provost's bond of
manrent while it remained in force its duration was cut short
by the death of the earl in or before July, 1529. His successor,
the second earl, was a minor, and as Lennox was in the same
position neither of them would be qualified for the office of
regality bailie and it is not known who was entrusted with
the duties of that office during the intermediate period which
elapsed before they could be personally undertaken by
Lennox.
In 1531 the young earl of Lennox obtained the governorship
and revenues of Dumbarton Castle, where he was born fifteen
years previously, but the guardianship of that important
stronghold must have been entrusted to a deputy and William
Stirling of Glorat seems to have been continued in that office. 5
The earl entered the service of the King of France in 1532 and
did not return with the intention of residing in this country
till 1543, but though his personal activities were not available
in Glasgow barony there was no abatement of his interest in
its affairs. By a letter written from Edinburgh, dated I5th
August and supposed to be of or about the year 1535, he
desired his brother, Sir John Stewart, captain of the Scots
Guard in France, to obtain letters from his royal master and
3 Historical MSS. Commission, Report xi. Appx. 6, p. 34.
4 Antea, p. 308.
5 Irving's Dumbartonshire (1857) p. 158 ; Glasg. Chart, i. pt. i. Abstract,
p. 14, No. 314.
INCORPORATION OF TAILORS 349
others to the Pope, to the French ambassador at Rome, and
to the College of Cardinals, for expediting some business which
the archbishop of Glasgow had to transact at Rome with
reference to the privileges and freedom of the kirk of Glasgow.
In this letter the earl reminds his brother that " the house of
Lennox were servants to St. Mungo and bound to defend the
interests of that kirk." 6
It is not till twelve years after the Skinners got their seal
of cause that we have record of another craft obtaining official
confirmation of its rules and consequent recognition of its
status as an incorporation. But on loth October, 1527, the
town council, responding to the desire of the Tailor craft, as
represented by four of their number, designated " kyrk-
maisters," and by the remaining masters of craft, sanctioned
the articles or rules submitted to them. By these rules, which
closely correspond with those passed by the town council of
Edinburgh in favour of the tailor craft of that city, in 1500,'
apprenticeships were to last for four years, each apprentice
on his entry paying half a merk to the altar of St. Anne ;
craftsmen were not to set up booth till they were qualified
workmen and had become freemen and burgesses of the city ;
no master was to harbour any other master's apprentice or
servant ; each booth-holder was to pay to the altar ten
shillings on setting up booth and thereafter one penny weekly ;
and any spoiled cloth was to be made good to the owner. Any
one disobeying the deacon, whom the craft were authorised
to choose yearly, had to pay a pound of wax to the altar and
a fine of eight shillings to the magistrates. Like all the known
6 Historical MSS. Commission, Report iii. p. 395, No. 190.
7 Edinb. Rec. i. p. 82. The Edinburgh tailors made provision for religious
services at the altar of St. Anne, " oure matrone," within the collegiate church
of St. Giles. There was an altar of St. Anne in the newly founded collegiate
church of St. Mary and St. Anne, in Glasgow, and it may have been there that
the Glasgow craft maintained religious services. No altar to St. Anne in
Glasgow cathedral has been identified.
350 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
pre-Reformation seals of cause, with one exception, this seal
of cause was granted with the express consent of the arch-
bishop. 8
8 Original Seal of Cause in the possession of the Incorporation of Tailors.
As this document has not been printed elsewhere and is illustrative of former
methods of procedure, the following quotations are given. It begins thus :
" To the hie honor, laude, glor, and perpetuall lovyng of the blissit Trinatie,
Fadir, Sone, and Halegast, the blissit Virgene, modir of God, our halie patron
Sant Mungo, and Sant Anne, and all the halie cumpanie and blissit falloschipe
of hewyng, the commone weill and guid publice of our Soverane Lordis legis
and of the burghe and ciete of Glasgwe, the induellaris and inhabitaris tharof :
We provest, balzeis, consall and communitie of the burghe and ciete of Glasgwe,
to all and syndrie, present and fortocum, to quhais knawalagis thir present
letteris sail cum, greting, to all burrouis and universiteis we make it knauing
that thar comperit now laitlie befoir us, universalie gadderit, efter the sownd
of our commone bell, within our tolbutht of Glasgu, our weilbeluffit nychtburis,
cietounris and comburgessis, that is to say, Jhone Strwddirris, Rynzen Mar-
chell, Thomas Garddinar, Jhone Clark, kyrkmasteris, and the laif of the
masteris of the Tailzour craft within our said burgh and ciete, and present
thar suplicatione tyll us, makand mentione that the said craft and faculte
was misgidit and distrouit in the fait of gude rewle and reformatione of the
said craft and gud statutis to be maid tharin for the commone weill of the
realme and the kyngis legis of this ciete and towne : And tharfor thai desirit
for thir premisis, and the loving of God and agmentatione of his serwes and to
the honor of Sant Anne to be thar matrone, thir puntis and articulis efter
folluand : " (Here follow the articles summarised in the text.) " Quharfor my
lordis sene thir our racionable and sempille desiris and petitionis conformis
to equite and ar consonant to honour and pollici, according to the use and
consuetis of gryt townis of honour in other realmis, and desiris that ye wald
grant till us tham ratiliit, approvit and confermit be you."
On 3rd February, 1546-7, another seal of cause was granted to the Tailors.
It is in similar terms to that of 1527 but has an additional " article," to the
effect that the deacon and masters of craft should prevent unfreemen doing
tailor work within the city unless they conformed to certain conditions. This
document is printed in full in Mr. J. M. Taylor's Records of the Incorporation
of Tailors (1872) pp. 101-4. On nth May, 1569, the town council granted a
third seal of cause (also printed Ibid. pp. 108-12) introducing alterations and
additions rendered necessary by the changes of the Reformation and super-
seding the two earlier " letters of deaconheid." Thenceforth support of the
poor and meeting the common charges of the craft were substituted for altar
payments, and " dennars and sumptuous bankets " were discontinued, the
saved money being placed in the " common box."
Glossary : at, that ; at tha, that they ; aucht, owned ; beand, being ;
bwtht, booth ; cietounris, citizens ; distrouit, destroyed ; fortocum, future ;
frathinfurth, thenceforth ; fundment, foundation ; gryt, great ; gud, guid,
good ; guid publice, public good ; halie, holy ; hewyng, heaven ; knauing,
INCORPORATION OF WEAVERS 351
That bodies of craftsmen were formed into societies before
being incorporated by seals of cause is illustrated in the case
of the Weaver's craft which appears to have obtained a
seal of cause for the first time in 1528. One of the minute
books of this incorporation contains an entry dated 8th
February, 1658, bearing that their " haill old actis, extractit
out of the buikis for the yeir 1514 and sensyne " were at that
time read, allowed and approved. This earlier minute book has
not been preserved, but from the terms of the quoted entry
and other incidental information obtained elsewhere it may be
inferred that it was the common practice for craftsmen to be
joined in voluntary association and to work under their own
rules and regulations before formal seals of cause were applied
for and obtained.
The weavers' seal of cause of 1528 is not preserved but its
terms are narrated in an act of parliament passed on I7th
September, 1681. From this source it is shown that on 4th
June, 1528, the masters of the webster craft, within the burgh,
presented a supplication to the magistrates and council
mentioning that the craft was misguided in default of good
rule and statutes and desiring ratification of the points
and articles then submitted for approval. Prominent among
these are contributions to the altar of the craft's patron saint
whose name is left blank. Fullers, and presumably other
workers in cloth, were regarded as under the protection of a
saint named Sever or Severin. 9 In Glasgow cathedral there
was no altar to St. Severin but as there was one to St. Serf
known ; kyrkmaister, one in charge of church or altar affairs ; laif, remainder ;
legis, lieges ; ourman, oversman ; pratik, practice ; puntis, points, conditions ;
quhais, whose ; racionable, reasonable ; sene, since ; serwes, service ; tolbutht,
tolbooth ; tyll, to ; universiteis, all, every person concerned.
9 The weavers of Edinburgh, who obtained a seal of cause on 3ist January,
1475-6, contributed to the altar of " Sanct Severane " in the church of St.
Giles (Edin. Rec. i. p. 33).
352 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
or Servanus 10 it was probably to the latter altar that the
Glasgow weavers paid their dues, and these were of con-
siderable amount. A prentice on his entry paid 53. ; a freeman
on setting up booth paid 2 merks ; each booth-holder paid a
penny weekly ; for insufficient work a pound of wax was
exacted for the altar ; each servant of the craft, except
prentices, had to pay a half-penny weekly ; and any one dis-
obeying the deacon was to give a pound of wax for the lights
of the altar. The few remaining rules of the seal of cause,
which it may be mentioned was granted by the magistrates
-and council with consent of the archbishop, included provisions
for apprenticeships lasting five years and for the yearly appoint-
ment of a deacon, disobedience to whom involved, besides the
wax contribution, payment of a fine of 8s. to the magistrates. 1
The next of the Glasgow crafts to obtain a seal of cause was
the society of Hammermen, embracing the various classes of
.artizans styled blacksmiths, goldsmiths, lorimers, bit and
bridle makers, saddlers, bucklemakers and armourers, who
obtained a seal of cause from the magistrates and council
with consent of the archbishop, on nth October, 1536. St.
Eligius or Eloy was the patron saint of goldsmiths and to his
altar the offerings of Glasgow hammermen were rendered. No
other mention of an altar dedicated to St. Eloy in the cathedral,
or any other of the city churches or chapels has been traced,
but it is acknowledged that we have no complete list of the
chaplainries and altarages which existed in the city in early
times.
The main provisions of the hammermen's seal of cause are
10 Between 1214 and 1249, Alexander, sheriff of Stirling, gave three merks
yearly from the mill of Cader for the sustentation of a chaplain at the altar
of St. Servanus, constructed by him in the church of Glasgow (Reg. Episc.
Nos. 121-2). On 1 8th June, 1446, Mr. David Cadyhow, precentor in the church
of Glasgow, gave j, yearly, for maintaining services at the altar of St.
Servanus, which he had rebuilt (Ibid. No. 348).
1 Old Glasgow Weavers (1905) pp. 2, 68; A.P.S. viii. p. 396.
INCORPORATION OF HAMMERMEN 353
of the usual tenor, aimed at securing sufficiency of workman-
ship, a careful inspection of progress being made each Saturday.
Qualified craftsmen, on being admitted and setting up booth,
contributed 2os. each to the altar ; prentices on their entry
gave to it ios.; and for each breaking of the statutes a pound
of wax was exacted for its lights. Indicating a somewhat
extended existence as a society before this time, all the mem-
bers were bound to fulfil their " auld use and consuetude "
in all things for the uphold of divine service at the altar and
" ane honorable chaplain thairto." 2
The benefits secured to individual burghs by salutary
regulations laid down in seals of cause to the respective crafts-
men within their bounds were sought to be conferred on burghs
in general through the medium of public statutes. Thus in
June, 1535, parliament had under consideration the great
oppression suffered by the lieges through exorbitant prices
charged by cordiners, smiths, baxters, brewsters and other
craftsmen, and it was resolved that a commission should be
issued for causing craftsmen to produce sufficient work for
sale at suitable prices, and repairs were to be attended to by
competent workmen. Such cloth as was found on inspection
to be of proper manufacture was to be sealed by an officer
appointed for the purpose.
In preparation for defence of the realm the orders for hold-
ing periodical wapinshawings were renewed and each burgh
was called upon to report how much artillery it could supply.
Owing to a scarcity of guns and ammunition merchants trading
to foreign countries were instructed to bring home hagbuts
z Hammermen of Glasgow (1912) pp. 251-2. The original seal of cause is
not preserved and it has here been printed from comparatively modern
transcripts, containing in some parts obvious misreadings, though in most
cases the meaning can be guessed. If, as the printed document indicates, the
headsmen and masters of the craft petitioned the king and the archbishop,
and not the magistrates and council, for ratification of their rules, this was
a peculiarly exceptional course, but in transcribing this passage some words
seem to have been omitted or altered.
z
354 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
and armour, or at least metal for the making of such and also
supplies of powder. But at this time peaceful relationship
existed with England, and parliament could give its attention
to such home subjects as the ticketing of beggars to their own
parishes, the uniformity of weights and the ratification of the
privileges of burghs. The act passed against the importation
of the works of " the great heretic Luther " and his followers
was also renewed. 3
3 Ancient Laws, ii. pp. 65-71 ; A.P.S. ii. p. 341.
CHAPTER XLVII
LEGISLATION RELATING TO BURGHS ACCOUNTING FOR
COMMON GOOD SAILING OF SHIPS FOUNDATIONS OF
RELIGIOUS SERVICES SONG SCHOOL SPREAD OF
REFORMED DOCTRINES MARTYRS
FOLLOWING on the lines of the statutes 1457 and 1491, for-
bidding the inhabitants of burghs to enter into covenants with
landward men to the prejudice of the burgesses, protection
against encroachment of neighbouring lords and lairds was
also provided by the legislature in other forms. An act
passed in 1535 narrates that royal burghs were injured in their
goods and policy through " outland " men being provosts,
bailies and aldermen within burgh, for their own benefit,
and it was therefore ordained that no one should be chosen
to these offices except burgesses, merchants and indwellers.
Under the acts of 1457 and 1491 no one dwelling within the
burgh was to " purchess lordship " beyond its bounds, meaning
apparently the procuring of outside authority, whereby his
neighbour could be troubled or disturbed. So far the remedy
against injustice was in the hands of the burgesses themselves,
but those from whom aggression might be anticipated were
also put under restraint. No man, earl, lord, baron, or other
person of whatever degree, was allowed to molest or trouble
the provost, aldermen, bailies, officers and merchants of any
burgh in their neighbourhood, in using their liberties and
355
HISTORY OF GLASGOW
privileges ; and the clerks of the justice courts were enjoined
to see to the observance of this enactment. 1
Up till this time royal burghs had been in the practice of
rendering their accounts in exchequer and settling the crown
dues for which they were liable. To secure more effective
supervision over revenue and expenditure, provosts, bailies
and aldermen were now required, at the day set for giving in
their accounts, to bring yearly to the exchequer the account
books of their common good, to be seen and considered by the
lords auditors " gif the samin be spendit for the commoun
wele of the burgh or not." At this examination of a burgh's
accounts an opportunity was given for any one from that burgh
attending to argue and impugn the intromissions, " sua that
all murmour may ceis in that behalf." 2 Though, as already
explained 3 Glasgow did not at first render accounts in ex-
chequer, it may be that from the year 1535, as was certainly
done at a later date, they produced a yearly statement of
revenue and expenditure in compliance with the act, but it
is a long time after that date that we have authentic informa-
tion on the point. 4
Along with the other burgh statutes passed in 1535 parlia-
ment ratified previous acts granted to merchants within
burghs and enjoined the magistrates of port towns to see to
their observance. An act of James II. ordaining that, as a
precaution for the safety of trading vessels, no ship should
be freighted out of the realm with any staple goods, from
1 Ancient Laws, ii. pp. 68, 69. * Ancient Laws, ii. p. 69.
8 Antea, p. 98.
4 The earliest preserved statement of this nature for the burgh of Glasgow
is that for the year 1621 (Glasg. Chart, ii. p. 577). If Glasgow did not render
exchequer accounts in consequence of obtaining its crown charter of 1611
(Ibid. i. pt. ii. pp. 278-83) it must have done so after obtaining the charter of
1636 (Ibid. pp. 375-95). By the latter charter the burgh became liable to the
crown for the yearly payment of 20 merks (^13 6s. 8d. Scots) of burgh maill,
and it was thereafter necessary to pass in exchequer yearly accounts similar
to that rendered in 1662 (Ibid. ii. p. 50).
WINTER VOYAGES 357
Saints Simon and Jude's day (28th October) till Candlemas
(2nd February), was renewed and the penalty for its infringe-
ment was increased, but merchants were allowed, within the
forbidden time, to export merchandise in ships that brought
in salt or wine. 5
In 1539, the year in which the martyrs Russell and Kennedy
are said to have been condemned at Glasgow, we have the record
of two foundations for the celebration of religious services,
one of them on rather an elaborate scale. On 3ist October,
1539, Richard Bothwell, canon of Glasgow and prebendary
of Ashkirk, gave twenty-four shillings, yearly, from the rents
of a house near the market cross, for obituary masses to be
celebrated by the vicars of the choir, with the tolling of bells,
and for the passing of the bell of St. Kentigern through the
town. 6 Bothwell's obit is at the head of the list in Glasgow
" Martyr ologium," a document which was originally printed
from a manuscript preserved in the Advocate's Library, and
the date is ist January, 1548. 7
5 Ancient Laws, ii. pp. 67, 68. This concession would sometimes be of
advantage to Clyde mariners. French wine and salt were among their chief
articles of import.
According to a satirical contemporary, Sir David Lyndsay, some insatiable
merchants were not pleased with the restrictive acts and evaded their pro-
visions. Such inconsiderate traders,
" Quhen God has send thame abundance
Ar nocht content with sufficiance ;
Bot sailis into the stormy blastis
In winter, to get greter castis,
In mony terribill gret torment,
Aganis the actis of parliament.
Sum tynis thair geir, and sum ar droun'd."
Lyndsay' s Works (1806 Edition), ii. p. 150.
8 Reg. Episc. No. 501.
7 Ibid. No. 545. Of the thirty-six obits noted in the list, the eighth to the
thirty- fourth are given in exact sequence of days and months from nth
January to soth December, the earliest being that of Duncan, earl of Carryk,
died 1 3th June, 1250, and the latest that of Holland Blakader, subdean of
358
HISTORY OF GLASGOW
By the other foundation above referred to a tenement and
yard, on the east side of Castle Street, the site of which is now
occupied by the Royal Infirmary and the Asylum for the
Blind, was burdened with various sums of money, payable
Glasgow, died 9th March, 1540, subsequent to which latter date that part of
the list must have been compiled. The following is the full list :
i January, 1548 Mr. Richard Bothwell, canon of Glasgow, prebendary
of Askirk.
22 June, 1547 Mr - George Lokhart, dean of Glasgow.
5 January, 1475 Mr. Symon de Dalgles, precentor of Glasgow.
10 January, 1482 Sir Hugh Raa, subdean of Glasgow.
21 March, 1524 Mr. Archibald Layng, provost of Sempill.
10 October, 1539 Sir Robert Clerk, subchanter.
24 April, 1555 Mr. John Spreull, canon of Glasgow.
11 January, 1482 John Layng, bishop of Glasgow.
27 January, 1477 [1467] Sir William Raa, bishop of Glasgow.
31 January, 1461 Mr. Nicholas de Ottirburne, canon of Glasgow.
15 February, 1467 Mr. John Arrows, archdeacon of Glasgow.
19 February, 1427 Mr. John Stewart, subdean of Glasgow.
20 February, 1436 James I., King of Scots.
9 March, 1540 Mr. Rolland Blakader, subdean of Glasgow.
17 March, 1431 Mr. John of Hawyk, precenter of Glasgow.
20 March, 1496 Sir David Purdy, subchanter of Glasgow Primo.
1 8 April, 1509 Mr. David Cunighame, canon of Glasgow.
10 May, 1408 Mathew Glendunwyn, bishop of Glasgow.
17 May, 1487 Mr. James Lindesay, dean of Glasgow.
7 June, 1329 Robert Bruce, King of Scotia.
11 June, 1488 James III., King of Scotia.
13 June, 1250 Duncan, earl of Carryk.
14 June, 1425 William Lauder, bishop of Glasgow.
30 June, 1486 Mr. William Elphinston, archdeacon of Teviotdale.
28 July, 1508 Robert Blacader, first archbishop of Glasgow.
19 August, 1467 Mr. David de Cadihow, precentor of Glasgow.
3 September, 1454 William Turnbull, bishop of Glasgow.
25 September, 1415 Mr. Nicolas de Grenelaw, dean of Glasgow.
23 October, 1498 Mr. Archbiald Quhytlaw, subdean of Glasgow.
25 October, 1514 William Elphinston, bishop of Aberdeen.
6 November, 1479 James lord of Hamilton.
20 November, 1473 Andrew Mureheid, bishop of Glasgow, who was
founder of the College of the Vicars of the Choir
of Glasgow.
24 December, 1446 John Cameron, bishop of Glasgow.
30 December, 1493 Mr. Thomas Forsyth, prebendary of Glasgow Primo,
canon of Glasgow.
6 December, 1541 Mr. James Neilson.
24 June, *553 Mr. Cuthbert Symson, vicar of Dalzell.
ANNIVERSARY SERVICES 359
yearly to the master of the " sang scuyll " of the Metropolitan
Church, the vicar pensioner of the burgh, the vicars of the
choir, and others, for anniversary services at the altars of
Our Lady, " Sanct Mungo " and St. Peter, in the lower church.
Singers, poor scholars, twenty-four " puyr howshalderis,"
and others, were assigned their respective duties, minute in-
structions were given as to music and the lighting of candles,
and St. Mungo' s bell was to be rung through the town by the
"belman." These conditions were contained in a "Memor-
andum " by Sir Mark Jamieson, vicar of Kilspindie, in the
diocese of St. Andrews, acting as testamentary executor
under the will of his mother's brother, John Paniter, formerly
preceptor of the song school of the metropolitan church of
Glasgow. Sir Mark survived the Reformation period about
thirty years, by which time the revenues of the tenement and
yard were being applied to other purposes, and in the year
1590 he appeared in the council-house of Glasgow and delivered
to the town council all the documents relating to the foundation,
placed " in ane litill box, to be keipit in the commoun kist." 8
On the last day of February, 1538-9, five executions for
" heresy " had taken place on the Castlehill of Edinburgh,
and within a few months later, Jerome Russell, a Grey Friar,
supposed to belong to Dumfries, and a youth, eighteen years
of age, named Kennedy, a native of Ayr, both in the diocese
of Glasgow, were tried for a like offence, and after condemnation,
in which it is said Archbishop Dunbar was unwilling to join,
both were burned at the stake in Glasgow. Particulars re-
garding the cruel tragedy are scant and the places of the trial
and execution are not specified, but it is probable that the
8 Glasg. Prot. No. 1318 ; Glasg. Chart, ii. p. 501 ; Glasg. Rec. i. p. 155.
The deed of foundation (5th November, 1539) contains a reference to vicars
in burgo and in rure, thus shewing that in pre- Reformation times there existed
an arrangement similar to that introduced when, for ecclesiastical purposes,
the landward district, sometime known as the Barony parish, was disjoined
from the urban or burghal territory.
360 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
judges would preside somewhere in the cathedral and that
the last scenes would be witnessed in its vicinity. 9
In a parliament held at Edinburgh on I5th March, 1542-3,
it was resolved that the Bible might be read in a Scots or
English translation, whereupon " ane maist reverend fader
in God, Gavin, archbishop of Glasgow, chancellor, for himself
and in name and behalf of all the prelates of this realme,"
dissented and opposed the resolution till a provincial council
of the whole clergy of the realm should decide " gif the samyne
be necessare to be had in vulgare toung to be usit amang the
Queenis lieges or nocht." 10 Dunbar was at this time chan-
cellor of the kingdom, but shortly afterwards he was replaced
by Cardinal Beaton, who had succeeded his uncle, James
Beaton, as archbishop of St. Andrews, in 1539.
9 Works of John Knox, i. pp. 63-66 ; Dowden's Bishops, p. 348.
10 Reg, Episc. No. 506. The act of parliament embodying the prelates'
dissent was confirmed by a charter in name of Queen Mary, under the great
seal, dated 8th May, 1545 (Ibid.).
CHAPTER XLVIII
PROTOCOL BOOK FOR CITY PROPERTIES TRAFFIC ON
RIVER CLYDE LIBERTIES OF GLASGOW, RUTHERGLEN
AND RENFREW TAX ROLL OF BURGHS
OUR fullest information regarding the situation and owner-
ship of properties within the city of Glasgow, in the sixteenth
century, is obtained from the protocols of the town clerks of
Glasgow which are preserved in a fairly continuous series from
the year 1547. An earlier instalment of this class of record
is embraced in the protocols of Michael Fleming, between
1530 and 1537, averaging in number about forty transactions
in the year, all written in the vernacular, 1 a practice rarely
followed by notaries of that period, their instruments being
almost invariably written in Latin.
In his instruments Fleming is styled clerk of the diocese
of Glasgow, notary public by apostolic and imperial authority,
and he was probably town clerk though his name coupled with
that designation has not been traced. One of his protocols
narrates proceedings which are referred to as recorded at
length in the " ak bwkis of the town," thus indicating the
ready access to a municipal record such as a town clerk would
possess. 2 Another protocol records proceedings which took
place in the " court of Glasgow," the clerkship of which was
held by the town clerk, and it would naturally fall within
1 Glasg. Prot. Nos. 1050-1317.
2 This protocol is dated I5th December, 1534, so that the cited act book
must have been at least forty years earlier in date than any now existing.
362 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
the province of that official to note the particulars as con-
tained in Fleming's protocol book. 3
The protocol last cited is that dated gih December, 1531,*
narrating that representatives from Dumbarton alleged that
the contract between that burgh and Glasgow providing for
a joint interest in the river Clyde had been broken. But that
there was no material rupture between the two burghs at
that time may be gathered from a letter which King James V.,
on 3rd April, 1533, addressed to their provosts, bailies, aldermen
and communities, requiring them to deliver to the deputy
captain of the castle of Dumbarton three or four tuns of wines
out of every ship that came to their waters with wines, for
provisioning the King and the castle, he paying therefor the
same price as was paid for the remainder. 5
In July of this year large quantities of provisions were
collected for the King's ship, the payments relating to which
include los. " for careing of the foresaid stuff to the brig end
of Glasgu," and 155. " for fraucht of the forsaidis wittallis
ira Glasgu to Dunbritane." On 7th September the King was
at Inveraray, his presence in that direction being probably
connected with the chronic state of disturbance which affected
that part of the country. In Argyll the King remained till
at least loth October. On his return he spent a few days in
Glasgow, whence a boy was sent to Edinburgh for his lute ;
and on igth October the sum of 6s. was paid for " ane dosane
of luyt stringis sent to the kingis grace in Glasgew." He was in
Falkland by 2nd November. 6
3 Glasg. Prot. Nos. 1103, 1194. * See also antea, p. 332.
6 Stirlings of Keir, p. 351, cited in Glasg. Chart, i. pt. i. Abstract, p. 14,
No. 314.
6 L. H. T. Accounts, vi. pp. 164, 179. On 25th October, 1533, the sum of
j5 153. 6d. was paid for " ane ryding coit of Dunde gray, velvot to begary
the samyn and lyningis thairto, coft to the kingis grace in Glasgew." The
" expensis maid upoun the schip and maryneris feis sen scho cum to Dun-
bartane " include 28 as a month's wages " payit in Glasgew to 14 men quhilk
wer left with the schip to bring the king out of Argyle." (Ibid. p. 233.)
RUTHERGLEN AND RENFREW 363
A charter granted to the burgh of Rutherglen, by King
James V., " after our legal and perfect full age of twenty-five
years and general revocation/' is expressed in terms which at
first seem somewhat puzzling. Apparently overlooking all
the material changes made since the foundation of the burgh,
the charters granted by previous sovereigns are confirmed
without qualification, the limits of the burgh's privileges are
those of the time of King David, as set forth in William's
charter, and thus embracing the area of the burgh of Glasgow
and a large part of its liberties, and it was again ordered that
no one except the officials of Rutherglen should uplift customs
or other rights pertaining to the town within these original
bounds. The charter, to which Archbishop Dunbar, chancellor
of the kingdom, was a witness, is dated I2th June, 1542, and
sixteen days later the burgh of Renfrew got from the King a
charter confirming in its entirety that of Robert III., granted
to the latter burgh in I397- 7 So far, therefore, as appears
ex facie of these two charters the existence of the burgh of
Glasgow and all its privileges, conferred by royal authority,
were ignored, but when read, as they require to be, alongside
other writings their true import becomes obvious.
It may safely be assumed that neither Rutherglen nor
Renfrew, in applying for a ratification of their privileges, con-
templated any derogation from those of Glasgow, especially
keeping in view that its archbishop held office as chancellor.
But no doubt the chancellor and other state officials entrusted
with the issue of the new charters would be anxious to avoid
the responsibility of reviewing the scattered evidence and
defining the existing rights and limits of the respective burghs.
Accordingly the common device was adopted of simply con-
firming or renewing to the several burghs their former charters
and writings, leaving the meaning and effect of these to be
interpreted by immemorial usage.
7 Reg. Mag. Sig. iii. No. 2705.
364 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
As the result, seemingly, of simultaneous negotiation and
arrangement, an act or decreet, dated loth June, 1542, was
obtained by Glasgow, whereby the inhabitants of Rutherglen
and Renfrew were directed to acquiesce in the city's market
rights, presumably on the lines set down in the Letters granted
by James II. in 1449-50. 8 Unfortunately the charter granted
by James VI., in 1596, embodying the contents of the decree,
has been abstracted from the city's archives since the
inventory of writs was compiled in 1696, but the brief descrip-
tion there given sufficiently indicates its scope.
From the few notices bearing on the subject it may
be gathered that in the interval between 1450 and 1596 the
burgesses of Rutherglen were regular frequenters of Glasgow
market and they likewise contributed their share of the dues
levied by the bailies and community " for sowping and clang-
ing of thair calsay " ; 9 and the like reasonable procedure may be
inferred of the burgesses of Renfrew. The inhabitants of all
the three burghs were entitled to deal with each other, free
from exaction of crown customs, and no revenue was derived
from that source, but for spread of trade and payment of
petty customs it must have been mutually advantageous for
the several burghs to encourage buying and selling in each
other's markets, and it is probable that commercial inter-
course on these lines was regularly maintained.
Regarding the relative importance, from a commercial
point of view, not only of the three burghs towards each
other, but also of that of Glasgow to Scottish burghs in general,
indications are from time to time obtained from tax rolls, show-
ing the proportion of national taxation borne by each,
according to a periodically adjusted scale, based on its financial
condition at the time. Thus in the year 1535, when the sum
of 5,000 merks was contributed by the burghs to sustain the
King's expenses in France, Glasgow stood eleventh on the
3 Antea, pp. 65, 206. 9 Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. pp. 27, 164, 247.
TAX ROLL OF BURGHS 365
roll, with a contribution of 67 IDS. while Renfrew's share was
33 155. and that of Rutherglen 22 ios. 10
10 Com;. Rec. i. pp. 514-5. The burghs rated higher than Glasgow were
Edinburgh, ^833 ; Dundee, 321 ; Aberdeen, ^315 ; Perth, ^247 ; Haddington
/i 01 ; St. Andrews, 100 ; Montrose, ^90 ; Cupar, go ; Stirling, ^84 ;
Ayr, ^78. Fractions are omitted.
CHAPTER XLIX
DISASTER OF SOLWAY Moss BEGINNING OF QUEEN
MARY'S REIGN EARL OF ARRAN, REGENT AND
GOVERNOR INSURRECTION OF LENNOX AND OTHERS-
SIEGE OF BISHOP'S CASTLE BATTLE OF THE BUTTS
ADDITIONS TO CASTLE
BY the death of James V., on I4th December, 1542, six days
after the birth of his daughter, who then became Queen Mary,
and only a few weeks after the disastrous affair of Solway
Moss, where many of the Scottish lords were captured by the
English, the government of Scotland was again thrown into
disorder. Cardinal Beaton claimed the custody of the infant
princess in virtue of a testament which bore to be signed by
the late King, but there were grave doubts as to its authenticity,
and the estates, on 13th March, 1542-3, sustained the assump-
tion of the regency by James Hamilton, earl of Arran, as his
hereditary right, he being next to the young Queen in succes-
sion to the crown.
Meanwhile Henry VIII. had opened negotiations for an
alliance between England and Scotland, based on the marriage
of Mary to his son, Prince Edward. The Solway prisoners
were allowed to return home, but each of them was bound by
solemn pledge, made secure by hostages, to further English
interests in Scotland. At first Arran was favourable to
Henry's schemes, but he had Cardinal Beaton and the whole
body of the clergy against him, and on learning the trend of
366
SIEGE OF BISHOP'S CASTLE 367
affairs the French king sent the earl of Lennox over to Scotland
to induce the governor and the estates to adhere to the old
alliance with France and not to enter into engagements with
England which would be prejudicial to the former country.
Through his family claims Lennox was a dangerous rival ta
Arran, both being descended from a daughter of James II.,
the former through a daughter, and the latter through a
son of that princess, but his mission was unsuccessful and
latterly by a curious turn of affairs was entirely abandoned.
After the English negotiations had been so successful as to
reach the stage of a marriage treaty Arran was completely
won over to the interests of Cardinal Beaton and the French
party. Lennox being thereupon cast aside, as of no essential
service to his former associates, turned to England to find
his revenge and further his own interests, and it was not long
till an opportunity occurred for some little injury being
inflicted on his opponents. Proceeding to Dumbarton castle,,
of which he was governor, he met a fleet of seven French
ships which arrived at Dumbarton port in the beginning
of October, 1543, and took possession of a large consign-
ment of money and munitions which had been intended
to strengthen the French party in Scotland. 1 Whatever was-
the ultimate destination of these supplies the party for
whom they were intended were thus effectually deprived of
their use.
At the outset of his desertion of the national cause Lennox
garrisoned the castle of Glasgow, and (as Pitscottie relates)
Regent Arran, the governor, on 8th March, 1543-4, besieged
that fortress with 12,000 men and artillery brought from
Edinburgh. ' The siege," says the chronicler, " lasted ten
days, till all their powder and bullets were spent. Therefore,,
they practised with the keepers of the castle to yield it, pro-
mising great rewards to them, and all who were with them.
1 Hamilton Papers, ii. pp. 92, 93, 103.
368 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
The keepers were John Stuart and William, being sons to the
Abbot of Dryburgh, 2 who, knowing of no relief were glad of
the offer, and yielded the castle to the governor. Notwith-
standing, the two brethren foresaid were imprisoned during
the governor's pleasure, and all the rest were immediately
hanged." 3 A writer of the sixteenth or early seventeenth
century supplies a different date, and does not state the
numbers of soldiers or days of the siege, which in his narrative
looks a simpler affair :
" On ist April, 1544, the governour, the cardinall, the erllis of
Argyle and Bothwell, with mony utheris lordis, convenit be oppin
proclamatioun at Glasgow and saigit the castle thairof and stepill,
quhilk was keipiit be the erle of Lennox and his complices, quhairat
was great slauchter, quhilk was given over be the said erle.
Thair wer hangit xviii. men, be the governour, as trait ouris ;
thair wer tane my lord Maxwell, the erle of Angus, James of Park-
heid, and James of the Watter, and haid to Hamiltoun, and thair
put in captivitie. . . . Upoun 3rd April the governour with his
complices wan Cruikstoun, the principall hous of the erle of Lennox." 4
In consequence of English invaders having landed at
Leith on ist May, the governor's army had to retrace its steps,
though too late or in insufficient strength to prevent the
seizure and burning of Edinburgh and the ravaging of the east
country. This turn of affairs seems to have encouraged
2 At a time of severe Border trouble, in 1523, the Duke of Albany bestowed
the benefice of Dryburgh upon the earl of Lennox who appointed James
Stewart, a canon of G asgow cathedral, as its commendator-abbot. It was
probably this abbot who is here referred to. In 1543-4 the abbacy was
possessed by Thomas Erskine who had succeeded Stewart in 1541. (Liber
de Dryburgh, pp. xxii, xxiii.)
3 History of Scotland, by Robert Lindesay of Pitscottie (1728 Edition)
pp. 182-3.
4 Diurnall of Occurrents in Scotland (Bannatyne Club, p. 31). In the
Lord High Treasurer's Accounts, the execution of the men taken from the
castle is thus noted under date 4th April : " Item, for tymmer to be ane gallous
in Glasgw and for making thairof, quhilk was set up fornence the Tolbuth
of the samyn, 325. Item, for towis to the men that tholit deid thair, 155."
(L. H. T. Accounts, viii. p. 283).
MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS.
From the portrait in possession of the Marquis o/Ailsa.
BATTLE OF THE BUTTS 369
Lennox and his supporters in an attempt to retrieve their
position in Glasgow. On I7th May an agreement was entered
into, at Carlisle, between King Henry and the Earls of Lennox
and Glencairn, whereby the two earls engaged to do their
utmost to put the principal Scottish fortresses into Henry's
hands. Lennox proceeded to Dumbarton castle, while
Glencairn assembled an army at Glasgow, of which John
Stewart of Minto, an adherent of Lennox was then provost.
The citizens as in duty bound took the side of their provost ;
and as he, according to the usual custom, was probably also
depute-bailie of the regality, a fair proportion of the rentallers
may have joined the citizens. The author above quoted says :
" On 24th May the governor was gadderit to the number of
1,000 men, and the erle of Glencairne come out of Glasgow with his
friendis to the number of 500, quhair thir pairties met, on the mure
of Glasgow, and it was cruellie fochtin ; hot at last the earle of
Glencairne with his company fled, and the said erlis sone, callit
Andrew, was slane, with mony utheris of that pairtie. On the
governouris pairtie was slane the laird of Colmiskeith, his maister
houshald, with twelf uther small men, and thairefter the said
governour past to the toun of Glasgow and spoulzeit the samyne and
left littill thairin." 5
This conflict occurred on the Gallowmuir, at a place where
the citizens practised archery, and which on that account was
called the Butts. Annalists, both ancient and modern, have
many versions of the " Battle of the Butts," and it is im-
possible to reconcile all the discrepancies. Bishop Lesley,
who wrote within thirty years after the event, treats the siege
of the castle and the engagement on the moor as parts of a
simultaneous movement, but, apart from this misapprehension,
his spirited account of what took place seems fairly accurate
and instructive :
" The Governour past to Lynlythgw, quhair the erle of Lenox
departed fra him secreitlie on the nycht, and past to Glasgw with
6 Diurnall of Occurrents, p. 32.
370 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
men and all kynd of munitione. Quhen certane knoulege wes
brocht to the Governour that the erle of Lenox wes thus suddentlie
departed, and that he had fortefeit Glasgw, tending to dissobey
his authoritie, suddentlie convenit ane pouer of his awin freindis,
most speciall with the assistance of the Lord Boyde, and tuik his
jorney towart Glasgw, quhair the erle of Lenox and Glencairne
had convenit gret pouer of thair freindis for resisting of the persuit
of the governour, and determinat to meit him furth of the toun of
Glasgw and gif him battell ; bot the erle of Lenox him self tareit
not upoun the straikis, bot departed thairforthe immediatlie befoir
the battell to Dumbartane castell, quhair he remaned all the tyme
of the field ; and the erle of Glencarne accompaneit with the lairdis
Tullibarne, Houstoun, Buchannane, M'Farlan, Drumquhassill,
and mony utheris baronis and gentillmen of the Lenox and barrony
of Ranfrew, and utheris places thairabout, with the haill burgesses,
communitie, and abill kirkmen of the citie of Glasgw, come furth
of the toun and arrayed thame in battell upoun the muir of Glasgw,
ane myle from the citie, apoune the eist pairte thairof. The gover-
nour with his army approcheing to thame, lychtit upoun fuit,
and suddentlie both the armeis with sic forces ran together and
joyned, that none culd persistentlie discerne quhilk of thame made
the first onset. It wes cruellie fochin a lang space on ather syd,
with uncertine victorie, and grit slauchter on boith the sydis. Bot
at last the victorie inclyned to the governour, and the uther parte
was constraned to gife balds and flie. Thair wes on Lenox parte
slayne mony gentill men preistis and commonis, and speciaUie the
laird of Houstoun ; and the laird of Minto, being then provest of
Glesgw, was evill hurt, and mony takin presoners. And on the
governouris syd the lairds of Kamskeyth and Silvertounhill war
slayne with dy verse utheris. The governour, following his victorie,
entered in the toun and besegit the castell and stepill, quhilk was
randerit to him. Bot presentlie he causit saxtene gentill men,
quho kepit the same, to be hangit at the Croce of Glasgw, and
pardonit the utheris inferiors suddartis. The hoill citie wes spuly-
eit, and war not the speciall labouris of the Lord Boyd, quha maid
ernest supplicatioune to the governour for sauftie of the same, the
hoill toun, with the bischoppe and channonis houssis, had bene
alluterlie brint and destroyit." 6
Bishop Lesley's History of Scotland (Bannatyne Club) pp. 176-7.
ADDITIONS TO CASTLE 371
Lesley adds that at the desire of Lennox, then in Dumbarton,
the Earl of Angus and Lord Maxwell came to Glasgow to
negotiate, but the governor secretly removed them " furth
of the Black Freris of Glasgow, quhair the counsell was
holdin for the tyme," and sent them to Hamilton Castle.
In the Lord High Treasurer's Accounts interesting details
are given as to the furnishing of men and munitions for the
siege of the Bishop's castle and also regarding the encounter
on the muir. At the outset, on 26th March, one hundred
" men of weir, with culverings " and artillery were sent to
Glasgow ; and there were " movit furth of the castell of
Edinburgh," a cannon, culvering and small artillery, 154
horses were hired " to carry and draw the samyn to Glasgow,"
and four carts were used for carrying powder, bullets and
other necessaries. Sixty men " with schule and matt ok/ 1
accompanied the artillery to assist it through the rough places
on the journey. Some treasure had been secured in the castle
and, on 6th April, money was paid for the carriage of " ane
coffer full of sylver wark furth of Glasgw to the castell of
Edinburgh." After " the feild strikkin on the mure," pay-
ments are made to " barbours " for services and drugs in the
cure of wounded soldiers, compensation was given for killed
horses, and other outlays are classed as " expensis depursit
upoun men of weir, carying of artalze and necessaris belanging
thairto, in this moneth of May." 7
The only substantial addition known to have been made to
the Bishop's castle after Beaton's time was a gatehouse and
arched gateway added at the south-east corner and believed
to be mainly if not entirely the work of Archbishop Dunbar.
Over the gateway were an elaborate series of sculptures, on
two separate stones, the one over the other. On the upper
stone was the arms of Scotland with the supporting unicorns,
and bearing the initial of James V., " J. 5.", who died in 1542,
7 L. H. T. Accounts, viii. pp. 271, et seq.
372 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
while Dunbar was living. On the lower stone are two shields,
one being sculptured with the archbishop's paternal arms, and
having the salmon with the ring underneath. On the lower
shield are the arms of James Houstoun, subdean, who acted
as vicar-general for a portion of the period during the vacancy
of the see after 1547. The subdean was a great friend of the
archbishop, who appointed him executor of his will and
entrusted him with the erection of his stately sepulchre of
brass in the chancel of the cathedral, the repairs of a spire or
belfry, the founding of certain bells and the purchase of
episcopal ornaments bequeathed to the metropolitan church. 8
In such circumstances it is not unlikely that the lower sculp-
tured stone was placed by the subdean after the archbishop's
death in I547- 9
In June of the following year (1545) a meeting of the
Privy Council was held at Glasgow, at which there were present
the Queen-mother, Governor Arran, Cardinal Beaton, chan-
cellor, the Archbishop of Glasgow, and others. Shortly
before this a French army had " cum to the realme of Scotland
for defense thereof aganis our old inymyis of Ingland." The
French soldiers had disembarked at Dumbarton, and as some
of them were in Glasgow or its vicinity the governor and
lords of council enjoined the provost and bailies to fix the
8 Lib. Coll. etc. p. xiii. Mr. Joseph Bain, in an article in the Archaeological
Journal for December, 1892, has suggested that it was one of the archbishop's
bells which was recast in 1594. The expense was borne by taxation, though
Marcus Knox, the city treasurer at that time, has in some quarters been
credited with bearing it from his own means. The bell of 1594, as recast in
1790, and bearing a long inscription referring to the " gift " by Marcus Knox,
now lies in the chapter-house of the cathedral, having been replaced by a new
bell presented by Mr. John Garroway in 1896.
9 These two stones were removed from the gateway about the year 1 760
and built into the back part of the tenement 22 High Street. Shortly before
the year 1880 the proprietor of that building presented the stones to Sir
William Dunbar, the lineal descendant of the Dunbars of Mochrum, for the
purpose of being built into his new mansion in Wigtonshire (Macgeorge's
Old Glasgow, 1880 edition, pp. 117-8).
ARRIVAL OF FRENCH ARMY 373
prices of flesh, bread, and ale, to be sold to the foreigners,
the best carcase of mutton to be ios., and the best carcase
of beef to be 28s. 10
As a necessary consequence of his English adherence, the
Scottish estates of the Earl of Lennox were declared to be
forfeited. This terminated for the time his connection with
Glasgow, and the archbishop, in 1545, appointed the Earl
of Arran and his heirs to be bailies and justices of all the lands
in the barony and regality of Glasgow for the period of nineteen
years, with power to hold courts and exercise the usual
functions, but he was forbidden to appoint or remove officers
without consent of the archbishop or his successors. 1 It may
be assumed that Arran's judicial duties would be chiefly
performed by a depute-bailie who, according to usual custom,
would be provost of Glasgow for the time. During the greater
part of the ensuing nineteen years the provost ship was pos-
sessed by members of the Hamilton family.
The day and month are left blank in the Letters of Bailiary,
but that document was probably granted about the same time
as a bond given by the earl to the archbishop and chapter of
10 p r i v y Council Reg. i. p. 3. For bringing the guns and ammunition from
the French ships to Glasgow and thence eastward, several items of expenditure
are noticed in the accounts. Payments are made for boats furth of Greenock,
taking artillery, hagbuts, bullets, powder, " and other graith " to Glasgow,
and 1 08 " drauchts " of material were taken " fra the brig of Glasgw to the
castell of the samyn." Of this quantity " twenty draucht of cannon bullatis "
were taken from the castle to the bridge and " sent doun the water in boittis,
and in the ' Lyoun ' to be carryit about to Leith." Artillery and ammunition
were also carried by the barony men and others from the castle to Linlithgow,
apparently for the purpose of being shipped at Blackness port and taken to
Leith, whence it was carried to Edinburgh castle (L.H.T. Accounts, viii. pp.
378-81). On 6th August, 1547 the sum of 243. was paid " for carage of 29
gret barrellis pulder furth of Leith to Edinburgh quhilk come furth of Glasgow
to Blaknes and fra Blaknes to Leith in Peter Smythis boit " (Ibid. ix. p. 103).
The artillery and ammunition was no doubt carried from Glasgow to Lin-
lithgow port along the road frequented by traffic in earlier times, as mentioned
antea, pp. 177-8.
1 Historical MSS. Commission : Report xi ; Appx. 6, p. 221, No. 161.
374 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
Glasgow in April, 1545. This bond was seen and examined
by Father Innes who states that it was of the same tenor as
the bond granted by Arran, then duke of Chatelherault, on
6th February, I557-8. 2 It, therefore, appears that the earl
undertook to defend the archbishop and chapter and their
kirk, their lands, servants and tenants, from all unjust attacks
and injuries. The bond of 1557-8 refers to " this perilous and
dangerous tyme, quhair detestabil heresies ryses and increasis
in the diocy of Glasgow " ; and the earl specially promised
to assist and concur with the archbishop in expelling of heresies
within the diocese and in punishing of heretics. In all likeli-
hood these passages, equally applicable to both periods, were
repetitions from the earlier bond.
During the year 1545 King Henry continued his destructive
raids on this country ; but, in another direction, the execution
of George Wishart, in March 1545-6, and the assassination of
Cardinal Beaton, within three months thereafter, were of
more fateful consequence. The siege of St. Andrews castle,
sheltering the conspirators and their associates, including
John Knox, endured till July, 1547, but the triumph of the
French party in that deliverance preceded by only a couple of
months the crushing defeat which the English inflicted on the
Scots at Pinkie Cleuch. Still the Scots had no thought of sub-
mission, reinforcements were obtained from France, the
youthful Queen Mary, now affianced to the French Dauphin,
had sailed from Dumbarton in the end of July, 1548, and
safely reached the coast of France. For some time longer the
English continued their oppressive depredations, though
meeting with determined resistance and attaining only partial
success. At last they were glad to negotiate for peace, which
was secured in the spring of 1550.
2 Reg. Episc. No. 526 ; Tabula, vol. ii. p. xxx ; Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. pp.
125-6. It may be mentioned that the word " ryde," occurring twice in the
bond of 1557-8, is misprinted " syde."
ORDER IN WESTERN ISLES 375
On account of its situation Glasgow so far escaped the
ravages which overtook the eastern and southern districts
during the ferocious raids of " our auld enemies," during
which so many towns, abbeys and churches were destroyed.
The citizens, however, had their share of the troubles which
disturbed Scotland during the early stages of the Reformation,
and they had to join in the levies raised for the defence of the
Borders, or for other purposes of a military nature. As an
illustration of the city's liability for service on such occasions,
it may be mentioned that when, in November, 1552, the Queen-
dowager planned the raising of a body of foot soldiers for
service in France, three hundred of whom were to be got from
the burghs, Glasgow was called upon for its quota. 3
The Queen-dowager's accession to the regency of the
kingdom in April, 1554, when her daughter was approaching
the twelfth year of her age, introduced increased energy into
the administration of public affairs, though a proposal which she
made for having a standing army met with effective opposition.
But a fleet and army were entrusted with the restoration of
order in the Highlands and Western Islands, and in this con-
nection a burgess of Glasgow was, on ist August, 1555, paid
200 " for the fraucht of his schip to pas with my lord of
Ergyle in the His." 4 Some persons who had failed to join
an army summoned to assemble at Dumfries, on 20th July,
T 554> " f r fortification of the rule of our Lady the Queen,"
were tried and convicted in a court of justiciary, held at Glas-
gow, in the following October. 5
Though French influences continued active there prevailed
among statesmen a wholesome dread of encroachment from
3 L.H.T. Accounts, x. p. 148. This scheme was not favourably received
throughout the country and was abandoned.
4 Ibid. p. 287.
5 L.H.T. Accounts, x. pp. 259, 301. Next year there is this entry:
" To the officers that keipit the Tolbuith of Glasgw, the 14, 15 and 16 October,
the tyme of the Justice Courts, 263. 8d." (Ibid. p. 299).
376 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
that quarter, and the regent was not allowed to forget that
there were limits to foreign ascendancy. Urged by France to
make war in England, the regent, in October, 1557, brought
together a large army at Kelso, but the leading nobles, includ-
ing the duke of Chatelherault, flatly refused to march with it
across the border.
The time having arrived for fulfilment of the matrimonial
engagement, the Dauphin of France and the Queen of Scots
were married in the church of Notre Dame in Paris, on 24th
April, 1558. The ceremonial was observed in France with
special splendour, and that rejoicing was not neglected in this
country, is shown by instructions issued to several burghs,
including Glasgow, " to mak fyris and processioun generale,
for the completing and solemnizing of the marriage betuix
our Soverane Ladie and the Dolphine of France." 6
All this time the new religious opinions had been making
progress among the Scottish people. An act of the privy
council, dated nth June, 1546, within a fortnight after the
cardinal's death, expresses the dread that in these troublous
times evil disposed persons would destroy abbeys, churches
and other religious places, and proclamations were ordered
forbidding such ravages or the spoiling of kirk jewels and
ornaments, under penalty of loss of life, lands and goods. 7
In March of the following year a provincial council of the
Scottish clergy besought the regent to take steps for the
defence of the true religion, the land being then " infected
with the pestilentious heresies of Luther, his sect and follow-
aris." 8 The clergy were now getting seriously alarmed and
in order that the position might be fully discussed a Provincial
Council assembled in the church of the Friars Preachers of
Edinburgh, on 27th November, 1549. At this council, which
was presided over by the primate, John Hamilton, archbishop
*L.H.T. Accounts, x. p. 365.
7 Privy Counc. Reg. i. pp. 28, 29. 8 Ibid. p. 63.
LORDS OF THE CONGREGATION 377
of St. Andrews, and attended by a large body of clergy, in-
cluding Gavin Hamilton, dean of the metropolitan church of
Glasgow and vicar general of the vacant see, a series of
ordinances were passed, calling for the reformation of morals
and improvement in religious observances and instruction. 9
Several acts of parliament passed against unruly conduct, and
for securing the enforcement of church order and discipline,
indicate the prevailing tendency to revolt against the system
then existing, 10 while the burning of " heretics," such as Adam
Wallace, in 1550, and Walter Mill, in April, 1558, only served
to promote the cause for which those martyrs suffered.
A ten-months' visit of John Knox to Scotland, in 1555-6,
gave a powerful impetus to the movement, which continued
to grow in definiteness of purpose as well as in the number of
its adherents. In December, 1557, a bond or covenant was
entered into by the Earl of Argyle and others, binding them-
selves never to rest till the reformed faith was set up as the
national religion. The leaders, known as " The Lords of the
Congregation," had a series of interviews with the Queen-
regent, in the hope of effecting a settlement, but these
negotiations had been unfruitful, and after John Knox's
return to Scotland, in May, 1559, an d the violent outbreak
at Perth before the end of that month, all expectations of a
peaceful arrangement were dissolved.
Statutes of Scottish Church (Scottish History Society, No. 54), p. 84, et
seq.
lu An act of parliament passed on ist February, 1551-2, narrates that
" thair is divers prentaris in this realme that daylie and continuallie prentis
bukis concerning the faith, ballatis, sangis, blasphematiounis rymes, alsweill
of kirkmen as temporall, and utheris tragedeis, alsweill in Latine as in Inglis
toung, not sene, vewit and considderit be the superiouris as appertenis, to
the defamatioun and sclander of the liegis of this realme." To " put order to
sic inconvenientis," parliament ordained that no one should print books,
ballads, songs, rymes or tragedies, till seen by authorised examiners and the
subsequent granting of a licence by the Queen and Lord Governor. (A.P.S*
ii. p. 488.)
CHAPTER L
ARCHBISHOPS OF ST. ANDREWS AND GLASGOW THEIR
RIVALRY ARCHBISHOP DUNBAR VICARS-GENERAL
DURING VACANT SEE ARCHBISHOPS GORDON AND
BEATON PRIVILEGE OF SANCTUARY CLAIMED FOR
PLACE OF BLACKFRIARS SEALS OF CAUSE TO MASONS
AND OTHER CRAFTSMEN
ANY procedure which might be regarded as indicating a claim
of supremacy by the see of St. Andrews over that of Glasgow
was jealously watched and repudiated by the archbishop and
clergy of the latter city. In the end of November, 1535,
Archbishop Beaton, being in the town of Dumfries, in Glasgow
diocese, and having taken the opportunity of elevating his
episcopal cross and blessing the people, Archbishop Dunbar's
official protested that these acts, understood to be done by
agreement between the two archbishops, were not to be pre-
judicial to the privileges of Glasgow. Four years later similar
proceedings are recorded, Cardinal Beaton having then elevated
his cross in the town of Dumfries, but with the declaration
and admission that the rights of Glasgow were not thereby
prejudiced. 1
If the two Dumfries incidents were not deemed innova-
tions on Glasgow's rights, different views were entertained
regarding similar procedure in the cathedral. Dates and
circumstances as variously recounted are conflicting, but it
1 Reg. Episc. Nos. 500, 502.
378
RIOT IN CATHEDRAL 379
seems certain that towards the end of the year 1543, or in the
spring of 1544, within the choir of the cathedral, the arch-
bishop protested that the carrying of the cardinal's cross
in the metropolitan church, or elsewhere in his diocese or
province, should not be allowed to the prejudice of Glasgow's
exemption from the predominance of St. Andrews. To this
the cardinal replied that he did not carry his cross, or give
benediction within the church to the prejudice of the exemption
granted by the Pope but solely by reason of the goodwill and
courtesy of the archbishop. 2 But shortly after this came the
climax. In June, 1545, when the Queen-mother, Lord Governor
Arran, Cardinal Beaton, and several bishops and abbots, were
in Glasgow, attending a meeting of the privy council, a contest
arose between the archbishop and the cardinal, and their
cross-bearers, culminating in a serious riot, in the course of
which blows were struck and wounds given, copes and vest-
ments were torn, and the crosses of both metropolitans were
broken. 3
Archbishop Dunbar died on 30th April, 1547, and there-
after the see remained vacant for nearly three years. James
Hamilton, " natural brother of our illustrious governour,"
was nominated by the Queen-dowager, under an arrangement
whereby 1,000 of the revenues should be assigned to David
2 Reg. Episc. No. 504.
3 Glasg. Chart, i. pt. i. pp. liv, Iv ; Dowden's Bishops, pp. 346-7 ; Works
of John Knox, i. pp. 146-7 ; Diurnal of Occurrents, p. 39. This incident and
also the reception of the French forces referred to antea, p. 372, is thus noticed
in the Diurnal : " 3ist May. The King of France sent 2000 gunnaris, 300
bairdit hors and 200 archearis of the gaird and landit at Dumbartane with
greit provisioun and thair wageis payit for sax monethis to cum and silver
to fie 2000 Scottis for the said sax monthis space. Upoun the fourt of Junii
thir Frenchemen come out of Dunbartane, quhair thai wer ressavit be the
Quenis grace and Governour with greit dignitie ; the principall of thame was
callit Monsieur Lorge Montgomery, quha was weill treitit be the quenis grace.
Upone the same [day] the bischop of Glasgow pleit with the cardinall about
the bering of his croce in his dyocie, and baith thair croceis was broken in the
kirk of Glasgow throw thair stryving for the samin."
380 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
and Claud Hamilton, but the appointment did not take
effect, and it was not till March, 1549-50, that the vacancy was
filled by the installation of Alexander Gordon, brother of the
fourth earl of Huntly. Gordon did not retain office much
more than a year, and on 4th September, 1551, the Pope, at
the request of the Queen-dowager, provided to the see James
Beaton, son of an elder brother of Cardinal Beaton. The new
archbishop had been a chanter in Glasgow cathedral, was abbot
of Aberbrothock from about the year 1545, and when he
received the archbishopric of Glasgow was in the 27th year
of his age. After passing through the stages of acolyte,
sub-deacon, deacon and priest, at Rome in July, he
was there consecrated as archbishop on 28th August, 1552.
From bulls, instruments and other documents recorded
in Registrum Episcopatus many particulars are preserved
regarding the placing of Beaton both at Aberbrothock and
Glasgow. These include an absolution from papal cen-
sure, a dispensation on account of incomplete age (the
attainment of thirty years being the requisite qualification
for a bishop), mandates to the suffragans of the arch-
bishopric, chapter and clergy, and calls for obedience to
be given to the archbishop by the people of the city and
diocese and by the vassals in the lands belonging to the
church. 4
During the vacancies in the see archiepiscopal affairs were
administered by vicars-general, James Houston, sub-dean,
having been vicar-general for part of the years 1547 and 1548 ;
and on several occasions between the years 1549-51 Gavin
Hamilton, dean of the metropolitan church, is found acting in
that capacity. The revenues of the see were under the charge of
" Archibald Hammiltoun, captain of Arrane," who acted^as
" chamberlain of the archbishop," from the decease of
4 Reg. Episc. Nos. 507-19 ; Dowden's Bishops^ p. 350.
FRIARS' CLAIM OF SANCTUARY 381
Archbishop Dunbar, in 1547 till the entry of Beaton in
Archibald Hamilton seems to have been succeeded by
" Mr. Stevin Betoune, chamberlain of the castle of Glasgow/'
who, along with the magistrates of the city, had to defend
himself on a charge of violating the sanctuary privileges
alleged to belong to the Place of the Friars Preachers of
Glasgow. On 3rd June, 1553, two men named William
Culquhoune and Hew Lockhart, in the course of a quarrel,
had hurt each other, within the city, and Culquhoune " fled
into the said Place and sanctuary for girth." Thereupon
Lockhart's kin and friends came and took him by force furth
of the kirk and delivered him to the provost and bailies of
the city and chamberlain of the castle, all of whom refused
to restore him to the freedom and privilege of the sanctuary.
In a complaint made to the lords of council, the prior and
convent of the Friars Preachers alleged that since the founda-
tion of their Place, " or past memor of man " it had possessed
the privileges of sanctuary and girth, at least for recent and
sudden crimes, and so reverently observed that it had never
formerly been violated by any person so far as could be re-
membered. It was accordingly maintained that the conduct
of the magistrates and chamberlain was " to grait hurt of the
freedome and privilege of Halie Kirk, violatioune of the said
sanctuarie, nane uther being in the west parteis of the realme
fra Torphiching 6 west, bot the said place allanerlie, sen the
tulye was committit upone suddantie, and na partie is slane
be ather." The defenders called upon the complainers to
produce evidence of the privilege claimed by them, and the
court having heard the declaration of the priors of other
" places " in Scotland, to the effect that " thai never newe sic
5 Glasg. Prot. No. 1348.
c Torphichen, the chief seat in Scotland of the Knights Hospitallers of St.
John of Jerusalem.
382 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
privilege of girth grantit to thame," it was held that the claim
of sanctuary had not been established. 7
By the middle of the sixteenth century, most of the different
craftsmen employed in the building trade were grouped to-
gether in one society and it was under these circumstances
that, on the application of the head men and masters of the
masons, wrights, coopers, sawyers, quarriers, and others,
dwelling within the city, the magistrates and council confirmed
to them a series of statutes and articles whereby the combined
crafts attained the quality of an incorporation in the usual
way. To the altar of St. Thomas the customary contributions
were to be given, and the usual conditions of apprenticeship,
service, inspection and sufficiency of work were likewise inserted
in the seal of cause. Its date is I4th October, 1551, a month
after Archbishop Beaton had been provided to the see, but
some time before he entered on the duties or obtained con-
secration, and consequently the document has this peculiarity
that it was granted and sealed by the magistrates and council
alone, without the expressed consent of the archbishop. 8
All other pre- Reformation seals of cause were granted by the
magistrates and council, with the consent and under the seals
of the respective archbishops.
7 Lib. Coll. etc. pp. Ixiii, Ixiv. From the statement that there was no
other sanctuary than the Blackfriars west of Torphichen, it may be assumed
that by this time the Gyrth crosses and Gyrth-burn had ceased to be regarded
as the bounds of a privileged area around the cathedral.
8 Cruikshank's Incorporation of Masons (1879), pp. 3-6.
CHAPTER LI
MODE OF ELECTION OF GLASGOW MAGISTRATES ROYAL
COMMISSION ON ARCHBISHOP'S RIGHTS DUES CLAIMED
BY ARCHBISHOP CONVENTION OF BURGHS
SIR ROBERT STEWART of Minto seems to have been succeeded
in the provost ship by Archibald Dunbar of Baldoon who is
found in office in 1538. The name of " John Punfrastoun,
provost of Glasgow," is noted as a witness on i6th October,
I 539- 1 The next provost whose name is traced was Andrew
Hamilton, but all that is found regarding him is the statement
that for causing his death the laird of Bishopton, and others,
were " dilated " on 8th October, 1541. John Stewart of
Minto was provost in 1543, Andrew Hamilton of Middop
in 1545, Archibald Dunbar of Baldoon in 1547, James Hamilton
of Torrens in 1549-50, and then it is probable that Andrew
Hamilton of Cochnocht, in Dumbartonshire, held office from
1551 till 1559, and perhaps longer, though, apart from the
dates mentioned, his tenure of the provostship has not been
traced in more than one of the intervening years. The
appointment of provost belonged to the archbishop, but as
the bailie-depute of the regality was usually selected, the holder
of the office for the time was likely to be acceptable both to
the archbishop and to the chief bailie of the regality. 2
1 Lib. Coll. etc. p. 60.
2 Glasg. Chart, i. pt. i. p. 634 ; A.P.S. ii. p. 471.
Pitcairn's Criminal Trials, i. pt. ii. p. 361.* In his History of Glasgow
published in 1777, John Gibson, who seems to have had access to records not
383
384 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
At a parliament held at Edinburgh on I4th August, 1546,
the city of Glasgow was represented by a commissioner named
Andrew Hamilton, presumably the provost of that name,
who was designated of Middop, supposed to be Midhope in the
parish of Abercorn, Linlithgowshire. No earlier parliamentary
representative of the city appears on record. This perhaps is
to be explained by disappearance of parliamentary sederunts
or it may be that the city had hitherto neglected to appoint
a commissioner. There was no change of circumstances in
1546 to account for the attendance of a Glasgow representative
for the first time in that year, and therefore it may be assumed
that, whether advantage was taken of the privilege or not,
the city was entitled before that time to send a commissioner
to parliament.
As the bailies were chosen by the archbishop from a leet
selected by former members of the town council, at the head
burgh court held after Michaelmas, yearly, it is probable that,
on account of the unsettled condition of episcopal affairs,
there was no opportunity for an election in normal form be-
tween Michaelmas, 1546, preceding the death of Archbishop
Dunbar, and Michaelmas, 1552, following the consecration of
Archbishop Beaton, and to judge from the sequel there was
some irregularity even then. At the approach of Michaelmas
I 553 preparations were made for preserving a record of the
proceedings for future guidance, and a notary was instructed to
set down the facts in a formal instrument. From this docu-
ment it appears that on the Tuesday following Michaelmas,
being 3rd October, 1553, the provost and magistrates, at the
desire of the town council, came into the inner flower garden,
beside the Bishop's Palace, where the archbishop was conversing
now extant, says that Lord Belhaven was provost in 1541. The title " Lord
Belhaven " in the Scottish peerage was not conferred till 1648, but the ancestors
of the first lord were the Hamiltons of Broomhill, in the parish of Dalserf,
Lanarkshire, and it may have been one of these who was provost about the
year 1541.
o *-
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ELECTION OF MAGISTRATES 385
with some canons of his chapter. There much discussion
arose, on both sides, regarding the election of the bailies, thus
showing that one side or the other was dissatisfied with the
previous practice, and perhaps parties were not quite at one
in their conception of the actual facts regarding former
procedure. At last the delegates from the town council
presented to the archbishop a list or leet of " some of the most
eminent and worthy men of the city " and asked him to
nominate two of them as bailies for the ensuing year. On the
archbishop complying with this desire by pointing out with
his finger the names of John Hall and John Muir, the attending
provost and magistrates promised that these two should be
elected as bailies, using these words : " We sail do your
lordship's will." So saying, the deputation returned to the
tolbooth ; and after they left, the archbishop said to the
canons that for removal of all " further " contention respecting
the nomination and election of bailies, all the business then
transacted would be set down in an instrument which a notary
was instructed to prepare. 3
Complete information is not available regarding the
revenues derived by the archbishops from the burgh. It is
known that sixteen merks were yearly paid to them by the
burgesses as rentallers of the community lands, and they also
drew the customs of the Tron to which they obtained a grant
from the crown in 1489-90, as well as other customs, particulars
of which have not been ascertained. The mode of collecting
the latter customs, both before and after 1547 * s gathered
from a tack entered into on i6th April of that year, whereby
Archbishop Dunbar, with consent of the dean and chapter of
the metropolitan kirk, set to Henry Crawford, parish clerk of
Cadder, the whole of the archbishop's customs of the burgh,
all as the same had been let to the same tacksman for several
bypast years, and that for the space of nineteen years from
3 Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. pp. 119-21.
2 B
386 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
Whitsunday, 1546, for payment to the archbishop and his
successors of 24 yearly. But the money was not to remain
in the archbishop's hands. The sum of 20 was to be given
to the regents of the College and the remainder went to the
chaplains of the altars Nominis Jesus and Our Lady of Piete,
founded by Archbishop Blacader. 4
But over and above these revenues which, presumably,
were regularly collected, Archbishop Beaton seems to have
claimed certain duties from the community, liability for which
they repudiated, and the lords of secret council were called on
to decide the question. The decree, another of the inventoried
documents abstracted from the city's repositories, was pro-
nounced on loth December, 1554. From its description as
contained in the city's Inventory of Writs it is gathered that
the community was sued " for alleging itself to be doted and
infeft by the bishop's predecessors in certain privileges and
liberties and to be infeft be the king," and for not paying
certain duties to the archbishop. The community were also
called upon to produce the writings concerning the bishop,
but owing to the loss of the document the purport of the pro-
ceedings is not disclosed in an intelligible form, nor is there
much to be learned from the reported negative result when
" the lords assoilzies this burgh frae the lybell." 5
One dispute seems to have led to another, and the period
of annual election having again come round about two months
before the Privy Council gave their decision in the proceedings
just alluded to, a body of citizens, thirty-five in number,
elected two bailies of the city without submitting a leet to the
archbishop, as had been done with such formality so recently
as the preceding year. Information on this subject is obtained
from a Commission by Queen Mary, under her great seal,
with consent of James duke of Chatelherault, earl of Arran,
4 Antea, p. 294 ; Reg. Episc. No. 486 ; Glasg. Chart, ii. pp. 511-2.
5 Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. p. 121.
CLAIMS OF ARCHBISHOP 387
as bailie-principal of the regality of Glasgow, dated I2th
February, 1554-5, whereby Robert Heriot and three others
were authorised to hold courts of the bailiary of the regality
of Glasgow, within the Tolbooth of Edinburgh, for the purpose
of hearing and deciding upon the complaint of Archbishop
Beaton regarding the election of the magistrates of Glasgow.
The archbishop represented that the privilege of nominating
the provost and choosing the bailies from leets belonged to
him and had been enjoyed by his predecessors beyond the
memory of man, " or at least for sixty, fifty, forty or twenty
years preceding Michaelmas last." The circumstances con-
nected with the disputed election were then narrated and the
archbishop's claim to be supported in his rights and privileges
was submitted to the commissioners, it being considered
inexpedient to have the action prosecuted before the bailie-
principal of the archbishop or his deputes in the city of Glasgow.
The commissioners were sworn before the lords of council
at Edinburgh on 25th February, 1554-5, but the proceedings
cannot be further traced. From what is known of subsequent
election procedure and specially from the action of the magis-
trates and community at election time in 1561, when to show
their willingness " to ob temper and obey the decreet of the
lords of council," commissioners sought the archbishop or his
representative at his castle and mansion place, 6 it would appear
that the regality commissioners decided in favour of the
archbishop's claims. So far as can be ascertained, the arch-
bishop up till the time he left the city, continued to nominate
the provost and to choose the bailies from a leet, but after
that was done the commissions both to provost and bailies
were no doubt granted by the town council in the manner
previously explained. 7
The earliest minute book of the Convention of Burghs
6 Glasg. Chart, i. pt. i. pp. 540-2 ; ii. pp. 126-7.
7 Antea, p. 210.
388 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
begins on 4th April, 1552, on which day, within the Tolbooth
of Edinburgh, there convened " the provestis and commissaris
of the Borrois of this realme," including " Andro Hamiltoun,
provest of Glasgow, and John Mwre, commissinar thairof."
At the outset a series of statutes was ratified and approved,
the first of these referring to an ordinance made " of lang tyme
bipast," for the convention holding yearly meetings, and it
was resolved that this rule should in future be observed,
representatives convening in July, yearly, in such place as the
convention might appoint. In this renewed vitality an im-
proved administration was contemplated in several particulars.
Uniformity was to be attained in weights and measures, the
Lanark stone, the Stirling pint, the Linlithgow firlot and the
Edinburgh el wand. Complaints had been made against
burghs for innovations in exacting petty customs and each
burgh was in future to conform to the Edinburgh table.
Edinburgh was also to furnish the model for the election of
provost, bailies, treasurer, dean of guild and council. All the
burghs sustained loss through some of their burgesses dwelling
outside the burgh, and not bearing their shares of burgh
charges, and to remedy this neglect proclamation was to be
made at the market cross of each burgh, calling upon their
freemen to reside in the burgh and watch, ward and bear
taxation proportioned to their substance.
At the convention held at Edinburgh, in the following
July, that burgh and Stirling produced their measures, but
Lanark and Linlithgow were defaulters. Of the ensuing
convention, appointed to be held at Stirling, no record has been
preserved. The next convention of which there is a minute
was held at Edinburgh in May, 1555, when Glasgow was repre-
sented by William Hiegait, probably the notary of that name,
who for several years held the office of town clerk of the city.
Owing to changes in the condition of some of the burghs, tend-
ing to decay through the effects of war, pestilence and other
CONVENTION OF BURGHS 389
troubles, since the time of James IV., a committee was appointed
to make the necessary inquiries and to frame a new tax roll,
adapted to the ability of the respective burghs to share the
contributions levied from the general body. It was reported
on i8th September, 1555, that the tax roll had been altered, but
unfortunately no particulars are given. In an allocation
made in 1556, Glasgow still stood eleventh on the roll, as it
did in 1535, but perhaps the alterations reported in 1555 had
not j^et come into operation. In a taxation allocated on 6th
September, 1557, Stirling, St. Andrews and Haddington got
lower places and Glasgow stood eighth on the roll. 8
Inequality in the exaction of petty customs as well as of
haven duty still prevailed in 1555, rendering travellers liable
to the exactions of " ignorant and gredie keparis of portis and
hevynis of the borrowis of this realme." A table of dues
from the petty custom books of Edinburgh was therefore to
be transmitted to each burgh, with instructions to adhere to
the rates there specified and avoid " extortionis " in future.
Burgesses were subject to lower rates than unfreemen, and
to secure this benefit unfree merchants sometimes joined with
burgesses in partnership and the convention passed an act
against the continuance of such practices. In sea traffic,
also, skippers and shipowners communicated privileges to
unfreemen, and to prevent evasion of that sort merchants
were directed to freight their ships in presence of the dean of
guild or a bailie and not to sail without a ticket which was to
be granted to none but freemen. 9
8 Conv. Rec. i. pp. 1-14, 21, 26.
9 Ibid. pp. 10-12. Referring to an act of parliament requiring burghs to
have just weights and measures, the convention ordained each burgh to
choose, yearly, a dean of guild who should see to the observance of that
order (Ibid. p. 14). Glasgow had many reminders from the convention about
the appointment of a dean of guild before the establishment of its guildry
in 1605.
CHAPTER LII
PRIVILEGES OF BURGHS LIBERTIES AND PRIVILEGES OF
CRAFTSMEN DEACONS DISCHARGED AND VISITORS
SUBSTITUTED THESE CONDITIONS DISPENSED WITH
TRADING IN WEST SEAS EXACTIONS ON HERRING
FISHING SUMMER PLAYS
IN the Queen-regent's first parliament many wise and useful
acts were passed for improving the administration of justice
throughout the country and there was also some experimental
legislation specially affecting the burghs. It is understood
that on these subjects the regent was chiefly guided not by her
French advisers but by the sage counsel of Henry Sinclair,
dean of Glasgow, a man of profound legal knowledge and
eminent as a scholar and statesman. 1
By one of the burgh statutes it was recalled that for many
bygone years, through trouble of wars, the estate of burgesses
had suffered both in their lands and goods, and also that their
1 Tytler, iii. p. 76 ; where the more important statutes are alluded to.
Henry Sinclair, second son of Sir Oliver St. Clair of Roslin was educated for
the church at the university of St. Andrews. He was highly esteemed by
James V. and was for years in his family. On I3th November, 1537, he was
admitted an ordinary lord of session, and on i6th December, 1538, he was
appointed rector of Glasgow primo. The commendatorship of Kilwinning
he held from 1541 till 1550 when he exchanged that benefice for the deanery
of Glasgow, then held by Gavin Hamilton. On being appointed bishop of
Ross, in 1560, he had to resign the deanery, but was allowed to retain the
prebend of Glasgow primo. Sinclair was lord president of the court of session
from 1558 till his death in 1565. (Senators of the College of Justice (1836)
pp. 58-60 ; Dowden's Bishops, p. 228.)
390
FISHING OF LOCH FYNE 391
privileges constituted by royal grants and acts of parliament,
had not been duly observed and kept, and parliament there-
fore ratified all these privileges to burghs, burgesses and mer-
chants, and ordained the lords of council to exercise their
authority in enforcing the statutes. The act of James IV.
requiring ships coming to free burghs in the west seas to
observe certain rules 2 was ordered to be renewed, with an
addition requiring that no one should purchase merchandise
from strangers but only from freemen at free ports of the burghs.
All the burghs of the west country, such as Irvine, Ayr,
Dumbarton and Glasgow, had been in the practice of resorting
yearly to the fishing of Loch Fyne and other lochs in the
North Isles, for the herring and other fishing, and hitherto
they had been subject to no other exaction than the payment
of the fishermen. Nevertheless some countrymen, dwelling
beside Loch Fyne, had begun to charge custom on every last
of herring taken in the loch, as high as the Queen's custom.
On hearing of this new exaction parliament ordained that it
should be discharged and not taken from the burgesses in
respect of any herring or fishes taken by them in the lochs,
for furnishing of their own houses and the country. This
provision does not seem to have applied to fish caught for
export, but perhaps home supply was mainly looked for at
that time. On the same day as the fishing act was passed,
parliament, referring to the increasing dearth in the country,
of victuals and flesh, caused by the export of these, prohibited
their removal from the country, except in so far as might be
necessary for victualling ships and vessels during their voyage.
But it allowed the inhabitants of the burghs of Ayr,
Irvine, Glasgow and Dumbarton, and others dwelling at the
west seas, to take baken bread, brewed ale and aquavitae to
the Isles to barter with other merchandise. 3
2 Antea, p. 244. 3 Clyde Burghs, p. 23.
392 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
For the due exercise of their privilege of free trade through-
out the kingdom facility of passage from one town to another
was indispensable, and it was with the view of securing this
object that parliament ordained that all common highways,
formerly in use for going from or coming to a burgh, and
specially all common highways from " dry " burghs to ports
and havens, should be observed and kept and that no one
should cause interruption to such traffic. In this provision
Glasgow, which in a limited sense might then be regarded as
a " dry " burgh, was protected in the use of the highway
leading from the city to the free port of Linlithgow.
vSome suspicion was entertained that the formation of
bodies of craftsmen into a number of small confederacies
afforded opportunity for raising class disturbances, and it
was considered that if the centralising authority of the deacons
were withdrawn the risk might be lessened ; and, on 2oth
June, 1555, an act of parliament was passed for that purpose.
In the words of this statute, the choosing of deacons and men
of craft within burgh was dangerous, as they had caused great
trouble in burghs, commotion and rising of the lieges, by
making of leagues and bonds among themselves, and betwixt
burgh and burgh. It was therefore ordained that there should
be no deacon chosen in future ; but the provost, bailies and
council of the burgh were to choose the most honest man,
one of each craft, to visit the craftsmen and see that they
laboured sufficiently and produced satisfactory work. Ap-
pointed at Michaelmas yearly, the visitors were to give oath
for the true performance of their duties, without any power of
assembling the craftsmen or of making any acts or statutes ;
but all craftsmen to be under the magistrates and council.
The visitors were to have voting in the choosing of officers
and in other things as the deacons formerly had. No crafts-
man was to bear office in burgh in future, except two " maist
honest and famous/' who were to be chosen yearly upon the
PRIVILEGES OF CRAFTSMEN 393
council and who were to be among the number of auditors
of the common good, conform to previous acts of council. 4
This act of parliament did not meet with acceptance and
its main provisions were dispensed with by letters under the
great seal, granted successively by the Regent, Queen Mary
and King James VI. By the first of these documents, dated
i6th April, 1556, only ten months after the act was passed,
it is recited that seeing a well constituted state could not for
long exist without good craftsmen, sovereigns had granted
sundry privileges and liberties to craftsmen, including the right
to choose deacons for inspection of work, to make statutes
and to impose fines and inflict punishment, and good crafts-
men who were burgesses were also allowed to navigate and
use commerce like other merchants of the kingdom. The
changes introduced by the act of 1555 are then referred to,
and the Queen-regent states, " we have learned that nothing
has been done in pursuance of those causes and considerations
which had moved our foresaid parliament to pass that measure ;
nay, that everything is done more carelessly among those
craftsmen at this day than formerly." Desiring, therefore,
not to abridge the craftsmen's ancient privileges " without
great, urgent and enduring cause, but that everything justly
and properly granted in ancient time be restored to its pristine
and original state, and also desiring to prevent dissensions and
contentions among our merchants and tradesmen/' dispensa-
tions were granted to all craftsmen in regard to the act of
parliament and all its clauses which obstructed the liberties
and privileges formerly granted to them. Specially there
was restored the right of having deacons of crafts who should
have votes in electing officers of burghs. Craftsmen were to
join in the audit of the common good accounts, were authorised
to make lawful statutes and ordinances relating to their own
crafts, for the preservation of good order among themselves
4 Ancient Laws (A.D. 1555), ii. pp. 77-81.
394 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
and the maintenance of divine service at the altars, and
were allowed to navigate and exercise merchandise within
and without the kingdom, as should seem to them most
advantageous. 5
Among the statutes of June, 1555, treating mainly on the
serious concerns of everyday existence and the prosecution
of trade and commerce, is placed a denouncement of the
prevalent pastimes of the period, possibly a reaction on the
celebrations of the previous month which may have been
unusually demonstrative and disturbing to business people.
Without preamble or explanation, parliament ordained that
in future " na maner of persoun be chosin Robert Hude nor
Lytill Johne, Abbot of Unressoun, Queenis of May, nouther
in burgh nor to landwart," heavy penalties being imposed for
infringement. Women, also, " about simmer treis singand "
and disturbing the lieges, in their passing through burghs and
towns, were threatened with the " cukstulis." But these
dramatic games and amusements were too popular to be easily
suppressed, and they survived not only this but many sub-
sequent prohibitions. 6
5 Reg. Mag. Sig. iv. No. 1054. This concession and restoration was obvi-
ously valued by craftsmen. Letters in similar terms were granted by Queen
Mary on ist March, 1564 (Ibid. No. 1583), and by King James VI. with consent
of his privy council, on 22nd July, 1581 (Ibid. v. No. 233) ; but in these Letters
no reference is made to altars. All the Letters, with translations, are printed
in Conv. Rec. ii. pp. 469-79.
6 Ancient Laws, p. 81. Robert Chambers describes a Robin Hood celebra-
tion and consequent riotous conduct at Edinburgh in 1561 (Domestic Annals,
i. pp. 7-11) ; and though there is no early account of Glasgow amusements
it may be assumed that the citizens shared in the current revels of the time.
CHAPTER LIII
EARLY COUNCIL RECORD NAVIGATION OF THE RIVER
CLYDE UNIVERSITY'S EXEMPTION FROM TAXES AND
SUBSIDIES VICARAGE OF COLMONELL SEAL OF CAUSE
TO CORDINERS
WHEN John Gibson published his History of Glasgow, in 1777,
he seems to have had access either to a council record going
farther back than the earliest now in the city's repositories
or to extracts from such a register. Quoting an ordinance
and statute of the year 1556, " made be the baillie, Johne
Muire, and the remanent counsell of the town and ceite, for
the ingathering of the tax, laitlie devisit to be tane of the
burr owes," Gibson shows that the city's share of a tax on the
burghs in general was allocated on the citizens by " stenters "
selected from the merchants and the several bodies of crafts-
men. For the merchants twelve stenters were appointed,
and for the craftsmen the smiths supplied 5 ; baxters, 3 ;
cordiners, 2 ; tailors, 4 ; skinners, 2 ; weavers, 4 ; masons,
4 ; mealmen and maltmen, 4 ; coopers, 3 ; and fleshers, 4. 1
Three years later Gibson again gives information apparently
obtained from a now missing council record, mentioning that
1 Gibson's History of Glasgow, pp. 79, 80. At this time Glasgow stood
eleventh highest in a list of 42 contributing burghs. In the allocation of an
impost on the burghs of 1,000 merks the following were the eleven highest
contributors : Edinburgh, i6S ; Stirling, 16 ; Glasgow, ^13 ; Ayr, ^15 ;
Haddington, 20 ; Aberdeen, ^63 ; Dundee, ^84 ; Perth, 49 ; Montrose,
18, St. Andrews, 20; Cupar, iS ; fractions omitted (Conv. Rec. i. pp.
521-2).
395
396 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
in 1559 the citizens elected their own magistrates at a time when
the archbishop had left the town and taken up his quarters
with the Queen-regent and the garrison in Leith fort. 2
Statutes and ordinances by the magistrates fixing the prices
of ale, bread, tallow, candles and horse corn, on $oth September,
1560, are also quoted, a " grit dearth approaching to a famine,"
in 1563, is referred to and the price of wine in 1569 is restricted
to i8d. the pint. 3
Acts of the town council, dated 6th October, 1556, have
been preserved in an extract under the hand of William Hegait,
town clerk. On that day the provost, bailies and council
ordained that the baxters, as the bakers were called, should
have three market days in the week, viz., Monday, Wednesday
and Friday, for bringing their bread to the cross, and no bread
of outside bakers was to be sold at the cross except on these
days. An outside traveller bringing bread to the market
was not allowed to sell it to strangers in large quantities or
wholesale 4 till the inhabitants were served and twelve hours
had struck. Only the traveller who brought the bread, and
not any huckster, was allowed to sell it, and there were to be
only two prices, 4d. and 2d., the weight varying with the
market price.
Referring to election time in 1573, three months before the
existing records begin, Gibson states that the claim of the
bishop to appoint the magistrates was revived by Archbishop
Boyd and that against this the council protested and for that
2 Gibson's History of Glasgow, pp. 81, 82. James Denholm in his History
of Glasgow, published in 1798 (p. 10) repeats this statement and expressly
cites " Council Record " as his authority.
3 Gibson's History, pp. 82-84. Prices fixed : ale, 4d. the pint ; 4d.
loaf to weigh 32 ounces ; 2d. loaf, 16 ounces ; tallow, 8s. the stone ; candle,
6d. the pound ; horse corn, 8d. the peck.
4 The words are : " in laidis, creillis nor half creillis nor in gret the gidder."
(Facsimile of Extract in The Incorporation of Bakers of Glasgow, 1891,
P- 43-)
IMPROVEMENTS ON RIVER CLYDE 397
year chose their own magistrates. 5 From this remark, and
keeping in view the procedure at election time in 1561 6 it
may be inferred that since 1559 the citizens had elected their
own magistrates, though as formerly the bailie of the regality
had ex officio held the provostship. Lord Boyd, in 1573,
succeeded Sir John Stewart of Minto, who had been bailie of
the regality and provost of the burgh from at least the year
T 565, by which time the Earl of Lennox had been rein-
vested in his estates.
Though no authority is cited, it was probably from an early-
council record that we have the first information about improve-
ments on the navigation of the river Clyde, the channel of which,
for about thirteen miles below the city, was so interrupted by
fords and shoals as to render the passage difficult, even for
craft of the smallest size. It is stated that in 1556, huts were
erected near Dumbuck and inhabitants of Glasgow, Renfrew
and Dumbarton, entered into an agreement to work on the
river, for six weeks at a time, per vices, with a view chiefly to
remove the ford at Dumbuck and the most prominent sand-
banks. Though, it is added, this work was of considerable
benefit to the navigation, the river was still in a very imperfect
state, the shores were rugged and irregular ; and as at high
tide the water spread over a great surface, forming pools and
islands, the most skilful skipper often ran the risk of missing
the channel. 7
During Queen Mary's reign the exemption from taxes
first granted to the University by James II. in 1453, was con-
6 Gibson's History, p. 84. Similar notes taken from the existing records
are continued by Gibson who correctly states that in 1574 Lord Boyd was
appointed provost during the archbishop's lifetime and his lordship's accept-
ance (Glasg. Rec. i. pp. 22, 23). This continuity of reference adds to the likeli-
hood of a previous council record being really in existence in Gibson's time.
But there is little chance of the book again becoming available, and without
it the historian must be content to leave much of the city's sixteenth century
experiences in obscurity.
6 Antea, p. 387. 7 Cleland's Annals (1829) p. 371.
398 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
firmed and on other occasions was adapted to the special
circumstances of its office bearers. The first of these con-
firmations is contained in a Letter by the Earl of Arran,
governor of the kingdom, dated 6th July, 1547, * n which
previous letters of exemption are enumerated and ratified
and the University and its rectors, dean of faculty, procurators
regents, masters and scholars, relieved of all taxations, ex-
actions and other charges that might be imputed to them.
In 1554-5 the clergy of Scotland agreed to levy a crown
contribution of 10,000. At that time John Colquhoune,
parson of Stobo, was rector of the University, John Layng,
parson of Luss, was dean of faculty, and John Houston, vicar
of Glasgow, was regent in the " Pedagog " ; and the Queen-
regent, recognising the exemptions formerly granted to
members of the university, " and being myndit rather to
augment nor hurt thare privilegis," granted a Letter under
her signet, discharging the collector of the tax from levying
any part of it from Stobo and Luss parsonages and Glasgow
vicarage. The Letter is dated 8th February, 1555-6 ;
and by similar documents, dated respectively I5th June,
1556, and I4th March, 1556-7, the rector, dean of faculty and
principal in the University, for the time, were relieved from
payment from their respective benefices of any part of a crown
contribution of 2,000 granted by the clergy in May, 1556,
and another of 2,500 granted by them in December of that
year. 8
About this time Archbishop Beaton definitely annexed
8 Glasg. Chart. i.pt.ii.pp. 118, 122-4. I Q I 55^~7 Archibald Betoun "chantour
of Aberdeine " was rector, John Houston was dean of faculty, and John
Davidson, " pensionar of the personage of Kinkell, within the diocy of Aber-
deine " was principal regent. Stationers and parchment-makers are included
in the enumeration of those sharing in the university's exemption from taxa-
tion in 1453 (Ibid. p. 38). Manufacture of parchment thus seems to have been
practised in Glasgow, and it is noted that in 1531, when large numbers of
parchment skins were being purchased for crown purposes, the lord high
treasurer bought some of these in Glasgow (L.H.T. Accounts, vi. p. 50).
LANDS OF DOWHILL 399
the vicarage of Colmonell, in the deanery of Carrick and shire
of Ayr, to the University. This was done by a charter granted
at the archbishop's " Palace " on 24th January, 1557-8, but
in previous writings there are indications that the annexation
had been resolved upon in 1537, and in a lease granted in 1552
the rector of the university consented for his interest. Under
the name of Kirk-Colmanele, the church with its pertinents
belonged to the bishops of Glasgow and these were confirmed
to them by three successive Popes, in the twelfth century.
The rectory and revenues were settled on the chapter of
Glasgow and were possessed by that body till the Reformation.
For some years after 1557 the revenues of the vicarage were
paid to John Davidson, principal regent of the university,
and under the new foundation, in 1572-3, the vicarage was
assigned to the principal of the college as the chief part of his
remuneration. 9
According to title deeds and rental, the university was
possessed of four acres of land in Dowhill, " betuix the burne
and the Muyr buttis," but when the ground was measured
by the " barony men," at the bishop's command, in 1557,
it was found to be over two falls short of that area. On the
supposition that this deficient ground had been lost through
encroachment by neighbouring proprietors, it was agreed that
their " evidents " or title deeds should be examined, but ac-
cording to a memorandum made at Whitsunday, 1559, that
had not been accomplished, because, in the first place, the
archbishop " passit to France to the Quenis marriage " and
latterly " the controversie rays betuix the Protestants and
the Papistis for the religione." 10
Just in time to escape the more acute stage of this
9 Munimenta, pp. xiv, xvi, 56, 62 ; Caledonia, p. 541 ; Glasg. Prof. Nos.
2112-3. In exercise of their right of patronage, the dean and chapter, on
24th February, 1477-8, chose a parish clerk of Colmonell, and on the same day
the archbishop gave him official admission (Reg. Episc. Nos. 414-5).
10 Munimenta, p. 67.
400 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
" controversie," and by means of a seal of cause to obtain
the recognition of the archbishop and authority for the
maintenance of altar services, the cor diner and " barker "
or tanner craftsmen, on 27th February, 1558-9, presented a
supplication to the magistrates and council, seeking ratification
of their rules and regulations conform to the usual practice.
The honour of holy kirk, the common weal of the town and the
profit of " our soverane lord and ladyis " lieges repairing
thither, augmentation of divine service at the altar of St.
Ninian in the metropolitan kirk, with " the honour of the
sanctis Crispine and Crispinani, our patrones," are set forth
as leading motives for the application, and then followed a
statement of the " statutes, articles and rules " desired to be
sanctioned. These included power to choose a " dekin and
kirkmaster," sanction for specified sums to be paid for mainten-
ance of the altar by craftsmen on setting up booth, by prentices
at their entry, by masters and servants weekly, and by those
presenting to the market any work or " bar kit " leather. Pren-
tices had to serve for seven years, and a freeman was to take
one only in the seven years, and there were rules as to stands
in the market, the hours of the market, the inspection of work,
the employment of servants, giving obedience to the deacon
and imposition of fines. The deacon, with advice of the
worthiest craftsmen, was also to be authorised to make statutes
to their own craft for the commonweal and profit of the burgh. 1
1 Within eleven years after this seal of cause was obtained by the cordiners
it was superseded by another (27th June, 1569) in almost identical terms, so
far as relating to business and workmanship but containing variations necessi-
tated by changes in national affairs. In the seal of 1558 allusion is made-to
the lieges of " our Soverane Lord and Lady, the King and Quene," Francis
and Mary. Ere 1569 was reached Mary had passed through two widow-
hoods, dethronement and exile ; and in the second seal of cause her son,
" the king," is referred to as the ruling sovereign. Then, in consequence of
the Reformation, maintenance of divine service at a cathedral altar was illegal,
and the money formerly so destined was, in 1569, appointed to be given in
support of poor decayed brethren and relief of the common charges of the
craft. Money, also, formerly spent on banquets was in future to be used
i #:
SEAL OF JAMES BEATON, THE LAST ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP, 1557-60.
SEAL OF CAUSE TO CORDINERS 401
The magistrates and council, with consent of the archbishop,
approved of and confirmed the statutes, articles and rules, and
the seal of the archbishop and the common seal of the burgh
were appended to the written parchment.
for similar charitable purposes. No reference was made to the archbishop
and the magistrates and council were the sole granters of the new seal of
cause. See Cordiners of Glasgow, by William Campbell (1883) pp. 248-55 ;
also The Scottish Craft Guild, by Robert Lamond, in S.H.R. xvi. pp. 191-211.
2C
CHAPTER LIV
DUKE OF CHATELHERAULT, BAILIE OF REGALITY PRO-
TECTION TO ARCHBISHOP PROGRESS OF REFORMATION
ATTACKS ON CHURCHES AND MONASTERIES TREATY
WITH ENGLAND RETURN OF FRENCH ARMY DEPART-
URE OF ARCHBISHOP BEATON MEETING OF PARLIA-
MENT
ARCHBISHOP BEATON having, with consent of his chapter,
of new constituted the Duke of Chatelherault, and his heirs,
bailies of the barony and regality of Glasgow, for the space of
nineteen years, the Duke on 6th February, 1557-8, granted
to the archbishop a bond of maintenance in the same terms
as that given to Archbishop Dunbar in I547- 1 Reference
is made to " this perillous and dangerous tyme, quhair
detestabil heresies ryses and increasis in the diocy of Glasgow " ;
and the duke undertook to repress these to the utmost of his
power. Lands, servants and tenants were to be protected ;
and in the military phraseology of " bands of manrent " he
became bound " to ryde, mantene supply and fortifie and tak
afald part " with the archbishop and the chapter, in all their
good, honest and lawful matters, actions and quarrels, " and
speciallie sail assist and concur with him and tham in expelling
of heresies within the diocy and punising of heretykis."
In the preceding December the lords of the congregation
had issued their manifesto of Protestantism and the struggle
1 Antea, pp. 373-4 ; Glasg. Chart, i. pt. ii. pp. 125-6.
402
PROGRESS OF REFORMATION 403
between the adherents of the old faith and the propagators
of the new was approaching the final stage. The Queen-
Regent was petitioned for immediate reform in ecclesiastical
affairs, but no impression was made in that quarter, and as
for the spiritual authorities they committed the fatal blunder
of putting the venerable Walter Mill to death by burning on
a charge of heresy. This was on 28th April, 1558, and thence-
forth Protestant preachers became more energetic and popular
than ever. The Roman Catholic clergy were defied and on
account of the increasing number of their opponents became
powerless to punish transgressors. On ist January, 1558-9,
a manifesto called the " Beggars Summons/' containing an
incisive indictment of the Friars and Clergy, and purporting
to come from all cities, towns and villages of Scotland, was
found placarded on the gates of every religious establishment
in Scotland.
On gth February, 1558-9, Letters in name of the Queen-
Regent were ordered to be proclaimed at the market crosses
of the burghs of Linlithgow, Glasgow, Irvine and Ayr, charging
the lieges therein that none of them should take upon hand to
commit, attempt or do any injury or violence to or disturb
the service used in the churches, strike, menace or " bost "
priests, or eat flesh in Lent, under the penalty of death. 2
This proclamation, similar to that sent to other burghs, is
highly significant of the state of feeling prevalent at the time.
A Provincial Council of the clergy was summoned to meet
in the house of the Dominican Friars at Edinburgh, on ist
March, 1558-9, to deal with the religious difficulty, and at this
council, for attendance at which Archbishop Beaton had
called his suffragans and diocesan clergy, admirable resolutions
and decrees were passed, but it was then too late to avert the
threatened change. 3
2 L. H. Treas. Accounts, x. p. 416.
3 Statutes of the Scottish Church (S.H.S. No. 54) pp. 149-91.
404 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
John Knox finally returned to his native country on 2nd
May, 1559, about which time the protestant preachers had been
summoned to appear before the Regent and answer for their
persistency in spreading the new opinions. Postponement
of the proceedings had been negotiated by a large body of sym-
pathisers assembled at Perth, but unexpectedly, in consequence
of the non-appearance of the accused, sentences of outlawry were
pronounced against them. This brought on a climax. After
a sermon on the idolatries of Rome and the Christian duty
of ending them, preached by Knox in the parish church of
Perth, on nth May, the church was stripped of its images and
ornaments, not "a monument of idolatry " being left in the
building. The " rascal multitude " then took up the work,
attacking the places of the Dominicans and Franciscans and
the Charterhouse Abbey, and within a couple of days only
the walls of these buildings remained. Destruction of church
buildings also took place at St. Andrews in the beginning of
June and similar excesses were witnessed elsewhere, and
notwithstanding negotiations and temporary arrangements it
was at last recognized that between the Regent and her revolted
subjects there could be no compromise. We have no specific
information as to what was happening in Glasgow during
the summer months of this year, but it may be assumed with
regard to the cathedral at least that so long as the Duke of
Chatelherault steadfastly observed his undertaking to the
archbishop and the chapter, both the building and its contents
would be efficiently protected from injury.
A considerable accession to the Reformers' cause was
gained when the Earl of Arran, eldest son of the Duke of
Chatelherault, forced to flee from France by reason of his
Protestant sympathies, joined the lords of the congregation
when assembled at Stirling in September, 1559. Nor was this
all. As the result of interviews with the duke himself, at
Hamilton Palace, the lords secured his co-operation also ;
PLACES OF FRIARS 405
and being thus supported and having raised a force of about
8,000 men the insurgents entered Edinburgh with the intention
of laying siege to Leith which the Regent had fortified and
garrisoned with 3,000 trained soldiers, most of whom had been
brought from France. But in their few encounters with the
Regent's forces the Reformers were not successful, and about
the end of November it was arranged that Chatelherault,
Argyle, Glencairn and the Lords Boyd and Ochiltree were to
make their headquarters in Glasgow, while Arran and others,
including John Knox, were to act from St. Andrews as their
centre.
It has been stated that while this contingent was in Glasgow
the religious houses were sacked and plundered, but no definite
information on this subject is available. The place of the
Blackfriars is not heard of as their residence subsequent to
that period, though the church, needing and getting repairs,
seems to have been continuously used. Of the Grejrfriars'
place or monastery, as it was sometimes called, nothing is
known between the outbreak of 1559 and the middle of the
following year, by which time the buildings, if not destroyed,
were at least deserted by their former occupants. In a protocol
dated igth June, 1560, James Baxter, one of the Friars, is
mentioned as having been " ejected," and in another protocol,
ten days later in date, the place itself is referred to in the past
tense, thus indicating that the building had either been re-
moved or deserted. 4 The churches of St. Tenew, Little St.
Kentigern and St. Roche are not traced as in use for religious
services subsequent to June, 1559, and the Collegiate Church
of St. Mary and St. Anne, a comparatively new structure,
had to be renovated before being used as a protestant place
of worship about thirty years after the Reformation.
In a judgment pronounced by the lords of council and
session on 7th June, 1578, it is stated that before the month of
* Glasg. Prof. Nos. 1370, 1374.
406 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
August, 1559, " the haill places of Freris within this realme
wes demoliscit and cassin downe and the conventis quhilkis
maid residence within the samin wer dispersit." 5 This
deliverance need not be accepted as literally accurate though
perhaps correctly narrating the early dispersion of the Glasgow
friars. Some of the buildings throughout the country must
have remained in a more or less perfect condition, because
in an order by the Privy Council dated i5th February, 1561-2,
giving directions regarding "the places of freris, as yet standand
undemolissit," it was indicated that Glasgow was one of the
towns in which such buildings were still standing and the
magistrates were authorised to uphold the same for the benefit
of the town. 6
After the fierceness of the earlier ravages was somewhat
allayed the further demolition of buildings was strongly dis-
couraged. In August 1560, a sort of circular was sent by the
lords of the congregation to certain persons in different districts,
requiring them to pass to the kirks within their bounds " and
tak doun the haill images thereof and bring them furth to the
kirkyard and burn them openly, and siclyke cast doun the
altars, and purge the kirk of all kinds of monuments of idolatry ;
and this ye fail not to do, as ye will do us singular empleasure ;
and so commits to the protection of God. Fail not but ye
tak good heed that neither the desks, windocks, nor doors be
onyways hurt or broken, either glassin work or iron work." 7
It is, therefore, probable that the cathedral and all the other
churches in the city were cleared of their remaining altars,
relics and ornaments, either by the churchmen themselves,
6 Lib. Coll. etc. p. Ixvi. The Grey Friars got their usual gift of herrings
from the king subsequent to ist November, 1559 (Glasg. Prot. No. 2291),
but it does not necessarily follow that their Glasgow buildings were occupied
by the Friars at that time.
6 Privy Council Reg. i. p. 202.
7 Hill Burton's History of Scotland, iii. p. 354.
COMPACT WITH QUEEN ELIZABETH 407
who removed them for safety, or by the unsparing Reformers
in their zeal for the suppression of idolatry.
In the month before this circular was issued Glasgow cathe-
dral was probably in a deserted and dismantled condition.
On i Qth July, when the archbishop was on his way to France,
a chaplain acting as procurator for the newly appointed rector
of Govan, appeared in presence of the subdean, at the outside
of the cathedral, produced letters from the archbishop and
asked institution to his prebend. The subdean received
the letters and came to the door of the choir and chapter-
house but could not gain admittance. Neither could he get
the surplice, cape, and other usual ornaments for such a
ceremony, but symbolic possession was given by the subdean
delivering a book to the procurator who thereupon protested
that the rector had thus obtained lawful institution to his
benefice. 8
Meanwhile national events of momentous importance had
occurred. The Queen-Regent had taken possession of Edin-
burgh two days after the lords of the congregation quitted the
city, though the castle remained in the hands of Lord Erskine,
the governor. Reinforcements arrived from France, enabling
her army to take the field against the Reformers, who were
by that time almost abandoning hope of a successful issue
to their cause. But the negotiations they had been carrying
on with Queen Elizabeth resulted in a compact which com-
pletely turned the scale in their favour. By this Treaty,
concluded on 27th February, 1559-60, it was agreed that an
English army should enter Scotland to assist in driving the
French soldiery out of the kingdom.
On the approach of the united forces the Queen-Regent,
then in an infirm state of health, retired to Edinburgh Castle,
where she died on loth June. By this time all parties were
eager for peace, and on 6th July it was arranged that the
*Glasg. Prot. No. 1382,
408 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
Leith fortifications should be demolished, that the French
soldiers should leave the country, that till the return of Queen
Mary the government should be entrusted to a council of
twelve persons, of whom the Queen was to appoint seven and
the estates five, and that the estates of the realm should
convene and hold a parliament in the ensuing month of
August. In the second or third week of July the French army,
accompanied by the archbishop of Glasgow, embarked at Leith,
on the return to their own country and the English army
departed towards Berwick. Authorities differ as to the precise
date of the French army's departure from Leith, but some
day between I3th and iQth July is usually given.
It must have been during the period that Archbishop Beaton
was with the army in Leith fort that the muniments, images,
jewels and ornaments, taken by him to France, were removed
from the cathedral. From the time when the destruction of
church property was commenced, and specially after the Duke
of Chatelherault joined the lords of the congregation, he would
naturally be apprehensive for the safety of these treasures and
no doubt the strong fort at Leith was regarded as the securest
place of custody within reach. Transmission was easy as the
well-known old thoroughfare from Glasgow to Linlithgow's
port of Blackness was open, and thence the communication
by water to Leith port was well within the regent's command.
It is not likely that there was at first any intention of taking
the muniments farther than Leith, but as events turned out
there was no alternative to their removal to France if the
archbishop's control over them was to be continued.
There are no contemporary accounts containing a con-
nected narrative of the archbishop's movements during the
last year of his residence in this country, but some statements
have obtained currency in the pages of various chroniclers
which may be accepted as at least approximately accurate .
Thus at the time when the western members of the " congrega-
REMOVAL OF MUNIMENTS 409
tion " took up their quarters in Glasgow, in November, 1559,
ft is said that the Duke of Chatelherault caused the images
and altars in the churches there to be removed and that he,
with the earls of Argyle and Arran, occupied the archbishop's
castle and began to fortify it. Archbishop Beaton along with
Archbishop Hamilton of St. Andrews, had by that time
" declared themselves openly with the French " and obtained
the shelter afforded by the garrison at Leith fort. When the
news from Glasgow of the occupation of the castle reached the
Queen- Regent she sent French troops, along with the archbishop,
and they soon recovered possession of the buildings which had
been seized and then returned to Leith. It may have been
on this if not on an earlier occasion that Beaton removed his
valuables to Leith, including that mass of registers and charters
without the use of which the history of Glasgow from the
twelfth to the fifteenth centuries would, in many parts now
clearly expiscated, have been as vague as that of the years
leading back to the time of St. Kentigern.
The leaders of the congregation having resumed pos-
session of the castle, it was again in their hands in March
when the Queen- Regent sent a large force of foot soldiers and
horsemen to attack the garrison. As related in a letter from
the duke, dated 2ist March, 1559-60, the soldiers left in the
Bishop's castle and " stepill," being outnumbered, surrendered
to the French, and on their entry a barrel of gunpowder ex-
ploded, killing thirteen men and injuring others. An encounter
took place at Glasgow bridge when eight Frenchmen were
slain. The attacking forces then left the town, pursued by
the earl of Arran and a body of horsemen. 9 After this
9 Calendar of Scottish Papers, i. No. 694 ; Medieval Glasgow, pp. 222-7,.
and authorities there cited.
A somewhat different account of this raid is given in the Diurnal of Occur-
rents (p. 56) : " Upoun the xv day of March, 1559, the Frenchemen past to
Glasgow and chaisit the congregatioun furth of the samyne, and remaynit
thair twa nychtis, and than come to Linlithgow, quhairin thaj lay quhill the
xxvij day of the samyne moneth ; and in thair passing to Glasgow, and
410 HISTORY OF GLASGOW
unsuccessful attack the French troops seem to have been
discouraged from further attempts in that direction, and the
result of the skirmish may to some extent have hastened their
ultimate surrender about three months thereafter.
In accordance with the July arrangement parliament
assembled in August. Among a large number of temporal
and spiritual lords the duke of Chatelherault, the earl of Arran
and the archbishop of St. Andrews were present, but, con-
trary to the original intention, royalty was not represented. 10
Glasgow appears in the list of " Commissaris of Burrois,"
but the name of its representative is not given. Probably
Robert Lindsay of Dunrod, who was provost at that time, was
the " commissar."
After prolonged discussions parliament passed a series of
epoch making resolutions some of which may here be briefly
cited. On I7th August the Confession of Faith " profest and
believed be the protestants within the realme " was ratified.
Seven days thereafter it was ordained that the " Bischope of
Rome, called the Paip, half na jurisdiction nor authoritie
within this realme " in future ; all acts of parliament contrary
to the Confession of Faith were annulled ; and the saying or
hearing of mass was prohibited under penalties involving fines,
banishment or death.
Though these statutes as they stand on record were passed
returnyng fra the samyne, thai spoulzeit all the cuntrie quhair thair passage
lay. And thairefter when thai come to Linlithgw, the Frenchemen was purposit
to have past to Hamiltoun for destructioun of the samyne ; but thair come
word that the Inglismen was cuming in, quhilk stayit that purpoise."
10 By the gth article of the Agreement it was provided " that the estates
of the realme should convene and hold a Parliament in the month ot August
next, for which a commission should be sent from the French King and the
Queen of Scotland, and that the said convention should be as lawful in all
respects as if the same had been ordained by the express commandment of
their majesties " (Spottiswoode, i. p. 323). Mary was married to Francis on
24th April, 1558. After the death of Queen Mary of England Francis and
Mary styled themselves King and Queen of Scotland, England, and Ireland.
Mary became Queen of France on the accession of her husband to the throne,
on loth July, 1559. Francis died on 5th December, 1560.
DECISION OF PARLIAMENT 411
with ostensible unanimity, it is said that the acquiescence of
the clergy was merely implied by their silence, and that three
of the peers declared that they would continue to believe
as their fathers before them had believed. For complete
formality the consent or ratification of King Francis and
Queen Mary was required but was not obtained ; and yet with
all their defects of irregularity the acts expressed the will of
the ruling classes of the nation, and on that account, and
specially as they embodied the preponderating opinion and
desire of intelligent people, .they were thenceforth accepted
as the law of the land.
In Glasgow more than in most towns, a city which had grown
up under the influence of ecclesiastical rule and with a
prominent section of its population belonging to the clerical
class, the substitution of the presbyterian system for the
spacious observances of the old hierarchy must have been
specially trying. On the religious aspect there may have been
divergent opinion, but, in the peculiar circumstances of the
community, the dislocation of business and of established
routine could scarcely have been regarded as otherwise than
disastrous. That this was the prevailing view may readily
be conceived, and though our knowledge of the common
everyday occurrences in the Glasgow of that period is extremely
meagre, it is learned from later records that many years elapsed
before the inhabitants of the cathedral quarter of the city
ceased to lament the interruption to material prosperity
directly attributable to the changes introduced at the time of
the Reformation.
END OF VOLUME I.
INDEX
Abbot of Unreason, 394.
Aberbrothock, monks of, 75 ; King
William buried at, 86 ; abbey of,
86 ; abbot of, 380.
Abercorn, siege of, 218.
Aberdeen, feu charter to, 152 ;
custom collected at, 176 ; bishop
of, 330 ; university of, 334 ; in
tax roll, 365, 395.
(Haberden), Matthew of, in.
Achenlek, Dionisius, chaplain, 284.
Adamson, Robert, burgess, 274.
Agricola, Julius, 6 ; forts of, 6, 8.
Ailsi, lands held by, 41.
Akinhede (Akynheid), John, Ob-
servant Friar Minor, 256 ; John
of, 304.
Alan, vicar, 116.
John, 117.
Albany, Robert, first duke of, 161,
167, 184, 269.
Isabel, duchess of, 163, 196, 233,
315.
John, fourth duke of, 324-7, 328-9.
Murdoch, duke of, 184, 269.
Alcluyd or Dumbarton, n. See
" Dumbarton."
Aldermen, 66.
Ale. assise of, at fishing west seas,
298 ; price of, 308, 373, 396.
Alexander I., king of Scots, 30, 35.
II., 90, 98, 105, 112, 113, 119.
III., in, 112, 119, 136, 153.
Alingtun, Peter de, archdeacon of
Teviotdale, in.
Alison, John, 75.
Alnwick, 57.
Altars, money transactions at, 188.
See " Cathedral."
Alwyn, earl of Lennox, 91.
America, discovery of, 306.
Ammunition, supply of, 353. See
" Arms," etc.
Ancrum (Alncrum) in Roxburgh-
shire, 105 ; rents of, 154 ; pre-
bend of, 171, 193, 274 ; barony
of, 266.
Angus, earl of, 324, 328, 330, 347,
37i.
Annandale, bishops' lands in, 80 ;
deanery of, 131.
Anne, St., collegiate church of St
Mary and, 311; altars of, 349.
See " St. Mary," etc.
Antonine wall, 8, 9.
Antwerp, staple port at, 331.
Arbroath abbey, assembly at, 146.
Archbishop, lord superior, 343.
Archbishopric, constitution of, 265.
Archbishops. See " Bishops."
Archdeacon of Glasgow, 41, 50, 106,
1 68 ; jurisdiction of, 117, 191.
Archdeaconry of Teviotdale. See
" Teviotdale."
Archery, practice of, 189.
Ardderyd, battle of, 18.
Argyle, lords of, 161 ; dukes of, 298,
375 ; countess of, 298.
Argyle, under king of, 48 ; subjuga-
tion of district, 91, 119 ; trading
with, 92, 120, 153, 180, 362 ;
bishop of, 265.
Argyle Street, 74, 237.
Armorial insignia, 24-26.
Armourers, 352.
Arms, armour and ammunition, sup-
ply of, 353, 373.
Arran, earl of, 324, 325-7, 347,
366, 404-5 ; regent, 367, 372.
Arrows, John, archdeacon, 358.
Artgha, king of Strathclyde, 29.
Arthurle, Sir Thomas of, 220, 258.
William of, regent in Faculty oi
Arts, 220.
Artillery, 353. See " Arms."
Ascelinus, archdeacon, 41, 50.
412
INDEX
413
Ashkirk, rents of, 154 ; prebend of,
171. !93, 357-
Auchincarroch, lands of, 103 ; barony
of, 266.
Auchinleck, laird of, 138.
Auld Pedagogy. See " Pedagogy."
Avenel, widow of Robert, 167.
Avignon, popes seated at, 166.
Avondale, raid into, 218.
Ayala, Don Pedro de, 297, 306.
Ayr, district of, 27, 30 ; burgh of, 52,
6 3. 138 ; prebend of, 171, 193 ;
port at, 175, 244 ; collection of
custom at, 176 ; proceedings
against Reformers in shire of,
268-70 ; in tax roll, 365, 395 ;
fishing practice, 391.
Ayr (Are), Sir Richard of, vicar, 240.
Badermonoc (Old Monkland), lands
of, 55. See " Monkland."
Bagimont's Roll (Baiamund de Vicei),
130.
Baillie, Alexander, 335.
James, of Carfyn, 335.
Thomas, canon, 336.
William, prebendary of Barlanark
or Provan, 335-6.
Bailies, 66, 126. See " Elections " ;
apparel of, 204 ; qualification of,
355, 384-7-
Balagan, lands of, 163, 233.
Balhelvi, in Aberdeen, prebend of,
335-
Ballayn, lands of, 109. See " Bedlay."
Balliol, Edward, 154-7, 157, 170.
John, king of Scotland, 137, 154.
Banff, salmon exported from, 176.
Bannavem, St. Patrick at, u.
Bannockburn, battle of, 147, 170.
Barbers, 181.
Barclay, Alexander, prior, 234.
Bardis, Robert de, 148 ; dean, 151.
Barkers, or tanners, 181. See " Cor-
diners."
Bakers (baxters), 181, 395 ; regula-
tions for, 396.
Barkow, Robert, 151.
Barlanark, prebend of, 148. See
" Provan."
Baronial courts, 51, 108, 312.
Barony and regality of Glasgow,
lands in, 36, 37, 38, 109 ; rental-
lers of lands, 38, 103-4 ; wards
of, 42 ; liners of, in Partick ward,
295 ; marshall of, 72 ; market
for dwellers in, 83 ; jurisdiction
in, 87, 88, 207-12, 312 ; bailie
of, 87, 210, 348-9, 373, 383, 402 ;
lands laid waste by English, 141 ;
lands granted in free regality,
207-8 ; courts of, held in Edin-
burgh, 312, 387 ; exemption
from justice courts within, 336.
Barony parish, 303.
Barresyet, 278-293.
Barrowfield, lands of, 58.
Barry, canon Thomas, poem by, 172.
Bartholomew, St., relics of, 194.
Bartholomew, Sir Thomas, chaplain,
285.
Batellit house, 250, 300-2.
Battle or combat, trial by, 87, 88, 89.
Bawfour, Thomas, of the convent of
Greyfriars, 256.
Baxter, James, greyfriar, 405.
Beaton (Betoune, Bethune), Archi-
bald, rector of University, 398.
James, archbishop (1508-22), 311 ;
(1551 et seq), 195, 380. See
" Bishops," etc.
James, archbishop of St. Andrews,
329-
cardinal, 360, 366, 372.
Mr. Stevin, chamberlain, of castle,
381.
Bede, Venerable, 14.
Bedlay (Balain, Badlayn), lands of
58, 109, 229 ; mill at, 197.
Beef, price of, 373.
Beggars, legislation as to, 189, 204,
354-
Belhaven, lord, 384.
Bell, St. Kentigern's, 25, 319, 341,
345, 357-
Bellidstane, William of, 115.
Bell o' the Brae, battle of, 138-9.
Bellshill, 24.
Belmeis, John de, archbishop of
Lyons, 86.
Benefices, patronage of, 80. See
"Churches"; plurality of, 1 66.
Bernard, lord abbot of Arbroath,
chancellor, 145, 149, 159.
Berwick, merchants of. 66 ; burgess
of, 73 ; capture of, 169, 176,
1 76 ; final recapture by English,
261 ; burning of, 170 ; custom
collected at, 176.
Bishopforest (Bishop's Forest), in
stewartry of Kircudbright, in,
154-5, 208, 210-2.
414
INDEX
Bishopric, reconstitution of, 34. See
also "Archbishopric"; tempor-
alities of, 121, 141, 143, 145, 154,
184, 329 ; grant from, to Queen
Margaret (Logie), 158 ; jurisdic-
tion in, 208-9 ; right of chapel
or chancery, 209.
Bishops, vicars of, 145.
Bishops and archbishops, devices on
seals of, 24-26 ; loss of a seal,
150 ; diocese of, 32. See "Dio-
cese " ; tithes and eighth penny
of pleas given to, 45 ; burgh
ferms payable to, 199, 219 ;
vicars general of, 380 ; revenues
derived by, from burgh, 385-7 ;
bonds of maintenance to, 373-4,
402.
Bishops and archbishops of Glasgow :
St. Kentigern. See " Kentigern."
Sedulius (721), 27.
Magsula and John (1055-60), 33.
Michael (1109-14), 32.
John (1118-47), 33, 45-
Herbert (1147-64), 15, 44, 45, 47,
124.
Ingelram (1164-74), 5, 5^.
Joceline (1174-99). 5^, 78, 79, 85,
94.
Hugh de Roxburgh (1199), 85.
William Malvoisine (1199-1202), 85.
Florence (1202-7), 85.
Walter (1207-32), 85, 91, 103.
William de Bondington (1233-58),
78, 103, 115, 120.
Nicholas de Moffat (1258-9 ; 1268-
70), I2O-I.
John de Cheyam (1259-68), 120.
William Wischard (1268-71), 121,
128.
Robert Wischard (1271-1316), 124,
128, 136-44, 145, 147.
Stephen de Donydouer (1316-7),
146.
John de Egglescliffe (1318-23), 146.
John de Lindesay (1322-35), 146,
155-6.
John Wischard (1336-8), 156.
William Rae (1338-67), 155, 156,
160, 165, 358.
Walter Wardlaw (1367-87), 165 ;
cardinal, 166, 168.
Matthew de Glendonwyn (1387-
1408), 168, 173, 184, 358.
William Lauder (1408-1425), 184,
186, 190-2, 358.
Bishops and archbishops of Glasgow :
John Cameron (1426-46), 190, 196,
198-200, 204, 358.
James Bruce (1446-7), 204.
William Turnbull (1447-54), 205,
221, 225, 280, 358.
Andrew de Durisdere (Muirhead)
(1455-73), 222, 225, 252-3, 358.
John Laing (1473-83), 253-5, 264,
358.
George Carmichael (1483), 265.
Robert Blacader (1484-1508), 172,
225, 265, 270, 280, 294, 311, 358.
James Beaton (1508-22), 311-2,
325, 328-9.
Gavin Dunbar (1524-47), 329, 338,
360, 371-2, 378-9.
Alexander Gordon (1547), 380.
James Beaton (1551 et seq), 195,
380, 396, 403.
Bishopton, laird of, 383.
Bit and bridle makers, 352.
Blacader, James, scholar, 305.
Sir Patrick, of Tulliallan, knight,
267, 294. 303.
Robert, bishop and archbishop,
172, 358. See " Bishops," etc.
Robert, rector of Glasgow, 255.
Roland, subdean, 227, 282-3, 298,
303, 305, 339, 358.
Blacader's Hospital, 338. See " Hos-
pital."
Blair (Blare), Sir Bartholomew, chap-
lain, 310.
Blackfriars, place of, 71. See
" Friars Preachers ; " inns before,
76 ; kirk, 138 ; St. Katherine's
altar in kirk, 237 ; chaplainry,
277; obit, 318 ; national council
held at place of, 371.
Black parliament, 170.
Blackness port, 373, 408. See " Lin-
lithgow."
Blacksmiths, 352.
Blantyre, lord, 238.
Blantyre, prior of, 233.
Blythswood, lands of, 71, 302.
Bogtoune, near Cathcart, 160.
Bologna, university of, 215,
Bondington, William de, bishop, 78.
See " Bishops."
Bonkel, William de, 135.
Booth-holders, 65 ; arming of, 68.
Border ravages, 375.
Borrowed money, procedure and
security, 188.
INDEX
415
Bos well, Sir David, of Balmuto,
3"-
Bothwell, river Clyde at, I ; English
army at, 138-40 ; siege of castle,
140 ; grant to church from lands
of, 172, 256 ; collegiate church
of, 172, 188, 219.
Bothwell, Richard, canon and pre-
bendary, 357-8.
Bowl of Samian ware, 3, 9.
Boyd, archbishop, 396.
Boyd, James, prior, 234.
Boyd, lord, 229, 370, 397.
Brabancia, Gerard de, physician, 278.
Brady (Bradhy), Andrew, burgess,
235-
John, 75, 134.
Brakanrig, Sir John, chaplain, 287.
Bread, baking and sale of, 84 ; price
of, 308, 373, 396.
Brewhouse, right to have, 84.
Bridge over river Clyde, 71, 127, 138,
160-2, 373, 409. See " Clyde."
Molendinar burn, 70, 72.
Bridgegait, 71. 289, 293 ; properties
at, 295.
Bridin, John, 188.
Brittany, ships built at, 307.
Broomhill, 71.
Broomielaw, land at, 133, 159.
Brown, Agnes, 160.
John, cleric, 242.
Bruce, Edward, 159.
James, bishop,2O4. See "Bishops."
Bruce, King Robert, 142. See
Robert I.
Bruges, trading with, 330-1.
Bruning, Richard, 134.
Buchanan Street, 70.
Bucklemakers, 352.
Buildings, early, 70, 73, 115-7, 235,
240. See also " Dwellings " ;
fortified building in High Street,
250, 300-1.
Bull, John, 286.
Bunch, Duncan, principal regent in
college, 219.
Burgesses, 66, 125 ; names of early,
11 5. 2 35.' restrictions on, for
disposal of heritage, 126; privi-
leges of, 89, 93, 390-1 ; apparel
of, and their wives, 189, 204 ;
against leagues between, and
landward persons, 308, 355 ;
qualifications and privileges of,
309-
Burgh of Glasgow, foundation of, 60,
62-65, 73 ; market at, 64 ;
limits of market territory, 205-7 I
burgesses of, 64 ; appointment of
bailies and officers, 64 ; common
lands of, 64. See also " Common
Good " ; burgh maill collected
by bishops, 64, 125, 199 ; by
crown, 356 ; court, 65. See
*' Court " ; confirmation of privi-
leges of, 93, 153, 268 ; disappear-
ance of charters and documents,
153 ; ferms of, 199, 219.
Burgh maill, 356.
Burghs, royal, rise of, 52, 60 ; markets
of, 53 ; court of the Four, 60 ;
confederation of Five, 61 ; legis-
lation applicable to, 82, 189, 203,
262, 307-9 ; trading liberties
and exclusive privileges of, 82,
83 ; foreign trade, 83 ; statutes
in favour of, 84 ; trial by combat
or battle in, 88, 89 ; collection of
customs and burgh maill, 98 ;
petty customs, 100 ; repre-
sented in parliament, 152.
Burnet, John, merchant, 174.
Burrel (Burell), Sir Andrew, chaplain,
288.
Butts, battle of the, 369-71 ; at
Gallowmuir, 399.
Cadder, military way to, 24 ; lands
of, 55 ; parish of, 58, 303 ;
prebend of, 171, 193 ; feuing of
lands of, 173 ; vicar of, 303-4 ;
Mass book of, 304 ; curate of,
305 ; mill of, 352.
Cadzow (Cadihow, Hamilton), queen
of, 25 ; church of, 45, 54, 257 ;
wax from lands of, for lights of
cathedral, 85, 147, 155 ; William
of, 122 ; gift from lands of, to
Friars Preachers, 159 ; prebend
of, 171, 193.
Cadzow (Cadyhow), David, precenter,
219, 235, 352, 358 ; rector of
university, 220, 236.
Caesar, Julius, 6.
Cairn, river, in.
Caithness, rebels in earldom of, 86.
Calder, river, 8.
Calderwood, Sir Archibald, vicar of
Cadder and Monkland, 304.
Calixtus II., Pope, 33.
Camber, Richard, burgess, 115.
416
INDEX
Camera, Gilbert de, burgess, 135.
Cambuskenneth, parliament of, 152.
Cambuslang, prebend of, 193, 195.
Cameron, John, bishop, 190, 358.
See " Bishops."
Camlachie burn, 71, 294.
Campbell, Alexander, bishop of
Brechin, 298.
Duncan, 161.
George, of Sesnok, 270.
James, 297.
John, in Newmylns, 270.
Camphill, old British camp, 43, 44.
Camps, old, and earthworks, 43.
Campsie, church, land and parish of,
91 ; prebend of, 91, 171, 193.
Campsie Fells, 24.
Campvere in Zeland, staple port at,
330-1.
Can or chan of animals, 45, 46, 53, 80.
Candida Casa, church at, 10 ; bishop-
ric of, 32.
Candles, price of, 396.
Canoes, ancient, i.
Canons of cathedral, 106 ; dwellings
of, 121. See " Manses " ; duties
of, and their attendance at
cathedral, 123.
Canterbury, archbishop of, 33 ; pro-
vince of, 101.
Cardelechan, Adam of, burgess, 127.
Cardinal, lord, of Glasgow, 166.
Cai dross (Cardrose), prebend of, 171,
193. 335-
Carlisle, bishopric of, 32.
Carluke, 24.
Carmichael, church of, 53.
Carmichael, George, bishop, 265.
See " Bishops."
Carmyle (Kermil), lands of, 55, 123-4 '
mill on river Clyde at, 124.
Carnwath, church of, 53 ; prebend of,
I7L 193-
Carrie (Carrick), Gilbert de, canon, 167.
Sir John of, chaplain, 117.
Carrick, tithe of beasts of, 45, 53 ;
deanery of, 131.
Carrick, Duncan, earl of, 358.
Carstairs (Castletarris), 7, 8 ; pre-
bend of, 171, 193 ; barony of,
184 ; chaplainry at, 294.
Castellachlan, at Loch Fyne, 159.
Castle, bishops', 121 ; castle and
palace, 296, 399; garden at,
122 ; Cameron's tower at, 197 ;
Beaton's tower at, 325 ; Dun-
bar's additions to, 371 ; enclos-
ing wall at, 325 ; siege of, 325-7,
367 ; spoliation of, 327 ; porter's
lodge at, 327 ; silverwork, re-
moved from, 371 ; attack of
French troops, 409.
Castle Street, 229, 289, 358.
Cathcart and Cathkin hills, i.
Cathcart (Kerkert), 160 ; lands of,
43 ; British camp at, 43.
Cathcart, Alan, lord of, 160.
Cathedral, building of, 14, 40 ;
dedication of, 41, 67 ; altar-
ages and chaplainries in, 14,
188, 190, 257-8, 227-9, 294,
351-2, 359, 386 ; prebends of,
42, 43, 45, 48, 54. See also
" Prebends " ; constitution of
chapter of, 40, 47, 55, 106 ;
clergy and people to visit, 48 ;
churches under protection of
Roman see, 53, 349 ; church
dependent only on Rome, 57 ;
rebuilding of, 77, 101, 103-5,
173, 1 86 : chapter house of, 186 ;
meeting of chapter, 298 ; vestry
over chapter house, 225 ; fra-
ternity for raising funds, 78 ;
dedication of Joceline's church,
78 ; grants for lights of, 49, 55,
84, 85, 132, 147, 155-6, 172, 198,
254 ; papal indulgence to con-
tributors for building, 102 ; gifts
and contributions for building,
102; ritual of Sarum, 105, 121 ;
bell-tower or steeple and treasury,
128. See " Towers " ; timber and
other material for, 128 ; valua-
tion of prebends composing
chapter, 130 ; offerings of King
Edward at, 139 ; vestments,
ornaments, and plate for, 149-
50, 171, 192, 194, 198, 372 ;
meeting of chapter, 151 ; muni-
ments removed from at Reforma-
tion 151, 153, 269-70 ; relics
of saints in, 194 ; institution of
Mass for bishops, 199 ; honorary
canons of, Kings James II. and
IV., 207 ; lead for, 245, donation
by King James IV. for Masses,
275 ; aisle of Car Fergus, 14, 280 ;
rood loft and rood screen, 279,
280-2 ; list of furnishing and
ornaments of an altar, 310 ;
John Major's description of,
INDEX
417
334 ; privileges and freedom of
349 ; contest between cardinal
and archbishop and their cross-
bearers, 378-9 ; Archbishop
Dunbar's sepulchre in, 372 ;
experience of, at Reformation,
407 ; removal of muniments
and valuables from, to France,
408.
Cathen, follower of King Morken, 21.
Catherine, St., relics of, 194.
Cathures, former name of Glasgow, 4,
14, 21, 24.
Causeways, upkeep of, 268, 364.
Cead walla, king, 27.
Cemetery, consecrated by St. Ninian,
4, 14 ; saints and great men
buried in, 19 ; great cross in, 20.
Chancellor of cathedral, 106.
Chanter of cathedral, 106.
Chaplainries, foundation of, 123, 156.
See "Cathedral."
Chatelherault, duke of, 374, 402,
404-5.
Chepman, Walter, printer, 249.
Cheyam, John de, bishop, 120. See
"Bishops."
Christian church, establishment of , 10.
Christopher, St., chaplainry at altar
of, 319-21.
Chronicle, Short, 169-70.
Church. See " Scottish church."
Churches and chapels, mensal, 53, 54 ;
papal confirmation of, 53, 80 ;
patronage of benefices, 80 ;
valuation of benefices, 129-31.
Clark, John, kirkmaster, 350.
Claudius, Emperor, 6.
Cleghorn, 24.
Clerk, Sir Robert, subchanter, 358.
Clerk, Town, 294. See " Town Clerk."
Cleschu, 21. See "Glasgow."
Cloth, making of, 84.
Clothing. See " Sumptuary laws."
Clutha, 38. See "Clyde."
Clyde, river and estuary, prehistoric
condition, i ; flooding of river,
3, 218 ; lands bordering on, 38;
islets in, 41 ; bridge over 71 ;
net fishing in, 74 ; trading
practices and privileges, 93, 179,
244-8, 297, 332, 357, 391 ;
unnavigable condition of, near
Glasgow, 245 ; landing places
in Firth, 247 ; goods, stores,
arms and ammunition from
and to Glasgow, 325, 362, 373 ;
improvements on navigation of,
397
Clydesdale, Roman road through, 6,
70 ; bishops' lands in, 80.
Clydesmill, 197.
Coal, early supplies of, 39.
Cocket, privilege of, 178-9, 266-7.
Cocklaw (Coklau), castle, capture of,
170.
Coinage at Glasgow, 95.
Coins, Roman, 8, 9.
Colania, town of, 7.
Colmonell, vicarage of, 399 ; parish
clerk of, 499.
Colquhoun, Adam, parson of Govan,
282, 316-7.
George, provost, 229, 347.
John, lord of Luss, 195.
John, son of Patrick, 229 ; John
parson of Stobo, 398.
Patrick, of Glen, 228, 316-7 ;
provost, 310.
Peter, 297.
William, 381.
Columba, St., meeting of, with St.
Kentigern, 16, 18 ; mission with
St. Constantine, 43.
Columban church, 27.
Combat, single, 81-89.
Commerce, progress of, 306. See
" Trade."
Commodus, Emperor, 8.
Common good, set of, 64, 294 ; sta-
tutes on administration of, 308,
356.
Common lands, 64.
Comyn, families of, 119.
Comyn, Sir David, 105, 112.
William, chancellor of cathedral,
151-
Conclut (Conclud), lands of, 37, 109 ;
church of, 54 ; serf on lands of, 59.
Congregation, lords of, 377, 402-3,
408-9.
Conheath (Collinhatrig, Conhatrig),
198.
Consistory house, 197.
Consistorial courts, 51.
Constantine, King of Cornwall, 43.
Convention of burghs, 61, 262 ;
origin of, 182 ; tax roll of, 183.
See " Tax Roll " ; minutes of,
183, 387-9 ; representatives at,
387-9.
Cook's (Cuik's) ward, 197.
2D
418
INDEX
Coopers, 181, 382, 395.
Cordiners (shoemakers), 181, 395 ;
seals of cause to, 400-1.
Coria, town of, 7, 24.
Corpus Christi, altar of, 278.
Cottis, Alexander, of the convent of
Greyfriars, 256.
Coucy, Robert de, 148.
Coucyaco, William de, 150.
Council Hall, 65. See "Tolbooth."
Council, lords of, 337 ; daily or sup-
reme, 337.
Councillors, election of, 66, 204 ;
apparel of, 204.
Court, baronial, 51,297.
Court, burgh, 65, 66, 71, 89, 108,
295, 361 ', held in open-air,
294 ; proceedings in, for recovery
of property, 126, 132-5, 259 ;
decision of, appealed to court
of official, 312-3.
Court, consistorial, 51. See " Official."
Court House, 65. See "Tolbooth."
Court of Session (College of Justice),
institution of, 337-8.
Court pleas throughout Cumbria, 45.
Cowcaddens (Cowcaldens, Kowcaw-
dennis), 70, 71.
Cow Lone, 70.
Cows, grazing of town's, 70 ; travel-
ling with, 84.
Cracklinghouse quarry, 105.
Craft guilds, 321.
Crafts' Hospital, 341.
Craftsmen, regulations by deacons
of, 308, 321-2 ; statutory regu-
lation of work and prices, 353 ;
deacons superseded and visitors
chosen, 392 ; deacons restored,
393-
Crag, David, prior, 234.
Craigmak (Craigmacht, Craignaught),
68, 256.
Craigs. See " Wester."
Crawford, Henry, parish clerk of
Cadder, 385
Marion, 319
Crawford Muir, 97
Crechtoune, George, prior, 234.
Cribbs Croft (Croupis), 160.
Crichton, Sir William, chancellor, 204.
Crookston castle, 263, 368.
Cross, large, in cemetery, 20.
Cross, market, 65, 71, 72 ; streets
branching from, 72 ; goods to
be brought to, 83 ; proclama-
tions at, 215, 307 ; buildings
fronting, 235 ; tolbooth opposite,
278 ; soldiers hanged at, 368-70.
Croyser, William, archdeacon of
Teviotdale, 191.
Crusades, money raised for, 57, 129-
30.
Culdees. See " Keledei."
Culross, birthplace of St. Kentigern,
13 ; refectory at, 25.
Cumbernauld, 337 ; lord of, 58.
Cumbria, Britons of, 12, 29 ; pagan-
ism in, 27 ; recovery of liberty,
27 ; district of, 32, 34, 61 ;
judges in, 35 ; court pleas
throughout, 45.
Cumin, William, baron of Lenzie, 58.
Cumnock, prebend of, 193-4 church
of, 256.
Cunningham, tithe of beasts of, 45,
53-
Cunninglaw, 229.
Cunyngham, Andrew, prior, 234.
David, archdeacon of Argyle, 283,
358.
Marion, 283.
Cupar castle, 142.
Cupar-Fife, collection of custom at,
176 ; in tax roll, 365, 395.
Currour, Thorn, 240.
Curry, John, 286, 302.
Customs, collection of king's, 39, 53,
63. 83, 97, 98, 99, 267, 385-6 ;
exacted at English and Scottish
ports, 154; on exports, 175;
petty or burgh, 65, 83, 100, 295,
389 ; exemption from, 93 ;
grant of, to bishops, 179, 266-7.
Cuthbert, St., altar of, 257.
Dalgleish (Dalgles), Sir John of, vicar,
240, 242
Simon, precentor and official, 223,
358
Dalkarne (dale of Cairn), lands of,
in. See " Bishopforest."
Dalkeith, church of St. Nicholas at,
253-
Dalmarnock, lands of, 58, 314.
Dalriada, Scots of, 12 ; Argyle part
of, 91.
Dalzell, Hugh of, sheriff of Lanark,
97-
Damnonii, nation of, 7.
Danes, invasion of, 29.
Darnley (Dernele), Lord, 194.
INDEX
419
David, earl, 30, 37.
I., King, 30. See " Scotland, kings
of."
II., 153, 154, 156, 157-8, 164.
David, earl of Huntingdon, 62, 91.
Davidson, John, principal regent of
University, 398-9.
Deacons of craftsmen, regulations by,
308. See " Craftsmen."
Dean of Glasgow, 45, 106, 148, 256,
390 ; prebend of, 45 ; grants to,
from fermsof Rutherglen, 84, 147.
Dean of guild, 389.
Deaneries, valuation of, 131. See
Diocese.
Deanside (Densyde), building ground
at, 240 ; land in, 279 ; Meadow
Well in, 117, 142.
Deanside Lane, 279.
Dearth of provisions, 396.
Denmark, princess Margaret of, 252.
Denton, John de, 155.
Dertford, Adam de, official, 122.
Derwent, river, in Cumberland, 12,
32.
Deschu, 21. See "Glasgow."
Dewhill, 23. See " Dowhill."
Diocesan reorganization throughout
country, 40.
Diocese of Glasgow, 32, 40 ; of Cum-
bria, 35 ; papal confirmation of
lands, churches and possessions,
53, 80 ; churches under pro-
tection of Roman see, 53 ;
valuation of deaneries in, 131.
Dominic, St., 113.
Dominicans, 113. See " Friars
Preachers."
Donydouer, Stephen, canon, 145 ;
bishop, 146. See " Bishops."
Doucat Green, 24.
Douglas, Archibald, third earl of,
171. 195-
James, lord of, 149 ; earl, 172.
James of Auchincassil, 257.
Sir James of, knight, 159.
Margaret, of Mains, 248.
Douglas, prebend of, 193.
Douglasdale, raid into, 218.
Douglases, campaign against, 218.
Douglas Yard, 279. See " Rannald."
Dowhill, 23, 24, 283, 399.
Drips, lands of, 283.
Drummond, Sir Malcolm, 140.
Dryburgh, abbey of, 62 ; abbot of,
368.
Drygait (Dreggate), road through, 24 ;
street named, 70, 132, 241 ;
port at, 72 ; entry of soldiers by,
138 ; mill at foot of, 197 ;
tenements in, 279.
Dubber, John, bailie, 117, 133.
Duchal, siege of, 263.
Duelling, 87-89, 170, 189.
Dumbarton, connection with St.
Patrick, n ; chief seat of
Cumbrian territory, 12, 27 ;
invasion and burning of, 28 ;
negotiations with, on shipping
rights, 83, 84, 245, 332 ; burgh
of, and its arrangements with
Glasgow, 91-95, 120, 248, 332,
362, 397 ; castle, 92, 142, 263,
324, 362, 367-70 ; chapel of St.
Mary of, 151 ; collegiate church
of, 163, 196 ; port at, 175, 244 ;
264, 307, 367, 372 ; custom
collected at, 176 ; fishings of, 246,
298, 391 ; shipbuilding at, 307 ;
transfer of war material between,
and Glasgow, 325 ; provisions
for king's ships at, 362.
Dumbarton, shire of, 91 ; assise ale,
298.
Dumbuck, ford of, 397.
Dumfries, district of, 27, 30 ; lands
in shire of, 36 ; burgh of, 61, 62 ;
bishop's toft in, 75 ; army
assembled at, 375 ; archbishop of
St. Andrews at, 378.
Dun, David, priest and teacher, 276.
John, 235.
Dunbar, Archibald, of Baldoon, pro-
vost, 383.
Gavin, bishop of Aberdeen, 232,
329.
Gavin, archbishop of Glasgow, 329.
See " Bishops," etc.
Sir John of Mochrum, 329.
William, 372.
Dunbar, castle of, 170.
Dunblane, bishop of, 265 ; Gavin,
330.
Dundee, council of clergy at, 146 ;
collection of custom at, 176;
in tax roll, 365, 395.
Dundonald, royal chapel of, 284.
Dundover, Richard of, 115, 127.
Dunkeld, bishop of, 166, 265, 328.
Dunlop, vicar of, 242.
Dunlop, Allan, 279.
Patrick, alias Loppy, 290.
2D2
420
INDEX
Dunnichen, defeat of Anglian army
at, 27.
Duplin (Duplyn), battle of, 170.
Durham, battle of, 157, 170.
Durisdeer (Dorysdere), prebend of,
171, 193-4,225-6.
Andrew de, bishop, 222. See
" Bishops."
Durward, families of, 119.
Dwellings, early, 5, 65, 115. See also
" Buildings " ; indenture for
building a dwelling, 234 ; de-
scription of, 306.
Dyers, 115, 181.
Eaglesham (Eglischem), prebend of,
193. 195 ; croft, 278.
Eddleston (Edalston), rector of, 103 ;
prebend of, 171, 193, 196;
barony of, 266.
Edgar, king of Scots, 30.
Edinburgh, feu charter to, 152 ;
houses in, 165 ; burning of, 170 ;
custom collected at, 176 ; gift
from rents of booths in, 253-4 '
sale to bishop of tenement in,
254 ; St. Gelisgrange, 278 ;
church of St. Giles, 351 ; church
of St. Roche in, 287 ; Glasgow
regality court held in, 312, 387 ;
skinners of, 320 ; skirmish of
" cleanse the causeway " at,
328 ; incorporation of tailors of,
349 ; king's lute brought from,
363 ; in tax roll, 365, 395 ;
seizure and burning of, 368 ;
castle of, 371, 373 ; tolbooth of,
387 ; elwand measure, 388 ;
custom and haven duty, 389.
Edward I., king of England, 100, 136.
II., 144, 148.
- HI., 153.
IV. "the revare," 261.
Egglescliffe, John de, bishop, 146.
See " Bishops."
Elections of magistrates and council,
66, 125, 209-10, 308, 355, 384-7,
396 ; statutes relating to, 250,
356 ; model for, 388.
Elgin, burgh of, 182-3.
Eligius or Eloy, St., 352.
Elizabeth, Queen of England, as-
sistance by, to Reformers, 407-8.
Elphinstone (Elphingston), George,
301-2.
Isabella, lady of Dunrod, 297.
Elphinstone (Elphingston), John, 249,
274, 287, 299-301.
William, merchant, 248
William, canon 217, 249; arch-
deacon, 358.
William, bishop of Aberdeen, 217,
248-9, 324, 358.
Elphinstones, rentallers of Gorbals,
249.
England, gain and relinquishment of
territory in, 46, 57, 86, 90. See
" Cumbria," " Solway " ; in-
vasions of, 165 ; sea captures by
Englishmen, 332.
English garrison in Glasgow, 138-9 ;
invasions and occupation, 136-
43, 154-6, 261 ; ports, customs
exacted at, 154.
Ennerphefyr, Katherine de, 235.
Enoch's burn, St., 22.
Erskine, parson of, 71, 301 ; bequest
by, of best gown, 301 ; prebend
of, 171, 193 ; manse of, 258.
Ettrick Forest, timber from, 129.
Exchequer Rolls, 97 ; accounts of
burghs, 97, 356.
Exports, 247. See " Customs."
Fair, establishment of, 67 ; holding
of, 68, 85, 94 ; proclamation of,
68, 69.
Falkirk, battle of, 169 ; artillery
brought from, 326.
Famine, 204, 217-8, 396.
Fergus or Fregus, holy man, 13 ;
tomb and aisle of, 14, 280 ;
his funeral car, 13, 24.
Fife, Robert, earl of, 167.
Fishergait (Stockwell Street), 72, 75,
160, 179 ; properties in, 127, 134.
Fishers, society of, 296.
Fishing of one net in river Clyde, 74 ;
in Loch Tyne and other lochs, 391.
Fitz-Gilbert. See " Gilbertson."
Flanders, trade with, 165, 244, 331.
Fleming (Flemyne), Sir David, 170.
Duncan, of Cowglen, 235.
Sir James, chaplain, 320.
John, bishop's official, 151.
John of Cowglen, 234 ; of Auch-
inbole, 297.
Michael, 317-8; canon, 274;
parson of Ancrum, 282 ; master
of arts, 286 ; notary, 361.
Flesh, price of, 373.
Flesh ers, 181, 395.
INDEX
421
Flodden, battle of, 317.
Floker, Sir Patrick, master of
hospital, 147.
Florencia, Robert de, 148 ; bishop,
85. See " Bishops."
Football, playing of, discouraged,
189.
Forbas, Sir Thomas, chaplain,
288.
Forest, free, lands held in, 87, 88,
108-11, 149, 207.
Forester (Forestar), Sir John, 195.
Robert, 239.
Forfar, bishop's toft in, 75.
Forfeiture of property, 259. See
" Court."
Forsyth, Agnes, 299.
Thomas, rector of Glasgow, 255,
278, 358-
Thomas, canon, 300 ; Sir Thomas,
chaplain, 300.
Fort at Glasgow, 4.
Forth, firth of, boundary of kingdoms,
30 ; burghs beyond, 183.
Fortified building in High Street,
250, 300-1.
Forts between firths of Forth and
Clyde, 6, 8.
Four Burghs, court of, 61, 174, 177 ;
decree of, 182.
Framisden, John, Friar Minor,
169.
France, trading with, 179-80, 332 ;
dauphin and king of, 374, 376,
400 ; archbishop's departure to,
408.
Francis, King, and Queen Mary, 400,
410-1.
Francis (St.), of Assisi, 113.
Franciscans. See " Greyfriars."
French army in Scotland, 372, 379 ;
prices of provisions to soldiers,
373 ; return of army to France,
407-8.
Frere, John, merchant, 174.
Friars, arrival of, 113. See "Friars
Preachers," also " Greyfriars."
Friars Minors. See " Greyfriars."
Friars Preachers, convent of, 113.
See also " Blackfriars " ; place
of, 71, 114 ; water from Meadow
Well to, 117, 142; lands and
property belonging to, 133;
surroundings of place, 138 ;
buildings for Friars, 277 ; dona-
tions by King Edward I. to, 140 ;
protection by David II. to, 158 ;
endowments of, 159-60, 219,
233-7. 277, 304, 315 ; gift by
Robert I. to, 159; university meet-
ings and schools in Place of, 217 ;
list of priors, 233-4 sea ^ f 236 ,'
sales of building ground by, 239 ;
cemetery of, 239 ; donations
by James IV., 263, 275 ; Masses
celebrated with, 341 ; national
council held at place of, 371 ;
sanctuary privileges claimed by,
381 ; experiences of, at Reforma-
tion, 405-7.
Fullers or Waulkers, 115, 351.
Furriers, 181 ; seal of cause to
skinners and, 296.
Fyne, Loch, 159, 391.
Galbraith, Alexander, rector of
Grammar School, 223.
Galfrid, dyer, 115.
Gallow, Aiker, 72.
Galloway, picts of, 29 ; district of,
32 ; diocese of, 46 ; insub-
ordination in, 57 ; peace with,
86 ; Roland, lord of, 86 ; bishop
of, 265.
Gallowgait, 65, 72, 160, 235, 278 ;
port at, 73 ; Little St. Kenti-
gern's kirk in, 283-4.
Gallowmuir, Over and Nether, 72 ;
land in, bestowed on chap-
lainries, 343 ; battle at, 369.
Gardeners, 181,
Gardner (Garddinar), Richard, 258 ;
vicar of Colmonell, 229.
Thomas, kirkmaster, 350.
Garnery, forest of, 155. See " Bishop -
forest."
Garscube Road, 70.
Garvach (Garrioch), 109.
Garvald, parson of, 240.
Geese, 293.
George Square, no, 160.
George Street, 160, 279.
Gibson, John, rector of Renfrew, 283,
287.
Gilbertson (Fitz- Gilbert), Walter, 149,
192, 219.
Gillemachoi, serf, 59.
Gilmorehill, removal of university to,
220.
Girth Burn, 228-9, 241, 382 ; crosses,
229, 382.
422
INDEX
Glasgow, origin of name of, 4, 14, 21,
22. See also " Burgh " ; early
dwellings, 4 ; armorial insignia,
24-26 ; burgh of, 60. See
" Burgh," " Tax Roll " ; in-
dependence of church of, 57. See
"Scottish Church," " Cathedral" ;
parson or rector of, 114 ; visits
of royalty, 165, 263-4, 2 75 3 Z 3
336-7, 362 ; royalty charter to,
direct, 168, 268 ; assemblies of
king's forces at, 263-4 > build-
ing galley at, 307 ; transfer of
war material to and from, 325-7 ;
military movements at, 325-7,
367-71 ; meeting of privy coun-
cil at, 372 ; court of justiciary at,
375 ; effect of Reformation in, 41 1.
Glasgow burn, 4, 22, 71, 237, 293.
Glasgowfield, 22.
Glasgow, Primo, prebend of, 171, 193.
Glasgow, Secundo, prebend of, 149,
167, 171, 193.
Glebe Street, 289.
Glencairn, earl of, 324-7, 369.
Glendonwyne, Sir Simon of, knight,
173.
Matthew de, 168, 358. See
" Bishops."
Gley, William, 74, 75, 134 ; burgess,
115 ; prepositus, 127.
Goldsmiths, 352.
Gorbals, village of, 71 ; rentallers of
lands of, 249, 299, 301-2.
Gordon, Alexander, archbishop, 380.
See " Bishops," etc.
Govan, flood at town of, 4, 218 ;
royal territory at, 37 ; lands
given to church, 41, 109 ; mon-
astery at, 43 ; shrine of King
Constantine at, 43 ; prebend of,
43, 44, 54, 171, 193 ; parish of,
44 ; parts of lands in Renfrew-
shire, 99 ; shallow of, 245.
Govan, John of, 133, 159 ; prior, 234.
Patrick of, prior, 234.
Simon, 133, 159.
Govan, Little, lands of, 148.
Govan, manse of parson of, 316.
Graham, John, bailie of subdean, 283.
Patrick, lord, 195.
Grammar School, 187 ; gift of site
of, 223 ; master of, 273, 277 ;
rights of chancellor in, 276-7 ;
act of parliament as to grammar
schools, 276.
Grammar School Wynd, 223.
Grantgore malady, 274-5 ; donation
by king to sick folk in, 275.
Gray, lord, king's justiciar, 312.
Greenlaw (Greynlaw) Nicholl or
Nicholas, parson of Eddleston,
282 ; dean of Glasgow, 358.
Green, New, lands of, 37 ; formation
of, 293.
Green, Old, 24, 179 ; proclamation
of fair at, 69 ; feuing lands of,
293-
Greenock, fishing boats belonging to,
298.
Grey friars (Franciscans), 113; place
of, 68, 71, 114, 254; settlement
of, in Glasgow, 254-6 ; lands
near monastery of, 279 ; king's
gift of herrings to, 406 ; Masses
celebrated with, 341 ; expenses
of, at Reformation, 405-7.
Grey friars Wynd, 254.
Guildry, establishment of, 389.
Gulath, hill called, 23.
Guns and ammunition, supply of,
353. See " Arms."
Haco of Norway, 119.
Haddington, earl of, his transcripts,
97, 121.
Haddington (Hadintun), Ranulph of,
73-
Haddington, court of Four Burghs
at, 174, 177 ; in tax roll, 365,
389, 395-
Hadrian, Emperor, 7 ; wall of, 8.
Halcrer, John, 117.
Roger, 117.
Halidon Hill (Halydonhill) , battle of,
170, 176.
Hall, John, burgess, 235 ; bailie, 385.
Sir Nicholas, chaplain, 235.
Robyn, of Fulbar, 237.
Thomas 74.
Hamburg, community of, 174.
Hamilton castle, 327 ; church, 257.
See " Cadzow."
Hamilton, ducal family of, 149 ;
Sir Walter Fitz-Gilbert, 149.
Hamilton, Lord (1455), 218, 219, 257,
324. 358.
Lady Elizabeth, 318.
Andrew, provost, 383, 388 ; of
Midhope, provost, 383 ; of Coch-
nocht, provost, 383 ; Andrew,
member of parliament, 384.
INDEX
423
Hamilton, Archibald, chamberlain of
archbishop, 380.
Claud, 380.
David, 379 ; bachelor in canon
law, 256.
Sir Gavin of, provost of collegiate
church, Bothwell, 218.
Gavin, vicar general in bishopric,
380 ; dean, 390.
George, 312.
Sir James of Finnart, 347.
- James, 379.
- James, of Torrens, provost, 383.
John, of Neilsland, 317.
John, archbishop of St. Andrews,
377. 409.
Patrick, 287, 299.
Hammermen, 181 ; seal of cause to
incorporation of, 352-3.
Hangpudyng, Odard, 133.
Richard, 133.
Hanse, the, north of the Grampians,
61.
Harald, earl, of Caithness, 86.
Hardingestrorna, grant from to
cathedral, 40.
Hardy, John, 170.
Hardyng, John, visits of, 201-2.
Harlaw, battle of, 170, 182.
Haven duty, 389.
Hawik, John of, precentor, 173, 358.
John, vicar of Dunlop, 229, 242.
Sir John of, priest and notary, 173,
243-
Hegait (Hiegait), William, town
clerk, 396 ; commissioner to
convention, 388.
Helias, canon of the cathedral, 48.
Hemp, sowing of, 295.
Henry I., King of England, 30, 35, 46.
III. 90, 129.
- VIII. 366, 374.
Henry, James, burning of, 170.
Herbert, abbot of Selkirk and Kelso,
45-
Bishop, 45. See " Bishops."
Herbertson, George, 346.
Heretics and heresy, proceedings
against, 332. See " Reforma-
tion."
Heriot, Robert, 387.
Herries, lord, 211.
Herring, assise of, in west seas, 296-8,
391 ; curing of, at Glasgow,
297-8 ; market place for, 298 ;
charge of additional custom, 391.
Highlands, Scottish, disturbed con-
dition of, 169-71^
High Street, 65, 76, no, 117, 135,
160, 223, 234-5, 239, 290-1.
Highways, ancient, 24 ; freedom of,
392.
Home, David, of Wedderburn, 347.
Homildon Hill, battle of, 170.
Horse corn, price of, 396.
Horses, travelling with, 84.
Hospital, Blacader's, for casual poor,
339-41.
Houk, William de, 148.
Household Accounts of James V.,
336-7.
Houston, James, deacon, 311 ; sub-
dean, 242, 339, 342 ; vicar-
general in bishopric, 372, 380.
John, vicar, dean of Faculty, 398.
Huchonson (Hucheson), George, 274.
Thomas, burgess, 274 ; bailie of
subdean, 283 ; bailie of city,
288, 302.
Hugh de Roxburgh, bishop, 85. See
" Bishops."
Huntar, John, prior, 234.
Huntly, earl of, 324.
Hunyeth, Alexander, sheriff of Lan-
ark, 97.
Hyne, Robert, 235.
Imports and exports, 247. See
" Customs."
Inchinnan (Enchenzean), 336.
Inchmyrryne, in Loch Lomond, 233.
Ingelram, bishop, 50. See " Bishops."
Ingram Street, no, 223.
Inienchedin, 54. See " Shettleston."
Innocent II., Pope, 34.
Inns or hostels, 189.
Inquest of King David, 34-36.
Invcravon, castle of, demolished,
218.
Inverkeithing, collection of custom
at, 176.
Inverkip, fishing-boats belonging to,
298.
Inverness, burgh of, 182-3.
lona, St. Columba and disciples from,
18.
Ireland, importing grain from, 165.
Irewyn (Irwyn), Sir James, monk of
Paisley, 151.
Reginald de, archdeacon, in, 124,
126.
friar Robert de, in.
424
INDEX
Irvine, peace at, 138 ; port of, 179-80,
244, 246 ; fishing practice, 391.
Isles, expeditions to, 307. See
" Western "; North, 391.
Jackson (Jaksoune), William, burgess,
239-
Jager, Finlay, 132.
Radulf, 132.
Jail, 65.
Jamaica Street, 293.
James I., King, 163, 170, 183, 189-90,
200, 269, 358.
II., 99, 198, 203, 207, 214, 216,
221.
III., 172, 208, 250, 255, 261-2,
358.
IV., 207, 262, 264, 268, 275,
280, 313.
V., 319, 326, 336-7, 362, 366;
his household accounts, 336-7.
-VI., 393-
Jamieson, Sir Mark, vicar of Kil-
spindie, 359.
Jedburgh (Jedword), abbey of, 45, 62 ;
burgh of, 6 1 ; capture of castle
of, 170.
Jerusalem, money for conquest of, 57.
Jews, money borrowed from, 81.
Joceline, bishop, 56. See " Bishops."
Joceline, monk, biographer of St.
Kentigern, 4, 46, 78 ; allusions
of, to St. Ninian, 14 ; passages
in his narrative, 15-19, 28.
John, bishop (1055-60), 33.
John, bishop (1118 et seq), 33, 45.
John, king of England, 86, 90.
John, St., Knights of, their jurisdic-
tion, 75, 381.
John, St., the Baptist, altar of, 279,
294. 339-
Johnson, John, warden of Grey-
friars, 255-6.
William, burgess, 188.
Jordanhill, 42.
Jubilee indulgence, 215.
Juet, John, 117.
Jurisdiction, pit and gallows, 72 ;
of archbishop of Lyons, 87 ;
bailiary, 4, 283-4 f arch-
deacon and official, 117.
Justice, administration of, 51.
Justiciary courts, 46, 51, 108, 375.
Keledei (Calledei), a hermit com-
munity, 28.
Kelso, abbey and abbot of, 45, 62, 81;
army at, 376.
Kelvin, river, 38, 93, 109 ; grain mill
on, 197 ; waulk mill on, 294-5.
Kelvingrove Park, 295.
Kenmore, lands of, 58, 109.
Kennedy, martyr, 357, 359.
Kennedy Street, 289.
Kentigern, St., biographies of, 4, 14,
15, 19, 46, 78 ; coming of, to
Glasgow, 13, 24 ; consecration
of, as bishop, 15, 17 ; personal
appearance, 16 ; meeting with
St. Columba, 16 ; pastoral staff
of, 1 6 ; plot against, and sojourn
in Wales, 17 ; return from
Wales, 1 8 ; dominion and prince-
dom of, 19 ; his disciples, 28 ;
miracles of, 20, 24-26, 48, 128,
271 ; reputed visits of, to Rome,
25 ; successors of, 27 ; relics and
shrine of, 40, 41, 194 ; tempest
on day of, 170; tomb of, 172;
lights at tomb of, 198 ; chap-
lainries in honour of, 294, 310-1.
Kentigern, St., chapel of Little,
283-4 ' induction of chaplain,
284.
Kerd, Thomas, burgess, 239.
Kernack, 13.
Kerrera, island of, 119.
Kilbirny, vicar of, 188.
Kilbryd, at Loch Fyne, 159.
Kilbryde in Ayrshire, fishing boats
belonging to, 298.
Kilbryde in Lanarkshire, prebend of,
171, 193.
Killebride, lady of, 110, 210-1.
Killearn, prebend of, 193, 195.
Kilpatrick-Irongray, parish of, in.
Kilpatrick, Old, 1 1 ; Roman wall at,
24 ; church of, 147, 226, 245, 332.
Kilwinning Abbey, property of, 132 ;
commendator of, 390.
Kinclayth, lands of, 37, 278, 287.
Kinglas, Andrew of, burgess, 188.
Kinsi, archbishop of York, 32.
Kirkcudbright, 175 ; port of, 244.
Kirkintilloch, military way to, 24 ;
siege of castle of, 129.
(Kirkyntulach), Sir William of,
master of hospital, 158.
Kirklee (Leys), lands of, 109-10.
Kirkmaho, prebend of, 193, 195.
Kirkmasters, 322-3, 350.
Kittycrocehill, 326-7.
INDEX
425
Kittymuir, 327.
Knights of St. John, 75.
Knights Templars, properties of, 74-
75, 134 ; deposition of, 169.
Knox (Knokis), John, 287.
John, Reformer, 269, 333, 374,
377. 44-
Marcus, 372.
William, prior, 234.
Kyle and Cunningham, deanery of,
131-
Kyle, tithe of beasts of, 45, 53.
Ladle dues, 65.
Ladygait, 72.
Lady's Yard, 278.
Laing, Archibald, provost of Sempill,
358.
John, bishop, 253, 358. See
" Bishops."
John, parson of Luss, 398.
Lanark, district of, 27, 30 ; lands in
shire of, 36 ; burgh of, 61 ;
sheriff of, 97 ; penfolds at, 97 ;
deanery of, 131 ; member of
Court of Four Burghs, 177 ;
stone measure, 388.
Lanark, Robert of, subdean, 115.
Lancaster, duke of, 170.
Land labourers, 203.
Lands belonging to church, 35, 37,
80, 109 ; tenure of, 203-4.
Landward persons, against leagues
with, 308, 355.
Langhirdmanston, battle of, 170.
Lappy, Patrick, 290. See " Dunlop."
Largs, can or chan of lands of, 53 ;
battle of, 1 20.
Lauder bridge tragedy, 261.
Lauder (Lawedre), Robert de, canon,
335-
William, bishop, 184, 358. See
" Bishops."
Laurence, St., altar of, 278.
Lead from Crawford Muir, 97.
Leitch (Leiche), Andrew, prior, 234.
John, burgess, 241.
Leith, ships built at, 307 ; war
material carried to, 373 ; gar-
rison in fort, 396, 405-9.
Lennox (Levenachs, Levenax), 91 ;
deanery of, 131 ; house of,
" servants to St. Mungo," 349 ;
lords of, 148 ; earls of, 163, 229,
263, 313, 315, 324-7, 330, 346 ;
trading in territory of, 92-5.
Lennox mansion, 229.
estates, forfeiture of, 373 ;
reinvestiture, 397.
Lennox, Forveleth, countess of, 102.
Isabel, countess of, 163, 196, 233,
3i5-
Matthew, earl of, provost (1509),
315-7.
Matthew, earl of (1542), 367.
Lenzie, baron of, 58.
Leonard, St., hospital of, in Ayrshire,
198.
Leper hospital and chapel, 14, 127-8,
162, 271-5, 282 ; endowments
of, 274 ; donations to, 274-5 ;
service in chapel, 273 ; assembly
of lepers at collegiate church of
St. Mary, 345.
Lepers, rules as to, 189.
Leven, river, 91.
Leys, lands of, 109. See " Kirklee."
Likprivik, Alexander, 312.
Lillesclif, rents of, 154 ; barony of,
266.
Lincluden, canon of, 226.
Lindesay, David de, knight, 149.
David, bailie, 288 ; of Dunrod,
297.
James, dean of cathedral, 278, 358.
John, bishop, 146. See " Bishops."
Liners of city, for settling boundaries,
290, 295 ; of Partick ward, 295;
Linlithgow, burning of, 170 ; col-
lection of custom at, 176, 177 ;
member of court of Four Burghs,
177 ; port of, 178, 180, 247, 373,
408 ; annualrents from tene-
ments in 257 ; armies at, 369,
409-10 ; artillery and ammuni-
tion carried to, 373 ; field
measure, 388.
Linningshaugh, lands of, 293 ; re-
adjustment of lots of, 295.
Lismore (Argyll), bishop of, 265.
Livingstone, James of, 218.
Livingstone, James of, 218.
Loch Fyne, 159, 391.
Lochow, Lady, 161-3, 2 7 2 -
Loch wood, Bishops' Manor of, 150-1;
chapel at manor, 151.
Lock Hospital, 217.
Lockhart (Lokhart), George, dean,
358.
Hugh, 381.
Logie, Margaret, wife of King
David II., 158.
426
INDEX
Lollards of Kyle, 268-70, 332.
Lomond, Loch, 233.
Longcroft, no, 293.
Lothian, ceded to the Scots, 29.
Loudon Hill in Ayrshire, 7.
Louvain, university of, 216.
Lubeck, community of, 174.
Luss, Maurice, lord of, 128.
Luss, prebend of, 193, 195.
Luss, timber from, for Cathedral,
128 : parsonage of, 398.
Luther, doctrines of, 332-3, 354, 376.
Lyle, Robert, prior, 234.
Lyne, Roman camp at, 8.
Lyon, Archibald, 295.
Donald, 295.
Lyons, jurisdiction in see of, 87.
Macbeth, reign of, 30.
MacLauchlan, Guyllascop, of Argyll,
159-
M'Mulan, John, burgess, 235.
M'William, Guthred, claimant of the
throne, 86.
Machan, St., altar of, 304.
Magistrates, burgh, 65, 126-7 ; elec-
tion of, 125. See " Elections."
Magsula, bishop, 33.
Mainard, burgess of Berwick, 73.
Major, John, theologian and historian,
333 ; regent of university, 333 ;
at Paris, Glasgow and St. An-
drews, 333-4.
Malcolm I. and II., kings of Scotland,
29.
III., 30, 32, 86, 169.
Maldouen, Earl, 103.
Maltmen, 181, 395.
Malvoisine, William, bishop, 85. See
" Bishops."
Manor (Menar), prebend of, 171, 193.
Manrent, bonds of, 308.
Manses of cathedral canons, 121, 123.
See " Prebendal Manses."
Marches, town's, perambulation of,
70.
Marcus, cleric in the cathedral, 48.
Margaret, Queen of Malcolm III., 30,
169.
Queen, the Maid of Norway, 136.
Queen of James IV., 280, 324, 329-
30.
Market, burgh, 65, 67, 82, 83 ; to be
held on Thursday, weekly, 168.
Market crosses of burghs, 53, 65, 83.
See " Cross."
Marshall (Marchell), Rynzen, 350.
(Merschel), Sir Thomas, vicar
188, 241-2.
Marshall of barony and regality, 72.
Martin, St., of Tours, 10 ; relics of,
194-
Martyrology, 226, 253, 279, 357.
Mary, Queen, 297, 366, 374, 393, 399,
410-1.
Mary, Queen-mother and regent, 372,
375. 393, 396, 408.
Mary, Virgin, chapel of, 5, 65, 72, 133,
159, 278, 346. See also " St.
Mary " ; chaplain and chap-
lainry, 167, 294 ; relics of Virgin
Mary, 194.
Masons, 181, 395 ; seal of cause to,
382.
Massoun, Adam, 188.
Matilda, wife of David I., 40.
Maxwell, lord, 368, 371.
Mayor of Berwick, 66.
Meadowflat, no, 237.
Meadow Well, 117, 142.
Mealmen and maltmen, 395.
Mearns, lairds of, 275.
Measures of capacity, 204, 307. See
" Weights and Measures."
Mellindenor (Mellingdenor), meeting
of St. Columba and St. Kentigern
at, 1 6, 1 8, 23. See also
" Molendinar."
Melrose, abbey of, 62 ; toft given to,
73, 74 ; abbot of, 74, 81, 154 ;
Bishop Joceline buried at, 85.
Merbotle, prebend of, 171, 193.
Merchants, guild of, 66, 82 ; associa-
tion of, 82, 1 80 ; privileges
of, within burgh, 82, 83 ;
foreign, arriving with ships, 83 ;
trading in Lennox and Argyle,
92-5 ; foreign traders, 174, 306,
330 ; clothing of, 204.
Mercian kingdom, 61.
Methven, John, canon. 196.
Michael, bishop, 32.
Michael, St., altar of, 258.
Michelson, Sir John, town clerk, 260.
Middleburgh in Zeland, staple port
at, 175, 330-1.
Mill, Walter, martyr, 403.
Millar (Myllar), Andrew, printer, 249.
Milldam, crooks of, 294.
Milldamhead, 294.
Mills, grain, in barony, 197-8.
hand, 197.
INDEX
427
Mint at Glasgow, 95, 96.
Mithyngby, Robert de, 126.
Moffat, Nicholas de, archdeacon of
Teviotdale, in ; bishops, 120.
See " Bishops."
Robert, treasurer of church, 235.
Moffat, prebend of, 171, 193.
Molendinar (Malyndoner) burn, flood
in, 3, 23. See also f'Mellindenor";
highway over, 70 ; waulkmill
on, 71, 294-5 ; grain mills on,
197 ; subdean's mill placed on,
298. See " Subdean's mill."
Molens, 229.
Monklands (Badermonoc), 39, 109 ;
lands of Old and New, 55, 124 ;
mill for ward, 197 ; parishes of
Old and New, 303 ; vicarage of
Monkland, 304 ; curate of Monk-
land, 305 ; kirk of Monkland,
305.
Monks' house, 76. See "Paisley
Abbey."
Mons Graupius, battle of, 6.
Monteith, Sir John, governor of
Dumbarton castle, 142-3.
Montgomery, Sir Alexander, 195.
Montrose, bishop's toft in, 75 ;
salmon exported from, 176 ;
in tax roll, 365, 395.
Moray, Andrew of, 174.
William de, 139.
Moray, bishop of, 103.
Moray, province of, 182 ; deanery of,
335-
More, Elizabeth, 156.
Morebattle (Merbotil), prebend of,
171.
Morken, King, apostate, 17, 21, 23.
Morlay, Sir John, 170.
Mort dues, levying of, 302-4.
Mortimer, Walter de, in ; dean,
"5-
Morton, Regent, 221.
Mortoun, John, provost of collegiate
church, 1 88.
Kentigern (Mowngo), 290.
Motherwell, 24.
Mousfald, Sir John, chaplain, 196.
Muckcroft (Mucraht), lands of 58.
Muir, (Mure) John, bailie, 385, 395 ;
commissioner to convention, 388.
John, prior, 234.
John, of Caldwell, 326-7.
Muirhead (Murehede) , Andrew, bishop,
222, 358. See " Bishops."
Muirhead (Murehede), David, chap-
lain, 288.
Thomas, rector of Stobo, 289.
Mundavill, Symon, archdeacon, 173.
Mungo, St., (See " Kentigern ") house
of Lennox servants to, 349.
Mungo's (St.) Well, 104 ; freedom,
99.
Murder, trial for, 312.
Mutland Croft, 293.
Mutton, price of, 373.
National Councils, 51.
Navy. See " Ships."
Necropolis, 23.
Neilson, James, 358.
Netherlands, trading with, 175, 330.
332.
Neubotle, monks of, 39, 55 ; toft
given to, 74 ; Hugh, abbot of,
74 ; other properties acquired by
monks, 74, 75, 134 ; Carmyle
lands gifted to, 124 ; allowance
to abbot of, 154.
Neuton (Newton), Sir John of, vicar,
240.
Neutun (Newton), lands of, 109-10.
Neville's Cross, battle of, 157.
Newark, fishing-boats belonging to,
298.
Newark Castle, 264.
Newlands, in Peebleshire, 253.
Newcastle, treaty of, 118.
Newehaghe, Thomas de, 148.
Nicholas, St., coming of, 170 ; feast
after Translation of, 222.
Hospital of, 228-32, 285, 315-7 ;
chapel of, 228, 282 ; induction
of chaplain, 285 ; tenement
adjoining chapel, 228 ; endow-
ments of hospital and chapel,
230, 284-5, 286-7 master of,
285, 316 ; admissions to privi-
leges of, 286 ; attendance of
poor of, at collegiate church
of, 345-
Altar of, 304.
Ninian, St., cemetery consecrated by,
4, ii ; mission of, 10, 12, 14 ;
dedications to, 15, 274 ; relics
of, 194 ; church of, at Candida
Casa, 337.
Ninians, St., 24.
Nithsdale, deanery of, 131.
Northampton, treaty of, 153.
North port, 72.
428
INDEX
Northumbria, Columban church in,
27 ; Eadbert, king of, 28 ; burghs
of, 61.
Oban, bay of, 119.
O'Donnell, the Irish chieftain, 318.
Official of Glasgow, 52 ; seal of, 117,
127, 243; jurisdiction of, 117,
312 ; proceedings of court of,
249, 269 ; appeal from burgh
court to, 313.
Ordeal of water or hot iron, 51, 87.
Osmond, bishop of Sarum, 106.
Oswald, Friar, prior, 234.
Oswald, king, 27.
Otterburn, battle of, 164, 170, 172.
Otterburne, Andrew, provost, 268.
John of, 257.
Nicholas, canon, 358.
William of, bailie, 235.
Otterburne's Cross, 229.
Owen, king of Strathclyde, 29.
Painter (Pictor), William, 134.
Paisley, 7 ; abbey of, 42 ; properties
and churches belonging to abbey,
76, 127, 130, 134-5, 278 ; patriot-
ism of monks, 1 39 ; contribution
by monks to Leper Hospital,
275-
Palace, Bishop's, 325. See " Castle."
Palacium, outside castle, 121-2.
Pallioum (Palyhard) Croft, 237.
Palmer, Alexander, 127.
Paniter. John, preceptor of song
school, 359.
Parchment makers, 221, 398.
Parish of Glasgow, 54.
Parliament, early, 50, 51 ; burghs
represented in, 152 ; Black, 170 ;
member of, for city, 384 ; acts
of, effecting Reformation, 410-1.
Partick (Pertnech), King Rydderch
at, 19 ; Roman road through,
24, 70 ; royal territory at, 37 ;
lands of, 38, 109, 143 ; lands
given to church, 41, 54 ; part
given to Walter the Steward, 41 ;
liners of the ward, 295.
Pastimes and plays, 394.
Pathelanerhc, 37. See ' Pro van."
Patrick, St., birthplace, n ; mission
u, 12 ; biography of, 79.
Patronage of benefices, 80.
Pedagogy, Auld, 217, 258 ; rent of,
217 ; new side for, 218.
Peddegrew, James, provinical of
Greyfriars, 255-6.
Peebles, district of, 30 ; lands in
shire of, 36 ; burgh of, 61 ;
county of, 63 ; deanery of, 131 ;
prebend of, 171, 193 ; sheriff of,
184.
Penda, king of Mercia, 27.
Perth, fight on North Inch of, 169,
170 ; collection of custom at,
176 ; in tax roll, 365, 395 ;
outbreak at, and destruction of
religious houses, 377, 404.
Pestilence, first, second, and third,
1 70 ; laws as to, 204 ; loss
through, 217-8.
Petyt, Duncan, archdeacon, 168.
Picts and Scots, invasions of, 8, 28 ;
mission to, 43.
Pigs and other animals, can or chan
of, 45-
Pinkie Cleuch, battle of, 374.
Pit and gallows, 72, 84.
Point Isle, canoe at, 2.
Polmadie (Polmade), prebend of,
193-5-
Polmadie burn, 43.
- Hospital, 127-8 ; hospital of St.
John of, 148 ; endowments
transferred, 194-5 ' master and
guardian of, 147, 148, 158 ;
privileges of, 147 ; endowments
of, 148, 163.
Poor, donation by King James IV.
to, 275 ; casual, 339. See
" Hospital.".
Popes, confirmations by, of lands and
privileges, 53 ; national address
to Pope in 1320, 146 ; papal
schism, 165, 170.
Popes :
Calixtus II. (1119-24), 33.
Innocent II. (1130-43), 34.
Eugenius III. (1145-53). 45-
Alexander III. (1159-81), 47, 53,
81.
Lucius III. (1181-5), 80, 81.
Urban III. (1185-7), 80.
Clement III. (1188-91), 57, 81.
Innocent III. (1198-1216), 254.
Innocent IV. (1242-54), 114, 129.
Alexander IV. (1254-61), 115.
Clement IV. (1265-72), 129.
Boniface VIII. (1295-1303), 141.
John XXII. (1316-34), 146.
Innocent VI. (1353-62), 158.
INDEX
429
Popes :
Urban VI. (1378-89), 166.
Clement VII., anti-pope (1378-94),
166, 168.
Boniface (1389-1404), 169.
Benedict XIII., anti-pope (1394-
1410), 184.
Eugenius IV. (1431-47), 335.
Nicholas V. (1447-55), 213, 257.
Calixtus III. (1455-8), 225.
Julius II. (1503-13), 305. 3*i-
Adrian VI. (1522-3), 336.
Clement VII. (1523-34). 329.
Population, 181, 292.
Port Glasgow. See " Newark."
Portland Street, 279.
Ports of city, 72.
Possil, lands of, 58, 109.
Potton, Hugh de, archdeacon, 114.
Powder, supply of, 354. See " Am-
munition."
Prebendal manses, 121, 123, 196, 241,
258.
Prebends, (See "Cathedral " ), revenue
of vacant, 48 ; gift of prebend,
141 ; held by parsons of churches,
149; consisting of lands or
money, 149 ; contributions from,
171 ; lists of, 171, 193; increase
of, 192.
Prendergast, Nicholas of, burgess,
1 88.
Prepositi, 66, 126.
Prices, fixing of, 308, 353, 396 ; of
provisions to French soldiers, 373.
Printing, introduction of art of, 249.
Priests, donations by James IV. to,
264-2.75.
Protocols, properties described in,
285-7, 2 9 2 -
Provan (Barlanark), lands of, 37, 54,
149 ; prebend of, 148, 171, 193,
334-6 ; mill of, 197 ; exemption
from justice courts, 336.
Provand's Lordship, 232.
Provanside, 71, 283.
Provincial councils, 101. See " Scot-
tish Church."
Provost, 66 ; first, 236-8 ; appoint-
ment of, 209, 383-7 ; holders of
office of, 268, 309, 373 ; depute,
317, 319-20 ; bond of manrent
by. 347-8 ; qualification of, 355.
Provosthaugh, 229.
Ptolemy, maps of, 7.
Purdhome, John, 283.
Purdhome, Thomas, 283.
William, 283.
Purdy, Sir David, subchanter, 358.
Pyd, Jonet, 242.
Quadrivium, 279.
Quarriers, 382.
Quarries, town, 70, 71.
Queen Street, 70, 237.
Queen's Park grounds, 43.
Queens of May, 394.
Queensberry, duke of, 257.
Quhitelaw, Archibald, subdean, 278.
Quincy, John de, notary public, 150.
Rae (Ra, Raa), Sir Hugh, subdean,
358.
Sir Walter, notary, 240.
William, bishop, 155, 358. See
" Bishops."
Ragman Roll, 136.
Raite, David, vicar-general of Friars
Preachers, 236.
William, burgess, 235.
Ramshorn, lands of, 58, 109, 255, 279.
Rankyne (Rankin), John, burgess,
235 ; smith, 239.
Rannald (Renald), Malcolm, 279.
Rannald's Wynd, 223 ; yard, 223, 279.
Ransom money, King David II.,
157-8 ; King James I., 189-90.
Ranulph of Hadintun, 73.
Thomas, 159.
Ratounraw. See " Rottenrow."
Recognition by James IV., 268.
or forfeiture, process of, 259.
See " Court."
Rede, John, bailie, 235
John, master of grammar school,
277 ; chaplain, 284.
Martin, chancellor, 276, 283.
Reformation, 268 ; burning of " here-
tics," 170, 269, 357, 359, 374,
403 ; proceedings against, 332-3,
354 ; Bible in common tongue,
360 ; progress of, following
Wishart's death, 374, 376 ; lords
of congregation, 377. See " Con-
gregation " ; outbreak at Perth,
377 ; against printing books,
ballads and blasphemous rhymes,
377 ; bonds for expelling here-
sies and heretics, 373-4, 402 ;
manifesto called " Beggars
Summons," 403 ; proclamation
against disturbing church
430
INDEX
services, 403 ; outbreak at Perth
and destruction of religious
houses, 404 ; resolutions of
parliament, 410-1.
Regality. See ' ' Barony and Regality. ' '
Religious houses, dwellings of, in
important towns, 75.
Renfrew, district of, 27, 30 ; lands
of, bestowed on Walter the
Steward, 41 ; burgh of, r2, 307 ;
prebend of, 42, 54, 171, 193 ;
manse of, 316 ; church of, 42 ;
defeat of Somerled at, 48 ;
grant to cathedral from rents of
burgh, 49 ; negotiations with,
on shipping rights, 83, 245, 332 ;
collection of customs by, 99, 205 ;
barony and shire of, 93 ; port
of, 244 ; fishings of, 246 ; boats
belonging to, 298 ; traffic ar-
rangements with, 363-5 ; in tax
roll, 365.
Renfrew, James, chaplain, 132.
Renfrew, manse, 316.
Rental Book, bishops', 71, 314.
Rentallers of bishops' lands, 37, 38,
314. See " Barony."
Ren wick, Robert, memoir of, v.
Rerik, Gilbert, archdeacon, 258.
Resby, James, martyr, 269.
Restown, Sir John of, vicar of
Kilbryde, 235.
Revoch, Bessy, 288.
Richard I., king of England, 57, 85.
Robert I., king of 'Scotland, 142-5,
146-7, 152-4, 159, 164, 170, 358.
II., 156-7, 164, 170.
III., n, 157, 164.
Robert of London, son of King
William, 85.
Robert Hude and Lytill John, 394.
Roberton, Sir Alexander, chaplain,
289.
Robertson, William, 235.
Robrastoun (Robroystoun), 142.
Roche, St. (St. Rollox), church of,
287-90 ; endowments of, 288-90.
Roger, skinner, 115.
Roman invasions and occupation, 6 ;
coins, inscribed stones and other
remains, 8, 9 ; roads, 7, 24, 70.
Rome, contributions from church
benefices to Popes at, 129 ;
against taking law pleas to,
191-2 ; business with College of
Cardinals at, 349.
Ross, defeat of rebels in district of, 86.
Rothesay castle, 165.
Rothesay, David, duke of, 169-170.
Rottenrow (Ratounraw), 4, 70, 76,
no, 135, 160; port at, 72;
Roman road along, 4 ; tene-
ments in, 196, 242, 292 ;
Auld Pedagogy in, 217 ; pool
or stank near, 229 ; sale of
building ground at, 240, 242.
Roull (Roulen), Sir Walter de, pre-
centor, 151, 159, 257.
(Roulen), Walter de, rector of St.
Tenew's chapel, 134.
Roxburgh, Hugh de, bishop. See
" Bishops."
Roxburgh, district of, 30 ; lands in
shire of, 36 ; chapel of castle of,
53 ; burgh of, 61 ; sheriff of,
154 ; possessed by English, 177 ;
siege of castle, 203.
Roxburgh, Old, prebend of, 141, 171,
193-
Royal Burghs. See " Burghs."
Russell, Jerome, friar, 357, 359.
Rutherglen, royal territory at, 37,
39 ; castle, of 39 ; royal burgh
of, 39, 52, 62, 63 ; grant from,
for lights of cathedral, 55, 147,
155-6 ; market of, 83 ; grant
from ferms of, to dean and sub-
dean, 84, 147, 155-6 ; penfolds at,
97 ; collection of toll or custom
by, 39, 63, 98, 99, 205 ; toll and
market dues payable by, 100,
141 ; church of, 130 ; deanery
of, 131 ; hospital of Polmadie
near, 147 ; traffic arrangements
with, 363-5 ; in tax roll, 365.
Rutherglen Lone, 273.
Rydderch Hael, king of Strathclyde,
18, 19.
Sacristan, 194 ; greater, 257.
Saddlers, 352.
Sadin, villa filie, 54. See " Shettle-
ston."
St. Andrews, bishops and archbishops
of, 73, 8 1, 313, 319 ; burgh of,
73 ; archdeacon of, 103 ; burn-
ing of church of, 170 ; university
of, 186, 213, 334 ; rivalries with
archbishop of, 266, 313, 329,
378 ; in tax roll, 365, 389, 395 ;
castle of, 374.
INDEX
431
St. Enoch's burn, 237. See " Glas-
gow Burn."
St. Enoch, service of, 134. See
"Tenew."
St. Mary and St. Anne collegiate
church of, 311 ; foundation of,
342 ; endowments of, 342-3,
346 ; chaplainries in, 343 ;
building of, 343 ; prebendaries
and prebends, 344-5 ; repair of
church and endowed buildings,
345 ; religious services in, 345-6 ;
experience of, at Reformation,
405. See also " Mary "
St. Stephen, altar of, 278.
St. Tenewis-gait (Sanctenoisgait), 72,
74. See "Tenewis."
Salmon, legendary narrative, 25 ;
export of, 176, 248 ; fishings on
River Clyde, 296-7.
Saloman, dean of Glasgow, 50, 54.
Salt, import of, 357.
Saltcoats, fishing boats belonging to,
298.
Saltmarket Street, 65, 71, 226. See
f'Walkergait."
Sanctuary, claim of privilege of, 381-2.
Sanquhar, prebend of, 193-4.
Sant Mongas fredome, 206.
Sarum (Salisbury), ritual of, 40, 47,
55, 106, 121.
Saryn, Radulph, 117.
Sauchieburn, skirmish at, 262.
Sauchiehall Street, 71.
Sawyers, 382.
Saxon settlers, 12.
Schort, Richard, 160.
Sir Roger, priest, 242.
Schools, chancellor's supervision of,
186. See " Grammar School."
Scot, Malcolm, 117.
Scloyder, William, 75, 134.
Scotia, kingdom of, 30, 61.
Scot, John, 319.
Scotland, consolidation of, 30 :
Sovereigns of :
Macbeth (1040-57), 30.
Malcolm III. (1057-93), 30, 169.
Donald Bane (1093-4 ; 1094-7), 3-
Duncan II. (1094), 30.
Edgar (1097-1107), 30.
Alexander I. (1107-24) 30-35.
David I. (1124-53), 30, 46.
Malcolm IV. (1153-65), 41, 46, 50.
William the Lion (1165-1214), 50,
57, 58, 86.
Scotland Sovereigns of :
Alexander II. (1214-49), 90, 95, 98
105, 112-3, IJ 9 207.
III. (1249-86), 90, 95. in-2,
119, 136, 153.
Margaret (1286-90), 136.
John Balliol (1292-6), 137, 154.
Robert I. (1306-29), 142-5, 146-7,
152-4, 159, 164, 170.
David II. (1329-71), 153-4, 156-8,
164, 170.
Robert II. (1371-90), 156-7, 164,165,
167, 170.
III. (1390-1406), ii, 95, 157,
164, 168, 170, 183.
James I. (1406-37), 163, 170, 183,
189-90.
II. (1437-60), 203, 307, 214, 216,
221, 244, 26l.
III. (1460-88), 172, 208, 244,
250. 255-6, 261-2.
IV. (1488-1513), 207, 244, 262,
268, 275.
v. (1513-42), 319, 326, 336-7. 366.
Mary (1542-67), 297, 366, 374.
Scots, invasion of, 8 ; kings of, 29, 30.
Scotstoun, 42
Scottish church, supremacy claims,
33. 47. 50. 56 ; jurisdiction over,
disallowed, 47, 56 ; subject only
to apostolic see, 57 ; papal
protection of, 81 ; provincial
councils, 101, 376, 403.
Scrogys, lands of, 278.
Seal of burgh, 74, 116, 127.
Seals of bishops, 24.
Seals of cause, 322, 350-3.
Sedulius, bishop, 27, 28.
Selkirk, district of, 30 ; lands in
shire of, 36 ; abbot of, 45 ;
burgh of, 61.
Serfs, references to, 58, 59.
Servanus (Serf) St., 13, 26, 28, 351-2.
Sever or Severin, St., 351.
Sheriff courts, 46.
Shaw(Schaw), John, 3 19; burgess, 235.
John; provost, 318-20.
Sheriff doms, markets of, 53.
Sheriffs, collections by, 97.
Shettleston (Schedinestun), 42, 109 ;
church of, 54 ; collection of
customs at, 63, 98, 206.
Ships and merchandise, foreign, 83,
174, 244, 267, 356-7, 391 ;
ports for, 244 ; owners of ships,
247 ; building of, 307.
432
INDEX
Shuttle Street, 254.
Silver, Sir William, subchanter and
master of hospital; 285, 316.
Simpson (Symson), Cuthbert, priest
and notary public, 284 ; vicar
of Dalzell, 358 ; chapter clerk,
285 ; his protocols, 285-7, 2 9 2 -
Sir Bartholomew, master of St.
Nicholas Hospital, 230.
- Thomas, prior, 234.
Sinclair, Henry, dean, 390.
Skene, Sir John, 182.
Skinners, 115, 181, 395; and furriers,
seal of cause to, 296, 320, 322-3.
Skinners Green, 296.
Slander, protest against, 300.
Smalhy, Oliver, 133.
Richard, 133.
Smith (Smyth), Andrew, burgess, 188.
John, 1 88 ; prior, 234.
Thomas, 1 70.
Smiths, 352, 395.
Solway, boundary line, 29, 32, 46.
Solway Moss, 366.
Spaniards, sea captures by, 332.
Somerled, invasion and defeat of,
48.
Song school in Metropolitan church,
359 ; at Collegiate Church, 344.
Spense, John, prior, 234.
Spey, burghs beyond, 182-3.
Sprewll, John, canon, 358.
Nicholas, 135.
Stable-green, lands of, 228-9, 316-7 ;
port at, 72 ; tenement lying near,
242 ; Lennox mansion at, 316.
Staple ports in Netherlands, 175.
Stationers, 221, 398.
Stephen, king of England, 46.
Stewart, Alexander (son of James
IV.), archbishop of St Andrews,
313.
Allan, lord of Dernlie, 194.
Allan, collector of customs, 267.
Andrew, 311.
John, subdean, 240, 358.
John of Dernlie, 195.
John, first provost, 235, 278.
John, of Minto, provost, 312, 369.
397-
John, of Dernely, 315.
John, commendator of Colding-
ham, 317.
Sir John, captain of Scots Guard
in France, 348.
Jonet, 237.
Stewart, Katherine, daughter of earl
of Lennox, 229.
Margaret, 195.
Matthew, 263.
Robert, provost, 268, 278, 343, 347,
383-
Sir Thomas of Minto, 238 ; provost,
238.
Walter, 41, 42, 149, 159; of
Arthurly, 238, 310 ; canon, 335.
Sir William, 195 ; of Dalswinton
and Garlics, 238.
canon William, prebendary of
Killearn and rector of Glassford,
273. 277.
Stipends, vacant, 48.
Stirling (Strevilling), road from, 24 ;
bishop's toft in, 75 ; burning
of church of, 1 70 ; collection
of custom at, 176 ; Alexander,
sheriff of, 352 ; in tax roll, 365,
389, 395 ; pint measure, 388.
Stirling (Strivelyne), Sir John of,
knight, 173.
William, 173.
Stobo (Stobhou), prebend of, 171,
193 ; barony of, 266 ; parsonage
of, 398.
Stockwell Street, 72, 74, 75, 76, 293 ;
tower or fortalice at, 301. See
" Fishergait."
Strathblane (Strablathy) , kirk and
lands of, 147-8, 195 ; prebend
of, 193-
Strathclyde, district of, 7 ; kings of;
1 8, 29 ; inhabitants of, 29.
Stratherne, earl of, 170.
Strathgrif, tithe of beasts of, 45,
53-
Streets, early, 70, 133.
Struthers (Struddirris), John, kirk-
master, 350.
Sturgeon, gift of, to king, 264.
Subchanter of cathedral, 106.
Subdean, lands of, 71, 240 ; grants
to, from ferms of Rutherglen, 84,
147 ; office of, 106.
Subdeanery jurisdiction, 283-4.
Subdean's mill, 197 ; erection of,
298-9.
Summerhill, 71.
Sumptuary laws, 204.
Suzannys Ryge, 278.
Swine, 293.
Sylvius; ^Eneas, visit of, 200.
Symonton, Sir John, chaplain, 284.
INDEX
433
Tailors, 180, 395 ; seals of cause to
incorporation of, 349-50.
Tait (Tayt), Thomas, burgess of Ayr,
245.
Tallow, price of, 396.
Tarbolton, prebend of, 193, 195.
Tavern, no bailie or servant of king
to have, 84.
Tax Roll of Burghs, Glasgow's
proportion of, 364, 389, 395.
See " Convention " ; adjustment
of, 389 ; allocation on burgesses,
395-
Taxation of church benefices, 129.
See " Churches."
Teinds or tithes given to church, 45,
48, 54 ; papal confirmation of, 80.
Templars, 74. See " Knights Temp-
lars."
Temporalities of bishopric, 121. See
" Bishopric."
Tenew or Thaneu, mother of St.
Kentigern, 5, 13, 134 ; relics of,
194.
Tenew (Thaneu), St., chapel of
(St. Enoch's chapel), 5, 22, 72,
134, 150, 256-7 ; rector of
chapel, 134 ; wax for lights of
chapel, 172, 256 ; rig of land in
croft of, 274.
Tenewsgait, St., 72, 74.
Tennant, John, Greyfriar, 256.
Tennant Street, 289.
Teviotdale, 30 ; bishops' lands in,
80 ; archdeacon of , 103, 106, in,
191, 317 ; deanery of, 131.
Theft, robberies, etc., suppression of,
263.
Theodosius, Roman commander, 8.
Thomas, St., martyrdom of, 169 ;
chapel of, 76, 150, 219, 223, 256-7;
relics of, 194 ; altar of, 382.
Tithes. See " Teinds."
Tocca, lands held by, 41.
Tolbooth, 65, 133, 289 ; endowment
of altar from, 278 ; stone from,
carved with royal arms, 289 ;
gallows set up at, 368 ; justice
courts held in, 375.
Toll and custom, 93. See also
" Custom."
Tollcross, 24.
Tonergayth (Tundergarth), 167.
John de, clerk of king's wardrobe,
167.
Torphiching sanctuary, 381.
Tournament, 170.
Tower or fortalice and orchard, 74;
301 ; or fortified building in
High Street, 250.
Towers of Cathedral, 128-9, 172-3,
185, 196-7 ; bells in, 372.
Town clerks, 260, 361, 388, 396 ;
protocols of, 361.
Town council, election of, 66, 204.
Town mill on Molendinar Burn, 198.
Trade, foreign, 174. See " Ships,"
etc. ; " Burghs " ; progress of,
306, 330.
Trades, fourteen incorporated, 181.
Trading privileges, 92, 93-5, 170,
244-7.
Traquair, Glasgow charter granted
at, 63.
Travellers. See " Visitors."
Treasurer, burgh, 294.
Treasurer of cathedral, 106.
Tron Church, 246.
Trongait, 65, 72, 267 ; port at, 73 ;
St. Mary's chapel in, 133.
Tron or weighing place, 72, 267 ;
customs of, 385.
Turnbull, Bishop, founder of univer-
sity, 221, 358. See " Bishops."
William, canon, 228 ; lord of the
prebend, 335.
Tweeddale, Roman road through,
7 ; bishops' lands in, 80.
Tyndal, Peter of, 126.
Uddingston (Odingstoune), wax to
church from lands of, 172, 256.
University, endowments of, 114;
foundation of, 187, 213-21. See
" Pedagogy " ; Faculty of Arts,
216; endowments of, 219-20;
386, 399 ; early buildings, 217-20;
mace provided for, 220-1 ; ex-
emption of, from taxes and
burdens, 221-2, 252-3, 334, 397-8 ;
common seal and seal for causes,
221 ; celebration of annual ban-
quet, 222-3 buildings near,
238-9 ; annexation of vicarages
to, 304 ; John Major, Regent of,
333-4-
Usurers, 91.
Valence, Aymer de, 139.
Valoniis, Isabella de, 105, no, 112,
2IO-I.
Sir William de, in.
434
INDEX
Valuation of Benefices, 129-31.
Vandogara or Vanduara, 7, 8.
Vernacular, legal documents written
in, 240.
Vicarage dues, levying of, 302-4.
Vicarages in diocese, valuation of,
130-1.
Vicarage of Glasgow, 116, 149.
Vicars, maintenance of, 54, 258 ;
hall of, 104, 227 ; college of, 358 ;
place of, 227 ; regulations as to
residental, 123 ; mass celebrated
by vicars of choir, 199, 356 ;
other services, 258 ; common
property of, 227, 242, 259 ;
stipends or pensions of, 227, 258 ;
residences of, 241 ; town and
landward, 359.
Vicars' Alley, 227.
Victoria bridge, 162.
Victuals, dearth of, 204 ; prices of, 308.
Visitors to Glasgow, descriptions by,
200-2.
Visitors of craftsmen, 392. See
" Craftsmen."
Waghorn, Michael, wright, 281-2.
Waldeve, John, son of, bailie, 117,
133. 134-
Wales, St. Kentigern in, 17, 18.
Walk or Waulk mill at Green, 71,
1 80, 294 ; on river Kelvin, 294-5.
Walker, Sir Andrew, chaplain, 320.
Walkergait, 65, 71, 116 ; port at, 73 ;
tenement in; 278. See "Salt-
market."
Walkers, waulkers, or fullers, 115,351.
Wallace, Sir William, protectorate
of, 137 ; capture and death of,
142 ; reward to captors, 143 ;
letter by, to Lubeck and Ham-
burgh, 174-5.
Walter, bishop, 85. See " Bishops."
Wan, Martin, chancellor of cathedral,
274-6, 283, 285.
Walter, chaplain, 134, 167.
Wapinschawings, 71, 189, 204, 353.
War of Independence, 136.
Wardlaw, Beatrice, 301.
Walter, bishop, 165. See "Bish-
ops."
Warren, free, lands held in, 149.
Watling Street, 7.
Weavers, 71, 180, 395 ; seal of cause
to incorporation of, 351-2 ;
minute books of, 351.
Weights and measures, statutes as to,
307. 354. 388-9.
Welk, Thorn of, 240.
Well in Fishergait or Stockwell
Street, 72.
Wester Common, 71.
Wester Craigs, 23 ; lands of, 298.
Western Isles, sovereignty of, 119;
trading with, 120, 179 ; military
expeditions to, 264, 375.
Whitelaw (Quhitelaw), Archbald
subdean, 278, 358.
Whithorn, 10.
Wigtown, port at, 175, 244.
Wilfrid, St., church of, at Ripon, 16.
William, fuller, burgess, 115.
William the Lion. See !'. Scotland " ;
great councils of, 51 ; charters
by, to burghs, 52 ; taken prisoner
in England, 57 ; excesses by,
against church, 58 ; excom-
munication of, 81.
William II., Rufus, king of England,
32.
Williamson, John, 75, 134.
Wilson, James, mason, 320.
John, 320.
Michael, 320.
Wine, purchase of, 247 ; import of,
357 ; price of, 396.
Winter storms, 357.
Wischart (Wyschard, Wyssard),
George, 374.
John, 159 ; prebendary of Bar-
lanark, 148 ; archdeacon, 151.
John, bailie, 234, 242.
John, bishop, 156. See " Bishops."
Robert bishop, 25. See " Bish-
ops."
William, vicar of Go van, 242 ;
bishop, 121. See " Bishops."
Woddrops of Dalmarnock, 314.
Wood, Sir Andrew, 264.
Woodside, lands of, 71.
Wrights, 181, 382.
Wycliffe, John, the English Reformer,
268.
Wyndhead, 76, 135. See " High St."
Wyschard. See ','. Wischart."
Yetam, William of, archdeacon of
Teviotdale, 151.
Yoker, 42.
York; archbishops of, 32-33 ; suprem-
acy claims of, 33, 47, 50, 56, 101.
Young (Yonge), John, 242.
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